Dreams and Lessons

Many of my Amma-devotee friends have recently told me, one after another, that they were going to spend Christmas and New Year’s Eve in Amritapuri. I have to say I have thought about going myself too, wishing to spend some time with my Mother and spiritual family, and thus continuing my accelerated evolving process by Her side. But, this time, Amma had different plans for me, and duty made me stay with my family in my home town in Spain. I accepted it with great honor and happiness, eager to be of use here or at any place I may be, but yet… I still missed the proximity of the Divine Mother—the opportunity of lifting my spirit and let Her caress my soul.

 

The answer to this situation came in the form of a dream.

 

One night, I was suddenly at Amritapuri.

 

I heard a voice: “Look, you can come here whenever you want, you don’t need to be physically here to experience it.”

In fact, there were no words.  This information, this certainty just came directly to me. I really could feel myself there, with everything so familiar and yet, at the same time, the place looking different, as if it were somewhere else. It was dusk, and darshan had just finished.

 

The first thing I did was looking at the stage. I could feel Amma was there but, apparently, no one else could see Her, as everybody had slowly gone away. The stage was at the top of a marble staircase. At the end of the stairs a small fence delimited a private space. I literally ran to reach the fence as fast as I could. She was combing her hair, staying in her own room, dressed up in white. The lights were off and some candles were burning.

 

The atmosphere was puzzling, seeing her shape patterned in a play of smooth lights and shadows. Then she noticed I was standing there, in the fence, next to a woman with red hair who seemed also able to see her. She came to us, gave us darshan with love and affection, and started to explain something. After a while, she stopped her satsanga and said: “Just bring me a tea, and we’ll continue later.”

 

What happened next was my search for Amma’s tea, and I never thought it was going to be so complicated! So many obstacles happened on my way to prevent me from obtaining it.

 

I first started in a long queue but ended up with no tea, because it ran out. I came up in a shopping center and met some friends there. They invited me to go with them to a pleasant place… but I declined and continued my search. I also decided that the restaurant inside this shopping center full of neon lights and playing machines was not worthwhile to enter, and even less of a place to ask for my tea. In another place a man had tea and was able to do
it, but when I said the tea was for Amma, he started cleaning himself and doing some ceremonies, which took a long time. At the end, he came to say that he was not pure enough to prepare a tea for Amma, and he could not do it. Instead, he gave me a shoe and a plastic glass. I found that senseless. I then saw a poor woman and gave her the shoe and the glass, which were my only belongings. When I looked the woman in the eyes, I noticed she was Amma.  With a loving face, she said, “I am in everyone. I am everyone.”

 

I felt so emotional, so grateful and uplifted. An enormous wave of love pervaded my being because I felt, from the bottom of my heart, this statement was really true…

 

This is, apparently, just a dream, but the conclusions are many, and it left profound impressions on me.

 

First of all, from that day onward, more than ever, I just could close my eyes and visualize I was in Amritapuri. I imagined all the details: the presence of Amma close to me—as a friend, as a mother, as the Divine. I felt she was on stage giving darshan, meditating and giving satsanga at the beach during sunset.

 

I was overwhelmed by the bhajana, immersed in the morning archana, Amrita Yoga classes and doing seva. I even acknowledged my brothers and sisters in the ashram. I could feel the sand on my feet, the sun on my face, the breeze coming from the sea, the flying eagles, the waves, the dolphins. Even tasting the food was wonderful, so delicious. Everything transported me there. The more detailed my visualization, the more intense the experience.

 

Through this dream, Amma reminded me of what I already knew: that She is so close to me that I can always be in touch with her if I want…there is no time or distance for love…for Her Love…and I can feel it, treasure it, any time I want. This conviction brought me huge relief and acted as my spiritual battery-recharge, conveying the same feeling I have every time I am physically close to Amma. I felt renewed and purified, thanks to her grace.

 

I feel she spoke to me through this dream, and I wanted to share this valuable experience with others.

 

Coming back to the dream, I compared the “search for tea” with my spiritual path. Amma sends me to the world, to my search. Problems and complications continuously arise and may be solved with grace. The lessons derived from them may be learned for the development of my soul.

 

Many temptations from the senses may come and go, but faith and perseverance will be strong enough not to be deflected from the main path. The spiritual principles, if strongly rooted, may be pillars that sustain the whole life purpose. The search for God, for Self Realization, may be the center of my life, no matter what I do or where I am. I can always do something for good—for myself and for others—at any place, at any moment. I just have to visualize the goal and go for it with all my heart, all my soul. Nothing in this world can give eternal happiness. Visualizing the goal, I will not be tempted by the ephemeral. Let God Be my highest temptation.

 

Remembering to look at the unity of all, helping others is an important part of my sadhana.

It is just not enough to be pleasant with our guru, our boss, the authorities…but we also need to ask ourselves if we are doing the same with our subordinates, with the poor, with the “unimportant” people from whom we are not expecting to gain something in return.

 

Can we just please our guru and at the same time be nasty with our neighbors, who are also our brothers and sisters? We all know the answer, but we seem to forget it in our daily lives, apparently full of many distractions. We have become so selfish, in many occasions, but it is never too late to improve. First of all, acknowledgement is necessary, and then we get involved into actions that modify and improve ourselves.

 

God sees everything, God is in everything and everywhere… may we not forget that.

May all of us be able to see divinity in all creation and act according to it.

May all of us be able to see unity in all.

We are not alone. We are one…with God.

 

Author: Silvia Hidalgo Daya