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Senior Disciple Tours
Click here for Amma's Birthday Celebration with Br Shubamrita - REPORT
Click here for Spiritual Insight with Br Shubamrita 2011 REPORT
Click here for Swami Ramakrishnananda Puri London May 2010 REPORT
Br Shubamrita: a short biography
Brahmachari Shubamrita Chaitanya, one of Amma’s closest disciples and her personal Translator visits the UK each year.
Shubamrita was born in South India, grew up in Bombay and graduated in chemistry and biology. After meeting Amma in 1987 he went to live in her ashram, and in 1996, he was initiated by Amma as a monastic. For years, Shubamrita edited the ashram’s official journal, Matruvani. A gifted singer and musician, he is also the author of many of the beautiful songs Amma sings.
News
Amma's Birthday Celebration with Br Shubamrita - REPORT
It was a glorious Indian summer day on Satuday 1 October, perfect for Amma’s family here in the UK to come together and celebrate her birthday with Br Shubamrita. He opened by sharing how Amma’s birthday celebrations at Amritapuri ashram in India had been celebrated; and commenting on how, as usual, it was ‘the birthday girl’ who worked the hardest – extending existing programmes of pensions and scholarships, and launching new ones such as an online tuition programme for students in Kerala. It was another 24-hour stretch for Amma as she gave darshan to the thousands of people who came to the ashram for the occasion. Normally we try to do little as possible on our birthdays!
My favourite piece from Shubamrita’s satsang was when he talked about Amma going through security and customs at the airport. Amma is subjected to the same questions and routine that we all are, and was apparently once asked ‘What is the purpose of your visit?’ Shubamrita chuckled as he imagined Amma’s response being ‘The purpose of my visit is to help you realise the purpose of your visit’! I doubt this was Amma’s actual response, but no doubt it is the accurate one. That is all she wants for us.
Bhajans were as beautiful as ever, kicked off with the World Tour 2010 ‘hit’, Hara Om Shiva, followed by a mixture of old and new. As always, a delicious curry was served afterwards and lots of social chatting and laughter late into the night. - Aparna
Spiritual Insight with Br Shubamrita
Following a lively meeting in early preparations for Amma’s visit, about a hundred people arrived for Br Shubamrita’s satsang – an evening of spiritual teaching, connection with Amma and with each other.
After a short puja, a ceremony to honour Amma, Br Shubamrita gave a talk on ‘Happiness is a Decision’ – a wonderful half hour of spiritual insight blended with humour and compassion. In summary, the four key elements of happiness are 1) Self worth – believe in your own potential; 2) Attitude – having a positive attitude determines 90 percent of our experience; 3) Be ‘present’ in every moment and 4) Gratitude – even when the going gets tough, there are always lessons to be learned.
We then watched a new DVD of Amma singing a bhajan and the whole room was enraptured – it felt truly as if Amma was in the room singing with us. This was followed by a dedicated Q&A session – everybody benefitted from the questions that were asked, and the responses which Br Shubamrita gave. Having this time to ask questions that arise for us in the course of our spiritual practice is a real blessing.
The evening ended up with a delicious dinner, and an opportunity to connect with friends and people new to Amma. We’re already looking forward to Br Shubamrita’s next visit for Amma’s birthday celebration on Saturday 1 October – while being in the present, of course! - Aparna
Swami Ramakrishnananda Puri at the Columbia Hotel
On the evening of Sunday 9 May, the Windsor Suite at the Columbia Hotel in Lancaster Gate, West London, was a hive of activity. People were setting out chairs, decorating an altar with flowers, testing the sound system, while in the ante-room ladies were laying out trays of sandwiches and sweets. It could have been chaos, but the atmosphere was happy and excited, with friends greeting old friends and exchanging news and hugs. Then the handsome and dignified form of Swami Ramakrishananda Puri appeared, typically modest and unannounced, and the meeting began. By this time, though the news that Swamiji would be visiting had only gone out to devotees three days earlier, the large room was filled to capacity.
Swamiji began the proceedings with a satsang. Anyone who has read any of his delightful books will not be surprised to hear that it was a most engaging and enlightening talk. Swamiji’s stories ranged over his early days with Amma, when he continued to work in a bank but found that with Amma’s grace he was able to work longer hours and treat the clients with more love and respect, through memories of Amma in Amritapuri and many anecdotes of Her teachings and Her stories. Relaxed and informal, the satsang was both entertaining and informative, and the audience obviously appreciated the profound spiritual knowledge Swamiji imparted.
Then it was time for the bajans. With the words projected onto the wall for all to see and join in, and a small but powerful backing group of talented singers, the sound was glorious, and must have surprised passers by as it floated through the French windows and out over Hyde Park. Swamiji then led a beautifully settled and profound meditation, and the formal part of the meeting ended with Arati. There was still time for Swamiji to hand out prasad, and for more socialising over snacks. Amma’s presence seemed to permeate the whole evening, and everyone went home happy and spiritually uplifted.
Harriet Devine
Swami Ramakrishnananda Puri at East Ham Murugan Temple
Amma and her senior disciple Swami Ramakrishnananada Puri sprung the nicest surprise in London a few weeks ago. Swamiji made an impromptu visit to see us for two talks and bhajans over the weekend, the first of which was on Saturday the 8th of May at the London Sri Murugan temple in East London.
East Ham Murugan Temple is one of the oldest temples serving the Tamil community in London but prior to Swamiji’s visit I had not been in about 20 years. I was presented with another beautiful surprise – the place was unrecognisable. I remembered it being a small unobtrusive hall situated in a residential area; a maze of one-way systems and narrow roads of garage-less Victorian terraces lined with parked cars, which usually meant no space for temple-goers. I didn’t remember what the outside looked like and was scared I’d miss it, but there was no chance of that. I turned the corner onto the road to see a gleaming white gopuram sitting proudly amidst the rooftops I knew where I was going. And there was now parking out the back!
Inside, the temple was light, airy, spacious and just immaculate really, with polished stone floors, high ceilings and fresh flowers, silks and jewels adorning the idols. If it’d looked like this when I was 7 I doubt I’d have forgotten.
It was a lovely setting for the programme, which had to be organised at the last minute. With three days to go there was only enough time to send out some e-flyers but the temple hall was full. In England we’re lucky to live in a country with so much cultural diversity and it was lovely to see that reflected in the audience.
It could not come at a better time for me. I was going through a bit of a slack phase, not doing japa regularly, or listening to the Lalithasahasranamam most days like I normally do, and the other commitments of life seemed to be eating away at my time for prayer and meditation. I was feeling guilty about this, almost stuck in a bit of a spiritual rut, and consequently missing Amma even more than usual. Then out of the blue I get an email from a friend saying Swamiji was paying us a flying visit. It was like Amma heard my – and I’m sure many other of her UK children’s’ laments at feeling so far removed from her – and sent us just the boost we needed.
In fact Swamiji said that’s exactly what a Satguru can do for us - give us that spiritual boost just when we need it. It’s just a question of being open to the opportunity to receive their grace. Whether that entails rearranging weekend plans to go for Satsang, or finding the time in a busy schedule to dedicate to spiritual practices. We humans are creatures of habit living in a materialistic society that screams at us to put futile materialism ahead of spiritual advancement. Another enduring line from Swamiji’s talk was how he highlighted just how lucky we are to have three very special and very rare things going for us. Paraphrasing Adi Shankaracharya he said out of all the millions of types of beings on this earth we are fortunate to have not just a human birth but the characteristics of humanity. Secondly we have the desire to know the ultimate truth. And finally we have the ultimate gift in a Realised Master who out of Her sheer compassion for us has taken birth to show us the way. So Swamiji said half the battle with the cycle of birth and death is already won, because Amma is there to take care of us. All Amma wants is for all of us to realise the ultimate truth, it’s why She works so tirelessly. So the very least we can all do is try and make Amma’s task a little easier by trying to follow Her advice and more importantly her example on a daily basis.
From Matruvani Magazine May 2010
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Each year there is a programme of retreats. All the information will be on this website so visit regularly for updates.
