A single glistening tear fell down my cheek like a pure white gem, released after millennia of agonizing pressure inside my mind. The little crystal tear escaped and carried in it's small size a river of happiness. I was meditating with Amma again.

 

Amma (Sri Karunamayi) had told the small group of us gathered in Sedona for her yearly retreat that because of 911 she had to be fingerprinted at airport security. The woman security guard could not get Amma's fingerprint to show. The only thing that showed up was light. Having just come off a very busy schedule with lots of programs and meditations, Amma's aura must have been glowing with the "unseen" far stronger than the "seen." The woman tried again and yet again. Only light showed up again and again. The security guard tried testing her own fingerprints. Her fingerprints showed up just fine. Airport security tried three different machines. Still only light, no pattern.

 

This thought tickles me. Trying to fingerprint someone who is considered a revered saint in India and around the globe is bound to have unexpected results. Maybe they need to have "consciousness detector" instead. But that would take people of Amma's level standing at security guard stations and saints have much more important things to do than check fingerprints and auras.

 

I named Amma as one of the Top Spiritual Heroes of 2009. While I was able to get a nice photo of her, due to Amma's travels I was not able to get the answers to the 3 questions I ask every Spiritual Hero. Because I knew Amma would be back in 2010, I decided I would just ask her when I saw her which is a little naïve of me. You don't just go up to Indian Saints on tour and start interviewing them. There is a protocol to follow.

 

The woman in charge of the event gave my request to Amma's beautiful assistant, a peaceful looking yoga teacher named Heather. On the second day my request was granted. Heather said that if I felt comfortable talking to the group with a microphone, I could ask Amma these questions after her Divine Discourse. Of course I would because then the whole group could hear. What I didn't expect though was what actually happened. After conducting thousands of interviews, I consider myself a pretty good listener. Usually I can remember most of what someone said without recording it or writing it down after a conversation with them. When Heather nodded to me that I could ask Amma my questions, I stood up and asked. "What was the best spiritual advice you were ever given?" Amma started to answer. Then my mind went absolutely blank. Although I was hearing Amma fine and caught her first few words, it was like trying to grasp a falling star as it shot itself across the sky. There was no way I could hold onto Amma's words. They flew across the cosmos. I just had to let the words go and soak in what Amma was sending to me. I knew I was getting the essence but the specific words were now Universes away.

 

What I remembered Amma saying were the first words out of her mouth, "Respect everybody. Love everybody." And something like "Dont do bad things." Amma went on a lot longer than that but those first words were basically her whole message. Be good. Avoid being bad.

 

After asking the first question I realized somehow that Amma had already answered both the first and the second question together so I went onto the third question. I had planned on asking, "What do you see for the future of humanity?" liked I asked the other Spiritual Heroes. This is what popped out of my mouth instead (even though I had the question written down right in front of me. Such things happen to me around saints and sages) I asked, What do you see for the future of spirituality in the next two years? Who knows why I picked two years when I was thinking further down the road. All I remember Amma saying was something like she was seeing many people working for good in the world and while the world is changing, many are helping to create peace and much good. She didn't seem worried at all.

 

I sat down stunned that I had waited so long for Amma's answers but did not have the answers taped, written, or even committed to memory. Yet I didn't feel bad. I did remember the essence of the message. It was simple, hopeful and universal.

 

Later I talked to one of Amma's crew members who taped the event. I told him what had happened and asked if it were possible for him to look at the video and see what Amma's real answers were. He told me that I truly did get what Amma was saying but Amma tends to answer questions in a very different manner than what we expect. As we talked it came to me that my ears and my mind could not really hear, nor need to hear, Amma. She sent the words right into my heart. I was expecting answers for my logical brain but received them at a much deeper and more meaningful level. Amma shut my mind but my heart heard.

 

As I walked out of the beautiful Sedona Creative Life Center at the end of Amma's retreat, I saw a woman who I thought might have written down the Amma's statements to those elusive questions. When I explained that I could not remember Amma's answers, I just went blank, the woman said, "Kind of like Amma's fingerprints. Only light." and smiled. Nothing was left behind but light and thats all that was needed.

 

 

 

Live like a hero!

 

Terri Marie

 

 

 

Back to Spiritual Articles