Maybe I should begin by explaining that my primary purpose in posting here is to get a lot of little stories out of my head. I'm hoping that if I write them down the bad ones will stop haunting me.
This is a neutral/maybe funny story about Amma, my teacher from India. It took place during a very crowded and hectic ceremony. I was one of the helpers in the women's line and I had my hands - and everything else - full, two people in front of me standing, two in front kneeling, one at each side and assorted others. My left shoulder was the only space open and someone tapped me there. I turned and a man named Shri Dar, full of his own importance, offered to tell me how to handle things. Here is where it becomes either or funny or both: I have absolutely no recollection of what I said to him. I remember a lot of other details about this incident but my mind is a complete blank when it comes to how I responded to him. A few minutes later things quieted down and I, realizing that there are politics involved with Amma and Shri Dar considered himself to be quite important, I walked over to where he was standing and said that I was free now if he had some suggestions. He kind of waved his hands and said, "No. I don't have anything to tell you." Not angry just detached. It has puzzled me a lot for several years and this is what I think: I think Amma was paying attention, as she does to everything, and she decided to handle the situation. She turned my mind off and spoke to him directly, using my voice probably. I sure wish I knew what it was but it has provided me with a lot of amusement and speculation What would make a person so full of himself to go from "Let me tell you how to handle this" to "I don't have anything to tell you." Of all the hours I've spent in Amma's presence this is the only instance in which I think she just took over my mind to handle something. One ego deflated, another mystified.
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