Late last night we returned from India – still a bit tired, but well. It was a deep and fulfilling journey, but no time remained for blogging. The the seminar with Sri Kumar on The Cosmic Person was intense, and we did several small excursions. And above all there were lot of exchanges with the group members, besides the meditations etc. So here come some extracts from my notes, as a continuation of the previous blogpost, and here a slideshow with some pictures.
Friday, 14 January in the afternoon we went to the house of Sri Kumar for a ceremony of blessing the children. It is done on the lunar winter solar eclipse day and a long story is linked to it – the incarnation of the Divine as the Dwarf Avatar, which Sri Kumar told us afterwards.
Monday, 17 January 2011 we went with a bus on a 2 hours ride to Vizianagaram to visit the Angirasa Mithila Vidyalaya (free school of the WTT for children of a rural area wit now about 130 children). We received a very warm welcome – all members were garlanded with flowers and received a coconut to drink.
There was a celebration inside the school, and afterwards a person told us how the school came about: The school started September 2002, now it has about 130 children.The school is recognised by the government of Andhra Pradesh and has been expanded up to 7th class. Besides, free homoeopathic medicine is distributed to patients.
After a beautiful Indian lunch and a group photo we continued our ride to Sri Kakulam, where we visited the Bala Bhanu school, another school of the WTT.
Wednesday, 19 January 2011, in the morning there was the fire ritual for Capricorn full moon.
Afterwards the group visited the Mithila school in the fishermen colony of Visakhapatnam, located in a very poor slum area. About 60 children are taken care and receive free clothes, food and school in three classes. The school is run by the Circle of Good Will, India, who finances all the activities. The school is called the “Mother of the Sea”, since the people around totally depend on fishing and the nourishment nature gives them.
The children recited several verses and sung a prayer to Mother India.
After some coffee the group continued to the Krishna Ashram multi-service centre. At that place the Circle of Good Will conducts a number of service activities, which Navaneetam presented to us: “The house was donated by a lady who lived here for a long time. She departed in 2006. In the beginning it was a totally different place. The Circle started there the main homoeo centre, different doctors are taking care of homoeo activities and also cardiac consultation and surgery totally for free.
There is a vocational training for unemployed women. Daily they cook food there and take it to people in difficult situations and to children. In the backyard there are several cows as a service to go-madri, the cow as mother. At the place they are taking care for over 700 people, giving food, clothes and also professional education to selected students totally free.
Thursday the group went to the Daspalla Hotel to listen to Dr. G. Bhakthavatsalam, chairman of K.G. Hospitals, Coimbatore, who spoke about Health and Healing. Sri Kumar presided the meeting organised by the Circle of Goodwill, Visakhapatnam. Dr. Bhakthavatsalam gave a very inspiring and humorous talk about good living as the basis for good health.
In the afternoon we went to the temple site of the WTT, Ramadri. Since the last time we had been there in January 2010, the site had been further developed, with beautiful flowers, and also an enlarged cow worship: The cows are taken care of as a ritual and whether they give milk or not, they are well kept. We went around the compound to visit the different little temples and the Mithila school, where free classes are given for children from the neighbouring villages, together with fundamentals of spirituality. The children from the school presented a beautiful rose to each one of us.
Later there was the installation of new Ramanama-boxes, a ritual done there. Afterwards we had a silent meditation together with Sri Kumar. A man who came to the ceremony invited the whole group for the evening to the Sri Venkateshvara-temple in Visakhapatnam. So on our way back we visited the temple and joined a ritual worship of the Lord of the 7 hills. It was a colourfull worship with a vibrant atmosphere, where we all offered flowers, waved camphor lights and received some presents. In the evening Saundarina, the daughter of Navaneetam and Uma, gave a beautiful Indian dance performance in the prayer room.
Friday, 21 January the group went to the Planetary Healing Centre for noon meditation and then returned home.
The Planetary Healing Centre near Visakhapatnam
Maitreya Statue in the garden
Meditation inside
Due to the cold of Sri Kumar, there was no lecture at the Healing centre, but in the afternoon the Master surprisingly gave a final lecture at the Retreat Centre. In the evening after meditation there was a good-bye ceremony as the end of the beautiful seminar. Each one who liked could express a word of thanks, and then clothes as the traditional presents were distributed.
Saturday morning we started our homeward journey together with some other members. We had a short stay in Chennai where 2 Indian friends received us. They had arranged our stay there. In the afternoon we visited the Headquarters of the Theosophical Society in Adyar, the place where H.P. Blavatsky had been teaching for a while under the huge Banyan Tree. Though on the outer the place gave an expression of crystallisation and rigidity of the guardians, on the inner is was filled with subtle experiences.
Portal with the old banyan tree in the background, which expands over a huge area
Statue of Helena Blavatsky and Henry S. Olcott, founders of the Theosophical Society
Mandala decoration in front of a Mithila school
