#ahsram

[prsly]

[thefirstchoice]

"Silence is the key to all that is sought after."

Ahsram

[thefirstchoice]

Biggest, Bestest, Fuck that, I am the mostest uniquest! And no one can hold a candle, to being a better me, than me! But, I am confident that everyone can be just like me ... And know the elegance of this simple truth.

Ahsram

[burnberlinburn-blog]

Amma's Ashram

Set in a gorgeous location, sandwiched in between the coconut palm tree-lined Kerala backwaters and the sea, Amma's pink ashram, a tray of cupcakes, left me both disenchanted and a little crazed.

My plan was to stay for week, but on Day 5 the mantra music that seemed to be playing everywhere, from early morning to way past nightfall had started to pulverize my brain and my ribcage, and the kooky followers made me both sad and disgusted. So I bailed one day earlier. Fled to the white beaches of Varkala.

I am generally a skeptical person, but I'm also curious. I wanted to see what the hype was all about. Does Amma really have some magical healing powers in her chubby arms than pull you onto her quite significant bosom for three seconds before her helpers drag you away? Could she heal my hurts? Coming there I still harbored a sliver of a hope that the answer to both of those questions would be yes. There's still a possibility, of course, that she can or has tapped into some sort of higher energy, but i didn't feel it. She made my hurts hurt more. I left wondering if there's anything pure in this world at all?

For anyone that goes to Amritapuri, it will become quite clear that it's a big business. You can buy Amma rings, keychains, t-shirts, posters, Cds, passport-sized photos of her feet, Amma incense and chocolate. Sure, she does charity work, but does she also pocket some?

The guru game in India and everywhere else is a very male-dominated business (because, yes, I think it's a business). I am impressed that Amma, a woman from a poor fisher-family, has thousands upon thousands of men literally bowing down at her lotus feet.

I won't be searching for a guru anytime soon though.