means what? means that the desires, the senses, the lust for power, status, name, material, consumpition are, as d'angelo put it in his song devil's pie - all a lie, all a lie, slice of the devil's pie...
day 26. monday. rebuilding. ama gone from my system. ama, in ayurveda, refers to the toxins that prevent proper digestion, that inhibit assimilation of nutrients. destroy and rebuilding through kichoree and salads has led me to a new strength, all praise is due...
the lesson today comes from mama. mama is the name of the owner of this hudson cafe on warren st. that's what the boy who worked here told me, after giving me a tour of the place. said it was family owned. has been here for 6 years.
so your folks own the spot? i asked.
well, not exactly, he said. but here's mama, he said, after we walked back through the netted swing door of the bright, dinerish-cafe, that melds the aroma of cofees, fried eggs, teas and burgers, into a beautiful ambrosia that makes my insides salviate.
mama's back there, he said, nodding his thick head of dark wavy hair, held back by a red bandana.
hey mama, i said, holding out my hand to the little asian woman with short hair and a face like a redwood.
mama looked at me with curious blue eyes, through her rectangle glass frames, and smiled soft enough to make me think of my own mama. after initial greetings, after she introduced me to a stranger who just returned from trivanumalay, the place of ramana's ashram, where i aslo paid homage a couple years back, after i spoke at length with the guy, who was a music composer and did spiritual growth sessions via skype, i returned to mama.
she stood by the table i was chilling at, like she were waiting for me. and i walked right into our destiny as if i was a child learning to walk, and going faster till i collapsed into mama.
after establishing that we both held strong asian values, that more than an ethnicity, values are at the center of everything, and spirit is what requires us to know each other. the more we delved in conversation, the greater the diamond in our rough became, and then she rained jewels on me.
i learned that mama was 62, had grandchildren in indiana, took the train there to see them and passed ithaca on the way, was thankful for the deep values she was reared in, in the phillipines, lamented about the lack of values among many nowadays, lost her daughter to an illness, and understood what signs and God were at that moment.
religion, she said doesn't mean anything. it's how you treat people. treating people well is the greatest thing you can do.
yes, i said, thinking of jesus, of the prophet muhammad, of how he said treat your brother the way you wish to be treated.
you can fast all year, mama said, softly, with beatufiul intense eyes, but it doesn't mean nothing, if you treat others poorly.
that's the lesson. if the rituals of this path of surrender are not bringing you/me closer to humilty, to surrendering into the Oneness by treating the Highest in all beings, through active kindness, compassion, open-handedness, then abandon this path. then stop the fast. it's not working. do something that will...
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