Daily life and spirituality
The invisible world influences our daily life
So, we always address the Gods. We protect ourselves from demons thanks to the work of the monks in the many Hindu temples. We communicate with the spirits, evil and beneficial, so that they bring protection and success.
The morning ritual of fire and incense.
Each day, the teams draw a different pattern with chalk. Color or monochrome.
Gurus on Varkala Beach (Kerala)
Every morning the gurus settle on the beach of Varkala. The Indians come as a family and choose a guru.
The conversation starts, the exchange continues with rituals of water, fire, various gestures and for some, they kneel. The end ritual is always the same. Peeled hard-boiled eggs are placed on a banana leaf. The family move away a little and offer the food by placing it on the ground. Pigeons and crows will feast on it later.
It looks devilishly like the Christian equivalent of the confessional.
AMMA at Maithrimandir Ashra
Maithrimandir Ashram is 30 km north of Kollam.
See beginning of this post in TRAVEL DIARY / KERALA page KOLLAM post Visit to the Maithrimandir ashram
The visit to Amma’s ashram was an important step for the beginning of my journey. But then, events rarely go as planned. Fortunately, I’m not planning anything otherwise, there would have been disappointment.
When you listen to it, Amma has only one religion, Love. I do not question his sincerity. Nor her action which is fabulous On the other hand, her entourage adulates her and protects her excessively so that she has become inaccessible.
Maybe it’s better that way. Let me explain: people come for “Darshan”. The “Darshan” is an opportunity for Hindus to see a holy person, or the image of a deity. It is something important to them. This holy person must maintain a distance from her followers to maintain the image they have of her. That’s how it is. And then there were a lot of admirers that day. More than a thousand people were present ! And probably the same number every Tuesday.
Before covid Amma hugged people. Since the covid, it’s over…
The rest in photos and videos
Ganesh day
Ganesh, child god with the head of an elephant is the son of Shiva, the main deity of Hinduism. On August 31, Hindus go to temples to worship Ganesh and be anointed by monks. This evening, almost a kilometer of tail in a zen atmosphere.
Leaving the temple, an elephant is present. It is customary to give him a gift of food and the elephant blesses us with his trunk. Of course I didn’t fail to do so and received the elephant’s blessing. A caress of the face with his trunk.
The queue in the street
Temple entrance
Food donation
Bowed down before the elephant
Blessing
Monitoring of cornaques
Back to page : “Pondi 1” post “Ganesh day”
Diwali
Indians do not celebrate Christmas. Diwali is the Indian equivalent of Christmas. See Page: Sedentarization / Pondi 2 / Diwali