From Cabella with love from the heart (Shivaratri and Birthday pujas in Cabella 2011)

This message is from Cathy R.

Jai Shri Mataji!

Two weeks have passed since Shivaratri and Birthday pujas in Cabella but the feelings remain.  The things that came to my attention at the time were not necessarily the things you’ll want to hear about, as I was there with a friend’s 12 year old daughter, whose desire had been to attend a "big" puja (with prasad and everything, as she put it), so I was seeing everything through the eyes of a child, whose many questions and qualities enlightened my attention in very special ways.  Please forgive me if I mix up any details of the itinerary as I relate the weekend.

We arrived late Friday evening.  It wasn’t very busy as we set up in the hangar.  Saturday more people arrived for the havan.  The morning meditation started with a talk and both Saturday and Sunday the talks fit perfectly with the day.  Mother asked in this talk why the yoginis are afraid of spiders and things.  Later, sitting outside at the havan with my 12 year old sidekick, we could see the spiders and creepy crawlies making their way between yogis, and had a chance to practice a new kind of fearlessness.

The weather was gorgeous - it was sunny and very warm.  We went to the river to footsoak every day.  The meals were delicious and everybody took turns to help serve.  They served up in a tent attached to the hangar, which was heated, and they heated the space between the hangar and the bathrooms, so we would be cozy and warm.

Saturday evening’s program was varied and wonderful, beginning with a performance by the children of Cabella school.  Following a dance, they sang a special Birthday song for Mother, written by a Finnish yogini, which was very moving.  It was, for me, the first of the moments when my heart took a bit of a spin, knowing this trip to Cabella would be different.  Until then the joy of seeing Sahaja Yogis from all over, including some I have not seen for a few years (which is the sum of my time in Sahaja Yoga), and the amazing vibrations that make meditation so effortless, kept me on such a high.  I still was here, but with a pang of sorrow, perhaps to make the sweetness more sweet.  I thought of you all when a gospel singer from France shared some music and had everybody singing together.  Perhaps he will be the next to tour Canada!

Sunday morning meditation also started with a talk on the big screen.  Mother says if comforts are occupying your attention, sleep on a rug.  If your attention is still caught there, sleep on the ground.  If still, then sleep on stone.  And if it’s still caught up, sleep on the ice!  If food is in your attention, cut out everything that is your favourite. If it’s still occupying your attention, eat only bitter things.  A message to get these comforts out of our attention.  As it happens, everybody was getting ready for the puja, which was on for 2pm, with lunch beforehand, and then there was an announcement that there was a problem with the food - I think it was transporting the food.  It would take 2-3 hours, they said, to have the food ready.  So they asked if we would rather wait for the food before starting the Puja, or just go ahead and have the Puja.  We said go ahead and have the Puja, which is what we did.  So people finished getting ready and sat down.  The hangar filled to five or six hundred.  It was strange to start a Puja in Cabella at a time decided
by the collective gathered there.

Just before starting the Puja, it was announced that to run the Cabella school and castle and everything costs 100,000 euros per month, and there are only currently 30,000 euros in the account.  All were asked to contribute as no guru dakshina is being taken anymore at pujas. (How are things for the school in Vancouver? I spoke to many people about the school. Everybody is aware, and several people asked me about it).

It was about 2:30 when the Puja started.  So there we were, and then came the moment that really lurched the heart.  The conch shell blew.  I went up on my toes to see the door, and the screen, looking for the car.  I didn’t think, it was just an immediate response to the shell.  Then my heart sank when I remembered.  No car was arriving.  It is hard even to write this part to you and relive that.  But it was just a moment in the day, and maybe it was necessary for me to accept what is new and move into it fully.

Shri Shiva puja proceeded, beautifully, with all of the children going forward, and the Yuva Shakti, and intense vibrations.  When it was over and they went to get prasad, I thought it was maybe an hour later.  I checked the time and it had been nearly three!  Everybody was hungry, having missed lunch, and prasad was received very gratefully!  Then it was announced we would start Birthday puja.  This was very joyful, with birthday cakes and the singing of Happy Birthday (in multiple languages).  The flower arrangements were gorgeous.  There was not a lot of singing afterwards though, and no dancing, as everybody went to eat dinner (and lunch, which they brought in paper bags for us, and handed out with dinner).  So the festivities continued over a late meal.

They asked how many would be there Monday, and there were so many that they said they had planned to have a Birthday Puja (on the 21st) in the castle but they would have it in the hangar since we would be so many.  They also said we would have a chance to offer flowers, so many of us went to town in the morning.  This puja was decorated with beautiful flower arrangements and loads of balloons of all colours and shapes.  The children had fun with the balloons and the puja was very joyful.  We read the names of Allah (I think it was Iranian new years?) to start.  Everybody could offer flowers at Mother’s feet.  The vibrations flowed from her presence.  It was beautiful.  Afterwards, although nobody had a harmonium, that did not stop the excellent music!!!  There was so much singing, a cappella, and dancing.  It was a great birthday party, although the crowd had thinned considerably to maybe one hundred.

Jai Shri Mataji!
with love from the heart,
Cathy