International Year of Youth, August 2010-August 2011

Aum Amriteshwaryai Namah

Dear All,

Amma has agreed today to make 12 August 2010 - 11 August 2011 to the "International Year of Youth" (IYY) for Her organization.

During this year we hope to see an increased enthusiasm amongst youth to implement AYUDH activities in their respective places. Amongst all other activities, Amma has said, She would like to see the youth care for Nature.

So one initiative that we would like to encourage you to do is to tree planting. Within the IYY we want to set a certain goal (and achieve it!!!), maybe 108 on each continent.

Please write back to us if your AYUDH group wants to participate in this during the IYY and let us know the number of trees you want to plant by 15 July 2010, so that we can announce the final number during the opening ceremony of the IYY on August 12.

Hari, an AYUDH member from Scotland, will be collecting the numbers and following up your pledge during the year. Please contact him directly, as soon as possible: neomahatma@gmail.com

Looking forward to your cooperation and an exciting year of youth 2010/2011.

in Amma's service

Nath and Hari

****
AYUDH Americas Goal: 108 by August 2011!

Summer Seva at the Ashram

Summer Seva at the Ashram



Cow Seva: Training for cow seva is available at the Cow Barn any day from 7 to 9 a.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. when the milking takes place. Best not to wear sandals.



New Orchard Seva: Seva in the new orchard is happening most days except Thursdays and Fridays, but always on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Some of the tasks are: Irrigation lines haunched and ready to be buried by the weekend of the 10th of July, weeds cleared, mulch pushed back, tree trunks painted, cages made to keep voles out, bird perches constructed and installed.
Call Abhay at 202-290-4396 if you have any questions. Bring a hat and water bottle.



Medical Donations Seva: The Dining Hall has been turned into a warehouse again. There are about 11 pallets of medical donations ready to be sorted and inventoried on any Wednesday or Saturday, 9 to 5. If you want to help any other day (except Sundays), call Lela at 925-989-7674.


Kitchen Seva: An assistant lunch cook is needed most Wednesdays and Saturdays from 11 to 1:00. Dishwashers are always needed after lunch. A team of dishwashers makes fast work and people can get back to their other sevas.

* NOTE: We have a new phone extension to RSVP for BART pickups. Please call 510-537-9417 x 447. Pickup for seva on Wednesdays is at 9:30am and on Saturdays at 9:00am
in Amma's Love and Service,
Lela for the Summer Seva team

--
Ôm Amriteswaryai Namaha

Wisdom from Age

On April 17th, Amma's Ayudh USA visited LightHouse Nursing Home in Castro valley. Amma's volunteers individually visited all the rooms offering a rose and simple conversation. The gift we got in return were truths that can only be sincerely understood through the span of one's life. The most astounding parallel was that almost all of them who were able to sustain conversation stressed (unprompted) that the foundation of an honorable life is the act of giving selflessly. Through their tears and occasionally our own we felt when we left that we had received a lot more than we had ever hoped to give.

Ocie Benson, an 86 year old American lady, was celebrating her birthday facing a cold white wall. Although she looked tired from receiving fluids she had a formidable presence which contributed to our initial hesitation to approach her. She did not hesitate to share her insights into various topics ranging from marital relationships to understanding death. She had witnessed one of her sons being murdered and the other die slowly due to injuries sustained from a street side thug. Her husband and all her siblings had died of old age. The thing that truly struck us at first about Ocie was that although she was deprived of the family and companionship we take f

or granted, she had a certain sincerity in her optimism that truly reflected on the resilience of the human spirit. This was in stark comparison to the many who wandered those halls that had to a great extent reconciled themselves to their fate. Ocie was older than most and faced imminent death due to chronic heart disease. As a result she treats our each meeting as if it were our last and strains to kiss us goodbye. After around three hours of conversation we soon discovered that every word she spoke to us caused immense pain to her throat. She had been confronted with the option to underg

o surgery to quell the pain, but in return she would lose the power to speak. Even now she had to work for every word, but that did not stop her from sharing as much as she could, and we could tell that she really did. Perhaps what we really drew from her was inspiration to never look at things from one angle, to broaden our perspective on meaning, and truly introspect on the reason for our existence.

Ocie was an out of the ordinary example, and such people are hard to find. Still there are countless veins of knowledge that can be tapped to provide one with a conversation that can induce a lasting change. For true sincerity has a power than cannot be matched. Our Amma is a shining example of this, and her effort should urge us all try to help those who can truly benefit from the comfort of a few words. When we left Ocie, she told us that her family now had three new young members (thats us!). Amma says that in essence we are all beads strung on the same string, a family in its truest sense, let it be our mission to be the family of all those who are willing to receive us, as faulted we may be.