------------------ from: Martin Wolff to: dineshdayalu date: Wed, Feb 6, 2019 at 9:03pm
Namaskar Dennis,
I have been meaning to send a hello to you there, so I am glad to see this message and to wish you a very good stay!
Naturally, even though I am doing what I think is the best thing for right now, I do miss being there. So, I have been buoyed by emails and facebook postings from those who have been there this year (including nice photos from Jim & Kerry Stout).
How is the water situation now? I had heard that it was very bad, but then I think I have heard that some rain did finally arrive. The way I can tell, when I am there, is the tank right next to the ashram. Is that up to a decent level?
We have just heard that Toni Sethi is now scheduled to go and, if I have my dates right, should be there while you are also there. Billee and I are glad to hear she is going and that she will have your good company while there to boot!
I don't know if you knew, but one of the reasons I/we did not go this year was Billee's gallbladder (it flatly 😜refused😜 to go this yr!) Billee ended up having it removed this past Thursday, 1/31. It was a laparascopic operation, so not as bad as how they used to do these things. She is recovering nicely and we may make the vedas on Saturday night, after going to see my Dad that morning and early afternoon; it just depends on how she feels. She still has some pain and tiredness, but both now seem to be improving more quickly.
Is your own health 'hanging in there'? I know the trip can be wearing. I hope there are no unusual problems to deal with. On the one hand, it seems a bother to get problems while you are there in a physically less-than-optimal environment. But in my own experience, when I have had problems there, they have been easier to bear than when I am here! Just a few years ago, I developed a bad shin-split-like injury while on a giripradakshina and had very limited walking ability for the last week and a half of my stay (I could not get to Skandashram!) - but it didn't seem to really change the quality of my retreat. I just limped a bit and didn't engage in long walks. I have also gotten amoebas a couple of times and even ran a 103.5° fever once. The retreat continues and the essence of it does not change, except that sometimes I get a little more detachment from this body! Anyway, I hope you are doing well and are able to make the very most of your retreat. I may miss being there, but it does my heart good to know that you are there! I look forward to seeing you when you get back.
om namo bhagavate śrī ramaṇāya Martin
------------------ from: dineshdayalu to: Martin Wolff, arthur date: Thu, Feb 7, 2019 at 2:24am subj: Re: Namaskars and Arunachala Ashram Darshan
Namaskar Martin,
Gallbladder! I heard that was an unnecessary organ in the body. I would think, knowing what we do about Billie, she would be smart enough to be born without one!☺ No one ever thinks about this bladder until it becomes a pain. I'm sure she will recover fast.
The water situation is the same now as it was at this time two years ago. The monsoon failed again, the Pali Tirtham is really low and no rain in sight, nor was there any since I have been here. They may have stop taking new reservations of visitors soon, like they did in 2017.
A lot of changes I see since I have been here last. Have a look at the photos below:
photo 1. Check out the list of rules posted. 17 in all. For number three, look at the next photo -- the dress code. I suppose this is needed. I was reading the rules yesterday and Dr. Murthy said noone reads and no one follows them. But the dress code one is posted on two sets of hand rails going up steps near the office. This is being followed by nearly all visitors now. See the photo.
Have a look at the 3rd photo. It's playground behind the goshala. Who would have imagined this! There are 28 boys in the Veda Patasala now. There were 16 when I was here last. Some are quite young and I suppose they thought these young boys would play there. But it dosen't seem to be happening. 'What would the older boys think about the younger ones acting like children'. I am sure there is even peer pressure ini Ramanasramam.
And the cows! Do you believe there are now 250 of them! Also there are 13 in the old cow home they opened last year. 540 liters of milk a day is milked from the milk bearing ones.
The Ashram maintains 150 guests rooms, some single, some double and some family rooms. These have all been full since I have been here. I think they will stop constructing more for the time being. Feeding everyone is the problem. There are also 20 rooms for residents, workers and volunteers, not to mention another dozen houses in Ramana Nagar where workers, priest and volunteers like Vaidyanathan live.
The temperatures at night go down to about 70 and up to about 90 in the day. I go up to the rock near Skandasramam in the evenings after the Veda chanting. Most everyone has left the hill by then and a nice breeze picks up. It's dark by the time I return, but I carry a flashlight with me and have a key for the Ashram back gate, which Captain Narayan started giving me every year before he was absorbed in Bhagavan. We miss him here.
The Swami that was taking care of Skandasramam no longer does. I haven't gone in there yet to see who replaced him. He started having back trouble and couldn't do the work. I see him most mornings, though. He shows up at the Old Hall at 3 AM along with Mohan, from across the street who opens it up. Roland walks in about 3:30 and others not till well after 4. I don't think anyone knows it opens at 3 AM. It is a wonderful time to sit quietly with Bhagavan.
Sundaram
still comes to the Parayanams in the evening most days.
It looks like we will be moving the arunachala.org web site onto into a new program -- Wordpress. We are getting some professional help by some devotees here and in Canada. Arthur thought he was fired but I told him there is no way he will get off so easily. I am sure he will be an essential component of the whole new constructed site. Since he flourishes in construction projects, I am sure he will be just tickled to death about this thing. Right Arthur?😀
Badri is here and wants to take me to his village for some program overnight. Also Chaitanya is getting married in Bangalore on Feb. 22 and he has arranged for a car to take me there on the 21st, a hotel to stay in that night and the night of the 22nd, and a car to bring me back on the 23. And sometime near the end of March Kumar Raja wants to take me to Ramanagiri's samadhi, three hours from Madurai and the ancient Ashrams of Agastiar and Atri. There is a forest and tiger reserve there too. We will see how that trip works out.
Otherwise, everything is fine here. It is like I had never left and have only brief memories of being elsewhere. Why is that? You tell me.
Yours in Bhagavan,
Dennis