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Amma was invited as the Chief guest in the huge conglomeration of Ayyapa devotees at the Ayyappa Bhakta Sangamam on 20th Jan 2019 at Thiruvananthapuram, in which several heads of Hindu religious institutions and prominent citizens participated.The following is the translation of Amma's Malayalam speech at the gathering:"Whatever incidents that have happened recently related to Sabarimala are quite unfortunate. The root cause of the problem is the absence of adequate knowledge about the specific nature of conception of each deity worshiped in a temple and the practices of austerities associated with each of them. Ignoring or discontinuing them is not correct."When we consider the nature of deities worshiped in a temple, we should understand the difference between them and the concept of God as an all pervading Truth. God as almighty has no limitations of constraints; there is no difference of male or female in Him. There is a difference between the fish in the ocean and the ornamental fish nurtured in a fish tank at home. For the fish in the tank, we have to feed food, provide oxygen and also change waters. There is no such limitation for the fish in the ocean."When we take bath in a river, we don't have any procedures to follow. At the same time, when a swimming pool is filled with the water from the same river, the water has to be filtered and chlorinated. People who want to swim in the pool have to wash their bodies first to remove sweat; they should also remove their old clothes and wear specific swimming suits. One should not use soap in a swimming pool."Though only the water of the river has been used in the swimming pool, the rules of cleanliness are different. Likewise, even though only the all pervading Almighty is worshiped in a deity, the rules regarding following cleanliness for worshiping the deity are different and specific."How we keep our mindset reflects in what we gain. When we sow a seed, we get fruits in future only if we water the sapling, apply manure regularly and take proper care of the plant. Likewise, the formerly consecrated deity in a temple has to be worshiped as per established procedures, offered food etc and whatever rules of cleanliness, dos and don'ts must be followed strictly. But there are no such rules for God as the all pervading Almighty."Every deity in different temples has different rules to be followed for worship. For example, the procedures of worship of Devi (goddess) in a temple where She has been consecrated in a fiery mood is different from Devi in another temple where she is conceptualized as a peaceful Goddess. If those specific procedures are not followed, it can affect the sanctity of the temple."In our shastras, the deity worshipped in a temple is conceptualized as a minor. Just as a child requires the care of parents and teachers, the deity also requires the care of Tantris and pujaris. The role of faithful devotees of the deity is also of paramount importance. The temple too depends on the faith and patronage of the devotees. In fact the deity indeed exists for the sake of devotees!"Sabarimala Ayyappa was a Naishtika Brahmachari (Strict follower of celibacy). It is believed by devotees that before he entered into Samadhi, Swami Ayyappa had expressed his wish that all the practices of austerities must be followed by his devotees."Changes according to changing times are necessary, but when it comes to temples, if we start changing things at will, then there is scope of losing our fundamental values. It is like trying to bathe a child again and again and losing the child itself in the process!"Sri Shankaracharya, Sri Narayana Guru and Sri Chattambi Swamikal were all proponents of Advaita philosophy. But they, after attaining that highest state, came back and established temples for worship and outlined the procedural norms for the worship of those deities. I have been invited to visit such temples too and I have gone there. In some Shiva temples, I was asked not to circumambulate there and I was asked to go back. Bowing to the procedures followed in such temples, Amma did obey them and returned."Even when Amma consecrated Brahmasthana temples at her Ashrams, Amma consulted experts and pundits and took their advice. When Amma gave Sanyasa to some of her brahmacharis, Amma followed the established procedures by inviting a Sanyasi of a specific sect to carryout the procedural norms. Thus Amma has not relinquished the norms despite seeing everything as manifestations of God."Temples are indeed like the pillars of our religious culture. We are duty bound to take care of them. Otherwise they will be like flying kites with thread cut off."Even in the outer world, we can see that in earlier days, smoking was permitted anywhere in places like Airports but nowadays there are strict norms that smoking can be done only in specific places earmarked for the purpose. People do follow such restrictions."In Mannar Salai, a woman is the priest. It is the norm for that temple. In some places there are schools exclusively for boys. One does not demand gender equality there. In Sabarimala, one cannot say there is gender discrimination as ladies of specific age group are permitted to worship as per the norms of the temple."When parents say to little children that if you tell a lie, your eyesight would be lost or nose will get cut, it is just to instill some fear in children to prevent them from lying. It is done with a practical application of mind, by coming down to the level of children for their comprehension. If it were true, practically all of us would be without eyes and noses!"A little girl showed a picture drawn by her to her father and said, "Father, see the elephant I have drawn!" The father who was busy with some work saw it and noticed only some lines scribbled there. He said, "Where is the elephant? I don't see any such thing in your sketch!". The child got disappointed and started crying. However much the father consoled him, he could not stop the cry. The father, realizing his tactical mistake said, "Oh, yes! Earlier I did not see the picture clearly as I was not wearing my specs! Now that I am wearing it, I can see it. You have really drawn a beautiful elephant there!" The child felt very happy. It is how the language of the heart is spoken. One has to come down to the level of others to communicate certain things."God is the ultimate truth and to attain him, temples are useful as the steps to the upper floor. The upper floor and the steps are made of the same bricks, cement and mortar. Everything is indeed God. It does not mean that the steps are not needed once you reach up. For everybody else to reach the higher floor, steps are indeed necessary."Amma did a small research in the past spanning a period of 10 to 15 years. She would send her messengers to various hospitals during Sabarimala season to find out the pattern of influx of patients. She could observe that during Sabarimala season, the number of patients coming to hospitals dropped by 20 to 40% . It was so because, during the season, many men (on account of practicing austerities for going to Sabarimala) did not drink, did not consume non-vegetarian food, did not fight with their wives and also did pooja and chanting by sitting as a family together. Thus Sabarimala temple's influence in bringing positive vibes in both in the body and mind of the people and also in the society is obvious."Thus it is important that these traditions are nurtured and maintained in the society. The society remains bound to good values this way. Everyone should mind this and move forward."When Arjuna wanted to commence the war and sought permission from Krishna, Krishna said "Take permission from Bhishma who is the right authority to give you the green signal on this matter." Likewise, there are certain things that are to be left to the decision of the right authorities who are the most appropriate and competent ones to give the right direction."What I want to say here is that in this specific issue, it is the devout Tantris and poojaris of Sabarimala and the representatives of ardent devotees like you who are to sit together, discuss and come to a conclusion. There is a saying in Malayalam that if you eat very slowly, you can even eat a palm tree. I don't have anything more to say and many people who spoke before me have mostly said what has to be said on this issue. Namah Shivaya."

El Embassy PartiesI have written a couple of answers about my time working in Saudi Arabia, and although it was a pretty strict place to live, we did still manage to have fun. Where did we go for fun? In Riyadh, we went to the embassies.I know that most people when they think of embassies they imagine a serious place of diplomacy, visa applications and passports. That´s true in most countries, but, like many things in KSA (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia), things were different.Embassies were like a mullet, business in the front and a party in the back.They were THE place to go for foreigners to party. You might be thinking that an embassy party would by a pretty staid affair with a group of people in tuxedoes and long gowns doing the tango, sipping champagne, and saying, “The name is Bond, James Bond”, in a sexy foreign accent.This couldn´t be further from the truth. In fact, embassies in KSA were more like a frat house who has just been told by the college administrators that their final exams were cancelled, and they were being given free beer.Embassies hosted parties all the time, and most of us had made the rounds in the Diplomatic Quarter. All you needed to get in was a sponsor (someone from that country to vouch for you), submit a copy of your passport and Iqama (work permit/ID proving you were in the country legally), and the money to buy a ticket. When tickets went on sale, people would line up like they were trying to get into a rock concert and once they sold out, that was it.Most of the parties were scheduled for Wednesday night, so you could have the Saudi weekend, Thursday, and Friday to recover before going back to work on Saturday morning. Different embassies would have signature parties at different times of the year. The German embassy was great during Octoberfest, serving the best food buffet style, but one had to be careful not to fall in their swimming pool in the middle of the courtyard after a few steins of beer.The American embassy had their traditional Monday all you-could-eat steak and baked potato night, which was quite popular, but the two best times to go was on Halloween and New Year´s Eve. Christmas wasn´t very popular, since they held the Marine Ball then and it was difficult to get in, expensive and very formal.Not surprisingly, the American embassy had the tightest security. Getting in was akin to passing through the TSA on steroids. Whenever there were major events planned, you first had to get through Saudi security just to get into the Diplomatic Quarter. Usually that consisted of painfully skinny baby-faced soldiers stopping your taxi and asking to see your Iqama. There were always some who would try to flex their muscle and assert their authority, but most of them fluctuated between not at all to just barely intimidating.Once through, you had to get past embassy security. Long lines, surrendering your phone (no pictures in the embassy), perfume, liquids, etc. They would put everything in a baggy with your name on it and hold it for you until the end of the night. Then you had to empty your handbag, go through the metal detector, and remove the veil and abaya to make sure you weren’t bringing in anything you shouldn´t.Once we shed our long, conservative black abayas, some women sported miniskirts that hadn´t seen the light of day this side of the 1960´s. We were all about rebellion.Halloween saw people dressing up in costumes and the embassy usually roasted an entire pig, smuggled into the country nestled inside a diplomatic pouch, apple in the mouth included. The rear courtyard of the embassy was enormous, and they could fit at least two hundred people there. They would go all out with their Halloween decorations and dress the place up like a haunted house.New Year´s Eve was the biggest blow-out of the year. People would line up for tickets hours before they went on sale, with tickets selling out faster than AR-15´s at a prepper´s convention.Entering the back courtyard, the first thing we saw was a massive stage. Draped across the back of the stage was an American flag that looked like it could easily cover the field during the super bowl.“What the feck is that?” One of the Irish girls eyed the enormous flag.“That´s in case the Yanks forget where they are.” One of the British girls answered.“Enough chatter, where´s the alcohol?” Another asked in an almost impenetrable Scottish accent, looking around for the table where they sold drink tickets.They had a live band. To most people this probably sounds like something perfectly normal. But in a country like Saudi Arabia, just the idea of finding a live band to perform in public was mind blowing.The good thing about being in a desert country was that the weather in January was a balmy 30º C (86º F), so the outdoor dance floor was packed.A minute before midnight, with everyone fed, drunk and relaxed, the scene became surreal. A couple hundred people from different countries, cultures and religions all dancing together in a heaving mass while the band belted out Born in the USA with the partygoers joining in on the chorus. The Marine guards that ringed the crowd looking professional and holding their rifles easily in their hands, prepared to shoot us all if necessary. Surreal.There’s no party like an embassy party.

What is the reason for the censorship regarding nude swimming in public schools and public swimming pools in the United States in the 1940's to the mid 1960's? Why is it such a hush hush thing among the people who lived back then?People in the United States are generally prudish about nudity. This is why it is “hush hush.” People don’t like to talk about it because it violates modern social norms.However, nude swimming in swimming pools was preferred because at the time, swimming in clothes was unsanitary.Before modern antiseptic treatments such as chlorine were routinely used, swimming in clothing caused the buildup of bacteria, and contamination of the swimming water. Pools had to be frequently drained and refilled. The American Public Health Administration’s guidelines, all the way through 1962, recommended boys swim in the nude.[1]Girls, on the other hand, were not permitted to swim in schools, both for modesty and sanitization reasons primarily related to menstruation.Chlorination, while effective at killing bacteria, was not in widespread use because at the time, they had difficulty controlling the pH of the water. The problem was eventually fixed by the mid 1950’s:By the middle of the twentieth century compounds consisting of chlorine with cyanuric acid became available for swimming pool use. Like earlier forms of chlorine sterilizers, these materials function as a source of hypochlorous acid, which is the active sanitizing agent.When used correctly, the combination of dichloroisocyanurates and cyanuric acid stabilizers provides long lasting chlorine, good solubility, ease of application, and will not affect the pH of the water.[2]Early swimming garments were made of wool, which allowed for bacteria growth and wreaked havoc on early sand filtration systems, which were primarily used to filter bacteria. Bathing garments did not become mainstream until the early 50s and the development and popularization of fabrics like Lycra and Spandex.[3]Once good sanitization was available for swimming pool water, the necessity for nude swimming was obviated, and as gender integration in public school swimming pools became more widespread and filtration systems did not suffer ill effects due to modern fabrics in swimming garments, swimming using bathing suits became the standard.Footnotes[1] Nude swimming - Wikipedia[2] 1[3] Spandex - Wikipedia