29 Aug 2008
Dear Beloved Family
Many heartfelt greetings of peace and love from Beirut.
You must have been receiving the news of the conflicts in Lebanon during the last few days.
First, we would like to thank all of you for your emails or phone calls , full of genuinely good wishes and of course for the supportive thoughts and energy reaching us through or without technology at these delicate times. lt is such a special experience to have all these blessings showered on our way from such special souls like all of you.
Although l have not been able to reply to you individually ,as l would have truly liked,( access to technology is not always available )yet, each time that each and any one of your email reaches us here, the heart is full of thanks and appreciation . At such moments one becomes aware and appreciative in a deeper level of what Baba has been telling us all this time regarding various aspects of knowledge,. Through your efforts to connect with us and you loving messages we are constantly reminded of the beauty of the unity and of the pure and spiritual love of the Godly Family. So lucky to be part of it.
l am sure that these thanks must be reaching you .
For the 3 days, just before the conflict started ,we were reading Avyakt Murlis chosen randomly , as we did not have access to the Sakar for those few days . All of them were focussing a lot on how everything will happen suddenly.... And it actually did .
On the 18-21si of July we were planning to have the Middle Eastern retreat with Sister Jayanti in a wonderful place on the mountains , a little bit outside of Beirut. We had many participants, at some point around 80 and a big waiting list and all them so keen to come.
Even after the conflicts had started and when the airport was already half damaged , they kept encouraging us to go on with the retreat. When they found out that the retreat would not happen because of the situation , then they wanted to make sure that we ll definitely have it and this time in a bigger scale when things settle down.
So, after having finished all the preparations of the retreat we started hearing the first news of the attacks and only a few hours after this, we heard the first bombs. hat a dramatic change!!!
Lebanon is one of the old countries in world history.
The Mediterranean sea on the one side and the high mountains on the other , just 15 minutes away by the sea , the co existence for many years of all sects and divisions of both Christians and Muslims , the presence of both the Middle Eastern and West element make the country full of contrasts.
Before the last civil war , Beirut was called the 'pearl of Mediterranean ' or the 'Paris of the Middle East'
After the last war in the area which lasted for 17 years, Lebanon and especially the down town of Beirut was reconstructed.
Everybody was saying that this summer the country was amazingly full of tourism. People from everywhere but especially from the Arab world , that is Kuwait, Bahrain, Dubai, Jordan, Egypt etc come very often here and own their own houses as they feel comfortably with the language and the religion.
Dadi Janki visited Lebanon for the first and only time so far ,a few years back ,when there was no centre yet, for a program connected with Living Values. She prepared the field then and has been sustaining the service that started 2 years back ever since with her constant good wishes and elevated vision.
The amazing cooperation of the locals to find and renovate Baba's house , (which we found one year back), the big numbers who have been coming to the centre since the very beginning and the fact that everything escalates in the drama, were the signs that everything should happen fast.
Baba s house is next to down town . We are now having the morning classes there and bhahttis in the evenings although now the center of the city is being abandoned as the ones who can afford it are trying to protect themselves by escaping on the mountains,
Everyone is very much touched that Baba's house is still there for them(especially when they hear that Joanna , a Sister from Greece who is now doing Baba's service in Kuwait and was here the help for the retreat, and myself chose to stay in the country although we had the chance to leave with the help of the Greek Government, while at the same time all foreigners who did not escape yet are trying anything possible to leave and they are still stuck because all the roads and ports have been bombarded and there is no way out from the country or the few ones left are risky) . Baba's house is in the right in the borders between Muslim and Christian areas. The whole Lebanon including Beirut is divided in Muslim and Christian areas after the last war. So, they cannot quite figure out what is the power behind that makes us be literally immovable when there are other choices.
The pure energy of the Baba's place can help them to find some peace within. There is such a contrast with what is happening outside.
The atmosphere now is very tense and many people start panicking. The supermarkets are empty and the banks do not have any money left as they say.
lt is very likely that soon there will be no electricity or gas at all as there are no supplies in the country unless there are dramatic changes which is also a very possible option in the drama.
lf it is necessary we will move to a very lovely, comfortable , big house and safe house on the mountains which belongs to one of the Sisters.
We feel protected in any case...
We ll try to postpone leaving from the centre as much as possible as there is a lot of service happening here in various ways and meeting amazing personalities in the most entertaining ways ...drama is amazing..we all had this thought especially when one of the times that we were leaving the center , because there were too many bombs around, we passed by a church and we witnessed a very pompous and fancy wedding taking place at the same time ...
The atmosphere in the family is one of lightness, humour , fun , closeness and tapasya
Baba is showering us with all His powers and somehow we are now able to absorb and use them more easily. His silent voice is echoing constantly in our mind ...'use Me... trust Me,l am Almighty...', it is all a game and all temporary,
The deeper experiences and recognition hat we have from Baba make all of us here to feel so much mercy for the so restless and peaceless souls around us who do not yet know who their Father is. Experiencing Baba's love ,mercy and compassion makes us feel much more love for Baba' s personality and motivate us to be as much as possible useful to his Divine task.
l feel
Deeper realisations and appreciation of the value of this unlimited knowledge and path
Thanking the self that was able to recognise and choose Baba not out of compulsion but out of love for who and what He is
immense gratitude to the drama for the intense, skilful ,special and so beneficial training through its last scenes
Very deep appreciation , respect and love for the Divine family and its unique subtle ways of connecting with each other, especially at delicate times as such
Deeper understanding of the role of all of us and especially of the senior instruments of Baba .
Dear Dadis, Senior Brothers and Sisters , how can words ever describe who you are and what you have been doing all these years...
Many of us were not with you from the beginning but all of us want and will be with you until the end...
In the Light and Love of the One
on behalf of the Lebanese Family
BK Anna