Amma Sri Karunamayi’s
2016 Tour Individual Blessing Guidelines
“Pray to Mother with pure devotion; ask her for only one boon – the bliss of oneness with Brahman.”
2 Individual Blessings Guidelines
Last Revised: 3-Feb-2016
During Sri Karunamayi’s tour, most of the cities that Amma visits include a day that is dedicated for Amma to grace everyone with Individual Blessings. This precious time with Amma has positively transformed the lives of everyone who has been blessed by Amma, and provided renewed hope and inspiration to people throughout the world. The Individual Blessing program is a very rare and special time in which Amma blesses each person one by one with the tender love only the Divine Mother can bestow.
HALL REQUIREMENTS FOR INDIVIDUAL BLESSINDS DAY The following items are requirements placed on the venue that you will be selecting for Individual Blessings Day. If the venue does not meet these requirements it is not a suitable venue for Individual Blessings Day. If you have any concerns please contact Michael Stasko or Bharathi Korow.
BREAKROOM FOR AMMA – Every venue is required to have a private break and private restroom for AMMA’s use only. This is a requirement. The restroom should be located as close to the stage as possible and not upstairs.
PRIVATE SPACE (UNSHARED HALL) – The space holding the event should not be shared with any other activities in that same space. A dedicated hall is required for Individual Blessings Day.
BOOKSTORE ALLOWED – Every venue must allow the tour to setup it bookstore.
STAGE DIMENSIONS – The height of the stage on Individual Blessings Day must be between 28 – 30 Inches.
General points about the Individual Blessing Day and the flow of the day
The published starting time for the regular Individual Blessings program is 11:00 AM. The Individual Blessing Day schedule is:
7:00 AM Volunteers for unload and national tour crew begin preparations 8:00 AM Volunteers and blessings day ushers meet with national crew 10:15 AM First Orientation for the public 11:00 AM Amma arrives 11:05 AM City Organizer Welcomes AMMA at Podium (2 – 3 min) 11:08 AM AMMA’s Discourse, Peace March (NEW), or Abhishekam
The length of the Individual Blessings Day depends upon the number of people who attend. Please ensure you publish the start time as 11 am. Amma will continue blessing people after that time, so please ensure the hall remains open until at least 8pm, depending upon the number of attendees
▪ Local volunteers and national tour crew must have access to the Individual Blessing 3 day venue no later than 7:00 AM on the morning of the Individual Blessing day in order to have adequate time to prepare the hall. When the day before is available (at not cost) that is very helpful, but not required.
▪ HALL OPENING: Before letting the public take their seats in the hall, the local volunteers and ushers are asked to verify that the tour crew is ready. Local ushers are asked to help seat people in the order in which they arrive after they have received brief instructions from the tour crew.
▪ People will be blessed by Amma in groups according to their arrival time at the hall, as per details explained below. Appointment times are not available for Individual Blessings. However, the infirm and elderly may be seated in the first row of seats and given preference. Please be sure that people do not take advantage of this situation unless it is for a valid reason.
▪ Mailing List Signups & INTERNET This year email sign-up will be done electronically. This is a much welcome change. In order for this to be successful please kindly arrange for 3 laptops or tablets to be available during the individual blessings day for sign ins. City organizers will receive an electronic list of the names upon the completion of the program. *This requires internet access – please kindly make the necessary arrangement to get the login details for the Venue’s WiFi.
▪ Everyone who is blessed by Amma will be given a blessing request card upon entering the hall along with a Mission Booklet and donation envelope (with donation form enclosed). A brief orientation will be given at 10:15 am before Amma arrives. After this initial orientation, a separate orientation will be given in a another room before they enter they hall. This was the protocol in previous years and we will be reinitiating Only after receiving the orientation, that group of people will then be given their blessings day card.
▪ Everyone attending the Individual Blessing Day is requested to wear white attire. Clothing should be clean, modest and cover the extremities. An announcement about this will be made during the Spiritual Discourse/Darshan Program. Extra white or light colored shawls should be brought to have available in case anyone is not dressed appropriately. Volunteers must be in this dress.
▪ Please garland Amma when she arrives at the hall at approximately 11:00 AM. Only a woman may place the garland around AMMA’s neck. Or a husband and wife together. A man by himself should not garland AMMA but may hand AMMA a Bouquet instead.
▪ Once AMMA has arrived in the hall the day will proceed with AMMA’s Divine Discourse, A Short Peace March, or Sri Chakra Abhishekam. Please have an idea of where the peace can proceed outside of your venue. There will also be This ceremony abhishekam which is approximately 10 minutes in duration, during which time Amma will bathe the sacred Spatika Sri Chakra with milk. Afterward, this prasad is distributed freely to everyone after they have been blessed by Amma. Please have a separate area set up away from the stage to prepare the abhishekam prasad for distribution.
4 ▪ Amma will offer diksha (initiation) into the most sacred and auspicious Sri Saraswati mantra as students receive their Individual Blessing from Amma. Students must register and the fee of $41 at the bookstore prior to receiving the diksha. Flyers explaining Saraswati Mantra Diksha are available to download on organizers webpage. Students will receive a separate orientation after registration is completed. They will be accompanied by their parents for the diksha as well as blessings. They will see AMMA all together only once that day (and the rntire tour for that matter).
▪ Aarati should be performed to Amma by 3 or 5 women (dressed appropriately) immediately after the last person has been blessed.
▪ After Aarati, Amma may give a brief discourse. Please have a clean, comfortable “second session” chair available (covered with a white sheet or sari) for this purpose. ▪ The Individual Blessing venue should be reserved well into the evening so that the hall may be cleaned and the national tour vans can be loaded if this is the last program at this venue. If you have a hard set deadline for the crew to be out of the hall – please inform Michael in the morning.
▪ Please stop giving out blessing cards, at 2:00 p.m. Those individuals who arrive after 2:00pm are still welcome to attend the program and see AMMA for Darshan.
Individual Blessing Day – Preparation
▪ Elevate Amma’s Dais Amma’s dais must be elevated the night before the Individual Blessing program. The height of the stage must be between 28 and 30 Inches. Please provide at least three 6-8 foot long folding tables (similar to the kind used in the bookstore). These tables (of the same length and height) should be provided to the national tour crew member in charge of preparing Amma’s dais. Please assure that volunteers are available to assist the crew.
▪ Rearrange Seating
The seating in the Individual Blessing Day venue should be rearranged the night before the Individual Blessing program. The first row of chairs should be approximately 12 feet from the front of Amma’s dais. This will ensure privacy and confidentiality during Individual Blessings. No one will be allowed to sit in this area during the Individual Blessing day. Note: In such cases where seating is fixed, and the chairs are not movable, then the first several rows (3-7) of seating must be blocked off.
▪ Blessing Day Supplies
Please provide the materials below to the national tour member in charge of the Individual Blessing program. The quantities below are approximate and should be adjusted based upon expected attendance in your city. These materials should be available the evening before Individual Blessing. (A complete “Individual Blessing Day Shopping List” is available at the end of this document.)
5 Individual Blessing Cards
We request that you mark the cards with letters only. Please have cards labeled alphabetically in quantities of 15 for each letter as follows. The cards should not be numbered, only marked alphabetically.
o A (quantity 15 cards) o B (quantity 15 cards) o C (quantity 15 cards)
…..and so on, depending on the number of people expected to attend.
At the end of the day please inform the crew how many blessing cards were distributed.
o 150 - 400 4” X 6” lined index cards labeled as per above o 20 - 30 ink pens and 2 Sharpie markers o 150 - 400 standard letter size envelopes (please do not use security envelopes) with SMVA Address labels affixed. These envelopes are handed out to everyone as they enter the hall for the Blessing Day program, and should already contain the donation form – the crew does not travel with these o 150 - 400 credit card donation forms. These forms are to be inserted into the above pre- addressed envelopes (above) and given to everyone as they enter the hall along with the blessing request index card and Mission Booklet.
o The credit card donation form and SMVA labels are available to download at the SMVA Trust “City Organizer Downloads” webpage. For instructions on downloading please see Appendix A of this document.
▪ Guidelines for Sri Saraswati Bija Mantra Diksha - Initiation Students who wish to receive Sri Saraswati Mantra Diksha (initiation) are requested to follow these guidelines: Available ONLY to students ages 4-24. • Students must have fully bathed or showered, including washing the head and hair, prior to coming to the program. • Students should be wearing modest white attire. • Students will have to register and pay a nominal fee ($41) for Diksha at the bookstore (best done before the program. • Students will have to receive orientation before going to see AMMA for their blessings
6 ▪ Provide Blessing Materials and Abhishekam supplies Please provide the following items to the national tour member in charge of preparing Amma’s dais. These materials should all arrive together no later than 7:30 AM.
• 1 box of unscented white facial tissue (200-300) count • 8 - 10, 1 pound packages of Hershey’s Kisses o • 1 dozen red roses or carnations • 1 dozen white roses or carnations o • 2 rolls of white paper towels • 5 half gallons of organic whole milk (without Fish Oil – please read the label) • 1 large Aluminum Roasting Tray exactly: 11” x 16” x 2 1/2” Deep • 300-600 (depending on expected attendance) small plastic condiment cups with lids for distributing the milk prasadam. • A ladle and large spoon to stir and distribute the abhishekam prasad.
▪ Prepare Amma’s Break Room Whenever possible, Amma’s break room should be conveniently located near her dais so that it is not a long walk to the break room, and so that Amma does not have to walk through the hall to her break area. Amma’s break room should have an attached or reserved PRIVATE bathroom nearby. Both the bathroom and the break room should be cleaned and then left undisturbed. The break room should contain:
• A comfortable sofa or loveseat • An additional chair • Small table covered with a white cloth or doily that is suitable for dining • Small fan • Small floral decorations are always welcome. Silk flowers are fine. • Please no strongly scented flowers or incense
• Please assure that this break room is ready the night before the Individual Blessings program, whenever possible.
▪ Distributing the Abhishekam Prasad After Amma has concluded the Sri Chakra abhishekam, the container of sanctified milk from the abhishekam will be brought to the back of the hall. Please have a table set up for this purpose. The milk is then mixed with several ingredients to create the prasad that will be distributed to everyone. 1-2 Volunteers will be needed to prepare and serve this prasad.
These volunteers will be needed as soon as the Sri Chakra abhishekam has concluded and for some time thereafter. o Mix ingredients* § 2 tablespoons of badam mix § pinch of saffron § teaspoon of cardamom powder § ¼ cup of sugar
7 *Please Note: The tour crew may phone ahead of time to request one or more of the above ingredients o Stir ingredients into the milk and mix o Fill condiment cups (the small plastic cups that you get condiments in at fast food restaurants) and place lids on cups o Distribute prasad to everyone after they have been blessed
▪ Volunteer seva for Individual Blessing Day Several volunteers will be needed during the Individual Blessing day for ushering. Volunteers for this seva will be required all day until Amma has blessed everyone. A volunteer meeting will occur at 8:00am the morning of the Individual Blessing day to review the assignments of the ushers and to coordinate the activities of the day. Please kindly arrange to have anyone that will be ushering there.
▪ Preparing for Blessings • The public should be allowed into the hall only after getting agreement from the crew. Ushers (Volunteers) will be needed to escort people to the main hall and to direct them where to sit. • As people enter the hall, the volunteers will be giving each person a prelettered blessing request card which represents their group order in which they’ll be seeing Amma. They will also receive a Mission Booklet, and donation envelope (with credit card form already inserted) • The first orientation will begin in the main hall at 10:15 AM. This brief orientation will be repeated throughout the day for any newcomers. • Volunteers will be needed throughout the day to greet people as they arrive and direct them to the appropriate seating area. • There will be a display board which will show which lettered group Amma is currently blessing
▪ Escorting devotees to see Amma--Ushers After Amma concludes the Sri Chakra Abhishekam, AMMA will immediately begin individually blessing people. One by one everyone will proceed forward to be blessed by Amma. A minimum of four (4) volunteers are needed to assist with escorting people to be blessed by Amma. Volunteers, preferably women, will be needed for this seva all day until Amma has finished blessing the last person. Since the blessings can last for many hours, it is recommended to have several shifts volunteers available so people can take breaks. The first shift must attend the 8:00AM seva usher orientation. It is best for the lead usher to be a woman who is not currently having her menstrual cycle. Any of the lady volunteers serving near AMMA’s peetham should not be on her monthly cycle.
8 ▪ Crew Meals Please have lunch available for the national tour crew between 12:00 and 1:00 pm as their tasks will require they remain in the hall until the conclusion of the program.
▪ Mailing List Signup This year email sign-up will be done electronically. This is a much welcome change. In order for this to be successful please kindly arrange for 3 laptops or tablets to be available during the individual blessings day for sign ins. City organizers will receive an electronic list of the names upon the completion of the program.
▪ Internet Access Please be sure to determine if your venue has internet access and kindly note all of the login details necessary for the crew and the volunteers to access the internet. This is required for the electronic sign-in’s.
▪ Seva Desk Please create a separate table for seva and people interested in volunteering for AMMA’s organizations. Please staff the desk with a single volunteer that will be able to interface with the crew for upcoming seva needs and staff these positions. This person can also take signups for people interested in doing seva locally throughout the year.
▪ LIGHTS Please kindly allocate designate one volunteer that knows how the lights in the hall function. They can meet with the tour crew Audio / Video Volunteer to coordinate lighting for the program – this is a small but very important detail.
9 INDIVIDUAL BLESSING DAY SHOPPING LIST
Groceries and Flowers – Please deliver by 7:00 AM to the hall
▪ 1 box of unscented white facial tissue (200-300) count
▪ 8 - 10, 1-pound packages of plain Hershey’s Kisses ▪ 1 dozen red roses or carnations
▪ 1 dozen white roses or carnations
▪ 2 flower arrangements for decorating AMMA’s Peetham; these can be used during the retreat and homa as well.
▪ 2 rolls of white paper towels
▪ 5 half gallons of organic whole milk—without fish oil (please read the ingredients).
▪ 1 large Aluminum Roasting Tray exactly 11” x 16” x 2 1/2” Deep
▪ 300-700 (depending on expected attendance) small condiment cups with lids for distributing the Prasad.
Office Supplies – Please deliver by 7:00 AM to the hall (the following quantities are estimates – make enough copies based on your expected attendance)
▪ 150 - 400 lined index cards ( 4”x6”) with letters written on unlined side ▪ 20 - 30 ink pens and 2 Sharpie markers ▪ 150 - 400 standard letter size envelopes (no security envelopes please) with SMVA address labels affixed.
▪ 150 - 400 credit card donation forms. These forms are to be inserted into the above pre-addressed envelopes and given to everyone as they enter the hall along with the Mission Booklet, Guidelines brochure and blessing request card.
▪ Saraswati Mantra Diksha handout (available on organizers webpage)
▪ 150 – 300 Guru Purnima Pada Puja Sponsorship Forms (available on organizers webpage)
▪ 150 – 300 Lalita Sahasranama Maha Maha Yajnam Sponsorship Forms (available on organizers webpage)
▪ 100 Homa Sponsorship Forms (available on organizers webpage)
Individual Blessings Miscellaneous Supplies 10
▪ Amma’s Garland
▪ 2 - 4 empty flower vases in which to place flowers brought by devotees for Amma
▪ 3 - 5 Aarati Trays: • Ghee, Wicks and Deepas for Aarati (It is helpful to apply camphor on the wicks to light the deepas) • Flowers/flower petals for the Aarati trays • Matches/lighters
▪ National tour crew lunch and dinner (depending on how long programs lasts). ▪ Please bring extra white shawls to cover those devotees who are not dressed modestly. ▪ Preparations for Amma’s break room as noted on page 5.
Appendix A
How to download Individual Blessing Day documents From the City Organizer webpage
1. From your computer, logon to www.karunamayi.org/members
2. Enter the password: srim
3. Scroll down to the 2016 Program Materials heading. The list of Individual Blessing documents will appear. Click to open, save, print and/or download each linked form.
**For assistance with anything Web Related – please kindly send an email to
Jai Karunamayi!