DESIRE AND DISCONTENT [page-34]
Once Amma said desire and discontent are the two sides of
the same coin called life. They complement each other and form the basis of human nature. A conversation on this.
Brother: Do you experience these desires and discontents as we do?
Amma: Since my life is entwined with all your lives, I do.
Brother: But what desires can you have, you- who are above all desire? How can you experience discontent?
Amma: To take you all into my fold, to create the bond of oneness, the bond of togetherness is my desire. I experience discontent when I cannot fulfill all your desires. No one should suffer from scarcity of anything. All should have plenty, should feel content. This is my dream.
Brother: Will this dream ever come true? It will, if you so desire. It is in your hands.
Amma If this dream materializes what else do I desire? Probably it will happen on the day that I don’t desire anything, any longer…
Brother: When will that be?
Amma: When the creation ceases.
To take you all into my fold, to create the bond of oneness, the bond of togetherness is my desire.
WHO AM I? [page32]
While talking to the fraternity present in the hall, Amma says,
Amma : People normally live their own lives, in their own way, in different places. But now all of you have gathered in this place. Your thoughts are concentrated on me. Your hearts are attuned to me. You wonder, ‘who am I?’ I am the seed from which sprouts the entire creation. Everything exists in me. I am the self. I know I am the self [Truth]. I am known to all as the self. I am also making an effort to know myself. I am what I am.
She continued further- Fire is warm and bright but smoke accompanies it. So also Truth is real, eternal and all pervasive. Truth is like fire. But the smoke of ignorance and doubt cover it and we are not able to see the truth that is all pervasive. We do not feel the warmth of it. If an object is clear, the reflection is clear-but the mirror that reflects the object needs a coating. [at the back] Your sadhana-spiritual practice is the coating. Then only you can find the Truth, the Divine, in the mirror of your hearts
So also you realize that energy is omnipresent. The leg has the mobile energy and the sandal that is worn on the leg has static energy-two different facets of energy. Your sadhana helps you to understand this.
You must also remember the external forms are diversified, but the underlying truth or matter is the same. The pools, lakes, streams, rivers-are nothing but different forms of the underlying ingredient, water. Water divulges and assumes all these forms, though the basic composition of water is the same. The sun refracts into bright rays .This is diversification. This is MAYA, which camouflages the unreal as real. Penetrate this veil, this Maya, and the reality, the Truth is before you.
Like a wayward child, the mind too runs after this maya, not knowing what it wants, not knowing where it wants to go and not knowing how to reach the destination. It is like a river that struggles and strains to merge with the mighty ocean. It is in unison with God, when it finds the right direction and it becomes Divine.
I am the self. [truth] I know I am the self. I am known to all as the self. I am also making an effort to know myself. I am what I am
TOUCHED TO TEARS [page 35]
When one of the devotees died Amma cried. A brother asked her
Brother: You once said you are untouched by worldly happenings. Wedding celebrations and death bells mean the same to you and have equal significance. If it is true, Why did you cry when brother Ravi died?
Amma : I did not cry over his death. His inherent goodness made me cry. Love and goodness have the power to move me as nothing else has..
Brother: How can you shed tears? It is believed your tears should not touch the ground.
Amma : My tears are everywhere. Not a few drops, not at one place, but plenty, everywhere. Otherwise, you would not even have water to drink. Do you think tears or smiles really affect me? I am everything, I am the sorrow, I am the pleasure. I am the Renouncer, the Sage. I am also a Reveler. I possess everything.
Brother: Even God has all these?
Amma :Do you think these are different from Him or above Him? If they are, man becomes superior to God. Did man create or is he responsible for these experiences in life? Man-who cannot lift his little finger without God’s permission?
Brother: Then where do you put God?
Amma: He is responsible for everything and is above everything.
Brother: How do you define Paramatma?
Amma: He is everywhere and in everything. He is superior to everything and everyone.
TRUE DEVOTION [page81]
What is true devotion? How can we concentrate on the Almighty?
AMMA Tells us.
Brother: I pray mechanically. My lips utter the words of prayer, but my heart is not there. Even my offerings are mere rituals, just a formality. I feel I am missing the true spirit.
Amma: What is the true spirit? As you are walking on the road, you see a temple. You enter. Without thinking, you fold your hands. you bow your head. Is it not the true spirit? Why did you enter the temple? You hear His call and enter the temple. When you offer flowers, you arrange them beautifully. Are you not offering your heart through these flowers? You are touched by the beauty, the grandeur and your eyes moisten. Is it not the true spirit?
Brother: But still
I am not satisfied. Tell me, Amma, how can I get true devotion, have concentration on my God?
Amma: In day to day life, when there is a happy occurrence, you become ecstatic. When something goes against you, or your thoughts, you are agonized. Your emotions, your agony and ecstasy hold a sway on you. They draw a blind on the happenings around you. Your eyes don’t see anything. Your ears don’t hear anything. You turn inwards. If you can attain this same state when you are worshiping God, when your mind, heart, spirit, when every fiber of your being concentrates on God, when you become blind and deaf to the happenings outside – then you become a true devotee. You are not able to concentrate as your heart does not yearn that much for the Almighty. It has other distractions. Instead of concentrating on the arrangement of flowers, concentrate on Him for whom they are meant .Don’t stop at the periphery, go to the depth. Your desperate cry born in His quest, will give you concentration. Whatever you do, wherever you go, you have to think only of Him, feel His presence, and see His will. If you can transcend the physical barriers, go beyond the present, forget the past and do not look into the future, free yourself from the materialistic world, then you can become a true devotee.
Brother: How do I reach such a state?
Amma: It will come with time, when the time is ripe and when you can see things in their proper perspective. You can call it love or devotion. Your attachment to God is devotion; to fellow human beings is love.
But look at the other side of it. If you hate someone intensely, then also you remember him all the time. You want to trouble him, make him suffer; think of ways and means of doing so. This way he becomes very close to you.
Brother: You mean to say, we can reach God through hatred?
Amma : If there is no love, and if there is no hatred there is only indifference. This is the worst state of mind… Hatred is definitely better than indifference
Your attachment to God is devotion; to fellow human beings is love.
(to be continued ….)