Amma's birthday message...

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Amma's Birthday Message 2001

 

In Her benedictory Birthday Message, Amma lamented the present state of the

world marked by violence and destruction, and gave a passionate call to shun

the path of hatred and create a new world of love and harmony. Amma made a

fervent plea for the regeneration of spiritual culture and the uplift of

women. She delineated the path to a life of bliss and contentment, and

revealed Her deep commitment to the suffering humanity, when She said, "We

should worship God in the poor and the suffering. Compassion for the world

and devotion to God are not two but one; they are two faces of the same

Truth. A true devotee is one whose legs rush to comfort the suffering ones,

whose hands yearn to give solace to the sorrowful, whose eyes shed tears of

compassion, whose ears listen to the woes of the distressed, and whose words

bring relief to the ones in pain."

Amma began Her Birthday Message by asking us all to make a sincere prayer for

world peace, and then led the congregational chanting of "Lokah Samastah

Sukhino Bhavantu", nine times.

 

Here is a synopsis of Her Birthday Message:

 

In today's world, calamities such as what happened recently in America can

break out in any part of the world, at any time. America was the most

powerful nation in the world, yet this happened. This shows that we can find

true refuge only in God. America has been spending enough money on weapons in

a single day to feed the entire world. Yet none of their weapons could

protect them. Violence and hatred are the law of the day. Either human beings

unleash terror, or Nature begins its dance of destruction.

The rishis (sages) have divided history into four yugas (ages): Satya, Treta,

Dwapara and Kali. Nevertheless, Amma feels that we now have to add a fifth

one to this list: the Age of Fear and Suspicion. The darkness of fear and

suspicion looms large. Everyone is afraid or distrustful of everyone else.

Whether or not you smile, whether or not you greet someone, you evoke

suspicion.

In the past, there was only one Narada. People dubbed him a trickster and

talebearer, but he was a genuine sage, a lover of humanity and a guide to

everyone. He imparted good teachings to the wicked and ignorant, and was a

friend of all. The present-day world, in contrast, has an army of bogus

Naradas who let loose a trail of fear, suspicion and terror wherever they go.

Creation is not instantaneous. Destruction, however, can be wrought within a

few seconds. It is not surprising then that everyone wants only to destroy.

"Destroy as fast as possible" seems to be the motto. No one can predict who

will destroy who, or when and where.

We often hear people say "I want to do good things but…" Why this big 'but'

only when we are about to do something good and noble? Instead, this 'but'

should arise whenever people are intent on breaking each other's necks and

setting their country on fire.

Some people are against idol-worship. Today, the biggest idols are violence,

untruth and corruption. We should stop worshipping such idols and supporting

the protagonists of such worship. Today, we have knowledge but no awareness.

We have information but no wisdom. The intellect is growing but the heart is

drying up. Our houses are elegant but our homes are breaking up. We have

reached the moon, but failed to reach out to our neighbours.

Today, there are many opportunities for leisure and pleasure. But samskara

(spiritual culture) is on the decline. The root cause of all our suffering is

that we have forgotten our samskara. We are heirs to a culture that was the

loftiest in the world, yet we know little about it and we are not adequately

exposed to it. That is why sorrow and suffering are our lot. The task before

us is clear: to revitalize our samskara.

There are two creations in this world: God's and our own. In God's creation,

there is only bliss. Sorrow exists only in our creation. It is our mind that

makes this world full of misery. We convert God's lovely creation into a

loathsome one. Once we transform our minds, we can perceive beauty everywhere

and enjoy life in its fullest measure. All our problems will be resolved once

we cease to look at the world through the coloured glass of our minds. Then

we can behold divinity everywhere and revel in the creation of God.

Our minds should become like mirrors and not like cameras. Come what may, our

minds should always remain pure and untainted like a mirror. It should not

retain the impressions of past wounds and sorrows like a camera. We cannot

predict what may befall us, nor can we choose the course of events in our

lives. Life may turn upside down any moment. Should we linger and wail? Or

move forward with a smile? The decision is in our hands. A sailor cannot

decide which way the wind will blow, but he can set the sail in such a manner

that the boat will move in the right direction. So too, even though we cannot

decide which situations life will throw up, we can decide what our attitude

will be.

To resolve any problem in life, we must go to its roots. The fundamental

cause of all problems is within us. Understanding this is spirituality. We

should know ourselves and be ourselves. Our problems continue endlessly

because we try to be something other than what we are. We condition ourselves

through thoughts and habits that rob us of our real strength. We should

discover our innate strengths and be resolute.

The case of our women is no different. Man has made woman into a tape

recorder in his hand. We have locked up her potential like the waters in a

dam. We do not allow her to blossom. To awaken the self-confidence and the

innate strength in women is the need of the hour. Woman is the mother of man.

Her strengths and frailties are passed on to her children. To build a dynamic

and self-confident young generation, we need to inculcate these virtues in

our girls.

Therefore, the woman should awaken. But it doesn't help just trying to

imitate men. If they try to imitate men, they will become neither men nor

women. They have to discover their own self. They should cultivate courage,

but at the same time, they should not give up the virtuous and loving

character of the Indian woman (motherhood). The wealth of our country is

love. That love and the tender motherly qualities should be preserved at all

costs.

In today's society, imitation has become a lifestyle, and the media plays a

major role in this regard. The television, computer games and internet have a

strong influence on the young generation. The media should revitalize the

samskara, but today, more often than not, the media only instil and breed

violence and base passions in impressionable young minds. Because of this,

our youth is crumbling like an edifice without a sturdy foundation. Just as

we drink the sugarcane juice and discard the roughage, we should learn to

accept what is beneficial and reject the harmful in everything. Otherwise, we

will become like hollow masks without any personality.

In such a state we will be easily affected by negative emotions like anger.

An angry man is blind. To fight with him is to become blind ourselves. Trying

to conquer anger with anger is like chasing a lunatic who jumps off a

precipitous cliff. At least once in each week we should all take a vow to not

get angry under any circumstances on this day.

In spiritual life, we should first learn not to waste time. The great men who

accomplished extraordinary feats only had 24 hours a day, just like any one

of us. But we spend countless hours in front of the TV, cinema and computer

screens. If we are intent upon reaching our goal, we will find time for our

spiritual practices under any circumstance, and suffer any amount of hardship

for the sake of our divine quest. This is tapas. If we are sincere, we can

always find time to meditate, pray and do japa.

We should worship God in the poor and the suffering. Compassion for the world

and devotion to God are not two but one; they are two faces of the same

Truth. A true devotee is one whose legs rush to comfort the suffering ones,

whose hands yearn to give solace to the sorrowful, whose eyes shed tears of

compassion, whose ears listen to the woes of the distressed, and whose words

bring relief to the ones in pain.

Compassion is the language that the blind can see and the deaf can hear. Love

is the face of God, and the smile that lights up a face brimming with love is

the most beautiful in the entire world. Only one who is prepared to give away

everything, and whose heart is full of love can experience the beauty and

bliss of God.

When we are born into this world, we do not bring anything with us. When we

go, we cannot take anything. Should we waste this short life, filling our

minds with jealousy, hatred and greed? Only the merit of selfless actions

that we have performed will accompany us on our final journey.

Therefore, we should turn within ourselves and try to awaken the Self within

us.

May divine love fill the hearts of all my children. May peace and prosperity

prevail in my children's lives.