In Defense of The Guru Amma

[Guest guest]

In reading some of the posts on this lively forum for Amma devotees,

I could not help but become amused over some of the postings. At

times it is like a 5 yr old battle on the playground. Other times I

am simply lost on the debates over scriptures, etc. I thought some of

you might enjoy reading this from Swamiji:

 

" Amma says that we may have even more bad experiences than good ones.

The richness of our life is not determined by the number of pleasant

experiences we have, but by how well we handle the unpleasant or

challenging experiences. Sometimes, to prevent or cure an illness, we

must drink a bitter tasting medicine. Similarly, pleasant experiences

improve the quality of our life, but handling the difficulties in

life well is what helps us to develop inner strength. "

 

" Every situation in life presents us with a clear choice. We can

either react-out of our ego, past experiences, attachments and

negative emotions, or we can respond-out of our positive qualities

like love, compassion, patience, and kindness. The key to responding

rather than reacting to a given situation is accpetance. When we

accept the situation as it is, we begin to see the hidden lessons and

opportunities, therin, and we can respond accordingly. However, most

of us tend to react, and as a result we become frustrated, angry or

depressed. Our lives then end up becoming a series of reactions,

interspersed with a few peaceful moments when things temporarily go

according to our expectations. In fact, we will always have one

problem or another, but in between big problems-when we have only

smaller prolems-we say that things are going our way. "

 

" Only the proper understanding of spiritual principles will remove

our unreasonable expectations about the world. Because Amma

understands and accepts the nature of the world, she doesn't have

unreasonable expectations about how people will treat her or what she

can receive from the outside world. It is this clarity of vision that

spirituality helps us to develop. We may never be able to see the

world through Amma's eyes, but if we contemplate her teachings and

follow her example to the best of our ability, we can certainly

improve our vision. This will help us to enjoy more peace and

contentment in out daily life and to remain focused on the real goal

of human life-that of realizing our oneness with god, and with all of

creation. "

 

-excerpts from " The Secret of Inner Peace "

by Swami Ramakrishnananda Puri