26 Sep 2008 —
Question
Q84: Change-Gift?
Question 84:
“Amma says that the best gift we can offer her on her Birthday is a change in our character. What is your change-Gift for Amma?”
To post your answer, click on ‘Add Comment’. Please think well before you answer, and make your answer brief and clear.
I have become more optimistic and because of it, I have become less angry, I have less complains and I am not as arrogant. With Amma in my life, I know there is more changes to come. I want to be completely selfless, that is my goal for her. Right now there is a degree to my selflessness. Dearest Amma, Many many happy returns of the day, I wish you would continue spreading the love to everyone, bless everyone and continue your journey on helping more and more people. You’re a living blessing.
My gift-change is to try to dis-identify with the emotions and thoughts that my mind enjoys continuously creating to feed itself and to justify ego-centered actions and behavior. This is so subtle sometimes…
Everything always changes, Amma is the changeless. so we can try to go “from changing to changeless “, a new mantra like “asatoma satgamaya” 🙂
in a serious thought, I have a lot of ‘negativities’ which i have been struggling to remove from my character for a long time. My gift to Amma will be “a promise ” that i won’t stop trying/struggling to remove these negative tendencies.. no matter how many times i fail. The only thing that i can do is to TRY..
And this wish is from my heart: “Happy Birthday my dearest MOTHER!”
Happy Birthday to my AMMA. I have no words to offer, how do I start. I offer myself to my beloved AMMA she is my doctor who has changed me drastically. AMMA please shower your love and affection as always. Tomorrow I become your 1 year old child, please let me rest under your lotus feet. MA please hold my hands and teach my everything.
I want to be always with my Amma and think about her.
AMMA HAPPY BIRTHDAY 🙂
I feel the best gift we can give Amma is to be more optimistic in our life and surrender completely at the lotus feet of AMMA. This will make our life more cheerful each moment. ‘Happy Birthday AMMA!’. We are really missing not being with you on this auspicious occasion.
Happy Birthday Amma!!!!!!!!!!!
I wish I was there physically in Amritapuri, but unfortunately it is not possible. I feel sad that I am not even able to do this.
About the gift for Amma: Each day is a struggle to better ourselves, and by practicing Amma’s teachings, our inner thoughts are cleaned through sadhana, japa, good karma and all. Amma slowly unties our unecessary chains and brings great relief. There is nothing to change, it will be cleaned by Amma whenever the time is ripe…
I am not surprised that Amma asks for this gift, but no matter how much change takes place She is not happy with it. Surrendering also does not bring the inner peace. I am not sure this comment will be approved by others, as I didn’t praise the Lord or Amma. Anyway, Happy Birthday Amma, I don’t know what you have against me but I feel you never gave me what I wish for, like you give others.
Happy Birthday to my Amma… We love you…We are Praying For u…
What a lovely & appropriate question! I wish Amma from the bottom of my heart a very long & a healthy life. Amma is doing so much selflessly both within and without for everyone day & night, year after year. I wish I could be in India to offer my devotion and self-surrender at Amma’s lotus feet and to participate in the auspicious activities.
On Her birthday, I will chant my mantra all day, and Amma’s 108 names, and 1000 names of Devi. I will play videos on Amma and bhajans. All day I will light a diya in Her remembrance and will dedicate my heart imagining Amma is also with me. May Her wish be my wish, and I pray that I understand what Her wish is for me and that I can connect with Amma within.
Thank you for this blog to allow us to express our wishes on Her birthday.
Happy Birthday Amma… We all wish for your long life and good health.
What can we give to Amma?
Everything good in my life is happening due to Amma’s blessing only. Even the change in myself is due to the Amma’s love.
What can I give You, who are the Supreme Lord, that isn’t Yours already!
I give Amma myself for Her to help me change, as I have seen I cannot do it on my own.
complain to Amma only
ma happy birthday!!!
Ammaykku Oraayiram Janmadinaashamsakal…!!!
Long for a blessing, by which we can live peacefully, in the darkness of the modern world… Serving others by whatever means as possible is the biggest gift we can give to Amma…. By doing our ‘karma’ dedicated to God…
Once again… “Happy Birthday Amma..!!!! ”
My change-gift to Amma is that I try to talk to everyone from my heart, not from my ego and so throw away all of my impatient nature and sometimes angryness. I hope I could have discrimination also to notice, when my ego begins to take over. My heartful love to Amma , Happy Birthday!
This is for iwillsurvive…
I TOTALLY relate to your post…I have also felt this same way about Amma not giving to me like she gives to others.. I pray and do as she says, and my prayers go unanswered and intense intense suffering continues….From Amma’s books I learned this kind of treatment may very well be because you are in a bad astrological time period, and Amma is working out your karma by not giving you attention or giving you what your ego wants…because all our wants are from our EGO……..I also read in one of Amma’s books that the harder She is on you, the more compassion she has for you….try to remember this! And don’t give up….
The flowering of Bhakthi and uprooting the Vasanas, are the offering to AMMA – the Changeless behind all changes.
This is for nityasree
Thanks so much for your post, you are probably the only one who has not ignored my comment. Well, I disagree with a few things: I have also read Amma’s books, and when you talk of EGO, I beg to differ, because I have been reduced to a beggar in front of Her with NO ego, but She still refuses to reply! I have read books by saints where they say that bad astrological phases and karmic influences can be nullified, i personally detest all this because I know not what I did in my previous life, so basically I feel that past life karma is UNFAIR.
I believe God does good to bad, bad to good, makes a disbeliever a believer and sometimes…a complete believer a disbeliever…
Thanks again, happy birthday to Amma, and as my name says: i will survive…
To iwillsurvive — yes, a change of character is a gift that Amma should be giving us, not the other way around!!!
To nityasree, talking about astrological periods and karma and all that doesn’t hide the cruel facts of pain. Also, I would rather be happy than have Amma’s compassion, if the latter brings me suffering.
MANY MANY HAPPY RETURNS OF THE DAY MY DEAREST AMMA……..PLS BE WITH US ALWAYS…… SHOWERING YOUR HEAVENLY LOVE…..
My love and happy birthday wishes to Amma.
I have a small sticker sitting here, it says, Love All As One- AMMA. My change-gift to Amma is that I will try with every breath to live out these words in all actions in my life, to love others as Amma loves me. Happy Birthday Ma 🙂 Thank you for this blog to be able to express birthday wishes to Amma from all this physical distance! Jai Ma!
To surrender more my ego when things are out of my control and to show more compassion to others are my change-gifts to Amma today. I’ve been working on these things with still a long way to go…but I’m sure with Amma’s grace I will get there.
Happy Birthday, Mother 🙂
When I woke up this morning I was thinking/asking Amma how She would like me to spend Her birthday. I thought I would spend longer chanting, longer singing bhajans. Should I fast? Then I clearly heard Amma say “Be Happy”. It was very insistant! So I tried throughout the day to be happy and realised a) how often I entertain negative thoughts about myself and others, even though I have a blessed life and b) how difficult it is to do such a ‘simple’ thing. This then must be my birthday present -to be happy. * Koti Koti Lakh Crore Happy Returns Beloved Amma*. (Think I just made that number up but You will understand!)
Koti Koti Lakh Crore Happy Returns Beloved Amma!
I have prayed to Amma for more than 2 years, for something that was very close and dear to me, and it didn’t get better, in fact got worse. I cried and cried until there were no more tears. But one day I found myself very calm. I felt contented in the way things were. I felt so detached to all those feelings and found myself to be much closer and dedicated to Amma. My faith and devotion for Amma increased, because I felt purified from crying and expecting. I then understood Amma’s justice, that through my attachment Amma helped me go beyond it, leaving me peaceful & contended. I cried to Her because I had faith that She could help, and She worked internally through my crying to help me grow spiritually. By accepting as things are, is now helping me to look at my other past attachments and go beyond them, at the same time, not to add more new ones.
Happy belated birthday my dearest Divine Mother, Divine Guru, God – Amma! I surrender all my attachments and desires at Her lotus feet, and may those attachments become gentle flowers of devotion as an offering.
Amma has helped me look beyond what i used to see as “impossible” and “that which could only be done by saints and mahatmas.” I say that the great change that happened within me was that I opened up and started being aware that i too can be like the saints and mahatmas that i always revered. Thank you Amma and happy birthday to the world, which is a tiny bubble inside You.
Amma!! feel very very sad because i couldn’t come to Amritapuri to celebrate Thy birth day. But amma as a birthday gift ur child will definitely try to change the attitude towards each and every negative thoughts and also try to reduce my short temper. But Amma please allow me to pray at Thy lotus feet to change the attitude of Thy other child also towards this child. Amma all the things are changing every second no? But there should be a changeless subtractum is required for all this ever changing phenomena no? What is that changeless phenomena?That is The absolute Truth Thee. My beloved Lord. Anandakodipranam at The Lotus feet of This Changeless phenomena.
Happy Birthday Amma! Thank you very much for the opportunity to attend your Birthday celebrations at the local ashram in my city.
As a gift to you Amma, I will try to change to a can-do attitude and see things from a positive angle. Please give me the strength to be able to do this. Thank you very much Amma.
AMMA, U gave me a supreme gift by coming in my dream and blessing me, just a day ahead of your birthday. I am too small to offer anything to you. However, i will change my attitude towards others. Give me the strength to follow the path of righteousness, never to hurt my fellow beings, cause no pain and serve others. Thanks for being with me.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY THAKKUDU AMMA from mon & mol…. amma i’l try my level best not to hurt anyone by my words… love u lots & lots & lots &…&lots amma… ammaykku chakkara umma
My humble prayer to our beloved sweet Amma, “Oh compassionate mother, please be kind enough to take care of your physical form, so that your children can always be happy enjoying the warmth of your hug”
Amma has brought lots of changes in my life… and still i am on the process of rectifying the errors in my character… till date i hav been preaching the philosophies and writing them.. but i am still half done when it comes to practically applying in my life… never have i been able to put it on to the fullest.. so i would be concentrating more on the ‘sadhana’ part of it.
I will try my best not to get angry on unwanted things and without genuine reason
My gift to Amma is that I have a lot of patience now. I have become a devotee of Lord Krishna because of her, I was not at all spiritual earlier, but now I have felt the spirituality in me and lot of others have felt it too.
I heard about her with suspicision, I reached her cautiously, but she embraced me with love & affection and I returned full of emotions as a child having an affectionate mother somewhere, who can take care of him, and have lots of patience to have all her children retun to her as good shepherds. Sure, we will be there at her lotus feet always.
As a “belated” gift to Amma, i became so much calmer and less impulsive (although i still am a bit impulsive coz this comes with my character!).
I now have better tolerance for things that i never could accept before (i always was trying to change the world and CORRECT it!!!), and consequently i became less judgmental…
Hope for Her next birthday i will have even better and more precious Gifts to give Her! 😉
I feel the best gift we can give Amma is to surrender completely at the lotus feet of the Divine. This will make our life more cheerful each moment. Amma has brought lots of changes in my life.
Smile…i would give a smile..with loads of love.