Over the past few weeks I have had the opportunity to witness some beautiful examples of childlike innocence in both children and adults and the way Amma is drawn to this innocence. In Chicago, on the first night of the program as Amma was about to finish darshan, little 6 year old Siddharth began singing a song on stage. He sang “Chitta Chorana” which refers to Krishna as the thief of hearts. The camera was focused closely on Amma’s face and on the big screen you could see Amma pause while giving darshan and seemingly be drawn inward as She listened to him singing. She would turn and look at him lovingly, return to giving darshan and then again She would pause and appear to be drawn inwards. It continued this way through the entire song. At that moment, the stories of God not being able to resist the sincere call from an innocent heart became a reality for me. It was an incredible moment when myth and physical reality merged into pure awe.

In Boston, during darshan, a western devotee came bearing a beautiful sari for Amma. It was a sky blue silk sari with intricate gold embroidery. Amma very lovingly took the sari and began opening it and admiring it. She was telling the attendants next to Her about the sari. Then she took the blouse and admired it. It had been stitched for Her and She decided to put it on. Then She started draping the sari across her. She looked so absolutely beautiful. It was truly the way a Mother appreciates the effort and love that Her child has put into getting Her a gift. It doesn’t seem to matter to Amma whether the gift is a child’s hand-made drawing or a home-made project or an expensive item. To Her, She only sees the love and the innocence in the heart of Her children.

May we have the grace of always connecting to the innocence with us.

-Vinodini