Amma, a living Upanishad
Long long ago, a friend had once remarked to me “Amma is a living Upanishad“.
Yesterday, in Swamiji’s class on the Gita, He remarked “If the upanishads have legs and hands, that will be Amma”.
I was struck by two statements of Amma that is uncannily the same as from the upanishads:
Once when Amma was leaving the San Ramon ashram, and everyone was sad, Amma turned and remarked “Amma is not leaving anywhere- Amma is within all- I am inside” – and holding her fingers together as if holding a small flame between them- she said “I am inside everyone- tiny, like this” – showing a small figure like a small flame.
Well, Purusha Suktam says “the Supreme Purusha is within, a small flame like a small finger” – angushtam it says. Amma’s statement is right on, exactly fitting that description.
Then on another occasion, Amma said “Every night as my children sleep, I kiss them all on their forehead”.
Kaivalya Upanishad says that we all merge in Brahman in deep sleep. We are closest to the Self in deep sleep. It describes it as “It is as if Brahman is kissing all the souls on the forehead, like a mother does to Her sleeping kid”. Well! Wow… the description is exact. Amma, speaking from Her experience, says the same thing. Amma experiences Herself as the Self, so statements from Her are very valuable – they lend corroboration to the scriptures.
Finally I remember a third one, which is very similar to the famous Mahabharata statement “Sri Krishna is where Dharma is” :
Once, in San Ramon, there was a big discussion about males and females and who is better …. Amma talked on both sides, supporting both …
I was behind Her at that time… finally someone asked “Amma whose side are you on?”
Amma immediately replied “Amma is always on whichever side Dharma is”.
Well…. thats the same, famous Gita statement.
Verily Amma is a Living Upanishad, and Her statements are Mahavakyas.
— bala
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In the Shvetashvatara Upanishad it says “Hear, O children of immortal bliss, you are born to be united with the Lord”. We are the children of immortal bliss and Amma is the mother of Immortal Bliss – Amritanandamayi. The bliss of the Supreme Purusha is our real nature, and out of compassion the supreme has incarnated in the body of a woman as Amma, to love us and guide us to our true self.
I love you so much my perfect Amma, my mother, the mother of bliss immortal.
Amma is not only a living Upanishad, but also the essence of all Vedas. All the great teachings of Shruti is exactly the same that Amma tell us in very simple and beautiful language and examples. When we go through Gita,we find Amma as Krishna and when we go through Lalitha Sahasra Nama, we find Amma in every Manthras. Therefore it is quite evident that Amma experiences Herself as the Self and everything in the world is Amma or Brahman. Amma sharanam.
Amma just doesn’t say anything frivolously. there’s always a message for someone, depending on how much one’s eager or earnest in ‘eating and digesting’ Amma’s words. Once Ammma said: “Children Ammma has come in this birth in a ‘stri roopa’ (female form)” At that she was speaking to someone else, but it struck me very deeply. The word AMMA then took on an entirely different meaning. It was no longer associated with any form or shape- it was must vaster, Terribly Imperious, Majestic, Supremely Potent, Gentle and full of Tender, Immortal Love at the same time, at once.
One thing just struck me that Amma’s Bhajans, espcially those whose verses were originally composed by Amma herself, in addition to being heart-felt prayers, are very powerful mantras: “Amma Bhagavathi Shantipurne”, “Iswari Jagadishwari”…
These bhajans of Amma are much like the Brahmasthanam Temples, designed to alleviate the stings of sorrow and pain that assail the common person who has to abide in the ocean of Samsara.
my apologies for any digression, and poor thinking.
AMMA’s words are the utterances of Vedas and Vedanta.
To say AMMA is a living Upanishad is only childish prattle.
Her true nature is beyond the words of Vedas and Vedanta, the Infinite and beyond even the Infinite, the Incomprehensible.
(wide reference: Mandukyopanishad –
nāntaḥ-prajñam, na bahiṣ prajñam,
nobhayataḥ-prajñam, na prajnañā-ghanam,
na prajñam, nāprajñam;
adṛṣtam, avyavahārayam, agrāhyam, alakṣaṇam,
acintyam, avyapadeśyam, ekātma-pratyaya-sāram,
prapañcopaśamam, śāntam, śivam, advaitam,
caturtham manyante, sa ātmā, sa vijñeyaḥ.)