19 Dec 2011, Amritapuri
It was a bright, clear and sunny morning at Amritapuri. The sparkling backwaters flowed under the bridge as I walked over to Amrita University. The usual throng of students on their way to class was absent this morning, as they were on break. However, the campus was anything but quiet as several hundred delegates made their way to the conference venue for the International Wireless Conference for Humanitarian Relief.

Passing through the lovely traditional Kerala style main gate, the delegates were greeted by Lakshmi, the ashram elephant in full regalia. The Panchavadyam group from Parippally, Amma’s orphanage and boarding school for tribal and deprived children, played their instruments vigorously. Flags flew, umbrellas twirled and flowers nodded their heads in the cool morning breeze. The invited guests from around the world were welcomed in traditional style with lamps and white shawls. The international guests were clearly enchanted by the traditional welcome and some stopped to take photos of the Panchavadyam group and the lovely girls in traditional white and gold saris who were welcoming them.

The speakers and delegates filed into the large state of the art conference hall for the opening speeches. I hadn’t expected a conference on wireless technologies to be so uplifting. Each speaker made so many thought provoking remarks. In the welcoming address, Swamiji told the story of Shankaracharya’s promise to his mother that although he was leading the wandering life of a sanyasin, if ever she intensely desired and needed to see him, that he would come. Many years later, as she lay dying, his mother called him in her heart. Sharkaracharya, who was travelling in India, told his disciples that his mother was calling him and he had to return to Kerala. With a twinkle in his eye, Swamiji explained that was an early example of “wireless” communication. The audience erupted in appreciative laughter.

Dr. Maneesha, Conference Chair, and who spearheaded the Amrita Wireless Sensor Network for Landslide Detection, explained that it was Amma who told them to put use their research to practical use in an imperiled area and test its effectiveness. As they deployed the network in a landslide prone area of Munnar, they ran into several different technical challenges. It was Amma herself who gave them the key to solve each of these technical issues. I pondered this amazing piece of information. Again and again we have seen Amma come up with the answer to any kind of question. How does she know everything? Indeed, she is the Mind of the minds.

Dr. Paula Bohr, daughter and granddaughter of Nobel Laureate physicists, spoke of the concern for humanity and consciousness of others that pervaded their scientific work and personal lives. Her stories of these brilliant and passionate, yet humble individuals, seemed to move the audience deeply. She mentioned the influence of Eastern thought on her grandfather, Neils Bohr and how he had worked from deep intuition to solve some of the scientific riddles of his day surrounding the atom. Amma often mentions the connection between science and spirituality and cites the rishis of yore as early scientists, using the laboratories of their minds alone to understand the secrets of the universe.

Paula Bohr discussed how her grandfather had to use his intuition to fathom the secret of the behaviour of the electron, which exhibited properties of both particle and wave, depending on the situation. He had to look differently at the concept of cause and effect and adopt the concept of complementarity. I thought back to a recent Upanishad class in which we had been studying the meaning of Sarvam Sarvatmagam. This famous Vedic saying teaches us that cause and effect are not separate and that everything becomes the cause of the other. In my red plush chair in the back of the conference hall, I contemplated the synchronicity of having to stretch my mind around causality twice in one week: first in scripture class and then at a scientific conference.

The morning session closed with an address by R. Chidambaram, Chief Scientific Adviser to the Government of India which stretched my mind further. He discussed a dizzying array of uses of wireless technology that can improve the human condition. My mind buzzed with his descriptions of the National Knowledge Network and Altruistic Collaborative Innovation.

That evening I walked back to Amritapuri under the setting sun. Egrets, eagles and cormorants swooped into the palms to roost for the evening. A large fishing boat passed under the bridge on its way to the sea. Phrases from the day’s talks passed through my mind.…”Nothing in science…explains the stability of nature.” “Co-existence or no existence.” Open source sharing. “Link your passion for research with compassion.” “Research, develop and deliver.” This first major International Conference at Amrita was already doing that in its first few hours. Who knows what the end outcome and ripple effect will be? I thanked Amma for letting me have this experience. It had been another miraculous day at Amritapuri.

Rta S