14 Aug 2022, Amrita Hospital, Faridabad

Amma always tells us that the first quality we need to develop is shraddha, awareness. Shraddha leads us to Bhakti, pure love for God, and Bhakti ultimately leads us to Vishvasa, unshakable faith in our true Self.

When we arrived in Faridabad, I was very impressed to see so many people working very hard sometimes in dangerous places without getting hurt, even ladies carrying heavy loads and using machines. I realised that this was possible only because they had developed concentration and focus on their work.

So I started to analyze myself to see if I had such focus in my own life and realised how much I lacked shraddha in my actions: for example I would forget where I put my hat or my tooth brush, I wouldn’t pay attention while walking and would twist my ankle, or I wouldn’t listen properly to what I was told…

So, every morning I started asking Amma to help me develop concentration and awareness in my actions.
Soon I was able to get more focus and become more aware of things and beings around me. I was able to do my cleaning seva without getting hurt, and I was even able to sit for meditation next to Amma without being distracted by the other kids!

Amma said recently during meditation, when a blind man tries to walk in a new place he will have to put a lot of efforts not to stumble and fall, similarly we are all like blind people on the spiritual path and we need the help of a Sadguru to open our inner eye.

Amma’s grace is always there, all we need to do is to put the right kind of efforts instead of complaining about the situations.

I pray to Amma to help us develop awareness and perform every action with concentration and love.

Jivan, France, 10 years old