Guru Pada Padma: Amma’s Lotus Feet Amritapuri is very much God’s Own Island. The oleographs of goddesses from the works of the legendary artist, Raja Ravi Verma of 19th century Kerala, have made a deep impress on the collective minds of Indians about how the Devis, elaborately described and praised in Sanskrit literatures, really would […]
Panchakshari in Petals: Nandyarvattam Flowers are always there in Amma-Lore. Amma instructs in Manasapuja: “…Imagine a bush without leaves but full of only white flowers… As you chant, with each mantra imagine taking a flower from your heart and offering at the Feet of the Divine…” This helps one develop Ekobhakti, one pointed devotion. In […]
From Lotus to Brahmi One early morning, way back in the late 90s, after Devi Bhava, as Amma went up Her steps, as usual She stood at the landing and turned around to see Her children. Amma’s Face bloomed with a bright smile like the Sun yet to rise. Looking at the smiling faces of […]
What could be more beautiful than sitting with my guru in the cowshed, smelling the cow dung from the floor, sitting close and listening to the words of my master and eat out of her own hands. What could be more beautiful than sitting at the edge of the jungle by night, with full moon, […]
Sing and dance, sing and dance, Jay jay ram sita ram Jay jay ram sita ram The mind is ever turbulent, Senses behave accursed, It’s their nature to torture, The soul that’s so innocent. Sing and dance, sing and dance, Jay jay ram sita ram Jay jay ram sita ram The mind becomes so calm, […]
O! Mother In this great illusory world of competition and war, Where the lands of far and far become so near, Owing to the technological advances so untrackable, Wrecking evil habits barely letting them be controllable, All the learned gems of schools struggling to learn, Ma, is it my mistake to call out and cry, […]
Chant the Name Divine, It’s all sweet and Omniscient. Amma Amma Amma Rama Rama Rama Amma Amma Amma Rama Rama Rama Be happy like a child, Look at the beauty around Feel the joy e’er within See the butterfly flyin’ Yea! saw the one beauty so long, Now, disappeared for once and gone. Life is […]
The bird inside my heart sings for you, oh Divine Mother Who, save you, shall understand its song? Who? Oh Mother of mine… The chirping which only You understand Nobody can stand, not even our closest ones! The bird inside my heart flew to the mind… Alas! The mind is now a cage of Thy […]
Within hours of my first day at Amritapuri (Abode of Immortal Bliss) four years ago, an immediate, warm familiarity overtook me, a déjà vu of which I had never experienced before. My whole being felt cocooned in the love that this sacred land holds. I knew then that I had arrived home – that this […]