Category: General
not this nor that
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how ‘online with amma’ was born
it was sometime in the late 1990s. i discovered the magic of email. you could send text, photos, even small videos. it was fast. cheap. and you got replies in no time. so i created an email id. started sharing small, inspiring incidents that were happening around amma during bharata yatra with some devotees.devotees loved it.they responded with so much gratitude.that’s when i thought — why not start an email newsletter? so i asked amma.her answer surprised me.she said — “that’s not enough. start a website.”amma clearly said — it’s for her devotees. start a website i had no clue…
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Dragonflies and Devotion: Nature’s Ode to Amma’s Divine Love
After living in the ashram for some years, I have grown accustomed to seeing nature respond mysteriously to Amma. We have all seen beautiful images of snakes on Amma’s head, or the video of the chipmunk running up and down Amma’s arm. When you stay some time at the ashram, you will eventually notice that every night, at twilight, thousands of birds flock from all directions, flying in to the ashram from across the backwaters, all insisting to sleep only in the ashram trees. They have an entire palm tree forest to choose from, but come bedtime, they all flock…
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The New Vrindavan
31 July 2022 – Amrita Hospital, Faridabad –It is beautiful waking up to the sound of peacock calls near the small river across the construction site from our flats. It reminds me of my childhood in Vrindavan. So does all this mud, construction and tractors. A couple hours later the rhythmic sounds of construction start, echoing like a concert across the lands. All is alive and resonating with Amma’s love for humanity. This is my new Vrindavan. Seeing this enormous work of love in progress reminds me a little of what it must have been like in the early days…
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Embracing the Mobile-First World
For 21 years, Amritapuri.org’s mission has been to reach all of Amma’s children around the world and inspire you with frequent updates on Amma’s activities and her teachings. Just like our body and mind constantly change while our true Self remains the same, this website has gone through many stages, while staying true to its mission: “Be online with Amma”. Many of you will remember these earlier versions Exactly one year ago, in time for Maha Shivaratri 2020 {news}, Amritapuri.org was relaunched using a mobile-first approach. Prioritizing the display on mobile phones, the design was simplified and the pages are…
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If I was a tree
If I was a tree in the summer, I’d stretch my branches and leaves towards the golden sun and fix my gaze upon the infinite blue sky. I would swing in the gentle breeze and drink the nectar of the earth with my roots. I’d spread the intoxicating scent of my flowers around and invite insects to buzz among them. I would delight myself in watching all kinds of small creatures and little birds play on my branches and in the light summer nights I would lull them to sleep with the soft rustle of my leaves. The whole summer…
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Trees Celebrated Amma’s Birthday…
Avataris are compared to the spring season. In ‘Viveka Chudamani ‘ Sri Sankaracharya says (in Guroopasatti chapter, sloka 37) ahetunaa santah vasantavad lokahitam carantah(without reason- Mahatmas -like spring season- traverse- doing good to the world.) Amma is often described as spring season on the move, as She has untiringly travelled across the globe for over 35 years, and everywhere that She went, has made human hearts bloom and burgeon with Love. Be it US or Australia or Europe, or anywhere in India, Amma has bloomed heart-flowers in plenty, in indescribable abundance…like the proverbial efflorescence of a mango tree or a…
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Efflorescence of Colorful Flowers
Amritapuri is verily Amma’s lap for the seekers of Truth. While the vast sea is a constant reminder of the Truth beyond name and form, the island – detached from the mainland of worldly affairs – is a beautiful showcase of the Creator’s craftsmanship. Little wonder that Paramatma chose this beautiful spot to descend on, over six decades ago, in the Form of our most beloved Amma, with an explicit purpose: and that is to do good to the World. “Nature has given us this earth. We should make it into a garden, and not turn it into a desert,”…
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Yesterday-Today-Tomorrow
On a “Masala Dosha day” two years ago, in between bhajans, Amma asked us for evidence for Punarjanma, or rebirth. She gave us hints through the example of butterfly’s life-cycle. Butterflies undergo three stages before becoming a beautiful butterfly. Egg, Larva, Pupa and the Insect. It is not like the stages of childhood, adolescence, youth adult and old age, no. None of them resemble the other. Amma said, “Just because we don’t remember, we cannot say there is no rebirth.” Spirituality comes in at this juncture. Do we want to go on and on, caught in this cycle of birth-and-rebirth,…
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Onam: A Natural Flower Festival
Indian festivals celebrate the unity of the trinity -divinity, nature and humans. Festivals and rituals have been a means of promoting this wisdom. In the concept of Dasapushpam, we saw how in Sita Devi’s name, during the holy Ramayana month, we nurture the auspicious ten plants. The ten day long Onam festival is yet another occasion for promoting growing of flowers. And that is through Pookkalams, or the floral mats. Young men, women and children gather colorful flowers everyday on those ten days and make floral mats in front of temples and houses. This group activity creates a joyous pastime…