For Amma’s birthday celebration, a number of villagers visited from all over India. One group came from the tribal village of Motakkara. They had never been any distance from their village before and were wide eyed at all the sights of Amritapuri. A group of the children had also come, as they would be given […]
21 Sunday, September 2014 This Sunday in Amritapuri, Amma married Radhika and Rateesh, a young couple who came to Amma’s ashram as troubled youth. Here are their stories: Radhika My name is Radhika. Today, the 24th of September, I married Rateesh, who works in Dubai. For both of us, life was a long tragic story […]
Imagine somebody who has embraced over 34 million persons individually. Imagine someone who has travelled across continents, year after year, for 40 years, wiping the tears of those seeking solace– irrespective of country, colour, caste or socio-economic background. Imagine a being, whose sole mission in life is to shower unconditional love and compassion.Imagine a person […]
A couple of years ago, I attended Amma’s Japan programs. After Amma’s program in Tokyo, I went to see the local temples. I went to the Sensō-ji temple, which is an ancient Buddhist temple located in Asakusa, Tokyo, Japan. It is Tokyo’s oldest temple, and one of its most significant. The temple is dedicated to […]
A wedding is one of the top expressions of Garhwali culture, bringing together large extended families, with good food and festivities. As a cultural experience, the wedding of Harish and Pria was a fascinating day. Yes, the bride was beautiful. However, as I look through the hundreds of photos I took of this event, I […]
I have told you in the past about Shanti Devi, the recipient of our first house, but have said little about her son Harish who will also be living there. He too shares her pain, the loss of a father, brother, and the mules that were the source of his family’s income. Today Harish was […]
The Himalayas are the youngest mountain range on earth. That is both a good and a bad thing. They are prone to dramatic earthquakes, landslides, and devastating floods like we saw last summer. But the mountains also thrust up fresh, nutrient rich soil that makes this an extremely productive place to farm. When I first […]
Amma always reminds us how important it is to have awareness in each and every action of ours. The following incident reminded me just how important it is to put Amma’s advice into practice in everyday life. It was during a spiritual programme with one of Amma’s disciples in Dublin, Ireland. It was my duty […]
Today was the Japanese students’ first full day of seva in Uttarakhand and the task of the day was getting rocks and sand from the riverbed up to the village of Batwadi Sonar in preparation for building them a community hall. Sand and rocks are some of the main raw materials used for building new […]