Amritapuri ashram

Category: Interviews

interviews with diff personalities

  • She will travel throughout the world

    If you want to know about Amma’s love and grace you can find thousands of people to share it with enthusiasm. But if you want to know about Amma’s life 35 years ago, there are only a few people who can talk about it with authority.

    Mr. Mahadevan Pillai, 86 years old, a retired school teacher, recalls the moment when he saw Amma for the first time, in 1980. Then, the Mata Amritanandamayi Math was just a 9 cent plot with Amma’s parents house and the Kalari. A friend of Mr Mahadevan who was a devotee of Amma used to encourage him to have Amma’s Darshan. But he used to refuse to come as his family members were not favorable to Amma. When that friend told Amma about this, Amma replied “They will come, don’t worry”.
    This trend continued for one year. One day Amma told this friend “Call them”. The friend came to Mahadevan Pillai’s home and invited him. He was again reluctant. But something struck him immediately, he went inside his pooja room and opened Bhagavatham. The line he first read was “Kalpichu Maheswari” which means “Goddess has ordered”. He took this as a sign and went with that friend to the Ashram. The first thing he saw there were small children chanting Bhajans. He felt as if he had come to heaven.

    He recalls that at times Amma resembled Goddess Kali. And when she would come for Darshan she would look like Goddess Saraswathy with divine Love and Grace radiating from her face.

    He also remembers his first tour with Amma to Kanyakumari where they met an Avadoot, Mayiamma. She was around 120 years old and used to live on the beach. She used to stay with dogs and rarely used to talk to humans. He remembers that Mayiamma talked to Amma for some time.

    Amma used to tell that she will travel throughout the world and will have hundreds of thousands of children. The people then used to make fun of her. But after 36 years when he looks back, Amma’s words have proved to be true.

    — interview by Sreedhar.P, Vivin Vincy & Vignesh S Kumar

  • The power of a single glance

    India has been known to be a land of sages and spirituality for eons. This impact is even felt today and this is evident from the following story narrated by an Iranian lady who requested us to keep her name anonymous. Her roots are in Iran, but born and brought up in California, United States.

    It so happened once, that when Amma had visited the ashram at California in 2006, she, along with her friends visited Her. At the very first glance, she knew that Amma was her sole Guru. In her own words “That was the happiest and most important turning point in my life”.

    Belonging to another race, religion, she was brought up on a set of values and beliefs according to which they had to follow and worship the spiritual master of their community. But the first glance of Amma, changed her views.

    The power of a single glance of a realized spiritual master like Amma is enough to transform a life. The present moment is pain and the very next moment, after the glance is bliss. That is the power of true Love of a Guru. That is the power of Amma.

    This strong inclination towards Amma lead her to join Amma’s ashram. Also, when asked about her family who still resides in Iran and California, she mentioned it in a firm voice- “AMMA is my family.”

    Her belief in Amma is solely on the basis of culture and values of India. As she mentioned, people in the United States believe that spiritual masters from India have the potential and power to help transform people internally and also guide them to the realize the untapped potential of their true Self. This faith causes them to visit India in quest of true peace and happiness.

    – Rahul Menon

  • Amma is a phenomena

    During the program in Ahmedabad, the Additional Chief Secretary Government of Gujarat, RM Patel took a few minutes to share his thoughts about Amma.

    “I have been working 33 years in government service. I heard about Amma five years ago. My new born granddaughter had a serious heart problem and the doctors told that the best place to get treatment for her would be the AIMS hospital in Cochin. I spent one week in Cochin during which my granddaughter had two successful surgeries. During this time I visited the Amritapuri ashram. So, this is how I learned about Amma. I read a lot of her books written by her disciples.

    I don’t believe in any formal religion, but do have faith in God. Amma for me is definitely a messenger of God. Sent by God. If God were to incarnate, it will be something like her.

    I find that Amma is more of a spiritual campaigner, than a religious leader. Her money has not been invested in temples, but in useful charities and educational institutes. I later visited several of her educational institutions near Amritapuri, the orphanage and also later the Coimbatore University campus. Her institutes are the first of their kind, as they provide top quality services even though they are established in rural areas.

    Amma is a fountain of love, she has unending love towards others. Pure karuna (compassion). She is here to give solace and peace for humanity.

    Another amazing aspect of hers is that she comes from a very humble origin. She only studied until the 4th standard… but now she has a university in her name! It is also very difficult for a woman in this country to achieve things. Nevertheless, Amma has done unbelievable achievements. This is very rare.

    Amma is so different from some fake gurus, who direct their focus to make personal gains. As a guru, Amma is truly exemplary. An example to follow.

    I would say Amma is more than a religious leader. She is a phenomena. A phenomena is an occurrence that cannot be explained. Amma is a phenomena at the international level. I am afraid that in the future, people won’t believe that such a being really existed. She is already a myth.

    Amma is full of pure karuna. From her karuna came all her many and various achievements: The bhuj earthquake relief work, educational centers, universities and institutes, tsunami and disaster relief, housing programs, etc, etc, etc….”

  • Cooking for thousands

    In this paradise, Amritapuri, the abode of Amma, we usually hear numerous wonderful experiences of various people from different walks of life. They throng here to catch a glimpse of Amma, eagerly waiting for that precious moment, perhaps a few seconds of their entire lifetime. We bring to you the experiences of a devotee, Mr. Baskaran, a native of Calicut, who was once working in the Middle East for about 30 years.

    When we met him this morning, he was busy cooking rice in the kitchen. (He usually cooks for all during days of Amma’s Indian Tour). Even during this auspicious and divine occasion of Amma’s birthday, he spared a few moments with us to share his experiences. His unanimous and unique experience is as follows:

    During his stay abroad, on one particular night, he had a strange dream- he saw a flamboyant portrait of a Goddess, who was calling him to visit Her. Soon after that, he met one of his close friends, who is an ardent devotee of Amma and narrated this unusual dream to him. The friend gave him a book on Amma. As Bhaskaran started reading it, he gradually realized that the portrait that flashed across, in his dream, was none other than Amma herself, and developed a longing to know more about Her. He came to Amritapuri to see Amma to Amritapuri and got a darshan. He felt “Yes, this is the Goddess of my dream.” Even before he came out of this excitement, Amma asked him right away, “Why are you late my son?” He was taken aback. He decided to quit his job, and settle down here, at Amritapuri, this holy place. Thus he became an inmate. Till that time, he knew nothing about cooking. But at present he cooks for thousands!! This implies that Amma has the unique capability of influencing a person’s life altogether. Now, Mr. Bhaskaran travels with Amma, during all Her all-India tours and he is an expert cook in Amma’s Kitchen.

    He also narrates another heart rending experience, involving his own son, who is in Kuwait, seeking for a job for the past 8 months. Once, when he expressed this to Amma, help came immediately!! Exactly two hours after Baskaran’s meeting with Amma, a person came to his son’s residence in Kuwait, gave him a contact address. When he visited that place, he was astonished to see that it was the top most company in Kuwait. Eventually, he got an excellent job with a an attractive salary. This proves that distance never separates Amma from her dearest children, and wherever we are, Amma is always there within us, to shower Her divine grace.

    – Aparna, Bhavya, Ghanshyam, Pawan, Sheedhal

  • From a Sob to a Smile

    “Love is God!!” This universal fact is vibrant in this very paradise of Amritapuri – The God’s own abode. Amma, the divine embodiment of love and compassion, fulfills the dreams of her kids, by transforming their miseries into happiness, sorrows to joy and anguish to satisfactions. To perform this prodigious task, Amma uses her weapon called “Universal Love”. The power of love and compassion is inestimable and makes people surrender.

    Here we present to you the story of Sulochana and her son Babu. Her catastrophes in life knew no bounds. She is a widow and her child is mute and mentally handicapped. She was also ailing from a severe heart problem that made her more upset and mentally weak. Her money shortage complicated issues in multiple ways. In this pathetic situation, she came to know about Amma and thus decided to come down to Amritapuri to have darshan.

    When they had Amma’s darshan for the first time, her son surprised everyone by uttering the name of the supreme, “Namah Shivaaya”. That was a thunderclap for Sulochana and she freaked out with the joy. She forgot herself at that very tick and it seemed to her like, all her miseries had been unraveled. As per Amma’s advice, Sulochana put her little son in the “Amrita Special School for Mentally Disabled People”, where the kid learnt many forms of yoga and meditation, which transformed him from his previous state to what he is today. Now he is able to recognize everything around him and he always wants to be near Amma.

    Today, on this festive eve, she feels so happy and joyous with her son and she dedicates her happiness to the lotus feet of Amma, who has rejuvenated both their lives in a miraculous way. Thus through this touching incident Amma shows us that nothing on this Earth can revive a human life, except Love. Love has the capacity to make even the impossible into possible.”
    -Aparna, Bhavya, Ghanshyam, Pawan and Sheedhal

  • Only Amma s Birthday

    Mr Babu was born and brought up in Vallikavu, near Amritapuri. He is from a poor background and now he is the owner of a small general store in Vallikavu. He claims “Though I might be poor in material possessions, I am rich in the blessings of Amma”.
    For him, Amma is a Goddess and because of Amma’s blessings his two children have a good education, one is doing Master degree and the other Fashion Designing.

    He says that he celebrates only one festival in the whole year which is not Vishu nor Onam nor Diwali the traditional festivals in Kerala, but AMMA’s Birthday. Whenever he is in trouble, Amma gives him a solution.

    -Raghu Vamsi and Mallikarjun, Amrita School of Business, Amritapuri

  • No, you don’t have bronchitis

    There are numerous instances where Amma’s children have enjoyed the incessant river of grace that flows from her heart. Her selfless love and compassion serves as a medicine for all the ordeals and torments of human life. This has been proved at numerous occasions. One such incident is Dr. D.M.Vasudevan’s, story. When meeting the now retired principal of Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, recently, he narrated his divine experience with Amma.

    It was way back in 1985, that Vasudevan had symptoms of throat infection, vomiting blood, etc. Unable to bare the afflictions, he consulted a specialist and was advised to have an X-Ray taken. The reports confirmed the presence of bronchitis!! This very word creates shudders to many. Knowing this, Vasudevan was affected and didn’t know what to do. He had only a vague idea on Amma from his friends and never had any intent to meet her. Shortly after, he met Amma when she visited Kozhikode. When he went for his darshan, he told her that he was having Bronchitis and shared the agony that he faced. Amma heard him patiently with her usual smiling face, and she declared to him that he DID NOT have bronchitis!! Vasudevan could not believe his ears! He was thunderstruck and flabbergasted on hearing this declaration from Amma. Amma advised him to take an X-ray. What happened next could never be explained by science: The X-ray report showed absolutely no symptoms of bronchitis!! Vasudevan was bewildered by this incident. Ever since that splendid event, Vasudevan along with his wife, became ardent devotees of Amma. He later became the principal of Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, from 2002 to 2008 and is now settled at Guruvayoor.

    As the head of Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, he always felt that every administrative matter and issue were smoothly being solved, only with the divine grace of Amma. Thus from such heart-touching incidents, it is absolutely clear that all desolations and despondencies will turn into infinite happiness and cheerfulness, by the perennial river of grace from Amma’s heart. Her grace and selfless love is capable of turning the unfeasible into feasible!

    -Ghanshyam and Sheedal

  • Sarasamma’s only prayer

    Sarasamma, from Alapuzha, is one among the thousands in Kerala who receives ‘Amrita Nidhi’ pension, instituted by Amma for destitute women. She is from a very poor financial background and had lost her son and husband in an accident. Her only surviving daughter is married to a poor man. Though her daughter and son-in-law’s families would like to support her monetarily, being poor themselves, they are not able to do so. Sarasamma is unable to go for work due to a weak health and hence finds it difficult to earn her livelihood. Darkness loomed over her future and it was in this most critical moment that she started receiving pension from the ashram, which is her only source of income today. She uses the pension money to buy medicines and to meet her daily expenses.

    Sarasamma is one among the thousands who is able to live a life of dignity on account of one of the several charitable projects initiated by Amma. Amma’s compassion knows no boundaries and each of her humanitarian projects, unknown to the world, is rescuing souls, living precarious lives on the edge of survival. You might wonder what Sarasamma’s prayer to Amma is – bless her with health and wealth? To our utter amazement, Sarasamma says that her only prayer is that Amma should be in good health and this thought gives her immense joy and happiness, a true sign of unalloyed devotion to Amma.

    – Aparna, Nagendra, Mallikarjun

  • Prasanna vadanam dhyayet…

    Prasanna is a 47 year old devotee from Thripunithura, Kerala, who narrates her heartwarming story. She is the last daughter among the five girls her parents struggled to bring up. Some 35 years ago her mother had heard about a lady whom people called ‘Amma’ and also about Her ‘Krishna & Devi Bhava.’ Prasanna’s mother decided to seek Amma’s Darshan & came along with her brother. During the same time, Amma told her devotees that She was awaiting two special children of Hers today!! Prasanna’s mother & uncle came for the Darshan. Her mother has prayed that all that she yearns for in life is that she is able to bring up all her five daughters well in the society and get them married in good homes. Years went on, Prasanna and her sisters were married.

    Since childhood Prasanna dreamt of playing with white buffaloes, she dreamt of talking to them, telling them her life’s sorrows, desires, dreams. In the year 2000, Prasanna and her husband visited Amma. The first thing she saw at the gate was a white buffalo!! Forgetting that she was married now and she had children, Prasanna ran like a little girl and played with the white buffalo. Later on, when she met Amma, the first question came, “are you satisfied now, after playing with your white buffalo?” Prasanna was wonderstruck!!!! Speechless!! Motionless!!…next Amma asked her husband, “where are your kids…why didn’t you get them along?” He replied they could not get them this time and they shall bring them next time onwards.

    Since then, Prasanna and her family have made it a point to participate in every birthday celebration of Amma in their own little way, this time she is involved in cutting vegetables in the kitchen. She credits Amma for eliminating all her sorrows & keeping her satisfied in life. Like it goes ‘sarva vignopa shantaye’….meaning ‘all her obstacles have been eliminated’!!

    Bhavya, Pawan, Sushmitha