Category: WithAmma
travelling with amma
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surprise devi bhava
yesterday came as a pleasant surprise. after the evening bhajans, a rumour started going around that amma would do bhava. i didn’t believe it. i knew there were two padapujas scheduled, usually done at the end of darshan. sometimes, during padapuja, amma is adorned with a silk sari and crown by the devotees. that happens once in a while. but yesterday was different. while i was assisting amma during mantra initiation, i sensed the rumours are true. after the mantra, amma stepped down from the peetham and the stage doors were closed. the news spread quickly across the ashram. the…
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“It was special”
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to connect? To truly connect with someone, even if it’s someone we’ve just met? On my journey with fellow students from Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham to volunteer for the inauguration of Amrita Hospital in Delhi, one person caught my attention. While we were all enjoying, making conversation, and singing our hearts out on a two-day train trip, he simply admired things, clicked pictures of moments and wandered alone like a reserved traveller. He seemed more engrossed in his own world of thoughts. What fascinated our eyes didn’t seem to interest him. There…
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Developing Shraddha
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…
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Amma’s arrival transforms any area
07 August 2022, Amrita Hospital, Faridabad Arriving at Amma’s hospital in Faridabad was an amazing sight. It was breathtaking to see the enormous grounds that stretched for miles on end. The towering buildings were unlike anything I had imagined and the air was filled with excitement. The hospital still had much work that needed to be done, and as I explored I pondered how it would all come together. It was quiet dusty and still largely a construction site. Over one week later the hospital atmosphere has changed completely. Even after being with Amma on many tours, it never fails…
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The face of endless unchanging Love
It is Europe yatra and Amma had started off the tour with Hof Herenberg, the German ashram center. While attending to a friend from Mannheim who had been coming for many years and talking of Amma’s Germany program, a small girl about 3-4 years of age came running to another lady sitting in front of us at the dining area. The young mother looked at us and told us that she was American but living in Switzerland past many years. She was talking of stress reduction at her workplace and how she found at Amma’s program that many CEOs, professors,…
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A real live miracle walking the Earth today
Think about it for a second. You walk up onto a stage in a huge, packed auditorium. You sit still and allow people to perform a ceremony around you, even though you don’t really want it, even though so many flower garlands around your neck are heavy. But it means so much to the people, and you love them so much, that you allow it. You then give a talk, with no notes, with spiritual advice to suit the hundreds of thousands of people either present or tuning in. Then you sit down at the edge of a small wooden…
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Wildlife in Australia
Kangaroos! Kangaroos! Everyone on the the staff tour excitedly viewed the silhouettes on the misty hillside. “We really are in Australia!” someone shouted. Talk turned to the possibility of other unique local wildlife sighting opportunities on off days during the 16 day tour. This discussion reminded me of a similar one during Amma’s first tour to Kenya. Someone in the group asked Amma if they could go on a wildlife excursion early in the morning. Amma looked at her in amazement. “There’s a program tomorrow,” she said, looking at her as if she had lost her mind. Many of us…
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How Amma inspires – an Amma birthday trail 7560 km away
I am currently visiting Cortona, Milano and Pavia, three places in Italy for research collaborations and official meetings. After one of the meetings, I was invited to attend a “party” near Busto Arsizio. As I was picked up from the station and taken to the place, my host, Sukhrita explained how Amma’s Birthday was important for her. Sukhrita (Manuela Ceresola) is one of those Embracing the World volunteers in Italy among the many who do a lot of selfless service. As a group, they organize musical evenings, free food dinners, fundraisers for education and healthcare activities of Embracing The World.…
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We are here to kidnap Amma
Vaishnavi and Valsala are twin sisters. They are from Amrita Vidyalayam, Davengere (Karnataka). They came as part of a group from their school to visit Amritapuri and get Amma’s blessings. It was their first meeting with Amma. The meeting just blew them away… “There is so much energy, so much love, I feel like crying, I don’t know what’s happening” said Valsala. But it seems that just meeting Amma was not enough for these two bold sisters… They wanted to keep Amma with them! Therefore, they came up with a plan and unveiled it when they came back to Amma.…