Cover Feature
Embracing the world
Once an illiterate girl, Amritanandamayi at 50
is a global guru who heads a spiritual empire.
Devotees worship her as God

By C. Sujit Chandra Kumar


As he sat for the evening bhajan in that imposing auditorium of Mata
Amritanandamayi's ashram among 500 devotees, Raveendran Nair's mind
raced between disappointment and hope. There she was on the dais,
dressed in a white sari and flanked by two swamis. Some western
inmates had brought their quilts but most others sat cross-legged on
the floor. On both sides of the dais were gigantic photos of a
smiling Mata.

Earlier, an ashram official had advised Nair against joining the
queue to meet Mata Amritanandamayi or Amma as her devotees call her.
Fridays are reserved for first-timers and inmates. But he knew that
if he stayed back, she would take him in her arms the next day.

As the hi-fi system relayed the high-pitched bhajans, mostly in
Malayalam but interspersed with Hindi, English and even French songs,
Nair's anxieties began to dissolve. A little white girl, right behind
Amma, swayed from side to side and so did many in the audience. As
Amma chanted 'Krishna, Krishna' and her ecstatic laughter
reverberated in the hall, his troubles seemed irrelevant.

He was in his forties, wearing a cervical collar. He had a fall, a
year ago, while carrying a head load of stones. Being the only
breadwinner of the family, he had to carry on. When his limbs began
to go numb, he consulted a doctor who advised surgery and warned that
there was only 20 per cent chance of recovery.

"Since then, I have been coming here off and on. I am feeling better,
physically. I am sure Amma will see me through this," he says. And
she had suggested that his daughter, who had just passed plus two,
should try to join the nursing course at AIMS College of Nursing run
by the ashram. Unfortunately for him, the interview board did not
select her and he was awaiting further instructions from his saviour.

Captivating: A bhajan in progress at the Vallikkavu ashram;
(above right) Amma in a blissful moment during the session

Many who come to this scenic, remote fishing village of Vallikkavu,
now called Amritapuri, in Kerala's Kollam district are driven by
material needs. But there are others who have been wallowing in
wealth and fame but were still not satisfied.

Like Janani, 57, whose name was Beverley Noia when she was professor
of comparative religions in a New Mexico university. Her studies gave
her an idea of God but she craved 'direct' knowledge. She had a house
in the city and another in the mountains but wanted 'something' more.

A student told her about Amma's US visit. "I was very sceptical
because we get false gurus in the west who come for money," she says.
Her encounter was uneventful; Amma hugged her, as she hugs everyone.

But she watched her in action for four days. The distance, formality
and solemn manners that she expected in a guru were missing. "She was
like everybody's darling mother. Nobody could have put on an act for
so many hours," says Janani. She gave up her job, family and other
worldly possessions and has been serving Amma for the last 11
years. "I don't know if she is God. But she has a special
communication with God," she says.

Amritanandamayi, Kerala's hugging saint who straddles the material
and the spiritual worlds, is turning 50 on September 27. Her ashram
is celebrating the golden jubilee for four days from September 24, in
tune with her exalted status as a spiritual leader. In 1993, she was
one of the three people who represented Hinduism at the Parliament of
the World's Religions in Chicago. Last year, she won the Gandhi-King
Award for Non-violence; earlier recipients were British primatologist
Jane Goodall, former South African president Nelson Mandela and UN
Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

President Abdul Kalam has agreed to attend a CEO summit, which is
part of the celebration, "to discuss ways of creating a spiritually
strong, economically self-sufficient India with loving, compassionate
and selfless leaders".

Gentle persuasion is Amma's mantra, whether it is to fine-tune
spiritual practices or behaviour (left, with the ashram elephant).

Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani and Karnataka Chief Minister S.M.
Krishna have agreed to participate and so have celebrities from
different countries including former US senator Larry Pressler,
Martin Luther King's daughter Yolanda King and Hotmail founder Sabeer
Bhatia. Swami Amritaswaroopananda, vice-chairman of the ashram, has
been camping in Kochi to coordinate the arrangements including
accommo-dation, whether in hotels or homes, for 2.5 lakh admirers. In
all, nearly 10 lakh people could attend the various programmes and
charity activities. Commemorating the golden jubilee, the Kerala
government, led by Amma's admirer A.K. Antony, has announced a
housing scheme for the homeless; in the first phase, the government
would give five acres of land where the ashram would build houses
costing Rs 50,000 each. Famous musicians will perform at the
celebrations and 125 leading artists from India and abroad, including
her American follower the renowned Peter Max, will display their
paintings of Amma.

The celebrations and the guest list, not to speak of the massive
funds involved, reflect the importance of Amma, who has grown from
being an illiterate child with strange spiritual experiences to a
global guru who presides over an empire of charity. Her ashram
figures at the top of the list of charities receiving donations from
abroad. In 1998-99, for instance, the ashram is said to have received
more than Rs 50 crore. Amritaswaroopa-nanda says, quoting a minister,
that it is also the only one to pump back into the society all the
money it receives. But Amma and her disciples attribute the growth of
the ashram to the service rendered by the brahmacharis and devotees.

Listen to Dr Prem Nair, medical director of the ashram's prestigious
Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences (AIMS), and you realise it's no
bluster. He chucked his job as gastro-enterology professor at
Southern California University after meeting Amma in the US in 1989
and joined her ashram. Later, he was asked to take charge of her
hospital in Kochi. "For a lot of people, priorities in life change
after meeting Amma," he explains.

Prem was also moved by a personal experience. He had a growth in the
abdomen and it was diagnosed as lymphoma. Doctors suggested bone
marrow transplant. When he told Amma, she said he was going to be all
right. This was more than 12 years ago. "I declined the suggested
treatment and here I am, still alive," he says. How could a modern
medicine man choose such an option? "It is a matter of faith," he
says.

Besides AIMS, which in five years has grown to a Rs 70-crore, 800-bed
hospital and has treated around 20,000 patients free of cost, the
ashram has institutes that teach science, technology, computers and
management, homes for the aged, orphanages and family groups. Amma
has also established 16 Brahma-sthanam temples with women priests,
something unprecedented in the male-dominated Hindu society.

If in the early days, her fame was dependent on the belief of her
devotees in her
supernatural powers, the accent now is on service.

These institutions, most of which have come up in the last decade,
reflect a shift in the ashram's approach from sadhana (penance) to
service, though inmates insist these are but two sides of the same
coin. If in the early days, her fame was dependent on the belief of
her devotees that she had supernatural powers, the accent now is on
the service aspect.

The Vallikkavu ashram was once a soul-soothing spiritual tourism spot
for foreigners. It is now the self-contained headquarters of an
international charity conglomerate with towering quarters for
devotees who live with their families, a post office, a bank and a
vehicle booking counter. The only reminder of old times is the ferry,
which one has to take to reach the ashram.

The ashram has built 25,000 houses for the poor in 12 Indian states
and will build another 1 lakh in the next decade. It rebuilt three
earthquake-affected villages in Gujarat and distributes a monthly
pension to 50,000 destitute women, mainly in the south Indian states.
The ashram has branches in many Indian cities and has centres in
several Asian countries, the US, Europe, Mauritius and Reunion
Island. Soon after the celebrations, Amma will kick off her European
tour, covering England, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Belgium,
Switzerland, Finland, Austria and Holland. In November, she will
spend two weeks in the United States. In February next year, she will
tour north India and then fly to Mauritius, Reunion Island, Malaysia
and Singapore.

A curious admirer recently wanted to know Amma's reaction to a media
assessment that she was now more like a corporate executive than a
guru. She replied that her institutions stood for dharma, not profit.
The electricity tariff for all her institutions in India would add up
to Rs 10 crore a year and a radiation equipment that had just been
imported for the hospital cost Rs 12 crore. How was she to pay for
all this?

Be Indian: Amma with native American Indian chief Sah Pah in July
2002.
In traditional style, he presented her a white eagle feather

Prajnanamritananda, who was pursuing his doctorate at Tata Institute
of Fundamental Research before he gave up everything for Amma, points
to Amma's manage-ment skills when asked about the ashram's
success. "Companies usually follow a fear-greed management policy,"
he says. "In the ashram, compassion and love are what drive the
inmates. And stress is on the spiritual growth of the individual. So,
there is a blooming of potential."

Gentle persuasion is the management mantra, whether it is to fine-
tune disciples' spiritual practices, behaviour or dress code. In a
recent session for the inmates, she spoke of how, in the early days,
a western woman devotee wore a transparent dress, and the 'big swami'
(Amritaswaroopananda) ordered her to leave the spot, leaving her in
tears. Amritanandamayi consoled her, explaining that the brahmacharis
were yet to gain full control of their minds. But why should I suffer
because somebody else can't control his mind, the tearful woman
wanted to know. Message 1: Pay close attention to what you wear. Then
comes another anecdote. During a foreign tour, Amma was at this
airport, and a couple was kissing in public. "I was hoping that the
brahmacharis wouldn't see it and they were praying that it escapes my
notice," she said, plunging her admirers into peals of laughter.
Message 2: What is acceptable in one culture is anathema in another.

For long, Damayanti, Amritanandamayi's mother, would withdraw when
press photographers visited Edamannel house, next to the ashram. She
hasn't been too kind to her extraordinary child, called Sudhamani in
those days, and the biographers have not missed it.

Damayanti and Sugunanandan, who now address their daughter as Amma
and light a lamp before her photo, recall that the child had great
concern for the poor, though their own family was barely subsisting.
She didn't care much for education, which ended in the fifth
standard, but was keen about chanting and prayers. She was virtually
the servant of the family, doing all kinds of menial jobs.
Sugunanandan remembers that the child was found mixing water in the
milk the family sold, so that she could give the money to the needy.

A dramatic tale: Sugunanandan and Damayanti, Amma's parents

It was in 1975 that Sudhamani showed her 'Krishna bhava' (behaving as
if she were Lord Krishna) during a religious reading in the
neigbourhood. At other times, she used to behave like 'Devi'. Says
Sugunanandan: "Even though a believer, I found it difficult to
understand this and was worried that it was a mental problem."

People began to flock to the village and seek her blessings. But
there was also opposition from within and outside the family, which
culminated in her expulsion from the house. For a time, she lived
outdoors and around 1979, a few disciples left their families and
started living by her side. Sugunanandan remembers that the
rationalists made life difficult for Amma and her family by harassing
them and those who visited her. In 1981, the Mata Amritanandamayi
Math started off in a few thatched huts near her family house.

Today, after two eventful decades, the Math is big, with its imposing
structures, presses, canteens, computers, and baby elephant but not
big enough to host all her devotees from around the world who want to
wish her happy birthday. Almost unmindful of the celebrations in
distant Kochi, Amritanandamayi carries on, giving darshan to men,
women and children, black, white and brown, solving their material
and spiritual problems, and hugging them till it hurts.


Tactile tonic
If Mahesh Yogi's trademark is Transcendental Meditation and Sri Sri
Ravi Shankar's is Sudarshan Kriya, Amritanandamayi's spiritual USP is
a simple, warm hug. As the Herald Tribune wrote in a front-page
report, during Amma's visit this July to Japan, "if there were a
world record for hugs, it would surely go to Mata Amritanandamayi, a
small, dark woman with a radiant smile". The Independent had this to
say when she visited London a few years back: "There were no rousing
speeches, no religious messages, no strong-arm fund-raising tactics;
just a round-faced woman in an armchair, smiling and dispensing
tactile tonics."

"If there were a world record for hugs, it would surely
go to Mata Amritanandamayi, a small, dark woman
with a radiant smile".

No one has counted but a popular estimate is that she would have
hugged more than two crore people. And, every day the record is being
broken. Disciples say there have been times when she has hugged over
20,000 people at a stretch in 20-hour sessions.

It is no exaggeration. Visit Vallikkavu whenever she is in the ashram
and you can see people queuing up for her embrace. If the queue is
longer, she quickens the pace. But never does she get up till the
last man or woman has got the hug.

Earlier, Devi Bhava or the special darshan when she dresses up as a
goddess, used to be three days a week. Now, it is only on Sundays.
Starting in the evening, these sessions often stretch to the
following morning.

With a friendly pat on the back, she brings disciples, sometimes two
at a time, close to her ears, allowing them to whisper their
innermost anxieties. She kisses and consoles them, whispering, "my
darling son". Grown-up people bury their faces in her lap and cry
unashamedly. Disciples pass on packets of prasad to her from behind.
Sometimes she gifts people a candy or an apple.

There is no attempt to put on an air of superiority. Sometimes she
sympathises. Sometimes she taunts people for sobbing like kids. Or
she shows genuine concern. Like when it was a French woman's turn,
recently. Amma told those around her, alarmed: "Do you know this lady
is completely off her mind? Anybody from France around?" She then
gave instructions that the woman be put up only on the ground floor
and that she be given her medicines regularly.

A student is there to seek her permission to join a particular
course. A retired professor wants to name his school after her. A
young girl from the west wants to clear her spiritual doubts. Sitting
on a platform on the floor, she obliges everyone. First-timers find
it irksome that they have to go down on their knees to come face to
face with her. But her joyful demeanour and the warm hug dissolve
such misgivings.

As she retires to her room, waving and extending her arms to the
disciples, some of them crouch and kiss the spot where she sat, to
capture some of the grace.

Is there a psychological explanation for the way the devotees behave?
Dr Philip John, clinical psychiatrist in Kochi, points to the fact
that Amma represents a mother figure. "There is a subcultural
perception of comfort and security in the mother's bosom. In a
spiritual setting, the devotee looks forward to a symbol of this
relationship. Amma has translated the hug into that symbol. The hug
is therefore a perpetual reminder of that relationship," he says.

"When she listens to the confession or plea and smiles, it abruptly
takes away the weight on the chest, making the devotee cry. This
catharsis, besides giving comfort or solace, provides hope which
keeps that person going," he says, adding that the enfolding presence
continues even without her physical presence.

The inner circle
The first set of monastic disciples of Amritanandamayi were from
Harippad, a town not very far from Vallikkavu, in the late 80s. They
suffered taunts and threats from sceptics, gave up their education
and worldly assets and stayed near her house. Today, they as well as
some others of that era are senior swamis, looking after the ashram's
multifarious activities.

Leading lights: Amritaswaroopananda (centre) with Ron Gotsegen (left)
and Dr Prem Nair; (below left) Amritatmananda

The most important disciple, now known as valiya (big) swami in
ashram circles, is Swami Amritaswaroopananda. He was the first to be
initiated as a sanyasi. "It took 11 years before Amma thought I was
fit to be a sanyasi," he says. The once curious BA student from
Harippad called Balagopal is now like a confident COO, coordinating
the ashram's activities within and outside the country. Handsome and
knowledgeable, he is the visible face of the marketing machinery of
the ashram that people speak highly of.

Ramakrishnananda, who regularly accompanies Amma during her world
tours, belonged to an orthodox Brahmin family and was a bank employee
in Harippad. He went to Amma in the hope that her blessings would
help him get a transfer to Palakkad. Instead, he got transported into
the world of renunciation.

He wanted to join her immediately but she told him to wait till his
sister's marriage. After three years, he resigned his job and joined
the ashram, against the wishes of his parents. His father was able to
reconcile to the fact that his son wanted to be a sanyasi but not to
the fact that he would be sishya to a Dalit woman. Over the years,
his parents became frequent visitors to the ashram and even settled
down there.

Amritatmananda, yet another swami, from a well-known family of
businessmen in Harippad, is part of Amma's core bhajan group and
accompanies her during her world tours. He first went to meet Amma
out of sheer curiosity. When the non-believer joined an ashram led by
a low-caste woman, his parents were shocked and even lodged a
complaint with the police. But he was determined. "Amma touches
people in so many ways, especially the young," he says. He describes
how he came across a 25-year-old drug addict in Switzerland. "He had
lost his parents in an accident, took to drugs and was contemplating
suicide. After seeing a poster, he came to a session and Amma told
him, 'You have Mother, don't worry'. He became her follower and found
a new meaning in life. He is coming to Kochi for her birthday," he
says.

One incident that touched the earliest inmates involved a leprosy
patient called Dattan.
Amma hugged him and licked his sores.

One incident that touched most of the earliest inmates involved a
leprosy patient called Dattan who was so gruesome that he covered
himself with a cloth. They say Amma hugged him and licked his sores.
In time, they claim, he became free of the disease. But the ashram
faced a problem when more lepers came for blessings and other
devotees felt uncomfortable. "Then she agreed to send bhasmam (sacred
ash) to them," says Ramakrishnananda.

Swami Paramatmananda or Neil Rosner was the first foreigner to join
the ashram. He was with Ramana Maharishi's ashram in Thiruvilvamalai
and visited Vallikkavu. Amma later sent him to America to look after
one of her centres. He is now back in Vallikkavu.

One of Amma's prominent foreign disciples is Ron Gotsegen who is the
administrative director of AIMS. After meeting Amma, he sold his
highly successful electronic equipment business-Radionics was a
market leader-and helped set up an ashram in San Rimon, which now
functions as the ashram's US headquarters.



The beautiful touch
I got to know Amritanandamayi seven years ago. In our first meeting I
felt the beauty of her touch which is so divine. I went and met her
at the ashram. I felt at peace after her divine touch.
We have a lot of saints giving discourses in English and Hindi, but
she speaks her own language and is still able to reach out to so
many. I have given two concerts in her presence, one at her ashram
and one in America. Today we need peace. And she has so much to give
to the world.
I won't be around for her birthday celebrations as I am going to the
US. Once I come back I will try and see her.
Anup Jalota

>From the soul
Mikko Von Hertzen was his name and in German that means, 'from the
heart'. Don't worry about the pronunciation. The 30-year-old musician
from Helsinki is now called Satya.

A music composer, Satya's education didn't go too well because he was
performing throughout the year in Finland. "I was a star and
magazines had put me on the cover," he says.

Singing from the heart: Satya

Hearing about Amma's visit to Sweden from a friend, he travelled to
Stockholm to meet her. "It was an intense experience. I asked her
whether I could come to India. She advised me to finish my studies
(degree in eco-tourism) first."

He studied 16 hours a day and finished his course in two months and
went to Paris and met Amma there. "She agreed this time and I came
down here about five years ago. During my initial six-week stay, I
learnt more about Amma and that my life is connected to hers."

After joining the ashram, he stopped singing, thinking it a past
life. But Amma insisted that he should sing. "She told me to sing
about spiritual things instead of the material concerns which were my
subject," he says. Now a member of the bhajan group, he amazes people
with his rendering of Malayalam songs.

The sceptical view
While Amritanandamayi's popularity has been growing exponentially,
both within and outside Kerala, she has also had her share of
critics.

In the beginning, she had to face the wrath of rationalists in her
region. Though criticism has become less strident there still are
those who find fault with her and point to the affluence of her
relatives. They also have a grouse that they have not benefited from
the unprecedented development that has taken place in the region.
There is heartburn because the ashram is a self-contained unit and it
doesn't have to depend on outside labourers for skilled or unskilled
activity. "There is jealousy," says Sugunanandan, Amma's father.

Amma herself quips that history is full of examples of gurus being
driven away from their place of birth and that people of her village
are better in that they haven't done that to her.

Certain intellectuals have also pointed fingers. Last year, there was
an uproar when Sreeni Pattathanam, a rationalist, published a book in
Malayalam, Mata Amritana-ndamayi-Divya Kadhakalum Yatharthiavum
(Sacred Stories and Reality).

Paul Zachariah is a prominent writer who has often spoken against her
movement. "Whether in politics or religion, personality cult is not a
healthy practice. It will lower the cultural indicator of these
followers and affect their critical intelligence," says
Zachariah. "Besides, if spirituality is a connection between human
being and a larger principle, why do you need an intermediary?"

But isn't there a sadguru tradition in Hindu culture? "But a guru
should draw the line somewhere. Somebody like Ramana Maharishi never
allowed people to worship him," he says.

Zachariah has one more worry. He claims there is a close association
between the ashram and Hindu fundamentalist forces and this poses
dangers, as Amritanandamayi wields influence over thousands of people.
The leading lights of the ashram, however, say there is no substance
to the charge. "Is A.K. Antony or S.M. Krishna, who respects Amma, a
fundamentalist?" asks a senior swami.



Interview/Mata Amritanandamayi
My karma is to console

By C. Sujit Chandra Kumar

It was 8.30 p.m. when we were ushered into Amma's headquarters, after
she had given darshan to everyone and conducted the bhajan. There
were Krishna idols and pictures in different parts of the room. There
was also a picture of Jesus Christ.

There were only two chairs and the swamis, who had turned up to
listen to the interview, sat on the floor or stood reverentially. She
offered me the other chair but I preferred to sit close to her on the
floor, in tune with the humility of her disciples and also to allow
the recorder to catch every word. Excerpts:

Asking why I hug is like asking a river why it flows. That is my
character.
If a person is falling down, won't you want him to get up?

Are you God?
(Laughs.) Son, tell me what is your concept of God?

Well, we can't see Him. We want to know Him... He has supernatural
powers.
I don't believe that God is there above the sky. I have a concept of
God in terms of qualities. The attempt is to instill those qualities
in people.

Thousands come to you with their problems. Do you feel tense
sometimes?
I live in this moment. So there is no tension. I know the world's
character. People come and express their desires. It is not a tough
task for a mother to look after her children. It becomes difficult
only for an ayah.

Crowds don't make me tense. Sometimes there are 20,000 people,
sometimes 30,000. If there are more people, I increase the speed with
which I attend to them.

Why do you hug people?
It is like asking a river why it flows. That is my character. It
became so. If a person is falling down, will you just watch or will
you help that person to get up? I don't see if it is a man or woman.
The duty of a doctor is to treat patients. In the same way, my karma
is to console those who are sad.

In Indian culture, we have the concept, mathru devo bhava (Mother is
God). Mother is given the premier position. When a child is crying,
you pat on its back. Then it lies down on your lap and cries. You
then put the child on your shoulders. Then you put an arm around the
poor thing. The embrace evolved naturally.

Sometimes there are so many who want to meet you. Don't you feel
tired?
Till now, I have not felt so. I have been giving darshan for over 35
years. I don't know about the future. Tomorrow is different from
today.

Do you get headaches or other problems?
Not really. But it is possible because the body is made of the five
elements. Till now, I have not stopped darshan midway and gone back
to my room. If I start in the morning, I stop it in the afternoon
because people will come again in the evening. That will go on till
the following morning, sometimes till noon.

What is your favourite food?
(Laughs.) Amma has no likes and dislikes. I accept whatever I get. In
the ashram, they don't cook fish or meat. Not that I'm against it.
But why kill animals? Some may say, eating vegetables also involves
destruction. But killing a chicken is worse than destroying an egg.

Do you listen to music?
Everything is God for me. There is no quality which is special. In
sanadhana dharma, there is no srishti (creation) and srishtithavu
(creator). It is the same. I see God in people. Whether it be music
or something else, these are all God's qualities.

What do you do when you are alone?
I read letters from devotees the whole night. There are about 3,000
people living here. They have complaints. There are letters from
different organisations. I am able to read only a small portion of
what comes. I give the rest to my children to read. If one person can
be helped, it is better to that extent.

They say you sleep only two hours.
Sometimes, not even that much. There is work. Day and night have
become almost the same.

Why do you dress up like a goddess?
I had this habit of dancing to devotional songs. Some devotees like
to dress up Amma. In north India, they put Krishna's crown and bring
butter. They enjoy that. In the same way, people who worship Devi
bring flowers, etc. It is the sankalpam (imagination) of devotees.
Once, a devotee from Madurai had a dream that he should bring a crown
for me. It is their desire and not that I wanted it. If somebody
gives trousers (she has a hearty laugh), I am ready to wear that too,
if it will help dharma.

Why did you assume the name Amritanandamayi?
I used to write the prayer, Om, Amrithajyothirmayame. My name was
Sudhamani and Sudha means amritham (nectar). And the sishyas renamed
it this way.

Your biography says you converted water to panchamritham (sweet dish).
I don't think of it as a miracle. For me, peace of mind is the
greatest miracle.
What happened that day was, there was this Bhagavatha reading in a
neighbour's house. While listening, I danced in ecstasy. Some people
came and demanded that I show them a miracle. When they insisted, I
asked them for a pot of water. That was distributed to everyone and
they ate the panchamritham. Another time, someone took away the lamp.
Those days, there was no electricity. Some devotees poured water in
sea shells. I asked them to light it. It happened while the devotees
were watching. They only did it. I haven't done anything myself.

People say you have cured diseases. Why then did you build a hospital?
Even if you remove the poison from body, if mind doesn't change,
there is no use. Jesus Christ is said to have healed people. Why are
his followers building hospitals? How did Krishna become Dhanwantara-
murthy? Prayer and medicine are necessary. Tomorrow, I can also get
unwell.

Celebrations are being planned for your 50th birthday.
We wanted to have a mass prayer involving people of different
cultures for world peace. That was combined with this birthday. For
devotees, birthday is important. We have these programmes for women,
youth and businessmen. People came forward for a forum like this.

Why do you go on foreign tours?
Spiritual life should be like a river. In olden days, there were no
buses or trains. Yet, Shankaracharya toured the country and set up
ashrams all over. He didn't sit in one place. Yes, if you sit in one
place, you develop more affinity to God. But inside you as well as
outside should become like a river. I travel to different parts of
India also.

Some local people still have doubts.
How can we remove the doubts of everyone? When Krishna, Nabi and Rama
came to this world, people had doubts. Is there anyone who has total
acceptance? Do children fully accept their parents? Does one have
full control of one's own mind? No. There will be two sides and that
is the way it should be. Some have preconcieved ideas. It is
difficult to wake up those who are pretending to be asleep.

They say your relatives are rich.
They can only look at such things. Amma's relatives are into
business. One brother is into building contracts. He also has some
chocolate agency. Father had about 20 boats. He sold some and set up
a business for another brother. Maybe, because of some devotees, he
was able to expand it without much investment. The younger brother
has a money-lending business. Kasturi (sister) and husband are
employed. Another sister's husband has a job. They also have boats.

Father still earns his bread through hard work. He doesn't take
anything from the ashram, which is managed by swamis. The local
people are generally good. But a few sometimes have got drunk and
tried to create trouble. Once, they threw stones. Now some are
showering flowers.




--- In Ammachi (AT) yahoogroups (DOT) com, Mike Brooker <patria1818@y...> wrote:
> > http://www.the-week.com/23sep21/cover.htm
> >
> I'm having no luck viewing this page. Just getting
> that #$%^&!*& "this page cannot be displayed" message.
> Can you please copy and paste the article.
>
> Keval
>
>
> __________________________________
> Do you Yahoo!?
> Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software
> http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com