Say yes to life......

May 24, 2004

As I went to Amma's web site, some power guided my hand to this small section

and clicked. I don't think Amma could speak any louder. :-) ~ Please forgive

me for being a nuisance.

Amma's Message

Excerpted from Immortal Bliss Magazine

Say "yes" to life.

The word "no" exists only where duality exists. When you say no to life you feel

unhappy and discontent. You will protest about everything and you cannot be

happy with yourself. You always feel insignificant and unsatisfied. Why is this?

It is because you are always wanting. You want money, fame, a new house, a new

car; the list goes on and on. Thus you become unhappy, you get bored and life

becomes dry. You become a constant complainer who isn't satisfied with anything.

Why? It is because you insist on constantly saying no. Due to your lack of

acceptance, you are unable to say yes to whatever life provides you.

People are always chasing after things. That is why, in spite of all their

education and intellectual knowledge, people are still unhappy and they still

feel inadequate. Even the wealthiest people are unhappy. They still easily

become bored and are plagued by numerous desires, because they are dissatisfied

and feel that they have yet to become complete.

Life is a precious gift. But we don't use our discrimination to choose what is

right. We choose the wrong things and then we end up feeling unhappy. So the

problem lies within ourselves. It is our wrong attitude that brings us

discontentment and boredom. We give too much importance to that which is only

secondary, while the more important, primary things are completely ignored.

A person was suffering from two different ailments. His eyes were troubling him

and he also had digestive problems. He went to a doctor who gave him eye drops

and some medicine for his stomach. He was to put a few drops of the eye medicine

in his eyes and to take several spoons of the stomach medicine for his

indigestion. But unfortunately, in his excitement the patient confused the

doctor's instructions. He went home and drank a dose of the eye drops and poured

stomach medicine into his eyes, with the result that both his problems became

aggravated.

Likewise, there is great confusion with regard to our own lives. We need to give

far more importance to the soul, to the realization of the Self, so that we can

lead truly contended, blissful lives. And we ought to give far less importance

to the body. But we are doing it the other way round, taking the wrong medicine

for the wrong ailment. All the energy, care, and attention that we are meant to

direct towards the soul, is instead being given to the body, as we concentrate

on making the body as beautiful and comfortable as possible. But the soul is

barely given a drop of our attention and is left to its own fate. In our state

of confusion we have lost our sense of perspective, with the result that we

think and act in a very negative way, and we feel bored and very discontent.

When you are established in the Self you are in an incessantly giving mood. You

cannot feel bored when you constantly want to give, when you do not want

anything from anyone. Amma just wants to give. She doesn't need anything from

anyone, and She doesn't expect anything. Amma simply accepts everything that

happens in her life. It is because of this that Amma never gets bored.

Only when the feeling of being separate disappears can you become a person who

gives incessantly. All sense of duality should go, which means that the mind

should go. Then only can you become a true giver who doesn't need to take or

receive anything. Boredom comes only from being selfish and self-centered. When

you are centered in the Atman, which is your real center, that is when you are

completely free from boredom.

Radha's love for Sri Krishna never died, and Mira's love for her beloved,

Giridhar, never died either. Neither of them expected anything in return for

their love. They were both great givers, and they were never bored - only

blissful and content. Whatever they received, whether good or bad, was

appreciated, and accepted whole heartedly. That is why they are still living in

the hearts of people. And they became immortal because they gave up everything.

You only truly begin to live when you die to your ego, to your mind. Radha and

Mira were dead to their egos. Mira said, "O, my Giridhar, it is okay if you do

not love me. But do not ever take away my right to love You." This was her

attitude. Radha and Mira were completely selfless. Their love was pure,

untainted by the ego and selfish thoughts.

When you live as an ego, obeying your mind, acting according to its whims and

fancies, you are not yourself, you are the mind. It is a form of insanity. It is

as if you are dead, because you are living as a mere body and mind, without

being aware of your real existence as the Self. If you believe that you are the

body, you are leading a life of illusion. Is it not madness to consider the

unreal to be real, to superimpose upon reality that which does not belong to it?

As long as you live in the mind, you will continue to be bored.

Thinking that your boredom is caused by other people, you run from one place to

another, you try out as many things as possible, until you finally collapse.

Don't you want to unload the burden of your mind, to feel free and at peace?

"Yes, I would like to," is the answer of most people. But they do not want to

release their grip on that which they are holding. They think that if they let

go, they will become vulnerable and insecure.

Even a small child has this feeling. If a child is not with its mother or

father, it will feel very insecure. Children always walk around holding onto one

end of their mother's sari or their father's shirt. This makes them feel secure

and protected. But it won't last for long, because the source of security will

shift. As the child grows, the feeling of insecurity will also grow, and he

discovers that being with his parents is not real security. He will even begin

to feel that his parents are an obstacle to his freedom. He will soon begin to

feel that there is something or somebody else that can provide him with more

contentment than his parents, or his home, or the city where he lives.

Discontentment and boredom go hand in hand. You become bored with your parents,

so you want to be away from them. You feel bored in your home and in your city,

so you want to live somewhere else. You are bored with your old car, so you want

a new one. You are bored with your girlfriend, so you want a

different one. In your search for security and contentment you constantly

embrace insecurity. But you never find that contentment. You just continue to

come face to face with your insecurity and discontentment.

It is your mind that is insecure. It is your mind that creates your boredom and

your fears, and is the cause of all your problems. Get rid of the mind rather

than trying to replace one object or place with another. Rid yourself of the

mind, and you will become a new person with a fresh, ever new outlook on life.

As long as you carry the mind with you, you will remain the same old person with

the same fears, insecurity, boredom, and discontentment.

Real security in life can be found only in Self (Atman) or God .And the only way

to get rid your boredom is to surrender to your own Self or God or to a perfect

master. Be a witness to everything. You are Purusha(perfection). You are the

whole, and not a limited individual. Remove all your feelings of sorrow,

boredom, and discontentment. Be blissful and content.

Friends. Fun. Try the all-new Messenger

May 24, 2004

-

Robin Wilson

ammachi

Monday, May 24, 2004 9:21 PM

Say "yes" to life......

Namaste, dear Sister,

Thank you for posting this; I needed to read it, too. And please, at least

where I'm concerned, don't ever feel your problems make you burdensome. Love

doesn't work that way.

By the way, I was delighted to see you writing tonight as I had been meaning

to check in with you to see how Hannah is doing. Your message gave me the

impetus to quit fiddlnig around and reach out. I really can't begin to tell all

of you how often you cross my mind during my days; there is so much that I share

nowhere else.

At Mother's feet,

Dixie