Amma's birthday message

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http://www.amritapuri.org/news/bday05/message.php

 

In Difficult Times, Kindle the Strength of Love

 

Excerpts from Amma's satsang on the occasion of her

52nd Birthday

 

27 September 2005 — Amritapuri

 

"Amma is very happy to see so many of her children

gathered together here today. Children who have the

attitude of service are the pride of their mother and

the beauty of society. In Amma's world, there is no

such thing as birth or death. So for her how can there

be a birthday? Amma sees this event simply as an

opportunity to love and serve her children. Amma isn't

looking at the number of her children who have come

together, but at the unity of their hearts.

 

 

"When Amma looks back upon the last year, so many

tragedies come to her mind: the countless lives and

belongings that were destroyed by the tsunami, the

recent hurricanes that effected parts of the United

States, the floods in Mumbai, the terrorist attacks

that took place in different parts of the world. When

Amma thinks about all these events, she feels that the

whole world has fallen into the grip of an octopus of

fear.

 

"When such difficult circumstances arise in life,

there are two ways to respond. We can either run away

in fear or kindle the love within and try to overcome

them. If we choose the first option, all of our

strength will be drained, and we will be blown about

like dry leaves in the wind. It's impossible to escape

one's own shadow. One who tries to run away from it

will simply collapse due to exhaustion. This shadow of

fear will only disappear with the dawning of the light

of love. Love is our strength. Love is our refuge.

 

"When such harrowing situations arise, we should try

to use them to gather mental strength, so that we can

grow, rise up and move to action. We have been given

this human birth in order to face challenges and

overcome them—not to run away from them. When a ship

is in the sea, it has to weather storms, rough seas

and may even encounter whales or sharks, while the

ship anchored in the harbour doesn't face any such

challenges. However, who would make a ship just to

moor it in the harbour? When obstacles appear in life,

we need to kindle our inner strength and spread the

fragrance of selflessness and love. We should be able

to lift up others who are drowning in grief.

 

"Life may not always bring us good experiences. In

fact, it may be that we have more bad experiences in

store for us than good. Good and bad experiences are

the nature of the world. However, we should learn to

convert such challenging experiences into

steppingstones towards success. For this we need a

discriminating intellect rooted in the spiritual

principles.

 

"When disasters take place, there is no point in

blaming someone or the situation or Nature. We should

try to go to the root cause. It is very easy to blame

the government or a political party or even God. But

we shouldn't forget that we also played a role in

creating the problem.

 

"For example, when Weil's disease—or “rat

fever”—breaks out in India , we typically blame the

government. But if the people in each house keep their

surroundings clean and regularly burn their waste,

these epidemics can be avoided. Instead of pointing

our finger at others, we should try to look to our own

weaknesses. If we do so, we can avoid most problems in

life altogether. Instead of using a magnifying glass

to look at the faults of others, let us use a mirror

to look at our own. Our efforts to remove hatred and

indifference from the world should begin with trying

to remove them from our own mind. If we can make our

own mind clear and bright, the world will soon follow

suit.

 

"If a nuclear war were to break out, we all know the

amount of destruction that could come to pass. But

right now there is a disaster taking place in the

world that is much more destructive than any world war

or tsunami or volcanic eruption—however, we are either

unaware or are apathetic towards it. This is the

decline of dharma [righteousness]. If we fail to

restore dharma, all of our efforts to establish world

peace will be in vain.

 

"Why are we not aware of this disaster? Because it is

happening very gradually. If a pot falls down in our

room while we are sleeping, we will definitely get up.

However, someone who lives near the train tracks won't

even wake up when a train blows past him. If you put a

frog in a pot boiling water, it will immediately jump

out. But if you put a frog into tepid water and slowly

heat it, the frog will not make any effort to escape.

It will simply die. In the same way, we are not able

to feel the heat of adharma [unrighteousness] that is

steadily on the rise. In order for us to realize the

seriousness of this situation, we need to imbibe the

principles of dharma right from childhood . Only when

our educational system starts imparting values along

with academic knowledge will we begin nurturing

individuals to have enthusiastic and awakened minds.

Only then will society attain real success.

 

"Skill alone is not enough for success. In addition to

skill, we also need proper understanding and knowledge

of the task at hand. We also need patience. If we sow

a seed and then regularly dig it up to see if it has

germinated, it will never grow. Initially, there may

seem to be no hope, but if we are patient and

persevere, then in the end the flower of life will

blossom.

 

"Due to our impatience, most of the time, we aren't

even aware of what we are doing or saying. Rather than

feeling depressed about the opinions others may have

about us, we should transcend our own limitations and

try to do what we must with an optimistic attitude.

Thus, patience, constant enthusiasm and firm

determination to reach the goal are all necessary

factors for success.

 

"We often consider our achievements to be the crowning

moments of our life—for example, passing our college

exams or receiving recognition in our field of

expertise. Although these are significant, there are

still greater accomplishments to be made in life.

These are found in all the little things we do.

 

"Consoling a miserable soul, wiping the tears of a

crying person, feeding the hungry, helping someone up

who has fallen down—such seemingly trivial things are

actually greater than mere worldly achievements.

 

"True service is the power that sustains the entire

universe. When humanity serves Nature, Nature serves

humanity. When we serve animals and plants, they too

serve us in return. This attitude of mutual

understanding and respect is what must be incorporated

into society and into our family lives. Only when we

serve others with the right understanding and with

love and faith will we be happy and peaceful in life.

 

"When two lips come together, they emit one sound.

Even though we have two eyes, our vision is one. Even

when there are two lamps, light is one. Similarly,

even though a husband and wife are two, they should

live as one. The unity of hearts is the beauty of

their house and the stability and foundation of the

entire family. As neither the wife nor the husband has

realized their completeness, their marriage should be

a relationship wherein each partner compensates for

the other's shortcomings—not one where they point them

out and blame each other. Where there is true love,

the attitude of sacrifice will automatically be there.

True sacrifice is relinquishing one's likes and

dislikes for another person. This should be the spirit

behind each marriage.

 

"Praying that my children's hearts are filled with

Divine Love, Amma offers herself to the Paramatman."

 

 

 

 

 

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