Creation: The Divine Joke

[Guest guest]

Creation: The Divine Joke

19 December 2005 — Amrita University, Coimbatore

When Amma stopped for lunch at the Coimbatore campus of Amrita

University on her way to Nagapattinam, she started off by asking

people to tell jokes. "Whether we smile or cry, life is still going

to keep passing by, so why not smile," Amma said.

After a few jokes were told—some bringing forth laughter, others

groans—one of Amma's American devotees stood up. "Do you want to know

how to make God laugh?" she asked. "Tell Her your plans."

Half groans, half laughs.

Amma said, "God smiles when He sees someone crying because of their

identification with another person's suffering and then reaching out

to console and comfort them."

An eight-year-old boy named Eknath then came forward and told a quite

intricate joke involving an ant and an elephant getting into an

accident while riding a motorcycle. Why was only the elephant

hurt? "Because the ant was wearing a helmet."

Again half groans, half laughter.

Another eight-year-old boy, Ramu, then asked Amma, "Why are

you God?"

"Because you are a fool," Amma sweetly replied. Then in order to help

Ramu understand his foolishness, Amma asked him a question of her

own: "Where is God?"

Ramu pointed up to the sky.

"No, inside," Amma said. "God is inside of you." And then pointing to

the 400 or so people circled around her, "God is inside each and

every one of these people here. We should serve everyone, seeing them

all as embodiments of God."

Amma then asked the boy to explain his concept of God.

"God created the world and all the people," Ramu said.

 

"The world is not God's creation," Amma replied. "It is your

creation."

 

Amma's sutram—one of the highest truths shot forward with the

compactness and swiftness of an arrow—struck the hearts of everyone

assembled. A thousand pundits can speak such a truth and it will

never have the impact that comes from hearing it directly from the

mouth of a Satguru, one who speaks from their direct experience.

 

Voluminous works like the Yoga Vasishtha and in-depth commentaries

like Sri Gaudapada's Mandukya Karika have been composed in order to

illumine this raw truth: the fact that the entire universe is indeed

nothing but a projection of the mind. As such, Ramu stood perplexed.

Then, staring up into the infinity held within Amma's eyes, he

finally—without confidence—said, "Amma is joking."

—Sakshi( www.amritapuri.org )