From Amma’s Heart: Conversations with Mata Amritanandamayi Devi

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For the past 30 years, Amma has dedicated her life to uplift suffering humanity through the simplest of gestures—an embrace. In this Intimate manner, Amma has blessed and consoled more than 30 million people throughout the world. Wherever she travels—be it in India, America or Europe—thousands flock to seek her boundless love and compassion, her solace and her wisdom. From Amma’s Heart is a collection of Amma’s answers to questions asked during her programs in the West since 1999. Amma Speaks on a vast range of topics, including the nature of birth and death, worldly relationships, war and peace, and spiritual practices and philosophy. No matter the question, Amma answers in her own inimitable earthy style—full of the love of a mother and the wisdom of a true spiritual master, presenting the most esoteric of spiritual truths in a manner so simple that even a child could understand.

Without verbal communication, human existence would be miserable. Exchanging ideas and sharing emotions are part and parcel of life itself. However, it is the silence that we acquire through prayer and meditation that really helps us find peace and true happiness in this noisy world of conflict in differences and competition.

In normal every day life, where people have to interact and communicate in numerous situations, observing silence is difficult. And even if our surroundings are conducive to quietude, remaining silent is not so easy. It can even drive ordinary human beings crazy. However, blissful silence is the true nature of divine personalities such as Amma.

Watching Amma deal with various situations and people all over the world, I have seen the grace and perfection with which She switches from one mood to another. One moment, Amma is the supreme Spiritual Master and, the next, the compassionate mother. Sometimes she takes the mood of a child, at others of an administrator. After advising CEOs, award-winning scientists and world leaders, she simply gets up and walks to the darshan ball, where She receives and consoles thousands of Her children from all walks of life. Generally, Amma spends Her whole day—and most of Her night—comforting Her children, listening to them, wiping their tears, infusing them with faith, confidence and strength. Throughout all this, Amma ever remains in Her natural serene state. She never gets tired. She never complains. Her face is always aglow with that radiant smile. Amma the extraordinary in ordinary form dedicates every moment of Her life to others.

What makes Amma different from us? What is the secret? From where does Her infinite energy and power come? Amma’s presence reveals the answer to these questions so clearly and tangibly. Her words reaffirm it: “The beauty of your words, the charm in your actions, the allure of your movements all depend on the amount of silence you create within. Humans have the capacity to go deeper and deeper into that silence. The deeper you go, the closer you come to the Infinite.”

That profound silence is the very core of Amma’s existence. The unconditional love, unbelievable patience, extraordinary grace and purity—everything Amma embodies are extensions of the vast silence in which She revels. There was a time when Amma wouldn’t speak like She does today. Once, when asked about this, Amma said, “Even if Amma spoke, you wouldn’t understand anything.” Why? Because, as ignorant as we are, we cannot begin to comprehend the highest and subtlest experience in which Amma is established. Then why is Amma speaking? It is best to put it in Amma’s own words: “If nobody guides the seekers of Truth, they may quit the path, thinking there is no such state as Self-realization.”

In fact, Great Souls such as Amma would rather remain silent than talk about the reality behind this objective world of happenings. Amma very well knows that Truth, when conveyed through words, inevitably is distorted, and that our limited, ignorant minds will incorrectly interpret it in the way that least disturbs our ego. Even so, this embodiment of compassion speaks to us, answers our questions and clears our doubts, knowing full well our minds will only create more and more confusing questions. It is Amma’s patience and untainted love for humanity that causes her to keep responding to our silly queries. She will not stop until our minds, too, become blissfully silent.

In the conversations recorded in this book, Amma, the Master of Masters, is bringing her mind down to the level of her children, helping us obtain a glimpse of the changeless reality that serves as the substratum for the changing world.

I have been collecting these pearls of wisdom since 1999. Almost all the conversations and beautiful incidents herein were recorded during Amma’s Western tours. Sitting by Amma’s side during darshan, I have been trying to listen to the sweet, divine melodies of Amma’s heart, which she is ever ready to share with her children. Capturing the purity, simplicity and profundity of Amma’s words is not easy. It is definitely beyond my capacity. However, by sheer merit of her infinite compassion, I have been able to record these divine utterances and reproduce them here.

Like Amma Herself, Amma’s words, too, have deeper dimension than immediately meets the eye—an infinite aspect that the ordinary human mind cannot grasp. I have to confess my own inability to fully understand and appreciate the deeper meaning of Amma’s words. Our minds, which loiter in the trivial world of objects, cannot begin to comprehend that highest state of consciousness, from where Amma is speaking. That said, I strongly feel Amma’s words contained herein are very special and somehow different from those found in previous books.

My earnest desire was to select and present Amma’s beautiful and informal talks to Her children. It took me four years to collect them. Within is carried the whole universe. These words come from the depths of Amma’s consciousness. So, just beneath their surface, is that blissful silence— Amma’s true nature. Read with a deep feeling. Contemplate and meditate on that feeling and the words will reveal their inner meaning.

Dear readers, I am sure that the contents of this book will enrich and enhance your spiritual quest by clearing your doubts and purifying your minds.

**Contents and Sample Pages**