Well, I often wonder how people manage time thinking for others apart from thinking for themselves.Of course this has been a daily routine for some while it is a passion for few.Here are a few……!!!!
In this age of cynicism and fragmentation, one woman, born in an obscure south Indian village to poor fisher folk, has mesmerized the world with her potent message of active loving and giving. Amma, as she is affectionately called, hugs the world and the world hugs her back in tearful joy.
Millions of people from all over the world and all walks of life flock to meet Mata Amritanandamayi Devi, affectionately known as ‘Amma’ or ‘Ammachi’, meaning Mother. What is the secret of her magnetic attraction and power?
According to Amma, it is “pure selfless love”.
Swamini Krishnamrita Prana, Amma’s disciple, agrees. An Australian, she first heard about Amma while staying at an ashram near Mumbai, India. She was in for a great surprise when she met Ammachi. She had seen only gurus who sat on pedestals at a safe distance from devotees who had to be content with touching the guru’s sandals. But here was a guru who hugged her with unconditional love and warmth at first sight.Swamini Krishnamrita describes how Amma once healed a leper by sucking the pus and blood from his sores. Such is her infinite compassion. In the words of Swami Amritaswarupananda Puri, Amma’s first sanyasi(monk) disciple: “Here is a mystic accessible to anyone and everyone with whom you can converse and in whose presence you can feel God.”
UNFLAGGING ENERGY:
Amma has been known to spend as many as 20 to 30 hours at a stretch, hugging devotees and visitors at her congregations. Clad in a snow-white sari, the beaming Amma literally holds thousands to her bosom, whispering in their ears, “my child,” “darling son” or “darling daughter”, listening to their troubles and their deepest spiritual longings, without pause for food or even a sip of water.Amma treats everyone alike, from the billionaire to the beggar, from the newborn to the elderly, from the antagonist to the ardent admirer. According to Swamini Atma Prana: “Each person who goes to see Amma, even if he or she be the seven-thousandth person in the darshan (divine glimpse) queue, will receive the same attention from her.” This familiar closeness is so moving that many burst out in tears.Asked once whether she felt tired after giving darshan for so many hours on end to thousands of people, Amma replied: “Where there is love, there is no effort.” She adds: “When you give more, your coffers are always full. You acquire the double of what you give.”
HUGGING CREATION:
Intrigued by this unusual guru, The Los Angeles Times asked Amma: “Why do you hug people?” She replied: “This question is like asking the river, ‘why are you flowing?’ Does anyone ask his or her mother, ‘why do you hug me?’” she replied. During a memorable discussion, the BBC had a doubt: “You hug millions of people all over the world, who hugs you?” The answer was: “The entire creation hugs me.”
The ‘hugging saint’ has an explanation for her own famous hug: “From the outside it looks like an ordinary hug. But when Amma hugs people, she is transmitting a bit of her spiritual energy into them, which will help them feel Divine Love and open up more.” Bill Schekner of the CBS also wrote that Amma’s hug is an expression of the need to embrace the world and flood it with love.
Amma never forgets to emphasize the need for love. In a live interview aired on July 10, 2001, the NBC Today show host Ann Curry asked Amma about her impression of present-day USA and its need for the kind of compassion Amma teaches. Amma answered: “Whether in America or in any other part of the world, motherhood is not a quality that women alone should have. Men should also awaken to their innate feminine qualities, which is the need of the age. All over the world, people have an intense longing to experience pure love. They are in search of that love, but are not finding it. Rather, each person is becoming an object in the other person’s hand.”
MULTIFACETED MOTHER:
Apart from her famous accessibility, what adds to Amma’s infinite appeal to all kinds of people is her multidimensional nature. Different people experience Amma according to their own levels of evolution. For some she is the fountain of ultimate spiritual knowledge. For many she is the loving mother whom you can turn to in moments of crisis and to resolve everyday problems. For others she is a miraculous healer of illnesses. For a person who follows the path of devotion (bhakti yoga), Amma is a true devotee par excellence. One who pursues the path of knowledge (jnana yoga) perceives a perfect Knower of the Self in her. And for the one who follows the path of action (karma yoga), Amma is the ultimate karmayogi. But a person with a clear comprehension can see that Amma is a multidimensional integration of all these aspects. To her devotees, she is a Divine incarnation of the Mother Goddess.There are countless stories of wonderful transformations that happen in the lives of those who meet Amma.
The story of Amma’s senior disciple Swami Amritatmananda Puri is an excellent example. He was born in a wealthy family of Kerala, India and grew up as a modern youth indulging in worldly pleasures. He remembers: “I had problems with my business. I came, not seeing Amma as a spiritual master, but to know my future. After darshan, all of a sudden, a great transformation occurred in my life. It was as if I woke up from a dream forgetting everything about my family, home and worldly life. Then onwards, I surrendered my life to Amma.” While visiting Gangotri, Hardwar and Rishikesh in India, as a wandering monk, he experienced miraculous visitations from Amma. It was not a mere feeling of her presence. “She actually came to me several times. Amma showed me how a master protects a disciple. It is a miracle for ordinary human beings like us,” he says.
Now look at another divine saint of similar sort….
SRI SATHYA SAI BABA :
Sathya Sai Baba (pronounced /sæt jæ saɪ bæ bæ/; Telugu: సత్య సాయిబాబా), born Sathyanarayana Raju on 23 November 1926, is a popular South Indian guru, religious figure and educator. He is described by his devotees as an avatar, godman, spiritual teacher and miracle worker. Sathya Sai Baba’s “miracles”, in which he materializes vibuthi (holy ash) and small objects such as rings, necklaces and watches, have been a source of both fame and controversy – sceptics assert that they are conjuring tricks, while devotees consider them evidence of divinity. Sathya Sai Baba has claimed to be the reincarnation of the great Maharashtrian saint, Sai Baba of Shirdi, whose teachings were an eclectic blend of Hindu and Muslim beliefs.
Sathya Sai Baba and his organizations support a variety of free educational institutions, hospitals, and other charitable works in India and abroad. The number of active Sathya Sai Baba adherents was estimated in 1999 to be around 6 million, although followers’ estimations are far higher. Since there are no formal ties of membership, the actual figure may never be known. The Sathya Sai Organization reports that there are an estimated 1,200 Sathya Sai Baba Centers in 114 countries worldwide. In India itself, Sai Baba draws followers from predominantly upper-middle-class, urban sections of society who have the “most wealth, education and exposure to Western ideas.” A cultural icon in his home country, Sai Baba has attracted presidents and prime ministers from India and beyond who have become his devotees; in 2002, he claimed to have followers in 178 countries.
Sathyanarayana Raju was born to Eswaramma and Peddavenkama Raju Ratnakaram in the village of Puttaparthi, Andhra Pradesh, India. Almost everything known about his life is based on the hagiography that has grown around him, recounting episodes that hold special meaning to his devotees and are considered evidence of his divine nature. His birth, which his mother Eswaramma asserted was by miraculous conception, was said to be heralded by miracles. As a child, he was described as “unusually intelligent” and charitable. He was exceptionally talented in drama, music, dance and writing, and was an avid composer of poems and plays.
He was said to be capable of materialising objects such as food and sweets out of thin air. Sathya attended the local school in Puttaparthi until the third grade, then was transferred to the Bukkapatnam school. On 8 March 1940, while living with his brother in Uravakonda, Sathya was apparently stung by a scorpion. He lost consciousness for several hours. Within the next few days there was a noticeable change in Sathya’s behavior. There were “symptoms of laughing and weeping, eloquence and silence.” “He began to sing Sanskrit verses, a language of which he had no prior knowledge.” Doctors believed his behavior to be hysteria. His parents brought Sathya home to Puttaparthi. Concerned, they took him to many priests, “doctors” and exorcists.
“On 23rd of May 1940, the symptoms culminated with the disclosure of his divine identity. Sathya called household members and materialized sugar candy and other items”. His father who became furious seeing this took a stick thinking his son was bewitched and questioned him who he was? To this Sathya announced calmly and firmly “I am Sai Baba”. The reference he made was to Sai Baba of Shirdi. He proclaimed himself to be a reincarnation of Sai Baba of Shirdi — a saint who became famous in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in Maharashtra, and who had died eight years before Sathya was born.Later that year, Sathya Sai Baba declared that he had no worldly relationship with anyone, and around this time, devotees began to gather around him. On Thursdays bhajans were sung, which grew to every day. In 1940, Sathya Sai Baba began to travel to Madras and elsewhere in South India and soon had a large regional following.
In 1944, a mandir (temple) for Sathya Sai Baba’s devotees was built near the village. It is now referred to as the old mandir. The construction of Prashanthi Nilayam, the current ashram, began in 1948 and after 2 years, was completed in 1950. In 1957 Sathya Sai Baba went on a North Indian temple tour. In 1954, Sathya Sai Baba established a small free General Hospital in the village of Puttaparthi.In 1963, Sathya Sai Baba suffered a stroke and four severe heart attacks. He is believed to have healed himself from these, and on recovering announced that he would be reborn as Prema Sai Baba in the state of Karnataka.He said, “I am Siva-Sakthi, born in the gothra (lineage) of Bharadwaja, according to a boon won by that sage from Siva and Sakthi. Siva was born in the gothra of that sage as Sai Baba of Shirdi; Siva and Sakthi have incarnated as Myself in his gothra now; Sakthi alone will incarnate as the third Sai (Prema Sai Baba) in the same gothra in Mysore State.”
On 29 June 1968, Sathya Sai Baba made his first, and only, trip overseas, to Uganda. His party proceeded by car to Kampala, the capital city. Narayana Kasturi writes, “During His stay He addressed gatherings of lions and rotarians, doctors, businessmen, members and workers of service organizations,” as well as government ministers and officials. During a discourse in Nairobi (Kenya, East Africa) Sathya Sai Baba stated, “I have come to light the lamp of Love in your hearts, to see that it shines day by day with added luster. I have not come on behalf of any exclusive religion. I have not come on a mission of publicity for a sect or creed or cause, nor have I come to collect followers for a doctrine. I have no plan to attract disciples or devotees into my fold or any fold. I have come to tell you of this unitary faith, this spiritual principle, this path of Love, this virtue of Love, this duty of Love, this obligation of Love.” In 1968, he established Dharmakshetra or Sathyam Mandir in Mumbai.
In March 1995, he started the water project to provide drinking water to 1.2 million people in the drought-prone Rayalaseema region in Anantapur. In 1973, he established Shivam Mandir in Hyderabad. On 19 January 1981, in Chennai he inaugurated Sundaram Mandir. In 2001 Sathya Sai Baba established another free Super Speciality hospital in Bangalore to benefit the poor..In april 1999 He inagurated Ananda Nilayam mandir in Madurai,Tamil Nadu.Since 2005, Sathya Sai Baba has used a wheelchair, and his failing health has forced him to make fewer public appearances. In 2006, Sathya Sai Baba suffered a fractured hip bone when a student slipped from the stool on which he was standing, both the boy and the iron stool fell on him. He gives darshan now from a car or his Porte Chair.
He is also known as a singer, having released several CDs of bhajans (devotional songs).”Sathya Sai Baba’s assertion of divine status is expressed in the first person; he states it boldly and repeatedly.”Sathya Sai Baba himself says,”I am beyond the reach of the most intensive enquiry and the most meticulous measurement. Only those who have recognized my love and experienced that love can assert that they have glimpsed my reality. Do not attempt to know me through the external eyes.”
Huh……we are infact very lucky to have such people among us..Anyway this post is meant to remind us of such people and stands as a tribute to them.Good bye…..and have a nice day !!!!!
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