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This is Amma's message, printed and framed, inviting you to the office of Amritapuri
Ashram, in Kerala's Quilon district, flanked by the Arabian sea and the backwaters
of Kayamkulam - headquarters of her international mission, where nearly 700 spiritual
aspirants reside permanently and thousands of devotees pour in every day for Amma's
darshan.
From cooking and cleaning to operating the computers, they all contribute actively
to the upkeep of the ashram. Here meals are served thrice a day, while drugs, alcoholic
drinks, cigarettes and non-vegetarian food is not allowed. Celibacy, silence and
modest dress code are the rules of the ashram. Simplicity is its crown. Compassion
its beauty. And love its soul.
The ashram also serves as the headquarters of Amrita Niketan (orphanage), Amrita
Balamandiram (hostel for scheduled caste students), Amrita Bhavanam (hostel for
tribal children), Amrita Kripa Sagar (hospice for the terminally ill cancer patients),
Amrita Medical Centre and Amrita Medical Mission of Ayurveda. Also housed in the
premises are Amrita Vidvahayants; Amrita Arts and Cultural Research Centre; Amrita
School for Sanskrit; Amrita Institute of Computer Technology; Mata Amritanandamayi
Mission Trust Industrial Training Centre and Amrita offset printers, which publishes
books on Amma's life and teachings in Malayalam, Tamil, Kannada, Hindi, Marathi,
Gujarati, Sanskrit, English, German, French, Italian, Japanese, Russian and Swedish.
Ever Monday and Tuesday, Mata Amritanandamayi pays special attention to the administration
of each of these units.
"I am not a devotee. I've come to write a story on Amma. Can I interview her?" I
asked the office secretary. "Please ask Amma. Normally, it's not permitted. You
journalists ask all sorts of questions. Her time is precious for her devotees,"
the saffron-clad young man said with a pleasing smile. I was taken to the Darshan
Hall. A small group was singing bhajans (devotional songs). The air in the hall
was solemn and serene. And there, on the dais, calmly sat Mata Amritananandamayi
in her spotless white dress. And as she lent a patient ear to each of the devotees,
hugging them, caressing them and murmuring advice, they broke into tears like little
children. All the while, Amma smiled.
I was a little nervous. I am spiritually inclined, but have never kneeled before
a spiritual leader. I was also nervous thinking whether the catharsis would move
me emotionally? My turn. I knelt before her. She hugged me. "My son, what can Amma
give you?" "An interview," I said. She burst into laughter; "Interviewing me! What
for? Amma is not that important." "At least one minute," I said, " so that I can
ask you one question. If you give me two minutes I shall ask you two." Amma hugged
me again and kissed me on my forehead. "Yes son. I shall meet you after the darshan.
You can ask any number of questions."
During the three hours of the darshan, I talked to a few devotees, scanned a couple
of journals and books and met Amma's parents next door for an idea about her and
her past. When she was not Mata Amritanandamayi but the 'crazy' Sudhamani, born
in a traditional fishermen community as the eighth in a line of 13 born to Dayamanthi
and Sugunandan. Born on September 27, 1953, in a humble hut made of woven palm leaves,
she was nine years old when her mother fell seriously ill.
The entire responsibility fell on her tender shoulders, forcing the brilliant student
to discontinue her schooling.
Getting up well before dawn, she would set to household chores of cleaning, fetching
water, cooking, collecting vegetable scraps and rice gruel for the cow, milking
it and wading through the backwaters looking for the ducks. And she was often sent
to her relatives' houses to do their sundry jobs. She was practically a maidservant
in her own house.
Still, curses and punishments was her pay. If ever she overslept, Damayanthi would
not hesitate to pour a pitcher of cold water on her. Her very dark complexion was
looked down upon. Yet it only strengthened her concern and love for the poor and
the old - she spent time listening to their woes and stole food and cash from her
house to help them. She once gave her mother's gold bangle to a poor old woman.
In a fit of fury, her father tied her to the trunk of a tree and beat her until
she bled. At times, she would suddenly withdraw. Irrespective of the time or place,
she would sit for hours near the backwaters, looking intently into the flowing time.
Unable to understand her behaviour, she was upbraided for not being playful like
others. This marked the beginning of a long period of malignment with their daughter
and misinterpretations of her undaunted flight to the realm of divine love. "Yes.
We thought that she was mad," admits Sugunanandhan, who now takes Damayanthi to
the ashram for Amma's darshan, remorseful of the ill treatment to his daughter.
But Sudhamani, even after she became Mata Amritanandamyi to millions, considers
Damayanathi her spiritual guru.
"Damayanthi Amma was, in a sense, my guru. She inculcated diligence, devotion and
discipline in me. If there was even a little rubbish left over in the courtyard
after sweeping, she would beat me. When all the vessels were washed, she would punish
me in case she traced a speck of dirt. She would even beat me with the wooden pestle
used for pounding rice. But I knew it was for my good. She mistreated me due to
her limited vision. All those trials led me along the correct path."
That is how the Mother of Love evaluates her own mother's cruel treatment. And it
is a measure of her own nobility and strength of character that behaviour, which
would have only evoked anger, hatred and alienation in others, only served to enhance
her love. Eventually, she was forced out of her house and spent her days and night
out in the open. When Sudhamani's family and her fisherfolk community rejected her,
birds and animals consoled her. She kissed the earth and embraced the trees. She
wept with joy at the caress of the breeze. For months her 'madness' continued until
she realised the vital truth.
"From all those experiences, I clearly understood that the world is full of sorrow.
Nobody loves us selflessly. Everyone loves only himself. Only God has such selfless
love." At 27, she accepted a band of young disciples to spread the message of love.
She trained them in accordance with the sanyasa tradition of India. And slowly,
people began to flock for her darshan.
Today, the ashram has its centres in Mumbai, Thane, Pune, New Delhi, Bangalore,
Chennai and Coimbatore, apart from ten centres in Kerala. It has its units in America,
France, Mauritius, Reunion Island and Japan. Amma has led thousands of spiritual
Yajnas in Japan, Singapore, England, France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy,
Sweden, Russia, USA, Canada and Australia.
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