Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Lessons I have Learnt from My Spiritual Master

This post is very different from my usual writing posts. Today, I will talk about my spiritual master:  Amma or Mata Amritanandmayi Devi as she is known as. I will also share with you all the things I have learnt from my Spiritual Master. Amma is from Kerala. This Divine Saint has made it her mission to uplift humanity and help the poor by constructing free houses for them as well as providing them with basic education, medical care and jobs. Amma’s Ashram runs one of the largest charitable institutes in India.

Though, India has many saints, Amma is different from other saints. Her difference arises from the fact that she is accessible to all her devotees, irrespective of caste, financial background and age.

Amma travels all over the world, meeting people and giving her unique darshans, which consist of a hug, a candy and few holy and loving words whispered in each individual’s ear. It’s not surprising to see young students getting their hall tickets  for exams blessed by Amma, or engineering students getting their projects blessed by Amma or excitedly telling her their exam results.

I met Amma  nearly 19 years back. Amma visits Bangalore every year in February. I eagerly wait for 364 days to spend a few seconds in Amma’s arms and feel that divine bliss and experience that radiant energy.

I have a unique relationship with my Spiritual Master. Amma treats me like a baby. Amma is very encouraging where my writing is concerned. It’s due to her encouragement that I started querying for my MG fiction. She constantly urges me to write more books and not worry about big publishers.

Amma has taught me many things. Patience, something I am not famous for, is Amma’s best known quality, as well as humility. As writers we need both these qualities in abundance. We need truckloads of patience to see a completed Manuscript. As for humility, we are after all taking dictation from a higher source when we write. So, the question of pride just does not arise.

Another thing Amma has taught me is the act of practicing detachment, the ability to stand back and just witness what is happening in one’s life. This is extremely difficult. The moment I started querying exactly one month back, I would check my mail every few hours to see if any agent had replied. From the past few days, I have shed that habit and I am much more at peace now. I have performed my actions (writing the book and querying) and now it’s up to God to do the rest.

Amma constantly urges her followers to embrace the Indian philosophy of karma: performing one’s actions without any expectations. We writers embrace that philosophy in a big way. When we write our books and stories we have no idea of the reaction it will garner from the readers.

Amma is the source of my Inner Strength and it’s because of her Divine Grace that I am able to do all the things I do. I have felt her presence during the most stressful situations in my life.

Today, 27th September is Amma’s birthday. I wish her a very, very Happy Birthday. I pray that she blesses all of us in every sphere of our lives.

Here is the link to Amma’s website for those who would love to know more about this Divine Saint. 
http://www.amritapuri.org/

22 comments:

  1. Have heard a lot about Amma, but have never been fortunate enough to have her Darshan or meet her. I envy you your relationship with your Spiritual Master.

    Here is wishing Amma a very Happy Birthday.

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  2. Hi Rachna..I have had the pleasure of meeting Amma many times. We are indeed lucky to have her in our lives. I too would like to wish Amma a very Happy Birthday.

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  3. Happy birthday to Amma! People who carry that sort of peace with them are truly blessed and bless those around them, too. May she have many more as she carries on her work.

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  4. Fascinating post. Really interesting, I would like to know more about the role of spiritual masters.

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  5. She sounds like an amazing person. :-)

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  6. Hi ma'am,
    An interesting post! Thanks for sharing. For your information, I enjoyed reading the post because she came a topic for discussion once in a Sociology class. My Indian friends from the south told the same thing like Amma whispering into a person's ear very closely and all. It was a good reminder. Hats off to her for being such a helpful person :)

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  7. Happy Birthday, Amma! She sounds like such an inspiration. How lucky you are to have her in your life.

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  8. From an amazing person, excellent lessons learned...
    Me too join you to wish her happy birthday

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  9. She is incredible, Rachna, and I'm so happy you have that presence in your life. I couldn't agree with you more about all of those lessons. They are ones I still struggle to follow yet they are so true and valuable. Doing work without any attachment to results is an incredible thing. I hope I can live my life through those virtues someday. This was a lovely post.

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  10. Happy birthday to Amma. We share the same day, don't we Rachna? :-) (((hugs)))

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  11. Everyone draws their support from different sources. It is good to see you know where yours comes from.

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  12. Good luck with your querying and finding the peace and acceptance that there is nothing you can do but wait.

    Happy birthday to Amma.

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  13. I think the detachment advice is really important. It helps you appreciate who you are, where you are, and what you have. Wonderful post. You are very lucky to have someone in your life like her.

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  14. Spiritual leaders can be such a blessing in our lives. I'm glad you have one who is so support, encouraging, and helpful. Thanks for sharing the wisdom you have learned from her-- I love the thoughts on detachment so we can be more at peace and not so wrapped up in little details.

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  15. Amazing to be so blessed; both you and Amma. Be well and happy.

    .......dhole

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  16. Om Namah Shivaya, Rachna! Beautiful post. You filled my heart with the love of Amma. Thank you!!!

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  17. Awh bless Amma
    I certainly need to embrace Karma.

    I recently watched 'eat pray love' and while I found the novel to be an inspiring personal journey, the film wasn't as good as it missed out so much and needed some narration to give it depth.

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  18. A truly remarkable person. It's people like this that I'd wish to be more like:)

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  19. Rachna, you always seem at peace and now I know why. Thanks for sharing your experience with us.

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  20. Happy Birthday to Amma. :) Have a wonderful weekend!

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  21. Indeed very different from your usual posts Rachna, but interesting nevertheless.

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  22. Happy Birthday to Amma :)... and a beautiful tribute, she certainly does sound remarkable and inspiring.

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