Inspired by Amma

Maybe we are all in need of a hug and nobody better than Amma for that, who has been hugging people around the world for decades.  I attended her darshan when she came to NY a few years ago and it was impressive to see how people are magnetized to her.

Three things surprised me today:

1- She serves 73,000 meals per year in the United States!  She is doing a lot for India too, but this is for the US, a country where I thought everyone ate, not the case.

Mother's Kitchen feeds more than 73,000 meals every year in the U.S.

The Mother's Kitchen project has been providing a full-course healthy meal to the needy on a regular basis in various centers all over the United States. 

2.- A question from a student, which I think we can all relate:

Question: Mother, my mind runs away and wanders while I am trying to concentrate.
Amma: Son, it is the nature of the mind to wander. It cannot sit quiet. When we try to quieten the mind by concentrating on an object of meditation, we can see it wander even more. More thoughts will come. Beginners may get frightened and sometimes feel discouraged by these numerous thoughts which come up during meditation. These thoughts and other tendencies of the mind have always been there, but because we were engaged in different activities we had no awareness of them. These thoughts and tendencies manifest only when we try to withdraw the mind from external activities and concentrate on a single point. Therefore during such times, do not get frightened or discouraged. Constant practice coupled with determination is the only way to conquer the mind.

3.- Her take on the practice, or teachings, especially the part where she says selfless service is the engraving on the coin:

"...Meditation and studying the scriptures are like two sides of a coin. The engraving on that coin is selfless service, and that is what gives it its real value. Our compassion and acts of selflessness take us to the deeper truths. Through selfless action we can eradicate the ego that conceals the Self. Detached, selfless action leads to liberation. Such action is not just work; it is karma yoga."

Sometimes I wonder if service at the level that she can provide is really a gift, makes me wonder how can I help more and makes me wonder if it is a cycle, whereby it is by connecting with spirit, by up-keeping the practice one actually finds the way to a life of meaning, to a life where service comes to the forefront.

She was recently given an honorary doctorate from Buffalo at the State University of New York.

Here is her website, the projects she is doing are so many! it makes me wonder and leaves me in awe everytime I hear from her.