10 September 2004 — Cochin, Kerala
“God’s power is the only source in which humankind can take refuge when they realize that self effort and its results are limited. In today’s world, we have reached a point where peace is no longer attainable through human effort alone. In fact, the current condition is such that we must offer our heartfelt prayers for God’s grace,” Amma said. She was talking to the thousands of devotees who were anxiously waiting to receive her blessings at the Mata Amritanandamayi Math, Kunnupuram, Edappally.
Amma continued, “It is difficult for human beings to admit that the power of ego is crumbling-but it is the truth. Although human effort is necessary, we must also have faith in the Universal Power. It is this Spiritual Power we must recognize and with which we must experiment.
“We took solace in believing that the sagas of Hitler and Kamsa would never repeat themselves. We wanted to believe that the world could never again fall so far. Nonetheless, today we find those same old stories renewing themselves right in front of our eyes.
“It was only last week that terrorists in Russia killed innocent children. Is there really so much cruelty and evil in the human mind? Incidents like this prove that there is. Where is the human race heading? What do we do now? What is the cause for the current situation and what is the way out? These questions are more relevant now than ever before.
“So far, we have been searching for answers to these questions in the outside world. However, we are slowly starting to realize that the answers we’re getting there are not sufficient. In fact, the time to be open and to sincerely search within is long overdue.
“Until now, humanity has searched externally for pathways to peace, trying and testing various methods. In this fashion, is there anything we haven’t tried? No. So, it is time to turn towards God.
“The United Nations has declared 21 September as the ‘Day to Pray for World Peace.’ No matter where you are on that day at 12 noon-whether you are at home, the office, in the bathroom, the market, the shopping center-irrespective of your faith and religion, stop what you are doing, close your eyes and pray for one minute for world peace,” Amma told her devotees.
