Lighting the Lamp
The literal meaning of the word Guru is — ‘the remover of ignorance’. In spiritual terms the Guru is the person who destroys the spiritual ignorance in us and awakens in us the knowledge of our true, immortal and blissful nature. Gently Amma is leading us along the spiritual path. After meeting Amma many people have found their lives irreversibly transformed for the better. In many cases these transformations have been triggered by Amma’s sweet words of soothing advice, her Satsangs.
When Amma speaks, the simplicity of the words She utters and the day to day life examples She uses sometimes camouflage the depth of wisdom hidden in her utterances. These depths become revealed later, when one finds that one’s life has been transformed over a small period of time. In order to help more and more of her children to discover the joys of leading a spiritual life, Amma has been tirelessly circling the globe for the past 3 decades.
Yet for the millions of her children spread out all over the world this doesn’t seem to suffice. They yearn to keep in touch with her and her teachings. For some, who don’t reside in India, the yearlong or the half-year-long period of separation from Amma is unbearable and they crave to have some message from Her. In order to allay their pain of separation, Amma often sends her monastic disciples all over the world to spread her message and to remind her children of the eternal spiritual truths.
Disciples Spreading Amma’s Message
In order to keep her householder children and lay disciples reminded of the spiritual values and principles, Amma sends her monastic disciples to the various ashram branches and centres in India and abroad. Some of them stay permanently in the branches and the centres, while the others periodically visit centres as and when required. Their presence and mode of living remind the devotees of Amma and the utility of leading a spiritual life. They conduct programmes which include satsangs on Amma’s life and teachings, question and answer, bhajan and meditation sessions.
Amma’s monastic disciples frequently traverse all over the globe in order to remind her children of Amma’s spiritual message. For the serious seekers they conduct weekend retreats, which include intense meditation sessions, chanting of the 1000 names of the Divine Mother, satsang, bhajans and mass pujas.
Some of the countries often visited by Amma’s disciples include the United States of America, Japan, France, Germany, Switzerland, Finland, Spain, Italy, Luxembourg, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, Holland, Denmark, Brazil, Argentina, Columbia, Venezuela, Dubai, Kuwait, South Africa, Hungry, Russia, …