“God has the nature of a small child. God won’t even look at those who do tapas with ego, but He will shower his grace on the innocent hearted ones who don’t do anything. This may be due to His childlike nature.”
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“Until this point, you have developed only externally, only the body and intellect have grown. But once you come to a Satguru, an inner development takes place and you grow into the experience of the Atman (self). Externally, you may be grownup, but internally, the Master teaches you to go back to the state of a child, to the state of childlike innocence. The Master’s whole purpose is to awaken the slumbering child within you.”
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The Childlike Innocence Deep within you Is God
“Children, the wonder and the love that you felt as a child will never return unless you can again play like a child. Innocence is within you, hidden deep inside. You have to rediscover it. And for this to happen, you must go deeper and deeper into your spiritual practices. When you can dive deep into your own consciousness, you will realise this innocence one day. At that moment you will discover the child within you. You will experience the innocence, the joy and the wonder that were hidden inside of you, and you will realise they were always there. You merely forgot your innocence for some time. It is as if you suddenly remember something after having forgotten about it for a very long time. That childlike innocence deep within you is God.”
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Spending Time with Children is a Spiritual Practice
“It is good for you to spend some time with children. They will teach you to believe, to love and to play. Children will help you smile from your heart and to have that look of wonderment in your eyes.”
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“Spending some time with children is a sadhana. A child has all the signs of one who has reached perfection. Children’s innocence will reflect in us also. Forgetting everything, we will sit looking at them. Vasanas (tendencies) are only in the seed form in them and have not yet manifested. Children have the eyes of one who has attained perfection.”
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The Innocence of a Child
“A child has no ego, no past or future. The child has no attachments, and because of this, he is able to express himself fully, without any prejudices or preconceived ideas.”
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“A child can attract anyone’s attention; even the most cold-hearted person will have some feelings towards a child, unless the person is a demonic monster. This attraction is due to the innocence of the child. When you are free from the grip of the ego, you, yourself, will become as innocent and playful as a child.”
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“A small child is not aware of its innocence. His or her innocent nature is completely unconscious. A small child is absolutely pure; he dwells in the state of purity before impurities are manifested. But soon, the child’s purity and innocence will begin to disappear. Impurity and ignorance will take their place. The qualities of wonder and joy, imagination and faith that we see in a child are short-lived. As long as a child remains a child, his innocence is there. But a child changes. Even a child’s mind is bound by time and space; therefore time brings about changes even in a child. Thus, the innocent child gradually slips into the clutches of the ego. The unmanifested ego and accumulated tendencies of past lives gradually manifest, and the child’s innocence slowly slips back into an unmanifested state.”
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Question: “Spiritual masters all over the world use the small child as an example of the ultimate state of perfection. What is so special about a child in connection with spirituality?”
Amma: “Look at a child. The child is not at all concerned about the past or the future. Whatever the child does, is done with total participation. The child is fully present in whatever he does; he cannot do anything partially. Children live in the present moment; this is why people feel so drawn to them. You cannot really dislike a child, because the ugliness of the ego is not present in the child.”
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Mahatmas and Innocence
Look into the eyes of a child. You can see God there. You can see your Krishna or Jesus or Buddha in the eyes of a child. But once the dormant vasanas (tendencies) start manifesting, the innocence will disappear. Vasanas are not completely absent in a child; they are there, but in the unmanifested state. If it is unmanifested, it must manifest one day or another. This is the difference between a child and a yogi. Even though there is innocence in a child, the child still has vasanas in the unmanifested state, waiting to manifest when the right time comes. A yogi, through spiritual practice, eradicates the vasanas completely. He becomes totally innocent, such that there aren’t even any unmanifested vasanas lying dormant. The yogi has no vasanas to manifest because he kills the very source of them. He cuts out the vasanas by their roots, so they stop sprouting. He is clean and pure. He flows like a river, unhindered and unperturbed, into everything and without any difference.”
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“Even a saint, after attaining Self-realization, might continue doing the same work he did before, like sweeping the road or working in the fields. But now his attitude is different. After realisation he is totally detached. He is the observer of all that he does. Full of innocence and wonder, the saint never gets bored. He is like a child who never tires of hearing the birds sing, who never gets bored looking at flowers, who is always thrilled by the rising moon. Like a child’s world, the saint’s life is filled with wonder. For him, everything is new and everything is fresh because he beholds the essential nature of everything with love.”
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Innocent Love
“When your heart is full of innocent love, you are absent; the ego is absent. In that state, only love is present. In that state, individuality disappears and you become one with the Lord. You become as innocent as a child. When a child offers something, it cannot be rejected because a child’s love is untainted and pure. When you dwell in pure innocent love, there are no dual feelings like pure or impure, good or bad, and so forth. There is only love. Pure love cannot be rejected.”
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Innocence and the Guru
“A flower doesn’t need instructions on how to bloom. No music teacher taught the nightingale to sing. It is spontaneous. There is no force involved, it happens naturally. Similarly, in the presence of a great Master, the closed bud of your heart opens up. You become as receptive and innocent as a child, a humble and obedient child of the Master. He doesn’t teach you anything. You learn everything without being taught. His presence, his very life, is the greatest teaching of all. There is no control or force involved; everything happens naturally and effortlessly. Only love can create this miracle.”