The Eternel Truth

Sri Mata Amritanandamayi

The Eternal Truth
by Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi
Malayalam original: Satyam Sanatanam
Compiled by Swami Jnanamritananda Puri
English translation by Dr. M.N. Namboodiri
Published by:
Mata Amritanandamayi Mission Trust
Amritapuri P.O., Kollam Dt., Kerala
INDIA 690525
Fax: 476-2897678
Email: inform@amritapuri.org
Website: www.amritapuri.org
Typesetting and layout by Amrita DTP, Amritapuri
Printed at Amrita Offset Printers, Amritapuri, India
First editions: September 2006 - June 2009
Fifth printing:: June 2010
Copyright © 2007 by Mata Amritanandamayi Mission Trust, Amri-
tapuri, Kollam
All rights reserved No part of this publication may be stored in a
retrieval system, transmitted, reproduced, transcribed or translated
into any language, in any form, by any means without the prior
agreement and written permission of the publisher.
 Foreword
“Truth is One. The sages call it by different names.”
This is the exalted message that the ancient civilization
of India has given the world. The cause of all the cur-
rent problems related to religion is the fact that we have
forgotten this message.
We may declare that the world has shrunk to the size
of a village thanks to globalization and modern scientific
innovations such as the Internet and satellite TV, but, at
the same time, the distance between people’s minds is
steadily increasing. The concept that India has given to
the world – Vasudhaiva kutumbakam, “The whole world
is my family” – is based on the fundamental oneness
and actual mental unity of us all. The ultimate solution
to our problems is to imbibe this principle of oneness.
Even if we are unable to do this, we should at least culti-
vate the attitude of respecting other people’s viewpoints
and ideas. The world is in profound need of tolerance
and understanding. The principles of Sanatana Dharma,
 The Eternal Truth
the Eternal Principle, which have been expressed in the
words of the Rishis (Self-realized sages), are capable of
leading us in that direction. These principles are divine
beacons shedding light on our path towards perfection.
Sanatana Dharma embodies the eternal truths that
everyone, irrespective of religion, caste, or culture, can
imbibe and adopt in life.
This book contains the first part of a collection of
Amma’s answers to questions on the principles of Sana-
tana Dharma. These questions were raised by devotees
on different occasions. We hope that this book will help
to promote an understanding of the principles of Sana-
tana Dharma
The Publishers

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 Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi

\
Question: What are the special features of Hinduism?
Amma: My children, according to Hinduism, there is
Divinity in everything; everyone is an embodiment of
God. Humans and God are not two; they are one. Divin-
ity lies latent in every human being. Hinduism teaches
that anyone can realize the Divinity within through self
effort. The Creator and creation are not separate. The
Creator (God) manifests as creation. In Hinduism, to
realize this non-dual Truth is considered to be the ulti-
mate goal of life.
The dream is not separate from the dreamer. But
we have to wake up in order to see that what we have
experienced is a dream. Although everything is God, we
perceive everything around us as something separate,
because we haven’t yet awakened to that awareness.
We feel attachment towards some things and aversion
towards others. Because of this, happiness and sorrow
have become the nature of life.
When we awaken to our true essence, there is no ‘I’
or ‘you’ – everything is God. What remains is only bliss.
Hinduism teaches that there are many paths that help
us awaken to this experience, depending on each one’s

5
 The Eternal Truth
samskara1. There is probably no other religion that has
so many different paths, practices, and observances.
We can mold clay in the shape of a donkey, a horse,
a mouse, or a lion. Even though they are different in
name and form, they are in fact nothing but clay. We
need the eye to see the clay that is the substratum of all
those names and forms. So, the mode of perceiving the
universe through different names and forms has to be
abandoned. It is, in fact, the one Supreme Principle that
has transformed itself into all those forms. So, in Hindu-
ism everything is God. There is nothing that is not God.
Hinduism teaches us to love and serve animals, birds,
reptiles, trees, plants, mountains, rivers – everything,
even a deadly, poisonous cobra.
When we reach the ultimate experience, we realize that
this universe is not distinct from us, just as the different
organs in our body are not separate from us.
Our awareness, which until now has been limited to
our body, expands to encompass the entire universe.
Nothing is excluded from this awareness. Those who
know the Truth experience the suffering and sorrows
of others as their own, just as we become aware of pain

1
Samskara has two meanings: The totality of impressions imprinted
in the mind by experiences from this or previous lives, which influ-
ence the life of a human being – his or her nature, actions, state of
mind, etc.; the kindling of right understanding (knowledge) within
each person, leading to the refinement of his or her character.

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 Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi

when our toe is pricked by a thorn. Compassion becomes

their true nature, just as heat is the nature of fire, coolness
the nature of water, and fragrance and beauty the nature
of a flower. Giving solace to others becomes their innate
nature. If our finger happens to poke our eye, we forgive
our finger and we caress and comfort the eye, because
the finger and the eye are not separate from ourselves.
The aim of Hinduism is to take us to the experience
that all beings are part of ourselves. When our conscious-
ness expands from limited body-consciousness to include
the whole universe, and we experience our oneness with
God, then we attain perfection. Sanatana Dharma teaches
us the way to see God everywhere in the universe, and
thus to experience that we are not separate from God.
Different paths are suggested to achieve this, such as the
path of selfless action (karma yoga), the path of devo-
tion (bhakti yoga), the path of self-inquiry (jnana yoga),
and the path of meditation (raja yoga).
The Hindu religion is called Sanatana Dharma, the
Eternal Principle, because it is appropriate for any
country during any age. It teaches the eternal truths for
the upliftment of all the worlds2. Hinduism aims at the
upward progress of everyone. In Hinduism there is no
room for sectarianism or narrow-mindedness.

2
Heaven, earth, and the netherworld

7
 The Eternal Truth
Om asato ma satgamaya
tamaso ma jyotirgamaya
mrityor ma amritam gamaya
O Supreme Being,
Lead us from untruth to truth,
From darkness to light,
And from death to immortality.
– Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (1. 3. 28)

Om purnamadah purnamidam
purnat purnamudachyate
purnasya purnamadaya
purnamevavasishyate
That is whole, this is whole.
From the whole the whole becomes manifest.
On removing the whole from the whole,
The whole alone remains.3
These are mantras the great sages have bequeathed to
us, and in these mantras we cannot find even a trace of
a viewpoint that sees anyone as ‘other’ or separate.

3
If we light a thousand lamps from one lamp, the brightness of
that one lamp doesn’t diminish. Everything is whole, complete.
This famous mantra is the peace invocation in the Upanishads of
the Shukla Yajurveda.

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 Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi

The Rishis, India’s sages of antiquity, were enlightened

seers who had realized the non-dual Supreme Truth.
And this Truth flowed into their words, so that they
were never untrue.
“God resides even in this pillar,” said the boy Prahlada
in answer to his father’s question. This statement came to
be true: God manifested from within that pillar. This is
why it is said that truth comes to the words of the sages.
Normally, a new birth takes place through the mother’s
womb – but also the resolve, the mental concept, of a
Rishi manifests as a new creation. In other words, what
the Rishis say becomes the truth. Each word of those
sages, who were fully aware of the past, present, and
future, was uttered with the future generations also in
mind.
The refrigerator cools, the heater warms, the lamp
gives light, the fan provides airflow – but it is the same
electric current that makes all of those objects work.
Would it be rational to say that the current in one of
those objects is superior to the current flowing through
the others, just because the instruments have different
functions and different monetary values? To understand
that the electricity is the same even though the instru-
ments are different, we need to know the science behind
those instruments and have some practical experience
on the subject. Similarly, the internal essence – the Con-

9
 The Eternal Truth
sciousness – that dwells within each object in the uni-
verse is one and the same, even though these objects all
appear to be different when viewed externally. Through
our spiritual practice, we have to develop the eye of
wisdom to see this. The great Rishis, who learned the
Truth through their direct experience, passed the Truth
on to subsequent generations. It is this philosophy, given
to us by the Rishis, that shaped the way of life of the
people of India.
‘Hindu’ is the name that was given to the people who
followed this culture in general. It is not really a religion.
It is a way of life. The Sanskrit word matham (religion)
also has a more general meaning: viewpoint. This particu-
lar culture is the sum total of the experiences of many
Rishis who lived during different ages and experienced
the Ultimate Truth directly. Thus, Sanatana Dharma is not
a religion created by a single individual, nor is it a teach-
ing encoded in a single book. It is an all-encompassing
philosophy of life.
The great souls living in different countries during
different epochs gave their disciples instructions on how
to attain God (or the Ultimate Truth). These instructions
later became different religions. But that which in India
became Sanatana Dharma consists of the everlasting
principles, values, and ethical teachings that were revealed
to a large number of Self-realized souls as their own

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 Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi

experience. Later it came to be known as Hinduism. It

is all-encompassing.
Sanatana Dharma doesn’t insist that God should
be called only by a particular name or that God can be
attained only through one prescribed path. Sanatana
Dharma is like a vast supermarket where everything
is available. It gives us the freedom to follow any one of
the paths indicated by the great Self-realized souls, and
even to open up a new path to the goal. There is even
the freedom to believe or not to believe in God.
What Sanatana Dharma calls liberation is the ultimate
release from human sorrow and suffering. However, there
is no insistence on there being only one way to attain
this goal. The spiritual master suggests a method that is
most conducive to the physical, mental, and intellectual
condition of the disciple. All doors cannot be opened
with the same key. In a similar way, to open our minds
we need different keys to fit our different samskaras and
levels of understanding.
How many people will benefit from a river that flows
only along a single course? If, instead, the river flows
through a number of channels, the people living along
the banks of all of those channels will benefit. Similarly,
because spiritual masters teach different paths, more
people are able to imbibe the teachings. A deaf child
has to be taught in sign language. A blind child is taught

11
 The Eternal Truth
through Braille, through the sense of touch. And if a
child is mentally retarded, we have to go down to his or
her level and explain things in a simple, understandable
way. Only when the teaching is suited to them can the
different students absorb what is being taught. Similarly,
spiritual masters examine the mental attitude and sam-
skara of each disciple and decide, accordingly, which
path to prescribe for him or her. Regardless of how
different the paths are, the goal is always the same: the
Ultimate Truth.
In Sanatana Dharma, the garment that is made is not
cut to the same measure for everyone. Furthermore, for
each individual, the garment may have to be remodeled
at times, to fit the person’s stage of development.
Spiritual paths and practices have to be renewed
according to the times. This is the contribution the great
souls have made to Sanatana Dharma. This dynamism
and expansiveness are the hallmarks of Hinduism.
If a breast-feeding infant is given meat, he or she
won’t be able to digest it. The baby will get sick, and this
will also be a hardship for others. A diversity of foods
is offered depending on the digestive power and tastes
of different people. This keeps people healthy. Similarly,
in Sanatana Dharma the mode of worship is different
for different people according to their samskara. Each
individual can choose the method that is best suited for

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 Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi

him or her. Whatever path we prefer, whatever path is

most conducive to our individual nature, can be found
in Sanatana Dharma. This is how numerous spiritual
paths, such as jnana yoga, bhakti yoga, karma yoga, raja
yoga, hatha yoga, kundalini yoga, kriya yoga, svara yoga,
laya yoga, mantra yoga, tantra and nadopasana, came
into being.
In Sanatana Dharma there is no contradiction between
spirituality and worldly life (living as a householder).
Sanatana Dharma doesn’t reject worldly life in the name
of spirituality. Instead, it teaches that through spirituality
your life becomes richer and more meaningful.
The Rishis also built the material sciences and the arts
on the foundation of spirituality. They viewed the arts
and sciences as steps that lead to the Supreme Truth, and
formulated them in a way that will ultimately lead to God.
In India, countless scientific disciplines developed in this
way – linguistics, architecture, vastu, astronomy, math-
ematics, the health sciences, diplomacy and economics,
natya shastra, musicology, the science of erotica, logic,
and nadi shastra, to name a few of these areas. Sanatana
Dharma doesn’t deny or reject any sphere of human life
or culture. The tradition that existed in India was one
that encouraged all arts and sciences.
Because it was recognized that the Divine Conscious-
ness exists in all sentient and insentient things, a tradition

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 The Eternal Truth
developed in Sanatana Dharma that everything was to
be viewed with respect and reverence. The great Rishis
looked upon birds, animals, plants, and trees without a
hint of disrespect or aversion, and considered all beings
as direct manifestations of God. Thus temples were built
even for serpents and birds. Even the spider and the lizard
were given a place in temple worship. Sanatana Dharma
teaches that a human being needs to earn the blessings
even of an ant to achieve perfection. In the Bhagavatam4
there is a story of an avadhut5 who adopts twenty-four
gurus, including birds and animals. We need to have the
attitude of always being a beginner, because there are
lessons to be learned from all beings.
The Rishis perceived God’s presence also in inert
objects. They sang, Sarvam brahmamayam, re re sarvam
brahmamayam – “All is Brahman; all is the essence of
the Supreme.” Nowadays scientists say that everything
consists of energy. The people of India who believe in
the words of the Rishis bow down to everything with
devotion, seeing everything as God.

4
One of eighteen scriptures known as the Puranas, dealing espe-
cially with the incarnations of Vishnu, and, in great detail, with the
life of Krishna. It emphasizes the path of devotion.
5
A Self-realized soul who doesn’t follow social conventions. By
conventional standards, avadhuts are considered extremely eccentric.

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 Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi

Amma6 remembers certain things from her childhood.

If she happened to step on a piece of paper that had
been swept into the garbage, she would touch it and bow
down to it. If she didn’t do this, she’d receive a spank-
ing from her mother. Amma’s mother used to tell her
that that paper wasn’t just a mere piece of paper; it was
Goddess Saraswati, the Goddess of Learning, Herself.
In a similar way, Amma was taught that if she acci-
dentally stepped on cow dung, she should touch it as a
sign of her reverence. Cow dung helps the grass to grow.
The cows eat grass and give us milk. We use that milk.
Amma’s mother taught her that we shouldn’t touch
a doorsill with our foot. If we happen to step on it, we
should touch it with our hand and bow to it. The reason
for this is probably that, symbolically, the doorway is the
entrance leading to the next stage in life. When you look
at things in this way, everything becomes precious. Noth-
ing can then be ignored or disrespected. So, we should
look upon everything with respect and reverence.7

6
Amma usually refers to herself in the third person as “Amma”
(Mother).
7
Some people may wonder why Amma gives such importance to
everything in the manifested world, which, according to Sanatana
Dharma, is maya (illusion). Referring to this, Amma says: “When we
say that the external world is not true or real, but untrue or illusory,
we do not mean that it doesn’t exist, but that it isn’t permanent, that
it is constantly in a state of change.”

15
 The Eternal Truth
The Bhagavatam (the story of the Lord) and Bhaga-
van (the Lord) are not two; they are the same. The world
and God are not two. We thus see unity in diversity, in
the manifold. Because of this, even now when Amma
happens to step on something, she touches it and then
touches her head to show her reverence towards that
object. Even though she knows that God isn’t separate
from her, Amma still bows down to everything. Even
though the staircase, which helps us get to the upper
floor, and the upper floor itself are built out of the same
material, Amma cannot ignore the staircase. She cannot
forget the path that has been followed to reach there.
Amma respects all observances that help us to reach the
ultimate goal.
Her children may ask whether Amma needs to have
this attitude. But let us say that a child has jaundice and
cannot eat salt because it will worsen his condition. The
child doesn’t like food without salt, so if he sees anything
with salt in it, he’ll grab it and eat it. His mother doesn’t
add any salt to the dishes she prepares, and for the sake
of that child, the other healthy family members also avoid
eating salt. Similarly, Amma is setting an example even
though she doesn’t need to follow any of those customs.
Because Sanatana Dharma teaches us to see Divinity
in everything, there is no such thing as eternal hell. It is
believed that no matter how great a sin you have commit-

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 Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi

ted, you can still purify yourself through good thoughts

and deeds and finally realize God. With sincere remorse,
anyone can escape from the effects of his or her mis-
takes, regardless of the gravity of those mistakes. There
is no sin that cannot be washed away with repentance.
But this shouldn’t be like the bath of an elephant! The
elephant bathes and emerges out of the water, only to
pour dust all over itself again without delay. This is how
many people behave with their mistakes.
We may make many mistakes as we proceed through
life. But Amma’s children shouldn’t be discouraged
because of this. If you fall, think only that you have fallen
in order to get up. Don’t just lie there thinking that it’s
quite comfortable! And don’t feel shattered by the fall.
You have to make an attempt to get up and go forward.
When we write on a piece of paper with a pencil, we
can use an eraser if we make a mistake, and rewrite our
words. But if we again and again make a mistake in the
same place and try to erase it, the paper may get torn.
So, my children, try not to repeat your mistakes. To make
mistakes is natural, but try to be careful. Be alert!
Sanatana Dharma doesn’t reject anyone as unworthy
forever. To consider someone unworthy of the spiritual
path is like deciding, after building a hospital, that no
patients are allowed. Even a broken watch will show the
correct time twice a day! So, what is needed is acceptance.

17
 The Eternal Truth
When we avoid someone as ‘unsuitable,’ we are helping
to engender vengefulness and animal instincts in that
person, and he or she will again slip into error. On the
other hand, if we praise what is good in such people and
try patiently to correct their mistakes, we can uplift them.
We make mistakes because we are ignorant about
who we really are. Sanatana Dharma doesn’t reject any-
one; its teachings provide everyone with the knowledge
that is needed. If the sages had labeled the hunter Rat-
nakara as nothing but a robber and had kept him away,
the sage Valmiki would not have been born8. Sanatana
Dharma shows that even a robber can be transformed
into a great soul.
No one will reject a diamond even if it lies in excreta.
Someone will pick it up, clean it, and make it their own.
It isn’t possible to reject anyone since the Supreme Being
is present in everyone. We should be able to see God
in everyone, regardless of a person’s stature in society,
whether it be high or low. For this to be possible, we
first have to wash away the impurities that cover our
own minds.
The teachings of Sanatana Dharma are imperishable
gems that the selfless Rishis, out of their compassion,
have given the world. Anyone wishing to stay alive cannot
avoid air or water. Similarly, anyone seeking peace can-
8
See the story of Valmiki in the glossary.

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 Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi

not ignore the principles of Sanatana Dharma. Sanatana

Dharma doesn’t ask us to believe in a God who lives up
in the sky. It says, “Have faith in yourself. Everything is
within you!”
An atom bomb has the power to reduce a continent
to ashes, but its strength lies in the tiny atoms. A banyan
tree can cover a wide area, and yet it grows out of a small
seed. The point is that the essence of God exists within
each of us. We can learn this through reason and through
the experiences we have in our spiritual practice. All we
need to do is to carefully follow one of the methods of
awakening this power.
Devotion, faith, and attentive awareness in every
action – this is what Sanatana Dharma teaches. It doesn’t
ask you to blindly believe in anything. If we want to use a
machine, we first have to learn how to operate it, other-
wise it could get damaged. Knowledge (jnana) is required
to perform our actions in the right way. Performing our
actions with the awareness that comes from understand-
ing that knowledge – that is attentive awareness.
A man pours water into a water tank. But even after
having done this the whole day, the tank still isn’t full.
He tries to find out why. Finally, he discovers that one
of the outlet holes in the tank hasn’t been plugged.
Here, the knowledge is the understanding that without
plugging the hole, no amount of water will be enough

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 The Eternal Truth
to fill the tank. Attentive awareness is what we apply to
effort after acquiring that knowledge. Only when we
perform actions with attentive awareness will we obtain
the intended result.
Five farm workers were given the job of planting
seeds. One of them dug holes in the earth. Another
put fertilizer in the holes. A third watered the ground.
Another man covered the holes with soil. Days went by,
but none of the seeds sprouted. The farmer examined
the soil to find out what was wrong, and discovered that
the worker entrusted with putting the seeds in the holes
hadn’t done his job! So, this is what action without atten-
tive awareness is like; it won’t yield the desired result.
The aim of every action we perform in life is to bring
us closer to God. We should perform our actions self-
lessly, without the feeling of ‘I.’ We should understand
that we are able to act only because of God’s grace and
power. This is knowledge (jnana) in the context of action
(karma). An action performed with such knowledge and
attentive awareness is karma yoga, the yoga of selfless
action.
When we practice attentive awareness while perform-
ing an action, we forget ourselves. The mind becomes
one-pointed. We experience bliss. This is how devotion
is born. When we make an effort with attentive aware-
ness and devotion, our effort will surely bear fruit. And

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 Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi

when we get the fruit of that action, our faith becomes

firm. Such faith is unwavering. No one can shake that
faith. Attentive awareness, devotion, and faith: actions
done with attentive awareness cultivate devotion, and
this leads to faith.
Most of the texts of Sanatana Dharma are written in
the form of discussions. They contain the Self-realized
master’s answers to the disciple’s questions. The disciple
has the freedom to ask any questions until his or her
doubts are completely cleared. This develops attentive
awareness in the disciple.
Hinduism isn’t against anyone. Nor does it require
anyone to give up his or her religion or faith. In fact,
it considers it an unrighteous act to destroy someone’s
faith. According to Sanatana Dharma, all religions are
different pathways to the same goal. It doesn’t negate
anything. Everything is included. For a Hindu there is
no such thing as a separate religion. Originally, such a
concept didn’t exist in India.
Whatever religion a person belongs to, he or she
should remain steadfast in faith and go forward in life.
Only this will help the seeker to reach the ultimate goal.
The paths of karma yoga, bhakti yoga, and jnana yoga
can all be followed by people of any religious faith in a
manner suited to the present age and its lifestyles.

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 The Eternal Truth
The ocean and its waves can be a nightmare for those
who do not know how to swim. On the other hand, those
who know how to swim will revel among the ocean waves.
Similarly, for those who have imbibed the principles of
spirituality, life is blissful. For them, life is a festival. What
we need is a way to experience bliss during this life itself,
not after death. Just as one has to learn the art of business
management to be successful in business, it is essential
to learn the art of life management in order to be truly
happy in life. Sanatana Dharma is the comprehensive
science of life management.
The contents of the Indian scriptures, such as the
Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, Brahma Sutras, Ramayana,
and Mahabharata, are all eternal truths that people of
all ages can grasp. These texts are not sectarian; they are
works based on reason and can be put into practice by
anyone. The texts on Sanatana Dharma can be under-
stood by everyone, just like texts on health, psychology,
and social science. Imbibing the principles of Sanatana
Dharma will lead to happiness and the upliftment of all
humanity.

\
Question: Why do we need to believe in God?

22
 Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi

Amma: It is possible to go through life without believ-

ing in a Supreme Being. But to be able to go forward
with firm, unfaltering steps when faced with a crisis, we
need to take refuge in God. We should be ready to fol-
low God’s path.
A life without God is like a court case in which two
lawyers are arguing without a judge being present. The
hearing will go nowhere. If they proceed without the
judge, no ruling is possible.
We worship God so that the divine qualities within us
can be nurtured. But there is actually no need for faith
if you can imbibe those qualities without it. Whether we
believe or not, the Supreme Being exists as the Truth,
and whether we recognize that Truth or not, it cannot
be diminished in any way.
The earth’s gravitational force is a fact; it won’t cease
to exist just because we don’t believe in it. If we deny
the existence of gravity and jump from a height, we will
have to accept the truth through the adverse effect we
receive from the fall. Turning away from a reality like
that is like creating darkness by closing one’s eyes. By
recognizing the Universal Truth that is God, and living
in accordance with that Truth, we can have a trouble-free
passage through life.

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 The Eternal Truth

\
Question: What is the principle behind worshipping an
image?
Amma: Hindus do not actually worship the images them-
selves. They worship the Supreme Power that pervades
each image. When a little boy sees a painting of his father,
he thinks of his father and not of the artist who painted
it. When a young man sees a pen or a handkerchief
given by his beloved, he thinks about her, not about the
object. He won’t get rid of it for anything in the world.
To him, that pen is no ordinary pen; that handkerchief
is not a mere handkerchief. In those objects he feels the
woman he loves.
If an ordinary object can generate such powerful
feelings in a man or a woman in love, think of how valu-
able a divine image will be to a devotee if it reminds that
person of God! To the devotee, the sculpted image of
the Supreme Being is not a mere piece of rock; it is an
embodiment of the Supreme Consciousness.
Some people ask, “Isn’t marriage the mere tying of a
knot?” Yes, that’s true; it’s just the tying of an ordinary
string9 around the neck. But think of how much value
9
In a traditional Hindu wedding ceremony, a string or a chain with
a pendant is tied around the bride’s neck. This is worn through-

24
 Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi

we attach to that piece of string and to that moment! It

is a moment that lays the foundation for life. The value
of that ceremony has nothing to do with the value of
the string, but with the total value of life itself. In the
same way, the value of a divine image doesn’t lie in the
value of the stone. That image is priceless, its place equal
to the Universal Father/Mother. Anyone who sees the
image as just a piece of rock does so out of ignorance.
A ritual worship normally begins with the resolve, “I
worship God in this image.”
It would be difficult for ordinary individuals to wor-
ship the all-pervading Supreme Consciousness without
the help of some sort of symbol to represent it. An image
of the Divine can be very helpful in nurturing devotion
and in making the mind one-pointed. As we stand before
the image, we pray with our eyes closed. Thus the image
helps us to focus our minds inward and to awaken the
divine essence within us.
There is another important principle behind this kind
of worship. Gold bangles, earrings, necklaces, and rings
are all made of the same metal. Their substance is gold.
Similarly, God is the substratum of everything. We should
be able to perceive the underlying unity in diversity.

out her married life and symbolizes the lasting bond between the
husband and wife.

25
 The Eternal Truth
Whether it be Shiva, Vishnu, or Muruga (Subramanya)10,
we should be aware of the oneness behind them. We need
to understand that all the different forms are different
manifestations of one God. Different forms are adopted
because people belong to different cultures. So, everyone
can select the form that he or she prefers.
We have to remove the dirt and dust from the mirror
before we can clearly see our faces in it. Similarly, only
when we remove the impurities that have settled in our
minds can we see God. Our ancestors established image
worship and other practices as a part of Sanatana Dharma
to purify our minds and make our minds one-pointed.
In Sanatana Dharma, we seek God within ourselves, not
somewhere out there. When we experience God within
us, we are able to see God everywhere.
God has no inside or outside. God is the Divine Con-
sciousness that exists everywhere, pervading everything.
It is only because we have individual identities, the feeling
of ‘I,’ that there is a perception of ‘within’ and ‘without.’
At present, our minds are turned outwards, not within.
The mind is attached to many different things outside
of ourselves and to the notion of ‘mine’ in relation to
those things. The aim of image worship is to bring the

10
Muruga is a god created by Shiva to assist souls in their evolu-
tion, especially through the practice of yoga. He is the brother of
Ganesha.

26
 Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi

mind back within and to awaken the Divine Conscious-

ness which is already present within us.

\
Question: Some people criticize the Hindu faith because
of its practice of image worship. Is there any real basis
for this?
Amma: It is not clear why anyone would want to criticize
this. Image worship can be found in all religions in one
form or another – in Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, etc.
The only difference is in the image that is worshipped
and in the way the worship is performed. In Christianity,
sweet dishes or flower petals are not offered; they light
candles instead. The Christian priest offers the bread
as Christ’s body and the wine as his blood. And while
Hindus worship with burning camphor, many Christians
burn incense. Christians also see the cross as a symbol
of sacrifice and selflessness. They kneel before the form
of Christ and pray.
In Islam, people view Mecca as sacred and prostrate
in that direction. They sit in front of the Kabaa, praying
and contemplating God’s qualities. All these prayers are

27
 The Eternal Truth
meant to awaken the positive qualities that are present
within us.
We first learn the simple consonants, ka, kha, ga, gha
in Malayalam, so that later we can learn to read words
with composite sounds; and we begin with a, b, and c to
learn to read English. Similarly, all the different forms
of worship lead to the development of godly qualities
within us.

\
Question: Regarding image worship, shouldn’t we worship
the sculptor who made the divine form rather than the
sculpture itself ?
Amma: When you see the flag of your country, is it the
flag or the tailor you respect? Or perhaps the weaver who
wove the fabric? Or the person who spun the yarn? Or
the farmer who grew the cotton? No one gives a thought
to those people. Instead, we are reminded of the country
that the flag symbolizes.
In the same way, when we see a divine image, it is not
the sculptor who comes to mind; it is God, the Divine
Sculptor of the entire universe, whom we remember. The
Supreme Being is the Source from which the artist gets

28
 Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi

the inspiration and the strength to chisel the image. If

we can agree that there has to be a sculptor to make an
image, why, then, is it so hard to believe that this universe
may also have been created by a Sculptor?
By worshipping a divine image, we develop the expan-
siveness of heart needed to love and respect every living
being, including the sculptor of that image. By praying
to and visualizing God within the image, we are purified
within and raised to the level where we see and worship
God in everything. This is the aim of image worship.
While all the symbols that remind us of the material
world ultimately limit and confine us, the symbols that
awaken our awareness of the Divine lead us to a state
of expansiveness way beyond all limits. Image worship
helps us to see God everywhere, in everything.

\
Question: Where did image worship originate?
Amma: In the Satya Yuga, the Age of Truth11, Prahlada,
the young son of the demon king Hiranyakashipu,
declared, “God exists even in this pillar!” in response to

11
The Satya Yuga is referred to as the Golden Age. There are four
yugas (ages or aeons). See glossary.

29
 The Eternal Truth
a question put to him by his father. God then emerged
out of that pillar in the form of Narasimha, the Divine
Man-lion. Since the all-pervading God thus appeared
out of a pillar, making Prahlada’s resolve come true, we
can say that this was the first instance of image worship.
Prahlada’s story is famous. The demon king Hiran-
yakashipu wanted to subdue all three worlds and make
sure he would never die. So he performed severe austeri-
ties aimed at pleasing Lord Brahma, the Creator. Brahma
was pleased with his austerities. He appeared before
Hiranyakashipu and offered him a boon. The demon
king said, “The boon I want is that I am not to be killed
by anything in your creation. I am not to meet with death
on a shore or in water, in the sky or on earth. I am not
to die in a room or outside. I am not to die during the
day or at night, and not be killed by a man or a woman,
by celestial beings (devas) or demons (asuras), or any
vertebrates, neither human nor animal. Nor am I to be
killed by any weapon.” Brahma blessed him, saying, “So
be it!” and disappeared.
But something else happened while the king was
performing his austerities. In his absence, the celestial
beings defeated the demons in battle. Indra, the king of
the celestial beings, captured Hiranyakashipu’s pregnant
wife, Kayadhu, and carried her away. On the way, he
encountered the sage Narada. On Narada’s advice, Indra

30
 Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi

left Kayadhu in the sage’s hermitage and returned to the

celestial world. During the time Kayadhu stayed with
Narada, the sage taught her the essence of the Bhaga-
vatam, and the infant in her womb heard his discourses.
Having completed his austerities, Hiranyakashipu
returned and defeated the devas in a battle. He then
went to the sage’s hermitage and brought his wife back
to his palace. The strength of the boon he had been
given earlier boosted his ego. He conquered all three
worlds. He made the devas his servants. He harassed the
sages and worshippers and destroyed their yaga yajnas,
elaborate Vedic sacrificial rites. He declared that no one
was allowed to chant any mantra other than Hiranyaya
Namah (Salutations to Hiranya, i.e., himself).
In time, his wife gave birth to a son. The child was
given the name Prahlada. Because he remembered all the
teachings given by Narada, he grew up as a devotee of
Lord Vishnu. When the time came for Prahlada to begin
his studies, his father sent him to a gurukula12. After some
time, the king became anxious to find out what his son
had learned, so he called Prahlada back to the palace. As
soon as Prahlada arrived, his father asked him what he
had learned. Prahlada said, “Lord Vishnu should be wor-
12
An ashram with a living guru, where disciples live and study with
the guru. In the olden days, the gurukulas were boarding schools
where youngsters were given a comprehensive education based on
the Vedas.

31
 The Eternal Truth
shipped through the nine methods: hearing His stories,
singing His glories, remembering Him, serving at His
feet, worshipping Him, saluting Him, being His servant,
being His friend, and surrendering oneself completely to
Him.” The boy hadn’t learned this at school; he had heard
it while still in his mother’s womb. When Hiranyakashipu
heard his son say that Vishnu, Hiranyakashipu’s enemy,
should be worshipped, he became so enraged that he
ordered his soldiers to kill his son. The soldiers tried to
kill the boy in several different ways, but failed. Hiran-
yakashipu finally gave up and sent his son back to the
gurukula to wipe out the devotion in him. But, instead,
the other asura children at the school who happened
to hear Prahlada’s advice also became devotees of the
Lord. When Hiranyakashipu was told about this he again
became enraged and asked his son, “If there is a God of
the three worlds other than myself, where is He?” “God
is everywhere,” Prahlada replied. “Is He in this pillar?”
roared Hiranyakashipu. “Yes, He resides in the pillar as
well,” said Prahlada. Hiranyakashipu responded by hitting
the pillar forcefully with his fist. The pillar split in two
and from within it the ferocious Narasimha, the Divine
Man-lion, emerged. This happened during twilight. The
Lord sat down on the threshold of the palace, placed the
demon king on His lap and killed him by tearing open
his chest using nothing but His fingernails.

32
 Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi

Thus, the words that came from the innocent heart

of Prahlada came true. This was the beginning of image
worship. His faith was so strong that he believed God
existed even in a pillar, and so firm was his conviction
that what he believed became an actual experience.
We should look at the principle behind this story. God
Almighty can take any form. God can have attributes or
be attributeless. Saltwater can become salt crystals, and
salt crystals can become saltwater.
This story also reveals another principle: the limita-
tions of the human being. The intelligence of God is
beyond the grasp of the most intelligent and powerful
person on earth. There is a limit to how far human intel-
ligence can reach, but God’s intelligence is boundless.
Hiranyakashipu had asked for his boon very carefully,
with the intention of avoiding death forever. When he
received that boon, he firmly believed no one could pos-
sibly defeat him. But he did not know God. God has a
solution for everything.
Neither day nor night. Solution: twilight. Not in water
nor on land: God put the demon king on His lap. Neither
outside, nor inside: He sat on the doorstep. Neither man
nor animal: He took the form of a Man-lion. No weapon
was used: He killed the king with His fingernails. Thus,
God, in the form of Narasimha, slew the unrighteous

33
 The Eternal Truth
Hiranyakashipu without violating any of the boons given
by Brahma.
God is beyond the reach of human intelligence. There
is only one way to know God: by offering oneself fully
and taking refuge at His13 feet – the way of complete
surrender.
Humans have the intelligence of the ego and the
power of discrimination. Discrimination (viveka) is pure
intelligence; it has no impurities. It is like a mirror. God
is clearly reflected in it. But only those who surrender to
God can break through the limitations of their human
intelligence and go beyond it.
Some people say, “Can you see God with your eyes?
I don’t believe in what I cannot see!” But a human being
is limited in every way. Our senses of sight and hearing
are very limited. People don’t think about this.
Amma has a question. You can’t see the current in
a live wire. Do you say there is no current, just because
you cannot see it? You’ll get a shock if you touch it. That
is experience.
Suppose you set a bird free to fly away. It flies higher
and higher, until it finally soars to such a height that it
can no longer be seen. Do we say that the bird no longer

13
Amma has said that God is beyond any definition of gender.
However, when Amma talks, she refers to God in the more tradi-
tional way, using the word ‘He.’

34
 Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi

exists because we cannot see it? What logic is there in

deciding we will believe only in that which falls within
the limited range of our eyesight?
For a judge, the statements of a thousand people who
say they didn’t see a crime being committed do not prove
a thing. The proof lies with the one person who says he
or she witnessed the crime. Similarly, whoever says there
is no God doesn’t prove anything; the proof lies in the
words of the holy sages who have experienced God.
An atheist went around arguing that there is no God.
He came to the house of a friend. Inside the house
there was a beautiful globe. “Oh, how beautiful it is!” he
exclaimed. “Who made it?” His friend, who happened to
be a believer, said, “If this artificial model of the earth
couldn’t have been created without a creator, surely the
creation of the real earth requires a Creator!”
It is said that the seed contains a tree. If you pick up
a seed and look at it or bite into it, you won’t see the tree.
But try planting it. Put in some effort. Then a sapling will
emerge out of it. It’s useless to just talk about it; we have
to make an effort. Only then will we reap the experience.
Scientists have faith in the experiments they launch.
They may fail in many of their attempts, but they don’t
give up. They continues with their experiments in the
hope of succeeding in their next attempt.

35
 The Eternal Truth
Think of how many years it takes to become a doc-
tor or an engineer. The students don’t complain that it’s
impossible to wait for so long. It is only because they
continue their studies with an attitude of surrender that
they succeed in reaching their goal.
God isn’t someone we can see with our eyes. God is
the cause of everything. If you are asked what came first,
the mango seed or mango tree, what will you answer? For
the tree to be born a seed is required, and for the seed
to exist there first has to be a tree. So, there is a separate
cause behind the tree and the seed. That is God. God
is the root cause of everything, the Creator of all. God
is everything. The way to know God is to cultivate the
divine qualities within us and to surrender our egos to
God. Then godliness will become our experience.
Prahlada exemplifies the most exalted type of devo-
tion. It would be difficult to find a devotee with as much
surrender as Prahlada. When we fail to succeed in what
we set out to achieve, we usually blame someone else
and retreat. Furthermore, when difficulties arise in life,
our faith usually crumbles. We blame God. But look at
Prahlada. His father’s soldiers tried to kill him by push-
ing him under water; they threw him into boiling oil;
they threw him down a mountain; they set him on fire.
They tried again and again to kill him. But on each of
those occasions, Prahlada’s faith didn’t falter even a little.

36
 Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi

Because of his unshakable faith, no harm came to him.

When his life was being threatened, he kept repeating the
mantra, “Narayana! Narayana!” He was also told many
things intended to destroy his faith in God: “Sri Hari
(Vishnu) is not God! He is a thief! There’s no such thing
as God!” and so on. Even then, Prahlada kept repeating
the divine name with attentive awareness.
In most cases, the moment we hear something nega-
tive about someone, our trust in that person is lost. If
some suffering comes our way, we lose our faith. Our
devotion is just part-time devotion. We call out to God
when we need something; otherwise, we don’t remember
God at all. And if our desires are not fulfilled, our faith
disappears. This is our condition. But despite the dif-
ficulties Prahlada had to go through, he never faltered.
His faith became stronger with each crisis. The more
obstacles that appeared, the more firmly he held on to
God’s feet. This is how complete his surrender to God
was. As a result, Prahlada became a beacon giving light
to the entire world. Even today, his story and his devo-
tion spread light into the hearts of thousands.
Prahlada is distinguished by his devotion and his real-
ization of non-duality (advaita). Whatever a person of
total surrender like Prahlada touches will ‘turn to gold.’
This is the state of the attitude of self-surrender.

37
 The Eternal Truth
Prahlada’s devotion also led to the liberation of his
father, Hiranyakashipu, for to die at the hands of God
is to attain liberation. This means that Hiranyakashipu’s
identification with the body was removed, and he was
given the awareness of his true Self (atman). The body
doesn’t last forever. Hiranyakashipu was made to under-
stand, through his own experience, that only the Self is
everlasting.
Human beings are truly miniscule. Yet they take pride
in their intelligence and abilities, and they criticize God.
God is the Principle beyond all possible human intelli-
gence. The way to reach God is through spiritual practices
as prescribed by the Rishis, and one such practice can be
worship of the divine images.

\
Question: In Hinduism, 300 million deities are worshipped.
Is there really more than one God?
Amma: In Hinduism there is only one God. Not only
does Hinduism teach that there is one Supreme Being,
it also declares that there is nothing in the universe other
than that Supreme Being. God manifests as everything
in the universe. God is the Consciousness that pervades

38
 Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi

everything. He is beyond all names and forms. But He can

also take any form to bless a devotee. He can manifest
in any number of different forms and divine moods or
states. The wind can appear as a gentle breeze, a strong
wind, or a raging storm. What manifestation is impos-
sible for God Almighty, who controls even the storm?
Who can describe His glory? Just as air can be still or
blow as the wind, and water can turn into steam or ice,
God can assume either an attributeless state or a state
with attributes. In the same way, it is one and the same
God whom Hindus worship in many different forms and
states, such as Shiva, Vishnu, Ganesha, Muruga, Durga,
Saraswati, and Kali.
Tastes differ from person to person. Individuals grow
up in different environments and cultures. In Sanatana
Dharma, people have the freedom to worship God in
any form or state that suits their own tastes and mental
development. This is how the different manifestations of
God appear in Hinduism. They are not different Gods.
They are all aspects of the one Supreme Being.

\
Question: If God is omnipresent, what is the need for
temples?

39
 The Eternal Truth
Amma: One special characteristic of Sanatana Dharma
is that it comes down to the level of each individual and
elevates him or her. People have different samskaras.
Each individual has to be guided according to his or her
inner tendencies. Some patients are allergic to certain
injections and have to be given alternative medicines.
Similarly, the unique mental and physical characteris-
tics of each person have to be taken into account, and
the appropriate methods that suit the samskara of the
individual should be prescribed. This is how different
traditions are created. The path of devotion, the path of
selfless action, worshipping the Divine with attributes and
without attributes – all of these paths developed in this
way. But they share the same foundation, and that is the
discrimination between the eternal and the ephemeral.
The aim of archana14,14 devotional singing, and ritual
worship is the same. A blind child is taught the alphabet
through touch and a deaf child is taught in sign language.
Everyone has to be guided according to his or her own
level of understanding. Temples are necessary to uplift
ordinary people by bringing the Divine down to a physi-
cal level. We cannot ignore or reject anyone.
Even though the air is everywhere, we experience it
more tangibly next to a fan, don’t we? Under a tree there

14
A form of worship in which the names of a deity are chanted,
usually 108, 300, or 1000 names in one sitting.

40
 Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi

is a special coolness that isn’t felt elsewhere; you feel

the presence of the wind and experience that coolness.
Similarly, when we worship God through an instrument
(upadi) that symbolizes Him, His divine presence can be
felt more clearly. Even though the sun shines everywhere,
in a room where the curtains or shutters are closed we
need to switch on a lamp to get light. A cow is full of
milk, but we cannot get milk from its ears, only from its
udders. God is all-pervading, but His presence can be
felt more easily by those who have faith in the temple.
But for this to happen, faith is essential. Faith tunes the
mind. Even though God is present in the temple, those
who lack faith won’t experience that presence. It is faith
that gives us the experience.
Amma and a few of her Indian children were once
watching a dance being performed by western couples.
One of Amma’s daughters15 was upset because the
couples were holding hands as they danced. “Oh, no!
What kind of dance is that?” she exclaimed. “A man and
a woman dancing so close together!” Amma asked her,
“If Shiva and Parvati were to dance that closely together,
would you feel offended?” We would see the Divinity
in that dance, and we wouldn’t have a problem with it.
When we talk about Shiva and Parvati, there is holiness,

15
Mother always refers to her disciples and devotees as her children
or her sons and daughters.

41
 The Eternal Truth
there is faith. So that dance would be exalted. On the
other hand, because we are unable to see the Divinity
in this particular man and woman, we are upset by their
behavior! So, the mind is the important factor here. If
we stay firmly committed to what we really believe, we
can experience God. Faith is the foundation.
Houses of worship, where countless people pray with
the same focus of mind, have a unique quality about
them, which is not found in other places. A bar or a
liquor store doesn’t have the same ambience as an office.
The atmosphere in a temple is not the same as that of a
bar. In the bar you lose your mental health; in the temple
you gain it. Places of worship are permeated with the
vibrations of positive thoughts. This helps a conflicted
mind to regain the feeling of peace and calmness. The
air in a perfume factory is special, filled with a wonderful
fragrance, while the atmosphere in a chemical factory is
entirely different. The devotion-filled atmosphere and
the sacred vibrations in the temple help us to concen-
trate our minds and to awaken love and devotion within
ourselves. A temple is like a mirror. In the mirror, we
can clearly see the dirt on our faces, which helps us to
clean our faces. Similarly, worshipping in a temple helps
us to purify our hearts.
Temple worship is the first stage of worshipping God.
The temple and the image that is installed there allow

42
 Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi

us to worship God in a personal way, and to establish

a bond with God. But, gradually, we need to develop
the ability to see the Divine Consciousness everywhere.
This becomes possible when temple worship is done in
the proper way. This is the real goal of temple worship.
We show pictures of different types of birds to chil-
dren and say, “This is a parrot, this is a mynah bird.”
When the children are older, they no longer need the
pictures to identify the birds. Only in the beginning were
the pictures necessary.
In truth, everything is God. There is nothing to be
excluded.
The stairway and the upper floor of a house are built
with the same bricks and cement, but this becomes clear
only when one gets to the top. And we need the steps
to get there. This illustrates the benefit we get from the
temple.
It is often said that you may be born in a temple, but
you shouldn’t die there. We can make the temple our
instrument in our search for God, but we shouldn’t be
attached to it. Only the release from all attachments will
make us fully free. We shouldn’t think that God exists
only in the temple images. Everything is filled with
consciousness, the Supreme Consciousness. Nothing
is inert. Through worship we attain the mental disposi-
tion to perceive everything as the essence of God, and

43
 The Eternal Truth
to love and to serve everything. This is the attitude of
profound acceptance towards all. We need to realize
that we ourselves and everything around us are God.
We should develop the attitude of seeing everything as
one, of seeing everything as we see ourselves. What can
we possibly hate when we see everything as God? The
temple and its rituals are meant to guide us to this state.
The ocean and the waves appear to be different, but
both are water. Bracelets, necklaces, rings, and anklets
appear to be different and are worn on different parts
of the body, but in reality they are all gold. From the
perspective of gold, they are all the same; there is no
difference. Only when we look at them from an external
point of view are they different. In the same way, objects
around us may appear to be different, but, in reality, they
are all the same. They are Brahman, the Absolute Reality.
There is only That. The goal of human life is to realize
this, to experience it. Once you experience this realiza-
tion, your problems vanish completely, just as darkness
disappears when the sun rises.
Today, scientists say that everything is energy. The
Rishis went one step further and declared that everything
is consciousness, the Supreme Consciousness. Sarvam
brahmamayam – “All is Brahman, the Supreme Self ” –
this was the Rishis own experience.

44
 Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi

But to realize this, we have to transcend the notion

that God resides only in the temple images. We should
to be able to see the Supreme in everything. In order
to achieve this, temple worship has to be done with the
understanding of this principle. It is actually the Self
residing within us that we worship. Since this is difficult
for most people to understand, we project that Supreme
Principle onto the image, like a mirror, and worship it
there. While worshipping in the temple, we should con-
struct a temple within ourselves. Then we can see God
everywhere. So, this is the aim of worshipping in the
temple. It is, in fact, what we are doing when we stand
before the inner sanctum, catch a glimpse of the image,
and then close our eyes. We see within us the image of
God we just saw externally in the inner sanctum of the
temple, and then we hope to open our eyes and see God
in everything. In this way, we can transcend all forms and
realize the all-pervading Self.
For many of us, worshipping God is a part-time activ-
ity. What we need is full-time devotion. To pray for the
fulfillment of a particular desire is part-time devotion.
What we need is the love and devotion for God that leads
to Supreme Love. Our only wish should be to love God.
That is all we should pray for. We should always focus on
God. We should see God in everything. It is God who has
given us the power to pray. If God’s power were absent,

45
 The Eternal Truth
we wouldn’t even be able to lift a finger. Full-time devo-
tion is to be constantly aware that it is God who makes
us do everything. In this way, we can discard the sense of
‘I,’ which is rooted in the body-mind-intellect plane, and
experience ourselves as the all-pervading Consciousness.
The great poet Kalidasa entered the sacred shrine and
closed the door. The Divine Mother came and knocked
on the door. When the door failed to open She asked:
“Who is inside?” Immediately came the reply: “Who is
outside?” Again She said: “Who is inside?” and the same
reply was given: “Who is outside?” Finally, the Divine
Mother answered: “Kali outside!” And the reply came:
“Dasa (servant) inside!”
Although he was repeatedly questioned, he didn’t
reveal who was inside; he never said his name. Only after
he was told, “Kali outside,” did he say, “Servant inside!”
At that moment, he received a full vision of Kali. When
we lose the ‘I,’ all that remains is ‘Thou, God.’ The insig-
nificant identity ‘I’ must be discarded. True devotion is
the awareness, “You are all! You make us do everything!”
In this way we attain everything, after which there is
nothing more to be gained.
God has given us our eyesight. God doesn’t need the
light of the oil lamp we have spent ten rupees to light!
God has nothing to gain from us. When we take refuge
in God, we are the ones who gain from it. The money we

46
 Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi

offer at the temple symbolizes our surrender; it helps us

to cultivate the attitude of surrender. Furthermore, when
we light a lamp with oil or clarified butter, the atmosphere
is purified by the smoke from the flame. We shouldn’t
make an offering just to make a wish come true. We
shouldn’t look upon God as someone who takes bribes!
Even the best variety of seeds will fail to sprout if
they remain in our hands. We have to let go of the seeds
and plant them in the soil. Only with surrender do we
reap the benefit. Similarly, the attitude, “This is mine,”
or “My wish must be fulfilled,” has to be abandoned. We
need to develop the attitude, “Everything is Yours alone.
Let Your will be done!” Only with such surrender will
our devotion be complete.
Many people think surrender means that only by giv-
ing God something will we get any result. But that is not
how surrender should be understood. At present we are
still on the level of mind and intellect. “I am this body.
I am the son or daughter of so and so. My name is such
and such.” Those attributes that we have added to the
‘I’ have to be discarded.
The ego is the only thing we ourselves have created,
and that is what has to be renounced. We have to sur-
render the ego to God. When we surrender the ego, only
that which God has created remains. We then become
a flute at His lips, or the sound of His conch. To rise to

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 The Eternal Truth
the level of expansiveness, all we need to do is get rid
of the individual mind, which is our own creation. Once
‘I’ and ‘mine’ are given up, there is no limited individual;
there is only That which pervades everything.
A seed won’t germinate if it is thrown on a rock. It has
to be planted in the soil. In a similar way, if we want to
reap the real benefits of our actions and efforts, we have
to get rid of our ego. We should cultivate the attitude of
surrender. Then, with God’s grace, anything can happen.
It is our minds that we should surrender to God. But
we cannot just pull out the mind and offer it. So, we
offer things that the mind is attached to, and that is the
equivalent of surrendering the mind. Some people are
fond of payasam (a sweet rice dish), so payasam is offered
to God. And when later the payasam is distributed as
prasad (a consecrated blessing) to poor children, it serves
another purpose. The mind is most strongly attached to
wealth. It is to be released from that bond that we offer
money in the temple. We also offer flowers at the temple.
But what we really should offer to God are the flowers
of our hearts. To offer our hearts is true surrender, true
devotion. This is what offering flowers symbolizes.
Instead of just demanding, “Give me this and that!”
we should also yearn for God’s divine qualities like
love, compassion, and inner peace. Repeat a mantra,
do good deeds, and pray for God’s grace. God will give

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 Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi

you everything you need. There is no need to ask for

anything specific.
Worship God with love. God is aware of all the desires
of our minds. Do not think that God will know every-
thing only if we tell Him. You have to tell everything to
a lawyer or a doctor, so that the lawyer can argue your
case effectively or so the doctor can make the right diag-
nosis and give you the proper treatment. But God knows
everything even if we don’t tell Him anything. God is all-
knowing. Still, when our hearts are heavy, there’s nothing
wrong with opening our hearts to God, unloading our
burdens before Him. But we have to understand that
this is just the beginning. Gradually, we have to learn
to worship God selflessly, with no expectations. Then,
when we pray for ourselves, we will be praying only for
love and devotion towards God. When the only objec-
tive of our devotion is to be filled with ever more love
and devotion, we will also be given everything else we
need. We will benefit materially as well as being spiritu-
ally uplifted and developing on the spiritual path. Only
through innocent supreme love and devotion can we
realize God. We should pray to become one with God.
Then His grace will flow to us automatically and we will
be filled with divine qualities.
In the temple, try to keep the mind completely focused
on God. Circumambulation should be done while repeat-

49
 The Eternal Truth
ing a mantra. While standing in front of the shrine for
darshan16,6 close your eyes and visualize the divine form
with concentration and meditate on it.
However, it is not enough to just go to the temple and
perform a little worship. We should also set aside some
time daily for meditation on God. Chant your mantra
as much as possible. We acquire spiritual power through
this. If we bring together the water flowing through
different branches of a river and make it flow along a
single course, it will become a great power. We can even
get electricity from it. In a similar way, the power of the
mind is wasted through a multitude of thoughts, but if
we focus the mind on just one thought, the mind will
become a great power. If the average person is like an
ordinary post along an electric power line, a person who
performs spiritual austerities is like a power transformer.
We need to understand the basic principles behind
worship. Instead of thinking that there are numerous dif-
ferent deities, we should see them all as different forms
of the same God.
Today, an increasing number of people are coming
to temples. But it is doubtful that the spiritual culture
and understanding of people is really developing at the
same rate. This is because there is virtually no system
in place in the temples to explain our cultural heritage.
16
An audience with or a vision of the Divine or a holy person.

50
 Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi

As a result, people look upon the temple as a means to

get their wishes fulfilled. Nowadays when temple-goers
close their eyes in prayer, it is their desires that they
picture clearly in their minds. Amma doesn’t mean you
shouldn’t have any desires, but when the mind is filled
with desires, you cannot experience peace. Some people
go to the temple because they fear that some danger will
befall them if they don’t worship God. But God is our
protector in every way. What we gain from proper wor-
ship is complete freedom from fear.
Today, temple worship is only an imitation. The
worship isn’t done with the understanding of the prin-
ciples behind it. The son accompanies the father to the
temple. The father circumambulates the shrine. The son
does the same; he copies everything his father does in
the temple. The son grows up and takes his son to the
temple. What happened before is repeated. If you ask
them why they do all that, they have no answer; and in
the temples today no arrangements are made to explain
the underlying principles to them.
There was a man who performed puja (ritual worship)
every day in the family temple. One day, he got everything
ready, and as he began the worship, his cat came in and
drank the milk meant for the puja. The next day, as he

51
 The Eternal Truth
got ready for the puja, he placed the cat under a basket.
Only after the puja was over did he set the cat free17.
He made it a practice to put the cat under a basket
every day before he started the puja. The years went by
in this way. When he died, his son took over the family
puja. He continued the ritual of putting a basket over
the cat. One day, he got everything ready for the puja
and looked for the cat. The cat could not be found. He
discovered that the cat had died. He didn’t waste any
time. He brought a cat from he neighbor’s house and
put it under a basket, and only then did he proceed with
the puja!
The son never asked his father why the cat was placed
under the basket. He simply followed his father’s practice,
without looking for the reason behind it. Today, most
people observe rituals in the same way. They never try
to learn the principles behind the rituals; they just repeat
what others have done before them. Whatever our reli-
gion may be, we should try to learn the reasons behind
the different rituals. This is what needs to be done now.
If we do this, any rituals that are meaningless will not
survive. If such rituals are still practiced, we can con-
sciously eliminate them.

17
God is, of course, present in that cat also. But while we worship
God in a particular form, external purity is important, because
external purity leads to internal purity.

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 Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi

There should be a system in the temples to explain

spirituality and the principles behind the observances
associated with the temples. Temples should become
centers that foster a spiritual culture in people. In this
way we can reclaim our brilliant heritage.

\
Question: What is the need of making various offerings
in the temple?
Amma: God doesn’t need anything from us. What does
the Lord of the Universe lack? Why would the sun need
a candle?
The true offering to God is to go through life with
awareness of the spiritual principles. Eating and sleep-
ing only according to our needs, speaking only when
necessary, speaking in a manner that doesn’t hurt any-
one, not wasting time unnecessarily, caring for the aged
and speaking to them lovingly, helping children to get
an education, in the absence of a regular job learning
a trade to be done at home and spending some of the
income to help the poor – all these are different forms
of prayer. When we bring proper awareness into our
every thought, word, and deed, life itself is transformed

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 The Eternal Truth
into worship. This, indeed, is the true offering to God.
But most people are unable to grasp this because they
haven’t understood the scriptures properly. These days
there are few adequate opportunities available to learn
about Sanatana Dharma. There are plenty of temples, and
many people work there, but arrangements need to be
made so that knowledge of the culture can be imparted
to the people. People would benefit greatly from this.
The effect of this deficiency can be seen in society today.
It is good to shed tears for God while praying, what-
ever our objectives may be. This will lead us to the highest
good. A baby may not be able to say “daddy” properly,
but the father will understand what the child means. He
knows the baby’s mistake is made out of ignorance. God
hears us, no matter how we pray. God looks only at our
hearts. He cannot turn away from our heartfelt prayers.
When we hear about offerings at the temple, payasam
and other things offered to the deity during puja imme-
diately spring to mind. Some people ask, “When poor
people are starving, how can we offer sweet dishes to
God?” But we don’t actually see any deity consuming the
payasam. We are the ones who consume it afterwards.
The devotees share the payasam that is offered at the
temple. Thus the poor and children all get the chance to
enjoy the food. It is their satisfaction that comes to us as
a blessing. Even though we ourselves like payasam, our

54
 Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi

hearts expand when we share it with others. We derive

joy from that expansiveness of heart. This is the true
grace we receive from making offerings at the temple.
Everything we do is done to earn God’s grace. So, we
should do everything as an offering to Him. The farmer
prays before sowing seeds, because there is always a limi-
tation to human effort. For an action to be truly complete
and for it to yield fruit, God’s grace is needed. The rice
is planted; it grows and yields a crop. But if there is a
flood just before the harvest, all is lost. Whatever the
action, it is made complete through divine grace. This is
why our ancestors handed down the tradition of having
the attitude of surrendering everything to God first, and
implementing or accepting it only then. Even when we
eat, the first morsel is offered to God. This is the atti-
tude of surrendering and sharing. In this way we adopt
the attitude of considering life not as our own, but as
something to be shared with others. It is also a process
of surrendering whatever the mind is attached to.
If we ask ourselves what our minds are attached to,
most of us know the answer. Ninety percent of our
attachments are to wealth. When the family property is
divided, we don’t hesitate to drag even our mothers to
court if our share of the land has ten coconut trees fewer
than those of our siblings. Before an Indian man mar-
ries a woman, her family history is considered as well as

55
 The Eternal Truth
her family’s wealth. The exceptions to this are rare, just
a few that can be counted on our fingers. So, wealth is
what the mind is most attached to, and it’s not easy to
detach the mind from this. A simple way to do this is to
dedicate the mind to God. When we offer our mind to
God it is purified. We offer God the things that are dear
to us as a way of surrendering the mind.
Some say that Krishna was very fond of payasam. But
Krishna is sweetness! – the sweetness of love. We love
payasam, and because we offer it to Krishna, we believe
he is really fond of it. But it is an offering of something
that we ourselves like. In essence, the Lord is love. He
delights in the payasam of our hearts, in our love.
A devotee bought a lot of grapes, apples, and differ-
ent kinds of sweets and placed them in his puja room as
an offering to the Lord. “Lord,” he said, “see how many
things I have brought you: apples, grapes, and sweets!
Are you satisfied?”
He heard a voice that said, “No, those are not the
things that satisfy me.”
“Oh, Lord, tell me what would please you! I will buy
it for you.”
“There is a flower called the flower of the mind. That
is what I want.”
“Where will I find it?”
“In the nearest house.”

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 Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi

The devotee went straight to the house next door, but

the neighbors knew nothing about such a flower. He went
to all the houses in the village. Everyone gave the same
answer: “We haven’t seen or heard of such a flower.”
Finally the devotee returned to the Lord, prostrated, and
said, “Lord, please forgive me! I looked everywhere in
the village but I couldn’t find the flower you wanted. I
have only my heart to offer you!”
“That is the flower I asked for, the flower of your
mind. Until now, whatever you have offered me are things
that were created by my power. Without the help of my
power, you cannot lift even your hand. Everything in
the world is my creation. But there is one thing that you
have created: the attitude of ‘I’ (the ego). That is what
you should surrender to me. Your innocent mind is the
flower I prefer above all else.”
When we grasp the divine principles, God’s quali-
ties will manifest in us. Amma remembers the old days.
Before making a pilgrimage to Sabarimala, the villagers
made rice gruel and a special vegetable curry and fed
everyone who came. Before they lifted the special pil-
grimage bags onto their heads, they gave away handfuls
of coins to the children. When we make others happy by
giving sumptuous food to the poor or money to children
for candy, for example, it comes back to us in the form

57
 The Eternal Truth
of satisfaction. The loving-kindness we show to others
returns to us as grace.
You may ask why one should offer flowers to God.
But that is not just a ritual; there is a practical aspect to it
as well. Many people grow flowers for offering to God. It
provides those who pick the flowers and those who sell
them with a livelihood. It also gives satisfaction to those
who buy the flowers and offer them to the Divine. So
the flowers that blossom today and wither tomorrow are
providing many people with a livelihood, and those who
buy them and offer them in worship are given satisfac-
tion. Furthermore, those plants are carefully conserved
in nature. We have to look at the utility of everything
in this manner. We may ask, Isn’t a garland made of
cloth better than a flower garland? Those garlands are
also good, and keep many people employed. But such
garlands do not perish quickly. The real flowers blossom
today, wither, and fall away tomorrow. We can make the
utmost use of them this way.
The cash offering we make at the temple is not a
bribe; it symbolizes our love for God. To give something
to someone we love is the face of love. When love is
expressed outwardly, it becomes loving-kindness. We love
God, but only when we offer something to God is that
love transformed into compassion for the world. Only
those who do this receive God’s grace.

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 Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi

We will usually obey whatever the person we love the

most says. A young man is told to quit smoking by the
woman he loves. If he sincerely loves her, he will put a
stop to his bad habit. That is love. On the other hand,
if he argues with her and wants to know why he should
obey her, then there is no real love present. In love there
are not two individuals. Amma has seen many people give
up bad habits in this way. They say, “She doesn’t like my
drinking! She doesn’t like the clothes I wear!” You may
ask if it isn’t a weakness to adjust to the ones you love.
But, in love, this is not a weakness. You cannot enjoy
love if reason and logic come into it. In love, there is
only love itself; there’s no room for logic.
Those who sincerely love God will give up bad habits.
They won’t do anything that God wouldn’t like. Or if
they make a mistake, they try their best not to repeat it.
They save the money they formerly used to spend on bad
habits and use it to help those in need, because serving
the poor is the real way of worshipping God. They limit
their use of luxuries, and use the money saved in this way
to serve the poor. They get into the habit of limiting the
use of anything to no more than what is needed. They
give up the craving to amass wealth. They give up any
thoughts of getting rich by exploiting others. Thus, they
maintain the balance and harmony in society.

59
 The Eternal Truth
What we need is not gymnastics in logic but practical
common sense. This benefits everyone. There is a saying
that telling lies causes blindness. Our intellect knows that
if that were true, there would be only blind people on
earth. But when we tell a child that lying causes blindness,
he will desist from lying out of fear. Suppose you tell a
child who is watching television, “Come here, child. We’ll
give you immortality!’ The child will decline the offer,
saying he is happy watching TV. But if he is told, “Run!
The house is on fire!” he’ll rush out the door in an instant.
Those words will make him spring into action. This has
nothing to do with the intellect; the words are simply
practical. Many practices may appear to be meaningless
or superstitious, but when we examine them more subtly,
we can see that we get many practical benefits from them.
The mind is very limited, indiscriminate, and childish,
and these practices guide the mind in the right direction.
A breast-feeding infant cannot digest meat; it would
make the baby sick. A baby can only be given simple
food. We have to go to each person’s level and provide
the appropriate guidance. Things should be explained to
them in a way that is suitable for their physical, mental,
and intellectual constitution. In Sanatana Dharma, there
are teachings that are expressed in ways that are suit-
able for all kinds of people. This is why some things in
Sanatana Dharma may appear to be unrefined or even

60
 Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi

grotesque to some people. But if we examine them

logically, we will see how practical they are. It wouldn’t
be wrong to say that practicality is the foundation of
Sanatana Dharma.

\
Question: We see expensive jewelry being used to adorn
the temple images. How can such luxuries be compatible
with devotion and spirituality?
Amma: The gold and silver used to decorate the images
of God don’t belong to a particular individual; they
belong to society as a whole. That wealth remains in the
temple. Don’t most of us buy gold jewelry and keep it
at home? Appreciating beauty is part of our nature. We
like anything that is beautiful. That is why people wear
jewelry and colorful clothes. But this attraction to external
things causes bondage; it reinforces the notion that we are
the body. If, instead, our attraction to beauty is directed
towards God, it will uplift us. When we decorate God’s
image, we get to enjoy a beauty that is divine. In this
way, our minds become focused on God. Even without
adornments, God is the quintessence of Beauty. But,
normally, we are able to enjoy that beauty only through

61
 The Eternal Truth
certain symbols or limiting adjuncts. So, we adorn those
images of God according to the way we imagine God.
In olden days, the king was the sovereign of the whole
country. But God is the Ruler of the entire universe.
People looked upon God in the same way as they viewed
the king. They believed that, just as the king provided
everything that his subjects required, God provided
everything that the universe required. They thought of
God as the King of kings. Thus they adorned God’s
images, the temple images, in a royal manner and found
joy in that beauty.
A pot of gold doesn’t need any adornments. God
doesn’t need any decorations. God is the Beauty of all
beauty. Even so, decorating a divine image and viewing
that beautiful image fills some devotees with joy and a
positive atmosphere is created in their hearts. The deco-
rations cultivate devotion within such people.
The effort to see beauty in external objects will remain
until one attains the state of jivanmukta18.18 People
search for beauty everywhere. They wish to be the most
beautiful woman or the handsomest man. Since God is
perfect Beauty, what could be wrong with wanting to see
God (or God’s image) in the most beautiful form? God
is the all-pervading Consciousness. The devotees know

18
The state of Self-realization or enlightenment that is attained
while still alive.

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 Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi

that God is everywhere, within and without. Still, being

devotees, they naturally wish to see that captivating form
with their own eyes and to enjoy that beauty.
“His lips are sweet, his face is sweet, his eyes are sweet,
his smile is sweet, his heart is sweet, his gait is sweet –
everything about the Lord of Mathura19 is sweet20!” Thus
the devotee sees beauty in everything connected with
God, and tries to enjoy that beauty through all the senses:
God’s form through the eyes, His divine song through
the ears, His prasad through the tongue, His fragrance
through the nose, and the special unguents (e.g., sandal
paste) through touch. Thus, each of the senses can be
used to focus the mind fully on God.
God is perfectly complete, whether He appears in the
form of a king or a beggar. We decorate God according
to our imagination, that’s all. God cannot be limited to
our very limited concepts. Nor is God wanting in any-
thing. It makes no difference to God whatsoever if we
decorate His image or not. None of the expensive things
offered by the devotees affect God in any way. They are
just adornments, mere decorations to satisfy the devotee.
Amma recalls the story of Sri Rama in this context.
The decision had been made to proclaim Rama as the
19
The Lord of Mathura refers to Krishna. Mathura was the capital
of the kingdom that Krishna regained from his wicked uncle Kamsa
and restored to the rule of his grandfather.
20
Madhurashtakam by Sri Sankaracharya

63
 The Eternal Truth
crown prince. The preparations for the ceremony were
already underway. But suddenly he was asked to go into
exile in the forest, and he set out without any change of
emotion. Had he wanted to, he could have reigned as
king – the people were all on his side – but, even so, he
left and never regretted his decision because he wasn’t
attached to anything. It is this detachment we should
gain by worshipping God.
The robber who is taken into custody will be sur-
rounded by police. The prime minister is also surrounded
by police. But in the prime minister’s case, the police are
under his control. If he doesn’t want them to be there,
he can send them away. The robber, on the other hand, is
afraid of the police and is under their control. God is like
the prime minister. Everything is under His control. This
doesn’t change, regardless of what form God assumes.
When God manifests on earth as different incarnations,
those incarnations behave like humans because they want
to be living examples for the world. But this doesn’t bind
them in any way. They are like butter in water. They are
like a ripe peanut in the shell. They are not attached to
anything, nor can anything stick to them.

\
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 Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi

Question: There is the practice of offering substances

like honey and clarified butter to the fire during a homa
(sacred fire ritual) in order to attain God’s grace. Is it
right to waste things in this way? It is said that many
expensive materials are offered into the fire. What is
Amma’s view on this?
Amma: Amma doesn’t approve of offering expensive
materials into the fire. If that has been done, it may have
been to remove the mind’s attachment to those materi-
als. Even so, it is better to give such things away as gifts
than to throw them in the fire. That would benefit the
poor, and this seems more logical to Amma.
However, there are subtle meanings involved in a
homa. It is the ego that is being offered to God. The ego
is the creation of the mind, and the homa symbolizes
the surrender of the mind to God. We offer into the fire
materials that symbolize our senses, because our senses
constitute the bondage or attachments of the mind. To
receive God’s grace, it isn’t necessary to perform a ritual
in which we offer various objects to the fire. Perform-
ing good deeds is all that is needed. It is enough to love
and to serve others. God’s grace will come to those who
have this attitude.
In another sense, the materials offered into the homa
fire are not really being wasted. Ceremonies like the homa

65
 The Eternal Truth
have been laid down in the part of the Vedas that deals
with rituals. Some of the benefits of those rituals have
been scientifically proven. The homa benefits nature.
When clarified butter, coconut, honey, sesame seeds,
karuka grass, and other ingredients are offered into the
fire, the smoke from the fire has the power to purify the
atmosphere. It disinfects without the use of poisonous
chemicals. Those who breathe in the fragrant smoke of
the homa benefit as well.
Our ancestors in antiquity started a fire by rubbing
special pieces of wood together. This didn’t pollute the
air the way burning matches do. By lighting the fire at
dawn, sitting beside it in a comfortable posture, and per-
forming the homa, we gain concentration of mind. Our
thoughts diminish. Mental tension decreases. Sitting next
to the fire, the body perspires and the impurities in the
body are eliminated. We inhale the fragrance from the
burning clarified butter and coconut, and this is good
for our health. Simultaneously, the atmosphere is being
purified. Every observance and ritual prescribed by our
ancestors was meant not only for inner purification but
to maintain the harmony of nature. None of the pre-
scribed actions caused any pollution.
In the old days, it was the custom in most homes to
light an oil lamp at dusk. Burning a wick placed in oil in

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 Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi

a bronze lamp helps purify the atmosphere. As a child,

Amma observed how the smoke from such lamps was
collected inside a bowl. The women would mix the soot
from this with lime juice, and when a child was born the
mixture was applied to the baby’s eyes. This destroys the
organisms beneath the eyelids without any harmful side
effects. That smoke is very different from the smoke
from a kerosene lamp.
Most of the customs observed in the old days ben-
efited nature. In the past, when children were vaccinated,
their mothers applied cow dung to the injection spot to
make it heal quickly. If we were to apply cow dung today,
the wound would turn septic. This is how impure cow
dung has become. The remedy of the past has become
today’s poison. In those days, toxic chemicals were not
used in agriculture; only leaves and cow dung were used
as fertilizer. But, today, most farmers use toxic fertilizers
and insecticides. The hay from such farms is fed to the
cows, and the dung from those cows is therefore toxic.
It would be dangerous to touch a wound with that dung.
This is how polluted nature has become.
Amma does not ignore the fact that there may be
economic gain to be had from the use of chemical fer-
tilizers. With those chemicals we temporarily get better
harvests. But in another way they are killing us. We may
argue that the larger crops are a solution to starvation,

67
 The Eternal Truth
but we forget the important fact that because people
consume vegetables and grains grown using those toxic
fertilizers, countless cells in their bodies perish.
We don’t take the prick of a small needle very seriously,
but if we are continuously pricked it could end in death.
The consequence of toxic substances entering our bod-
ies is similar to that. Each of our cells is in the process
of dying. Only when we fall dead will we understand the
seriousness of the matter. Through our food, water, and
air we consume numerous poisons. They make us ill and
lead us more rapidly towards death.
We don’t realize that many things that are done today
in the name of hygiene have negative effects. People use
chemical cleaners to clean and disinfect their homes. But,
even to breathe in the smell of many of those cleaners is
harmful to our health. They also kill beneficial microor-
ganisms. On the other hand, when we perform a homa,
the materials offered into the fire kill germs and purify
the air. None of these materials have any harmful effects.
Nowadays, we use poisonous chemicals to kill ants.
Those pesticides harm not only the ants but also our
own cells. But when we breathe in the fragrant air aris-
ing from the homa fire, the cells in our bodies become
refreshed and healthier. It benefits not only humans, but
other living beings and nature as well.

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 Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi

In the past, people used castor oil as a laxative. It

wasn’t harmful at all. Today, many people use various
pills as laxatives. Those substances do act as laxatives,
but at the same time they destroy many beneficial bac-
teria in the body, and there can be other side effects as
well. Despite the fact that they know this, many people
find it convenient to depend on those laxatives. People
tend to consider only what feels most convenient at the
moment, and choose to ignore the future consequences.
In the old days, people carried out each action in light
of an overall perspective regarding nature. The homa
began from this perspective. Amma doesn’t mean that
everyone should start performing homas. It is enough
to use that money for charitable activities. In addition to
this, plant ten new trees! This will benefit the atmosphere
and help to preserve nature.

\
Question: Is there any benefit to be gained from sing-
ing devotional songs, praying, chanting mantras, etc.?
Shouldn’t we use that time to do something useful for
the world instead?

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 The Eternal Truth
Amma: Many people sing sensual songs. If we were to
say to them, “What’s the use of that? Shouldn’t you be
doing something useful for the world instead?” what
would they say to that? Isn’t it true that only those who
experience the benefit of something can understand
it? People enjoy listening to ordinary songs. When the
devotee hears God’s name being sung, he or she forgets
all else and becomes absorbed in the Divine. Ordinary
songs are enjoyable because they deal with the emotions
of the mind and with worldly relationships. Listeners
get absorbed in those sentiments and enjoy it. But when
devotional songs and prayers are sung, both the singers
and the listeners experience mental peace.
Music such as disco music awakens various emotional
waves. Listening to sensual songs awakens the lover-
beloved mood and leads to related thoughts and senti-
ments. Devotional songs, on the other hand, remind us of
our relationship with God; divine qualities are awakened
instead of worldly emotions. The emotions are quieted
and this gives peace to both the singers and the listeners.
Amma doesn’t dismiss ordinary songs. Many people
enjoy them. There are different kinds of people in the
world. Everything has a certain relevance at the level of
each individual. So, Amma doesn’t reject anything.
When we sing the glories of God, we are not aim-
ing only at the state of God-realization. There are other

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benefits as well. Devotional songs and prayers engender

positive vibrations within us and throughout our sur-
roundings. There is no room in that for any anger or
negativity; there is only the sentiment that makes every-
one a friend. Through prayer, a process of contemplation
takes place in the mind of the devotee. A child repeats a
word ten times, commits it to memory, and plants it firmly
in the heart. Similarly, when we sing devotional songs,
when we sing about God’s glories again and again, they
become rooted in our hearts and our lives are enriched.
Singing devotional songs makes the mind joyful. It
is restful for the mind. To experience this fully we have
to develop the attitude “I am nothing. You (God) are
everything!” That is true prayer. It is not easy to develop
this attitude. The sun has to rise for darkness to disap-
pear. Only with the dawn of knowledge can this mental
state blossom fully. We don’t have to wait until then; we
just need to cultivate the right mental disposition and
go forward.
We shouldn’t forget that God is our strength. Not even
our next breath is under our control. We start walking
down the stairs, saying, “I’ll be right down” – and yet
we hear of people succumbing to a heart attack before
they have finished the sentence. So, we need to develop
the attitude that we are just instruments in God’s hands.

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We shouldn’t pray or sing devotional songs just to
have our desires fulfilled. There are many who think of
prayer as a means for personal gain. The aim of prayer is
to awaken positive qualities and good vibrations within.
If life is lived just to satisfy one’s desires, robberies, mur-
ders, and rapes will increase. Because there are police,
and people fear the police, there is at least some limit on
crime in society. But it is love that helps people to truly
stay on the right path – love and devotion for God. This
is the practical way to maintain harmony in society. Prayer
accompanied by positive thoughts produces good vibra-
tions. Prayer accompanied by negative thoughts produces
bad vibrations. The vibrations around a person who is
praying will depend on the nature of his or her prayer.
If the person prays about harming an adversary, the
person praying will be filled with vibrations of anger –
and what the world gets from that person is anger. Thus,
the vibrations that emanate to the world from a praying
individual match the attitude behind his or her prayer.
Different emotions arise in a person when he thinks
of his mother, his wife, and his children. When he
remembers his mother, maternal love and affection fill
his mind. Thoughts about his wife may bring forth con-
jugal sentiments and feelings about the sharing of hearts.
Thinking about his children, he feels parental love. All
these feelings reside in the mind, and they awaken differ-

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ent vibrations. Because the vibrations depend on one’s

state of mind, we should make sure that our prayers are
always accompanied by positive thoughts. Only then will
our prayers be of any benefit to us and to society as a
whole. Prayer accompanied by good thoughts, without
any feelings of anger or vengeance, not only removes
mental tension but also creates a positive atmosphere
both within and without.
Thoughts are like a contagious virus. If you go near a
person suffering from a fever, you, too, may catch a fever
because the germs carrying the illness may be passed on
to you. If you go to a place where perfume bottles are
filled, your body will pick up the fragrance. Similarly,
there are subtle vibrations created wherever God’s glory
is sung. Those vibrations will spread to our aura. But our
hearts have to open for this to happen. Only then can we
enjoy this and be energized. If the mind has a negative
attitude, we won’t be benefited.
Even in a spiritual environment, people’s interests are
often limited to the plane of the senses. That is why some
people don’t receive the grace of the spiritual masters
whom they approach and who may even mentally bestow
blessings upon them. A frog that lives under a lotus isn’t
aware of the flower, nor can it enjoy its fragrance. Even
around the udder filled with milk, the mosquitoes are
attracted only to blood.

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 The Eternal Truth
Some people cannot see the changes taking place in
those who practice spiritual teachings. They see only
the defects in everything. There are those who criticize
Hinduism by pointing to the animal sacrifices that were
once practiced in the name of religion. Listening to them,
it would seem that Hinduism consists only of animal
sacrifice! In the past, when asked to sacrifice the animal
within themselves (the ego), there were some people
who, out of ignorance, offered actual live animals as a
sacrifice. But, today, don’t we see modern people, clai-
ming to know the Truth, conducting human sacrifices
all over the world? Think of how many are being killed
in the name of religion and politics! We claim to have
risen above our ancestors, when, in fact, we have not.
The upward progress we show is actually leading to our
downfall. To understand this, we need to see the situa-
tion from its entire perspective; we have to see it from
a bird’s eye view, for if we look from below, we will see
only a very limited side.
Most people belong to a political party. They may be
attracted to the party because of the lives of the lead-
ers and their idealism and sacrifices. Having adopted
those ideals, they may have started working for the party.
However, it would be even better if they were to adopt
spiritual ideals, for in those principles there is no anger or

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vengeance, and no selfishness. Where can we find loftier

ideals than those of the Bhagavad Gita?
There are those who may ask, “Doesn’t Krishna say in
the Gita that we have to surrender everything and work
without remuneration?” But hardly anyone thinks about
why the Lord said that. If seeds are sown, they may or
may not sprout. If there is no rain, you can dig wells
and get water for irrigation; but however much you try,
you cannot say for sure how good the harvest will be.
Just before the harvest, a great storm or a flood could
destroy the entire crop. This is the nature of the world.
If we can accept this, we can live without sorrow. This
is why Krishna said, “Perform your work. The result is
in God’s hands. Do not worry about it!” However great
our effort may be, God’s grace is also needed if we are
to get the proper fruits of our actions. This is what He
taught, not that we shouldn’t demand or receive any
wages for our work.
If you sincerely believe that instead of singing the
glories of God, praying, or chanting His names, it is
enough to do actions that benefit the world, then that is
actually enough. God isn’t someone sitting beyond the
sky. God is everywhere. The Creator and creation are
not two different things. The gold and the gold chain are
not different – there is gold in the chain and the chain
is gold. God is within us, and we are in God. Indeed,

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the greatest thing is to see God in all human beings and
to worship them. But the mind has to embrace this atti-
tude one hundred percent. It is very difficult to perform
actions in a perfectly selfless way. Selfishness will creep
in without our knowledge, and then we won’t receive the
full benefit of that selfless action.
People may say, “Let’s not talk about bosses and work-
ers. Let’s have equality!” But how many bosses are willing
to include their workers in their own class? Is the leader
who talks about workers’ rights willing to give up his
chair to a follower? Selflessness has to do with actions,
not with words. But this doesn’t happen in one day, for
it needs constant practice. We need to remember to fill
each breath with good thoughts. We should try to cul-
tivate good qualities. When we do this, our breath will
create good vibrations in the atmosphere. It is often said
that factories pollute the air, but there is an even greater
poison within the human being, and that is the ego. That
should be feared above all else. Devotional singing and
prayers help purify the minds that carry such poisons.
It is hard to stop a cow that is running away by run-
ning after it. If you instead hold some fodder that the
cow likes in your outstretched hand and call it, the cow
will come to you, and then you can easily tether the ani-
mal. Likewise, chanting a mantra will help us bring the
mind under control.

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Even though we are one with the Creator, at present

our minds are not under our control and so we are not
aware of that oneness. We need to take control of the
mind in the same way as we use the remote control of a
television set to select a desired channel. Today our minds
are running after many different things. Chanting the
divine names is an easy way to bring back the wayward
mind and to make it focus on God.
Through spiritual practice, the mind develops the
ability to adjust to any situation. People tend to be tense.
Repeating a mantra is an exercise that removes our ten-
sion. In the old days, children used certain seeds to learn
how to count. Using the seeds, they practiced “one, two,
three,” etc. Later they could count in their minds with-
out the aid of the seeds. When a forgetful person goes
shopping, he or she will bring a list; when the items are
purchased, the list can be thrown away. In a similar way,
we are presently in a state of forgetfulness; we are not
awakened. Until awakening takes place, repeating a man-
tra and other spiritual practices are necessary.
Just as there are rules for everything, there are certain
rules for meditation and other spiritual practices. Anyone
can sing ordinary songs, but without musical training,
you cannot give a classical music concert. There are rules
for concert playing. Similarly, one needs some training
to meditate successfully. Meditation is very practical,

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 The Eternal Truth
but problems can arise if one isn’t careful to do it in a
productive way.
A health tonic is good for the body. But, if instead of
the prescribed dose of a teaspoon, you drink the whole
bottle, it could harm you; or if you swallow two spoonfuls
instead of the prescribed five, that won’t help either. You
need to stick to the prescribed dose. Similarly, you should
meditate according to your spiritual master’s directions.
There are some spiritual practices are not suitable for
everyone. If such practices are done by the wrong per-
son, he or she may be unable to sleep, may even become
violent, and develop certain physical disorders. So, it can
be dangerous if one isn’t careful. However, there are no
such problems with singing devotional songs, chanting,
or praying. Anyone can do these practices safely. With
meditation more care is needed. With meditation, the
seeker needs the master’s help. A space craft can lift off
from the earth, overcoming the earth’s gravity, but it often
needs a second rocket, a booster rocket, to fire in order
to adjust its course and continue its journey. Similarly, a
boost from the master’s guidance is essential for progress
on the spiritual journey.
Each of us has the power to be God or a demon.
We can be Krishna or Jarasandha21.21 Both qualities are

21
Jarasandha was a powerful but unrighteous king who ruled the
land of Magadha in Krishna’s time. He subjugated more than one

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within us: love and anger. Our nature will be determined

by which of those qualities we choose to nurture. So
we need to cultivate good thoughts, free from any spirit
of anger, and a clear mind, free from conflict. Through
prayer and the repetition of a mantra, we can remove
the negativities from our minds and completely forget
the unessential things. Normally, we forget things when
we are unconscious, and when we regain our awareness
we remember them again; this brings back our tension.
But what happens through spiritual practices is differ-
ent, for in spiritual practice we forget what isn’t wanted
while we are fully awake.
By pasting a three-word poster on a wall saying “Stick
no bills,” we can avoid hundreds of words. It is true that
our notice itself is a poster, but it serves a larger purpose.
Chanting a mantra is similar. By chanting a mantra, we
reduce the number of thoughts. When other thoughts
are kept away, the tension that normally arises from those
thoughts is removed. At least while chanting, the mind
is calm; there is no anger or negativity. The mind is puri-
fied. Selfishness decreases and we gain expansiveness of
mind. We also create good vibrations in nature.

hundred kingdoms. He was defeated repeatedly in several wars he

waged against Krishna. Later, Bhima, following Krishna’s counsel,
killed Jarasandha in a fight between the two of them.

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 The Eternal Truth
If the water that flows through many different chan-
nels is directed into one channel, we can use it to produce
electric power. Through mantra repetition and medita-
tion, we can control the power of the mind, which is
otherwise lost in a multitude of thoughts. In this way,
we can conserve and build up our energy.
A porter gets a higher education and becomes a scien-
tist. The scientist still uses the same head that previously
carried loads of luggage. But is the ability of the porter
the same as that of the scientist? If a porter can become
a scientist, why shouldn’t an ordinary person be able to
blossom into a spiritual being? This is possible through
spiritual practice, an attitude of selflessness, and good
thoughts. One can accumulate a great deal of spiritual
power by concentrating the mind. The power gained
through mantra chanting can be used in a way that will
benefit the world. There is no selfishness in that. The
world receives only good words and deeds from such
individuals.
All spiritual practices are done to develop in us the
attitude of wanting to dedicate ourselves to the world.
But Amma is ready to worship the feet of those who
don’t have the inclination to practice any spiritual disci-
pline but are nevertheless willing to dedicate their lives
to the world. The benefit gained through prayer can also

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be gained through selfless service. In selflessness one is

complete. In that state, the limited individual disappears.

\
Question: Some people cry when they pray. Isn’t this a
sign of weakness? Don’t we just lose our energy when
we cry like that?
Amma: Shedding tears while praying is not a weakness.
When we cry for ordinary things it is like a piece of fire-
wood uselessly burning up; but when we weep in prayer,
it is like using that burning firewood to make payasam – it
gives us sweetness. As a candle burns down, its brightness
increases. When we shed tears about material things, it
may perhaps help lighten the load in our hearts, but we
shouldn’t waste our time crying about what is gone or
what is yet to come. “Will my child study hard enough
and pass the examination?” “Look what those people
did to me!” “What will the neighbors say?” To sit and
cry about such things can be considered a weakness. It
will only lead to depression and other mental disorders.
However, when we open our hearts and pray to God, it
gives us peace and mental quietude.

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 The Eternal Truth
When we pray out of our longing for God, positive
qualities are nurtured within us. Heartfelt prayer in which
we cry for God steadies and focuses the mind, and the
mind becomes one-pointed. Instead of losing energy, we
gain energy through such concentration. Even though
God is within us, our minds are not focused on God.
Crying in prayer is a way of focusing the mind on God.
When a toddler says he is hungry, the mother may not
respond immediately. But what happens when the child
starts crying? The mother will come running, ready to
pick up and feed her child. Similarly, to shed tears while
praying is a good way to gain control over the mind. It
is certainly not a weakness.
A seeker on the path of self-inquiry asserts, “I am not
the mind, intellect, or body; I am not merit or demerit
– I am the pure Self.” This process of negation is done
with the mind. For those who haven’t learned medita-
tion, yoga, or the scriptures, an easy way to control the
mind is to tell everything to God with an open heart,
to cry and pray for the realization of the Truth. This is
also a form of negation because, instead of saying “I
am not this, I am not that,” we are saying to God, “You
are everything.”
Some people like to read silently. Others have to read
aloud in order to understand the words. There are those
who enjoy singing aloud, while others enjoy humming

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softly. Each person chooses what suits him or her. It

would be wrong to label any of those choices as weak-
nesses. It is a matter of personal choice, that’s all.
God is within you, but your mind isn’t attuned to this.
Say that there is a pot in front of you. Even if your eyes
are open, if your mind is elsewhere, you won’t see the
pot. You can’t hear someone speaking if your mind isn’t
present. In the same way, even though God is within us,
we do not know Him because our minds are not focused
within – we are not looking inward. Normally, the mind
is tied to a lot of things. We have to bring the mind back
and focus it on God. In this way we can cultivate God’s
qualities within us, qualities such as love, compassion, and
equal vision. We should develop those qualities within
ourselves and around us, so that others will be benefited.
Prayer has the same effect.
One of Amma’s children said to Amma, “I don’t like
to pray. What’s the use of praying?” Amma said, “Let
Amma ask you something. Say that you are in love. Will
you dislike talking to your beloved? Won’t you enjoy it?
To the devotee, this is what praying is like. To the devo-
tee, God is everything. And if someone were to disap-
prove of your talking to your beloved, how would you
react? Would you care what that person thinks? Your
statement about prayer is like that person’s criticism. The

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 The Eternal Truth
love we feel for God is no ordinary love. It is something
so utterly sacred.”
Love and devotion for God cannot be compared to
any ordinary love relationship. A man craves a woman’s
love, and a woman craves love from a man. In that love,
they enjoy each other. But they don’t experience full-
ness or perfection, because they are both beggars. The
devotee’s prayer to God is different. The devotee prays
for the grace to develop God’s qualities within and the
broad-mindedness to see and love everyone as God.
The devotee shares the feelings of her heart with God
for this purpose. She not only nurtures godly qualities
within, but also transforms her life into something that
benefits others. Ordinary people share their feelings with
many others; they crave to be loved by others. But the
devotee shares her heart only with the indwelling God,
praying, “Let me be like You! Give me the strength to
love all beings, and the strength to forgive!”
Devotional singing is the absolute delight of the
devotee’s heart; it is the devotee’s form of indulgence.
Worldly people find their pleasure in external things, but
internal delight is different, and it is harmless. Once you
have experienced it, you will no longer go in search of
external indulgence. If you get delicious food at home,
will you go looking for it elsewhere? In prayer, we look
within for a place of rest. This is not like a candle that

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has to be lit with external help; it is a light that shines

spontaneously. It is a path on which we discover the light
shining within ourselves.
In the material world, people seek satisfaction through
desire. But it is prayer that leads to peace of mind. You
may experience some peace from the material world, but
it is never permanent. If your loved ones ignore you, you
feel sad. If one person doesn’t want to talk, the other one
feels sad. People go sear-ching for happiness, and when
they don’t succeed in finding it, more sorrow follows.
When we share our sorrows with others, they respond
by talking about their own sorrows. We go to someone
in search of solace, but come back loaded with twice as
much sorrow! Like the spider that builds its web and then
dies in it, people with these attachments end up bound by
them. It is like a small snake trying to swallow a big frog!
To be released from this condition you have to develop
the attitude of a witness. This is also the aim of prayer.
There were two women who were neighbors. The
husband of one of them died. In her grief, the widow
wailed loudly. The other woman came over to console
her, saying, “Who is free from death? If not today, it
will happen tomorrow. The electric current doesn’t get
destroyed even if the bulb fails. In the same way, the Self
cannot be destroyed even if the body perishes.” With
words of this kind, she consoled the weeping woman.

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 The Eternal Truth
After some time, the second woman’s son died. She
wept uncontrollably. The widow came over and said to
her grieving friend, “Aren’t you the one who came and
consoled me when my husband died? Do you remem-
ber what you said to me then?” But no matter what the
widow said, she couldn’t stop her bereaved friend from
crying. The woman who lost her son was completely
identified with her own grief. Yet, when her neighbor
had lost her husband, she had been able to stand apart
and look at her friend’s situation as a witness – and she
had been able to console her to a certain extent; she had
given her strength.
Whenever we identify with a situation, our suffering
increases. But when we view a situation from the witness
point of view, our inner strength grows. We read about
a plane crash in the paper. If our children or relatives
were on that flight, we won’t be able to read the next
line because of our grief. If there is no possibility that
our loved ones were on that plane, our eyes will casu-
ally finish reading the story and then wander over to the
next piece of news.
In worldly relationships we may experience suffering.
If one person’s love diminishes, the other person may
get angry. The reason is that the relationship is based
on wishes and hopes, on desires and expectations. But
when we cry for God, it is completely different because

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we don’t expect anything in return for our love. And, yet,

in that love without expectations we are given everything.
In real prayer we say, “God, give us your qualities and
the strength to do selfless service!”
Schoolchildren are often asked to write down a fact
or a passage again and again so that they will remember
it. If they write a forgotten lesson ten times, they won’t
forget it again; it becomes firmly fixed in their memory.
Similarly, when we contemplate the divine qualities
repeatedly during our prayers, we are making those quali-
ties our own; we are fixing them in our consciousness.
The devotee who awakens these qualities within him- or
herself is not bound by them but rises to a state beyond
all qualities. The one who is beyond all qualities is not
bound to anything. Such a person remains a witness. By
nurturing the divine qualities within, we forget ourselves
and are able to love and help others. Then the limited
individual is no longer there. This is a state beyond all
qualities.

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 The Eternal Truth
Question: Some people describe the Shiva linga 22 as
obscene. Is there any basis for this?
Amma: My children, people talk that way only because
they do not understand the principle behind the Shiva
linga. Each individual sees either good or bad in every-
thing depending on that person’s own inner tendencies.
Each religion and organization has its own symbols or
emblems. The fabric used to make the flag of a country
or a political party may cost no more than ten rupees –
but think of the value that is given to the flag! In that
flag, people see their country or their party. For the party
workers, the flag symbolizes the ideals of their party. If
someone were to spit on that cloth or tear it to pieces
saying it’s worth no more than ten rupees, there would be
a serious conflict. When you see a flag, you don’t think
about the cotton it is made of. You don’t think about
the excreta that has been used as fertilizer to grow that
cotton, and how foul-smelling it must have been. In that
flag you only see the ideals of the country or the political
party it represents.
For Amma’s Christian children, the cross is a symbol
of sacrifice. When we pray in front of the cross, we don’t
think of the fact that it was the instrument used to crucify
criminals. We see it as the symbol of Christ’s sacrifice and
22
An elongated oval stone; the principle of creativity; often wor-
shipped as a symbol of Lord Shiva.

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compassion. When Amma’s Muslim children prostrate

towards Mecca, they are thinking of divine qualities.
We cannot understand why some people ridicule and
insult the divine symbols and images of the Hindu faith.
The Shiva linga isn’t a symbol of one particular religion;
it actually stands for a scientific principle.
Many symbols are used in mathematics and science;
for example, as the signs for multiplication and division.
Don’t people of all religions and countries use those sym-
bols? No one asks what religion the inventor of those
symbols belonged to. No one discards the symbols on
such grounds. Everyone who wants to learn mathematics
accepts those symbols. Similarly, no one who really under-
stands the principle behind the Shiva linga can reject it.
My children, the meaning of the word linga is ‘the
place of dissolution.’ The universe arises out of the linga
and finally dissolves into it. The Rishis of anti-quity
looked for the origin of the universe and, through the
austerities they performed, they discovered that Brah-
man, the Absolute Reality, is the Source and Support
of everything. Brahman cannot be described in words.
One cannot point to Brahman. The beginning and
end of everything lies in That. Brahman, the abode of
all attributes and qualities, is devoid of attributes and
qualities, and devoid of form. How can the attribute-
less be described? Only that which has attributes can

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be grasped by the mind and the senses. In this difficult
context, the sages found a symbol to represent that initial
stage between Brahman and Creation: the Shiva linga.
It signifies the creation of the universe out of Brah-
man. The Shiva linga is the symbol the Rishis used to
reveal the Truth they experienced in a way that ordinary
people could understand. We need to understand that
the attributeless Ultimate Reality is beyond name, form,
and individuality, but that people need to meditate on
and worship that Ultimate Reality in an accessible way.
The Rishis accepted the Shiva linga as a scientific symbol
to be used in this way.
Scientists who study certain rays that cannot be seen
by the eye use symbols to describe them to others. When
we hear about X-rays, we know they are a certain type
of radiation. Similarly, when we see the Shiva linga, we
understand it is the attributeless Brahman represented
in its aspect with attributes.
The word shiva means ‘auspicious.’ Auspiciousness
doesn’t have a form. By worshipping the Shiva linga,
which is a symbol of auspiciousness, the worshipper
receives that which is auspicious. Auspiciousness doesn’t
make any distinctions such as caste. Whoever worships
the linga, with the awareness of the principle behind it,
will benefit.

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My children, at the beginning of creation, the Ultimate

Principle separated into prakriti and purusha23. By the
word prakriti, the Rishis meant the universe that we can
know and experience. Even though purusha normally
means ‘male,’ that’s not what it signifies here. Purusha
is Self-awareness. Prakriti and purusha are not two; they
are one. Like fire and its power to burn, they cannot be
separated. When the word purusha is mentioned, those
who haven’t studied spirituality think of ‘male.’ This is
why the Supreme Self, which is pure Consciousness, was
assigned the male form and given the name Shiva. And
prakriti was thought of as female and given the names
Shakti and Devi.
Every movement has an underlying motionless sub-
stratum, just as a pestle functions on the unmoving base
of a mortar. Shiva is the motionless principle underly-
ing every movement in the universe, while Shakti is the
Power that is the cause of all movement. The Shiva linga
is the symbol of the unity of Shiva and Shakti. When we
meditate on this symbol with concentration, that Ultimate
Truth will be awakened within us.
We should also consider why the Shiva linga was
given its form. Today scientists say that the universe is
egg-shaped. In India, for thousands of years, the uni-

23
The consciousness that dwells within the body; the pure, unblem-
ished Universal Consciousness/Existence.

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 The Eternal Truth
verse was referred to as Brahmandam, meaning ‘the great
egg.’ Brahman means the absolute greatest. The Shiva
linga is a microcosm of that vast cosmic egg. When we
worship the Shiva linga, we are, in fact, worshipping the
entire universe as the Auspicious Form and as the Divine
Consciousness. This is not the worship of a God who
sits somewhere beyond the sky. This teaches us that any
selfless service rendered to the universe, including to all
living beings, is worship of Shiva.
Today, our condition is that of a baby bird sitting
inside the eggshell of the ego. The fledgling can only
dream of the freedom of the skies but cannot experience
it. To experience that freedom, the egg has to hatch in
the warmth beneath the mother bird’s body, so that the
fledgling can emerge. Similarly, for us to enjoy the bliss
of the Self, the shell of the ego has to break. The egg-
shaped Shiva linga awakens the awareness of this truth
in the worshipper.
We sing, “Akasha linga pahi mam, atma linga pahi
mam,” etc. The words’ literal meaning is “Sky linga,
protect me; Self linga protect me.” The real meaning
of this is, “May God, who is all-pervading like the sky,
protect me; may the Supreme Self, which is my own real
nature, protect me!”
So, the meaning of linga is not ‘phallus,’ for not even
fools would pray to a male’s sexual organs for protection!

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 Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi

My children, who benefits from ascribing a non-

existent meaning to and ridiculing a divine symbol that
countless millions of people throughout the ages have
used for the upliftment of their souls? This causes only
anger and conflict.
The Puranas24 say that Lord Shiva burned Kama, the
god of lust, in the fire of his third eye. Today, we consider
material things to be real, everlasting, and belonging to
us. We focus only on such things. Only when the third
eye of knowledge is opened do we realize that all of
that is perishable, and that only the Self is everlasting.
Then we can enjoy supreme bliss. In that state, there is
no difference between male and female, mine and yours.
This is what is meant by saying that Kama was destroyed.
The Shiva linga helps us to grasp this principle and frees
the mind from lust. This is why the Shiva linga was wor-
shipped by both men and women, the old and the young,
the Brahmin and the outcast.
Only a mind deluded by lust can possibly see the
Shiva linga as a symbol of lust. We should explain the
true principle behind the symbol to such people and thus
uplift their minds.
The Shiva linga illustrates that Shiva and Shakti are
not two, but one and the same. This is relevant in fam-
ily life as well. The husband and wife should be of one
24
Divine epics, depicting the lives of the gods.

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 The Eternal Truth
mind. If the man is the support of the family, the woman
is the Shakti, the strength of the family. There is prob-
ably no other symbol of the equality and love between
a man and a woman. This is why the Shiva linga is given
so much importance in the Brahmasthanam temples that
Amma has established.

\
Question: It is said that Shiva dwells in funeral grounds.
What is the meaning of this?
Amma: Desire is the cause of human suffering. The rea-
son the mind runs after each desire is the perception,
“I am not complete.” You will never experience perfect
peace if you focus only on acquiring material gains. At
the cremation grounds, all material desires and the body,
which is the instrument used to fulfill those desires, are
reduced to ashes. And there, where those desires are
absent and there is no body-consciousness, Lord Shiva
dances in bliss. That is why he is called the resident of
the cremation grounds. The meaning of this is not that
bliss comes to us only after death. Everything is within us.
We and the universe are one; both are equally complete.

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 Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi

But when the attachment to the body dies in the fire

of Self-awareness, we are automatically filled with bliss.
Shiva’s body is decorated with ashes from the funeral
pyres. This is the symbol of having conquered all desires.
Also, when you put holy ash25 on your forehead, it is of
great medical benefit. Furthermore, the mind becomes
aware of the perishable nature of the body. This inspires
us to remember that this body will soon perish, and that
we should do good deeds as soon as possible, before
the body dies.
Shiva is called ‘the detached one’ (vairagi). Detachment
(vairagya) means absence of attachment. Children place
a lot of importance on their toys, while for adults those
same toys don’t mean anything. Detachment means not
giving undue importance to name or position, bodily
comforts, family or friends. If we don’t develop true
detachment, our happiness will depend on the tips of
other peoples’ tongues! Our life becomes a puppet in
the hands of others. Dispassion is what gives us true
freedom. If we have dispassion, nothing in the world can
conceal the bliss that is innate in us. Shiva, who wears
ashes and resides in the funeral grounds, teaches us this
principle. This is why Lord Shiva is considered the first
among Gurus.

25
Holy ash (bhasmam, vibhuti) is traditionally made of dried cow
dung that is burned to ashes.

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 Glossary
Advaita – Non-dualism. The philosophy which teaches
that the Creator and creation are one and indivisible.
Archana – ‘Offering for worship.’ A form of worship in
which the names of a deity are chanted, usually 108,
300, or 1000 names in one sitting.
Ashram – ‘Place of striving.’ A place where spiritual aspi-
rants live or visit in order to lead a spiritual life and
engage in spiritual practice. It is usually the home of
a spiritual master, saint, or ascetic, who guides the
aspirants.
Asura – A demon; a person with demonic qualities.
Atman – The transcendental Self, Spirit, or Conscious-
ness, which is eternal; our essential nature. One of
the fundamental tenets of Sanatana Dharma is that
we are the eternal, pure, unblemishable Self (Spirit).
Avadhut(a) – A Self-realized soul who doesn’t follow social
conventions. By conventional standards, avadhuts are
considered extremely eccentric.
Bhagavad Gita – ‘Song of the Lord.’ Bhagavad = of the
Lord; gita = song; referring particularly to advice. The
teachings that Krishna gave Arjuna on the Kurukshet-
ra battlefield at the beginning of the Mahabharata war.
 The Eternal Truth
It is a practical guide for the daily life of everyone, and
contains the essence of Vedic wisdom. Commonly
referred to as the Gita.
Bhagavan – The Lord; God. One endowed with six divine
qualities or bhagas: eight siddhis (powers), strength,
glory, good fortune, supreme knowledge, and dispas-
sion.
Bhagavatam – One of eighteen scriptures known as the
Puranas, dealing especially with the incarnations of
Vishnu, and, in great detail, with the life of Sri Krish-
na. It emphasizes the path of devotion. Also known
as the Srimad Bhagavatam.
Bhajan – Devotional song; devotional singing.
Bhakti – Devotion.
Bhakti Yoga – ‘Union through devotion.’ The path of love
and devotion. The way of attaining Self-realization
through devotion and complete surrender to God.
Bhava – Divine mood, attitude, or state.
Brahma, Vishnu, and Maheswara (Shiva) – The three
aspects of God, associated with creation, preserva-
tion, and dissolution.
Brahman – The Absolute Reality; the Whole; Supreme
Being; ‘That’ which encompasses and pervades every-
thing, which is One and indivisible.
Brahmandam – ‘The great egg’; the universe.

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Brahmasthanam Temple – ‘The Abode of Brahman.’ Born

out of Amma’s divine intuition, these unique tem-
ples are the first to show multiple deities on a single
stone. The stone is four-sided, displaying Ganesha,
Shiva, Devi and Rahu, emphasizing the inherent unity
underlying the manifold aspects of the Divine. There
are sixteen such temples throughout India and one
in Mauritius.
Brahma Sutras – Aphorisms by Sage Badarayana (Veda
Vyasa) expounding Vedantic philosophy.
Brahmin – In the Indian caste system the Brahmins were
the priests and teachers.
Darshan – An audience with or a vision of the Divine
or a holy person.
Deva – ‘The shining one.’ A god or celestial being that
exists on the astral plane, in a subtle, non-physical
body.
Devi – ‘The Effulgent One.’ The Goddess, the Divine
Mother.
Dharma – From the root dhri; to support, uphold, hold
onto. Often translated simply as ‘righteousness.’
Dharma has many profoundly interrelated meanings:
that which upholds the universe, the laws of Truth, the
universal laws, the laws of nature, in accordance with
divine harmony, righteousness, religion, duty, respon-
sibility, right conduct, justice, goodness, and truth.

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 The Eternal Truth
Dharma signifies the inner principles of religion. It
signifies the true nature, proper functions and actions
of a being or object. It is, for example, the dharma
of fire to burn. The dharma of a human being is to
live in harmony with the universal spiritual principles
and to cultivate a higher consciousness.
Durga – A name of the Goddess, the Divine Mother. She
is often depicted as wielding a number of weapons
and riding a lion. She is the destroyer of evil and the
protector of the good. She destroys the desires and
negative tendencies (vasanas) of her children, and
unveils to them the Supreme Spirit.
Ganesha – The son of Shiva and Parvati. Ganesha removes
obstacles and bestows success. He is worshipped at the
beginning of all ceremonies and before the beginning
of any new undertaking. Ganesha is elephant-headed
and his vehicle is a mouse. This represents the fact
that God exists in all creatures, from the largest to
the smallest; it also symbolizes the conquering of all
desires. The visual details of Ganesha indicate deep
philosophical meanings, which are meant to guide the
spiritual aspirant.
Gita – Song. See Bhagavad Gita.
Guru – ‘One who removes the darkness of ignorance.’
Spiritual master/guide.

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Gurukula – An ashram with a living guru, where disciples

live and study with the guru. In the olden days, the
gurukulas were boarding schools where youngsters
were given a comprehensive education based on the
Vedas.
Hatha Yoga – A system of physical and mental exercises
developed in ancient times, with the purpose of
making the body and its vital functions into perfect
instruments in order to help one attain Self-realization.
Homa – Sacred fire ritual.
Ishwara – God. The personal aspect of the Absolute Real-
ity; the One who controls; the causal point of creation.
Japa – Repetition of a mantra, a prayer, or one of God’s
names.
Jivanmukta – The state of Self-realization or enlighten-
ment that is attained while one is still alive.
Jnana – ‘Knowledge.’ Supreme knowledge is a direct
experience, beyond any possible perception of the
limited mind, intellect, or senses. It is attained through
spiritual practice and the grace of God or the spiri-
tual master.
Jnana Yoga – ‘Union through the path of knowledge.’ The
spiritual path of supreme knowledge, which entails
insight and understanding of the true nature of the
Self and of the world. This involves a deep, sincere
study of the scriptures, detachment (vairagya), dis-

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crimination (viveka), meditation, and the intellectual
method of self-inquiry – “who/what am ‘I’?” and “I
am Brahman” – which is used to break through the
illusion of maya and attain the state of Self-realization.
Kali – ‘The Dark One.’ A form of the Divine Mother.
(‘Dark’ in this context refers to her boundlessness,
and the fact that she is unknowable and incompre-
hensible to the very limited range of the mind and
intellect.) From the viewpoint of the ego, she may
seem frightening because she destroys the ego. But
she destroys the ego and transforms us only out of
her immeasurable compassion. Kali has many forms;
in her benevolent form, she is known as Bhadra Kali.
A devotee knows that behind her fierce façade, the
loving Mother is to be found, protecting her children
and bestowing the grace of enlightenment.
Kalidas – (About 400 ce) India’s greatest Sanskrit poet
and dramatist. Author of Meghduta, Raguvamsa,
Sakuntala, etc.
Kama – Lust.
Karma – Action, deed.
Karma Yoga – ‘Union through action.’ The spiritual path
of detached, selfless service and of dedicating the
fruit of all of one’s actions to God.
Krishna – ‘He who draws us to himself ’; ‘the Dark One.’
(‘Dark’ in this context refers to his boundlessness, and

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the fact that he is unknowable and incomprehensible

to the very limited range of the mind and intellect.) He
was born into a royal family, but grew up with foster
parents and lived as a young cowherd in Vrindavan,
where he was loved and worshipped by his devoted
companions, the gopis (milkmaids and cowherd girls)
and gopas (cowherd boys). Krishna later became the
ruler of Dwaraka. He was a friend of and adviser to
his cousins, the Pandavas, especially Arjuna, to whom
he revealed his teachings – see Bhagavad Gita.
Kriya Yoga – A part of traditional tantric practices – mostly
breathing exercises.
Kundalini – ‘The Serpent Power.’ The spiritual energy
that rests like a coiled snake at the base of the spine.
Through spiritual practice it is made to rise through
the sushumna canal, a subtle nerve within the spine,
and to move up through the chakras (energy centers).
As the kundalini rises from one chakra to the next,
the spiritual aspirant begins to experience finer, more
subtle levels of consciousness. The kundalini finally
reaches the highest chakra at the top of the head, the
sahasrara. This process of the awakening of kundalini
leads to Self-realization.
Laya Yoga – ‘Union through dissolution or absorption.’
Based on the development of the chakras and on
awakening kundalini energy. A yoga though which the

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 The Eternal Truth
aspirant’s lower nature dissolves and one is awakened
to bliss and the transcendental consciousness.
Linga – ‘Symbol’, ‘defining sign.’ The principle of cre-
ativity; often worshipped as a symbol of Lord Shiva.
A Shiva linga is generally an elongated oval stone.
Mahabharata – One of the two great Indian historical
epics, the other being the Ramayana. It is a great
treatise on dharma and spirituality. The story deals
mainly with the conflict between the Pandavas and
the Kauravas and the great war at Kurukshetra. Con-
taining 100,000 verses, it is the longest epic poem in
the world. It was written about 3,200 bce by the sage
Vyasa.
Mahatma – ‘Great soul.’ When Amma uses the word
mahatma, she is referring to a Self-realized soul.
Mantra – Sacred formula or prayer, which is constantly
repeated. This awakens one’s dormant spiritual power
and helps one to reach the ultimate goal. It is most
effective if received from a realized spiritual master
during initiation. A mantra is integrally connected to
the reality which it represents, being that reality in its
‘seed’ form. The mantra, or ‘seed,’ within the aspirant
is nourished by being constantly repeated with con-
centration, until it finally germinates into the experi-
ence of the Supreme Reality.
Matham – Religion.

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Maya – Illusion; the divine power or veil with which God,

in the divine play of Creation, conceals Himself and
gives the impression of the many, thereby creating
the illusion of separation. As maya veils Reality, it
deludes us, making us believe that true perfection is
to be found outside ourselves.
Moksha – Final spiritual liberation.
Mudra – A physical gesture or posture, usually expressed
with the hands, containing deep spiritual meaning.
Muruga – ‘Beautiful One.’ Also known as Subramanya,
Muruga is a god created by Shiva to assist souls in
their evolution, especially through the practice of
yoga. He is the brother of Ganesha.
Nadi Shastra – Nadi = conduit. A particular branch of
predictive astrology, e.g., Agastya Nadi
Nadopasana – Devotion and worship through music
Narasimha – The Divine Man-Lion; a partial incarnation
of Vishnu.
Narayana – Nara = knowledge, water. ‘He who is estab-
lished in supreme knowledge’; ‘He who dwells in the
causal waters.’ A name of Vishnu.
Natya Shastra – The science of dance, music, and drama.
Parvati – ‘Daughter of the mountain.’ Shiva’s divine
consort; a name of the Goddess, the Divine Mother.
Payasam – A sweet rice dish.

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 The Eternal Truth
Prakriti – Primordial nature; the material principle of
the world which, in association with Purusha, creates
the universe; the basic matter of which the universe
consists.
Prasad(am)– Consecrated offering or gift from a holy
person or temple, often in the form of food.
Puja – ‘Adoration.’ Sacred ritual; ceremonial worship.
Purana – The Puranas are epic stories depicting the lives
of the gods, through which the four objectives of
humanity (purusharthas) – righteous living (dharma),
wealth (artha), desire (kama) and liberation (moksha)
– are propounded.
Purusha – The consciousness that dwells within the body;
the pure, unblemished Universal Consciousness/
Existence.
Raja Yoga – The path of meditation.
Rama – ‘Giver of Joy.’ The divine hero in the epic Rama-
yana. He was an incarnation of Lord Vishnu, and is
considered to be the ideal of dharma and virtue.
Ramayana – ‘The life of Rama.’ One of India’s two great
Indian historical epics (the other being the Mahab-
harata), depicting the life of Rama, written by Valmiki.
Rama was an incarnation of Vishnu. A major part of
the epic describes how Sita, Rama’s wife, was abducted
and taken to Sri Lanka by Ravana, the demon king,

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and how she was rescued by Rama and his devotees,

including his great devotee Hanuman.
Rishi – Rsi = to know. Self-realized seer. Usually refers
to the seven Rishis of ancient India, i.e., Self-realized
souls who could ‘see’ the Supreme Truth.
Samskara – Samskara has two meanings: the totality of
impressions imprinted on the mind by experiences
from this or previous lives, which influence the life
of a human being – his or her nature, actions, state
of mind, etc.; the kindling of the right understand-
ing (knowledge) within each person, leading to the
refinement of his or her character.
Sanatana Dharma – The Eternal Religion; the Eternal
Principle. The traditional name for Hinduism.
Saraswati – The Goddess of Learning.
Satya – Truth.
Satya Yuga – The Age of Truth (satya); also called Krita
Yuga. There is a cycle of four ages or time periods in
creation (see yuga in glossary). The Satya Yuga is the
age when goodness and truth prevail everywhere, and
every manifestation or activity is close to the purest
ideal. It is sometimes referred to as the Golden Age.
Shakti – Power; a name of the Universal Mother, the
dynamic aspect of Brahman.
Shankaracharya – (788 – 820 ce) A great philosopher who
revived and revitalized the Hindu religion. Founder of

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 The Eternal Truth
the Advaita School, which declares that only Brahman
is real, all else is false.
Shastra – Science or specialized knowledge.
Shiva – ‘The Auspicious One’; ‘the Gracious One’; ‘the
Good One.’ A form of the Supreme Being. The
masculine Principle; Consciousness. Also, the aspect
of the Trinity associated with the dissolution of the
universe, the destruction of that which ultimately is
not real.
Shiva linga– A linga symbolizing Shiva. (see linga)
Svara Yoga – The path of using breathing exercises to
attain Self-realization.
Tantra – A traditional system of spiritual practices which
enables the practitioner in the midst of worldly activi-
ties to realize that the joy experienced in objects actu-
ally arises from within.
Tapas – ‘Heat.’ Self-discipline, austerities, penance, and
self-sacrifice; spiritual practices which burn up the
impurities of the mind.
The three worlds – Heaven, earth, and the netherworld; the
three states of consciousness.
Upadhi – Limiting adjunct, e.g., name, form, attribute;
instrument; tool.
Upanishad – ‘To sit at the feet of the Master’; ‘that which
destroys ignorance.’ The Upanishads are the fourth

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and concluding portions of the Vedas. They expound

the philosophy known as Vedanta.
Vairagi – ‘The detached one’ (refers to Shiva).
Vairagya – Detachment, dispassion.
Valmiki – A robber who became a great saint after real-
izing how mistaken his values and assumptions were,
and after undertaking rigorous spiritual practices
under the guidance of the Rishis. He is a great example
of how it is possible to completely die to the past,
no matter how negative one’s actions may have been.
Vastu – ‘Nature’; ‘environment.’ The ancient Vedic sci-
ence of architecture, containing complex principles
and practices for the construction of buildings in
harmonious balance with nature and the universe.
Vedanta – ‘Veda conclusion.’ The philosophy of the
Upanishads, the concluding part of the Vedas, which
holds the Ultimate Truth to be ‘One without a second.’
Vedas – ‘Knowledge, wisdom.’ The ancient, sacred
scriptures of Hinduism. A collection of holy texts in
Sanskrit, which are divided into four parts: Rig, Yajur,
Sama and Atharva. The Vedas, which are among the
world’s oldest scriptures, consist of 100,000 verses,
as well as additional prose. They were brought into
the world by the Rishis, who were Self-realized sages.
The Vedas are considered to be the direct revelation
of the Supreme Truth.

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 The Eternal Truth
Vishnu – ‘The All-Pervading.’ A name of God. He is
usually worshipped in the form of two of his incar-
nations, Krishna and Rama.
Viveka – Discrimination; the ability to discriminate
between the Real and the unreal, between the eternal
and the transient, dharma and adharma (unrighteous-
ness), etc.
Yaga yajnas – Elaborate Vedic sacrificial rite.
Yajna – Offering.
Yoga – ‘To unite.’ Union with the Supreme Being; a broad
term that refers to the various practical methods
through which one can attain oneness with the Divine;
a path that leads to Self-realization.
Yuga – Age or eon. There are four yugas: the Satya or
Krita Yuga (the Golden Age), Treta Yuga, Dwapara
Yuga, and Kali Yuga (the Dark Age). We are presently
living in the Kali Yuga. The yugas are said to succeed
each other almost endlessly.

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