World renowned spiritual leader Her Holiness Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi, affectionately known to her devotees across the globe as "Amma," is undertaking a 'Bharat yatra.' As part of the yatra she is in Hyderabad for two days began yesterday.
Excerpts from Amma’s talk at the Hyderabad Brahmasthanam Mahotsavam (19/03/2016)
Hyderabad, March 19th 2016: Many people feel, “Life is a curse. It is the result of all the sins I have done in the past.” Instead, we should be able to think, “Life is a blessing. It is a gift given to us by God. God has sent me here to think good thoughts and do good deeds. So, I need to develop the ability to accept all situations with discernment. This life is meant for me to grow,acquire strength and become as expansive as the universe.” The experiences and situations we face throughout life are even greater teachers than time. What attitude should we develop while facing them? We need to develop gratitude.
Gratitude is a prayer. A famous philosopher once stated, “This single prayer of ‘Thank you.’ is really all you need.” We often forget that this life and all of nature are gifts graciously bestowed upon us by the divine. In our ignorance, we arrogantly feel that these are our right. Our greatest misconception is that of confusing our blessings for our birthright. The mistake borne from this misconception is that we lose gratitude and reverence.
Human beings survive because of the thousands upon thousands of aspects of nature that constantly and selflessly serve and support them. At each heartbeat, we are indebted to many subtle as well as obvious parts of nature. When this awareness dawns within, it becomes easy to appreciate everything during each breath we take. A heart overflowing with gratefulness, without any complaints or criticism, is a sign of mental maturity.
Today, many people use the words, ‘thank you’ merely as a verbal embellishment. Even though everyone says thank you all the time, very rarely do these words truly come from the heart. The dark clouds of selfishness often conceal the moonlight of gratitude.Gratitude is the ability to reminisce about all the support and help we have received, with an attitude of humility.
It is a state of mind. When we lovingly recognize the goodness in another person, this helps to awaken the goodness in ourselves. When we look back at our life with this attitude, we will realize that we owe so much to thousands of people. It would take lifetimes to pay back these debts, especially towards nature and above all, to God. In fact, gratitude benefits us more than anyone else. The positivity and goodness that awakens within as a result of being grateful in turn benefits society and the entire world.
The ways of our mind are very strange. We don’t see things that are right in front of our eyes, be we see many things that don’t even exist. It is the nature of the mind to fixate on what we don’t have and forget how much we have. Say, for example, one of our teeth falls out. From the moment the tooth falls out, our tongue will keep poking at the gap created. Our tongue never did that when the tooth was still there. But now, the tongue finds it difficult not to go into the gap. It is the same way with our mind. It is more interested in looking for what is not there than to see all the good that always surrounds us. When we develop the ability to see the power of God that pervades everything, both within and without, gratitude will spontaneously overflow from our mind.
In reality, do we really have any right to assert our ownership or authority over anything in this world? Millions of people have lived on this Earth before us. They, too, claimed that parts of the world were ‘theirs’. Seeing mankind’s folly repeated over and over, the Earth must have mused to itself then and now, “What a shame! People of the past already tried to stake claim to the land upon which they stood. But, they all eventually disappeared without taking even a single grain of sand with them. Those who exist now will also face the same fate. I existed then, exist now and will go on existing forever.” We must not forget that endless are the corpses of those who previously tried to claim what we presently consider to be ours.
Gratitude will spontaneously arise in the mind of one who is prepared to help others without expecting anything in return. The real expression of gratefulness is in giving, not in taking. This is true prayer. When we contemplate deeply on the concept of thankfulness, at first thoughts of all those who have helped or protected us in the past come to mind. As we think even deeper, we will come to realise that gratitude is actually an inner connection between God, the entire creation and us.
As we often act without an attitude of gratefulness, we cut down trees. This reduces the purification of air. When Amma was young, when a person got cut or wounded, cow dung would be applied to the wound to avoid infection. Today, if we were to do the same, the wound would get infected. This is how polluted nature has become. This pollution is destroying the harmony of nature. Instead of greed, if we could develop gratitude, we would be able to save nature and ourselves.
Just as happiness, gratitude towards all of life is also a decision. Once we make this decision, our mind will not sway in the face of temporary difficulties. Such minds will always be filled with happiness and contentment. We face many different kinds of situations in life. In some situations, we may have the freedom to choose how we should react. But, in certain other situations, we may have no choice but to accept. When we have the choice to decide how to respond to a circumstance, there is no need to remain idle, thinking that everything is God’s will. Here, we need to use our discrimination to choose the right path of action.
In order to manage businesses and companies, many people get their MBA and other such degrees. Learning how to manage 500 people really means learning how to manage 500 minds. However, despite all our learning, we fail to learn to manage our own mind. Just as we manage the external world, it is equally important to learn how to manage the internal world. Otherwise, we will remain half developed. The ability to face situations in life with maturity is real success.
We should try not to jump to conclusions about anyone. While travelling by road, we often see signs that say, “Road work ahead. Thank you for your cooperation.” When we see such a sign, we wait patiently for the traffic to move, no matter how busy we are. In the same way, when we meet and interact with people, some may express anger, hatred or other negativities. In these situations, we need to develop patience. ‘Road Work’ may be going on in their mind.
Let our lives become an offering that alleviates the pain of the suffering people. To be compassionate towards the poor, one does not need a lot of wealth or a very high position in society. A kind word, a compassionate glance, a small favour, all these can bring light into their lives and into ours as well. It is not what we received, but what we were able to give, that determines the value of our life. If we have been able to bring happiness to a soul even for a minute, it is a great achievement in itself.
