Sudhamirtam: question & quick responses of Amma
Sometimes, out of innocence, spontaneity or simple curiosity, someone asks Amma a very pointed question. Amma responds in kind, speaking just a few words in such a way as to pierce right to the heart of the matter at hand.
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Q: Amma has followers all over the world. Do they all worship You?
Amma:- Amma worships them. All of them are my God. Amma does not have a God who dwells beyond the skies.
Q: How should the people see Amma? As God, Guru or Mother?
Amma:- As you like. I am only interested in serving you..
Q: How do You see those who don’t believe in You?
Amma: – For Amma, all children are alike — all are Her children.
Q: Why have You come down?
Amma:- Son, it is the body that is coming and going, the Self remains unchanged. From birth itself Amma knew that God alone is the Truth.
Q: Why do you hug people?
Amma:- It is like asking the river why it is flowing..
Q: Amma, when somebody prostrates to you, why do you touch their body and salute them?
Amma:- Is not everything one and the same Truth? Amma bows down to the Truth. I bow down to my own Self.
Q: Does one take birth even after attaining Atmajnana
Amma:- One may do so for the protection of the world by one’s own will. Amma is ready to accept any number of births to serve the devotees and the suffering.
Q: Is it possible for us to get liberation in this birth?
Amma:- Do not say ‘for us.’ There is no group liberation. Liberation is attained in different births according to each one’s course of karma.
Q: I have been worshipping God for a long time, but there is no peace of mind. What should I do?
Amma:- Is it not the mind that has no peace? Eliminate the mind. Thus the problem is solved.
Q: I have no interest in sustaining the body, but I have the desire for God-Realisation. What should I do?
Amma:- When one body is given up, another will be gained. To attain God, spiritual practices should be done. The body is needed for that; therefore, the thought to give up the body is wrong.
Journalist:- How did you feel speaking in Malayalam to a foreign audience? (After Amma spoke at the UN General Assembly, Geneva in 2000)
Amma:-I never felt any difference. Just like I am talking to you, I was talking to them.
Q: What would you do if you were to rule the world?
Amma:- I would be the sweeper. I would sweep everyone’s mind clean.
Q: Being a women, you have done great wonders. Are You proud to be a women? If yes, why? If no, why?
Amma:- Not what She could gain, but what She could give to others is most important for Amma. .
Q: So many Mahatmas have taken birth, yet why do the common man remain the same?
Amma:-Soap is available, but just because it is there, it doesn’t necessarily mean that everyone will use it. Only if you use the soap will you get clean.
Q: What is Your opinion regarding religious conversion?
Amma:- Religion is something that a person has to choose for him- or herself. It cannot be forced upon others. To forcibly try to convert others from one religion to another is wrong.
Q: Why do political and religious leaders commit mistakes?
Amma:- Real followers of religious or political principles won’t commit any mistakes.
