14 November, Gavi, Italy – Europe Yatra 2025
After concluding her three-day public program in Piacenza {news}, Amma visited the Italian Ashram (MA Center) in Gavi.
As the cold night set in, Amma came to the grounds for dinner to meet all her Italian children. Everyone huddled together in the cold wind, bathing in Amma’s warmth and love.
A long-time devotee, Priyan, was standing near Amma’s peetham. Amma shared that Priyan first met her in Italy and that he was a lawyer. Amma then recounted a humorous incident from Priyan’s life.
Once, a mosquito bit Priyan on the forehead. He thought, “Everything is Amma, and Amma lives in everything. This mosquito is also Amma… how can I remove it?” So he allowed the mosquito to suck his blood.
Amma remarked that it was Priyan’s innocence that led him to think and act in such a way. She explained that one person’s joy can be another’s sorrow—this is the nature of the universe—but we must use discrimination. If an elephant charges at us, we should not say it is Amma and remain still. We must act with discrimination and according to the dharma of the situation. Even though God is omnipresent, we must act in accordance with our level of awareness—our dharma—in every situation.
Amma then asked Priyan to speak, and he shared how he first met her.
“When I first met Amma, I offered her a flower as a symbol of my love, which Amma accepted and adored. In subsequent darshans too, I offered flowers. Whenever I could not find a flower, I would give her an invisible one—an imaginary one—which Amma treated with the same love. Amma did not need a physical flower to understand my intention or feel my love.”
“Many years later, during an Indian tour, I came across the same flower I used to offer Amma. I immediately plucked it to give to her. But Amma was not happy. She asked me, ‘Didn’t you feel the pain you caused the flower? After so many years, you should be sensitive to the pain of the flower.’”
“Initially, the flower was my way of expressing love and devotion. Later, Amma showed me that the true offering is the heart. It should be expressed through love for the world and for Amma, through seva. This is how Amma teaches us—through our own life experiences.” He then thanked Amma for the teaching.
At that moment, an elderly lady slowly rose from the crowd and extended the flower she was holding toward Amma. Amma lovingly accepted the flower, kissed it with great affection, and then embraced the lady. It was her first darshan. The same scene Priyan had described moments earlier unfolded once again before everyone.
The elderly lady was the former owner of the property which Ashram (MA Centere) owns now. Earlier, the property functioned as a hotel owned by three brothers—Marco, Malfredo, and Maurissio—and the visiting card of the hotel read: MA..MA..MA.
Later, Luna, a young Italian girl seated on Amma’s peetham, sweetly expressed her gratitude to Amma for coming to Italy.
Amma smiled lovingly, looking into her eyes and began to speak. “Our life should be used to grow in wisdom. Nature is like a book; it offers us many important lessons, and we need to imbibe them properly. If we observe any being in nature, a lesson is imparted to us through them.”
She then narrated a story. “A herd of one hundred elephants was passing through a forest in search of bamboo groves. One elephant thought, ‘If I stay with the herd, I will get only a small portion to eat. I will go ahead and find the next grove so that I can have all the bamboo to myself.’ So it left the herd and went ahead. By the time it reached the next grove and began to eat, the others had finished eating and arrived there. Thinking it could get more, the elephant moved ahead again. This kept happening repeatedly. Finally, the ninety-nine elephants were satisfied, but this ‘smart’ elephant remained hungry for the day.”
Amma concluded, “We should not become like this ‘smart’ elephant. We need to learn to be content with what we have and be grateful for what we are given in life. Otherwise, like this elephant, we will remain hungry for love and security, becoming exhausted and empty.”
Amma then led everyone in meditation, distributed prasad dinner, and sang bhajans while sitting in the backyard of the ashram in Gavy, Italy. In the cold weather of around ten degrees, all felt grateful to be wrapped in the warmth of Amma’s love.
This was Amma’s first visit to the MA center. Amma stayed there overnight before proceeding to the next stop of the Europe Yatra.
-Sakshi
