Year: 2001
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Mananthavady – Stupika Installation
26th February 2001 The Stuptika Pratishtapana ceremony was performed at the Brahmasthanam temple, Mananthavady by Amma on 26 Feb. 2001, a day before She was to consecrate the idol. The highest point of the temple structure, received a sacred Stupika (a pointed metallic apex vessel). The architecture of religious buildings is symbolic. At the lower…
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Travel stops on Indian tour
February – March 2001, North India They say the hardest part of the Indian Tour is the travel. Long hours on buses, temperatures soaring as February slips into March and March turns into April, the dust and dirt and not enough chances to wash oneself or one’s clothes. But the irony is, the best part…
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Through selfless service mind becomes one with the Universal Consciousness
Question: Amma, in your ashram much importance is given to selfless service. But isn’t action an impediment to true Self-enquiry? Lalitha Amma: For a true Advaitin, nothing is different from the Self. The steps leading to a terrace are made of brick and cement. The terrace is also made of brick and cement. When you…
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Special prayers for the victims of Gujarat
7 February 2001, Amritapuri At about 9 p.m. on the 7th of February 2001, special prayers were held in Amritapuri for the victims of the Gujarat earthquake and their families. In Amma’s divine presence, the ashram residents chanted the Holy Mother’s 108 names and the 8th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita. Amma consoles a girl…
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Selfless service is what gives real value
Question: Amma why do you give so much importance to selfless service? Mother: Meditation and studying the scriptures are like two sides of a coin, the coin of spiritual life. But the engraving on that coin is selfless service, and that is what gives it its real value. A student who has just completed his…
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Ram’s bath and the Bird’s hug
30 January 2001, Amritapuri At 8:30 a.m., Amma returned to Amritapuri in a little boat over the backwaters. She came from Kodungallur where the last programme of her three-week tour of southern India had finished at 4:00 a.m. When she arrived the first thing she did was to visit Ram, the baby elephant. She went…
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Response to Gujarat Earthquake
January 26th, 2001 India’s Republic Day Amma was giving darshan in Kodungallur, Kerala when one of the worst earthquakes in Indian history hit Bhuj, Gujarat. It measured 6.9 on the Richter Scale. The initial reports were bad—buildings were rubble, entire villages had been razed, and the injured and the dead were uncountable. Amma asked the…
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Amma’s 2001 visit to Kodungallur
The very first Brahmasthanam temple Amma installed is located in Kodungallur. 13 years ago Amma breathed life into its unique four-sided murthi (image) [symbolizing the one Supreme Being underlying all the various names and forms of the Divine]. This kind of temple has now spread to all parts of India and even abroad. (The first…
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‘Kumbha Mela’ in Trissur
25 January 2001, Trissur All the splendour India is capable of was in evidence during Amma’s recent one-night programme in Trissur on 25th January, 2001. It was Her first visit to this town in three years, and the enthusiasm of the devotees was overwhelming. The whole city seemed decked out to welcome Amma. There were…