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Transcending time and space through love
8 – 10 January, Kozhikode, Kerala — Bharata Yatra 2006 They begin queuing up the day before Amma is to give darshan, and they spend the whole night there, entire families sleeping on the hard ground under the open sky. Most of them have been waiting all year for these three days—Amma’s annual visit to…
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The creator and the creation are not two: Amma in Kottakkal
6 January, 2006 – Kottakkal, Malappuram, Kerala By noon, the chairs were full, by 5:00, the grounds were full and by 7:00 the roads were all blocked. How many people came to see Amma in Kottakkal? When the crowds are this big, it is hard to say: 80,000? 90,000? 100,000? The only way you can really…
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“Imagine the sun rising in your heart”: 2006 begins in celebration
Midnight, 1 January 2006 —Amritapuri When the clock struck midnight, Amma had been giving darshan for more than 13 hours. The New Year’s Eve dances and other cultural performances had taken place at Amma’s side. Darshan finished almost exactly with the beginning of 2006. The thousands of devotees from all over the world who had…
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Smriti Deepam: lamps of remembrance
26 December 2005 — Alappad Panchayat, Kollam District, Kerala The walk had been made before—16 days shy of a year ago. Then and now, the prayers were the same: May the dead find peace… May those who loved them find peace.,, May the whole world be happy. But although the walk Amma led from Amritapuri…
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Christmas in Amritapuri
25 December 2005 — Amritapuri Never is Amritapuri filled with more of Amma’s devotees from the West than during Christmas. Each year people from America, Europe, Australia and other parts of the Western world come all the way across the globe to spend their winter holidays with Amma. Many of them only get 10 days…
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The mystery of death: Why is it a secret?
December 21, 2005 — auto-parts factory and repair facility, just off NH45, Pondicherry About halfway to Chennai from Nagapattinam, one of the vehicles in Amma’s caravan began showing signs of engine trouble. It was also past time for lunch. So when the caravan passed by a large auto-parts factory and engine-repair facility, Amma instructed everyone…
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The mystery of death: why is it a secret?
21 December 2005 — auto-parts factory and repair facility, just off NH45, Pondicherry About halfway to Chennai from Nagapattinam, one of the vehicles in Amma’s caravan began showing signs of engine trouble. It was also past time for lunch. So when the caravan passed by a large auto-parts factory and engine-repair facility, Amma instructed everyone…
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Helping Nagapattinam to overcome fear
20 December 2005 — Samanthampettai, Nagore, Nagapattinam District, Tamil Nadu “When difficult circumstances arise in life, there are two ways to respond. We can either run away in fear or kindle the love within and try to overcome,” Amma said. She was talking to the 60,000 people or so who’d come to have her darshan…
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Creation: The divine joke
19 December 2005 — Amrita University, Coimbatore When Amma stopped for lunch at the Coimbatore campus of Amrita University on her way to Nagapattinam, she started off by asking people to tell jokes. “Whether we smile or cry, life is still going to keep passing by, so why not smile,” Amma said. After a few…