I Got Convinced
Radio Top
Regional Swiss Radio Station
October 2001
The traffic was heavy and I entered the hall thinking that I should
be able to finish the whole report in about an hour. Then I thought,
oh, lots of people for 10 a.m. on a Monday morning! And then I suddenly
see her. Amma, the Mother, sitting on a chair like a throne, surrounded
by hundreds of people.… "I am impressed that it is so
peaceful despite of the big crowd. You feel at ease because you
can do whatever you feel like and at the same time there is this
concentrated silence that Amma radiates.: … "I feel peaceful,
silent, just within myself". "I feel very comforted and
totally accepted."
Amma lives in India in a monastery. She is trying to help the needy
as much as she can: The hungry, the homeless, the orphans. She maintains
different huge projects. She wants to give love to people not only
through physical contact, but also in a more concrete way. And yet,
when observing the people in the hall kneeling with eyes closed
you are reminded of a sect. Amma's answer to that is, "If love
and compassion are a sect, yes, then I am a leader of a sect."
And you take her words for that.
In India Amma embraces up to 15,000 people 18 hours a day. Setting
a living example, she embraces to the point of exhaustion. I also
laid myself in her lap. For 30 seconds I let myself be hugged, caressed
and blessed by a strange woman. She pats your cheek, prays tenderly
into your ear, glances at you with a deep, loving look and then
gifts you with a flower petal and a candy. Behind you hundreds of
others are waiting. What's funny is that this woman doesn't seem
a stranger to you. She is very special, electrifying. Well, I got
convinced.
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