Service to Humanity
Excerpted from Indian Express - April 1994
Copyright © 1994 Indian Express
 While
many believe that spirituality means only meditation and singing
the praise of God, there are also a few who think that the highest
form of spirituality is service to humanity. They are those who
firmly believe in the Latin saying, "vox populi vox dei,"
(the voice of the people is the voice of God). They do not pave
the way for heaven and eternal bliss but guide you to serve your
fellow beings, and through their joy and happiness and in their
smiles, to see the image of God.
One such personality is Mata Amritanandamayi Devi, who has in recent
times emerged as the spiritual and social leader not only of the
people in Her home state but in Tamil Nadu and in other parts of
India as well.
This remarkable woman was in Madurai recently to bless Her devotees
and to finalize arrangements for the construction of a temple at
Thirunagar. The temple is designed to house not only deities but
devotees as well, specifically those in need of succor and help.
The temple complex will include a school for young children which,
in time, will be expanded to add an institute of higher education
imparting not only academic knowledge but technical knowledge as
well. A hospital is part of the projected plan.
The temple complex will follow the plan of the other temples that
the Mata Amritanandamayi Mission Trust has built in many parts of
the country. There is such a complex in Madras.
What impelled Mata Amritanandamayi Devi to emphasize blending service
with spirituality is something which legends are made of. Hers is
not a story of rags to riches but of the extraordinary rise of a
humble, abused and misunderstood child to one who provides help
and succor to thousands.
Mata Amritanandamayi has proved Her spiritual power through the
wide network of service institutions that She has created. Many
who have studied Her history are amazed by the metamorphosis of
the simple girl from the fishing village of Vallickavu. Once considered
the 'ugly duckling' by Her own parents, She was treated like a serf
with contempt and scorn, made to fetch firewood and water, graze
the cattle wash the clothes and do the cooking. Perhaps it was the
trauma, turmoil and tribulations that She was subjected to during
Her formative years that fashioned Her into one adored today by
everyone.
The 'Mother' as She is fondly called, has lived up to the expectations
of Her 'children' of all ages. She is no charlatan who promises
easy entry into heaven or one who claims to possess miraculous powers
to cure the sick or provide immediate relief from suffering. But
She infuses such confidence in those who come to Her that it has
a salutory effect in making their life less miserable and kindling
hopes that had long died.
Some of Her approaches may seem unconventional and even uncanny.
But the underlying motive of making those who come to Her feel that
there is someone to care for them itself opens new vistas. A clear
example of this form of spirituality is Her rehabilitation of a
chronic leprosy patient. The man was far too ill to be cared for
by his own family members who had long ago discarded him. On hearing
of the soothing atmosphere of the little peninsula of Vallickavu,
a fishing village now become a palm fringed paradise where birds
of many hues have taken refuge, the leper crossed the backwaters
to seek help from the Holy Mother. Reluctantly he approached the
temple where the Mother sat daily to receive devotees. On noticing
him, many devotees shunned him, but not the Mother. Seeing him standing
forlorn and desperate, She went to meet him and brought him near,
hugging him as She would a child. If this was astonishing to those
who witnessed the phenomenon, what was to come later stunned and
mystified them. She began licking the festering sores, not as a
show of bravado, but out of concern for the suffering individual.
That the leper out of the measureless mercy of the Mother (or Divine
Providence) was healed, is something that the people in the fishing
village still speak about with awe.
That a girl deprived of love and affection should have blossomed
into a saint who has become a fount of concern and love, deep affection
and motherly care, is something that even psychologists cannot explain.
Sudhamani, for that was the name given Her by Her parents, had lacked
every aspect of parental care and love while She was still young
and in Her teens. That perhaps is one of the reasons why She feels
deeply moved when meeting destitutes and orphans.
Such was Her pain at seeing little children in distress that She
adopted an entire orphanage at Parippalli on the Kollam-Thiruvananthapuram
district border. Mother Amritanandamayi had been told that there
were about four hundred children in the orphanage but that the conditions
of living there were appalling; there was no sanitation, no proper
clothing or care for the sick. The food given to them was no better
than what was given to prisoners. In fact, the children suffered
the regimentation and restrictions of prisoners. When the Mother
heard of the misery of the children, She directed that the Ashram
take over the administration and financial responsibility of the
orphanage. That was in 1989. The transformation that the orphanage
has undergone in the last three years is truly a marvel. Children
are clean, healthy and colorfully clothed. They have plenty to eat
and every one of them is provided schooling. Above all, all of the
children are happy, and in the Mother who provided them the new
life, they see the very incarnation of their own mothers, whom many
of them have never seen nor felt. Here was somebody in white who
showered love, carried them, cuddled them and kissed them. That
was an experience that they had never had before in their lives.
Her concern and compassion for the poor and the weak, the oppressed
and downtrodden, resulted in the establishing of a limited medical
facility in the Ashram at Parayakadavu, where patients can choose
allopathic or homeopathic forms of medicine. Plans are now under
way to build a modern hospital with all the facilities needed to
cater to the poor who cannot afford the high cost of treatment in
private hospitals and who don't receive adequate care in those run
by the Government.
The Mata Amritanandamayi Mission Trust, which has taken over these
activities, also has plans to start a medical college as an adjunct
to the hospital when it is established. The college would teach
allopathy, homoeopathy and ayurvedic forms of medicine. There would
be an herbal garden attached to it to help in the preparation of
drugs.
The Trust also runs nursery and primary schools in Madras, Ernakulam,
Calicut, Kodungallur and other areas. This pattern will to be duplicated
in Tamil Nadu as well when the temples proposed in various cities
are complete. To provide a job-oriented education, a computer and
industrial training center is in operation at Karunagapally. The
Mother is also a shining example of how a simple girl denied proper
education can create educational institutions and shower love on
the needy. Money appears to be of no concern to the Trust in spite
of the fact that at no point is money collected in the Ashram or
at the spiritual meetings held in various states and abroad.
A unique sight is to see the Mother working alongside the brahmacharis
and brahmacharinis not only in the building construction, but in
caring for the cattle and livestock. A magnificent and majestic
edifice is now rising in the middle of the peninsula surrounded
by seawater amidst a lush growth of coconut palms. Here one finds
solace and comfort and the Mother's ever-willing shoulder to cry
on in times of crisis.
Kerala is renowned for its high rate of literacy. In fact, it has
become the first State in the nation to attain one hundred per cent
literacy and it is justifiably proud of the fact. Here is climate
and soil where miracles and magic do not survive; charlatans are
quickly exposed and come to grief. But it is here that the "miracle"
of Mata Amritanandamayi Devi thrives. Not because it is a miracle
but an achievement born out of dedication and devotion, love and
affection for fellow human beings. She does not preach about the
heavens above or how God will help you or curse you. She talks in
the common language and lends Her shoulders and lap to those in
distress to cry themselves out. Thousands come every day to seek
succor and Her words of comfort provide more than succor. Many who
come to Vallickavu carrying burdens of misery, return with a light
heart. This is the miracle of Vallickavu.
Her teachings are down to earth and pragmatic. For instance, She
tells those who smoke to take an oath to give up smoking and from
the money saved, feed a poor person who is starving. Those who are
in the habit of drinking, She urges to give up alcohol and use the
money to help a poor child through school. Those who buy many sets
of clothing every year could reduce them by one set and use that
money to provide clothing for the poor. She asserts that there is
no other way to attain God except by making sacrifices and the sacrifices
that She prescribes are not beyond anyone.
Thus it is that more and more people are becoming Her devotees.
Not just because Mata Amritanandamayi Devi is a spiritual guide,
but because She is a unique personality who shows the path by treading
it herself. That She has attracted the attention of the world through
Her global journeys is proof enough of Her devotion to the cause
of nurturing humanity.
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