The waves of the Arabian Sea seemed to constantly chant the sacred syllable Om as all around Amma searched to find her love and compassion deep within. She had called everyone to the beach in Amritapuri to honour this second World Meditation Day. Amma described how love and meditation are inextricably linked, and with the right intention, can contribute to global unity.
In 2024, the United Nations declared December 21st as the official date to recognise meditation as a universal non-religious practice that supports mental well-being, inner peace, compassion, and social harmony.
Inspired by Amma’s vision, people with our Ashrams, institutions, and spiritual communities across the globe also gathered to meditate and pray for peace.
Excerpts from Amma’s Message
Today is World Meditation Day. However, meditation is not something that we should practise or observe on a particular day or time. It should become an indispensable, inseparable part of everyday life. Our thoughts, actions, and words should become meditative. When that happens, there will be special beauty, attraction, and depth in everything we do.
Love and meditation are not two. They are one. Meditation is not without love and vice versa. We should prepare the ground with the soil of love in which we sow the seeds of meditation. From there, beautiful flowers will bloom.
All of creation meditates
When we observe nature and all the activities that we see in various species of living beings, we can see that every single aspect of nature, every living being, meditates. It is through meditation that remarkable events happen.
When a mother breastfeeds her child, she is in meditation. She is in bliss. Likewise, animals who are predators, when they hunt, are in a meditative state. Even a flower bud is in meditation before it blossoms.
Human beings are in a meditative state when they perform something they love, something for which they are passionate. However, this doesn’t conserve energy because they still vacillate according to their thoughts, emotions, and various life situations.
Meditation is as precious as gold
Meditation is just as precious as gold. It not only helps us attain material prosperity and peace of mind, but spiritual upliftment as well. A meditative mind and spiritual understanding are necessary in order to attain clarity and subtlety in our thoughts and actions.
To see meditation and spirituality as separate from life is ignorance. Just as food and sleep are necessary for the body, spiritual understanding is needed for a healthy mind. Few of us try to still the mind, but in reality, it is from the still mind that many wondrous discoveries and inventions have taken birth.
When we are walking, if our mind suddenly tells our feet to stop, they will stop. When we are clapping, if our mind tells our hands to stop, they will immediately become still. But if we tell our thoughts to stop, will they listen? No. We need to cultivate the same level of control over our mind as we have over our physical body. This is the goal of meditation.
When gold becomes fragrant
In order to paint a captivating picture or compose a moving poem, we need a still mind. When a student studies for finals or when a scientist delves into the mysteries of nature, a still mind is essential.
Meditation helps us systematically arrange and synthesise the otherwise random and chaotic appearance of our thoughts. As thoughts decrease, the strength and subtlety of our mind increases.
We begin to understand our oneness with the entire universe. Previously obscured knowledge reveals itself. The more still our mind, the more it begins to resemble the universal mind. In such a mind, all the secrets of the universe spontaneously manifest like images upon a screen.
When we perform our spiritual practices and meditation with a selfless attitude, it’s like gold becoming fragrant. The benefits of it are far reaching. The selfless actions we perform in the present moment come back to us as God’s grace.
The rhythm of the Universe
There is a rhythm to everything in creation, an undeniable relationship between the entire universe and every living creature within it. This universe is like a vast, interconnected network.
Suppose there is a net held at four ends by four people. If it is shaken in one place, the vibrations are felt throughout. Similarly, whether we are aware of it or not, all of our actions reverberate throughout creation, whether performed as an individual or as a group.
Hence, we are not individual islands, but links of a common chain. If we wait for others to change, nothing will ever happen. We should try to be the change, then automatically others will follow our example.
When we change our mindset, automatically the external situations will also change. Every emotion has its own kinds of vibrations. The vibrations of anger, lust and hatred are totally different from the vibrations of love, compassion, and motherly affection.
Light within becomes light for others
Let us try to evoke positive emotions within and let us try to contribute positive vibrations to the world. Awareness is the key. As we become aware of every thought, word and action, we will be able to move ahead on the path.
Through concentration, we can conserve a tremendous amount of energy. That is why Mahatmas are like transformers. If an ordinary person is like an electric post, Mahatmas are like transformers. Through spiritual practices, we can conserve a tremendous amount of energy that can be used in service of others.
We can become lights on our path. If we don’t use our capacity we shed darkness around us. When we can tap into this potential, we will be able to spread light on our path and the paths of others as well.
