On the first day of the Brahmasthanam Festival at her ashram in Nerul, Navi Mumbai, Amma sang bhajans, conducted satsang, and guided people in meditation and world-peace prayers along with her darshan—a loving, motherly embrace through which she has blessed millions of people throughout the world.
On this occasion, actor Vidya Balan along with Amma distributed saris to the ladies of Ransai village in Panvel District, which is one of the 101 villages adopted by Amma. In 2014, Amma took the hamlet of Ransai under her wing, as part of the Amrita SeRVe program to make 101 villages throughout India role models of empowerment and sustainability.
Amma addressed the thousands of people who had come to see her, in the presence of actor Vidya Balan, MLA Prashant Thakur, and a host of other prominent personalities.
Amma said, “Technology is a good servant but a dangerous master. For many people, relationships have become confined to the numbers in the phone. We no longer value seeing each other face to face. When our relationships with the world are defined solely through machines, we pawn our very consciousness to the unconscious machine. We should use machines and love people. We must never allow the hallmark of our society to become ‘Use people and love machines.’”
“The more space we create in our heart for others, the more happiness and contentment we feel. The law of the universe, and of life, is selflessness. This is why selfish and egoistic people are unable to enjoy life wholeheartedly and be happy: because their behaviour is out of tune with the law of the universe. Everything in this creation unfolds to the same tune and rhythm. Understanding this, when we align ourselves with this law, peace, happiness and prosperity automatically become ours,” she added.
Speaking from the dais, Vidya Balan said, “I have been an ardent devotee of Amma since I was a child, and her way of dealing with situations through love has always fascinated me. Often I used to wonder as to why so many people throng to hear her in large numbers, but later I realized that devotees are bowled over by her simplicity and love. Amma’s religion is the religion of love, and it is around this philosophy I am trying to lead my life. To me, Amma is Love Incarnate, the Universal Mother who cradles the world in her all-encompassing embrace.”
For the past 20 years, Amma’s Nerul ashram has been feeding 500 poor people every Sunday and providing free medical care to those who require it. There is a free hospice and medicine dispensary for the poor and terminally ill in Badlapur that we have run since 1995. We provided shelter, free medicine and free healthcare in the wake of the 2005 Mumbai floods. Amma also offers Vidyamritam Scholarships, an initiative to help curb farmer suicide, in Maharashtra as well.
