Author: Lavanya Waechter

Yoga is Feeling Oneness With God

Yoga is Feeling Oneness With God

Sep 6, 2018 | |

Yoga is Feeling Oneness With God “Every action, if done with awareness, can become yoga,” Amma says on the fourth annual International Day of Yoga.  “The Sanskrit word yoga means to bring two things together — to merge. Some say it is the merging of the individual soul with the Supreme Soul or of the devotee with God. But, in truth, yoga is not a coming together but a moving away from the misconception that we were ever apart from God. There is, always has been, and always will be, nothing but Oneness.  This is because there is but one True...

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Amritapuri Onam Festival, Pushpa Vanam

Amritapuri Onam Festival, Pushpa Vanam

Aug 25, 2018 | , |

Amritapuri Onam Festival, Pushpa Vanam The Onam festival is for the children of Kerala, even though for Amma’s children, Her Birthday is the festival. It was only after I came to Amritapuri that I started seeing the Vallamkali; the famous boat race of Kerala. (Onam is a Kerala festival that celebrates the story of Vamana (an incarnation of Lord Vishnu) and the virtuous King Mahabali. An important aspect of the festival is the creation and display of colorful circular flower designs (“pookalams”) in front of the house or place of business.) It is not seen in North Kerala where...

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The Yoga of Eating – Getting Back to a Simple Life

The Yoga of Eating – Getting Back to a Simple Life

Aug 12, 2018 | |

The Yoga of Eating – Getting Back to a Simple Life. Our ancestors were on the right track—eating on the floor is good for us! They instinctively knew the yoga of eating. In most developed countries, people now sit on chairs to eat their meals. Yet the human body works best the way it was used for thousands of years: sitting cross-legged on the floor. In fact, when we eat in this position, it even aids our digestion. When we sit on a chair, explains Brahmacharini Shobha, director of Amrita Yoga, “the spine is usually not very straight. However,...

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Childlike Amma, Who Eternally Sports in Her Play

Childlike Amma, Who Eternally Sports in Her Play

Aug 5, 2018 | |

Childlike Wisdom The word ‘Bala’ in Sanskrit means little child and childlike. The Divine mother is worshiped as a little child and also as a young girl. This tradition prevails throughout the length and breadth of India. There are many legends about saints who worshiped the Divine mother as “little child Bala Tripura Sundari” and obtained liberation. (“Tripura Sundari” is a high goddess in the Hindu tradition. Playfulness is one of her main aspects.) In the “Lalita Sahasra Nama Storam”, the reference to the word “Bala” comes twice. The divine mother Goddess Lalita enjoyed the sport of the little...

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The Ancient Sustains the Modern

The Ancient Sustains the Modern

Jul 10, 2018 | |

The Ancient Sustains the Modern Amma, the Universal Mother, has blessed Mother Earth with numerous gifts. In Lalitha Sahasranama, She is called: Bhavadhava Sudhavrishti. The beauty of the Sanskrit language is that this name of Devi can be split and the meaning understood in two different ways: 1) Bhavadhava Sudhavrishti Devi showers the Divine Knowledge which puts out the blazing forest fire of worldly miseries, obstacles and bondage. 2) Bhava dha vasudha vrishti Bhava also means Siva. So it means that She who gives us Siva or takes us to Siva, the Auspicious Chaithanyam of the nature of bliss....

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