159. Om mada-nasinyai namah: I bow down to Amma who destroys pride
Pride is a horrible emotion. It has a nasty life of its own. It goads you into thinking that you are self sufficient. That you are better than the best. That you have no need for Amma in your life. And when that fall comes, when loneliness hits, when the most unexpected event unfolds, pride bows down pretentiously and ceremoniously and walks out sniggering, through the door.
How can we take pride in anything? When our next breath isn't a certainty, how possibly can we fill our hearts and heads with pride? Every event that happens in our life is because Amma has willed it to. The house we live in, the clothes we wear, the freedom we assume is our birthright, the food we eat, the health we take for granted: absolutely everything is Amma's gift to us. What is to stop us from having been born in war ravaged countries? Even in abysmal situations, Amma is the one who pulls us out of the void. Each step forward is a gift from Amma. Let us not take pride in anything. Amma is the sum total of all the creative, positive, kinetic energy in the world. And thus, every movement, every moment is Hers to give to us. Let us always pray that we are under Amma's grace. The good is Her gift and the bad is us playing out our karma. Amma is right there helping us through the worst of times and preventing us from facing the full force of our karma.
A few days ago I was lucky to meet Purnaswami. Amma of course is a divine being and loved by all. But I realized why Swamiji is also looked upon with a lot of affection by everyone. He has no pride or ego. Ego, pride's dirty bedfellow. He has managed to completely crush every ounce of ego that we normally ride high on. Pride and ego are prime speed breakers on the spiritual road. These are what crush us completely. They whisper the most dangerous sweet nothings into our ears and goad us into misdirections. Thankfully Amma destroys pride and ego in us. When we go through calamities and difficult periods - when everything seems bleak and nothing seems to be going our way - that is Amma's way of crushing our ego. Our pride. Of destroying every shred of pride so that we can relook at our life and see exactly where we are seeing ourselves being bigger than our creator. Where we are holding on tightly to the reins of our life and refusing to let go. The difficult period is a huge wake up call. And the sooner we realise Amma is the driver of this journey called life, the better it will be for us. For that is when we can sit back and truly enjoy this divine journey!
Om Amriteswariye namah!
Pride is a horrible emotion. It has a nasty life of its own. It goads you into thinking that you are self sufficient. That you are better than the best. That you have no need for Amma in your life. And when that fall comes, when loneliness hits, when the most unexpected event unfolds, pride bows down pretentiously and ceremoniously and walks out sniggering, through the door.
How can we take pride in anything? When our next breath isn't a certainty, how possibly can we fill our hearts and heads with pride? Every event that happens in our life is because Amma has willed it to. The house we live in, the clothes we wear, the freedom we assume is our birthright, the food we eat, the health we take for granted: absolutely everything is Amma's gift to us. What is to stop us from having been born in war ravaged countries? Even in abysmal situations, Amma is the one who pulls us out of the void. Each step forward is a gift from Amma. Let us not take pride in anything. Amma is the sum total of all the creative, positive, kinetic energy in the world. And thus, every movement, every moment is Hers to give to us. Let us always pray that we are under Amma's grace. The good is Her gift and the bad is us playing out our karma. Amma is right there helping us through the worst of times and preventing us from facing the full force of our karma.
A few days ago I was lucky to meet Purnaswami. Amma of course is a divine being and loved by all. But I realized why Swamiji is also looked upon with a lot of affection by everyone. He has no pride or ego. Ego, pride's dirty bedfellow. He has managed to completely crush every ounce of ego that we normally ride high on. Pride and ego are prime speed breakers on the spiritual road. These are what crush us completely. They whisper the most dangerous sweet nothings into our ears and goad us into misdirections. Thankfully Amma destroys pride and ego in us. When we go through calamities and difficult periods - when everything seems bleak and nothing seems to be going our way - that is Amma's way of crushing our ego. Our pride. Of destroying every shred of pride so that we can relook at our life and see exactly where we are seeing ourselves being bigger than our creator. Where we are holding on tightly to the reins of our life and refusing to let go. The difficult period is a huge wake up call. And the sooner we realise Amma is the driver of this journey called life, the better it will be for us. For that is when we can sit back and truly enjoy this divine journey!
Om Amriteswariye namah!
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