Mata Amritanandamayi on Hindu idol worship
The formless and omnipotent God can easily assume form for
the sake of devotees. An ordinary individual may not develop love as easily for
the formless aspect of God (Brahman), as he/she would, if worshiped with
form. So the need for idol worship.
We should worship him seeing all forms as different aspects
of the same God….See Brahman in everything and everyone. Whomsoever you see,
remember god’s form. Then everything will rise up from within. When our mind
becomes expansive, we can merge with the infinite.
Amritanandamayi on Self Sacrifice
Human beings can learn many things from Nature.
For example, take an apple tree. It gives all its fruits to
others, taking nothing for itself. Its very existence is for other living
beings. Likewise, a river. Everyone comes and bathes in it. It washes away
everyone's dirt, expecting nothing. It willingly accepts all the impurities and
returns purity, sacrificing everything for others.
Children, each and every object in this world teaches us
sacrifice. If you observe closely, you can find that all of life is a
sacrifice. Each one's life is a story of sacrifice. The husband sacrifices his
life for his wife and the wife sacrifices hers for her husband, a mother for
her children and the children for their family.
Each one of us is sacrificing our lives in one way or
another. But all of us are limited to our own little world. Without sacrifice,
there is no world. Sacrificing everything for the good of the world is the
greatest sacrifice.
This little world of ours should evolve until it becomes the
whole universe. As it grows, we can see our problems also dissolving slowly.
Mata Amritanandamayi on Ego
The shell around the seed has to break before the tree can
emerge. You have to get rid of the ego before you gain knowledge.
It is no use pouring water into a dirty bucket; the water
will get dirty. In the same way, if you maintain the ego while doing sadhana,
you cannot take total refuge in God. You cannot experience and enjoy the
benefits of sadhana.
How can someone who can't even swim across a small river
swim across the ocean? It is not possible to reach the supreme state without
removing all small selfishness.
The sun gets concealed by the clouds. In a like manner, God
is concealed by our ego and vasanas (latent tendencies). He becomes visible
when the dirt of those tendencies is removed.
Mata Amritanandamayi Sayings on Scriptures
When we are hungry we eat just enough food to appease our
hunger and not all the food in the kitchen. Many scholars waste their lives
eating the whole thing.
We spit out the residue after we enjoy the juice of the
sugarcane. In the same way we should take the essence of the scriptures and
discard the rest.
By eating the picture of a banana, you won't get the taste
or nourishment of the fruit. Scriptural study is necessary, but sadhana is
needed to benefit from it.
Scriptures, like a signboard, point the way; in order to
reach the destination, you have to follow the instructions and move forward,
not stand reading the board again and again.