Mata Amritanandamayi celebrated her 73rd birthday in Amritapuri (Vallikavu) on 26 and 27 September, felicitated by lakhs of devotees and well-wishers, including a galaxy of notables, from the Vice-President and the Home Minister of India to the Chief Minister of Kerala and the Ambassador of Nepal (to whom she handed over a cheque of Rs 2 crore for disaster relief). But beyond all the panoply and fanfare, I found myself wondering what happens to a person when he comes into her ashram.

Someone may arrive without much kindness left in him. He may leave with a little more compassion. Someone may have lived without enough love. Here, he may discover that he still has love to give. Someone may have become hard through the disappointments of life. A few moments around her can make him gentle again. And someone who has not been particularly good may, for reasons he cannot quite explain, feel like becoming better.

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What is it about Amma? I do not know whether it can be explained. I only know that it can be felt.

That is where I would like to begin today—not with Amma as an institution, not with the years of her life, and not even with all that has been built around her, but with this very simple experience: what happens to a human being when he comes into the presence of Amma. Because that, to me, is where the meaning of her life begins.

There are many ways of describing a life. We can speak of the years, the achievements, institutions, charitable work and the millions of people who have been touched by it. All of that matters. But there is another measure of a human life which does not appear in any report.

How many people became a little less lonely because you were there? How many found courage when they had very little left? How many learned to forgive? How many discovered that giving something away can bring greater happiness than........

© Mathrubhumi English