Amma and The Mind

 S.Mohana Krishna

Those were the initial days of my association with Amma (early

eighties), when Amma was revealing her magnificence to an uninitiated one
like me.

In one visit to Jillellamudi those days, a thought came to me while

climbing the stairs to Amma’s room that Amma has not verbally given me
guidance in the spiritual path. I remember that in that visit, along with me,
my other family members and my brother-in-law from Ongole who studied
veda were present.

All of us were seated in the presence of Amma. After paying obeisance

to Amma, we sat around her cot and Amma suddenly started a conversation:

“All is That”, she stated and explained some philosophical points in her
own inimitable way choosing simple and ordinary words. This came as the
answer to my musing a while before. It is perhaps Amma who made me think
on the above lines and responded.

It is in the knowledge of thousands of persons who met Amma that she

can perceive what goes on in others’ minds.

In her childhood, Amma for some days takes food along with her father
Sitapati in the house of Pulipaka Machamma who runs a village inn.
Machamma does not respect her husband Adeiah, a very tolerant soul and
even cheats on him. One night, Amma tells her father that she would stay for
that night in the house of Adeiah.

Machamma does not invite her husband for dinner. Adeiah later goes
into the kitchen and drinks a glass of buttermilk. Amma asks her the reason.
Machamma tells Amma that some days he will not eat and young Amma
chides her saying that in all the houses, wives take food after the husband
eats. Machamma, a strong willed soul, tries to dismiss the episode lightly but
Amma casts a severe glance at her. That one glance makes her realize her
mistake and with a changed heart she seeks the pardon of her husband.
Machamma wonders initially why she feels so low before a child and what
authority the young one has over her. But in a very short time, she is
convinced that Amma has control not only on her mind but that of all others.

This phenomenon is not easy to comprehend. A simple explanation

1
would be that for Amma, the personification of the Universal Mind, it would
be natural to know the other minds.

Let us see some unconventional thoughts in modern times on the

nature of the mind and its workings:

An interesting explanation has been proffered by the Nobel prize-

winning biologist George Wald on the universal consciousness the mind is
capable of assuming, in the following paragraph:

“I had always thought of consciousness, or mind as something that

required a particular complex central nervous system and was present only
in the highest organisms. The thought now was that mind has been there all
the time, and the reason this is a life-breeding universe is that the pervasive,
constant presence of mind had guided the universe that way … Our growing
scientific knowledge points unmistakably to the idea of a pervasive mind
intertwined with and inseparable from the material universe. This thought
may sound pretty crazy, but such thinking is millennia old in the Eastern
philosophies”. (Page 162, ‘Mysticism and the new physics’ by Michael
Talbot).

Another modern thinker who came close to this idea of the Universal
Mind though the description of such a mind is more from an intellectual point
of view is Stansilav Grof. See how his thoughts read:

‘All the phenomena we experience are understood as experiments in

consciousness performed by the Universal Mind in an infinitely ingenious
creative play. The problems and baffling paradoxes associated with human
existence are seen as intricately contrived deception invented by the
Universal Mind and built into the cosmic game and the ultimate meaning of
human existence is to experience fully all the states of mind associated with
the fascinating adventure in consciousness; to be an intelligent actor and
playmate in the cosmic game. In the framework, consciousness is not
something that can be derived from or explained in terms of something else.
It is a primal fact of existence out of which everything else arises….’

The noted Physicist Dr Fritjof Capra in his book ‘Uncommon wisdom’ in

which the above passage also finds place (Page,150), states in a more
philosophical vein –

“‘Whenever the essential nature of things is analyzed by the intellect,

it will seem absurd or paradoxical. This has always been recognized by
mystics but has become a problem in science only very recently.

For centuries, the phenomena studied in science belonged to the

scientists’ everyday environment and thus to the realm of their sensory

2
experience. Since the images and concepts of their languages were
abstracted from this very experience, they were sufficient to describe the
natural phenomena.

In the twentieth century however, physicists penetrated deep into the

sub-microscopic world, into realms of nature far removed from our
macroscopic environment. Our knowledge of matter at this level is no longer
derived from direct sensory experience, and therefore our ordinary language
is no longer adequate to describe the observed phenomena. Atomic physics
provided the scientists with the first glimpses of the essential nature of
things. Like the mystics, physicists were now dealing with a non-sensory
experience of reality and, like the mystics they had to face the paradoxical
aspects of this experience. From then on the models and images of modern
physics became akin to those of Eastern philosophy.” (Page 32, Uncommon
wisdom, by Frtjof Capra)

In Amma’s words, an unadulterated mind is the Divine. “A thought

emanates… From where the thought is emanating…? We cognize the
thought only after it surfaces. The source of any thought, the ‘prerana’ is
responsible for the subsequent action. ‘Prerana’ is invisible but the effort
(action) is visible.” Amma said. Amma gave a lot of importance for the
intense ‘bhava’ the mind is capable of assuming. The intense ‘bhava’ of a
pure mind or the ‘sankalpa’, (resolve) is bound to manifest in the physical
world of name and form.

In her childhood, once Amma sees a number of persons seeking alms

coming together and joyously sharing the food in the verandah of a choultry
at Bapatla. She wonders how nice it would be if all the families in a place
join together, pool their resources and live together while pursuing their
respective vocations.

Amma resolves of a choultry which will be available to all where

everyone can feel free and a temple in a village where there is no temple.
The same materiailised in Jillellamudi as ‘The House of All’ and the temple
complex.

Amma not only can fathom the depths of the minds of others but
subtly redirect their thinking process to more positive ways.(May not be by
an act of will but by her choice less awareness). Not only that, the
phenomenon of a pure mind being a great purifier is evident from the
following episode:

Once, Pardhasaradhi Ayyangar a sincere seeker from Chennai was

sitting with Amma on the terrace, enjoying the pleasant evening breeze.
Suddenly Amma began to stare into space with a faraway look. After Amma
returned from that mood, Sri Ayyangar asked Amma what she was staring at.

3
The unexpected reply was .…‘thought waves’. By a series of probing
questions, Sri Ayyangar elicited the following information.

Amma was just observing thought waves passing by in space. They

were all knotty, twisted and distorted. But as they approached Amma, all the
twists and distortions disappeared, became straight and passed!… Did
Amma wish the wonderful transformation? No… She was just observing!

This is a superb phenomenon with far reaching benefits to the

universal population in general and to those physically near her in particular.
It means
Amma was, by her mere presence, acting as a great purifier of
thoughts that are so effective, so powerful and so vital to the human beings.
By transforming the negative thoughts into positive thoughts, the very
thinking process of humanity is transformed. All this is taking place all the
time without any fan fare or publicity! More importantly…the process is still
continuing.

Doing so much inscrutably, imperceptibly and all mysteriously, Amma

used to say that she does nothing.

It may be apt to conclude this narrative on mind with the following

sentences of Amma from the book ‘Talks with Amma’ (edited by Rodney
Alexander Arms) about the nature of mind and related aspects which takes
us to deeper realms:

“There is something to which we give the name ‘mind’ (manas). That

to which thoughts occur is what we call the mind. We consider that which
perceives, thinks and causes us to speak and to act to be one thing (i.e., the
mind), and that which speaks and acts to be another (i.e., the body). But I
say that both are the same Sakti.

Only if there is a body, can mind be known. What is mind? What is it

like? In the course of enquiring into the mind, such thoughts arise as: ‘The
mind is not the eyes, not the ears…Is there a mind in addition to all these,
existing separately in this body?’ But asking where in the body the mind is
located is like asking where in a damp cloth its dampness located is. Mind is
not located exclusively in any particular place in the body; it is everywhere.
Mind is Sakti. That Sakti which exists within a body and thinks many
thoughts and performs many functions is called ‘mind’…. (Page 103, Talks
with Amma)

“ In fact what is mind? That which understands all this, that Sakti
(power) which speaks, hears, understands and perceives everything, is
called ‘mind’. We have given the name ‘mind’ to that which does all this (i.e.,
sees, hears, understands. Etc.). What is the swabhava (inherent nature) of

4
mind? Sakti has become many; it perceives many. It is change; It is what
changes; It is the changeless also. Its swabhava is to cognize many reasons
(karanas). Cognizing many reasons, accepting some, rejecting others,
hearing many sounds, thinking many thoughts – that state of Sakti is what
we call mind. In fact we do not know what the mind is. We do not know what
it is like…(Page 110, Talks with Amma).

…Whether you call it ‘manas’, ‘buddhi’ or ‘chitta’, they are all one. The
differences are only apparent. They are giving the same thing different
names. Thoughts received at one level are being called ‘chitta’, thoughts at
a different level, ‘buddhi’ and thoughts at yet another level. ‘manas’. I am
giving the one name ‘manas’ to all these…(Page 112, Talks with Amma).

…How do thoughts come? It seems that some Sakti, God, Impulsion

(prerana) or something must produce them. Volitions occur to the mind:
some happen (i.e., are fruitful), some do not. Both kinds come. The mind’s
swabhava is to think dualistically in terms of ‘what happens’ and ‘what does
not happen’. Not all volitions are fruitful, so it seems that there must be
some Sakti beyond the mind. I do not feel this duality. I feel that the sole
cause for all these kinds of thoughts and experiences have come and gone -
that is its swabhava. Mind, volition and Sakti are not different. The volition
whereby That becomes all volitions – that volition is volition less volition.”.
(Page 114, Talks with Amma)

“Mind has individuality (Vyasshtitva).How are four rooms obtained in

the same house? In the same body, if some good thoughts occur, he is called
a ‘sage’; if some terrible thoughts occur, he is called a ‘savage’. The very
same mind thinks of killing one fellow and protecting another. If the mind is
as One, we give the name enlightened man ‘Jnani’; if it is as two, we give the
name ‘ignorant’ man (Ajnani). The mind that has a worshipful bhava is
‘divine’; if the same mind thinks about the wrong things, we call it ‘devilish’
Mind devoid of compassion is the Devil. Mind is itself God; Mind is itself the
Devil.”

“Every human being judges others according to his own mind. Whether
it be one’s wife, husband, children, brothers, sisters, parents or even those
who consider themselves spiritual guides and gurus and who teach others,
nobody understands another’s mind. This is what is meant by ‘variety’. If the
mind were understood, there would be no teaching”.

“The mind calls something ‘guru’ and worships it, rejecting something
else. Since the mind is unable to understand that mind is everything, it
selects a particular form and calls it ‘God’. Then it seeks that god within
itself. That means that the mind itself does everything. Finally it understands
none other than itself..” (Pages 119, 120, Talks with Amma).

5
 The mind is at once the cause for bondage or liberation. An
unadulterated mind is Divine where as the mind in most of us is coloured by
various tendencies with the ‘unripe ego’ in charge. But the persons pure in
heart although not conversant with Shastras or did not do any serious
austerities (which obviously involves mind and its machinations) seem to be
naturally drawn to Amma with their guileless heart guiding them.

Always trying to keep in mind a perfect one like Amma and meditating
on her divine nature will cleanse the minds of their impurities. What else is
desirable than such a state of mind?