Pics: Spoorthi Ullal
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (DV)
Mangaluru, Jan 9: Thousands of devotees on Saturday January 9 flocked to Amrita Vidyalayam Grounds to seek the blessings of 'hugging saint' Mata Amritanandanmayi, fondly known as Amma.
The 'Amrita Sangama' programme was inaugurated by Dharmadhikari of Shree Kshetra Dharmasthala Dr D Veerendra Heggade.
In his address, Dr Heggade said, "People irrespective of caste, colour sect and religion come to Amma and she blesses them with her motherly care. The relationship of Bhakt (devotee) and Guru (teacher) is unique. Only the Guru can show the way to reach God. Amma is loved by all because she gives motherly care to those who are deprived of mothers. Mother's love is very important. In the present scenario, relationship between mother and children is on the decline. When the mother feeds her child with her milk, that is when the child feels true motherly care.
"Serving the needy and suppressed people leads to salvation and God. We can take our own path to reach god through our service. Serving the mankind with positive thought and mind is the real way to reach god," he added.
In her discourse, Mata Amritanandamayi called upon the people to serve the society selflessly and said, "The world is full of problems. We should not only sympathise with those facing problems, but also work towards solving them. Sincere and selfless work towards society and mankind is the way to achieve salvation. Society has two faces - positive one of development, science and techonoly, and a negative side which is filled with illiteracy, poverty, crimes against women etc. Everyone should work towards increasing the positive side of the society without expecting anything in return. When we do our work sincerely, our country becomes beautiful.
"Just as we focus on our physical health, we should also focus on our mental health and improve it by seeking knowledge, meditation and positive thoughts. Materialistic life is one of the causes for all the problems, this can be set right through spiritualism. Morals and human values should be part of education, as these mould a good character," she said.
Urging people to respect and preserve nature, she said, "Development should go hand in hand with conservation of nature. Human beings today are causing environmental problems and harming the ozone layer. We must learnt to respect nature.
"Our health depends on our lifestyle. How we live, our food habits are important. In the present scenario moral values are declining. Spirituality is a science that teaches us to love ourselves. Control your mind and never lose hope. Achieve excellence both internally and externally. Change is a part of life, we should be ready to accept any situation. Acceptance is key to success," she said.
During the programme, scholariships were distributed to 51 deserving students and financial aid was extended to those in need of medical help. Benches and desks were distributed to 10 government schools.
MP Nalin Kumar Kateel, MLA J R Lobo, Ritesh Kumar, sectretary of finance department, H Kumar, MD of MRPL, Srinivas Deshpande, PRO of Karnataka Bank, Ajith Kumar Rai Malady, former MLA Yogish Bhat and senior journalist Manohar Prasad and others were present.
Earlier, Shruthi Hegde, president of Mata Amritanandamayi Seva Samiti welcomed Amma to the premises amidst a grand procession.