The Phenomenon known as Amma, part two

Dr. V.J. Bhatkar is the chairman of the Research Lab and Dishnet dsl ltd., as well as advisory chairman of the International Institute of Information Technology and chancellor of the India International Multiversity. He has served as the executive director of the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), India's national initiative in supercomputing.

New World University Amma recently broached the idea of an autonomous university. The proposal has been forwarded to the Indian Government, and I hope that it will eventually grant permission to start what will surely be an epoch-making institution. This, in turn, will pave the way for a transformation of education. The proposed Amrita University will bring under one umbrella all of Amma's educational institutions — the pharmaceutical college at AIMS, Amrita Institute of Technology & Science, Amrita Institute of Management, AICT centres and a host of other institutions, colleges, schools and bala sanskar kendras (cultural centres for children) started by the M.A. Math. Then, the true purpose of a "University" will be realised: the "universalization of mind." This is bound to happen when one comes under the direct guidance of Amma, whom millions regard as a universal Guru.

To build any institution dedicated to social or educational transformation, it is necessary to first produce men and women of great character and commitment who will, in turn, build and manage such institutions. Often, we see impressive structures or infrastructure, but not the people to lead them. Amma has personally moulded hundreds of men and women who have dedicated their entire lives to Amma's mission. As a Master or Satguru, one of Amma's great contributions has been to create extraordinary leaders from seemingly ordinary people who are ardent devotees. Such individuals are now initiating, planning, building and managing Amma's missions not only in India but all over the world, under Amma's divine guidance. In this sense, Amritapuri is a great learning place for many devotees, a true university that has transformed and continues to transform the lives of many people.

Amma Herself is a World University imparting spiritual, scientific and cultural education. She emphasises the development of not just the Intelligence Quotient (IQ), but the Emotional Quotient (EQ) and Spiritual Quotient (SQ) as well. Amma has said that the highest knowledge is the knowledge of one's essential nature, one's own Self. It is this discovery that is gradually taking place in thousands of students.

Reviving the universal language

Amma has revivied the language of love and compassion. This language is universal and eternal, comprehensible to all beings in all times. In Amma's expression, love and compassion get magnified to superhuman dimensions, hitherto unseen. While hugs are common between parent and child, intimate friends or lovers, Mother's hug is universal, transcending nationality, race, language, religion, age or station in life.

Over thousands of years, humans have invented thousands of languages, each one of them having a spoken and written form and its own grammar and vocabulary. There are national, regional and state languages and a host of other languages native to specific communities. While Sanskrit is regarded as the mother of several Indian and Indo-European languages, English has today become the dominant lingua franca. The diversity of languages has spawned a diversity of cultures, thus enriching the world immeasurably. But language has also divided people from each other. How many wars have been fought, how many discords and tensions have arisen due to the language barrier? It is ironic that language, which is a tool of communication, has become the biggest barrier to communication between communities.

While working on the development of multilingual technology, I discovered that on a digital computer the different scripts of various languages get reduced to a binary code comprising 0s and 1s. Through character code representations such as ASCII, ISCII or UNICODE, it is possible to convert one script into another with just one touch of a key! Even artificial languages like graphic or visual languages are converted into its binary equivalent. The computer is neutral to or "equanimous" with all languages. Some years ago, the famous linguist from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Professor Noam Chomsky, discovered that there is a language-processing centre in the brain, which facilitates the processing and learning of languages. This centre understands only metalanguage, which is like the language behind all languages.

In a similar way, Amma has brought forth the common denominator among all linguistic traditions, the language of love and compassion. It is through this universal language that Amma is able to communicate with anyone, wherever they may be from. Although Amma only speaks Malayalam, Amma is able to communicate with all Her children; we too are able to communicate with Her, sometimes through silence. This is yet another one of Amma's unique contributions to the world.

Embodying Mother Universe

Amma's birth and life are strikingly extraordinary. Some of Her most extraordinary aspects are utter simplicity and the manifest oneness with the world. Amma who has illumined the eternal truths of Vedanta for the world at large was not born into a family of scholars, nor in a place renowned for its intellectual traditions, such as Kashi or Benaras. Amma was born in a hitherto unknown nook of south-western India to simple, humble fisher-folk, the fourth of 13 children. Treated as a menial servant and deprived of the love that most of us take for granted, She experienced first-hand the lot of the downtrodden in general, and the depressed plight of poor Indian females, in particular. That She could rise from such deterring and daunting circumstances to the peak of spirituality makes Amma's accomplishments all the more extraordinary.

In slightly more than two decades, Amma has wrought a spiritual revolution, transforming the lives of many millions of people, inspiring them to a spiritual life, a life characterised by love for God and dedication to serving our poorer brethren. Perhaps, even if all the love of all the mothers for their children is distilled and concentrated, that ultimate concentrate may not be equal to Amma's love. She is the Mother among mothers, the Mother of the universe. Who has not been able to relate instantly to Amma as our Mother? Is not Amma then, the very embodiment of the concept of Universal mother expounded in our scriptures?

Imagine… an ordinary village girl from a remote fishing village in India, who never completed her formal education, utterly simple, humble and earthy in appearance, clad in simple white clothes… Imagine such a person speaking at the Parliament of World Religions in Chicago in September 1993; delivering a speech two years later at the Interfaith Celebrations held in New York in honour of the 50th anniversary of the UN (October 21st, 1995); and addressing the Millennium World Peace Summit of Religious and Spiritual Leaders in the United Nations General Assembly (August 29th, 2000). And capturing the attention of not only the audience but the entire world. Amma sees everyone as Her own children. The phenomenon known as Mata Amritanandamayi Devi is glorious, all-pervading and mysterious indeed, as mysterious as Mother Universe.