Experiences with Amma
Dr. S. Somasegar
Senior Vice President, Developer Division
Microsoft
Seattle, USA
My first darshan of Mata Amritanandamayi was in the winter of 2001 on a rainy day in Seattle, Wash. I had heard a lot about Amma, so when a friend told me about Amma's upcoming visit to Seattle, I wanted to go see her to experience for myself why people all over the world were so touched. As soon as I arrived, I sensed a big welcoming aura. There were thousands of people waiting for Amma's darshan. To make newcomers feel welcome, Amma's devotees were not only moving aside to let guests take a place closer to Amma, but also giving up their chairs as well. Their reasoning was that they were always close to Amma, and it is the newcomers who needed the closeness with Amma more than they did. I was thinking if Amma's devotees are so selfless in their thinking, what must Amma be like.
I got my answer when I received my hug from Amma. She had been giving hugs to thousands of people all day, but there was not a sign of tiredness on her face. With her selflessness, energy and compassion, she embraced me and made me feel like I was the first person she was hugging. It didn’t seem to matter to her whether someone was the first person or the last person in her long day. She was able to give the same pure love with a hearty smile to everyone. What made me feel even better was as soon as Amma found out that I was from Chennai, she started speaking to me in Tamil, my mother tongue.
I got another opportunity to receive Amma's darshan during her 50th birth anniversary celebrations in September 2003. Amma and Dr. Abdul Kalam were organizing a CEO Summit in Cochin as part of the birthday celebrations. I was honored when they invited me, along with about 50 other business leaders, mainly from the U.S. and India, to discuss ways to transform India into an economically secure and spiritually strong leader among nations. I didn't want to give up another chance for Amma's darshan. When I arrived, I got to see for the first time lakhs (hundreds of thousands) of people gathered together to celebrate Amma's birthday. At the CEO Summit, we had the chance to discuss Amma's vision of world peace and harmony and Dr. Kalam's vision of 2020. At the conclusion of the meeting, we received our reward of Amma’s darshan at her ashram, which I had been yearning for so long. While in Cochin, I also had the chance to see how Amma's charitable activities like the hospital impact the lives of crores (millions) of people in a positive way.
Amma has endless compassion, selflessness and energy for doing good for humanity. This has such an immense positive impact on people worldwide that it is "Godly". It reaffirms my view that if I can even be a small part of that selflessness, I'll be doing something that's good for others.