Home Women's Initiative Part II

Embracing Universal Motherhood for Peace & Harmony:
The Amritavarsham50 Women's Initiative

The Women's Initiative began with a Welcoming Speech by Swamini Krishnamrita Prana, one of Amma's senior disciples. "Amma has always lived Her life as a new kind of leader whose life embodies Her values," she said. "She chose Her own path of service to humanity and to express Her unconditional love for all. She has committed to Her values uncompromisingly. Many, many people all around the world have benefited from Her choice to serve. "Amma has shown us that every day we have the opportunity to care about the well being of others. Amma has called for the awakening of Universal Motherhood. We are honoured today to be joined by our 14 speakers who are also leaders who have worked hard in their own lives to serve and uplift positive human values. We look forward to hearing their personal words and insights about the values of Universal Motherhood."

Swamini Krishnamrita Prana of the Mata Amritanandamayi Math delivers the welcoming address.

Then Ms. Yolanda King, the daughter of the late American Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. delivered a speech, which served as the official inauguration of the Initiative. Ms. King, who serves as a member of the board of directors of the MLK Center for Non-Violent Social Change, quoted at length from Amma's Geneva Speech, "Awakening Universal Motherhood" and lauded Amma "an embodiment of unconditional love."

Speaking of her first darshan, Ms. King said, "It was a moment of transcendence for me, for I was able to grasp for the first time, the essence of true fulfilment and agape love. And so, I must first express my deepest gratitude to Amma for all that She have given to me personally, for all that She has given to all of us—indeed, for all that She has given to our planet. We are extraordinarily fortunate to be in this time and in this place with Her wondrously awesome spirit.

"What I cherish most about Amma is that She not only talks the talk and is an embodiment of unconditional love, but She expresses that love in action. She walks the talk. Mahatma Gandhi urged us to 'be the change we wish to see in our world.' Amma is the change She wishes to see in our world. She is a profound living example for all of us."

Dr. Najma Heptulla, the Deputy Chairperson of the Upper House of the Indian Parliament

In her Presidential Address, Dr. Najma Heptulla, the Deputy Chairperson of the Rajya Sabha, the Upper House of the Indian Parliament, spoke of India's ethos of not only respecting, but worshipping women. “We worship them in the temples; we worship them in our home. But when it comes to an ordinary girl from a village or a town, whose name might be Saraswati, Lakshmi or Durga, we don’t treat her the way we treat the Goddess. The message of Amma is that every women, every girl, in a village, or in a town, should be given the same respect and honor and reverence that Indian ethos gives to Lakshmi, Saraswati and Durga."

So impressed with Amma and Her message of Universal Motherhood, Dr. Heptulla proclaimed that she had taken a vow to spread the message of Amma to as many people as possible and urged others to do the same, saying, "Today is the first day in the rest of my life."

The next speaker was the American actress and environmentalist Ms. Linda Evans, who spoke on "Learning Motherhood From Mother Nature." In her speech, Ms. Evans reflected on Her life as a celebrity, saying how ultimately unfulfilled it left her. "I have experienced success, and wealth and fame. I have been loved by many people in the world, people that I didn’t even know, and still there was an emptiness in me—a longing for something that I didn’t understand. I learned that what I was looking for wasn’t outside of me but within me." She also explained how if we cultivate the female aspects of forgiveness and love and compassion, we can change not only our own lives but the world.

Dr. K.S. Fathima Beevi was the only speaker to address the Initiative in her native Malayalam. Speaking on "Empowering Women Through Universal Motherhood," she quoted extensively from the Upanishads, Soundarya-Lahiri and Manu Smriti. Dr. Beevi placed the responsibility for the current status of women in society on both male and female shoulders. "It is the duty of every man to protect this most precious treasure," she said. "But today, women are used as a mere source of lowly pleasures." She then added. "It is sad that modern women are ready to give up motherliness to stand in par with men. This blind, mindless imitation is never a solution."

Dr. K.S. Fathima Beevi

In her speech titled 'The Feminine Face of God: Nurturing its Reflection in Men and Women,' Rabbi Leah Novick spoke on Shekhinah, the feminine power worshipped by Jewish mystics. She traced the evolution of the Shekhinah in Jewish culture, commenting on the tragedy of the suppression of Jewish women in the religious community. "Women provided the labour for important ceremonial life," she said, "but were not counted in the public prayer quorums or called to the Torah until recently. They had an intimate relationship with the divine; but their wisdom as healers, herbalists, midwives and nurturers was not taught formally and, unfortunately, most of their teachings were not published." But Rabbi Leah also pointed out the positive signs of both the resurgence of Shekhinah awareness and the increase of opportunities for Jewish women in the religious community.

She ended by expressing her thanks to Amma. "I am especially grateful that Amma has given me the gift of direct experience of the Divine Mother. It has been 13 blissful years, and this June in San Ramon I celebrated my bat-mitzvah with Amma. Amma has taken me [beyond the texts] to the next stage, which is to experience Shekhinah in the heart and through the heart."

Shri. P. Parameshwaran of Kerala's Bharatiya Vichara Kendra

The next to take the mic was the director of Kerala's Bharatiya Vichara Kendra, Shri. P. Parameshwaran, who spoke on "Motherhood: The Mother & The Child of Spirituality." "To worship God as Mother is the easiest and the most natural thing in the world," said the pundit. "It is the most spontaneous expression of the human mind. The umbilical cord that unites the child to the mother is a symbolic representation of the spiritual affinity of the child and the mother. The mother is the feeder, the sustainer and the saviour of the child. Father comes later in life."

Shri. Parameshwaran explained how the love of a mother is the highest love found in wordly existence. "Every other love can be conditional, motivated, impure," he said, "but mother's love is pure and unconditional because it is basically spiritual. There is nothing comparable. Therefore, in the Hindu tradition, motherhood is the highest ideal that a women can aspire for."