Volunteers have founded the country’s first MA Centre to foster Amma’s teachings to selflessly serve humanity and our natural world.

Amma's first centre in Italy, now known to everyone as MA Centre Italy, has finally become a reality. The property is located in the beautiful natural surroundings of Località Nebbiolo in the municipality of Gavi, Piemonte, about 60 km north of Genoa. Spread across 20 hectares, it will become a gathering place for Amma’s Italian community to share her teachings of love and selfless service and then work together on the resulting humanitarian and environmental initiatives.

Said Marina Ghezzi, President of MA Centre Italy: “For us, the centre represents Amma's presence in our area, a permanent and stable presence throughout the year. A place where we can regenerate and recharge. It is our wish to be able to represent Amma’s hands of love and compassion in Italy.”

Amma said that poverty in rural areas is one of the key issues to address in terms of moving ahead as a society overall.

The Govt of India has appointed Amma as the Chair of the country’s Civil 20 (C20), an official engagement group of the Group of 20 (G20). The G20 is the premier intergovernmental forum for the world’s developed and emerging economies to address financial stability on a global basis. The C20 is its platform for civil society organizations (CSOs) to bring forth non-government and non-business voices to the G20 leaders.

India will assume the Presidency of the G20 for one year from December 1, 2022 to November 30, 2023. The pinnacle of events is September 9-10, 2023 when the G20 Leaders’ Summit will take place in New Delhi at the level of Heads of State and Government. But in advance, India will host more than 200 meetings across the country, an endeavour that involves intense work by ministerial meetings, working groups, and engagement groups.

Amma expressed that if we find happiness in others’ happiness and are sad in their sorrows, then we have found love.

Thousands of people from across India and around the world gathered in Amritapuri to celebrate Amma’s 69th birthday, and thousands more joined via a global webcast. Amma shared how the world faces a choice to transition to a better life for all after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Amma explained many people have also expressed a wish to give Amma something on their own birthdays. She suggested planting trees and other native species in their neighbourhoods.

“Take a seed and put it in some soil with some manure and wrap it up in a piece of paper. Drop those seed balls in a place where they can sprout—either around your house or in some wooded area. The more saplings you can plant, the better. This would be the greatest gift you can give to Amma,” she said. In this way, hundreds of trees and plants would be sown every day, restoring balance to ecosystems on a global scale.

Amma also suggested that everyone clean one kilometre of public space on their birthday: “Sweep the area and clear away all the garbage. Amma’s ashram children can teach you about waste management so you will understand what to do with the waste.”

In terms of environmental actions, Amma encouraged her children to begin carpooling, a request she began 15 years ago. Carpooling saves money, fuel, reduces environmental pollution, and gradually reduces traffic accidents, including fatalities.

“Try to take at least two other people in your vehicle when you travel to work. But please make sure that they are not strangers; you should make sure that you are safe. You can also do the same kind of carpooling when you travel to a temple or when coming here to the Ashram,” she said.

Amma expanded her words to address the experience of humanity overall: “What securely maintains a bridge over a river are the strong concrete pillars on the two opposite banks. The bridge of life also has two banks—birth and death. As far as human life is concerned, both these are very important events.

“Unfortunately, during both these events, people are not in a state of awareness. Even while crossing the bridge of life—in the middle—people perform their actions in a dreamlike state. If only we were to conduct ourselves with a little more alertness and awareness, humankind would not find itself facing the extreme challenges and perils it does now.”

Amma continued, “When we live in this world and enjoy the delights and bounties of Nature, there is one mistake humans, consciously or unconsciously, tend to make. They forget that they have received all these as a gift from that supreme power, God. They forget the truth of Nature, the reflection of God.”

Amma said that people can begin to rectify these mistakes through small actions that reconnect us with Mother Nature. For example, they can support their local environments by dropping seed balls and planting saplings on their own birthdays. In this way, countless trees and plants will be sown every day, restoring balance to ecosystems on a global scale.

“We forget the invincible power of Nature. Over and above all, we forget the truth of love, which is the foundation of life. We may forget God and Nature in the hustle and bustle of daily life. But we should never forget love. Because only if we have true love will God and Nature shower their blessings upon us.”

Amma concluded, “If we find happiness in others’ happiness and are sad in their sorrows, then we have found love because love makes hearts beat in tandem. Love is life’s real capital. The greatest wealth that we can gain in life is love.”

Swami Amritaswarupananda Puri, Amma’s most senior disciple, also addressed the gathering. He said, “It has been 69 years since Amma was born, since her body in this form was born on this Earth. Amma’s body must be 69 years, yet she is ancient. The most amazing example of eternal youthfulness.”

Swamiji explained how through even the simplest of actions, Amma is a living example of how love transcends the human intellect and mind. It goes beyond all expectations, beyond all names and forms, and becomes as vast as the universe.

“When Amma gives darshan—while showering flower petals, while holding a baby—each hug, every single glance, each kiss is filled with 100% unadulterated love. Amma is love incarnate. God’s love in a human body, as Jane Goodall, the eminent primatologist and anthropologist observed. Ageless, ancient, without a beginning or end,” said Swamiji.

Amma arrived in the main hall at 10am and also led meditation and prayers for world peace. She then began giving her darshan of a motherly embrace to all who had come for the day’s festivities. Amma received the last visitor at around midnight and finally returned to her room after 14 hours.

Photo1: Amma shared how the world faces a choice to transition to a better life for all after COVID-19.

Photo 2: Amma explained humankind must remember they have received the bounties of Nature as a gift from creation.

Photo 3: Amma said that her children can begin to heal Mother Nature through small actions such as planting trees and sowing other seed

Dr. Krishna Kumar with Amrita Hospital, Kochi has been granted the prestigious Sitaram Jaipuria Foundation Award for Excellence in Medicine and Healthcare. As an internationally renowned cardiologist, Dr. Kumar heads the Department of Pediatric Cardiology and is also a professor with Amrita School of Medicine.

He announced that the entire prize money of ₹50 lakhs ($60,000) would be donated to the Amrita Heart Care Foundation, which funds heart surgery for children in need at the Pediatric Heart Center of Amrita Hospital. The foundation is a non-profit public charitable trust supported by private and corporate donors.

“I consider this award as a recognition for the pediatric heart team at Amrita Hospital, Kochi. I am incredibly fortunate to represent exceptionally talented and dedicated colleagues who work in harmony with the singular purpose of delivering the very best outcomes to every single child. This award is dedicated to them,” said Dr. Kumar.

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Amma sustains her utmost teaching that selfless service with compassion is the foundation of her humanitarian projects around the world. To support the people who take part in these diverse projects, she also upholds the ancient tradition of yoga as the formula to maintain a healthy life both physically and mentally.

With an aim to equip oneself with essential knowledge, tackle life situations, build a solid personality, and develop a discriminative mind, the Mata Amritanandamayi Math (MAM) initiated yoga activities for people living in the Ashram in 1980. Since those early days, it has been a part of daily life in Amritapuri. 

Amrita was invited to Kenya to connect with trainers from Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, and Kenya to share free access to its computer-simulated physical laboratory experiments.

Nairobi, Kenya – July, 2022

Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham has further reached out to students in Africa who live in remote rural areas or economically-challenged backgrounds to provide Amrita Virtual Labs for engineering and sciences. The university has already established a strong network in India that provides computer-simulated physical laboratory experiments free-of-cost to support post-secondary studies.

Virtual Labs (VL) produce computer-simulated physical laboratory experiments that allow users to access media-rich online learning environments to conduct experiments in a digital environment. This innovative technique is enabling the study of experimentation beyond the boundaries of traditional laboratories. Amrita’s subject areas include Biotechnology and Biomedical Engineering, Chemical Sciences, Physical Sciences, Computer Science, Mechanical Engineering, and Cybersecurity.

One of the procedures was the world’s third and Asia’s first successful shoulder-level full-arm transplant.

Kochi, Kerala

Two men from different countries have successfully undergone bilateral hand transplants at Amrita Hospital in Kochi. Amaresh, 25, is from Karnataka and Yousif Hasan Saeed Al Zuwaini, 29, is from Iraq.

Both lost their hands in electrical accidents and received limbs harvested from donors who were victims of fatal road accidents in Kerala. Though Amaresh and Yousif hail from different backgrounds, they now have many things in common—including a new lease on life thanks to the kindness of strangers.

With 2,600 beds, Amrita Hospital, Faridabad includes eight Centers of Excellence and 81 specialty departments

Faridabad, Haryana– August 24, 2022

The Honorable Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi, inaugurated Amrita Hospital, Faridabad in the presence of Amma. The inauguration was attended by hundreds of governmental and non-governmental dignitaries as well as medical professionals and educators from India and abroad.

Thousands of citizens from Delhi and Faridabad and surrounding villages were also there, along with Amma’s devotees, who had come from all over the world to participate in the historic inauguration of India’s largest private hospital.

Faridabad, Haryana– August 11, 2022

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate Amrita Hospital, Faridabad on August 24, 2022. The 2,400-bed healthcare institution will be India’s largest private sector hospital and opens under the auspices of the Mata Amritanandamayi Math (MAM). Amma will grace the occasion with her presence and mark a new chapter of compassionate and inclusive care by MAM.

The hospital’s benefits will go beyond providing access to the latest in healthcare technology and high-quality patient care in the Delhi NCR. Amrita Hospital, Faridabad has a vision to deliver its services to a patient catchment area extending all over North and North-East India.

Poland and Hungary – March 2022

When the war started between Russia and Ukraine, Amma’s volunteers from across Europe head to border points in Poland and Hungary to aid refugees. Bearing harsh winter weather, they stayed put to care for women, children, and Indian students who arrived after traveling long distances to escape the fighting.

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