Women, break your shackles and awaken – AMMA

( Extracted fromMata Amritanandamayi’s Inagural speech on the occasion of Swami Vivekananda’s 150th Birth Anniversary in Delhi )

Amma wishes to express her deep sorrow about the recent trend of men in our country to trample women underfoot as pleasure-giving objects, with no consideration of human values. Is this  country that taught unique and divine thoughts such as worshipping God as Mother, seeing God Consciousness in everything and showing tolerance to the world, now becoming a land of asuric, demonic minds? The latest atrocity was the most brutal physical and emotional abuse that a young girl in Delhi had to go through, which finally claimed her life.

No one can question the reality of motherhood—that man is created from woman. Yet those who refuse to come out of the cocoon of their narrow minds will never be able to comprehend this—you cannot explain light to those who only know darkness.

Who should awaken woman? What obstructs her awakening? The truth is that no external power can possibly obstruct woman or her innate qualities of motherhood—qualities such as love, empathy and patience. It is she—she alone—who has to awaken herself. A woman’s mind is the only real barrier that prevents this from happening.

The rules and superstitious beliefs that degrade women, continue to prevail in most countries. The primitive customs invented by men to exploit and subjugate women remain alive to this day. Women and their minds have become entangled in the cobweb of those customs.

An elephant can uproot huge trees with its trunk. When an elephant living in captivity is still a calf, it is tethered to a tree with a strong rope. The calf elephant tries with all its might to break the rope. When its efforts prove futile, it finally gives up. Later, when the same elephant is fully grown, it can be tethered to any small tree with a thin rope. It could easily free itself by uprooting the tree or breaking the rope. But because its mind has been conditioned by its prior experiences, it does not make the slightest attempt to break free.

This is what is happening to women. The infinite potential inherent in man and woman is the same. If women really want to, they can easily break the shackles of the rules and conditioning that society has imposed on them.

A woman’s greatest strength lies in her innate motherhood, in her creative, life-giving power. This power can help women bring about a far more significant change in society than men can ever accomplish. In today’s world, where everything is being contaminated and made unnatural, women should take extra care that her qualities of motherhood—her essential nature as a woman—don’t become contaminated and distorted. Yet, whether woman or man, one’s real humanity comes to light only when the feminine and masculine qualities within one are balanced.

India has had such a great legacy of women who have contributed to all spheres of development in society; may it be warriors, teachers, spiritual luminaries, musicians or social workers. Though not acknowledged enough in our history books or in the social media, their contribution has been prolific. This legacy has to continue and grow with time.

The forthcoming age should be dedicated to awakening universal motherhood. Women everywhere have to actualise the qualities of motherhood within themselves. This is the only way to realise our dream of peace and harmony. And it can be done! It is entirely up to us. Let us remember that real leadership is not to dominate or to control, but to serve others with love and compassion, and to inspire women and men alike through the example of our lives.

Let us all pray that cruel minds, which denigrate women, be transformed. May the Paramatma help them to follow our rich tradition, and respect the women of this country and all other countries.