Amma’s Subtle Dharmic Teachings Around Patience
Amma says “When we give up our affection, we become God’s instrument of service to the entire world. Our patience should be for the upliftment of others. If our patience persuades someone to do adharma (unrighteousness), then it is not dharma (righteousness).”
This is a profound quote and offers a sweet insight into the subtle brushstrokes of Amma’s artful teaching style. She uses broad strokes and then offers a quiet, unassuming hook that our soulful minds will feel obliged to consider and contemplate.
So, what does Amma’s teachings mean, most notably, how can someone’s patience persuade someone to be unrighteous?
Amma (Mata Amritanandamayi Devi) is a renowned spiritual leader and humanitarian from Kerala, India. In her quote, She speaks to the transformational power of Selfless love and service amid an important set of teachings around discernment, compassion, and understanding.
By “giving up our affection,” Amma inspires us to transcend our personal and Selfish attachments and desires to become instruments of divine service to the world. Amma’s teaching is deeply rooted in Her commitment to the sacred embodiments of compassion, spiritual growth, and enlightenment.
Amma’s teaching touches on several important ideas, all of which fall under the auspices of The Dharma. These include:
Selflessness as Divine Service: By releasing personal attachments and focusing on serving others, individuals align themselves with a higher, divine purpose. This Selflessness is seen as a way to express universal love and compassion, qualities often attributed to divinity.
Patience and Upliftment: Patience here is not passive endurance but an active, compassionate commitment to the welfare of others. It’s about supporting and uplifting people, guiding them towards righteousness (dharma) and away from unrighteousness (adharma).
The Ethical Dimension of Patience: Amma points out a nuanced aspect of patience — it must be aligned with Dharma (righteousness). If one’s patience inadvertently supports or enables others to engage in adharma (unrighteous actions or behaviors), then it is misplaced.
This could easily happen in situations where being patient means permitting, allowing, tolerating, or not addressing harmful actions in a thoughtful way. For instance, if someone’s behavior is hurtful to others or unethical, and we choose to remain patient without addressing or confronting this behavior. In this case, our inaction could be interpreted as approval or acceptance, potentially encouraging further unrighteous actions.
Applying Amma’s Teaching
Self-awareness and Discernment: Cultivate Self-awareness and cautious evaluation to understand the impact of your actions and inactions. Use the discernment of a great sage to navigate complex and emotionally charged situations, ensuring that your patience and tolerance are not enabling harmful behaviors or giving someone the permission they need to harm others or themselves.
Active Compassion: Engage in compassionate, empathic, and egoless actions that genuinely support the welfare and upliftment of others. This includes performing uncomfortable actions for the greater good, or for a troubled individual, such as intervening in a situation where someone is being harmed or appears to be harming others.
Align Actions with Higher Principles: Ensure that your actions, including the expression of patience, either verbal or non-verbal, align with pure, Dharmic, and ethical principles and contribute to the upliftment and betterment of others toward their peacefulness, health, safety, and happiness.
In essence, Amma’s message encourages us to live Selflessly, with compassion and love, ensuring that our actions and the patience we exhibit serve to uplift others and guide them toward righteousness, rather than inadvertently supporting the opposite.
What About Today’s Political Climate Around Corporate Behavior?
Given all the complex contemporary social issues, including corporate non-allyship and the dynamics of “woke” culture and hashtag activism, we can extrapolate based on the principles Amma advocates: compassion, selflessness, and a commitment to righteousness (Dharma).
Given Amma’s teachings on patience, Selfless service, and righteousness, we might consider these ideas as potentially based on her teachings:
Compassionate Activism: Amma might encourage activists and movements to approach their advocacy with compassion and understanding. While it’s important to hold corporations and institutions accountable for their actions, the methods and spirit of this accountability should be rooted in a desire for positive change and healing, rather than punishment or division. Much of today’s activism is drenched in hatred and blame, which can only further separate us and prevent resolution.
Constructive Engagement: All movements and organizations should focus on engaging with corporations and individuals constructively. This would involve dialogue, flexibility, and collaboration, aiming to educate and transform from within rather than alienating, provoking, or antagonizing. The goal would be to inspire genuine change, and the evolution of each individual’s spirit, not just compliance or superficial allyship.
Patience with Purpose: Patience does not mean passivity or acceptance of harm. Instead, patience should be strategic and purposeful, allowing time for understanding, growth, acceptance, one-mind, and meaningful change. It’s about creating space for learning, examination, Self-inquiry, group-inquiry, and transformation while maintaining a firm stance against unrighteousness (adharma).
Universal Compassion and Understanding: Seek an approach that seeks to understand the pressures and challenges faced by all parties, including corporations. This understanding can inform more nuanced and effective strategies for change that address root causes rather than symptoms. Amid all of this exploration and communication, all parties must remain calm, kind, and open to dialogue, and they must remain in the present moment, never lamenting or guilting others based in the past.
Empowerment through Selflessness: Activists and movements must realize that the most profound changes often come from Selfless intentions and pure actions. When events and intentions are motivated by a genuine desire to serve and uplift humanity, without attachment to personal identity or gain, they can resonate more deeply and lead to lasting transformation.
In all things, we seek to embody The Dharma (righteousness) to become as pure and profound as resilient flowers bowing to the effulgent Sun. The Shankara Oracle can help you achieve this.
Author: Shri Krishna Kalesh
Shri Krishna Kalesh is a mystic who guides people as a Spiritual Guide, Intuitive Reader, Dharma Teacher, and Coach. He has served thousands of people toward their healing and expansion - through personal sessions, mystical readings, courses, and retreats. His mission is to help others source their own boundless creative genius and joy, embody virtue, find clarity, and master their lives. Shri Krishna Kalesh created The Shankara Oracle as a divine portal to The Unlimited, All-Knowing, All-Conscious Universe.