Highlights of Sivaratri Celebrations with Amma at Amritapuri Ashram - February 18, 2023

Śivarātri comes to us bearing the message of devotion, knowledge, spiritual austerity and dispassion.
Śivarātri is a festival of ritual fasting and spiritual austerity

The main components of the Śivarātri observance are fasting and maintaining an all-night vigil.

Fasting is called upavāsa—which literally means “living close to.” What is the closest to us? It is the ātmā—our True Self, God.

Thus, true upavāsa is living with all five senses and the mind close to God.

It is restraining the mind and the five senses, which are constantly flowing outward to the objects of the material world, and anchoring them firmly to the ultimate goal

God is always awake and present within us.

Our external eyes, which perceive and experience the world outside, are deep asleep in the darkness of ignorance.

To awaken from this sleep of ignorance, these eyes have to open. But they are always tightly closed.

This is the significance of keeping the all-night vigil during Śivarātri.

#MataAmritanandamayiDevi #Amrita #Amma

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