LOS ANGELES: The great saint Ramana Maharshi had prophesied that Bhagavati Sri Sri Sri Vijayeswari Devi (known familiarly as Karunamayi, "compassionate one," or simply Amma, "Mother") would be someone who would uplift humanity.

Since her birth in 1958 on the auspicious holiday of Vijayadashami, the celebration of Divine Mother's victory over the forces of negativity, she has been revered as an incarnation of the Divine Mother. As a young woman, Karunanmayi spent a decade in a remote forest meditating and performing spiritual practice. Snakes and wild animals who lived there never harmed her, but would come and sit by her side.

Parrots and other talking birds picked up the words of her chanting; she speaks of walking through the jungle hearing them singing "Om shanti" and other mantras. Since that time, at the ashrams she founded in Penusila and Bangalore as well as in her travels to the West, she has devoted herself to bringing peace and God consciousness to the world.

Her charitable projects in India include feeding and caring for the poor, building an orphanage, a school for handicapped children, and this past spring the opening of a hospital in a village area that has never had access to medical care.

In her wider mission, she teaches meditation and how to find inner and outer peace by living a life based on love and spiritual values. Amma's TeachingThe true goal of life, she says, is to discover our divine nature and experience that bliss.

For the Divine Mother to come and dwell in our heart, we must have shanti, peace, which is the very essence of God. Human love is ephemeral, selfish and shortsighted in character, she says. Divine love is eternal, selfless, all-encompassing, and endows that peace. Sri Karunamayi wants us to feel only divine love for our fellow human beings and to selflessly serve all.

Service to man is service to God, and selfless service is an essential part of one's spiritual path.Above all, Sri Karunamayi wants her children to learn the language of God: absolute silence. Silence is not only physical but mental as well-the total absence of thought. She desires that we become as infants in the arms of the Mother, content with what she gives, without thought, ever established in the supreme consciousness.

World wide toursSince 1995, when devotees in Philadelphia brought her to the United States, Sri Karunamayi or Amma has been reaching an ever-growing number of spiritual seekers in the West through her public programs and meditation retreats.

Now on her eighth annual tour here, she is once again visiting major cities across the United States. Programs consist of group meditation, a discourse and individual blessings. In addition, this year for the first time, she is offering her divine teachings in the form of "Jnana Classes" that have been scheduled in selected cities throughout the U.S. Tour.

The classes will have morning and afternoon sessions, and will cover a range of topics of Amma's choice. Sri Karunamayi often advises us to listen to her words with an open heart, for only then can we understand her completely. As she discusses a particular topic, she pours Her own understanding and wisdom deep into the hearts of those who are listening.

Many have experienced new insights and understanding simply from sitting in Amma's presence. It is the devotees' spiritual hunger and thirst for true knowledge that keeps drawing her back to the West year after year.