Satsang by Sri Shivaramakrishnan, a Resident of Amritapuri Ashram

I became curious and immediately searched and found a research paper by the University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Austria "Frontiers of Psychology." The article revealed that cows become happy when they hear human voices in person. This is because cows like to be spoken to and petted; interestingly, they don’t respond to an artificial or a recorded voice. The parameters checked to confirm the cow's state of mind and its mood were its heart rate, body language, and the position of its ears. The research also showed that cows yield more milk when they hear music because it activates the production of oxytocin - a hormone triggering milk production.

Dr. Adrian North and Dr. Liam Mechenzie say that when cows hear the music of Beethoven, they yield more milk, but when they hear Rock & Roll songs they do not yield more.

This is why I believe Amma may have asked Niranjan, "Today what did you teach the calf Shyamakutti?"

And it is important to note that plants support human and animal life by producing oxygen. Research indicates that a tree, on average, gives oxygen worth Rs.20 lakhs (~ $24,000) during its lifetime. So we would do well to worship God in every aspect of Creation in the same way Amma does.

Amma worships all objects she handles, and she even shows reverence to the wooden steps while she is climbing to the stage. Amma reflects the ways of our ancestors who introduced a Subhashitham (Sanskrit maxim) eulogizing the plant kingdom - to quote "chayam…..sat purushah eva,” which means "the trees give shade to others while bearing the heat of scorching sun, its fruits are enjoyed by others not by them, and trees are like Mahatmas (like Amma) who live for the sake of others".

Research has proven that if we inflict pain on plants by cutting them or even make them hungry by not watering the plant, causing them to suffer, the plants cry in despair. Frantisek Baluska of University of Bonn, Germany informed Joanna Klein of the New York Times that plant sensitivity can be detected through use of ultrasound. Besides, Plant Scientist, Prof. Itzhak Khait from Tel Aviv, Israel, used ultrasound technique and found that tomato and tobacco plants, when their stems were cut or were starved (when not watered), sent a vibration of pain and distress up to a certain distance from the plant.

Research contains many such examples. We can see how mantra vibrations change the texture of water, a practice which Amma uses while doing Bhava Darshan Pooja to transmit her spiritual energy into the water molecules. Our ancient vedic wisdom has affirmed this practice in Thaithriya Samhita (an ancient Vedic scripture) written in 600 BC, when the rishis (ancient sages) worshiped nature, including plants, as part of God. To quote Sri Rudram, a sacred hymn dedicated to Lord Shiva:

vrukshanam pathaye namo
vrukshebhyo harikesebhya
pasoonampathaye namo
Vanaanaam patheynamo
namo vanyayacha kashyayacha
nama parnyaayacha Parna sadyayacha
oushadeenam pathaye namo

Meaning:

I salute the Lord of all trees
salutations to all trees tufted with green leaves
I salute the lord of forest
salute lord in the form of trees in the forest and creepers in the shaded areas
salute who is in green leaves and dried ones
I salute you who is in the form of medicinal plants

In Chamakam, many plants which yield grains, paddy, barley, blackgram, green gram, wheat, Bengal gram, millet, etc., are reverently mentioned as desirable crops. There are hundreds of mantras for worshiping trees – for example, the Peepal tree mantra:

Moolatho brahma roopaya,
madhyatho visnu roopine,
Agratha Shiva roopaya,
vruksha rajaya the nama

Meaning:

Salutations to the king of trees,
Whose roots are Lord Brahma,
Whose stem is Lord Vishnu,
And whose crown is Lord Shiva

That is probably why Amma started thaineetam, a new tradition where youth receive the gift of a sapling for Vishu (in lieu of or in addition to the more traditional gift of money), to promote tree planting and ecological restoration for future generations. By planting trees, we ensure that human beings can get enough oxygen, which is produced by the plant kingdom. Plants breathe in carbon dioxide that we exhale, they breathe out oxygen that we inhale.

Amma says the core teaching of Sanatana Dharma is to see divinity in everything and to worship all beings, sentient and insentient. May we each strive to achieve this.

Sri Sivaramakrishnan, Amritapuri