On the first morning of Amma’s program in San Ramon, two-year-old Lila appeared in front of Amma wearing a silver Hershey's Kiss costume... and to all eyes she certainly looked delectable. So it was small wonder that Amma sat the live confection on her lap and played with her. "Thank you, Amma," giggled the happy child.

Of course that was not all that she had meant to say. Amma calls Lila ‘Amma's 'chocolate baby'. Lila had been practicing for a while to tell Amma that she is a baby no more... she is 'Amma's chocolate big girl' now. But like many of us when we are in Amma's presence, all her practiced lines seemed to go right out of her head when she was in Amma’s lap. All she could manage was a big happy thank you!

Lila is no ordinary girl, mind you. She loves to do seva (selfless service). One of the sevas she likes to do is to prepare petals for worship alongside her mother. She also picks out flowers for prayer garlands, which her mother then threads together. She does some 'Ma-Om' meditation with her parents and one of her favorite things to do is dance to devotional music. With the inspiration that Amma gives, Lila, a child like any other, has been raised from the ordinary mundane level to an extraordinary level of thought and action.

It is beautiful to see how Amma affects and motivates those around her, even small children like Lila. With the lucid example of her own actions, Amma reaches across all boundaries of race, color and religion and unifies the world in the spirit of selfless service.

There are many such Amma babies around the world. What draws these children to Amma at such a young age? Perhaps some of their attraction is because of their past karma and some of it due to their inherent innocence. It is said that since the inner vasanas (latent tendencies) are not fully developed in children, they are closer to God and hence more open to Godliness in human form.

But perhaps more tangible than all of this is the way Amma touches their hearts with her endearing love. For her, each child is a complete individual, to be treated with complete attention and respect; hence their grubbiest scribble earns as full of her attention as a masterful piece of art; two weeds put together by their little hands is warmly embraced as the most bountiful bouquet. These seemingly ordinary children appear to bloom in Amma’s presence, and their innate good tendencies surface with her association.