Her long Sanskrit name is Mata Amritanandamayi Devi, which translates into Mother of Immortal Bliss. Yet to millions around the world she is known simply as Amma (mother) or Ma (beloved mother). So approachable is she that many have come to realize in her a love that is archetypical of "everybody's mother," which is, of course, difficult to describe.
When she speaks at the United Nations, she comes invited as a preeminent spiritual leader. The news media has dubbed her the Mother of Compassion because of the extensive humanitarian charities she has launched. As such, her work is often compared to that of the late Mother Teresa of Calcutta. The press has also nicknamed her the Hugging Saint, because of her famous hug-blessings, which she has given tirelessly since she was a teenager. It is estimated that Amma has already hugged over twenty million times.
Around the world she is identified as a living saint. By observing Amma, it becomes obvious that she exhibits nothing of what we would call a personal life. Sleeping a couple of hours a day, she is the untiring servant of all people, dedicated to removing human suffering. Her outreach takes two principal forms, first, the darshan programs, where she reaches out on an individual basis via the hug, and second, her charities, designed to improve peoples' lives on a broader scale.
Darshan
Darshan is a Sanskrit term describing audience with a saint or sage. In the ancient tradition, darshan usually consisted merely of the sighting of a holy person. In a radical break with custom, Amma's darshan blessing emerged as a long, tender, healing embrace. Even as a young mystic, this was her practice in her native fishing village, located on the south coast of India along the Arabian Sea.
Amma makes herself available to anyone wishing to receive her darshan. There is never a charge at public programs, and no one is excluded. Hour after hour, day after day, year after year, she receives everyone in the same loving way, irrespective of religious faith or non-belief.
Over time, Amma's popularity has risen to the point where in India she has been known to hug over 18,000 in one day, sitting sometimes for over twenty hours. Nearly half of the year she can be found at her Kerala ashram. Ammachi first traveled to the U.S. and Europe in 1987. As word has spread, many thousands now see her every year. Ammachi regularly makes a summer U.S. Tour, followed by a European tour in the fall.
On a typical tour stop, Amma will lead a brief morning meditation followed by darshan late into the afternoon. In the evening she returns to give satsang (an inspired talk), followed by an approximate 90-minute session of bhajans (devotional songs) where she leads an unusually talented troupe of swamis (monks). At the conclusion of the music she will sit, hour after hour, well into the morning hours, giving darshan.
Those who want to receive her blessing are given a numbered token on a first-come, first-serve basis. During the course of the evening, live music is performed, while those gathered meditate, enjoy dinner, or visit the bookstore.
As the evening wears on the numbers dwindle, it is both humbling and inspiring to watch how Amma shows no sign of fatigue. She will not even pause until the last person has been received. All the while, she sustains a beaming smile while lovingly embracing one after another. With each hug and smile a spark of her own energy is passed along.
For more information on Amma's schedule and tours, you can click on the Mata Amritanandamayi Center website at amma.org.
Charitable Institutions
The second way Amma reaches out is via charitable institutions, administered under the aegis of the Mata Amritanandamayi Mission. Teaching by the example of her own life, Amma blends spiritual awareness with practical social service. "Compassion to the poor is our duty to God," she instructs. "If you do spiritual practice without performing selfless actions, it will be like building a house without any doors."
Accordingly, she has launched two distinct types of volunteer institutions: direct aid organizations, and educational facilities designed to help the underprivileged help themselves.
Direct aid organizations include a program to build 125,000 homes for the poor, women's shelters, pension disbursements for widows, orphanages, hospices, hospitals, and community aid centers, just to name a few. The most ambitious of these is the 800-bed hospital, the Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences (AIMS), which offers state-of-the-art medical treatment including open-heart surgery, neurosurgery, and organ transplants, free of charge to the needy. Concurrently, Amma's network of educational facilities is blossoming all over India. So far, it includes numerous elementary, secondary, vocational, and graduate schools, ranging from remote tribal tutelage to advanced business and technical certification.
Equally, Amma has encouraged Western devotees to serve selflessly in their own communities. This has resulted in the successful Mother's Kitchen program. Volunteers routinely prepare and serve delicious meals to the poor in many U.S. inner cities.
At a young age, Amma concluded that human suffering stemmed almost fully from a lack of love. Thereafter she resolved to be part of the solution, thus offering her entire life as an expression of divine love.
For More Information
For more information on Amma's charitable activities, you can click on the Mata Amritanandamayi Center website at amma.org or amritapuri.org.
Posted on April 12, 2006 04:26 PM