Mata Amritanandamayi Devi(माता अमृतानन्दमयी), also known as 'Amma', 'Ammachi' or 'Mother' (born September 27, 1953), was born Sudhamani in the small village of Parayakadavu, near Kollam, Kerala and is a humanitarian and a revered saint.
Sudhamani was born to a family of fisher folks. Her schooling ended when she was nine and she had to take care of the domestic work full-time. From these humble beginnings started the journey of a young fisher woman on the path to 'universal motherhood', which took her even to the United Nations General Assembly, where she addressed the world. Even her own mother (Damayanti) and father (Sugunanandan) now address their daughter as Amma. Other aliases are 'Her Holiness' and the 'Divine Mother'. She has also been called 'Beloved', a 'Mahatma', 'Mataji', and the 'embodiment of the primordial, supreme consciousness, the Paramatman'.
Rise to fame
Also known to her followers as 'Ammachi', she is a devotee of Krishna. Her devotees claim that she had many mystical experiences as a child. Since 1981, she has been teaching spiritual aspirants all over the world. She founded a worldwide organization, the Mata Amritanandamayi Mission Trust, which is engaged in many spiritual and charitable activities.
International events
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1993, Chicago: speech at the "Parliament of the World Religions " 100th Anniversary
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1995, New York: address at the Interfaith Celebrations at the 50th Anniversary of the UN.
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2000, New York: keynote address at the Millennium Peace Summit , UN General Assembly
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2002, Geneva: keynote address at the Global Peace Initiative of Women Religious & Spiritual Leaders at the UN
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2002, Geneva: "Gandhi-King Award for Non-Violence " from The World Movement for Non-Violence at UN headquarters
Recognition
In 1993, she was one of the three people who represented Hinduism at the Parliament of the World's Religions in Chicago. Amma was the keynote speaker at The Global Peace Initiative of Women Religious and Spiritual Leaders , at the UN in Geneva, Switzerland. The conference was held in October 2002, and was an initiative of The UN' Millennium World Peace Summit , at which Amma spoke in August 2000.
Amma was presented with the 2002 Gandhi-King Award for Non-Violence by The World Movement for Nonviolence at the UN General Assembly Hall (Palais Des Nations) in Geneva in recognition of her lifelong work in furthering the principles of non-violence. The three previous recipients of the award were Kofi Annan, Nelson Mandela, and primatologist Dr. Jane Goodall.
Inner circle
The first set of monastic disciples of Amritanandamayi were from Harippad , a town not very far from Vallikkavu , in the late 1980s. Today, they as well as some others of that era are senior swamis, looking after the ashram's multifarious activities. The first disciple to be initiated as a sanyasi was Swami Amritaswaroopananda , now known as Valiya (Big) Swami in ashram circles. Others are Ron Gotsegen , Dr. Prem Nair, Swami Amritatmananda and Swami Ramakrishnananda .
Darshans
Amma is known to the press as 'the hugging saint'. Amma offers warm hugs to everyone who approaches her and in India she has been known to individually hug over 50,000 people in a day, sitting sometimes for over 20 hours. Amma travels all around the world, and is said to have hugged at least 21 million people in the past 30 years.
Humanitarian Activities
Mata Amritanandamayi Math executes various charitable and humanitarian projects. A program to build 25,000 homes for the poor, women's shelters, pension disbursements for widows, orphanages, hospices, hospitals, and community aid centers, homes for the aged, eye clinics, speech therapy centers, are examples. Math run 'Mother's Kitchen' or 'vegetarian soup-kitchens' volunteers prepare and serve meals to the poor and needy in many US inner cities.
Recently, Mata Amritanandamayi Math announced a billion rupees to the victims of 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami.
Miracles
Many of her followers believe in her powers to perform miracles. For instance she mentioned in an interview given to The Week (Kottayam, Kerala, September 21, 2003, see references) that she is often asked by her devotees to perform miracles. She goes on to say that water was miraculously changed to panchamrutham (a sweet often prepared for Hindu religious ceremonies) in her presence and that her devotees were able to light lamps out of conches filled with water. Hearing of such miracles cause many people to become skeptical of her powers while it fuels more devotion in others.
Most famous is her often-used ability to perform Shaktipat ("energy touch") by hugging.
Criticism
Amritanandamayi, her followers and their activities have not been above criticism. Many writers and social activists (mainly rationalists and atheists) have expressed doubts about her divine powers. Her critics also allege that the ashram authorities counter criticism with threats. An example is the threats said to have been received by Paul Zacharia, a well known Malayalam writer, for writing a critical essay in a journal published from Kerala. An book by rationalist writer Sreeni Pattathanam (see references) was published in 1985 which talks of suspicious deaths reported from the precincts of her ashram which he says need investigation.
Political connections
The critics allege that the activities of Amritanandamayi ashram are slowly coming under the control of right wing Hindu outfits. Religion under Globalisation, an essay published in Economic and Political Weekly (March 27, 2004), allege that Amrithavarsham 50 (Amma's 50th Birthday celebrations) was hijacked by Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and affiliated organizations. While inaugurating her birthday celebrations on September 23, 2003, L.K. Advani, then Home Minister of India, said that the spiritual strength of a country was more important than its advances in the fields of agriculture, industry or knowledge.
Reference
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Amma: Healing the Heart of the World by Judith Cornell , (William Morrow & Company, ISBN 068817079X)
- Messages from Amma: In the Language of the Heart by Janine Canan (Ten Speed Press, ISBN 1587612143)
- Getting to Joy: A Western Householder's Spiritual Journey with Amma (Mata Amritanandamayi) by Karuna Poole (Shantini Center, ISBN 0964362929)
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Matha Amrithanandamayi, Divya Kathakalum Yatharthyavum (Matha Amrithanandamayi - Sacred Stories and Realities): Sreeni Pattathanam. (Mass Publications, Kollam, Kerala)
External links
Last updated: 05-16-2005 14:57:44
