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Guru or "Great Soul"? Amma Embraces the World.

Mata Amritanandamayi at the "Westadthalle" / 1500 visitors at a meeting with the Indian activist for charities

Bensheim. Some are crying. As it may happen while meeting a saint. Others meditate on blankets and cushions and wait for their turn. Many hundreds of tickets have already been given out. Out of the arms of that small, unpretentious woman there seems to flow an invisible power that transmits itself within seconds to those who let themselves be pulled softly onto her shoulders. The queue is still long and more than a thousand people - many of them dressed in white and with wide open, expectant eyes-are still waiting for the great moment: Darshan with Amma. That means: Personal blessing and an embrace from a great soul of India.

When Mata Amritanandamayi, called 'Amma' (Mother), descends from the stage at the Weststadthalle you almost make out an aura of holiness or magic transcendence - here comes a tiny, barefoot lady who seems at the same time very determined and strong and yet very soft and motherly. "Sons" and "daughters" she calls the visitors that search for comfort and understanding in her arms. They seem like desperate children, who find after a long time of disorientation, the shelter of their mother.

In Amma's personality a religious spirituality and effective action are combined: In orphanages and homes for the poor, she practices selfless service. 50,000 women in need are given pensions. Schools, modern clinics and medical camps soothe the pain of the needy; in training camps and educational institutions, education and help for building self-reliance is offered. A large reservoir -"Amma has enough love for everybody," say those who hope to get the healing power of selfless service from being in her presence.(…)

"We are extremely happy for the light and warmth that Amma has brought to us in Bensheim" - Claus D. von der Fink, representing his charitable organisation, Nitya Seva. They managed to arrange a detour of Amma's European Tour via the "Bergstrasse" - after stops like Turin, Barcelona, London or Munich, a quite exotic place for the Indian world traveller. (…)

(…) The "Weststadthalle" was just big enough to organise Amma's Darshan (a meeting of both the soul and the body with a wise being or a saint), says Franziska Agosti form the "Amma Pressebüro". "We are glad, proud and content," said the mayor of the city of Bensheim "so it was never a question for us not to support Nitya Seva".(…)

(…) Amma is revered by many as a Guru or as a religious leader - and whoever sees her darshan will share this impression. However, Mata Amritanandamayi doesn't care much about any kind of labels or titles: "I dedicate myself to peace and love; compassion for others-that is the real service for God." Amma sees love as a universal religion. Because she is open for the belief of each individual, be it Christian, Jew or Muslim, she is strengthening his/her relationship with God and builds the basis for a peaceful coexistence. "Only those can give peace who have experienced it within themselves," and "Milk is always white - even if it comes from a brown or a black cow."

"Only with the attitude of a beginner can we find faith, patience and enthusiasm. And only when we reach inner peace, which originates just like war and conflicts in each one's own mind, can world peace be attained. If love is cultivated in one's own house, it will accompany us wherever we go," says Amma, who was rejected for a long time by her own family. Only because her work has been accepted and honoured on an international scale, has she been reunited with them.

Amma preaches, beyond the boundaries of ethical or national barriers, against greediness and injustice. "Friendship, forgiveness, openness and help are practices that can heal wounds." Those are the values that Amma puts into concrete action through the organisation, M.A. Math, of which she is the founder - with medical institutions, with earthquake relief and with construction of houses and schools all over India.

Amma's hugs symbolise love and motherliness and the spirit of selflessness and compassion. They are meant not only for the physical but to reach and transform the inside of human beings - considering 3000 embraces a day - a very strenuous job. After an hour of darshan the queue hasn't become much smaller. Some are crying out of happiness, others are smiling, relaxed, with their eyes closed. They look at the small, barefoot lady, who doesn't want to be a saint. "The mother" says: "If some still see me as an image of God, well, maybe then I am their own vision of God." Maybe.

Mata Amritanandamayi, born in 1953 in Kerala in South India to a poor fisher family, experiences poverty and suffering already in her early youth. She starts to express her musical talent at an early age and sings sacred songs that reveal her love for the Divine.

She engages herself in prayer and helps the needy in her neighbourhood - but her obvious and passionate physical closeness to others causes mistrust and she becomes an outcast in the traditional India.

She, who comes from a poor family, brings people who are even poorer food and clothing. Her family scolds her and banishes her. Her own brother tries to kill her.

Amma, who is very conscious about social injustice, is going against the caste rules that still exist today in India. Her charitable projects and her activities for non-violence bring her the honour of the title 'Mahatma' (which means great soul).

Being a fearless and radical speaker for the rights of women, Amma makes it possible for women in her institutions to become priests and to perform rituals in temples; this is revolutionary for India.

The charitable organisation M.A. Math has branches today around the whole world. In 1993 Amrita E.V. and Amrita-Vereinigung joined it. In the same year Amma was a guest speaker at the world congress of religions in Chicago, and in 1995 and 2000 she was a speaker at the UN in New York.

"Gods Love in a Human Form"

On October 7th Mata Amritanandamayi was honoured with the "Gandhi-King Award for Non-violence", which before her had been given only to Kofi Annan, Nelson Mandela and the primatologist Jane Goodall. Goodall, who presented the prize to Amma, honoured Amma as an embodiment of God's love in a human body.

© Bergsträßer Anzeiger - 06.11.2002