Chaim Acherim, An Israeli New Age magazine reporter visits Amma in Amritapuri. 2002

THY LAP IS MY REFUGE

By Salyit Achi-Miriam

Between the Arabian Sea and the natural backwaters of the state of Kerala in southern India, surrounded by coconut plantations, stands the Ashram of Mata Amritanandamayi. After a long and exhausting journey, on a typical hot and humid day, my daughters (6 and 4 years old), my partner and I arrived at the fisherman’s village where the ashram of the Guru called Ammachi (Mother) is located. She is also known as the “Embracing Mother”. After a guided tour by one of her American Devotees, we could find our way around the large Ashram consisting of many buildings, flats, a grocery store, an Ayeurvedic Clinic, gift shops, a bank and even a children’s library. This is one of the few ashrams where children can feel comfortable. Here they are respected, loved and hugged. We purchased coloring books describing Amma’s life, took the elevator to our modest room on the eleventh floor and started to read about Amma’s life and work.

KRISHNA'S LAUNDERER

Sudhamani – Pure jewel was born in 1953 to a poor fisherman’s family. It has been said that she was born smiling, with a dark blue complexion like Krishna’s. At a young age she showed divine qualities and amazed the people around her with her divine nature. As a child she totally devoted herself to God in the form of Krishna. She was writing devotional songs filled with longing for Krishna, and was singing them all over the village. At the age of nine, due to her mother’s illness, she had to leave school in order to take care of her entire family, including seven brothers and sisters. In her biography it is said that when Amma was washing her family’s clothes, she imagined that they were Krishna’s silk clothes, and when she was cooking for her family, she felt as if she was Krishna’s mother cooking for Him. Her family did not always understand her “divine moods”, which included deep meditation and states of singing and dancing in ecstasy at the seashore. Sudhamani was told as a child that, “a woman should keep so quite that even the walls cannot hear her”. Since Amma was showing such outward signs of devotion, she looked very odd. People in her village had no understanding of spirituality.

Sudhamani, exposed to all the misery and poverty around her, concluded that the source of suffering is lack of love. She decided to dedicate her life as an expression of divine love. The popular legend is that Sudhamani fed hundred’s of people from a small pot which never ran out of food, and in the period when the fisherman of the village did not catch any fish, Sudhamani danced in a very special way at the sea shore and suddenly thousands of fish swam right to the fisherman’s nets.

As a teenager she became obsessed with the Devi (The Universal Mother), and showed her love by kissing the ground, and embracing the trees. She used to meditate at night at the seashore and fall into deep trances, which lasted many days.  Finally the Divine Mother appeared in front of her and merged within her. Since then, Amma is in a constant state of inner bliss.

Slowly the rumor among the villagers spread that she was radiating an extraordinary love. The locals started to look upon her as a holy saint. They came to ask for her advice, consolation, guidance and healing. A well-known story describes how Ammachi in front of hundreds of devotees, cured the wounds of a leper by licking out the pus from his wounds with her tongue.

In 1978 a small group of youngsters came to live with Ammachi, and become her first disciples. They named her Mata Amritanandamayi. They built a small hut beside the family house, and in 1981 the official ashram was founded….She started to teach her disciples Karma Yoga - Selfless Service – as an integrated part of their spiritual practice.

ON THE WAY TO DEVOTION

On the way to meet Amma my two daughters had a dispute. Tamara (4) says, “I believe in everything”, and Avishag (6) says that there is no such a thing as a holy person.  Avishag, the skeptic was asking me, “Is it for real? She really saw Krishna as Moses saw the Lord?”

Ammachi teaches Love, Selfless Service, Unconditional Love, Universal Love, all-embracing Love, which is called Bhakti Yoga. Amma says, “ The way of devotion is best suited for Westerners because society in the West is based on the intellect. Their minds is very developed, but their hearts are dry”.

Amma is especially well known for her Darshan during which she embraces her devotees coming from all over the world. Darshan is to see and experience the presence of a holy person.

Amma’s teachings are primarily given without words, through the experience of being in her presence. In India it is not accepted that a woman embrace and kiss strange people. Amma broke this tradition by embracing all devotees regardless of whether they are ill or healthy, poor or rich, believers or skeptics, without difference between casts, religion or faith. During Darshan she whispers words of motherly love and finishes by feeding sweets.

The Darshans sometimes last twelve or more hours continuously. It is said that one night she hugged 15,000 people It is estimated that she has hugged twenty million people all over the world.

WAITING TO BE EMBRACED

Over the next two days, hundreds of her devotees are expected to arrive at the ashram. We are all waiting for Amma’s return from her South Indian tour. In the meantime we try joining some of the daily routine of the ashram.

We skip the Archana (reading of the thousand names of the divine mother) at 4:50 in the morning, but we do not miss the meditation and the singing of Bhajans (Bhajans – devotional songs) and of course we come on time to the meals. During one of the Bhajans, Tamara approaches the huge photo of Amma in the Auditorium mumbling “Amma, Amma “. Avishag declares that she is not leaving the ashram until she gets Amma’s hug. Devotees staying at the ashram are requested to sign up for karma yoga, but I decide that taking care of my two daughters is enough karma yoga for me. 

I look around at the hundreds of westerners, especially Germans, Americans, French and Italian and most of the women are wearing white saris and flower shaped nose rings. They look to me like they are dressed for a carnival, but still I do not feel a typical ‘holy atmosphere’ – real or fake. On the contrary, there is a light atmosphere. I notice that there are almost no Israelis. In fact there are less than ten Israelis among the hundreds of westerners in the ashram. At first thought it is surprising, taking into consideration the large number of Israelis we met everywhere in India. After a short inquiry, I find out that Amma’s right hand person for tour organizing outside the ashram is Jani – originally from Israel. Jani (Liora from Kibbutz Dan) tells us, “I’ve been with Amma for fourteen years. Before I met her, I traveled around the world, got married in the United States and lived in prosperity. I had a large house with ten rooms and three cars. I met Amma during her first trip to the west in 1987 and have been with her ever since. I decided not to waste my life. To be in the presence of an Avatar (enlightened person), is grace. I had seen a lot of the world, moving from place to place, and when I met Amma I understood that the journey should be taken inside and not outside. It matters not where I am, but what I am doing each and every moment.”

Isn’t there a danger that worshipping Amma will cause one to forget the real goal?

… Amma is a walking example of how one should live, how it is possible to live. People are ready to stand in line for long hours, just to see her for a moment because she is our mirror our inspiration. Tomorrow Amma is coming. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to be with an enlightened person. Stay close to her, watch her, experience her, feel her….”.

How do you explain the small number of Israelis at the Ashram?

“We are call the Israelis  - The Boat People – they arrive in boats through the Back waters, look around and run away. The Israelis like ‘Scoops”; it is difficult for them to commit. They have big egos and dislike authority. But Amma has one serious Israeli disciple. Her name is Venitha. Talk to her.”

The next day there is a special feeling in the air – Amma is expected to arrive. In the afternoon while we’re sitting and enjoying a cool drink, there is a sudden hysterical rush of devotees towards Amma’s house. Without thinking twice I join in, squeezing among hundreds of people to “catch a good spot” to see Amma. The women are mostly westerners over 40, bursting into tears and mumbling “Amma, Amma”. Some of them open their arms like the teenagers in a rock concert; others are holding their palms together to their chests in “Namaste” gesture. Suddenly Amma, a short mildly overweight woman with a shy smile, steps out from her car, waives with both hands and disappears at the top of her house staircase. 

THE MEETING

The next day all the devotees gather in the large hall of the temple, sit in meditation, and wait for Amma to come. When she enters the temple, everyone stands in two lines silently allowing Amma to pass between. Ammachi passes with a radiant smile on her face trying to touch all the hands reaching for her. She sits on a low podium, and with the assistance of a translator (from Malayalam into English), starts the morning Satsang. She speaks about       worshiping God, the role of the Guru, our divine nature, and life in the ashram. I am surprised by how human and earthy she is. She is scratching and asks the fan to be pointed towards her. She is full of vitality and humor. Amma starts to answer the questions of the devotees. The first question is about miracles. Amma answers, “Nobody can create something that doesn’t already exist. We should not get attached to miracles, we should develop equanimity and react evenly to all situations. To see lights during meditation, to feel waves of energy, all these are changing things. We should let the experience come and go.” She gets a second question, reads it and starts to laugh loudly. The question is, “When is it the right time to start Ashram life?” – Amma answers: “We wish first to finish to eat all the chocolate, get married twice, and eat ice cream. We want to fulfill all our desires. However the nature of earthly desires is that the more you try to satisfy them, the more they grow. They are never satisfied. Whenever you feel that this is the time, just start, you can always leave if you wish.”

The next question is, “Sometimes Amma does not give us enough attention and we feel neglected.” Amma answers, “Although you think that Amma has only two hands and two eyes, it is not true, she has thousands of eyes, and sees everyone in her own way.” There’s laughter and hand clapping in the temple.

Suddenly and spontaneously Amma is signaling to her bramacharinies to start the darshan. The audience organizes immediately into two lines, men and women separate. When I approach the line assistants, I’m asked to take off sharp hair clips, eyeglasses or any other object that might hurt Amma. Huge fans are operating to dry the sweat on our foreheads.  I kneel down in front of Amma, an assistant pushes my head into Amma’s warm lap and she embraces me. She whispers something in my ear that I cannot understand and hands me a small pack of ash and a candy. The ash is to remind us from where we came from and where we are going. It can be applied on the forehead in case of fever or on the tongue as a medicine. I have to get up and free my place for the next person. It was too quick for me to get excited or feel anything. Avishag enjoys it, but Tamara gets scarred and decides to give it up. Among the male audience, I notice a red haired man who seems to be Israeli. I saw him the previously meditating for long times, immersed in prayer. I approach him and ask if we could talk. We leave the ashram for the fishing village situated nearby and sit on a rock, looking at the calm sea in front of us.

Eitan (from Raanana): “Amma gives much love. I feel her energy in my body, my heart. I can really physically feel it.”

Did you have Darshan?

Eitan: “The question of the western devotee who felt neglected annoyed me. My opinion is that the Westerners are missing the whole point. What do they want from Amma? Did they come to get her attention? Let them grow up…. For Indians an Avatar is a natural thing and the goal is totally obvious. Amma takes ordinary people and helps them gain faith in God, but the westerners see Amma only as a human incarnation and not beyond that. They are coming with all their childish complexes and needy problems. They are come to get a hug, but do not see beyond that. They love Amma for sure, but they forget to love God. The Westerners are coming to take. The Indians know also to give.”

In the evening everybody is gathering to sing devotional songs (Bhajans) with Amma. She is with a group of musicians, including someone playing the harmonium. Amma sings, waving her arms high up in the air with passion and devotion calling the names of the gods, and we too, without knowing the words, are joining in the prayer.

THE WAY OF GIVING

When one reads the long list of charitable activities that Amma is involved with, it seems that she has superhuman powers. She not only is an example of compassion and selfless service but also awakens people from all around the world to dedicate their time and sources to charitable activities as a key to a happy and meaningful life.

Her organization distributed 25,000 homes to the needy – free to widows, elderly and handicapped people from all   over India, and founded a monthly pension fund for 50,000 widows. She is distributing monthly 50,000 free meals through her ashrams and volunteers all over India.

She founded medical centers where thousands of people are getting free assistance and medication, homes for the elderly, orphanages, a school for mentally retarded children, a University for Computer science, a medical school, schools for engineering and science and also institutes for professional training, elementary schools for tribal children, mobile medical clinics, and schools for traditional Indian arts and music. This is only a partial list of her activities. These are funded from donations by selling articles, such as books, cassettes, videos, soap, incense and all kinds of gifts, among them the little Amma dolls. In each of the little dolls is a real hair from Amma’s head.

In 1987 Amma started traveling all over the world, giving darshan to hundred of thousands of people in the United States, Europe, Australia, Japan, Arab Countries, Russia and more.

In 1993 Amma was given the Hindu of the year award and elected one of three representative presidents of the Hindu Religion in the World Parliament of Religions in Chicago.

She was invited to the United Nations assembly in 1995, and in the year 2000 she delivered an unforgettable speech atj the World Religions Peace Summit, commemorating 50 years of the United Nations.

Today Amma has over 50 ashrams all over India and the world.

‘FOLLOW YOUR INTUITION’

In the evening I meet Venitha, an Israeli girl of 24 years who’s lived in the ashram for one year. She is short and wearing a white sari; she is completely sympathetic with Amma, watching deeply and passionately she is shy and intelligent, really devoted.

I have difficulty with the contrast between the loving warmth and modesty of Amma and the luxury of the Auditorium with the huge crystal chandelier and her pictures all over.

Venitha: “You have to stop looking at the outside. Your inside feels good, there is peace and silence, but when you are looking outside, it makes no sense .The pictures will not make sense to the logical mind. You have to stop thinking - start to feel, you did not arrive here by mistake. Amma is calling her children. Take a picture of Amma, even from a newspaper, close your eyes and call out her name “Amma, Amma” she will lead you. Amma is an Avatar (Incarnation of God) like Jesus, like Buddha.”

But if the goal is to love God how is it that at the end we love Amma?

Venitha:  “ There were masters such as Ramakrishna, that chose to teach people who were already on the path of spirituality. Amma is teaching simple people like fishermen and widows. They simply love Amma, she helps them, and through their love for her they come to love God.”

But still …

Venitha: “Do not talk, do not think, hush…. just feel. Follow your intuition.”

What made you stay in the ashram?

Venitha: “Everyone has his own story, mine is not important. I can just tell you that when I first heard

Amma singing bhajans...” suddenly her eyes fill with tears, she joins her hands to her chest in a Namaste gesture and goes away.

The next day, the official public Darshan takes place. We decide to receive what is called a family Darshan. This time the line is more organized. Everyone receives a token. The handicapped, families, those having their first darshan or people leaving the ashram the same day are received first. We belong to two categories, family and leaving today. We are standing in line by the stage where Amma is giving Darshan. Under the stage, in the t

Temple hall, the Bramacharies are playing and singing devotional songs to Amma. Beside them, the devotees are sitting in meditation waiting their turn for Darshan. Our Darshan is long and exciting. Amma showers flowers on our heads, feeds us sweets called ladus, and embraces us, kissing the girls.  We leave in a heavenly feeling.

My partner surprises us with an Amma necklace for the girls and me. He says, “This so that you will forever remember this experience.” I can understand everyone who wishes to enjoy it again and again.

We are leaving the ashram and continuing our journey through India. In many of the places we visit, especially in southern India, we see Amma’s pictures, stickers and posters announcing her arrival at the ashrams and institutions in her name. During our long journeys, Avishag is listening to the Bhajan cassettes playing on her Walkman. Of those we meet, it is only the Israelis whom haven’t heard about her.

I would have been happy to think that the reason for this is the South India location of the Ashram, which is not popular among the Israeli tourists, and not the unwillingness to be at a so called, “more difficult environment”  - which can be the case with the “Looking for freedom” tourists. Spirituality packed in the intellectual wrapping of knowledge and the need for self benefit, tempt us sometimes more than true faith, love and compassion, giving without any expectation.

AMMA’S MESSAGE

“May the beauty and miracle of Love and Selfless Service never disappear from the Earth. The World

should know that a life inspired by LOVE AND SERVICE TO HUMANITY is possible.”