Embracing the world By J.K. Perry - The Daily Iowan

A year ago, Norma Wienrich's 40-year-old daughter was in the throes of death, battling terminal brain and lymph-node cancer. A neighbor told Wienrich about a woman who shared her love by embracing others to heal their suffering: Mata Amritanandamayi - also called Amma. The world-renowned spiritual leader from India spreads her unconditional love throughout the world to those of all faiths by means of a darshan, which means "audience in the presence of a holy person." It is estimated Amma has held in her arms around 20 million people worldwide - which she does during tours to such cities as Chicago, Tokyo, and on Wednesday, Iowa Wesleyan College in Mount Pleasant.

Mata Amritanandamyi, 48, gives hugs to two of more than 700 people at the Iowa Wesleyan College Athletic Arena in Mount Pleasant Iowa, Wednesday afternoon. Better known as Amma, the Indian native has hugged an estimated 20 million people world-wide and has launched extensive charities ranging from hospitals to hospices. John Richard/The Daily Iowan

Speaking through her interpreter, Swami Amritswarup, Amma answered a question about why she embraces others: "It's like asking the river, 'Why do you flow?' " She added that there is a gap separating people that love can close, using the metaphor that a river exists between all people, and she tries to build a bridge of love to join them.

Amma's visit to Mount Pleasant filled the Athletics Arena with hundreds of believers who received numbered tokens to determine when they would kneel in front of her. All left their shoes at the door and entered the room, which was heavy with the smell of scented oil.

"I'm here because when you come in contact with Amma, the only thing coming from her is pure, unconditional love," said Jonathan Sabin, the owner of Vortex, 211 E. Washington St.

In a wooden chair adorned with carved elephants and a flower-patterned pad with strewn with petals, Amma sat waiting for those in the gymnasium to come to her and receive a hug - an embrace meant as a blessing. Lines of 60 or more people at a time waited patiently on their knees in front of the woman who said she gets her healing energy from "a universal consciousness."

"She's like a battery that is eternally connected to the power source," Amritswarup said.

Seth Bawcum, a 21-year-old resident of Detroit, sat in a chair waiting for his number to come up.

"When you're in her presence, you feel pure because she's pure," he said. "She's everybody's mother."

Amma embraced and spoke to each person in her native Malayalam tongue, rocking, comforting those who cried, and clasping their faces in her hands, sometimes showering rose petals upon them.

At the edges of the room beneath flowers made of paper, booths stood with a myriad of trinkets, books, jewelry, clothing - all for sale, with the proceeds benefiting charities.

Mata Amritanandamayi, whose name means Mother of Immortal Bliss, hails from Kerala, a state in southern India. At a very early age, her capacity for curing the suffering of others was evident.

The 49-year-old woman's selfless nature extended to those in the village she grew up in - giving herself to the poor, sick, and elderly.

"From the beginning, she was very spiritually inclined," said Toni Rubin, a Fairfield native who coordinated Amma's visit to Mount Pleasant.

In 2002, Amma received the Gandhi King Award for Nonviolence; she also has spoken in Geneva at the World Conference of Women's Religious and Spiritual Leaders.

Sarah Arens, a UI senior, was in attendance with her boyfriend, who suffers from cancer.

"It's just a very healing spirit that she offers," she said. "She brings a lot of peace and hope."

Amma has also provided Wienrich with a ray of hope for her terminally ill daughter.

Wienrich, an Algonquin, Ill., resident, also made the trek last year to see Amma in Mount Pleasant, bringing pictures of her daughter and explaining what was wrong. Amma blessed the pictures and water, which Wienrich brought back to her daughter.

Now, Wienrich's daughter lives on, despite the cancer.

"I witnessed her right at death's door and then come back," Wienrich said between sobs. "I think we all have to believe in something."

On Wednesday, a year later, she returned to Iowa Wesleyan College to see the woman she believes was instrumental in her daughter's continuing life.

E-mail DI reporter J.K. Perry at:

john-kenneth-perry@uiowa.edu