Heritage Newspapers

"Hugging Saint" Brings Message of Love to Dearborn

By Kim Kovelle, Special Writer

Since she was a teenager in South India during the 1960s, Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi, or Ammachi as she is more commonly and affectionately called, has blessed over 21 million people around the world in the form of giant hugs.

On Wednesday, this "Hugging Saint," widely known for her maternal humanitarianism, charities and becoming the fourth recipient of the prestigious Gandhi-King Award for Non-violence, began embracing Michigan as part of her 2002 Winter Tour. Her four-day visit includes both a retreat and several public programs.

The retreat begins today and runs until Saturday at the Holiday Inn Fairlane, in Warrendale. Already it has sold out on-site accommodations, though off-site registration is still available before the 3 p.m. check-in.

For those who may not have the time or $215 retreat fee, Ammachi extends an open invitation to free public blessings. The final blessing will be held at the Holiday Inn on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. and will be preceded by an atmospheric "purification" ritual called Devi Bhava, or "the mood of the goddess."

During the ceremony, people are given tokens and queue up to see this hailed divine presence in an event that often lasts into the dawn hours because Ammachi stays until every person has been hugged.

Hopes in Hugging

In her 15th year of making stops throughout the United States — her fourth in Michigan — Ammachi, whose name translates to "beloved mother," has hugged millions.

"In a country like India where women have a real secondary sort of status, a single woman expressing that kind of love to people with an embrace is just so unorthodox," said Rob Sidon, Ammachi’s California-based spokesperson, who first encountered her in India in 1997. "Even holy women just don’t do that."

Traditionally, this blessing, called darshan, is attained simply through the sight of a holy person. Ammachi’s more tactile approach is a dramatic, though highly welcomed, break from such a custom.

Witness to this is Dearborn’s Mary Blake, who has been a volunteer and "devotee" of Ammachi since 1988.

"Her mood just isn’t that of a cute little chubby Indian lady who’s hugging people," Blake said of Ammachi, who untiringly hugs as many as 20,000 in one sitting. "You can just see she radiates a kind of divinity, and it’s hard to describe, but it's real."

Yet, Ammachi does not seek converts to the Hindu religion, and reaches out to people of all beliefs.

In her eyes, "All those religions are great and are all saying basically the same thing, which is pretty much ‘Love thy neighbor as thyself,’ " said Sidon.

Because Ammachi speaks only in her native Malayalam tongue, swamis or monks translate her often-metaphoric talks into English. However, the calming words she whispers into awaiting ears seem to transcend language barriers.

"She seems to have an intuitive sense that resonates with people wherever they’re at," added Sidon.

Growth of an embracer

From her birth on Sept. 27, 1953, in the small, poor village of Kerala, Ammachi seemed inherently endowed with an almost esoteric spiritual sense.

According to Judith Cornell’s 2000 biography, "Amma: Healing the Heart of the World," Ammachi’s birth caused almost no pain to her mother, a devout Indian woman named Damayanti. Born without so much as a whimper, the newborn gazed at her mother "with a penetrating gaze and a benevolent smile."

To the initial concern of Damayanti, Ammachi inexplicably was born with dark blue skin, which eventually changed to dark brown.

Ammachi apparently developed rapidly. Bypassing the typical stages of crawling and toddling, she simply stood up and began walking at 6 months.

By the age of 2, Ammachi further astounded her parents when she began to pray and sing to the Hindu deity Krishna. As she grew, so did her devotion.

"From childhood I had an intense love of the divine name," said Ammachi in "Amma." "I would repeat the Lord’s name incessantly with every breath and a constant flow of divine thoughts was kept in my mind irrespective of the place where I was or the work I was doing."

Though Ammachi magnetically attracted everyone from children to cows, her dark skin and mysteriously strong religious devotion garnered impatience and punishment from her parents, who took her out of school at age 9 to become a household servant.

During these days of endless chores, Ammachi nevertheless reached out to the poor, often further evoking her parents’ anger.

The book tells of one instance in which Ammachi met a starving family while out gathering scraps for cows: "Moved by their suffering, she returned home and took the one possession of value, a gold bangle belonging to her mother."

When her parents discovered the loss, her father, a fisherman, beat Ammachi severely with a palm.

However, through such outlets as sewing and her powerful devotion to Krishna, Ammachi peacefully overcame gossip, opposition and even murder attempts, attracting a following that blossomed as she did.

Mother of Multitudes

While the famous mark of Ammachi’s dedication and love has been the endless throngs that line up for an embrace, equally significant is her commitment to charity in India.

In 1986, Ammachi established Mata Amritanandamayi (M.A.) Math in her home village, which began as a charitable clinic for local residents needing basic medicine and first aid. Today, the organization has over 200 branches within India.

From taking over a floundering children’s orphanage in 1989 to inaugurating the 800-bed, state-of-the-art Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences (AIMS) in 1998, M.A. Math has led to the creation of three other hospitals, 35 schools, 25,000 concrete houses for the poor and pensions for over 50,000 widows and poor women.

In addition, services have been provided for battered women and senior citizens, and nearly 50,000 people are fed weekly.

"One thing that’s just miraculous about her is she inspires so many people, hundreds of thousands, to acts of pure selfless volunteerism," said Sidon, who was himself profoundly moved when first witnessing Ammachi over five year ago.

Ammachi has drawn top cardiologists to AIMS, as well as swamis and devotees worldwide. Volunteers or devotees are also popular in the US, particularly during retreats, where people participate in two hours of seva, a form of selfless service that includes simple tasks such as chopping up vegetables. Those who attend the public blessings can also sign up for seva at a designated table.

Some feel a stronger call and become swamis, such as Swami Daya Amrita, who is the spiritual leader at the ashram (a center that provides selfless service) in San Ramon, Calif.

Amrita met Ammachi in 1984 while he was a documentary filmmaker in India. At the suggestion of a relative, he decided to make her the subject of one of his films when a factory exposé fell through, and has followed her ever since.

"She’s like a mother who has so many children, so there's the quality about her, universal motherhood," said Amrita, who moved to the US in 1987 and was initiated as a swami in 1995.

Towards the end of her 2002 US tour, Ammachi now opens this maternal passion to those in Dearborn and everywhere — a fire that will not soon extinguish, says Sidon.

"She often compares herself to an incense stick that just sort of offers itself and sort of burns and spreads fragrance," he said. "She's just an offering; she just does what she does."

For information on Ammachi and her visit to Dearborn visit www.ammachi.org or call the San Ramon ashram at (510) 537-9417.