Embracing spirituality

STEVE MAYNARD; The News Tribune They came for a hug and left with a kiss. About 1,000 people turned out Thursday morning in Seattle to be embraced by Amma, the "hugging saint" from South India. One by one, Amma held her devotees to her right shoulder, blessed them with flower petals and gave them a Hershey's chocolate kiss.

Amma kicked off a 10-city U.S. tour that continues with a weekend retreat and a free program Sunday night at Pacific Lutheran University that will attract as many as 2,000 people.

Mia Song wiped away tears with a tissue after Amma, which means mother, hugged her for about a half-minute.

"I just felt so much love from her - unconditional love," said Song, 34, of Kenmore.

Song listens to Amma's Indian music tapes, especially since being in car accident two months ago. "She's really helped me a lot," said Song, regaining her composure after visiting Amma for the second year in a row in the Seattle area. "I'm still very emotional." Like many, she brought a photo of relatives to be blessed by Amma's touch.

Draped in a white sari, Amma - whose actual name is Mata Amritanandamayi - sat in a gold-colored, upholstered chair as people knelt and approached her on a blue-carpeted runway in the South Lake Union Armory.

She wrapped her arms around adults and children, and tapped their foreheads and chins. Often, she whispered in their ears or leaned back and conversed, usually in her native language of Malayalam.

She wore a gold nose ring. A yellow-and-red spot of sandalwood paste and spice on her forehead designated the "third eye of the consciousness."

Amma or Ammachi, meaning revered mother, has visited the Seattle area every year since 1987. A three-day retreat at PLU's Olson Auditorium will conclude just prior to Sunday night's public program ending Amma's first visit to Tacoma.

Karuna Poole, a Seattle volunteer who is helping coordinate Amma's Puget Sound visit, said she expects 2,000 people for Sunday night's free program at PLU, which starts at 6:30 p.m. with meditations and a talk. The hugging begins at 8 p.m. and will go late into the night, when the last person gets embraced, Poole said.

Amma was born into the Hindu faith in 1953. She was the daughter of a poor fisherman in Kerala in South India. She helped others at an early age and began her rituals of hugging people in her late teens. Despite being condemned for her unconventional behavior - particularly for a woman in India - she persisted.

Poole said Amma, 49, doesn't consider herself to represent any religion. She is estimated to have hugged people more than 21 million times.

"What she's doing is planting a spiritual seed and nurturing that in every single person she comes in contact with," said Jeff Howe, 48, a registered nurse who lives in Tacoma. "She doesn't have any agenda besides that."

Howe first attended an Amma event in 1988 at a private home near Seattle's University District. Since then, he's never missed Amma's annual visit to the Seattle area.

Amma also has gained fame for her humanitarian work.

That includes soup kitchen projects to feed needy people in the United States, but mostly charity work in India. There, her organizations have built an 800-bed hospital and constructed 25,000 homes for widows and others in need. She also funded reconstruction of three villages demolished in the 2001 Gujarat earthquake. Her organizations have built grade schools, vocational schools and colleges, Poole said.

The money comes from admission charged to attend Amma's retreats and sales of her merchandise. The edges of the South Lake Union Armory were lined with tables containing Amma's CDs (she writes music and sings), DVDs, videos, books, pictures, dolls, therapeutic oils, calendars, and jewelry. Prices ranged from $4 for a 4-by-6 inch photo of Amma to more than $1,000 for a gold-beaded mala worn by Amma.

Last fall at the United Nations in Geneva, Amma received the Gandhi-King Award for Non-Violence. Previous recipients included U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan and former South African President Nelson Mandela. Mark Johnson of Seattle was among 1,000 people who turned out to see Amma on Thursday. He's been doing so since 1988. After embracing Amma, he said, "It's like the whole Grand Canyon is filled with love."

Amma explained her purpose to a reporter while continuing to hug her devotees.

"They experience a positive change in themselves and they learn how to be content with themselves," her translator, Swami Amrit quoted her as saying.

"They learn how to love people and a deeper meaning of love," Amma said. "They also learn how to forget the past and live in the present and be happy with what they have gotten."

All with a hug.

Steve Maynard: 253-597-8647
steve.maynard@mail.tribnet.com