NYTimes article on Amma

[Guest guest]

With Each Warm Embrace, a Guru Shares Her Message

 

July 18, 2004

By COREY KILGANNON

 

The Indian guru known simply as Amma came to town

yesterday, dispensing her trademark embraces of comfort

from the floor of the Hammerstein Ballroom in Midtown

Manhattan.

 

 

Over the past three decades, Amma, 50, has been fighting

world suffering by tirelessly offering hugs, both to

strangers and to her legions of followers, who say she has

dispensed about 21 million comfort clenches worldwide.

 

 

Organizers say that total will grow by about 15,000 during

her New York appearance, which continues through tomorrow.

Amma hugs tirelessly, stopping only several hours a day for

sleep. Her hugs are free, and there are many takers.

 

 

Tokens were distributed yesterday to keep order, and a long

line of people inched their way up to the smiling woman

wearing a white robe. On a chair in front of the ballroom

stage, she sat under a long string of light bulbs and was

cooled by a pair of strong fans.

 

 

Behind her, a chorus sang spiritual songs accompanied by

traditional Indian instruments. By noon, there were more

than 1,000 shoeless followers inside, many dressed mostly

in robes or loose outfits of thin white cotton. Many sat on

the floor in meditative positions. There were also many

Indian immigrant families seeking hugs for their young

children. At the many vendor booths, Amma's likeness was

ubiquitous, on photographs, decals, pins, posters and

portraits.

 

 

A tireless and energetic hugger, Amma pulls her kneeling

supplicants firmly to her breast, holds them there in a

strong clench and often whispers reassuring words in her

native language, Malayalam. She then hands them small gifts

such as a Hershey's Kiss, a rose petal or an apple.

 

 

"When a child goes to the mother with a heavy heart, the

mother responds by hugging and consoling them," explained

Swami Rama Krishna, a 48-year-old Hindu monk who has served

for 27 years at Amma's ashram in southern India. The swami,

with his orange robe and long beard, beamed toward Amma and

said it was her hug that got him to forsake his career as a

21-year-old banker in India and follow her.

 

 

"After being hugged, people benefit in different ways," he

said. "For some, good things begin happening in their life,

and they find their problems going away, or others feel

strong enough to face their problems."

 

 

Amma, whose full name is Mata Amritanandamayi, or "Mother

of Immortal Bliss," was born in 1953 to a poor family. She

practiced hours of deep meditation as a child and early on

became dedicated to alleviating suffering by hugging and by

creating charities.

 

 

After receiving a hug, Beverly Haupt, 42, a medical

assistant from Middle Island, N.Y., stood in the ballroom

surrounded by Amma's robe-wearing followers. Ms. Haupt wore

jeans, a New York Yankees T-shirt, and a radiant glow on

her face rarely encountered in Midtown.

 

 

Ms. Haupt said she traveled from Long Island after hearing

from a friend about Amma, whom she described as "wonderful

and loving and very freeing."

 

 

"You can feel the energy," she said. "It's very soothing.

It makes you want to go out and be nice to everyone."

Before stepping out onto a hot, car-clogged 34th Street,

Mrs. Haupt added, "I guess in New York City, that can be

good or bad."

 

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/18/nyregion/18amma.html?ex=1091213390&ei=1&en=404\

4e809c3bb6731