An appeal for some Catholics

[Guest guest]

Published: July 4, 2007

 

 

An appeal for some Catholics

 

/Some find Indian guru better for their souls than the Church/

 

 

In June, the Indian guru Mata Amritanandamayi visited California,

touring the Bay Area and Los Angeles, and spending several days at a

center dedicated to her teachings in Castro Valley. She is called the

" Hugging Saint " because, said the June 18 /San Francisco Chronicle/, for

35 years she " has dedicated her life to giving people big hugs, "

embracing over 25 million people around the world.

 

By hugging, Amma ( " mother, " as she is called), teaches selflessness,

according to a web page dedicated to her. " If you want to learn about

serving the world selflessly, sit by Her side one evening as She

embraces 12,000 people, " it says. (Pronouns referring to Amma are

capitalized.) She teaches silence, beginning " Her birth itself " when

" She entered this world in silence. " She teaches " renunciation, but only

in the midst of a lifetime of refusing to consider Her own comfort. "

Amma's every breath bears " testament to Her inability to see any man,

woman or child as different from Her own Self. "

 

Amma has an appeal for some Catholics. Musician Prashant Michael Rao is

one of the former Catholics to take Amma as his guru. In California for

Amma's tour of the state, Rao, 56, shared with the /Chronicle/ his

reasons for exchanging Holy Mother Church for the Hugging Saint's

" Universal Motherhood. "

 

Rao, a native of Bangladesh, said as a Catholic he " used to go to church

every Sunday. I did everything that Catholics do until I went to

boarding school when I was 13, " he said, when he entered a Muslim school.

 

As a teenager, Rao was " influenced by the 1960s sort of philosophy that

had nothing to do with religion -- it was more to do with spirituality.

And so I dropped my Catholicism. I like the path of yoga and meditation. "

 

As a follower of Amma, Rao said his goal is to transcend the ego and the

body -- as have " saints " like Amma, because " they live from their

essence and know they are one with everything. " One has to know himself

completely, said Rao, by stopping " the chatter " and stopping " thinking. "

Masters like Amma " tell us that there is nothing to find. There is only

stuff to remove. There are clouds to remove so that you can see that the

sun is shining. There are doors to open so that you can see that it's

daylight outside. "

 

Rao is not alone. According to a 2001 Reuters article, Catholic nuns in

France went to see her. In 2004, Eric Perez, 33, a former Catholic, said

he found in Amma a unique spirituality. " She's the feminine face of

God, " he told the New York /Daily News/. " This is the true meaning of

religion. " Another former Catholic, Bill Gasko, 65, told the /Chronicle/

during Amma's 2005 visit to the Bay Area, Amma was " like Christ becoming

a reality. "

 

However, Amma does not claim such high honors for herself alone.

" Everyone is an avatar, " she said in 2005. " Everyone is self-realized.

Everyone is enlightened. My god is people. My god is creation. "

 

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