Mata Ammachi connects people to the divine

By S. Nathan

Mata Amritandandamayi, the mystic whose name means “mother of immortal bliss,” was in USA on a 10-city tour in July, embracing her followers and giving them Hershey's Kisses. The candy, she explained, “is a bit of love they can take with them.”

There were at least a thousand people waiting to receive a hug from the humble Indian woman they call mama. Mata Ammachi, as she is lovingly known, believes what she does is much more than a simple embrace. Followers are convinced it has the power to connect people to the divine. She is called the "hugging saint" by some of her followers.

The daughter of a poor fisherman in the lush southern Indian state of Kerala, Ammachi was born an outcast because her dark skin had a bluish tint and she was made a family slave. But she has become revered in her country and has raised millions for charity, setting up hundreds of hospitals, schools and orphanages across India. In the U.S. she opened a string of vegetarian soup kitchens for the poor.

Don Herbert, a 37-year-old “healer” and part-time electrical supply worker from Marion, Ind., said Ammachi has changed his life. “For four years I lived in a monastery searching for God, and only in Amma have I found it,” he said. “When you’re held in her lap, all your feelings and pain literally pour out. You start crying and just telling her your intimate secrets. In the end, you’re a new man.”

 “Your problems don’t go away, but all of a sudden you can cope with them. It gives me peace," said another devotee.

But what she is doing on her 10-city tour of the U.S. is nothing short of a hugging marathon. All day, the line keeps moving with hardly a break. Sometimes she will hug for 18 hours straight, her liaison said, and the night before she leaves, the session could last until 7 a.m. She then will head to Washington D.C. for more of the same.

Amazingly, Ammachi never tires, nor does her smile fade. Through a swami who interpreted her native Malayalam, she said, “When I see them happy, I cannot feel tired. Their happiness gives me strength. I need no recharging.”

Just then, she wrapped her arms around a family of four from India. They all left the stage smiling and blowing kisses to her.

“Of course I feel the terrible sadness of the world. But to alleviate the suffering, I need to smile,” she said. “When I take them into my arms and tell them not to be afraid, my smile reflects in them.”

Balan Nair is hosting the stay in his Oakbrook home. He met Ammachi in 1987. He said he grudgingly drove his wife to their Hindu temple after she heard a group wanted to visit. He sat in the back as Ammachi began to sing.

“I sat stunned and spellbound. I closed my eyes, and it was like something from heaven,” Nair said. “I was a businessman. Everything was rational. I hadn’t cried in 50 years. Amma made me able to cry.”