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'Hugging saint' embraces vendors too
Indian spiritual leader Mata Amritanandamayi, or Amma, hugs people in Cergy-Pontoise, outside Paris.
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Kai Ryssdal: You know how sometimes you just need a hug? Should you find yourself in New York City tomorrow with a couple of hours to spare, I think something can probably be arranged. For the past 22 years an Indian spiritual leader named Amma has been touring the country preaching love and compassion and the healing power of a good hug. New York is the eighth stop on her current tour. More than 8,000 people are expected to line up for a moment or two in her arms. And perhaps pick up some Amma souvenirs while they're at it. April Dembosky spent time at one of Amma's earlier stops.
APRIL DEMBOSKY: Going to an Amma hug-in is like entering a New Age theme park. There's constant music, groupies of all ages wearing saris and hemp clothing, and endless talk of love and peace. But rather than yoga or psychedelics, the spiritual high comes from the hugs.
LIZZY CORLEY: Every time I get a hug I just start crying hysterically.
Lizzy Corley is 14. Her parents have been bringing her to see Amma since she was two.
At 55 years old, Amma has hugged more than 28 million people since she gave her first hug in her native India, as a young girl. People regularly wait 10 hours to spend 10 seconds in her arms. They say her hugs promote enlightenment, calm anxieties, even cure illness.
While they wait, there is plenty visitors can do to keep themselves occupied. There's group meditation, live music, and English translations of her teachings on the sound system.
AMMA TRANSLATOR: If the wife and husband live in mutual understanding, the increasing sense of alienation between them will decrease.
And of course there's shopping. Amma's official boutique travels everywhere she does. It sells books, CDs, essential oils, sweatshirts, and mugs stamped with the Amma logo. There are bracelets blessed by Amma, necklaces worn by Amma. For the kids, the stuffed Amma doll comes in three sizes, a small for $45, the large, with legs, for $185.
Betsy Barnett works the cash register at the boutique. She explains that all of Amma's staff are volunteers. They pay for their own travel, food, and lodging during the tour. Some even donate extra cash, in addition to their time.
BETSY BARNETT: So say someone donates $10, it's really like $100 because there's no overhead, there's no administrative costs, there's no health insurance being paid.
But apparently all that money isn't lining the folds of Amma's sari. Signs at the boutique claim that 100 percent of net revenues go to her humanitarian projects in India. Her Web site says she sponsors orphanages, schools, hospitals for the poor, soup kitchens, disaster relief programs. But Amma's volunteers refuse to discuss how much money she makes.
CHRISTIAN BATTALIA: I don't think it's appropriate.
Christian Battalia was selling lemon bars at the Amma snack shack.
BATTALIA: I actually don't take care of any of the money issues at the end of the day.
All of her organizations are registered as nonprofit religious groups, so they're not required to file tax returns. But the San Jose Mercury News puts her total worth in the hundreds of millions. Traveling the world giving free hugs seems to be a recession-proof fundraising strategy. Stacy Palmer is the editor of the Chronicle of Philanthropy.
STACY PALMER: People feel a very strong affiliation to their religion and to their obligations to give, so while every other cause typically sees some kind of decline during a recession, religious groups are usually insulated from it.
And if followers run out of sandalwood incense, they can log on to Amma.org and buy more. Vijay Menon volunteers every Friday at Amma's U.S. headquarters in San Ramon, Calif. He packs and ships orders to devotees in the U.S., Europe, Asia, even Antarctica.
VIJAY MENON: I think people want to feel a sense of closeness. So when Amma's not here they like to buy products.
So when the chanting drifts away and the smell of rose petals fades from the air, people will still have their Amma shampoo and tote bags to hold near their heart.
In San Ramon, Calif., I'm April Dembosky for Marketplace.
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Congrats for this story. It is about time someone did some fair reporting on this cult. It is a cult plain and simple just like some others here said. Devotees get up in arms when you mention about the money grubbing vendors (which by the way no one has ever investigated where all of the money goes). But what about the suicides, the brainwashed children, the evil that this woman spreads in telling people to WORSHIP HER AS GOD. Yes whenever news reports that come out that are slightly critical devotees rush with all sorts of comments to defend the cult. By defending the cult you enable it. STOP ENABLING AND SUPPORTING FALSE PROPHETS AND CULT LEADERS.
I am an NPR listener, a Sociology and Pyschology Major with a disability, and, a Amma Devotee. It is a sad time when NPR feels the need to question someone in this day, in this time of war, flu pandemics, nuclear testing around the world, terrorists and wars in the name of terror, floods, earthquakes, and need we forget global warming and the legacy of Bush Junior, just to make a story! Shame on you. Amma, may have a traveling vendor shop, but at least the money is going to help, not hurt, others. Can you say that about vendors at other large events? Can they say that 100% of the $ is going to help the poor, the suicidal, the deaf, the widows, the orphans, build housing and more? No. Amma gave this country more $ than any other NGO when Hurricane Katrina and Rita hit, and, she is not an American. Shame on you. When the chips are down because our own country took it down, when we don't care enough to help our own, why pick on someone from outside our country does care? I think you owe this very sincere organization an apology. And, since when did NPR become a sensational news reporter?
I found these on the cult expose site about Amma the hugging saint. People educate yourselves. They way they present the hugging saint to the media and the way they operate otherwise is different. THEY TRY VERY HARD TO HIDE THE FACT THAT THIS IS A CULT. YES A CULT THAT WORSHIPS AMMA AS GOD:
YOU GET A HUG FROM A CULT LEADER?
SEE IN AMMAS OWN WORDS:
“AMMA IS AWARE OF YOUR MENTAL STATES ALL THE TIME- REGARDLESS OF
WHETHER YOU ARE PRAYING TO HER OR NOT AT THAT POINT.â€
“In principle, God and the Guru are the same. But we may say that the Guru is higher than God. The Guru’s grace is something unique. If the wants, he can remove the effect of God’s displeasure. But even God cannot remove the sin that comes from dishonouring the Guru .†-Amma (quoted from the ashram website)
†Devotees call this ‘Krishna,’ ‘Devi,’ …..according to their faith. Amma is none of these, and at the same time she is everything. But she is also beyond. The entire universe exists as a small bubble within her.†– Amma (Awaken, Children Vol. VII p. 107)
“The more you surrender to the disciplining of the Master, with an intense feeling of love in your heart, the more you will come to know that it is your own mind that is strange, and not the Masterâ€. -Amma (Awaken, Children Vol. VII p. 147)
“Unconditional obedience to Amma is what it means to really be with her.†– Amma (Awaken, Children Vol. VII p. 175)
“You are just a tiny bit of iron filling which is helplessly being attracted toward the all-powerful magnet of the Masters spiritual gloryâ€. -Amma (Awaken, Children Vol. VII p. 181)
“The Master chooses you in order to save you. The fact that he has chosen you should be considered as a gift, which you don’t actually deserve.†– Amma (Awaken Children, Vol VII p. 182)
“When the ego, through the Master’s grace, is perfectly under control, the disciple does everything in the Master’s name. The Master does everything through him, and he himself has no place in what he does.†-Amma (Awaken, Children Vol VII p. 202)
“The Master will bind you with his love and he will become the absolute center of your life. In the experience of divine, unconditional love you have nothing to say. You will just silenty shed tears of love and longing.†-Amma (Awaken, Children Vol. VII p. 217)
“It can never be an exaggeration then to state that the Master is everything to a true disciple, even more than God.†-Amma (Awaken, Children Vol, VII p. 217)
“All your concepts and your judgement belong to your mind and have nothing to do with the perfect Master who is beyond the mind.†-Amma (Awakenm Children, Vol VII p.. 222)
“A true Mahatma is God himself. He doesn’t need to go to any temple or place of worship, because the place where he dwells is a temple in itself.†-Amma (Awaken, Children Vol. VII p. 228)
“Attachment to the Guru’s form with a firm awareness of his omniscience and all-pervasive nature is the perfect attitude.†-Amma (Awaken, Children Part 1 p. 92)
“In front of a guru, a disciple should be like a servant in front of his master. The servant has no opinions of his own, only complete obedience to whatever the master says–no opinions at all. †-Amma (Awaken, Children Part 1 p. 169)
“Always remember that when mother says something it should not be taken lightly. It is the Supreme that makes her speak.. Whatever she says must come to pass either in the near or distant future because her words are not her own but are that of the Lord.†– Amma ( Awaken, Children Part 2 p. 96)
April Demboski in a limited way has certainly made an attempt to shed some light on Amma. An ordinary mind might find it impossible to fathom Amma's greatness, her depthless compassion, and her tirelss activities to better the lives of the underdogs of society.
A completely outrageous, unresearched bit of slanted reporting. Even a few minutes of research on the Web would have revealed that Amma runs a well-regarded University with two campuses in Coimbatore and Bangalore, and a well regarded state-of-the-art hospital (in Kerala, I think). They also have developed a free, hospital administration system which they are distributing as Open Source to poorer hospitals (such systems are very expensive). This is all from my memory; I am sure searching the Web would yield more.
BTW, I am not a follower of Amma, but can attest that I have never heard of her being associated with any scandal.
I have followed Ammachi for 12 years now and honestly, I have to say, I have never been approached by any person on Amma's staff asking for money. Ever.
Every year I buy several small gifts at the Amma shop to give my friends and family - they are quality products at good prices - I feel everybody wins, especially knowing the money goes to charities rather than for profit corporations or to build mansions somewhere. If you doubt this, go to India and see for yourself where and how Ammachi lives - it is very simple. I challenge anyone to find one person on the planet who works harder than Mata Amritanandamayi and doesn't draw a salary. I don't understand the fear and accusations against Amma and her work. Perhaps because she doesn't fit the "mold" of a typical saint - meaning she is a woman, dark skinned, and non- Christian - is threatening to some people. Amma would hug them anyway.
How interesting that US citizens be they reporters or commentors mostly focus on the numbers and dumb down their comments so we are able to understand the numerical implications. If this woman was a fake do you think that after 22 years we would still be discussing & reporting on her? Such a simple thing to think that a hug can have such a big impact on the world. Until you have experienced the hug don't knock it! Who did you hug today?
Wow! It amazes me to hear so many comments speaking of snide cynical reporting. I didn't get that at all. All I got was how many peoplethere are who need to ''create" a saint or god to worship and that they'll always be someone to fulfill this for $$ of course.
The real power of Amma comes in the form of personal experience when one spends time with her. However, that varies from person to person, and it's totally subjective and therefore given little importance by our Western scientific culture. So instead of talking about personal experience, let me mention a simple objective reality about Amma.
At each concluding program at each city that she visits while she is on tour, she sits without even as much as a bathroom break for 12 hours, sometimes as long as 16 hours, usually running from 8 pm until 8 or 9am the following morning, hugging one individual at a time until she has received everyone. The she and her group move on to the next city with only a day or day and a half allocated for travel. And in that next city she holds programs morning, afternoon and evening (and on into the night often till 2 or 3 or 4 am), concluding the visit to that city with another 12 to 16 hour marathon program. And so it goes for each city on the tour.
But these are short sessions compared to what she does in India. Hugging 50 thousand people over 3 or 4 days during sessions of up to 20 hours per day is common there. In Calicut she has hugged 1/2 million over a 7 day period.
Do you know of any other human being who could do the same? And not just once, but over and over, again and again, for 30 years?
I don't understand it. How can she do this and continue to remain fresh and alive, loving and compassionate throughout it all? It's a mystery that I have seen and continue to see over and over every time I spend time with her. It's a mystery I choose to accept at face value, something that my western scientific mind cannot explain but happens before my eyes nevertheless.
I'm an atheist and a skeptic, and view with something approaching contempt the people who go to stuff like this, but I am from Kerala and can attest to the fact the this lady's organization spends a LOT of money on charitable endeavors, especially affordable high-quality healthcare for the poor. I don't approve of people forking over their life savings to her, but I know that she uses it very well. At least part of it, which is more that can be said for most people. I find this article to be mean-spirited, intolerant and snide. Would the author adopt a similarly snide tone if she was reporting on the daily money-grubbing of the Catholic Church or the televangelists?
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