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Mata Amritanandamayi

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Mata Amritanandamayi

Mata Amritanandamayi Devi(माता अमृतानन्‍दमयी), also known as 'Amma', 'Ammachi' or 'Mother' (born September 27, 1953), was born Sudhamani in the small village of Parayakadavu, near Kollam, Kerala and is a revered saint and humanitarian.

She was born to a family of fisher folks. Her schooling ended when she was nine and she had to take care of the domestic work full-time. From these humble beginnings started the journey of a young fisher woman on the path of 'universal motherhood', which took her even to the United Nations General Assembly, where she addressed the world. Even her own mother (Damayanti) and father (Sugunanandan) now address their daughter as Amma. Other aliases are 'Her Holiness' and the 'Divine Mother'. She has also been called 'Beloved', a 'Mahatma', 'Mataji', and the 'embodiment of the primordial, supreme consciousness, the Paramatman'.

Rise to fame

Also known to her followers as 'Ammachi', she is a devotee of Krishna. Her devotees claim that she had many mystical experiences as a child. Since 1981, she has been teaching spiritual aspirants all over the world. She founded a worldwide organization, the Mata Amritanandamayi Mission Trust, which is engaged in many spiritual and charitable activities.

Inner circle

The first set of monastic disciples of Amritanandamayi were from Harippad, a town not very far from Vallikkavu, in the late 1980s. Today, they as well as some others of that era are senior swamis, looking after the ashram's multifarious activities. The first disciple to be initiated as a sanyasi, now known as valiya (big) swami in ashram circles, is Swami Amritaswaroopananda. Others are Ron Gotsegen, Dr. Prem Nair, swami Amritatmananda and Ramakrishnananda.

International events

Recognition

In 1993, she was one of the three people who represented Hinduism at the Parliament of the World's Religions in Chicago. Amma was the keynote speaker at The Global Peace Initiative of Women Religious and Spiritual Leaders, at the UN in Geneva, Switzerland. The conference was held in October 2002, and was an initiative of The UN' Millennium World Peace Summit, at which Amma spoke in August 2000.

Amma was presented with the 2002 Gandhi-King Award for Non-Violence by The World Movement for Nonviolence at the UN General Assembly Hall (Palais Des Nations) in Geneva in recognition of her lifelong work in furthering the principles of non-violence. The three previous recipients of the award were Kofi Annan, Nelson Mandela, and primatologist Dr. Jane Goodall.

Humanitarian Activities

Mata Amritanandamayi Math executes various charitable and humanitarian projects. A program to build 25,000 homes for the poor, women's shelters, pension disbursements for widows, orphanages, hospices, hospitals, and community aid centers, homes for the aged, eye clinics, speech therapy centers, are examples. Math run 'Mother's Kitchen' or 'vegetarian soup-kitchens' volunteers prepare and serve meals to the poor and needy in many US inner cities.

Recently, Mata Amritanandamayi Math announced a billion rupees to the victims of 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami.

Miracles

Many of her followers believe in her powers to perform miracles. For instance she mentioned in an interview given to The Week (Kottayam, Kerala, September 21, 2003, see references) that she is often asked by her devotees to perform miracles. She goes on to say that water was miraculously changed to panchamrutham (a sweet often prepared for Hindu religious ceremonies) in her presence and that her devotees were able to light lamps out of conches filled with water. Hearing of such miracles cause many people to become skeptical of her powers while it fuels more devotion in others.


Reference

  • Amma: Healing the Heart of the World by Judith Cornell, (William Morrow & Company, ISBN 068817079X)
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