Journal of Sacred Work

Only when human beings are able to perceive and acknowledge the Self in each other can there be real peace.—Amma (Mata Amritanandamayi -"Mother of immortal bliss".)

   Like so many areas of the upper Midwest, the town of Coralville, Iowa has been terrorized by summer flooding that has reached almost Biblical proportions. Although government forces and armies of volunteers have struggled to bring food, medical aid, clothing and shelter to thousands, despair has also settled in with the grime and the muck.
   So many have lost so much. After initial relief efforts, the shock has given why to a prolonged grief  that has shrouded countless citizens.  Encouragement from political leaders is of limited value to people living for the second straight month in temporary housing, rising each morning to the depressing reality of destroyed homes and lost relatives and friends.
   Some other kind of healing has been needed. It arrived in the form of an unlikely looking caregiver. She came without stethoscope. She brought no pharmaceuticals. She simply offered hugs.
   What is the value of a loving hug? A nice thing, perhaps. But, who would think it would make much difference? After all, a hug is not a new house.
   Something seems to be radically different about the embrace of Amma, the shortened name of Mata Amritanandamayi ("Mother of immortal bliss".) This lovely woman from India, the red dot of her faith in the middle of her forehead, seems as unlikely a sight in Iowa as a palm tree in the Arctic.
   Yet her presence has provided powerful healing and a sense of deep peace for the literally millions around the world who have received her mysteriously healing hug (over 25 million by conservative estimates.) How does this caregiver do it?…

   A recitation of the facts of Amma’s life does not necessarily illuminate the answer to the question of how. What do we learn from the fact that Mother Theresa was brought up in Albania or that Jesus was a carpenter raised by poor parents?

   Amma’s seeks to be a source of Love’s energy. She would be the first to say that she does not create this energy. It travels through her. It is also true that as her reputation grows, more and more people imbue her with charisma. This does not automatically mean that she has it. It means that people believe her in her love.
   In the midst of our worst suffering, for whom do we cry out? Whether it is a soldier wounded on the battlefield or a man receiving a death sentence, first thoughts flow to the one who embraced us into life. We call out for our mothers. And in this call, we are crying out to be held – to be freed from the agony of our isolation.
   Amma’s hugs eased the isolation of some Iowans last week, as her love has helped victims of tsunamis and other disasters. But, Amma does more than hug.
"If you see a blind person who is crying," she says, "why suffer for him when you can hold his hand and help him across the street?"
   Many are so grateful for Amma’s ministry of love that they donate millions to her. Most of that is, in turn, handed our through charities world wide.
   Someone so magical-seeming has, of course, drawn critics and detractors. Some claim that some of her followers are part of a cult. Various websites attack her as a phony.
   This always happens when any human is esteemed as "saintly." The same kinds of attacks plagued Mother Theresa, Gandhi, and Padre Pio to name just a few. Sometimes, apparent saints do turn out to be frauds. But, Amma appears to be as genuine as her words, her hugs, and her philanthropy.
   "We have to regain our original faces rather than wearing masks," she says…."We
go more and more after the external world and we miss the inner self."
   Perhaps what Amma teaches us more than anything is the gift each of us has to heal each other – and by doing so, to heal ourselves since our "self" is also in the other. We heal when we allow Love to travel through us, from our eyes, through our touch, or through a healing embrace offered to someone in pain.
   Why do you think so many are drawn to Amma? Why is she criticized? Does this story about her make you feel more or less loving toward others – and perhaps inclined to hug?

-Erie Chapman