40 Million Hugs and Counting—Maternal Spiritual Guide Tours America

It is said that she knows more people on a first-name basis than anyone in the history of the world. She knows their stories and struggles and relieves them of their burdens with a rose-scented healing hug.

She has been called a vessel of the Holy Spirit, a channel to the Almighty, and a Hindu god to be worshipped.

She is Mata Amritanandamayi—or as her followers know her, “Amma,” mother—a plump, smiling Malayali woman in a simple robe who is very happy to know you, no matter who you are, where you came from, what you believe or why you need a hug right now.

And that hug, as described by one devotee, is “overwhelming, like an instant relief from things you didn’t even know you were carrying.”

Since she was a teenager in the Indian state of Kerala, Amma has wrapped her arms around 40 million people, often going through lines of huggees for 22 hours straight. Her network of charities, appropriately called Embracing the World, operates in more than 40 countries with an avowed purpose “to help alleviate the burden of the world’s poor through helping to meet each of their five basic needs — food, shelter, education, healthcare and livelihood — wherever and whenever possible.”

“She is able to see other people’s problems as her problems, to celebrate other people’s successes as her success, and at the same time to understand that there is an aspect of our personality that transcends all of those things and is untouched by the ups and downs of this world,” said Sachin Mayamrita, a Massachusetts native and part of Amma’s communications team. Mayamrita said he had a “jaded, negative” outlook on life before he found Amma.

Being with Amma since 2000, Mayamrita noted that she knows everyone and generations of their families and remembers each one when they return.

“Amma has become a part of their life. Amma has become their sense of support, their God, their guru, their mother, their friend.”

So, what exactly happens here? Do you just come in and say, “I need a hug,” and then stand in line until it’s your turn, and you get one, and you feel great and uplifted, and that’s it? Yes, that’s it.

As described by first-timer Richa Karmarkar, who came to NYC’s Javits Center and waited along with hundreds of others, Amma appears on the stage, speaking a guided meditation in the classic Malayali tongue. Her words are translated into English, Spanish and French on screens above the stage. The meditation lasts about half an hour and ends with the Sanskrit chant: Om Lokah Samastha Sukhino Bhavantu: May everyone in the whole world be happy. 

The attendees are instructed to remove their shoes and cellphones and “not to touch or put any weight on Amma.” But some bring their newborn babies, photos of loved ones and other mementos to show her.

When Richa’s turn came, “Amma held me for about 30 seconds while she said something to one of her volunteers in Malayali, then she pulled me in closer to her body. I felt compelled to close my eyes, take three long deep breaths and inhale her fresh rose scent. Indeed, I felt a deep calmness and an inexplicable burst of happiness. 

“Amma smiled and handed me a rose petal with a Hershey’s kiss inside. There was a cheesy plastered smile on my face as I sat down, eager to see others blessed by Amma on the big screen in front of me. I was now bonded with them through our shared experience of unconditional love.”

Science tells us that a good hug slows down the heart rate and reduces the level of the stress hormone cortisol in our bodies. It boosts the production of oxytocin, the “love” hormone, and serotonin, dopamine and endorphins—the “YES!” hormones. Hugs, in short, are mood elevators and, as such, are as uncontroversial as a cinnamon muffin.

No less an authority than the esteemed National Institutes of Health, after perusing many case histories, has decreed that four hugs per day remedies depression, eight per day achieves mental stability, and twelve—well, the sky is the limit.

What Amma accomplishes with one half-minute hug encompasses all that and way more. As one tearful New Yorker who says she’s become more compassionate to strangers because of Amma sums it all up: “It just comes down to love.” Mata Amritanandamayi is wrapping up her tour of U.S. cities, but she will return next year for more hugs. Arrive early and get a spot near the front of the line.

Image credits: JLA974, Audebaud Jean louis from Casablanca, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.