Amma was born into a simple family of Kerala fisher-folk in 1953. Even as a small girl, she drew attention with the many hours she spent in deep meditation on the seashore. She also composed devotional songs and could often be seen singing to the divine with heartfelt emotion. Despite her tender age, her compositions revealed remarkable depth and wisdom.
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Amma’s parents could not understand her. Amma explains, “In India, women are expected to remain in the background. It is said that ‘Even the walls should not hear them.’ My family could not understand my way of reaching out to people; they had no idea of the basic spiritual principles.” Amma’s mother became ill when Amma was nine, and Amma was withdrawn from school in order to help with household tasks and the care of her seven siblings. As she gathered food scraps from neighbors for her family’s cows, she was confronted with the intense poverty and suffering of others. Amma brought these people food and clothing from her own home. Her family, which was by no means wealthy, scolded and punished her. Amma also began to spontaneously embrace people to comfort them in their sorrow. It was not permissible for a 14-year-old girl to even touch others, especially men. But despite adverse reactions by her parents, Amma followed her heart, later explaining, “I don’t see if it is a man or a woman. I don’t see anyone different from my own self. A continuous stream of love flows from me to all of creation. This is my inborn nature. The duty of a doctor is to treat patients. In the same way, my duty is to console those who are suffering.”
In countries such as India, Nepal and Tibet, it is traditional to honor someone who expresses extraordinary compassion and wisdom as an embodiment of divinity. In India, such a person is referred to as a mahatma [great soul], but Amma herself has never laid claim to this or any other title. “I offered my life in service to the world long ago,” Amma says. “When your life is an offering, how can you make any claims?”
When asked if people worship her, Amma says, “No, it is the other way around. It is I who am worshipping them. I don’t believe in a God who lives up on some throne in the sky. All living beings are my God. I believe in loving them and serving them.”
In India, the divine is ultimately described as ‘beyond name and form’ and is considered the substratum of life itself. In order to explain this, Amma often uses the analogy of golden jewellery: “The earring, the bangle, the nose-ring and the necklace—in essence, all are gold alone; only their appearance is different. Similarly, it is one all-pervasive divinity appearing as this diverse world of names and forms. When one truly understands this truth, it is reflected in all of his or her thoughts, words and actions as love, compassion and selflessness.” According to Indian spirituality, this understanding is referred to as ‘enlightenment’ and is the ultimate goal of human life.
Every year, more and more people are drawn to Amma. Her fame has spread far beyond India. In 1987, Western devotees invited her to the USA and Europe. Today, she travels throughout India, Europe, the United States and Australia, as well to Japan, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Malaysia, Canada, Africa and South America, and her programs involve a crew of approximately 200 volunteers.
Using donations and the help of countless volunteers, Amma has built a vast and ever-growing charitable humanitarian organization, Embracing the World (ETW), which serves all people regardless of caste, social status or religion. With this goal in mind, ETW has provided more than $60 million U.S. in totally free medical care since 1998. It has built more than 40,000 homes for the homeless throughout India and provides financial aid for more than 50,000 people unable to care for themselves with a goal of 100,000. It is also providing vocational-training, literacy-training, running orphanages, hospices, old-age homes, scholarship programs, planting trees and much more. In India, ETW’s projects are managed by the Mata Amritanandamayi Math, an NGO with that has had consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations and the UN’s Department of Public Information.
After the Indian Ocean Tsunami of 2004, ETW acted quickly and provided concrete homes for the homeless within six months. ETW received praise from many government officials, from Kerala politicians up to the president of India for helping all of those in need, regardless of such aspects as religious persuasion. Since, ETW has done similar work in response to flooding in Mumbai, Gujarat and Bihar, as well as in response to earthquakes in Kashmir, cyclones in West Bengal and hurricanes in the United States.
Amma has received international recognition. She has delivered addresses at the United Nations several times and has spoken twice at the Parliament of the World’s Religions. She has also received the Gandhi-King Award for Non-violence in Geneva and the James Parks Morton Interfaith Award in New York, among other accolades.
Today, Amma’s birthplace in Kerala has become the headquarters of Amma’s worldwide volunteer social-service organization. It is home to more than 3,000 residents. There they imbibe Amma’s teachings, study the world’s scriptures, practice meditation and dedicate themselves to Amma’s charitable service projects.
Throughout her life, Amma has embraced and comforted more than 31 million people. When asked where she gets the energy to help so many people while also building and running a massive humanitarian organization, Amma answers: “Where there is true love, everything is effortless.”
