Mata Amritanandamayi

Mātā Amṛtānandamayī Devī
Mātā Amṛtānandamayī Devī
Born	Sudhamani Idamannel (1953-09-27)27 September 1953 (age 59) Parayakadavu, Alappad Panchayat, Kollam District, Kerala, India
Quotation	"There is one truth that shines through all of creation. Rivers and mountains, plants and animals, the sun, the moon and the stars, you and I—all are expressions of this one Reality."

Mātā Amṛtānandamayī Devī (born as Sudhamani Idamannel on 27 September 1953), primarily known simply as Amma ["Mother"], is a Hindu spiritual leader and guru, who is revered as a saint by her followers. She is widely respected for her humanitarian activities. She has been described as "The Hugging Saint".

Biography

Amritanandamayi is an Indian Swamini from Parayakadavu (now partially known as Amritapuri), Alappad Panchayat, Kollam District, Kerala in 1953 in the state of Kerala. Born to a family of fishermen, she was the third child of Sugunanandan and Damayanti. Like Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Sudhamani displayed an intense love for God right from very tender age. Her favourite God was Krishna. She started praying, crying and shedding tears seeking the darshan of Krishna and she composed and sang impromptu several devotional songs on Lord Krishna right from childhood.

Her education ended at the age of nine, when she began to take care of her younger siblings and the family domestic work full-time.

As part of her chores, Amritanandamayi gathered food scraps from neighbours for her family's cows and goats, through which she was confronted with the intense poverty and suffering of others. She would bring these people food and clothing from her own home. Her family, which was not wealthy, scolded and punished her. Amritanandamayi also began to spontaneously embrace people to comfort them in their sorrow. It was not permissible for a 14-year-old girl to touch others, especially men. But despite the reaction of her parents, Amritanandamayi continued. Regarding her embracing of others, Amritanandamayi commented, “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.”

Despite numerous attempts by her parents to arrange her marriage, Amritanandamayi rejected their efforts. In 1981, after various seekers had begun residing at her parents' property in Parayakadavu in the hopes of becoming Amritanandamayi's disciples, the Mata Amritanandamayi Math, a worldwide foundation, was founded. Amritanandamayi serves as chairperson of the Math. Today the Mata Amritanandmayi Math is engaged in many spiritual and charitable activities.

In 1987, at the request of devotees, Amritanandamayi began to conduct programs in countries throughout the world. She has done so annually ever since.

Darshan

Darshan means "to see" in Sanskrit. In the Hindu ritual tradition, it refers to seeing the sacred. This typically corresponds to seeing the sacred in the image of a deity while at temple. It is believed that, in beholding the image of a deity, onlookers absorb through their eyes the powers of that deity. Darshan hence is believed to have the capacity to bring good fortune, well-being, and grace to those who participate in the act. Members of Amritanandamayi's following use the term specifically in reference to receiving a hug from Amritanandamayi.

Amritanandamayi has been giving darshan in this manner since her late teenage years. As to how this began, Amritanandamayi says, "People used to come and tell [me] their troubles. They would cry and I would wipe their tears. When they fell weeping into my lap, I used to hug them. Then the next person too wanted it... And so the habit picked up." Amritanandamayi's organisation, the Mata Amritanandamayi Math, claims Amritanandamayi has embraced more than 32 million people throughout the world for over 30 years.

When asked, in 2002, to what extent she thought her embraces helped the ills of the world, Amritanandamayi replied, "I don’t say I can do it 100 percent. Attempting to change the world [completely] is like trying to straighten the curly tail of a dog. But society takes birth from people. So by affecting individuals, you can make changes in the society and, through it, in the world. You cannot change it, but you can make changes. The fight in individual minds is responsible for the wars. So if you can touch people, you can touch the world."

Amritanandamayi's darshan is the centerpiece of her life, as she has received people nearly every day since the late 1970s. With the size of the crowds coming to seek Amritanandamayi's blessings increasing, there are times when she gives darshan continuously for more than 20 hours. In a conversation recorded in the 2004 book From Amma's Heart, Amritanandamayi says: "As long as these hands can move a little bit and reach out to those who come to her, and as long as there is a little strength and energy to place her hands on a crying person’s shoulder and caress and wipe their tears, Amma will continue giving darshan. To lovingly caress people, console and wipe their tears, until the end of this mortal frame is Amma's wish."

Teachings

In the book The Timeless Path, Swami Ramakrishnananda Puri, one of Amritanandamayi's senior disciples, writes: "The [spiritual] path inculcated by Amma is the same as the one presented in the Vedas and recapitulated in subsequent traditional scriptures such as the Bhagavad Gita." Amritanandamayi herself says, “Karma [action], jñana [knowledge] and bhakti [devotion] are all essential. If the two wings of a bird are devotion and action, knowledge is its tail. Only with the help of all three can the bird soar into the heights.” She accepts the various spiritual practices and prayers of all religions as but various systems for the single goal of purifying the mind. Along these lines, she stresses the importance of meditation, performing actions as karma yoga, selfless service, and cultivating divine qualities such as compassion, patience, forgiveness, self-control, etc. Amritanandamayi says that these practices refine the mind, making it fit for assimilating the ultimate truth: that one is not the limited body and mind but the eternal blissful consciousness that serves as the non-dual substratum of the universe. This understanding itself Amritanandamayi refers to as jivanmukti [liberation while alive]. Amritanandamayi says, "Jivanmukti is not something to be attained after death, nor is it to be experienced or bestowed upon you in another world. It is a state of perfect awareness and equanimity, which can be experienced here and now in this world, while living in the body. Having come to experience the highest truth of oneness with the Self, such blessed souls do not have to be born again. They merge with the infinite."

Bhajans

Amritanandamayi is well known for her devotional singing. Amritanandamayi has recorded more than 1,000 bhajans in 35 languages. She has also composed dozens of bhajans and set them to traditional ragas. Regarding devotional singing as a spiritual practice, Amritanandamayi says, "If the bhajan is sung with one-pointedness, it is beneficial for the singer, the listeners, and Nature as well. Later when the listeners reflect on the songs, they will try to live in accordance with the lessons enunciated therein." Amritanandamayi says that in today's world, it is often difficult for people to get one-pointed concentration in meditation, but this concentration can be attained much easier through devotional singing.

Books and publications

Amritanandamayi's disciples have transcribed her conversations with devotees and spiritual seekers to create approximately a dozen books of her teachings known as "Awaken Children". The addresses she has delivered at various international forums have also been published in book form. Swami Amritaswarupananda Puri, the Vice-Chairman of the Mata Amritanandamayi Math, has written a biography about Amritanandamayi. The Mata Amritanandamayi Math also publishes Matruvani, a monthly spiritual magazine, as well as Immortal Bliss, a quarterly. Beginning in April 2011, a bi-weekly message from Amritanandamayi has appeared in the Lifestyle section of the Express Buzz Sunday supplement of the New Indian Express newspaper. She also writes a regular blog in the spiritual publication Speaking Tree [4].

Charitable activities

Disaster relief

Beginning with the 2001, the Mata Amritanandamayi Math has consistently dedicated volunteers and resources in response to disasters within India. Its most extensive disaster-relief program followed the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami. In response, MAM provided a value of $46 million in relief, including the construction of 6,200 tsunami-resistant houses in India and Sri Lanka, as well as 700 new fishing boats. It also constructed a multimillion-dollar bridge providing Alappad Panchayat, a tsunami-at-risk peninsula community, an evacuation route to the mainland. MAM has provided a combination of medical care, food, shelter, monetary aid and other forms of relief following the flooding of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh in 2009, Bihar in 2008, and Gujarat in 2005 and Bombay in 2005, as well as the Kashmir-Pakistan earthquake of 2005. It also reconstructed 1,200 homes following the 2001 Gujarat earthquake.

In connection with its sister organizations, such as the Mata Amritanandamayi Center in the United States, it also has responded to disasters outside India as well, including medical supplies, blankets and care for orphans following the 2010 Haiti earthquake, a donation of $1 million U.S. to the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund, following Hurricane Katrina and $1 million U.S. in relief aid to victims of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, with a focus on children orphaned in the disaster.

Empowering women: Amrita SREE

This program was launched in 2006, with the goal of aiding 100,000 women through the development of 5,000 self-help groups. As of January 2011, there are more than 6,000 such groups, with more than 100,000 women participating throughout India. MAM has also set up an additional 1,000 self-help groups in Andaman Island. Through providing vocational education, start-up capital, marketing assistance and access to microcredit loans and microsavings accounts, the Amrita SREE program equips unemployed and economically vulnerable women with the skills and means to set up small-scale, cottage-industry businesses. As of January 2011, MAM has helped 3,500 groups to receive microcredit loans to expand their businesses, benefitting more than 60,000 families. In the aftermath of the 2004 Asian Tsunami, India’s coastal communities found that the aquatic creatures —upon which they relied so heavily for sustenance—had been entirely disrupted. As with so many of their needs, hopes and sorrows, they brought this crisis to Amma. It was then that Amma, who recognized an urgent need for an alternate livelihood for every family in the tsunami-affected areas, launched the Ashram’s first community-based self-help programmes. It was Amma’s firm resolve that at least one member in each family engage in a profession that was not reliant upon increasingly unpredictable weather patterns. To that end, Mata Amritanandamayi Math (MAM) facilitated training in the following vocations:

Tailoring

MAM established nine tailoring schools and distributed 2,000 sewing machines—one to every to every program participant. Nursing: 450 women were provided free training in nursing assistance along with a stipend to study at AIMS (Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences—MAM’s super-specialty charitable hospital). Driving: 500 youths received free driving lessons and received driver’s licenses to facilitate employment as professional bus, truck and taxi drivers. Education: Seven eligible women received full scholarships to attend Amrita University Mysore’s School of Education and earned Master’s degrees in Education. Handicrafts: 1,500 women trained in making coir (coconut fiber) and coir-based products and over 150 women trained in handloom weaving. Electronic Repair: 200 youths trained in niche trades including mobile phone and TV/VCR repair; plumbing; fashion design and handmade bag production.

Plumbing lessons for women

Amrita Multi-Model Applications using Computer-Human Interaction labs of Amrita Engineering college has developed a plumbing course administered through simulation and haptic technologies.

Homes and slum renovation

In 1997 MAM launched its Amrita Kuteeram housing program, an initiative to build 25,000 homes for the homeless throughout India. In 1998, keys to the first 5,000 homes were distributed. The initial target was reached in 2002. Currently MAM is striving to build another 100,000 homes. As of January 2011, more than 40,000 such homes have been constructed. These homes include 1,200 built in order to rebuild three villages following the 2001 Gujarat earthquake and 6,200 built in order to replace homes destroyed by the Indian Ocean tsunami. Amrita Kuteeram homes have thus far been built in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Pondicherry, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Andaman Island. Through its sister organization, the Mata Amritanandamayi Center, houses have also been constructed in Sri Lanka. Often Amrita Kuteerams are built not as single homes but as entire villages, complete with town halls, roads, wells, electricity, sewage systems and clean drinking water.

Community outreach

MAM runs a number of programs aimed at the upliftment of the general community. These include Amrita Nidhi, a financial-aid program started in 1998 that provides monthly pensions for 50,000 widows and physically and mentally disadvantaged individuals. The pensions are given for life. It is MAM's stated goal to provide 100,000 such pensions.

MAM also runs four homes for the elderly, one in Sivakasi, Tamil Nadu, one in Kottayam, Kerala, and two in Karnataka (Karwar and Bangalore). The care homes include prayer halls where community functions and cultural programs are held on a regular basis.

For the benefit of youth, MAM runs a program called AYUDH, a movement to empower young people to integrate universal values into their daily lives. Members take part in service activities, including caring for the elderly, homeless and physically disadvantaged.

Free meditation classes are also offered free to the general public. Monastic disciples and other volunteers teach Mata Amritanandamayi's Integrated Amrita Meditation Technique (IAM Technique) throughout the world. The technique is regularly being taught at schools, businesses, and at at the request of the Indian government, to the 1.3 million members of India's paramilitary.

Other Community Outreach programs include sponsored weddings for impoverished couples, a prisoner's welfare project (through MA Center in USA), a seed-distribution program to promote home-grown food, and a hostel for women in Trissur, Kerala.

Care homes for children

MAM runs two care homes for children. Amrita Niketan is a facility for 500 children in Paripally, Kollam, Kerala. The majority of Amrita Niketan residents are from poor tribal communities. In 2009, through a sister organization known as Amma-Kenya, MAM started an orphanage in Nairobi for 108 children.

Education for Everyone

MAM has founded and manages a wide range of educational institutions for the underprivileged and disadvantaged sections of society. These include Amrita Speech & Hearing Improvement School (ASHIS) in Trissur, Kerala; the Amrita Institute for the Differently Abled (AIDA) in Kozhikode, Kerala; adult education classes in Idukki, Kerala, and in Sivakasi, Tamil Nadu; and the Industrial Training Center (ITC) in Karungappally, Kerala. MAM also has runs schools for tribal children in Attappadi and Idukki, Kerala.

Furthermore, MAM is providing 32,000 scholarships to disadvantaged children, many of whom have lost a parent due to suicide or have a parent suffering from AIDS. Known as Vidyamritam, the scholarship program is currently running in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala. It was originally started as part of MAM's campaign to curb India's problem of farmer suicide, by providing children of agricultural families a means to education that will expand their vocational options. It is MAM's stated goal to eventually provide 100,000 such scholarships throughout India.

Through Amma-Kenya, MAM runs the Amrita Vocational Training Center in Kenya, equipped with 35 computers.

Research for a better world through MAM's university

Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, volunteer researchers are conducting research and development in disciplines including nanotechnology, biotechnology, robotics and satellite-enabled software solutions. The stated goal behind the research is: "To harness the power of modern technology to provide effect, targeted aid to communities and individuals in crisis." Projects include a sensor network system for landslide detection, a high-quality low-cost insulin pump for diabetics, a system for early-cancer detection and stem-cell research.

Sakshat Amrita Vocational Education

It is a program funded by the Government of India's e-learning program, Sakshat. SAVE's goal is to provide vocational training to remote and impoverished areas through haptic devices. The Department of Biomedical Informatics at SUNY-Buffalo and Arizona State University are collaborating on the project.

Amrita Virtual Interactive E-learning World

It is project developed by MAM researchers. AVIEW allows a teacher at one location to connect with students at another place, using Internet and satellite connectivity. Lectures are recorded and can be viewed later. AVIEW was inaugurated by the former President of India, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, in 2009.

Healthcare in 1998

MAM opened the Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre (AIMS) in Cochin, Kerala. Most of AIMS' patients receive subsidized care. The hospital has 1,300 beds and an attached medical college with a 400-bed facility, as well as a 210-bed Intensive Care Facility. Since 1998, AIMS and MAM's other charitable medical institutions have treated more than 5.5 million patients.

AIMS has an extensive pain and palliative home-care program, telemedicine facilities and conducts medical camps in remote areas. MAM also runs four other charitable hospitals, including three in Kerala (one in Kalpetta, one in Pampa and one in Amritapuri) and one in Mysore, Karnataka.

MAM also runs an HIV/AIDS Care Center in Trivandrum, Kerala, the Amrita Kripa Sagar Cancer Hospice in Mumbai and the Amrita Health Center in Port Blair, Andaman Island.

Fighting hunger

MAM feeds more than 10 million people every year throughout India, distributing uncooked rice, milk and other staples to remote tribal areas. Outside of India, through sister organizations such as Amma-Europe and the Mata Amritanandamayi Center in the USA, more than 1,000,000 meals to the homeless and hungry are provided annually.[13]

Green initiatives

MAM is a member of the United Nations Billion Tree Campaign and has organised the planting of more than one million trees throughout the world since 2001. MAM also has an international environmental organisation to promote environmental awareness called GreenFriends. It also runs a Plastic Project that creates shopping bags, purses, sandals and hats, etc., through the weaving recycled plastic. In 2009, in New York, in the presence of Steven Clark Rockefeller, Amma endorsed the Earth Charter, a declaration of fundamental principles for building a sustainable and peaceful world.

Public health

MAM started the Amala Bharatam Campaign (ABC) in 2010 in order to improve public health and restore India's physical beauty. Through ABC, MAM volunteers clean public areas, construct public toilets and spread awareness regarding environmentally friendly ways of disposing of trash.

Amrita institutions

MAM runs a number of other institutions. On the educational front, there is the Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, a five-campus university, and 47 Amrita Vidyalayam values-based grammar/high schools.

Amritapuri Ashram, MAM's headquarters in Kollam District, Kerala, is a spiritual center and international pilgrimage site, where free classes on Vedanta, Sanskrit, meditation and yoga. MAM has built and consecrated 20 Brahmasthanam Temples throughout India, and has hundreds of branch centres throughout the country as well. Amrita Kutambam, or Amrita Families, are community groups who come together for the purpose of group prayer and spiritual company.

MAM also publishes dozens of spiritual books and two magazines in various languages.

Awards – On 19 February 2010, the President of India Pratibha Patil bestowed the Dharma Khadgam Award to MAM in recognition of its charitable activities. MAM's president, Mata Amritanandamayi Devi, has received numerous awards for her role as the founder, inspiration and manager of MAM's charitable activities.

Controversies

Some controversies about Amritanandamayi are:

Book by Sreeni Pattathanam

Sreeni Pattathanam, the Kerala-based head of the Indian Rationalist Association, wrote Matha Amritanandamayi: Sacred Stories and Realities, a controversial critique first published in 1985. The author claims that all the miracles of Amritanandamayi are bogus and that there have been many suspicious deaths in and around her ashram that need police investigation. The book contains references to court records, newspaper reports and quotations from literary figures, including statements from devotees, residents of the Math, relatives of Amritanandamayi and an interview with Amritanandamayi herself. The book was published again in 2002.

On 9 August 2002, Deshabhimani, a Malayalam daily newspaper owned by the Communist Party of India (Marxist), published a similar account, demanding investigation into the same deaths Pattathanam found suspicious. On 24 September 2002, Deshabhimani officially apologised for the report, publishing an article titled "Report that Suspicious Deaths at Amritanandamayi Math Are Growing Was Incorrect." The article stated: "We now state with conviction that there was nothing suspicious about deaths that happened in the Math. Some of the deaths mentioned in the article did not even take place at the Math." The article goes on to describe how relatives of the deceased had personally contacted Deshabhimani in order to correct the misinformation conveyed in the article. In several cases, the deaths were of elderly people, and the editors explained how the relatives had contacted Deshabhimani to explain how they were at the bedsides of the people who supposedly had died suspiciously during the time of their passing.

In 2004, the Kerala State Government sanctioned criminal prosecution of Patthathanam, the owner of the publishing company and the printer of the book on grounds that religious sentiments had been offended and for the derogatory and defamatory contents in the book. The order followed directions from the Kerala High Court to the Home Department for considering an application by T.K. Ajan, a resident of the Mata Amritanandamayi Math. CPI leader, Thengamam Balakrishnan protested the move against Pattathanam.

Source of foreign aid

In June 2007, Shantanu Guha Ray wrote on Tehelka weekly that Amritanandamayi Math, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Baba Ramdas, and other NGOs and religious organisations had large annual turnover of INR crores. In June 2007, novelist Paul Zacharia wrote on Tehelka that Amritanandamayi goes scotfree from scrutinies on money with foreign strings.

In May 2008, the president of Kerala Yukthivadi Sangham, U. Kalanathan urged the state government to conduct an enquiry into Amritanandamayi's assets. He said the sources of the her income and its utilisation should be investigated.

In June 2008, writer Sukumar Azhikode demanded the state government to probe the source of foreign aid received by her organisation. He said Amritanandamayi was being used as an instrument by vested interests around her. He accused that her sources of income are suspicious.

Attacks on Amritanandamayi

2005

In August 2005, Amritanandamayi was attacked by a man named Pavithran. He was sitting with other followers praying and singing in front of Amritanandamayi. He then rushed to Amritanandamayi with a knife, but was overpowered by a group of disciples. Amritanandamayi's disciple Amritaswarupananda Puri said Pavithran was of "unstable mind." Amritanandamayi, who forgave Pavithran, said, "All those who are born will die one day. I am going ahead keeping this reality in mind. I will carry on. I will continue to give darshan to the devotees coming here to meet me." After the incident which took place at 6:45 pm, she continued to meet with followers until 5 am the next morning.

2012

On 1 August 2012, a 25-year-old Bihari law student, Satnam Singh Mann, attempted to barge onto the podium of Amritanandamayi at her ashram in Kollam. According to police, he was screaming and reciting words in Arabic at the time. He attacked security guards and then was overpowered by devotees, who handed him over to the police. After appearance before a magistrate on 2 August, Mann was kept in custody at a Kollam sub-jail, where he exhibited more violent behavior. The police transferred him to a district hospital in Kollam, and then, on 3 August, he was transferred to the Mental Health Centre at Peroorkada. On 4 August, he was found unconscious in his cell and was taken to the Government Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram, where he was pronounced dead.

Mann's death was considered "mysterious." Kerala BJP president, V. Muraleedharan, demanded a CBI probe, stating that Mann's death prevented him from being questioned regarding the motivation for his attacks and that his death may have been a cover-up for a religiously-motivated or terrorist attack. Sources from Mann's family stated that he was brought to the hospital from the jail in a severely tortured condition, with more than 30 injury marks on his body. Social activist Agnivesh observed that Mann should have been treated with compassion by the ashram. He said there was not anything seriously objectionable in Mann's past and he had not insulted or abused anyone. He said the ashram must have said something to the police because of which they overdid things. Crime Branch Inspector General B. Sandhya was given the responsibility to probe the murder. She visited the Mata Amritanandamayi ashram and recorded statements from devotees. She also met Amirtanandamayi. The Crime Branch report, submitted in court, revealed that Mann was beaten by a warden, an attendant and four other patients for fighting with a cell mate at the mental hospital. The report says they Mann was struck with a thick cable wire and lock and his head was bashed against a wall. It says there were 77 bruise marks on his body, mainly on his head and neck. The warden and the attendant were arrested in connection with the murder. The report was officially submitted to the Kerala High Court on 25 September 2012, stating: "The post-mortem report, medical report, casesheet, CCTV records, circumstantial and scientific evidence clearly prove that the death was a custodial murder." Doctors had confirmed serious injury marks on Mann's body before taking him into custody. When addressing the press after Mann's death, Mann's relative Vimal Kishore said that when he had visited Mann in the Karunagappally jail he had seen no injuries on his cousin. Mann's father, Harendra Kumar Singh, announced to the press, "It looks like a clear case of murder in judicial custody." He also added that Mann never showed any mental problems in school.

Positions

• Founder & Chairperson, Mata Amritanandamayi Mutt
• Founder, Embracing the World
• Chancellor, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham University
• Founder, Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences (AIMS Hospital)
• Parliament of the World's Religions, International Advisory committee member
• Honorary member of the Orden Bonaria, an international humanitarian organisation in Barcelona.
• President Swami vivekananda's 150th birth anniversary celebration committee, India

Awards and honours

• 1993, 'President of the Hindu Faith' (Parliament of the World's Religions)
• 1993, Hindu Renaissance Award (Hinduism Today)
• 1998, Care & Share International Humanitarian of the Year Award (Chicago)
• 2002, Karma Yogi of the Year (Yoga Journal)
• 2002, Gandhi-King Award for Non-Violence by The World Movement for Nonviolence (UN, Geneva) ·
• 2005, Mahavir Mahatma Award (London)
• 2005, Centenary Legendary Award of the International Rotarians (Cochin)
• 2006, James Parks Morton Interfaith Award (New York)
• 2006, The Philosopher Saint Sri Jnaneswara World Peace Prize (Pune)
• 2007, Le Prix Cinéma Vérité (Cinéma Vérité, Paris)
• 2010, The State University of New York awarded Amma an honorary doctorate in humane letters on 25 May 2010 at its Buffalo campus.
• 2012, Amma featured in the Watkins' list of the top 100 most spiritually influential living people in the world.
• 2013, Awarded first Vishwaretna Purskar (Gem of the Word Award) by Hindu Parliament on 23rd April 2013 at Tiruvananthapuram (India)

Addresses at international forums

• 1993, 'May Your Hearts Blossom,' the Parliament of the World's Religions 100th Anniversary (Chicago)
• 1995, 'Unity Is Peace,' Interfaith Celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the United Nations (New York)
• 2000, 'Living in Harmony,' Millennium World Peace Summit of Religious & Spiritual Leaders (UN, New York)
• 2002, 'Awakening of Universal Motherhood,' the Global Peace Initiative of Women, (UN, Geneva) ·
• 2004, 'May Peace & Happiness Prevail,' Parliament of World's Religions (Barcelona) ·
• 2006, 'Understanding & Collaboration Between Religions,' James Parks Morton Interfaith Awards (New York)
• 2007, 'Compassion: The Only Way to Peace' (Cinéma Vérité Festival, Paris)
• 2008, 'The Infinite Potential of Women,' keynote address of the Global Peace Initiative of Women (Jaipur),
• 2009, 'Cultivating Strength & Vitality,' inauguration of Vivekananda International Foundation (New Delhi)
• 2012, 'Coexistence and Engagement Between Cultures' address given at the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations’ (UNAOC) Regional Consultations for Asia-South Pacific held at Shanghai

Documentaries

• 1999 River of Love: A Documentary Drama on the Life of Ammachi
• 2000 Louis Theroux's Weird Weekends – "Indian Gurus" (BBC-TV)
• 2005 Darshan: The Embrace – directed by Jan Kounen
• 2007 In God's Name – directed by Jules Clément Naudet and Thomas Gédéon Naudet

See also

• Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham

References

• Amma: Healing the Heart of the World by Judith Cornell, (William Morrow & Company, ISBN 0-688-17079-X)
• Messages from Amma: In the Language of the Heart by Janine Canan (Ten Speed Press, ISBN 1-58761-214-3)
• Getting to Joy: A Western Householder's Spiritual Journey with Amma (Mata Amritanandamayi) by Karuna Poole (Shantini Center, ISBN 0-9643629-2-9)

External links

• Amritapuri.org (Official mission site – India)
• http://www.un.org/esa/coordination/ngo/pdf/INF_List.pdf
• http://esango.un.org/irene/?page=viewProfile&type=ngo&nr=2766&section=9
• http://www.embracingtheworld.org/what-we-do/disaster-relief/tsunami/
• http://www.hindu.com/2006/12/21/stories/2006122112510300.htm
• http://www.hindu.com/2010/08/05/stories/2010080561730100.htm
• http://www.thesundayindian.com/en/story/mata-amritanandamayi/7/3129/
• http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-07-27/india/29820549_1_tsunami-victims-amma-sri-mata-amritanandamayi-devi
• Plumbing Lessons For Women
• http://www.hindu.com/2009/09/27/stories/2009092753660300.htm
• http://www.embracingtheworld.org/what-we-do/education-for-everyone/
• http://www.embracingtheworld.org/what-we-do/research/
• http://www.embracingtheworld.org/fileadmin/user_upload/embracing-the-world-2011.pdf