The Biography of Ammachi below, is from my booklet, Healing and the Art of Ecstasy.
~ Roger Young
Please note: As the owner of Amma’s Lodge in Dunsmuir, California, I must make it clear that Amma’s Lodge is in no way connected to Mata Amritandamayi, the spiritual leader from Kerala, India, or the Ammachi Foundation. I have been a follower of Ammachi for over ten years and have attended numerous retreats and support Amma’s work, but my only connection is that I try to provide good service, as Amma would wish it.
Visitors might be interested to know that, on the first Saturday night of each month, there is an Ammachi Mount Shasta Satsang:
(www.villagebooks-mtshasta.com/onammoshsa.html) at the home of Carl Marsak in Mt. Shasta (530 926-5750).
~ Chapter 1 ~
Three Different Masters, Three Different Trips
The First Trip
Travelers at the San Francisco airport in an early June morning in 1994 were treated to a somewhat unusual sight. Awaiting the flight to Los Angeles, they noticed the arrival of a small jolly woman dressed
completely in white, surrounded by others walking pell-mell beside her as she approached the check in counter. The others in the group were mostly younger people—some men bearded, some not—with a sprinkling of middle-aged women, also dressed in white. Gliding beside her were several men with prominent beards, dressed in orange robes. As the group swirled into the waiting area, one of the men in robes strode to the check in counter to arrange for passenger seating.
The small woman in white radiated a presence that caught the attention of the business-suited travelers. One’s first impression was that she was genuinely happy. In fact, she seemed to be the very embodiment of happiness and good cheer. She sat down next to a businessman whose attention was wrapped in his newspaper, and her group assembled around her, mostly sitting on the carpet. She chatted amicably with the gathering, who gave the impression of being chosen ones, lucky to be basking in her love and attention.
If we could pick only one word to describe the jolly lady, it would be, well—love. As she listened to each of the group, it was as though her attention was completely and totally on the person who was speaking, but was also directed to everyone in group, and moreover, to each of the curious onlookers in the waiting area as well. Her black eyes darted from person to person, holding each in a momentary glance that seemed to say, “I see you. I recognize you.”
Her smile seemed to momentarily rest on each of the travelers in the waiting area. Most returned her smile. The man seated next to the jolly lady raised his paper, ignoring the festival gathered around him. In fact, each time she glanced his way, he pulled his newspaper up further to hide his face, as though he were retreating under bedcovers. It wasn’t long before the crowd began to be amused by the incongruity of the joyful lady sitting next to the uncomfortable businessman.
Then the jolly lady did a most unusual thing. Members of the small group came closer and kneeled before her. She bent down and began giving each a hug. Hugging loved ones before leaving on a flight is a natural thing, but this was more of a ritualized parting, with a small line of followers forming behind one another, each anxious to come forward and receive their hug.
This strange ritual tweaked the curiosity of the businessman, who lowered his newspaper now and then to observe the sight. Of course, the onlookers now included everyone in the waiting area. Each time he lowered his barrier, he was further drawn into the aura of living love seated beside him. The unfolding scene became a kind of human drama; his fellow travelers smiling each time the newspaper dipped to reveal curious eyes.
More than being a saintly spiritual figure, she has been a “spokesperson” for her religious tradition and her country. Ammachi was one of the three people who represented the Hindu nation at the Parliament of World Religions in Chicago, and she was the keynote speaker at the World Parliament of Religions in Barcelona in 2004. Recently, she was presented with the Gandhi-King Award for Non-Violence by the United Nations.
Book after book about her teachings have been compiled by her devotees, who have committed virtually every statement of spiritual interest she has said to writing. These books have been distributed around the world.
The Birth and Life of Ammachi
The birth of a saint into a small fishing village on the Indian coast was predicted by a traveling holy man who visited the area years before the eventual birth of Ammachi. He even predicted a huge temple would be built on the seashore sands (which Ammachi and her followers later built with their own hands) but people scoffed at these predictions.
Ammachi’s young life could be taken as a paean to the values of devotion, sacrifice for family and caring for others. On the other hand, her life as a child is a long sad tale of ingratitude, physical abuse and even threats to life and limb.
Ammachi was born into a poor family in the small fishing village of Parayakadavu, located on
an island on the Arabian Sea off the coast of Southern India. At her birth, her pregnant mother, Damayanti, was on the beach untangling a fishing net when she felt that she was going into labor. Damayanti quickly walked back to her home to collect her clothing on her way to her parent’s home, and when she was unable to go on any further, she lay down on a coarse woven mat, and in a manner that is sometimes common in third world countries, she gave birth to her child, alone.
Thus did Ammachi, the spiritual leader known to millions, come into the world. Hers was a hard life from the beginning. Born into a world of male supremacy and a rigid caste system, the third child after a firstborn brother, it seemed that she would settle into a fate of servitude and poverty. After just four years of schooling, she left her studies to serve the needs of the family. Working from sunup to late into the evening, she endured frequent beatings for household infractions such as eating with untouchables or giving away household items to the poor.
Her obsession with spirituality increased as the years went on. She composed songs to her deity, Krishna, and sang them day and night. She often lost all sense of time or place and wandered around the beaches seemingly in a trance. The villagers saw her as a crazy fool, and of course, her behavior increased the beatings delivered at the hands of her mother.
One day, returning from gathering grass for the family cows, she passed by the home of a neighbor and heard their family reading aloud the story of the life of Krishna. She ran into the courtyard of the house just as the family was engaged in devotional singing. Her official biography says, “Overcome with divine bliss, her inner identification with Krishna, the Lord, overflowed into her external being, transforming her skin color and features into Krishna himself!” In response to the crowd’s demand for a “miracle”, she materialized a rich sugary food from a pitcher of water to feed hundreds of the skeptical villagers that gathered to witness her transformation.
It was not long before the young girl began to attract her first devotees, much to the anger and embarrassment of her family, who accused her of having illicit affairs with the young men that were drawn to her. Moreover, threats were directed at the gatherings of pilgrims that were attracted to her seaside temple from a band of young villagers, who called themselves the “rationalists”. The angry group, who saw Ammachi as a threat to their traditional religion, made threats on her life, and even carried out several unsuccessful attempts to kill her.
As her legend grew, the rationalists disbanded, and more and more seekers were attracted to her humble village. With the help of her first American devotee, Neal Rosner (now Swami Paramatmanda), she came to Berkeley, California in 1987. This visit began the first of her personal appearances in the United States. She now tours cities all over the world.
Back to the Top