Her Name is Mata Amritanandamayi
From Swiss Radio Station i.e. SRDRS-1
October 2001
Her name is Mata Amritanandamayi and she comes from India. She is
also known by a name that is easier to remember: Amma. Her profession
is to embrace people and to collect money for her charities. And
that is exactly what she is doing in Frauenfeld, her only stop in
Switzerland on her European Tour. Our correspondent Robert Ruckstuhl
has met her:
In the foggy weather the Festhalle Rüegerholz doesn't look
very hospitable. But as soon as you enter the hall the air is filled
with the peculiar aroma of incense and the sound of murmuring and
Indian music. Amma, sitting at the very front of the hall, is embracing
one person after another; she is surrounded by people in white dresses,
helping the people come to her.
Now we are standing beside her and are allowed to ask questions.
Amma is answering while continuing to embrace people. "I gather
energy from within myself, everyone is inside me". And to the
question why she does this hugging, she says that it would be like
asking a Mother why she loves her children so much. "That is
just the way it is". And she grabs the next woman, holds her
to her chest and whispers with her hoarse voice in a kind of singsong:
"My darling daughter, my darling daughter," into her ear.
I keep asking people what they feel when they are getting embraced,
but nobody seems to be able or willing to put the experience into
words. Except one therapist from Konstanz, Germany, who has seen
Amma for the first time: "I felt peace and harmony, a very
pleasant feeling." But it is clear that all those who have
seen Amma more than once have had a profound experience. It seems
though, that one cannot point out something common, that is valid
for everybody. Except maybe that to get a motherly embrace is very
beautiful, even for an adult.
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