MATA AMRITANANDAMAYI
An Embodiment of the ‘Embracing’ Sainthood
Keywords:
Amritapuri Amma: A Brief Life Sketch, Dual Dimensions of Personality, Emergence of the Devi Bhava, The Meaning of the Divine Bhavas, Claim of “Universal Motherhood”, Divinity of Amritanandamayi, ‘Embracing’ Outflow of Love, Appraisal of Amritanandamayi and Her Sadhana, A Blending of Bhakti and Karma Margas, Woman to be Admired, not to be Adored, Sainthood: A Fact or a Process?, Novel Trend in the Bhakti SagaAbstract
History has witnessed manifold personalities who appear with a special flair of spirituality and charisma to enkindle and rekindle individuals and communities. Simple, insignificant and humble human beings become universal figures by gradually assuming spiritual powers. They emerge to be saints and wonder workers. Are saints born or made? The Bhakti Tradition has its own role in sensitizing the devotional sentiments of the devotees. The number of saints in the Indian tradition is not in any way less in comparing any other traditions of faith and devotion throughout the world. In recent debates we come across an amazing applaud to the saints of New Age Movements. Sanctity and divinity cannot be put into logical scrutiny to get perfect clarity of notions. Faith and reason, however, exist side-by-side enhancing each other in the human search for the real. Most often we fall short of reasoning in our attempt to understand ‘Saints’ of the times. Among the modern saints of the New Age, Mata Amritanandamayi is unique in various respects, especially in her dual expressions of divine bhavas and her hugging of the devotees to impart her blessings.
References
Amritaswarupananada, Mata Amritanandamayi: A Biography, Kollam: Mata Amritanandamayi Mission Trust, 1998, 25-26.
Amritaswarupananda, Awaken Children: Dialogues with Mata Amritanandamayi, vol. 4, Amritapuri: Mata Amritanandamayi Mission Trust, 1992, 145.
Amritaswarupananda, Awaken Children: Dialogues with Mata Amritanandamayi, vol. 8, Amritapuri: Mata Amritanandamayi Mission Trust, 1996, 74.
Amritaswarupananda, Awaken Children: Dialogues with Mata Amritanandamayi, vol. 9, Amritapuri: Mata Amritanandamayi Mission Trust, 1998, 77.
Amritaswarupananda, From Amma’s Heart: Conversations with Mata Amritanandamayi. Amritapuri: Mata Amritanandamayi Mission Trust, 2003, 82.
C. N. Mangala, “Bhakti Movement in India: A Process of Transformation” in Dimensions of Bhakti Movement in India, ed. H. M. Marulasiddaiah, Mysore: Akhila Bharatha Sharana Sahitya Parishat, 1998, 273.
Jnanamritananda, Lead Us to Light: A Collection of Amma’s Teachings, Part I. California: Mata Amritanandamayi Center, 2002, 55.
Puri, Racing Along the Razor’s Edge, 72.
Sujit Chandra Kumar, “Embracing the World,” The Week, September 21, 2003, 24.
