Matha Amritanandamayi or Ammachi is called the Hugging saint as she is famous for Hugging while giving darshan.
Well, for past one year or so, I have been curious time to time to meet her once.
I could not go to ArmitaPuri and also she was in international trip in the year 2012.
In 2013, I heard she started Bharata Yatra.
She was in Bangalore on Jan 30 and 31 2013 but due to workload I could not go to her Banglaore ashram on working days.
Also this thoguht was also there --that I am moving away from Arunachala Ramana to other saints. I pondered over this again and again, finally made a prayer to Arunachala to give me some solace and grant Her Darshan. I recollected how S S Cohen, Ganapati Muni and ohters went to see Shri Aurobindo and Mother as a one time darshan. I also re-collected how Kunju Swammi went to some math for a darshan and how he narrated his exp to Bhagavan (like he did not prostrate etc.)
I re-collected how Chalam and Souris, Talyerkahn had darshan of Ananadamayi ma after Bhagavan's maha nirvana. I re-collected how V Ganesan got darshan of Krishna Bhai and Nisarghadatta maharaj.
I convinced myself that there is nothing wrong in getting darshan of great Mahatmas living in one's time period and this did not clash with following Ramana Maharirhsee in anyway.
I prayed strongly to Aruanachala Raman to grant me darshan of this Hugging saint.
I heard that Ammachi is in Mysore on Feb 2 and Feb 3rd the weekend.
I slept with huge confusion and mild fever on Feb 1st Friday night wondering if it is proper for me to
go there to Mysore camp and get her darshan.
On Feb 2nd morning 4 AM when I woke up, mind was very clear and very auspicious omen started within me to urge me to go there. At the same time I was a bit tired and so decided to start only by 9 AM.
Praying to Aruanchala photo, I immediately called taxi and booked at 8:45 AM to rush to Mysore to
avoid any waste of time in bus journey.
The tax arrvied at my house in Bangalroe at 8:45 AM sharply. I offered prayers to Arunachala Ramana and Saradamma and started reading Eka Sloki of Bhagavan during the taxi journey.
I reached the Mysore Ashram at Bogadi at around 12:45 PM.
I enquired at the helpdesk and was kindly directed towards cloak room to keep my bags. Meanwhile Amma had already arrived and conducting bhajan at the tented hall. I had a distant darshan first and went to unload my buggage in claok room.
I received the darshan token and then slowly made my way into the tented bhajan hall and found a seat 15 row of charis behind her stage.
Ammachi did wonderful bhajan, sometimes laughed and cried. Then she did manasa puja and asked all to participae thinking of their favourite deity during the pooja.
I visualized that I do manasa puja to my Guru during the manasa puja instructions from her.
Later Grand Arathi was performed to her by nine ladies in traditional sareers with flowers.
Ammachi threw the flowers back at the ladies and was all the time smiling peculiarly during Arathi
performance.
It is already 2 PM now and the hugging darshan started, It started with A1 to A5, B1 to B5 tokens
etc.
Mine is Z4. I asked the volunteers and they told it will be around 11 PM in the night. It was going to be a long wait.
As hugging started, they played various bhajans and few dance performances of Mahishashura Mardhini in the stage.
Later, they played various bhajans and tours of Ammachi in the big digital screens. The hugging
continued all the time.
I had one privilege from 3 PM. Many crowds dispersed and the front row seats are now vacant.
I went to the second row and occupied a seat very close to the stage where the hugging is going on. I could see Ammachi directly and also close view in digital screen. But the queue is arranged in such a way that I could not go for hugging until my token is displayed.
After spending some time, I purchased few books so that I read about Her in the remaining waiting
time.
I quote few chapters I read about Her.
Her biography is wonderful.
Born to poor,low caste fishermen, Ammachi did not cry immediately after birth but smiled warmly.
Parents had many visions in dreams before her Birth.
She has gone through so many harassments, many busy household chores from morning to night, the burden to take care of younger brothers, the burden to take grass to cattle etc. etc. etc.
From monring to night, no time left for her. Yet her lips always chanted her beloved God Krishna.
She faced deep harassment from her own elder brother Subhagan and even from her parents sometimes.
Their attempts to get her married were failures and one astrologer severly late warned them of the
consequences when she is given in marriage.
Ammachi started consoling people from all walks of life from the age of 16.
She engaged them in Krishna bhakthi and whenever Bhagavtam is recited, her own body turned dark blue colour and she verily became Krishna.
Like alost every saint, even she had a death experience or nirvikalpa samadhi experience.
Once her father totally dejected by her daughter's madness of devotion wanted the spirit from her body to leave at once. He approached her daughter ammachi herself and prayed for the same.
Hid idea is that her daughter is merely possessed by some mad spirit.
Moments later, the heart beat stopped, and Ammachi's body became paralyzed.
All devotees who came for satsang started crying and 8 hours passed this way. Finally after her
father's repeated apology and his vow to give her daughter to Divine scheme of things, heart beat
revived.
Ammachi had eaten COW Dung,tea leaves broken glass pieces and rolled off in sands crying 'Krishna Krishna' during her sadhana days.
Her divine madness is incomparable.
Like this the story goes.
One should read her story to learn what is pure bhakthi and surrender.
So I spent hours and hours sitting very close to her and reading the books, meditating and hearing the bhajan .
I wondered that people from all walks of life, poor, rich, handicap, untouchables, orthodox ,
unorthodox etc. everyone lined up for her hugging.
Handicaps were given immediate darshan and hugging without waiting in token queue.
Ammachi never even stood up from her seat and continued hugging from 2 PM till 1 AM next day.
My turn came on 11 PM that day. I was in the queue , by this time very tired in body and mind.
When I went to her, i told in tammil to this effect, 'Amma I am sorry, give me siva bhakthi'
She accepted my sorry by nodding her head. Later she hugged me keeping my heard under her chest and whisphered a phrase three times in Malayalam.
She is famous for giving mantra diksha during hugging. But I did not know the meaning of that phrase.
Later I asked two people who knew malayalam and found that it is not a mantra, it meant 'my darling pearl like son'
I bowed once again and booked another taxi and came back to Bangalore.
There were huge arrangements for free food, paid tiffins, sleeping dormitories, toilets, mobile
medical camps, paid fresh fruit juices, trasnport arrangement for poor villagers from rural areas to
the mysore ashram, information on free hospitals and other charitable activities etc.
Ammachi's social service activities and initiatives were magnificient and in large scale.
To give hugging for around 15 hours a day without a break and to work without any tiredness, I feel one should have got the inner command from Ishwara.
Well, for past one year or so, I have been curious time to time to meet her once.
I could not go to ArmitaPuri and also she was in international trip in the year 2012.
In 2013, I heard she started Bharata Yatra.
She was in Bangalore on Jan 30 and 31 2013 but due to workload I could not go to her Banglaore ashram on working days.
Also this thoguht was also there --that I am moving away from Arunachala Ramana to other saints. I pondered over this again and again, finally made a prayer to Arunachala to give me some solace and grant Her Darshan. I recollected how S S Cohen, Ganapati Muni and ohters went to see Shri Aurobindo and Mother as a one time darshan. I also re-collected how Kunju Swammi went to some math for a darshan and how he narrated his exp to Bhagavan (like he did not prostrate etc.)
I re-collected how Chalam and Souris, Talyerkahn had darshan of Ananadamayi ma after Bhagavan's maha nirvana. I re-collected how V Ganesan got darshan of Krishna Bhai and Nisarghadatta maharaj.
I convinced myself that there is nothing wrong in getting darshan of great Mahatmas living in one's time period and this did not clash with following Ramana Maharirhsee in anyway.
I prayed strongly to Aruanachala Raman to grant me darshan of this Hugging saint.
I heard that Ammachi is in Mysore on Feb 2 and Feb 3rd the weekend.
I slept with huge confusion and mild fever on Feb 1st Friday night wondering if it is proper for me to
go there to Mysore camp and get her darshan.
On Feb 2nd morning 4 AM when I woke up, mind was very clear and very auspicious omen started within me to urge me to go there. At the same time I was a bit tired and so decided to start only by 9 AM.
Praying to Aruanchala photo, I immediately called taxi and booked at 8:45 AM to rush to Mysore to
avoid any waste of time in bus journey.
The tax arrvied at my house in Bangalroe at 8:45 AM sharply. I offered prayers to Arunachala Ramana and Saradamma and started reading Eka Sloki of Bhagavan during the taxi journey.
I reached the Mysore Ashram at Bogadi at around 12:45 PM.
I enquired at the helpdesk and was kindly directed towards cloak room to keep my bags. Meanwhile Amma had already arrived and conducting bhajan at the tented hall. I had a distant darshan first and went to unload my buggage in claok room.
I received the darshan token and then slowly made my way into the tented bhajan hall and found a seat 15 row of charis behind her stage.
Ammachi did wonderful bhajan, sometimes laughed and cried. Then she did manasa puja and asked all to participae thinking of their favourite deity during the pooja.
I visualized that I do manasa puja to my Guru during the manasa puja instructions from her.
Later Grand Arathi was performed to her by nine ladies in traditional sareers with flowers.
Ammachi threw the flowers back at the ladies and was all the time smiling peculiarly during Arathi
performance.
It is already 2 PM now and the hugging darshan started, It started with A1 to A5, B1 to B5 tokens
etc.
Mine is Z4. I asked the volunteers and they told it will be around 11 PM in the night. It was going to be a long wait.
As hugging started, they played various bhajans and few dance performances of Mahishashura Mardhini in the stage.
Later, they played various bhajans and tours of Ammachi in the big digital screens. The hugging
continued all the time.
I had one privilege from 3 PM. Many crowds dispersed and the front row seats are now vacant.
I went to the second row and occupied a seat very close to the stage where the hugging is going on. I could see Ammachi directly and also close view in digital screen. But the queue is arranged in such a way that I could not go for hugging until my token is displayed.
After spending some time, I purchased few books so that I read about Her in the remaining waiting
time.
I quote few chapters I read about Her.
Her biography is wonderful.
Born to poor,low caste fishermen, Ammachi did not cry immediately after birth but smiled warmly.
Parents had many visions in dreams before her Birth.
She has gone through so many harassments, many busy household chores from morning to night, the burden to take care of younger brothers, the burden to take grass to cattle etc. etc. etc.
From monring to night, no time left for her. Yet her lips always chanted her beloved God Krishna.
She faced deep harassment from her own elder brother Subhagan and even from her parents sometimes.
Their attempts to get her married were failures and one astrologer severly late warned them of the
consequences when she is given in marriage.
Ammachi started consoling people from all walks of life from the age of 16.
She engaged them in Krishna bhakthi and whenever Bhagavtam is recited, her own body turned dark blue colour and she verily became Krishna.
Like alost every saint, even she had a death experience or nirvikalpa samadhi experience.
Once her father totally dejected by her daughter's madness of devotion wanted the spirit from her body to leave at once. He approached her daughter ammachi herself and prayed for the same.
Hid idea is that her daughter is merely possessed by some mad spirit.
Moments later, the heart beat stopped, and Ammachi's body became paralyzed.
All devotees who came for satsang started crying and 8 hours passed this way. Finally after her
father's repeated apology and his vow to give her daughter to Divine scheme of things, heart beat
revived.
Ammachi had eaten COW Dung,tea leaves broken glass pieces and rolled off in sands crying 'Krishna Krishna' during her sadhana days.
Her divine madness is incomparable.
Like this the story goes.
One should read her story to learn what is pure bhakthi and surrender.
So I spent hours and hours sitting very close to her and reading the books, meditating and hearing the bhajan .
I wondered that people from all walks of life, poor, rich, handicap, untouchables, orthodox ,
unorthodox etc. everyone lined up for her hugging.
Handicaps were given immediate darshan and hugging without waiting in token queue.
Ammachi never even stood up from her seat and continued hugging from 2 PM till 1 AM next day.
My turn came on 11 PM that day. I was in the queue , by this time very tired in body and mind.
When I went to her, i told in tammil to this effect, 'Amma I am sorry, give me siva bhakthi'
She accepted my sorry by nodding her head. Later she hugged me keeping my heard under her chest and whisphered a phrase three times in Malayalam.
She is famous for giving mantra diksha during hugging. But I did not know the meaning of that phrase.
Later I asked two people who knew malayalam and found that it is not a mantra, it meant 'my darling pearl like son'
I bowed once again and booked another taxi and came back to Bangalore.
There were huge arrangements for free food, paid tiffins, sleeping dormitories, toilets, mobile
medical camps, paid fresh fruit juices, trasnport arrangement for poor villagers from rural areas to
the mysore ashram, information on free hospitals and other charitable activities etc.
Ammachi's social service activities and initiatives were magnificient and in large scale.
To give hugging for around 15 hours a day without a break and to work without any tiredness, I feel one should have got the inner command from Ishwara.
