Mata Amritanandamayi? Claim this page
| DOB | September 27, 1953 (70 years) |
|---|---|
| Organization | Mata Amritanandamayi Math |
| Philosophy | Non-duality / Advaita Vedanta |
| Location | Amritapuri, Kollam district, Kerala, India |
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Mata Amritanandamayi
Mātā Amritānandamayī, often known as Amma (“Mother”), is an Indian Hindu spiritual leader, guru and humanitarian, who is revered as ‘the hugging saint’ by her followers. She is the chancellor of multi-campus research university Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham.
In 2018, she was felicitated by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for largest contribution to the Government of India’s Clean India Campaign Swachh Bharat Mission. She was the first recipient of Vishwaratna Puraskar (Gem of the World Award) by Hindu Parliament.
Philosophy and Teachings
In the book The Timeless Path, Swami Ramakrishnananda Puri, one of Amṛtānandamayī’s senior disciples, wrote: “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.” Amṛtānandamayī 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 different methods toward the same 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. Amṛtānandamayī has said that these practices refine the mind, preparing it to assimilate the ultimate truth: that one is not the physical body and mind, but the eternal, blissful consciousness that serves as the non-dual substratum of the universe. This understanding itself Amṛtānandamayī referred to as jivanmukti [liberation while alive].
Amṛtānandamayī said, “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.”
Amritanandamayi is known for frequently referring to herself in the third person as “Amma”, which is a common spiritual practice in Hinduism.
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