Amma: Healing the Heart of the
World by Judith Cornell
Amma: Healing The Heart Of The World
Throughout the world she has been called the hugging saint. Revered in
her own country as a healer and a sage, credited with thousands of
miracles by her devoted followers, Ammachi, or Amma (Mother), spends
most of her waking hours providing strangers with hugs of unconditional
love.
I always wanted to know the cause of misery and thought if sorrow is a
truth, then there must be a cause and a way out, Amma explains. I realize
my purpose is to console -- to personally wipe away tears through selfless
love, compassion, and service.
In this authorized biography of an amazing woman, we learn the story of
Ammas humble beginnings in a poor remote village in southern India,
where she was rejected by her family because they felt her skin was too
dark. Forced into servitude as a victim of racial prejudice in her own family,
Amma discovered her divine calling is to comfort others, and so embarked

on a quest to provide healing through the simple grace of hugging people
-- black, white, yellow, and brown; rich and poor; healthy and sick. As the
number of people she hugged increased, word of her healing powers
spread. And what began as one womans journey on foot has become the
driving force behind an international organization promoting awareness of
a greater spiritual journey and providing healing to millions around the
globe.
Personal Review: Amma: Healing the Heart of the World by
Judith Cornell
I was on vacation in India for a month and I visited a niece of mine. While
talking to her I heard the chanting of Bhajans from the neighborhood and I
inquired as to what was going on. She reported that in the neighborhood
was a house where the devotees of Mata Amritanandamayi gathered
every week and prayed to her in front of a framed photograph of hers. I
was curious and went in to ascertain it. There were about 50 men and
women seated in front of her picture, chanting hymns. It was an eye-
opening experience for me. Earlier in the week, I had passed through the
front of the Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences in Cochin and had heard
from many about the facilities over there. Now, I decided to learn more
about this person considered a saint in India. Reading through this book
helped me to situate the phenomenon of Mata Amritanandamayi. No doubt
the book is trying to depict in an objective light this charismatic woman,
Amma (Mother) as she is understood and looked upon by thousands of her
devotees. As a miracle healer, prophet and mystic she has established her
fame. Her world tours have attracted attention to herself as an incarnation
of the Divine Mother. By now she has grown into a big institution worthy of
attention by the world. Judith Cornell by this book is presenting her along
with her ideas and gifts to the western world. She tries to bring in
personages familiar to the American readers, like Padre Pio, Bede Griffiths
and C G Jung in relating to the ideas and message of this Hindu saint.
She also refers to the black Madonna and the Christian understanding of
Virgin Mary the Mother of God. The Catholic and Orthodox Christian belief
in the Blessed Mother is very different from the concept of the Divine
feminine found in Hinduism, though there are some comparisons possible.
What Cornell ends up doing is to bring the East and West closer. The story
of the rise of Sudhamani, an ordinary girl from the family of a poor
fishermen couple on the coast of Kollam, India to the world renowned Mata
Amritanandamayi is fascinating. Her story is told as it is known and spoken
of around her birthplace, by her family members and her devotees around
the world. Her ideas are presented in simple words, understandable to the
ordinary folks, though they are typically Hindu in their perspective. The
Hindu pantheon could absorb any number of seers and sages as
incarnations of the Divine. So there are repeated mentions of Buddha and
Jesus Christ in the book. I found this a valuable book, useful for anyone
who wants to know more about the saints and sages of the land of India. It
gives one a somewhat objective look at the phenomenon of Mata

Amritanandamayi along with her humble past, her mystic experiences and
her compassion for the poor; it provides one the opportunity to hear the
various opinions of many of her devotees deeply touched by her. All these
contribute to the immense popularity of this saint of today, whose activities
in favor of the poor are widely recognized.
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