Amma, meaning "Mother," was born in India in a small fishing village in 1953. She is known around the world as "the hugging saint" who in a day may embrace 10,000 who revere her. She has given 32 million hugs worldwide.
Amanda J. Lucia is Assistant Professor of Religion at the University of California Riverside. She has bequeathed to us a substantive portrait of this extraordinary woman who has provided millions of men, women and children with an authentic darshan experience. This book gives a tender and touching overview of the responses of her devotees and strangers to the healing and oftentimes transformative power of her embrace.
In the late 1970s, this "God-realized soul" set up an ashram site in her childhood village. Her primary message is "Love and Serve," and she has been able to raise staggering amounts of money for charitable works. After collecting $23 million for tsunami relief, she doubled that amount and has donated large amounts to social welfare programs in India. Although it has not been emphasized very much, Amma advocates women's rights and has been active on behalf of women around the globe.
Lucia covers a lot of turf in this impressive paperback including the Devi Bhava darshans where Amma equates herself with the Hindu goddess, advocates the empowerment of all women, and calls for universal motherhood in the hearts and minds of all her devotees whether females or males. Lucia looks at the different needs of Indian Hindus and American spiritual seekers. She closes with a historical probe into the gendered representations of Hindu religion and the many diverse narratives surrounding them.
