What is universal motherhood?
This is what Mata Amritanandamayi Devi, better known as Amma (Sanskrit word for “mother”) or the Hugging Saint, had to say about universal motherhood:
Who is Amma?
Amma is a Hindu spiritual leader/guru, who began to spontaneously embrace people to comfort them in their sorrow. Her form of “darshan” [bestowal of love, light and grace] is to give people hugs, which she has been doing since her late teenage years.
Although she has never married or had children of her own, she clearly understands the healing power of unconditional love and how to embody it. It’s been estimated that she has embraced more than 33 million people over 30 years and is still going strong, reaching out to people worldwide.
“I don’t see if it is a man or a woman. I don’t see anyone different from my own self. A continuous stream of love flows from me to all of creation. This is my inborn nature. My duty is to console those who are suffering.” – Amma
What is her view on compassion?
Amma said: “For me, compassion is the most important factor in our lives. It is the first step. If we take this first step courageously, without fear, then all of our decisions and subsequent actions and their results will have a special beauty, spontaneity and power.
Human calculations may be wrong, but actions born of true compassion can never be wrong, because compassion is a law of nature.”
“If we tune the individual mind with the universal mind, compassion, then we, as individuals, are no longer really performing actions, but are merely allowing creation to act through us. And this is the power of compassion. In truth, the spiritual path both begins and ends with compassion.” – Amma
What are her teachings?
“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.” – Amma
She accepts various spiritual practices, members of all religions and science, stating:
“Spirituality is not against science. In fact it is the ultimate science. Science without spirituality is blind. Spirituality without science is lame. We need both.” – Amma
She emphasizes the importance of meditation, selfless service and higher qualities such as compassion, patience, forgiveness, self-control, etc. and gave a great analogy:
“Where there are a thousand pots filled with water, the sun reflected in all of those pots is the same. [I’d say even if these pots are filled with any amount of water and come in any shape, size, location or level.]
In the same way, although there are many individuals, it’s the same consciousness, that same Supreme God consciousness that is present within everybody.
If we can see that God consciousness, then that itself will bring unity. There’s actually no difference between the creator and the creation. When we can realize or develop a deeper understanding of the fact that we’re all actually One, then there’s no differences. Unity is the only outcome. Everything is important, everything has its place. That’s the understanding that we need to develop.”
“There is an amma within all of us. There is also a child within all of us. That motherhood is there inside each and every person.” – Amma
