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 At the invitation of some Western devotees, Amma first traveled to the U.S.
and Europe in 1987. As she was known by reputation in only limited spiritual
circles, her darshan programs were often held in
private homes attracting only dozens of people, or a couple hundred at most.
Gradually, as a result of word-of-mouth, many thousands now see her at each
stop. Ammachi routinely makes a summer U.S. tour, followed by Europe in the
Fall. An ashram was founded in San Ramon, California in 1989 at the behest of
Her western children who longed for a center to practise Her teachings and
dedicate themselves to Her mission. Since then several ashrams and centers in N.
America, Europe, Australia, S. America and Africa have been established.On a typical tour stop, Amma will lead a brief morning meditation followed by darshan late into the afternoon. In the evening, she returns to give satsang (inspired talk) followed by an approximate 90-minute session of bhajans (devotional songs) where she leads an unusually talented troupe of swamis (monks). At the conclusion of the music, she will sit, hour after hour, usually deep into the early morning hours, giving darshan. The bliss and transquility of being in the Amma's presence is unique and indescribable. As the evening wears-on and the darshan numbers whittle down, it is both humbling and inspiring to watch how Ammachi's energy shows no sign of fatigue. She will not even pause until the last person has been received. All the while, Amma sustains a beaming smile while lovingly embracing one after another after another. With each hug and smile, an obvious spark of her own energy is passed along. What are Darshan Programs ?Darshan is an Sanskrit term describing "audience with a saint or sage". In the ancient tradition, darshan usually consisted of a mere "sighting" of a holy person. In a radical break with custom, Amma's darshan blessing emerged as a long tender healing embrace. She has been doing it this way since she was a young mystic in her native Kerala fishing village located along the south coast of the Arabian Sea. Amma makes herself available to anyone wishing to receive her blessing. There is never any charge, and no one is turned away. Hour after hour, day after day, year after year, she receives everyone in the same loving way, irrespective of religious faith or non-belief. Over time, Ammachi's popularity has risen to the point where in India she has been known to individually hug over 18,000 people in one day, sitting sometimes for over 20 hours. Nearly half of the year she can be found at her Kerala ashram, the Mata Amritanandamayi Math, but increasingly her darshan programs are organized all around the world. Timothy Conway, Ph.D., author of the book Women of Power and Grace and expert on spiritual figures, describes Ammachi as "one of the most glorious lights to appear in the history of religion. Just her stamina-embracing these millions of people one by one, day after day, without a break, all over the world-is some kind of divine gift. No mere human resources could accomplish this." CLICK HERE
for details on AMMA's visit to For detailed information on AMMAs worldwide schedule then please refer to the HERE. A special fundraising
account is set up specifically for the intention of bringing Amma to Ireland.
This account is totally separate from the Charity donations. Registered Charity number CHY15299 Send
us your name and address to be added to the |