Description
Book SynopsisGlobally known as Amma, meaning Mother, Mata Amritanandamayi has developed a massive transnational humanitarian organization based in hugs. She is familiar to millions as the hugging saint, a moniker that derives from her elaborate darshan programs wherein nearly every day ten thousand people are embraced by the guru one at a time, events that routinely last ten to twenty hours without any rest for her. Although she was born in 1953 as a low-caste girl in a South Indian fishing village, today millions revere her as guru and goddess, a living embodiment of the divine on earth. Reflections of Amma focuses on communities of Amma's devotees in the United States, showing how they endeavor to mirror their guru's behaviors and transform themselves to emulate the ethos of the movement. This study argues that inheritors and adopters of Hindu traditions differently interpret Hindu goddesses, Amma, and her relation to feminism and women's empowerment because of their inherited religious, cultural
Table of ContentsList of Illustrations Acknowledgments Note on Language INTRODUCTION Situating Amma as Female Guru in the Context of American Multiculturalism ONE A Darshan Embrace: Experiencing Authenticity and Feeling Recognition TWO Devi Bhava: Revelation and Performance of the Guru as Goddess THREE The Avatar-Guru and Ordinary Women: the Boundaries of Mimetic Behavioral Models FOUR Culturally-Situated Testimonies: Differing Interpretations of the Role of the Goddess FIVE Congregational Dynamics: Growing Pains En Route from the Particular to the Universal CONCLUSION Multiculturalism, Universalism, and Communal Identity: the Guru in the American Diaspora APPENDIX I: Current Literature Engaging the Field of Contemporary Gurus NOTES BIBLIOGRAPHY INDEX
