Hundreds Line Up for Hugs of Love and Unity From Hindu Guru

Hundreds of people packed a San Fernando Valley ballroom Thursday, chanting and meditating while they waited for hugs from a 46-year-old Hindu guru.

Known worldwide simply as Amma or Ammachi, the holy leader and humanitarian from south India hugs people, one after another, for hours, cradling adults like babies, whispering comforting words and showering them with rose petals and Hershey’s kisses.

Victor Garayh, 51, of Highland Park said afterward that his hug was like a first step to meeting God. “It’s profound. It felt like she could see my soul.”

People traveled from as far away as San Diego and Palm Springs for two daylong hugging sessions at the Warner Center Marriott in Woodland Hills. They were part of Amma’s 10-city U.S. tour that also includes Santa Fe, Dallas, Chicago and Washington, D.C.

Born into a poor fisherman’s family in southern India, Amma--whose full name is Mata Amritanandamayi--was an outcast because of her dark skin. From her life of poverty and rejection she learned to comfort the afflicted, say followers.

For 25 years, Amma’s hugs and charitable work with orphanages, women’s shelters and hospices for the poor have made her a living saint to many Hindus and non-Hindus.

Although raised Hindu, Amma--whose name in Sanskrit means “Mother of Immortal Bliss”--embraces people of all religions. Through an interpreter, she said her hugs are meant to “awaken the motherhood within,” by providing a feminine balance to the masculine energy that dominates society.

“[The hug] is not just a physical contact but a spiritual one,” Amma said, as a weeping woman buried her head in Amma’s lap. “If there is no love, there is no unity, there is no peace.”

The hugs are free, although donations are accepted and used to help the poor in India and worldwide, said Rob Sidon, a tour spokesman. A few years ago he said he quit his job with a major corporation to follow Amma.

One of Amma’s major projects has been supporting the Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Center, an 800-bed, state-of-the-art facility in India that offers pediatric and cardiac care, neurosurgery and other treatment free to the needy.

In August, Amma will be part of a delegation speaking at the Millennium World Peace Summit of Religious and Spiritual Leaders at the U.N. General Assembly in New York.

“Her stamina is remarkable,” sometimes hugging hundreds of people in one 12-hour sitting, said Sannyasi Arumugaswami, managing editor of the 12,000-circulation, bimonthly magazine Hinduism Today, which named Amma the Hindu of the year in 1993.

Fifteen minutes before Amma arrived Thursday at the Warner Center Marriott, people gathered in the hotel lobby chanting a Sanskrit mantra as a salutation.

They followed her into the Grand Ballroom, where they meditated for 10 minutes or so before lining up for hugs.

For years, Sava Soto of San Diego said she has traveled to receive hugs. She brought her foster son, Willy, when he was 6 months old and was not expected to live because of a genetic illness.

Soto credits Willy’s 4 1/2 years to Amma’s hugs.

“She’s a saint,” Soto said. “She’s pure love. . . . Her hugs are not an intellectual thing that can be described. It’s a feeling thing.”

Amma will give hugs again at 6:30 p.m. Sunday at the Warner Center Marriott.