Amma: Healing the Heart of the World [Hardcover]

Judith Cornell (Author), Cornell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 22, 2001

Throughout the world she has been called "the hugging saint." Revered in her own country as a healer and a sage, credited with thousands of miracles by her devoted followers, Ammachi, or Amma (Mother), spends most of her waking hours providing strangers with hugs of unconditional love.

"I always wanted to know the cause of misery and thought if sorrow is a truth, then there must be a cause and a way out," Amma explains. "I realize my purpose is to console -- to personally wipe away tears through selfless love, compassion, and service."

In this authorized biography of an amazing woman, we learn the story of Amma's humble beginnings in a poor remote village in southern India, where she was rejected by her family because they felt her skin was too dark. Forced into servitude as a victim of racial prejudice in her own family, Amma discovered her divine calling is to comfort others, and so embarked on a quest to provide healing through the simple grace of hugging people -- black, white, yellow, and brown; rich and poor; healthy and sick. As the number of people she hugged increased, word of her healing powers spread. And what began as one woman's journey on foot has become the driving force behind an international organization promoting awareness of a greater spiritual journey and providing healing to millions around the globe.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Not so much a biography as a modern-day saint's life, this superficial and fulsome portrait of a contemporary Indian guru will delight followers and leave everyone else cold. Amma is an Indian teacher famous for the thousands of hugs she passes out to strangers. But she does more than hug; she has purportedly healed lepers, calmed turbulent seas and built homes for the poor. Born to a large family, Amma, like most saints, had an especially spiritual childhood. She was captivated by holy things from the earliest age and loved to spend hours in prayer and meditation. Nonetheless, Amma's parents expected her to follow a normal path (i.e., to be married). When she reached marriageable age, they introduced her to three potential husbands, but she ran the suitors off. Distraught, her parents consulted a guru who told them that Amma was destined to be a great spiritual leader and they should not force her to marry. Her parents relented, and Amma went on to build a tremendous ministry which today takes her not only throughout India, but also on annual tours of the United States. Biographer Cornell is insufficiently self-revealing; she flirts with self-disclosure, writing that it has been "a deep healing experience" to write about Amma, but she never squarely lays out her relationship with her subject. Like last year's major biography of the "hugging saint" (Savitri L. Bess's The Path of the Mother), this book offers no criticism or even analysis.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Cornell (Mandala: Luminous Symbols for Healing) met Ammachi, the East Indian healer with an international following, in 1987 and traveled with her in India for six weeks in 1999. Known as the Mother of Immortal Bliss or "the hugging saint," Amma draws crowds of thousands for her international appearances. Cornell crams this authorized biography with information, starting with Amma's childhood in a fisherman's family and onto her divine calling to comfort the suffering. Cornell narrates the stories of devotees and describes Amma's public appearances and tours and the rapid growth of institutions and charities that have formed around her. Cornell, who has a special interest in the "Divine Feminine" (for other books on this subject, see Linda Johnsen's Daughters of the Goddess: The Women Saints of India), draws a parallel between Amma and the Black Madonna. Although short on analysis, the book provides a satisfactory introduction to the life and work of an extraordinary spiritual personage. Only the chapter with the implied detractions of other spiritual teachers jars. This apart, the book is recommended for public libraries. Ravi Shenoy, Naperville P.L., IL
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow & Company; 1st edition (May 22, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 068817079X
• ISBN-13: 978-0688170790
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.9 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #756,192 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Judith Cornell Ph.D. is the award-winning author of MANDALA:Luminous Symbols for Healing. Since a radical awakening in 1979, she began pioneering a method to help others to awaken and heal at the deepest levels. Her method blends the sacred art and the spiritual science of the mandala with theories in quantum physics, raja and kundalini yoga, and transpersonal psychology.

Dr. Cornell is a classically trained yogini of the Hindu non-dual Saivite tradition. She is founder and director of Mandala Facilitation Trainings. Her life is dedicated to giving webinars, retreats and workshops that support awakening of one's true Self.

She is also the author of The Mandala Healing Kit, Amma: Healing the Heart of the World and Drawing the Light from Within.

For more information visit her website www.mandala-universe.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Life of Mata Amritanandamayi a Hindu Saint., March 26, 2002

By 

Xavier Thelakkatt (Dayton, MN United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Amma: Healing the Heart of the World (Hardcover)

I was on vacation in India for a month and I visited a niece of mine. While talking to her I heard the chanting of Bhajans from the neighborhood and I inquired as to what was going on. She reported that in the neighborhood was a house where the devotees of Mata Amritanandamayi gathered every week and prayed to her in front of a framed photograph of hers. I was curious and went in to ascertain it. There were about 50 men and women seated in front of her picture, chanting hymns. It was an eye-opening experience for me. Earlier in the week, I had passed through the front of the Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences in Cochin and had heard from many about the facilities over there. Now, I decided to learn more about this person considered a saint in India.

Reading through this book helped me to situate the phenomenon of Mata Amritanandamayi. No doubt the book is trying to depict in an objective light this charismatic woman, Amma (Mother) as she is understood and looked upon by thousands of her devotees. As a miracle healer, prophet and mystic she has established her fame. Her world tours have attracted attention to herself as an incarnation of the Divine Mother. By now she has grown into a big institution worthy of attention by the world. Judith Cornell by this book is presenting her along with her ideas and gifts to the western world. She tries to bring in personages familiar to the American readers, like Padre Pio, Bede Griffiths and C G Jung in relating to the ideas and message of this Hindu saint. She also refers to the black Madonna and the Christian understanding of Virgin Mary the Mother of God. The Catholic and Orthodox Christian belief in the Blessed Mother is very different from the concept of the Divine feminine found in Hinduism, though there are some comparisons possible. What Cornell ends up doing is to bring the East and West closer. The story of the rise of Sudhamani, an ordinary girl from the family of a poor fishermen couple on the coast of Kollam, India to the world renowned Mata Amritanandamayi is fascinating. Her story is told as it is known and spoken of around her birthplace, by her family members and her devotees around the world. Her ideas are presented in simple words, understandable to the ordinary folks, though they are typically Hindu in their perspective. The Hindu pantheon could absorb any number of seers and sages as incarnations of the Divine. So there are repeated mentions of Buddha and Jesus Christ in the book.

I found this a valuable book, useful for anyone who wants to know more about the saints and sages of the land of India. It gives one a somewhat objective look at the phenomenon of Mata Amritanandamayi along with her humble past, her mystic experiences and her compassion for the poor; it provides one the opportunity to hear the various opinions of many of her devotees deeply touched by her. All these contribute to the immense popularity of this saint of today, whose activities in favor of the poor are widely recognized.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A lot of information, June 25, 2001

By 

Josephine Gerrard (Albany, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Amma: Healing the Heart of the World (Hardcover)

This is a good book for those who know nothing about Ammachi the Saint from Kerala. Ms Cornell has researched extensively and includes many details and facts which have not been published previously. This book tells about the details of Ammachi's miracles which include curing a leper, her incredible schedule (blessing over one million people individually by hugging them), building over 400 ashrams, hopitals schools as well as orphanages. For devotees of Ammachi this is a book you send to your relatives. Previous books have been written as spritial autobiographies. This books is less demonstrative. Cornell writes as a spritial reporter and attempts to include sociological information which is very interesting. For those who don't understand Indian religion this book explains the elements simply and puts Ammachi into perspective. A good all round book for the general public.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars spiritually inspiring, June 24, 2001

By 

"tvdyck" (Reno, Nevada United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Amma: Healing the Heart of the World (Hardcover)

I find the book, AMMA: Healing the Heart of the World, deeply inspiring. Judith Cornell describes the amazing life story of this living saint in a captivating , easy to read manner, filled with heartwarming and uplifting stories. The many photo pictures add to the spiritual richness of this book. To me this book is a treasure and I recommend it to all seekers.