Like talcum powder mixed with lavender.Īmma then pulled away from me, smiled and said something like “Ah!” Then one of her assistants handed me a blessed apple and Hershey’s Kiss. It’s also worth mentioning that she smells amazing. I buried my face in her pillowy hug as she chanted something in my ear - someone later told me the words meant something along the lines “my little one, my daughter” - for about 10 seconds. I was then led to kneel down before Amma and I just went for it. Seeing all the people who had come to Amma for relief from suffering - some in wheelchairs, some carrying photos of loved ones - was pretty powerful. I was led to the front of the line, which I hope I don’t pay for in another life, and as I sat two hugs away from Amma’s bosom, I got a little choked up. He also said she typically gets only one hour of sleep per night because there’s so much work to be done.Īt one point during our conversation, Russell Simmons walked in with a model and a camera crew. After Amma kissed an open sore, the Swamiji was convinced that she was the most compassionate person he had ever met. During their second meeting, he watched her hug a man with the worst case of leprosy he had ever seen. (That was pretty rad.) He told us he met Amma 28 years ago when, as a documentary filmmaker, he approached her about being a subject. He was draped in orange robes, and even whipped out an orange iPhone when it rang. Kelly arranged for us to sit down with a Swamiji who works as Amma’s North American tour director. There was a lot more - auditorily, visually, olfactorily - to take in here. I’ve done meditation retreats before, but those were with hippies and a few Buddhist monks in Vermont, and they were mostly silent. I won’t lie: I was completely intimidated. The auditorium was filled with incense, people dressed in white (my friends and I never got that memo), and chanting. Two friends and I walked into New York’s Manhattan Center, where Amma had been hugging for three days. She’s not affiliated with any religion, saying the only religion she practices is love.Īnd she also happens to give a really good hug. She’s first and foremost a humanitarian who, according to press materials, has raised over $48 million to “provide food for the hungry, homes for the homeless and hugs for the lonely.” She’s also worked and traveled to relieve suffering in post-Katrina New Orleans, post-tsunami Asia, and post-earthquake Haiti.
In this intimate manner Amma had blessed and consoled more than 25 million people throughout the world,” sometimes offering hugs (“darshan”) for over 22 hours straight.īut I should put it out there that Amma is so much more than a hugger.
#AMMA HUGGING SAINT PRO#
pro bono, how could I say no?Īccording to her website, “for the past 35 years Amma has dedicated her life to the uplifting of suffering humanity through the simplest of gestures - an embrace. When Kelly Cutrone of People’s Revolution (and star of The City and Kell on Earth and, of course, a Huffington Post blogger ) invited me to meet India’s so-called Hugging Saint, for whom she does P.R. By Anya Strzemien: I got hugged by Amma on Tuesday.