You know what I hate? When someone that isn’t me thinks of a good idea that I would be infinitely better suited to carry out. 🙂 Take Amma “the Hugging Saint,” (a.k.a. Mata Amritanandamayi) for example. People flock to her for a hug and give her money. I give good hug too. The Boston Herald reports:
On the road to enlightenment, no shoes are allowed. Hugs, however, are OK.
At least 3,000 devotees tossed off their footwear before gathering in the lotus position before the smiling Indian spiritual leader known as “Amma,” or mother, revered around the world as “The Hugging Saint.” At the Best Western Royal Plaza Trade Center, truth-seekers engaged in group meditation, then each grabbed a token, like deli counter tickets, to get their hugs.
Amma’s hugs have healing power, some said. Her fund-raising, meanwhile, has allowed her to pledge $22 million to tsunami relief, providing 81,000 meals a day, adopting 350 orphans and sheltering more than 6,000 survivors.
Okay, so here is my vision. We have Sepia Mutiny “hug-ins.” I will announce what city I am in and any reader can come by for a hug. Then we’ll see if our hugging spreads. Not at our North Dakota headquarters though. I don’t want people knowing where we live. After reading this article I suddenly wondered if Dave Matthews and Badly Drawn Boy are fans of Amma. Their respective videos for “Everyday” and “Year of the Rat” would indicate so. Whatever your opinion of Amma, AT LEAST she’s better than this guy.
Its called Shaktipat, a yoga in which spritual progress is made by touching a self-realized person.
is she self-realized? i’ve read she is. i want some shaktipat to help me out w/ that!
Just out of curiosity, what if you are already self-realized. Do you er… touch yourself to “make progress?” I am asking on behalf of a friend, not me. It could explain why he doesn’t seem to date very often though.
Uhmm….who would be giving the hugs Abhi?
Wow..so there is somebody out there willin’ to embrace a thug
Hey Cicatrix, Speaking of R. Kelly I just finished reading this funny Slate review.
Here’s a video of Amma’s ceremony. Notice the hoardes of people sleeping outside towards the end of the video.
Abhi, my computer’s being really weird today..can’t open Slate at all. But is that the review that talks about how his music gets better the more he goes batshit crazy?
Yep, that’s the one. The review itself was inspired. I think the author was drinking kool-aid though. As for me, I stopped listening to R. Kelly after “You remind me of my jeep.”
More, it seems to suggest that his music gets better because he’s gone batsh*t crazy.
Hua Hsu writes fantastic music reviews.
Ah, yes. That song did it for me, too. “Ignition” I believe was the title. As in “Let me stick my key in your ignition.”
The subtlety, the romance! A girl should be so lucky, no?
Brimful, it’s my jaded opinion that most music writers are fascinated by anything resembling a festering sore. If you’ve got one, be it physical, mental, emotional, or cultural…well, it’s that much easier to write 3000 words on your music.
I think Kelly was subtle about his intentions in ‘Ignition’. Dave Chapelle read between the lines though.
Amma’s hugs pay off really well. Check out her “Temples of Learning“. Though I’m sure Abhi will channel all his hug-income into establishing a certain rival music channel. 🙂
Hmph. What’s the point of a token hug? That’s bad news, bear.
The book “Holy Cow” by Australian journalist Sarah McDonald about her time spent in India has a hilarious chapter about Amma. I just finished this book and it’s probably one of the most realistic Indian travel books I’ve ever read.
What is the definition of being self-realised?
What the hell is going on here??? What if someone is a true believer??? What happened to sensitivity and tolerance?? And to top it all you guys put this in the humor section. I think we all need a hug here !!!
How in the world did this thread go from Amma to R Kelly? This thread’s like a jeep taking a wrong turn, yo! NO HUG FOR YOU!!!
And, methinks, the huggin’ Mata saw a little too much of Munnabhai. Gangsta MD to you SM folks.
So they are outsourcing hugging, too?
Is there anything those amazing little brown people can’t do?
I remember seeing her in an episode of ‘Louis Theroux’s Weird Weekends’ (sp). Can’t believe she is still around, and judging by her 22 million dollar pledge, loaded.
I figure hugs and laughter have the same theraputic value as prayer.
Oh, the Amrita Foundation is loaded alright; owns a chain of schools, colleges, universities and hospitals across South India. They even have tie-ins and co-branding efforts with other like-minded Hindu-cult organisations; Sathya Sai Baba of Puttaparthi had famously declared that Amma is equivalent in power to him and that it’s okay to be hugged by her.
Then there is this pic of Murli Manohar Joshi looking startled after the Amma hugged him….
This friend-of-a-friend in India shot some video of one of her hugging ceremonies…in which one. hundred. THOUSAND. people were in line waiting for a hug. Although really it’s a video about the MAD dancing that goes on onstage while people wait. Check out their headgear, yo!
My old roommate sees Amma when she comes to the Bay Area. From what I glean from her blog, she’ll wait like 16 hours to get a hug.
oh this hugging thing has already blown up, mainstream…
Didn’t Bud(weiser) have a whole ad campaign based on hugging?
And what about my self-realisation question? What does it mean? I’m serious, I want to know! I know a lot of Sai Baba devotees, but those whom I have asked did’t seem willing to talk about it.
Remember that mad laughing Uncle who did that laughing Yoga? Anyone got the link for that? I would like to watch it again and have a good laugh at his crazy face and style!
The link’s in abhi’s post, click on ‘this guy’ at the end.
Thanks! That Uncle is too funny!
HUG
Hinduism itself is a collective cult based religion in more ways than one.
On Self-realization:
The Self is the human’s true nature. The Self is pure consciouness. Today we think that a human is a body with a soul. but in truth the human is a soul with a body. The Self is our true nature. The Self is God. It is eternal-consciousness-bliss. This is the core of Hinduism… to follow some path of yoga, and attain moksha (liberation from reincarnation). when one is self-realized, one does not identify himself with the body. one does not feel these temporary material happinesses and their result of suffering. He is eternally happy, for he has realized his true nature as God. The self is God.
read the Vedas/Upanishads/Bhagavad-Gita for more.
dont be pulled into this wrong christian philosophy of heaven and hell. their view of God is very childish. be good go to heaven, be bad go to hell, no second chances. be good get rewards from god, by bad get punished. God is not someone who sits high in the sky with a stick in his hand waiting to punish. God is in us, He is everything… etc…
Hey!! im not qualified to talk on this, i am not a guru yet, and im not self-realized. so yes, READ!! on this topic.
just dont get pulled into the modern way of thinking, the modern view on God. it is completely wrong.
hopefully this has peaked the interest in u guys.
This book you mention, HOLY COW, is so totally spot on about the India we all love and hate.
Funny, truthful, spirited, and just downright a pleasure to read.