Mata Amritanandamayi

A young girl opened the crinkly envelope and placed the old, worn-down, twenty dollar bill her father gave her into it. As she looked up, she could see her hero's affectionate smile light up on her face as her hero watched countless others making donations to help her cause. The young girl wanted to be just like her hero, benevolent and charitable. Her idol was none other than Mata Amritanandamayi, more commonly known as Amma, meaning "Mother" in several Indian languages. Amma was born and named Sudhamani on September 27, 1953 in an impoverished village called Parayakadavu in Kerala, India. By the age of five, she began her schooling, but had to drop out at age nine when her mother fell ill. While working around the small town, she noticed a lot of people suffering in her village and and began to question it. What caused people to suffer? How can one alleviate others' suffering? Her solution was a world where love and kindness would bring people together and give them happiness. She decided to spend her life trying to rid the world of suffering through sympathetic and thoughtful actions. For a while Amma's efforts only reached others locally, but as more people heard about her, they wanted to meet her. As her fame grew, she traveled farther across India sharing her love and generosity with more people and raising more money for those in poverty. Amma departed on her first worldwide tour in 1987 when nations wanted to meet her. Today, she continues to go on her tours teaching her audiences about her charitable and caring ways. Amma is a hero because of the humility she displays throughout her life, her love and compassion toward all human beings and the selflessness present in all of her actions.

Despite the fame her philanthropic work brings, Amma remains humble. Even now, Amma goes back home to assist those she helped as a child. In 2004, when a tsunami flooded South India, Embracing the World, Amma's charity, gave about forty six million dollars, and there are pictures where Amma is in India assisting with the relief ("Our Work"). Amma met monumental success as a spiritual guru. She shows her humility when she goes back to her birthplace to help the people live in a better condition than she grew up in. She shows that even though she is wealthier and lives more comfortably, she is no better than anyone else. In the picture, at the Amritapuri Ashram swimming pool, Amma is teaching the village kids that survived how to swim (along with the professional swimming instructor), so that if another tsunami hits them, they are more likely to survive and help overcome their fear of water. Furthermore, Amma teaches all of her listeners about humility, through her action and diction. For many years, I have been going to Los Angeles during the summer to attend Amma's retreat. During all of those years, I have never heard Amma boast about any of her accomplishments. Only other people have talked about her accomplishments. She raised millions of dollars for charity, found worldwide fame, and received a PhD even though Amma only completed the fourth grade. With so much to brag about, Amma spends her time telling people about how everyone can work together to rid the suffering of people less fortunate than them. Amma teaches people that change is about everybody, not one single person. She exhibits this when she talks about everybody as a whole. Furthermore, Amma never tells someone to do something that she is not already doing: "It is not preachers, but living examples that his world needs now" (Amma qtd. Mata Amritanandamayi Mission Trust). Amma retains humility in her personality throughout her entire life.

Along with her humility, Amma's concern for all living creatures on Earth displays her loving and compassionate nature. Hundreds of children from Amma's orphanages go to the Amritapuri Ashram during their holidays: "Amma plays with them, sings and dances with them, serves them food and gives them all a hug and a kiss" (Mata Amritanandamayi Mission Trust). Through this orphanage, she makes sure that no abandoned child will ever be alone. During Amma's childhood, her family mistreated her and later abandoned her. The only creatures that took care of her were the animals in nature. Because of her childhood, she treats the orphans as her own, giving them tender, loving care they all need. Most of all, she gives them motherly love that most children around the world already have, but the orphans long for in their life. Amma treats all of the children as her own daughters and sons, not orphans. She ensures that they are well taken care of. In the time that Amma is not in Amritapuri, she can be seen on her worldwide tour. Amma spends hours and hours hugging people. She hugs each and every person one by one and personally tells them that he or she is Amma's child. Most people who are famous will not tell you how they feel about you personally. They are more likely to give a thank you speech to a crowd and tell everyone how important their fans are to them, not everyone singularly. However, Amma takes the time to give each person that approaches her. I still remember the words she lovingly whispered into my ear, in Marathi-I was her darling child. I can still picture the kindness overflowing in her eyes like the Niagra Falls. I can imagine the smile she wears on her face. And every year I get the chance to see her, I am able to see it all again. Amma undoubtedly gives love and compassion to anyone willing to accept her motherly affection.

In addition to humility and compassion, Amma's selflessness is the preeminent trait defining her heroism. Amma has been full of altruism since she was a child: "She often took food from her home and gave it to people who were starving. She also gave them money from her mother's savings so that they could buy food and medicine. When she was not able to do this, she took rice and vegetables from her family's store and gave it away. Her kind nature often led her to punishment. Sometimes she was badly beaten up. But she felt so sorry for the poor and the suffering that she never stopped helping them. She continued to help them secretly" (Mata Amritanandamayi Mission Trust). Throughout her childhood, Amma showed more consideration for others than herself. She never thought of how her parents would punish her if she gave away the rice and vegetables from her family's store. She never thought that she was also poor. She never thought about her parents severe punishments. All she ever thought of was all the suffering that surrounded her and tried to relieve others' pain by giving them things. Seeing these acts, one would believe she was rich, but it was the opposite. She is almost as poor as those she donated to. Throughout Amma's life, she founded many organizations whose purpose is to make the world a better place. Some of the many organizations she founded are Embracing the World, Amrita University, and Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, AIMS Hospital ("Amma"). Embracing the World helped many survivors during natural disasters like the earthquake and tsunami in Japan during 2011, by raising over fifty million dollars. Amrita University awarded over forty-six thousand scholarships. AIMS Hospital treated over two and a half million patients free of charge, including my cousin. When he was born doctors told his parents that he had a condition that cannot be treated where he lived. My cousin and his parents travelled to Amma's hospital so my cousin can get the treatment he needs. He is living a normal and healthy life now. All of these organizations help create a better world for those who cannot afford what the organizations offer to live in. All of her work helped liberate people from their suffering and get to a better place, despite the setbacks life predetermined for them. Amma's kindness and charity made the world a better place for so many people.

Amma's humility, affection, and unselfish ways define her as a hero. Throughout her life, Amma exemplifies these traits. Whether it is loving hugs she gives, or the money she helps raise for those in poverty, Amma remains an idol for many. Amma is an inspiration, because her ideas and her vision compel people to believe that a world without suffering is plausible. She inspires the thousands of people who donate to her charity every year. Though, she is an exceptionally motivational hero for me. When I am in the ballroom with Amma, I always feel kinder, more selfless, more loving and nurturing, and like a better person after watching the video that is played at the beginning of the Amma's Los Angeles retreat summarizing what everyone did over the last year. So many people give up time and money for others who don't have life's necessities. Seeing what the great ideas of one person can do makes me want to do something, something greater than myself. I want to do something more than dropping a dollar into a donation box I see at movie theatres. When I see what Amma accomplished, I know that is possible. Many people feel the same spark I do, including the young girl who placed the twenty dollar bill into the envelope. That young girl is me. After the small donation in the envelope, a few friends and I decided to have a small fundraiser for the rest of Amma's stay. Over a few days, we raised over three hundred dollars. When we presented the money to the beaming Amma, I knew we were all filled with pride, especially me. When I saw the smile on her face, I knew that even if I never did anything amazing, at one point in my life my hero was proud of me. Years later, I set out to raise money for a small orphanage holding on the same feeling of pride I felt years ago when Amma received our money. After a few months, I collected over one hundred dollars. Although I hadn't made it anywhere close to the three hundred dollars my friends and I had collected long ago, I knew Amma would be just as proud of my small, but worthwhile, actions to help the abandoned children. Like Amma's vision of a world without suffering, I dream of wild ideas that may never come true, but I will always strive to one day see as a reality. Because of Amma, I am an inspired, one-of-a-kind girl with dreams more significant than myself.