If I read People magazine more, I’d be able to name the actress seated on a chair off to the side.ħ:30pm – Suddenly, and without much fanfare, Amma enters the stage. Now she’s helping design a hospital for the poor. When she first met Amma, she had the realization that she needed to quit her job and do charitable work instead. He’s here because he is in some sort of legal dispute with his landlord and needs a blessing for his court appearance on Friday.Ī woman to my left is a former interior designer to the rich and famous. The man seated next to me introduces himself as Uncle Charlie. Well over a thousand fill the balconies behind us. There are probably 500 of us seated on the carpeted floor in front of the stage.
(Did I mention that I love this man?)ħ:00pm – I’m in the main hall of the Manhattan Center. Honestly, it’s OK.” With Dave, I know he doesn’t say something like that unless he means it, so I tell him I love him too and stay put where I am on line. I love you, and we’ll pick another night to celebrate. “You’ve wanted to do this since you first heard about it. This means that Dave will not be able to get into the event, which doesn’t bode well for our anniversary night.
Then I hear the news – you cannot pick up a token for a hug for someone who is not now on line. Volunteers dressed in white with red sashes hand out cups of water. Sweat streams from the back of my neck to my sandaled feet.
#Amma hugging saint full
There are about 100 people in front of me, and hundreds more behind me on a line that stretches nearly a full city avenue. It’s 102 degrees – an all time record for this day.ĥpm – I’ve been standing on line at 34th Street for over an hour and a half. “God damn, it’s hot!” a shirtless teen howls on the street as he exits the Burger King on Delancey.
People came from all around the country to stand in line to see her surely I could travel 40 blocks.ģpm – I finish up work, turn off the computer and head outside for the subway. Since I’m in the middle of my Year to Live project and spirituality has emerged as a major theme, I felt that getting a little extra hug along this path couldn’t hurt. This year, she received an honorary doctorate for her work from the State University of New York (SUNY). When Amma was last in New York, people I know and respect for their healthy cynicism of mass spiritualism claimed to have felt an indescribable sense of peace and transcendence after receiving darshan.Īmma is also a highly regarded humanitarian, setting up charitable hospitals, hospices, disaster relief programs, orphanages and schools around the world. In over 36 years, she has hugged 30 million people. She receives thousands of people on her trips around the world, sometimes going for 22 hours without interruption until each and every person who has come to see her has been hugged. (I love this man.) “But who is Amma?”Īmma, otherwise known as the “Hugging Saint,” is an Indian woman - a divine spirit by some accounts - who is said to have the power to transmit a spark of unconditional love and compassion through her embrace ( darshan). Nor did he make a fuss when I told him that I wanted to celebrate our 13th wedding anniversary yesterday by waiting in a long line on a steamy New York City evening to get a hug from Amma. Last month, for instance, he didn’t raise an eyebrow when I asked him to come with me to an exhibit called “ Remember That You Will Die: Death Across Cultures.” By now, 20 years after first meeting him, my husband Dave has come to accept the out-of-the-ordinary plans I make for our occasional nights on the town.