Recently a friend of mine made me go with her to an Free Open-to-the-Public gathering for Amma, the Hugging Saint. We got there so early that we waited “only” 4 hours to get a hug. Apparently, this woman has a HUGE following, and so many true believers. She does a 7 week US tour every year, and supposedly donations given help with her outreach to the poor. The hug did nothing for me, but I did put the 2 oz. of holy water that everyone gets in my fish tank to help them feel better.
What is the deal with Amma? Seems like a cult to me, but her PR says she does lots of humanitarian things. But you can also find on the internet, lots of negative rumors about her, her finances, etc. I would like the straight dope on her. Please enlighten.
You mean thisAmma? They give the following starting point:
The word “cult” is not clearly defined, I think the latest term is “destructive cult” for groups that are bad for you.
Many groups, esp. from India, have both PR with charity works and are quite destructive to their followers. Sai Baba is building hospitals and schools, but also accused of sexual molestation and one mysterious death.
You can also look at Christian charities that demand rigid rules for their hospitals to be admitted to, or teach problematic things in their schools.
Also, it’s not only a good PR angle, building a lot of stuff in a poor village can give a lot of power over the local authorities to stop investigation of bad activities at the Ashram.
So “charity” in itself without a lot more information is not for or against it being a cult.
Second, if you saw huge numbers waiting and she is indeed booked out every day, that is a huge indication for it being a cult, that people are so devoted/ brainwashed to endure that. Although in itself, it’s not a criterion, because otherwise the Pope and every rock band would count, too. But it’s one indicator among many.
I know where to look in German language about cults (Haacke’s book about cults, and theinfo site from the Swiss Protestant Church), but I don’t know what sites there are in English that are impartial.
The other problem is if you or your friend really want to hear negative things about Amma, and if that would change your decision away from her.
Another thing to consider that’s typical for cults is that new recruits see a very positive side, but once they are accepted, they undergo a very strict regimen, with no contact with the sinful, corrupted outsiders, hours of meditation, little sleep and thought control by the group members (all methods of brainwashing). So what looks nice on the outside may be difficult to get away from once you see you don’t like it.
Are you asked to sign over your whole money to the group? (The mainline established churches only demand 10%, and you don’t have to give up your whole life).
A lot of the charity work is done basically by unpaid work from the members and paid with the money the members have given to the group. In itself, that’s not bad, but if it’s total - all money and all free time - I think that’s a cult and not good.
There are other groups that do charity work without the pressure, where you take a vacation for two weeks to go back to your own normal life. You can donate a steady percentage of your income without giving up on your own flat and life.
If you think you want to go away from everything because you’re unhappy with your life, many normal christian monasteries offer temporary retreats so you can think things over before committing yourself to a big step.
Oh, about Miracles: Personally, I think all miracles shown today are stage tricks. In Indian society, this is apparently accepted as part of being a Guru, but it is a different culture. People using tricks to proove their divine nature are not good in my opinion.
There’s one Indian journalist who travels around trying to expose the tricks of Gurus and holy men (he writes about the difficulty with the indifference of the Indian population). I think Randi may have mentioned him, or some Sai-Baba critical site, but I can’t remember his name. You could look if he has investigated Ammas miracles.
Oh, she clearly has a cult.
I have a friend who follows her around the country, and she’s one of the less wacky followers. Still, she’s pretty harmless as such figures go, and her groupies really love her, so she must have something going.
As long as all you want is more water for the fish tank, or your pot plant and a hug, no harm in playing along, if you are expecting or told to expect healing and you don’t also use proper medical treatment you are a fool …
I have gone to jump for jebus tent revivals because they can be just plain fun [I happen to love listening to and singing gospel hymns, I am not looking to polish up my soul or get a healing] which some people don’t consider decent [they seem to expect everybody showing up to want to be saved again … :dubious:] but you can have lots of fun at religious events.
I had a thread about her a short time back - I have a friend who’s really into her, and actually changed her first name to an Indian one for her. Apparently Amma is the real deal because she’s able to change water into custard, according to my friend.
Just watch out for Letch, the fingering saint.