Amma
Sri Mata Amritanandamayi
Hindu Spiritual Leader
Born in 1953 in Kerala, India, Amma sought spiritual illumination even as a young girl. She was known to go into a trance to channel the divine, and to comfort those in need. Gradually people began to accept her as a guru and she used her family land to set up an ashram. She has also worked tirelessly for tsunami and hurricane relief, raising money and rebuilding homes. Amma is known as "the hugging saint" and is revered as a living God. Amma travels all over the world. Thousands of people will wait in line each day for a hug from Amma. Her embrace is called "darshan" and her followers estimate that she has hugged 26 million people.
Photos from In God's Name
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Spiritual Leaders
- Alexy II, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Orthodox Church
- Amma (Mata Amritanandamayi), a Hindu spiritual leader
- Pope Benedict XVI, head of the Roman Catholic Church
- The Dalai Lama (Tenzin Gyatso), spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists
- Grand Ayatollah Muhammad Hussein Fadlallah, a prominent Shi'ite Muslim leader
- Bishop Mark Hanson, Presiding Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and President of the Lutheran World Federation
- High Priest Michihisa Kitashirakawa, Daiguji (Shinto Priest) of the Grand Shrine of Ise
- Rabbi Yona Metzger, Chief Rabbi of Israel, Ashkenazi
- Dr. Frank Page, President of the Southern Baptist Convention
- Imam Muhammad Sayyed Tantawi, Sheikh of Al-Azhar and a prominent Sunni Muslim leader
- Joginder Singh Vedanti, Jathedar of the Akal Takht, the Sikhs' highest authority
- Dr. Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury and head of the Church of England