World-renowned humanitarian and spiritual leader Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi (Amma) is in the United States conducting her 27th annual summer tour of North America. The tour began May 24th in Seattle and will conclude on July 18th in Boston. Amma will visit 11 cities during the tour: Seattle, Bay Area, Los Angeles, Albuquerque, Dallas, Cedar Rapids, Toronto, Chicago, Washington D.C., New York and Boston.

Recently Jim Carrey met Amma in Los Angeles and tweeted about his experience, “I was feeling down about life'n'love. Then I met a woman named Ammachi and she gave me back my smile. Darkness cannot compete with her. ;^)”

Amma has been conducting spiritual programs in her home country of India since the mid 1970s. At the request of people in Europe and the United States, she began giving similar programs outside India in 1987. Amma says that her life is dedicated to trying to awaken love and compassion within individuals all over the world. Amma feels these qualities are essential for world peace and harmony. “In today’s world, people experience two types of poverty: the poverty caused by lack of food, clothing and shelter, and the poverty caused by lack of love and compassion,” Amma says. “Of these two, the second type needs to be considered first because if we have love and compassion in our hearts, then we will wholeheartedly serve those who suffer from lack of food, clothing and shelter.”

Amma has deployed doctors, ambulances and a tele-medicine bus from her non-profit specialty hospital, AIMS, in Kochi to provide relief after the devastating floods in Uttarakhand. In 2009, Amma announced that the Ashram will spend Rs. 50 crore (10.68M USD) for the rehabilitation of the flood-hit people in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. By 2012, close to 1000 homes had already been built and allotted to displaced families.

Amma’s programs are run entirely by volunteers. Funds raised from retreats as well as from the sale of food, books and gifts available at the programs directly support the humanitarian projects of Embracing the World, Amma’s global network of charitable activities. Embracing the World projects include orphanages, homes for the homeless, scholarships for poor children, hospitals, disaster relief and microfinance-powered initiatives for women.

Programs include guided meditation, devotional singing, and a spiritual talk by Amma offering practical solutions for personal fulfillment as well as the most pressing challenges facing today’s world. Program attendees also have the opportunity to receive Amma’s darshan—a spiritual blessing in the form of a physical motherly embrace. The program also includes a private retreat where participants get to learn the Integrated Amrita Meditation technique, listen to spiritual discourses by Amma and her senior monks and be served dinner by Amma herself.

“Love is the only medicine that can heal the wounds of the world."—Amma

Free Programs:

July 15
10am – Meditation and individual blessings
7:30pm – Spiritual discourse, inspirational music and meditation followed by individual blessings

July 18
7pm – Spiritual discourse followed by a prayer ceremony to promote peace and well-being for the whole world. Individual blessings begin around 9pm.

Retreat – July 16-18. For retreat fees and schedule, please visit amma.org

Best Western Royal Plaza Hotel/Trade Center
181 Boston Post Road West (Route 20), Marlborough, MA 01752
Limited shuttle service available from local commuter rail station

Numbered tokens for individual blessings are distributed 1 hr before program. Due to the large number of people attending each program, those with tokens may have to wait awhile before their number range is posted. Tokens are limited by time constraints.

For more information, please visit www.ammanewengland.org/tour or call 716-226-6223.

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