Old Amma Movie

[Guest guest]

My room mate, Marilyn, and I watched an old Amma movie entitled A DAY

WITH AMMA which I had borrowed from the MA Center library. Marilyn

noticed somewhere that the date was 1989. That means Amma was 36 at

the time the film was made. Swami Amritasvarupananda was still a

Brahmachari. The footage may have been from even earlier years.

Ammachi looked very young in some segments.

 

Naturally there were lots of scenes of Amma hugging people. Many such

scenes showed people crying and Ammachi wiping away their tears over

and over. In one scene she feeds the brahmacharis with her own hand.

Her hand into their mouths. They all seemed scared that they might

allow some food to drop. One woman wanted to take the food in her

hand. Amma wouldn't allow her to do that. She made her open her

mouth and take the food.

 

I was surprised that the temple in Amritapuri was developed as much

as it appeared in the film. Kerala looks it's usual gorgeous self.

There are few Westerners. Amma had only made one or two trips to the

US at that point.

 

There were a few subtle nuances which we think are normal now. For

instance, women have leadership roles. A woman narrates the film.

We see a woman beautifully leading a mixed gender group in chanting

Lalita Sahasramnama. Men and women both toss the rocks and dirt hand

to hand to reclaim more land for the ashram. This isn't leadership I

suppose. Still wehn women are not allowed to do things outside the

home, all sorts of painful inequities arise.

 

The film shows footage of the orphanage school and its children

chanting and doing yoga. Many Western devotees don't realize that

such children, not very long ago, would have had no education.

Nowadays the government provides education, a good step, but with a

heavy dose of Marxist materialism. Amma's orphanages and schools

provide an alternative for the poor that includes traditional values.

 

The film also shows the free medical clinic at Amritapuri. Marilyn is

a health care worker. She helps stroke victims and people with brain

injuries learn again how to care for themselves.

 

Marilyn has never seen Ammachi in person or seen any other film about

her. I was a little surprised that she agreed to watch it. She

seemed quite absorbed in the whole thing and she clapped at the end!

 

Sometimes I feel so lucky, not only lucky to know about Amma, but to

be close to the MA Center, to be close to these resources to share

Amma with people.

 

Aikya