Reflections of Amma by Lucia Amanda J.;

Author:Lucia, Amanda J.;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: University of California Press

FIGURE 9. Eclectic altar, left to right: Pema Chödrön, Thai Buddha, St. Francis of Assisi/St. Francis Peace Prayer, Amma, Mexican clay fish, Rosary necklace (author photo)

In November 2006, at Amma’s public programs at her ashram in San Ramon, California, the demographic ratio was approximately 21 percent Indian American and 79 percent non-Indian American.26 In the following years that I attended Amma’s San Ramon programs (2008, 2011), the audience was comprised of a similar demographic. Though there is a significant Indian American population in the San Francisco Bay Area, adopter devotees are numerically overrepresented at Amma’s public programs, for two reasons: first, the San Ramon ashram is a pilgrimage site that draws devotees from across the United States; second, a significant population of metaphysicals resides in the Bay Area in order to surround themselves with the wide variety of spiritual ideas and organizations active there. Particular to San Ramon as well, Amma’s message “My religion is Love” appears to have drawn a significant group of young white Rastafari sympathizers, a porous but somewhat cohesive group of dreadlocked, wildly dancing, closely embracing, deep-soul staring, blissed out, and intentionally “loose” folks27 who regularly attend Amma’s programs when she is in town. They exist in a somewhat liminal relationship to the ashram community there. Despite the fact that they are occasionally chastised for jumping too vigorously while dancing on the balcony during bhajans or severely reprimanded for smoking marijuana on ashram grounds (which Amma strictly forbids), they are largely welcomed within the community. As mentioned, this population is specific to the San Ramon ashram, though a select few also tour with Amma in the summertime. My interviews with them suggest that they are older than I had guessed (by twenty years in some cases), more drug free than I had imagined (many follow strict vegan, raw-foods, no illegal substances-type diet restrictions), and more homeless or alternately housed than I had anticipated. Their exuberant dancing, public displays of lengthy, warm embraces, and culturally unusual appearances often elicit curious stares and cautious glances from more conservative adopters and inheritors alike. But occasionally one can see young Indian children (even if dressed in their formal best for Amma’s darshan) break from their families for a bit of impassioned dancing on the balcony among the dreadlocked in an explicit and genuine cultural encounter, united through the intensity of their devotion.

Devotees have many opportunities to socialize and interact with each other because of the sheer duration of Amma’s darshan programs, the sevā (selfless service) shifts, and the significant free time involved. The fact that such a diverse group of devotees intermixes so fluidly speaks to the tamber and mood of the events. While there are certainly some intercultural faux pas and tensions, largely very disparate types of devotees work and socialize together without major incident and frequently with a warm sense of camaraderie and affection. All come together with a sense of joint purpose to experience Amma’s grace and to share themselves through darshan: the bohemians and the formally

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