The National Basketball Arena in Tallaght will be transformed into a giant meditation hall. Paper flowers will be strewn about, women in white robes will preside over orderly queues and contented-looking people will sit in quiet contemplation on cushions. At the top of the hall a small Indian woman, who last year dispensed cuddles to 15,000 people in Dublin, will once again prepare to embrace all comers. Open-armed and not at all dangerous, "the hugging saint", as she is known, will revisit these shores later this month, writes Róisín Ingle
Over the last 20 years world-renowned spiritual leader Sri Mata Amritananda Mayi, or Amma as she is better known, has hugged 25 million people across the globe in the name of love. Born to a low-caste family in a fishing village in southern India, she was still a child when she began meditating and hugging the devotees who gathered around her.
In a recent interview Amma was asked why she gives hugs. "It is like a river which flows - you don't ask why," she said. "That is my character. My karma is to console those who are sad."
The RDS, which hosted her first visit here last year, was booked out this time around, so the people of Tallaght are opening their homes to Amma's 150-strong entourage.
Organisers say Amma's mission - her name means mother - is twofold.
"Her darshan programme allows everyone to receive her blessing in a hug, while her charitable activities are designed to dramatically improve the lives of millions of people in India and beyond," says a spokeswoman.
She has addressed the United Nations and the World Parliament of Religions and has received the Ghandi-King Award for Non- Violence for her humanitarian work. Her organisation pledged more than €16.6 million to tsunami relief. She has opened hospitals, orphanages and schools for the poor across India. Organisers say that every cent from the sale of Amma merchandise - the Amma dolls have to be seen to be believed - goes back into her humanitarian work. Her charitable credentials seem impeccable.
DEPENDING ON YOUR outlook, her spiritual credentials will either resonate deeply, provoke mild curiosity or leave you cold. Amma, who is in her 50s, preaches a philosophy based on "unconditional love". She supports all religions, saying: "Love is the only language that every living being can understand. It is universal. Love, peace, meditation and liberation are universal."
She has been known to hug up to 25,000 people in one day. Nobody is ever refused a hug.
The thousands who flocked to the RDS last year were clearly intrigued by her simple philosophy. Dublin housewives queued for hours alongside New Age hippies, businessmen, grandparents and children for the brief embrace which followers say imbues the recipient with a sense of "peace, love and happiness". Spotted in the crowd were singer Mary Coughlan, former SDLP leader John Hume, and 2FM DJ Dave Fanning and his family.
WHILE ORGANISERS ARE concerned the change of venue might have an impact on numbers this year, committed Amma followers, including 18-year-old art student Simone McLaughlin from Co Donegal, will be there in force. McLaughlin first met Amma in London when she was eight years old, after her aunt had become involved with her organisation.
"Our whole family have been to see her every year since then," McLaughlin says. "I have been to her ashram in India twice. Nobody can explain or understand love the way Amma can. Her love is absolute."
She admits it can be difficult to explain to friends what Amma represents. "Some people ask 'is she like Mother Teresa?', but I think she is higher than that. Some people view her as a god. When I pray, I talk to God and Amma; for me, the names are interchangeable," she says.
While McLaughlin's dad is "a bit wary", she and the rest of her family draw strength from Amma. "As a teenager with all the usual pressures, my relationship with her helps me to be happy in myself. I feel I can do my own thing. It's like she gives me strength to be who I am."
There is no conflict, she says, with her Catholicism, and the whole family still goes to Mass every week.
Another supporter, 84-year-old Dubliner Nora Stokes, says her hug from Amma last year had a profound effect. "I was nearly not going because at the time I wasn't fully mobile and had problems with my legs and feet," she says. It was her son, who lived in the US at the time, who encouraged her to go. "I left her embrace feeling very pleasant. I enjoyed the experience; it was a beautiful day. The next morning I got up and the pain in my knee was gone and I was completely better. I believe it was a miracle. Since meeting Amma, small miracles are happening to me all the time."
As someone deeply interested in spirituality, she will return to meet Amma again. "I am not looking for anything from Amma," she says. "I would go anywhere where God is."
Amma will be at the National Basketball Arena, Tallaght, Dublin on Sun and Mon, Nov 13 and 14. Entrance and hugs
are free. For more information
contact Patricia at 090 6491590 or see www.ammaireland.org