As a child, little Sudhamani was constantly beaten, called a crazy girl, yanked out of school and made a house slave. As a teen, she defiantly declared in her village that she and the Hindu Lord Krishna are one. As a woman, she took her message of peace worldwide and was recognized as an extraordinary spiritual leader by the United Nations. Today, Sudhamani, who turned her life of cruel rejection into one of unconditional love, has become...the mother of all huggers.

Vancouver musician Prashant John swears that the woman he hugged in Seattle, whom he did not know, knew everything about him.

The first hug was in 1996. The last one was two weeks ago.

Most people feel that she knows you very well from the first embrace, said John, one of the thousands in Canada and millions worldwide who stand in long queues of token-carrying weeping strangers for a cuddle with Mata Amritanandamayi.

She represents a mothers unconditional love, he told The Asian Pacific Post.

Known worldwide as the Hugging Saint, Mata Amritanandamayi or Amma or Mother was in Seattle this month to start a 10-city hugging tour of the U.S.

Over 2,000 people from as far away as Vancouver Island, Edmonton and Oregon attended her signature marathon hugging sessions that is held once every two years.

Dave Pratt, a 42-year-old social worker, came down from Nelson, B.C., for a hug and to feel the presence of Ammas love.

Just let go, he told a local reporter attending the event. Relax and see what happens. This is a non-rational process at work.

Amma hugs a devotee in Seattle

Between July, 26th and July 29th, the petite, bossomy Amma will be in Toronto doling out hugs for thousands of devotees, like she has done more than 21 million times over the last 30 years.

So who is this 50-year-old guru who commands the devotion of millions and energizes her followers with 10-second hugs repeating darling son or darling daughter to them in her native Malyalam

Dr. Timothy Conway, author of the book Women of Power and Grace and an expert on spiritual figures, describes Amma as one of the most glorious lights to appear in the history of religion. Just her stamina embracing these millions of people one by one, day after day, without a break, all over the world is some kind of divine gift. No mere human resources could accomplish this.

Dr. Jane Goodall, the famous ape researcher, while presenting Amma with the 2002 Gandhi-King Award for Non-violence said, She stands here in front of usGods love in a human body.

Amma was born on the morning of September 27,1953, in the small fishing village of Parayakadavu of Kerala, in South India. Her parents gave her the name Sudhamani, after she entered the world with a beaming smile on her face.

According to her website, Sudhamani, an only child, did whatever she could to ease the suffering of her elderly neighbors. She washed their clothes, bathed them and even brought them food and clothing from her own home. This habit of giving away things from her familys house landed her in deep trouble.

However, no amount physical abuse or punishment could stop her helping others.

At five, Sudhamani started singing devotional songs to Lord Krishna (the Hindu god of love) and would foray into the woods alone to meditate.

Her parents would scold her for not being playful. They wanted her to fit in with the other children with the village. The family was also disturbed by her constant singing and chanting, and it bothered them that her lips were constantly moving, as if she was talking to herself. This was odd behavior for a small child, and they feared that she had some mental illness. The family didnt understand that Sudhamanis lips were moving in silent prayers.

Because of Sudhamanis dark skin, and her strange, unchildlike behavior, she was viewed by her parents as inferior to the other children. Her schooling ended when she was nine and she was forced to become a house slave.

In addition to the arduous job of looking after her own family, she served the elderly, the poor and sick neighbors.

Her parents were horrified to see her mingle with untouchables and forbade her to give away any more of their food, but she continued to do so despite their punishments.

Some villagers called her the crazy girl given that she worked and sang in longing worship, often slipping into trances.

As a young teen, Amma who never had a spiritual mentor or guru immersed herself in intense spiritual practices in order to present a living example for the world.

When she turned 18, Sudhamani had a divine manifestation in which she declared before a small group in her village that she and Lord Krishna are one.

Thousands flock to Amma's hugging sessions

Reared a Hindu, she is not affiliated with any one religion, and her darshans the public hugging sessions attract people of all faiths.

She does not aim to convert and her message is all about love.

From birth itself I had an intense love of the divine name. I would repeat the Lords name incessantly with every breath, and a constant flow of divine thoughts was kept up in my mind irrespective of the place I was or the work I was attending to, Amma tells her followers.

My sole mission is to love and serve one and all. Ammas only wish is that her hands should always be on someones shoulder, consoling and caressing them and wiping their tears, even while breathing her last, she says, referring to herself in the third person.

Ammas followers who are spread over 32 countries refer to her as the embodiment of supreme motherhood, who welcomes every person who comes to her, listens to his or her problems, offers advice and guidance, and brings reassurance to a troubled heart with a hug.

She makes no claims herself, asks for no money and her senior disciples are quick to dismiss any suggestion that she is a faith healer during her regular hugging-trips overseas.

Today, the woman who teaches that spirituality is the science and art of harmonious living has by her example of giving raised millions in donations to set up orphanages for over 600 children in India, a hospice, a home for battered women, a hospital that provides free treatment for the poor, 19 schools and colleges, 25,000 houses for the homeless and a monthly pension scheme for poor widows.

One of her major projects in an 800-bed state-of-the-art hospital in India that offers pediatric and cardiac care, organ transplants, neurosurgery and other treatments free-of-charge to the needy. She has also delivered talks at the Millennium World Peace Summit of Religious and Spiritual Leaders at the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

Her spiritual centers are located in over 20 countries, including Europe, the United States, Japan, Africa, Australia, and Asia.

Recognized as an extraordinary spiritual leader by the United Nations and by the people all over the world, Amma is constantly asked how she manages to accept millions in embraces all the time, day after day.

For the woman who turned a life of cruel rejection into one of unconditional acceptance, there is only one reply: If you ask the river, why do you flow What can it say Or the sun, why do you shine Or the wind, why do you blow