Media One Channel broadcasted a part of a video showing a politician activist called Vijesh, making complaint against Amritanandamayi's ashram not paying any land revenues. She personally replies to him, saying that she needs to be exempted from taxes because she carries a lot of charitable projects while other religions do not do this much. She claims that as others do a lot of bad things, her illegal activities are not important compared to all the good things that she does.
Some users comments show that many of her supporters don't know much about her. Their main argument is that Amritanandamayi is right, she does a lot of things while many organizations operate improperly. But let's remember a very essential detail : she claims to be a goddess, she claims to be greater than God. Therefore the M.A. Math is supposed to be lead by a divinity, driven by divine ideals, aiming at divine achievements, not human ones. This is very bad start for it is ridiculous to hear a goddess saying that she doesn't want to pay taxes because she does a lot of good. Since when do Gods need to save money?
Doing good things and allowing oneself to indulge in a few bad actions is typically human. Indeed, some persons see morality as a kind of bargain, where the bad actions are largely compensated by their numerous good actions. Even if Amritanandamayi is just a human, such a mundane behavior is rather surprising coming from a spiritual leader. She pretends that she gives selflessly, that she doesn't expect anything in return. She lies. She expects at least taxes exemption.
Anyway, we know the endless list of her good actions. Every single piece of charity is pictured, filmed, commented, heavily broadcasted in various media and loudly applauded. What about the bad actions? Let's go for a ride to the hidden side.
These comments regarding her biography lift many doubts about her benevolence. On the one hand wonderfull miracles await the reader at every page, on the other hand she appears to be so kind, so loving, so compassionate... Except that witnesses don't confirm her point of view :
Once the fishermen were struggling because they were not getting any fish from the sea. Sudhamani gave the people some "thulasi leaf (a herbal plant)) to be thrown into the sea. Then Sudhamani danced near the seashore. People did it and the whole sea was full of fish again! [Page 102 Comments. Pavizhasenan Panicker refutes this story: First of all fishermen were against Sudhamani's activities. When they had problem with fish catch, the fishermen approached the district collector for help. Each family was given 2 Kg rice as a relief. There was no help from Sudhamani!]The hidden side reveals that she inflates her good deeds list. She pretends to have helped more that she actually did. Digging deeper unveils disturbing stories :
What apparently motivated the husband to issue such a warning was the earlier news reports especially in "Deshabhimani" and "Madhyamam" dailies about the suspicious death which took place at "Amrithapuri", the Headquarters of Matha Amrithanandamayi at Vallikavu in Kollam district of Kerala,. One news report on the incident, for example, said that the dead body, after falling from the eighth floor of a building within the Ashram, reached Karunagappally Taluk Hospital with the head severed from the body.
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Ramanatha Iyer from Mumbai had fallen to death from the 12th floor of a building in the Ashram on September 6, 2001. His wife at Mumbai, however, informed the curious policemen over phone that her husband was remaining hearty and healthy in a far off Gulf region. That still leaves this question as to who this mysterious Iyer is!!!
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A few months before that, the police found a group of crying young children under mysterious circumstances late in the evening at KSRTC stand, Kollam. On questioning, the children from Trichur revealed that they were Ashram inmates, from there they “escaped" following mysterious death of their fellow mates, and pleaded not to sent them back to the AshramThat adds up to more than a dozen of unresolved deaths. What really unfolds in the ashram? Two kind of people have the answer, those who are ready to do anything to protect the organization and those who are too scared to undisclosed what they have witnessed.
Amritanandamayi is not the only one. As she indulges in this good-action/bad-action trade, her devotees follow the same trend. The websites are flooded by the testimonials of individuals who perform charitable actions in her name but the ones who misbehave are less advertized.
Her bad actions are not so trivial, her influence is not so beneficial, what she inspires to her followers is questionable. If she plans to weight her morality to justify her illegal choices, then the scales won't necessarily tip in favour of her good actions.