Mata Amrtanandamayi Devi, also known as Ammachi or Amma, is called the “hugging saint.” Her main ashram is in New York City.

Forward in Faith North American was organized in 1999 largely in response to the debates over sexuality issues. Its web site includes a listing of member parishes around the country. Executive director Michael Howell can be emailed through the FiFNA contact page.

Subhas R. Tiwari is a professor of yoga and meditation at the Hindu University of America in Orlando, Fla.

Douglas R. Brooks is a religion professor at the University of Rochester in Rochester, N.Y. He has written two books about Tantrism.

Nancy M. Martin is an associate professor of ethics and department chair in the religious studies department at Chapman University in Orange, Calif. She teaches a course in gender in world religions and can discuss the role of women in Hinduism. She co-edited Love, Sex and Gender in the World Religions and wrote the chapter “Love” for The Oxford […]

Rebecca J. Manring is an associate professor of India studies and religious studies at Indiana University. She contributed a chapter on Sita Devi to The Graceful Guru: Hindu Female Gurus in India and the United States.

Lindsey B. Harlan is a professor of religious studies at Connecticut College in New London. She is an expert on Hindu marriage.

Kathleen M. Erndl is an associate professor of religion at Florida State University in Tallahassee. She has written about gender issues and the worship of female deities.

Catherine Cornille is a professor of theology at Boston College. Her research interests focus on the Theology of Religions, the theory of Interreligious Dialogue, concrete questions in the Hindu-Christian and Buddhist-Christian dialogues, and the phenomenon of inculturation and intercultural theology. She wrote about Mother Meera in The Graceful Guru: Hindu Female Gurus in India and the United States […]