SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, March 14, 2005: This news release features an interview with former U.S. Air Force Colonel Kirby Knox, a devotee of Ammachi, the Hindu holy woman revered as the ‘Hugging Saint’. Mr. Knox was raised in a strict Methodist family and his father was also in the Air Force. He became interested in Eastern spirituality when he was in medical school. After reading Raymond Moody’s book ‘Life after Life’ that gave personal accounts of near-death experiences, Knox began his own personal search for his religious roots. Knox recalls his first experiences with Ammachi, “One of my friends was a serious devotee of hers and invited us to the ashram [in San Ramon]. Each time, I got her blessing, her darshan, which is a very powerful spiritual experience. About two and a half years ago, that same friend suggested I spend three days on retreat with her. As I was sitting there, watching this woman beam unconditional love to every person, every single person she was hugging that day — and feeling that unconditional love myself — I started thinking about that [memory] and how this was almost like being in the presence of Jesus. One thing led to another, and it was like some floodgate in my heart opened up, like a ton of bricks fell — I just fell in love with this person.
Since that time, I’ve gone to every one of her retreats here locally. Tasha, my wife, and I have become fairly serious devotees.” As a born-again Hindu (this is what Knox calls himself), Knox said, “Part of my spiritual practice is, as much as I can, turning over every aspect of my life to Amma. I do it in little ways, like when I’m driving in a car and I notice that I’m stressed out because I’m trying to get somewhere in a hurry. I’ll say to myself, ‘Just let go of the anxiety. Turn it over to Amma. If she wants me to get there on time, I will. If she wants me to be late, then that’s OK with me, because she’s the one establishing the rules here.’ It’s brought me a tremendous amount of peace and serenity in my life. When you surrender the responsibility for how things turn out, you’re no longer burdened by it.” When questioned how he applies this surrender to his daily life as a physician Knox replied, “As a Western physician, I was taught that I am responsible for the health care of my patients. I had to decide what the problem was, choose the right medication and do the follow-up to make sure everything went well. So there’s this tremendous responsibility that I, as the physician, assumed. But since I met Amma, I’ve done a lot more of saying to myself, ‘OK, Amma, I’m asking you to let me be an instrument of your healing. I’m going to do the best I can, take care of people as much as I can, but I’m going to let the result of my effort be in your hands.'”
Apparently most of Knox’s friends have excepted his new found spirituality. However his Methodist family prefer to keep the subject at arm’s length as they do not accept Knox’s commitment. When asked about his spiritual practises Knox said, “I do quite a few things. I have a mantra that Amma gave me. I’m supposed to recite it 108 times a day. But I try to do it as much as I can, when I’m shaving or driving my car. I also try to get up once in the middle of the night to pray and meditate for an hour or so.” Summing up his religious beliefs and finding his true nature, Knox said, “You probably don’t know until the moment you’ve awakened, because, up to that point, there’s still a concept of ‘I,’ which represents the ego. As long as the ego is there, there is a sense of separateness between you and everything else. If there’s ever going to be an experience of oneness, then you, as an entity, have to disappear. My desire is that, through spiritual practices and the grace of Amma, at some point in my life, my sense of individuality will be eliminated, and, in that instant of time, there won’t be a Kirby anymore. Everything will be God — it will all be one with me.”
A daily summary of world news for Hindus and non-Hindus alike