Excerpts from

 “Ma Anandamayee, The Divine Mother Showers Grace On Us”,

by kind permission of the author,

Prasanna Madhava

 

 

Ma Comes To Our House

 

During Her visits to Pune, I have seen devotees requesting Ma to come to their houses. Ma accepted the requests of some. She did not enter the house but went into the open compound and there the host offered his puja. I also felt the same urge to request Ma to come to our house. By that time, I was close to Swami Virajananda and asked him to put my request to Ma. Ma told him that I should wait for sometime and that She would give a date later. After a few weeks, She told Virajanandaji that She would go to our house in two days on 6th July that year. When Swamiji told me this, I got into a fluster and felt that I needed a little more time to make the necessary arrangements like the shamiana, lighting, a dais for Ma to sit etc. I asked Ma whether She could come one day later, that is on the evening of 7th July. She agreed. On 6th July, after working the whole day with manpower and materials, a pendal (shamiana) was erected but a big storm came and everything collapsed. By that time, it was night and Ma was to come the next day. We felt a little lost as to what to do and decided that we should go to the ashram. We met Swami Virajananda and told him about our predicament. He just laughed and told us not to worry and that when Ma said She would come, everything will become alright. From there, we moved to Ma’s room and sat in the verandah facing Her. She was sitting on Her cot inside the room and talking to the family of the Raja of Mandi. Around 10pm, when we got up to go home, Ma signaled to us to come into the room and Lakshmi told Her what happened. She said. ‘Narayan, Narayan’ and looking at me said, “I was to come to your house today. Today is Guruvar (Thursday) and Ma’s day but you wanted it postponed to tomorrow”. After this, we met Swami Virajananda again before leaving the ashram and he told that if Ma had said ‘Narayan, Narayan’ there was nothing further to worry about.

 

The next morning after my puja, I was wondering how I could make a new shamiana and all the other arrangements required before Ma came. The storm was continuing, with rain pouring down and wind lashing out at us. The lawns on which the arrangements were to be made became slushy. There were no additional materials and no manpower. It was then that we had our first grand experience of seeing how Ma’s kheyala works. Whatever I needed just came. I telephoned an army colonel and he sent his jawans to the house. The civilian administrator sent civilian labour. The officer incharge of vehicles sent a lorry with a driver to stay with me the whole day. It was raining heavily and the men were getting drenched but they worked non-stop and re-erected the broken shamiana into another shape, even though they did not have any previous experience of such work. By afternoon, the revived shamiana took a neat shape covering an adequate area. Unasked, one civilian scientific officer came to the house while all that work was going on. He took the vehicle and some labour and brought a number of tarpaulins from the open-air theatre of the unit and spread them on the lawns so that the slush did not touch people sitting there. He also brought a large table to serve as a dais for Ma to sit on and suitable table cloths to cover it. The electricians and the microphone men came similarly and made the necessary arrangements. Even red coir carpet rolls were brought to indicate the pathway from the car to the dais. Lakshmi was busy making prasad for distribution after the puja and also making tea and snacks for all the people working tirelessly in the rain. My job was merely to co-ordinate the work and I watched the grand spectacle of things happening on their own by Ma’s grace. By afternoon, all things were in their place and strangely the rain also stopped and skies cleared.

 

In the evening, I went to the ashram. As my Fiat car was comparatively small, I requested Mr. Palia, our Pune ashram President to bring Ma in his big car. He was present in the ashram by the time I reached there. Ma, Swami Paramananda, Gurupriya didi and Udasji sat in Mr. Palia’s car. SwamiVirajananda and other sadhus were in my car. The remaining ashramites and other devotees were in a luxury bus provided by the institute. The bus moved out first and then Ma’s car started, with my car leading as a pilot in front. Our house in IAT was some 22 kms from the ashram. By the time we reached home, the house with the shamiana and lights was looking beautiful. The gate had two full grown plantain trees with their fruit, one on each side. Two pots decorated with the swastika mark and filled with water were also placed near the plantain trees. Lakshmi kept Didima’s picture in a chair covered with a new cloth next to the dais where Ma would sit and placed a silver oil lamp there. Pushpa didi, (later Bhajanananda) and other didis who reached a little earlier, were doing kirtan. A large number of people from the institute who had not seen Ma earlier, came and sat on the covered lawns in front of the dais, leaving the pathway clear for Ma to come. Having completed all the arrangements, including making all the prasad, Lakshmi got the children and herself ready. When Ma’s car entered the gate and was parked at the pathway to dais, it was evening sandhya and a few drops of rain fell, as though the heavens were paying homage to Ma. Bhajanananda’s kirtan was melodious and uplifting. There was a festive look and expectancy in the minds of all who gathered there. As Ma alighted, the air was filled with auspiciousness. Lakshmi and the children were there to receive Her. I joined them soon after parking the car and we took Ma to the dais. Udasji put Ma’s asan over the new white sheets with which we covered the dais. Ma went up the dais with ease and sat on Her asan. There was a moment of stillness. All the people and we were just looking at Ma, the Divine Mother, absorbing Her grace being showered on all. The peace and sanctity that prevailed at that great moment in our lives was an experience beyond words.

 

We started our puja then. We washed Ma’s feet by pouring water over Her toes and collecting that water in another vessel placed below. Chandan and kumkum tilak were put on Ma by Lakshmi. Flowers, garlands and fruits were offered to Her. A silk saree was offered and placed on Her and aarti was given by me, Lakshmi and the children together and also individually while the didis were doing kirtan. A large variety of sweets made by Lakshmi were placed in  trays and each tray offered to Ma. She touched each tray and the same were distributed as prasad to the gathered devotees.

 

Now, another great and crucial moment of the puja came i.e. to offer something to Ma for Her to eat and drink. Lakshmi had made a milk sweet, cooking it in brand new vessels and had also made some fruit juice similarly. I had earlier seen Ma going to devotees’ houses and allowing them to do puja but usually She did not allow them to put any food offering into Her mouth. So, it was a moment of suspense for us when we asked Ma to come into a separate enclosure on the verandah of our house, to offer food to Her. It was a great joy when Ma readily agreed and allowed us to take Her and Gurupriya didi into that enclosure. Ma and didi sat on two chairs. Lakshmi brought the sweet she had made in a silver dish and with a small silver spoon took some of it and offered it to Ma. With unbounded grace, Ma opened Her mouth and allowed Lakshmi to feed Her a few spoons. After that, She took similarly a few sips of the fruit juice. I was anxious that Ma should take something from my hand. She allowed me to give some water to Her. That was a great moment of joy and bliss for us.

 

As we returned to the dais, Swami Bhaskarananda quietly told me to ask Ma to do kirtan. Ma readily agreed and for about ten minutes sang with visible enthusiasm, with all present going into raptures.

 

The time for Ma’s departure to the ashram came. As Ma sat in the car with the door still opened, each of our family bowed to Her placing our heads in Her lap and She gave Her blessings, putting Her hands on our heads. In my case, She did not merely touch my head but gave powerful strokes on the head. I felt that Ma not only blessed me but also removed some of my bad karma with those strokes. After that, Ma left in Her car, all the ashramites who came in the bus were taken backin the bus and I followed in my car along with my youngest daughter,  Lalitha and the Swamijis who came with me earlier. At the ashram, I left Lalitha in the car as she had fallen asleep and went into the satsang hall alone. I saw Ma sitting there with a lot of devotees having Her darshan. I also sat down for some time and then got up to go back home as Lalitha was alone in the car. Ma called me and gave me some fruit as prasad. As I was driving back, the rain started and intensified after I reached home. When we got up the next morning, we saw that the shamiana (pendal) had broken down and collapsed.

 

What an experience! A pendal, totally broken the previous day, got revived by the next afternoon although it was raining cats and dogs until that time. The rain itself stopped and the sky cleared by evening, when Ma came. The whole puja, satsang, kirtan took place in a solemn, auspicious, divine and festive ambience and everybody who came there felt uplifted. Ma, Herself, looked at the pendal, while sitting in the separate enclosure [when Lakshmi offered food] and said twice, “Bhagwan ka raksha”. Then after She had gone back, the rain came back lashing and everything collapsed. It was clear that everything happened by Her Grace because She had the ‘kheyala’ to come and bless us. This was a direct experience for us to see how divine grace manifested dramatically to rescue an impossible situation and make it a grand success. It was also a lesson learnt that when Ma indicated a certain time and day for any action to be performed by us, we should never ask for a change in that time to suit our convenience. The right thing was to obey Her instructions implicitly.

 

 

Some Miraculous Incidents

 

1.               During the course of my long association with Swami Virajananda, he told me how Ma saved him on different occasions. When he was staying with Ma in Rajgir Ashram, he went to the Buddhist shrine to do his meditation there. In the evening, he started walking back to the ashram when it was dusk. Suddenly, he found a tiger in the middle of the road, eating the carcass of a cow it had just killed. He stood there thinking of Ma, wondering how to proceed further to the ashram. At this point, a truck came out of the jungle and he managed to get a lift in it. He did not tell anybody about that incident. After more than a year, Ma came to Rajgir when Virajanandaji was also there. Ma went for a drive with him sitting in the front seat. She told the driver to stop at a place and asked,“Is this  the place where the tiger killed the cow?” Virajanandaji was surprised and asked Ma how She knew it. Ma replied,”You people do not know; this body is always with all of you.”

 

2.               Another time, the Swamiji had some talks with Ma and took leave of Her around 11pm in the Kalyanvan ashram in Dehra Dun. As he was leaving, Ma said “Take a torch with you”. He carried a torch but did not switch it on as he was going through the bushes to his cottage. Suddenly, he remembered what Ma told him and he switched on the torch. Right in front of him was a snake with its hood up. It moved away and he could go to his cottage.

 

3.      Once, apparently Swamiji got upset over something and quarrelled with Ma and told Her “I am going away”. Ma asked him “Where will you go?” He did not know himself where he would go and hence did not give any answer. He travelled to Mt. Abu and started staying in a secluded cave on a mountain. Someone or the other gave him some food. After some days, he developed a disease in which he was passing motions with blood. He became weak and thought he would not survive. At that time, some person came to him and gave him a telegram from Swami Paramananda saying, ‘Ma is with you’. After he recovered a little, he came down the hill and saw Ma and Swami Paramananda waiting for him in a car. Ma asked him, “Will you come back now?” Swamiji did his pranam to Ma and said, “Yes Ma.”

 

4.               Another time, Swamiji went to Amarkantak the birth place of Narmada river. There, he decided that he would go to the other end of the river where the Narmada-Sagar sangam (confluence) takes place. The difficulty was, unlike Ganga-Sagar, the place where Narmada mingles with the sea is an uninhabited wild place and nobody goes there. The river current also was unpredictable and the depth of the river bed even at the banks was unpredictable. So, all the people told him that it was very unsafe to go there. One devotee who agreed to accompany him also backed out as soon as they approached the point where they had to cross the river in a boat and then walk on the bank on the other side a few kilometers to reach the confluence. Swamiji continued alone and as he walked quite a distance, he saw the river became very wide and it was not clear which part of the bank was to be taken as the place of the confluence. There was no person in sight anywhere for him to ask. While walking thus he saw a man and woman, scantily dressed, looking like aborigines, walking towards him. As they neared him, he asked them, with his head bent down looking at their feet (because of their scanty clothing) if they could tell where the river-sea confluence was. They gave clear instructions and walked past him in the opposite direction. The swamiji walked a little and looked back but the aborigines could not be seen anywhere. He went to the spot of the confluence and took his bath there after carefully measuring the depth of the water with apole and eventually returned all alone. As he approached the ashram where Ma was, She greeted him, “Come tell us what happened” and hinted that the two aborigines were Narmada and Sagar manifesting like that to help him.

 

5.               Vibhuda (Swami Brahmananda) told me in Pune how Ma brought him back to life from near death. That time his prana (life force) left his body and was about a foot away from it. Didima saw him struggling in that condition and called Ma urgently saying “Nirmala, Nirmala Vibhu is in danger”. Ma came and brought his prana back into the body and he revived. While narrating this to me Vibhuda said twice, “I do not know why I am telling you this”.

 

6.               A brahmachari who was in the Pune Ashram told me this incident. Ma was traveling by train and he was also in the same compartment. Devotees came in good number and had Ma’s darshan when the train stopped at some station. Then, the train started and after going some distance away from the station, it stopped moving. The driver got down to see what was wrong and saw the engine was functioning but the wheels were rotating at the same spot on the track and there was no traction. In the meanwhile, some devotees who could not come to the station in time, were ardently praying to Ma for darshan and came running to the place where the train stopped. Ma just looked at them from the compartment window and thus gave Her darshan to them. The train started moving immediately. The engine driver and others who were on the ground watching the wheels rotating, had to scramble back on to the engine and the train moved on. The brahmachari was a direct witness to that incident.

 

7.               Swami Prakashananda told me this. In our ashram, a feast for all the mahatmas is arranged towards the end of major functions. In one such feast, a large quantity of kheer (milk pudding) meant for serving to the mahatmas got burnt at the bottom of the dish and a strong burnt smell was coming in the total quantity prepared. Didima noticing it, went running to Ma, telling Her what happened as there was no time for making fresh kheer. Seeing Didima frantically urging Ma to do something, Ma outwardly feigned some annoyance, telling Didima, “You are the vakil (pleader) for everybody” and then said “Serve the same kheer, let us see what happens”. Swami Prakashananda said that all the mahatmas ate the kheer, saying it was very delicious and took additional helpings.

 

8.               A very elderly devotee narrated this story. He attended the Samyam Vrata in Naimisharanya. They were accommodated in tents with four people in one tent. His companions were some very senior people in the Government service. The function concluded with midnight meditation on the seventh day. The participants observed a strict code on food intake, observing fasts on the first and last day etc. One of those senior persons said on reaching the tent after the midnight meditation, “Now that the function is over, let us have some nice snacks,” which evidently they brought with them when they came for the function. All the four companions enjoyed those snacks. Next morning, they had a pleasant as well as shocking surprise. Ma sent a large amount of prasad to them through somebody, telling him that those people were very hungry last night. She knew obviously what each person was doing all the time.

 

9                       Ma used to throw patashas (sugar puffs) as prasad to crowds of devotees. On one occasion, all the available patashas were finished and still some more devotees were clamouring for the same. Ma asked Udasji to get more but she looked for them everywhere and she said there were no more. Ma told her to look under the cot and there she got a whole basket full of patashas. Ma distributed them saying, “See how Bhagawan gives”.

 

10        Swami Parmeshwarananda has his own ashram in Haridwar. He is invited regularly to all major functions in our ashram and gives discourses on Puranas and other spiritual topics. He narrated the following incident in a satsang in Kankhal ashram.  In one of the functions where Ma was present, he and Raja Durga Singh of Solan were also there. The Raja was thinking in his mind, “Ma is considered to be Divine Mother Kali. But Kali Ma is black and Ma is so fair”. As he thought like that Ma made an ’Attahas’ – a loud pealing laughter and Her complexion became black. The Raja became concerned and a bit frightened at this change in Ma’s appearance and prayed to Her to revert to Her normal appearance. Then Ma’s complexion and appearance returned gradually to normal. Ma admonished him for having such thoughts.

 

11.       Brahamcharini Udasji, a Kashmiri lady, was a close companion and attended on Ma for many years. She spent her last few years in Kankhal ashram. When we met her in 1994 and mentioned some problem we had, she said in Hindi, “Ma is there, why worry” and narrated the following incident.A lady devotee of Ma was living alone in her house in Hyderabad. Burglars came at night and collected all her valuables. Before leaving, they wanted to kill her. She asked for a little time to say her last prayer before they killed her. They agreed and in their presence, she closed her eyes and prayed to Ma to take her. Then, she opened her eyes and told the burglars to go ahead with their task. They looked bewildered with a sense of wonder writ large on their faces. Instead of killing her, they did a pranam to her, left all the valuables they collected and disappeared hastily.

 

12        That the political destiny of nations is in the hands of the Divine is not easily understood. Sri Aurobindo was a revolutionary but he got his call to become an exalted yogi. It was reported that he told the Divine Mother that he wanted to lead the country to independence but the Mother told him that the task was given to somebody else who had just landed back in India. That was Mahatama Gandhi. When Dr. Rajendra Prasad visited Ramana Maharshi and asked for his blessings to the Mahatma in his work, the Maharshi told him that ’Adhyatama Shakti’ was working through the Mahatma and asked what further blessings were needed.  Sri Aurobindo was also reported to have said that Nehru was a yogi in his previous life but in his present life he chose to keep that aspect out, to lead the country in the political field.

     

      We mentioned briefly the interaction of Ma with the Mahatma, Nehru, Indira and others. Here I wish to cover the events when the Chinese Army incursion into Assam in India in 1962 took place. The Chinese came down close to Tezpur. There was a collapse or a setback to the Indian Army there and they were in no position to repulse the Chinese at that point of time. Prime Minister Pandit Nehru who was the architect of the Panchsheel Agreement with China was distressed at the turn of events. It looked as if his Non-alignment Policy would have to be abandoned or diluted and India would have to seek Western assistance.

 

      Ma came to Delhi a day or two before this development. The Prime Minister wanted to see Her but was tied down handling the emergent military situation. He sent his personal secretary Shri Upadhyaya to see Ma and tell Her the position. (It is understood that some cabinet ministers also went with him). They were with Ma till midnight. While what transpired there is not known, Swami Virajananda told me that Ma asked all in the ashram to do bhajan, kirtan and japam all night with Herself present.

 

      In the morning, Ma asked someone (very unusual), “What does the radio say now? Have they,(the Chinese) gone back?” The news was that the Chinese unexpectedly announced withdrawl of their troops and implemented this decision with speed.

      Theorists can project different reasons for that sudden withdrawl of the Chinese. Is it difficult for us to see the Divine intervention in that? In fact, the 1962 defeat was the turning point for the country to realize that the defence capability had to be built up for its survival. That,  in turn, enabled us to face the 1965 and 1971 wars with Pakistan successfully.

     

      A few other incidents reported earlier in the literature about Ma are given below :

 

1.         Once, Ma was travelling from one town to another by car. The devotees who go with Her usually travel in their own cars. Ma told one such lady devotee to travel in Her car. After going some distance, one tyre of Ma’s car burst. After replacing it, as the car went some distance, another tyre burst, and in the same manner after a further distance, the third tyre burst and they were stranded there for some time till help came. Each time the tyre burst, Ma asked the lady if she was feeling okay. Ma indicated that the power to take that lady’s life came thrice and it was diverted each time to one of the wheels of the car and she was saved.

 

2.         A Bengali family was returning by car to Calcutta after having satsang with Ma in another town. On the way, they had to cross a river by ferry. When they reached the place for the ferry, they did not see anybody there. The family consisted of Shri Banerjee who was driving the car, his wife, mother and two daughters. The gentleman parked the car with the hand brake on and went out with one daughter to fetch the men who ply the ferry. As they went away, the car started rolling down. There was panic in the minds of the ladies in the car. The two elderly ladies fainted. As the car plunged into the river, the daughter said, “We have the garlands given by Ma, no danger can come to us”. The car stopped as it plunged into the water and water started entering the car through the closed door. But help came immediately and all the ladies stuck inside the car were rescued.

 

3.         A professional photographer wanted to take pictures of Ma in the year 1926. Ma was in a room which was dark in a state of deep meditation. Bholanathji and Bhaiji took Her outside and the photographer exposed eighteen plates.After developing them, only a ball of light was seen on the first few plates and a hazy outline on the rest except the last one which showed Ma clearly with light all around Her head. Ma explained later that when She was in the dark room, the room was flooded with light radiating from Her body. When She was taken out, She had the kheyala that Her body was surrounded by a very bright light. The light diminished gradually until it remained around Her head when the last picture was taken. This picture is shown on the opposite page.

 

4                    In another picture, Bhaiji appeared behind Ma in the photograph though he was not present there. Ma explained that it was due to Her kheyala that he was there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Teachings

 

            Sometimes people ask the question ‘What is Ma’s teaching?’ They want to know whether She advocated any particular line like that of Bhakti, Yoga, Gyana, Vichara etc and any approach like Advaita (Non Dual Monism) Dvaita (Dualism) etc. This is because the names of even great sadgurus are quite often linked to one or other line, though they accept all the paths. For example, Adi Shankaracharya wrote hymns to all deities, still he was identified with the Advaita philosophy. Bhagwan Ramana Maharshi indicated all paths but stressed the path of Enquiry into the Self and Paramahansa Yogananda propogated Kriya Yoga.

 

All Doctrines are equal to Ma

            Ma has shown, through Her Sadhana Leela that all the paths are valid. She had gone through every path, one by one, in a matter of few seconds. Advaita, Dvaita, Visishta Advaita, Bhakti, Yoga, Vichara Marga and all other paths given in our scriptures as well as the scriptures of other religions were traversed by Her. She said that each line has an ‘objective in perfection’ which She called the Mool (the source or root of that line). All such mools are in Swamool which is the same as Self, God or Brahman. For example, the path of a Vaishnava is to realize Vishnu, that of a Shakta is to realize the Divine Mother and of a Shaivite is to realize Shiva. Vishnu, Shiva and the Mother are the mools respectively within the Swamool. When a Sadhak progresses from Shiva to Param Shiva, he realizes his Self or Brahman and thus the Swamool. Ma Herself is the Self, the Swamool. The Self itself manifests as the ‘Objective in Perfection’ of each line of Sadhana. When the Sadhaka transcends the Mool of his particular line, he realizes his own Self (the One only without a second). Then he knows that all the paths lead to one Goal only and all the ‘objectives in perfection’ of the different paths are also one and the same.

 

            Swami Paramananda quoted Ma as saying “Some teaching or doctrine is inferior and some superior or some path is more true and some less; this body has nothing to do with such controversies and conflicts. Whatever anybody says is right from his standpoint.” He added that as all sects and doctrines are equal to Ma and followers and aspirants of every sect came to Her and obtained peace and joy from Her.

 

            Teaching is not merely what is said by words. It covers every method used by the Sadguru to help the aspirants to progress on the path and ultimately to help the competent persons to realize their Self.

 

Teaching by Silence

            Silence is said to be the highest form of teaching. Bhagwan Shiva as Dakshinamurthi sat under a banyan tree in silent meditation and thus gave the upadesa (teaching) to the sages Sanaka, Sananda, Sanatkumara and Sanat Sujata. Having come from the mind of Brahma, they were the best equipped to seek their own true Self and they could absorb the teaching in silence.

 

            In many satsangs with Ma, we saw Her sitting in silence and all around Her, including Mahatmas, naturally remained silent. Everyone, according to his individual capacity, received peace from Ma. Peace is experienced mainly when agitations in the mind are slowed down, making it calm. At the highest level of the disciple, the thoughts disappear totally and the state of samadhi occurs.

 

Teaching by Initiation

            Giving diksha (initiation) to the seeker is another method of teaching. This may be done bygiving a sacred seed mantra in the ear of the disciple which he has to practise (do japam) with devotion. The real import of diksha is that the Guru’s Power is infused into the disciple along with the mantra. This power will work in the psycho-physical system on its own. The devoted practice of japam is like giving water and loosening the soil for the seed to germinate and the plant to grow and give the fruit eventually.

 

            Thousands of devotees received diksha in this way from Ma and are on the path. Here we have to note that Ma did not call Herself a Guru. She was the direct Embodiment of the Divine. If She gave the mantra into the ear of the disciple, the power would be too great. So this diksha was given through Bholanathji in his time, later through Didima and after that by a special procedure by Ma in which She did not say the mantra but it was shown to the disciple. In all cases Ma was physically present and touching the person giving the diksha or touching the disciple on the head with a cloth interposed between Her hand and the head of the disciple.

 

            In some cases, the transmission of power from Ma to the disciple was done by touch or by look. After one satsang, Ma told a foreigner who came there for the first time that he had taken more than anybody else from Her. Ma said many times that grace is raining all the time. Those who keep their vessels upright properly collect the waters of Grace and those who keep the vessels upside down are unable to collect the same.

 

Shaktipath

            This is another method of initiation in which the Guru transmits such high power that it transports the disciple close to the final stages of emancipation. Swami Vijayananda received this from Ma. We came to know this because the Swamiji is living in the Kankhal ashram and we had opportunities to talk to him and receive his guidance. In general, it is difficult to know who received initiation by touch, look or the high powered Shaktipath because these methods have no outwardly visible procedures and happen to the recipient at any time and any place even without his prior knowledge. Such persons must have done considerable amount of sadhana before they came to Ma. In general, by diksha we understand receiving a mantra from the Guru in a prescribed manner.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Teaching By Word

 

            Teaching includes both initiation and instruction. The latter again covers both what is told to particular individuals according to their specific needs and what is said to help all in general. Ma said that, “When instruction frees a man from the knots that constitute the ego, this is called initiation by instruction. In this case, the instruction has fulfilled its purpose instantaneously.”

 

            Ma answered questions put to Her and sent replies to letters written by devotees. The recordings of these are published in the books of various authors. Compilations of these are available in books like ‘Sadvani’, ‘Matrivani’, ‘Words of Shri Anandmayi Ma’. The series of books ‘Svakriya Svarasamrita’ cover various topics at a deeper and higher level.

 

            The range, detail and depth of topics dealt with is so vast that it covers the entire spectrum of spiritual endeavour showing the way to aspirants at all levels. Within the scope of this book we can only touch a little of what Ma said for the benefit of all. The same is given further.

 

Object of Human Life

            The sole purpose of getting a human birth and life is to find one’s own true Self.

 

            Self Realization and God Realization are the same. To aspire for the realization of Truth is alone worthy of Man.

 

            The talents and the work that God has entrusted to you are meant for His service and for nothing else. Bear this in mind.

 

            You attempt to appease want by want, hence want does not disappear and neither the sense of want. And when the sense of want becomes the sense of want of Self Knowledge, then only the real quest begins.

 

            Jagat (World) means ceaseless movement and obviously there can be no rest in movement. How can there be peace in perpetual coming and going. Reverse your course, advance towards Him, then there will be hope of peace.

 

            Family life which is the ashrama of the householder can also take you in His direction, provided it is accepted as an ashrama. Lived in this spirit, it helps man to progress towards Self realization. Nevertheless, if you hanker after anything such as name, fame or position, God will bestow it on you but you will not feel satisfied. The Kingdom of God is a whole and unless you are admitted to the whole of it, you cannot remain content – He, Himself, kindles the sense of want in you by granting a small thing only to whet your appetite for a greater one. This is His method by which He urges you on.

 

 

Guru

            Guru is not an ordinary preceptor – Guru is He who has the capacity to deliver man from the ocean of birth and death. He, out of deep darkness can reveal the hidden truth to the disciple.

            By virtue of Guru’s power, everything becomes possible. Therefore, seek a Guru. So long as you have not found a Guru, adhere to the name or form of Him that appeals to you most and ceaselessly pray that He may reveal Himself as the Sadguru.

            In truth, the Guru dwells within and unless you discover the inner Guru, nothing can be achieved.

 

             The average person can have no knowledge of the particular combination of factors that are necessary to bring to completion the hitherto neglected facets of His being. For this reason, it is essential to obey the Guru’s instructions.

 

            It is for the Guru to point out the method. He will show you the way to understanding and instruct you in your sadhana. It is for you to keep on practising it faithfully. The fruit comes spontaneously in the form of Self revelation. The power to grasp the ungraspable duly manifests through the Guru.

 

            A competent teacher who understands every change of the disciples prana will accordingly speed up the process or slow it down. He who guides must have first hand knowledge of everything that may occur at any stage. Without the help of such a ‘doctor’, there is danger of suffering.

 

Sadhana

            By listening repeatedly to discussions and discourses on topics of this kind, the path to first hand knowledge of what has been heard gradually opens up.

 

            When reading, read about Him. When talking, talk about Him. When singing, sing His praises.

 

            What is the right path for each depends on his personal predilection based on the specific character of his inner qualification.

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            First comes listening, then reflection and last of all translation into action of what has been heard and pondered over.

 

            While engaging in sadhana, one must concentrate in a single direction but after it is completed what comes then? The cessation of difference, distinction and disagreement. Differences do indeed exist on the path but how can there be a difference of goal?

 

            Resolve to engage regularly in japa of a particular name or a mantra while sitting in a special posture and gradually add to the time or number of repetitions. When by virtue of this endeavour, you become deeply immersed in the current and devote ever more time to it and you will be transformed and your appetite for sense enjoyment will become feeble. As a result, your outer interests will gradually fall away and your vision turns inward.

 

            What indeed is a mantra? It represents the Supreme Being Himself in the guise of sound. That is why true Knowledge can supervene at the very utterance of a Word of Power. How mysterious and intimate is the relation between those words and the immutable Brahman.

 

            By regularly offering one’s japa to the Ishta, one slowly and gradually comes to realize what the Name is and He whose name one repeats; who One is and what Self Realization signifies. When all this is revealed, then the purpose of japa has been wholly fulfilled. No one can foretell at what particular moment this may occur, therefore ever continue with sadhana.

 

            Meditation must be practiced everyday of one’s life. Direct your longings to the Eternal.

 

            In order to develop a taste for meditation, you have to make a deliberate and sustained effort just as children have to be made to sit and study, by persuasion or coercion. By your tenacity, you will gain strength and be moulded and you will develop the capacity to do sadhana.

 

            If your thought does not naturally turn towards the Eternal, fix it there by an effort of will.

 

            When meditation occurs spontaneously, then only it is real meditation. It must come of itself effortlessly.

 

            As to the question how meditation on a part can lead to meditation on the whole, Ma said “Surely the whole is contained in the part. In order to arrive at this realization, you have to follow the Guru’s instructions which are instinct with his power.”

 

            A stage does exist in meditation where intense joy is felt, where one is as if submerged in it. But what is it that gets submerged? The mind, of course. At a certain level and under certain circumstances, this experience may prove an obstacle. If repeated time and again, one may stagnate at its particular level and thereby be prevented from getting the taste of the Essence of things.

 

            In the event of experience of anything pertaining to Supreme Reality or Self, one does not say,” Where have I been? I did not know anything for the time being”. There can be no such thing as ’not knowing’. If it is possible to describe in words the bliss one has experienced, it is still enjoyment and therefore a hindrance. One must be fully conscious and wide awake. To fall into a stupor or yogic sleep will not take one anywhere.

 

            Having entered the unbroken stream, it is only natural that the yoga, the hidden union of the individual with the All should become Mahayoga.

 

            Infinite are sadhanas, infinite the spiritual experiences, infinite is manifestation – and yet He is unmanifest. Finally, when Enlighment comes, this will be the end and at that very moment He will be revealed in the midst of endless variety.

 

            By constant practice one finally achieves.

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            As to self surrender – by constantly endeavouring to live a life of dedication, it will come about one day. What does Self surrender mean, if not to surrender to one’s very own self.

 

Vairagya

            Where every single object of the world kindles, as it were the fire of renunciation, so as to make one recoil as from a shock, then there is inward and outward awakening. This, however, does not mean that vairagya implies aversion or contempt for anything of the world. It simply is unacceptable. The body refuses it. Neither dislike nor anger will arise. When vairagya becomes a living inspiration, one begins to discriminate as to the true nature of the world until finally with glowing certainity of direct perception, the knowledge of its illusion arises. Each and everything of the world seems to burn. One cannot touch it. This is a state which may ensue at a particular time.

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            You have a desire to give up but you cannot let go; such is your problem. Let that desire awaken in your heart — its stirring signifies that the time is coming when you will be able to give it up.

 

Satsanga

            The easiest and most effective means for purging the mind is to associate with saints and seekers of the truth and ceaselessly invoke the name of God.

            Proper diet is satsang and medicine is regular japa.

            One should select activities and surroundings that are apt to induce divine thoughts andaspirations. It is of great value to read sacred texts and books of wisdom. Speak the truth. Bear in mind that God’s name is He Himself in one form. Let it be your inseparable companion.

 

            To live in the presence of God who is Truth (Sat ) – this indeed is the meaning of satsang.

 

Service

            Do service with the conviction that while serving whomsoever it may be, you are serving the One who alone exists.

 

            You boast so much of doing service. This is idle talk. The real servants were Hanuman, Garud and others. Complete subjection of one’s self is what is required. He who is incapable of offering to his Lord, all his wealth, friends, mind, heart and body cannot claim to be recognized as the Lord’s servant.

 

Silence

            The combination of sounds which has the power to free you from this bondage is the one to be used. Verily it is through sound that one penetrates into Silence.

 

            To observe silence means to keep the mind fixed on Him.

 

            Real silence means there is actually nowhere else for the mind to go.

 

Vibhutis (Supernormal Powers)

            A sadhaka who aspires for the state of Unqualified Oneness (Advaita sthiti) will not accept supernormal powers, even if they come to him. Whereas the aspirant who worships God with form and attributes, will accept whatever psychic and super psychic powers are granted to him, regarding them as manifestations of the One. Such powers are bound to come in the course of sadhana, since they represent the fruit of one’s efforts. The word Vibhuti signifies the various manifestations of the All Pervading (Vibhu). For this reason,it is only natural and certain that vibhutis should come. The aspirant must take care not to be possessed by these powers because his progress would then be arrested at that stage.

 

Avatars (Divine incarnations)

            A divine incarnation playing as a child — how lovely it is, how enchanting. When ordinary people read or hear about the childhood of Sri Krishna or see it enacted, they interpret it in the light of the behaviour of their own children for this is what they are familiar with. From where would they get the capacity to grasp it’s inner significance? When you witness a dramatic representation of the love play of Radha and Krishna in Rasleela or the performance of Ramleela, you do not see the real leela, which is entirely spiritual, super natural and transcendental.  When there is actual experience of it, it is due to the functioning of spiritual vision –— Nevertheless since it is God’s divine play that he is taking in through his ears and eyes, there is hope that the capacity may come.

 

About Ma Herself

            I am only a child and do not know how to lecture or give discourses. Just as the child when it finds something sweet and good takes it to its mother and father, so do I place before you what is sweet and good. You take whatever pleases you

 

            In order to attain to a particular stage along one of those lines of sadhana, an ordinary individual may have to be born again and again but in the case of this body it was a matter of a few seconds.

 

            You may want to banish this body (Ma) from your mind but this body won’t leave for a single day — it does not and never will leave your thought. Whoever has once been drawn to love this body, will never succeed in wiping out its impression even despite of hundreds of attempts. This body rests and shall remain in his memory for all times.

 

            In God is everyone and everything. Where is God not?  That is why Ma is also ever near though the body does not go everywhere.

 

            This body always says, “Where do I have a dwelling place except in the hearts of you all”.

 

            I belong everywhere and to everybody.

 

            I am so closely linked to you all that you are like parts of my body.

 

            At no time was anybody not known to me. Even to say ‘was not’ is like drawing a veil over the real state of affairs.

 

            As water ‘this’ (Ma) was water, seeing waves it was waves, with the wind it was the wind. Who is it that appears as water or wind? He and no other.

 

            A person who expects this body to be always supernormal in its dealings with the world will be disappointed, for this little girl acts according to Her Kheyala – whatever it be at any time.

 

            If you worship this body, it feels just as you feel but of course it goes without saying that you worship God not this body.

 

            It is a supreme fact that this body has not come into being to reap the fruits of past karma. Why don’t you take it that this body is the material embodiment of all your thoughts and ideas? You all wanted it and you have it now.

 

            There is a time for everything. No one can come to Me until the time is ripe.

 

            In order to understand what I want, one must shake ones mind free from pride, from desire for glory, from anger and sorrow, from self-conceit and finally from self-will which leads a man to feel that he is a free agent in all his actions.

 

            Carry out without arguing whatever I say. Be certain that it is for your best.

 

            It has happened to this body many times that it has heard the call ‘Mother’ from far off lands. Where the concept of distance is absent, there place and time present no obstacle.

 

            To tell the truth, while some people undoubtedly approach this body in quest of Reality, very many come only to get their desires and longings fulfilled.

 

            Your sorrow, your pain, your agony is indeed my sorrow. This body understands everything.

 

            My food is dedicated lives.

 

            Under whatever name anyone may seek God, this child most heartily welcomes Him.

 

General

            The intense desire for God realization is itself the way for it.

 

            It is by seeking to know one’s Self that the Great Mother may be found.

 

            It is the pure, undefiled flower that finds a place at the feet of Lord and no where else.

 

            Ears have been given to you to hear the satsang, eyes to see the form of the Lord, feet to do the parikrama, hands to do japa, to do the worship of the Lord.

 

            By constantly dwelling on the thought of God, all the knots (granthis) that make up the ego are unravelled and that which has to be realized will be realized.

 

            Single minded devotion engenders deep thought, which expresses itself in action. The Lord’s light descends on the devotee. His power awakens in him and as a result profound inner inquiry blossoms forth.

 

            The Divine Call is bound to come to everyone for Shiva, the eternal spirit, resolved Himself into jivas, sentient beings and every creature has to become reconverted again into Shiva.

 

            Some severe blow of fate will drive you towards God. This will be but an expression of His mercy. However painful, it is by such blows that one learns ones lesson.

 

            Pray that the work done through you, His instrument, may be pure. In every action, remember Him – feel that the Lord is accepting services from you in whatever you do.

 

            Do not pay attention to the faults of others. It defiles the mind and adds to the load of the world’s sin. Therefore, try to see only the bright side of things in whatever you perceive.

 

            The Supreme is Joy itself. This is why the goal of life for all sentient beings is Joy (ananda). At all times, give and receive happiness.

 

            How much more time will you spend at a wayside inn? Don’t you want to go home?

 

            The same form does not suit everyone. For some Rama is most helpful, for some Shiva, for others Parvati and again for others the Formless. He certainly is formless but at the same time watch in what particular form He may appear to you in order to show you the way.

 

            Within the 24 hours of the day, some time must be definitely be dedicated to God.

 

            Never relax efforts until there is enlightenment — your striving must be continuous like the flowing of oil, it must be sustained in constant unbroken stream.

 

            The stream of Godly thoughts is the path that leads to the exhaustion of ‘karma’. So long as the goal is not reached, one is bound to reap the consequences of right action, wrong action and inaction.

 

            Never harbour the idea that you are involved in sin and evil deeds and you cannot get anywhere.

            At all times and under all circumstances, you must keep yourself in readiness to tread the path tothe Supreme.

 

            Don’t sit back thinking I am not ready yet. – the errors will fall away by themselves. Abstention drives away the springs of desire. Do not waste time.

 

            Do not be satisfied with fragmentary happiness which is invariably interrupted by shocks and blows of fate but become complete and having attained to perfection, be YOURSELF.

 

            Whether one takes the path of devotion where the I is lost in the ‘Thou’ or the path of Self Enquiry in search of the true I – it is He alone who is found in the ‘Thou’ as well as the I.

 

            Each one of you must seize the moment that will reveal to you the eternal relationship by which you are united to the Infinite; this is the revelation of Supreme Union (Mahayoga). Supreme Union signifies that the whole universe is within you and you are in it.

 

            The quotations given above are just a small part of what Ma explained to seekers in reply to their questions. Such talks from Ma covered many points like the higher and deeper levels of sadhana, the kind of experience that seekers may have, the obstacles and fears that may come up, the grace of Guru and Her own Swaroopa. In smaller gatherings, She used similies, pun on words and parables to explain some points. The most compassionate way in which She urged everyone to take to the spiritual path was asking them to give ‘biksha’ (alms) to Her. Referring to Herself as a child She would say “Give biksha to this child. Promise you will spend at least 10–15 minutes everyday remembering God by any method such as prayer, japa,, meditation etc.”