The Magnanimous, Ubiquitous and Universal Mother Shree Ma Anandamayee

Introduction

Shree Ma said, “I can see the whole world as a garden and you all are beautiful flowers in it. I am only going hither and thither within this garden”.

The present work brings together the follow-ups of my very close association with Shree Shree Ma Anandamayi and of the reaction of each to the influence of Her superb personality. Her exposure was majestic effortless and spontaneous at every stage. I had the humble privilege of being in contact with Her sine I was a school going kid. This book contains a sincere expression of my views on Her Majesty and some of it has indeed been a frank outpouring of Her life and character.

This is as it should have been. For it hardly becomes us children as we are, to analyze and dissect our Mother, nor is is possible for us, crying ourselves for light in the darkness of night, to shed any light on Her. My work has been through out very authentic effort to bring in limelight the “Supreme That” in Shree Ma Gautama the Buddha in subsequent age spoke in the same strain saying that only few people understood him properly and adequately.

That Mother’s life, even Her earliest life, should abound in extraordinary incidents is not surprising-we are accustomed to such incidents in the lives of genuine saints, mystics and yogins. They exist and have their place of honor in their lives but all these pale into insignificance before the wonderful poise bliss of Her sweet but magnificent personality-a personality which strong as it is, blends into the Impersonal, nay is utterly undifferentiated from it.

It is well known that the illumination and liberation of saints and mystics presuppose and earlier stage of ignorance and bondage, followed usually by a period of aspiration, personal exertion and austerities. This is usually found in the present life itself, or in exceptional cases, in a pre-natal state of existence, But in the case of Mother, such a prior state of ignorance never existed at all. The possibility of ante-natal embodied existence is ruled out on Mother’s definite assurances that Her life is not subject to the laws of natural causation and that She has no prior life to account for Her present existence in Her pre-marital and early post-marital life was, nothing more than playful representation of self imposed discipline in which She condescended to take part merely as a matter of sport. It had no meaning for Her subsequent life in any way. Mother had no experience of darkness or gloom in Her life. It said that from Her very birth She was aware of what She had ever been and what She would always continue to be and that there was no possibility of a deviation from Her self-conscious stature for a single moment.

Her Self-knowledge, we are assured, did not arise under the impact of an extrinsic element out side Herself-it was always with Her, being a state of Her nature. It was there always in its fullness, requiring no effort on Her part, nor any grace from above, to bring it into greater perfection. Ma Anandamayi can be identified definitely with the Supreme Brahman.

Now, what is the nature of the Self-knowledge which was innate with Mother?

It is clear from what has been said above that though self knowledge, on the analogy of lower knowledge, has its roots within, its exciting cause is usuallyoutside as it is initiated by forces working without us. But it may also be, as already pointed out, due to initiation from within, in which case the external agencies would be no more than propagating forces.

History records instances of illumination of both these types. The Divine Grace is the most important factor, not only in the awakening of religious consciousness in man but also in its subsequent development in him till the union with the Divine is accomplished. Granting this as a necessary pre condition of active spiritual life, what is needed in ordinary cases is the operation of a mediating factor through which such Grace may become accessible to man. For the bodily and the mental mechanism of an average individual is not capable of bearing the strain involved in the direct transmission of Divine Grace. As a rule God’s Grace is said to act on a receptive vehicle free from contact with matter, i.e. on an unembodied soul in pre-creational state. But if the soul in the process of creative evolution happens to take on a body of impure matter it can no longer received grace directly from the divine source, but receives it only through a medium. This medium would be an embodied being whose body may be of exclusive pure matter or of pure matter or of pure matter mixed with impure. Barring the immaculate bodies of the heavenly brotherhood entrusted with the guardianship of the world and with the task of imparting knowledge in the beginning of creation. We have to consider in this context the hierarchy of Teaches consisting of three well know groups: (Ogha, viz, Divya, Siddha and Manava.) The Divya or celestial and manava or human correspond loosely to the Daiva and Paurusa. Between these two the Agamas place the Siddha or superhuman group This medium serves that purpose of an Acharya or Guru to the uninitiated seekers after Knowledege.

Thus Grace acts freely and immediately in the case of souls which are not clogged with material vastments. This is possible where Grace does not require any external support for its manifestation (Niradhikarana Anugraha) and its acts indirectly through pure bodies on recipient souls endowed with bodies of maya. This is an instance of Grace acting through the support as its medium (Sadhikarana Anugraha).By the term Grace we should understand here the special Grace of the Lord and not the general grace which confers benefit other than Supreme Realization. During Manifestation each of the different Aspects pf pure Order beyond Time, where the sequence is only logical, involves complexities in its features, but in the Simple Unity of the Eternal Self-luminous all complications are conspicuous by their absence, for the Transcendent is above all categories. Guru as an abstract principle is one of the eternal verities. The Universal Being pervades All and is one with All and is one with All; by virtue of its presence it occupies every position simultaneously and is identified with each other and yet it retains its transcendent character and uniqueness. An individual human being on the other hand may occupy an function as Guru tentatively so long as the merit of the incumbent is not exhausted and he then gives another individual a chance to keep the chain unbroken. This shows that the Guru is both human and divine. Strictly speaking, the Divine Being is free from all attributes. To one in whom the divinity flashes up spontaneously revealing Truthfully and immediately, external aids are unnecessary as in the case with Mother. Her case is that of pure Light and how it functions being free from intellectual and conceptual elements, comes into manifestation. In the matter of communication of Her wisdom to others, its function solely by consideration of receptive capacity and other qualities of the seekers. Divine Will of Ma is sufficient to kindle their spiritual sense. Mataji is an unique person as a Guru unto Herself and is known as Akalpita Guru possessing Full knowledge and Power manifested from within. In Ma’s case of superior type of self-illumination, the co-operation of the mind, prana, senses of the co-operation of the mind, prana, senses of the body is not essential; otherwise it is indispensable in the case of imperfect self-derived knowledge and power. Such a person is called Akalpita Kalpaka.

A little reflection reveals that Mother’s case does not fall into either of the above two conditions or categories being exceptional. The mere fact that Her Knowledge did not originate from a Guru. They are all spontaneous evolution of “That Truth”

Some people are disposed to look upon Mother as a Vilasa, a self-projection in time and space of the timeless divine. I do not know how far this view is tenable. According to Ma Herself, and I quote; “Yet here aforesaid holds good, for this body responds strictly to the line of the line of thought and to the spirit in which a question is asked. Consequently, what is the opinion of this body and what is not? If there is a line of approach, there must be a goal to which it leads and beyond that is the unattainable. But when the distinction between the attainable and the unattainable doe not arise is “That” itself. What you hear depends on how you play the instrument. For this body the problem difference of opinion does not exist”.

This statement cannot apply to a Vilasa for obvious reasons. Is She then the Divine in its Svayam Rupa, in its plenary and perfect Form? She is a visible expression of the Absolute Itself. She is the outer manifestation, within a self- imposed veil of the Inner Atma of the world, of humanity, revealed to us clothed in a human form simply to draw us towards Herself away from the turmoils and tumults of fettered existence?

Foreward

Shree Ma said, “All religions are same following the same line and system, all systems are the same, we are all one.”

My first contact with Anandamayi Ma was when I was a small kid studying in one of the highly esteemed schools in the country namely Scindia School in Gwalior with All India Merit scholarship with Late Hon. Cabinet Minister Madhavrao Scindia. Ma’s magical smile at won over my intuitive confidence in Her and felt unstintedly that I have come in contact with the Supreme and none else. At a latter stage She revealed Herself to me as “Poorna Brahma Narayan”. I stood dazed for some time amongst a large crowd of devotes that had gathered a round me She instructed me to choose the path of righteousness and carryout my work efficiently keeping Here in my mind always.

Is it possible to transcend good and evil? What is the state of mind that makes it possible to rise above this duality? The apparently common saying, “There is nothing good or evil, but thinking makes it so,” has deeper implications than we realize. The function of the mind is to analyze an evaluate, to judge whar is beneficial and what is destructive to the individual or to the group. It is an indispensable factor in the evolutionary process. There is, however, a stage reached by a few rare individuals where action is no longer dictated by thought or individual feeling. Maa calls this “kheyal” When the individual self or ego is silent, then the “Universal” acts. The state of mind that is completely silent is the state of Love. It is in this condition that Maa continually an effortlessly lives.

Light is invisible, but makes all things visible. Its function is to reveal the structure and beauty of things. We do not know what Light is; we can know its existence by its effects. Likewise Love is invisible. It can be known only by what it reveals to us-the beauty is hidden in the heart of man.

People are amazed & ask, “How is it possible for Maa to love and understand thousands of devotees?” The Truth is simple. Normally we do not each other as we really are; the barrier of the separate self obscures are vision, and we create a world of our own, darkened by the shadow that the self casts casts upon every thought and feeling. Maa lives in a world where there is no darkness at all. One has only to stand in the effulgence of her Love to realize that, though it is a mystery that baffles the mind of man, it is an intense reality. To be within Her presence is to know that one is understood and forgiven. Love is everlasting forgiveness!

This seems to me the secret of her marvellous, but often unintelligible endeavours to respond to the needs of her numerous devotees. She undertakes apparently purposeless journeys, but when closely examined they are an answer to the call of some devotee who needs her presence. She lives only for the world; she has few meeds of her own, if any. In that state of mind she becomes the pure channel for the descent of grace. The process may be conscious or unconscious.

The study of such a life is fascinating, of absorbing interest not only to the devotee, but to the student of the psychology of spiritual genius. There is an intelligence that has no relation to the logical intellectual mind, but which is able to pierce through error and falsehood, and directly perceive Truth!

To relate any individual to are personal well being is false love. Such personal love is the basis of all social and family tradition. True love comes into being, the moment we become aware of the falseness in our “loving”.

The perception of Truth is not a function of the conceptual mind. Error creeps in when we view a fact or an event from a personal point of view. Party loyalty is the normal discipline of political life. But the moment we subordinate the welfare of the larger group to party interests, it introduces conflict and error in our life. Every happening or event has a place in the scheme of things. We can perceive its significance when we do not relate it to our personal benefit. The moment we are aware of this falseness in our thinking there is perception of Truth.

The intelligence that is behind Love and Truth is essentially the same. It is the capacity to see things in the context of the whole. It is the wisdom of the spirit.

Maa has met many of the most subtle and learned intellects of the world. She tackles all problems with an effortless ease that is amazing and people ask; “What are you?” “Who are you?” The answer is simple “I am whatever you think me to be,” a perfectly correct statement.

My book is a record of Maa’s life all through. It contains authentic descriptions of happenings at different times. The interpretations of their significance demands extraordinary spiritual and psychological equipment. In face Maa herself is the only person competent to evaluate such experiences.

The book is an invaluable document recording the author’s authentic experience with Maa at different levels of intelligence, leaving the interpretations to psychologists of the future.

Preface

Shree Ma said, “All is One & One is in All. Because he is there, you and me exist.”

In this holy land of ours people of outstanding stature manifest themselves in all ages and times to revive spiritualism. In our age such an outstanding manifestation is Shree Shree Ma Anandamayi. She was a miracle for two reasons:-For one She revealed Herself in the form of a Woman-A typical housewife hidden behind the veil. Secondly, behind Her revelation in public was not prompted by any conscious effort in the form of any kind of penance. The entire process was a spontaneous outburst proclaiming the coming like a tempest that carries everything in its wake. Ma used to say, “I blow like a air”.-True

Atthe vital contact of the flow of the tempest, lives of many have been revived in to a second birth. One of them is me incidentally. Everything about me, right from the naming upto moulding of my life is the craftsmanship of the Mother.

The sole aim of Ma Anandamayi was to motivate the lives of human beings Godwardly. Specially due to Her divine vision She evoked the spirit of Gouri within a woman. “Yatra Nari TatraGouri”. Wherever there is a woman there is Gouri”. With the same goal in view, Gurupriya Didi, who served Mother whole heartedly an unstintedly was an inseparable associate in divine Leela, founded a Kanyapeeth at holy Varanasi Dham and many brahmacharinis had their lodging in that Kanyapeeth, many of them from their infancy were initiated into the means of elevating their lives to a divine existence.

As a resident of Kanyapeeth they had the rare opportunity of direct participation in diverse divine modes (Leelas) of Shree Shree Ma. Ma’s Leelas and utterances were recorded by many with the highest pitch of commitment and sincerity. While reading this book, I am sure, those who were acquainted with the Mother would be gratified and satisfied for having an opportunity to once more getting a direct view of Her an incarnate form. They would be able to realize in what diverse ways the Mother inspired those who cale directly under Her aegis-some times by Her indulgent affection and sometimes influencing them by the regulating power of Her strict discipline-to mould their lives into ideal form. One of the Brahmacharinis Vishuddhadi for instance had the rare fortune of serving the divinity embodied Universal Mother by bathing Her, cooking food for Her consumption, massaging Her feet and lying down near those very fee. In this she was able to purify and gratify herself.

Many would be able to know from this book the detail account of Savitri Maha Yagna performed by Ma’s Kheyal at Varanasi. Besides many miraculous divine incidents have been recorded at various junctures. Shree Shree Ma laughed, played with Kumaris like Vishuddhadi, Pushpadi, Chitradi, Geeta and others. Ma was dressed as they liked to dress Her and sometimes even wept resistlessly on detecting some lapses in them. She prostrating Herself at their feet crying effusively with eyes moistened with tears was saying “Forgive me thou Goddess in the Kumari form”.

Finding Her bathed with tears repeating the same words in a state of trance, Gurupriyadi struck dumb with surprise said, “Ma, why are you asking for forgiveness? It is we, who are at fault every step.” “Ma replied, “Didi the faults committed by those who are upon to gather around this body are no less associated with this body.”

In this way the Mother identified Herself with all. As we realize it we should be alert and attempt to do no wrong lest it should go down to Her and bring tears to Her eyes. The responsibility of keeping the Mother free from tears rest with Her children.

We can get these wonderful instructions from the anecdotes I have given in this book. I hope that all will read this book and be gratified by deriving inspirations towards the life divine.

Contents