Sri Anandamayi Ma: A Goddess Among Us

 

Whether you worship Christ, Krishna, Kali, or Allah,

you actually worship the one Light that is also in you,

since It pervades all things. There is none save Him.

He is smaller than the smallest, and greater than the greatest.

Sri Anandamayi Ma (1896-1982) was one of the great Hindu saints of the 20^th Century, as well as a profound mystic and teacher. As a person of remarkable piety, sanctity, and wisdom, she came to the notice of both simple people and famous figures of India. She did not have an outer guru, and emphasized the importance of detachment from the world and religious devotion, encouraging her devotees to serve others. An ecstatic child of ecstatic parents, she became a famous saint who like many other female Indian saints stood on the edge of several religious traditions, and in the midst of none. She influenced the spirituality of thousands of people who came to see her throughout her long life.

Born as Roma Debi in a remote village in what is now Bangladesh, she exhibited signs of profound spiritual awakening from a very young age. Even as a child she would spontaneously fall into deep states of samhadi, or ecstatic union with the Absolute. Those around 

her were awestruck by her extraordinary spiritual gifts as she would often enter altered states of consciousness and display a wisdom and insight far beyond her years. It was as if the veil between the mundane and the divine had been lifted, allowing the boundless light of the Absolute to shine through her innocent form.

As Anandamayi Ma grew older, her reputation as a great saint and enlightened being began to spread, and she soon gathered a large following of devotees from all walks of life. People were drawn to her vibrant presence, her deep compassion, and the palpable sense of the sacred that radiated from her being. Many experienced profound spiritual awakenings and transformations in her company.

Anandamayi Ma had a profound understanding of the nature of consciousness, the structure of reality, and the means by which one can transcend the limitations of the ego and awaken to one's true divine nature. This formed the core of her hidden teachings, esoteric insights and practices that she shared only with her most devoted and trustworthy disciples. These teachings went far beyond the

standard spiritual philosophies and practices of her time, delving into the deepest mysteries of the human experience.

At the heart of Anandamayi Ma's esoteric teachings was the direct recognition of the true nature of the self. She taught that beneath the surface of our personality, our thoughts, and our experiences, there exists a timeless, unconditioned awareness that is our essential being.

You are not this body, this mind,

these thoughts, and emotions.

That which you truly are has no form,

no name, no beginning, and no end.

It is the eternal absolute consciousness

that is the very ground of your being.

Through a process of deep self-inquiry and contemplation, Anandamayi Ma's closest disciples were guided to directly investigate the nature of this awareness. By letting go of their identification with the transient contents of consciousness and abiding in the pure perceiving presence that they truly were, they were able to awaken to a profound sense of peace, freedom, and wholeness.

One of the practices she shared with select disciples was a form of self-inquiry that she called the art of staying. Through this practice her disciples were invited to simply rest in the silent spacious awareness that underlies all of their thoughts, emotions, and sensations. The art of staying is the art of being. It is the art of dissolving into the boundless ocean of consciousness that we truly are. With this practice one begins to recognize the illusory nature of the ego and the true limitless nature of being.

You are not the doer, you are the silent witness;

you are not the thinker, you are the pure awareness

that is aware of the thinking.

Her teachings went far beyond the realm of self-inquiry and the direct recognition of the true self. She also had a profound understanding of the subtle energetic 

structures of we human beings, sharing advanced practices of pranayama, breath control, mantra recitation, and Kundalini awakening with her closest disciples.

The human body is a sacred temple,

a microcosm of the entire universe.

By working with the subtle energies

that flow through this temple

we can unlock the doorways

to the highest states of consciousness

and spiritual realization.

Through these practices Anandamayi Ma's disciples were able to purify and harmonize the energetic flows within their own being, allowing them to access profound states of expanded awareness and divine union.

Perhaps the most radical and transformative aspect of Anandamayi Ma's hidden teachings, however, was her insistence that true liberation and enlightenment could only be attained through the full embrace and acceptance of all of life's experiences, both the pleasant and the unpleasant.

Suffering is the gateway to freedom.

It is only by fully welcoming and surrendering

to the totality of life,

without rejection or resistance,

that we can transcend the confines of the ego

and awaken to our boundless nature.

By learning to surrender to the present moment with an attitude of openness, curiosity, and reverence, one may let go of conditioned patterns of thinking and behavior to dissolve the barriers that keep us trapped in a limited sense of self.

Anandamayi Ma's philosophy was rooted in Bhakti yoga, emphasizing detachment from the world, and religious devotion. Her teachings were characterized by simplicity, humility, and unconditional love. The central theme of all her words and expressions is this: Life and religion are one. All that you do to maintain your life, your everyday work and play, all your attempts to earn a living, should be done with sincerity, love, and devotion, with a firm conviction that true living means virtually perfecting one’s spiritual existence in tune with the universe. To bring about this synthesis, religious culture should be made as natural and easy as taking in food and drink when we are hungry and thirsty.

from Scipio's Dossier at YouTube.com