Sri Anandamayi Ma

[Davino]

Paramhansa Yogananda wrote about her in his book Autobiography of a Yogi. His meeting with her is recounted in the chapter titled "The Bengali 'Joy-Permeated Mother'", where she explains her background:

"Father, there is little to tell." She spread her graceful hands in a deprecatory gesture. "My consciousness has never associated itself with this temporary body. Before I came on this earth, Father, I was the same. As a little girl, I was the same. I grew into womanhood, but still I was the same. When the family in which I had been born made arrangements to have this body married, I was the same... And, Father, in front of you now, I am the same. Ever afterward, though the dance of creation change around me in the hall of eternity, I shall be the same.

[Davino]

[Davino]

“Everyone should advance along one particular line. He who takes the path trodden by the lover of God, will release Him as the blissful embodiment of Supreme Love. He who takes the path of Knowledge, will release Him as Knowledge Itself as the formless Brahman. Just as one and the same individual is son, husband and father, so the One Brahman is Being, Consciousness, Bliss. From whichever angle a person approaches God, he will assuredly find Him, the One. If he progresses by yoga, he will realise eternal Union. He will have to go beyond the polarity of union and separation. And in the final attainment, the question of eternal and non-eternal, of beyond and not beyond, does not exist.”

 ~ Anandamayi Ma

[Davino]

Reading original Paramhansa Yogananda's chapter about Sri Anandamayi Ma.

[Davino]

"He only who lives consciously, that is to say in Self-awareness, deserves to be called a human being. 

Without being truly a human being first, one can not become a Superman. 

By following the social and moral laws, human qualities are gradually developed, after which, when one becomes interested in the spiritual quest and the mind has been purified by divine contemplation, one may go beyond illusion and grow into a Superman. 

The endeavor to fulfill his real want is characteristic of man; to be established in his true being is the mark of the Superman. 

Man's task is to satisfy his want by awakening to his true nature; the Superman's task to become perfected in his true being, which implies renunciation and all-embracing Love. 

First of all try to be a real human being."

 

[Davino]

"Do you want deliverance from the bonds of the world? Then weeping profusely, you will have to cry out from the bottom of your heart, ‘Deliver me, Great Mother of the world, deliver me!’ To obtain Her grace you will have to shed tears much more abundantly than when you desire things of the world. 

When by the flood of your tears the inner and the outer have fused into one, you will find Her whom you sought with such anguish; nearer than the nearest, the very breath of life, the very core of every heart." 

 ~ Anandamayi Ma

[Davino]

“If one loses one’s being in the contemplation of the Divine Name, one can merge oneself in the ocean of Heavenly Beauty. God and His symbolic names are one and the same.”

 ~ Anandamayi Ma

[Davino]

If you serve 
human beings or animals as such, 
it is not pure service. 
But if you serve them 
with the thought 
that there is only the ONE, 
that by serving whomsoever, 
you are serving God 
in that particular guise, 
then and then only 
does it become real service. 

Since nothing exists really 
but the Supreme Being, 
one should serve THAT alone. 

Purity means Truth, that which IS. 

Essentially, 
whatever aids towards the realization of Truth may be called pure and whatever is apt to retard it, impure. 

- The teachings of Ma Anandamayi. 
OLD DIARY LEAVES. Atmananda.

[Davino]

This video cannot be embedded but it's as good as it gets.

The essence of Sri Anandamayi Ma: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VNTxSBkT7g 

 

"When you see the bud of a flower, you perceive the bud only; whereas actually the full blown flower, the fruit, the seed, and the whole plant are contained in that little bud. 

Manifestation is universal and unlimited, but your vision of it is partial, from one angle, dependent upon what, at a certain time, appears before your eyes.

Look with an all-round comprehensive vision and try to find out who a particular 'yogi', a particular individual, in reality is!"

~ Anandamavi Ma

 

Ma also spoke often of the mysterious qualities of the breath and its connection with the mind, and the efficacy of meditating and performing japa in tune with the breath.

“From our worldly point of view we perceive everywhere animate or inanimate things; but in reality 
He who is Truth, 
He who is consciousness, 
permeates them all. 
As soon as the mind understands 
the fact of His immanence, 
He becomes active and vibrant within 
us, at first through the vehicle of the breath, which is an expression of the life-force (prana). 

Be ever aware of the following: 
what is called life-breath is really an aspect of universal, all-pervasive power that functions continually. 
It is indeed one of His forms; 
He who is Truth-Consciousness reveals Himself in this mode. If with the help of a mantra received from the Guru we can remain concentrated on the breath, or even without a mantra we simply keep on watching the movement of the breath, this will help to steady the mind and also be an aid in our search of Him who is the Life of our life, who is the Whole, the Eternal One.”

“Through breath energy, Consciousness pervades Matter. Everything that is alive breathes. When breath stops, you die. Physical life depends on breath. 
Through Prana, matter becomes alive. Desires and wandering mind make the breath impure. Therefore, I advise the practice of concentration on breathing combined with taking any one of God’s 
Names. If the breath and the mind become one — pointed and steady, 
then the mind expands to infinity, and all phenomena are included in that one all – inclusive point. 
If you think of God with the breath it 
will purify the prana, the physical sheath and the mind. If you breathe while thinking of God’s Name, you will feel the call of His grace.”

- Anandamayi Ma
The Teachings
Swami Mangalananda.
Mountain Path. July 2011.

 

In course of conversation Mataji said: 
World means that which is in constant flux and thus illusory. 
This pandal (canopy) in which you are sitting now will not remain to-morrow - therefore it is transitory. 
Just as a tree did not exist earlier and will not be in existence much later, 
thus it is impermanent. 

Why do you not aspire towards 
Truth and Eternity?

According to the doctrine of Vedanta or Advaita, name and form are regarded as illusory. 
To think of name and form as separate from That which Is - this indeed is false. 

In the case of a living Vigraha 
(Concrete External Presence as form) 
there is no transitoriness. 
You are true, enlightened, 
the Atma (Self) beyond all names. 
You are the Atma Itself, 
free, Knowledge Itself. 

So long as God has existed, Maya is also in existence. 
But God is beyond Maya- just like the external relationship between water and ice. Exactly as ice is nothing but water, so Nirakara, the Formless and Sakara, God-with-Form are one and the same. 

- Matri Satsang.

 

“A man's belief is greatly influenced by his environment; therefore he should choose the company of the Holy and Wise. 

Belief means to believe in one's Self, disbelief to mistake the non-Self for one's Self.

There are instances of Self-realization occurring by the Grace of God, whereas at other times it can be seen that He awakens in some a feverish yearning after Truth.

 In the first case attainment comes spontaneously, in the second it is brought about by trials. 

But all is wrought solely by His Mercy.

Man thinks he is the doer of his actions, while actually everything is managed from ‘There’; the connection is ‘There', as well as the power-house - yet people say: 'I do.' 

How wonderful it is!

When in spite of all efforts one fails to catch a train, does this not make it clear from where all one's movements are being directed? 

Whatever is to happen to anyone, anywhere, at any time, is all fixed by Him; His arrangements are perfect.”

 ~ Anandamayi Ma

[Davino]

Question: People say Brahman is unknown. so why try?

Sri Ma: If I ask you to describe this flower you will say, it is red, it is a rose and so on and on, but never will you be able to express fully all that this flower is. So all things are known and unknown, manifest and unmanifest, both. It is what it is.

Form and formless; with qualities and without qualities. Such is He. You cannot exhaustively enumerate the qualities of even ordinary things. One must go beyond all this. The language of going, coming also is not apt. It is self-revealing. The ocean and tides, below the waves the water is still and deep. You will say that even below the water there are currents. Be it so. That is not fragmenting the ocean. There are so many ways of indicating the One underlying Reality. Yet no matter how much one says, it seems everything has been left unsaid.

[Davino]

Perfect vision denotes omniscience while happiness that depends on anything is bound to change into sorrow. 

When a child is born, everybody rejoices, but when he dies, there is grief. 
When happiness is derived from wife, son, home or anything of the world, distress will follow without fail.

Where complete Independence of circumstance is, there alone can be perfect happiness. When the relationship of the servant to the Lord is established, this indeed is happiness. 

Essentially God and the Individual are not separate. Looked at from a certain angle, who is it that is born? 
There is in fact no birth.
To acknowledge birth is to bow to ignorance. 

 

[Davino]

Ma: Quite a number attain to some siddhi (a degree of attainment) or mukti (liberation), but only one in ten millions arrives at complete Realization. It is very, very rare.

Question: Do you think you have reached the ultimate state?

Ma: (Laughs) Whatever you believe me to be, that I am.

Question: From what moment did you have that Realization?

Ma: When was I not?

[Davino]

How wonderful is the play in God's creation? The Self, the Atma, is of course one. Nevertheless, there are 'you and I, yours and mine,' and all the rest of it. If you cannot give up the "yours and mine", then be the eternal servant of the Lord. How many lives have you not spent in the world, in family life, in the delusion of "this is mine and that is mine." Say to yourself: "I am immortal, the Self - there is only one Brahman without a second - I am His and His alone." If the distinction between you and I remains, then let the 'you' be God. What is in ice? Nothing but water. He is formless as well as with form. What is He with form? He Himself in action - actionless action. Attraction means to be attracted to one's own Self - MA.

To lose all is to gain all. 
The Reality is merciful and compassionate. Whatever He does at any moment is all-beneficent, 
though certainly painful at times. 
When He manifests himself as all-loss, there is hope that He may also manifest himself as all-gain. 
To pine for the One who helps towards the light of Truth is salutary, 
for it kindles the awareness of Truth.

- Words of Ma Anandamayi.

“Happiness and sorrow exists in the world while one is ignorant about the Creator, that is to say, while he is ignorant about oneself. Hence only try, try and try again to know Him. Be in the Creator's Presence (through meditation) all the time. The reason why one is unable to continue being in dhyanayoga (meditation practise) is the cover of desire for worldly objects.”
 

What man wants is divine love. From whom you are created, from whom are manifested mother, father, brother, friend, husband and everything, who has nourished you with breast milk, whatever word you use to address Him, that very word should be remembered with your heart and soul all the time.
 

[Davino]

This 2 quotes melted my heart:

"I say unto you that I am a little child of yours and you are my parents. Accept me as such and give me a place in your hearts. By calling me as 'Ma', you keep me at a distance. Mothers have to be revered and respected. But a little girl needs to be loved and looked after, who is dear to the heart of everyone. So, this is my sole request to you all to make a place for me in your hearts."

 

Anyone, to whatever faith or sect he may belong, is given by This Body whatever help he requires on his own path. It is his own Self that is assisting him - if only he will be good enough to accept the assistance.

[Davino]

“To lose control over oneself is not desirable. In the search after Truth one must not allow oneself to be overpowered by anything, but should watch carefully, whatever phenomena may supervene, keeping fully conscious, wide awake, in fact retaining complete mastery over oneself. Loss of consciousness and of self-control are never right. 

While absorbed in meditation, whether one is conscious of the body or not, whether there be a sense of identification with the physical or not – under all circumstances, it is imperative to remain wide awake - unconsciousness must be strictly avoided. 

Some genuine perceptivity must be retained, whether one contemplates the Self as such, or any particular form. What is the outcome of such meditation? 
It opens up one’s being to the Light, to that which is Eternal.”

 

[Davino]

Recommended to watch after sadhana or while on psychedelics. This was his favourite chant. Jay is exaltation, means like Hurray. Bhagavan is God, ALIVE GOD

 

[Davino]

I have no need of doing or saying anything; there never was any need, neither is there now, nor will there ever be in future. What you found manifested in me in the past, what you see now and what will be observed in the future is only for the good of you all. If you think that there is something peculiarly my own, I must tell you that the whole world is my own.

[Davino]

 

[Davino]

He is the Fountain of joy - Joy and Joy alone is His Being.

A state exists in which there is only Bliss, Beatitude, Supreme Felicity.

At your level, joy has its opposite; you speak of the joys of heaven and the torments of hell.

But where there is Eternal Bliss - Bliss in its own right cannot be expressed.

It is entirely beyond such words as "what is or what is not?"

To speak means to float on the surface.

What language can express that which is neither floating nor diving deep?

Man's duty - especially for those who have made the Supreme Quest their one and only aim - is to work joyfully for the uplift of the world, with the conviction that all service is His service. Work done in such a spirit helps to purify the mind and heart.

- Words of Ma Anandamayi as recorded by  Richard Lannoy.

God fulfills the wish of a seeker of truth. He manifests Himself in the way one wants Him and He does whatever He wills. He awakens as well as fulfills the longing of the mind. It is the duty of man to keep the mind in God’s remembrance, japa, meditation, and daily rituals regularly and wholeheartedly. On the path of sadhana, there should be no accumulation of exhaustion in the mind. The more the mind is kept clean, the more it will be helpful to proceed in that (spiritual) path. If anger comes in the mind, try to remove it. 
 
~ Sri Anandamayi Ma 

In the Reality, 
He who is as being all, 
without being too, 
it is He only. 
Therefore, 
the distinction of manifest-unmanifest is from the point of view of the individual only. He, 
who is manifest, 
it is He only who is unmanifest. 
Again, He, 
who is unmanifest, 
it is He only manifest.

Where the devotee, devotion and object of devotion is the same One, 
what else is devotion but a play?

That which is there in the unmanifest, 
the same, indeed, appears in the manifest. Verily, Reality is everywhere at all times.

[Davino]

 

@Carl-Richard shared this video in the topic: "What happens when you measure the brain of enlightened people?" and found it relevant to be posted here.