Table of Contents
1. The Guru and the Disciple in One Form
Anandamayee Ma did not have any Guru. At first she thought that it was necessary to have a Guru. Then she felt that it was not necessary. She prayed and meditated. Finally, in a deep meditation, she felt that her highest Self is the Guru and her lower self is the disciple. This moment she played the role of a disciple; next moment she played the role of her Master. This is how she initiated herself.
2. Anandamayee Ma Ceases to Feed Herself
One evening, in 1924, Anandamayee Ma said, “I am not going to eat food with my own hand any longer.”
So from that day on she was always fed by her disciples. They had to put food into her mouth. This went on until she left the body in 1982.
3. Each One is Right
Once a disciple of Anandamayee Ma asked her, “Please tell me who you are. I want to know.”
She replied, “It is up to you. Whatever you think of me, I am that. If you think I am this, you are right. If another person thinks I am something else, he is right. As you think of me, so I am.”
4. Anandamayee Ma Solves the Religious Disputes
India’s greatest religious festival is the Kumbha Mela. It takes place every twelve years. Millions of people attend, including many religious leaders and all kinds of devotees, spiritual and unspiritual.
Sometimes the religious leaders go there to enjoy quarrelling and fighting and debating. Anandamayee Ma was also present on a number of occasions. Some leaders felt that they should go to her for wisdom. They used to come to her and she used to advise them. She was the one to prevent them from quarrelling and fighting. It happened for quite a few years that leaders of religious groups used to come to her for her wisdom-light.
5. The Western World Comes to Know of Anandamayee Ma
It was Paramahansa Yogananda who brought Anandamayee Ma’s light to America. He wrote the Autobiography of a Yogi and in his autobiography he devoted a chapter to “The Bengali Joy-Permeated Mother”.
It was because Paramahansa Yogananda wrote about his meeting with Anandamayee Ma that the Western world came to know about her.
6. The Real Guru
Anandamayee Ma’s opinion was that each person is his own guru because he listens to himself. He listens to his mind or his heart, so he is his own guru. Whatever comes to his mind, he does. Whatever he feels, he does. Therefore, each individual is his own guru.
But again, she felt that there is only one real Guru, one highest Guru, and that is the Self.
7. Anandamayee Ma’s Simple Advice
Anandamayee Ma used to advise her disciples to laugh and laugh and laugh. She said, “If you laugh, then you minimise your sufferings and also you unburden the sadness and sorrows of other human beings.”
So she encouraged her disciples to laugh to their heart’s content.