Sri Anandamayi  Ma –

Pranams at the lotus feet of Ma!

I never had an opportunity to hear about Ma until now; recently I happened to listen to the commentary about Ma in the book of ‘Life of a Yogi’, Yoganandji described her as a divine child, later my mind was chasing to know more about that divine child, though I have seen her photographs, I know nothing about her.  I kept searching on the internet to learn more about  blissful ‘Ma’, I read and read about her, her a child like gestures, delicate physique, ever-smiling face, mellifluous and the innocent voice was completely occupied in my mind, I have fallen in love with her the moment I saw her videos.  Her beautiful explanation about the search of supreme-consciousness, her constant connection with the Supreme Being made her loss of words, she was always surrounded by divine effulgence, her soft and shiny skin tone, beautiful line of teeth, eyes that are soaked in the supreme bliss, I have not seen her without a smile for a second in any of her videos, she was absolutely liberated soul, Ma reminds me Sri Rajarajeshvari who is the Empress of Tripura, in few of her videos I have noticed her classiness while sitting, her elegance forced me to think that she is none other than the creator of trinities,  Ma reminds of Radharani who is childlike yearn for the constant unison with Supreme Lord Krishna, I have understood from the interviews were given by her divine assistants, Didi who was feeding Ma on regular basis, Ma never felt the requirement of food, Ma never knew the taste of the meal, she was not aware of sweet, bitterness, sourness, etc.. and she was not at all  interested to feel the taste of it, she  was regularly fed by Didi to keep Ma healthy, it was entirely for keeping her physical body hail and healthy.  Ma’s divine assistant Vishuddhadhi speaks about her childish act on the night of Lunar eclipse, Ma was riding in a boat with her divine attendants, the moment of Lunar eclipse was  got  over, Ma leaped into the waters of Ganga.  It made me laugh out of extreme joy.  I have been true in expressing my feelings about Ma, I am not an experienced person to write about Ma, my whole life is not enough to understand the divinity of Ma, I was trying to put my feelings for Ma, forgive me for my mistakes.

What is meditation –

Sri Ananandhamayi Ma says there is no specific discipline for practicing meditation, constant remembrance of Supreme Being is meditation, you can recite or listen to sacred texts, and you can read or re-write scriptures, there is no restriction in remembering Supreme Being, anyone can do that, any time or any place. Birds and animals never forget to chirp and produce noises in the early hours of dawn; therefore we humans should practice meditating upon Supreme Being on a regular basis.  You need not leave your family or material happiness or material world to conduct in search for supreme consciousness, all you need is a few minutes of practice on every day contemplating upon supreme being, keep few minutes  exclusively for meditation with a vow that you will not share these precious moments with no one other than supreme being, be adamant on that, after several years of practice, you can’t leave that habit, our body and mind reminds us to go on with this practice, it is the mystery of meditation.  We are satisfying all our bodily needs in the form of food, sleep, pleasure etc.., and meditation also one of the prime requirements of mind to attain self- realization and God-realization.  In ancient times, saintly people have chosen Bhramamuhurtha/early hours of dawn as the appropriate time for meditation, Thrisandhya/ dawn, noon, dusk, and darkest hours of the night/Mahanisha were considered as highly propitious hours of meditation, remembrance of Supreme being has a purifying effect on our body and mind.   Constant remembrance of Supreme Being gives immense benefit to us, it is our choice whether to follow it sincerely or not, it is called Abhyasa Yoga/Practice, with the regular practice it will become part of our indispensable activity.  Supreme Being is Mahayogi, with the regular practice of Yoga we are achieving nearness to Mahayogi/bliss, and once we put meditation into regular practice it will become natural and habitual as well.

Suffering –

I had an opportunity to listen to the speeches of Sri Anandhamayi Ma, I am writing down some of the interesting aspects in her lecture which my little brain could grasp, it added my beliefs and pursuit of learning spirituality.   Suffering is purifier of the soul; it works like a fire that burns the waste into ashes, hence suffering should be welcomed with a clear frame of mind, deeper adversities will leads to nearness to Supreme Being, it may drive the unfortunate to stay away from spirituality forever, and fortunate will make the opportunity to grow spiritually.  Suffering is unavoidable and it is essential to improve the perception, like everyday feast will make a person dull and unhealthy, therefore fasting is necessary, it will teach the agony of hunger, we will grow more caring and compassionate to people who are lacking it.  Every time sufferings chisel down our inner impurities like an ax carve a beautiful statue out of wood, we get hurt by this process, we may push hard into a state of extreme mental anguish and pain, Ma says it all momentary, all those sufferings and pain take the person nearness to supreme being which is supreme bliss, after a day’s struggle under the scorching heat of the sun gives us the opportunity to experience the coolness of moonlight, hence sufferings are purification process, it is the beginning of the search for supreme-consciousness.  Sufferings are for educating a person like a mother punishes her child for wrong-doing, a mother never abandons her child, in this way, Supreme Being shape us by putting us into momentary struggles and sufferings, depth of sufferings drive us too close to supreme being, eventually we will learn the method of master over the sufferings.  Ma beautifully explains the ultimate truth of ‘Oneness in all’, we are not free to act independently, and we are His tool.  Ma affirms that devotion is the supreme instrument to keep oneself unharmed from sufferings.