Mother Meera
Mother Meera | |
---|---|
Personal | |
Born | Kamala Reddy 26 December 1960 Chandepalle, Telangana, India |
Religion | Hinduism |
Mother Meera, born Kamala Reddy (born 26 December 1960) is believed by her devotees to be an embodiment (
Life account
Born in
In 1974, uncle Reddy brought Mother Meera to the
In 1981 she made her first trip to
Activities
Mother Meera receives thousands of visitors of all religions for darshan which she conducts in total silence. Her darshan consists of a ritual, where she will touch a person's head, and then look into their eyes. During this process, she reportedly 'unties knots' in the person's subtle system and permeates them with light. About this light she says:
Like electricity, the Light is everywhere, but one must know how to activate it. I have come for that.[8]
Through Japa, the mental remembrance of any Divine Name or Mantra, which may be done informally, and whenever convenient, people could open themselves up to this Light.[9] She does not claim to be a guru or have followers. To be connected to her work, people do not have to recognise her. Her teaching is mainly related to Bhakti, that is devotion to God, and in that she accepts all denominations.
Mother Meera does not belong to any particular tradition, except for a certain closeness to the work of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother,[10] whom she was reported to have met in their subtle bodies, when she was a child, visiting their Samadhi (grave).[11] She teaches the unity of all religions. Everyone can go their own ways. It is only important to be connected with the light (the personal spiritual role model) every day by praying, reading or meditating.
Critics
After splitting from Mother Meera, the writer and former follower Andrew Harvey wrote The Sun at Midnight.[12] In it, Harvey accused Meera of homophobia, saying that Mother Meera disapproved of Harvey's marriage to another man. In his first book about her, Hidden Journey, Harvey had originally praised her as an avatar, attributing his own claimed enlightenment to her. Harvey's accusation of homophobia is disputed. One of Harvey's former lovers, the writer Mark Matousek (1997),[13] said that: "I do know that the idea that she's homophobic is completely ridiculous. For God's sake, we were served breakfast in bed together in her house."[14]
Books
- Answers, Part I – by Mother Meera, ISBN 0-9622973-3-X
- Answers, Part II – by Mother Meera, ISBN 3-9805475-5-8
Quotes
"One common mistake is to think that one reality is the reality. You must always be prepared to leave one reality for a greater one." – Answers, Part I
See also
- Meera
Notes
- ^ Adilakshmi Olati, "The Mother", page 4
- ^ Adilakshmi, 'The Mother', page 9
- ^ Mother Meera, "Answers, part II", page 21 -23
- ^ Adilakshmi, 'The Mother', page 10
- ^ Adilakshmi, 'The Mother', page 7
- ^ Adilakshmi, "The Mother", pages 87 -88
- ^ Adilakshmi, "The Mother", pages 38 – 40
- ^ Answers, Part I
- ^ Mother Meera, "Answers, Part I", pages 89 -98
- ^ See 'Sri Aurobindo Research Academy' in Mother Meera, "Answers, Part II", pages 189 – 195
- ^ Adilakshmi, "The Mother", pages 10 – 12
- ISBN 1-58542-179-0
- ^ Mark Matousek Homepage www.markmatousek.com, accessed 16 May 2021
- ^ Mark Matousek, "Sex, Death, Enlightenment"
Further reading
- The Mother – by Adilakshmi, ISBN 3-00-000241-3
- At the Feet of Mother Meera: The Lessons of Silence – by Sonia Linebaugh, ISBN 1-4134-1053-7
- Hidden Journey: A Spiritual Awakening – by Andrew Harvey, ISBN 0-14-019448-7
- In Search of the Divine Mother: The Mystery of Mother Meera – by ISBN 0-06-251509-8
- Sex Death Enlightenment – Mark Matousek (1997), Riverhead books, ISBN 1-57322-581-9