Anandamayi Ma
Sri Anandamayi Ma | |
---|---|
Personal | |
Born | Nirmala Sundari[1] 30 April 1896 |
Died | 27 August 1982 | (aged 86)
Religion | Hinduism |
Spouse | Ramani Mohan Chakrabarti |
Order | Self-realization |
Philosophy |
Part of a series on |
Hinduism |
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Anandamayi Ma (born Nirmala Sundari; 30 April 1896 – 27 August 1982) was an Indian saint, teacher, and mystic. She was revered as an incarnation of Hindu goddess Durga.[2][3][4]
She was described by
Biography
Early life
Anandamayi was born Nirmala Sundari Devi on 30 April 1896 to the orthodox
In 1908 at the age of twelve years, 10 months, in keeping with the rural custom at the time, she was joined by arranged marriage to Ramani Mohan Chakrabarti of Bikrampur (now Munshiganj District) whom she would later rename Bholanath.[10][12][4] She spent five years after her marriage at her brother-in-law's home, attending to housework in a withdrawn meditative state much of the time. It was at Ashtagram that a devout neighbour, Harakumar, recognised and announced her spiritual eminence, developed a habit of addressing her as "Ma", and prostrated before her morning and evening in reverence.[13]
When Nirmala was about seventeen, she went to live with her husband who was working in the town of
According to her spiritual biographers, from the end of 1918, Nirmala Sundari was completely absorbed in the name of God (
"Sometimes the legs stretched of their own accord and then gradually formed themselves into the lotus position or some other body position without the help of the hands. [...] When the body became completely still and remained seated for a while, I went to sleep. The next morning when I got up early, the body felt light and from the feet to the head a wave of bliss flowed through me. Of this kind was the experience. Day and night, an overflowing light of bliss pervaded me."[17]
On the full moon night of August 3, 1922, at midnight, twenty-six-year-old Nirmala enacted her own spiritual initiation.[18][4] She explained that the ceremony and its rites were being revealed to her spontaneously as and when they were called for.[13] Although she was uneducated in the matter, the complex rites corresponded to those of traditional, ancient Hinduism, including the offerings of flowers, the mystical diagrams (yantra) and the fire ceremony (yajna). She later stated, "As the master (guru) I revealed the mantra; as the disciple. I accepted it and started to recite it."[19]
Dhaka
Nirmala moved to
Dehradun
After her move to
Death
Ma died on 27 August 1982 in Dehradun, and subsequently on 29 August 1982[1] a samadhi (shrine) was built in the courtyard of her Kankhal ashram, situated near the banks of the Ganges in Haridwar in North India.[12][23]
Teachings and public image
"As you love your own body, so regard everyone as equal to your own body. When the Supreme Experience supervenes, everyone's service is revealed as one's own service. Call it a bird, an insect, an animal or a man, call it by any name you please, one serves one's own Self in every one of them."
Ananda Varta Quarterly
Anandamayi Ma never prepared discourses, wrote down, or revised what she had said. People had difficulty transcribing her often informal talks because of their conversational speed. Further, the Bengali manner of alliterative wordplay was often lost in translation. However, her personal attendant Gurupriya Devi, and a devotee, Brahmachari Kamal Bhattacharjee, made attempts to transcribe her speech before audio recording equipment became widely available in India.[13]
"Who is it that loves and who that suffers? He alone stages a play with Himself; who exists save Him? The individual suffers because he perceives duality. It is duality which causes all sorrow and grief. Find the One everywhere and in everything and there will be an end to pain and suffering."[24]
A central theme of her teaching is "the supreme calling of every human being is to aspire to self realization. All other obligations are secondary" and "only actions that kindle man's divine nature are worthy of the name of actions". However, she did not advise everyone to become a renunciate. She would dismiss spiritual arguments and controversies by stating that "Everyone is right from his own standpoint,".[10] She did not give formal initiations and refused to be called a guru, as she maintained that "all paths are my paths" and "I have no particular path".[25]
She did not advocate the same spiritual methods for all: "How can one impose limitations on the infinite by declaring this is the only path—and, why should there be so many different religions and sects? Because through every one of them He gives Himself to Himself, so that each person may advance according to his inborn nature." She herself has said (ref. Mother Reveals Herself), all forms of
She taught how to live a God-centered life in the world and provided the living inspiration to enable thousands to aspire to this most noble ideal.
She
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.[28]"
The Publication Department of the Shree Shree Anandamayee Sangha in Varanasi regularly publishes her teaching in the periodical Amrit Varta quarterly in English, Hindi, Gujarati and Bengali. The Sri Sri Anandamayi Sangha in Haridwar organizes the annual Samyam Mahavrata congregation to devote a week to collective meditation, religious discourse and devotional music.[10]
Anandamayi Ma was understood by her followers as the embodiment of Bliss, as a healer, and as the incarnation of the goddess Kali. She has active disciples in India today.[4]
See also
References
- ^ ISBN 0520249135.
- ISBN 9780199340378.
- ISBN 9780195116489.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-02-864608-4.
- OCLC 1660335.
- OCLC 609519888.
- ISBN 9788189558307.
- ISBN 978-81-208-0204-9.
- ^ ISBN 9788120805316.
- ^ a b c d e f g Introduction Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine, As the Flower Sheds Its Fragrance, Shree Shree Ma Anadamayee Sangha, Kankhal, Haridwar; Retrieved: 8 December 2007
- ^ Rāy, Jyotiṣ Chandra: Mother Reveals Herself (Early period of Mātri Līlā: 1896-1932). Hrsg.: Shree Shree Ma Anandamayee Archive. New Delhi 2014, S. 34–35.
- ^ a b c d e f Ghosh, Monoranjan (2012). "Anandamayi, Ma". In Islam, Sirajul; Jamal, Ahmed A. (eds.). Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.
- ^ ISBN 1-85230-914-8
- ISBN 978-0-226-55723-6.
- ^ Rāy, Jyotiś Candra: Śrī Śrī Mā kā Ātma Paricay. Hrsg.: Śrī Śrī Mā Ānandamayī Smṛtī Saṃgrahālay. New Delhi 2014, S. 48–49.
- ^ Rāy, Jyotiś Candra: Mother Reveals Herself (Early period of Mātri Līlā: 1896-1932). Hrsg.: Shree Shree Ma Anandamayee Archive. New Delhi 2014, S. 86.
- ^ Rāy, Jyotiś Candra: Śrī Śrī Mā kā Ātma Paricay. Hrsg.: Śrī Śrī Mā Ānandamayī Smṛtī Saṃgrahālay. New Delhi 2014, S. 81–82.
- ^ In Hindu diksha, when the mind of the guru and the disciple become one, then we say that the disciple has been initiated by the guru.
- ISBN 0-19-511647-X.
- ISBN 9788120805316.
- ISBN 0-19-511647-X.
- ^ Mukerji, Bithika: Life and Teachings of Sri Ma Anandamayi. Indica Books, Delhi 2005, S. 265.
- ^ Life History: Chronology of Mothers life Archived 21 April 2016 at the Wayback Machine Anandamayi Ma Ashram Official website. "Prime Minister Smt. Indira Gandhi arrives at noon, Ma's divine body given Maha Samadhi at about 1.30 pm near the previous site of an ancient Pipal tree, under which she used to sit on many occasions and give darshan."
- ^ Ananda Varta, Vol. 28, No. 4, p. 283.
- ^ Mataji's Methods Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine, As the Flower Sheds Its Fragrance, Shree Shree Ma Anadamayee Sangha, Kankhal, Haridwar; Retrieved: 8 December 2007
- ISBN 978-0199368631.
- ISBN 0-7914-1687-9.
- ISBN 9781850654964.
Bibliography
- Banerjee, Shyamananda (1973). A Mystic Sage: Ma Anandamayi: Ma Anandamayi. s.n.
- Bhaiji (1975). Sad Vani: A Collection of the Teaching of Sri Anandamayi Ma. translated by Swami Atmananda. Shree Shree Anandamayee Charitable Society.
- Bhaiji. Matri Vani — From the Wisdom of Sri Anandamayi Ma. translated by Swami Atmananda.
- Chaudhuri, Narayan (1986). That Compassionate Touch of Ma Anandamayee. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. ISBN 81-208-0204-7.
- Datta, Amulya Kumar. In Association with Sri Ma Anandamayi.
- Fitzgerald, Joseph; Alexander Lipski (2007). The Essential Sri Anandamayi Ma: Life and Teaching of a 20th Century Indian Saint. ISBN 978-1-933316-41-3.
- Ganguli, Anil. Anandamayi Ma the Mother Bliss-incarnate.
- Ganguly, Adwaita P (1996). Yuga-Avatar Sri Sri Ma Anandamayee and Universal Religion. VRC Publications. ISBN 81-87530-00-6.
- Giri, Gurupriya Ananda. Sri Ma Anandamayi.
- Joshi, Hari Ram (1999). Ma Anandamayi Lila, Memoirs of Hari Ram Joshi. Kolkata: Shree Shree Anandamayee Charitable Society.
- Kaviraj, Gopinath (1967). Mother as Seen by Her Devotees. Varanasi: Shree Shree Anandamayee Sangha.
- Lipski, Alexander (1983). Life and Teachings of Sri Anandamayi ma. Orient Book Distributors.
- Maschmann, Melita (2002). Encountering Bliss: My Journey Through India with Anandamayi Ma. trans. S.B. Shrotri. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. ISBN 81-208-1541-6.
- Mukerji, Bithika (1998). A Bird on the Wing — Life and Teachings of Sri Ma Anandamayi. Sri Satguru Publications. ISBN 81-7030-577-2.
- Mukerji, Bithika (2002). My Days with Sri Ma Anandamayi. India: Indica Books. ISBN 81-86569-27-8.
- Mukerji, Bithika (1970). From the Life of Sri Anandamayi Ma. India: Sri Sri Anandamayi Sangha, Varanasi.
- Ramananda, Swami (2002). Bliss Now: My Journey with Sri Anandamayi Ma. India: Select Books. ISBN 978-1-59079-019-9.
- Ray, J. Mother As Revealed To Me, Bhaiji.
- Yogananda, Paramhansa (1946). Autobiography of a Yogi. New York: Philosophical Library.
External links
- Anandamayi Ma at Curlie
- Works by or about Anandamayi Ma at Internet Archive
- Anandamayi Ma's Biography at SpiritWeb
- A timeline of events
- MatriVani, a compendium of Anandamayi's teachings
- The personal papers of Anandamayi are in the Harvard Divinity School Library at Harvard Divinity School in Cambridge, Massachusetts.