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Anandamoyi Ma's Divine Presence

12:06 recording · EN · 1 speaker

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Brief overview

Anandamoyi Ma, the blissful mother, lives unchanged in God, the same through every outward circumstance.

  1. The saint answers only from changelessnessAsked for her life story, she said the factual history was beside the point: girlhood, womanhood and this meeting all found her the same.
  2. Her husband became her silent discipleShocked as if struck by lightning when he touched her with lust, he vowed to serve her in silence as a celibate follower for life.
  3. The disciples would not let her leaveShe agreed to visit America if father took her, but twenty or more who always travel with her said they could not live without her, so the plan was abandoned.
Executive Summary AI
  • Chapter forty five of Autobiography of a Yogi, a LibriVox recording, opens with the narrator's niece Omia telling him she has met the woman saint Anandamoyi Ma, whom he had only read about.
  • Omia recounts that in her own town of Jamshedpur the saint went to a dying man's bedside, and as her hand touched his forehead the death rattle ceased and the disease vanished at once.
  • Hearing the saint was in the Bhavanipur section of Calcutta, the narrator and Mr. Wright drove there and found her standing in an open-topped automobile blessing about one hundred disciples; she alit, embraced the narrator with "Father, you have come," and told him they were meeting for the first time in this life after ages.
  • A chela explains that she travels widely with hundreds of disciples, recognizes no caste distinctions although a Brahmin, takes no notice of her body, and that one of her chief disciples is her husband, who took a vow of silence soon after their marriage.
  • At her promised visit to the Ranchi Vidyalaya she declines to recount her life history, saying only that her husband knelt and vowed lifelong silent celibate service after touching her with lustful thought, and that through it all "I was the same"; she leaves at dusk amid a shower of rose petals, blessing the schoolboys.
Key Quote
“Father, you have come.”
— Anandamoyi Ma
Key Quote
“Please do not leave yet.”
— Anandamoyi Ma
Key Quote
“We have to mother her. She takes no notice of her body if no one gave her food she would not eat”
— A disciple

Transcript

0:00 chapter forty five of autobiography of a yogi this is a librivox recording all libriandamoyi ma joy permeated mother my niece omyo bos gazed at me earnestly the woman saint, I added. I have read of her advanced state of God-realization. A little
0:46 article about her appeared years ago in East-West. I have met her, Omia went on. She recently visited
0:54 my own little town of Jamshedpur. At the entreaty of a disciple, Anandamoyi Ma went to the home of
1:00 a dying man. She stood by his bedside. As her hand touched his forehead, his death rattle ceased.
1:07 The disease vanished at once, to the man's glad astonishment. He was well. A few days later,
1:14 I heard that the blissful mother was staying at the home of a disciple in the Bhavanipur section
1:20 of Calcutta. Mr. Wright and I set out immediately from my father's calcutta home as the ford neared the bhavanipur house my companion and i observed an unusual street scene anandamoyi ma was standing in an open-topped automobile blessing a throng of about one hundred disciples departure. Mr. Wright parked the Ford some distance away and accompanied me on foot toward
1:46 the quiet assemblage. The woman saint glanced in our direction. She alit from her car and walked
1:53 toward us. Father, you have come. With these fervent words, she put her arm around my neck
2:00 and her head on my shoulder. Mr. Wright, to whom I had just remarked that I did not know the saint,
2:06 was hugely enjoying this extraordinary demonstration of welcome. The eyes of the
2:11 one hundred chelas were also fixed with some surprise on the affectionate tableau.
2:16 I had instantly seen that the saint was in a high state of samadhi, utterly oblivious to her
2:22 outward garb as a woman. She knew herself as the changeless soul from that plane she was joyously greeting another devotee of god she led me by the hand into her automobile am meeting you for the first time in this life, after ages, she said. Please do not leave yet.
2:46 We sat together in the rare seats of the car. The blissful mother soon entered the immobile
2:52 ecstatic state. Her beautiful eyes glanced heavenward, and half opened, became stilled,
2:59 gazing into the near-far inner Elysium. The disciples chanted gently victory to mother divine i had found many men of god realization in india but never before had symbolized the spiritual eye ever opened within her tiny face tiny hands tiny feet a contrast to her spiritual magnitude while Anandamoyi Ma remained entranced. The blissful mother travels widely in India.
3:47 In many parts, she has hundreds of disciples, the chela told me.
3:51 Her courageous efforts have brought about many desirable social reforms.
3:56 Although a Brahmin, the saint recognizes no caste distinctions.
4:01 A group of us always travel with her, looking after her comforts.
4:05 We have to mother her. She takes no notice of her body if no one gave her food she would not eat or divine trance scarcely breathing her eyes unwinking one of her chief disciples is her husband many years ago soon after their marriage he took the vow of silence to a broad-shouldered, fine-featured man with long hair and hoary beard. He was standing quietly in
4:46 the midst of the gathering, his hands folded in a disciple's reverential attitude. Refreshed by
4:53 her dip in the infinite, Anandamoyi Ma was now focusing her consciousness on the material world.
5:00 Father, please tell me where you stay. her voice was clear and melodious at present in calcutta or rachie but soon i shall be returning to america america
5:13 yes an indian woman saint would be sincerely appreciated there by spiritual seekers would you like to go if father can take me i I will go. This reply caused her nearby disciples to start
5:28 in alarm. Twenty or more of us always travel with the blissful mother, one of them told me firmly.
5:34 We could not live without her. Wherever she goes, we must go. Reluctantly, I abandoned the plan as
5:41 possessing an impractical feature of spontaneous enlargement.
5:50 Please come at least to Ranchi with your disciples, I said on taking leave of the saint. As a divine child yourself, you will enjoy the little ones in my school.
5:56 Whenever father takes me, I will gladly go.
6:00 A short time later, the Ranchi Vidyalaya was in gala array for the saint's promised visit.
6:31 The youngsters looked forward to any day of festivity no lessons hours of music and a paradise it is beautiful here anandamoyi ma said graciously as I led her into the main building.
6:49 She seated herself with a childlike smile by my side.
6:52 The closest of dear friends she made one feel,
6:56 yet an aura of remoteness was ever around her,
6:59 the paradoxical isolation of omnipresence.
7:02 Please tell me something of your life.
7:47 Father knows all about it why repeat it she evidently felt that the factual history of one short i was the same i grew into womanhood but, I was the same. And when, passion drunk, my husband came to me and murmured endearing words, lightly touching my body, he received a violent shock, as if struck
7:53 by lightning, for even then I was the same. My husband knelt before me, folded his hands,

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