Anandamayi Ma
(1896-1982)

Anandamayi Ma, also lovingly called Mataji, was born in the (now in Bangladesh) village of Kheora.

Anandamayi Ma was a counselor, educator in the spiritual realm, healer and loving mother, all at the same time. She was the source of solace to those who were in distress. In spite of her elementary education, she could converse to all with ease. She was born with spiritual wisdom and could relate to the people in all walks of life, many times through story telling and personal experiences.

Mataji had some kind of power to heal others. At times, she would take upon herself the illness of others. The person who had asked for a cure would recover, but Mataji would suffer from the disease, in many cases for days.

Many miraculous happenings about Mataji have been recorded. Deep simplicity marked her teachings. Hers is a story of a woman of great love and devotion, which are the staples of the Hindu way of life.

A devotee of many years summarized Sri Ma's ways of being with us: "There is a strangeness, a particularity, an indefinable quality which comes so near the limits of the definably human as to make an adjective like 'human' quite inadequate when applied to her case, and 'divine' paltry. It is widely accepted that she was, simply, unique . . . she was, throughout her life, effortless perfection."

"I find one vast garden spread out all over the universe.   All plants, all human beings, all higher mind bodies are about in this garden in various ways, each has his own uniqueness and beauty. Their presence and variety give me great delight.   Every one of you adds with his special feature to the glory of the garden."

"Try to treat with equal love all the people with whom you have relations. Thus the abyss between 'myself' and 'yourself' will be filled in, which is the goal of all religious worship."

"Acquire a firm will and the utmost patience."

"Precious gems are profoundly buried in the earth and can only be extracted at the expense of great labor."

Links

Writings from Swami Chidananda: http://www.dlshq.org/saints/anandamayee.htm

Ma's spiritual heritage: http://www.anandamayi.org

An 1992 article from Hinduism Today: http://www.hinduismtoday.com/archives/1992/07/1992-07-04.shmtl

Photos of Anandamayi Ma: http://www.vishvarupa.com/anandamayi.html