Anandamayi Ashram Devotee

Interview with a devotee
Anandamayi Ma Ashram, Haridwar

I work here at the ashram and I live close to it. In fact, I watched it being built. So, I have worked here for about 27 years. Anandamayi Ma is a lady who has spiritual knowledge. While in her mother’s womb, she received knowledge and was born as a knowledgeable person. She was born in Bangladesh on 30 April 1896. She didn’t try to be a guru herself, nor did she try to make somebody else her guru. From a very young age, about two years old, she used to have samadhi, a trance-induced out-of-body experience, during meetings where devotional singing was going on. She got married when she was 14. During the nuptial night, after the wedding, she was sitting in a lotus position and all of a sudden, light began to come out of her body, so her husband was quite taken aback by this, and he never went near her again. Some years later, the husband was transferred somewhere else.

So Ma was left alone where she was, and some of her relatives, who were of the ojha, asked her, “Do you have anybody with you?” And she replied, “I am purn varn narayan.” Then they asked, “when did your diksha mantra take place?” She replied, “It took place all on its own.” Her husband, Bholanath, who was supposed to have his own initiation ceremony, received it from his wife. He who was her lord and master was now calling her Ma. At about this time, her husband began to worship the goddess Kali, the black-faced goddess. In 1938, her husband’s body was completed [he died]. He is buried in Uttarkashi.

In 1928, Ma moved to Dehra Dun, in Uttar Pradesh. We have an ashram in Raipur, the place she went to. With her was a devotee whose original name was Jyotish Chandra, who used to be an Indian Administrative Service officer. His religious name was Bhai Ji. He is the one who gave her the name Anandamayi Ma. At this time, many famous people began to visit Ma, such as Pandit Nehru, Indira Gandhi, and Kamala Nehru. The greatest benefit of coming to Ma was that you would receive a lot of peace.

Ma was a saint of only one god, who is the god of all. If a Christian came to her, he could continue to follow his Christian way by going to church; if a Muslim came, he could continue to read the Koran; a Sikh could continue reading his holy book; and a Hindu could take the name of his bhagvan. With Ma there was no discrimination between a Sikh, or a Muslim, or a Hindu or a Christian. Even now, Ma’s devotees include Christians, Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs — people of all faiths. There are quite a few foreigners who come.

After this, Ma had a very great yagya performed. This happened in 1981. It was for world peace, that the world might be peaceful. The ceremony lasted for 21 days. Eleven havan kunds were built, and 121 Brahmin priests were seated around them. The priests performed the ceremony of putting ghee into the fire, as an offering for world peace. This sacrifice is different from the ashvmedh which is done only for kings. In this sacrifice, a horse is released and the king who catches it is obligated to ride it and go to war. When the sacrifice is done, all the gods are involved. It is not that only one god is compulsory. During the sacrifice, there are various mantras. How many there are and of what kind, is up to the priests. Such as 108 mantras, or 1,008 mantras. All these mantras will be different from one another, but no name of any god is invoked. In the sanathan dharm all the gods are there. In the offering of the ahuti and the chanting of om namah shivai, everything is fulfilled.

Ma’s body was completed 27 August 1982 at 8 p.m. in Dehra Dun in our ashram there. Her body was brought to the main hall in this ashram so that devotees could have darshan of her. For sadhus and saints, we do not use the term “death”, but rather we say that their body was completed. Before Ma left her body, she said “if any devotee of mine, or anyone else thinks that when my body is completed I will be gone from here, that is incorrect. I will be here only; but I will be invisible.” She said that her body would not be here but that her spirit would definitely be here. So we don’t think that Ma has gone. Rather, we say that she is here, even now. But one needs eyes to see her. So to say she is dead, is to use the wrong word.

It is a matter of faith to be able to see her, although there is some evidence that she is here. For example, there is an American lady of Indian descent, and her brother had a fracture in his leg. The fracture got very infected. There was no treatment that was available for that leg. Doctors were saying that the infection could spread to the rest of the body and that man would not survive. The parents of this lady and her brother were devotees of Ma, but the lady herself had never seen or met Ma. She looked at Ma’s picture for a short time, perhaps a couple of minutes, perhaps with tears. As a result of that, Ma appeared to her in a dream and told her, “Go to so and so doctor, and he will give you a prescription for a medicine that will be very effective.” They took the prescription and went to the company where the medicine was produced and there was just enough available for that lady’s brother. After that, no more was available, and in fact, the company itself closed down soon after. Because of that medicine, the lady’s brother survived. The only thing was that he had to have his leg amputated, but he survived.

In the sanathan dharm, idol worship is the main thing. There are Ram, Krishna, Shiv, and so on. We have 330,000,000 gods, and different people worship different gods. Even though there is variety, the updesh are the same. These spiritual instructions include: follow ahimsa, don’t injure people, and live in a loving way.

As far as any personal spiritual quest, I don’t see how I can have any. I am a worldly man. Spiritual quests are for sadhus. Worldly people have to do things for themselves or for their families. These responsibilities are there until one is 50 years old. Once one has completed these responsibilities, one can become a sadhu and go on a quest. In this next stage after 50, we can be immersed in bhagvan. There are four seasons of life in the sanathan dharm. These seasons are called avasthas, such as childhood and youth avastha, the old age avastha, and so on. So, after the age of 50, you have two stages, together called the brahmachari avastha. The age of 25-50 is the grih avastha. The last stage, after 75, is called the sanyas avastha. Only in these last two stages is there a spiritual quest The 50-75 stage is called vanprasth. The stage of leaving home, at the age of 50, is when one begins sadhna. Nowadays, going off to the forest and being a hermit is not compulsory. One can even stay home in some cases. But physical pleasures have to be renounced.

When you begin the spiritual quest at age 50, you have to find a guru, and you have to undergo diksha. The guru will give you some mantras, which you have to incant repeatedly, morning, noon, and night. You don’t have to say it loudly, you can do it in your own mind quietly. You can continue normal life at home or in your business, but you must, without fail, do your incantation three times a day. Celibacy is also required. But after 75, you must move out of your home and business into an ashram, or in some way, you must live with your guru. When you move into the sanyas stage, you must undergo a further diksha, different from the first one. [You must be under the authority and guidance of a more-advanced sanyasi who becomes your guru]. You must leave off wearing the white clothes [worn by those of the 50-75-age life stage] and start wearing saffron clothes. In this final stage, you have to take the name of your bhagvan from morning til night. If you are a business man or financially well-off, you must do a lot of service to the poor.