The Life of Hinduism

possession by durga. 165 cussion of his long-standing devotion to the Goddess and the miracles she had per- formed for him, he v ...

166. performance At any given time during the festival season, and occasionally at other times, one can see several of these per ...

possession by durga. 167 who entered a small girl and commanded those listening to dig up an ancient image of NainaDevithat lay ...

168. performance The same informant, however, recalled a case of what he considered to be a valid, spontaneous possession. Durin ...

possession by durga. 169 See also, for example, Margaret Trawick Egnor, “The Changed Mother, or What the Smallpox Goddess Did W ...

170. performance was in such demand for this skill that his activities as a medium eventually displaced his astrology business. ...

part v. GURUS ...

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173 11. Anandamayi Ma God Came as a Woman lisa lassell hallstrom This essay is published for the first time here. I begin by pos ...

174. gurus Shaktism, then, is the worship of the primordial power underlying the universe personified as a female deity who is c ...

anandamayi ma. 175 claimed a full incarnation of Krishna. Since then, it has become more common for disciples of a master to cla ...

176. gurus literate woman, who called herself simply “this body,” had become the spiritual guide and focus of reverence for peop ...

anandamayi ma. 177 renowned for its spiritual power. Her twenty-eight ashrams, a charitable hospital, schools, and dispensaries ...

178. gurus In the course of my interviews, I asked twenty-six of Ma’s closest devotees, “Who is Ma?” Not surprisingly, the answe ...

anandamayi ma. 179 time, it became Ma and God, the duality. It took years to identify Ma with God as One. And it took place beca ...

180. gurus So soft, just like a newborn baby, so soft to massage, so smooth. The ladies under- stood her better and felt closer ...

anandamayi ma. 181 efited women was that different women could identify with different stages of Ma’s life and be inspired. The ...

182. gurus Ma’s women devotees fail to identify with Ma as a woman. If they have listened to Ma well, they have come to believe ...

anandamayi ma. 183 dynamic aspect, from theshaktiof the Mother because that is where we are. The Motherly approach is easy becau ...

184 12. Radhasoami The Healing Offer sudhir kakar This essay was previously published as “The Healing Offer,” in Shamans, Mystic ...