176. gurus
literate woman, who called herself simply “this body,” had become the spiritual
guide and focus of reverence for people all over India.
Anandamayi Ma’s teachings can be reduced to one statement, “God alone exists.”
The Divine Absolute veils him-/herself in order to enjoy the divine play of life in
the world of form, the world of duality in which everything is impermanent and il-
lusory. The person who has forgotten that he or she is God suffers as things change
and eventually turns within to find that which is permanent, the Self of All. Ma rec-
ommended that people begin the process of turning within at whichever point they
find themselves, and she prescribed different practices depending on an individual’s
inclination and capacity. Yet always the message was one of restraint of the senses,
one-pointedness on the Divine, and repetition of one ’s chosen name of God. Ma
was tireless in stating her conviction that anyone can know God, indeed can become
God, if only he or she possesses the desire.
On August 28, 1982, in the foothills of the Himalayas, a funeral procession made
its way between the Indian towns of Dehradun and Kankhal. It took longer than
usual to make the twenty-seven-mile trip because the procession had to stop every
few minutes to allow crowds of mourners to have their last darshan, their last
glimpse, of the one whom they simply called Ma, or Mother.
By the time the body of eighty-six-year-old Anandamayi Ma, or the Bliss-Filled
Mother, had reached its final destination at her ashram in Kankhal on the banks of
the Ganga, an unending stream of people had begun to gather to pay their respects.
India Todayreported, “One could see them coming as far as the eye could see. They
came in cars, rickshaws and on foot. Many were in a state of dazed shock.” While
some kept up the twenty-four-hour chanting of the divine name, mourners contin-
ued, hour after hour, to pranam, or bow, in front of Ma’s body, many weeping pro-
fusely. Among them was Indira Gandhi, who had flown in by helicopter and who
considered Ma her spiritual mother. On that day Mrs. Gandhi left the following mes-
sage of condolence at the ashram:
Anandamayi Ma was the living embodiment of devotion and love. Just with a
glimpse of Her, countless problems are solved. She considered humanity Her true
religion. Her spiritually powerful personality was a source of great guidance for
all human beings. I offer my homage to Her!On Sunday, August 29, Anandamayi Ma was buried as a realized being accord-
ing to strict scriptural injunctions presided over by some of India’s most renowned
Brahmin priests. Her shrine has become a place of worship and pilgrimage