Anandamayi Ma, the Blissful Mother
By the grace of God and Youtube I just enjoyed 90 minutes of pure bliss, Darshan, watching a documentary about Anandamayi Ma.
Ma´s Samadhi in Kankhal
My first encounter with Ma was in her Samadhi in Kankhal, Haridwar, India in 2007, when I sat there meditating and suddenly was overwhelmed and tears started flowing uncontrollably. No tears of mourning, no tears of joy, it was more of a cleansing and afterwards I felt much lighter and refreshed, all tensions gone, a spiritual shower. At that time I was quite surprised, because I was a disciple of Swami Sivananda of Rishikesh, and in his Samadhi I had not had such a strong spiritual experience. It is not for nothing that he called her "India´s sweetest rose".
And if you listen to the two Greats of Sivananda ashram in this documentary, Swami Chidananda and Swami Vimalananda, you can feel that they consider her to be on a whole other level, and they exhibit a veneration usually reserved only for their own guru, Swami Sivananda. I used to serve as Swami Vimalananda´s interpreter, whenever he gave talks to our group during our visits to Sivananda ashram and it sure was a blessing to have been able to be in the presence of a direct disciple of Swami Sivananda, imagine what it must have been like to be directly in Swami Sivananda´s or Ma´s presence.
Swami Vimalananda left his body on June 9 this year.
Swami Vimalananda being prepared for his final journey at the ghat of Muni-ki-Reti, Rishikesh. Swamis, the twice-born, are not cremated, since they have died already once by renouncing, they are committed to a holy river, preferably the Ganga.
The mother of all darshans. Enjoy! Jai Ma!
And if you have the stomach for the real India, the graphic India (enough trigger warning?), this is a video of Swami Vimalananda´s final journey.
