It was indeed a turning point in my life when in the year 1944 at the age of nine, I had the good fortune to meet Ma Anandamayee, the Divine Mother in Human guise. My family members of course had the privilege of meeting Mother much ahead of me. Who knew then that this event would go a long way in shaping and reshaping my future life, providing me such a close proximity to Her! So colourful and splendid are those memories which beggar description. Our Mother left Her mortal frame long ago but Her grace is boundless. She would never forsake those who unconditionally surrender themselves at Her feet. Reaching at ‘life’s end’, when I recall those glorious moments I spent with Mother, tears obscure my eyes and I find bliss and solace in the hours of weariness, both mental and physical. In this book, I have made a vain effort to highlight my days with the Mother. They might illuminate the readers mind with ineffable joy and guide the ‘bhakta’ to the Divine path amidst ‘encircling gloom’.

This book examines the life of =Anandamay=i M=a, one of the most renowned Hindu holy women of modern times. Lisa Hallstrom paints a vivid portrait of this extraordinary woman, her ideas, and her continuing influence. In the process, the author sheds new light on important themes of Hindu religious life, including the centrality of the guru, the influence of living saints, and the apparent paradox of the worship of the divine feminine and the status of Hindu women.

Seeing the radiant face of Ma Anandamayi and hearing her laughter you guess that she is an incarnation of Joy. Touched by the caress of Her glance you know that her heart is overflowing with love for all beings. Listening to Her teaching so simple and clear you understand that She is in possession of all Wisdom. But one cannot say whether it is Joy, Love or Wisdom that is the source of all this for with Her all therr are inextricably and indissolubly mingled one coluld not exist without the others. The joy which Ma anandmayi lives is not that which we know in worldly life, where pleasure and pain, hope, regret and disillusionment, attraction and repulsion follow on each other's heels, born one of another. Nor is it an egocentric calm of stoic rigidity that erects around itself an rampart of indifference. Hers is an overflowing, irrepressible joy that expresses itself in gaiety, that knows no obstacles, because it is deeply rooted in the Absolute, beyond the dualities of good and evil, of 'I' and 'not-I', of pleasant and unpleasant, because its unshakable base is Love and Wisdom.

&everything that this body says or does, its actions, movements, its going hither and thither, is done for your sake. Whatever is done for you by this body at any time, it is you who cause it to happen. Shree Shree Anandamayee Ma in reply to a devotee s query This book contains miracle-laden incidents and strange little happenings depicting Shree Shree Ma Anandamayee s infinite compassion for Her children. Each narrative carries one particular message- the message of solace and compassion for Her devotees. The stories of miracles described in the volume corroborate the fact that Shree Shree Ma Aanandamayee lives solely for Her children; for helping and guiding them to become pilgrims of the supreme path- the path that leads to Self-realization and to supreme ultimate God itself. The book makes a revealing study of Mother s supernatural glory. Its appeal is irresistible not only for the devotees of the Mother but for all seekers of God realization.

Ma Anandamayi is generally regarded as the most important Hindu woman saint of the twentieth century. Venerated alternately as a guru and as an incarnation of God on earth, Ma had hundreds of thousands of devotees. Through the creation of a religious movement and a vast network of ashrams-unprecedented for a woman-Ma presented herself as an authority figure in a society where female gurus were not often recognized. Because of her widespread influence, Ma is one of the rare Hindu saints whose cult has outlived her. Today, her tomb is a place of veneration for those who knew her as well as new generations of her followers. By performing extensive fieldwork among Ma's current devotees, Orianne Aymard examines what happens to a cult after the death of its leader. Does it decline, stagnate, or grow? Or is it rather transformed into something else entirely? Aymard's work sheds new light not only on Hindu sainthood-and particularly female Hindu sainthood-but on the nature of charismatic religious leadership and devotion.

About the Book : Anandamayi Ma (1896-1982), the Mother imbued with bliss , as she was called by her followers, was one of the most significant Indian Saints and one of the very few woman-gurus of our times.This book was first published in 1967 under the

For a span of more than fifty years Sri Ma Anandamayi dominatedgracefully the spiritual horizon of India. The keepers of the Vedicheritage 3 the ascetics orders of India 3 were united in declaringher the quintessence of the Upanishadic Spirit.The present book is a lively and engaging account of Sri Ma senigmatic personality from the point of view of a single devotedfamily. It is an intimate and moving study of personal commitments.Yet through the author s perspective an emerging modern societyis glimpsed where orthodox rites, political upheavals, social changescreate the shifting patterns of a kaleidoscope. Sri Ma and herentourage of visiting dignitaries, princes, scholars, village womenand children, and renowned ascetics assume a three-dimensionalimage. According to Richard Lannoy, who has written the Foreword,the book is a valliant attempt at closing the distance between theknown and the unfathomable.