Evolution of love

Cult of Shakti

The first nucleus of devotees that gathered around Mother were Bengalis of the upper classes who in their great majority are Shaktas. At present also there are quite a number of Shaktas among Mother's bhaktas. It is easy to understand why the worshippers of the Divine Mother are attracted to Mataji. Her followers often greet one another by exclaiming : "Jai Ma" and are fond of uttering the word 'Ma' in connection with pranava. These are mantras used by Shaktas. When kirtan is sung in the asrams the word 'Ma" can be frequently heard and also hymns to the Divine Mother. This is why people who are not well acquainted with Mother and Her ways may get the impression that Her teaching is based on the cult of Shakti. But those who have had the chance of becoming more intimately acquainted with Mother and Her surroundings know that among Her followers are not only a great many Vaisnavas, but also Vedantists, Sikhs, Jains, Christians, Jews and Mohammedans, The kirtans held in the ashrams are of Rama, Krisna, Shiva as well as of Devi or simply of 'Bhagavan' and some are purely advaitic, consisting of mantras from the Upanisads. The recitation of portions from the Bhagavad Gita, the Durga Saptashati, the Upanisads and the Bhagavata Purana forms part of the daily routine of the ashrams.

Is Mother a Great Bhakta ?

I have seen it in writing by authoritative hand that Sri Sri Anandamayi Ma is a great bhakta. Before coming to India I myself was under the impression that Mother was advocating bhakti marga (the path of devotion) and probably many people abroad as well as in India still hold this view. My wrong idea about Mother was based on the following facts :

1. The bhavas.

I had heard and read that in Her early days a great variety of extraordinary raptures and divine ecstasies had been observed in Mother, especially when She listened to devotional music. But nowadays things have evidently changed. For the last nine years I have been with Mother, yet have never once witnessed any state of this kind. Those who live near Mother cannot help marveling at Her wonderful poise and balance, which is quite unshakable. Behind the superficial emotions that are but a momentary identification with the people who happened to approach Her, She is ever in a state of undisturbed, profound joy and peace, far beyond emotion. Sometimes while singing kirtan, Her features seem to express deep religious feeling ; but no sooner has She stopped singing in the twinkle of an eye, She resumes Her calm and serene countenance. Obviously, She has merely played with the religious emotion, perhaps to give an example to devotional people.
As regards the bhakta of Her early life, I suppose they occurred in response to the expectations and desires of the devotees of those days and were nothing more than a play on the surface. Mother can often be heard to say that She has ever been the same since Her infancy, notwithstanding all the apparent outer changes. As the pure crystal takes on the colour and reflects the object placed before it without actually undergoing any change itself, so Mother appears to be different according to Her surroundings.

2) The kirtans.

Mother greatly encourages the singing of devotional music. kirtan before sunrise and after sunset forms part of the daily programme of the ashrams. Wherever Mother happens to be kirtan is performed as a rule. She Herself sings off and on, even during public gatherings. But at the same time Mother also encourages other spiritual exercises, such as japa, dhyana (meditation), etc. in the case of those who are able and willing to engage in those practices. For many people kirtan is a simple and effective method of luring the mind from worldliness to divine things through the medium of music.

3) The devotees.

Quite a lot of the people close to Mother are of the devotional type . Bhakti marga, being the easiest path, is followed by the majority of aspirants. But among Mother's devotees all other types of sadhaka is are also to be found, namely those whose approach is by karma, yoga or Jnana marga, etc.

Is Mother a Vedantist or is She extoling any other school of thought ?

Without a doubt Mother teaches the highest truth as found in the Upanisads. "This body presents the matter from the standpoint of the Rishis and Munis, from the line of approach that they choose." (Ananda Varta, Vol. V/3, p. 205). But Mother does not belong to any sect, creed or school of thought. The 'Real' which She embodies and teaches is THAT from which all things emerge and in which they are rooted; but "THAT" itself is beyond caste and creed, beyond religion and philosophy. It cannot be described in words, nor measured by the mind in terms of name and form. However, for the sadhaka, the individual on the path, a line of approach through the channel of the mind is necessary. Says Mother :"In fact seekers after Truth are made each in a particular way, different from others as well as from one another, but in any case they have to pass through the gate of Truth." (Ananda Varta, Vol. V/3, p. 204.) and "When discussing creeds and paths one has to remember that it is only while on the way that one speaks of various paths........." "But where there is no question of my doctrine nor of controversy, there is He at the root -He who is present in all these innumerable guises." (Ananda Varta, Vol. V/3p. 205)

Mother's Universality

The seers saints and yogis who attained to Self-realization have almost all followed a definite line of approach. After becoming spiritual preceptors they lead their disciples along the path they have themselves trodden, although it is true that some of them are able to guide aspirants by a few other lines of sadhana as well. But most of them prescribe a definite method by which Truth will be apprehended, as for example Self inquiry, or japa, or self surrender and so on. The consequence of adhering to one particular line of approach in preference to all the others is that only aspirants of a special type are able to get the benefit of such a Guru's guidance. But the divine power that manifests through Sri Sri Ma Anandamayi is characterized by an extraordinary integrality and versatility as regards the knowledge of spiritual practices. It seems quite unfathomable that a being should exist to whom no path of sadhana is unknown.
In her early life, during a period of about six years, Mother played the role of a sadhika. It was nothing more than play, for Mother had never been in ignorance or bondage. Says Mother: "Let me tell you that what I am, I have been from my infancy. But when the different stage of sadhana were being manifested through this body, there was something's like a superimposition of a Jnana (ignorance)." But what sort of a Jnana was that ? it was really Jnana masquerading as ajnana."
(Mother as Seen by Her Devotees, p. 143)

As a rule, it takes a whole like or something lives to master one line of sadhana. But Mother in the short span of six years traversed untold spiritual paths will al their stage and states up to perfection. Every avenue to Truth has been explored and mastered by her. Some of those sadhanas are extremely difficult and perilous. Only exceptionally gifted and bold aspirants are able to use them. The few who succeeds reach only after long and strenuous efforts and after a great many ups and downs, whereas Mother accomplished all those practices without the least strain exertion, just as a matter of play and in an incredibly short spell time. The following utterances of Mother about this topic are quoted from Amulya K Datta's diary, translated by himself from the Bengali original.
"I may tell you that this body has not followed only one particular line of sadhana, but has covered all the known lines. It has passed through all the different varieties of practices referred to by the sages of ancient times. This body has successfully gone through nama sadhana, hatha yoga with its various asanas and through diverse other yogas. One after another, in order to attain to a particulars state along one of those lines of sadhana an ordinary individual may have to be born again and again; but in the case of this body it was a ratter of a few seconds...Moreover the different forums of sadhana that this body has been to practice, were not meant for this body, they were meant for all... When you relate your spiritual experience to me, I often say that this body had those experiences and this is why it know what they are. Not only that: if anyone disclose to this body a special line of sadhana, it can describe in minute details the various stages of that very line."
We may conclude that Mother is able to guide every type of sadhaka, no matter what his avenue of approach or his level of attainment. This is why in Mother's ashrams there in an astonishing diversity of seekers after Truth. Those who follow Jnana marga live side by side with those who practise bhakti yoga or karma or hatha yoga, etc. In general, the sadhaka is required to mould oneself according to the pattern given by the Guru. But Mother guides him along the line he is already following and indicates the one that is best suited to his temperament and conditioning. She bestows on him knowledge and power. A knowledge and a power that are not imposed from but come by bringing to the surface the satvic mind, the higher self, which will in due course lead to the revelation of the Real Self, the ONE.