I am very happy to report that a fourteen year old reader from Florida has asked this question:
Who is Ma?
People asked Anandamayi Ma this question from the time she was a teenager.
She would usually answer: “I am whoever you believe me to be.”
As with all of Ma’s utterances, this can be understood on several levels, depending on the condition of the listener.
Later, Ma’s closest female disciple, Didi, questioned Ma about Her real identity.
She told Didi to bring her the thorn of a lime tree.
As Richard Lannoy reports:
A tiny berry with purplish juice was squeezed to make ink and the lime tree thorn served as a nib. Mataji wrote on a leaf the word “Narayana” and forbade Didi to reveal this to anyone until a long time after.
Narayana is one of the names of Vishnu – the principle of cosmic preservation. The other two functions are held by Shiva the Destroyer and Brahma the Creator.
Now, Narayana has many exquisite meanings. Some of them are: incarnate divinity, the abode or refuge of all beings, in the hearts of all beings, and the final goal.
Ma was saying that she is all of these.
One word that sums up these different but related meanings is “avatar.”
An avatar is a direct emanation of Self-realization that appears in human form for the purpose of demonstrating and teaching us about the real potential of human life.
Avatars, such as Christ and Krishna, appear at particular moments when they are called into being by the collective yearnings of human beings.
Ma always said that she came here because we wanted her to be here, and now that we have what we asked for, we should play with her! In other words, we should use her to help us Self-realize.
Ma incarnating Krishna
Ma’s play was not limited. At times, she visibly incarnated Krishna, Durga, Shiva, Kali and also, very importantly, all aspects of ordinary human life.
Ma was, at different moments, a daughter, a wife, a cook, a housekeeper, a confidant, a friend, and a Guru.
She once said – If you expect this body (herself) to be supernormal at all times, you will be disappointed.
Ma is not showing us how to become Gods; She is showing us how to discover our own divinity, our own Self, while in human form. This is the great compassion of the avatars.
Ma, as with Christ and Krishna, is still available to us. All you need to do is open your heart and call her name, and you will encounter her.
In Ma’s love,
Shambhavi
