Alexander Lipski wrote in his book “The Essential Sri Anandamayi Ma”: The days I stayed in the Ashram of Anandamayi Ma flew by. Throughout my stay I had a feeling of utter contentment and peace – world problems were temporarily eclipsed. As though in the presence of a gigantic spiritual magnet by mind was engrossed in the Divine. When thinking of the blissful experiences I had there, there flashes even now through my mind a scene of a kirtana with Mataji. And I hear her chanting “He Bhajavan” ” to the accompaniment of a harmonium. Her chanting is the very expression of divine love and ecstasy and prompts me to echo the words of the Persian inscription on the Divan-i-Khas:
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“If on Earth be an Eden of bliss, it is this, it is this, none but this” … Here is an excerpt from Lipski’s book on the topic of suffering.
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Anandamayi Ma’s view on suffering and poverty are so diametrically opposed to the whole philosophy of modern western man that it would require revolutionary changes in his attitude for him to agree with her. All our attempts to wipe out poverty and the doctors’ frantic quest for eliminating physical pain are undertaken in the belief that perfection can be attained by physical means. They are based on a ritualistic view of the universe which labels certain things as evil without acknowledging their redeeming potential. Above all, this applies to modern western man’s aversion to suffering, which is regarded as an unmitigated evil.. In contract, Andanadmayi Ma holds up to us the attitude toward pain as exemplified in India’s great epic, the Ramayana. There, Hanuman, the loyal devotee of Rama built a bridge to Sri Lanka, in order to rescue Sita, Rama’s consort, who had been abducted and taken to Sri Lanka by the demon King Ravana. During the construction of the bridge, Hanuman accidentally hurt a squirrel. The squirrel thereupon complained to Rama and demanded that in punishment Rama step upon Hanuman. Rama did so and told Hanuman not to commit such a deed again, if he did not want to suffer similar punishment. But Hanuman retorted: “I will very often commit such faults so that I may repeatedly feel the pressure of your feet.”
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Further to stress the purifying effect of suffering, Anandamayi Ma tells the story of a pitcher which became a puja vessel. Originally it had been just an ordinary clump of earth on which people trampled and into which people dug with sharp spades. Later the earth was taken to a potter who kneaded it and put it on a potter’s wheel, turned it around, moulded it and fired it to make it hard and solid. Only then was it fit to be used as a puja vessel and sacred Ganges water poured into it. Similarly human vessels have to be moulded to become fit instruments for the divine spirit. “Be enduring as earth, then divine life will be awakened in you.” By looking at suffering from a truly monistic point of view, another dimension emerges: “Who is it that loves and who is that who suffers? He alone stages a play with himself. The individual suffers because he perceives duality. Find the One everywhere and in everything and there will be an end to pain and suffering..
Children Of Light 