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Sūtra (Sanskrit: सूत्र, Pāli: sutta, Ardhamagadhi: sūya) is an aphorism (or line, rule, formula) or a collection of such aphorisms in the form of a manual, or, more broadly, a text in Hinduism or Buddhism. Literally it means a thread or line that holds things together and is derived from the verbal root siv-, meaning to sew^[1] (these words, including Latin suere and English to sew, all ultimately deriving from PIE *siH-/syuH- 'to sew'), as does the medical term "suture."

In Hinduism sutra denotes a distinct type of literary composition, based on short aphoristic statements, generally using various technical terms. This literary form was designed for concision, as the texts were intended to be memorized by students in some of the formal methods of scriptural and scientific study (Sanskrit: svādhyāya). Since each line is highly condensed, another literary form arose in which commentaries (Sanskrit: bhāṣya) on the sutras were added, to clarify and explain them.^[2]

In Brahmin lineage, each family is supposed to have one Gotra, and one Sutra, meaning that a certain Veda (Śruti) is treasured by this family in way of learning by heart.

One of the most famous definitions of a sutra in Indian literature is itself a sutra and comes from the Vayu Purana:

alpākṣaraṃ asandigdhaṃ sāravad viśvatomukham
astobhaṃ anavadyaṃ ca sūtram sūtravido viduḥ

Of minimal syllabary, unambiguous, pithy, comprehensive,
continuous, and without flaw: who knows the sūtra knows it to be thus.

In Jainism, sūtra refers to canonical sermons of the Mahavira contained in the Jain Agamas, and to some later (post-canonical) normative texts.

In Buddhism, the sūtra refers mostly to canonical scriptures, many of which are regarded as records of the oral teachings of Gautama Buddha. In Chinese, these are known as 經 (pinyin: jīng). These teachings are assembled in part of the Tripitaka which is called Sutra Pitaka. There are also some Buddhist texts, such as the Platform Sutra, that are called sūtras despite being attributed to much later authors.

In the book "Modern Buddhism", Geshe Kelsang Gyatso defines sūtra as "The teachings of Buddha that are open to everyone to practice without the need for empowerment. These include Buddha's teachings of the three turnings of the dharma wheel^[3].

Some scholars consider that the Buddhist use of sūtra is a mis-Sanskritization of Prakrit or Pali sutta, and that the latter represented Sanskrit sūkta, "well spoken", "good news" (as the Buddha himself refers to his speech in his first sermon; compare the original meaning of Gospel), which would also resolve as sutta in Pali.^[4] The early Buddhist sutras do not present the aphoristic, nearly cryptic nature of the Hindu sutras,^[5] even though they also have been designed for mnemonic purposes in an oral tradition. On the contrary, they are most often lengthy, with many repetitions which serve the mnemonic purpose of the audience. They share the character of sermons of "good news" with the Jaina sūtras, whose original name of sūya (in Ardhamagadhi language) can derive from Sanskrit sūkta, but hardly from sūtra.

The Pali form of the word, sutta is used exclusively to refer to the scriptures of the early Pali Canon, the only texts recognized by Theravada Buddhism as canonical.

Sutras primarily associated with Hinduism[link]

Vedanga[link]

• Shiksha (phonetics)
• Chandas (metrics)
• Vyakarana (grammar)
  • Ashtadhyayi (Pāṇini), discussing grammar
• Nirukta (etymology)
• Jyotisha (astrology)
• Kalpa (ritual)
  • Srauta Sutras, performance of sacrifices
  • Smarta Sutras
    • Grhya Sutras, covering domestic life
    • Samayacarika or Dharma Sutras
      • Sulba Sutras, architecture of sacrificial area

Hindu philosophy[link]

• Yoga Sutras
• Samkhya Sutra
• Nyaya Sutras
• Vaisheshika Sutra
• Purva Mimamsa Sutras
• Brahma Sutras (or Vedanta Sutra) (Badarayana)
• Shiva Sutras
• Narada Bhakti Sutra

Sutras primarily associated with Buddhism[link]

Sutras primarily associated with Jainism[link]

Jain philosophy[link]

• Kalpasutra
• Tattvartha Sutra
• Acaranga Sutra (Agamas)

Other sutras[link]

• Jesus Sutras (related to Church of the East in China )

See also[link]

• Sastra
• Shakyo
• Smriti
• Chinese Buddhist canon
• Tibetan Buddhist canon
• Ananda Sutram
• Shulba Sutras
• Kama Sutra

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Arthur Anthony Macdonell (1900). "The sūtras". A History of Sanskrit Literature. New York: D. Appleton and company. 
• Monier-Williams, Monier. (1899) A Sanskrit-English Dictionary. Delhi:Motilal Banarsidass. p. 1241
• Tubb, Gary A.; Boose, Emery R. (2007). Scholastic Sanskrit: A Handbook for Students. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-9753734-7-7. 

External links[link]

• Buddhist Scriptures in Multiple Languages
• Chinese repository of Buddhist Sutras translated into English. Also has other texts.
• More Mahayana Sutras
• The Hindu Vedas, Upanishads, Puranas, and Vedanta Sacred-texts.com
• A Modern Sutra
• Digital Sanskrit Buddhist Canon
• Ida B. Wells Memorial Sutra Lirary (Pali Suttas)

Deva Premal, mantra singer, from October 2006

Deva Premal (born in 1970 in Nürnberg, Germany) is a musician known for her meditative spiritual New Age music which puts ancient Sanskrit mantras into atmospheric contemporary settings.

Deva met her partner in life and music, Miten, at the Osho Ashram in Pune, India in 1990, and they have been touring together since 1992, offering concerts and chant workshops worldwide.^[1]

Best known for her top-selling chant CDs,^[2] Deva is a classically trained musician who grew up singing mantras in a German home permeated with Eastern spirituality. Her albums have topped the New Age charts throughout the world since her first release, The Essence, featuring the Gayatri Mantra. Deva & Miten's record company, Prabhu Music, reports sales of over 900,000 albums.

Deva began her journey with mantra in her mother's womb, as her father chanted the Gayatri Mantra, one of the most sacred mantras of Hinduism, to her daily, and it continued to be her bedtime lullaby after she was born. Many years later, she heard a friend singing the Gayatri and was inspired to put together an album featuring it. She and Miten recorded The Essence in her mother's apartment in Germany, the same one in which she was born and where her parents had sung the Gayatri Mantra to her years before.^[3]

Deva brought this journey with the Gayatri Mantra full circle in July, 2005, when she and Miten chanted the Gayatri for her father as he was dying: "We kept singing for what must have been over half an hour, when suddenly the monitor showed that he was about to leave. I continued to sing and the last sound he heard as he passed on was his beloved Gayatri Mantra. Finally we ended with the mantra Om and the circle was complete. He had welcomed me onto this planet with the Gayatri and I accompanied him out of this physical existence with it. What a blessing this was for me! It was the first time that I was present at a death, and to be at my father’s is a memory I will cherish all my life."^[4]

In an interview with Sam Slovik of LA Yoga Magazine,^[5] Deva discussed the potent effect many notice when chanting Sanskrit mantras:^[6]

“The meaning is secondary. The word table is not the table...With Sanskrit, the word ananda is the sound vibration of bliss. In sound the energy of bliss. We have to say bliss; we have to make it smaller by putting it into an English word. Just the sound; ananda, If we were sensitive enough we’d just feel the entire scope of that energy that’s contained in this sound... It’s working on a cellular level. It’s much deeper than the mind. It’s not a language that you need to understand the meaning of before you use it. It’s a deep universal sound code that connects us all.”

Deva's chants have been used in a wide variety of settings in recent years. Cher featured Deva's version of the Gayatri Mantra on her Farewell Tour^[7] and Russian Prima Ballerina Diana Vishneva danced to Deva's Gayatri in Moses Pendleton's F.L.O.W. series.^[8] Actor/director Edward James Olmos is said to have handed out copies of Deva's Gayatri Mantra to the entire cast and crew of Battlestar Gallactica,^[9] as well as citing her music as a source of inspiration in preparing his role as Commander Adama in the series.^[10] Mr. Olmos also used Om Hraum Mitraya from Deva's album Dakshina to close his HBO movie Walkout,^[11]

Deva and Miten performed for The Dalai Lama during a 2002 Conference in Munich, Germany on Unity In Duality, which brought top figures from the scientific community together with members of the Buddhist community.^[12] They gave a concert for the full conference, and were also invited to sing for the Dalai Lama at a small pre-conference gathering.^[13] They had heard that his favorite mantra was the Tara Mantra, dedicated to the Green Tara of Compassion, and that he had asked for it be chanted recently when he was ill, and so they chanted it for him.

Deva's most recent release, Tibetan Mantras For Turbulent Times, was recorded with the Gyuto Monks of Tibet and was created as a support for mantra meditation practice, featuring eight mantras chanted 108 times each. It is a benefit CD, with all proceeds going to the Gyuto Monastery in Dharmsala, India, the Phowa Project, and Veggiyana.

Discography[link]

• The Essence (1998)
• Love Is Space (2000)
• Embrace (2002)
• Satsang (with Miten) (2002)
• Dakshina (2005)
• The Moola Mantra (2007)
• Into Silence (2008) (compilation)
• In Concert: The Yoga of Sacred Song and Chant (w/Miten & Manose) (2009) (CD/DVD)
• Mantras For Precarious Times (2009)
• Tibetan Mantras For Turbulent Times (2010)
• Password (2011)

Notes[link]

1. ^ Dubrovsky, Anna. Yoga Rock Stars, Yoga International, September 2008.
2. ^ Widran, Jonathan. Review: Dakshina AllMusic.
3. ^ Spirit of Things. Mantras Go Mainstream, Interview with Rachel Kohn on ABC Radio, Feb 2008.
4. ^ Deva Premal. Wolfgang And The Gayatri Mantra, Article, DevaPremalMiten.com.
5. ^ Slovik, Sam. Soul Balancing: Path of the Sacred Road Dog, LA Yoga Magazine, March 2010.
6. ^ Shapiro, Ed & Deb. Do Mantras Really Work, Huffington Post, Oct 20 2009.
7. ^ Tsering, Lisa. "Cher Chants Gayatri Mantra At Her Concerts", Times of London, Sept 5 2003.
8. ^ "Beauty In Motion-F.L.O.W. Part III", YouTube.
9. ^ Stailey, M. Battlestar Gallactica: All Access, DVD Verdict Legal Briefs, June 8, 2007.
10. ^ Ruby, Jamie. "Edward James Olmos: Exclusive Interview With MediaBlvd", Battlestar Aries, Aug 5 2009.
11. ^ Educate Your Thinking, YouTube.
12. ^ Tarab Institute. Unity In Duality-Tendrel Congress, Tarab Institute, Oct 10-13 2002.
13. ^ Attwood, Janet Bray Songs of the Divine: An interview from the Dialogues with the Masters Series, Healthy Wealthy nWise, Feb 2008.

External links[link]

• Official website

Sri Anandamayi Ma
Studio photo of Anandamayi Ma
Born	(1896-04-30)30 April 1896 Kheora, Brahmanbaria, Bangladesh
Died	27 August 1982(1982-08-27) (aged 86) Kishanpur, Dehradun, India—last rites were performed in Kankhal, Haridwar, India
Birth name	Nirmala Sundari
Quotation	"Who is it that loves and who that suffers? He alone stages a play with Himself; who exists save Him? The individual suffers because he perceives duality. It is duality which causes all sorrow and grief. Find the One everywhere and in everything and there will be an end to pain and suffering."[1]

Sri Anandamayi Ma (Bengali: শ্রী আনন্দময়ী মা Sri Anondomoyi Ma; 30 April 1896 - 27 August 1982) was a spiritual personality from East Bengal. Swami Sivananda (Divine Life Society) described her as "the most perfect flower the Indian soil has produced."^[2] Precognition, healing and other miracles were attributed to her by her followers.^[3] Paramhansa Yogananda translates Anandamayi as "joy-permeated". This name was given to her by her devotees in the 1920s to describe what they saw as her habitual state of divine joy and bliss.

Biography[link]

Early life[link]

Anandamayi Ma was born Nirmala Sundari (নির্মলা সুন্দরী; Nirmôla Shundori, English: "Immaculate, Beautiful") on 30 April 1896 to Bipinbihari Bhattacharya and Mokshada Sundari Devi in Kheora, Brahmanbaria District, British India, in what is now Bangladesh. Her father, originally from Vidyakut in Tripura, was a Vaishnavite singer known for his devotion. He had a detached persona. They lived in poverty, and lost many children in their infancy. Nirmala attended the village school for approximately two years.^[4] Although her teachers were pleased with her ability, her family thought she was dullminded because of her indifference and constantly happy demeanor. When her mother once fell seriously ill, relatives remarked with puzzlement about the child remaining apparently unaffected.

In 1908 at the age of thirteen, in keeping with the rural custom at the time, she was married to Ramani Mohan Chakrabarti of Vikramapura, whom she would later rename Bholanath.^[4][5] She spent five years after her marriage at her brother-in-law's home, where she was in a withdrawn meditative state much of the time. It was here that a devout neighbour considered insane, Harakumar, developed a habit of addressing her as "Ma", and prostrated before her morning and evening in reverence.^[6] When Nirmala was about seventeen, she went to live with her husband in Ashtagram. In 1918, she moved to Bajitpur, where she stayed until 1924. It was a celibate marriage—whenever thoughts of sexuality occurred to Romani, Nirmala's body would take on the qualities of death.^[7] On the full moon night of August 1922, at midnight, twenty-six-year old Nirmala enacted her own spiritual initiation. She explained that the ceremony and its rights were being revealed to her spontaneously as and when they were called for.^[6] She later stated, "As the master (guru) I revealed the mantra; as the disciple (shishya) I accepted it and started to recite it."^[8]

In Dhaka[link]

Nirmala moved to Shahbag with her husband in 1924, where he had been appointed caretaker of the gardens of the Nawab of Dhaka.^[5] During this period Nirmala went into ecstasies at kirtans in a manner similar to that of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.^[4] Nirmala continued to perform household tasks, and also continued to practice silence, and was in a withdrawn state of ecstasy much of the time. These states began to interfere with her daily work.^[9] In 1926, she set up a Kali temple in the Siddheshwari area and devoted herself to spiritual practices.^[5] Nirmala underwent a mystic experience while praying in the temple one day.^[5] In a deep meditative state, she held difficult yogic positions for long periods and spontaneously formed complex tantric hand positions and gestures.

During the time in Shahbag, more and more people began to be drawn to what they saw to be a living embodiment of the divine.^[10] Jyotiscandra Ray, known as "Bhaiji," was an early and close disciple. He was the first to suggest that Nirmala be called Anandamayi Ma, meaning "Joy Permeated Mother", or "Bliss Permeated Mother". He was chiefly responsible for the first ashram built for Anandamayi Ma in 1929 at Ramna, within the precinct of the Ramna Kali Mandir.^[11]

Scholars were attracted to Anandamoyi Ma's spirituality and teaching, though she called herself "a little unlettered child".^[4] Mahamahopadhyay Gopinath Kaviraj, Sanskrit scholar, philosopher, and principal of Sanskrit College in Kolkata and the physician Triguna Sen were among her early followers.^[5] Uday Shankar, the famous dance artist, was impressed by Anandamoyi Ma's analysis of dance, which she used as a metaphor for the relationship between people and God.^[5]

In Dehradun[link]

Ma Anandamayi Samadhi Mandir, Kankhal, Haridwar

Sri Anandamayi Ma statues in the Ananda Jyoti Mandir, Varanasi

In 1932, Anandamayi Ma moved to Dehradun with her husband.^[5] From that time, until her death in 1982, she traveled across the subcontinent, never staying more than two weeks in the same place.^[12] Several ashrams and teaching hospitals were established in her name by devotees at Ramna (near Shahbag) and Kheora in Bangladesh, and Benares, Kankhal and other parts of India.^[5] Twenty-five ashrams are named after her.^[5] She also renovated many dilapidated holy places, including Naimisharanya, where she set up a temple and arranged for the recitation of holy names and the performance of kirtan and other religious rites.^[5] During this period many people, such as Arnaud Desjardins, the French producer of spiritual films, Melita Maschmann, the German novelist, and Dr. Colin Turnbull, the English author, became her disciples.^[4]

Kamala Nehru, wife of the future Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, became a devotee in 1933. Anandamayi Ma was then staying at a small temple in Dehradun, while Jawarharlal Nehru was incarcerated by the British in Dehradun jail. Later she took Kamala to the Ambika temple in Kajpur to perform a three-day yajna. She gave to her daughter Indira the rosary which Mataji had given her.^[6] Mahatma Gandhi came to hear of Anandamayi through Kamala and sent his aid, Jamnalal Bajaj, to see her. He in turn became a devotee. After the unexpected death of Bajaj, she went to Wardha to console Mahatma Gandhi.^[6]

Death[link]

She died on 27 August 1982 in Dehradun, and subsequently on 29 August 1982 was given Samadhi in the courtyard of her Kankhal ashram, situated in Haridwar in North India,^[5][13][14] a shrine was later erected over the samadhi, now known as the “Ananda Jyoti Peetham”.^[15]

Teachings[link]

Anandamayi Ma

Anandamayi Ma never prepared discourses, wrote down, or revised what she had said. People had difficulty transcribing her often informal talks because of their conversational speed, further the Bengali manner of alliterative wordplay was often lost in translation. A devotee, Brahmachari Kamal Bhattacharjee, however made attempts to transcribe her speech before audio recording equipment became widely available in India.^[6]

A central theme of her teaching is "the supreme calling of every human being is to aspire to self realization. All other obligations are secondary" and "only actions that kindle man's divine nature are worthy of the name of actions". However she did not ask everyone to become a renunciate. "Everyone is right from his own standpoint," she would say.^[4] She did not give formal initiations and refused to be called a guru, as she maintained that "all paths are my paths" and kept saying "I have no particular path".^[16]

Wikisource has original text related to this article: Autobiography of a Yogi—The Bengali "Joy-Permeated Mother" (Ananda Moyi Ma)

She did not advocate the same method for all. "How can one impose limitations on the infinite by declaring this is the only path—and, why should there be so many different religions and sects? Because through every one of them He gives Himself to Himself, so that each person may advance according to his inborn nature." Though she was a Tantric, Anandamayi Ma blessed Saivites, Shaktas, Vaishnavas, Muslims and Christians equally. Even now, the Muslim population of Kheora still refer to her as "our own Ma".^[6] She taught how to live a God-centered life in the world and provided the living inspiration to enable thousands to aspire to this most noble ideal.^[4] She also advocated spiritual equality for women; for example, she opened up the sacred thread ritual, which had been performed by men only for centuries, to women. Her style of teaching included jokes, songs and instructions on everyday life along with long discourses, meditation and reading of scriptures.^[16]

Paramhansa Yogananda wrote about her in his Autobiography of a Yogi. His meeting with her is recounted in the chapter titled "The Bengali 'Joy-Permeated Mother'", where she explains her background:

"Father, there is little to tell." She spread her graceful hands in a deprecatory gesture. "My consciousness has never associated itself with this temporary body. Before I came on this earth, Father, I was the same. As a little girl, I was the same. I grew into womanhood, but still I was the same. When the family in which I had been born made arrangements to have this body married, 'I was the same... And, Father, in front of you now, I am the same. Ever afterward, though the dance of creation change around me in the hall of eternity, I shall be the same."

The Publication Department of Shree Shree Anandamayee Charitable Society in Kolkata regularly publishes her teaching in the periodical Anandavarta Quarterly. The Shree Shree Anandamayee Sangha in Haridwar organizes the annual Samyam Mahavrata congregation to devote a week to collective meditation, religious discourse and devotional music.^[4]

Question of sadhana[link]

This section reads more like a story than an encyclopedia entry. To meet Wikipedia's quality standards and conform to the neutral point of view policy, please help to introduce a more formal style and remove any personally invested tone. (March 2012)

At the age of fifteen, whilst sitting by a lake in Bajitpur, Nirmala had the inspiration to inquire as to what it would be like to be a religious aspirant (sadhaka). She then began what she would later describe as a 'game' (Hindi "khel") of investigating the path of the sadhaka. When Nirmala would sit for worship, she would witness her body perform yogic asanas and mudras hitherto unknown to her and Romani. She described these forms as arising automatically as in the manner of factory machinary when talking to devotees in later years. To the puzzlement of those around her, whilst in Shahbagh she became unable to feed herself. She would find that she could not bring her hand to carry food to her mouth. Consequently Bholenath or female rununciates used to feed her in the manner of an enfant child. Unable to comprehend the meaning and origin of Nirmalas religious practices at the time, Romani consulted priests, excorcists and medical doctors about Nirmalas condition, until a medical doctor reassured him that she was not insane.

After her marriage to Romani, Nirmala would also fall into ecstacies or trances at public kirtans, in a manner reminiscent of the Vaishnava spiritual personality Chaitanya. This led locals to accuse her of hysteria. Nirmala told Yogananda that when Romani once made physical advances to her, he received an intense electric shock. From henceforth they lived like wandering ascetics rather than householders.

Anandamayi Ma's identity and state[link]

This section is written like a personal reflection or essay rather than an encyclopedic description of the subject. Please help improve it by rewriting it in an encyclopedic style. (March 2012)

According to what she later related to devotees; after completing her domestic chores and cooking, Nirmala would withdraw into her religious practices, where she felt there was a distinct inner guide instructing her in which religious actions to perform. When she would poise a questions about the religious actions, instantly an answer would appear. She once questioned her guide on who it was, on which the instant response came "Your Shakti" (your power). The voice then prohibited her from paying obseisance to anyone in the customary or religious Hindu manner (by bowing or touching an elders feet). This would cause offense to her orthodox father when he visited her (seeming as a snub), however as she was observing strict silence (maun) she was unable to explain the significance to him at the time. Nirmala was also until then in the habit of bowing to the forms that surrounded her as manifestations of God. When she questioned the rule against her paying such obseisance, the voice responded "to whom do you want to make obesaince? you yourself are everything". At this point she came to realize her identity with the physical universe.^[17]

Anandamayi often described her presence as that of an infant child ("chhotee bachee"), and referred to her body as "yeh shorir" (this body). She described her state as immutable. She once explained to Amulya Gupta, a devotee and chronicalist, that her englightened state preceded and was present at her "birth" (or in her description what the worldly viewpoint perceived as her birth). She differetiated this from the philosophical doctrine that describes one as always enlightened only one does not realize it until one's self realization.^[18]

In "Mother as Revealed to Me" Jyotish Chandra Roy noted that when asked who she was she would respond something akin to "whatever is said, that". Roy also noted her utterences in what became known in English translation as "Mother Reveals Herself", in which she stated she was able to see the future in the manner in which people look in the mirror and could also recall the exact events at her birth from memory. However she would usually refuse to give prophecies, describing them as "sansaric" (worldly) and instead usually request the questioner to take to a religious life or else take on a personal quest for God/Truth.

Other devotees noted that when asked who she was, she responded that because she had no Aham-Buddhi (literal existence-experience of 'I-am') she could not say who or what she was, therefore was whatever the questioner thought she was.

She denied having any personal mission or motives, stating she travelled about on "kheyal" or where ever devotees invited her. When people would ask her questions she either explained that the answer would come according to "kheyal" (sudden inclination/inspiration) if at all, or else compared her body to a musical instrument such as a drum or bell, stating "as you play the instrument so shall you hear". When people argued with what she said or asked questions with a ulterior motive, she would remain silent.

However she also explained to devotees that all her actions, insights and revelations had been for "you all".

The thoughts of the Ma[link]

This section reads like an editorial or opinion piece and may require cleanup. Please improve this article by rewriting this section in an encyclopedic style to make it neutral in tone. Please see WP:No original research and WP:NOTOPINION for further details. (March 2012)

Her public utterances seem to teach a kind of absolute theism, i.e. that only God exists, that all names and forms are His names and forms. "Vah he hai." ("He/That only is"). That He is identical with the Supreme Essence of everything (Atma). She often said "Hari katha he katha, aur sab vritha vyatha" ("exposition of God is the only exposition, everything else is futility and pain"). Anandamayi stated that God was self revealed, and that religious practices were only a means to remove the veil of ignorance that concealed him from the devotee.

She explained that the way to realize God was to become restless for Him (His Revelation). She accepted traditional modes of worship as well as philosophical enquiry. She encouraged people to follow their Gurus/religions instructions, or else to take whichever name of God was most appealing to their hearts and mind and to call out to Him with it constantly and unceasingly. She once advised a young woman who said she was an atheist to sit down in a calm state and meditate on her breath.

She advised a firm adherence to truth, saying that by doing so everything could be obtained on the spiritual path. She also advised those that chose a path or life of service that they should do so with the idea that it was God they were serving, or else they could fall prey to egotism.

She taught that "the supreme calling of every human being is to aspire to self realization. All other obligations are secondary" and "only actions that kindle man's divine nature are worthy of the name of actions". She often said "Apne ko paana Bhagavaan ko paana, Bhagavaan ko paana Apne ko paane"- "to find yourself is to find God, and to find God is to find yourself".

Anandamayi always showed a outward reverence for ascetics, renunciants and devotees who had had renounced the wordly life and devoted their lives to God. Once when asked how someone would know whether to chose the renunciate life, she responded "would one deliberate on whether to flee a massacre?". On another occasion when a widower appraoched him in his grief she laughed and told him that there was one less obstacle between him and God.

She did not however ask everyone to become a renunciate, and instructed householders that they could draw close to God whilst mainting a family life by seeing God's presence in their family members and serving Him in that manner, and by maintaining the attitude of a 'manager' rather than 'master/owner' (i.e. the latter being God's role). Then by devoting free time to worship and meditation. She often requested all householders to set aside a fixed daily time reserved exclusively for divine contemplation, even if for only five or fifteen minutes to begin with.

Books on Sri Anandamayi Ma[link]

• Banerjee, Shyamananda (1973). A Mystic Sage: Ma Anandamayi: Ma Anandamayi. s.n.. 
• Bhaiji (1975). Sad Vani: A Collection of the Teaching of Sri Anandamayi Ma. translated by Swami Atmananda. Shree Shree Anandamayee Charitable Society. 
• Bhaiji. Matri Vani — From the Wisdom of Sri Anandamayi Ma. translated by Swami Atmananda. 
• Chaudhuri, Narayan (1986). That Compassionate Touch of Ma Anandamayee. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. ISBN 81-208-0204-7. 
• Datta, Amulya Kumar. In Association with Sri Ma Anandamayi. 
• Fitzgerald, Joseph; Alexander Lipski (2007). The Essential Sri Anandamayi Ma: Life and Teaching of a 20th Century Indian Saint. World Wisdom. ISBN 978-1-933316-41-3. 
• Ganguli, Anil. Anandamayi Ma the Mother Bliss-incarnate. 
• Ganguly, Adwaita P (1996). Yuga-Avatar Sri Sri Ma Anandamayee and Universal Religion. VRC Publications. ISBN 81-87530-00-6. 
• Giri, Gurupriya Ananda. Sri Ma Anandamayi. 
• Hallstrom, Lisa Lassell (1999). Mother of Bliss. US: Oxford University Press. ISBN ISBN 0-19-511647-X. 
• Joshi, Hari Ram (1999). Ma Anandamayi Lila, Memoirs of Hari Ram Joshi. Kolkata: Shree Shree Anandamayee Charitable Society. 
• Kaviraj, Gopinath (1382 B.S.). Sri Sri Ma Anandamayi: Upadesa O Prasnottara. Kolkata: Pasyant Prakasani. 
• Kaviraj, Gopinath (1967). Mother as Seen by Her Devotees. Varanasi: Shree Shree Anandamayee Sangha. 
• Lipski, Alexander (1983). Life and Teachings of Sri Anandamayi ma. Orient Book Distributors. 
• Maschmann, Melita (2002). Encountering Bliss: My Journey Through India with Anandamayi Ma. trans. S.B. Shrotri. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. ISBN 81-208-1541-6. 
• Mukerji, Bithika (1998). A Bird on the Wing — Life and Teachings of Sri Ma Anandamayi. Sri Satguru Publications. ISBN 81-7030-577-2. 
• Mukerji, Bithika (2002). My Days with Sri Ma Anandamayi. India: Indica Books. ISBN 81-86569-27-8. 
• Mukerji, Bithika (1970). From the Life of Sri Anandamayi Ma. India: Sri Sri Anandamayi Sangha, Varanasi. 
• Ramananda, Swami (2002). Bliss Now: My Journey with Sri Anandamayi Ma. India: Select Books. ISBN 978-1-59079-019-9. 
• Ray, J. Mother As Revealed To Me, Bhaiji. 
• Yogananda, Paramhansa (1946). Autobiography of a Yogi. New York: Philosophical Library. 

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Sri Anandamayi Ma

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Sri Anandamoyi Ma

• Official Anandamayi Ma website
• MatriVani, a compendium of Anandamayi's teachings
• A timeline of events

Imee Ooi

Imee Ooi (pronounce as English "E-ME WOO --E"^{[needs Chinese IPA]} (connected) - Ch: 黃慧音, pinyin: Huáng Huìyīn, which means HUANG-Yellow - HUI-Wisdom - YIN-Sound/Music, being her original name by birth) is a Malaysian music producer, composer, arranger and vocalist who brings traditional Buddhist chants, mantras and dharanis (typically from the Sanskrit, Pali, Tibetan or Mandarin languages) into sung versions with accompanying musical scores. She also is a classical pianist by training.

Ooi is the musical director and composer of two highly-acclaimed stage musicals; Siddhartha and Above Full Moon, and is currently working on a musical entitled Jewel of Tibet. The musical is set during the Tang Dynasty and is about a Tang princess who marries a Tibetan king and how she brings Buddhism to Tibet.

Imee Ooi established I.M.M Musicworks in 1997, and to date has released over 20 albums.

Discography[link]

• Jayamangalagatha Mantra
• The Chant of Metta
• Great Compassionate Mantra
• Mantra of Guanyin
• Mantras of the Sanskrit
• Namo Amitabha (Mandarin)
• Diamond Sutra (Mandarin)
• Arya Ekdasa-Mukha Dharani
• Medicine Buddha Dharani
• Amitabha (Mandarin)
• Usnisa Vijaya Dharani Sutra
• Karaniya Metta Sutta
• Ratana Sutta, Discourse of the Jewels
• The Wisdom of Manjusri Bodhisattva
• Series of 10 Short Mantras, Volume 1
• Series of 10 Short Mantras, Volume 2
• Series of 10 Short Mantras, Volume 3
• Series of 10 Short Mantras, Volume 4
• Tisarana
• Heart Sutra
• Om Mani Padme Hum
• Green Tara Mantra
• The Mantra of Guru Rinpoche
• Chants from Heart to Heart
• Message in Music Vol.1
• Message in Music Vol.2
• Message in Music Vol.3
• Heart Of Repentance
• Hymns Of The Pureland
• The Shore Beyond Prajna Paramita Hrdaya Sutram (Sanskrit)
• Universal Door Chapter (The Lotus Sutra)
• The Mantra Of Vajrasattva ~ Om Benza Sato Hum
• World In One Heart : Voices Of The Heart Sutra
• Shurangama Mantra

References[link]

• Meet Imee the mantra musician
• I.M.M. Music Works
• An interview by 劉潔芬 in Chinese: 俗世慧音

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