Daughters of the Goddess

“India has produced more saints per capita than any other culture in history it seems. You think because there are no books about them, they do not exist. If you go into the Himalayas you will find many “Bhairavis”, (female yogis) who live in the caves and forests doing penance. But most of the women saints remain with their families, purifying themselves by serving others. Every morning before their families awaken they sit before the altars in their homes, worshiping and praying. They don't care for name or fame. Even the people in the next village do not know who they are. In your country you believe that no one can be a saint unless they give seminars.” -Pandit Rajamani

“ I am the Queen, the source of thought, knowledge itself!

You do not know me, yet you dwell in me.

I announce myself in words both gods

And humans are welcome.

From the summit of the world,I give birth to the sky!

The tempest is my breath,all living creatures are my life!

Beyond the wide earth, beyond the vast heaven,

My grandeur extends forever!”

(A passage from the Devi Sukta called the Rig Veta sing the above chant)

Some examples of women saints of India are:

Sri Ma of Kamakhya is called: Living the Goddess

“She is known for not teaching, she merely sits quietly while unending streams of visitors and devotees enter upon her stillness that diffuses the temple and their hearts. She is known as the Mother of calm.”

Anandamayi Ma, is called: the Bliss-Permeated Mother:

“She is one of the most extraordinary sages of modern times; “I am the all pervading reality” She moved constantly between ashrams and charitable institutions springing up everywhere she went..She is called “Mother of the World” this saints compassion knew no boundaries of caste, creed or nationality, all were awed into stillness in her presence.”

Anandi M,;is called: the Awakener of Kundalini:

“No matter what one is doing, if there is any spiritual evolution, it is the Kundalini working within the person. It is the energy which helps you through the various experiences needed for individual evolution, and finally brings you to realization, face to face with the reality. In other words, the kundalini is like the rays of the sun. If you want to reach the sun, you follow its rays till you reach its source and merge into the sublime, ultimate and imperishable reality.”

Gurumayi Chidvilasananda: is called “Beauty and Grace:

“A tantric scripture states that initiation by a woman teacher is eight times more effective than a male, this is especially evident at the worldwide Siddha Yoga Centers, where Guramayi Chidvilasananda has presided since the passing of the enormously popular meditation master, Swami Muktananda.Guruimayi’s. Guramayi teaches the practical disciplines of the spiritual life and the joy of loving a and serving humanity .There is only one thing we want to do, keep spreading the Love as much as possible, a love that is pure and can take us where we really want to go, to the Heart where God dwells. No matter what happens, there is one goal; the experience of devotion, the experience of Love. Guruamayi is considered to be a Siddha, a (perfected master), one who has yogic power to create Svarga heaven on earth...Everything the Mother has created is beautiful, we should follow her example.”

Ma Yoga Shakti: is called the No Nonsense Yogini

“ She is an orange-robed sadhu (wandering swami). She says a sadhu only needs two things: two pieces of bread and satsang ( a gathering for spiritual fellowship). She has no home of her own but moves continually between her Ashrams, temples and devotees homes where she is invited to speak. As a sannyasini (Hindu nun) she has taken formal vows of renunciation, she literally performs her own funeral service and assumes a new name: two strong symbolic statements that the old personality is dead and a new life is wholly dedicated to spiritual realization and service. She says: The world is one family. We have to feel that we are all one. We have to share the sorrows and the joys both. Yoga is a secret science, even a little practice makes us so high.”

Ammachi: In the Lap of the Mother

“Ammachi’s birth name Sudhamani meaning “Pure Jewel” she was a victim of years of physical and psychological abuse, she grew up in poverty and was semiliterate.She attended school up to the fourth grade as her mothers illness forced her to stay home to run the household. Later in her girlhood she felt the call of the Goddess, her heart merging into the fullness of the Divine Mother.By time she reached adulthood her family finally grasped she was a Real Saint.

In the past decade millions have come for a glimpse of this holy woman from Kerala. She became Ammachi “Darling Mother” the embodiment of absolute, unconditional love. Ammachi has nothing to say: speaking no English she doesn't talk at all. Instead she is what she is. She speaks through her eyes reaching out to embrace each astonished American or Australian or Swede who shuffles forward, rubbing their backs and slipping each chocolate kisses, this way of being forced to come to the Mother from our hearts, strips bare all manipulative strategies, we become inarticulate children again, at the feet of the Mother.”

These final words by Linda Johnsen author of “Daughters of the Goddess; “The Women Saints of India” sums up the message of transcendence as she encounters this last Divine Goddess Mother Ammachi in her tour.

“ At last it is my turn, I kneel hesitantly before Ammachi. The total compassionate acceptance emanating from her completely disarms me. For once in my life, I lay down my sword and my shield. I plunge into Amma’s lap, throwing my arms around her waist, burying my head beneath her ribs. I am pitched into blackness. I reach out to Amma with all my heart and find in her nothing- There is absolutely nothing there. And yet in this vast emptiness which seems to engulf me, I sense something-conscious. It feels as if the nothingness of all space and time is smiling. I pull back amazed, and look up in Amritanandamyi Ma’s radiant eyes. I understand that this is an untrustworthy emotional reaction, but for one moment I find myself believing that, Yes this is for Real. The teachings of the Yogis are Real. There is a state of luminous clarity that transcends and permeates everything. By revealing the divinity in herself, Ammachi is showing us the heart of reality, our own divine essence.

“Who knows Thy greatness

O Thou who art the substratum

Of this illusory world?

Thousands and thousands of living beings

Seek thy divine, radiant smile!

Who knows thy greatness

O Mother, who knows?”

-a traditional Malalayam song sung to the Devi, (the Supreme Goddess) by brachmachharins in India.