Teachings
REFLECTIONS ON HERSELF
1. “When the Master departed from this life, I felt like going away too. He appeared before me and said, ‘No, you must remain. There is so much yet to be done.’ In the end I too understood how much there was to be done. He used to say, ‘The people of Calcutta are squirming like worms in the dark. Take care of them.’ ”
C42
2. “The Master regarded all creatures as manifestations of the Divine Mother. He left me behind to manifest the motherhood of God.”
C13
3. “Suppose one of my children has smeared himself with dirt. It is I,and no one else, who shall have to wash him clean and take him in my arms. To make mistakes is man’s very nature; but few of those who criticize know how to correct them.”
C32
4. “My child, several among those who come here are up to anything in life. No type of sin has been left undone by them. But when they come here and address me as Mother, I forget everything and they get more than they deserve.”
TN106
5. “I can’t contain myself when one draws near me all calls me Mother.”
G366
6. Girish Ghosh once asked Holy Mother, “What sort of Mother are you?” At once she replied, “Your real Mother; not just the wife of your Guru, not an adopted mother, not a vague mother. Your real Mother.”
N272-73
7. A disciple asked Holy Mother, “Are you the Mother of all ?” “Yes,” she replied. “Even of these lower creatures?” he pressed. “Yes,” answered the Mother.
G363
8. “My boy, they (the foreigners) too are my children. Can I afford to be partial?”
C32l
9. “Balaram Babu used to refer to me as the ‘great ascetic, the embodiment of forbearance.’ Can you call him a man who is devoid of compassion? He is a veritable beast. Sometimes I forget myself in compassion. Then I do not remember who I am.”
TN283
10. “My son, if so much as a thorn pricks one of you, a sword enters my heart!”
C316
11. “He is unfortunate indeed who does not gain my compassion. I do not know anyone, not even an insect, for whom I do not feel compassion.”
TN331
12. “Do you think that even if this body passes away, I can have any release unless every one of those whose responsibility I have taken on myself is out of bondage? I must constantly live with them. I have taken complete charge of everything, good or bad, regarding them. Is it a trifle to give initiation? What a tremendous responsibility have we to accept! How much anxiety have we to suffer for them! Just see! Your father is dead, and that at once made me feel worried about you. I thought, ‘How is it that the Master is again putting him to test?’ That you may come out of this ordeal is my constant prayer. For this reason I gave you all this advice. Can you understand everything I say? If you could do so, that would lighten my worries to a great extent. … I cannot simply set aside those whom I have accepted as my own.”
TN367
13. “To a mother a son is always a son.”
C264
14. A devotee who had come seeking initiation was prevented from seeing the Mother according to Swami Saradananda’s instructions, based on her continuous suffering from malaria. At this she said firmly, “What has Sarat to say? That’s why we have come. I shall initiate him.”
G402
15. “Whatever I have to give, I have given at the time of initiation. If you want peace immediately, practice the spiritual disciplines prescribed. Otherwise you will achieve it only after the fall of the body.”
TN106
16. To an attendant who noticed Mother doing Japa late at night in her bed, Mother said, “What can I do, my son? The boys come and entreat me eagerly. They take the Mantra and go home. But nobody does any Japa regularly. Some don’t do it even once. Yet as I have shouldered the burden, should I not look after them? That’s why I do Japa and pray to the Master, ‘O Master, grant them enlightenment, grant them emancipation, and do take on yourself their care in every way here and hereafter.'”
G397
17. “I entrust all the responsibility to the Master and to him I pray every day, ‘Do please look after everyone of them, wherever they may be.’ And mind you, these Mantras have all come from the Master — he gave them to me and they are of proved efficacy.”
G398
18. “The Master is sending these (candidates). … I am nobody. It is the Master who graciously blesses them. I am only his instrument”
G4l4
19. “Mark you, I haven’t given you the Mantra; it is the Master who has done so.”
G457
20. A disciple who had developed mental aberration returned his rosary to the Mother. When a monk asked her whether he had returned the Mantra also, she replied, “Can that ever be? It is a living Mantra. Can there be any giving back of it — the Mantra that one has once received, the great Mantra that it is? If one has but once a love for his Guru, can he ever be despoiled of it?”
G406
21. To a newly initiated disciple Mother said, “From now on the Master will take care of you. He is yours and you are his. He is your Guru, your Ishta. I have offered your life at his feet.” “But how am I to think of you, Mother?” the disciple asked. She paused for a while and said, “Well, think of me as one with him (meaning Sri Ramakrishna).”
PB1954; 113
22. “He is here in this body in a subtle form. The Master himself declared, ‘I shall live within you in a subtle form.'”
G458
23. Disciple: “Does the Master appear to you always, does he eat from your hand even now?”
Mother: “Are we distinct?”
G457
24. “My son, the devotees say that in me the Master alone is present”
S1979;93
25. “He who is the Master, am I.”
G457
26. When a disciple asked why she wept like an ordinary person at the death of her young nephew, Mother replied, “I live as a householder. I must taste the fruit of the tree of the world. That is why I weep. Sri Ramakrishna once remarked, ‘When God is incarnated in a human body, He acts exactly like a man. He feels the same hunger, thirst, sickness, grief and fear as others do. Even Brahman weeps when caught in the trap of the five elements.’ ”
N130
27. Mother remarked, regarding the apparent attachments in her life, “The Master kept my mind bound down by all these things for the sake of his work. Other- wise could it have been possible for me to stay on after he left?”
G513
28. “People come to me and say, ‘I have no peace in life, I never feel the presence of God, tell me how to find peace,’ and so on. Then I look at them and at myself and wonder why they talk in this manner. Is everything about me beyond the common run? I have never known unrest. And as far as the presence of God, it is mine for the taking. I can see Him whenever I like.”
C222 & N148
29. “I do not remember having committed any sin since my very birth. I touched the Master at the age of five. I might not have understood him at that time, but he undoubtedly touched me. … Day and night my mind wants to soar high. I force it down, out of compassion for people.”
TN324
30. Disciple: “Do you ever remember your real nature?”
Mother: “Yes, I recall it now and then. At that time I say to myself, ‘What is this that I am doing? What is all this about?’ Then I remember the house, buildings and children and forget my real self.”
TN280
31. “God loves to sport as a human being.”
TN280
32. “Sri Krishna played with the shepherd boys, laughed and walked with them, ate of the food they had touched; but did they know who He was?”
C135
33. “It is only by accepting an illusion that I am so. This is nothing but continuing in the midst of an illusion.”
G466
34. Disciple: “Well, Mother, do you always remember your real nature?”
Mother: “How could that be? How, then, could I perform all these duties? But even in the midst of my activities, whenever I wish I can understand by the slightest effort that all this is the mere play of Mahamaya.”
C29
35. “I tell you, my daughter, know this body (pointing to her own) to be divine.”
G437
36. Disciple: “X — says that one should not stay near one’s Guru for long; for he says that at the sight of the common worldly dealings of the Guru the disciple often loses much of his love and respect.”
Mother (with a laugh): “Don’t you lose heart, my son, at such talks. In that case how will my work be carried on? Off with such great ideas as divinity; think of me as a human being, and go on doing the work just as at present, following my direction and using your intelligence. Have no fear whatsoever.”
C350-51
37. “The excessive manifestation of divinity creates fear in the minds of devotees; they cannot feel intimate.”
N289
38. One morning Holy Mother was assisting in husking paddy. It was almost her daily job. A disciple asked her, “Mother, why should you work so hard?” “My child,” she said in reply, “I have done much more than is necessary to make my life a model”
TN285
39. When one day a disciple protested about her strenuous life, Mother said, “My child, it is good to be active.” Remaining silent for a few minutes she said gravely, “Please bless me that I may serve others as long as live.”
N131
40. When her devotees protested against the many personal services she rendered them, Mother silenced them by saying with overflowing feeling, “What after all have I done for you? Am I not your mother? Is it not the privilege of a mother to serve her child in every way — even to clean its dirt with her own hand?”
TN 109
41. “Now that you are with your mother, what’s the need of so much Japa and meditation? I,indeed, am doing everything for you. Now eat and live merrily, free from all care.”
G403
42. Disciple: “Mother, you have hundreds of children, and I am only one of them. But to me you are my only mother. Bless me so that I may be a worthy child of yours.”
Mother: “Well my child, surely the Master will look after you. It is for your good that he has brought you here. Always think of the Master as your own. Think of me as your own mother and depend on us in all matters.”
PB1954; 114
43.”Do not fear, my child. Always remember that the Master is behind you. I am also with you. As long as you remember me, your mother, why should you be frightened? The Master said to me, ‘In the end I shall certainly liberate those who come to you.'”
C32
44. “Whoever has come here, whoever is my son is already redeemed. Destiny dare not throw my children into hell. Free yourself from all anxiety by entrusting your future to me. And remember this always, that there is one behind you who will come to you at the right moment and lead you to the everlasting domain.”
G403
45. “I am the mother of the wicked, as I am the mother of the virtuous. Never fear. Whenever you are in distress, just say to yourself, ‘I have a mother.'”
C33
46. Amjad, a Muslim bandit, built the wall for Holy Mother’s new house. One day she invited him for a meal, which was arranged on the porch of her house. … Nalini began to throw the food at Amjad’s plate from a distance. Mother noticed this and said, “How can one enjoy food if it is offered with such scorn? Let me wait on him properly.” After he had finished his meal, Mother cleaned the place with her own hands. Nalini shrieked, “Aunt, you have lost your caste!” “Keep quiet,” said Mother. “As Sarat (Swami Saradananda) is my son, exactly so is Amjad.”
N134
47. When a woman who had led a bad life went to Mother in a mood of sincere repentance and made an unreserved confession of her sins, Mother embraced her with great warmth of feeling, saying, “Don’t despair for whatever you have done. You will get over all your sinful tendencies. Come, I shall initiate you. Lay everything at the Master’s feet, and cast away all fear.”
G399 & TN128
48. A college student used to visit Mother’s place quite frequently. One day, while taking leave of her he suddenly said, “Mother, I am no good for this place; I am unfit to come to you. I am saying goodbye forever!” He quickly left the house. Mother ran after him, caught his shirt, and pulling him toward her she put her hands on his shoulders. Looking at him eye to eye she said in a firm voice, “Whenever any disturbing thought comes to your mind, think of me. Don’t worry!” With those words she let him go. While going home the boy repeated Mother’s words over and over again: “Think of me; think of me; think of me.” He couldn’t forget those two beautiful compassionate eyes of the Mother. Constantly he thought of those eyes of the Mother and those words, “Think of me.”
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