Dr. Lipsky and Mrs. Lipsky -- KRIYA YOGA DISCUSSION BOARD

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Date Posted: 12:08
Author: Bill - 30 Sep 2001
Subject: Dr. Lipsky and Mrs. Lipsky
In reply to: Thomas Mark - 28 Sep 2001 's message, "Satsanga notes 15 July 1975" on 12:02

Thomas,

I asked a devotee about Dr. and Mrs. Lipsky when I returned to our local temple after a very long hiatus. She said that Dr. Lipsky became a disciple of Sri Anandamoyi Ma.

I was surprised as he was one of the leader's of the temple, Mrs. Lipsky was in charge of the sunday school and they were very active in the temple.

I was always inspired by them. And when I went up to the Bodhi Tree bookstore in W. Hollywood I found a book about Sri Anandamoyi Ma's life by Dr. Lipsky, so I suppose it must be true.

An excerpt from the introduction of Dr. Lipsky's book: Life and Teaching of Sri Anandamayi ma.

"I first got interested in Anandamayi Ma while reading about Her in Paramahansa Yogananda's Autobiography of a Yogi.....In 1965, while spending my sabbatical leave in India, I visited Her ashram in Varanasi and then stayed with Anandamayi Ma in Rajgir, the capital of an ancient Indian state. When I was brought into the presence of Anandamayi Ma I felt that, for the first time in my life, I was encountering someone who was the very embodiment of the Holy, the "wholly other." And yet Anandamayi Ma was also so close and accessible. She immediately welcomed me with a loving smile signifying total acceptance. In Her simple, unaffected way She asked about my family and with genuine interest looked at the photos of my wife and my three daughters. She then gave me the privilege of sitting near Her. During the ensuing satsanga I had an opportunity to observe Her at close quarters. I was struck by the youthful almost girlish appearance of the then sixty-nine year old Anandamayi Ma. It was a delight to listen to Her pearly laughter, and I was struck by the ease and assurance with which the almost illerate Anandamayi Ma responded to the most recondite questions of erudite scholars. A highlight of my stay with Anandamayi Ma was my personal interview during which I was alone with Her except for the presence of the interpreter. Facing Mataji I felt as though I was mentally stripped naked. It seemed to me that She could see into the innermost recesses of my mind. I asked Her to tell me what the chief obstacles on my spiritual path were. In response She revealed to me some glaring shortcomings of which I had been hiterto totally unaware. What She said was in no way flattering, in fact painful, but Anandamayi Ma said it so compassionately, although firmly, that I did not feel condemned. I realized what true loving detachment was.

The days at Anandamayi Ma Ashram flew by. Throughout my stay I had a feeling of utter contentment and peace--wordly problems were temporarily eclipsed. As though in the presence of a gigantic spiritual magnet my mind was engrossed in the divine. When thinking of the blissful experiences in Rajgir, there flashes even now through my mind a scence of a kirtana with Mataji. And I hear Her chanting, "He Bhagavan" (Oh Lord) 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 Diwan-i-Khas:

If on Earth be an Eden of bliss
It is this, it is this, none but this."

Bill

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Replies:

Re: Dr. Lipsky and Mrs. Lipsky -- Thomas Mark - 30 Sep 2001, 12:09
- Re: Dr. Lipsky and Mrs. Lipsky -- Bill - 2 Oct 2001, 12:10