See Brother Chidananda’s Memorial Tribute to Mrinalini Mata, VIDEO HERE
BROTHER CHIDANANDA (excerpts): Those of us who have had the blessing of seeing Mrinalini Mata–attending a satsang with her or even listening to her talks or watching her videos–I don’t know about you, but just as Sister Priya was saying, from the first time that I laid eyes on her, you just had a sense that this is a divine being in earthly form. …
“…At the Head…Men and Women of Divine Realization” ~ Paramahansaji
I have to tell you I feel like I’m stepping out on thin ice here because, as you’ve heard from our various of our brothers and sisters here, Mrinalini Mata, one of her foremost qualities was an utter self-effacement, an utter humility. And the last thing that she would want was for any of us to get up and draw attention to her accomplishments or any kind of praise. That was so foreign to her being and that great humility.
One of her great works was the completion and publication of our Guru’s commentary on the Bhagavad Gita, and that was in 1995. And after it was printed and was able to be distributed, she was meeting with the monastics and she confided, “I had just one wish when I was working on the Gita. There was one thought, one desire that followed me throughout the whole process, and that was that my part would be done completely anonymously. And she said, of course there is only one small problem with that desire because the entirety of the Gita is you have to give up every desire. (audience laughter)
Daya Mata speaks by phone to Mrinalini Mata and devotees at convocation August 1, 2004 during the release and dedication of The Second Coming of Christ (See DVD/Rental of the talk and dedication here)
And in fact is was our beloved Sri Daya Mata who insisted that the role played in this work, not only by Mrinalini Mata but by her predecessor Tara Mata, be acknowledged in the book. And the same when Guruji’s commentaries on the Gospels came out a few years later, The Second Coming of Christ, when we were finalizng that book and getting ready to print it. I recall speaking to Daya Mata and telling her that Mrinalini Mata was very, very reluctant to have any acknowledgment of her work on it. And then Ma so sweetly said, “I know dear, she’s so humble, but you just write up something that conveys what she’s done for Master’s work and send it to me. I’ll take care of her.” (much laughter) And so, stepping out here with a few stories tonight I am very much counting on Daya Mata’s continuing protection. (more laughter)
Among Mrinalini Mata’s personal qualities…that come to my mind is PURITY–purity of character, purity of perception, purity of discrimination, purity of her devotion to God and Guru. Even that purity came through physically in her voice. You know, you listen to some of those recordings–I remember that recording of hers, the first one was from the 1975 convocation, ‘The Guru: Messenger of Truth.’ And it just floored me. This sounds like an angel talking, with that purity of her being that was coming through.
And…I would say wisdom and discrimination. The lotus flower after which Guruji gave her that name, Mrinalini Mata, when he bestowed on her the final vows of sannyas in 1947 after she had only been in the ashram for about a year. He gave her that name of Mrinalini, meaning the lotus flower, and that’s a symbol. It has its roots in the mud but it unfolds that divine beauty in the clear, pure sunlight. So that wisdom and discrimination.
See also~ “In the Presence of a Manifest Divine Being” – MRINALINI MATA ~ Bro. Chidananda
And one symbolic story [about wisdom]–again this is one she would never have spoken of out of her own humility–but you may recall that beautiful story that she tells–it was on that recording that I just mentioned, ‘The Guru: Messenger of Truth,’ about the time in Encinitas that Guruji had her, and a number of the other young disciples that were in Encinitas at that time, he had them out on the lawn overlooking the ocean, and was speaking to them, giving them some encouragement. And then his mind, his gaze became fixed out on the horizon. And they followed his eyes as coming closer and closer, and looking at each one of them, and then just very withdrawn, very interiorized just pronamed. And afterwards he said: “Sri Yukteswarji has just come. I saw him as a great ball of light out on the horizon. He drew closer and closer and he passed through each one of you, blessing you.” And then he turned to Mrinalini Mata and said, “He came and passed through each one of you, and then he came and stood by you. That pleased me so much.” You know, the gyanavatar, the incarnation of wisdom, very symbolic. [Yogananda Site: No doubt from her humility, Mrianalini Mata did not mention the personal part about Sri Yukteswar standing next to her in her public audio talk.]
And then, her down to earth practicality. There was never an ounce of pretention with Mrinalini Ma. She loved to laugh, she loved to cook, she loved, as I said to clean. Her cooking was out of this world, literally. One time after she had prepared a wonderful curry for some guests that he had at the hermitage, he told her, when you get to the astral world you’re going to cook a banquet for Sri Yukteswar. He will love your cooking. (laughter)
See more about Mrinalini Mata and Sri Yukteswarji here
She related this story about the all important quality of attunment to the Guru. And that I think is one of her legacies to all of us, not only the way that she has explained it, the way that she has taught us all. The methods of forming that relationship, that inner attunement with the Guru, despite the fact that he hasn’t been in form all these years. She said one time, toward the end of Master’s life, he said to her–they were sitting quietly together–he said to her, “All these years you have had this mountain of protection with you,” meaning the physical presence of the Guru. “You must be so in tune that when I am gone you won’t feel any difference.” And Mrinalini Ma said, with tears in her eyes, she said, “Master, when you go, please take me with you.” And then immediately she said she got very embarrassed. What a presumptuous thing to say to the Guru but she said, “I meant it with all my heart. And he was so sweet. I was sitting on the floor at his feet, and he looked at me and he said, ‘I could. I have the power to do so. But then, who would carry on my work?’” And he said the same thing…to Daya Mata and several of the other ones.
Mrinalini Mata is on the far left; Daya Mata is next to Paramahansaji
And then on another occasion, “When you have gray hair and false teeth and wear glasses, I will look down and say, alright. You can come now.” (laughter) Well, as far as I know she didn’t have false teeth but (laughter), Master loved to paint these word pictures. But obviously he was seeing the long, long life of dedication and spiritual leadership, dedicated service. Up until the very last weeks of her life, she was working with heart and soul to fulfill that assignment he had given her so many years ago, ‘The lessons will be your life’s work.’
And…her quality of dedication and hard work. You know for decades this entire organization was carried on principably by Daya Mata, Ananda Mata, and Mrinalini Mata. A tremendous burden they shouldered all those decades. …
And really it was a superhuman effort, there’s no other way to describe it. The body was weakening, the body was in its last days, but for that last year or so just with incredible will power, endurance, stamina, determination and of course, love, to finish what Master had asked of her. It was an amazing conclusion to a supremely victorious life.
See also~ The Lessons, MRINALINI MATA’S Life’s Work ~ Bro. Chidananda
Interesting, one of the very last lessons that she worked on was a very beautiful one called ‘The relation of karma to health and prosperity.’ My note says this was on July 16, just three weeks ago. And in that lesson it has these words of Master. He says, “Sometimes great souls suffer ill health and poverty because of their efforts to free their fellowman from the clutches of disease and want. They give their bodies for a place for others’ tendency seeds to momentarily sprout and then be destroyed. They sacrifice their bodies and possessions and devote their minds solely to the task of helping others escape the fruits of their past errors. Great souls do this of their own free will. They are compelled neither by karma, nor by God to make this sacrifice.”
After she reviewed that passage she said, “Master told us once when his own body at the end of his life was undergoing such physical suffering on behalf of the many, many disciples he was helping metaphysically by taking that on to his own body, and he said that Sri Yukteswar had told him, many years earlier, ‘You’re taking on too much. Your body won’t be able to handle it. And Master said, ‘Guruji, I don’t want to hear about it.’ And in his compassion just kept right on. And so, she was just pointing out his example of his compassion in taking on the karma of others.
See~ Beloved Mrinalini Mata ~ 70 Years of Love and Service to the Guru
And I said to her, ‘Yes Mrinalini Ma. And how tremendously Master was helped by his great disciples who aided in taking some of that karma on their own forms. Daya Mata, Ananda Mata, you Mrinalini Mata, and others.’ She was quiet for a moment, and then she said, ‘Yes. When I was made president I didn’t realize how much it would be. But Master had told me many years ago that my body would suffer in the latter part of my life.’ …
Master once said to her privately, ‘You know why you suffered so much in ill health when you were a child? It is because in your past life you took karma of others.’ And she also wrote this privately, she said that one morning Master greeted me and blessed me, and he said, ‘I have taken all your karma. You know what that means?’ And she said she wanted to hear what that means from Master’s own lips, but he would say no more. Well, clearly what it means is the Guru had taken from her soul, from her spirit all the residue of her past incarnations of karma and therefore everything that she endured, everything that she suffered through, was all of the benefit of Master’s work and for all of us.
Then I reminded her what she had told us, what Master had said to her when she was just a young disciple, ‘Some day you will have many, many to train.’ And I told how grateful all of us were for everything she had done for us both outwardly and inwardly. And humbly, so sweetly she replied, ‘I hope I did enough.’
Brother Chidananda, President and Spiritual head of Self-Realization Fellowship/Yogoda Satsanga of India
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See also~
“…At the Head…Men and Women of Divine Realization” ~ Paramahansaji
“In the Presence of a Manifest Divine Being” – MRINALINI MATA ~ Bro. Chidananda
The Lessons, MRINALINI MATA’S Life’s Work ~ Bro. Chidananda
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