User:Cynthia Hubbard

Shri Anandi Ma
Shri Anandi Ma is the spiritual heir to the path of Kundalini Maha Yoga. For many years, she was known as Asha Ma or Ashadevi. In January 1993, Shri Dhyanyogi Madhusudandas, then the heir to this ancient lineage of yogic masters, gave her the spiritual name, Anandi Ma, which means, "One who is in Bliss and keeps others in Bliss." Her early years passed in a quiet and uneventful manner, in an environment rich with spiritual practice and energy. One day in 1972, at the age of fourteen, she spontaneously entered a very deep, meditative state. In her own words, she saw "the light of a million suns," and in the same moment, had a vision of the Divine Mother, and merged with Her.

Shri Anandi Ma's father went to Shri Dhyanyogi and asked him to come, meet her, and provide guidance and assistance. Shri Dhyanyogi went to their home and woke her. Later that day he asked her to describe her vision of the Divine Mother. "Did you see her as a picture, a statue, a living being?" Shri Anandi Ma answered, "Just as I see you now." Later that day, Shri Dhyanyogi said that Shri Anandi Ma was the most spiritually advanced person, for her age, he had ever met. With her parents' consent, she left home shortly after receiving Shaktipat to stay permanently with Shri Dhyanyogi.

He took her under his wing and trained her to control and radiate her energies for the welfare of humanity, especially by giving Shaktipat. He said, "I have been asked by my Guru to hand over the powers of this lineage to her," and put aside all his major activities to work almost exclusively with her, day and night, for four years. During this period Shri Anandi Ma would enter profound states of meditation for hours or days at a time. From the beginning, Shri Anandi Ma worked alongside Shri Dhyanyogi wherever he traveled, and accompanied him when he came to America in 1976. When Shri Dhyanyogi returned to India in 1980, he told Shri Anandi Ma it was time for her to continue his work in the world.

Today, Shri Anandi Ma travels extensively in India, the United States and Europe, conducting meditation programs and yoga retreats. They provide spiritual guidance and Shaktipat initiation to sincere seekers. As part of her role as Shri Dhyanyogi's spiritual heir, Shri Anandi Ma has also assumed the responsibility for continuing the humanitarian works begun during Shri Dhyanyogi's lifetime. These include operating a hospital, sponsoring eye surgery camps, and providing food for the poor. In all these works, she continues to spread the love and light of her lineage and of her beloved guru, Shri Dhyanyogi Madhusudandas.