Message #49148

[Jitendra Hydonus]

"During one of the very popular satsangs in Varanasi, a question was raised regarding rebirths.  Pandit Vaidyanath said, "Ma, we believe in rebirths according to karmic laws."  Sri Ma, "Yes, that is so."
      Question:  "But Christians believe in one birth only. After death they are to wait for the Day of Judgement when God will decide their destinies."
          Sri Ma:  "Yes, that is the truth."
           Everyone laughed to hear Sri Ma endorse two seemingly opposite points of view. Sri Ma also joined in saying, "Bholanath used to call me queen of the Appellate Court ('Appealeshwari'), because I seem to agree with everyone.  The fact is that I truly see the interconnections between statements; the singulars one by one lead to the totality of infinity. What is there to reject and what is there to accept? Beliefs belong to the plane of the mind; the mind is shaped and determined by untold predilections. The proneness toward a set of beliefs rises from predilections which are not known to you. I see that whoever is expressing a belief is convinced that it is so and from his point of view that is so indeed!"
              Sri Ma had a way of diffusing doctrinal disputations. She laid stress on the quest for knowledge which alone could resolve doubts. A God-oriented attitude of mind was needed.  Unless and until man takes the path toward the supreme, he cannot find peace; therefore the remembrance of God must be sustained under all conditions and circumstances.
                She would say, "You ask, how to achieve peace? I say to you, if you constantly live with things which are unquiet and disturbing, how can you hope for tranquility?  Sitting near a fire, you cannot feel cool. To attain God is to attain peace. All that is helpful toward this end is of the nature of serenity. There is no other way to peace". "
           ~ Bithika Mukerji
(In Her Book: "My Days with Sri Ma Anandamayi" pages 231 -  232)

Photo:  Sri Anandamayi Ma