Today’s story is a small snippet from the life of Anandmayi Ma (Sri Ma) — one of the spiritual titans of Sanatana Dharma. Her name literally means bliss-soaked mother. She was born in a small village called Kheora, which is now in Bangladesh. She was given the name Nirmala Sundari Devi, which translates to immaculate beauty. She was a very happy yet detached child who grew up in quaint village surroundings. Everyone loved her since she would smilingly carry out whatever service she could to help them. She also spent a lot of time with animals and trees and often fell into spiritual trances. She was barely 13 when she married Ramini Mohan Chakravarthy. She suddenly went from being in her carefree environment to a demanding one at her husband’s house. While her husband worked and stayed at Ashtagram, she lovingly cooked, cleaned the house, fetched water, and cared for everyone in the family without a single protest. She willingly took on additional work, and people mistook her simplicity for lack of intellectual capability. It took years for people to realize that it was out of pure compassion and love that she cared for them. Her seemingly simple-minded behavior was simply a manifestation of pure love in a world driven by transactional relationships.

Anandmayi Ma was 18 when she took permission from both families and moved to Ashtagram to stay with her husband. She used to fondly call him Bholenath — the simple one — which is a name given to Lord Shiva. Some stories talk about how every time her husband approached her to consummate their marriage, her body would take on the form of Ma Kali. He gradually realized that his wife was a manifestation of the divine mother, and that’s why Bholenath is such an apt name for him. It takes having the discipline of Shiva to see and honor the feminine divinity. He later took spiritual initiation from his wife and began to relate to her as his Guru. This was an extraordinary situation and one that required great courage. Bholenath spent the rest of his life as his wife’s primary disciple and cared for her well-being because Anandmayi Ma was utterly uninterested in her body.

One day when Ma was bathing in a lake, a spontaneous thought arose in her mind. “How would it be to play the role of a Sadhaka”? She immediately started walking the path of Sadhana. She would complete her household chores, wait for her husband to return, and prepare his hookah meticulously. Once he settled down, she asked for permission to begin her Sadhana. Then, she would sit and begin to repeat the word “Hari,” “Hari,” “Hari” and be immersed in divine bliss. She used the name “Hari” because she had seen her father worship the divine with this name. A few days into this routine, Bholenath saw her automatically assume various Yogic postures. When he asked her why she said Hari since they were not Vaishnavas, she asked him if she should say “Shiva.” The change in the name had no impact on her Sadhana. He saw her body move in absolute sync with the unseen music that pervades this Universe, and sometimes she lay for many hours in total bliss. She lived this way for almost six years before initiating herself. She calls these six years Sadhana Lila or the game of Sadhana she played. She had nothing to be attained spiritually through Sadhana. She was already a realized soul. It was simply her “lila” or play to demonstrate the possibilities available to all of us.

On August 3, 1922, Ma conducted her own initiation, simultaneously becoming the Guru, the disciple, and the Ishta. She performed all the intricate rituals laid out by the scriptures in great detail. Here is what she said later about her initiation.

Ma goes on to lead a spiritual revolution in India, and you can learn more about her journey here. Today, I want you to focus on the courage it would have taken for Ma and Bholenath Baba to walk this path. India is a largely traditional society. It holds a deep regard for both the social roles of a husband and wife and the role of a guru in the spiritual process. Anandmayi Ma, in her own gentle yet persuasive way, challenged both notions and established a precedent for all women and men who wished to walk the spiritual path.

Applying This Wisdom At Work

I want to talk about the role that courage and clarity of conviction play in deciding your career choices. Almost everyone I know sees life as a straight line. Study hard in school, prepare insanely hard for competitive exams, attend a very expensive college, study extremely hard to ensure you find a good job, work like crazy to payout student debt, and then buy an expensive house and car, save for your kid’s education, save for your retirement, and retire in style.

This long and elaborate dream is why America’s student debt is currently 1.5 trillion dollars. It’s become so bad that the president has announced some relief by canceling $10000 in student debt. The following video summarizes it brilliantly.

Basically, people were promised that an expensive (relative to income) college education would grant them jobs and financial independence. The relatively slow growth of the economy and the lack of practical skills imparted in college meant a large portion of graduates were not being paid enough to pay off their loans and lead a comfortable life. The rising inflation and soaring real estate costs acted as multipliers and made the crisis a lot worse.

How do you break out of such a vicious cycle? The banks want to loan you the money. The colleges want to take it from you. Your friends and parents want you to get expensive education, and all your friends are doing the same.

One of the ways is to identify your passion early and follow it relentlessly. At some point, nature will reward your persistence with either money or fulfillment. We can take inspiration from the life of Jony Ive, the legendary design leader from Apple.

Jony decided to study design, influenced by his teenage love for cars. However, when he checked out car design courses, including the one offered by the prestigious one in the Royal College of London, he did not find any inspiration there. He chose to study at Newcastle Polytechnic and was exposed to the philosophies of minimalistic design that had roots in Germany. His passion and dedication to the stream saw him win the RSA Student Design award, which granted him a small stipend. He used that money to visit Palo Alto, California and met various design experts, including Robert Brunner. He then joined a London Startup Design Agency and built a diverse array of products, such as ovens and toothbrushes. Gradually he became tired of working for clients who dictated his design. Robert Brunner, who had wanted to recruit him for years, had started designing products for Apple and hired Jony. He was ready to leave apple due to a host of issues when Steve Jobs took over the reins of Apple. Together they designed some of the best products that revolutionized multiple industries.

Jony’s refusal to follow the crowd and hold true to his passion paid rich rewards. One of the biggest challenges you face in life is to find your element, and I recommend you lean on Ken Robinson to help you there.

Once you find your element, you can look at the various means to acquire the skills needed for excellence in that domain. That clarity will help you find courses and colleges that don’t charge you an arm and a leg to give you an education.

Spiritual Lesson from this Story

Do you know why it was such a big deal that Anandmayi Ma initiated herself? The guru-shishiya tradition is the most sacred tradition of Indian spirituality. My spiritual name is Akshay Om, and I take that to mean my first and foremost duty in this world is to act in accordance with my Guru’s teachings.

Let’s see what my Guru Om Swami has to say about initiation.

Swami also says that a guru takes on a disciple’s Karma to enable them to make significant progress in the spiritual path. Here is a beautiful and heart-touching video explaining the same.