Next month the Indian ‘hugging saint’ Amma will visit the Netherlands again after many years. My friend Aniruddhan shares his spiritual journey and how he met his guru Amma in the eighties.
How and where did you meet your guru (spiritual teacher)?
I met my guru in the summer of 1987 in Northern California. I was living off-grid in a treehouse, surrounded by a beautiful organic garden. I practiced yoga and Native American Shamanic traditions, living alongside Native American elders who taught me their ways.
My Spiritual Master Mata Amritanandamayi Amma, came to visit a place about 15 minutes from my home and that’s where we met, at the whispering pines lodge in Miranda California. From then on, I saw Amma every year when she was visiting. Meanwhile I was still going deeply into Mother Mary, the Rossary and Christ. However, from the moment I took my mantra, that is when Amma became my Guru. This was 8 years after we first met. From then I started chanting my mantra and stopped meditations with the rosary 📿.
My personal experience with Amma as a guru
In June 1995, I took Amma as my Guru and asked for a mantra during her retreat at Washington State Park, Fort Flagler. Not expecting to see her again, I found myself in Boston just a month later, at another retreat. I was deeply seeking clarity, sitting in the basketball stadium with about 500 people, journaling to Amma about a painful and confusing situation I had faced that summer with a wise spiritual elder. In my journal, I wrote, “Amma, who am I?”
How I received a spiritual name from Amma
Suddenly, someone tapped me and pointed toward Amma. Swamiji was waving at me, and I thought it was for someone else. I pointed to myself, and he shook his head, signaling me to come. I was confused and wondered if I had done something wrong. I stood up and went to Swamiji, who told me to sit next to Amma. I still didn’t understand what was happening, but after sitting by her for a while, watching her give Darshan (hugs), I asked Swamiji what I had done. He looked at me and said, “Amma is going to give you a name.”
I was overwhelmed because I had just written to Amma, “Who am I?” Humble and awestruck, I realized she knew my thoughts and feelings. After sitting quietly for about half an hour, Amma looked at me, and Swamiji told me to put my head on her shoulder. A few minutes later, Amma whispered in my ear three times, “Aniruddhan, Aniruddhan, Aniruddhan.”
Swamiji wrote the name on a piece of paper, and Amma instructed him to add, “The Freed One” underneath. I walked away in disbelief— I had never asked for a name, only written to her, “Who am I?”
Not knowing how to pronounce the name or its meaning, I went to Swamiji’s brother and showed him the paper. He looked serious and said, “No, Amma didn’t give you that name.” I insisted, “Yes, she did, about 10 minutes ago.” He stared at Amma for a moment, as if questioning the truth, and after a few minutes, he replied, “I guess she did.”
I asked what was wrong, and he explained that Amma had never given the name of God to anyone. Aniruddhan, he said, is the son of God. I was stunned. He taught me how to pronounce the name, and it took me time to get it right. He also told me there were many stories about Aniruddhan in the Mahabharata and recommended I read about him.
Some meanings of the name include: An incarnation of Vishnu, “the Sustainer,” and the grandson of Krishna. He is described as the light of 10,000 suns, the strength of 10,000 elephants, the unopposed, and the unstoppable. The Mahabharata states that at the moment of death, one should contemplate the light of Aniruddhan, for he is the way and the door to God. This was all surreal to me, but in my humble understanding, Aniruddhan is the Christ of India, thousands of years before Christ. Christ means Light—a light unto the world. In my simple view, we are all meant to become a light to the world and embody Christ-like qualities.
That summer of 1995, my love for Amma was permanently imprinted in my heart.
A spiritual name as inspiration in life
Being given a spiritual name by a Sat Guru is different than getting a name from others. The meaning of a spiritual name represents what you should aspire towards. The qualities the name represents are meant to be incorporated in your life and followed in order to achieve greater value in this life. As such, my spiritual name inspires me to be that which it represents. The name Aniruddhan has many representations and I was told to refer to the Book of the Mahabarata. There is a lot that is written about Aniruddhan in this book so I found an extensive amount of information about Aniruddhan and his story. The name in itself has so many meanings and the stories about different incarnations of Aniruddhan are many.
Writing about this is difficult, as it would take many words to fully express what I’ve learned and what this name means to me. Simply stating its significance could easily be misunderstood. I’ve paused here to figure out how best to explain it. Even a brief version is complex and hard to condense.
In 1995, during the first year I received my mantra, Amma gave me my name. At the time, I had recently experienced a fallout with a spiritual teacher, and I was journaling, troubled and asking myself, “Who am I?” I was in Boston at a retreat, on the basketball court of a beautiful university, when Amma, about 20 meters away, suddenly called me over. The Swami told me to sit next to her, but I didn’t understand why. When I asked, he explained that Amma would give me a name.
Overcome with emotion, I bowed my head to the floor. The Swami helped me up and told me to sit beside Amma, as she would whisper my name in my ear. In that moment, I felt an overwhelming sense of peace and joy. About 20 minutes later, Amma whispered “Aniruddhan” into my ear and instructed the Swami to write “The Freed One” on a piece of paper.
There was some controversy surrounding the name, but soon Amma began giving similar names to others.
Amma komt binnenkort naar Nederland
Op 24 en 25 november is Amma (waarschijnlijk) voor de laatste keer in Nederland in de broodfabriek in Rijswijk. Je kunt daar langskomen om haar te ontmoeten. Het event is gratis, omdat zij het voor iedereen toegankelijk wil maken.
Ook interessant? Ontmoet de Indiase vrouwelijke guru Amma
Eind november is de Indiase guru Amma na jaren weer in Nederland! Lees er hier meer over of kijk en luister naar de allereerste Shanti Grooves podcast:
Aum Shanti, Shanti, Shanti ♡
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