Evolution of love

MATRI GURU NAMAMAHAM

In winter 1944 an English Sadhaka, Lewis Thompson, who had lived in South India for a number of years, came to stay at Rajghat School. Being the only other European, I was requested to receive him and see that he was comfortable. It did not take me long to find out that he was a quite unusually earnest seeker after Truth, in fact ruthlessly single minded. He had come to Ceylon at the age of 23 and one year later proceeded to South India in quest of spiritual guidance which he had in vain in England and France. He had stayed in Sri Ramana Maharshi's Ashram for seven years with intervals and had received initiation from a well known Guru, a jnani of the South. He had made it a point to meet and study closely everyone who was believed to be highly advanced spiritually. He had been to the Sri Aurobinda Ashram twice for some length of time, had met Swami Ramdas and Mother Krishnabai, J.Krishnamurti, Sri Jogaswami of Ceylon and a number of others who are difficult to approach and known only to a very few. He had obviously developed an intuition as to what was real knowledge and attainment rather than booklearning or discursive knowledge. To my question why he had come to North India when he had found so much in the South, he gave as one of his reasons that he had seen a photo of Holy Mother who travelled in the North for whom he had immediately felt a strong attraction. He consulted his Guru who had said, "Yes, go and meet Her." He showed me the picture. "Oh," I exclaimed, "this is Anandamayi Maa, I have had Her darshan." He confirmed, "Yes, this is the name by which She is known."I believe She is in Varanasi at present," I said, "one of the teachers of this school goes to see Her often." The next morning Thompson set out to meet Sri Sri Maa and was not seen again at Rajghat that day. It must be made clear that Thompson had a very sharp, critical intellect and was extremely difficult to please. Only the very best, the highest interested him and he coldly use to dismiss everything else.
To my amazement, I found him all but in raptures when I asked him about his impression of Sri Anandamayi Maa. "As soon as I saw Her," he said, "I knew that my intuition had been correct---except that I found far more than l had expected. I simply could not tear myself away. When She retired for Her meal and rest I spent the time somewhere near about and went back to see Her again in the evening and remained till late at night. I have never seen anyone like Her. There is not the slightest trace of an ego to be detected in Her. Her eyes look right through you into the far unknown distance. Her voice is absolutely impersonal and so is, Her walk." "How can you possibly judge in a single day?" I questioned, "you have not even talked to Her." (Thompson did not know either Bengali or Hindi) "I am quite certain," he declared with emphasis, "I have sent many years studying the great men of India and have developed some insight in this respect. There is no need to talk. I watched Her very carefully; I have never before come face to face with such perfection; there is no flaw in Her, none whatever.
It naturally made a deep impression on me to hear someone talk in this strain, whom I had found utterly unemotional, detached and onepointed. I could hardly help wanting to know Mataji for myself and at closer quarters. But opportunity did not offer so quickly.
That summer I arrived at Almora only in June. Mataji was just on the point of leaving for Dehradun with Her whole party. I found Her engaged in an animated conversation in Hindi with some visitors, but alas, I only understand fragments of it which I could hardly piece together. After a short while Mataji left. I deemed myself lucky to have caught at least a glimpse of Her that day.
Mataji can sometimes be heard to say; "There is a time for everything. No one can come to me until the time is ripe." Almost two years after I had had my first darshan of Mataji my lucky stars allowed me at long last to make closer contact with Her.