The following is a talk that Shri Anandi Ma gave at the Hanuman Jayanti celebration in Antioch on April 7, 2012.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

In the Ramayan, Lord Hanuman meets Vibhishan, and Vibhishan addresses him by stating, “I am convinced now that without the grace of the Lord, a saint cannot come into one’s life.” Similarly, what we have done today in chanting the 108 Hanuman Chalisas, is also possible only because of that grace of God and Guru; and that grace has definitely befallen you.  That’s why you are here and why you participated.

. . . whenever Hanumanji is remembered, whenever he is thought of, because of his state of purity and because he has the Lord under his spell, under his love, that same energy can flow to and through us.

Hanumanji is beautiful in every aspect of his being.  In the section of the Ramayan where he finds Sitaji, that entire episode is described as the Sundarkand, “the chapter that is beautiful.” The state of his perfection was so profound, with not an atom of blemish or flaw, and in the sense of that complete beauty he is personified. He is so beautiful, he is so pure, he is so complete that he has kept the Lord under his spell; he has the ability to do that as a devotee. So whenever Hanumanji is remembered, whenever he is thought of, because of his state of purity and because he has the Lord under his spell, under his love, that same energy can flow to and through us. Doing what we did today, chanting 108 Hanuman Chalisas is typically not that easy. Many people attempt to do it but are unable to complete all 108. So it must be acknowledged that without grace this cannot unfold.

When Hanumanji jumped across the ocean to fly from India to Lanka, the first experience he had was when, through the inspiration of the Lord, the mountain rose up from the bottom of the ocean and offered him a place to rest before he continued his journey.

But Hanumanji said, “Thank you for your offer, but until I complete the job of serving my master, how can I rest? There is no rest for me.” The same applies to us. That very subtle and profound teaching is for every disciple, for every student: until the work of their master is complete, meaning until they themselves reach self-realization, they should not stop, they should take no rest until that goal is achieved. Shri Vivekananda said also, “Arise, awake, and stop not until the goal is reached.” So truly speaking, until we reach that final goal we also must be in that mode of no rest. Nothing and no one should stop you from achieving that goal, and even if death itself comes, it doesn’t matter, you don’t stop short of achieving that goal. That determination is absolutely required.

As the chapter continues, there are other obstacles that come Hanuman’s way, but using his own intelligence and that attitude of being totally surrendered to the Lord, he is able to overcome all those obstacles and reach the goal. When he reaches Lanka, prior to finding Sitaji, he meets Ravana’s brother, Vibhishan, who said, “I am living here like a tongue between the teeth.” Our tongue is surrounded by the 32 teeth; it never knows when one of the 32, if not all 32, is going to bite it off. It is always living in that space and, similarly, Vibhishan said, “I am devoted to the Lord but I live in all this darkness.” Even in the midst of the darkness, the key was that he had joined himself to the Lord, he had surrendered completely and he was constantly in the name of the Lord. So in spite of being surrounded by darkness, he himself was radiating with that light.

Many a time we experience the same, that we are surrounded by too much negativity. That’s the way of life, we cannot change that, but we can bring in the light within us through our faith, love, and practices. And if that happens, who cares if there is darkness all around as long as you have the light within? That is what’s needed. Your inner light is needed to bring light around you and remove that darkness, but you cannot complain about the darkness outside. Vibhishan was so surrendered that he attained everything, the kingdom of Lanka and the Lord Himself.

That episode of the Sundarkand is nothing but an aspect of kundalini maha yoga. Sitaji is the mother kundalini; when she is dormant she is with the demon, Ravana, and  Hanumanji, the guru, needs to awaken her, so to say, to bring the news and with effort raise the kundalini from the muladhar chakra and unite her with Lord Shiva in the crown.

The whole battle of the Ramayana, between Ram and Ravana, is nothing but our inner battle with our positive and our negative samskaras. We are in that constant battle both internally and externally and we have to overcome our own inner negative tendencies, our inner attitudes that are blocking our growth. No matter what tasks you want to perform, obstacles will always come, and Guruji always said when you want to do something good, there will be more obstacles. Guruji used to say, “A good work has hundreds of obstacles. But a strong person doesn’t stop at any.” So never lose sight of the goal no matter what obstacles come. Or there might be situations that are misleading, distracting from the absolute goal. This is like when Hanumanji was asked to rest, and that rest could have become a major blow in the accomplishment of his final goal.

Guruji stressed and taught that all His life, there is only one goal to achieve, and that is to meet God again. Everything else is useless.

So whether it is positive or negative, until the goal is achieved, you don’t want to stop. Guruji stressed and taught that all His life, there is only one goal to achieve, and that is to meet God again. Everything else is useless. Until you achieve that, don’t even waste your time and energy on anything else. And once you have the source, you will have everything within it and below it, but if you get distracted in the little things of life and you miss the goal, you have still lost everything in life. So constantly remember Hanumanji, derive the inspiration from him, and keep yourself open so that his grace, his energy can flow to and through you and lead you to that ultimate, nirgun nirak aur nyare, the one who is the absolute, the atmaram.  May you achieve the welfare of your soul.

Sarve bhavantu sukhinah

Sarve santu niramayah

Sarve bhadrani pasyantu

Ma kascid dukhabhag bhavet

Ma kascid dukhabhag bhavet

Om shantih shantih shantih