The November online satsang with Swami Nirmalananda will be held on Saturday, November 7th at 12 noon, EST. To signup, visit the registration page and fill out the form, or use the button below. You can submit any questions you would like discussed when signing up.
Known throughout India as one of the twentieth century’s great spiritual luminaries, Sri Anandamayi Ma (1896–1982) inspired seekers of every background through her extraordinary wisdom, radiant joy, and unwavering awareness of the Divine. Her life became a living expression of the truths taught by the great spiritual traditions.
The small collection Matri Vani (“Mother’s Sayings”) preserves many of her brief but profound spiritual teachings. Though concise, these sayings contain practical guidance on meditation, devotion, self-knowledge, and God-realization.
This summer we published Swami Nirmalananda’s commentary on Ma’s words in Immortal Words of Anandamayi Ma, where he expands each saying with commentary drawn from nineteen years of personal association with Ma, making her timeless wisdom accessible to today’s readers.
He has also recorded a series of short videos on YouTube (Matri Vani Talks), speaking about the practical teaching contained in Anandamayi Ma’s teachings. In this transcript of a soon-to-be published video, he shares what he considers “the secret of life.”
Every Moment Belongs to God
Matri Vani Talk #12 — Swami Nirmalananda Giri
Anandamayi Ma said, “Every moment belongs to God.”
But it does mean every breath, every moment, it must be Godward. Literally every single second that goes by should be another second in the process of our going toward Self-realization.
Every microsecond of our life comes from God, should be given back to God.
All right, so how do we do it?
The “Secret of Life”
We do it with japa. Repetition. Constant, unbroken repetition of a mantra or of a name of God. That just depends on a person’s tradition and even on their preference.
Because the real idea, it’s the endeavor that we put forth, the desire to always be in the consciousness of God, that really matters. So then, that’s the essence.
We say “Rama, Rama, Rama” mentally, or we can say it out loud if we want, or we use a mantra: “Om Sri Ramaya Namah,” “Om Namah Sivaya.”
Constant Japa
But it should be constant, and our attention should always be able to be on it. Now we should do japa while we do other things. But if we work at it—and it takes work and it takes a desire to accomplish it—we can keep most of our mind on God, and then on the external things what belongs to them
Because since God is everything, obviously God needs to be the major focus. To learn that, that is one of the greatest lessons in life.
And actually, it’s the secret of life.
