Most Popular Indian Female spiritual Yogi's you should know and follow
Life has been functioning rather differently since the past few months, to say the least. There is a lot to be grateful about for women like us. I’m assuming that while this article is being read, its reader is protected by the four walls of their homes. You, also just like yours truly, probably have kids who are either working remotely or are attending classes online.
Or maybe, just like me at this very moment, you’re just waiting for your house help to show up to do the regular chores while you sip on your green tea, eat baked snacks on your study table which also houses your laptop and your current quarantine read (Currently reading: Everything is figureoutable by Marie Forleo. Highly recommended!)
Whatever the situation might be, I hope that you and your loved ones are healthy and safe, wherever you or they are.
When you are a woman in her 40s (Which, let’s not forget, is the new 30s!) who has spent time in trying to empower women and helping teenage kids with special emotional needs through yoga for a couple of decades now, the mind automatically starts thinking about them. How are they doing? Are they safe? Are they healthy? How are they dealing with such times? Hence the mind only gets its greatest joy by simply being in touch with them, Which is something I do religiously every day.
While connecting with my women or yoga kids virtually, you tend to wonder about what you mean to them. I may have a rough idea of that. To an extent, some of them think of me as this wise soul who has most of the answers and/or tools to help them with whatever it is they are dealing with. You know, like a Guru.
This kind of thought process can get one thinking about all the spiritual gurus that have walked in the face of this earth since its inception and how, for whatever reason, the male spiritual leaders are the ones that have got to be under the spotlight most of the time.
We have all heard about Osho, Sri Ravi Shankar and Sadhguru, but how many times do you hear about female spiritual yoga gurus who are spreading the message that is on the same lines as that of the aforementioned saints. That is not to say that it is unfair towards female yogis, but all I am saying is that India, much like its male priests, has enough of women too that are preaching love, humanity, equality and empowerment, and they deserve the spotlight too!
The article that is going to follow these introductory passages is an attempt at shining that halogen at the women priests around the world who are silently (but effectively) changing the world.
Here’s hoping that these ladies and their constant strive for betterment inspires you as much as they have inspired me.
1. Mata Amritanandamayi Devi (Amma the hugging saint)
It is perhaps an uncontested fact that one of the most popular Indian female gurus that the subcontinent has been blessed by is Mata Amritanandamayi Devi, who is fondly known as Amma the Hugging Saint.
The year was 1953 and on a chilly winter day of September 27th, a beautiful soul had taken an incarnation somewhere in a coastal village in Kerala. This soul, in the form of a baby, was unlike any other. Instead of crying like most of the babies do, she smiled. What was also astonishing was the fact that at the time of her birth, her skin was dark blue in colour. Her name was Sudhamani Idamannel.
During her early years, it was clear that she was unique. She started walking and talking at the age of six months and singing by the age of three. Amma was allegedly composing beautiful, extraordinarily profound hymns for Lord Krishna.
At a very early age, Sudhamani had learned to make the best of her adversities and had learned the art of loving all of humankind selflessly. It is sometime during these formative years that she committed herself to give selfless love to anyone and everyone in ways known and unique. Her unique methods would involve simply embracing the affected and she would feel their emotional weight lifting. This would become her mode of operating and it is due to this unconditionally loving nature, she would come to be known as Amma (Mother to all).
One can safely say that Amma is the human embodiment of selflessness, compassion and love. This female Indian guru is what you would call an intellect, a humanitarian and a selfless loving soul all rolled into one.
It is said that Amma is deeply rooted in the truth of the universe and she selflessly shares her knowledge with those who have the thirst for it. For the emotionally wounded, she is an infinite reservoir of love and for the needy, she’s a generous humanitarian.
“If it is one man’s karma to suffer, isn’t it our dharma (duty) to help ease his suffering and pain?” - Amma
Amma is a personality that is known all over the globe and has interacted with the who’s who of the world.
Here’s what some of them have to say:
Amma has embraced 26 million people. But she has done this as an action not only of giving but as an action of example. I welcome this saint, this angel, this person of active goodness. - Sharon Stone
Her energy is just incredible. I picked up youthful, bright, exciting energy. She is endlessly just giving, giving, giving. I think a lot of people need to feel her energy because it will make a difference in their life. - Doug E Fresh, American Hip-hop legend
I was feeling down about life’n’love. Then I met a woman named Ammachi and She gave me back my smile. Darkness can not compete with her - Jim Carey.
You can learn more about the female Indian spiritual yogi Amma right here.
2. Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi
Once you start growing in your self-realization, you develop such a personality that you see the whole world as one. - Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi
The soul of this enlightenment Indian yogini took a corporal form on March 21st, 1923, but her story began in British India, a time when she, a girl born in the city of Chimdawara, Madhya Pradesh, began living with none other than the father of the nation, Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi left a lasting impression on everyone, including Nirmala Devi Ji, who got acquainted with him during the year 1930 when she was merely seven years old. Before she knew it, she was taken under Gandhi’s wing by the man himself, from whom she gained deep insights about human nature and psyche. She also allegedly began figuring out ways of bringing about a social revolution. Soon, she became a freedom fighter and stood by Gandhi, while she simultaneously set an example for all the college students at the time.
It would be many years after Independence before the yoga guru began her transformative work through Sahaja Yoga, which focuses upon finding the inner balance within oneself and unleashing their true potential through awakening self-realization and self-awareness. She would go on to teach the Yoga form to millions over the course of four decades until the end of her life in 2011.
She is the primordial mother - Wayne Dyer, eminent American author.
She is also the author of several books such as Sahaja Yoga, Meta Modern Era, The Journey Within and many more.
To know more about the famous female indian spiritual yogi Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi visit Sahaja Yoga website
3. Anandmurti Gurumaa
"Life is the most fragile free gift of the lord. Handle with care." - Anandmurti Gurumaa
Anandmurti Gurumaawas born as Gurpreet Kaur Grover on the 8th of April, 1966 in Amritsar. She has one brother and two sisters and is the second eldest among them. She had begun showing an insatiable thirst for knowledge very early on in her life.
From the youthful age of nine, she would put forth astonishing inquiries before her teachers and others that they would be astonished by her sharp astuteness and profound bits of knowledge in otherworldly existence. People around her thought it was amazing that an offspring of her age could put such inquiries. Her going on a pilgrimage as a fifteen-year-old girl where she was in the company of admirers and searchers, was not an incident which amazed or surprised her family.
Within the matter of a few years, this yoga guru was conducting her own spiritual talk sessions also known as Satsang and travelling all around the globe by the age of 33.
Anandmurti Gurumaa is also one of those Indian female gurus and mystics who is making waves at an unprecedented scale in recent times. Moved by the pervasive plight of the masses, she has been bestowing upon people the greatest gift ever viz eradicating the root cause of all suffering. And she has been doing this relentlessly for over thirty years through innumerable discourses and meditation camps held in India and abroad. She has extensively spoken on a myriad of subjects like mind, meditation, emotions, health, indulgence, reality and god, to name a modest few. She has also given erudite commentaries on numerous scriptures including Srimad Bhagawad Gita, Sri Guru Gita and Gurbani, amongst others. She has devised a vast array of meditation methods to foster the growth of all those seeking to delve within, written several books of wisdom
Gurumaa is characterised by a mesmerising persona, piercing eyes, a crystal clear mind, the wisdom of the ages and a beautiful demeanour - which constitutes the personality of Anandmurti Gurumaa. Defying definition, pragmatic, realistic, of liberal views, she is open-minded like the sky and intense like space.
Guru maa, in addition to a myriad of things she is, is also the author of some pretty revolutionary books such as Mind Undressed, Aatma Bodh and Know Thyself, amongst many others.
She’s an All-In-One guru - The Dean Of Syracuse University
Want to know more about the famous indian female spiritual guru Anandmurti Gurumaa? visit her Facebook page
4. Mother Meera