The Self Resting in Itself

About the BookThe Self Resting in Itself These are unpublished diaries of a German devotee of Sri Ma Anandamayi who stayed in her proximity from 1963 for almost 20 years.
Melita Maschmann (1918-2010) had already been an established journalist and writer of several books in German, which gave her the gift of keen observation and reflection.
Her intimate and forthright accounts from 1966-1982 reveal both the challenges of living in an Indian ashram environment, her touching impressions and perspectives of Sri Ma’s lila, and her love for the Divine Mother that she had found in Her.

 

Editor’s NoteThese diaries were originally written in German, and were a personal record which Melita Maschmann gave to a German devotee in the 1990’s to be published as a book. It took another 20 years, however, until the material was digitalized and also translated from German to English.
The diaries about Melita’s time with Anandamayi Ma are being made available to devotees because they reveal experiences and observations, which are little documented, of a foreign devotee who was around Sri Ma from 1963-1982, often being subjected to poor health and living conditions, climatic and housing, which a normal Westerner would find extremely trying. During that period the author returned to Germany for a few months, but other than that she was always in the proximity of Sri Ma or the ashram. She was already an established author and journalist even before coming to Sri Ma in 1962. Travelling from Afghanistan to India for a fortnight a sheer coincidence” brought her to Sri Ma. This meeting was so profound that she accompanied Ma for the next almost two years and finally stayed in India as her home. She subsequently wrote another book on her experiences with Sri Ma called “Encountering Bliss”.
Shortly before the publication it was decided to include some extra material which had not been in Melita’s manuscript. These are stray reflections often on scraps of paper found in her papers. It was felt that they also contained conversations with Sri Ma and observations which were considered valuable for devotees to read. Those shorthand notes in the first part of the diary have been marked with an asterisk.
It is a known fact, experienced by a reliable witnesses, that two people both together with Sri Ma could have quite different experiences of a given situation, according to their samskaras and perspective on life. So these diaries are very much one person’s experience, though they are also a vivid portrayal of life, both physical and mental, in Sri Ma’s proximity. They are thus an invaluable and unique eye and mind witness account which very much invokes the blessed presence of Sri Ma to devotees.

 

Editor’s NoteThese diaries were originally written in German, and were a personal record which Melita Maschmann gave to a German devotee in the 1990’s to be published as a book. It took another 20 years, however, until the material was digitalized and also translated from German to English.
The diaries about Melita’s time with Anandamayi Ma are being made available to devotees because they reveal experiences and observations, which are little documented, of a foreign devotee who was around Sri Ma from 1963-1982, often being subjected to poor health and living conditions, climatic and housing, which a normal Westerner would find extremely trying. During that period the author returned to Germany for a few months, but other than that she was always in the proximity of Sri Ma or the ashram. She was already an established author and journalist even before coming to Sri Ma in 1962. Travelling from Afghanistan to India for a fortnight a sheer coincidence” brought her to Sri Ma. This meeting was so profound that she accompanied Ma for the next almost two years and finally stayed in India as her home. She subsequently wrote another book on her experiences with Sri Ma called “Encountering Bliss”.
Shortly before the publication it was decided to include some extra material which had not been in Melita’s manuscript. These are stray reflections often on scraps of paper found in her papers. It was felt that they also contained conversations with Sri Ma and observations which were considered valuable for devotees to read. Those shorthand notes in the first part of the diary have been marked with an asterisk.
It is a known fact, experienced by a reliable witnesses, that two people both together with Sri Ma could have quite different experiences of a given situation, according to their samskaras and perspective on life. So these diaries are very much one person’s experience, though they are also a vivid portrayal of life, both physical and mental, in Sri Ma’s proximity. They are thus an invaluable and unique eye and mind witness account which very much invokes the blessed presence of Sri Ma to devotees.