Ma Jaya teaches from a depth of wisdom and practicality which allows us to return again and again to turn over the words, and bring them into our moment. Ma is a consummate story teller, using words to paint a picture or illustrate a point that otherwise might be hard to grasp. These stories are often simple but profound, similar to the way that Swami Nityananda and Neem Karoli Baba taught.

Enjoy!

The Sadhu and Mother Laxmi

One time there was a sadhu who wanted desperately to know the truth of the universe.  So he ran to the forest and the jungles. He called on Mother: “Please Mother Laxmi, teach me. Teach me of liberation. Let me be free from the chains of life and death.”

He sat there by his small dhuni fire. As the little animals came, he got annoyed and he started to just shoo them away. After a while he started to throw little rocks at them because they were bothering his pujas.

Still crying out “Laxmi, Laxmi, teach me, teach me! Laxmi, Laxmi, teach me, teach me!” he grew old and wrinkled in front of the dhuni that he kept burning in honor of Laxmi.

When he was in his late 90s, finally a great light appeared. He said, “Mother you have come to me. Mother you have come to me.” 

Mother Laxmi smiled at this son of hers and said, “I have come to you a thousand times over the years. I have come as the bird you threw rocks at. I have come as the lions roared that you whooshed on. I have come as my Mother Earth that you let starve with your negativity. I came to you in many different forms, but you rejected me. Now I come in a form you can recognize, and you think I have come to bring you light. No, my son, I have come to bring you darkness. In that darkness will shine one small flame. You will have many lifetimes to make that flame brighter and brighter– so it is not just when I come to you in this form that you know so well. You will know me. You will know me in every form upon Earth. You will know me in the plants, the trees, the fruit. You will know me in the eyes of every human being. Your prayers mean nothing if you do not see me in everyone’s heart. So yes, I’ve come to bless you my son, with one single flame in the darkness of ignorance.”

He bowed, this sadhu. He threw himself down in danda pranam, crying tears, but they were the last tears he shed. They were the tears of gratitude that had him on the wings of death, and come back to life as a babe who had special powers to understand the ways of Laxmi and the beauty of Her fire within.

You will never know what form - She who is so bright, She who watches over you like a babe in Her arms - you will never know how She will come to you. I promise you, She will come. She will come when Krishna plays his flute. She will come when Lord Shiva dances on one foot. She will come when Kali slays your ego. She will come in the form of respect, even when you forget to respect all religions, all paths, and all ways. She may not appear in the way of Hinduism or the Mother of the Vedas. But She will appear to you in the beggar, in the whore, in the scent. She will appear by your heart strings and play upon them like an instrument. She will silence the night and will silence your foolish laughter to bring you the true smile of the yogi and yogini – the smile of the heart of genuine kindness. In your stillness now, be grateful.

With love Ma Jaya

Ma Jaya's Sacred Art