Magical

Maya Teckwani
Yoga student, Singapore

Dearly known as Mataji, Swami Atmanandaji would sit on the verandah and greet us as we walked into the hall to get ready for our yoga class, her glittering hair surrounding her glowing face at sunset.

It was magical to walk past her, for after a hectic day I would prostrate before her with a heavy heart, and after the prostration I would feel a surge of lightness and cheer entering into me.

When I was early, I would sit by her side for a chat. I never heard her speak ill of anyone, but she did give hints on how to face a situation.

During the yoga sessions Mataji liked to give surprise inspections. Once I was the first student on the second row, doing standing exercises. Suddenly she exclaimed before everyone, ‘Look how crooked her arms are!’ The impact of her words was so great that I could not sleep! Tears rolled down my cheeks.

The thought of discontinuing with the yoga classes crossed my mind again and again. With her blessings somehow I continued, but with a difference – less identified with the body.

This was Mataji’s outstanding quality: she would destroy the ego ruthlessly, mercilessly – for the job of the teacher is not to pamper the ego but to destroy it, so that each one can experience what the master experiences.

On a couple of occasions I received letters from Mataji. Whatever she taught me in a few words with profound clarity, I could not have learned in a lifetime with all the books at my disposal.

Pranaams Mataji.