Indian guru Pushpa Anand, 83
Posted: Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008 1:09 pmHindu guru and social activist who worked ceaselessly for the health of Indian villages and the empowerment of women
None of the hundreds of thousands of people who benefited from Pushpa Anand’s charitable work knew her name. Nor, indeed, did many of her disciples. She was known simply as Ma, whose dedication to the poor, especially women, inspired followers from around the world. (She dropped her own name after achieving a state of spiritual flow she called urvashi.)
From the age of 34 she dedicated herself to several years of intense religious study and spiritual practice, and thereafter became known as Param Pujya (Her Holiness). But she always preferred Ma.
Her work stretched from the rural squalor of the northern state of Himachal Pradesh to poor villages in Haryana and the slums of Delhi. She was the spiritual leader of about 80 people of various faiths and nationalities, all of whom live a disciplined life in service to others. Although steeped in Hindu and Jain philosophy, she encouraged her followers to pursue any path they wished in search of God. …
Pushpa Anand, Indian guru and social worker, was born on August 26, 1924. She died on April 16, 2008, aged 83 … Read full obituary
