ANANDAMAYI MA;S LILA************************************************************ Before I come on this earth, Father, ‘I was the same’. As a little girl, ‘I was the same’. I grew into womanhood, but still ‘I was the same’….. Ever afterwards though the dance of creation changes around me in the hall of eternity, ‘I shall be the some ‘. ’’ These words were addressed by the bliss permeated Mother to Paramahansa Yogananda when he visited Her in Calcutta in 1936. Thay constitute a challenge to any attempt to superimpose an evolutionary patten upon Her life. Terms, such as growth, advancem-ent & maturation, as referring to the spiritual aspect of Her life are inapplicable. Yet unquestionably an analysis of Her outward activities showe distinct developmental phases. While according to the Hindu view of life, all manifestation is God’s lila (sport, play), yhe expression seems particlarly fitting when dealing with events in the life of Anandamayi Ma, for She frequently alludes to the fact that She is a det- ached onlooker, performing voluntarily a play in this delusive earthly theater, on a stage limited by time & apace.