Pioneer Women of Vedanta - Satyamayi, Cleo Anderson

1924-2015

Satyamayi, Cleo Anderson

Satyamayi, Cleo Anderson was a long time Vedantin. She met her spiritual teacher, Swami Shraddhananda, the head of the Vedanta Society of Sacramento in the late 1960's and served as his personal secretary for more than 35 years. She also managed the Vedanta Society Bookstore and introduced many people to Vedantic teachings through her sincere dedicated life.

Her spiritual name given by the Swami was Satyamayi meaning full of Truth. She was especially fond of the Upanishads and memorized many of the original Sanskrit verses. Among those she often quoted was the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad , "This Self is honey to all beings, and all beings are honey for this Self."

In 1993, following the Parliament of the World's Religions in Chicago, Satyamayi served as host to Most Revered Amalapranaji, who was General Secretary of the Sri Sarada Math and the Ramakrishna Sarada Mission headquartered in Dakshineswar, India. She had previously met Most Revered Ajayaprana and Revered Pravrajika Dhirapranaji of the Math in 1983 on their way to Australia to establish an ashram in Sydney.

With Swami Shraddhanandaji's encouragement and blessings, Satyamayi traveled the length and breadth of India staying at many of the ashrams of the Sri Sarada Math. She deeply loved India and spent nearly six years of her life there. While at the Institute of Culture in Kolkata, she studied Bengali and deepened her understanding of Sanskrit.

In 1997 when Revered Amalapranaji returned to Sacramento to offer inspiring retreats including "Prayer and Its Efficacy" and "God as Mother", our Sri Sarada Mahila Samiti of Northern California was seeded. Our first shrine was in Satyamayi's apartment where ten to fifteen Vedanta women met monthly for holy company, contemplation, and mutual spiritual encouragement. We gradually formed a nonprofit corporation and were established through the State of California in 2002. That seed for a women's spiritual circle of our own has taken root and blossomed in many ways over the years.

An interview was conducted by Satyamayi's friend and Vedanta sister, Claudine Stahlek, around 2004. One can gain a glimpse of Satyamayi's love for Vedanta which continued over a period of forty-five years.

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