Editor
Music of Joy performing at Townsville, 14 August 2013
A special program will be held on Saturday, 23 November 2013 at Bondi. The Sahaja Yoga music group, Music of Joy, will perform a fusion of Indian and Western music to charm and enlighten the soul. Music of Joy is a multicultural group of musicians who have shared their unique style of music with audiences across Australia and around the world.
The event will include the unique experience of Sahaja Yoga meditation which is now practised in over 120 countries. You are invited to attend this free concert to discover what thousands of other people around the world are experiencing.
When: Saturday 23rd November, 2013, 6:30pm to 8.00pm
Where: Chapel by the Sea, 95 Roscoe Street (cnr Gould St), Bondi Beach, Sydney
For more information about the music group, Music of Joy, click here.
Shri Mataji
One has to know that there is a divine power. You may like it or not. All this living work that is done – millions and millions of flowers which are becoming fruits, a seed becoming a tree, a particular seed becomes a particular tree, all the choices that are made, the whole organised way the chemical acts, the way the chemistry is made of periodic laws – everything you see in this world is all so well organised, there has to be somebody doing it….
Unless and until human beings are evolved, none of the problems of the world are going to be solved, none of the problems – take it from me. Whatever they have done by their thinking – say they have created democracy, they have created communism, this, that – all this nonsense has no meaning at all in reality….
The detachment takes place because you become one with the spirit, which is not attached, which gives you that light, that detachment from where you can see the whole thing just as a drama going on. And you work it out very well. You become so dynamic that you are amazed at your own dynamism. Apart from that, one has to realise if there is a power which is an all-pervading power, that power itself thinks, organises and looks after you.
Shri Mataji, Brighton, 1982
“Among the things our leaders seem to be missing is a comprehension of the staggering speed at which these change epidemics occur: one bank fails, then fifty; one country develops an atom bomb, a dozen try to follow; one computer or one child comes down with a virus, and the speed of its spread is incomprehensible.” (Ramo, 2009, p. 10)
“We are entering a revolutionary age. And we are doing so with ideas, leaders, and institutions that are better suited for a world now several centuries behind us.” (Ramo, 2009, p.8)
“What we face isn’t one single shift or revolution, like the end of World War 2 or the collapse of the Soviet Union or a financial crisis, so much as an avalanche of ceaseless change.” (Ramo, 2009, p. 8)
Joshua Ramo is accurately describing the challenges we are facing in our daily lives in a time of rapidly accelerating change and uncertainty. Our present leaders are as disoriented and confused as we are and not able to identify the problems now facing us, let alone solve them. We need to find our own way to survive, and thrive, through the chaos.
Fortunately, there is a surprisingly simple solution. Sahaja Yoga is uniquely suited to giving us the ability to cope and even find peace of mind and enjoyment during these difficult times. Sahaja Yoga is a meditation practice developed in 1970 and described by its founder, Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi, as the final step in the evolution of human beings. It allows us to be still like the hub of a wheel while the outside spins and whirls dizzyingly around us.
Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi
Practising Sahaja Yoga meditation helps us to see the true situation clearly by getting rid of our biases and prejudices and allowing us to make an accurate assessment of the situation as it is. Unless we see the truth, we will not be able to develop an effective action plan, both personally and as a society.
Until now, too much emphasis has been placed on details and logical thinking and rationality – all activities of the left hemisphere of the brain – in making decisions, to the exclusion of the input of the right hemisphere. Better, more livable solutions are more likely to come from the right hemisphere: the emotional, the personal, the particular, the natural world, the vision of the whole, and intuition and inspiration. Sahaja Yoga meditation brings the left and right hemispheres of the brain into balance so that they interact effectively in decision-making in individual and collective issues.
Creativity is essential for finding workable solutions to the new and unprecedented challenges of our present age. Some of our old solutions may be able to be combined in new and creative ways to solve present problems. It is often in meditation that inspiration comes to us. Being in a state of silence, without thoughts, allows the inspiration to flow through.
Resilience is important in allowing us to cope well with whatever adversity comes our way. If we live a life that is grounded, well-adjusted and emotionally stable and we lead a healthy lifestyle, we are setting the groundwork to be able to withstand many upheavals. If we are flexible, adaptable and not attached to particular ways of doing things, and can live without whatever we don’t have, our chances of surviving various crises are much enhanced. In addition to helping us to achieve the above, Sahaja Yoga meditation gives us hope and quiet optimism and an acceptance that whatever happens is for the best.
So often, when stress in society becomes too great, the rule of law breaks down, and morals and decency disappear. Practising Sahaja Yoga meditation automatically makes you a moral person. During meditation you find out for yourself how you should behave. You don’t need anyone to tell you, and you know it so clearly, so thoroughly, so deeply within your own being that you don’t want to go against it. The meditation also gives you the strength to act only for the right, to be a moral person even when there is enormous pressure to act otherwise.
Sahaja Yoga is the ideal adaptation to an environment of constant change now prevalent in our society. It is a living process; it is not static. It is not based on a set of rules, but is fluid and intuitive and flexible, and gives us the opportunity to adapt to whatever circumstances are prevailing, always within a totally moral framework. It is not a break from the moral precepts of the past, but a progression towards their logical conclusion. It is not in competition with the institutions of the past, merely the next step in their evolution to a higher, more complete and integrated manifestation. Sahaja Yoga meditation is all you will ever need to survive and thrive in “the age of the unthinkable”.
Kay Alford
Ramo, JC. The Age of the Unthinkable, Little, Brown and Co, 2009.
Let this Diwali enlighten you with light of love. You yourself are the lamps which burn high and don’t get pressed by the cover. They become much more powerful than the cover. It is their own asset. When they are hit upon, they are disturbed and extinguished.
Why are our lamps disturbed? You should think over it. Is there no transparent sheath around them? Have you forgotten your Mother’s love and therefore you are so disturbed? As the glass protects the lamp, in the same way my love will protect you. But the glass should be kept clean.
How can I explain? Have I to say like Shri Krishna, “Leave all religions and surrender to me,” or as Shri Jesus, “I am the way. I am the door.”? I want to tell that I am that destination. But will you people accept it? Will this fact go to your hearts? Although what I say is distorted, the truth will always stand. You cannot change what it is….
Diwali is the day of real aspirations. Invoke the whole universe. Many lamps have to be lit, and looked after. Add the oil of love – Kundalini is the wick – and awaken the Kundalini of others with light of the spirit within you. This flame of Kundalini will be kindled, and one within you will become the torch. Torch is not extinguished. Then there will be spotless sheath of my love. It will neither have any limits nor any end. I will be watching you. My love for you is showering as many, many blessings.
Excerpt from a letter from Shri Mataji to Sahaja yogis in New York in 1976