Personal experiences
Amy was a year 7 student at a small country high school. I had taught her in year 4 and her mother baby-sat for me. One day as I arrived to collect my daughter from Amy’s mother’s place, Amy asked me a surprising question. She had an English assignment that required her to do an oral presentation on a religion. She asked if I would mind if she did hers on Sahaja Yoga, as she had learnt a little bit about it back in Year 4 when she asked me about Shri Mataji’s photograph on my desk at school. I agreed to her request on two conditions. The first was that she did not present it as a religion but as the truth of all the great religions, and the second was that she allowed me to read it before she presented it. She agreed to both these requests and I loaned her some books on Sahaja Yoga.
She gave me her work and I was impressed, but I was even more so when she said that she wished she had her self-realisation so that she could speak from experience. I told her that this was possible right then and there if her mother, Cheryl, allowed it. She did, and Amy and I moved into her room with a photograph of Shri Mataji and a candle. Amy got her realisation and strongly felt the cool breeze above the top of her head. We meditated together and the candle flame popped and grew in size as it cleared the negativity. Amy had kept her eyes open staring at Shri Mataji’s photograph through the flame. When we had finished meditating she asked my why the flame had behaved the way it did. I explained that we use the elements to clear our chakras, and that the flame was burning off negativity to clear the chakras.
As we went back into the living room, Amy asked another startling question.
“CanI give the class their realisation when I do my presentation?”
Naturally, I agreed. The next day, I brought a poster-sized photograph of Shri Mataji for Amy to use with her class.
When I arrived to collect my daughter on the day of the presentation, Cheryl suggested that I stay until Amy returned to see how it had all gone. Amy came home beaming and said that it was “amazing.” Everything had gone well. She was glad that I had explained the candle flame’s unusual behaviour as her English teacher had kept her eyes open during the realisation process to watch the class and had seen the candle flame grow and heard it pop. At the end of Amy’s presentation, she asked Amy why this had happened and Amy was able to give an explanation.
I could hardly believe what I was hearing, but more was to come. Amy told me that a girl who was always very nervous had to give her presentation after Amy. This girl had been dreading the presentation, but later told Amy how glad she was that Amy had gone first because getting her realisation had made her the calmest that she had ever felt in her life, and she stayed that way while she gave the presentation that she had dreaded!
At lunchtime people came to ask how Amy knew about Sahaja Yoga. She told them that Tanaya’s mother had taught her. Tanaya is my eldest daughter, who was also in year 7 at the same school. Other pupils came to ask for their realisation as word had spread as to how “cool” it was.
That night Tanaya told me that her friends had heard of Amy’s presentation and had been a little upset, saying, “You knew of this all along and you didn’t tell us about it!”
That weekend one of Tanaya’s friends came to visit and the two of them headed for the bedroom. This was nothing unusual but the silence that came from the room was; so, too, were the strong vibrations that I felt as I passed the door. I opened the door a little, being very careful not to disturb them. The most beautiful sight greeted my eyes. Tanaya and her friend were sitting in front of Shri Mataji’s photograph with a lit candle. Tanaya was giving her friend her self-realisation. This occurred a couple of more times with other friends over the following days. All of these young people have had that precious connection to the Divine established, and it will stay with them for life.
LB
One night in the early eighties on the outskirts of the English city of Bedford, a young motorcyclist had a very nasty accident. The St John’s ambulance men arrived and took him to the hospital where the doctor who examined him was surprised to find that very little was wrong with him. While being examined the young man told the doctor that after the accident, while he was lying on the side of the road, a car pulled up and a lady with long black hair, wearing a long white gown, got out, walked to him and passed her hand along him, a few inches above his body. Then she smiled, returned to the car, and left.
The doctor said it was an interesting story and the young man should tell it to the journalist whom he’d noticed in the hospital foyer. Well, the young man did, but while he was telling the journalist about his experience he saw a poster on the hospital noticeboard. It was for a Sahaja Yoga Public Program, and on that poster was a picture of Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi, the founder of Sahaja Yoga. Astonished, the young man identified this lady, Shri Mataji, as the person who had come to him after his accident. The journalist realised he had a good piece of news for his paper, especially as Shri Mataji, at the time of the accident, was, in fact, at the Bedford Town Hall talking to seekers. I know. I was there. Sitting in the gallery. Listening to Shri Mataji outlining the nature of the spirit and offering self-realisation.
Well, the story was published on the front page, with pictures. Letters to the editor followed, and a long article by a Sahaja Yogi attempted to explain how Shri Mataji could be addressing a crowded hall and attending to a young accident victim some miles away, at the same time.
A couple of months later Shri Mataji was in America. A Los Angeles radio interview had been arranged, and while She waited Shri Mataji talked to Tracey, an American Sahaja Yogi, and me about the Bedford Boy and his accident. At one point Tracey, with rather more nerve than I had, asked Shri Mataji if She was conscious of being in two places at once – at the program and with the young man.
Shri Mataji didn’t answer immediately, but when She did She said that Divinity was like radio, always transmitting, but whether the transmitted message was picked up or not, depended on the quality of the radio receiver.
“The Bedford Boy,” She said, “must be a good receiver.”
Brian Bell
While waiting for my wife to return home, I put on a CD to listen to the Sahaja Yoga radio program which I had downloaded a few days before. I was relaxed as I was listening to the presenter’s soothing voice, as he was going through the self-realisation process. In this process, we are asked to put our attention on various chakras by placing our hands on each chakra in turn.
I remember reaching the stage where I placed my hand on the upper part of my abdomen, to give confirmation of self-mastery. At that point I must have dozed off. The next thing, I felt as if someone was shaking me and telling me to wake up, and THAT person placed my hand on my heart chakra. I was startled! There was no one else in the room or, for that matter, in the house. The experience gave me a wonderful feeling which is indescribable.
Avtar Sodhi
Sahaja Yoga programs have recently been conducted in Morocco. The following letter was written by one of the Sahaja yogis who went to Morocco to help with the presentations.
I just came home from Morocco where I spent a blissful week of spreading vibrations collectively. I just wanted to share with you the tremendous joy, compassion and love I felt over there. Morocco is like the Garden of Allah, its flowers being wonderful; smiling, respectful souls longing to get their self-realisation….
Leafleting was such a joy: people would stop and face you, take the leaflet, ask you what it is about and thank you for the invitation. Some promised to come if God grants it “InshAllah”, and He did!
All three programs were wonderful but the one in Rabat, the royal capital, was the highlight. The seekers joined the Quawalli, clapping and singing in praise of Allah. It was simply wonderful!
We were a group of twelve yogis from France, Switzerland, Austria, England and Morocco. On the day of the programm in Rabat, we were having breakfast all together at a long table and we were discussing how to arrange everything for the program on the same evening. Suddenly everyone was silent and the vibrations were very strong; Shri Mataji was with us at the table. It was such a blessing.
Tassos