realisation
H.H. Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi, founder of the worldwide meditation movement called Sahaja Yoga, passed away peacefully on 23rd February, 2011 in Genoa, Italy, aged 87.
Hers was a life unlike any other. Whether walking with kings or walking barefoot with Gandhi, it was a journey of extremes managed effortlessly, living as she did with grace, dignity and, always, loving guidance.
Shri Mataji’s was to be a truly remarkable path.
Born of a royal dynasty; she conferred as a child with Mahatma Gandhi, living for a time in his ashram; was a medical student and a freedom fighter; was an adored mother, grandmother, great grandmother and the wife of a distinguished diplomat who himself was decorated by the Kings and Presidents of innumerable countries and knighted by the Queen of England. But incredibly, after all this, with her family grown and settled, she then embarked on an even more extraordinary mission.
Shri Mataji was born to Christian parents in India. Spiritually enlightened, she knew from very early on that her unique spiritual gift must be made available to everyone. And so it was that in 1970 she founded Sahaja Yoga meditation, which she shared freely. Using simple techniques, she discovered a unique process of Self Realisation through which huge masses of people could easily achieve the peace of true meditation. She charged no money, and instead insisted this was a birthright which should be available to all who desired it, at no cost. She said
“There can be no peace in the world until there is peace within”.
Thus began the next outstanding stage of her life: for the next forty years, she continuously travelled Continue reading
You are invited to an evening of Meditation, Music and Dance on Saturday 23 October 2010.
This program will include the world music group, Music of Joy, classical dance and other performances. A video-recording of Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi, the founder of Sahaja Yoga, will be presented. This will be followed by a meditation and Self-realisation session.
When: Saturday, 23 October 2010, 7:00pm to 9:00pm
Where: Richmond School of Arts Hall,
Cnr March and West Market Sts (opposite library)
Richmond
Admission: Free of charge
For more information: Call 02 4567 8030
We hope to see you there.
Sahaja Yoga Meditation, NSW, Australia
Music of Joy concert, Ho Chi Minh City
I arrived in Ho Chi Minh City one week after the very successful tour by the Sahaja Yoga Music of Joy music group from Australia (Click here for a video clip of the Music of Joy). This visit was part of the Realise Asia Tour that was conducted throughout the Asian region, visiting Sri Lanka, Myanmar (Burma) and China, as well as Vietnam, in July 2010.
About 1000 people had registered beforehand for the Ho Chi Minh program, scheduled for 3 July. As the hall was not large enough to accommodate such a large number, a second concert was organised for the following day. Five hundred people attended the first concert, and a further two hundred came back the next day for the second concert.
A joyful experience for the audience
After Music of Joy performed, a Self-realisation session was provided. The joy on the faces of the people attending was wonderful to behold. This joy soon expressed itself in spontaneous dancing.
Since then, follow-up programs have been held for those wishing to find out more about Sahaja Yoga and its benefits, and learn how to meditate. It was one of these follow-up programs that I was privileged to attend.
Ben Tanh Markets, Ho Chi Minh City
The session I attended was run by Katie from Malaysia, who spoke to the group in English. Her words were translated into Vietnamese by Tuyet and Giang. The subject for the day was Kundalini, the primordial energy within all of us, residing in the sacrum bone. Kundalini can be awakened by the presence of someone who already has his or her Kundalini awakened. If a person has the desire for it to happen, the Kundalini will awaken, rise through the spinal cord and come out of the top of the head, at the fontanelle bone area. When this happens, the person becomes connected with the All-pervading Power. This process is called Self-realisation.
Shri Mataji
After the session on Kundalini, which was preceded by a guided meditation, we watched a short video of a talk by Shri Mataji, the founder of Sahaja Yoga. After that, we had another beautiful, deep meditation. At the end, there were lots of questions from the participants, with people wanting to find out more about Kundalini, Self-realisation and Sahaja Yoga.
Ho Chi Minh City at night
It was a wonderful experience and a great honour for me to take part in this follow-up program. The Vietnamese are very sweet and loving people, and it was a great pleasure for me to share this experience with my Vietnamese brothers and sisters.
Opera House, Ho Chi Minh City
I was also fortunate enough to be in Ho Chi Minh City at the time of Guru Puja. Guru Puja is celebrated around the world, and is a time when we pay homage to our gurus. In Sahaja yoga, our Guru is Shri Mataji. Happily, through Sahaja Yoga we also attain the ability to become our own gurus. During the Puja, we watched a video talk by Shri Mataji where She discussed the qualities of a guru, how we can tell who is a real guru, and the qualities we need to develop within ourselves so that we can become our own gurus. These qualities include patience, wisdom and discretion.
Vietnam is a very beautiful country, and I really enjoyed my visit there. Ho Chi Minh City has many wonderful parks, gardens and street plantings, gracious old buildings, built by the French, and modern skyscrapers. It is a vibrant, beautiful city.
Vung Tau, Vietnam
I also visited Vung Tau, a lovely beachside resort city, about one and a half hours away from Ho Chi Minh City by fast, modern ferry. An International Food Festival, which attracted huge crowds, was held while I was there.
While I greatly enjoyed my visit to Vietnam and look forward to visiting again in the future, the high point of my trip was the opportunity to meet and spend time with the Vietnamese Sahaja yogis.
Editor
Shri Mataji, founder of Sahaja Yoga
More than 50 seekers took their Self-realisation at Alipurduar, located 160 kilometres from Siliguri in India. Sahaja Yogis from Siliguri, in North Bengal, were invited to conduct a special class on Stress Management for a group of NGO volunteers and workers on 17-20 February 2010. The event was sponsored and conducted by the Central Board for Workers Education.
The Central Board of Workers Education (CBWE) is a Government of India enterprise. This Board basically helps organise several training programs for NGO volunteers and self-help group volunteers. It tries to focus on grooming the workers with adequate knowledge on stress management, confidence building and personality development during their training program.
Thus in the month of February the CBWE invited the Siliguri Sahaja Yoga collective to organise and conduct a special session through hosting a training program on stress management, confidence building and personality development for an NGO group named “SIPATWO” (a self-help group of Salsalabari village at Alipurduar Sub-division in Jalpaiguri district).
The entire session was conducted by a group of Sahaja Yogis from Siliguri collective for four consecutive days from 17th of Feb – 20th of Feb 2010. The yogis shared detailed insights on the effects of the subtle system and the accumulated stress due to our busy schedule in this competitive world, resulting in unrest within our gross self. This was very aptly correlated with stress management through the unique method of Sahaja Yoga meditation by which one can achieve eventual peace after receiving Self-realisation. Realisation was given to more than 50 members who attended the event. All who attended felt the deep silence within and enjoyed the coolness of the Realisation.
Subsequently, follow-up sessions were initiated and basic techniques like bandhan and protocol for regular meditation to sustain the effect of this unique gift to mankind were appraised. The follow-up session provided further knowledge on the subtle system and the qualities of various chakras in our subtle system, corresponding to their various proven plexuses in the gross body. As the seekers responded very well they were taught how to balance themselves and practise effortless meditation. Further follow-up sessions are planned.