realisation
An outdoor realisation session in Lebanon
From 4 to 6 July 2008, a series of Sahaja Yoga programs were held in Lebanon. Three Sahaja yogis from Turkey, one from Cameroon and one from Lebanon conducted the programs.
During this time, 311 people received their realisation. Programs were held at Manara, Sioufi and Unesco Palace. Realisation was given on the street in Hamra, while we were putting posters in different places.
Fear seems to be the worst thing against spreading Sahaja Yoga in the Middle East, even though it is the most stupid illusion inside us.
People in Manara, next to the sea, are from different social castes and we exchanged with many the addresses and phone numbers so that we can be in touch soon when we find a centre in Beirut to meet. It was not in our program to go there but we decided at the last minute to go to Manara instead of Sioufi, for only two hours. Lots of people were very happy to receive their realisation.
At Unesco palace it was my first time to be in front of people translating into Arabic for the audience who don’t understand English. In the beginning I was kind of shaking but when the attention was on Shri Mataji’s photograph things became much better. Before Sahaja Yoga it was impossible to do such a thing without lots of fears. Never, never had this courage been felt before, even in front of students in the classroom.
The only program held indoors was at Unesco Palace and about 20 people came.
Today there was an interview on the government radio, “Lebanese Radio”. Rita, the interviewer, gave an introduction about music therapy. Then for about ten minutes the discussions were about Shri Mataji who discovered the Sahaja Yoga technique, the Kundalini as a positive energy, a little about chakras and being in the present state. Rita will announce future Sahaja Yoga programs to be held from 8 to 10 August 2008. We have booked one date already: on Friday 8 August the program will be at Unesco Palace at 7.00pm.
With lots of Mohabbat from Lebanon
A Sahaja yogini
Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi
The following extracts are from various talks by Shri Mataji, the founder of Sahaja Yoga, where she discusses the meaning of the Guru Principle.
“The word Guru comes from the one that is magnetic, the person who is magnetic, the one who attracts the attention of the seekers, is the Guru.”
“This gravity has to be in a Guru. Gravity means a kind of a serious understanding of oneself and one’s own responsibilities.”
“So you get a magnetic temperament, magnetic character, magnetic personality. And this magnetic personality that you develop, immediately shows that it is manifesting its power. Try to understand. Like the light now is coming on Me. It is just giving light, but it is not manifesting anything. We can see the Sun’s rays, is the best example. Sun’s rays, when they fall onto the leaves, the rays, which look simple, manifest their power of making it into chlorophyll. In the same way when you are at that height or at that state, then without saying anything, without doing anything, even a glance, you manifest; but not only that, you record everything.”
“Manifest our gravity to reach the depth within – through witness state. Introspect to achieve the self-esteem of a Guru.”
“But we are much above all these ordinary instruments, even the most complicated, even the most advanced and developed by science. Because we reach a state where we ourselves become the science, science of truth, an absolute truth.
So what is needed for a Guru is self-esteem. This is a very important point people don’t realize, the self-esteem. To achieve the self-esteem we have to introspect and know that, ‘Today I am not what I was before. I am a realized soul; I have got powers. Of course I have powers. Powers of love, powers of compassion, powers of grasping things, powers of creativity, powers of giving realization to others.’
Nobody had these powers, but somehow or other in Sahaja Yoga you are not self-conscious, and we should not be self-conscious because that can give you ego, but we should have self-esteem.”
Musical therapist and teacher of Sahaja Yoga, Celeste Jones, is set to attend the 2008 World Youth Congress in Quebec, Canada. Kurrajong Heights’ Celeste Jones is one of a select group of youths meeting in Canada later this year, to search for ways to combat the many crises facing our modern world.
In August she will join 600 young leaders from throughout the globe, to participate in the fourth World Youth Congress, “ReGeneration 2008”, in Quebec.
The World Youth Congress is a project funded by Peace Child International, which aims to bring together young people from the age of 18 to 30 who have a passion for sustainable development.
A total of 15,000 youths applied to attend this year’s congress.
Delegates will join forces with young Canadians to undertake hands-on community action projects across Quebec.
They will help shape international policy by documenting and showing governments what young people are doing to achieve the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals, which include halving poverty, halting the spread of HIV/AIDS, promoting gender equality and reducing infant mortality.
Ms Jones, 25, will attend the congress along with a group of friends, as an advocate of Sahaja Yoga.
“A group of us applied as delegates so we put in our application as the Sahaja organisation,” she said.
The group travel internationally teaching Sahaja Yoga meditation techniques, which promotes attributes such as inner balance, peace and “self realisation”.
“It’s just a very simple meditation technique that takes a few minutes, and once you’ve learnt it you can teach anyone,” she said. “Whatever we do is always free — it’s just for other people’s benefit. We get a lot of joy out of it.”
As part of attending the World Youth Congress, Ms Jones and the Sahaja group were asked to submit a development project illustrating the ways her organisation is taking action.
They plan to spend time in Rome working with Gypsies, teaching Sahaja Yoga and musical therapy, and helping them re-establish their cultural roots by empowering the youth.
But the project is just one of many for Ms Jones and her friends, who have established meditation programs around the world.
“A lot of my other friends, they live in all different countries,” she said. “They organise various events and then we go and join them and do all sorts of things.”
The trip to Canada will be her second encounter with the World Youth Congress.
Ms Jones is a trained musician and musical therapist as well as an accomplished artist, and attended the last congress in Scotland three years ago as a cultural performer.
For the 2008 World Youth Congress Ms Jones has applied as a delegate, which will give her a greater role in the discussions and decisions made at the event.
For more information on the World Youth Congress, go to www.wyc2008.qc.ca
By Tegan Osborne, Hawkesbury Courier
You are invited to the Woolgoolga Curry Fest, to be held at Woolgoolga in northern New South Wales on Saturday 19 April 2008. As in previous years, there will be a Sahaja Yoga stall at the festival.
It is planned to present Sahaja Yoga music in two one-hour time slots. The music will include devotional music with an international flavour, traditional Qawwali music and drum music. There will also be Indian traditional dancing. There will be a meditation tent in which meditation sessions will be held for people who want the experience of thoughtless awareness and realisation.
The main music organiser was very impressed last year with the Sahaja yogis’ performances and gracious nature, and so is insisting that Sahaja Yoga play a big part in this year’s festival.
The Sahaja Yoga stall will be on the grass next to the beach. From here, the Fest will spread out along the road to the grassy area around the pool.