Immaculata

"There is a big inner revolution that is coming up.

We must understand we are delicately made beautiful flowers of God.

We are human beings.

And the time has come for us to become now the fruits.

This is the blossom time."

"I think next century we'll have beautiful people all around us, no trouble of wars, very peaceful we'll be all sitting in the kingdom of God."

The Vision

Since the beginning of time, human beings have been searching for answers.

Who am I?

Why am I here?

What is the purpose of existence?

Many great incarnations and prophets have tried to shed light on the human dilemma and urge us towards spiritual awakening.

Like different flowers on one tree of life, they spoke the same truth but were bathed in different fragrances.

Buddha saw enlightenment as the answer to our suffering: a thousand petal lotus emanating from the crown of the head.

Mohammad also spoke of the "Ruh" a cool breath flowing out of the top of the head and the hands. "At the time of resurrection, your hands [and your feet] will speak" he explained.

And Krishna in his playful mirth depicted the need for Yoga or union with the Divine. He spoke of the collective nature of man and the need for each of us to dissolve into the ocean of bliss.

Christ also explained that salvation will come only through a second birth. Forgiveness and compassion will clear the path towards this awakening, which will be felt as tongues of cool flames crowning the head in a divine halo. Heralding the New Age of enlightenment, he promised us a Comforter, the Holy Spirit, an incarnation who would lead us from darkness to the dawning of a new era.

The Age of the Mother has arrived.

Out of recognition for her great work, Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi has been held around the world as the Great Mother.

Since 1970, her mastery over the primordial energy, known as Kundalini, has drawn seekers to her public programs by the thousands. They come to experience the awakening of this energy, which is felt as a cool breeze emanating from the top of the head. As our spiritual mother, this force brings about or a profound state of inner peace, as we are spiritually reborn. Through this connection to the Divine, we go beyond the mind and into the state of thoughtless awareness which heals and soothes our inner psyche.

Lao Tse described the Kundalini in a most beautiful way: "There is a thing inherent and natural, which existed before Heaven and Earth. Motionless and fathomless, it stands alone and never changes. It pervades everywhere and never becomes exhausted. I do not know its name, if I am forced to give it a name, I call it Tao. And I name it as supreme."

Shri Mataji was born to a Christian family at Chindawara, a town at the very centre of India. She arrived at midday on 21 of March 1923, on the Spring equinox at a time when the planets were aligned in a most extraordinary way. Heralding this auspicious event was her mother's dream to see a tiger. In the jungle, the wild animal appeared before her in all its splendour. She was overcome with joy and knew at that moment that there was something very special about her child.

Born with the knowledge that she had a divine gift, Shri Mataji felt the need to share her understanding of God with humanity from her childhood. Her parents knew why she was on the earth and her father, who was a very learned man, helped her to understand about human beings.

As a child, she was called Nirmala which means pure and she spent a very happy childhood endearing herself to all around her. She befriended all the animals and birds, sometimes even frightening the maids when she brought snakes into the house to caress. At other times, she could be found alone in a remote corner of the house, her face beaming with inner joy, lost in meditation.

Even at an early age, she was searching for a way to share this joy with those around her. She loved everything that was genuine and natural, walking each day to school in her bare feet in order to feel the earth. Her father, laughingly, would tell the new driver: "It is easy to recognize my daughter; she is the girl who carries her shoes in her hands."

During vacations and holidays, Nirmala accompanied her family to Gandhi's Ashram. He enjoyed her immensely, affectionately calling her Nepali because of her beautiful features.

Shri Mataji later explained her relationship with the Mahatma: "Now, Gandhiji was very strict. The way he used to make everyone get up at four in the morning: 'Have your bath, come to puja.' But his quality was that what he said, he practised. There was no hypocrisy about it. Also, he used to get into a temper with people who had misbehaved, and I used to put some cool water on him." Because I was a little girl, he would really understand that and he used to say: 'How is it that you keep so peaceful about such things?' And I said: 'That's the solution, reaction is not the way you can really work it out. Forgiving itself solves the problem.' "

Seeing the wisdom of this child, Gandhi treated Nirmala with great respect. He recognized her divine nature and sought her advice about spiritual matters.

When the fight for India’s independence from Britain began, Nirmala and her family were at the heart of the struggle. Renouncing their wealth her parents, Prasad and Cornelia Rao, who were direct descendants of the royal Shalivahana dynasty, helped to organize protests in Nagpur. As a result, they were frequently put in prison from 1928 until freedom was wun in 1947. They made it a family rule that no one was to shed tears upon their departure for jail, teaching the children to share in joy and grief alike. After all, their incarceration was a step towards freedom for their Mother India and there was no need to be sad.

Growing up in the independence movement Shri Mataji took an active role as a youth leader, spearheading the students’ struggle in Lahore while attending medical school. To this day she is an outspoken advocate for political freedom declaring that people cannot grow spiritually until they are free politically.

"I had such a good childhood with my parents, they taught us how to be sacrificing. My father was in jail for years, my mother went to jail five times. And from huge big houses, we were living in huts, but we used to enjoy everything. The feeling that whatever our parents are doing is for our country’s freedom was so elevating, so elevating, that we never even thought of little comforts that children ask for. We could sleep anywhere, eat anything, live everywhere and that has given me the lesson that if you have complete purity about your dedication and purity about what you have to do, you can achieve it. And as Gandhi Ji had said, we have to have first freedom. I saw the Union Jack coming down and I saw the tricolour going up. That was the moment - it's beyond me - even now I remember those days." [03/12/1994]

Following the success of the freedom movement, her father played a key role in helping to write the new constitution and to set a new government into motion. Now that Mother India was beginning to stand on her own, Shri Mataji felt free to marry. In 1947, she married Mr C.P. Shrivastava, a prominent member of the Indian Civil Service. They were blessed with two daughters, Kalpana and Sadhana, and success in his political career. He was appointed Personal Secretary to one the most famous and beloved Prime Ministers in Indian history Lal Bahadur Shastri.

Following Shastri’s tragic death, Mr Shrivastava began his United Nations career culminating in sixteen years as Secretary-General of the United Nation International Maritime Organization and a knighthood by the Queen of England. During this period Shri Mataji waited patiently for the right time to begin spreading her divine message.

After raising her children to adulthood and seeing them happily married Shri Mataji had fulfilled her responsibilities as a mother and a householder and was prepared to embark upon her true life's work: the emancipation of humanity. Having been invited to the ashram of a prominent local guru in 1970 she was shocked to see him looting people in the name of spirituality. Suddenly aware that the seekers everywhere were in danger from this future trend, Shri Mataji searched deep within herself for a solution. She spent the entire night on the seashore contemplating and in the early hours of the morning, disgust with the falsehood she had witnessed and compassion for her children everywhere forced her to act.

She meditated upon the Sahasrara - the energy centre on the crown of the head - and prayed that all the seekers of truth would eventually receive their enlightenment and bring about the dawning of Collective Consciousness in humanity.

She describes this historic event:

"As soon as Sahasrara was opened, the whole atmosphere was filled with tremendous Chaitanya. And there was tremendous light in the sky and the whole thing came on the earth as if a torrential rain or a waterfall, with such a tremendous force as if I was unaware and got stupefied. The happening was so unexpected and so tremendous that I was stunned and I became completely silent at its grandeur. I saw the Primordial Kundalini rising like a big furnace and the furnace was very silent but burning appearance it had; as if you heat up some metal and it has many colours, in the same way, the Kundalini showed up like a huge furnace which is like a tunnel where you see these plants you have for coal-burning to create electricity. And it stretched like a telescope one after another it came out – tchu, tchu, tchu - like that. And the Deities came and sat on their seats, on their golden seats, and then they lifted the whole of the head like a big dome and opened it, and then this torrential rain completely drenched me and I started seeing all that and got lost into the joy. It was like an artist seeing its own creation fulfilled. I felt the joy of great fulfilment." [France, 05/05/1982] 

After emerging from this beautiful experience, Shri Mataji looked around and saw the blindness of human beings and she became absolutely silent. She desired that everyone should attain their Self-realization in order that their eyes could be opened. Her vision for humanity had come into focus and was beginning to unfold.

Following this, Shri Mataji began teaching a small group of seekers how to meditate. She stood behind each individual and raised the Kundalini by placing her hand on the various energy centres along the spine. This was a natural process which awakened their residual power of pure desire. She awakened this power called Kundalini which lay dormant in the sacrum bone at the base of the spine coiled in the three and half coils. When awakened, it rose up the spinal cord connecting and enlightening the energy centres, as it pierced the fontanel bone area at the top of the head they were connected with the Divine.

Although she was working with only a handful of people she was searching for a universal method which would allow her to give this experience to large groups of people. She soon developed the technique for en-mass Self-realization.

Taking into account all the different combinations and permutations of a human personality, the method was startlingly simple. The seeker would express his or her desire by holding the left hand towards Shri Mataji. Verbal affirmations helped the mothering energy to rise and the experience could be verified by feeling the Kundalini in the hands and above the head. As more and more people expressed their desire to have this awakening, she began an en-mass Self-realization movement.

Sahaja Yoga was born.

"Yoga" or "union" had become effortless. No more standing on your head, no need for expensive mantras. Now, it was easier to get your enlightenment in the heart of London than it was in the Himalayas. Visits to the psychiatrist’s couch were no longer necessary. Shri Mataji was not concerned with the quantity of people but with the quality of the seekers. She never took any money for giving or developing Self-realization and started Sahaja Yoga with her own resources. To this day, she insists that you cannot pay for your spiritual ascent.

"And the people were so money-oriented that they would not listen to me because I said you cannot pay for your evolution, you cannot pay for your Realization. While those people who said:" You have to pay", they were very happy. And they wouldn’t believe me. I was so disappointed with the way they were looking at spirituality. How much did we pay to Christ? How much did we pay to Mother Earth for these flowers? That money orientation was so great that one of the reasons for our plight is that we supported all kinds of wrong, false people." 

She was very anxious to save the American seekers from false gurus, who had descended upon that country and were leading people to their destruction. In 1972, she sold her gold bangles and with that money set sail for America. In hall after hall, she warned of the dangers of following the false teachers who made many claims but in reality were damaging the Kundalinis and energy centres of their disciples. However, this message fell on deaf ears. The seekers of America were too naive and enthralled to listen. She was in great anguish at the plight of America and on board the ship to India, her heart was pining to save her children. She addressed them in this poem:

To my flower children

You are angry with life

Like small children

Whose mother is lost in darkness

You sulk expressing despair

At the fruitless end of your journey

You wear ugliness to discover beauty

You name everything false in the name of truth

You drain out emotions to fill the cup of love

My sweet children, my darling

How can you get peace by waging war

With yourself with your being with joy itself

Enough for your efforts of renunciation

The artificial mask of consolation

Now rest in the petals of the lotus flower

In the lap of your gracious mother

I will adorn your life with beautiful blossoms

And fill your moments with joyful fragrance

I will anoint your head with divine love

For I cannot bear your torture anymore

Let me engulf you in the ocean of joy

So you lose your being in the greater one

Who is smiling in your calyx of Self

Secretly hidden to tease you all the while

Be aware and you will find him

Vibrating your every fibre with blissful joy

Covering the whole universe with light.

Shri Mataji’s efforts to reach the western seekers intensified in 1974. Her husband was elected Secretary-General of the United Nations International Maritime Organization and they moved to England. Europe became her home and Sahaja Yoga centres sprang up across the continent. Finding that this worked well for individuals, she began to emphasize the need for collective awareness. The experience became stronger when shared with others. She likened this to the analogy of one candle enlightening another and another until there were so many candles standing together that the room was filled with light. The added dimension of feeling the connection to others was intrinsic to this new state of consciousness. And those practisingn Sahaja Yoga found that they were part of something greater than themselves: the transformation of mankind.

Shri Mataji explained the door of Sahaja Yoga is open to everyone and every human being can achieve Collective Consciousness. The only problem is that the freedom of choice of the individual has to be respected because he has ultimately to enter the area of total freedom. Thus, there may be many who may not sincerely seek their salvation but if later on, they see the multitude of Realized souls enjoying the bliss of Collective Consciousness, they may also desire to get into their higher evolutionary process. This is how all evolutionary processes have worked in nature. The guiding and controlling force that acts is the Spirit. This is the Collective Being within us which manifests in our attention and makes us collectively conscious.

Shri Mataji was foremost a mother and her obligation was to see her dream for global transformation realized. Travelling tirelessly year-round, day in and day out, she has given second birth to all who desired it.

Since 1970, she has given enlightenment en-mass in over sixty-five countries around the world from Russia to Australia. In 1995, at a program held in Bombay, Shri Mataji raised the Kundalinis of over one hundred thousand people at the same time. People overflowed from the hall and sat in the streets - unable to hear the lecture they simply held out their hands and felt the joy. Programs of similar magnitude have become common throughout Russia and Eastern Europe. Shri Mataji's name has become a household word for many Russian families and programs must be held in football stadiums to accommodate all those who ardently desire their spiritual fulfilment. They recognize that she is the Great Mother who has come to comfort them.

"Because these are special times, as blossom times, and so many of you who were seekers before, seeking truth all over, going to Himalayas, standing on your heads, fasting, doing all kinds of renunciations and everything, now have taken birth and are normal people, householders. This was all promised that such thing will happen. Only with such people, Sahaja Yoga will work out. So the whole thing is, I would say, a plan which has worked out. You all took your birth at this special moment. Even if you see the position of stars and all that, you can see clearly how everything has clicked together. It's all a divine plan." [20/03/1993]

"So a person who is - has a Sahaj culture - is not only spontaneous but is inspired, is an inspired personality. A person who is of that kind, an inspired visionary, then other people get impressed by such a person that: "See this, there's a man who’s inspired, who talks in an inspired way, in a way that is something very different from others. Something new he says, new that is nourishing." [26/10/1985] 

"In the world of this nonsense that we are living, we have to be something like the lotuses, who cannot be tarnished who cannot be affected by all the ills that are going on. This is what is the test, is the "pariksha" [examination], that at this time, at this difficult time, we can blossom and create fragrance and get so many others to this beautiful atmosphere."[08/05/1994] 

"With your good wishes, with your prayers, this world will be so beautiful, so enchanting, that in the history, people will describe that the world itself became a lotus full of fragrance of divinity. You are the petals, you are the corona, you are the colour, you are the beauty, you are the pollen of that beautiful lotus, which is my vision of this world." [21/03/1993]

In the history of spirituality, there has never been a personage who has more clearly defined the purpose of human existence than Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi. Her vision of mankind as an interwoven tapestry of many colours, cultures and continents, all joined in what she describes as ‘collective consciousness’ is unique, in that it establishes the thread which runs through all of human awareness. Shri Mataji sees us not as individuals, stalking the earth in isolation, but as instruments of the Divine, which, when awakened through Self-realization, begin to fulfil their purpose and emit love and compassion into the world. Peace must first be established in the individual, she says, and then will manifest itself over the earth. When this occurs, human beings will know themselves to be part and parcel of each other and carry the light of the Spirit in their eyes. This light will comfort and soothe others and bring about the emergence of the culture of the Spirit on earth. We will come to look upon this world in which we live as a living and breathing entity which both sustains and enriches us and cease to exploit and destroy its bounty. All things will reach a balance because we will have realized the innate balance within ourselves through our connection to the Spirit.

The complete transformation of both the inner and outer expressions of humanity is just within our grasp. We need only look within our own being to find the roots of all eternity. As each of us does this, we lay the foundations for the coming age and the great awakening which will forever alter our future course. This is the vision of Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi, a living saint for modern times.

Dedicated to Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi.