‘Money Orientation’, Adi Shakti puja, Cabella Ligure, 4 June 1995. Today we have gathered here to do the Kundalini puja or the Adi Shakti puja. There’s a difference between the two: Adi Shakti is the total power of God, of His desire, while [Adi] Kundalini is the one that is reflected, part which is reflected, in the human beings as Kundalini. So there’s a difference between the Adi Kundalini and the Adi Shakti. Adi Shakti is the Parashakti, is the power which is beyond all the powers, which controls all the powers. And one of the powers of Adi Shakti is Kundalini. For example the Kundalini which is placed within me, in the triangular bone, is not [the] totality of me. In the same way the Kundalini, which is placed within you, is not the totality. Of course, it is the power which is there to give you your Self-realisation; is the power that redeems you, that nourishes you, that enlightens your centres. But there are two other powers, as you know, very powerful, which are working through Ida and Pingala, and the third one is Mahalakshmi which is in the centre. Now Kundalini’s main job is to give you your Self-realisation, because She is your individual Mother. Everyone has the Kundalini within himself or herself reflected; whatever maybe the quality of that person. Now as you see reflections fall on everything. Say, the reflection of the Moon falls on the stone, we don’t see any reflection. It then falls on a better reflector, say the water, then we can see the reflection. But when it falls on a mirror, which is very nicely made, say, in Belgium, it reflects better. So that is how the reflection gradually goes on improving. In the same way, we have human beings who have different reflectors. But they can be improved and they can be made absolutely top class — it’s possible. It depends. Now, here it comes the two other powers that are within you. The one power which is the desire. Though the Kundalini, as we see, is the power of pure desire: it doesn't want anything, but it wants to give you Self-realisation. [Of] the other two powers, one of them is the mundane desire. This mundane desire, if it becomes nothing but pure desire, then Kundalini has no problems from the Left Side. But if it is not a pure desire, but full of other desires...For example, the first desire of human beings, which comes from animals I think, is food — he wants food to nourish himself. But human beings don’t only take food to nourish, also for the taste of it, or for the beauty of it, which is innately working in them. That’s why we run after food which is very good, is very tasty. All kinds of ideas we have and there’s no standard: somebody can like this, somebody can like that. But the one who understands that the taste of the food is not important, and can practice it, then it works, it works wonders. Because the lowest desire, which is of food, comes under your control. If you can sometimes go without food — of course not for God but for yourself. God doesn’t want you to starve. If you can live without food, if you can enjoy every type of food, then you have done a lot to improve the path of Sushumna for the Kundalini. I have seen, in many cases, that Kundalini just doesn’t rise. She doesn’t rise. Even if She rises, She falls back. This happens when a person is very self-indulgent. He’s all the time thinking of things which are not of very great importance for spirituality. Apart from this, there’s another horrible one, desire, we have: is to grab as much money as possible, to think about money. This time, I had a bad experience because Sahaja Yogis came down to me and told me, “Mother, they are asking if we should reduce the puja money or something.” I was shocked, because I never decided about it. It’s all decided by the leaders. I said, “I am not concerned.” Then they would like to have a bargain as you have in the shop, or maybe some sort of a sale, or some sort of a thing. This is one of the greatest dangers in your ascent. For a guru, people pay millions and millions. Here you know I’m working it out for your projects, I’m buying lands for you, I’m doing things for you and for which you need money. But nobody comes forward with any donations as such, they won’t. They don't understand that it is for you I have to have all these things, not for me; and they pestered people many-a-times like this. Once suddenly, we decided that we could have fifty percent payment. Immediately, so many telephoned, “Aah! Are you going to have fifty percent less, the bargain price? We are coming for the bargain!” It’s the sale programming. For example, in the sale what do they do? They offer you something so that they can get a lot more customers or things like that. Sahaj Yoga is just the opposite of that. You don’t have to give anything but you get a lot. But this is not for sale; this is not for sale by any chance. It is a thing where you have to pay because we have to have all these things, and I have to pay so many things which you do not know. Like last time we had about I think fifty people who came just free. Some of the leaders know, but some of the leaders, they just go on asking like this because, I don’t know, perhaps they want to save money or they want to popularise themselves among the disciples, maybe that is the reason. So this thinking about money itself is a very detrimental force for your spirituality. Otherwise, what others are doing is the same: all the time they are thinking of money, thinking of money. Now, if you are thinking of money, and thinking of earning more for Sahaj Yoga, to help Sahaj Yoga, it’s all right. But it is for yours own ideas. In the West it’s very common, not in India, I must tell you. India is a poor country, but one day Yogi told me, “Mother, I need some money for the school.” I said, “All right I’ll give you.” “No, no,” he said, “I'll collect.” And he collected in one meeting eighteen lakhs of Rupees. Of course I told him, “Now don't take it, I have got money to pay. Don’t collect!” But so much of money orientation all the time: thinking about money, saving money, these things are absolutely against Sahaj Yoga. You can ask anyone how much I understand about money. I don’t understand banking, I cannot count: even thousand pounds I cannot count. I’ll count them two thousand or three thousand; I don’t know what I do. my brain goes off when it comes to money! I don’t know how to count. I'm not worried about what money we have, what we have. What we have to do is: this money is here, let us do something about it. Today, I don’t know why I have to tell about this gross subject, but it has been pointed out to me, “Mother, you never say anything about it and the people are getting really materialistic!” That’s a very sad affair. Even one person, who is materialistic, will have to go out of Sahaja Yoga. Gradually it will work that way and you’ll be surprised that you are out of Sahaj Yog. It is very amazing how, after getting Realisation also, getting on top of the world, we still live in small little holes like rats of this money business. This money has brought so much problems to our world, you can see it clearly. All this economics and all this knowledge of economics where has it gone? Is the world better by it? There’s recession going on everywhere. Everybody is unemployed. In every country you go there’s unemployment, so much; this is so much. That shows that this economics is also a very artificial science and dealing with the weaknesses of human beings, not with their strength. If they could know the strength of human beings, they would have done much better than they have done so far. I’ll give you a simple example: Now, we have very sophisticated places in the West, very sophisticated. They have everything electrical and you push the button and everything is there. Especially in these modern planes, when I travel, I don’t know which one to push because they are so slim and so delicate you see, need a special artist to do that. All this is for what? For getting more money, and more money and impressing people. But at the same time people are fed up! When all these sophistications are on, they are fed up with computers, they are fed up with electricity, they are fed up with cement, they are fed up with all kinds of artificial things — is a fact; more, much more in the West than in the developing countries. They are just fed up. Now this is the force, this is the strength. Why are they fed up? They are fed up because they have realised it doesn’t give you joy. It doesn’t give you a soothing feeling. It irritates them. So it is against human mind, a human character or human civilisation — something inhuman. So now what to do? I went to America once, and went to see a friend of ours and all the houses were covered with a cow dung colour. So I said, “Why do they have these cow dung all over these houses?” “What is the matter with them? Why don’t they have nice white, or another people like very much is this sand colour?” They said, “Nowadays these Americans want to have cow dung.” I said, “Cow dung! For what?” “Because they are fed up of cement. And now they can’t get so much cow dung here. So they have a special way of making cement look like cow dung! They mix up things so the colour comes out like cow dung.” I said, “Why the cow dung of all the things?” So they said that, “Some of them went to India and they had to sleep in some huts which were covered with cow dung. So they found out, logically, that cow dung if we have, it will be the most soothing colour for us. And so there were articles about it and people have started using cow dung.” So what is the force now behind? What is the strength? The strength is that they want to live in a natural way; they don't want to have artificial things. So they go to another extreme to have cow dung. Sahaja Yoga is in between. Now one has to understand that whether you put cow dung, or you put cement or anything, it’s not going to give you joy. Say, for India, people who have got cement houses are ‘great’! According to them cement represents luxury and also wealth. But in the West, if people see cement, my goodness, cement means to them it is something like a grave. So now the positive thing that is in them is that they now want to live with the natural things. They want to use natural material, natural life. But to the extreme if they go — you see, we had anti-culture like hippyism and all that, it brought no luck. So to get from one end to another extreme is also not conducive to a human life. Because a human being cannot become primitive. Even if he tries to dress up like a primitive person his brain is modern. So when they get fed up, from one to another, they don’t realise that what is the missing point. In both the things, whether you live like a rustic person or a very cementy (sic) person, any type you might live, the missing point is that in everything there is a competition. Once it starts, the fashion, all right, everybody will have cane chairs — everybody is having cane chairs. Now in this competition, they miss the point, is the joy. A person who is a realised-soul will not desire! Whether it is cement or anything or anything, doesn’t matter, it’s just the same. But it will come to his mind that all these artificial things are ruining human beings, so he’ll say no. But he will not have hair like the primitive people, he’ll not behave like primitive people, and [he'll] lead a very normal, natural life. So when the mind starts thinking something about it, it will never get to the point of joy, from one end to another. So they think that they are going into a balance, they are going into dharma. But my experience is different. Even those who were hippies, I know them: they used to eat like real gluttons, and they were very much interested in their comforts, and they would go to any extent of snatching anything that belongs to somebody else. They thought they now have become hippies, so they are already the landlords, because they have given up this, they have given up that. So the mind that suggests that to overcome your money-orientation, your competition and all these artificial things, you should change your lifestyle. But that doesn’t help, never. It’s just a play of the mind from one to another. So how to detach yourself from this idea of money-orientation? Whether you wear a sanyasi’s dress or you wear a wonderful, some very expensive dress, is the same to the body. You can’t even see your own dress. So is the same to the eyes. But with the mind you start convincing yourself that, “Now I have become a big sanyasi because I am wearing a saffron dress!” By wearing that kind of a dress you can never get rid of this nonsense. So first thing [is] you have to be a normal person. There’s no need to be abnormal outside [such] that you are deceiving yourself. If you think by changing your dress, attire, your lifestyle, you have become a great sanyasi or a great, detached person from this money-orientation, then I must say — don’t deceive yourself. A person who is detached from within helps the Kundalini to rise constantly without any catches. So, for a Sahaja Yogi, it is important to introspect, and see for yourself what is your level — as I told you about the reflector — what sort of a reflector you are. No use deceiving yourself, because Sahaj Yoga is for you, for your benevolence, and your Kundalini is for your benevolence. The ascent is the aim of your life, and to perfect it is your job. So you don’t have to take to anything outside. It is inside you have to see yourself — what sort of attachments you have. The second force which is, I’m surprised how [it] has suddenly come up among Sahaj Yogis that they don’t have immorality problems. They have just become moral, most of them. Ninety-nine point nine, nine, nine [percent], I think, are moral people in Sahaj Yoga — there may be [some who aren’t] here and there — because they enjoy their morality. Because they enjoy their morality they want to be that. Not only that, they want their children to be moral, their families to be moral. And that is how morality is spreading in Sahaj Yoga very fast. In that also, one has to understand that it is the innocence which is the force, not the morality. Like some people write to me, “Mother, I get up in the morning, I sit before the photograph, I do this, I do that, then I take my bath, and then I do this and...” I can’t understand this, no, not necessary. You have to cleanse yourself once in the night as you would cleanse yourself, your body, and once in the morning you have to pray, that’s all. It’s not necessary to have this ritualism, this kind of a rigmarole, all the time you going, every day morning till evening nonsensical [with] these things. And they become fanatic. They start becoming absolutely fanatic about Sahaj Yoga. And this fanaticism can be very dangerous because they try to remember everything by heart, this and that. No, not necessary. It should be in the heart, because [otherwise] it amounts to the lip service then. And with the lip service gradually you start feeling you are great, your father is great, you are this and that. So you are thrown away. You yourself throw yourself out — like you hit a ball and it comes back. I have seen people, many, who try to thrust themselves in Sahaj Yoga just are repelled back by themselves, not by Sahaj Yoga. Sahaj Yoga attracts you, no doubt, but you must have gravity. If you don’t have gravity, how can you be attracted? The seriousness about it is only this, that you should introspect, seriously — find out what’s wrong with you. Because this is a great chance for you to ascend. With this kind of a mind, which becomes fanatic, in Sahaj Yoga, starts saying harsh things to others and disturbing the peace of others, because they think they are very great Sahaj Yogis, then I think one should introspect and find out, “Why am I doing it?” So many people have the same defects but for that they’ll scold others. Perhaps maybe they think by correcting another person they might be corrected. I don’t know what the idea of their procedure is. But it is very absurd sometimes the way people look at their problems as if these are the problems of others. Now, if I am saying this to you, somebody must be counting, “Ah, I know this one, Mother is saying about that one!” Never will say that, “It’s for me, and I have to see myself and introspect and find out what is dragging me down.” So, this is one of the most important things is that you cannot be harsh, you cannot hurt people, you cannot misbehave in that manner. And if you can do that then you are thrown out of Sahaj Yoga by yourself, nobody has to throw you out. You have to [be] collective, people have to like you and you have to [be] one of them. If the collectivity is not there, your Kundalini will never rise. Because she is rising, she is trying to give you a second birth so that you become one with the Whole: the drop becomes the ocean, that’s Her job. She’ll never rise [otherwise]. A person who thinks he’s very exclusive, special, should not come to Sahaj Yoga. This is another great hurdle in rising the Kundalini, when people think that they are something special. We have no priesthood, and leadership is also a myth I think. People whom I think are better off with their Kundalini I can communicate better. But sometimes they too behave in such a manner that one is shocked — how could they behave like this? And these serpents just suddenly come up and you see them and you are shocked! “What are they doing? Where is their attention? What are they worried about?” So, such stupid ideas if they walk into your mind, tell them, “Shut up now, I know myself very well.” That’s the best way to keep you out of it, all these nonsensical things that are working out. First of all, you must remember that you are seekers of truth, have been seeking truth for ages, for years together, and now, I would say, for many lives, and now you have found it. So grab it and hold it fast, by understanding that this is what you wanted you’ve got it now. The another big problem that comes in the awakening of the Kundalini which I feel is very important to be told to you, is that, some of you think that you are very close to me, that you have a special right on me. You don’t know your Mother is a Mahamaya. Be careful! I am telling you again and again. Never think that way. Nobody can be my favourite, I assure you, cannot be. It is like a mercury, if you put it on another metal or something it doesn’t stick. My mind never sticks to anyone, never sticks. Now supposing somebody is in trouble, somebody has written to me, there's some problem, then the thought comes in, but I don’t stick to that. I don’t stick to anyone. Nor do I have any attachment to anyone, because that will be against the principle of pure love. I cannot be attached. Of course, I see your problems very intimately. I would love to solve them, I get worried sometimes, you can call it ‘worried’. But the thought, attention, is going towards that person. You have seen when there’s a tide, the Moon, when it is full Moon, the tide is much bigger. Does the ocean think? What about the Moon, does he think that it has to attract the particular ocean or someone? It’s just the nature, the swabhava, the nature itself that acts. That’s the nature, you can't help it. And this nature is the one you should also try to adopt and adore, because it’s very helpful. This gives you a great relief from your mind, which is always thinking, thinking, thinking and doesn’t allow you to have thoughtless awareness. You get attached to someone, you are worried about some problems. Even your problems sometimes, all the time your problem, thinking about your problem, or about somebody whom you are attached to. Then this mind starts working: how to solve the problem, what to do, this and that? But then you stop your Agnya completely! How will the Kundalini rise? In any walk of life, for a Sahaja Yogi, it is the best way to stop thinking is to think how he is going to spread Sahaj Yoga. Just divert your attention. This is the greatest pleasure for you, for which you don’t have to pay or anything; just know what powers you have got. At this point, I find many people are not at all aware of their powers and [are] not using them. When you don't use your powers also Kundalini falls down. Why should she work? She is not stupid! If you don't want to use Her for what She has to achieve, then why should She worry about you? So, She just drops down and She has nothing to do with you. Then suddenly you come out, “Mother, I got this trouble, I have got that trouble, this happened.” Specially troubles like arthritis and all such troubles come from people who don’t use their vibrations. Give it to the flowers, give it to the trees, give it to anything that is living, but don’t shirk it. You need not touch the person, but the desire should be, “Whom should I give vibrations?” Only worry should be, “Whom should I put attention to? Where should I put this energy of mine?” Once you start using this Divine Power it starts flowing much more, much more, and your Mother the Kundalini is very happy with you. And then you start seeing wonders, what’s happening. For that you have to have, first of all, attention on compassion and love. But compassion and love of God, God Almighty. But when I talk of compassion I find people are more interested in the people who are Sahaj Yogis who are suffering, who have problems, who are thrown away from Sahaj Yoga, they will write to me, “Mother please, please somehow or other, take them back.” That’s my job, not yours! But those who don't love God, they are not going to achieve much. They have loose tongues, they talk funnily, they don’t understand they are dealing with God Almighty! And this kind of frivolous talking and frivolous behaviour: you must understand that angels are around you all the time, all the time they are with you. They watch you. They will help you, they’ll support you, they’ll elevate you, they’ll cross all kinds of hurdles; but you have to love God from all your heart and all your soul. You can’t say things which are not full of protocol. All this is only possible when you surrender your ego. God doesn't want anything from you. What can you give to God? It’s a funny idea people have. But it’s all right, you can give anything to God. Krishna has said that, “You can give me flowers, you can give me water, you can give me this, presents, this, that, I’ll accept.” But what does He say? That, “Only thing that you have to do is to be one with me. You have to be one with me, you have to be connected with me.” And this feeling of connection is so satisfying, is so joy-giving, so nice, which cannot be described in words. Thus, you find your Kundalini is just flowing out with joy for yourself and for others. Also, the Right Side: ambitiousness, domination, showing off, harshness, cruelties. I don’t know how many things there are on the Right Side, but they can be unlimited. I mean, the limit is Hitler, you can say, so far. God knows some other one may come to compete with him, but so far, he is the last word. So all these also start destroying this Kundalini. I have seen also, the Kundalini of people which is hurt, wounded, just can’t rise, is finished. Then I feel that, “Let them take a second birth; only then one can work it out, because it’s impossible [for] such a Kundalini to make Her rise.” If you are selfish, and you are cruel, then this Kundalini becomes hurt. A good mother feels hurt when her child misbehaves, so this Kundalini gets very hurt. Because She wants you to have your second birth, and She just can’t bear it; and this makes Her absolutely incapable of rising. She becomes sick, ill and wounded. So, all kinds of aggressiveness should be given up. That’s not going to help. Because you have come to Sahaja Yoga not for saving money or bargaining or anything. You have come here because you are seekers. I have seen invariably people who have been to false gurus always have this kind of a money-orientation because they must have been lynched completely by the previous gurus, maybe. I don’t know what to say. So, it is we who can rise through our own goodness and beauty. And it is we who can come up to a level of great Sahaja Yogis. Don’t keep this power with yourself. It is to be distributed and given to others and make others also very happy and joyous. It’s a duty of every Sahaj Yogi to do it. Also, thinking about Sahaj Yoga, not about yourself, is the best way to avoid many problems. But once they start thinking about Sahaja Yoga, they start thinking about the defects of the Sahaj Yogis. That’s not going to help. You have to develop that peace of mind within yourself by which you can become the witness of yourself first. You should be able to witness yourself and see what are the things which are putting you down, because today the world is absolutely chaotic. From this chaotic world you have to rise into a very peaceful, beautiful world and you have to take many into that. For that, you have to have the quality. It’s not just you become Sahaja Yogis, put my badge here and all that. In every way, you can spread Sahaja Yoga. But be careful, because one should not feel that you have done a great job. Whatever you are doing is for your own good, not for others. Now we have to see what a great thing that has happened because Kundalini was a big mystery before. But now it is not anymore, it’s all opened out. You all know about it. You know about its powers. You know how you can achieve your highest goal. So, just to balance, just to lead a mediocre life, is not the way a real true seeker of truth should do. But if you are the real seeker of truth, then you should see, “What’s wrong with what I have been doing, whatever I have been following?” And, “What I have to achieve?” All the scriptures have said that you have to be the Spirit. All the scriptures had said that you have to be born again. I am not saying that alone. Only thing what I am doing is what they have said I am trying to do it, and requesting you that you should do. Sahaja Yoga is not going to [be] like other religions where people abuse children, do what they like, make money, this, that, all nonsense, like a mafia! We are people who are chosen and are special people who believe in a good moral life and a peaceful life. May God bless you all.