Devi Shakti Puja, “America and Ego”. New York (USA), 8 October 1995.

I am so very happy to see so many Sahaja Yogis are here now in America. And the program we have had the other day showed us clearly that Sahaja Yoga is getting very popular and the way people got their realization in five minutes also showed that now we have touched that area of seekers who are honest and who are of a very high level in spirituality. You are the ones who are the first Sahaja Yogis we should say or the foundation of the Sahaja Yoga in America and thus we have to understand our own responsibility. As it is Vishuddhi Chakra is responsible for the whole world. But the people in Vishuddhi Chakra have to be like Ganas, they have to be very responsible, extremely, much more than any other country in the whole world. And the problem is somehow I found, I don’t know about the future, that, that sense of responsibility yet not felt among Sahaja Yogis that they are responsible for the whole world; not only for America or only for New York or only for Yonkers. Sitting down here you are responsible for the whole world. If you understand this that the main quality of Vishuddhi Chakra is responsibility, I always say, “It’s on my shoulder. I take it on my shoulder”, meaning what? That I take the responsibility, but this sense of responsibility has to come to you very clearly.

I felt America is so far away but if they could come and see in Russia how the Russians are behaving towards Sahaja Yoga they’ll be amazed. I’ve been coming to America since so many years. Perhaps we should say this is the first country I visited. But here the sense of responsibility for Sahaja Yoga has not grown. While in a country like Russia and Eastern blocks I’ve been only four years there hardly and you should see it how they feel responsible. Now in Russia, Sahaja Yoga has spread upto Siberia. Now in Siberia they don’t live for themselves only or for their Ashram. There they have got a place called Novosibirsk, which is mostly inhabited by scientists because so many scientists were thrown away by Czars and later on by the communists and were exiled into that place. Now these people sitting there tried to find out what is spirituality? How do we get to spirituality? What is the way we can be our spiritual being? No quarrel, no fights, no stupid things that people do, no domination, no ego. I was there only about a week back I should say, more than a week and last day before going, there came a scientist. His eyes really were just like ocean, were absolutely beautiful and he was supposed to be one of the greatest scientist of Russia having a very big job of his own and he didn’t talk about too much to others. He just wanted to see me. When he came he just took my hand and kissed it, bowed to me. I saw in his eyes ocean of spirituality, ocean. He must have been about thirty-five or forty years of age. Can’t say his age because he was so much shining and bright and he told me, “I know everything about Mother”.

I said, “What do you know?”

“That you are the incarnation of God on this Earth to save us”.

“How did you find out?”

He said, “I have made a machine by which I can measure energy fields, of course I can’t measure your energy field. But I took a small photograph of your and measured the energy field and I found it was seven hundred raised to power some millions and then raised to power some billions”. That’s why I don’t understand his calculation. Just imagine, and he created the whole idea of his proposed experiments for which he had come to take permission from Me.

He said, “You just touch this glass Mother, just touch it”. And he had brought a machine. I touched the glass and machine went on revolving like that. I was myself surprised.

He said, “Just touching the glass it’s happening”. He had a machine with him, a little machine he said. “This is portable”, he said.

So I said, “What is the permission you want?”

He said, “I want to use your photograph on a Satellite and from the Satellite I want to project your photograph through electromagnetic force and wherever in the Global region it will be put, you will see it will change. It will change people, it will change all flora, fauna and also ecological problems will be solved. Will you give me permission for that”.

I said, “Of course why not?”

The level of scientist in that country is so great, here I don’t think we can get hold of any scientist because their ego is keeping them hanging in the air. The another thing, which I was surprised, that in Novosibirsk, where a Yogi told them that Mother has told us that in our brain there are ‘peethas’ of these charkas. They were so much surprised they said, “We can verify, we have machines to verify”. So they called Dr. Khan and when Dr. Khan went there, he was amazed, they had a machine. So he said, “Now let us put attention to Shri Mataji”. The whole brain became reddish. Then “Let us put attention to heart”; here it became a red spot. Then to Mooladhara, was here. Then to Nabhi, on both the places; then to Vishuddhi. It was proved. What I have said they have proved it. And so many Americans are trying to get them to this country. They say, “We don’t want to come. We don’t want to do any more Science, we want to do Meta-science, spirituality”. There are two hundred and fifty scientists in Novosibirsk where I could not go because we had a puja.

Now see the difference, here I come there’s quarrels between husband – wife; then it’s a father – mother. All such petty nonsensical things are going on. So your own brothers and sisters in another country are doing so much of experimentation, spreading of Sahaja Yoga. Imagine how will I go to Siberia, out of question. But from Siberia I don’t know how many thousands came. They are all well-educated, very well equipped, extremely well behaved. In their style, in their behavior you see that there is such a lot of spirituality already built in. When I went to Ukraine; Ukraine is a place where they had this, you know, Chernobyl problem. First time when I had gone there were people, who had come to my program. They had their fingers joint like this, noses turned like this, all kinds of things. And the legs and feet were in a very funny way. With all that, they came to the program and this time that hall was so full there were at least ten times more people than we are here, maybe more and outside were standing, they couldn’t get in, they are sitting in the passages. They were three tier, on the ground and three more. Everything filled to a inch and I was amazed at their spirituality. Everyone got realization in five minutes. What a level of people, what a level. But then I found out that in Ukraine they already had the knowledge of Kundalini and of the Primordial Mother. They call Her ‘Aditi’, in India also we call Her ‘Aditi’ and they used to make paintings of her. Then they had paintings made of Agnya Chakra, of Mooladhara, very clear. In those days before Christ, three thousand years before Christ. So basically in them from where, somewhere, this knowledge had come.

You are very advanced people here, supposed to. You are very well equipped and people think Americans are the top for everything. But look at these people from Ukraine and from Russia. They were worshiping the Primordial Mother three thousand before Christ and when Christianity came, they suppressed it. All clearly written down and when people wrote about it also, these Christians there, they were called as orthodox Christian, they tried to kill them, arrest them. Despite all those problems they stuck on and I was surprised that even today there are books and magazines about it. So I was thinking somebody like Macchindranath who went all over the world, must have gone with his disciples Gorakhnath, because they were Nath Panthis, they knew about Kundalini and all. But actually they have shown the ‘Aditi’, the Mother with the Kundalini in a stomach. Can you imagine? All these things were done long time back and that’s why basically they are very spiritual people. Firstly they are very introspective and very spiritual and all the time they are asking “Mother are we going to be all right? Are we all right? Have we really taken our ascent?” Like that those questions, which were absolutely different from what you see in the West. In whatever field they are; if he is a doctor he’ll try to find something. A dentist, they’ll try to find something, related to Sahaja Yoga and they say, “There are so many coincidences that you cannot explain. How this has worked out, how?” So I said, “What did you do?” He said, “We just desire that we should now try to propagate Sahaja Yoga and to analyze it and put, put it on such a concrete way that nobody can doubt it. No Scientist can doubt it”. So we are at that level to see somebody so much higher and then we have also understanding how we can rise upto that point? How we have to work it out?

Now the pettiness with which we suffer can come in many categories but is nothing but stupidity. One of them is that, this idea of leadership; which is greatest stupidity you could ever think of. I am just befooling you by saying “You are a leader. You are a leader”. Nothing it’s just a myth, you don’t believe me in that. If I call you the leader, you must know that Mother is trying to test you and others also those who are trying this power game of becoming leaders, nothing at the back. There is no one who you can really say is the leader of Sahaja Yoga except that I had to have some people to communicate so we call them leaders. It doesn’t mean that if they become leaders, they go to heaven; they will get a right royal reception, nothing like that. All will be going in the same manner. See this is all created by Maya. Now people are striving to become leader, and I really feel like laughing. Those who will try are climbing a mountain, which doesn’t exist. Where are you climbing? Where are you going? It doesn’t exist. There’s no mountain, it’s all straightforward road. So this is also a sign of complete stupidity. Are we to say that all the stupids are born in this country? Are we to feel that all stupidity has trickled down to this country through Hudson River? Are we to believe that all intelligence has vanished into ego?

Once you realize it is stupidity, it’s best to stand before the mirror and make fun of yourself. Also I’ve noticed with all the writers of Russia, they’ve been very introspective. Even a hero will think ten times “Why I am loving this lady? Why I am doing this?” Even the woman if she’s in love she’ll think, “Why am I doing that? Should I do it or not? It’s proper or not? Is it something in my head that is making me do it?” You see, absolutely clearly they go on introspecting themselves. Even now I find the Russians are like that. So we have to now start a new tradition. In that tradition, we have to introspect. Introspect yourself. This another way is you shouldn’t try to see the defects of others but to see what’s wrong with you? Where do you fail? Why do you fail? Why you cannot propagate Sahaja Yoga? What is the reason to it? What has failed you? Because it’s only possible when you think you are responsible, not leader but responsible.

This is the country where we’ve had greatest fights for leadership and all leaders have now jumped into river Hudson. So this kind of stupid ideas should be given up and we should introspect to see how much stupid we are. I had started believing that the special blessing of Maya is on Americans that they are all stupid. I used to really, I used to think, I must confess, in a beginning. Then I met you all and I realized it’s not that bad. Because I met so many important people, Ambassadors, this and that and all that, in England. I used to wonder what’s wrong with them. They used to behave like young boys of twenty years you see. In Hindi we call it ‘gadha pachchsi’, means at twenty-five you are a donkey. And the way they used to pass jokes and I say they have no dignity, nothing; such high positions they are having what do they talk about? And they would stand out by that you know? They said, “Ah we’re very smart” you know? They would wink at everyone, they would do all kinds of nonsensical thing which normally a twenty year boy might do anywhere once in a while. But they were all like that. They thought they were very young and they would walk you see with very great smartness you see like young boys. To them it should be very fast and like you see a bowler is about to bowl or some sort of a thing. It was really unbelievable that these people occupy such high position in the government. How could they be so irresponsible?

But when I met you all then I really felt that no no there are many good people also. This comparison you can today also see between you and these people. They’ll argue for anything. They’ll talk about anything like for Freud they were fighting. Freud’s told us something very new. So I’ve written in my book, so I said, “All right you have eaten all kinds of food before but you have not eaten the table. What about eating the table?” So everything absurd, everything vulgar, everything low level were justified. I don’t blame him. All these stupid people were born here and they wrote books. They were the ones who were Generals. They were in-charge. I mean I can’t understand. You see this fellow Nought. You can one minute you look at him and you will know he’s a lunatic and they gave him so much time so much explanation; I mean I can’t understand. And the idea about spirituality is like somebody comes and tells you something absurd. It’s new, it’s new, so do it. Now they say that you shave your head; all right, they shave their head. They’ll say no “you grow your hair” and they’ll grow. As if they have no personality of their own. They don’t think much about themselves. They have no respect of themselves. Even in those parties they used to tell me “Ah have you been to this Guru?” I said, “No I am sorry, I’ve not” Nowadays its bargain better do it. Level of understanding of spirituality was also so low of these people who were so highly placed and I was really I was amazed how could they do such things with such big position.

There was one fellow who was quite highly placed he used to always look out for me, whenever there was a party. So C.P. said, “Why does he look out for you?” I said you know he wants to eat a lot and here the food they serve in England is not sufficient for him. So he sit next to me so he can share all my food you see. That’s why he always there. I eat very little. So, so much interest in food. Then when I was not there he would go and sit with C.P. because He knew the secret He used to pass His food to him. So much interest in food and himself was in a such a big position and what was he boasting about? That I come on a bicycle on a half pant to office. So I said, “Why do you go on a half pant?”

“It’s better, for a bicycle”

“Why do you come in a bicycle?”

“It better for health”

“But after all you are such a big officer. If you are going to your office you should go on a motorcar. You have such a big car and then this bicycle you can do it in some sports club or something”.

Out of proportion, where are you going? What work you have to do? Why don’t you understand? And he’s the one who used to eat like a glutton I tell you. He was thin like this. Absolutely thin like this. So I concluded must be worms in his stomach or whatever it is. I used have pity for him because always very hungry.

Now, the attention if it is on food, attention if it is on money, attention if it is on so called power of leadership and all that know that it will make you stupid. Anybody who boasts, “I am the leader of this”. All right, all right, very good! You’ve known one like him you see? That what you have to react because if you say that I am the leader of this and this, itself shows that you are a stupid fool, isn’t it? Because if you know it’s stupidity, all this Mother is making a fool out of us, why should you say, “I am the greatest fool?” Why should you yourself boast of yourself? Even any boasting is a sign of a stupid fool you know? Or a mad lunatic person.

Once our Prime Minister went to one lunatic asylum and he met one who was sane to talk to. So he asked him, “Who are you?”

He said, “I am Jawaharlal Nehru”

He said, “Who is Jawaharlal Nehru?”

He said, “I am the one who was the, who is the Prime Minister of India”

“Aahh! You’ll be all right. I used to say the same. You stay here for five-six months you’ll be all right”.

So all such bombastic talking those people who do, you should just know I am telling you certified lunatics or certified fools. And once this goes, this stupidity into your head you will be no more a Sahaja Yogi, no more. Whole spirituality will come out and you’ll be left high and dry. Anyone who boasts like that is worse but even if you think like that is no good, not on a proper lines. So because of this ego you don’t understand your responsibility.

When you argue also I’ve seen people “But I am the leader of this, I am the leader”. I start looking at them how can they live together. How can they be collective, which is the quality of Vishuddhi Chakra? I just saw these trees, see how many they are? Of different varieties, different qualities, of different nature; absolutely different, how they are living together? They all share the same sunlight, they don’t quarrel. The tree doesn’t say, “I must fall onto another one somehow because he thinks .....[UNCLEAR]”. One thing is I cannot tell this trees that you are the leader. Only I can befool human beings. This is the main thing is – please be careful. Don’t be befooled by what I tell you, All right. As far as, because if I see somebody stupid I do pamper his ego so that it bursts forever and he gets rid of his nonsensical ego. But that’s not my job; point is that I want you to be like Russians. They don’t have any ego, nothing. They don’t have any problem. It’s so easy to deal with them because they know what I am and they know what they are. You cannot befool them, no. Anyone, anyone whether he is the biggest scientist or the highest ranking official or the highest personality, in any field, you cannot befool. They are so humble.

And the Chinese, the same. You have to learn a lot from Chinese also. They are so sensitive to spirituality, so beautiful they are, so humble. You cannot tell them that you’ve done something good work or anything. They say, “No, so much to be done still. It’s all right you are saying it in your goodness but we know our weaknesses”. But in America everything is fixed and also your ego is fixed like that or so and a slightest blow you bloat up and become so much one that no trace of that drop should be there. I am no more an individual, I am the ocean and this collectivity has to grow in this country not in Russia. Everything is growing like a cancer you know. Supposing the nose starts coming out from here and the mouth starts out coming out from here what will happen? This country had to have this capacity. This country had to do this while it’s done by Russia. I don’t even know their language. What you find here only the false gurus are accepted and in Sahaja Yoga people do not know how to respect their self-realization. So busy with their ego, so much impressed by themselves. The whole atmosphere is such a competition, perfection. It’s a big professional achievement even in Sahaja Yoga.

Sahaja Yoga is not a profession because profession means individuality of a drop. This is a collective work, means what? Sahaja Yoga is a surrender. It’s not a profession, it’s a surrender. You are a very intelligent people but I think, little more than normal. So all of you start thinking on your own sometimes and bring problem. But the difference of problem of Russia and this place is so much; somebody told me, “Mother you must come and live here, will be good idea”. I will I don’t mind but every third step if you meet somebody who is immoral, fifth step who is a stupid fool and the seventh foot/ feet you find a person who is about to give you a big lecture on spirituality, so what to do? Now you cannot be one of them, I must assure you. You are not one of them; but sometimes the atmosphere is so much full of speed and so much full of this ego that you do develop this ego business very fast. So quick you know and whenever I see that I get real fright; what’s going to happen to America? It’s not your country; it’s not the country of your government. It’s the country of collectivity, collective personality.

So now the other day we had so many people who got their realization in five minutes time. That means they are seekers. They are great seekers, they are frustrated, they got it without any problem. But to make them understand Sahaja Yoga, to make them absolutely, can say, a ocean out of the drops, all that, which is the most important thing you have to do. You have to see that you make Americans understand and realize what is the greatness of their personality? Why are they on this Earth of spirituality and of collectivity? Why? Why you were born here, for what purpose? You must evaluate. It’s not so. They’ll get attached to, identification is too much, they get attached to their children so much; if not, then they will get attached to so called their power. Then they get attached to their house, then they get attached to their grounds, then to the stones; I don’t know what they get attached to.

You have to be that great, for that complete detachment has to be brought in your life. That is the most important thing. This a kind of an identity with this, this, and this and this is not going to make you grow and if you don’t grow, Sahaja Yoga won’t grow. It will keep a very, very low level profile. To get that high level profile you have to do one thing is to surrender your ego. The greatest problem of America is ‘Mr. Ego’. This ego must be controlled. I will tell you it’s very simple everyday if you use the way we have to clear out our ego, everyday, everyday. You can get rid of it because the whole speed, atmosphere, competition; all is to pamper your ego. I have even seen some advertisement talking about ego you see. “This cigarette if you smoke your ego will be pampered”. Can you imagine? And people buy that kind of a nonsense, because they think it’s great to know our ego will be pampered, as if their ego is not already pampered. So this ego business comes to people because there’s no introspection. When there is no introspection you see one develops this ego. I am something great. Now say sitting down here if you start say, “I am great, I am great, I am great”. Do you become great? You cannot.

There’s a story about a frog you must have heard who was in a well and he used to think no end of himself. “I am everything, I am this, I am that”. Somebody told him that have you seen a cow? He said, “What is cow?”

“It’s very big animal compared to you”.

“I can also become big. Why not I will” and starts growing, growing till he burst out.

So this is what it is we have to understand that this ego business is the real, real, real problem of America.

So now you have to surrender. Now surrender to whom? It’s like this that if you say you are seekers, I mean you are seekers of everything. You are seekers of money, seekers of power, seekers of this, seekers of that. But if you are seekers of truth then just face yourself and know yourself and know the truth that you cannot be, you cannot be a person of any value if you have this artificial ego on your head like a big balloon, never. This ego has to be brought down absolutely and all of you should try to bring it down by doing some sort of a special method of searching within yourself. You have to, I don’t know how to detach yourself and see for yourself is rather a difficult thing because ego is very satisfied. This is the biggest problem. Ego gives great satisfaction and with that ego you see you react and reaction has become like a sort of a might or a fright. React; “I don’t like it, I don’t like that, I don’t like that” Who are you? If somebody say, “I don’t like you”, finished. First of all you should say, “I don’t like myself”. Let’s start like that. Why? Because all my life is centered round this, I am doing this, I am doing that stupidity, another stupidity; how can I like myself? I am the Spirit. Then you will start growing because this conditioning keeps you down. But somebody asked me, “Who is interested in growing Mother?” I said, “Why? They’re not?” They are not Sahaja Yogis, finished. So there’s going to be a great ship coming down to take all the Sahaja Yogis to enter into the kingdom of God. So why, why should we introspect? You have to grow. Even the stage is not there that is confirmed that you’ll enter into the kingdom of God. You have to give up this stupid idea of ego. But what should replace it? What will replace it? Is love and compassion. That two people can use it with the ego like I tell somebody now this fellow is not all right. “But Mother you know he is, I love him”. If you love him better correct it. If you really love, have courage to tell him that this is wrong with you. If you are continuing with this love story, then you must correct that person. And all these complicated you know such complicated things there are with this ego that you just don’t know how to solve the problem sometimes if somebody comes to you with that ego. So first is to introspect and find out why am I egoistical? What have I done?

You’ll surprised, I don’t know what is ego is. I really, I’ve just seen some things, but to be very frank I don’t know what people are egoistic of. Like sometimes you start saying My ‘Jai’. I also says ‘Jai’. I don’t think it’s me you are saying ‘Jai’. Just say – all right they are saying Jai, like that I say Jai, because I don’t know why you say Jai. I don’t know why? What have I done? Why are you praising me I just don’t understand? If somebody says “Thank you very much Mother”. I don’t understand why they are thanking for what? What have I done? See this ego is the one that records everything that this is what it is. I am such and I am such and I am such, all falsehood. But if you don’t have such a record in your head you cannot feel ego. If somebody says, “You are very good looking”, immediately the balloon starts. Why is he saying? May be he wants some money, maybe he wants to use you for some purpose, may be he’s praising because he knows you are a stupid fool. So why accept such a remark as something great you know. And in this way we lose ourselves completely. Let us have a command of ourselves. Do we know ourselves? I know I am that, I know I am born like that, I know all these things are there, so what? I mean I didn’t achieve anything, you at least achieved. I never achieved anything; I was just like that. So, why to be conscious of it? That I am this, I am; I am nothing. Because whatever I am, I am. Now supposing this wood says “Oh I am wood”, so what? You are wood after all. As simple as that, as simple as that. So, see this complications of your mind should be reduced otherwise your attention will never improve and what will happen is that you’ll not grow. And the dwarfs, you know? We’ll have all the dwarfs here.

I want to show to Russians that you are quite capable of growing and you are quite capable of looking after your country. Your own President, his wife all of them are funny people. Try to talk nonsense sometimes, absolute, can’t understand. What business they have got to talk about other countries when their own country is suffering so? There’s no introspection, there’s no understanding what’s wrong with your own country and you start talking about other countries ‘this is wrong with them that is wrong with them’. So in this atmosphere where you find a whole lot of people have this problem of ego, you can only supercede them, only shine out, you can only save them by absolutely getting rid of your ego, absolutely, hundred percent; in every way. You’ll see you’ll feel much lighter. Imagine you are hanging in the air, you don’t know where you are going to land? How can you feel secured?

As they say ‘stand on your legs’. It’s like that; stand on your leg. So now Sahaja Yoga is progressing very well, very fast everywhere in the whole world. They gave Me a Doctorate, they did this, they are trying their level best now to give Me a Nobel Prize also. Because only the Nobel Prize can put these egoistical people all right. So they are working very hard to get Me a Nobel Prize. All that is to show that people will never accept me unless and until I have some sort of a brand on my head. But is important, in this world one has to have some sort of a brand if he have to survive, everything. So, for you also it is important that you have to have the brand of Sahaja Yogi. But in Sahaja Yoga if you have the brand doesn’t work out. You have to have in reality that power of Yoga within you. You can do a lot I know because you stand on land of Shri Krishna and His power. Don’t need anything else, need; don’t need any machinery, nothing. But only realize your responsibility, what we are doing for Sahaja Yoga, for our self? How are we behaving? What is our style? How are we spreading Sahaja Yoga? Please try. If you can really introspect you’ll find that you’ll feel that we haven’t done much for Sahaja Yoga that we could’ve done. Busy with yourself, with your own activities. But unless and until you do for Sahaja Yoga something you have no meaning at all, you have no identity. If you can develop this beautiful reflective nature by which you just reflect about yourself and not about others, you’ll be amazed, how much will change.

Even a simple meditation people don’t do. You get them an Ashram; there they fight. Do what you like ends up into something funny. I didn’t want to talk to you about something unpleasant all the time. It’s not a very good idea. But I feel that you should now awaken to the fact what is your responsibility as Americans? Very important, extremely important. And once you realize that you can do so many things because you have got the Power. You have the Divine Power. But you must awaken and shed off this horrible thing called ego, which makes you a monkey.

I’ve seen this is the only problem you have. There’s not much conditioning. But this ego is the only problem. You don’t respect anyone, you don’t respect this Motherland, you don’t respect even your self-realization. So this point today we have to know that we are, we cannot afford to have this ego anymore on our heads. We just are not going to have it. We are going to humble down and we are going to seek to things through our humility. Once you see these things work out you’ll be the most important persons for even the Divine to deliver the goods.

May God bless you.

As it is we have now, I am awaiting lots of Americans will become and what will convince them of you is your humility and your good manners; very important. If these two things they see in you they will change. I am sure they will change. Not to be aggressive with them.