Talk before Concert at Bundilla Camp. Sydney (Australia), 2 April 1994. I’m very happy to see all of you here and that now we have so many Sahaja Yogis in Australia. I think Australia has got the second position in Sahaja Yoga. Of course the first position if you exclude [interruption in recording] in the sense that if you exclude Russia and the Eastern bloc, then I would say maximum number of Sahaja Yogis we have now in Austria and the second is in Australia. Today I was late because a phone had (Shri Mataji corrects herself) phone call had come from Austria and they were trying to talk to Me and I was just wondering how it’s such a coincidence. Now, we have started in a very bumpy way, I should say to begin with Australian Sahaja Yoga - we had funny leaders and lots of problems were there. But somehow or other, now we are settling down and we have a very nice group here and that people understand the value of Sahaja Yoga. One thing about Australia is that it’s a very far off place, a very exclusive place and it was surprising to Me that how Sahaja Yoga prospered here so fast and so easily. Perhaps maybe one of the reasons that you are little far away, sometimes I don’t know something that I should know, and I know something I need not know. So the Australians always write very, very long letters (Shri Mataji laughs), so long that I cannot really read the whole of it. As you know, your Mother has (Shri Mataji corrects Herself) is very, very busy, so-called and since morning I start reading, it doesn’t finish till the lunch time. So one thing I have to tell you, that whatever you have to say, you should say in short. (Laughter, Shri Mataji laughs) Even then you make it long or short, I can understand it, what’s the problem is, even with vibrations I can. Moreover, most of them are concerning themselves, all the time concerning themselves like “I’m sick, my daughter is like this, my father is like this, brother is like this”. (Shri Mataji laughs) All regarding themselves. Very exclusive again. Now, I would like to know more about what you think of doing Sahaja Yoga, how you would like to go, how you would like to proceed, what is the best way of doing it. In that case also sometimes I find people mostly write about what schemes they are have to make money, how they want to involve Sahaja Yogis into that money-making propositions, this that. So I’m surprised that Sahaja Yoga is very different thing and one has to realize that we don’t have to make money out of Sahaja Yogis or their collectivity or anything. Of course, you need money very well, but it should be done on a collective basis and not on an individual basis. So we are trying to plan out something for you. Maybe work (Shri Mataji corrects herself) may work out later on, that you might be able to sell some things here and make some money or if you need some. But actually in Sahaja Yoga, I’ve found, we don’t need much money. If all of you, who are so many - they said there are thousand Sahaja Yogis in Australia. Thousand is a very big number. With a thousand Sahaja Yogis, I was discussing that why do you have problem of money. You should not have any problem of money. So maximum how much do you spend? They said, “Maximum we spend twenty-five thousand for the tour and all organizing” and all together - they said - we spend about sixty thousand.” It’s very simple. I said, “Everybody, if they pay six dollars per year, you can work it out.” Sixty dollars, I’m sorry, per year. So not much, it’s about five dollars per month. And I said, ‘Is it too much, five dollars?’ I mean, I’ve seen here the flowers cost you so much. So on this point, they said some are very generous, but some do not pay a single pai. This is going too far. You see, also it’s a Lakshmi Principle, must understand. If you try to save such a little amount as that, how can you expect Shri Lakshmi Principle to work out in you. You see, you must know what a unique thing is Sahaja Yoga, how it has redeemed you, how you have transformed you and you have landed into such a beautiful area of God’s kingdom. Now this money is not for something that we use, say, for absurd things, but is for propagation. I come here nowaday, now I’ve decided to come every second year, so even this is too much for you to arrange My tour, then I will give up, if you think it is too much. Some of the people are like that, very miserly; and there’s a reputation I don’t know why about Australians they’re a very miserly people. They’re not. On the whole they are not. On the whole, some of them are extremely generous and some of them are very miserly; who somehow or other confront other people and a very bad reputation is established. So all of you have to be little generous, otherwise you, others who are generous suffer the consequence. As a Mother, I have to tell you that you have to be generous. You know, in the beginning I was paying all the money for everything, because My husband also realized that he should really contribute to this noble work so that he is blessed. And this is where I think Australians are failing compared to all others though they are very many in number. Now count your blessings. First count your blessings and try to understand that what you are doing is no good for Sahaja Yoga in Australia. Those who don’t pay at all are really people who have not understood Sahaja Yoga. In Sahaja Yoga of course I don’t need any money, I don’t want any money. And also somebody told Me that the money was misplaced in Australia before, that’s why people are afraid. That’s no reason. You know that now we are handling the money ourselves. There’s nothing like that and we’ve done a lot of work since I have taken over. So one has to understand that this is a very low-level behavior towards Sahaja Yoga; because Sahaja Yoga has given you so much, so much, and you just count what Sahaja Yoga has given you, then it looks very low-level that you can’t even contribute six pounds or five pounds, or five dollars, I’m sorry five dollars, that too Australia. For your recession, who is responsible? How will you progress? This is a very delicate subject. I didn’t want to talk about it, but if Australians are known to be like that, I think it’s better to have a proper image. Actually the main, heavy things that are paid like building ashrams, building schools and all that do not come from your money at all, not a single pai, from your money nothing comes out. It comes out of International Funds, out of people who are extremely generous and also partly from Me and if some money is left over with the tour. So this one I had to talk to you today. Saturday is all right, not on Easter Day I wouldn’t talk all these things, but today is the day when you should know that Christ was suffering, and this is the time we have to understand that you are not in the suffering any more, you have come out. But the way you treat Sahaja Yoga is just a side issue, like buying a magazine sort of a thing. It’s not good. You are not paying due respect to Sahaja Yoga. It’s of course your dedication is important, meditation is much more important, but little money you must keep for Sahaja Yoga. There is no need for you to pay like the way you pay for these gurus and all that, nothing of the kind. But a little money you should learn to take it out with respect, with dedication because after all we have to pay in some places. I should not talk about these things, and I have told Steven to circulate a letter of requesting them, telling them what’s the problem is. It is a, I mean in India, they are anxious to pay for Sahaja Yoga, and in every country I’ve seen they are anxious to pay. So this kind of an atmosphere and this kind of a beautiful gathering that we have, we should also think what we can do for Sahaja Yoga. The second thing you have to do that as you have got your Realization, others also should get it. So you have to form groups, go round the cities, go round to the smaller places and try to spread it. Some people do it. Definitely, some people do it, but there are thousand Sahaja Yogis, if they do it every year they can increase and multiply like anything. If you can really always think that we have to do something for Sahaja Yoga, you can go out on Saturdays, Sundays, form your music groups or anything and try to establish Sahaja Yoga outside. You are duty-bound to do it. Like when this light was not there, it was all right, but when it has got the light, it has to give the light, that is the duty of the light, it’s the nature of the light. That’s what you have to do, is to spread Sahaja Yoga as much as possible. The third thing I feel, that I should point it out, that when it came to going to America nobody wrote to Me. Nobody told Me that people are going to America. It’s very wrong, because in America Sahaja Yoga is not at all established. There are very few Sahaja Yogis. Secondly, you just went there for a holiday or some sort of a thing I don’t know what. I have already told you that America is hell. Why do you want to go to America? There are other places you could have gone. You could have worked there, but you put pressure on those people who were there. Not only that, but you caught all kinds of funny things from that horrible land of America. Americans as you know are very, very immature. They don’t understand Sahaja Yoga. All kinds of gurus are there. There are witchcraft, legally accepted things like that. Of all the places why should you go to America, I can’t understand. And people just went there to America, was a very wrong thing to do - without even telling Me, without even informing Me, they went there, otherwise I would have stopped it. The another difficulty came up for Me very much, that because you had not decided to go for a India tour, this is the last time we’ll have such a tour which was so expensive. But it was all thought that all Sahaja Yogis will enjoy in the same amount that you have been paying. We started this idea, everybody knew about it, but at the last moment when I went to England, to find out there was no money at all. So I had to borrow money and do the business. This is very, very troublesome and you don’t want your Mother to be troubled for nothing at all. And then suddenly so many came. You see, how you understand that supposing you have to take this place, you cannot just last moment come and say, ‘Oh no, we want to take this place.’ You have to organize all your travel by train, by buses, by this, by that. How much Indians work. They organize everything throughout. This time they really got absolutely upset because some people just came to Delhi, some people came through the Hariyana tour, some went to another part. But the worst is some of them just came after Poona. They said, ‘We’ll do half.’ You better not come. If you have no money, you need not come. ‘Mother, give us half,’ then one-fourth, then one-fifth. I mean, there’s no bargain about it. The money that you give is for the full tour because we have to organize it on that premises. For example, you go anywhere now. There’s a, they’ll say, ‘Now, there is a train available if you have five hundred passengers.’ So we take the whole train. All right, now you only, say, three hundred people pay, then all the two hundred who is going to pay? It is something you are away from the rest of the world, sitting down here, enjoying Sahaja Yoga. You don’t understand that all these things have caused lot of problems and a deficit, big deficit. I don’t know what has happened, I’m now going back to Cabella to sit down and find out about the accounts, which I am very bad at it. And the more you only care for such things, the worse it will be. I have to tell you that it’s - there’s no planning needed as such, but anywhere in modern times, if you have to go, you have to do it beforehand. It’s not just you reach there and say: “All right, Mother, we are here now”. Do what you like. All these things have really upset the Sahaja Yogis in New Delhi and in Bombay. And they have sent Me word that ‘Mother, please tell all the Sahaja Yogis all over the world, specially, specially Australians that they should take a decision before at least a month.’ So if you could decide in October it would be better. And send over the money because if you borrow the money from the bank, you know you have to pay interest also. So, I know children sometimes don’t behave properly, but you don’t want Me to have trouble of this kind and a Mother has to tell the children what are her problems are. On the whole, there are some Sahaja Yogis in Australia who are tremendous. They are doing so well. They send such beautiful cards to Me. They write such beautiful poems that really I don’t know how to thank them. But first of all you have a duty to spread Sahaja Yoga. Secondly, it is for you to enjoy Sahaja Yoga, but also to see that by your behavior you don’t trouble other Sahaja Yogis all over the world. Sahaja Yoga has so much progressed here. It’s a very, very surprising thing. We had a very bumpy start, I told you. I used to think that Sahaja Yoga in Australia will be disappearing into Indian Sea or something, but we have now people who understand what is Sahaja Yoga and also you have very, very good leaders practically everywhere. Also they understand Sahaja Yoga very well and they think it’s a very important thing and try to think how important is Sahaja Yoga. With all those things, you see, a very, very simple understanding should be there that we belong to one family. When I come here I feel a joy of a Mother who has come to meet all Her children, Her family and, if we are in a family, we bear a responsibility. I don’t want to put any pressure on you, on money, which is not reasonable. But you should be also reasonable about it and try to think in a serious manner that whatever Mother is doing, whatever She’s trying, we should not put a burden on Her. So for one thing I must congratulate you that all the collectivity has come back to normal. Even in Melbourne I was surprised how the collectivity has come back and is helping everyone. Leaders, all of Australia I talked to them one by one and they only say that “They are all right, for Pujas, they are very good. They are good for other collective things we do. But as far as working for Sahaja Yoga, you’ll get handful of [Interruption in recording]”. When it comes to working for Sahaja Yoga, very few will be available. Most of them think it’s a sort of a by-the-way job. “I’m busy with this. I’m busy with that.” But that is not the way. You are really showing your sense of gratitude. If you want to show the sense of your gratitude, then you must run to ask, ‘What do you want me to do? What should I do?’ Now, in Poona when I went, I was so surprised, the Yuva Shakti, the young Sahaja Yogis, they came to receive Me, six of them, all in a turban and in a very classical dresses with a big bugle and all kinds of things to receive Me. All the way on the road, they had built about twenty-five to thirty big gates for Me on the way, and also had advertised all over, all over Poona. And I was amazed we had a hundred thousand people for the program. Can you believe it? And then second time, when I went to Bombay, I was surprised really. We have a park called Shivaji Park and there always had been big meetings of Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, this, that. And I was amazed that they all said, ‘There has been never such a big number of at least 125,000 people.’ All done by the people, everybody working out, anybody who knew this one, he brought this, he brought that and, by doing that, you see the expenses were much less and they never put a pressure on Me for money. Never. I have never seen these people. They are not so rich as you are. You are very rich people. But they have never put any pressure on Me. To them Sahaja Yoga is their life, Sahaja Yoga is their aim and Sahaja Yoga is totality. So with all this, I have to tell you that your ... I’ve told the leaders to make a list of people who do not pay money, also to make a list of people who do not help in the work; not the ones who help, but those who do not help, so I’ll put a bandhan on them and let them feel that it is important what we have to do. Last but not the least the problem of certain marriages which crop up very much here, I am surprised. Men, you are to be married, you are given full chance to decide whom do you want to marry. And after marriage it goes off. Mostly it is the mistake of the women here, I’m very surprised, because always it’s the woman who dominates, see she wants this, she wants that, like that. Now, you have to know that women are very important for society. Your problem is not so much of political problems or economic problems, as such. It is always common like that in every Western country. But the main problem you are facing is your society. You know what’s happening in your society, what a terrible society it is, how the children are harmed, how the women are tortured, how so many things are happening in our society and all kinds of filthy things are happening which cannot be called as anywhere near advancement. All these things we see around us and we see our children suffer with that. So what - who is responsible for the society? Women. Women are responsible for the society. They have to do it. I’m also a woman and I understand that to Me society is so important. I should not Myself do something that is wrong. I should not allow My children to do something wrong. Now, if children are not meditating, they are not footsoaking - I was told that nobody can corrected anybody else’s child. If somebody says something to somebody’s child, they’ll be angry. Even Indian ladies, I was surprised, don’t like anybody correcting their child. It’s not in India. Never. If one woman does that, she’ll be discarded from the society. Anybody can correct you and parents thank that person. Say, when we were young, supposing on the road we are laughing, say that could be a joke, we are walking. And somebody informed My mother, she would shout at us, ‘What business you had to make jokes on the street and laugh like that? It’s very cheapish.’ But she would never shout at the person who reported. That was not done. So this is another thing I want to tell you very frankly, that no parents should feel bad if somebody corrects the child. Should thank that person because your children need too much of correction, you have no idea. When we started the school, just after two month they gave up, said ‘These are not children. These are coming from some jungles and they bite us, and they hit us, and they take out all our belongings and throw them.’ They were so horrible hooligans. For two months they tried and they gave up. They said, “Close this school. We can’t have. We’ll have Indian children.” I told them - I gave them one ebony rod, so big as that, black. Said, ‘You show them this. Say that this Mother has given. Anybody who tries to misbehave, we’ll touch that person with this”. And they were all right. (Laughter, Shri Mataji laughs). They started behaving all right. Otherwise this school would not have been there. You don’t know how terrible they were. They were used, they used to threaten that ‘We’ll jump down the cliff’ or they used to climb over the trees or on top of the roof also, like monkeys. Just like monkeys, without any discipline, without anything. So your children need much more correction than anybody else. Not only Australia, I mean any one of the foreigners, they need. So it’s better that you allow others to correct your children. And I’m surprised at Indian ladies objecting to it. They are also learning bad things from here I think. This is never in India. Nobody does that and that’s why Indian children are much better. You will not - you have, you must have noticed Indian children in a group there, how they behave, how quiet they are, how sweetly they are listening to everything. Very nice. The reason is they are disciplined not only by parents, but by the whole society. And the idea is that everybody loves your children. They are the children of the whole society. We live collectively. We are not individualistic. And if they find anything wrong with the child, they should correct. Of course if you find somebody who is doing it just to show their anger or temper, then you can report to the leader, but normally it should be treated... After all, you are all parents and you know what is good for children. I was amazed that children are not allowed at all to be corrected by anybody else because, you see, a child, you must know, is a big responsibility and only the mother cannot control, only the father cannot control. The whole society has to control and discipline the child. So the idea of good mannerism - this is not good manners. These are not good manners. You see, we should know, these are not good manners. One should feel very shy about it. I remember once my grand-daughter we had taken her to Brighton and she wanted to go on a ride on a - they have what small, small trains. So they went round and came back. Still she wanted to do it again and I said, “No, no, you can’t do it. We have to go now.” Then she looked at her mother and started crying. Mother said, ‘Whether you cry or anything, you are not to go again. That’s what it is.’ She must have cried for about, say, five minutes and then she felt so ashamed she put both the hands on her face. So she was very young, so must be about four years. I said, “Why are you hiding your face?” ‘Because I misbehaved.’ These are not good manners. From very childhood, you must tell your children what are bad manners and what is their position. They are Sahaja Yogis. Put them up. Tell them what is their dignity, how they are, they - how special they are, how much God’s work they are going to do, they are in the kingdom of God, they can’t behave like this. Anybody who tells you should not mind because it’s all for their good. It doesn’t, in no way harm your child, but this shows your, what you call, mamat where you say that you are attached, “It’s my child. That’s his child. That’s his child.” Nothing like that. In Sahaja Yoga every child belongs to everyone and that is what we have to show in our life. Even our things in the West I have seen, people if they think belongs to somebody else, they’ll just spoil it. If it is theirs, then they’ll keep it very carefully, not to be touched. That’s not Sahaj culture. Sahaj culture, I’ll tell you what, like supposing if there’s a spoon from somebody’s family has come in the house, everybody will be telling us, ‘Is it there or not? Have you returned it (or) not?’ Even a spoon, they’ll eat us off. I tell you this not only with Me but any Indian family. Not that all Indian culture is all right, but quite a lot is needed to compensate for this kind of a culture where everybody is free, do what you like, live as you like. So also you have to train them up, how they should live, how they should keep their things. For example, in Cabella we had children and we had parents and they were putting them in their own rooms. I said, “No, there’s no need you to - there’s so many rooms. We make one room for the children. And let them feel that this is their room, they have to look after it.” I was so surprised. The same children who were spoiling their parents’ rooms all the time started with their little, little hands carrying their blankets, little blankets and everything and putting it up nicely, keeping it clean and “Mother is going to come”, so they put up some flowers. I said “So sweet”. I said, “The same children about whom parents were saying, ‘Mother, they’re hopeless. Every day we have to spend so much time on their thing, they put this thing here and put there’.” So to make them responsible. And so sweetly they did it. They are all below five years, from two years to five years, imagine. So sweetly they did it and for Me also they made a seat and wouldn’t allow the adults to do anything. So I was surprised, the same children how they have changed. Only by getting a dignified place for themselves and an understanding that they have to do something. So too much of protectiveness is not needed, and abandonment is also not. You have to be in the centre, tell your children how to behave and what is the good manners are. They should know, “These are bad manners. We just can’t do it. We just can’t do it. Bad manners.” And this, if you tell, they will understand, because we must face our children. We have to tell them. Whatever is wrong we have to tell them. I’m sorry today I took too much time and I hope your leader will forgive Me for this (Shri Mataji laughs, laughter)... because... (Shri Mataji laughs, laughter)... I’m just trying to use this time for something really very much needed. I never get a chance to talk to Sahaja Yogis in this way. When it’s a Puja time, it’s so auspicious that You don’t want to say anything that will make people little unhappy. So I have a feeling of a Mother who loves Her children very much and who wants Her children to enjoy life fully in the Kingdom of God. So I hope you don’t mind whatever I have said and whatever I have done is all for our good. May God bless you. SHRI MATAJI CONTINUES AFTER THE TALK HERE: There’s some more time can you give Me – the leaders? (Laughter). This is the first time I saw everything so organized according to time and this is the first time I’ve let you down (Laughter). It’s a - you know because of your customs, you know what is the situation is, you can’t bring too many things but whatever I could I’ve got it for the leaders and all that, so I’ll just now read the names and then you can collect it from Vinay. This is for all the leaders here (Shri Mataji reads the names: “Mr Steven and then John, then Michael, Ben, Hugh - what’s the name? Albert. - Albert, then John Henshaw, and who? Robin, Robin Reed”). Then also for ladies, according to the leadership, leaders’ wives is (Shri Mataji reads names “Marylin? Marylin, and we have Sue, Jo, Savita – Brisbane, who is from Brisbane, Albert’s wife – and Jennie, and Gulsha (?) what’s kind of a name?”). So this is, these are the names of the people who are leaders, Savita because she really worked very hard for Me. So that’s how we have presents for them, very small presents, I hope you all can take it from Vinay. I have already touched them, blessed them, so it’s alright (laughter), we can save some time (applause). Also they wanted Me to bring some sarees... (Yogi says in Hindi, “Sold it”). Sold it! (Yogi: Yes) I hoped you liked them. (Laughter and applause)