Shri Mataji
The founder of Sahaja Yoga
Shri Nirmala Devi silently transformed many lives. In more than 40 years she tirelessly travelled offering free public conferences and the experience of self-realisation to everyone no matter of: races, religions and circumstances. Not only did she give millions of people this opportunity, but also, she did teach the Sahaj meditation technique so as everyone could benefit from it in their everyday lives.
A life dedicated to humanity
More than a guru or master, Shri Mataji can be described ad a “spiritual mother” whose main values are love and compassion but also caring for the well-being of the whole humanity. Due to its constant efforts and ways of looking at life, Sahaja Yoga has established its roots in more than a hundred countries so as to bring peace and balance in the lives of millions of people who were also able to heal from both serious mental and physical disabilities through the regular practice of such meditation technique.
The great master of yoga
Shri Mataji showed that within each person there is a motherly spiritual energy called Kundalini, the awakening of which leads to a state of spontaneous meditation. Unlike many ancient teachers who were only able to share this experience with a few individuals, Shri Mataji could raise the Kundalini in thousands of people, something previously considered impossible.
The opportunity to awaken this inner spiritual energy distinguishes Sahaja Yoga from other methods of meditation. It is the extraordinary living experience that allows us to achieve a state of complete peace and satisfaction, touch the very essence of our beings, and uncover our very best qualities.
Guided meditation with Shri Mataji
The Yoga starts from the Kundalini which is able to connect to your heart going straight to your brain allowing you feel this infinite state joy within. The most important thing to know, especially for western people, is that this power start acting from the heart and not from the brain as most people can think.
Early Years
Shri Mataji was born as Nirmala Salve on the 21th of March 1923 in Chindwara, India. Her family was a descendant of the real Shalivahana dynasty and was raised as a Christian even after the decision of her ancestors of concerting in the Hinduism. Her father was both a layer and a scientist, able to speak 14 different languages very fluently and he was famous to have translated the Koran in Hindi. Furthermore, her mother was the first woman to receive an honorific title in mathematics. Indeed, the parents of Shri Mataji actively participated in the war for the Indian independency and the British occupation whose consequence was that they were incarcerated few times.
When being a child Shri Mataji was used to visit the ashram of Mahatma Gandhi with which she used to discuss to reach both the social and spiritual freedom. In 1942 Shri Mataji was adolescent and she was both arrested and tortured from the Britain soldiers because she was accused in participating in the liberation movement. However, this was considered a necessary sacrifice, so strong was the conviction that the internal liberation of people could only occur after the liberation of the country from the foreign rule.
In 1947, Shri Mataji got married to a young political figure, Chandrika Prasad, later known as Sir CP, with whom she had two daughters. Shri Mataji was a housewife and raised the daughters when Sir CP helped develop the newly liberated country, moving up the political ladder and serving in various positions in the state hierarchy. However, Shri Mataji always rem her true destiny: the search for a method for the spiritual enlightenment of mankind.
The foundation of Sahaja Yoga
Shri Mataji always knew that the meaning of his life was to find a way to teach the truth of meditation to as many people as possible. She knew that only through the inner transformation of each person the whole society can become harmonious. She also realized how many people tried to know the truth, and how many so-called “gurus” used this pure impulse for their enrichment. After attending a lecture by one of these pseudo-teachers, she saw how he manipulated people and she was disgusted by this attitude. Shri Mataji spent all night on a beach in Nargol, western India, contemplating this dilemma. She knew that to achieve greater self-awareness, people should be able to go beyond their minds and connect with their subtle self. In her deep meditation, she felt her Kundalini rising within her, moving along her spine through all her chakras until it crossed the final chakra, the Sahasrara, in the limbic area at the top of her head. At that moment she rose to a state of total serenity and she became also aware that this was the answer to what many were looking for. Thus, on May 5, 1970, she discovered the method to reach the state of meditation, which she later called “Sahaja Yoga”, which in Sanskrit means “spontaneous union”.
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“I felt at that moment whatever energy was there above suddenly entered within me like a cool breeze from every direction. I saw the whole thing open and a big torrential rain of breeze started flowing through my head all over. I felt I was lost now, I was no more. It is only the grace that was there. I saw it completely happening to me.” ______________________________________________________
The Global Vision
From the 1980s, Shri Mataji began to travel the world to bring her knowledge to all those who wished to receive it. Beginning with Europe, North America and Australia, and then moving on to South America, Asia and the Pacific region, she tirelessly taught Sahaja Yoga to all who were interested. In 1990 alone, Shri Mataji attended over 200 official events in 26 countries and had many more informal meetings in between.
Whether it was a speech in the main hall of a capital city or an informal conversation in a villager’s home, every talk and experience was of equal importance to her. Her vision was global and, by traveling and meeting people from all over the world, she tried to realize it. This vision was to change the world for the better by giving each person, regardless of race, religion or circumstance a method by which they could achieve inner transformation and become their true self.
Awards and Recognition
Throughout the 41 years that Shri Mataji spent spreading Sahaja Yoga, she received numerous awards, nominations and recognition from state leaders and notable institutions around the world. Shri Mataji’s humanitarian and spiritual work draws the admiration not only of countless individuals in over 100 nations who have personally benefited from his teachings, but also of governments, dignitaries, educational institutions and humanitarian organizations.
Recognizing the scientific and verifiable nature of his teachings, the Petrovskaya Academy of Arts and Sciences in St. Petersburg awarded Shri Mataji an Honorary Membership, saying, “You are even higher than science.” Others, like Claes Nobel, thanked her for giving hope to humanity. She accepted all the awards with her characteristic humility, praising the efforts of others and insisting on collective rather than individual achievement.
The Italian government proclaims Shri Mataji as the Personality of the Year.
Appointed as Honorary Member of the Petrovskaya Academy of Art and Science. In the history of the Academy, only twelve people have been granted this honour, Einstein being one of them. Shri Mataji inaugurated the first International Conference on Medicine and Self-Knowledge, which became an annual event at the Academy thereafter.
Letter of welcome was proffered by the Premier of the Province of British Columbia, Mr. Mike Harcourt, on behalf of the people of Canada.
Mr. Claes Nobel, grandnephew of Alfred Nobel, chairman of United Earth and The National Society of High School Scholars, honoured the life and work of Shri Mataji in a public speech at the Royal Albert Hall.
Succeeding Shri Mataji’s meeting with the Minister for Health of the USSR, Sahaja Yoga receives full government support, including funding of scientific research.
The mayor of Brazilia welcomed Shri Mataji at the airport, presented her with the key to the city and sponsored all of her programs.
Awarded Honorary Doctorate in Cognitive Science by Prof D. Drimer, head of the Ecological University Bucharest.
Honorarium read into Congressional Record by Congressman Eliot Engle commending Shri Mataji for her dedicated and tireless work for humanity.
Invited by the United Nations for four consecutive years to speak on the ways and means to achieve world peace.
September 26 proclaimed ‘Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi Day.’ Police escort was offered for a welcoming parade honouring Shri Mataji and celebrating her association with Mahatma Gandhi.
On the occasion of the 700th Anniversary of Saint Gyaneshwara, Shri Mataji addressed the ‘World Philosophers Meet ’96 – A Parliament of Science, Religion and Philosophy,’ where she was felicitated for her spiritual movement, Sahaja Yoga.
Shri Mataji was awarded honorary Italian citizenship, which was followed by the unveiling of the foundation stone for the ‘Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi World Foundation of Sahaja Yoga.’ This Foundation has its home in Cabella Ligure.