Birth and Childhood
Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi was born on March 21, 1923 to a Christian
family in Chindawara, India. Her parents were Prasad and Cornelia
Salve, direct descendants of the royal Shalivahana dynasty.
Seeing the beauty of this child who was born with a spotless
brilliance, they called her Nirmala, which means 'Immaculate'.
Later on she came to be known by the multitudes by the name
of Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi - the revered Mother who was
born with her complete Self Realization and knew from a very
young age that she had a unique gift which had to be made
available to all mankind.
Her parents played a key role in India's Liberation Movement
from under British rule. Her father, a close associate of
Mahatma Gandhi, was a member of the Constituent Assembly
of India and helped write free India's first constitution.
He was a renowned scholar, master of 14 languages, and translated
the Koran in Marathi. Her mother was the first woman in India
to receive an Honors Degree in Mathematics.
Fighting for India's Freedom
 As
a child, Shri Mataji lived with her parents in the ashram
of Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi saw the wisdom of this child
and used to appreciate her immensely, affectionately calling
her Nepali due to the Nepali features of her face. Even
at a young age, her deep understanding was evident to Gandhi,
who frequently sought her advice on spiritual matters.
 Shri
Mataji's involvement in the freedom struggle is extremely
remarkable. She was very courageous and played a daring role
as a youth leader of this campaign. In the 1942"Quit India
Movement"announced by Gandhi, she was even arrested and put
in jail along with other freedom fighters for actively participating
in this movement.
Shri Mataji was born with a complete understanding of the
human nervous system and its energetic counterparts. In order
to become acquainted with the scientific vocabulary attached
to these subjects, she studied medicine and psychology at
the Christian Medical College in Lahore.
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Sahaja Yoga is born
 Shortly
before India achieved independence she married Sir. C.P.
Srivastava, one of India's most dedicated civil servant
officers, who was knighted by the Queen of England. In
India it is believed that the wife brings luck to her husband
- this is most certainly the case for Sir. C.P. Srivastava.
He rose in government ranks very quickly though he was an
absolutely honest person. He held the post of the Joint Secretary
to the Prime Minister's office of the late Shri Lal Bahadur
Shastri in the years 1964-66. Shastri himself was an ideal
model for a Prime Minister in India's political history.
Afterwards he was elected for 16 consecutive years to be
the Secretary General of the United Nations International
Maritime Organization.
As Sir C.P. Srivastava moved in fame from the Indian history
to the worldly scene, Shri Mataji, after fulfilling her familial
duty of bringing up her two daughters, embarked on her spiritual
mission.
Although she knew about her own spiritual consciousness
she did not know how to present it to the people of modern
times. She was also aware of the problems encountered by
the earlier spiritual personalities who came on this earth
like Jesus, Mohammed, Buddha, and others when they prophesized
the truth directly to the people.
As she was pondering on the many faceted problems confronting
human beings, on the 5th of May, 1970, on a lonely beach
of Nargol (about 150 km from Mumbai) a divine spiritual experience
filled her whole being and suddenly she found an answer to
her question. She discovered a historical process of en-masse
Self Realisation through which thousands of people could
get this connection to their Spirit and thereby their inner
transformation.
Sahaja (=Spontaneous) Yoga (=Union with the Self)
was born.
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Spreading of Sahaja Yoga
around the world
 Shri
Mataji made this experiment of awakening the spiritual
power of every human being (which the Hindus name the Kundalini,
the Muslims as the Ruh and in the bible it is described
as the Holy Ghost) and was amazed at the results.
She tried it first on people near to her and noticed they
were transformed physically, mentally and spiritually. Slowly
she found out that only this process had the potential solution
for all human problems and therefore she decided to spread
it on an en-masse level. She invested her own time and money
to talk to people and give them the key to their own spiritual
power. Those few people who started feeling this spiritual
power, which flowed like a cool breeze over their whole body,
especially over the palms of their hands and on top of their
head (around the fontanel bone area) were quite astonished
that it worked. Though they argued and disputed over it they
could not disbelieve their own experience. Under the instructions
of Shri Mataji they tried giving this power to others, which
really gave them the faith that this was the true spiritual
experience that was being prophesized in every religion.
 Amazingly,
without any financial support from any person, Shri Mataji
neither charges for Her lectures nor for Her ability to give
Self Realisation, nor does one have to become a member of
this organisation. She insists that you cannot pay for your
enlightenment and to-date she continues to denounce the false,
self-proclaimed"gurus"who are more interested in the seekers'
purse than their spiritual ascent.
Since 1970, Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi has kept a busy schedule,
travelling around the world to teach the techniques of Sahaja
Yoga meditation. She has demonstrated her capacity to trigger
the awakening of the spiritual power in human beings (Kundalini)
at an"en masse"level.
Large numbers of people, without distinction of race, religion,
age or social status have acknowledged the value of her teachings
by establishing Sahaja Yoga centers in over 75 nations. These
people who live a normal family life, tap to their inner
spiritual power through daily Sahaja Yoga meditation and
have achieved a complete balance of their lives on the physical,
emotional, mental and spiritual levels. They understand the
integration of all religions and spiritual paths not at a
mental level, but through their direct, tangible experience
on the central nervous system. Thousands of years ago, the
Blossom Time was prophesized to come when, in these modern
times of crisis, thousands of seekers of Truth are going
to experience this connection with their Spirit.
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International achievements
and recognition
An official guest in the former Soviet Union, she enabled
over 100,000 people to experience their Self-Realization.
She regularly speaks to audiences of 10,000 to 20,000 in
the former Eastern bloc nations and has filled year after
year the Royal Albert Hall in London for her conference
on Sahaja Yoga.
Shri Mataji has delivered thousands of lectures, given many
television and radio interviews, and been the subject of
hundreds of newspaper articles around the world. An articulate
speaker, Shri Mataji is the founder and sole director of
Sahaja Yoga or"Vishwa Nirmala Dharma", which is an established
non-profit organization in many countries worldwide.
Shri Mataji has been recognized worldwide by several prestigious
institutions for her selfless work and for the powerful results
of her spiritual teachings. In 1994, the Mayor of Brazil's
capital welcomed Shri Mataji at the airport, presenting her
with the key to the city, and sponsored all of her programs.
In 1995, the Indian Government granted Shri Mataji a one
hour primetime television series, broadcast nationally. During
the same year, Shri Mataji was an official guest of the Chinese
government and was invitied to speak at the International
Women's Conference in Beijing. Also in 1995, she was awarded
by the Romanian Ecological University an Honorary Doctorate
in Cognitive and Parapsychological Sciences.
She has been recognized and greeted by the mayors of several
cities in North America (Yonkers, NY, 1994&1996, Los
Angeles, 1993 and 1994, British Columbia, 1994, Cincinnati
1992, Philadelphia 1993, Berkeley, 1997). She was given a
Proclamation by the US Congress in 1997 which was submitted
to the Congressional Records. Shri Mataji was declared"Personality
of the Year"in 1986 by the Italian Government.
Click here to learn more about Shri Mataji's Awards and Recognition
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NGOs created
by Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi
In her tremendous compassion and concern to alleviate
human sufferings, Shri Mataji has been able to create a
number of NGOs (Non Governmental Organisations) to solve
the most immediate problems of the world in the last 25
years. To mention a few:
- An international hospital in Mumbai to help patients
all over the world to get a chance to cure themselves through
Sahaja Yoga methods. This hospital has been producing quite
successful results in curing a number of incurable diseases
like cancer, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis etc.
- An international cancer research centre in Mumbai in
order to study the effects of Sahaja Yoga methods on curing
various illnesses, including psychosomatic diseases.
- An international music school in Nagpur to promote classical
music.
- A charity house for the poor people in Delhi, to provide
shelter to destitute and homeless people. Also to help
them through the process of Sahaja Yoga to become better
individuals.
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Conclusion
Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi has dedicated her life to triggering
the spiritual ascent of mankind through Self Realization,
reclaiming the role of women in the spiritual evolution,
and guiding humanity to correct today's moral dilemmas.
It seems that the light of Gandhi's vision is being brought
to fulfilment by this great lady who is revered as the
compassionate Divine Mother by her followers, as the"Messenger
of peace"by Ayatollah Rouhani, an Avatar of the modern
era by Claes Nobel, grandnewphew of Albert Nobel (the creator
of the Nobel foundation) and Chairman of United Earth.
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