Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi – A Remarkable Life

H.H. Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi, founder of the worldwide meditation movement called Sahaja Yoga, passed away peacefully on 23rd February, 2011 in Genoa, Italy, aged 87. 

Hers was a life unlike any other.  Whether walking with kings or walking barefoot with Gandhi, it was a journey of extremes managed effortlessly, living as she did with grace, dignity and, always, loving guidance.

Shri Mataji’s was to be a truly remarkable path.

Born of a royal dynasty; she conferred as a child with Mahatma Gandhi, living for a time in his ashram; was a medical student and a freedom fighter; was an adored mother, grandmother, great grandmother and the wife of a distinguished diplomat who himself was decorated by the Kings and Presidents of innumerable countries and knighted by the Queen of England.  But incredibly, after all this, with her family grown and settled, she then embarked on an even more extraordinary mission.

Shri Mataji was born to Christian parents in India. Spiritually enlightened, she knew from very early on that her unique spiritual gift must be made available to everyone.  And so it was that in 1970 she founded Sahaja Yoga meditation, which she shared freely.  Using simple techniques, she discovered a unique process of Self Realisation through which huge masses of people could easily achieve the peace of true meditation. She charged no money, and instead insisted this was a birthright which should be available to all who desired it, at no cost.  She said

“There can be no peace in the world until there is peace within”.

Thus began the next outstanding stage of her life:  for the next forty years, she continuously travelled the globe teaching meditation; was a loved and loving spiritual leader, acclaimed public speaker, gentle guide, philanthropist, Nobel peace prize nominee, and recipient of numerous awards and commendations worldwide.  Extending her care and compassion ever further, in India she established a holistic health and research centre in Mumbai, an international cancer research centre in Mumbai, a charity house for destitute women and children in Delhi and an international Music Academy in Vaitarna to promote classical music and arts.

Although at birth she was named Nirmala, meaning ‘Immaculate’, eventually she came to be known as Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi – the revered Mother.  She was regarded by many as the most significant spiritual figure of our times.

Regardless of race, religion, age or status, probably millions of ordinary people have now learnt how to tap into their inner spiritual power through Sahaja meditation, helping to find balance in their lives.  And at meditation centres throughout more than 80 countries in the world, her legacy will live on, with volunteers continuing to teach her techniques for free.  In the spirit of her teaching, those who have been helped will then help others, like one candle lighting another.

She was described as ‘an Avatar of the modern era’ by Claes Nobel (grandnephew of the creator of Nobel
Foundation). And in the hearts of her followers, she will remain evermore, the all compassionate Mother. 
H.H. Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi is survived by her husband Sir C.P. Srivastava, daughters Kalpana and Sadhana, grandchildren & great grandchildren, and her worldwide family of  countless devotees.  She was laid to rest in India.  

More background: 
Her parents Cornelia and Prasad Salve, a direct descendant of India’s reputed royal Shalivahana family, played a key role in India’s Liberation Movement from 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; was a renowned scholar, master of 14 languages, and translated the Koran into Marathi. Her mother was the first woman in India to receive an Honors Degree in Mathematics.

As a child, Shri Mataji lived with her parents in Mahatma Gandhi’s ashram, where he affectionately called her Nepali, because of her facial features. Even at a young age, her wisdom and deep understanding was evident to Gandhi, who was known to have sought her advice on spiritual matters.  Shri Mataji studied medicine until becoming a student activist in the Free India movement, when both her parents were jailed.

For many decades Shri Mataji kept a remarkable schedule at her own instigation, travelling tirelessly around the world teaching Sahaja Yoga meditation, showing how to effortlessly trigger the awakening of the individual’s spiritual power or kundalini, at one time as an official guest of the former Soviet Union, addressing an audience of 100,000 people.  Whether speaking in the Sydney Town Hall, the Royal Albert Hall in London, immense stadiums in India, addressing the United Nations in New York, or travelling by bullock cart to crowded dusty fields in rural villages, she gave thousands of talks to packed audiences.  Throughout, she always maintained that people cannot pay for spiritual enlightenment and denounced false self proclaimed ‘gurus’ who were more interested in money than spiritual ascent.  In 2005 she personally donated properties to the Sahaja Yoga worldwide collective.

Shri Mataji received numerous recognitions for her selfless work and lifetime achievements.  These include being awarded the UN peace medal, nominated for the Nobel peace prize, official guest of China as keynote speaker at Beijing International Women’s Conference,  granted a one hour nationally broadcast television series by the Indian Govt, given a Proclamation by the US Congress, given Unity Award for international understanding, declared Personality of the Year by Italian Govt,  Mayor of Brazil’s capital gave keys to the city and sponsored all her programs, officially greeted by North American Mayors of LA, NY, British Columbia, Cincinnati, Philadelphia, Berkeley and invited by officials of many countries to address their people.

‘ You cannot know the meaning of life until you are connected to the power that created you…’

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More about Shri Mataji:  http://sahajayoga.org/shrimataji
Contact for press release:    Sahaja Yoga Meditation Australia
Ms Astrid Fleay   astridfleay@gmail.com

3 comments March 6th, 2011

Please Enlighten My Heart

Guru Nanak

This is the prayer of your slave; please enlighten my heart.

By your mercy, O Supreme Lord God, Please erase my sins.

I take the sport of your Lotus Feet, O God, Supreme Lord,
Treasure of virtue.

I shall meditate in remembrance on the Praises of thy Naam,
The name of the Lord, as long as there is breath in my body.

You are my mother, father and relative; you are abiding within all.
Nanak seek the Sanctuary of God; His Praise is immaculate and pure.

Guru Nanak

Add comment July 31st, 2008

The Aquarian Age

So, now a New Age has started which is called the Age of Aquarius, meaning the pitcher carrier of spiritual holy water that is the work of Kundalini. (Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi)

Since the 1960s and ’70s there has been much talk about the Aquarian Age, especially due to the song, “Age of Aquarius”, from the musical, “Hair”. The words, “New Age”, refering to the Aquarian Age, have also become commonplace and seem to refer to a wide range of alternative philosophies, music, therapies, meditations, exercises and diets. But what is the real significance of the Aquarian Age?

Western astrological thought indicates that we have just come out of the Piscean Age and have entered the Aquarian Age. Each Cosmic Age lasts about 2,000 years and has its own atmosphere or world view due to the influence of the prevailing zodiac sign on all of the planets during their transit, as well as their configurations and the relationships between them.

Dan Costian PhD, author of “Bible Enlightened”, relates that in each Cosmic Age a new avatar or incarnation of the Divine took birth on the earth in human form in order to reveal another aspect of spirituality to human beings. In the Age of Gemini (c6000 – c4000BC) this Divine incarnation was Rama, in the Age of Taurus (c4000 – c2000BC) it was Krishna, and in the Age of Aries (c2000 – 1BC) it was Abraham, Moses, Zarathustra, Confucius, Lao-Tse and Socrates. In essence, the planets “set the scene” by providing the atmosphere or mood of the time to harmonise with and to reflect the message of the incarnation of the Divine of that Age.

The Age of Pisces extended from about 1AD to about the year 2000. The avatar or incarnation of the divine in this Age was Jesus Christ, the Son of God. The early Christians used the symbol of the fish, the sign of Pisces, in order to recognise each other. The birth of Jesus Christ in Bethlehem had been foretold by the prophets and was heralded by a star in the East, which guided the Three Wise Men to the baby in the stable.

Various predictions about the date of the beginning of the Age of Aquarius have been made. The Adi Sahasrara, the seventh and last chakra, was opened on 5 May 1970. This cosmic phenomenon was witnessed by Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi and she has described it in one of her lectures. This event has paved the way for the spontaneous awakening of the Kundalini energy so that people en masse can receive their Self-realisation, their connection with the Divine. I believe that this is the date of the beginning of the Aquarian Age.

So what can we expect the Age of Aquarius to be like? Eccentricity, originality, independent thought, love of innovation and contempt for tradition are all strong traits of Aquarius. So we can expect that there will be a shake-up of the old order and a questioning of all ideas about society, religion and relationships. This will lead to a search for new ways of being.

This time of questioning started happening in the late 1960s and ’70s when a lot of old ideas, traditions and indoctrinations were examined and thrown out. It led to the sexual revolution, a lot of experimenting with drugs and experimenting with new religions mostly from India, including ones promulgated by false gurus who saw an opportunity to make money. So it had quite a few negative consequences, but it was necessary for people to move beyond the staid, narrow ways of looking at things that had prevailed for some time and to become “seekers of truth”. Under the influence of Aquarius people will not accept what others tell them and like to learn through their own experimentation and experience.

Aquarius encourages the progress of humanitarian and social causes. So the Aquarian Age is one where pure love and altruism prevail. People work selflessly for the good of the whole, without exploiting or manipulating others.

Unity and integration are themes of the Aquarian Age. We can look forward to a truly multicultural world where individual differences are valued and respected while at the same time we are able to work co-operatively for the good of everyone. The sign opposite Aquarius is Leo which has an ennobling and enriching influence.

Originality and innovation are qualities of Aquarius. So we can expect inventiveness and creativity in all spheres of life.

The truth is another important aspect of Aquarius. All falseness and corruption should disappear. The appearance or exterior will be less important while the essence will be of utmost importance.

We can look forward to an end to “blind faith” in religion and to a time when the mystical knowledge that has been hidden and kept secret will be revealed – a time when people will be their own gurus, and know the truth within themselves, with the rising of their Kundalini.

Now very interesting it is to see that this Kundalini is the one which is called as the Kumbha – in Sanskrit language, means the Aquarius. We call it Aquarius, as one of the signs, and is the same as Kumbha in Sanskrit language. So it is the Age of Aquarius, is the Age of the Kundalini. Secondly is the Age of the Kundalini which will nourish, which is the Mother within you, which will rise, will give you the completeness of it, and which will connect you with your Spirit which ultimately gives you the enlightenment by which you become collectively conscious. (Shri Mataji Nirmal Devi, 1983).

All of these positive changes will not happen if we sit back and do nothing. The time is right for them to happen, but we must desire the change and take steps to bring about the change within ourselves. The first step is to desire to have your Kundalini awakening. The second step is to go through the process of attaining Self-realisation. You can do this by going to the link:

Sahaja Yoga Meditation – Self-realisation

The third step is to meditate regularly, preferably with other Sahaja Yogis as the meditation is easier and more powerful in a collective situation. So that means contacting the nearest Sahaja Yoga centre and attending the beginners’ classes, which are always free. By doing this you will be helping all the positive aspects of the true Aquarian Age to manifest on our earth.

Kay Alford

(Photograph: beyondthelookingglass.org)

2 comments May 1st, 2008

Shri Mataji, Sidney Poitier and Forgiveness

We all have our understanding about Easter’s message and there are so many ways of celebrating Easter.

At the recent Easter celebrations in India, Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi spoke about forgiveness, saying that we should forgive everyone, and that this message of forgiveness is not just for Easter, but for all time.

Forgiveness is the main power at the level of Agnya chakra. This power was revealed and incarnated as Jesus Christ.

Around the time of Easter maybe many of us have faced challenges related to our power to endure and to forgive – a power that ultimately leads to unconditional love.

I’m reading an amazing book, The Measure of a Man, by Sidney Poitier and the vibrations are beautiful. His words are very Sahaj, very similar to talks offered by Shri Mataji. His words have the most profound significance.

Please, see below some quotes from his book − quotes that I happened to read at Easter time. It’s a “cool” and elevating book and I recommend it to you.

Forgiveness works two ways, in most instances. People have to forgive themselves too… That should be a sacred process.

And somewhere along the line, they’re going to realize that there’s no way for them to live with the requirements of their rage, with the requirements of their hatred. They have to find peace, because they won’t get peace from rerunning those emotions.

The above words are totally Sahaj  and they talk about the Pure Knowledge of the Spirit at the level of Agnya Chakra, the energy centre that is connected to the element of Light and that was opened by Jesus Christ at the universal level, for all mankind.

Ioana Popa

(Photograph: bangkokpost.com)

1 comment March 26th, 2008