Knowledge of the Roots

Shri Mataji

You are the lovers of truth and you have been seeking in these modern times. It is a special category of human beings who are seeking, beyond materialism, beyond power, beyond emotional enterprises, because the times are such that we have reached the epitome of our evolution and the breakthrough has to be found. But the way we understand breakthrough in modern times is through our mental understanding because today the human beings are more mental. It analyses, reflects and tries to understand the truth. But we do not realise that mental projections are always linear. They move on one line up to a point and then they recoil back upon us, like science has evolved to create hydrogen bombs.

Everything ends up in  self-destruction or in collective destruction. Even on political level when we talk of democracy we find it has become demonocracy and when we talk of communism it has become autocracy. So where did we go with all this? We have to reflect again to understand that there must have been some mistake.

The truth that is known through our reading or through our thinking is a partial truth, because partial truth is more dangerous than ignorance. Like you see a land and you think that is the road and when you walk on that little land, you fall into a big ditch. So this is when you see darkness, you don’t want to go there – that’s why say “ignorance is bliss”, in a way. So we can say all this knowledge which is extrovert knowledge through our mental understanding and emotional attachments has been the knowledge of the tree. And the tree has grown too big. It has grown so big that it has now to face the truth that it has lost its roots. If the tree becomes so big that the roots are not nourishing it – it has no knowledge of the roots ─ then the tree will be destroyed. That is the reason why people have turned round to seek what is the truth, the knowledge of the roots. The roots are our nerves. Whatever we know through our nervous system is the truth to us on a very gross level. If I know that this is cold then it is cold. And for everyone it will be cold unless and until he is mad.

Now the knowledge of the roots has to be such that you get new enrichment to the nerves. In your evolution also you must get your enrichment to your nervous system. Like human beings can understand the beauty. If you want to take an animal through a dirty lane it’s very easy, but to take a human being it’s very difficult.

But what is the difference then we have to see that we have developed a new awareness within us about filth and dirt … What did you gain out of it is the problem. If it is awareness you must exactly know what you are doing and what you’ve got. So the people who are of this special category whom I call as seekers, are the epitome of evolutionary process, are attacked, are absolutely under attack by other marketing people! Nowadays God is for sale and the more expensive it is, the better it sells. So in the modern times when a person has become mental, he wants everything new. It doesn’t want to concern itself with any tradition… doesn’t want to concern itself to any tradition nor does he want to know about anything that has happened before!

We must have discretion to know there is tradition and convention and when we find anything wrong in the tradition it has to be dropped – I agree there. Supposing you are climbing on a staircase and you are moving fast and suddenly you find that your progress is stopped, then you want to remove the hurdle. But if you jump down all the staircase, avoiding everything, saying tradition is all wrong, and think your progressing downward is a progress, then you are in for destruction.

So it has little to relate to our traditional ideas of truth also. We have to go to our scriptures which are maybe very ancient or may not be that ancient. And then we find it is everywhere described that you are to be born again. But today the life is so artificial that people certify themselves born again and walk about, “I am born again,” certifying! Like in lunatic asylum they certify that you are a real mad. In the same way there are organisations which certify that you are born again. But what has happened to you that you think you are born again? Supposing somebody gives you a piece of ordinary glass and say this is diamond. You go on proclaiming, “I have got the diamond.” Who is going to believe you? What is the value of that? That is what you have to evaluate when you find that this is the truth – that is the truth – evaluate.
 
Shri Mataji, Strasbourg, France, 9 October, 1985

Add comment December 6th, 2010

Become the Spirit

Shri Mataji

This all-pervading power is the power of divine love. It thinks, it organises, it plans, it loves. It is the one which is the subtle of the ether, you can call it. It is the subtle of the matter. It is the subtle of your emotions. It is the subtle of your mental power. It is the subtle of your evolutionary power. But all integrated and coordinated in complete synchronisation. So efficient it is that you are amazed how it works.

Now you see these flowers, how beautiful they are. And they appear on the trees or on the shrubs where they are supposed to be… At the right time these flowers become the fruits. A mango tree will give you a mango; an apple tree gives you an apple. Who does this choice? Is this great power which is all-pervading.

But we have never felt its existence. We have taken it for granted that it exists and we don’t want to know about it. We don’t want to know why we have become human beings from amoeba. What is the purpose of this life? Why nature has taken so much trouble to make us human beings? There must be some purpose for it. We never think of the purpose and we lead a purposeless life. We are not here to just live like animals.

But we have to do something much more because why should we have this human body and this human awareness? This human awareness, when it reaches a state where it starts thinking why are we here, that time you become a seeker. But you have to know that you have to become the Spirit, which is a collective being within ourselves.

Shri Mataji, 11 June 1985, Founex, Switzerland

2 comments October 8th, 2010

Freedom and Liberation

Freedom and Liberation is the title of an inspiring new film about the life of Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi. Having premiered in Germany in 2007, the film will shortly be shown in many countries of the world to celebrate the 85th Birthday of Shri Mataji, on 21 March 2008.

Freedom and Liberation traces the life of Shri Mataji from her very early years growing up in India as Nirmala Salve, the daughter of Prasadrao and Cornelia Salve. While the family was wealthy, having descended from the Indian Shalivahan dynasty, all that was to change with the coming of Mahatma Gandhi’s Independence movement, working to free India from many centuries of British rule. Shri Mataji had already met Gandhi and stayed at his ashram on many occasions. Gandhi was very fond of Nirmala, and recognised that there was something very special about her.

As Shri Mataji’s parents were very active in the Independence movement, helping to organise protests against British rule, they went to gaol many times. As a small child, she was often left to look after the family. From living in large, expensive homes, the family came to live in huts. However, the children knew how important their parents’ fight was.

With the coming of freedom in India, Shri Mataji was able to turn her attention to her vision, the liberation of human beings from the chains of ego, greed, hatred and conditionings. She knew that she had a special task to undertake, but it was many years before she started her spiritual work. In the meantime, she married, became a mother and then a grandmother. As her husband, Sir CP Srivastava, was a distinguished diplomat and later Secretary-General of the United Nations Shipping Corporation, she moved in very high-level circles.

One day, however, Shri Mataji realised that she had to do something to save humanity from the fraudulent “gurus” who were robbing, misguiding and ruining people in the name of spirituality. She meditated deeply for a long time, and on the night of 5 May 1970 she opened the Sahasrara of the world, an event that symbolised the next great step in the evolution of humankind.

From this time, her real work began. Starting with small groups in India, she developed a unique method for giving realisation to people. Then she developed a method for giving realisation en masse, to many thousands of people at a time. She called this method Sahaja Yoga.

After moving to London because of her husband’s work, Shri Mataji gave realisation to groups of people in England. From this time, she began to travel tirelessly , first to Europe and then further afield, talking to people and giving realisation. Her message spread throughout the world, and today Sahaja Yoga is practised in over 100 countries.

The film is unique in that it shows recent interviews, not previously seen, of Shri Mataji and her family. It provides insights into the tremendous love, compassion and humility of Shri Mataji  that drove her to undertake this enormous work.

The film was made in Germany, directed by Carolin Dassel and produced by devifilm GbR (Carolin Dassel and Joseph Reidinger). If you want to find out more about the film, follow the link: www.freemeditation.com/freedom

During March 2008, the film is being shown all over the world. If you want to have details of screening sessions in Australia, Canada, Germany, Japan, New Zealand and Romania, follow the link: www.freemeditation.com/freedom

Film session times for Australia are shown below: 

Australian Capital Territory
Belconnen
Friday 14 March, 7.00pm
Belconnen Theatre, Belconnen Community Centre, Chandler Street, Belconnen

New South Wales
Sydney: Contact 0425 237 062

Strathfield
Saturday 15 March, 7.30pm to 10.00pm
Strathfield Town Hall, Cnr Homebush Rd and Redmyre Rd, Strathfield

Cremorne
Monday 17 March, 6.30pm to 9.00pm
Hayden Orpheum Picture Palace, 380 Military Rd, Cremorne

Paddington
Tuesday 18 March, 6.30pm to 9.00pm
Chauvel Cinema, Paddington Town Hall, Cnr Oxford St & Oatley Rd, Paddington (entrance on Oatley Rd)

Katoomba
Sunday 16 March, 3 pm
Edge Cinema, Katoomba    

Avoca
Saturday 15 March, 2.00pm
Avoca Beach Picture Theatre, Avoca Drive, Avoca

Queensland
Cairns
Friday 28 March, 7.30pm to 9.30pm.
Meeting Room, Cairns City Council Library, Abbott St, Cairns

South Australia
University of Adelaide
Saturday 15 March, 4.30pm to 7.00pm
Napier Lecture Theatre, University of Adelaide

Goodwood
Saturday 15 March, 4.30pm to 7.00pm
Goodwood Community Centre, 32-34 Rosa Street, Goodwood

Tasmania
Contact: (03) 6245 1476 or 0416 435 278

Hobart
Tuesday 18 March, 7pm
Community Centre, Cooper St, Glenorchy

Burnie
Wednesday 19 March, 7.00pm
Health Centre, Jones St, Burnie

Devonport
Thursday 20 March, 12.00 noon
Library, 21 Oldaker Street, Devonport

Launceston
Thursday 20 March, 7.00pm
Community Centre McHugh St, Kings Meadows

Victoria
Contact: 1300 742 242

Melbourne
Friday 14 March, 7.30pm to 9.30pm
Saturday 15 March, 7.30pm to 9.30pm
Treasury Theatre, Treasury Place, Melbourne

5 comments February 29th, 2008

The Era of Compassion

The essence of all the religions, of all the prophets, of all the incarnations, is compassion and is placed in this chakra of Heart. Thus we understand that in the second era now, we have to have compassion. It’s the manifestation now of the compassion.

If God Almighty had no compassion, He would not have created this great universe. Actually, His power, or the Adi Shakti, is the embodiment of his compassion. And this compassion  has brought forth all the evolution to the human level…

And compassion is always completely covered with forgiveness, so you can see the trinity meets at this point… God Almighty, who is the witness; the Mother, who is the compassion; and the Child who is the forgiveness – all of them meet at the Heart chakra in the Sahasrara…

The next era is of compassion… All the chakras that are within us are to be looked after, to pay attention to every chakra and put compassion, the feeling of compassion on these chakras…

To manifest compassion, you have to ask nothing but one thing, that, “O God of innocence, give innocence to all the people of the world.” 

Shri Mataji, 1984

1 comment August 26th, 2007