The Peace of Your Being

Shri Mataji

By integration, you get the power to do what you understand and you have the power to feel happy with what you understand.

So you come to a stage where you develop this Nirananda [joy]. And this Niranand you develop when you are absolutely the spirit. In the Nirananda state there is no duality left… It is one personality. That is, you are completely integrated and the joy is not any more dented. It is complete. It hasn’t got a happiness and a sorrow aspect, but is just joy.

The joy is not that you laugh loud. The joy is not that you are always smiling. It is the stillness, the quietude within yourself, the peace of your being, of your spirit that asserts itself into vibrations which you feel.

When you feel that peace, you feel like the light of the sun, the whole rays of that beauty spreading.

But first of all, we are curbed down by our own personal, selfish, stupid ideas. Throw them away. We have them because we are insecure, because we have wrong ideas. Throw them away. Just stand alone, one with God, and you will find all these fears were useless.

Shri Mataji, Delhi, 4 February 1983.

Add comment July 16th, 2011

Peace Within

Shri Mataji

The peace within expresses, first of all, peace with others. That is the first sign of the manifestation of peace. Such a person doesn’t use harsh words, doesn’t use cruel words. But he is also not a person who is ineffective. He is very effective, using very sweet and nice words. Maybe he begins by using harsh words, then he mellows down and comes down to a position where he is effective as well as he is very mild and sweet. Such a personality has to be developed – outside….

That is how our culture is going to be such that we will express complete peace within ourselves. And you must know that you are in one body, active. You are active cells in one body. All the cells of the body are never active, but those who are active have to be at peace with each other; otherwise what will happen to that poor body? So try to make peace….

So in this new culture, we have to be extremely peaceful people, and that peace should be expressed on your faces. People should understand that you are peaceful…

Shri Mataji, 1985

Add comment June 21st, 2010

Ask the Question

Shri Mataji, founder of Sahaja Yoga

One night I found myself in a very difficult situation, and in desperation and as a last resort I appealed to God, in whom I didn’t believe, saying, “If there is such a thing as God, you’ve got to help me”. 

I had been brought up in a Christian family and had to go to church most Sundays but I’d never felt it helped me or gave me any peace. I felt worse for going, actually, as the idea of original sin and all the rules meant I could never feel good about myself. Because of my negative experiences with the church, which was Protestant, I found it difficult to believe in Jesus Christ and God. So I considered myself an atheist, I suppose, although I was idealistic and had high moral values.

I still had an interest in spirituality, however, and thought that there must be some metaphysical answer to the ills of the world and I was searching for the key that would unlock the door to the mysteries of life. I felt that there was some force (which I thought of as the life force) which looked after all the animals and plants on the earth without them doing anything. I thought that as I was, surely, just as important as the plants and animals then that force was, hopefully, looking after me too. I felt that if I could be more in tune with that force, without thinking, just like the plants and animals, then I could be healed as well. 

So I started looking for a Buddhist meditation group. Buddhists don’t talk about God, I thought, but they seem to be people of integrity and very much at peace in meditation. But it wasn’t to be. All the groups I rang didn’t answer their phones. Eventually I decided to go to Sahaja Yoga, which I had heard about from a friend. 

As it happened, Shri Mataji, the founder of Sahaja Yoga, was coming to my city the following week.  Her lecture was extremely interesting and covered a wide range of topics including God and Jesus Christ. I thought, “Oh, no!”  I was surprised, however, to find that rather than urging us to go to church and become Christians, Shri Mataji openly stated that many Christians were not as loving and forgiving as they should be and that their intolerance and hypocrisy had turned many people away from Christianity because they were not following the teachings of Christ as they should. That had been my experience! When Shri Mataji spoke about God I thought, “I’m not interested in having anything to do with God or religion”. But I was so impressed with Shri Mataji and she spoke about all sorts of other interesting aspects of spirituality as well. I decided I would put aside her references to God and try Sahaja Yoga.

I have never regretted my decision. Sahaja Yoga has been the most wonderful experience of my life. Over time I have learnt that the original teachings of Jesus Christ are quite different from the teachings of the Church which has twisted and distorted many things over time. I have also discovered the mystical aspects of Christianity, some of which were recorded in the Dead Sea Scrolls and kept secret by the Vatican for many years. I do not have to follow the dictates of priests or ministers who interpret spirituality for me, tell me what to do and have power over me. I find real comfort and peace from meditating and from a personal connectedness that I never felt in the church. And, yes, I have learnt from my experiences that God does exist, and has taken many forms over the millennia, not just the form of Jesus Christ.

So if you, like me, have had bad experiences or have become disenchanted with the Church and feel nervous about the mention of God, don’t worry about it. Just put it aside and try Sahaja Yoga. True spirituality involves much more than the narrow view of God and religion that has been promulgated by Christian churches.

And if you like, you too can ask the question, “Does God exist?” or “Is there such a thing as God?” and see how the answer unfolds in your life.

Kay Alford

1 comment August 25th, 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