Self-knowledge is the key for a saviour to give to people. We have had so many saints. We have had so many Sufis. We had Tao people. We had Zen people. All kinds of realised souls came on this Earth. They all suffered. They were tortured. Nobody understood them. But now the time has come for you to know the truth, but truth which is not dry, truth which has compassion, truth that encompasses everyone, that brings the complete view of our existence. Why are we here on this Earth? What is our purpose? What should we do? Adi Shakti’s powers are such, of love and compassion, that they make you understand your Self first.
Love, for you, is very, very, limited. There’s no awareness of your own being. Just imagine what a great task it is for you, how much you have to be seriously becoming aware of your Self first.
That is extremely important. First you have to be aware of your Self. And now you have the light of your spirit. In the light of that spirit, you can see what you are and you can see how far you are going, how wrong things you are doing, what harm you are doing to yourself, and you have a power to cure it, to improve it and to come to your senses. These are the most important times. You will never get these times again. You never had it in history and you can never get it in the future.
Shri Mataji, 2001
Before our physical birth we experienced a continuing sense of nourishment,
connectedness and security. After our physical birth we then experience our selves as separated, and so it is only natural that we seek and long for that sense of connection, nourishment and security.
This seeking finds expression in many ways. Sometimes we seek for gross, physical pleasures and external and material satisfactions in the world. Yet, these invariably do not fully satisfy us; they prove to be stormy, transient and therefore illusory. Perhaps this leads us to understand that the means to really satisfy ourselves, the Kingdom of Heaven, lies within us and so we may begin seeking in earnest for our inner or ultimate fulfilment.
There is a gap, between the separated and conditioned sense of self we experience ourselves as, and the eternal, spiritual core of our being which is completely secure, connected and joyful. This divide, between the illusory and relative nature of the world and the ultimate Reality, is manifest in a physical gap in the central channel, within the para-sympathetic nervous system. This gap actually exists physically between the sacral outflow and the vagus nerve, encompassing the Subtle area called the Void or the Ocean of Illusion.To cross this gap, this Ocean of Illusion, we need to develop balance, self-mastery and pure desire. We also require the help of a true Guru – someone who will awaken the Kundalini so that we can discern the correct Path and cross the Void to the heart, wherein lies the true Self, the eternal Spirit.
It is in this state of disconnectedness that seekers may search for a guide or Guru to help them to find the Way, a Path or process to cross the Void, the illusions, and connect with that Source of all satisfaction, joy and fulfilment – the Divine, the Source, Tao, or God. There have been many great incarnations of the principle of Guru or Spiritual Teacher who have incarnated to guide groups of sincere seekers towards their Self-realisation. The personifications or incarnations of this principle include Abraham, Moses, Muhammed, Zarathustra, Lao Tze, Confucious, Sai Baba of Shirdi, Guru Nanak, Raja Janaka and Socrates. Also, there have been false gurus who have plundered and damaged the seekers. The goal in Sahaja Yoga is to help the true seekers to find their Self-realisation so they can become their own gurus.
Most often for the seekers, so far, the only assistance has been to receive a set of guidelines, or rules, a dharmic way of behaving, that will help maintain individual and collective balance. So, we have sets of rules in the religions such as the Ten Commandments. Moses, as an example of the Guru principle, led his people out of slavery, across the ocean and to the promised land. Shri Mataji in this modern era holds a unique place in the tradition of Gurus because She has created a method for en masse Kundalini awakening and so facilitated the creation of so many potentially enlightened Gurus.
Only the Kundalini can bridge that great divide between illusion and Reality. On first awakening, Kundalini ascends the Sushumna (centre) nadi up to the Agnya chakra. It covers the lower plate (moordha) and then descends like melting clouds on the Ida (left) and Pingala (right) nadis to the Void. It fills the Void area, and then the three combined powers re-ascend the Sushumna nadi to open the lotus petals of the Sahasrara. The Spirit, which is said to be watching through the manifold subtle auras of the heart, has its seat at the top of the head in the centre. When the individual spark of the Spirit is raised and reunited in Union, or Yoga, with the all-pervading and all-powerful Source at the apex of the Sahasrara, then the Reality of the essential core of existence is realised. This enables a person to start to become his or her own Guru, based on a new enlightened awareness.
(Photograph courtesy of fromoldbooks.org)
Australia is very far off. But this is the land which is the land of purity. This is the land in the universe, is the first centre that you see there, and Uluru that you have – Uluru means, as I told you, is the Chaitanya, is the symbol of that purity. So you stand for the innocence of the world. You are such a great nation here that stands for the innocence … so you have to be careful and understand your own identity as innocent people. And I am sure it will work out very well for all of you. And this country which has many problems will be solved by your own purity, and the whole world can be helped with your own purity and beautiful lives. May God bless you.
Shri Mataji, Sydney, 1990
It’s important to rise very much above the rest of the people. Why not be like Martin Luther? We can do it. Why do we not create people of that kind who speak of something great, who bring the attention of people to something higher, raise their necks upward to see … with their heads higher than the others, and see something great within us – something so idealistic, so impossible for them to understand?
We have to have unique people. And that’s what we have to work out in our ascent – in individual and in collective ascent…. So we have to be very solemn about it and get to that state where the whole thing becomes a leela [play] because you are so powerful – like Shri Krishna.
Shri Mataji, 1990