Sahaja yogis
I had tried a few of the New Age therapies around in the early ’90s, including affirmations, re-birthing, kinesiology and counselling, among others, but none of them seemed to fill the void, or answer my questions, or explain the mysteries of life, or even help me to feel better.
I wanted to learn to meditate so I could find peace of mind and equanimity, to improve my health, to become a better person and to satisfy a longing for knowledge of the truth about life, about the world. As Sahaja Yoga was free, I felt like I had nothing to lose.
I went to a program at the local Arts Centre. The people at the program were friendly and helpful, and I could see that some of them were very impressive in that they were very nice, kind, sincere, balanced, and strong within themselves without being egotistical or aggressive. I liked the fact that there were no rules to follow, and that you find the truth within yourself in Sahaja Yoga. It was different and interesting and I really enjoyed the Indian classical music. I was keen to find out more about the chakras and how to meditate.
Shri Mataji came to Canberra and gave a public lecture shortly after I went to my first meditation class. I was very impressed and thought she was an amazing person – strong, compassionate, wise, intelligent, funny, witty, passionate, knowledgeable, kind, refreshingly honest and direct, and I was surprised by her independent and original thinking. I felt inspired to give Sahaja Yoga a serious trial.
My curiosity was aroused and I was intrigued by Shri Mataji’s lecture at the public program, as well as by her talks on the videos we saw at the local programs. I was particularly interested in what she said about Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Judaism and Christianity, and about Lao Tse, Confucius, Abraham, Moses, Zarathustra and Socrates, and about realised souls like Mozart, Shakespeare, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Einstein and Gorbachev.
I was amazed to find that the techniques I learned at the meditation classes really worked! I was very motivated and in the beginning I used to meditate for five minutes every morning when I woke up, and at night I would footsoak, use candles to clear the left side for five minutes and then meditate for five minutes. I found that I felt better! I felt better physically. Emotionally I felt stronger. I was worrying less, sleeping better, felt happier.
And it was fun! Sahaja Yoga is fresh, alive, always different, never boring, never the same. It is always interesting and full of variety. I found small miracles started happening, making my life flow more easily. If I needed to speak to someone, they’d phone me, and if I became aware that I needed to buy something, it would be on special.
After doing Sahaj meditation for thirteen years, I spent seven weeks at the Sahaja Yoga International Research and Medical Centre at Mumbai in India. Here I learned more clearing techniques and had the opportunity to spend each day in clearing, meditation and introspection. I learned a lot from the teachers or doctors at the Centre and admired their dedication and selfless work in helping the people who went there. Since that time I feel I have gone through another deepening in my meditation and in my understanding.
I continue to be inspired more and more by Shri Mataji, by her selfless and tireless work for the spiritual evolution of all people, to help them find love and truth and genuine happiness, to help them become better people and to relieve their suffering. I have been helped so much myself that I want to help others find the same peace and joy that I have found. I enjoy listening to her lectures and am always finding new things I hadn’t heard before.
I continue to feel better, emotionally stronger and to have better self-esteem and more peace of mind. I sleep well, worry less and cope better with stress, I’m not buffeted around by my emotions and I’m less affected by others’ opinions of me. I am more optimistic and hopeful.
I enjoy meditating more and more and find it more and more helpful in my life. I find the clearing techniques helpful and have got to know myself much better through clearing and through meditating: why I react as I do, how I can act differently and more constructively.
I have better judgement, I feel more certain about the right thing to do, have better judgement about people and situations, and am not swayed so easily by other people. I find meditation helpful in finding the right solution to any problems that arise.
I feel satisfied and content with my life. Material things are not so important and minor inconveniences don’t worry me so much. I feel like the emptiness inside has been filled by the knowledge of the whole. I feel like the mysteries of life have been answered.
I am still fascinated by learning more about Sahaja Yoga and about how it fits into the scheme of things, the way it is an integral part of the intricate web of life, how it permeates into everything, how it is the basis of life itself – science, nature, the absolute, the ultimate truth.
It’s continually heart-warming to see the wonderful qualities in the realised souls, the Sahaja yogis – the love, the kindness, the integrity, the truthfulness, the simplicity, and each one’s particular talents and abilities. I enjoy seeing the variety of their different life journeys, all leading to the same destination but travelling there by many different roads.
The love, kindness and blessings showered on me, the love I feel for others, the nice feeling of being able to forgive, and the warm feeling of seeing others express their love towards me and towards others never cease to amaze me.
I enjoy seeing the myriad ways beauty is expressed by realised souls in music, dance, literature, art, craft and architecture.
In a world where there is so much cynicism, so much dishonesty and trickery, so much cruelty and hatred, Sahaja Yoga gives me the strength to continue to behave with integrity and honesty and kindness. It also gives me the strength to cope with adversity and to maintain my equanimity in the face of so many threats – natural disasters, climate change, wars, disease, terrorism.
Sahaja Yoga gives me hope for the future. If many people take to Sahaja Yoga all the world’s problems can be solved. Just as Sahaja Yoga has transformed my life it can transform the lives of others. Sahaja yogis don’t add to the problems of the world; they help to solve the problems. They are also able to help and support others.
I heartily recommend Sahaja Yoga. Try it! You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.
Kay Alford
(Photograph: Vishnu Bonneau)
A large contingent of Sahaja yogis, including many yuvas (young people), returned to Woolgoolga (6 hours drive north of Sydney) in buses for the annual Curry Festival. The weather forecasts had predicted heavy rain, and even storms, for the day of the event, but we all gave bandhans and Shri Mataji created a little bubble of sunshine over the seaside town in the wet weather that seemed to cover most of the coast of New South Wales. (It’s interesting to note that since Shri Mataji visited Australia last year, and it was brought to Her Divine Attention that there was a serious drought problem in the country, it has since rained an incredible amount.) It was really a perfect day, just a tiny brief sprinkle of rain, which felt like a spray of holy water, as a local Aboriginal elder opened the event.
Two of the yuva boys started things off with a rousing drum performance and later in the day the crowd was entertained by Freya and Neesha’s classical Indian dance, Music of Joy and Jhoom Kawali. The local Bangra dancers were also marvellous. In addition to the weather miracle, at the last minute the organisers of the Festival moved the Realisation tent from a very peripheral position to a location where the crowd congregated. They also gave us a tent much larger than planned.
As at other events, the yoginis offered face painting for children, and mehndi hand decoration, which attracted people to the tent. I noticed one lady looking very intently at the yogis giving realisation, and I asked her if she would like to try it. At first she made an excuse that she had to go and get lunch. Then I felt a blast of the Cool Breeze and the lady suddenly changed her mind, coming in for her Realisation and having a very powerful experience.
Last year, members of the local Sikh population, which makes up a large proportion of the population, were reluctant to try, but this time a few Sikh ladies came in and got their realisation.
Graham Brown
(Photograph: curryfest.com.au)
We are aware that the Paramchaitanya [All-pervading Power] does everything. At least mentally we know that everything is worked out by the grace of the Paramchaitanya, which is the power of the Adi Shakti [Primordial Power]. But still, it is not so much in our heart, so much in our attention.
We can consider the Paramchaitanya lika an ocean, like an ocean which contains everything within itself … Everything is within its own limits, so it cannot be compared with a limit. You cannot compare it.
Now if you see the sun, then from the sun, the rays have to come out to work it. If you see somebody – say, a person who has an authority – he has to assert that power outside. So within himself, he doesn’t work it out.
For example, if there’s a seed and, inside the seed, only the tree grows and the fruits come out and then they are sold and people eat them and everything is inside that seed, then that is the Paramchaitanya.
So we are all enveloped in it … We are on the waves, so we see it as dislocated, separated – like we feel, “This is Germany” or “This is England” or “This is India”. These are just folds of the sari of Paramchaitanya, which look separated, but they are not separated. They are continuous. So the connection is absolutely complete. if I pull a thread from here, the thread will throughout be pulled.
In the same manner, this Paramchaitanya is working within itself and there is nothing without.
So when you are Sahaja Yogis, it pays special attention to you … It becomes absolutely one with you. Whatever you desire, whatever you want also will be coming from the same Paramchaitanya, if you are one with it.
Like in a turbulent ocean, some drops of water may fly into the air and start thinking, “We are above. We are away from the world, away from the ocean.” But again, they have to fall into the same.
So this formless energy has all the intelligence, all the coordination, all the organisations, all the computers, all the televisions, all that you can think of as communication and of governing, of administration. And, above all, it is the love. It is the love of God and love of your Mother. So to be one with this Paramchaitanya, you have to know that you have to become reality …
So all of you Sahaja Yogis have to know that, in reality, you do not do anything and everything is done by the Paramchaitanya. This is the difference between a non-Sahaja Yogi and a Sahaja Yogi. A non-Sahaja Yogi does not know. And even if he knows, this is not the truth in his heart. It’s not a part and parcel of his being. But a Sahaja Yogi knows that reality is the Paramchaitanya and it is reality that works out everything – and this reality is Divine Love.
Shri Mataji, 1989
The Ryde Harmony Day Festival will be held at Ryde in Sydney on Sunday 30 March from 11.30 am – 4.30pm.
Address: Ryde Park, Argyle Road, Ryde.
Sahaja Yoga will have a large tent at the festival. Among the attractions offered will be meditation sessions, face painting, colouring and Mendhi (Indian hand painting).
The Sahaja Yoga group, “Music of Joy” will present inspiring and dynamic world music between 3.00 and 3.30pm. There will also be a performance of Indian dancing by two talented young Sahaja yogis at 11.40 am.