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Sahaja Yoga Dinner to Celebrate 25 Years in Australia

Another Day In Paradise. More than 70 prominent people gathered at the Sydney residence of Shri Mataji and Sir CP on Sat, Feb 11 for a special dinner to celebrate 25 years of Sahaja Yoga in Australia. These included prominent academics, lawyers, doctors, businessmen and members of the largest Indian Organization in NSW. And most of the national Indian press in Australia. And even the President of the Pakistan Australia Association. The idea of a formal dinner was finalized less than a week ago, and so it was nice to see so many people rescheduling their calendar for Sahaja Yoga.

The guests arrived at 7 pm and were led to the back garden for pre-dinner drinks and appetizers where they were entertained by a classical music ensemble. Around 7.30 pm they were gently ushered into the main meditation room which was converted into a tastefully decorated dining room. Most guests marvelled loudly at the perfection of the interior decoration and dining ambience. Once they settled into their chairs, Shri Mataji and Sir CP entered the room.

A smartly suited Dr. Rajan Shankran, as master of ceremonies, began the proceeding by inviting prominent guests to offer flowers to Shri Mataji and family. The wife of Australia most successful Indian businessman, Mrs Tollani, laid the bouquet of flowers at Shri Mataji’s feet. Next, the most high profile Indian executive in Australia, Mr Neville Roach, presented some flowers to Sir CP. Finally, Mrs Sinha did the same for Sadhana Didi. Dr. Shankaran then invited Hari Gaikwad to give the welcome speech

Hari spoke eloquently about how Shri Mataji was a historical figure who had come to emancipate the world. As most of the guests were not Sahaj (yet), he explained how Shri Mataji has used Sahaj Yoga to grant self realization en masse and thus empower people with a peaceful state of balance, well-being and self knowledge.

This food for thought for the non-sahaj guests was followed by entrees served by smartly dressed, beaming Yuva Shaktis. So impressed were the guests, that at least 10 of them stopped the organizers to praise the serving staff, and enquiring where did we get so many well trained young men and women from.

Sahaj Yogi Nick Buff then performed an Indian raga on the Saxophone. The evening had a great start, and his magical music took it another level of deep meditation.

After the mains were served and consumed in the divine presence, Sir CP took the mike to address the gathering. With his trademark humility, he began by expressing his thanks to all the guests for coming to the dinner. He spoke about how Shri Mataji and he hailed from different backgrounds, but had lived a partnership where the main priority was to serve the people. Shri Mataji came from a family of freedom fighters while Sir CP’s family were land owners and so part of the establishment. And how Shri Mataji had enriched his life by helping him serve his country and people. And later the rest of humanity as well. He lavished rich praise on Indian Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri for his humility, honesty and respect for all religions. And how Prime Minister Shastri was working towards establishing a lasting peace with arch-enemy Pakistan before his untimely death at a peace conference in Russia. Sir CP spoke about how he had used many of the ideas of Prime Minister Shastri and Shri Mataji to work closely with every country in the world to ensure the success of UN organization International Maritime Organization which he headed for 16 years

In a Sahaj first, or at least an Australian first, he answered some questions submitted by the Indian media a few hours before the dinner. He then invited the dinner audience to ask any question they felt like. Some of the western guests were interested in knowing the future of the United Nations. Sir CP felt that the UN should be strengthened in every way to ensure a more peaceful, prosperous world. Another threw a more curly question about the chances of arch enemies India and Pakistan uniting. Sir CP, at his diplomatic best, explained how good relations between the two countries was the only way forward, and that there was a possibility of a European style alliance in the future. The Indian guests wanted to know about Indian political issues. Their questions ranged from getting Sir CP’s view on whether Prime Minister Shastri was murdered to whether India would have coalition governments in the future. Sir CP’s towering intellect, total mastery of the language and humility impressed all the guests. He made it a point to ask all the guests at least 3 times if they had a chance to ask him whatever they wanted to.

After the town hall style Questions and Answers session, desert was served. A number of VIP guests came on stage to shake his hand and take a photo with Sir CP. He happily obliged.

As always, there are too many people to thank for making the evening such a huge success. Pramod Rane and a team of Sahaja Yogis worked the phones to ensure such a large attendance. No detail was too small to ensure the guests had an enjoyable time. Special dietary requirements were noted down, VIP's given special parking and backup plans worked out. The foundation was set. The interior decorators, security, musicians, cooks and serving staff, in a monumental labour of love, transported the guests to a surrounding akin to heaven. And fed them a meal fit for angels. And Shri Mataji and Sir CP who showed them a world of nobility and love and sacrifice. A world of Sahaja Yoga..

Coincidentally, this was the week that Queensland Sahaja Yogis were looking after Shri Mataji’s home. QLD advertises their state as ‘Beautiful one day, perfect the next’. As long as we have Shri Mataji and Sir CP with us in Australia, perhaps this can be changed to ‘Perfect today and perfect tomorrow’. And perfect till they join their children in another country who love them as we do.

Click here for more photos of this event.

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