Shri Mataji
About Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi
Shri Mataji was born in at the center of India on 21st of March 1923 during the spring equinox. The radiant and spotless features of the newborn child, Her parents gave Her the name Nirmala, which means pure and blemishless. She led a very happy childhood, befriending all those around Her. Her parents were Prasad and Cornelia Salve, who were active in the struggle for Indian independence from the British colonial rule. As a child she often spent time at Mahatma Gandhi’s Ashram and displayed Her sheer brilliance of understanding human nature at a tender age. Shri Mataji’s brother recalls finding Her in deep meditation many times and full of simple wisdom and joy at other times. Her tremendous Spiritual depth and mastery over the primordial power, called Kundalini, was cloaked by events of Her human birth. She married Sir C. P. Shrivastava who is now a retired international diplomat. She continued to lead the life of a perfect housewife and mother to Her two daughters, but never missing the opportunity to work on other people’s chakras and channels. She witnessed the gamut of combinations that a human being’s subtle system presents. She knew that Kundalini was the most efficient way to handle the varied problems of human beings on an individual level.
She ardently researched the Sahaja method of Kundalini awakening, which would be effective and accessible to those who were willing to learn it. The culmination of development happened on 5th May, 1970 when Shri Mataji spontaneously discovered a way to awaken another’s Kundalini and extend it to become an en masse phenomenon. A complete history of Shri Mataji’s life can be found here.
Shri Mataji & Mahatma Gandhi Shri Mataji’s association with India’s ‘Father of the Nation’, Mahatma Gandhi was primordial. As a child, she would visit Gandhi at his ashram and they used to engage in conversations about peace and political freedom. Gandhiji advised Shri Mataji to start Sahaja Yoga after India achieved its political independence from Great Britain. The influence of Shri Mataji’s spiritual knowledge on the Mahatma is evident in his selection of devotional music at his early morning prayer services. His selection started with a hymn for the Spirit and then proceeded from the Mooladhara chakra, upwards to the Sahasrara chakra. They also discussed how to strengthen the freedom fighters and instill discipline in them with due love and care. Shri Mataji Herself joined the freedom struggle later, alongside Her family.
Sahaja Yoga Develops
Shri Mataji began by giving a few seekers their Kundalini awakening and found a way to integrate many simple cleansing practices to clear a troubled person’s subtle system. All those who could honestly pursue the simple methods could achieve self-realization or enlightenment, through Kundalini awakening. They could awaken the Kundalini of others, just like a lit candle lights another. Shri Mataji’s continuous travels and efforts across the continents made it possible for people in more than 96 countries to fulfill their destiny of attaining self-realization.
