Welcome… Here you’ll find a compilation of Questions and Answers (Q&A’s) relating to the Sahaja Yoga meditation technique and its philosophy, as taught by its founder, Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi. These Questions have been posed to Shri Mataji at various events, such as public lectures and interviews. The answers below are Her response to the questions. Each event is grouped using the Q&A Categories feature (on the right sidebar). New Q&A’s are regularly posted on this page.
Monday 09 Jun 2008
Question: … spread the word of God using our thoughts and our actions.
Public Lecture (New York, USA '99)
Question: Someone once said to spread the word of God using our thoughts and our actions. I just want to know what is thought about that statement.
Shri Mataji: First you should get connected to God. If you are not connected to God, whatever you are doing in the name of God may not be. First point is we should be connected. Supposing this instrument [pointing to microphone] is here, and if it is not connected it has no meaning. In the same way our God’s work has no meaning because we are not yet connected. First get connected to His power.
Sunday 08 Jun 2008
Question: Once you become Self-Realized how do you maintain it?
Public Lecture (New York, USA '99)
Q: Once you become Self-Realized how do you maintain it?
Shri Mataji: I used to think that once you get Self-Realization you are Self Realized you see. But it’s not so, I must face the facts as it is.
Once you get your Realization, of course you do feel all the time the cool breeze and all that. But there are problems on your centers, on your chakras, which you can feel on your fingertips. You can see yourself, I said self-knowledge, so you can see yourself what problems you have, you can feel the problems on yourself. Immediately you say “All right, this is the problem.” And that problem you want to correct yourself because you see yourself. I’m surprised sometimes people come and tell me, “Mother, my Agnya (sixth centre) is very bad, please, please correct it.” That means “Mother, I’ve very egoistical.”
Normally nobody would say I’m egoistical will they? Nobody. But once they get self-realization they see the problem, they love themselves, they see themselves in that love, they say that why not I get myself corrected. Then of course it has to be worked out a little bit, like even if the seed sprouts, it has to grow. It doesn’t take much time.
Within one month’s time, most of the people become masters. They can give realization, they can tell them, anybody. You need not be very well educated, nothing, I’ve seen in the villages, people work it out so fast. So I can’t say exactly how much time it will take but I’ve seen people becoming masters within one month’s time. And you don’t have to pay throughout. It’s very important to understand.
Saturday 07 Jun 2008
Q: .. what is the connection, if any, of Sahaja Yoga and Reiki…?
Public Lecture (New York, USA '99)
Q: Excuse me, what is the connection, if any, of Sahaja Yoga and Reiki or are they parallel with one another?
Shri Mataji: I don’t want to criticize anything, only thing you should see, all these things, what have you gained? First question, what have you gained by doing anything? Have you got Self-Realization? Have you got the knowledge of the Divine? Have you felt the cool breeze of the Holy Ghost? Just like that. As a Mother, I would say what did you get out of it? There are so many in the market, so many. I would ask you this question. Child, what did you get? There’s no end to such things.
Friday 06 Jun 2008
Question: Individually, is the purpose of the soul to be separate or collective?
Public Lecture (New York, USA '99)
Question: Individually, is the purpose of the soul to be separate or collective?
Shri Mataji: Collective is the purpose of your soul. You have to become collective, but it’s not the collective, artificial one, but like your hands are collective with the whole body. If there’s a pain here the whole body will feel it. But who is the other? You can feel everyone within yourself. And that is what happens to you. So the purpose is that you become the whole, and completely engulf into the whole. All right?
Saturday 10 May 2008
Question: What about vegetarianism?
Public Lecture (Miami USA '90)
Question: What about vegetarianism? And, if you believe that by eating meat, war can ever be at peace, how can we achieve our spiritual breakthrough?
Shri Mataji: All right, you become vegetarian. All right? So it’s all right for you to become vegetarian and receive that all right?
Any ‘ism’ is against Sahaj Yoga, any ‘ism’ is against, ‘ism’ is a mental idea, it’s not the truth, it’s not reality, you have to face the reality as it is with your mental projections you do not do not conform to something. First of all find out what is right and what is wrong through your Spirit, in the light of the Spirit you find out and then you decide. It is no use before hand just to decide this is the thing and that is the thing.
You see this kind of nonsensical ideas people had so many to such an extent that in India we have Jainism in which they do not even kill the bugs or the mosquitoes or anything and they don’t want to go in the W.C.’s but they go onto some hills and the Mayor of Bombay came to ask Me: “What should we do about it?” Because they say that in our religion we cannot even kill these things which are being excreted out, so now we have to save them, imagine, we have to save human beings. Are we going to give Realizations to chickens or what?
You have to be sensible enough first of all to ask for your spiritual ascent and then decide, don’t decide before hand, it’s like the snake story I told you just now.
