Taking it to the World
Once her children were grown and settled, Nirmala could invest more of her attention and time in the public sphere. With her husband heading the UN International Maritime Organization in London, she began her spiritual work with a small group of people there, and started touring the country giving lectures as well as the experience of Self Realization.
Nirmala Srivastava would soon become known by the honorific title Shri Mataji, meaning 'Respected Mother,' as those around her came to recognize her exceptional spiritual and motherly qualities.
She never charged money for these lectures nor for self-realization, insisting that the awakening of the spiritual energy dormant within all human beings was their birthright, and thus could not be paid for. The method of meditation through self-realization developed by Shri Mataji was called Sahaja Yoga. Concentrating her efforts at first in the United Kingdom, Shri Mataji took her message to audiences in small towns and big cities. She travelled the country giving radio and television interviews, holding lectures in public halls, and spending hours after the lectures meeting individuals from the audience, patiently listening to their stories and problems and offering advice.
This was to be the pattern in the 1980s when Shri Mataji started touring Europe, Australia, and North America. She taught Sahaja Yoga free of charge to all who were interested, and took part in lively debates and question-and-answer sessions about the role of spirituality in modern times.
The 1990s saw her travels spreading to South America, Eastern Europe, Asia and the Pacific region.
Many honorary awards and doctorates were bestowed upon her from institutions around the world. In 1995 she was invited to speak at the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing. She spoke on World Peace at the United Nations.
In 1997 Claes Nobel spoke in admiration of Shri Mataji and Sahaja Yoga, which he described as "a reference point for determining right from wrong" and as "a source of hope for humanity."
| it is the peace that you have achieved, the love that you have developed, the compassion that you can envelope, the amount of relationship and the power you can penetrate into others. |
| Mumbai, January 14th 1985 |
