Cultural Integration
Towards a Sustainable Civilisation
At seminars, press conferences and in informal lectures, Shri Mataji often said that throughout history prophets and saints all spoke of the need to know one’s Self, one’s spirit. “That’s what we have to do. Is to develop the religion of our spirit” she said. She likened the growth of religions to that of a large tree, which is singular, but with many flowers. In ignorance, people pluck the flowers and use them to fight with each other, forgetting that these flowers come from the same tree.
During a public program a concerned listener asked Shri Mataji, “Mother, how will other people understand your message?” Shri Mataji smiled, “Everyone understands love, don’t they?” And with Sahaja Yoga meditation, she revealed a method for achieving integration between individuals of different cultures and religions: a state of awareness which, when the mind is completely still, becomes the integrating force known as collective consciousness.
Carl Jung described collective consciousness in this way: “In addition to our immediate consciousness, which is of a thoroughly personal nature and which we believe to be the only empirical psyche, there exists a second psychic system of a collective, universal and impersonal nature which is identical in all individuals.”[1] Sahaja Yoga meditation activates one’s awareness on a deeper level, at the roots of the autonomous nervous system itself. With the mind’s distracting chatter and long-held conditionings quieted, one is able to recognize that cultural differences occur on a superficial level. The “universal and impersonal nature” is one.
“And that is how we have to realize that we are all bound by some common principle of life,” Shri Mataji explained, "that we all have our Kundalini within us. So we have to respect all the people, all the human beings, whatever nation they come from, whatever country they belong to, whatever colour they have, because they all have their Kundalini.”
During her travels, Shri Mataji would take a keen interest in the art and handicrafts of each country, observing how they reflected the culture of the spirit. “In this culture, we do not yield to anything because it is expensive or it is with such pomp and show or publicity,” she said. “What we see in this culture is how far it is joy-giving.”
Throughout the years, Shri Mataji invited artists from different countries, backgrounds, and religions to perform at cultural festivals. For the benefit of those who were unacquainted with these arts, she would explain the meaning of a qawwali, a raga, a Vivaldi, a concerto or a classical Indian dance. She arranged these performances not only to support the livelihood of the artists and to keep artistic traditions alive, but also to show that art and music from different cultures and backgrounds could manifest the universal, and universally enjoyable, culture of the spirit.