Sahaja Yoga

Inner Awakening through Self-Realization & Meditation

Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi revolutionized the practice of yoga through the actualisation of self-realization on the central nervous system. In the history of spirituality Shri Mataji is the first and only person to offer the experience of self-realization en masse. She declared that it is the birth right of all human beings – regardless of religion, race, nationality or circumstance – to receive their self-realization. She also insisted that one cannot pay for the truth or for self-knowledge, thus self-realization has always been, and continues to be, offered free of charge.

Shri Mataji was born with the complete awareness of self-realization and right from an early age she wanted to share this precious gift with everyone. It was her father who recognized this spiritual prodigy and advised her to first find a way of en-masse self-realization which would enable her to reach out to a wider global audience for the benefit of mankind. This inspired Shri Mataji to study human beings over a period spanning forty-seven years, as she lived and interacted amongst them. Only after she was fully conversant with all the permutations and combinations of the human psyche did she make the final decision to trigger the opening of the Sahasrara Chakra (the seventh spiritual center on the top of the head) within her own being that would allow her to fulfill her life’s mission to evolve and propagate en masse self-realization and the practice of Sahaja Yoga meditation.

5th May, 1970 was an historic breakthrough in the spiritual evolution of mankind. The access to inner awakening through self-realization and true meditation would no longer be limited to a few ardent masters of yoga, and would become accessible to the masses, whoever was seeking an answer to achieve higher self-awareness. The unique difference which Shri Mataji brought forth in the practice of yoga was the actualization of self-realization from the very first day. Previously this was seldom possible even after rigorous practice of yoga over many years, if not decades, under the close guidance of a guru. Shri Mataji revealed that the human awareness had reached a peak in the evolutionary process and was matured enough for receiving spontaneous self-realization, provided an authorized master could trigger the dormant, primordial spiritual energy, the Kundalini-shakti (in Sanskrit meaning the coiled energy of the all-pervading divine power) residing at the base of the spine.

Over the next four decades, Shri Mataji established the practice of Sahaja Yoga meditation. Anyone, regardless of their cultural, religious, age or educational background could easily practice this form of yoga meditation. Furthermore, many who established themselves in Sahaja Yoga could effortlessly pass on the profound gift of self-realization to others, just like a candle which can be used to light other candles. Shri Mataji particularly stressed that no money could be charged for giving self-realization to others or for teaching the knowledge of Sahaja Yoga, as she personally never charged for sharing this innate gift. This laid down the basis for true en-masse self-realization which her father had envisioned when she was a young child.

Sahaja Yoga meditation is a simple effortless technique which she developed to sustain the innate awakening experienced through the initiation of self-realization. The word Sahaja means both ‘spontaneous’ and ‘born with you’, describing this subtle energy (Kundalini) which exists in every human being. Contrary to popular belief, Yoga does not designate a series of exercises or postures, but in fact means ‘to join, to unite, to merge’. The goal of yoga is to make the individual aware of the true nature of self “Atma” (in Sanskrit this denotes the reflection of the all-pervading Spirit) and attain complete union with this new awareness. Just like a drop of water merges with the ocean, one can say that the individual consciousness merges with the collective consciousness. When this union occurs, the integrating force of the kundalini brings balance and peace both at an individual and collective level.