Uniting the Nations
Global Transformation - Beyond Borders
The audience was small in the Dag Hammarskjold Auditorium. Fifty employees gathered in the middle-sized theatre in the early evening. A new Sahaja Meditation Society had been chartered and sanctioned by the United Nations just two days before, and now the members gathered to hear their keynote speaker.
This was a break from their desks, meetings and global concerns. It was a chance to hear the words of Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi, a chance to look within. The topic was spiritual enlightenment, global peace and a better world. It was the 6th of June in 1990. The venue was the United Nations headquarters in New York City.
Perhaps the minds of the UN staff on that day were on a European arms reductions promise from the Soviet Union. Or perhaps some were lending assistance to an exodus of UN personnel in the wake of another civil war in Liberia.
The world seemed full of turmoil and change. The first anniversary of the demonstrations and massacre in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square had been observed only days earlier. No one could anticipate what would be next.
Within twelve months, that same Soviet Union would no longer exist. A new Commonwealth of Independent States would replace it. There had already been free elections in Romania after the previous year’s dismantling of the Berlin Wall. In less than four months, East and West Germany would complete their reunification. And in less than two months, Iraq would invade Kuwait. The United Nations building would soon become an even busier place. Now was the time to pause and listen.
On that Wednesday evening, Shri Mataji spoke calmly to the audience. Her tone was intimate. She chose her words to meet the needs of the audience and as always, she spoke in terms that were both global and personal.
During her talk, Shri Mataji spoke of truth and the need to actualize the collective doctrine of the United Nations. She spoke of the Kundalini's role in bringing about that actualization.
“We talk of ecological problems,” she said, “this problem, that problem, but we don’t think how we can get out of it. If the United Nations is to express itself in reality, then I would say that the people of the United Nations must get their self-realization first and then they can understand what they are….There are so many ways and so many powers they have, which they can use. And this is the power of love.”
At the end of her talk, she granted self-realization. Almost no one ventured from the hall before receiving the experience and then personally greeting Shri Mataji. Most signed up for follow-up classes.
In the week previous to her appearance at the UN, Shri Mataji had given similar talks in both Miami and San Diego. Early in the year, she had spoken in Australia, India, Italy, New Zealand, Russia, Singapore and the United Kingdom. A medical conference in Moscow, a press conference in Calcutta, Perth, Melbourne, Cairns, Sydney, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Leningrad and Auckland – her appearances for the year were already approaching 100 and it was still only June.
Before the year was out Shri Mataji would make more than 200 stops in 26 countries around the world. Her travels in 1990 totalled in excess of 135,000 kilometres – an itinerary which most people would find exhausting. But it did not stop there, as in addition to the scheduled talks there were countless informal events in homes and airports, halls and schools. Each conversation, every speech was different. But each was also the same, highlighted with concern and insight, with humour and love. Every talk served the same purpose. It addressed the need for spiritual ascent.
While another person might say, “Be your better self,” Shri Mataji reached for an even higher plateau: “Be your true Self.”