Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi – Founder of Sahaja Yoga
Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi (21.03.1923-23.02.2011) is the creator of a unique method of awakening Kundalini, accessible to everyone. Sahaja Yoga is a method of increasing Kundalini energy. This is a method of spiritual self-realization that can be practiced by anyone, regardless of nationality, religion or age, without requiring any special efforts from oneself. Shri Mataji dedicated her life to spreading Sahaja Yoga, explaining the features of this method.
Life and work of Shri Mataji.
Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi was born on March 21, 1923, in Chhindwara, Central India, to a Christian family of noble descent. His ancestors belong to the ancient dynasty of Emperor Shalivahana. His father, Prasad Salve, was a prominent person. He played a key role in the struggle for Indian independence and was the only Christian representative in the Constituent Assembly (in colonial India) and the first Parliament (in independent India).
Shri Mataji's Parents Meet Mahatma Gandhi
Prasad Salve spoke many languages and was the first to translate the Quran into Hindi. He was well versed in art, science and modern literature. Shri Mataji's mother was a PhD in Mathematics. Shri Mataji's parents were friends and associates of Mahatma Gandhi, who was active in the struggle for Indian independence. Shri Mataji often visited Mahatma Gandhi's ashram. Gandhi had an unusually high opinion of Shri Mataji's spiritual abilities and, despite her young age, sometimes consulted her on spiritual matters. Shri Mataji later studied medicine and took an active part in the Indian independence movement, heading the Youth Wing of the Indian National Congress.
In 1947, Shri Mataji married Chandrika Prasad Srivastava. Chandrika Prasad Srivastava was for some time the personal secretary of the Prime Minister of India L. B. Shastri, later he became the head of the State Shipping Company of India and was almost the "father" of the Indian Navy. He was elected Secretary General of the International Maritime Organization at the UN several times in a row, was the initiator and founder of the World Maritime University in Sweden. Shri Mataji and Chandrika Prasad Srivastava have two married daughters and four grandchildren.
In the early seventies, Shri Mataji created a system that explained how the internal energy called Kundalini could awaken on its own and, most importantly, the collective mechanism of this system. She called this system Sahaja Yoga (meaning natural, spontaneous). Shri Mataji's life was dedicated to the widest possible introduction of this important discovery, and to this end she traveled almost all over the world, eventually generating interest in the practice of Sahaja Yoga in many countries, including Europe, North and South America, Australia and her native India. Shri Mataji first came to the USSR in 1989 and conducted the first Sahaja Yoga program in St. Petersburg. In the same year, he met with the Minister of Health of the USSR. After this meeting, Sahaja Yoga received full state support in the Soviet Union. Shri Mataji's selfless work has been recognized with numerous international awards, the list of which would take several pages of text, but the main result of her selfless service was that thousands of people in dozens of countries around the world found health, joy, spiritual well-being and love, realizing the true meaning of their lives.
Shri Mataji passed away on February 23, 2011.