Who is Shri Mataji?

“These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” - John 14:25

“Behold thy Mother” -John 19:26

Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi, known affectionately as Shri Mataji or Mother, is the first spiritual teacher in history to give en-masse Self-realisation as described by many great saints and prophets of the past. Today, millions of people all over the world have experienced their spiritual ascent, described and predicted by these great prophets, because of Shri Mataji, and her physical presence alone has been seen to be the nec- essary catalyst for the en-masse awakening of the Kundalini. Even more remarkably, merely holding ones hands, palm upwards, towards a photograph of Shri Mataji is enough to grant Self-realisation, so long as there is even the slightest desire to receive it.

Shri Mataji’s early life

Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi, a descendant of India’s royal Shalivahana dynasty, was born in 1923, at noon on the 21st March, the Spring Equinox, at Chindwara in the centre of India, in a Christian family. She was born completely Self-realised and from a young age knew that she had a unique gift which had to be made available to all mankind. Both Shri Mataji and her parents, Prasad and Cornelia Salve, played an active role in India's fight for independence. Her father, a talented lawyer and close associate of Mahatma Gandhi, was a member of the Constituent Assembly of India and helped write India's first constitution. He was a renowned scholar and was fluent in 14 languages.

As a child Shri Mataji lived for a time, along with her parents, in the ashram of Mahatma Gandhi who affectionately gave her the nickname ‘Nepali’. Even at a young age, her deep wisdom and understanding was evident to the Mahatma. Shri Mataji played a courageous role as a youth leader in the fight for freedom. In 1942 she was arrested, imprisoned and tortured for her participation in Gandhi’s "Quit India” Movement. She later studied medicine at the Christian Medical College in Lahore, in what is now Pakistan. Shortly before India’s Independence, Shri Mataji married Mr. C.P. Srivastava who would go on to become one of India's most respected high-ranking civil servants. Mr. Shrivastava held the post of Joint Secretary to the Office of the Indian Prime Minister, Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri, between 1964-66. Later, he was unanimously re- elected for four consecutive four-year terms, as Secretary General of the United Nations International Maritime Organisation based in London. He was knighted by the Queen of England in 1989 and received similar honours from many countries for his service to the international maritime community.

Shri Mataji’s Sahaja Yoga work

After fulfilling her familial duties of bringing up two daughters, Shri Mataji embarked on her spiritual mission. On the 5th May 1970 she was meditating on the many problems of humanity on a lonely beach in India, when a blissful divine experience filled her whole being and she knew that the moment had come for her unique spiri- tual gift - the ability to give en-masse Self-realisation - to be shared with the whole of humanity. Very soon thousands of ordinary people in many countries were getting the blissfull experience of Kundalini awakening and discovering for themselves that, using Shri Mataji’s techniques, they could also pass this experience on to others, just as one candle can be used to enlighten another.

Unlike the many so-called ‘gurus’ of the modern era, Shri Mataji has never charged for her lectures nor for giving Self-realisation. She has always insisted that you cannot pay for your enlightenment and has warned of the dangers of going to the many false, self- proclaimed ‘gurus’ and cults who are only interested in making money and are not capa- ble of giving Self-realisation. In addition to her spiritual work, Shri Mataji has also started a number of charitable organisations in India to help the poor and the sick. Among these are a large hostel for destitute and homeless mothers in Delhi and a hospital in Mumbai to treat people using Sahaja Yoga techniques.