Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi was born on March 21, 1923 to a Christian family in the Indian state of Maharashtra. Her parents were Prasad and Cornelia Salve, direct descendants of the royal Shalivahana dynasty. Seeing the beauty of this child who was born with a spotless brilliance, they called her Nirmala, which means ‘Immaculate’.
As a child, Shri Mataji lived with her parents in the ashram of Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi saw the wisdom of this child and used to appreciate her immensely. Even at a young age, her deep understanding was evident to Gandhi, who frequently sought her advice on spiritual matters. Shri Mataji was born with a complete understanding of the human nervous system and its energetic counterparts. In order to become acquainted with the scientific vocabulary attached to these subjects, she studied medicine and psychology at the Christian Medical College in Lahore. The advent of Sahaja Yoga was prophesized a long time ago in many of the world’s spiritual traditions and religions. How this work?
Through Sahaja Yoga meditation, our awareness gains a new dimension where absolute truth can be felt tangibly – on our central nervous system. As a result of this happening, spiritual growth takes place effortlessly, like the sprouting of a seed into a big tree. Physical, mental and emotional balances are achieved as a byproduct of our spiritual ascent. Shri Mataji made this experiment of awakening the spiritual power of every human being (which the Hindus name the Kundalini, the Muslims as the Ruh and in the bible it is described as the Holy Ghost) and was amazed at the results. She tried it first on people near to her and noticed they were transformed physically, mentally and spiritually. Slowly she found out that only this process had the potential solution for all human problems and therefore she decided to spread it on an en-masse level. She invested her own time and money to talk to people and give them the key to their own spiritual power. Those few people who started feeling this spiritual power, which flowed like a cool breeze over their whole body, especially over the palms of their hands and on top of their head (around the fontanel bone area) were quite astonished that it worked.
Though they argued and disputed over it they could not disbelieve their own experience. Under the instructions of Shri Mataji they tried giving this power to others, which really gave them the faith that this was the true spiritual experience that was being prophesized in every religion. Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi has dedicated her life to triggering the spiritual ascent of mankind through Self Realization, reclaiming the role of women in the spiritual evolution, and guiding humanity to correct today’s moral dilemmas. It seems that the light of Gandhi’s vision is being brought to fulfillment by this great lady who is revered as the compassionate Divine Mother by her followers, as the “Messenger of peace” by Ayatollah Rouhani, an Avatar of the modern era by Claes Nobel, grand-nephew of Albert Nobel (the creator of the Nobel foundation) and Chairman of United Earth. In Shri Mataji’s own words, “Self Realization is the first encounter with Reality”.
The manifestation of the Kundalini energy is called vibrations, which is an approximate translation of the Sanskrit term Chaitanya. In Shri Mataji’s words, “Chaitanya (vibrations) is the integrated force of your physiological, mental, emotional and religious Selves.” Skeptism- Her powers of persuasion and belief in her teachings are so pervasive that People get possessed. “Dependence on Mataji and her teaching, leading to an inability or unwillingness to act or think independently. Fear of demonic possession, which is very real, as, is fear of ‘losing vibrations’, the result of disobeying teaching or missing out on activities. This may lead to obsessive behavior centered around rituals and talismans (such as bits of Mataji’s hair or the concoction poured on her feet during pujas). Followers fear dire consequences and incurable illnesses if they leave the movement or are expelled.”
The subtle energy enters through the center of the brain (Sahasrar Brahmarandhra) and precipitates six more centers on its way down. The gross manifestation of this subtle energy, in the Sushumna channel of the spinal cord, is termed the Parasympathetic nervous system. The centers of chakras are expressed as plexuses outside the spinal cord. Surprisingly, we have the same number of plexuses and subplexuses outside, as the number of chakras and their petals inside, the spinal cord. But when a human child is born and the umbilical cord breaks, a gap is created in the Sushumna (the subtle channel in the spinal cord). And on the gross level, one can see there is a gap between the solar plexus and the vagus nerve of the parasympathetic nervous system. This gap is known as the void in the Zen system of religion and Maya (or Bhav Sagar) in Indian thought. Later when ego and superego bloat up like balloons and cover our brain at the apex of the left and right sympathetic nervous systems, the fontanelle bone calcifies, and the all-pervading vital force of Divine Love gets cut off completely.
