- Nirmala Srivastava
-
Nirmala Srivastava (née Nirmala Salve, more widely known as Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi) (March 21, 1923 – February 23, 2011) was the founder of Sahaja Yoga, a new religious movement.[1] To her devotees she declared that she was the complete[2] incarnation of the Adi Shakti and she is now venerated as such in over 140 countries.[3][4]
Contents
Early life
Nirmala Srivastava was born in Chindawara, India to Christian parents Prasad and Cornelia Salve. Her parents named her Nirmala, which means "immaculate".[5][6] She said that she was born self-realised.[7] Her father, a scholar of fourteen languages, translated the Koran to Marathi, and her mother was the first woman in India to receive an honours degree in mathematics.[4] Nirmala Srivastava said she was descended from the royal Shalivahana/Satavahana dynasty.[7] The Salve surname is one of a number included in the Satavahana Maratha clan.
Nirmala Srivastava passed her childhood years in the family house in Nagpur.[8] In her youth she stayed in the ashram of Mahatma Gandhi.[5] Like her parents, she was involved with the struggle for Indian independence and, as a youth leader when a young woman, was jailed for participating in the Quit India Movement in 1942.[5][9][10] She studied at the Christian Medical College in Ludhiana and the Balakram Medical College in Lahore.[8]
Shortly before India achieved independence in 1947, Nirmala married Chandrika Prasad Srivastava,[9] a high-ranking Indian civil servant who later served Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri as Joint Secretary, and was bestowed an honorary KCMG by Elizabeth II.[11] They had two daughters, Kalpana Srivastava[12] and Sadhana Varma.[13] In 1961, Nirmala Srivastava launched the "Youth Society for Films" to infuse national, social and moral values in young people. She was also a member of the Film Censor Board.[8]
Sahaja Yoga
Main article: Sahaja YogaNirmala Srivastava was known to have been concerned with the damage being done to society by 'false gurus'[14] and because of this visited a meditation camp in Nargol that was presided over by Rajneesh (later known as Osho). She said that she "was shocked to see him loot people under the guise of spirituality"[15] and said that he was mesmerizing people.[16] The camp ran from 2 May to 5 May 1970, and Rajneesh led sessions in an early form of dynamic meditation, discoursed on kundalini and other matters, and answered a question about Sahaja Yoga.[17]
Judith Coney wrote that Nirmala Srivastava can be seen in a video of the camp.[18] Sudhir Kakar wrote that Nirmala Srivastava was "closely associated" with Rajneesh in her "apprenticeship years".[19] Nirmala Srivastava said that she had also visited Muktananda and that Rajneesh was 'very much after' her.[20] Interviewed in the movie "Nirmala Devi: Freedom and Liberation", Nirmala Srivastava said that these supposed spiritual people were greedy and promiscuous rather than spiritual and that this caused her to give up hopes and begin searching within herself.[21]
Nirmala Srivastava said that while in Nargol, on May 5, 1970, she witnessed the rising of the Primordial Kundalini. Later she described the experience as follows: "I saw my kundalini rising very fast like a telescope opening out and it was a beautiful color that you see when the iron is heated up, a red rose color, but extremely cooling and soothing."[22] She stated that the potential for all humanity to gain spiritual self awareness was realized at this time, which she characterizes as a "historical process of en-masse self-realization and inner transformation". Soon after she founded Sahaja Yoga in Mumbai.
Spreading of Sahaja Yoga
In 1972 Nirmala Srivastava sailed to the U.S. and warned against false gurus.[8] In 1974 Chandrika Prasad Srivastava was elected to serve as the Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), a United Nations agency based in London, serving a record 4 successive 4-year terms as Secretary-General from 1974 to 1989. After moving to London with her husband, Nirmala Srivastava worked with seven London hippies who became the first Western Sahaja Yogis.[8] In 1979 Nirmala Srivastava declared herself to be the complete incarnation of the Adi (Primordial) Shakti or Holy Spirit to her devotees.[23] She has also claimed to be Maitreya and the Mahdi.[24] Nirmala Srivastava has been described as "a simple Indian housewife... with a motherly and compassionate personality".[25]
In 1980 Nirmala Srivastava first toured Europe spreading Sahaja Yoga and in 1981 she toured Malaysia, Australia and North America – many other countries were to follow.[8] In 1989, after the lifting of the Iron Curtain, Nirmala Srivastava began visiting Eastern Europe where Sahaja Yoga spread quickly.[8] In 1995, Nirmala Srivastava was awarded an honorary doctorate in Cognitive and Parapsychological Sciences by the Ecological University of Bucharest, Romania.[26] Also in 1995, Nirmala Srivastava gave a speech at the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing.[27][28] In 1997 Claes Nobel, the founder of United Earth, spoke in strong support of Shri Mataji and Sahaja Yoga which he described as a reference point for determining right from wrong. He said he was very comfortable with Shri Mataji and her teachings quoting "you shall know the tree by its fruit" and described Sahaja Yogis as ambassadors for the earth.[29]
Later work
In 1996 Nirmala Devi established the International Sahaja Yoga Health and Research Centre in Mumbai for the use of practitioners from all over the world. Sahaja Yoga methods are used to achieve better meditations and the technique is studied for its curing effects of various illnesses.[30] In 2003 a charity house for the rehabilitation of destitute women was set up in Delhi (the Vishwa Nirmala Prem Ashram).[31] In the same year Nirmala set up an international music school, the Shri P.K.Salve Kala Pratishthan, in Nagpur to promote classical music and fine art.[4][32]
Until 2004, during her travels, Nirmala Srivastava gave numerous public lectures, pujas, and interviews to newspapers, television and radio. In 2004 the official website of Sahaja Yoga announced that Nirmala Srivastava had completed her work.[33] She continued to give talks to her devotees[34] and allowed them to offer her puja.[35]
Nirmala Srivastava spoke on a number of occasions about the evils of alcohol.[36] In Australia in October 2007 she spoke at length about the problems associated with alcohol, both in relation to society, its effects upon people and the dangers it poses to the family.[37]
On 17 August 2005 the official Sahaja Yoga website reported that, on the eve on India's independence day, "an Indian flag was offered to Her and a prayer was recited for the divine blessings and protection of India."[38] In 2007, two images showing the Indian national flag at the feet of Niramala Srivastava (with her husband seated beside) were circulated by youngsters[39] on the social network Orkut, provoking "outrage" and "anger" according to one source.[40] According to India's 1971 Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, it is an offence to show disrespect to the national flag or let it touch the ground. Rajendra Kumar, a trustee of Sahaja Yoga Trust issued an apology on behalf of Nirmala Devi. He said "it is inconceivable that any member of Shri Mataji's family would tolerate even the slightest disrespect to our National Flag".[41]
Nirmala Srivastava died on February 23, 2011, in Genoa, Italy at the age of 87.[4]
See also
- List of people who have been considered deities
- List of Buddha claimants
- People claiming to be the Mahdi
References
- ^ Judith Coney, Sahaja Yoga: Socializing Processes in a South Asian New Religious Movement (1999)
- ^ ::Sahaja Yoga-Tamil:: Adi Sakthi By Thirumoolar
- ^ Invitation to Shri Adi Shakti Puja 2005
- ^ a b c d "Sahaja Yoga founder Nirmala Devi is dead". Indian Express. Express News Service. 2011-02-25. http://www.indianexpress.com/news/sahaja-yoga-founder-nirmala-devi-is-dead/754645/.
- ^ a b c H.P. Salve, My memoirs (New Delhi: LET, 2000), chapter 1
- ^ "Origin and Meaning of the Name Nirmala". http://babynamesworld.parentsconnect.com/meaning_of_Nirmala.html. Retrieved March 2011.[verification needed]
- ^ a b Who is Shri Mataji?[non-primary source needed]
- ^ a b c d e f g Biography at shrimataji.net[non-primary source needed]
- ^ a b H.P. Salve, My memoirs (New Delhi: LET, 2000), chapter 4
- ^ A message for one and all, The Hindu, April 7, 2003
- ^ Burke's Peerage
- ^ Portraits of former IMO Secretaries-General unveiled
- ^ Rommel Varma; Sadhana Varma. Ascent to the Divine: Himalaya Kailasa-Manasarovar in Scripture, Art and Thought ISBN 978-2881690013
- ^ About Shri Mataji Canadian website. "Corruption and hypocrisy in the religions, and false Gurus' (mainly from India) tantric teachings also contributed to attacking the morality and innocence of society"
- ^ About Shri Mataji Canadian website. "She eventually consented to visit a seminar of a professor of philosophy called Rajneesh, in Nargol on May 4th, 1970."
- ^ Mathur, Rakesh (1990) "The Russians' Love for Yoga" Hinduism Today Vol 12(10) p7 "I was shocked because he was mesmerizing people".
- ^ Osho, In Search of the Miraculous Vol 1 "Sahaja yoga is the most difficult of the yogas, because there is nothing more difficult than to be sahaja -- effortless, natural and spontaneous. What is the meaning of sahaja? Sahaja means: let whatever happens happen, don't resist it. Of course, it is the best, but it is also very difficult. Because nothing is more difficult for man than to be natural..." [ch 8, 5 May pm]
- ^ Coney, Judith (1999) Sahaja Yoga: Socializing Processes in a South Asian New Religious Movement, (London: Curzon Press) ISBN 0-7007-1061-2 p 220
- ^ Kakar, Sudhir (1984) Shamans, Mystics and Doctors: A Psychological Inquiry into India and Its Healing Traditions, ISBN 0-226-42279-8 p 202 "A demonic guru such as Rajneesh (with whom Mataji in her apprenticeship years was once closely associated) can turn the chakra toward the left side"
- ^ Mathur, Rakesh (1990) "The Russians' Love for Yoga" Hinduism Today Vol 12(10) p7 "I went to see Swami Muktananda and all of them. I went to see this Rajneesh, who was very much after me."
- ^ Director/Writer: Carolin Dassel, "Nirmala Devi: Freedom and Liberation - Ein Leben für die Freiheit", A film by Carolin Dassel / produced by devifilm GbR / Carolin Dassel, Joseph Reidinger / Co-Production with University of Munich Television and Film and Bayerischer Rundfunk Claudia Gladziejewski, 2006 "Then I started going to different people supposed to be preaching about spirituality, talking about spirituality. But what I found they themselves were not spiritual. Very greedy, trying to want everything, running after women... I said what sort of things these are? If they are like this, what are they going to teach me? So I gave up hopes. Then I started searching myself, within myself. And one day in a forest I was with lots of people who were seeking and I went near the big sea and there I was sitting. And suddenly a light came into me and I saw it clearly that I am a satisfied soul. I don't need anything, I don't want anything. And that is the time when I saw a few things happening."
- ^ Gregoire de Kalbermatten, The Advent (daisyamerica: 2003)
- ^ Guru Puja. 2 December 1979. Dollis Hill Ashram, London, UK "But today it is the day I declare I am the One who have to save the humanity. I declare I am the One who is Adi Shakti [Holy Spirit] - who is the Mother of all Mothers, who is the Primordial Mother, the Shakti [power] of the Desire of God - who has incarnated on this Earth to give meaning to itself, to this creation, to human beings, and I am sure that through My Love and Patience and My Powers I am going to achieve it. I was the One who was born again and again. But now I have come in My complete Form and with complete Powers."
- ^ Holiest Wars: Islamic Mahdis, Their Jihads, and Osama Bin Laden 2005 by Timothy R. Furnish & Michael Rubin, p165 "currently there is a woman named Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi, born a Christian in Maharashtra, India, claiming to be the Mahdi, Maitreya (a Buddhist messianic figure), and Comforter (Christian terminology for the Holy Spirit), as well as a Hindu divine Avatar. Needless to say, her following in the Muslim world is at best limited."
- ^ Sahaja Yoga Meditation
- ^ http://www.sahajayoga.org.br/awards.txt
- ^ Beijing Talk - Self Realization through Sahaja Yoga
- ^ Annex I ATTENDANCE
- ^ "3.7.97 Claes Nobel speech, Royal Albert Hall, London on Vimeo". Vimeo. 1997-07-03. http://vimeo.com/17435022. Retrieved 2011-03-10.
- ^ "Sahaja Yoga and Health Center". http://www.sahajahealthcentre.com/. Retrieved 2011-02-25.
- ^ Arshiya Khanna (16 Nov 2006). "A New Childhood" (Editorial). Times of India. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/OPINION/Editorial/BRIEF_CASE_A_New_Childhood/articleshow/457754.cms. Retrieved 4 November 2007.
- ^ "Shri P.K. Salve Kala Pratishthan". PKS Academy. http://www.pksacademy.com/about.htm. Retrieved 2011-02-25.[non-primary source needed]
- ^ We Want The World To Know... "Shri Mataji has completed Her work"
- ^ Sunday 23rd March. You have to forgive - Easter Puja Talk
- ^ Shri Mataji allowed to offer Her puja on the occasion of Buddha Purnima (20 May 2008)[non-primary source needed]
- ^ Saturday 17th May. Will power and the menace called Alcohol
- ^ October 13, 2007. Shri Mataji spoke at length about the problems associated with alcohol...
- ^ India's Independence Day Celebration with Shri Mataji and highlights from a Flute concert
- ^ Mata Nirmala Devi's Sahaj Yoga Trust apologizes over disrespect to tricolour
- ^ "Indian flag placed at feet", The Asian Age, Friday, December 28, 2007
- ^ Sandeep Datta "Mata Nirmala Devi's Sahaj Yoga Trust apologizes over disrespect to tricolour" ANI 5 March 2007
Bibliography
- Mataji Shri Nirmala Devi, Meta Modern Era (New Delhi: Ritana Books, 1997) ISBN 81-852-500-19
- Pullar, Philippa (1984) The Shortest Journey, ISBN 0-04-291018-8
- Kakar, Sudhir (1984) Shamans, Mystics and Doctors: A Psychological Inquiry into India and Its Healing Traditions, ISBN 0-226-42279-8
- Coney, Judith (1999) Sahaja Yoga: Socializing Processes in a South Asian New Religious Movement, (London: Curzon Press) ISBN 0-7007-1061-2
- H.P.Salve [Nirmala Srivastava's brother], My memoirs (New Delhi: LET Books, 2000)
- Gregoire de Kalbermatten, The Advent (Bombay, 1979: reprint: New York: daisyamerica, 2002) ISBN 1-932496-00-X
- Gregoire de Kalbermatten, The Third Advent (New York: daisyamerica, 2003; Melbourne: Penguin Australia, 2004; Delhi: Penguin India, 2004) ISBN 1-932406-07-7
External links
Categories:- 1923 births
- 2011 deaths
- Sahaja Yoga
- Spiritual teachers
- Founders of religions
- Indian spiritual writers
- People from Chhindwara
- People considered avatars by their followers
- Deified people
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