“The Myth Of Leadership” May 9, 1988

Now this one is a praise of Mahalakshmi tattwa, Mahalakshmi principle. And as you know that, Lakshmi principle is the power of Shri Vishnu, which first establishes within us when we start paying attention to dharmic material life, dharmic financial life and dharmic family life.

After that, seeking starts, seeking into higher realms: there it is manifested by the Mahalakshmi principle within us. That’s why in affluent countries people start seeking; they may go wrong, that’s different. In a person this exists, but the manifestation starts when you are completely satisfied with your material side, not with Sahaj Yog. In Sahaj Yoga it manifests and acts. 

So the central path of Mahalakshmi starts opening up, so rises above your nabhi chakra, above, and goes up to your Sahasrara and pierces through it. In the Sahasrara also it is the Vishnu tattwa [that] becomes the Viraata — it’s only one principle. It manifests itself in the Sahasrara and you become aware of collective consciousness, you become knowledgeable and you know the truth. It’s through the rising of the Kundalini.

Now here, they are only praising the middle path, that’s the Mahalakshmi. So here you are singing to me, to the Mahalakshmi principle of mine. But when it reaches the Sahasrara, in Sahasrara it become the Mahamaya. In the Sahasrara, it gets the power of the Mahamaya, by which it has a thousand facets and it puts you into illusions to test you and to help you — in the Sahasrara.

But otherwise it has incarnated many a times. Like we can say the Lakshmi has incarnated on this Earth as Sita, as Radha, as Mary the mother of Christ, and ultimately as your Mother: but that’s only the central path and only the one principle of Mahalakshmi.

So now here, you are praising me as Mahalakshmi. 

So first they say, “Oh Mahalakshmi!” that’s Mother, “we praise you as Mahamaya” — is the One who creates this illusion of the world. “And you are the One who takes us out of this illusion. And you are the peetha, is the seat, or the seat of the Shri Chakra. And all the Gods worship you.” — “shri peethe sura pujite”

“Shanka chakra gada haste” — because it’s a Laksmi, it’s the power of Vishnu. He has shanka, that is the conch, the chakra and the gada in the hand. 

So, “Nirmala devi namostute, Mahalakshmi namostute.”

Now again, Shri Vishnu is on the condor, on the Garuda. So “Namaste garurha ruhe” — You are the one who is going on the Garuda.

It’s so scientific. She’s the power of Vishnu, of Narayana, of Viraata, the central path — how nicely [it’s described]. So She has all the weapons of Shri Vishnu. She rides on the Garuda.

“Kolhasura bayankari” — She’s the one who killed Kolhasura. Kolhasura is the one who was residing in Kolhapur. She killed [him] there, and there She appeared, manifested in the temple. That’s why in Kolhapur you have got Mahalakshmi’s temple. 

And “Sarvapapa hare Devi” — you are the one who takes away all our sins, removes all our sins.

“Mahalakshmi namostute”

“Sarvagye sarvavarade” — because Lakshmi principle becomes Mahalakshmi, becomes then the Viratangana, is the power of the Viraata, is the same, [so] you know everything because it is knowledge, it is the truth. That’s the principle of truth, knowledge. 

So, She is the one who knows everything — “Sarvagye”

“Sarvavarade” — You are the One who gives all the blessings: is the Mahalakshmi who gives you the blessings. 

“Sarvadushta bhayankari” — And you are the one who is a terrible personality for all those who are cruel — remember that — who are cruel people.

“Sarvadukha hare Devi” — You are the One who takes away all the pains of the people. Also the name of Shri Vishnu is Dhanvantari, meaning the doctor; one of the names. That means the Vishnu principle has got the power to cure you, to give you relief from pain. Through that power You take away all our pain. It’s true isn’t it!

“Sarvadukha hare Devi, Mahalakshmi namostute”

“Siddhi buddhi prade Devi” — You are the One who is the giver of siddhis. Now you have got siddhis, you can raise Kundalini, you can cure people, you can know everything. On your central nervous system are the siddhis, by which you know absolute knowledge. You are the One who gives absolute knowledge. Through the central path of Mahalakshmi you get to know of the absolute knowledge. So you are the giver of siddhis and buddhi. You are the One who gives us the wisdom, buddhi — is the intelligence, is the pure intelligence. Pure intelligence comes from the central path. 

You just see how they have described. 

So you will be amazed that, if you sing the song of, say, Shri Krishna or of Shri Rama, or of Shri Vishnu or of Mahalakshmi, or of Lakshmi, they will have the same qualities described, because they are one personality.

If you have their names, they will never intermingle. Shiva will have His own qualities, Vishnu will have his own qualities and Brahma will have his own qualities — they will not intermingle, they are all separated.

So now here, what is the other quality is that, in the middle, madhyankar, in the middle of the ocean, in between the time, in the interval part, You are the one who becomes in the heart, the power of Shiva. You know that. 

See how clearly it is said, that, “In between You become the power of Shiva and the One who is the power of Maheshwara, is the Shiva.” Your the same middle path becomes.

“Yogade yoga sambhute” — You are the One who makes it possible to get yoga. You make us in such a way, ‘sambhute’ means, ‘sambhut’ means you can make the situation in such a way that we can get our Realisation, yoga. Not only that but you give Realisation — is the Mahalakshmi part of it.

You can become extremely subtle and extremely gross. So You can talk of very, very subtle things. And You can move into human beings, into everything, in a very subtle manner and You can also, have a very gross appearance, a gross behaviour, a gross method, to handle the gross people. I use that, you know that.

“Stula sukshma maharaudre” — now You are gross as well as You are very subtle and You are the greatest destructive power — ‘maharaudre’. ‘Raudra’ is the power of Shiva, which is destructive, but You are the one which is the Maharaudre. You have the power, the highest power of destruction, the greatest power of destruction — maharaudre.

“Mahashakti mahodare” — You have a big stomach and in that You contain all the powers, the great powers, within Your stomach: ‘Maharaudre, mahodare”

“Mahapapa hare Devi” — You are the one who removes all our sins. ‘Papa’ is [sins]. And that is the One we worship.

“Padmasana stite Devi.” You sit in the lotus. You are sitting in the lotus. You will find Lakshmi always standing in the lotus, but Mahalakshmi sits on the lotus. You must have seen in the temple of Kolhapur they have very, very big lotuses [which] they give. They grow there. They do not grow anywhere else but there only — such big, big lotuses. Even in the Himalayas you won’t find them, but at Mahalakshmi temple.

See how it’s all been done. Whatever is described you get the proof of it!

Now they describe, supposing, the flowers that are liked by Mahakali. So if you go to [mount] Abu which is where is the Ambas this thing [temple], you will find the same flowers that are champakas and all those are more there. Then a kind of a fragrance that She likes out of a glue called as gulgul. They have described also about Her. And that’s the place you find it, nowhere else.

How the Mother Earth is also keeping those limitations and those compartments meant for different, different Goddesses.

So She sits on the lotus, sits. She sits there and She establishes Herself there. Also it means that She sits on your lotuses of your chakras and She establishes your lotuses.

So, throughout, in all the centres here, it is the Mahalakshmi power, in different forms and manifestations [that] works out the opening of the chakras. 

Even here where She becomes Madhyantar, in the middle, in the little interval, [when] She becomes, at that time, the power of Shiva, it is Mahalakshmi. 

So the principle is the same, of Mahalakshmi. What is the principle of Mahalakshmi? Is the ascent. She helps the ascent of the Kundalini. Because when the Kundalini rises there are so many things to be done to keep the Kundalini moving upward, not to make her fall down, to open different chakras at different times, and what you call the bandhas, are to keep the central path in such a way that it [the Kundalini] is pushed up and it is not allowed to fall down. All that is done through Mahalakshmi principle.

“Parabrahma swarupini” — She is the One who is Parabrahma. She is the One which is the All-pervading Power. Because of that we have the knowledge. Because of that All-pervading Power of God we get knowledge on our fingertips. 

So it acts through your brain as Mahamaya, through your nerves as boddhas, and all around you, you get the information. So you become part and parcel of the whole cosmos and you become a very efficient, already programmed, computer.

She wears [a] white dress. Whenever we have [public] programmes I wear white: “Shwetambara dhare Devi” — She wears [white]. That’s the time I have to give Realisation, so I am Mahalakshmi. At the puja time I am Mahakali or Adi Shakti. Mahakali is Adi Shakti…

(break in recording)

…Down to earth personality. “Jagatstite” — down to earth (practical). And She is the Mother of the whole universe, of this world. So, Mahalakshmi…

Now, these two others [verses] are that, those who read these stotras, these mantras, about Nirmala Devi, and do it with complete dedication, they get all kinds of siddhis which are never lost. They get the Kingdom of God forever. The one who reads it once, it removes all your sins. Those who read it twice get into dhyana, into samadhi state — only twice!

If you read it three times, anyone who is anti-God and troubling you gets destroyed. 

Sahaj Yogi: We did it only twice Shri Mataji!

Shri Mataji: You have done it already twice ah? (laughter)

So, the one who becomes Nirmala Devi, means who cleanses out, becomes an auspicious person, becomes auspicious, shubha. Because She’s the one, she gets prasanna, over-pleased. She’s over-pleased and that’s how She gives you blessings and you become auspicious, because you are clean in heart, there isn’t any ego, there isn’t any conditioning, you have a very clean attention and clean heart.

It’s the same now repeated, is the “Namastestu Mahamaye, Shri peethe sura pujite. Shanka chakra gada haste, Shri Nirmala Devi Namostute.”

It is a very, I should say, a precise, scientific study. Even when you take names. I am amazed at these people, those who have written. I don’t know how! Like the mantras in the puja. What a description it is! You start wondering what Divine eyes they must have had. I think at least your eyes should develop to that state where you see those mantras. We don’t have to create, but see that reflection, if it is true or not. It looks very fantastic but it’s a fact. Some of the mantras really, it’s surprising how they know! I myself don’t know how they found it out! (laughter). But their discoveries show their depth, their love, their dedication and understanding of what I am.

Of course, at this stage I am a Mahamaya: rather difficult, but still try. Also intellectuals, the so-called intellectuals, are the people, I think, who would walk backwards. They can’t see the front. If you walk backwards what do you see? The reality is going out from you, backwards. It’s very difficult to talk to them. They always find something that is very surprisingly funny, to me. But those who have the inner side [developed] they see it so precisely, so clearly. I mean, these were written long time back. Of course, this one is written by Adi Shankaracharya. But thousands of years back they have written things. Like Markandeya, he has described my knees, can you imagine? He must have crawled up to my knees to see or what? It’s exactly the same. And here he says there are three folds, it’s a fact. All the time I have three folds, which human beings don’t have: one on here, another here, another here. I have to have. 

The eyebrows are described, everything, it’s surprising. They never saw me, I think, otherwise. I didn’t exist before, as manifested on this Earth. But they saw me all right, especially Markandeya. When you go to this Vani, you have been to the temple of Saptashringi — Saptashringi means ‘which has got seven…’

Yogi: ‘Peaks’

Shri Mataji: Peaks! It’s all right with me if I speak English but [for] translation I am very bad!

So the shikaras are the seven chakras, and that’s the Adi Shakti. And the face is exactly like mine, with a thousand hands. And that is one temple [which] is not yet spoiled. But this Mahalakshmi temple is spoiled. They get all the bhoots: not in front of Her but at the back. So we’ll have to remove that, and we’ll manage.

It has nothing to do with a particular religion or particular thing, it’s the inner understanding, it’s the inner awakening, it’s the inner knowledge, which is the truth. Now, one can say, “Why didn’t Christ say?” He did in a way, He did. But just see where he was born, where there was no tradition, no understanding. He could not say all these things there, could he? Even in India, how many people understand? I asked so many people, “Why do you sing this song in the temple of Mahalakshmi when it is you are taking about Ambe?” They didn’t know. Nobody knows! Even the ones who worshipped, have been there in that temple, have been their forefathers and forefathers and forefathers, they don’t know. They don’t know. But at least they have the background. But what’s the use of the background which you don’t understand anything? Like a blind person, whether he stands next to the flowers or to a donkey, God knows.

Now you are the ones who know. But still, still we have to see for ourselves. Many miracles, many things happen. I hope you see the photographs. Have they seen the photographs?

Yogi: Yes Shri Mataji.

Shri Mataji: All of you have seen? Have you seen the Deities?

Yogis: No.

Shri Mataji: No? Oh God, where is it Gavin? That’s very convincing!

Now, there are photographs that have come out: I am sitting like this and the cloth that separates the brides and the bridegrooms is just in, you see all the Deities sitting here, around. All of them! Then all the bridegrooms are blessed with light. And you see all the arrows, which are described now, that he sends arrows of love. And because they are getting married the Cupid sends his arrows with love. Then there are flowers which are Divine flowers, for the brides. And the one who is holding also that cloth has got his Shri Chakra very clearly shown. And all of you are sitting and on top you is the light. If you see it the other way round, it’s my name written in Arabic!

Also it looks like, a little bit, your cardiograph. Everybody has light. Everybody is a realised-soul. It’s beautiful. You must see that, and then you will know your value, you will know your situation and you will know what you are — you are all realised-souls; not only realised-souls [but] Sahaj Yogis! You know all about chakras, you know how to raise the Kundalini, you know how to give Realisation. Such powerful people never lived on this Earth, never existed, [were] never known. 

You have entered into the Kingdom of God. Not only that but you are on the stage and everybody is looking after you. You should see these photographs and you will be convinced about it. These were taken by an ordinary student, by the small camera that you gave him as a present. He brought and he said, “I can’t understand what is all this English.” Poor fellow! Trying to see this way, that way. You all should see it carefully, and then we’ll enlarge and we’ll send it over to people. All the centres must have it. 

Have you seen my photographs in the sky? You’ve seen the photographs of the vibrations on my house, Pratishtan. But these are very remarkable photographs I must say. They should convince you of your powers, of you greatness, that you are very different, special people and you have to live like special people, not to be bowed down by useless things like, “My wife is like this!” “My husband like this,” “My child like this.” Who are your brothers and sisters? Gyaneshwara said, “They are all going to be related.” “Soyeri ka hote.” “They will all be related, those who are…” He described you as a very superlative thing. “They are the oceans. Each one of them is the ocean, talking ocean, or speaking ocean, of ambrosia. And they are the great forests of boon giving trees.” That’s you! He describes you like that. I mean, He never exaggerated. So he says, “Come along the forests! You are the forests of boon giving trees.”

So, let’s start one by one ah?

Haa! Also you see the angels. So first one [is] with the Deities: I am looking like a heart in the centre and the rest of them are sitting behind me as Deities. You can all have it together, to see. This is the first one.

All right. Now, here goes the second one when you find the angels with their wings. Pass it on!

Now, these are the arrows of love. Pass it on.

Now these are the blessings on the bridegrooms.

Now here I look like a white pitcher and here are all the vibrations coming out from me. The white one is me.

You must see the Deities ones [first]! You see, one by one you must see [the] series. If you see it the other way round.

Now here are the brides blessed by Divine flowers.

This is the Shri Chakra of the person who was holding that cloth.

This is my name written on top of your heads. If you see the other way round you can see, if you know Arabic. Everyone! I have always told you that the vibrations are like half commas, or the moon of the first day. And you see me, a bundle of vibrations.

Yogi: It is [written] ‘Allah’ —  is God’s name.

Shri Mataji: But if you put it like this, it is my name. You see it is ‘Nir-mala’. And ‘Allah’ otherwise, you see. ‘Allah’ if you see it from this side, and from this side is ‘Nirmala’.

Yogi: Oh!!! (applause).

Shri Mataji: ‘Allah’ is Viraata. This is the one where Hanumana was sitting before me. I see all that but you don’t see, that’s [what] the trouble is. You have seen that photograph, I think, of Hanumana.

Yogis: (laughter)

Shri Mataji: These are the two names [sides] of one coin: one is ‘Nirmala’ the other is ‘Allah’. Also it is ‘Nirmala’ and ‘Sadashiva’. Also it is ‘Nirmala’ and ‘Brahmadeva’. So Allah is the same as Jehovah. Jehovah?

Yogini: Jehovah.

Shri Mataji: Pass it on to others to see.

We’ll have to make it big and we’ll get them enlarged, isn’t it Gavin?

This one is missing where the bullock carts are.

So the muslims must have some sense in there heads: that’s why it is in Arabic! They are the blindest people you can ever think of, fanatics! This madman Khomeini: he was dying, still he’s surviving. He should not feel happy when he’s dying. Let him die!

Can I have them (the photographs) back? (laughter)

The ladies have seen? All of you pass it that side first of all.

If somebody has not seen all of these?

The last and not the least: this is for all of you to understand that leadership is a myth. There’s nobody like a leader in the Kingdom of God. It’s not that a leader will be asked to go first inside. Nothing of the kind! (laughter)

But the worst are the leaders wives, they start thinking themselves to be leaders. They are the worst of all! Don’t treat the wives of leaders as leaders. And they have no business to guide anyone or to tell anyone. Be very careful on that point! All such wives I don’t know where they’ll end up. It’s very common [that] those women who have nothing in them try to bask in the glory of their husbands. You see so many prime ministers are like that, their wives. So many of them we have had: Mrs Kennedy we had, we had Mao Tse Tung’s wife, we had the wife of Chantai Shek (?), of this Carlos also of this…

Yogi: Mrs. Marcos.

Shri Mataji: You see the wives of leaders must keep themselves as non-identities. Any woman who tries such things will harm the whole organisation. Like people say Nancy Reagan rules her husband. Imagine! Shameful thing she does! Ambav’s wife ruined him, that’s what they say. I mean everywhere they talk about this kind of a thing. 

So no leader’s wife is to be treated like a leader by any chance! Not to be given any importance. And they are to be put down in their own places. First of all they think they work very hard. God knows what work they do! They think no end of themselves. They have to work very hard like all others. They are like all other women, they are not to have any special position. That’s the sign of a real Sahaj Yogini. 

You’ll be amazed, though I am Adi Shakti, I never, never go into my husband’s office, never, never telephone to him, never use anyone from his office. Nor do I telephone to any one of his people, whatever may be the difficulty, whether I have Sahaj Yoga or not. And this I did all my life.

I never preach Sahaj Yoga in any one of his offices. Anybody from his office I said, “Keep out! You are not allowed in Sahaj Yoga till my husband is working with you.” And if I telephone to him he thinks I must have met with an accident! He gets so upset. 

But to bask in the glory of a father or husband is a sign of a woman who doesn’t have any personality: she must be a useless woman, absolutely. Show no special respect for such women! They must stand in their own dignity like all other Sahaj Yoginis are. They have no business to take any decision as wives of the leaders. They have to be humble, intelligent. They have to work hard. 

I have to do a lot of work for my husband: I cook for his friends and I clean his ships. Such a lot of things I have done for him. I have decorated his ships. Whatever type of work he has done. I have to feed his clerks and his chaprasis (junior office worker), his peons. Everything I have done, lots of things. But never, never once I asked [for anything]. I have to bring presents for his secretaries for his other people. I think before Christmas I have to give presents to all of them. All kinds of things I do, but never, never asked the driver even to bring the car or even to bring the medicine or even to bring the letter which has arrived. That should be the attitude, that’s a sign of your dignity. You are not here because you are somebody’s wife! You are here because you are a Sahaj Yogi and a Sahaj Yogini.

All these complications come because your attention is more on the husband or the wife and not on me, and you don’t love me, enough. If you love me you will know me very well. Like the people who have known me, they only loved me. And I don’t gain anything out of your love, you have to gain something by loving me. 

This is the last message I give you.

Horrible things I have seen happening to leaders — and to different ashrams and different cities and different countries — because the wife is a negative woman. And always negativity always goes through the wives. 

Always you will find politicians attacked through their children, through their wives, through somebody else. And the leaders must put them down in their own place.

You must have seen when my daughter came and I asked her to come on the stage, she would not. She sat in one corner, she would not. I had to tell her, “At least come in front!” She would not.

Always the wives are more susceptible, vulnerable to negativity, so they have to be extremely careful. They should not take any decisions. 

Now, I have seen if they are miserly wives, horrid they are, horrid! The leaders are there because of their own position, not because of their wives by any chance. In this I am muslim I think. 

If it’s a lady who is the leader, she should not look at her husbands face all the time, what he has to say. She should behave like a leader and should not praise her husband beyond a certain point: he doesn’t matter in Sahaj Yoga. All right? I hope you understand.

The women are the power behind the man and they are not the manifestation of the power of their husbands. They have to give power to their husbands and not to use his powers for their own use. It’s a sign of a person who is very low level and has no self-respect. There are very subtle ways by [which] they assert themselves, so be very, very careful, very, very careful. 

All the Sahaj Yogis must also remember that your husbands or wives should not guide you in Sahaj Yoga. 

Another point is that, in the name of ‘love’ you go on hugging each other. Please don’t do it! The Kundalini gets affected. Kissing each other. It’s all right men can hug men, women can hug women. But not too much of it — [it’s] also not so good. Maybe a bhoot does that more because she wants to pass her bhoots into your body. Better to keep out. But the kissing business must be stopped immediately. I mean, this French style of kissing everybody is horrid! You get a shock you know. Any time you meet a Frenchman you don’t know where he is going to kiss you!

These are our private things, whom to kiss, whom not to kiss. How can we be exposed to every person like that? Even children should not be kissed much, and if you have to kiss, kiss on their hands and on their heads. 

Then in the name of affection, love and compassion we go to bhoots. Now if somebody is sick, say, with AIDS you have nothing to do with that person. Anybody who is sick you don’t have to do anything with that sick person. Give my photograph, I’ll look after. 

You don’t have to go and cure anybody who is sick because you have compassion. You don’t have more compassion than I have, and I don’t believe in small families of husband, wife and one and a half child. 

I believe and you should also believe, which is the truth, in the largest family, the big family, where we are all part and parcel, children of one Mother. So don’t waste your attention on your family business — you’ll never grow. 

First you didn’t believe in family, you didn’t believe in your children. Now you believe too much in your family, too much in your children. It’s just the same, what difference does it make? Whether you are in the pitcher or in the river, it’s just the same: you are in the water isn’t it.

So we don’t believe in this kind of a small family affairs, “My wife, my son, my this.” These limitations must be broken and you must think yourself to be a Sahaj Yogi first and last. Of course by the way you have a husband, by the way you have a wife, by the way you have children, but they shouldn’t form a major part of your life. Your Spirit is the major part and the only part that you have. The rest of it is just by the way. If they are realised-souls, if they are Sahaj Yogis [then] all right, they are with you.

Now, the last of the last, [is] that when girls come from India, don’t think they are all goddesses. Don’t pamper them! Don’t tell them that they are great: “You look very beautiful.” You see, one girl came to Italy and all the people said, “You are a classical beauty.” Can you imagine? And this ‘classical beauty’ could not get married for thirty-eight years! And she really believed it [that] she was a ‘classical beauty’. I don’t know what she thought of herself. And ultimately she became mad, she made her husband mad. So don’t treat them like goddesses. They are Indians, so what? They are just like you — nothing so special! But when they come here you try to pamper them, give them presents, look after them. Then they become naughty, they become rude, and then you become unhappy. Treat them just like any other woman. 

Especially women they lose their heads very fast. In India they are not treated like that once they are married.

And big, big problems you have caused me. There’s one lady who came to France: you made such an ado out of her, now I don’t know what to do with her because the husband doesn’t want her, the father can’t look after her. Another one came to Switzerland, another horrid one. And they know how to handle you now and they know how to frighten you. Keep them down! I’m allowing you even to give them two slaps if they misbehave. Because they come from India they don’t become something great. They are human beings, you are human beings. They are Sahaj Yogis, you are Sahaj Yogis. Don’t spoil their heads. Don’t give them special treatment. They are just like all other Sahaj Yogis. 

It’s very surprising: it has caused me so much of trouble. Some of them are quite negative, left-sided. Be careful! Very left-sided. And some of them are very right-sided too. So it’s not proper also [because] then we have to leave them alone and then it’s a bad name for us in Sahaj Yoga. Treat them just like ordinary people and immediately if they start showing off, you let me know.

This is very important. There are some very sensible women from India. I would say Chaya is one, who had come here, Regis’s wife. She is very, very sensible. Yes, we have some very sensible, very, very matured women, but also stupid [ones]. Some of them had no background. They come from very poor families sometimes. Sometimes they come from families where they have suffered a lot and suddenly their heads go off. So be careful! Some of them are from rich families so their heads are off! Keep them into balance. 

I think you have some problem there?

(end of recording)