Mahalakshmi Puja in Kalwa, 1993-12-31, India Tour

[Translated from Hindi]

In today’s world we are facing so many difficulties and while facing all these difficulties, we are thinking that one day all the human race will disappear. It will not. And to think like that is quite normal as we are facing natural calamities all around. In Maharashtra, there was a very big earthquake and people were so afraid of that. Since last three years, I was telling them why they are drinking alcohol in front of Shri Ganesha, dancing dirty, misbehaving, etc. Shri Ganesha is very wrathful. I do not know why He tolerated this for three years. I told them very clearly that if you go on like this, you would face earthquake in Maharashtra. However, nobody listened to me and carried on with their misbehavior in front of Lord Ganesha. Alcohol is available everywhere in Maharashtra.

Now, I see that there are two types of people in Maharashtra, one is alcoholic (mlechas) and other are pure and clean like Sahaj community. If you want to save your children and to give them good environment, then try to bring them in Sahaj culture and to accept it yourself. I am receiving everyday ten to fifteen letters from Sahaja Yogis how their difficulties disappeared, their children are behaving good, were saved from accidents, etc. So, I think that the benefits of Sahaja Yoga must reach to others also who are not Sahaja Yogis.

Nowadays, many kind of people come to Sahaja Yoga, who have created so many problems in Sahaja Yoga, so we have to tell them slowly to go away from Sahaja Yoga.Sahaja Yoga is not an organization, here we have created community of “devdoot” (people of God) but if you are not going to give up your old habits and conditionings and behave the same way as non Sahaja Yogis, then people won’t believe in Sahaja Yoga. Nowadays, the most dangerous thing is materialism, which is coming from western culture and spreading all over. If you see the people from west, they are stupid and funny and all the time busy making money and money only. When we were young, the wealthy people used to utilize their money for social work, for the masses, to build temples, schools, universities, etc.

Today we will have Shri Mahalakshmi Puja in this factory. People do not know how to do Puja of Shri Lakshmi. So, when we desire Lakshmi, we have to know about Her. First of all I want to tell you about the form of Lakshmi. She is wearing either pink saree or white saree. Pink means love and white means desireless. Mostly she is shown in pink saree but sometimes in white, too.Pink color means love, so only the person who loves othersdeserves to have Lakshmi. In all the others who get it, it becomes a-Lakshmi. She is holding lotus flowers, which are also pink, and the specialty of these lotus flowers is that even an uglybeetle, which has thorns, can reside in this lotus flower. So every wealthy person must have this quality of Shri Lakshmi.

I have seen this quality in Rajesh Shah. I told him, “There are 400-500 Sahaja Yogis here and so many of them want to stay few more days, so please send them to Vashi”. But he said that there is no problem if they want to stay here. He can arrange the things for them. This is the quality of a “Lakshmi-pati” and this is the way one has to utilize the money. This is the first quality of a Lakshmi-pati, that he is very generous and he welcomes people,offering his hospitality. He has a heart like an ocean. Only then Shri Lakshmi resides there, otherwise She leaves.If the person is so miser, he will lose the money anyway. I have seen that in the money scams. Most of the investors are very miser and they lost their money.

Second thing is, if a miser person becomes rich he will be more and more miserly and go on gathering money. After his death the children will fight for his money; or if a father is miser then his children will spend money like anything on stupid things.So, this is the problem if you don’t have quality of Shri Lakshmi, She goes away from you.

If you give money to an alcoholic person, he will spend the money on drinking alcohol and nothing else. He will never think to do something good with that money, like helping others, etc. He won’t. He will use the money only on a wrong purpose. The reason it is that Lakshmi is Mahamaya. So the person without Lakshmi-tattwa will go on a wrong way. The quality of Lakshmi is to donate. However,while donating, one has to be very careful. If you donate to a false guru, he will spoil another ten people. So please be careful when you donate money. If someone donates money to “Hare Rama Hare Krishna” they will spoil another ten people with those money. So one must knowfor whatis donating the money. Even for these earthquake’s survivors people have donated so much money, but later on they found that the money those people haven’t got the money but they disappeared with the intermediaries.

Another quality of Lakshmi is that She is giving “Ashray” (shelter). It means that you have to care for the people who work for you, at home, at farm, at factory, etc.,you have to treat them as human beings, with respect. “Ashray” means not only pay them but also respect them, treat them nicely.My husband, Sir C.P., was president of Shipping Corporation and once he had problems with Union of Labor of West Bengal. So he invited them for a lunch at home in Mumbai and after having the lunch cooked by Me, suddenly theirattitude was changed. They were so kind and polite and the problems were solved. After that, they invited Me for the inauguration of their office building. It is because they felt the love.They felt they were treated very well and with respect.

But in case of Maharashtrian people it is different. Once I went to a Maharashtrian’s shop to buy “chandery” (saree) and he just replied ” No I don’t have” and asked Me to go away. Then I went to a Sindhi’s shop and he welcomed Me so nicely and sweetly, offered me chai, etc. I asked him about chanderi. He did not have. But he showed Me many other types. I bought them and left the shop. And if there is a Marvadi person, he won’t allow you to leave his shop without buying anything. They are very good in business. So in business you have to be very sweet, gentle, loving, respectful with others. Otherwise how will the business go on?

In Lucknow, there is a Halwa shop (sweet’s shop) named “Ram Bharase”. Once I went to buy some sweets for my daughter. The owner welcomed Menicely, lovingly, offered Me to taste many kinds of sweets. Instead of buying few sweets, I bought 14 kg of sweets. I told him that my daughter is going by plane, so she can’t carry 14 kg of sweets, but he was so nice with us, very loving, and finally I bought so much. So the quality of Shri Lakshmi is love and sweetness. If there is no love,She goes away. There are some wealthy husband who treat their wives very badly, miserly, and suddenly they find themselves in business crises and they lose money. So one must understand the importance of “Lakshmi-tattwa”. It’s not materialism, it is love.Materialist people earn money for themselves only. They have their own life-style. Like I heard that women are spending hours together in front of the mirror, to look more and more beautiful. They do not want to have children as they won’t have time to go to beauty parlorsand to buy jewelry. To buy jewelry is o.k. as you can use them in difficult times.

In India, to have children is more important for women than anything else. But in western countries, the mentality is very different and difficult. In some countries, they are making life insurance for children and parents are killing their own children to get the money from insurance. This is totally against “Lakshmi-tattwa”. In India, there is another extreme; whatever they are doing is for their children, like making money, ministers are involved in corruption, etc. Better is to love them, that is good. So “Lakshmi-tattwa” is love and materialism is destroying the love. In the west, husband and wife, both are thinking how to each other’s money? Nobody is thinking of love and care. It is only about money. They are very much money-oriented people. Before getting married, they will think what they will get out of that marriage or what they will get if they have children and so on.

So the love is very important to destroy the materialism. People are coming to offer Me sarees and many other things. If I refuse them they will start crying. So I have to accept their gifts. My house is already full of gifts and now I am not accepting anymore. Like all the flower arrangements, pendal decorations, etc. are not necessary, but they did it to express their love for Me. In any festival they are doing so many things to express their love. When I was in Poland to purchase gifts for Sahaja Yogis, Polish people said that I am a very generous and noble person. It means that “Dan” (to give) is very important. I have seen this kind of people in India.

There was a very rich man, his name was Lakshmi-Narayan and he had a daughter. Many men were planning to marry his daughter just for the sake of his money. But he told them that he donated all his money to schools, colleges and to universities, so he doesn’t haveany money left. So all of them ran away. Even he told them that is not going to marry his daughter with a person who is interested in his money.So, this is how the materialism is destroying us. When you have excess money, the materialism enters into your brain and destroys you.

When I went to America, one gentleman invited Me to visit his house. Then he said that I should be careful whenI go to bathroom as there are so many switches and pressing the wrong button may send Me directly to swimming pool. So I said to give Mea simple one.Then in the bedroom also the same thing, pressing the wrong button can turn My head and legs upside down. So I said that I can sleep on the ground. He said that he has spent a lot of money to have this arrangement. I thankedhim very much and left the house. This is how people spendtheir money on stupid things, having no wisdom of Lakshmi-tattwa.

Sharat Chandra Chatterjee (a Bengali well-known author), in one of his stories wrote abouta group of boys collecting funds for a library. So they crossed river Ganges and went to a wealthy person and told him about their project. He said that he needed to think about.Suddenly a widow came and asked him to return the 500 rupees that her husband gave himten or twelve years before. She was in need and she wanted them back. Immediately he asked his accountant to look into this matter, to check the records of twelve years before.They found out that the widow was telling truth. He returned the whole amount of money, with interest, to that widow.

The boys were watching everything and when their turn came to ask for funds, they received just a very small amount (like 25 paise), from the wealthy man. However, they understood everything.The rich man could have refused to return the money to the woman as she did not have any legal document but he gave her all the money with interest. And this is the quality of Lakshmi-tattwa. I am also like him. If I have to return money to someone, I am thinking all the time about it and returning them as soon as possible. This is what every Sahaja Yogi should do if he takes money from someone.

I will tell you about My father that every Sunday he used to donate blankets to needy people. But few of them used to come for two or three times to receive these things. So others told Him about it, and He said, “I am not the one who is donating, God is the one who is donating. I am just standing in between
God and them. So it is not my concern, if they are coming again and again”. This how one has to be. Donate the things without ego.
Even doors and windows of our house use to be open all the time. Anybody could come in anytime. Even a thief could come in.Once we found out that our gramophone was stolen. My father was very sad because the thief has taken only the gramophone but norecords. So he was concerned that the thief must be fond of music but he will not have any records to listen.So My mother asked,“What shall we do now? Should we publish in the newspapers that the one who has stolen the gramophone, shouldcome and take records too?” But My father insisted that we should give him the disks also if he comes again.

So I have seen such kind of people having great quality of Lakshmi-tattwa. My father was never bothered about the money. Once, Shri Vallabhbhai Patel asked him to apply for the election of Parliament of India but he refused any publicitybecause of money shortage. It was necessary to have 3.000 Rs for publicity and this and that. He said,“I am not going to spend any single rupee. People know me very well; they know about my social work. So if they want to vote me, they will vote me even without publicity. Why should the one who fought for freedom of India, spend any money on publicity? And he got elected as a member of Parliament. This is the truth and the truth is Lakshmi-tattwa. When Lakshmi-tattwa will be established in our country, we’ll have no problems.

In this case I found Russians are very dignified. One Russian girl of 18 years came to India to learn music. I told her that I will marry her with an Indian boy, so it will be easier for her to live and learn music. She refused to have any conveniences, like marriage. She said she would stay in India only if she gets scholarshipotherwise she would go back to Russia. “Music is like “Aradhana” (tapasya) for me and I don’t like to have any conveniences for it. I was surprised of such a reply from a young girl.So where from did they get this Lakshmi-tattwa? It is because there is no materialism in Russia. Even their government wanted to give them possession of apartments but they refused to have any kind of possessions.

So, thinking that “this is mine” is materialism. Russians are not bothered of anything. I asked them about political changes, coup d’état, the happenings in Russia. They said they don’t care, that they are in Sahaja Yoga, in the Kingdome of God and they are fine. Because of communism 70% of population is not materialistic.I have a very small house there and they are getting up early morning, at 5 a clock in such a cold weather, and they are coming there with their own food to plant flowers and trees. They told Me, “This materialism is destroying us”. They are very happy and satisfied, even if they have only four sarees. It is enough for them.Once, they wanted to offer Me a saree, so I said that I have so many sarees so it is not necessary. But they insisted to accept a saree from them. Very loving people.This kind of people still exist in this materialistic world.In America, because of materialistic society, family are destroyed and many diseases like AIDS are spreading up. I am going to write down in my book.

Sahaja Yogis must feel the satisfaction, it is very important. You must feel that whatever you got it is enough. In Sahaja Yoga you will get everything you need, but if you are not happy and satisfied then what is the use? So, we must understand the Lakshmi-tattwa. One more thing is that Shri Lakshmi sits on a lotus flower. That means She is not putting pressure on others. In this society the rich people behave as if they are great and special people, showing attitudes and so on.They will show off anywhere they go saying, “I have this and that, I am such a such person”, without having any shame. Specially government officers and their wives are even more than that.Even a simple fourth class worker’s wife behaves as she is something great. They are so proud and egoistic. Longtime back only fourth class government servant used to take bribe, but nowadays big officers like district collector are involved in corruption charges. They are asking certain amount of money, otherwise they do not sign the papers.

This is the situation and it is very bad, because money become like God for human beings. By hook or crook one has to make money, doesn’t matter how he does it. So, I want to say that if money has becomes everything then they can sell their wives and children too. In western countries women are ready for prostitution to earn money. Without any hesitation or shame they are ready for it, either it is a wife or a daughter.In London I saw on television that sixteen years old girl used to go in night clubs and dance naked to earn money and her parents said that they have no objection for that. If parents are not responsible for morality then who else is responsible for that? Government is not involved in it. They are interested in votes only, not in morality. So many bad things are allowed. Government is interested in taxes, not in morality. In England the most beautiful house in the countryside is the pub. Americans are coming to England to visit pubs. An American lady asked me to visit a pub and I asked her what is so special about it? She told me that one man died there and they kept his body there for 5 to 6 month. So the whole pub was stinking, spiders and cockroaches were everywhere. They removed his body but the whole pub is still stinking very badly. And it is the most expensive pub. This is the situation there, it’s very bad.

Her elder sister told me that she has two children and she has given them freedom to drink alcohol (wine). After one year I heard that on their birthday party they were all drunk and somehow the house caught fire and they were found dead.In India no one will go to a pub like this, which is stinking of dead body, with spiders, etc. This is the situation and I just don’t understand it. And to visit a pub like that you have to make a reservation, you can’t go inside without reservation.

One day one person died, and I refused to go to funeral as not having black clothes. There they told C.P. that they don’t cry one’s death but they drink alcohol. Sir C.P. is not drinking, so he refused it. I mean they are drinking on happy and sad occasions too. On funeral, on Christmas, on birthday, on any kind of occasion, they are just drinking alcohol. Even in the cemetery, they were just talking about lunch and champagne. Sir C.P. told them he was not feeling well and left the place. He came back home, took a bath and only after that He felt better. Very rich people were present on that funeral, and lunch was arranged in a very expensive restaurant and all of them were enjoying lunch on such a sad occasion without shame. This is madness, there is no love for each other, no dharma, it is all because of materialism. Nowadays, even in India, wealthy persons follow this kind of life.

So, we Sahaja Yogis have this responsibility to spread Sahaja Yoga. Nowadays, this young generation is going to disco-bar, wearing funny clothes, piercings, log hair and boys even are wearing bangles like girls. So, if there is no nobility and gentlemanship (Sabhyata), then there is no Lakshmi-tattwa. The greatest jewelry of mankind is Sabhyata. It is very important. Our Indian culture is based on Sabhyata, it is established within us. In western society they don’t have Sabhyata. They will do anything without any shame or fear that you will be shocked. Such shameless people. Women are smoking and drinking and if women are like this then what to say about men? Women are the power of the society, so if they are shameless then what to do?

So, we Sahaja Yogis have to spread Sahaja Yoga everywhere. Sahaja Yogis have to be very careful. In Ganapatipule, when marriages were announced, these couples (from western countries) went to the beach and to the garden and started romancing without any shame. So in Lakshmi-tattwa, if there is no “Lajja” (shame) then it’s of no use to have money. They behave as animals. So Sahaja Yogis have to be very careful about their behavior.
Western people think that Indians are lucky that they are born in India. They are expecting lot of things from Indians. But if Indians start behaving like them, then I don’t know what to do. Like Indian Sahaja Yogis charging more money to the westerners, stealing from them, etc., it is not good and it’s very low level. Indians must show the greatness of Indian culture through their behaviour.

In My house in Maharashtra, we have women as servants and they have never stolen anything from us. They are very poor people but for them honesty is very important. These days in Maharashtra people started drinking alcohol. It’s something I have never seen before. Since I came back from England I noticed this alcohol drinking and especially in the villages it is worst than ever. They are falling down like insects or bed bugs. They have become drunkards.
So, you Sahaja Yogis have to stop them from the consumption of alcohol. Form an organization and ask government to ban the alcohol consumption. In factories, if workers are paid well they start drinking alcohol. So don’t pay salaries to workers who are drinking alcohol. Pay their salaries to their wives as their wives are very much in trouble because of their bad habit. So Maharashtrians must stop the consumption of alcohol. I have seen in other states of India, like U.P., Bihar, etc, they are not consuming alcohol like Maharashtrians. Maharashtrians have gone away from their dharma. I have seen many wealthy people in Noida, Gaziabad, Faridabad, but they are not consuming alcohol.

Once, in Shere (a village very close to Pune) they decide to have my procession. In the beginning I refused but later I said “O.k., let’s do it”. After the procession, we came back and our car was having a problem. So I said to call the organizers to tell them the problem. So Sahaja Yogis went to his house and they saw that all 20 to 25 people were lying down because of excessive consumption of alcohol. This is the situation in Maharashtra. How can I spread Sahaja Yoga there? So then I decided to go to the North of India to spread Sahaja Yoga. Here in Maharashtra the situation is not good. People are drinking alcohol; after that they start fighting and beating each other. It is very bad. So if anyone comes in front of Shri Ganesha consuming alcohol, beat him nicely. It is your right to do it.

One more thing is “chewing of tobacco” which is very much against Lakshmi-tattwa. Shri Krishna doesn’t like tobacco and by chewing it you are destroying your Vishuddhi chakra. One can get throat cancer doing that. I couldn’t understand why these poor villagers in Maharashtra have cancer. Now I know, it is because of tobacco. And they are chewing tobacco they even when they go to Pandharpur (place of Shri Krishna temple or Shri Vitthal temple). If not tobacco, they will smoke “bidi” (cigarette made in the villages). To get rid of all these bad habits give them Realization, especially to women in the villages. There is a place called Narayangaon where all Sahaja Yogis are women. So, form an organization of women and tell them about Sahaja Yoga.

So, all these things are against Lakshmi-tattwa. There is a saying that “when the bottle of alcohol comes in, Lakshmi goes out”. Because of this many families are destroyed. To have a good Lakshmi-tattwa, one must have purity of soul and behavior. Even in case of Shri Ganesha, if Shri Ganesha principle is not good one cannot do anything over there. So the Maharashtrians, who are worshipping Shri Ganesha, don’t know what kind of a character one must have to worship Shri Ganesha? They don’t know the wrath of Shri Ganesha. He will punish you like anything.

We have to worship Shri Lakshmi with full devotion and purity. So when we worship Shri Lakshmi, we have to worship Shri Ganesha first. Because without Him we can’t worship Shri Lakshmi. So one must understand that without having a moral and pure character, you are going to be destroyed. Either you or your children.
Today I told you many things about Lakshmi-tattwa. So, one must understand that it doesn’t matter how much wealthy you are, because if there is no Lakshmi-tattwa, that family will be destroyed in the next 30 or 40 years. I have said it in Hindi so that you understand the importance of Lakshmi-tattwa.
May God bless you

[English]

I told them only the pangs of materialism, how you people are suffering, and how everything is saleable, everything becomes saleable, chastity is salable, goodness is saleable, everything is saleable. Then, what happens is that you just have the money – so called – for a very short time. And actually people are bankrupt, health wise, mentally, they are really bankrupt.

So, this materialism is to be understood in the Lakshmi principle, which is that you should have love. Lakshmi is the personification of love. She wears always a pink sari. Pink is the representative of Her loving character. So if you can turn everything to love, materialism will be finished because they are on opposite direction.

That’s what I’ve tried to explain to them by many references here and there, how you can overcome materialism.
I wish somebody could translate this and give it to the people so they can understand. But I think with vibrations it will work out better.
May God bless you.