2001-0126 Republic Day Pratisthan
Shree Mataji’s Republic Day Speech Pratisthan, Pune 26th January 2001
[Notes from Sahaja Yogis: Desired-media missing]
A Republic Day that few of us are likely to forget in a hurry, if ever. Shri Mataji, dressed in a crisp white saree decided to have a small discussion with the Yuva Shakti members and the few senior Sahaja Yogis present in Pune. Flitting between 2001 and the strife- torn time of the freedom struggle, Shri Mataji recollected how her parents were jailed for long periods of time for being active freedom- fighters. Shri Mataji’s father spent considerable periods of time in cus- today even while local people rallied around in support of Shri Mataji’s family. Dwelling on the intense patriotism and idealism of those days for a few moments she came back to the pre- sent to remind us how devoid of national feeling this country had be- come. The people went from selfless devotion of the Deshmata to greed, indifference and rampant corruption. Deshmata occupies a position perhaps higher than that of the Mother, and Desh Bhakti forms the foundation of true Shraddha. One cannot hope to achieve union with the Divine when does not love one’s own nation. Devotion for the country will only develop from an intimate knowledge of all that is around us – the proud legacy of saints, realized souls, artists and freedom fighters; the most fragrant of flowers and the highest of mountains; the holiest of temples and the greatest exam- ples of architecture. She explained how the British, the Chinese, the Russians and even the Americans were acutely aware of every niggly little detail about their nations – their geography, agricultural produce, their history and their culture and how much pride they felt in being citizens of their respective countries.
This feeling of belonging and this knowledge of one’s own country seems peculiarly absent in India. We will have to start returning to our roots, using our country’s products, explore our many treasures and real- ize why foreigners kiss the soil of this country when they land at the airport. We will have to understand the many maladies of our nation and start put- ting the Chitta to work on those prob- lems. She reminded us how our colective attention on the many national problems would drive them away. This would be our service to this great country by being model Sahaja Yogis taking on the many de- mons facing the nation as one whole Sahaja entity. – She told us how much of compassion, patience and dedication we would have to exercise in bringing people of all communities into our global family. All the facts, evidence and speeches cannot replace Love when it comes to winning over hearts and that, She said, is the only way to win them over. Although India boasts the largest number of Sahaja Yogis, outstripping even the numbers in Russia, She re- minded us that the quality of Yogis in India was not quite good enough. While those in Russia were firmly en- trenched in Sahaja lifestyles and the work of propagation, people in India still tended to falter and become complacent. We have to look no further than our Primordial Mother to under- stand Perfection and that is where we should have our sights set on. One can never hope to successfully summarize Shri Mataji’s words. The full brief of Her Republic Day Address will appear in the NSYS newsletter, Shi Puja edition. Hoping you had as good a Republic Day as we did.
Jai Shri Mataji! Shubhada Deshpande