Virata Puja. Melbourne (Australia), 10 April 1991

Because of distances and also we had no ashram in Melbourne all these days, I found that the collectivity is not yet properly woven here and so I think best thing is, today, we must worship the Viraat.

Viraat is the Primordial Father you can say, or the One who is in our brain, acts for our collectivity. As the Kundalini rises ultimately She ends up by piercing through the fontanel bone area. Before entering into that She enters into the Sahasrara. Sahasrara is the area which is surrounded by one thousand nerves and in the medical terms it is called as ‘limbic area’.

Now one thousand nerves are all connected to the sixteen important nerves of the Vishuddhi. That’s why they say that Shri Krishna had sixteen thousand wives, that is, He had all His powers as His wives and I have all my powers as my children.

So, when we are growing in our ascent, in our dhyana, we have to go to our Sahasrara. If the Sahasrara was not opened out we could not have done this en masse realisation.

How it is connected! The collectivity is so connected with the present-day Sahaja Yoga.

Before that it was just up to the Agnya Chakra but when it reaches the Sahasrara it enlightens all the nerves, and all the nerves look like flames which are very silent, beautifully coloured, in all VIBGYOR colours.  The appearance of these is so soothing, so beautiful that there’s no better view in the whole world, I think, that human beings can see.

So when this Sahasrara was opened out – which we are having now a puja, as you know, in Rome – before that it had to go to the collective, that is, I had to pay my attention to the collective. I had to see the people, their different problems, the permutations and combinations by which they are all suffering. They can all be brought to the seven major notes, we can say, but they are also divided into twenty-one: one on the left, one on the right and one in the centre. So we have altogether twenty-one really basic problems, fundamental problems, within us which we have to solve.

In the beginning of Sahaja Yoga, I tried only to cure people: their physical problems, mental problems, their family problems, financial problems. All kinds of problems have been solved in Sahaja Yoga, and we have had some great mishaps in between. As you know that, when they came up to the Agnya, they started taking over the whole atmosphere by some sort of a authority which was not God’s authority.

As a result, many people went out at the Agnya but those who have come to Sahasrara have to understand that collectivity is the basic of your ascent. If you are not collective, if you do not come to the centre (meeting), if you do not meet each other, then you are like a nail which is cut out of the finger and the Divine has nothing to do with you. You are out of the tree, like the flowers which have come out of the tree can exist for a while, no doubt, but after some time they are dead and finished. So it is important for all of you to understand that collectivity, if it is not established in Sahaja Yoga, Sahaja Yoga will die out.

I am now going to America where collectivity has to be really of the maximum nature, but it is not so. There are so many problems of collectivity in America. But still I would say that they realise one thing – that they have to be very collective. The problems are: like there are very few people who are Sahaja yogis there, but among themselves they understand responsibility. They are all working very hard. They are spreading Sahaja Yoga. Now you see they have this “[Divine] Cool Breeze” (Magazine) started from there. There are so many activities they are doing in America with such a small number that it is amazing how they are managing these things. And they do it very beautifully because they feel joined together. They are so far away, from Honolulu to New York is such a long distance, but there’s such a lot of understanding, such a lot of love and sense of responsibility. Because they are a small number they feel extremely responsible that, “We have to be absolutely collective”. [There’s] no question of having groups.

Even if somebody makes mistakes or something, they never talk about it to anybody else but to me. They never discuss about each other; they never talk ill about each other. They never form any groups.

The children outside who are … just they can come here. There’s space. Can you move a little bit halfway in the … there. Just make them space in with you. Come along.

(Marathi: You come forward. Come forward. Baba come forward as much you like,  come and sit this side. Eh Hari, take it here. Come forward. Baba pull them little bit)

Children can sit in front. They don’t occupy much space. Children can even sit on your laps.

(Marathi: How many people are outside?)

Can you move … you can make a gap in between the … Ya.

Now this is question of collectivity.

Bring the children up here. All the children can come round. They can help me in puja. They are very good at helping. Yes.

(Marathi: We can lit them afterwards, we don’t need them now)

Yes, yes come along. Poor children were kept out! Can you imagine?

(Marathi: Come, come)

Hmm, sit down, sit down, sit down.

(Marathi: Take care, take care; put them off)

Sit down, sit down, sit down. Here, sit down. Now, oh. Come along, come along, come here, come here.

(Marathi: Place can be made spontaneously,  just we need to have a large heart.)

Now who are outside now? Small children are there?

(Yogi: Just the very small children. Just the babies.)

Come along, come along. I think if you could just sit little … not with such a big asana a little smaller asana people can come. Put up one and I think open one window is important.

(Marathi: open the window)

Yes there is some space. If there are three cameras then how can there be space? I think we could have one camera in there and they can sit inside. Alright. You all should sit with one, one knee up like that so there’s more space. Just like Baba Mama is sitting.

(Marathi: Sit with one knee up. Like this everything will be alright)

Give it in Chaya’s lap.

Don’t spread out yourself. Little bit pull your one leg like that on top. Yes, one straight, one like this. Even easier to sit that way. Easier to sit.

Now this is the sense of collectivity, that it’s in a small hall – doesn’t matter – we are all together. And “How are we going to get all of them inside?” Because you can’t enjoy it unless and until all of you are together.

Now, everybody has to keep quiet, alright, children? All of you. Otherwise they’ll again ask you to go out.

So now, let us see: how do we miss out on collectivity? There’s a very practical down-to-earth understanding. First, we must know [that] without collectivity we cannot exist. As the body has to be in connection with the brain, in the same way without collectivity Sahaja Yoga cannot exist. Once you understand that, then you have to work it out that collectivity is absolutely established, within and without. It is more within that you have to establish, than without. Whatever you have within is manifested outside.

Now how do we establish it within ourselves? First of all, we have to understand that now we are the relations of each other. Gyaneshwara said, “Techi Soyarik hoti.” [“They will be your relatives”]

-Who is there crying? All right, take her out. [In Marathi: Let her go. She is missing her mother.]

So, the first thing is that within ourselves we have to see, with introspection, “What are we doing against collectivity in our mind? How our mind is working.” I do not know what thing comes first in the human mind about another person, but the first thing is that these are your real relations and nobody else are your relations. These children are your children and these men are your brothers, and these ladies are your sisters, and we are one big family together. We are part and parcel of one body, and this hand cannot hit another hand. Thank God it doesn’t think, otherwise as human beings they might start thinking against another hand. But they don’t because they are connected to one brain activity.

So, the first thing one has to understand that – do not try to see the defects of another person, but [the] goodness of another person. That is really going to help you the most. Like in India – I don’t know, here maybe the same- if they know you, supposing, immediately they’ll find out, “Now what work can we take out of this person?” If somebody is a minister’s brother, immediately they’ll approach the minister’s brother. “Alright, Will you do this work for me?” Then somebody says, “I am such-and-such…” immediately people will think, “Oh, so what? What work can we get out of this person?” In the same way you can go little further in the language of Sahaja Yoga. As soon as you come to know about someone, you should not think, “What business I can do with him?” I’ve seen immediately if somebody has money people will jump at him, “Alright, let’s have the business together,” even in Sahaja Yoga. Or if there’s anything like that immediately they start employing that person for your purpose.

On the contrary, what you have to do, as soon as you know about somebody, then you have to think, “What goodness he has got? How can I imbibe that goodness within myself?” Because we are here to enrich ourselves spiritually, so you must think, as first and foremost thing, “What can I do to get the goodness of that person within myself?”

So, you’ll be looking out for the goodness of that person than instead of looking out for bad qualities, because bad qualities are not going to nourish you at all. Also if somebody has bad qualities, no use thinking about it yourself because if you start thinking about it they are not going to be improved. It is somebody else’s problem. The best thing is to look at another person with adoration and understanding, with love, that he is one of us and what can I use? Now if I have the hand I don’t have to think because we are programmed that way. If I have to hold this, automatically I use my hand, not my feet. I know my hands are going to do [it], but when I have to walk, I don’t walk with my hands because I know my feet have to walk. In the same way, you have to know which Sahaja Yogi is going to help you to nourish yourself. Immediately your mind will become very clear.

Like now, I saw some boy in New Zealand who was really about to be dead, and when he came back I found the attitude towards him was not kind, as it should have been. But this is the best chance – when you should see how you can practice your compassion. We talk of compassion, compassion. Now let us see how we can practice our compassion when this boy is so sick.

On the contrary, everybody was harsh on him. They were passing remarks at him, doing things like that. Because we have to have compassion. Now Mother has said, “We have to have compassion,” well now where do we have our compassion? On the walls? Where do we use our compassion? Where do we use our compassion?

So “Sahaja Yoga is to be practiced,” doesn’t mean that you sit down with my photograph all the time, doesn’t mean that. It means you practice compassion; you practice that.

Then you have to practice love. Now how do you practice love with others?

If you love someone, what do you do? You try to please that person. Small things can make people very happy. I know, you all try to please me very much. You’ll give me presents. You’ll find out things which are good for me. You’ll go out of the way buy sweet flowers for me, beautiful things you do to please me. I am over-pleased, I must tell you. But I am more pleased, much more pleased if you understand collectivity and try to please each other. Such a person pleases me the most, that the attention is more on pleasing each other.

As soon as you decide you have to please others, your tongue will become different. It will become a sweet thing. The tongue which was like a pair of scissors becomes such a beautiful thing of honey. Then you talk little but you really pour honey on another person, and another person really enjoys it.

So now to practice love: where do you practice? Ask yourself a question, “Where do I practice love? What do I love?” We love our house, we love our photographs, our decorations, everything, “But do I practice this love on my wife, or on my husband, or on other Sahaja yogis?”

In our Sahaj culture, we have to practice compassion and love, and thirdly we have to practice patience. I know some children are maybe little more mischievous, some are less mischievous. Maybe some people are very talkative, sometimes really they give me also headache; they go on talking, talking, talking, talking, so much! Sometimes I think it’s good because it’s a rest for my mouth – one way of looking at it. Another way of looking at it is – just switch off your mind, let him talk, take it out whatever he wants to do. Once he is finished with it and fagged out then he won’t bother you much and also he’ll feel satisfied that somebody has listened to his prattles.

So, patience is needed and patience is needed in such a way that others should see your patience. Yesterday for example, I was sitting for about I think three hours shaking hands with all sorts of people and all types of problems, and the person who came last, he said, “Looking at your patience, I developed my own patience.”

And love gives you patience. This love nourishes you. I’m telling you, it’s absolutely down-to-earth method: here I’ve not mentioned that you trust God, I’m just saying trust yourself. [It’s] absolutely down-to-earth because we are talking about your brain.

Now we have been saying that we have to forgive everyone, but we don’t practice that. Small, small things like mad people remember. I mean only I have heard that a snake has this capacity to remember if somebody has hurt him. But here I find human beings have no less capacity. Whatever has happened thirteen years back, fifteen years back, they all remember each and every thing: whatever has hurt them. But how they have hurt others they don’t remember! How they have been nasty to others they don’t remember. Because this is a human mind which has got the ego, it can go on hurting others, it doesn’t feel anything, and the superego which goes on receiving all the hurts and always complaining about it.

So, it is for you to realise that you are the one who is breaking the collectivity.

First of all, we had horrible leaders here, that’s how our collectivity was very poor but now we are getting soberer people, better people.

Also, for Melbourne, I am thinking of getting somebody elderly for you to be the leader because I think Greg is full with responsibility. So, I thought of [Mr.] Henshaw (John Henshaw, leader in Melbourne from 1991 to 2000) and I asked him and he has agreed, so now in Melbourne we’ll have somebody staying in the ashram, who is a retired man, who’ll look after you. He’ll do everything that is possible to look after the collectivity of Melbourne. But you have to know that I have one connection with you through your leader. That doesn’t mean you cannot connect with me. Like supposing there’s a pin and you put the pin to me, immediately my hand will go off – means there’s a reflex action also, but mostly everything is reported to the brain. In the same way, everything should be reported to the brain but from the very beginning if you develop a kind of a criticising attitude towards your leader, then it becomes very difficult, for the leader as well as for you.

First you should not criticise. Don’t use your brain for criticism, already criticism has been too much in the West. I mean, they have got now technique of criticising. All the art is finished because of the critics. The artists are afraid to show their paintings, artists are afraid to show their creations because they will be criticised. Now the only thing that is left is critics, critics, critics, and the critics are criticising critics, that’s all. There’s no creativity, nothing!

So try to appreciate everything. Children are producing pictures, paintings, anyway. They make sometimes my face is very funny when they draw – not the children, even grownups. Doesn’t matter! I appreciate it, “It’s very good, wonderful, very nice,” to encourage that person.

So criticism should go out of our mind but appreciation should be practiced: appreciation of others’ children, appreciation of other people is very important but that doesn’t mean that you appreciate all others and torture your wife or torture your husband – that also is an imbalance. First responsibility is your family but you should appreciate others. And this comes when you have no jealousies about anyone. This jealousy, I don’t know from where it comes, so I don’t know this quality of jealousy, why there is jealousy.

So, also if you have jealousy you have to use it for the right purpose, and what is the right purpose is that you should be jealous of a person who is spiritually higher than you, and you practice it that you become better. If jealousy is for competition, then you compete with the person who is more compassionate, more loving, more sacrificing, more patient. So this competition becomes a very healthy competition and the collectivity becomes very nourished.

Now try to feel that you are all part and parcel of one personality. Try to understand this and practice this. This will help you a lot. Little things like buying a little present for someone. You see something, “Oh, this will be very nice for this person.”

We have officially decided that the men should not give presents to women and women should not give presents to men, but if she is your sister, rakhi-sister, you can give and the rakhi-sister can give to the brother, but otherwise one should not do that.

We have done it because I’ve seen it creates problems, but that doesn’t mean you hate women or hate men. But a distance has to be maintained of purity. Till you become completely innocent is better is to keep that distance. This purity is to be practiced and this practice of purity is that you try to develop your innocent feelings towards others. In innocence everything comes. Everything comes in innocence. If you are innocent you will immediately become a very good Sahaja yogi. But it has so many facets. Like, the other day, there was one girl she was fighting for getting some sort of a sweet, and they were distributing the prasads. So I gave her one of the small plates, I said, “You distribute.” Immediately she forgot what she wanted, she started distributing very sweetly with little, little hands the prasad to everyone, very sweetly. So this has to be practiced from childhood, with your children you have to tell them, “Alright, let’s do these things, distribute this to people, go and put kumkum on their heads” – they may not do it well, but doesn’t matter. They will learn how to meet others, how to talk to them, how to be with others.

Now the worst enemy of collectivity is aggressiveness. Some people are basically aggressive; their style of talking is extremely aggressive, the way they say things is aggressive. May be because anything, may be they are better educated, may be they come from a very aggressive family, may be they are having a kind of a superiority complex or an inferiority complex or a sense of insecurity, or maybe they are possessed.

They try to dominate and show their very strong feelings towards people – of superiority. They may be inferior, it’s not necessary, but they do and this is something is to be curbed. So what you have to practice here is humility. Try to be humble.

There was a joke like this, that: one gentleman was going on the staircase and another was coming from the top. So this gentleman who was going up there said to the another that “Please move.” So he said, “I don’t move for fools!” The person who was climbing up, he said, “But I do” and he moved out.

That’s how the humility works. You have to be humble in your approach to others. I mean, English language is outwardly very humble, like you must say “please” you must say “thank you” ten times, “please, please, please,” “thank you, thank you, thank you,” but not in the heart. Like, supposing somebody doesn’t say, “Thank you,” the another person may even beat you! “Why didn’t you say ‘thank you’ to me?” This is not humility! Humility is that in no way you try to aggress others, and if others are aggressive you accept it as a childish thing, as a stupid thing, as a foolish thing, has no meaning: because you are so powerful, you can bear it.

That is humility which you have to practice. And all these qualities if you have, you will really be surprised that you will lose your selfishness. Your selfishness will start dropping out because selfishness, how ugly it is, you start realising very soon when you become generous. So, you practice your generosity.

You are all willing to spend lot of money on me, I know. You want to give me presents. I’ve stopped it now, that individually you cannot give me any presents or anything. But generosity is a general term: generosity of kindness, generosity of compassion, generosity of patience, and generosity of material things. If I see something, immediately I think, “Oh, I should take this because I know I can give it to this lady or to this gentleman this thing,” or “I could give it to this purpose or for this organisation or for this kind of a work we are doing.” Immediately it comes to me.

You’ll be surprised that if I’m in the market and if I’m thirsty, I don’t even think that I should go and buy some soft drink for myself – doesn’t come into my head. Even I have never opened my fridge in my lifetime, you’ll be surprised. But for others I’ll run about, I’ll cook for them. But supposing I’m in the house and there’s no cook, I’ll not cook for myself – it’s alright. If there’s nobody in the house and my husband is not there, I may not eat for two, three days and then servants, servant will complain to my husband, then I remember really I didn’t eat any food.  I didn’t know (notice). If I’m eating it is just I am just eating because he is there, so I have to eat with him. I never used to take tea but because he is so much fond of tea, I started, so I keep the practice so that I should not give it the practice up [in case] later on it will be difficult!

It’s just adjusting yourself to others. It’s not difficult. Few things here and there that pleases, you should do. There’s no harm in trying to please. But it’s not only for the wife to do it: even the husband has to do something to please the wife. It’s not only between husband and wife: it will be between children and you. Between the whole family of Sahaja Yoga, it should be such that we should adjust [ourselves]. So practice your adjustments as you have to adjust your cameras. If you don’t adjust the camera, you do not get the right picture: in the same way, unless and until you a, you adjust yourself to the whole atmosphere, to a person, you cannot get the real picture, and then you start fighting with that. It is actually the fight has to be within yourself. It’s quite a long, long story, I mean, as far as I know, human beings and the problems of collectivity. And certain problems are being solved now. I am happy about it, that people are not falling in love. I mean they are not falling and having a bump on their heads! But it’s better now, they are taking it easy, thinking it over and are marrying a person for marriage sake and not for falling in love. That’s something very great is happening because that will give you purification of mind and a mind which doesn’t hover over nonsensical things.

So as I said, practice all these things and your collectivity will be beautiful, and the best is to practice your meditation together.

In Delhi we have started an ashram, every morning I find people coming, sitting together to meditate. It’s like a temple. It’s like a church. They come there and so many of them are sitting and meditating together.

Meditating together is the best way to feel the collectivity. You can meditate at home, of course, you also cleanse it for your depth, but also you must meditate together and when you meditate together then the strength that you have strengthens others, and the strength of the whole collectivity improves so much.

We are meditating together is a very big thing. Everyone has to understand that. Whenever you get time, you find out – in the morning times, for example – we’ll go to the ashram and meditate. Say, Sunday morning, we’ll just go and meditate in the ashram. Just for meditation you have to come. Meditate and go away because I reside in this ashram, I am here. So leave your homes, come here and meditate. Meditation will help you a lot. Wherever you are together I am with you. But when you are away from each other, I am not with you.

Only in difficulties, when you are pushed into some places where I am not there, where you think I am not there, I am there. But if you deliberately are keeping out of collectivity, I am not with you. So try to grow your collectivity, otherwise you cannot go deep into your own depths, you cannot become a great Sahaja yogi, you cannot really be called a Sahaja yogi. Those who have a sense of collectivity can only become that.

So we have before us in Melbourne so many people and when the quantity increases, the quality should not fall down and the quality of collectivity has to be very strong by having very strong bonds. I like when you praise someone. Normally I have seen, whenever I am anywhere, people only talk about people who are negative, nobody talks about positive people, so I don’t know about them. Mostly I know who are negative. So I would love to know about people who are very positive, who are great, who are doing good things and forget about the negative, they’ll drop out in any way. So best thing is to tell about the people who are positive, who are doing good work, who are real Sahaja yogis.

I bless you all in Melbourne that you have a beautiful collectivity and enjoy yourself. And every, every meeting should be a festival for you and an enjoyment.

May God bless you all!

So thus, today, you have to worship Viraata. He’s nothing but Akbar who is Shri Krishna Himself becoming Viraata. And thus we can have a song, Ganesha’s song first of all to wash my feet and some songs about Krishna.

(Marathi: Do you have the songs? We have all songs of Vithala, in Maharashtra you get all songs on Vithala. First sing the Ganesh Stuti and then wash the feet and then you can sing )

Accha, now the children have to wash my feet. Alright?

Talk after the puja

I have seen that, if you do not meditate, then you start catching things. Morning and evening very humbly you must meditate.

Morning you can meditate just before your [day’s] programme. Before sleeping you must use water treatment and then get into your beds with the attention on your Sahasrara. That’s very important, otherwise the growth will not be there and slowly you’ll find [that] you are slipping back.

So to keep your hold properly on Sahaj Yoga it’s best that you must try to make it a point – like just like just like brushing your teeth, even more than that – to do this meditation every day. You need hardly ten, fifteen minutes in the night and about five, ten minutes in the morning time, not much. It’s a very important point is.

(audio stops for a minute and camera is pushed so can’t see Mother’s talking either at this point)

…to work out properly you have to cleanse yourself. And this has to be done every day because every day we go on catching. It’s very important for all of you.

So, may God bless you!

That is for individual [meditation]. And then also mass, there should be also mass meditation. Whenever you get a time, now it’s like a temple here, you must meditate in the morning time, then only there is fun in everything, otherwise if you have no depth there is no fun.

I hope now with this collectivity, I am sure Melbourne will become a very strong, very, very strong collective of Sahaj Yoga.

Informal talk (exact time/date unsure)

Shri Mataji: Now, England is doing well I must say. It’s very settled down. It took so much time and so much energy, everything, but I must say it’s now very good.

Yogi: A little while ago I was talking to David Spiro and I said, “How are things going in England?” and he paused for a while and he said, “Very nicely!” Which is typical David. Which really meant, “Very, very well.”  

Shri Mataji: Yes. They say, little bit undertones you see. He’s a very fine person I found. He’s so good, very nice. After all the mishaps, it’s very good. Australia had many more mishaps than anywhere else. I don’t know what’s the unfortunate thing about it. Can’t explain.

Yogi: Special attack on Ganesha.

Shri Mataji: That may be the reason.

Yogi: That’s our only approach to dedication to you is through Ganesh in Australia and New Zealand.

Shri Mataji: That might be the reason, but leadership itself let me down so badly! Unbelievable things! I mean really unbelievable things they did. I mean even a normal person won’t do such a thing as the wicked things they have done. Really I can’t understand this crookery. And I trusted them so much.

Despite that today, Australia is one of the big things. Only now the problem of money because of this or whatever is happening.

Yogi: So we have that in common.

Shri Mataji: But they do not expand. I think as I was talking to you, we’ll have to think about it. Something will happen. There’s so much dearth of things all over the world and you have the surplus.

Yogi: When you are introduced now with Mr. CP that was, is it now Sir CP and Lady Shrivastava?

Shri Mataji: Actually it is like that. But we don’t use. Because in India it’s not allowed to use that. But imagine to become ‘lady’ like that! I’m quite worried on that point. There was a lady travelling with me in the first class I was sitting and she was sitting next to me. We were going by Air India. So the air hostess came, “Miss Rose, now please have good manners.” I couldn’t understand. “That’s not my name. I am Lady Rose.” (laughing). And throughout she was so horrible I tell you!

And she said, “How come you have such good manners?” I said, “I don’t know how, but I mean of course, I cannot have as good manners as you have, after all you are ‘lady’. I am not.” (laughter) Big jokes I tell you! Poor Harsh came and he just asked for something. “How dare you put your hand across me!” That’s what she said. Look at her. And then that air hostess got a fright. She went and told the manager. He was also travelling. He came and told me in Hindi, “This mad woman is travelling with who is he?” I said, “I’ll tell you later on because I have to tell you in English language who she is!” We don’t have in India a ‘lady’ or anything like that a ‘sir’.  But CP was called ‘sir’ from the day I got married, I mean before that. My father used to call him Sir CP always. There was a very famous man called Sir CP from Kerala. He used to call him Sir CP so now he’s become Sir. Alright? So good night. Best of luck.