Puja at Ganapatipule. Ganapatipule (India), 7 January 1990.

[Shri Mataji arrives and speaks aside:

Shri Mataji: (Marathi: “It’s cool, not hot at all”.) “You’ve got the sari with you?”

Yogi: “Yes, Shri Mataji”.

Shri Mataji: “One sari”. (The yogi says something) Eh?

Yogi: “… whichever one You would like”.

Shri Mataji: “One. And another one belongs to Magdu”. (Marathi: “Ask Magdu about the other sari. Check if he has a sari or not, otherwise we’ll take their one.”) “You might be having their sari maybe.”

Yogi: “Yes, we’ve got one extra”.

Shri Mataji: “Alright…”.]

(One yogini performs Aarti to Shri Mataji.)

I’m sorry today for being late, but actually I was ready and all this police case, this, that, I tell you, unnecessary waste of time and it had to be this time.

In India, we believe that, that God Himself takes incarnations with His Vishnu principle whenever there is the decline of righteousness and tries to elevate. Every incarnation has done lot of work – [Marathi: “Who is speaking ?One should not speak so loudly.”] – and have done also work within ourselves.

Now this is the knowledge we had in India, long time back, but when they talked about incarnations people started worshipping them as some statues or some sort of an images which were sold in the market and were made by people who had no right to do that. But it is described in the Puranas that we have got some of the places where many – [Marathi: “Who is it? Inform the police. What is going on? What are the drivers doing?”.]

They have said that in many places in India, and all over the world, the Mother Earth has created beautiful deities to tell the – tell the people or to sort of tally with whatever described in those olden books. And all these are called as ‘Swayambhu’, they are created by themselves. Unless and until you are a realized soul you cannot make it out whether these are real or not. You have to have vibrations to see that they emit vibrations quite strongly. A stone starts emitting vibration, but it has a form, it has a coefficience, so how this has been created.

There have been quite lot of miracles in this country of these incarnations like Ramadasa who was the guru of Shivaji Maharaj. It is said that he, in his own time the Mother Earth emitted out manifesting they say five hundred Hanumana. I don’t know the number is correct or not, whatever it is. But the one – they found a statue in the waters of Angapur. It was Ramadasa who found it and was kept there and there was a statue of another goddess, Anglaidevi – must be meaning England I think (Shri Mataji laughs) goddess coming from England must be Anglaidevi.

Whatever it is. So they wanted to remove those statues from there and they said that the statues would not move, so they had to ask for forgiveness and with great difficulty they could remove those statues to one place called Chaphal, where they are kept. Now why they took it to Chaphal? Because there was one Hanumana created and this Hanumana, they wanted to change the face, the architects, so they went on deep down trying to find out what is the – how far does this stone go. So, it went on and on and on and on for, I don’t know, thousands of feet they went down and they saw it was still standing on one rock straight forward, so they gave up and they kept as it is.

All such miracles have been here to show that these are swayambhus. But then people started making statues and started worshipping, then making more statues and worshipping. As a result, there were incarnations, other incarnations, as we think that Dattatreya, the primordial master, took incarnations on this Earth and most of them, then tried later on to say that we should not talk of the flower but we should talk about the honey and we have to get to the honey.

So they started talking about the Ruh, about the all-pervading power, about Brahmachaitanya, all of them practically talked like that. Not in the beginning, I would say, but later on when they found that the people were just busy worshipping any stone, get from there, put some – I mean they became just stone worshippers.

So another kind of religion just came in, which just said that we should believe in God Almighty and we should just worship Him as an abstract god.

So, this abstraction also turned out to be futile because when you talk about flower you worship the flower and when you talk about the abstract, you just talk. It’s a talk, talk, talk, talk, talk. You cannot get to the honey.

So even if you talk of the honey what’s the use of talking about it? You have to have it. For that, we have to become the bee and that is why it is important that you have to have your Self Realization.

And in every religion whatsoever, even in Islam it is said you have to become a wali. In Christianity it is said you have to be born again. In Buddhism it is said you have to become Buddha, means you should be knowledgeable. In Mahavira’s things He has said you must get your Self Realization. Lao Tse has said it. Just you should start from Socrates onward. Of course, we should forget about Plato and these people because I don’t think they had much sense of spirituality.

But most of these people have talked about Self Realization. And there’s no religion in which they have not talked about Self Realization. Even in the Judaism or where they believe in the coming of the Saviour for their salvation, even they have talked about it.

So it is all described in Koran. There’s a complete sura describing about the sent one, means the Avatara, means the incarnation. And also said that “you won’t believe, you won’t accept” and all those things.

So now, once you are realized souls, then only you start seeing that all this talk is futile.

You have to become a realized person. If you get your realization, then only you can get over the superficial illusions and you can go deep into it.

All these illusions are there in all the countries, in all the religions and that’s why there is a problem and we have seen people suffering from the pangs of fundamentalism.

As I have given another lecture about para-modernism, in that I have talked about Russia, that Russia has now withdrawn. On one side has withdrawn, the rest of the people, now whom are they going to fight. If there’s another side is not going to fight, this side is left out and they don’t know what to do with their armaments and everything. So this was the great work of Gorbachev, I think, and he’s a realized soul, so he could see the point, and the way he has managed is tremendous.

And now the main problem is fundamentalism and that comes out of ignorance – ignorance and also selfishness because people want to say that “This is my religion, this is my prophet, this is my guru, this is my reli… master” and all those things. But actually they don’t belong to any party, to anyone – they belong to the whole world.

One can understand if you establish something for your protection from other parties, but to start yourself in a way to establish a falsehood surprisingly – very surprising, I don’t understand human beings. For such falsehood, they are very happy to join and so many will join. Without even thinking, knowing, they’ll all club together for a nonsense like that.

For a nonsense human beings always club together, but for a sensible thing they don’t want to understand.

So now we are coming to the point of puja because there are so many new Sahaja Yogis who might not have known what is a puja is.

Now, as it is now, you all believe that I’m Adi Shakti and you have proof of it. Puja is one of the way you can have the proof of it much more. Because when you are doing the puja My deities, which are within My chakras, they get excited and they feel happy and they want to emit more vibrations. I mean they start emitting more vibrations… (Shri Mataji interrupts and while apparently massaging the lower part of Her left hip She says some words in a very low voice which sound “Left Swadishthana”) – when they start emitting more vibrations, then you are surprised that how after puja you get so drenched and you just feel elevated and at a much higher level.

Of course, it is true that during the puja time you feel very much elevated. For some time you can keep it up. Some people definitely retain it, but some people go up and down like a yo-yo.

They don’t have that capacity to retain it.

That is why one has to meditate in thoughtless awareness to keep up that status, that higher status. But the puja of, only of the Goddess is allowed, puja of the God is allowed, but we must know who is the God or who is the Goddess. So doing the puja of every person blindly, anybody who comes forward, says this and that, should not be accepted.

You’ll be surprised for the first four years I didn’t even allow them to have any puja whatsoever.

Even they said, “You are our guru, so you should allow us to have guru puja.” I said, “Nothing doing. I will not.” Then first, after four years, on the Navaratri day they wanted to have one puja. I said, “All right. You can have it, but very few people.”

And then they found that that puja gave them so much of vibrations, so much of elated spirituality and they touched so many dimensions suddenly that then they started requesting Me, “Mother, you must give me a puja.”

Even in India where we have this system of puja, people have no idea how to really do it. It was very embarrassing, but I had to tell them each and everything, “Do like this, do like that, you must have like this”, it would work it out this way.

First time I went to Delhi, you’ll be surprised. It was.. If somebody can get hold of that photograph I was just shrunk. I was just shrunk. The whole body had shrunk.

I’d become so thin and I was so shocked because they were using all plastics and things [from/for] used in the thing, all kinds of things (were there?). “Oh God,” I said, “Now what to do?”

So I never used to also allow them to give Me any money or anything before; then I said, “All right, start with one p”. They started with one p. Gradually, they increased; because I thought that “They don’t know that you have to use silver.” And then, out of that money, I said, “All right, I’ll buy silver. I’ll put my name on that, so it’s My property, so whatever you have given Me is mine, so-called, and is with you.”

That is how we started this proper understanding of the thing, that we have to have a particular type of metal, particular type of styles.

Now these metals have an effect on us, very much effect on us and in what metal you do the puja also has an effect.

It’s all a science of spirituality, which one must understand is very important and should be done in a proper way if you have to have the best results. It’s like a science.

And so the pujas started and I think now people have got quite a good sense of it.

Now, it is – in Maharashtra specially they are experts and it’s very difficult to argue with them, so they said that “Mother, You are supposed to – we are supposed to give You a sari.” But they’re such experts, they said, “No, we have to give You a sari.” Then I said, “All right, give Me ordinary sari, I will not take expensive.”

Then they argued with Me, this thing, that thing. It went on, on and on and on. (Shri Mataji laughs) And then it started onto, they said, “We cannot give you falsery.”

I said, “All right, give Me anything.” (Shri Mataji laughs)

Then it has become so expensive now.

See, so I’ve been requesting that now, for future, try to understand that now I’m old and to an old Goddess you can give something simple. There’s… (Laughter. Shri Mataji laughs).

But nobody is willing to accept. “Now we are growing so much, this, that”. All right, let us see how we reconcile each other.

So this is how it is, that it makes no difference, but it does in a way what importance you give to everything that you want to do.

It’s very important, is the complete attention, dedication and the complete importance that you give to anything that you do; is very important. If you do not give it the highest priority, it doesn’t work. If it is just by the way it doesn’t work.

So it is important to understand that if you have to gain anything in this puja you have to give it the highest priority. And then just before puja, if your mind is telling you or doubting, just tell him to stop because that mind can act against you.

So for the puja, you should be all prepared in a way, in a receptive way and receive it.

[Marathi: “You all understand quite a bit English. Whatever I have said now, you already know that, whenever you perform a puja, it pleases very much the deities who are residing in Me. And they start emitting vibrations with full force, sometimes more than necessary – whether you absorb or even when you are not able to absorb those vibrations. When you all are not able to absorb the vibrations it causes lot of pain to Me. That is why you all should sit in puja with an open mind and heart and with full conviction. The more conviction you have, the more you will able take advantage from it.

You should have pure desire. You have sit with pure desire and you have to ask: “Mother, please colour my inner self in such manner that those colour can never fade away. Colour me in a manner that it never goes away. Fill me up with such colour.” Desire in your heart in this manner before sitting (for puja).

Now it’s quite late. Unnecessarily they have appointed policemen. Had to spend time also entertaining them.

And then this has happened, at the moment there is a nice cool breeze, so it’s better the puja has started now.

(The ceremony part starts)

(Marathi: Now we are going to start the puja. As I have already told you, sit in puja tranquilly, with an open mind.

We are not able to call any children today for washing My feet as they are too many.

Someone will wash My feet while you may sing a bhajan of Ganesha.)

You can sing the song of Ganesha Atharva Sheersha. Atharva Sheersha…

(Hindi or Marathi)

Everybody must know it by heart; alright, in any case you can sing it.

(Hindi or Marathi)

Guido: Shri Ganesha’s mantra.

(Then yogis recite Ganesha Atharva Sheersha. Children go on stage)

Shri Mataji: All the leaders have to be here.

Yogi: All the leaders. All the leaders have to be here.

[Bhajans: “Ganesh Sthuti”. “Jai Ganaraya”.]

Guido: Everybody should sing. Sanskrit 13.

(Leaders offer the Elements on Shri Mataji’s Feet)

Shri Mataji: Just help him…

(Hindi or marathi).

Rajesh, Babamama… So now, seven ladies… ones, say, fourteen, fourteen…

Yogi: Seven unmarried ladies up to fourteen years.

Shri Mataji: … fourteen to twenty-one.

Fourteen to twenty-one.

Guido: Seven…

Yogi: Fourteen to twenty-one.

Guido: Seven unmarried ladies from fourteen to twenty-one years.

Shri Mataji: (Hindi or marathi) …“Ai Giri Nandini”…

Yogi: Sanskrit songs page 2.

[Yogis sing bhajan “Ai Giri Nandini”. In the end they end up singing, apart from “Jaya jaya hai Mahishasura Mardini”, also “Jaya jaya hai Ravana Mardini” and “Raktabija Mardini”]

Shri Mataji: We have the 108 names, would be better? Or the when the ladies coming out, they’re very few these, then later on.

Any other songs? I will need about 14 ladies who have not been here.

Yogi: Fourteen ladies who have not come…

Guido: Fourteen ladies who have not come yet for puja.

Some yogis: Deepa? Deepa?

Guido: Deepa Mahajan. Deepa Mahajan to the singers.

Yogi: Shringar… Shringar…

Shri Mataji: Have you asked for 14 ladies?

Yogi: Fourteen married ladies.

Yogi: Fourteen?

Guido: I don’t know. It’s alright.

Shri Mataji: See, more than twenty-one… they must be twenty-one.

Guido: Married ladies who have not been yet for puja.

Yogi: Hindi songs page 39.

[Bhajan: “Tere Charna de Heth”]

Guido: Hindi 5.

(Offer of jewels)

Shri Mataji: Foreigners… get the foreigners…

[Bhajan: “Hasat. Ali Nir.mal. Ai”. Then the ladies put the sari around the shoulders of Shri Mataji]

Shri Mataji: The sari… get the balance. You need more. On this side, on this side more.

On the right hand. Put some more.

Sides, on the sides. Sides… (the flowers which are being offered around Her Feet)

(To the ladies who have performed Puja and are now leaving) You see, decorating the Mother.

…Aarti…

(Three Great Mantras are sung)

Shri Mataji:… Aarti…

They are too close. They, one move that side there.

[Aarti is performed, then three great mantras are recited]

Yogi: Bolo Shri Bhagavati Mataji Shri Nirmala Devi Ki!

Yogis: Jai!

Yogi: Let’s all bow down to our Mother.