A New Era – Sacrifice, Freedom, Ascent. Bordi (India), 6 February 1985.

I am immensely joyous to see you all here. I do not know what to say from my side. The words get lost, they have no meaning.

So many of you are aspiring to ascend to that state where you would have complete joy, bliss and peace. This is what I could give you. And a mother is only happy when she can give whatever she has to her children. Her unhappiness, all her restlessness, everything is just to achieve that end – to gift all that she has.

I don’t know how much to thank you people to go through all this to get to that treasure that you have within yourself. ‘Sahaj’ is the only word I could think [of] when I started to manifest Sahasrara opening. That’s easily understood by everyone so far.

But you have realised that it is today a different style of yoga where first enlightenment is given and then you are allowed to look after yourself. It was never done before. It’s just a venture of your Mother which has worked out. Otherwise, in the olden times the concern of Divine was to get people enlightened and It did not know how to work it out. No incarnation ever tried to work it out in this fashion. But whenever they tried, they tried to have a very severe hardship for the seekers – very severe hardships.

I wonder how many of you have read the treatise of Buddha, when he used to travel with thousand of his disciples – not giving Realisation. They were not Realised-souls, without feeling any joy around; with two clothes, living in the jungles. Just two clothes! And the area where he visited, which I have seen myself, is terribly cold, chilly, absolutely chilly. And the clothes were not clothes actually, it was cloth covering their body. Sleeping on the open ground in very severe winter or maybe in summer. Without any shoes they were asked to walk, for miles together, miles together!

If you go and see where Buddha has walked and trodden, you will be surprised! Buddha was also young – he used to walk. But his disciples used to walk much more because he would go and station at one place. He would send his disciples. There was no time to advertise or to announce anything. So he used to stay in one place, and the disciples used to go around the villages, ask for bhiksha – meaning the ‘alms’ – to gather some food from the villages; cook one time, give part of it to Buddha. And rest of that they used to eat.

They would go, work out, get people from all the villages, whatever was possible and would bring them to Buddha for sermon. Such sacrifices! They have lived in huts, caves, in terrible darkness, meditating. But they never got Realisation. Very few got their Realisation.

They were people who were sons of great kings, and princes, dukes, duchesses – all very, very rich people. Woman of very rich families followed him. And they walked for miles together with him in the thorny routes; because they felt that Buddha’s work was of such universal importance, that they are the part and parcel of such a tremendous task; that they should be taking part in such a great work for humanity.

This is not only in India, but even Viditama who started the Zen system in Japan. In China, I was surprised, the amount of sacrifices the saints had made, the way they lived! I mean if you see the way they were living – in the conditions – you cannot imagine! And they ended up their lives like that, working it out. Without any proper guidance because Buddha had died – there was no way out. They had to find their own ways. Then they found mahayan and shvetayan – all kind of things.

Even if you see other seekers in other religions – like at the time of Christ – where did they live? And after the death of Christ it was even worse because they were persecuted, they were killed, they were tortured, crucified! It happened with Moses also – his disciples were hounded so they had to all run towards India. Imagine the distances! From that area to Kashmir – how they must have walked, how they must have lived, how they must have carried. And in thousands, in thousands they came, to India. Because they realised that they are doing a tremendous task. Something so great that they are supporting.

In this country we had a struggle of freedom. I was part and parcel of that. My parents were part and parcel of that. They were rich people, quite rich I should say, from every standard. You will be amazed – my father burnt all his suits. They were stitched in England. My mother burnt all her saris. They used to spin their own clothes and wear them.

My father sacrificed everything, every pie that he had, for the freedom struggle (1 pie = rupee 1/192). He left nothing for us, not a single [pie]. Of course, our family being rich we had silver and gold and all that but as far as all the cash money was concerned – was spent. And all this silver and gold also, thanks to English, that they took away from us and they returned us when they went back. That’s how we had some silver and gold left in the family.

Every thing, all that is material, was snatched away. And I know. We lived in beautiful houses and then we shifted to huts and lived there. Sacrifices to the maximum. And we were very happy about it, very proud! We had only two changes (of clothes). We used to wash our clothes. We lived like very poor people; sleeping on this kind of thing (thin, rough floor mats). For my life, I remember that I never used to take a pillow; I never used chappals (sandals) for ages. I had only one sweater made of this kind of a material. Till I passed out and went to medical college, I had that sweater with me. I had only one coat, throughout my education when I was in Lahore which was terribly cold – sometimes can be like London – which was worn out and finished. But we never grudged and never grumbled and never said that our father should have looked after us and done something, “Why did he just sacrifice everything for the country?” Never! Never! Never! But even today, when they see us anywhere, they know we are the children of such a great man. They have tremendous respect for us.

That quality was created, I should say by Mahatma Gandhi. He made everybody so transformed into a new personality of tremendous sacrifice! Tremendous! You cannot imagine how people lived! All the money we had, everything that we had, all conveniences and conveyances, all housing, everything, was given up – not only by my father but so many of them. Otherwise we could have not got our freedom. To get our freedom this country has sacrificed so much.

Now, after that, we are here to get our freedom, to get the freedom for our Spirit. To make our Spirit free from our greed, lust; from your anger, from our conditionings, from our terrible ego, from the body being enslaved by comforts.

I must say Gandhiji had a special charm. I don’t know how he managed. He was like Touch of Midas – he touched anybody and he became transformed. And he was an extremely strict man – very kind to me, to children – but he was an extremely strict man. He would not tolerate any nonsense at all!

Throughout, if you study in the way all these people were brought up, not only for freedom of independence, but even before that, for Spiritual life, anywhere, there’s one thing very common – is sacrifice. And the consciousness that you are doing something great, consciousness that you are part and parcel of the whole, such a big thing, such a big work, such a noble cause!!

And then there was one thing very common among all of them: that the noble cause, the upliftment (sic) of the noble cause, made them sacrifice in such a sahaj manner. Much more than the Sahaj Yogis sometimes, who have got so much in Sahaj Yoga. They have got their joy, they have got their Spirit.

But I have seen with my own eyes, such people in this country; whom you may call legendary but I have seen it. Thousands of people were killed and butchered, children died. Nobody shed tears. Nobody shed tears. But to feel that you are for such a noble cause itself gives you that joy and that sense of involvement!

And moreover, what I know about Mahatma Gandhi and other people, what I have seen, how they were – everybody was not allowed to come in. And anybody who did slightest thing less, whether he was king’s son or he was anybody’s daughter or anything, any little thing they spoilt, anything – he was chucked out.

I have stayed in Gandhi’s ashram, so I know what it is, and that’s why you know I can go through rigorous life. It is his training. All the children above twelve years had to clean the whole of that ashram area – which is in fifty acres of land – every morning. They had to clean their latrines. Also the latrines of the guests. I have cleaned! And they were allowed only two dresses. And nothing could be kept, even you cannot see one paper anywhere, any litter anywhere – so clean, spick and span. And the living places were so neat and tidy. It was all done with cow dung, completely with cow dung. Everybody had to take a bath, early in the morning at 4 o’ clock, with cold water. Whether it was Jawaharlal Nehru or Abdul Kalam Azad, my father, of any age group, or a child. And 5 o’clock, mahatma Gandhi was there for his lecture.

Please don’t raise your hands or raise your Kundalinis! Please be seated! That’s not the way! Try to understand what I am talking!

And then, early in the morning at 4 o’clock, you will be surprised, getting up. For me it was alright! And then to walk in that fifty acres of land to centre of that hall, which was nothing but just an open space surrounded by some sort of huts where Gandhiji was living. To walk all the way after bath, after getting ready and all that. And snakes used to crawl along. Nobody was bitten, of course. I think the snakes understood that people were busy with the great job of freeing this great country!

And we would sit just like this and the snakes would be crawling. No lights were allowed. No lights of any kind. We only used sunlight. And when Gandhiji would come – I mean sunlight was not there in the morning, at all – some lanterns were brought to put there. And we would see the snakes crawling up.

But I never heard anybody complaining. But like a war, drove with such passion, everybody, competing as to, “What I can do? How I can be alright?” Nobody even thought of comfort! Of course they were all up to 50 years of age or something like that, maybe. In the ashram mostly people were up to fifty years of age – at that time.

And I have seen by my own eyes the people who had huge cars in the house and things like that, they sold [them] off, they threw it away. They used to come by train to Wardha station and walk down. Gandhiji would not see anybody coming even in tonga (horse-cart). And they listened to him and obeyed him.

I have seen many missionaries, though they are not up to point, nothing very noble, but that’s how they take people to task and people work it out for them. I have seen them. In India we had missionaries, and younger people who came from abroad, they just absolutely obediently listened to the missionaries and did whatever they said.

Now today we are doing, as you know, the greatest of greatest work! Because freedom is of course necessary, political freedom, to talk about the God. We could not even make a small, little needle! At that time, we were not allowed by government. So much oppressed. So we had to get out of the shackles of slavery. No doubt.

But now I find we have another kind of slavery – a slavery of selfishness, self oriented. “This is my comfort. I must have this, it should be enjoyable, I am enjoying, I am this, I am that.” You should enjoy otherwise it is not something great. I mean the whole thing should provide you some sort of a feeling instead of you providing the feeling. Because people, I think, do not know what they are doing, what sort of a work they are doing. They do not want to come to that level of that height to see what are you up to.

You are trying to save the whole world! This is one of the reasons Sahaj Yoga moves so slowly, because I see people who are worried about their comforts, this, that, and also themselves are so lousy! There’s no smartness about them, no feeling of that greatness that they have to do. You have to be smart. If you know you are on war – how you behave?

I am sure the mediocrity is much less now, better people. I am sure we will get even better people now, much better people. They worry about little, little things: of their family, this, that. They worry about their own problems, and their jobs, and this and that. I mean nobody could talk like this to Gandhiji! I tell you, he would have slapped you! Take it from me.

It is as if to come to Sahaj Yoga means – solve your problems – that’s all. Though they are solved, no doubt, you are helped, God helps you so much. But how much are you doing about it? Of course, we have some very great Sahaja Yogis, I would not deny that fact, we have some – much more than I had, ever – and that’s why I am very joyous about it. But the dedication we have: we count every penny that we spend, how much we have got out of that penny, what did we do about it. This is not the way. Buddha never spent a single penny of his own. He got money from all his disciples. Built all these big things and all that. He never had even a public help from anybody else.

So rise now! You must rise above your petty small mind. Rise up to the point where you should know [that] you are going to save the whole humanity. If you cannot feel that, it’s better to leave Sahaja Yoga. Sahaja Yoga is not meant for the people who are lousy. In Marathi the word is ‘gabale’. Tukaram has said, “yerya gabalyache kaama nohe” (meaning) “It is not the work of the lousy!”

Shivaji himself, when he fought his war, he caught hold of people, the sartaras and the dukes of that time they were. They gave up everything they had, they gave up their lives, every thing! Their children they sacrificed, they sacrificed whatever they had! Shivaji had no money to pay them. You must have heard lots of stories about Shivaji.

While if you see how we Sahaja Yogis are in this world: ‘kshema’ (well-being) comes before yoga. Its like that. It’s your mother’s love. I want my children to be comfortable. They are newly born babes. All right, they need comfort, they are to be looked after. But I cannot blackmail the Divine because the children are small, can I? I am here to do the job of God Almighty. And when you are my children his grace will work, He’ll look after you, He’ll make you grow. But grow now! Grow! You have to grow! Get out of this small nonsense that you are! See your personality – how do you live? Where is your attention? What do you think? Are you thinking about Sahaja Yoga, that it is the most important thing for which you are chosen?

I feel sometimes, as I was feeling all the time, that you might be uncomfortable in many places. But I myself have seen the way you people have been in those places, most carelessly – the Western Sahaj yogis, I was surprised. That way Indians are better in this respect. And some of the Indian Sahaj yogis have been misbehaving in a very funny manner. It shocked me! The way they have been behaving, shouting at people, creating problems. Some people come to see me, they talk to them in such a rude manner that they run away. You can talk to them sweetly. You have to be nice to them; not to shout at people. Alright, I cannot meet everyone at every time, at every convenience, but that does not mean that you have right to shout at others. This is so petty and so low that I don’t know how far I have to come down!

When you rise above all these petty things, you will develop that Divine discretion. That Divine discretion is the real blessing of God. All other blessings, that you think is a blessing, is no blessing at all!

Unless and until you can grow, what is the blessing? Like a tree which says, “Oh, such a blessing that I have got rain!” But out of that rain if you cannot grow, what’s the use of having that rain on you? You have to be compassionate, beautiful, sensible people, who are the highest beings on this earth. Take out your attention from all nonsense that you have been busy with. That’s how you get possessed, that’s how you get conditioned. Small, small things you see.

In India, we have another problem: We cannot tolerate another person. If any person is doing good for Sahaj Yoga, immediately a group is built up (against them) – it’s very common with Indians also. A group is built up to put him down. This was not done when Gandhiji was there. I do not know how it happens. It only happens with poor leadership. I think I don’t have that leadership! At the time of Gandhiji he used to blast people out completely!

Cutting each other’s throats and saying things behind the back, forming groups. Anybody who works out something nice, and I try to help that person to express himself, immediately a group comes up to press him.

And there are some hopelessly peripheral, useless Sahaja Yogis in the West and in the East, who try to make a mess of things. They think, they are big gurus, big people! Very small people. Chicken hearted, I should say. And they think they are very big, great people, because they can take good photographs, maybe, or that they can wear a dress in a particular manner, or something like that – stupid stuff as they are! And trying to dominate others. Such people will be thrown out, absolutely. No use having useless people in a machine like this.

Today is the beginning of a new era – of a new era of people of very high qualities whose Spirit has been enlightened. Let us all think about it! Now you have to rule yourself, and you have to rule others through compassion, love and discretion!! Today that’s the big time that I have declared that it is the Universal Religion, the Nirmala Religion which is formed out of my teachings of love. But it doesn’t mean by any chance that you remain dwarfs! I’m not going to spoil you! I am not going to spoil you by keeping you dwarfy people! So try to rise! Do not dominate others. Respect! Respect each other!

You are out for a very big work of Virata. How much you know about the Divine nobody has known so far! But fix up yourself.

I have known a very great saint called Gagangadh Maharaj who has fallen down completely! If a person like him can fall down you also can fall down if you do not understand what is your worth, what is your value and what is your position you are given.

So we have to, today, with all our love for our Mother, have to decide in our heart, that we are going to have large heartedness, of sacrifices! What have we sacrificed so far? Just think of it. Have we? Did we sacrifice anything?

Please try to understand that I have to use you, the great souls, to save the humanity. You must grow. You must grow. You have to grow.

On money points also people are wretched. They make money. They save money. In America, I was surprised, the way people cheated me of money! Thousands! In India also this is a very common practice! Then if you have career mindedness, and you are very ambitious, “How my job will remain?” this, that – you better get out of Sahaj Yoga! It’s not going to help us at all!

Thirdly there are people who believe that, “This is my wife, this is my beloved, this is this,” and all that nonsense. Why are you here? For what? Or “My children, my household, my mother, my father.” all sorts of wretched people around! If you cannot rise above that, you cannot help me, I am sorry. You cannot help me.

You have to be very, very strong people. You have to be people of very great valour and great idealism and noble ideas. Some are like petty shopkeepers who follow the platoons to sell some things around – in Marathi it is called ‘bazar bhunge’!

So now you meditate on this point that here we are to establish the Universal Religion of ascent. It is a tremendous task! If I could do it alone I would have done it but I cannot. It’s only through you I have to do it. And you have a heritage. You come from a very great birth, where you have this heritage. With that heritage, if I cannot manage you, I think I better give up your leadership. I cannot do it!

When we were fighting for our freedom all of us were removed from schools because we were in the missionary school and the missionaries believed that Christ was born in England! So they would not allow us to study in those schools. So we were all removed from those schools. We had no education for some time. I couldn’t pass my inter-science for two years. I couldn’t appear because they rusticated us from colleges and schools. The government rusticated us. But we were such proud children, very proud. I was of course very much thick in it. I was never frightened. I was just an eighteen year old girl. And I remember one day some people came and told us that your father is transferred from this jail to another jail. They had such pride for all of us, all the people! So they had brought cars to take us down. And they were so many there. And [my] mother naturally was worried because I was a young girl. The police used to torture me, used to give me [electric] shocks, and make my life very miserable, beat me, and all that. So she was crying and she told an old gentleman who was there that, “I am worried about my daughter. I do not want her to be tortured anymore.” So I went and smiled at him, so he said, “No, you stop it now! You just don’t do it. It’s not proper.” So my father took me aside, he said, “Don’t listen to this ‘old johnny’! He’s now about to die. Forget him. I would like all my children to be sacrificed on the altar of freedom. If you are doing it I am a proud father. And I will tell your mother to behave herself. I am so proud of you!”

Such atmosphere I have passed through. I had to give up my college. I was absconding for eight months. The police was after my life. I know what we have gone through. We were very young people -eighteen years. You can imagine!

And now when you have got the freedom of your Spirit you must seek the comfort of your Spirit.

There are some people who are complainers, and this and that -nonsense. They should not have come! Or those who are Indians – they should get out of Sahaj Yoga and leave us alone.

But, those who know that they have come here, not to enjoy themselves only, but to make the whole world enjoy what you have got, to give it to them. And for that one has to sacrifice, one has to bear the pangs!

How much I bear your pangs when you are caught up, when you have troubles, when this and that. I have got blisters sometimes, from you, everything. But I don’t mind because it is my life, my mission, my existence, my everything- is for the purpose of emancipation of humanity. Even the last drop of my blood is for that. So my satisfactions are very different.

Please remember, you are born of a very brave Mother. Please, try to rise! Be proud that you are doing such a tremendous task. Have that feeling of great valour. Then only, then only, we can achieve results!

You have seen so many wars, you have seen so many war pictures, you have seen how people have fought, how they have sacrificed themselves. And let us see what are we doing in this war. Just make your body your slave. Get out of the slavery of your body, of your conditionings, and your nonsensical ego. I am sure as a Mother I am not so bad. But as a father I think I lack some things. Please try to come up so that I should feel that I did not lack in my fatherly attitude towards you – that awe, that understanding of a father’s expectations. This I am not saying to you because it is some present situation, because a few people particularly, or for anything which is very, very sort of [a] present day problem. None of these things. But is my announcement of this new dimension into which we have to rise. And as in the war, we have to declare, “Now forward on!” In the same way this is a declaration. In no way to degrade you, in no way to insult you, or to say anything about anyone of you. But to just infuse that inspiration which led thousands and thousands and millions and billions of people to sacrifice for a greater cause!

So now, have respect for yourself. Raise your heads! You are the ones who are going to fight. You are the ones who are responsible. Prepare yourself! Prepare your body. Prepare your mind! Be discreet!

This is my, I would not say ‘request’ again. This is my order!

May God bless you!

Let us all meditate now!

There is no need for tying up your Kundalinis. There is no need to give yourself bandhan. There is no need at all to do anything.

If you come up to that stage just now. There’s no need to raise your hands and tying up your Kundalini – not necessary. Nothing is to be done! Your Kundalinis are already tied up. Assume! Assume that situation, that’s all! That’s what you are – the ‘veeras’ and not the stupid!

Respect yourself. Respect!

May God bless you all.

There’s nothing, nothing more important to me than to see you rise to that level of understanding of your own values and worth and discretion. You have to become sweet, nice people but very, very powerful! That you can control yourself, your tongues and your things. The control, complete control of your self.

May God bless you again!

Please meditate. Close your eyes! Close your eyes!

Just close your eyes. Put your both the hands towards me.

Put your attention onto Sahasrara! Just your attention onto Sahasrara.

You are in my Sahasrara all of you just now. Put your attention to your Sahasrara.

There’s no thought, nothing. Just put your attention to your…and just rise up to that point. There’s no drama about it. There’s nothing artificial. It’s actualisation.

All weaknesses are to be left behind. Let’s be strong people of strong values with dignity and sobriety.

Silence, absolute inner silence. And one need not talk too much. Too much to jabber, to talk, frivolously, is not your way.

Feel it in your heart, your own dignity, your own glory, the serenity of behaviour.

You are all saints, but saints of very high quality, of very high quality. Not ordinary type.

Put your attention to Sahasrara.

Chitta aple Sahasrara tevaitze. Apne Sahasrar pe apna Chitta tev.

(Marathi: Put your attention to your Sahasrara)

Any thought coming say, “Not this, not this, not this.”

May God bless you.

I would like to see all the groups some time, one by one, all the leaders and also certain individuals who want to see me.

We are going to have marriages, and everything, performed here and it’s going to work out very well. But suddenly don’t jump onto the thing! Do it in your sobriety, in understanding that, this marriage is nothing but because you have to have children of very high quality. Secondly it has to be auspicious. Just to wash off if there was any inauspiciousness.

I hope you will enjoy your heights now, you will enjoy you glory and you will enjoy your noble work.

May God bless you.