Observations

Sahaja Yoga finds itself in a strange situation at the moment, poised in a kind of limbo between the certainty of Shri Mataji’s guiding hand and the full flowering of Self Realisation. The unexpected Maya of Shri Mataji’s final years seems to have initiated a final sorting out among the yogis, separating the misidentifications of ego from the genuine desire to ascend to the Divine.

Its most obvious manifestation has been the appearance of Shri Mataji’s family in place of her own participation in events, and the gradual familiarisation of the yogis with this scenario. It was a situation, from the family’s point of view, that grew out of their desire to maintain the momentum of Shri Mataji’s life’s work. They took over many of the functions of governance in her name, but had little real understanding of Sahaja Yoga, and the yogis had little real understanding of them. Thus, in the greatest of ironies the ship sailed on, those at the helm never having given realisation to anyone, and incapable of giving a talk about Sahaja Yoga.

Of course there were debates whether this was advisable or not, particularly due to the ambiguous nature of written ‘instructions’ from Shri Mataji, but in the interests of harmony and cohesion the old leaders went along with events and the situation developed into a perplexing test of the yogis discrimination. It was a difficult and confusing time which unsurprising led to further problems. The yogis became used to Sir CP accompanying Shri Mataji everywhere and her daughters managing Shri Mataji’s affairs, and to them speaking on her behalf at public and private events. New yogis had never seen anything else, and a longing for the certainty of earlier days seems to have driven some yogis, new and old, to start projecting their inner needs onto the family.

It began with exaggerated ideas about the spiritual profundity of Sir CP’s diplomatic discourses, and grew among the more credulous to the startling deduction that Shri Mataji’s unsuspecting husband could be none other than an incarnation of Lord Shiva. A foolish misconception, but it began to spread in some places, due largely to the attentions of yogis with new ambitions for control and leadership, for support for Shri Mataji’s family brought these individuals into the centre of ‘power’. The original leaders became uneasy with the increasing involvement of Shri Mataji’s family in Sahaj affairs, and begun to question the sweeping changes they were instigating. Understandable from a human point of view, their claims for an income from Shri Mataji’s work jarred drastically with her teachings; while having yogis at their service wherever they went could not help but drag them further into the Maya.

It was yogis who slipped most however; unable to contemplate an international puja without Shri Mataji’s physical presence, no matter how little she participated in events, while the more impressionable, or more calculating, extended their mental projections to include the whole of Shri Mataji’s family. Ingenious explanations were mooted to explain discrepancies in the ‘divine family’ mythology and the reputations of old Sahaja Yogis were disparaged, as they knew full well what Shri Mataji’s views and instructions were regarding this matter. Can we really be swayed by something as simple as seeing Sir CP sitting next to Shri Mataji on stage? In some cases it seems that we can, and it may be a final lesson that Shri Mataji wanted us to learn.

Some yogis appear to think it merely a matter of preference what they, or others, believe, but it’s far more serious than that. The Deities will not tolerate it, at the very least they will withdraw, allowing bhoots free reign among our ranks - this already seems to be happening in fact, judging by the splits and disputes between Sahaja yogis. Like any mother, there was little Shri Mataji enjoyed more than seeing her children love and support one another, she emphasised this was the way the collective being would grow. We would be foolish indeed to allow the bhoots that seek to separate us to have the last word.  

I do not feel the family should be treated with disrespect or condemned at all, they should always be respected as Sri Mataji's family. We should just recognise that they are ordinary people, that they do not really understand Sahaja Yoga, and stop projecting our daft ideas onto them. Less innocently, we should stop trying to use them to gain an imaginary 'status'. The fault is mostly on the yogis side, in my opinion.

(Pat Anslow)


 Shiva does not incarnate

 "I am absolutely alone. I have no companion."

Remember always

Eternal family