How should we approach the spreading of Sahaja Yoga to new people?

April 8th, 1987
Yogi: How should we approach the spreading of Sahaja Yoga to new people?
Shri Mataji: What?
Another yogi: He said how should we approach the spreading of Sahaja Yoga to new people, to the new people. How should we express Sahaja Yoga, Shri Mataji?
Shri Mataji: To them? Now, you see, you’ll meet three types of new people. Firstly, those who are yogis, or you can call them as people of previous births, who are already very knowledgeable and are there, just they can feel it, this is it; you won’t have much problem with them, they’ll know it is so. To them it’s very obvious, and you’ll be amazed the way they are there, how they have taken to it so easily.
Now the second type are the people who may be still believing, non believing, maybe some who are doubting, maybe; or maybe some who are asking questions about it, quite a lot. So is not sufficient only for you to get your realization, also not sufficient for you that you feel the vibrations and that you can give realizations to others, that won’t help much. You have to know how to deal with various types of people.
Like I would say a person who is a, say, a priest, who comes to you and wants to talk to you about God, this, that and all that. So you must know Bible very well, and know Bible in the way a Sahaja Yogi should know.
The other day Rustom telephoned to tell Me that – I told him to study Koran because, I said, Islam means surrender, but before realisation surrender has no meaning. And he’s told Me that it’s written in Koran that unless and until you are connected with God you cannot understand anything what is written here. It’s clearly said.
Now when the Muslims talk to you, you can tell them: “This is written in Koran, are you connected with God?”.
Now, they might say, “Are you connected?”. Now, then if you say, “Yes”, then finished! (Laughter) Then Mr. Ego will come up, you see, suddenly, and you be careful!
So this subject should be treated with a barge pole.
Like, (laughs) such a question if they ask… you see they will be like that, “Are you that?”.
Like in the beginning they used to ask Me, “What’s your Father? What’s your Mother? Who are you?”. This, that, all those things, you see.
So at that time you have to give an answer to them – [Can you give this lady a chair to sit down?(Hindi) Sit down. No… Alright. (Hindi) Sit down… Sit down.]
So such a question if you answer in that manner you have not been clever enough; you have to be very clever. Then you should say, “You see, there are” – avoid the subject, don’t answer; you just say, “See, there are descriptions about a person who is a realised soul”.
Jung has said that you have to become collectively conscious. Now, what is collectively conscious? That is, on your central nervous system you should be able to feel another person.
Now Jung has said so, it’s a poet – [may this mean “quote”?]. Then you have got other people to quote: William Blake you can quote, you can quote other poets or saints whom you know, it depends on what sort of a person you are dealing with.
But just don’t say, ”Yes, I am a realised soul”. People have been crucified, murdered, poisoned for saying that.
So be careful, put it on somebody else and say, “Yes, the signs of a realised soul’s are like this, that he has to be collectively conscious”.
First of all that you have read Jung or you know so much about collective consciousness itself will put them right in their own places, to begin with.
Because you have to be knowledgeable in these modern times, and you should be able to communicate. Just by telling them, “I’m a realized soul, I have to awaken your Kundalini”, nobody is going to believe you.
Even in India people don’t believe that we can give Realization – although they know about realisation, they know about Kundalini, they know everything, but still, they cannot believe that we, like ordinary people, can give realisation to them.
So in no way, you should be diffident, but try to bring them round through somebody else, because the human nature is such, the one who is living, the one who is existing, they don’t want to accept. Whosoever is dead, you see, and written somewhere, anything, in black and white, and if you say in this book this is this written, they’ll accept. That’s why you have to be knowledgeable, you must read books which are supportive of your realisation, supportive of Sahaja Yoga. Then only you can talk to them. If you are just having Realization, you can give Realization, you have got vibrations, that won’t work out – especially in the Western countries where people are too much here (indicates the head) nothing there (indicates the heart).
You have to tell them that we are also intelligent enough, and we also understand it with our brains and logic, what is the truth is. Then after their realisation, of course, it’s much easier, but if you say, “Alright, come along, I have to give you realisation” – you cannot. You cannot force them, you cannot – they have to ask for it, after all, there is a protocol of the Divine also, the Divine cannot fall at the feet of people, “Oh please, come and have your Realization !”. No, that’s too much.
But there are ways and ways by which you can ask people and work it out. But I must tell you one thing, that all the Sahaja Yogis before, they started – I started Sahaja Yoga in the West and especially in England also, you see, whenever I talked to them they were very anxious how to get more people into Sahaja Yoga, how to bring more people, what to do for more people, how to manage. Or they would think somebody to be very spiritual or something, “So, Mother, can I bring that fellow?”. And he would turn out to be a horrid stuff, you see (She laughs, laughter). It would burn My hands, it would burn everything, and I would say, “Now how do you mean? What made you think that he is spiritual?”. “Mother, he talks so much of spirituality”.
That’s not the thing. It is a calibre, is a inner calibre a person must have. He may be an ordinary person, he may not be earning so much money, he might be on the street, but the inner calibre has to be there. Otherwise, what’s the use of breaking your head against a wall?
So, this idea of having more and more is wrong. But to have people who are of that calibre, of that quality, and who deserve it.
So many do not deserve it.
So what to do? You cannot just… it’s not like a barber shop that you can make the head dressed the way you like. The Sahastrara has to open out. You see, the Kundalini has to come out, it has to work that way. You cannot just say, “Alright now, you got Realization ”, you can’t say that way, all the time the Kundalini’s falling down, you should say, “Alright, sorry sir, I’m sorry”. Finished.
And the more you show as if you are seeking elections for the votes, the more they’ll be worse. If somebody doesn’t get Realization, well and good! For example, a lady met Me in a place and she said, “I want to have realisation”. I said, “Alright, I’ll try” (laughter, She laughs).
Then she wrote three letters to Me, sent her photographs and she… And then she said, “I don’t know why You don’t write to me, I’ve been writing to You, this and that, I know it’s a difficult task to give a realisation”. “Oh” – so I talked to her – “Alright, when I come next in June you can come along”.
But there could be somebody who might be of that calibre, you can feel it, you are knowledgeable yourself, you can feel the vibrations, you can feel it and you can then take that person seriously. So work on the people who are simple, who have that calibre.
Of course, they could be very much spoilt also because of seeking, but if they are intense and sincere then the best thing is to work it out with complete assiduity and attention to such a person.
But if it’s a fashion, you see, because they are going to many gurus and they are doing some, lots of guru shopping, then you should say, “There’s no shop here, you can’t pay, first of all, you can’t pay”. If they understand that, then it’s alright. Say like one fellow from the BBC came in and he said, “We can’t believe in a guru who doesn’t take any money”. I said, “Then alright, you go to such a guru who takes money from you, I’ve nothing to say”. He said – what did he say? – “Anglo Saxon brain”. I don’t know what that brain is specially, made by God or not? (She laughs, laughter) Cannot understand anyone who can do such a thing without money.
Such a person you should say, “Alright, thank you very much, I’m sorry, you see, you are beyond me, you are too great, sorry”. Not hurting the person. But such ideas, such things if they have there in brains, you cannot break such a hard nut, can you? And you should not feel sorry for them.
First see their vibrations, see their calibre. Calibre is the only way you can judge how much attention is to be paid, what is to be done.
For some people it’s so obvious, so obvious. And some people go on arguing, arguing with you. But all of them now are good Sahaja Yogis despite the fact they argued quite a lot with Me to begin with; now they are very good Sahaja Yogis. But now time has come for you to have a quick result, and you will meet people who will be very good, I’m sure you’ll meet all of them who are in England and you, you will be able to manage them. Your ways, your methods, your styles will convince them.
Today, only, Doctor Brian has told Me that many people are getting interested now in Sahaja Yoga, because they can see the change that comes in, the transformation, the confidence, everything that they see.
So you should not try to force Sahaja Yoga on anyone; it’s better that you see their calibre. Calibre is very easy to make out.
You just say it and it is there. They know, yes, that’s it.
Any other question?
Yogini: Shri Mataji, please, could you talk about simpathy and compassion towards other Sahaja Yogis who have problems, who have some negativity in them, please?
Shri Mataji: I can’t hear. What’s it? Clearly, I didn’t hear. You also didn’t hear, I’ve seen.
Yogi: Shri Mataji?
Shri Mataji: Ah.
Yogi: Could You speak about sympathy and compassion towards other Sahaja Yogis who have problems with negativity?
Shri Mataji: Ah. Now. Sympathy and compassion; sympathy doesn’t get involved, then it’s compassion. Sympathy. ‘Sym’ means ‘share’, ‘pathy’ means ‘pathos’ – if you want to share the pathos of another person then you are sympathizing with that person.
Now supposing, somebody’s husband is dead and that person is crying a lot and you also go and sit down and cry louder than her (laughter). Then people will ask you, “Did you husband die or her husband die?” (laughter). “No, no, I am just showing sympathy, you know” (Laughter, She laughs). This is lip sympathy, of course.
Another is – may be the heartfelt sympathy. When it is heartfelt then you don’t cry; then you develop the opposite force to put that person right. What do you say to that person?
You should say, “See, now if you are born you are going to die, everybody’s going to die, that’s, that’s the system. Now, two persons never die together. This gentleman who has died now, he’s your husband, alright, but now if you start crying like this, he won’t have any peace, he’ll be hovering round you, and he might be in limbo waiting for you to come there, or something like that. So no use crying over him, on the contrary, you should say, “I’m alright, don’t worry about me, I’m alright, get your realisation as I have got it”. This is the opposite force that you put. This is a real, real way of helping that person.
But the compassion is very different, compassion just flows, it doesn’t say anything. Even you don’t see Me, even if you are in the hospital, you know I am with you.
It works. Even if you just think of Me, it works.
Even if you make some mistakes, you know Mother will forgive. That’s compassion. Compassion is just flow, you don’t talk about it, you don’t say anything. It just flows and covers you completely. And you enjoy that. That’s compassion; it works – sympathy doesn’t work – compassion works, it soothes you. It’s a very beautiful touch of love, affection, kindness, protection. And you feel so confident that you are under the protection of the Divine.
So, this compassion has not to be shown or to be dealt with.
Now supposing, another Sahaja Yogi’s having a problem. We have only two problems; as I say, “How many turns there are in London? Only two, left or right” (laughter).
In the same way, they have two problems: either left or right. If it is the left one or the right one.
You know right one you have to beat with the shoes, that’s all, finished. You don’t have to go and say anything to the person, if he has right problems.
Now if he has the left problem what do you do? You need not go and talk to that person: give him a bandhan, you can burn the name, you can do what you like. But you need not face the person, you need not tell the person that, “I’m helping you, I’m trying to do something for you”. That’s wrong, that’s ignorance, you don’t have to say that; it just works, it has to work by itself.
But I don’t tell you that I’m going to help you in any way, do I? Nothing of the kind.
Wherever you are you know I’m with you, all the time. In the same way, this compassion will work whether you are sitting down here, if you are beating somebody with shoes that person will come round.
So they have only two problems, one is the left or the right. If you try to sympathize with any one of them you are in trouble.
So best thing is not to directly help them, but indirectly. Not to tell them that you are helping, not even mention it to them; the concern is the point, the concern about a person.
Your attention should go there, your attention is very active. It’s a very powerful thing you have got, your attention acts. Just put your attention to that person, with a concern, but no involvement: that is compassion.
You have got it, you have got the power of compassion in your attention now, you haven’t used it. Without taking any credit for it, without showing it, without confronting it, just inside yourself you feel it, it will work out.
But for that you have to cleanse your own attention, that’s very important. If your attention is loose type, if your connection is not alright, then it won’t work out. But if you have that kind of an attention which is silent, which is witnessing, which is not involved, it’s dynamic, it works!
All of you have to become like Me, I’m sure you all can, and achieve that calibre of compassion. Alright?
Do you follow now? Thank you.
Any other question, Hester? No? Danya has any questions? (She laughs) You never had them. Anybody else? Jason? None!
Question-less people, I tell you.
Best way is to enjoy others. Best way is to enjoy others; and to enjoy yourself is to laugh at yourself, that’s the best way.
Address yourself, “You, Mister, now come along, this is ego, I know (laughter). Ah, that’s it, that’s the one! No no no no no no no no no, not me! I’ve had enough of it”.
That’s how you enjoy yourself. And enjoy others, seeing their good points. Sweet, sweet things they do, very sweet things. You don’t have to say anything.
And we had 71 marriages, you can’t believe it. And I looked at the brides and they were all looking at Me from the angles, you see; and the eyes were telling the story of their love and gratitude, and I don’t know what all they said.
I was just watching them when they were walking with their garlands in their hands, slowly, slowly; the sweetness, the beauty of their feelings; very slowly they were walking. And then I saw the boys standing there, looking at Me with tremendous feeling of oneness.
You see, this cannot be enjoyed otherwise.
Even with the body you cannot enjoy, supposing you rub your hand, you won’t enjoy that much as you enjoy other people, other sahaja yogis.
And then the friends doing the leg-pulling also I enjoy (laughter), the way they talk to each other I enjoy, everything’s so enjoyable, it doesn’t hurt anyone, it doesn’t trouble anyone.
You are here to enjoy, God has created this universe for you to enjoy.
So only thing is that you must improve your attention, cleanse your attention by meditation, always think of good things, not of bad things. You should not react too much, just be within yourself, see for yourself, witness everything. And you’ll be amazed, you’ll see beautiful points, beautiful things all around you.
So much of beauty which we are losing because we cannot see it. So that deep, penetrating attention of concern will solve all the problems, I’m sure.
But ‘open your heart’ doesn’t mean that you go and hug somebody and kiss somebody ten times, it doesn’t mean that at all. On the contrary, it can be quite embarrassing, you know? (Laughter, She smiles, laughs) Any other questions?
I, I had a problem there, you see, we, they arranged a programme for Me to speak to the young presidents’ organisation, the presidents of big, big – of big, big organisations, business organisations, and I had to speak to them.
And one of the lady – of course, I mean – the questions were very good and everything flowing (?) over, and later on she says, “But I can’t believe it, because she is not at all serious, you see” (laughter, She laughs). And I laughed and laughed and laughed with that, I said, “Now I cannot be serious anymore, that was too much” (laughter, She laughs).
When there’s so much joy bubbling out, why, how can you be serious?
This is the idea of a saint that he should be very serious, stern, going out with a stick in his hand all the time hitting everyone on the head (laughter, laughs). So, any other question  (indistinct word)? No.
We must have a hall here, big hall we should buy somewhere, we should be able to buy.
I’m thankful to people who are working on Shudy Camp but I think you must hurry up now, people are coming for Guru Puja, I told them we’ll have it in Shudy Camp. And otherwise if it is not ready we’ll have to change the venue, so everybody must go and work it out, I think, is important. We have money, we have no problem on that.
We have to have a nice, grand, beautiful seminar before Guru Puja. And there are many coming here, you’ll meet all of them, will be a very nice time, real festival we’ll be having.
So it would be better that you, all of you combine together and work it out and also give different work to different people; and they should all try to organize it in a beautiful way that there’s no quarrel, nothing.
But you’ll see people, you see, will say, “Oh! This is the room I would like to have for my wife” (laughter), things like that. Sounds stupidity. “This is the glass for me, I can’t give it to you”. All such stupid things will be there, and I think, for such people you should say, “You are not for Guru Puja, better not be here”.
Everybody doesn’t deserve to be there. That’s you should find out, that what sort of people they are. If they are fighting for all these little, little things it’s best is to tell them that, “Sorry, you’d better not come for Guru Puja”.
So, the most important thing is that in Guru Puja we have to receive a special capacity to be a guru ourselves.
A special intelligence, a special understanding, a kind of a wisdom which gives you discretion and the ability to argue out things.
That will enhance your personality, a beautiful, dignified personality can be created within yourselves, so for that you have to be there with all that dedication and understanding about yourself.
So I’m looking forward to this Guru Puja, and everybody has to write. Now for Sahastrara day they are working so hard, the people from Australia have printed so many posters, all over the world they have sent it, they have sent it to you also the posters of Sahastrar Day – have you brought it? No? You haven’t shown them.
So next time you must show all of them, they should see that, what they have done, how much; and you must – we have no, nothing like a news from there and this thing – but all this can be discussed among yourself; and you should know about each other, what’s happening, where, and what ashram is doing, what is the special work they are doing, and what is the new thing they have discovered; all sorts of things you can find out from each other. And you can tell others also. This is how you keep in communication with each other.
Oh, there’s a very good news, that Doctor Rai, who is the Dean of the Faculty of Physiology in Delhi University, started a research work on the comparative study of Sahaja Yogis and others as far as the physiology is concerned. And he’s found out that the people who are not Sahaja Yogis have a very low resistance for diseases, their skin, skin resistance is less and so many things he’s found out. And he has put it on, he’s tabulated the whole thing, and that is been now approved by the Government and is now published, going to be published also.
In the same way, you see, we are thinking of having a research here done for people in Shudy Camp, so that we can also publish something like that with the research. That so far, you see, so many have been cured, so many got rid of their addictions, so many got rid of their mental problems, so many things happened; but we haven’t yet recorded it, we have not put it properly on the record.
Now this is what we are going to do now, anybody who has achieved something or has felt better or has been cured or something like that must give it in writing to these people so they record it, because, you see, in these modern times they want everything in black and white, so that could be done very well here in England.
Another thing I was thinking that now “Nirmala Yoga” has stopped there because of this problem of foreign exchange.
So what we can do is to have a “Nirmala Yog” published in India and sent here, and you can print it here and sell it here, so that the foreign exchange problem doesn’t come in.
Because foreign exchange is such a problem in that country, you have to have a proper committee, this, that, all headaches.
So you can sell them here and distribute them here, it’s very easy, and Paul can help you there. Paul, can’t you?
Paul: Yes…
Shri Mataji: Yes. So it’s alright. We get the “Nirmala Yog” done there and just the copy sent here, translated. You can also add to it, you can also put something into it and some things from there and some things from here; you can distribute it to all the centres here and we can start like that. Because they created a big problem out of that last “Nirmala Yoga”, so I’ve just stopped it, because you see we, we are not very good at human laws, I think, sometimes you make mistakes and I don’t want you people to be caught up into these human laws.
So you have to be careful. And we can do it, I think we can do it. And as England is the heart it has to circulate everything. But the hearts must open out. The conditioning is very bad here, you see, that you are told that you should not express your feelings, you should not say anything, you should be very poised, you should not talk about your feelings.
That’s not so in Sahaja Yoga. This is the heart and heart must speak, heart must say; you must know how to say that you love others. It’s very easy to say ‘I hate’, but it’s very difficult for people to say ‘I love you’. Because they are afraid, they fear that if you commit like this, “Oh, so you love me? So do this for me. You love me? So do this for me (laughter). How dare you say you love me, if you have loved me you must do all this and you must give this to me”.
Oh, we had some Sahaja Yogis like that. They were abusing Me also that, “You said you love us, then why don’t You do this for us?”. Then it becomes a demanding love.
Any other question anywhere? What’s happening, John, about your priesthood? [Shri Mataji laughs]
They are getting quite exposed.
John: Yes, Mother.
Shri Mataji: Exposure is the only way, but still nothing goes into the heads of the people, they are so egoistical, nobody wants to accept that it’s all exposed now within – ‘No, it is fanaticism, it is nonsense’. But still they go on with it, what to do?
(Mother looks around at the yogis then smiles) Beautiful children you have here. How many are new people who are seeing Me for the first time? Raise your hands please. Ah!
Ah, you all look little serious! (laughter, She laughs) Still rather serious. You shouldn’t be serious at all. Good. Nice. Get the children. He is just hitting the head. (She laughs) Who is the child crying there so much? Whose child? (A yogi says something inaudible) This child? What’s the matter? Must be hot. Take out the sweater. Eh?
(Somebody says something) It’s alright. I think, must be hot for the child. And they feel very thirsty also, you see, these are places where you don’t have any humidity much, so they feel very thirsty also in such places, I think.
(Shri Mataji listens to the baby who continues to cry)
All of them cry the same, whether they are Indians, English, anything! (Laughter) From their crying you can’t make out what race they come from. (Baby stops crying) Now better?
Have you got some water or something? See! You must understand your children, they won’t cry without a reason. They are all realised souls. Alright.
(Yogi hands Shri Mataji a glass of water)
Thank you, thank you very much. Anything else?
(Someone asks an inaudible question)
Shri Mataji: Can you say…?
Yogi repeats to Her: “How can you best cope if you have to work in a negative situation?”.
Shri Mataji: In your office?
Yogi: Job, yes.
Shri Mataji: Negativity in the office?
Yogi: Yes, Shri Mataji.
Shri Mataji: You see, all the negativity have also, has also an aspect which I call is ridiculous and humorous; so anybody who is negative or anything you watch it, see for yourself, don’t get involved, just see which part it is, is it ridiculous or it is humorous (laughter). Then you won’t be serious about it.
Sahaja Yogis have a sense of ridiculous, you see, they understand what is ridiculous is; also they understand what is humorous or what is stupid. So just see that, it is stupid? Alright, let it be, doesn’t matter, what can you do?