Shri Mataji's Orbituary

Shri Mataji's Orbituary


Shri Mataji's Orbituary
GENOVA – H.H. Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi, founder of Sahaja Yoga and recognised by many as the most important spiritual figure of our times, passed away Wednesday, 23rd February in Genova, Italy.

Born in India on March 21 1923, Shri Mataji’s unique spiritual predisposition was immediately apparent to all who met her, including Mahatma Gandhi. Together with her family she was deeply committed to India’s freedom struggle and, although she was little more than a child at the time, happily gave up a very comfortable lifestyle for the sake of freedom.

She later married Sir C.P. Srivastava, one of India’s most respected and highly-ranked civil servants, and together they raised a family. Although Shri Mataji was born with her complete Self-Realization and knew from a very young age that she had a unique gift, she wanted first to show, by her own example, the perfect compatibility of a deeply spiritual life with the ordinary life of a householder. So it was only once their daughters were married and settled that Shri Mataji began her public spiritual work.

Thus, on the 5th of May, 1970, while in meditation on a lonely beach of Nargol (India), she discovered the secret to en-masse Self-Realisation through which thousands of people could achieve union with the deepest, most subtle aspect of their being, thereby triggering a process of spiritual self-transformation.

Sahaja Yoga was born, and since then Shri Mataji dedicated her life to the spiritual ascent of mankind, visiting every corner of the world, granting people the experience of Self-Realisation and communicating her message of integration and harmony. She reclaimed the role of women in the spiritual realm and lay the groundwork for a society based on enlightened spiritual awareness.

Sahaja Yoga is now established in more than 100 countries throughout the world.

H.H. Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi is survived by her husband, Sir C.P. Srivastava, her two daughters Kalpana and Sadhana, and her family of hundreds of thousands of devotees throughout the world.

A private memorial service will be held in Palazzo Doria, her Italian residence in Cabella Ligure, before she returns to India and is laid to rest.