Shree Mataji Nirmala Devi
A life dedicated to Humanity
Shre Mataji's Early Life
Shree Mataji Nirmala Devi, a descendant of India’s royal Shalivahana dynasty, was born in 1923, at noon on the 21st March, the Spring Equinox, at Chindwara,Madhya Pradesh in the Centre of India, in a Christian family. Her parents choose the name, Nirmala, Which means “Immaculate”. She was born completely Self-realized and from a young age knew that she had a unique gift which had to be made available to all mankind.
Both Shree Mataji and her parents, Prasad and Cornelia Salve, played an active role in India’s fight for independence. Her father, a talented lawyer and close associate of Mahatma Gandhi, was a member of the Constituent Assembly of India and helped write India’s first constitution. He was a renowned scholar and was fluent in 14 languages. Her mother was the first woman in India to receive an honors degree in mathematics.
As a child Shree Mataji lived for a time, along with her parents, in the ashram of Mahatma Gandhi who affectionately gave her the nickname ‘Nepali’. Even at a young age, her deep wisdom and understanding was evident to the Mahatma. Shree Mataji played a courageous role as a youth leader in the fight for freedom. In 1942 she was arrested, imprisoned and tortured for her participation in Gandhi’s “Quit India” Movement. She later studied medicine at the Christian Medical College in Lahore, now in Pakistan. Shortly before India’s Independence, Shree Mataji married Mr. Chandrika Prasad Srivastava who would go on to become one of India’s most respected high-ranking civil servants.
Mr. Shivastava held the post of Joint Secretary to the Office of the Indian Prime Minister, Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri, from 1964 to 1966. Later, he was unanimously re- elected for four consecutive four-year terms, as Secretary General of the United Nations International Maritime Organization based in London. He was knighted by the Queen of England in 1989 and received similar honors from many countries for his service to the international maritime community.
Shree Mataji’s Sahaja Yoga work
After fulfilling her familial duties of bringing up two daughters, Kalpana & Sadhana, Shree Mataji embarked on her spiritual mission. On the 5th May 1970 she was meditating on the many problems of humanity on a lonely beach in India, when a blissful divine experience filled her whole being and she knew that the moment had come for her unique spiritual gift – the ability to give en-masse Self-realization – to be shared with the whole of humanity. The method of meditation through self-realization developed by Shree Mataji was called Sahaja Yoga. Very soon thousands of ordinary people in many countries were getting the blissful experience of Kundalini awakening and discovering for themselves that, using Shree Mataji’s techniques, they could also pass this experience on to others, just as one candle can be used to enlighten another.
Shree Mataji travelled throughout Europe, Australia & North America Continuously in the 1980s, teaching this method free of charge to all who were interested. The 1990s saw her travels spreading to South America, Africa, Eastern Europe, Asia & Pacific region.
Shree Mataji has never charged for her lectures nor for giving Self-realization. She has always insisted that you cannot pay for your enlightenment as it is a living process.
Institutions around the world bestowed honorary awards & doctorates upon her. Claes Nobel spoke of her Nobel Prize nomination in 1997, at the Royal Albert Hall in London. A great admirer of Shree Mataji & Sahaja yoga, he proclaimed it “a source of hope for humanity” & “a reference point for determining right from wrong.”
In addition to her spiritual work, Shree Mataji has also started a number of charitable organizations in India to help the poor and the sick. Among these are a home for destitute women & children, several international schools, a health & research center, and an internal academy promoting Indian classical music and fine arts. Her legacy live on through this institutions as well as through Sahaja yoga practitioners & meditation centres established in more than 95 countries where Sahaja yoga is taught, as always, free of charge.
Shree Mataji has been recognized worldwide by several prestigious institutions for her selfless work and for the remarkable results of her spiritual teachings through Sahaja Yoga.
A few selection of Awards & Recognition.