The Last Age of Good vs. Evil

Long ago, about 10,000 years ago, there was an age when good and evil were distinctly different. Humanoids were either heroes, commoners or villains. Quite distinct in character, no identity crisis. Quite unlike today. In these times rose a hero, a prince from the Kingdom of Ayodhya, who defended the good against the evil on a regular basis. Prince Rama, and his brother, Lakshmana were chief defenders of faith against the nasties. But their greatest challenge was yet to come.

Ramayana performed as a ballet in Indonesia (cc licensed | flickr/ Bertrand Duperrin)

Shri Rama, accepting the desire of his step-mother to give up his claim to the throne and retire to forest life for more than a decade was the beginning of the epic story that becomes Ramayana. After losing his divine wife, Shri Sita to a kidnapping event, he loses his second most precious possession: his motivation. Having lost his drive to take on an established kingdom without a proper army or armor, he is in the midst of the greatest flight/flight decision anyone could face.

Thankfully, he is advised by a celestial being to invoke the goddess through the Navratri worship. Although these 9 nights of goddess worship were typically done in Fall, he performs the worship in Spring, as the situation demanded an extraordinary solution. The goddess, pleased with the worship appears and clarifies the grand picture, wherein gears are set in motion for Shri Rama's success. And he does succeed eventually. But that is another story.

Shri Rama was a man's man. Purushottama, was one of his names. He was also Maryada Purushottama, which meant, the one who would respect boundaries and not act out of line, no matter what the cost. Yet, he performed the worship when it was needed, rather than waiting months for the opportune moment. The timeless nature of divine action is at play here. He thus established the Spring version of the Navratri 9 nights of worship, which conclude with his birthday, Rama Navmi (literally, Rama's Day on the Ninth).

This year, that day is today, Saturday April 20th. A great reason to meditate upon the right-heart chakra and inculcate the wish-fulfilling and sin-destroying name, that is 'Rama'.

Oleg Florov's Geocities Website

When Geocities was closing, about 10 years ago, the following website was archived for posterity:

I am Oleg Florov and I would like to share a beautiful experience with you.

The stories and explanations below have been collected from a number of friends and acquaintances around the world, all of whom also have this very special awareness on a daily basis. We hope that you too will enjoy it, and you may easily, if you browse through the following web pages. Central to what we would like to share with you is our gratitude to Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi, who, through her gift to the world of Sahaja Yoga, makes it all possible.

'We were in Athens in October 2001. It was a warm evening and Shri Mataji was giving a public programme, an introduction to Sahaja Yoga, in a hotel there. In many traditions, one of the signs of Self Realization, or as the Christians say, the awakening of the Holy Spirit, is a cool wind or breeze. At the end of the programme, Shri Mataji gave the experience of Self Realization or kundalini awakening. Nearly all the people who had come for the first time said they had indeed felt a cool breeze, on their hands and above their heads, but some insisted it was the air conditioning. Someone went to find the hotel staff to ask them to please turn it off, and the staff, when found, said it was not on in the first place.' (M.S.)

More:

• The Cool Breeze of the Spirit Personal experiences of the cool wind of the spirit 
• Miracles of Sahaja Yoga
• Experiences of Sahaja Yoga 
• Welcome to the Golden Age: Experiences from different faiths 

Using the breeze, or vibrations of the spirit

Main Article: Oleg Florov's Geocities Website Archive

'I lived in Dehra Dun, India in the 1980's. In theory money was sent to me from London but it sometimes got mislaid. I would often sit drinking tea with the manager of my bank, while he looked for my drafts. As always in India, we talked about many things apart from the lost money.

In 1985 my bank manager told me he was very worried about his friend A. G, who had a serious form of blood cancer. He asked me if I knew any doctors in England who might be able to help him. I said I did, but they were all involved in the yoga, Sahaja Yoga, that I did and would probably suggest those treatments as much as the conventional ones. He asked me if I could go to Meerut, near Delhi, where the young man was staying at that time to tell him about this yoga. I made contact with his family and they indicated that there was not much time to waste, so I went soon after.

The family in Meerut presented me with the young man's medical reports, which meant absolutely nothing to me, except that certain numbers were obviously going down and down. The young man was having regular blood tests. They told me that the normal person has 150,000 red blood corpuscles per cubic centimetre of blood. His count was down to 11,000. At any time when there are less than 10,000 there are not enough red blood corpuscles to carry the oxygen and the patient dies.

He was lying in bed and looked a pale sickly yellow, nothing like the warm honey colour of a North Indian person's skin. I explained Sahaja Yoga and gave Self Realization to him, gave him a photo of Shri Mataji and told him how to do the Sahaja Yoga treatments recommended for cancer. Some weeks later he went back to Dehra Dun. He was still in his bed, but looked slightly less ill. I gave him vibrations and he was very positive and was obviously doing the treatments, meditating and taking vibrations from Shri Mataji's photograph. Things went on in this way and, after some time, he was up and about.

"How is the cancer?" I asked.
"Look, we are probably going to see each other quite a bit in the future and one thing you are not to ask me is how is my cancer. I am Indian and I know that the most important thing is to get Self Realization."

He was still not entirely out danger but his family, who at this time were not yet involved with Sahaja Yoga, decided that as he had stabilized they should send him to America to have a bone marrow transplant. He had to spend some time in Delhi while his visa was sorted out. While there he met a family of Sahaja Yogis. The husband of this family had also had a Sahaja miracle and had been cured of paralysis, after being on his back for two years following a stroke. A. G. went to Sahaja Yoga programs with them almost every night for some time.

The young man was having regular blood tests. After he received his Realization, his red blood count stopped going down and stabilized. But it was only when he was in a collective environment and he also spent a lot of time being given vibrations, and with this family, who were all strong Sahaja Yogis, that his blood started to really normalize quickly.

He never did get to the States, but at the end of the year, after he had been in Sahaja Yoga for about eight months, he met Shri Mataji. The day before he actually met her, he went to the hospital and the blood test showed his blood was almost back to normal, and he was well out of danger.

Sixteen years later, A.G. is healthy, married with two children, a successful architect. He achieved the cure by working on himself from Shri Mataji's photograph, using the vibrations coming from it, and with the help of other Sahaja Yogis, who would share their healing vibrations with him. (L.W.)

There are many similar stories involving cures from a number of diseases and other grave situations using the healing vibrations of the cool breeze. This website serves merely to introduce the concept of the cool breeze which is felt by all those who practise Sahaja Yoga.

Here is another story of the heightened awareness which is common to those practising Sahaja Yoga.

In January 1987 I got married, and my wife is from India. Soon after the wedding I had to return to Europe. However, since I wanted to visit my in-laws in Nagpur, India, I tried to extend my ticket to return a few days later. I was told by the airline that this was not allowed and that I would have to buy a new ticket, but I had no money for this. I asked my Sahaja Yogi friends what to do.

"You are a Sahaja Yogi," they told me, "you ask the vibrations."
So I wrote in my palm: 'Shall I stay in India?' A cool breeze was coming.
Again I wrote, this time: 'Shall I go to Nagpur?' The breeze was flowing again.
I asked again: Shall I go straight back home to Austria? Very clearly the answer came, no cool breeze, no vibrations at all.
"You have felt the answers yourself. We cannot decide for you," my friends said, so I stayed. They promised to try to extend my ticket home, so I left Mumbai and went to Nagpur.

In Nagpur I met Shri Mataji's brother, the late Baba Mama. He asked me if I would like to visit the house at Chindwara where Shri Mataji was born, which was now used as a hospital. Two days later, my new family and I went there. Baba Mama had given us a letter, which, he said, would allow us to visit each room of the house.

"I'm not telling you in which room she was born. You'd better find out for yourselves using vibrations," He said. When we gave the letter to the hospital director, he asked one of the doctors to show us around the hospital. We were all very eager to find the right room. So round we went, our hands stretched forward with palms turned upwards, ready to register every slightest cool breeze or vibration on our hands. We felt coolness and peace all over the hospital, and in one laboratory both my brother-in-law and I could feel more vibrations. Standing in this small room, which measured about two metres by five, and holding my hands like a radar scanner, I directed them to each part of the room.

I never doubted that we would find the spot, but as we found it, we became excited like children.
"You felt it too?" I said.
"Yes, it's there in this corner," said my brother-in-law. We went round the whole corner, from the left side to the right side, then raising our hands from the bottom to a height of about two metres to check how high this breeze was reaching. After a little while of enjoying ourselves like this, we again remembered our guide, the doctor, who was standing there patiently.

We asked him whether he had any idea what we were doing there and why we were holding out our hands like this.
"No," he said, "but two years ago, a doctor from Saudi Arabia was here in the same room and doing just the same thing." He had found the same corner as us.
"His name was Dr. Rustum?" I asked, knowing this Sahaja Yogi was then living in the Middle East.
"Yes, yes." So we had some further confirmation. We were later told that this was indeed the right place.

My return flight home was scheduled to leave Mumbai at 3:45 am. I had to take a connecting flight the previous evening from Nagpur, which in theory left Nagpur at 7:15 pm to reach Bombay at about 8:30 pm. I checked in at Nagpur Airport and waited. At 10:00 pm the plane had not even arrived, let alone left for Mumbai. While I was waiting, I noticed that I was not at all nervous or hectic, as I used to be. All around me I felt a kind of coat made out of soft coolness. At 2:45 am I finally reached Mumbai, where a Sahaja Yogi was waiting for me at the National Terminal.

Then we had to go to his flat to pick up the luggage I had left there. I checked in at the International Terminal at 3:20 am to find my other Indian friends waiting for me. They thrust a boarding card into my hand and a few minutes later I was sitting comfortably in a first class seat - the other compartments by now being full.

In the plane I found some other Sahaja Yogis, who told me that they had somehow been able to exchange my ticket with somebody else, usually quite impossible. They also told me that the whole procedure of boarding a plane in India normally lasts at least two hours, not twenty minutes, especially during the night, the peak period in Bombay.

Incidental to this story is the power of Sahaja Yogis to ask questions to the vibrations. The Unconscious is infinitely cleverer than we are and once we have our Self Realization we are in touch with that. The writer is a medical doctor from Austria, Dr. O. K. The story also explains why in many cultures and religions places, where saintly and very holy personalities have been or lived, are considered to have beneficial effects on those who visit them. It also shows how, once one has felt the cool breeze, indicating that Self Realization has taken place, one is often looked after and cared for in the most extraordinary ways.

'Once Shri Mataji took about five children to a game park near London, in 1981. As we were driving around the game park, we drove past some giraffes they turned their backs to us. Shri Mataji explained that the animals felt the vibrations she always emits as a cool wind and, in the way of animals, turned their backs to shield themselves from the cold. Animals are one with the universal consciousness, whereas unrealized humans are split off from it, and often lost in their egos and superegos. As realized souls, we should be one with it again.

One night in the early 80's some of us stayed at Shri Mataji's house in London after working there late. I had slept a night once in the flat she had before buying this house, and on both occasions noticed the same thing. Often if one wakes early in London in the summer, before the traffic noise drowns out everything else, one can hear the birds singing.

But in all my years in London - over ten in all - I only heard the birds singing all through the night in London on two occasions, both when I was staying in a house where Shri Mataji was at the time. I asked her about it.
"Yes, they feel the vibrations," she said. Shri Mataji has often told us to meditate in the early morning, just before the sun gets up, because the vibrations are very strong then. This is the moment when birds generally start to sing. The birds felt the vibrations of the awakened Spirit all through the night, however, and started to sing as they would have normally done at dawn.' (L.W.)

These are examples of how animals, birds and all nature are part of the universal consciousness, and respond accordingly. As humans, especially modern, so-called civilized humans, we have often lost that sensitivity. But we can regain it, and go further, because whereas for these living creatures it is a spontaneous unconscious awareness, for us it can become a conscious recognition of what in Sanskrit is called sat chit anand - meaning truth, enlightened attention and inner bliss and joy. These are the three qualities which describe the conscious experience of the Spirit within us, which is experienced on the level of the body as a cool breeze.

The Golden Age: Experiences of other faiths

Main Article: Oleg Florov's Geocities Website Archive

HOW PEOPLE OF DIFFERENT RELIGIONS EXPERIENCE THE COOL WIND OF THE SPIRIT

If one looks at the religions of the world, they fall into two main categories. The first group believe that to worship, or pay respects to any holy image is wrong, while the second use images in their doctrine. Perhaps at the end of the day there is no conflict. If the image is created by, or is a true likeness of, someone who has strong vibrations, then to put oneself in a situation where one absorbs those healing vibrations can only be for the good. But if someone bows down before an image which is made by someone who themselves emitted heat (problems) then no wonder Moses spoke so strongly against 'graven images'! But the solution is to be able to have a heightened awareness so as to be able to distinguish between what is 'holy' and what is not. Once a person has settled into Sahaja Yoga they can generally do this.

'Shri Mataji arranged a weekend at her house at Hurst Green, Sussex, England in 1976. In her house there was a big drawing room downstairs with beautiful Indian rugs. There were large statues of Indian deities, and one of them was a beautiful wooden Shri Ganesha.

One of the Sahaja Yogis who had been there before took me upstairs and showed it to me.
"This statue has such cool vibrations," he said.
"Hang on," I replied. Being from a Muslim background, I thought, 'What is he talking about?'

Although I had received my realization, and could feel the cool vibrations, because of my Islamic conditioning I was a bit sceptical that this statue would emit them. So I tried feeling the vibrations, while stepping back, and it did have vibrations, in that there was a cool breeze coming from it.
One of the things that struck me also in the house of Shri Mataji, was that it felt as if every statue in the house was vibrating with power. Everywhere you went, you felt a kind of silent, peaceful, but extremely powerful environment, which is very difficult to describe, except to say that you knew something very powerful was working very deep inside you and working it out. You were in the middle of this and you felt you were in a different universe altogether. (D.M.)

This story shows that the experience of the cool breeze of the Spirit goes far beyond our cultural conditioning. The writer is from a Moslem background, a citizen of the European Community, a successful banker in early middle age and married with children.

My parents were very, very religious Jews. The first weekend after I got my realization, I went up to see them at our home in a town in the Midlands of England. I was still working the whole thing out myself, but I gave my mother realization and she felt the vibrations as a cool breeze.

She went to the synagogue the next Saturday, as she always did. At a certain point in the service the scrolls of the law would be taken out. They are kept in a beautifully decorated altar, which we call the Ark, and this is a replica of the place where the ten commandments were kept after they were given by Moses on Mount Sinai. The scrolls are all parchment and beautifully written and decorated, by hand. In Judaism we have traditions which are in many ways parallel to those of Hinduism.

As soon as they opened the Ark, my mother said she couldn't believe it. She felt a cool breeze pouring out of the Ark. The rest of the people in the synagogue had no idea of this. As soon as the Sabbath was finished and she could use the phone, she phoned me and said:
"The most extraordinary thing happened to me today. I went to the synagogue, and when they opened the Ark, I felt the same cool breeze pouring out of it as I felt when you gave me realization. Now I know that this is right."

Sadly she died in 1987. Before that, although she was always a firm follower of Judaism, she came to accept Christ and understood about Shri Mataji and the great gift she has brought to the world. Shri Mataji came to stay in our house and my father, a deeply learned and religious Jew, also had profound respect for and understanding of Shri Mataji. (R.H.)

Here we see how all the problems between the religions could be resolved if their followers could understand them as being different flowers of the same tree of universal wisdom. What is vital is that we can all evolve to gain our Self Realization, so we can actually experience the truths which the great personalities of the past have come on earth to reveal to us The writer, like his family, is learned in the Torah and Caballah, and sees Sahaja Yoga as a fulfillment of this wisdom.

The Miracles of Sahaja Yoga

Main Article: Oleg Florov's Geocities Website Archive

How does one define a miracle? If one considers it to be an event or occurrence which does not follow the normally accepted laws of nature, then Sahaja Yoga is a miracle. But if one thinks about it, many things which we accept as normal would have been considered not just miracles but impossible not so long ago.

In the recent past humanity has made enormous strides in the worlds of science and technology, in other words many 'miracles' have ceased to be miracles in the material world. Imagine talking to someone in 1900 and trying to explain the technology behind a CNN global news broadcast, the Internet, mobile phones, - all the conveniences of life we take for granted. Great grandpa would have thought you were living in a complete fantasy world!

Clearly, the experience of the cool breeze mentioned in the previous chapter, is not as yet a common experience to humanity, so could at present be defined as a miracle. But that is only the beginning of the story of this new awarenesss, miraculously existing within all of us if we choose to seek and find it. It is the first sign of Self Realization.

Self Realization occurs when what in the Indian tradition is called the Kundalini awakens from its dormant state in the sacrum bone, and rises through six chakras or subtle centres within each of us. It reaches the top chakra, called the Sahasrara, which is at the top of the head, and union of the individual takes place with the all pervading power of the divine, the collective unconscious at the basis of all creation. This experience is felt on the gross nervous system as a cool breeze.One feels peace and inner joy at the same time, and the thought process settles down.

After that, one needs to settle into this new awareness and learn how to use it to grow inwardly and in every way. It is the greatest blessing we as humans can receive, and obviously it is a gift. Then many other experiences start to occur which can also be defined as miracles. Some have been noted in the page entitled Experiences of Sahaja Yoga. Others are below and a book is being prepared for publication of hundreds more.

L.T lives and works in of South Africa.This her story:

It has been almost eight years now since I received my realisation by the Grace of Her Holiness Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi. Looking back it is incredible to me to see where I was picked up from and how my life has changed so dramatically. As with many seekers, my seeking took me to drugs and alcohol, desperately seeking for a heightened consciousness and awareness. I had smoked dope in copious amounts for seven years, combined with large volumes of alcohol and packets of cigarettes and then moved onto more chemical drugs such as cocaine and LSD.

One night in Cape Town, going through yet another emotional roller coaster ride, I asked for my Self Realization, from a friend of mine who had received her own Self Realization just two weeks before. I was amazed to see the joyful change in her. There were no blinding lights, or even feelings of vibrations - hot or cold; no dramatic experience, but a gentle, warm feeling of having arrived home. And somehow deep down inside I knew that something very special had happened to me, a real treasure to hold onto.

The most incredible thing happened to me, which just shows the tremendous power of the Kundalini… the desire to drink, smoke cigarettes and take drugs completely fell away, and I literally stopped overnight, all of it!!! I started practising Sahaja Yoga from that day on until the present day. It continues to be a beautiful journey and I am ever grateful to Shri Mataji for having blessed with Her unbounding love.

In October 1982, Shri Mataji was visiting Bedford, England, where She spoke at a public program. Her photograph had appeared in an advertisement in the local newspaper, the "Bedfordshire Journal," earlier in the day. While Shri Mataji was speaking at the program, a road accident took place some distance away from the hall, in which a young man, Jason, was injured. Only a day or two later did he recognize the photograph in the newspaper as the lady who had come to his aid, as Journal reporter Ross Francis related under the front page headline, "GURU AND THE 'MIRACLE BOY.'

Jason was not "seeing things," according to the man who is arranging the present whistle stop tour for the lady Guru. He said it was quite probable that Jason had seen a "mystical vision" of the Shri Mataji.
He said there were many cases known to the movement of people who had witnessed the vision of the woman who, it is claimed, can cure serious illnesses by the touch of her hands.

"It's quite possible Jason had such an experience connected with this lady. Strange things have happened that just can't be explained rationally. I don't discount what he says at all."

Jason came off his motor scooter after colliding with a car in Cauldwell Street, Bedford, last Thursday at 9:15 pm. He had finished work for the evening and was riding home. At the same time, Shri Mataji was at a meeting in the Guildhouse, Harpur Street. She didn't leave until 11pm.

Jason said, "I was just laying in the road in pain. People were standing about saying, 'Don't touch him - he may have broken his back.' Then I was aware of this Indian lady over me. She said, 'Do you have faith in me?' I said, 'Yes.' She put her hands on my head, my shoulders, my arm and my body. As She took Her hands away from each spot, the pain just vanished. I thought I had broken my arm, but she said I hadn't."

He didn't see the lady after that and minutes later was taken to hospital in an ambulance. Bruised and shaken, he was allowed home later in the evening after his worried parents called to see him.

Two motorists concerned in the accident said they had remained at the spot until Jason was put into the ambulance. Neither had seen the lady. The ambulance crew which took Jason to hospital and police officers who attended the crash also said they had not seen her.

The couple with whom Shri Mataji was staying after the program and who drove Shri Mataji home said that her car had not stopped and no one had got out to help at any accident. But when told of the strange events this week, Shri Mataji said, "It's marvellous to think such occurrences are happening in this country and it is a blessing."

Jason's mother said, "I would like to meet that woman to thank her for whatever happened. It is like a miracle."
And the final word from Jason, "I definitely saw this woman and She helped me. There was only one spot She didn't touch, my lower back, and that is still hurting."

B. B. of New Zealand has some points to add about this story.

'During the 1983 tour of America, Shri Mataji, while She was in Los Angeles, did a radio interview. We were waiting with Shri Mataji for the studio to become clear. This was shortly after the incident which happened in England, the so-called "Bedford Boy," who had had an accident on his motor bike and when he was taken to hospital he told the doctor of this strange thing that had happened with him, how while he was lying there, this Mercedes had come up and stopped nearby. And this lady in a long white dress had come out and smiled at him, come to him, and passed her hand over him and had left him and had gone back into her Mercedes and driven off.

"Yes, that is a very interesting story. The reporter is somewhere. You should tell him," the doctor had said. The boy told the reporter and the reporter had reported this incident, which had had a number of sequels.

"Oh, that was the lady," said the boy when he saw the piture of shri Mataji in the local paper. "That was the lady who came to me when I had my accident." The doctors were amazed that very little damage had been done to him. The other interesting thing was that this accident had happened while Shri Mataji had been delivering a public program at the Bedford Town Hall.
In LA, Shri Mataji was talking about this incident, and a Sahaja Yogi asked Her:

"Shri Mataji, were you conscious of that? Were You conscious of being with that boy at the accident?"

"It's like this," Shri Mataji answered something like this, "the Divine is always transmitting. The message is always going out from the Divine. Whether it is picked up or not depends on the quality of the receiver. If the receiver is good, then the divine message is picked up."

Now presumably the boy in Bedford was a good receiver.'

L. .W. corroborates.

'I was at that Bedford program, except that because my baby son was crying, I had to take him out and sit in the back of my car with him, so as not to disturb the programme. Shri Mataji's car was near mine in the car park, just outside the main and only door into the Town Hall.

Believe me, no one came in or out of the Town Hall while the program was on. I know because I was sitting there wishing I could go inside, except with a fractious child I couldn't. So I was watching the door intently all the way through, waiting for Mother to come out when She had finished the program. She finally did, at about ten o'clock, accompanied by the other Sahaja Yogis. The Bedford boy incident had happened much earlier in the evening.'

C. N. and K.McH. tell the following story about how Shri Mataji resolved a serious ecological problem.

In 1992 Shri Mataji was staying in Cairns, Australia. The Cairns Sahaja Yogis told Shri Mataji about the problems that were occurring in the area of Queensland in northeastern Australia. One of these was the crown of thorns starfish, normally living in manageable numbers on the Great Barrier Reef. They have a body about the size of a dinner plate, ten arms that come out from the body and are all covered in thorns, hence the name. They live on live coral and over about twenty years their numbers had grown to plague proportions. They moved like a swarm over coral and ate it and they left the bones of the coral. The scientists were worried that the Great Barrier Reef would die. The Sahaja Yogis told Mother and She went out in a glass-bottomed boat to see them. She put the starfish into bandhan and said it was in Her attention.

Shri Mataji put these things into bandhan. She said that Queensland has a problem because there is so much corruption there in the society, the government and the police force that they will have plagues.

After Sydney Shri Mataji then flew on to New Zealand. And on the way back from New Zealand someone from the Perth collective was sitting next to Her. She wanted to watch the news on the internal flight video. The first item was that tens of thousands of crown of thorns starfish had been found floating dead off the Great Barrier Reef. The scientists couldn't understand what had happened but looked into the thing and they found that the proportion of crown of thorns starfish had gone back to the pre-plague proportions. This all happened about twelve days after She had been there and put Her attention on it.

So just what is this cool breeze?

Main Article: Oleg Florov's Geocities Website Archive

It is time for an explanation! Some of this might be quite a lot to digest and accept initially, but read on, and you too might feel it.

In this first personal report, Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi is conducting an introductory programme of Sahaja Yoga, to give Self Realization. The newcomers are told they have this experience when they feel a cool breeze coming from their own bodies. Sahaja Yoga is extremely simple. The first stage is to get Self Realization.

In many scriptures this experience is reported as being accompanied by a wind, or coolness, for example the wind of the Holy spirit in the Christian bible, or the 'sali lam' or cool wind which accompanies the awakening of Kundalini, necessary to attain 'moksha', or realisation of the self as spirit, in the Hindu tradition. It is interesting that in many languages, the word for Holy Spirit, or Adi Shakti as it is in Sanskrit, is a feminine noun. Christ used an Aramaic word which was feminine, and in Islam, the word is feminine: 'ruh'. In at least two African languages, Zulu and Xhosa, the word for Holy Spirit and cool wind are the same: imoyo.

'My family and I live in Sydney, Australia. I was never what is termed a seeker. My brother was always looking for something, and said he would tell us once he found it. One memorable day, in the early 1980's, I was seated in front of the television watching a football game, when my brother came home and said the most incredible thing had happened.

He had just met an Indian lady called Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi and had received his Self Realization. He told me he had spent the day with her and a group of people and he had felt an incredible cool wind coming from her body, when he put his hands in her direction.' (C. K.)

In this account, a young man reports feeling this coolness coming from Shri Mataji herself. Shri Mataji is an extremely powerful spiritual personality, and as she has said on many occasions, she has come on this earth to give en masse Self Realization to all those who are sincerely seeking inner fulfillment. She explains that this coolness is a very subtle form of vibrations, and it is felt as a cool wind or breeze. As she is the one who has opened the way to this en masse awakening for all the rest of us, it is hardly surprising that even her body radiates this coolness very powerfully.

'I got my Self Realization in August 1979. The first strong experience was when Shri Mataji invited some of us to her flat in London a little later. Before getting my realization, I had been experimenting with different forms of consciousness, and seeking for something, but unfortunately it had caused me to have all these voices going on in my head all the time in those days.

Shri Mataji got me to put my left hand towards her and the right hand towards a candle flame. After some minutes all the voices in my head stopped and a cool breeze just came blowing into my forehead. It was a lot easier to be experience inner peace and inner stillness after that.

Some months later, a woman and her brother brought a sixteen year old boy who had cancer to Shri Mataji's house in Brompton Square, London. I was doing some decorative work, maybe painting or wallpapering, in the same room where Shri Mataji was curing this boy.

He was so weak, he couldn't even sit up. She had him lying down. She called me over to help as well.
"What do you feel?" She said. I felt incredible heat coming from him. Shri Mataji gave him healing vibrations on his Nabhi chakra, at the level of his waist. I was feeling it all and, maybe after twenty minutes or so, it was just blowing cool. I saw and felt Shri Mataji cure this boy of cancer. What a tremendous experience. After being almost carried in, he walked out, full of energy.' (J.W.)

This young man had some sort of imbalance, and when he is cured he feels this same coolness. He gives a short account of how he is healed, which anyone who practises Sahaja Yoga quickly learns about. The same man is involved in helping to cure someone, and whereas when the boy is clearly ill he feels heat coming from him, once he is better he feels coolness radiating from his body. In any system heat indicates friction and often a problem. Once a person has Self Realisation he or she can become sensitive to this subtle heat or coolness, and can also learn how to direct these subtle vibrations to help heal people of diseases.

'I was at a public meeting in about 1978, in London. I had been coming to Sahaja Yoga for a few months and a Sahaja Yogi gave me vibrations, particularly on my Agnya, (forehead). All of a sudden, I began to feel a tremendous cool breeze flowing.

In those days, Shri Mataji used to come by and talk to each one of us.
"Are you feeling the cool breeze?" She asked.
"Yes," I replied.

Then she told me to put one hand towards her and one hand towards a long-haired person who was next to me. The hand towards Shri Mataji felt this fantastic cool breeze, whereas the one towards this guy felt tremendous heat. As I was doing that, this man, a complete stranger, turned around to me and for no apparent reason said something like he didn't like me at all. It was the first time I had felt the difference between the cool and the heat.' (B.K.)

This writer, an aerospace engineer from Singapore and now settled in America, also shows how the cool breeze indicates positivity whereas heat indicates some problem.

'My mother went to an introductory programme of Sahaja Yoga and received her Self Realisation. She came home with a photo she had been given of Shri Mataji, the lady who started Sahaja Yoga.

My mother showed me the photo and two extraordinary things happened. Firstly, for no apparent reason, I smelled a very strong and beautiful aroma of roses, and then I felt a cool breeze coming from the photograph. The following week I went along to the Sahaja Yoga programme too.' (R.I.)

This young woman, who comes from Italy, feels the coolness coming from a photograph of Shri Mataji. We find by experience that photographs of Shri Mataji, and anything She touches emits the same coolness. In a sense the matter is transformed.

Many people have been healed of serious diseases and others have gained Self Realization from the photograph of Shri Mataji, without ever meeting her. The beautiful smell of roses has been experienced by many people in the vicinity of Shri Mataji, her photo, or places where she has visited, even some time after she has left.

'My mother and I have been involved with Sahaja Yoga for many years. She never misses a chance to take me to an art gallery, but one visit stands out. We were in Milan, Italy in 1998. It was a warm day and we went to the Castello Sforzesco. We walked around for about an hour, until we reached the room which has the Rondanini Pietà by Michelangelo in it.

There were some benches, and being hot and tired, we sat down to look at the statue. We both suddenly felt a blast of cool wind, like air conditioning on full. It seemed to be coming from the direction of the statue.

"You've got strong air conditioning on in here," my mother said to the attendant.
"No, signora, there isn't any in here," he said, looking rather puzzled.
"That was a bit slow of us," laughed my mother, "after all, Michelangelo was a realised soul."' (A.W.)

The mother and daughter feel a powerful cool wind coming from a great work of art. This is a continuation of what has been written above. Because Michelangelo was a realized soul, his artworks emit good, or cool vibrations. And how does one know he was a realized soul? Because if a Sahaja Yogi puts his or her attention on him, a coolness will be felt on the palms of the hands.

The Girl from Palakol

I am an Indian girl born in a place called Palakol, Andhra Pradesh. My Parents had good devotion towards God Almighty. My father used to worship all incarnations of God mainly Lord Shiva, Lord Shri Rama, Lord Hanumana and Shri Shridi Sainatha. My mother is a good devotee of Shri Shridi Sainatha. He is a sadhguru who is an incarnation of Shri AdiGuru Dattatraya. Usually Parents ideas and their deeds influence children alot. In that way I also started worshipping Shri sainatha from my 5th class onwards i.e from the age of 9 years. I used to pray to Him in all my problems, in all my fears and also in my joy. I used to pray to Him every minute in my heart. But in my personality, I used to be afraid for everything i.e even talking with others, used to feel insecure, having so many tensions for doing any work. I couldn't share anything with any one like a closed heart fellow. One side I had very good bakthi towards God Almighty and other side I had all these qualities in me. Because of this possessed nature I used to hurt some of my friends even in my bachelor's degree. It means from 9 years to the age of 18 years, there is no change in my behaviour at all. But I still had same bakthi towards Shri Sainatha. One day one of my classmate who was practising this Yoga told about this meditation to my roommate. On that day she went and took self-realization, even she at that time couldn't understand what it is exactly. She and me used to do all things together all the time. So next day she took me to meditation center. There I saw a couple of people, who were practising this Yoga for a few years, giving self-realization to new people infront of Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi's photograph. Seeing all this I thought inside, I shouldn't pray to any other God expect Shri Saibaba, I couldn't leave Him.

This Yoga starts by giving self-realization to us. Self-realization means awakening the kundalini, which is the purest form of feminine Divine energy, which resides at sacrumbone in all the humanbeings. In the previous days all the saints used to do great tapsya(called meditation) for so many years for getting this self-realization. But Shri Mataji made this experience possible for everyone through the technique of SahajaYoga. Shri Mataji made it very simple in such a way that within minutes we will get this self-realization by using Her Photograph or in Presence of Her. When Kundalini raises we feel cool breeze called vibrations on top of our head and on our palms.

So those people tried alot to help me in getting these vibrations. But I was with only one thought inside strongly that I shouldn't worship any other God. With that thought I didn't practise this Yoga until six months after I got self-realization. After six months one fine day me and my roommate went to picnic with all my classmates near to a sea shore. On that day I hurt again my roommate without understanding other's feelings, without understanding how much love she is giving to me. I was like that all the time in my own world. So she didn't talk to me. It made me worried alot. When we were returning from the picnic since my roommate was not talking to me I went sadly and sat near other friend. I think time came for me at that time to realiaze completely about Sahaja Yoga. I sat unknowingly near the friend, who was practising this yoga. He was talking something and suddenly he started telling about this meditation. I asked him I wanted to learn this meditation with a thought that I should become good. My roommate was leaving to her place next day I thought inside before she comes back I should learn this meditation and I should become good before she comes back.
So my classmate took me this meditaion center after a couple of days. Before he took me to this center, I was reading Shri Sainatha life story and thinking even I was doing all these things why is my behavior was not changing? Why I still worried for all the small things. Why couldn't I give happiness to others???????? So many questions started.

When he took me to meditation center this time I felt as if Shri Sainatha showed me this path to free from all my worries. I started practising this Yoga twice a day for 15 to 20 mins. daily even I didn't understand what it is completely at that time. After 10 or 15 days I started feeling this cool breeze. I felt some curing was going in my subtle body. My heart was becoming light and joyful. I felt I was relived from all my tensions and fears. I felt my health also becoming very good, I observed that I was not taking any medicine also. I realized Who Shri Mataji is. Then I didn't felt that I left Shri Sainatha.
This Kundalini energy rises from the sacrum bone through the spinal column. As a result, the energy centers or chakras become energized or nourished. With the kundalini awakening I realized all the deities inside us, I realized God within us. I realized that unless we find God within us we will not get real happiness. When Kundalini passes through all these chakras, it connects us to All Pervading Power. So Sahaja Yoga means the spontaneous connection or union with the self or the spirit. This Kundalini has Motherly nature. It always protects us from all the problems and looks after us every min and every sec. In that way I was saved from so many accidents. I felt completely secured. When Kundalini cleanses all the chakras we get qualities of Divine i.e Loving nature, Forgiving nature and sharing nature. I found tremendous change in my behavior. I realized until we find God within ourselves our behaviour will not change. Now I feel God's Motherly love & compassion all the time taking care of me, protecting me and giving me real happiness all the time.

After my roommate came back from her home She also started practising this yoga and all other roommates also got realized. My parents also realized God within themselves. And all of our roommates’ families started practising Sahaja Yoga. All of our neighbors also got realized. From five years onwards we have been practicing this mediation every day and enjoying ourselves. Now thousands of people are practicing this Yoga all over the World. There is no discrimination on religion or color to practice this meditation. We worship all the incarnations of God Almighty within ourselves. Thanks alot for Shri Mataji for giving this beautiful Yoga in this horrible time of kaliyuga.
This Self-Realization is open to everyone.