Recollections of a Sahaja Yogini from North America visiting Australia for the recent Shivaratri Seminar. Quite interesting to read and mull over. The Australians have set very high standards in the practice of Sahaja Yoga, leaving us straggling behind in almost all departments. But is makes us happy to see what heights can be achieved in Sahaja Yoga...
Photos are from the Australian Website Featuring News, Photos and Videos:
http://www.sahajayoga.com.au/shrimataji2006/
- Ed.I was sitting on the earth, propped against the bald trunk of a gum tree, relishing the last forkfuls of chicken curry on my plate. I gazed around me, soaking up the sights and sounds of Balmoral, the land owned by the Australian Sahaja yogis and used for their collective gatherings - the Australian Canajoharie.
Spiraling swirls of white streaked the dazzling blue sky, as if a great primordial Kundalini had awakened and was dancing above. Girded with red plastic swimming tubes, children ran a bee line from the grassy banks of the pond straight into the cool of the water, letting out shrieks of joy as the water splashed their faces.
The havan fire had burned down to a red glow. A few yogis were standing in a semi circle around the hearth, warming their left sides.
From all over the Australian continent and from across the mighty seas, hundreds and hundreds of yogis had come here to Balmoral to cleanse themselves in preparation for the Shivaratri Puja which would take place on Sunday.
“Australians look like Americans,” I thought. From a distance it would be impossible to tell one nationality from the other, but up close you begin to notice the openness in the Australian face, the easiness of his smile, and the absence of something else, something that we see on so many faces in the US. What could it be? Wariness? Defensiveness? The need to hide and protect oneself?
“I’ve come half way around the world and I feel completely at home,” I thought. From the minute I stepped off the plane, the Australians were looking after me as if I were a member of the family. Upon my arrival Balmoral, two Australian yoginis had guided me to the ladies’ tent and picked out a comfortable spot for me to stretch out my sleeping bag.
“Here in this corner it will be quite. You’ll be out of the flow of traffic,” said the older of the two, patting the ground to show me where to put down my things.
“Let me share my plastic sheeting with you – it will help protect your sleeping bag from the dampness of the morning dew,” said the second yogini. Balancing a golden haired two-year-old on her left hip, she unfolded the clear plastic and spread it out on the ground in front of me.
“Australians are so easy to talk to,” I thought. Whether you’re queuing up for morning chai, brushing your teeth over the sink in the ladies’ washroom or sitting cross legged on the carpeted floor of the pendal waiting for the entertainment program to begin, before you know it you’re swept into a heart to heart chat with the person next to you. It’s as if you had known each other for years and years.
The Australians show us how we can be as a collective, how we will be when our numbers increase, when more and more of us dedicate ourselves to Shri Mataji’s vision.
Earlier in the week, I had attended a havan in one of the ashrams in Sydney. That havan was unlike any I have ever attended for it began as a puja with children offering flowers to the photo of Shri Mataji’s lotus feet. Later, after the last fruit had been offered to the havan flames, the children once again gathered in front of Shri Mataji’s photo with wands of incense. Swaying gently, they led the collective in Aarti. Saba Ko Dua Dena. Mother, give blessings to all.
On Wednesday night I had attended a local program held in the home of a Sahaj couple in a suburb north of Sydney. Just about any week day evening one can find a Sahaj program to attend in the Sydney area. And on Saturday evening the entire Sydney collective meets for collective meditation and bhajans in the Sahaj-owned Pre School building right next to Shri Mataji’s residence.
At the local program, the evening began with foot soaking. There were foot soaking basins, water pitchers, vibrated salt and towels on hand for all the ten people – brand new seekers, newish yogis and established yogis – attending the program. After foot soaking, we exchanged vibrations. Everyone had a chance to be worked on as well as a chance to work on someone else. Candles were on hand for us to use if we encountered a particularly stubborn left sided catch.
With our attention settled we were ready to enjoy and absorb the vibrations emanating from the video of Shri Mataji’s 1991 Shivaratri Puja talk about the four nadis of the heart. A long, silent meditation followed the video. The program ended on a sweet note with tea and homemade cakes.
As a collective, the Sydney yogis resemble a community of bees, always busy with some Sahaj-related project. One of their most innovative and successful endeavors is a catering enterprise that has helped to finance the extensive renovations to the Balmoral property and to the Burwood residence recently completed in preparation for Shri Mataji’s visit and the upcoming puja.
Appropriately named “Spontaneous Catering”, the business is operated by yogi volunteers of all ages and talents – some are cooks, some are waiters, others are drivers, advertising coordinators, bookkeepers, customer service reps. Spontaneous Caterers prepare sumptuous, elegantly presented meals (vibrated feasts would be a more accurate term) for special events such as conferences and award dinners. Their patrons are professional groups looking for fabulous food and flawless service at a reasonable price.
Another project that is still in the conceptual stage involves the addition of Sahaja Yoga Meditation to a special school curriculum for students who have been suspended from regular classes. Rather than punish parents and reward children by sending home those children who have been acting out in school, one school district in Sydney is developing a separate in-school program for the “suspended” children. A yogini who works in the district has approached the school administrators with the idea of including meditation as part of the special curriculum. So far her proposal has been received with keen interest.
Yet with all their projects, the Australian yogis still find time to be gracious hosts to their Sahaj guests from other countries. With open arms, they await the arrival of their brothers and sisters who will be joining them to celebrate the momentous blessing of Shri Mataji’s birth. They are giving bandhans that many yogis from the US will be able to come to Sydney.
They asked me to encourage all of you to please join them as they offer puja to Shri Mataji on the most auspicious occasion of Her eighty-third birthday.
Jai Shri Mataji!
