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* [http://www.sahajayogafacts.org/ Sahaja Yoga Facts: Official Response from Sahaja Yoga International to False Allegations] |
* [http://www.sahajayogafacts.org/ Sahaja Yoga Facts: Official Response from Sahaja Yoga International to False Allegations] |
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* [http://www.banet.free-online.co.uk/108/english/index1/1.html Brief Overview of benefits since 5 May 1970] |
* [http://www.banet.free-online.co.uk/108/english/index1/1.html Brief Overview of benefits since 5 May 1970] |
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* [http://www.adishakti.org/ The Adishakti:Kingdom of God] |
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Revision as of 23:41, 23 October 2006
Shri Mataji Nirmala Srivastava (or Shrivastava) or Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi (born March 21, 1923 in Chindawara, India) is the founder of Sahaja Yoga.
Background
Nirmala Srivastava was born to Christian parents, Prasad and Cornelia Salve, and claims descent from the royal Shalivahana dynasty. Her parents named her Nirmala, which means "immaculate."
Nirmala Srivastava says that in her youth she stayed in the ashram of Mahatma Gandhi. Like her parents, she was involved in the Indian independence movement; as a young woman she was a youth leader, and participated in the Quit India Movement. [[1]]
Shortly before India achieved independence Nirmala married Chandrika Prasad Srivastava and had two daughters.
Nirmala Srivastava has stated that the potential for all humanity to gain spiritual self awareness was realised on May 5, 1970, which she characterizes as a "historical process of en-masse self-realization and inner transformation".
Since the 1970s Nirmala Srivastava has traveled across the world spreading Sahaja Yoga. She is the founder of Sahaja Yoga International or "Vishwa Nirmala Dharma", an organization aimed at building social projects, promoting culture through music and art, and teaching Sahaja Yoga meditation.
Activities
Nirmala Srivastava has delivered lectures around the world, given television and radio interviews, and has been the subject of newspaper articles. She has also at various occasions spoken at the Royal Albert Hall in London during conferences on Sahaja Yoga.
International honours
She was declared "Personality of the Year" in 1986 by the Italian government.[citation needed] In 1994, the Administrator of Brasilia, Brazil's capital city, who sponsored her programs, welcomed her at the airport and presented her with the key to the city. [[2]]
That year she was also an official guest of the Chinese government, was invited to speak at the Fourth International Women's Conference in Beijing[3], and was awarded an honorary doctorate in Cognitive and Parapsychological Sciences by the Ecological University Bucharest, Romania.[[4]] She was given a proclamation by the U.S. Congress in 1997.[[5]]
She has been recognized and greeted by mayors or city officials in North America, including Cincinnati, Ohio in 1992; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1993; Los Angeles, California in 1993 and 1994; British Columbia in 1994; Yonkers, New York in 1994 and 1996; Berkeley, California in 1997 and Salt Lake City, Utah in 2003. [[6]]
See also
- Sahaja Yoga
- Sahaja Yoga International (Vishwa Nirmala Dharma)
References
- Official website of Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi, founder of Sahaja Yoga
- Facts and warnings from ex-members
- Profile of Sahaja Yoga, from University of Virginia website. Includes section on both "Pro" and "anti" Sahaja Yoga websites. Not updated since 2001.