We encourage everyone who has had an experience in Sahaja Yoga to share it with us by sending us email, although due to space limitations, it will not be possible to publish them all. The identities of all contributors will be protected.

Table of Contents

• I thank Life for leading me to this path  by V.L.


• Incredible surge in my spine, third eye and crown  by C.C.


• Rising above suicide: "believe me, Sahaja Yoga works!"  by E.


• Never felt this good after doing other techniques like Reiki, ...  by D.K.


• A beginner's impressions  by B.M.


• I would have probably died by now  by D.M.


• Healing back problems through vibrations  by P.R., D.D.S., New York


• Hope and joy became a part of my life again  by S.R.


• A sense of peace like never before  by S.S.


• From drug abuse to purity and social integration  by C.J.


• Deep feeling like it was all I ever wanted  by A.B., Florida


• What has Sahaja Yoga done for me ?  by V.Z.


• From drugs and darkness to light: a story  by E.S.


• How Sahaja Yoga has transformed me  by C.V.


• Meditating at work  by J.R.


• After only two months of Sahaja Yoga  by V.Y., Aruba


• My experience with Sahaja Yoga  by J.W.


• Gnosis And Yoga: A personal experience  by M.M., Washington

i find people such as leonardo da vinci, einstein and isaac newton a few of my most inspiring influences because of their Love for the universe and its secrets, and now Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi...

apart from these men, i have never come closer to anyone who has had the same beliefs and purposes as i have. i admit i have a long road to travel, but nothing can stop a real dream. my whole life i have been searching for Divine Truth and Divine Knowledge, amongst these people and my dreams, i believe i have found my release...

i thank Life for leading me to this path..... i will be glad to recieve any new information from you, and i will be visiting the nearest centre closest to me for inspiration.

yours truly
v.

I have taken some phone numbers from your website directory and will phone them tomorrow. I must get involved with this work. Thanks, C. C.

After my attempt I was sent on holiday, then to a therapist, then on a yoga course with a 'yoga specialist', all kinds of things to make me forget and get the taste for life back. But I did not.

Until I got my Realization: I knew that this was worth living for. At first I felt for a while a pain on my left heart and had to ask forgiveness to my Spirit for trying to extinguish the life given to me by God. The black ideas receded little by little, and it took a few years for them to disappear completely. But soon after Realization I decided I would not try again.

So I owe my life to Shri Mataji and Sahaja Yoga: without them I would be only a skeleton since ages! Depressive thoughts enter my mind once in a while but never like before. The insidious cancer of suicidal desires has completely gone.

I am sure that some of you reading this have had such thoughts: believe me, Sahaja Yoga works!

E., 49 years old

Thank you very very much for initiation into sahaja yoga. This person was initiated into Sahaj Yoga 15 days back in Delhi center at the Safdarjang enclave.

Felt very good and did actually feel cool vibration in the hand, over the head and sometimes in back areas also. Never felt this good after doing other techniques like Reiki, Magnified healing, spiritual healing, meditations.

Thank you very much.

Then obviously all the cigarettes, 2 packs a day, marijuana, extasy and lsd...all that during ten years, I was living in hell... Trying to get out of all that situation; but the more I tried, the more I would go back in, it was a nightmare.

My first step out was with AA, which I started same time as Sahaja Yoga, but then I realized very soon that Sahaja Yoga was absolutely helping me on a "real" level. I could feel all my chakras, where all the harm had been done and how easy it was to cure it.

S.Y. is a very simple, loving way to help anyone from any problem, thank you Shri Mataji.

I am amazed at the work you have been doing with Sahaja Yoga. I only wish I had come to know about it before I had my back (L5-S1) surgery. But I am so glad I have found it and have been a practicing Sahaja Yogi of the last 13 months. I do not need my Asthma medications as well as any pain medications even though I still have bulging L4-L5 and herniated discs C3, 4 and 5. My physician is amazed at my movement in all related parts.

In addition, my general health and energy increased tremendously. Hope and joy became a part of my life again, I hadn't really known that they were missing until I felt them again.

Sure, I get out of balance occasionally but now I have to tools to correct myself. They are simple and easy. If you are at all interested in connecting with your True Spirit, discovering your potential or understanding your connection with the universe I urge you to experiment with Sahaja Yoga so that you may become your own guru. The rewards are priceless.

I have recently joined Sahaja Yoga and I am enjoying the experience. Before I joined I had so many problems, however as I grow in knowledge and experience I have experienced a sense of peace like never before. Thank you for being here and for the help you send us all.

For the past three and a half years, I've been using the techniques of Sahaja Yoga to cleanse my inner vision. I now have a genuine interest in learning and participating in society and bettering American culture. The turning point for me was about six months after I began practicing Sahaja Yoga and started to see the minute changes that were occurring. I saw Shri Mataji speak at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in Manhattan in the summer of '96. From then on, I gradually and spontaneously gave up on drug abuse and many other issues which have attacked my life.

The older people in Sahaja Yoga have seen the changes in me too. When I walk into a room full of yogis, I feel welcomed, not paranoid. When I spend time with other yogis, I feel like family to them, not a stranger. I look forward to spending time with my parents, not dreading it. I feel enlightened now and remain proud of that knowledge. I feel like a vital part of the human race. I wake up in the morning and am ready to enjoy another day and am finally a pleasant person to spend time with!

What I said was that I am going to stick with Sahaja Yoga. What I practiced before never gave me any results. Now with Sahaja Yoga I think I have made a connection. I start talking to the Kundalini energy like to my dear friend and telling it to go up my spine and sit at the crown of my head, then after a while I felt a deep feeling for self realization like it was all I ever wanted, then I felt like the whole Earth was within my self. I move my left hand to the top of my head and feel something cold running inside of my hand. It could be the Kundalini showing herself ? [...]

From the God of my Self I am.......Light, Love and Peace.

The amazing thing about Sahaja Yoga is that it proves what it sets forth. There is no blind acceptance of a set of beliefs or techniques; there is a mechanism, the existence and effects of which are verifiable on our central nervous system. This mechanism is applicable to all fields of life, and on every level - mental, emotional, physical, etc. Whenever one is in doubt or questions the best course of action, one has simply to ask one's enlightened nervous system and the answer manifests itself ( as a cool breeze or heat on the hands and on the top of the head). And as the basis of this system exists in every human being, it functions in a collective way - as we help ourselves, so can we help others, by using this "subtle knowledge" for human benevolence.

Gross level problems like insomnia and allergies were quickly resolved after I started Sahaja Yoga meditation. They became insignificant as I saw more subtle changes in my life - I became more balanced emotionally and psychologically, relationships became based on innocence rather than eternally "hunting" for the perfect mate, I started to enjoy the present moment rather than racing to the future or dwelling on the past. Every day provides examples of situations which would have either troubled, annoyed, or stymied me before, but for which I now have the capacity to handle in an appropriate way. I feel extremely fortunate to have Sahaja Yoga as a vital part of my life.

I was born into a large family in a city in Canada. My parents were then chronik alcoholics and most of my memories, which reach back as far as my third year, are dark and fearful. Myself and two younger brothers were raised mostly by our older sisters. Our parents often fought. When my father left the family he was replaced by a man who I deeply feared as he treated us harshly and sometimes beat my mother. Twice, as a small child, I badly broke my right elbow. The second break was so severe that I almost lost my arm. My mother was not there that time to comfort me as she was being kept in a mental hospital, withdrawing from alcohol addiction.

Throughout my early school years I used to pray from my heart that I could live without fearing people. I was always drawn into the company of trouble-makers and began stealing at the age of seven.

When I was fourteen, my father, who had returned to us for five joyful and prosperous years, began drinking again and divoriced my mother. This is when my indulgence into alcohol and drugs, including cokaine and LSD, began. I was just fifteen years old when I took a massive over-dose of LSD and went temporarily insane; I would say, became possessed. For two weeks after this hellish experience I was in a dream-like depression. My personality changed and I often went out on weekends with bizzare clothes and painted face. Eight months after this fall I stumbled into another self�destructive trap: I was seduced into a cunning organisation that brain-washes its members, taking their money and destroying their mental and physical health. It was called Transcendental Meditation.

In the following eight years I became more and more tangled in self�doubt and anti�social sentiments. I lacked all normal motivation for pursuing a productive life. I sought escape from my numbness and frustration in drugs, alcohol and parties. I was always watched carefully by the police because of my illegal activities, and lived in fear of them. I could not relate to normal, productive adults and saw them as strange and frivilous. I spent my time with younger people who admired my wild lifestyle. I reached the age of twenty� four with no professional qualifications; no position in society; no confidence; and little hope of fulfilling the countless desires which haunted me. I desperately wanted to know myself; to feel the joy and love of nature which sometimes overwhelmed me in my child-hood. But I found only noise and heaviness within.

One morning a friend of mine came over. I thought he wanted to buy some drugs but he said he had found something important. I knew him as a dull and lethargic person but now his eyes were shining with enthusiasm and delight. He asked if I would come to meet some special people. I insisted that Sunday is the best day to party and that I wanted to get drunk and go to the beach. At his insistence I agreed to attend a meeting on the following Tuesday. I was then completely unaware that it would become the single most precious day of my life.

The experience which I had during that first real meditation was quite vague. I had just begun to become aware of just how much I had ruined my delicate nervous�system. Gradually, as the days and weeks passed, I was realising that my fears and habits were fading away. The urge for intoxication was loosing its hold on me. A definite peace and clarity was growing inside of me. I moved away from my circle of crazy friends and a lifestyle which felt like deadweight over me. Small changes in my health came to my attention. After many years of suffering from painful hemmorhoids, this problem disappeared. My hair suddenly stopped falling out and later grew in again. Psycologically I became more secure. Nightmares about losing my eyesight and being possessed by demons did not come anymore. I slept deeply and awoke fresh. Even my eyesight improved, to a level above normal ( 105% ).

My parents were deeply impressed, especially when I had my beard and long hair cut and started wearing attractive clothes. The subtle, cool, pure vibrations which I began to feel and direct for my own better-ment and that of others, had a noticable effect on many. My mother suffered from emotional depression and even relapsed into alcohol and drug use. For nine months I did not see her, but often applied myself to directing these purifying vibrations to her. When I contacted her again she was like a new person. For the first time in about ten years she was rising early from bed each day, and even had a job caring for small children.

Another person who was astonished to see this change in me was a police detective who had watched me for many years in my home municipality. I happened to meet him one day, and he just congratulated me again and again. I think it gave him great hope.

By chance, or by divine intervention, my first fulltime job was a position with the city police department as a community�worker in an anti-theft campaign. I continued with similar work until, perhaps again through divine intervention, I married and moved to Vienna where my dreams to become a successful artist have been fulfilled.

In these few years I have met countless individuals from all walks of life � from London to Calcutta and from Moscow to Los Angeles � who have lived this miraculous metamorphisis and are using this natural power to transform others. It is my sincerest desire that anyone who reads these words will not judge the message mentally but will make an honest, scientific investigation into the historic subject which now faces them. If their desire is pure and their determination for revealing the truth is undaunted, I have no doubt that they will also achieve this magnificent inner-awakening which is dawning to the human-race.

I was 45 years old then, the mother of 3 grown children, divorced and living in New York City where my job in minority business development had taken me. Trained by a father who was a government civil servant and a mother who was a political, community development volunteer, they left no doubt in my mind that I was supposed to help save the world. Yet, the world was getting worse and my close proximity to political and community leaders led me to the conviction that I had met the enemy and it was us! Unless we human beings rose to a higher level so we could define the problems with a new and better perspective, our so-called "solutions" would continue to fail. At this life junction I began trying to transform myself with greater intensity during all my non-working hours. I tried Re-evaluation Counseling, Tai Chi, Kriya Yoga and marijuana - all of which soon ceased to be helpful in giving me permanent change. I was also suffering deep depression from divorce, feeling distant from my children and having long, unhappy relationships in search of a new husband. My state of being swung like a pendulum between feeling very elated and energized - to long periods of crying and lethargy, wanting only to be a recluse.

Immediately upon beginning the practice of Sahaja Yoga, my optimism was restored. At last I had found a method of self-transformation that actually worked! My daily meditations produced small, subtle improvements immediately. Both large and small emotional upsets began to subside inside me - even though nothing outside had actually changed. I continued to work in a high stress environment (which was by now in banking) where both customers and employees are most often upset. When I became upset, Sahaja Yoga had taught me how to immediately put myself back into balance. Equally profound was the impact that my restored balance had on the people around me! Their stress and upset also began to subside. I began to realize I didn't have to say or do anything but if I could simply feel positive and project compassion into a meeting, or on the subway, or in any group situation, the reactions of those around me quickly became more positive. This positive energy was even more contagious than negativity.

After 2 years of the subtle clearing that comes with the daily practice of Sahaja Yoga meditation, I remember reaching a milestone. I could verify the truth that it is possible to keep oneself in a steady state of joy and inner peace. Even though I continued to live and work in stressful environments, now when anger, fear or depression tried to "swamp" my continence it no longer succeeded My departures into the left side (too much emotion) or the right side (too much thinking or action) were happening less and less. Sahaja Yoga had given me the "steering wheel", the "brakes", and the power system to get myself back into the center.

In a continuing test as to the truth of Sahaja Yoga methodology, at age 60, I married a 62-year old Ukrainian man who is also practicing Sahaja Yoga. At first it was clear that the "cold war" was not over. We struggled with our opposing conditionings about many issues, but especially those that are 360 degrees opposite of each other, such as the differences in attitudes about authority. Had we not been able to witness some of our own fanatical reactions, and introspect about our lack of ability to forgive and forget, this marriage would have lasted only a few months. What a miracle in human achievement. What a revolutionary discovery for bringing about true world peace. For if peace is going to be genuine, then first it has to happen within our own hearts, then in our own families and finally it can happen within the community.

The founder and teacher of Sahaja Yoga, Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi, recently received honorary membership into the Petrovskya Academy of Science and Art in St. Petersburg, Russia. As the academy's president handed Shri Mataji the award, he told the audience that this same award was also given to Albert Einstein. "Shri Mataji's work is even greater," he said, "because Albert Einstein worked in dead matter. Shri Mataji gives peace to all mankind."

My work environment is very stressful and sometimes I feel that everyone I work with is from another world. But after a brief meditation, I am able to carry on and soon remember that what is going on around me, is not me, but just the drama for me to witness.

I used to get home exhausted and needed to sleep for 30 minutes straight after dinner. Now most evenings, I have enough energy to spend time with my family as well as time out for a very much needed "foot soak".

Yoga is potentially a means to Gnostic wisdom.

Well put. I have been practicing Sahaja Yoga for the last two years and have most definitely gained knowledge through direct experience. However, it is the only yoga I know that actually provides union (yoga) with the Divine from the very first day. And via a Self Realization experience that is 100% verifiable.

In years past, a true Master of Yoga (of which there have been very few) would work on his disciple(s) chakras (energy centers) until they were cleansed and balanced. He would then give him his Realization by raising the Kundalini. The Kundalini is the residual life force left over from our creation and resides in the sacrum bone which is located at the base of the spine. This Kundalini energy is a reflection of the Primordial Mother which is the Power of God that does all the living work and creation. She is like your own individual Mother and when awakened, will heal and enlighten your chakras, your brain and fully awaken your spirit, which resides in the heart, and is a reflection of God Almighty.

In Christianity, Kundalini is known as the Holy Ghost (yes, the trinity is actually the Father, the Son and the Mother). The Father is the source of all, but is the witness. The Mother is the creative aspect of God, while the Son is the object of the creation. Hence we are all children of God.

I realize I'm digressing from the point of this newsgroup, knowledge through experience, but I would like to say just a couple of things about Sahaja Yoga before I share my own experiences, which I'm sure many of you will find hard to believe - and yet they happened!

First of all, the founder of Sahaja Yoga, Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi, has devised a method whereby seekers of truth can get their Self Realization en masse, spontaneously; meaning you don't have to do anything for it, e.g. penances, pay money, study scriptures to no end, etc. I think the following quote of Shri Mataji sums it up best:

"You cannot understand the meaning of your life until you connect with the power that created you. It's my job to help human beings make that connection - then they will do the rest."

And now for my own experiences.

It all started by a very earnest prayer to God for a change in my life. I had been seeking and studying religion, philosophy and metaphysics, but nothing seemed to "stick" and really make a noticeable change in lifestyle or behavior.

The very next day I saw a posting on the Internet that Shri Mataji was coming to Seattle to talk about Self Realization and meditation. I guess seeing this posting the very next day was the first of many "coincidences" that I would experience over the next few months.

Shri Mataji gave Self Realization that night in a process that took about 10 minutes. As usually only a few strands of the Kundalini actually make it through all the (usually clogged) chakras, the experience for most people is somewhat subtle or maybe even non-existant. For those that do experience Kundalini awakening, you can feel a cool breeze on top of the head just above the fontanale bone or on the hands. Sometimes it is hot, especially if the chakras are damaged. The chakras (means wheels in sanskrit) start to spin off negativity once they have been pierced by the Kundalini. This feeling of the cool breeze is what Christ meant when he said first you must be born of the water (womb) and then of the wind (Self Realization).

In my case, I felt intermittent cool breeze and hot. Shri Mataji also said our shoulders may hurt if we are feeling guilty (a catch of the Vishudhi, or throat chakra). Well, as I left the hall, my shoulders were really aching but the soreness left after about 20 minutes. This is a typical clearout of the chakra.

I continued to meditate every day, twice a day for about 15-20 minutes as recommended. However, I wasn't really sure if I was feeling anything until about 4-5 weeks later. It is really difficult to describe, but during the meditation that night, I felt like a tornado of energy circulating on top of my head! I was overcome with a feeling of joy, satisfation and bliss like I never knew existed.

The seven chakras are also mapped via our hands, e.g. the five fingers, palm and heel of the hand. Once you start the cleansing techniques, the chakra "catches" manifest themselves as tingling on the fingertips which are then decoded so you know which chakra needs to be attended to. The causes of these catches as well as the techniques for cleansing and clearing them are taught through the Sahaja Yoga centers.

In the Koran, Mohammed Sahib said at the resurrection time (right now) the lips will be sealed and the hands will speak. It is all built in. We will judge ourselves. We will not go before God like a magistrate and plead our case.

The beautiful thing about Sahaja Yoga is it happens spontaneously, it is all built in each and every one of us, it costs absolutely nothing to do it, and other than the initial Self Realization experience, you are dependent on no one to ascend spiritually. However, I'd like to add that as you become aware of being part of the collective consciousness, you realize that the spiritual ascent is happening collectively, you just aren't dependent on what human beings do "externally" to yourself to achieve spiritual growth.

I've had some pretty amazing experiences on a physical level as well, but they are a byproduct of being connected. The first "experiment" I tried was when I had a sore throat. I circled the throat chakra seven times and held my right had there, with my left hand towards Shri Mataji's photograph. I felt a cool breeze on my left hand and heat coming from my right. After about 5 or 10 minutes, my sore throat was completely gone.

I've had a severe hay fever allergy, which I've had for 24 years clear up instantaneously using Sahaj cleansing techniques. I've had two sinus infections cleared using the cleansing techniques. In the past I had only been able to get rid of sinus infections using antibiotics. I must emphasize that Sahaja Yoga is not a health clinic, but your health improves as a byproduct of meditation and cleansing.

On a mental level, I have a clarity of thinking like never before. My performance at work is at another level. Sounds somewhat arrogant I know, but I have received so much recognition from those I work with it is almost embarassing.

Emotionally, I am practically stress free. I feel a level of joy and satisfacation like I never new existed. I am so very fortunate to have a profound spiritual experience, everyday - twice! At least.

Once you start to bring down your ego and let go your conditionings, you start to experience absolute Truth. It is our ego and our conditionings that blind us from Truth. The ego and superego (conditionings) are what medical science calls as the left and right side of the brain. We bring down the ego by forgiving others absolutely.

When Christ said, through the narrow gate you must pass to enter the kingdom of God, he was talking about the channel between our over-inflated ego and superego. Christ is the deity that looks over the agnya charka (at the optic chiasma) and by his dying on the cross for our sins or karmas, he opened the cosmic agnya chakra, and he collapses the ego and superego so the Kundalini passes upto and beyond the sahasrara chakra (limbic nerve area of the brain) so we can have our yoga with the Divine All Pervading Power.

While I have talked a little about Christ and Mohammed, the teachings in Sahaja Yoga include and respect ALL the holy scriptures. Truth is truth, nobody owns it, there is only one source of it (God), so why fight over whose truth is best?

One important thing to note, and I cannot emphasize this enough: Spiritual awakening and subsequent growth is NOT a mental process. I'm not saying don't read and study scriptures, but you will never acheive your intended purpose for being here at this auspicious time in human evolution, which is quite simply to become The Spirit, by doing anything on a physical or mental level. You can only perceive the Spirit, your true eternal Self, in a state of thoughtless awareness after the thoughts drop out and the physical sensory inputs are ignored.