Header

Memories of our Divine Mother: 17. GIFTS FROM THE HEART 1) Meenakshi Murdoch said: Mother makes you so important When I used to go to see Mother when I was working, I used to take my own lunch and sit and eat, even though other people used to eat what was made there. And Mother said, "You must have this." But I said, "No, I am all right." Then She said, "I'll tell you what, you give me your lunchbox and you eat this food of Mine." Another thing was when I was with Mother with the [India] tour. Mother did not want to take any money from me because I was looking after Her grandchildren and helping Her. But I insisted that Mother should let me pay my way for the trip. After all, I was working and I could afford it, so I gave some rupees. Later Mother was buying some shoes at the shoe shop for Her grandchildren and She also bought me some sandals. And She said, "See, I am using your rupees now." And I used those same sandals for my marriage. Really, Mother makes you so important. Meenakshi Murdoch 2) Avdhut Pai said: I know what you want Once in Rahuri and I was seventeen and I was quite late for the lunch. They started the lunch and there was just one place on the left hand side of Shri Mataji and I had to take that place and suddenly they were serving the lunch and they were serving us chapatis without butter or without ghee. For Shri Mataji, it was with ghee. I like chapatis with ghee. So what happened was once they brought three, four chapatis, Shri Mataji suddenly took one chapati and put on my dish. I just had a small dish. I had to have chapatis. And I said, "No, no, no, Mother." She said, "No, I know you want it." You see how Mother knows what you want. Avdhut Pai 3) Marilyn Leate said: I know youI know you Shri Mataji worked on the twelve year-old girl I'd brought with me [to Ashley Gardens], who also had a left Heart catch, a very sweet, born-realized child, but painfully shy and as quiet as a mouse. Her Holiness worked on her saying, "I know you. Often when you're alone you dance and sing." Then Shri Mataji gave the child the gift of a wooden dancing dolly, saying, "When you look at this dolly and make it dance, you must remember to be happy and to dance and laugh." She told her to forgive society for what it had done to her. She was from a broken home. Marilyn Leate 4) Palinita Mavinkurve said: She loved me very much that day Mother was going to come to Bombay by plane and it was the Sankranti Day — 14th January [1982]. And we went to see Mother at the airport. Hundreds of people were there and it was the first time for me to see Her. Then when Mother arrived, Niranjan, my husband, introduced me as his wife and Mother took both my hands in Her hands and praised me like anything and She said, "Oh, has got Realization. She is a realized soul." So I was terribly impressed and tears came in my eyes and I bowed down. And it was a miracle in my life that I had Realization. And from 14th January I became a Sahaja Yogini. And the next year, on 28th December, we went to Lonavala and it was Mother's puja there. It was our first wedding anniversary. We went to see Mother with some sweets and we distributed the sweets to many people, labelling on them "one year old Sahaja Yogi couple" and people were impressed and She gave us gifts and all and gave us a beautiful room to stay in for three days. She gave me a beautiful sari, which I still have with me, and a suit piece cloth for Niranjan. And She loved me very much that day like a daughter-in-law. Palinita Mavinkurve 5) Gillian Patankar said: You have just received a gift from God After one of the first pujas on the tour [in 1982-83], we were lining up to receive a gift from Shri Mataji, a little mat. This was the first time for me that I would have direct contact with Shri Mataji. My heart was beating as I waited. Then there I was in front of Her. She smiled at me and handed me the mat, then asked me to hold out my hands to Her. Up until then I had not felt the cool breeze very strongly on my hands, but as I held them out to Her, they were flooded with a beautiful coolness and I felt such joy. Shri Mataji looked at me and smiled. I was overwhelmed and went to Her Feet. In those days, we used to put our hands under Her Feet, palms up and our head on Her Feet. I went thoughtless. It was so beautiful. When I returned to my seat, a Sahaja Yogi said to me, "You know you have just received a gift from God?" All I could do was smile and nod my head. My heart knew this was true. My brain was trying to comprehend it. Gillian Patankar 6) John Firth said: I did not know who Mother was I did not know who Mother was. I was a bit cunning, as I found out where She was and hitchhiked down to Chelsham Road, London. I just arrived and knocked on the door and someone said, "Who the hell are you?" I said I was a Birmingham Sahaj Yogi and then went in and listened to Mother talking. I sat at the back and then said to Mother and asked Her if She could help me. Mother told me to sit on the floor and put Her Feet on my centre Heart and I just held them on my centre Heart whilst She was talking to everybody. And suddenly, like a stick snapping, Mother said, "Mmmm, you're okay now." I felt much better and could feel a difference in my centre Heart. I had been ill all the time with asthma. I then said to Mother, "This is okay, but what do I do when Your Feet are not there." And She said, "Ah," and then gave me a photograph of Her Feet. John Firth 7) N. Pottinger said: This special smile I once gave Mother a smile and She just has this special smile, that you know is special and She gives it to you and it's like the best present you can ever have. I went on stage at a puja and gave Her a little bunch of flowers. N. Pottinger 8) Helen Manassey said: The gentle tide of love One day She had given me a green necklace and I wore it that afternoon with a white shirt I had, so it really enhanced its beauty. Shri Mataji was lying on the bed having a rest. She was on Her side and Her hand was underneath Her face. She looked so lovely. I knelt down by the bed and She said the necklace looked nice. I then felt this wave of love from Her touch the shores of my being and permeate it. My love for Her flowed back to Her shores and like this I felt the gentle tide of love go backwards and forwards between us for I have no idea how long. But it was such a beautiful feeling. She talked about this love being like waves at the music program this year at Birthday Puja. That is really what it is like. It is completely overwhelming that God loves us so much. Helen Manassey 9) John Glover said: Mother came round on my birthday In the early 1980s my birthday was in November and I had moved into this new house and Mother came round with Sir CP to visit me on my birthday. I was absolutely stunned and could hardly say anything. I made this little cake and Mother was sitting there drinking tea and eating cake. She gave me a couple of brass trays. John Glover 10) Malcolm Murdoch said: Christmas presents Mother always used to give the [Christmas] presents early. She used to give to the children. I remember She used to give to us as well, didn't She. At Chelsham Road for a couple of years there, Shri Mataji was giving me presents for Christmas. Malcolm Murdoch 11) Phil Trumbo said: She was literally caring for my health I was having a period of illness and fatigue and just generally low energy. I had tried a lot of different things, a lot of different suggestions from Shri Mataji, but was still having trouble with a kind of lethargy and kind of getting sick a lot. And, at one point, She was visiting and She opened Her own medicine kit and took out some prescription medicines that She had been given by various physicians and sort of prescribed for me on the spot what I needed for this sort of lethargy. And they were not homeopathic things. They were Indian prescription drugs that She took and vibrated and shared with me. I mean, She literally took the medicine from Her own kit and just sort of gave it to me to use. And it was great. And it was actually something that wasn't prescribed in America. So that is just one little thing. I mean, She was literally caring for my health with Her own medicine, just as a perspective. Phil Trumbo 12) Avdhut Pai said: I still remember Her pouring the tea in the saucer I wanted to give something to Shri Mataji and I went in the morning and that time there was of strike of this milk or the dairy-milk products and in Bombay there was only one, this government milk manufacturing unit and they were on strike, so there was no milk. And about ten o'clock somehow where Shri Mataji — they got some milk from somewhere and it was the first cup of tea She was having in the day at ten o'clock in the morning. And I was sitting. I wasn't very much — I didn't want much tea or anything. And I still remember Her pouring the tea in the saucer and giving me the saucer and just having half a cup of tea. And She said, "No, no, no, you take you take." So I took it. Avdhut Pai 13) Marilyn Leate said: You are the sugar [When] we served Her breakfast, a little girl called Annapurna brought the sugar to Her. Shri Mother lit up with enthusiasm exclaiming, "Ah, you bring me the sugar, but you are the sugar!" And with great affection, Shri Mataji kissed little Anna all the way up her arm. She then spoke enthusiastically about the school She was building in India, explaining that there would be Indian dancing, music and art projects, what a fun place it would be for children and that Annapurna would go there. Marilyn Leate 14) Felicity Payment said: The protection of Her embrace One day I remember suddenly becoming consumed by a tremendously deep desire to give something to Shri Mataji. In some way, as a kind of an unconscious gesture, as a thank you for all She had done for me and, at the risk of being dramatic, for all that She had saved me from. I searched earnestly for something appropriate of my own that I could give Her because, of course, I had no money then. Finally, I came upon an old and somewhat heavy and ornate bracelet that my grandmother had given me. It was not particularly valuable and was not a style that suited me, but somehow it seemed to be the most valuable appropriate gift had. I went to the weekly public program in Caxton Hall, in the heart of London, which Shri Mataji gave every week, hoping somehow to have the opportunity to give it. When I got there most people were sitting inside the room as usual, trying to meditate, waiting for Her to come from Her flat nearby [in Ashley Gardens]. I remember not being sure what to do and then deciding to take the rather bold step of hanging around near the entrance of the room with the designated official welcomers, hoping somehow to waylay Her before She went in. I was trying to wait discreetly and not be too obtrusive, when suddenly She came up the stairs with the two or three yogis who were assisting Her. But, before I had my opportunity, She turned aside and went in with two yoginis to the ladies' cloakroom. Instinctively, I took the very bold step of following in after Her. This was actually very presumptuous and actually rude of me, but somehow I could not stop myself — the desire to give this gift was so overwhelming. I must reiterate that to me it was not the gift that was important, but that I had to give something to express all that was in my heart — this overwhelming deep feeling of gratitude and thankfulness. I waited in the outer room of the cloakroom in the narrow space, so, as Shri Mataji came out, I was suddenly standing facing Her. She was right in front of me. "Excuse me, Shri Mataji," I said, "I just wanted to give this gift to You." At the same time, I felt conscious that this gift was not adequate to express all that was in my heart. She stood there for a moment, looking straight at me and then stepped forward and put Her arms around me completely, swamping and enveloping me in Her warmth and the protection of Her embrace. She stood like this for what seemed like such a long time. It is hard to describe the completely encompassing sense of love and compassion and safety I felt in Her arms in that timeless moment. Then She stepped back and went out to the program. This incident is a supreme example that, for Shri Mataji, it never mattered to Her what the gift was. It was only the feeling behind it that She measured. Felicity Payment 15) Marilyn Leate said: I feel very grateful Shri Mataji has hugged me on a couple of occasions. One time was in Dollis Hill ashram. She was leaving and we all parted to make a passageway for Her exit. She walked past me, stopped, turned back and threw Her arms around me. I feel very grateful. Marilyn Leate 16) John Glover said: It was somehow just right for them There was one time when Mother gave a lot pottery from Portugal. Pamela has a lot here. There was a big maya with the pottery because Mother gave it out and everyone got a piece and they were all very beautiful wonderful greens and browns and olive colours and whoever got a particular thing, it was somehow just right for them. I got a wonderful jug which I use for puja, but I don't use it now, as I feel it's too precious. John Glover 17) Marilyn Leate said: Her most playful smile I can remember in one of those early Caxton Hall programs, somebody brought Her a present. She sweetly admonished him and told us, "I don't want you to buy me gifts. If you want to give me something, then bring me a flower. If you have no garden and cannot afford to buy one at the florist, then pluck one from someone else's garden. That's what I do." And She gave us Her most playful smile. Marilyn Leate 18) Avdhut Pai said: She fulfills your desire There was another experience in which really how your desire, Mother, just sort of exhausts. She fulfills your desire — even the most smallest desire, even if you don't really desire. We were in Delhi. It was in `79, February. We were staying in a place called 10 Ashoka Road with Shri Mataji. And, at that time, everybody was giving some presents to Shri Mataji. Some people used to give some blouse pieces, saris, whatever. First of all, I was a student and I didn't even have enough money to buy Her things and I said, "Oh." I didn't even know what to buy. So — and what happened was my mother's sweater had lost. So there was one Mr. Varma, who used to take Shri Mataji to Her shopping and all that. So I told this Mr. Varma, "My mother's lost her sweater and you can get good sweaters. Can you buy one and I'll send you the money from Bombay or — ?" And after about a day or two, he came, said, "Ah, I bought this sweater. Mother liked it very much." I didn't understand, first of all, that what had happened was when I told "mother," he thought "Shri Mataji." And he bought — there was a kashmir sweater he showed me. I don't know, he said, "Very light, but very, very, very good quality kashmir, pure wool sweater." And he said, "Mother liked it very much." And somehow he didn't allow Shri Mataji to pay because he said, "No, no, Avdhut said that he wanted us to buy a sweater for You." And finally, he bought Her a sweater. Shri Mataji, of course, "No, no, no, you should take the money" and all. I said, "No, please Shri Mataji, please." And finally She took the sweater. There was also another experience. It was in `84. The same thing — we had some jewellery and one of them, a nose ring. And it was a birthday for Shri Mataji, 21st March. My father said, "Take this ring to Shri Mataji. Give it to Her." So I went on the stage and gave it to Her. She said, "No, no, no. Why are you giving Me all these costly presents?" I said — I was just on the stage, I remember. I closed my eyes. I said, "Mother, just give me the very pure desire to give You something." And She immediately took the ring. Avdhut Pai 19) Jane Antoniani said: So so graciously I was very new in Sahaja Yoga, and living in London. A yogi was on his way to take Shri Mataji shopping. He had been invited to drive the car. Having never been to see Her house in Brompton Square, somehow the idea came that I could visit by just going into the basement in the kitchen with the yogi. Brigitte came too. I remember standing in awe in the basement, aware that Shri Mataji must be upstairs above me and this was really Her house. Then came the message that Brigitte and I should go upstairs. She received us so, so graciously. She apologized that She could not look after us better because She was just on Her way out and that She had had no warning of our visit. So She gave each of us one of Her silk saris as a present that She had prepared for us before we came upstairs. Jane Antoniani 20) Alessandra Pallini said: A portrait of an Indian lady In September 1983 Shri Mataji came to Rome for three public programs, arriving to the Fiumicino Airport on Wednesday the 7th. On Sunday the 11th, we had the Ganesha Puja in Tivoli ashram, "Lo Zodiaco" — about fifty people. Among the presents that She received, there was a portrait of an Indian lady dressed in a sari, which had been painted a year before by the artist who donated it, a new Sahaja Yogi just arrived in one of the three programs, who had not yet met Shri Mataji at that time. It was the portrait of Shri Mataji wearing a sari of the same colour as the one She was wearing that very day. Alessandra Pallini 21) Felicity Payment said: There are no words I gave Her a card. I wanted to put all I felt in my heart into words on the card to give Her. But I couldn't. There were somehow no words to express these deep feelings She brought out inside me. So I had to write, "There are no words to express my feelings." When I gave it to Her, She read it, paused and said, "That's the best." Feelings, true love go beyond words into the realm of the divine. Felicity Payment 22) Ruth Flint said: She sent India tour to me It was in the winter 1982-1983. I had not been able to go on India tour and was quite upset. The Swiss yogis transitted through my flat in Rome, taking the train between Geneva and Rome. Because I had not been able to go to India, I went for a long weekend to Vienna to see Gregoire and Catherine. They had given me my Realization and taught me about Sahaja Yoga. On the Saturday morning, when they went shopping, I decided to clean their bedroom and there they had a little altar of Shri Mataji and on it there was a pair of chappals of Shri Mataji. And because just before I had been reading the Ramayana, I had been impressed by the story of the brother — I think it was Bharat — who was ruling the country during the fourteen years that Rama and Lakshmana were in the jungles and he had taken the chappals of Shri Rama, put them on the throne and he was ruling from next to the throne. So, of course, knowing that, the notion of Shri Mataji's chappals was very important to me. I was also cleaning the altar and I transported the chappals of Shri Mataji somewhere else to clean the cloth underneath. While carrying the chappals of Shri Mataji, after a few seconds, I thought, "Oh, my goodness, I wish one day I had also chappals of Shri Mataji." Then I finished cleaning the altar in their room and I forgot completely about it. Maybe one week or two afterwards, when the yogis from India tour came back and flew from India to Rome and came to my flat, one yogini came to me with a plastic bag and said, "Here is something from Shri Mataji for you. She gave this to me and said, `Give this to Ruth because Ruth has asked for it.'" I opened the bag and the paper in the bag and what was there? There was a pair of Her chappals. Later I saw photos from the India tour and recognized the chappals She was wearing. They were the ones She had given to me. I could not go to India. She sent India tour to me through these chappals. I put these chappals in my bedroom on a little altar close to my bed. For a while, because I was sick for a few days, I was lying in bed and working on a Sahaj translation from English into Italian. Every time I would work on it, I would smell the marvellous perfume of Shri Mataji floating from these chappals and coming into my nostrils and when I would stop working on the translation, this perfume would disappear. I could smell this perfume for quite a while, maybe one week or two. It was more and more subtle. It took a long time until this marvellous perfume of Shri Mataji completely disappeared. Ruth Flint 23) Avdut Pai said: I just knew Shri Mataji I passed my BSc — bachelor of science — in `78 and I worked quite hard for getting a first class. First class means sixty percent marks, but when I got my result, I found out that instead of getting first class — sixty percent of six hundred marks of total was 360 marks. And I got something like 339, so I was just missing twenty-one marks. And I was in — we call it as a national category, which gives you — you are entitled for having ten marks in your final exams, if you're in that. And if you get 352 marks, the university gives you eight marks to give you a first class instead of a second class. So, in fact, I was missing just three marks. So if I'd have 342, I would have got my first class. And I said, "Mother, it's your wish. Maybe it's good for my ego, whatever. I'll send a letter to Mother." And what happened was that when my first class, my NCC marks were not given to me and I was the senior most in this NCC, so I had to go to this university to see what — where the problem is. Because they had not given this NCC marks to anybody in the world in our college. The gentleman, he kept me waiting for one, two, three, "Please come tomorrow, come tomorrow." I used to go. I said, "Anyway, there's nothing else to do at home." I used to go and then suddenly, he came and found after me and he said, "Ah, fine. Congratulations, you got a first class." I said, "But how?" He told me, "You have got ten plus eight plus three. I said, "Yes, I have done this calculation a thousand times in my head." I said, "Who will give me these three marks?" He said, "No, no, we have got a law and you fit in exactly in this law, but you have to bring in all the papers tomorrow." I said, "Sure." So that's how I got my first class and just what had happened was when Shri Mataji came — I wrote to Shri Mataji that saying that I had got my first class and She said when She got my letter, She just closed Her eyes and then said, thought, thinking, "Why did Avdut not get a first class? And here I got his result." That this fellow, his name is Mr. Joglekar, and he was — he told us later on that as soon as he saw me, I don't know, that somehow he felt to do something for me because in Bombay — maybe you are knowing — you should know somebody. You should know the minister. You should know some big person to get even inside the university. I just went in. I didn't know anybody. I just knew Shri Mataji and She did the job. And this was a very good experience. Avdut Pai 24) Nirmal Gupta said: Why are these things happening [In 1987] I came to Bombay for the Ganesha Puja. Again, one day before, there was a music program and I was sitting there. And sitting on the stage, Shri Mataji indicated, like calling. But I am sitting there, next to many people. I did feel She was calling me, but said to myself, "She doesn't know me. Why should She call me?" and thought maybe She was calling someone else. But after the program, the committee leader was sitting there. From there, he said, "Shri Mataji was calling you. Why didn't you go?" I said, "I did feel that, but She doesn't know me. Why should She call me? I have never met Her." But the desire was there to meet Her, from the very beginning. So what happened was that I went to Bombay, wanting to meet Shri Mataji. And in those days a pendant of Shri Mataji was a rare thing. And I wanted a pendant. The next day, after the puja, I was standing in the queue to offer a flower and garlands to Shri Mataji and, when I was in the queue, She called me and then I understood that She was calling me. So I went and in my hand I had some poetry which I had written that was wrapped in some paper. And I went to Her and offered that to Her. I was so happy inside and so joyous and She asked me, "What is it?" And, out of joy, I couldn't reply and before I could reply, She said, "Is it poetry?" But She knew because it could have been anything wrapped in the paper. And Dr. Nigam was there, offering Her a sari, but She said, "No, don't bring a sari. See, this poetry is the best gift." And She patted my face and I was floating in vibrations for at least three or four days after that. So My one strong desire was fulfilled, to go near Her and just to be with Her. So just that touch on my face was more than anything else. And then it suddenly started raining after the puja and I was waiting for a taxi. Everyone was taking taxis and my turn was not coming and, in the end, there were just two or three Indian ladies and some foreigners. But some lady, who was a foreigner, opened her purse and gave us each a pendant, so my second desire was also fulfilled. After that so many things happened in my daily life and, you asked yourself, "Why were these things not happening before Sahaja Yoga? Why did they suddenly start happening after Sahaja Yoga?" Nirmal Gupta 25) Liallyn Fitzpatrick said: The weight of the world was lifted In October 1983 in Vancouver Canada, in that year my very strong desire to have a child manifested and my first child, a son who was born realized, had been born to me in August. On the day of the public program Shri Mataji had gone out shopping with the others and a few of the ladies had stayed back to clean, do some ironing, tidy Shri Mataji's room, etc. Being then completely unaware of the protocols, I went into Shri Mataji's room and had placed my three month old son on Shri Mataji's bed while I was preparing to iron saris and shawls. Almost immediately an eighteen month old born-realized boy who was visiting with his family from London came into the room. This boy had proved to be rather a handful at the best of times, but that hadn't prepared me for what he did next. He took hold of my infant son's ankles and unceremoniously pulled him down off the bed, with my son hitting the — thankfully carpeted — floor hard. The ladies who came in as a result of the howling baby and the now sobbing mum explained that the young boy was following an innate sense of divine protocol, that I wasn't to worry and they sent me off to have a nap with my son. Because of the condition of my left Vishuddhi and centre Heart, I couldn't get over the feeling of stupidity and helplessness at having done what I considered a horrible thing and somehow offended Shri Mataji, and all at my innocent child's expense. It was quite overwhelming really. So, my son and I had a nap. I felt better afterward and my son had fully recovered from his fall, although I couldn't shake the need for forgiveness for my blunder. As it happened, Shri Mataji took a taxi to the public program that evening and She invited a few of us to come along in the back seat. My son and I were squeezed in and I was sitting on the edge of the back seat, right up against the front seat with my son in my arms. I was aware of who Shri Mataji was right from the outset and in the taxi I was silently praying for Her forgiveness of me placing my son on Her bed the way I did. I pulled my ears and prayed, hoping to feel at least a little better. It was during these prayers that Shri Mataji opened Her purse — I was sitting just behind Her left shoulder — and drew out a small bottle of perfume. I knew beyond a doubt that it was the very same bottle of perfume I had sent Her the year before with a message of love and gratitude for my Self Realization and for the opportunity of seeing Her in New York. She sprayed some of this perfume on Her wrists and put the perfume back in Her purse. At that moment I closed my eyes and the weight of the world was lifted from me. I suddenly felt very light and very much loved. We hadn't exchanged even a glance. I felt a deep comfort that She knew everything and everyone in this same way as I had just experienced. Liallyn Fitzpatrick 26) Michal Gal said: You must come as children The first time I took a present up after a puja to Shri Mataji, I was four months in Sahaja Yoga. I didn't know much about anything. When I arrived at Canajoharie, I had a burning desire to see Mother, but I didn't even know you give gifts. Before coming to Canajoharie in 1999 I had a sort of a vision in my meditation. I could sort of see myself being born. I could sort of see my mother and I was above and Shri Mataji was there with Her hands held out. And I thought, "This is just a silly thought." So I arrived for the puja and wanted to give a gift, but I didn't have a gift. That year Shri Mataji had chosen the gifts for the puja from an antique dealer in New York. So the gifts were in this big tent and you went and were allocated a gift to give for your country — maybe a little table or a picture or whatever. I had two hundred dollars, which was enough for this picture, which was already wrapped. So when it was the end of the puja, I went up on the stage alone because I was the only person from Israel — four months in Sahaja Yoga. So I was talking to Mother with some confidence, or you could call it ego, and I gave Her the picture which was now unwrapped. And the picture was of a woman with a baby and there were a lot of people around and they were pleased and smiling. And the scene of the picture was a kind of church-type place and on the second floor, up above, there is Mother Mary and She is standing there looking down — like my vision. And for me it was a confirmation of Mother saying. "Yes, I was there at your birth. I was there always and I have been there with you for eternity and trust those feelings about Me you have, about Me being your creator." And then started a big maya. Mother saw me, as it were for the first time physically, and gave me a lovely look and seemed very pleased to see me and as if to say, "Oh hello, welcome" type look. And She looked me up and down and then at the picture and said, "Very nice. Where did you buy this picture?" And the money I had given was not collective money. It was my own money. And before I could say anything, the announcer said, "A picture, all the way from Jerusalem." And everyone was clapping and very happy. But then, not wanting to make a mistake or anything, I said to Mother, "Oh, excuse me, but You bought this picture." I didn't know about Mahamaya. And then Mother said, "What? What did she say?" And so the announcer said, "No, it isn't from Jerusalem. Shri Mataji bought this picture in New York." So everyone started laughing. And Shri Mataji looked away. And my ego is being crushed. And I left the stage and was very upset. I thought, "Mother doesn't like me. I had better go away" — and all sorts of things. Everyone was still in the puja. So I went outside and was crying behind the hangar and there was a woman. She was standing far from the hangar. I recognized her, Auntie Penny from New Jersey, because she was cooking for Shri Mataji. And she said, "Why are you crying?" And I said, "Because Mother doesn't love me." And she shouted, "Mother does love you." And then she said, "I never leave a puja. Never have done in my life. I never leave the hangar if Shri Mataji is there and here I am. I knew I had to come out and just stand here." And then I realized Shri Mataji had sent this lady to comfort me. And then we went back into the hangar and Mother was presenting gifts and Mother looked at us. Auntie Penny, my friend, had my hand in hers and Mother's look seemed to say, "Oh, okay. She's okay." And the second time I went up, I thought, "Oh no, I am again going to have this really difficult experience." And I thought, "Oh, okay." It was in Cabella. When I actually went up to take the gift, I was a bit anxious in case the same thing should happen as had happened in America. Now, I was never in my life childlike — always serious and almost like an old person in a young body. And everyone was waiting and, as I put my foot on the stage, suddenly I was a child. Although it was only three or four steps, it was like a child — little steps and thirty or forty of them, running to my Mother. To me, it seemed Shri Mataji was seeing Her little child. And I fell at Her Feet and She bestowed so much love on me. And at that moment She transformed me into an eternal child and now people never believe I am twenty-nine. And after the gifts, Shri Mataji again took the microphone and said, "You know when you come to Me, you must come as children." And that was beautiful. Michal Gal 27) Reza Ghaffurian said: Peace for my country On the first Friday of May 1988, yogis were preparing themselves to go to Rome for Sahasrara Puja weekend. Inside myself I had put various desires to Shri Mother to be answered by Her. Then on the Saturday, Mother talked to the leader, Guido, who passed on to me that I had the answers to all my desires by Shri Mataji. The next day a beautiful Sahasrara Puja was enjoyed and then on the Monday afternoon a public program was held with Mother in attendance. The hall was packed with yogis and new people, many of whom She gave Self Realization to. At the program's end She asked those who desired to shake Her hand or speak with Her to come forward. A very long queue formed of new people. I had a strong desire to go forward to Her and thank Her for whatever She had done for me, but stepped back to let the newest ones go forward. But before She began to meet anyone, suddenly She looked around and Her eyes lit on me. She said, "You, come here." I went to Her Feet and Shri Mataji hugged me to Her warmly and held me. I felt it was the love of a real mother and incredible vibrations surrounded us. Guido was present sitting beside Mother and translating. She then looked at me and said, "It is your time to ask if you have any desire." It came to my mind that I wanted peace for my country [Iran], which had been involved with Iraq in a war that had been going on for ten years with great destruction to our people. So I answered, "I want peace for my country." She replied, "You can have peace." This was a spontaneous request, not planned or even thought out beforehand from among the other desires I had previously put to Shri Mother, which were more personal. Following that, Shri Mother began to receive the new people to finish the public program as usual and the yogis began to prepare to return to their cities after the wonderful weekend with their Mother. Less than a month after this had happened, the news suddenly came out in newspapers and TV that the war had been stopped between Iran and Iraq. So I had this desire fulfilled by Shri Mataji and the people who knew about what had happened in that public program rang me in congratulations for Mother's work. Reza Ghaffurian 28) Richard Payment said: Just fly like birds Although memory fades many of the details, like viewing a landscape from a great distance, I remember sitting on the floor of the front room of Shri Mataji's house in Brompton Square in central London. It was the day before our departure from England to a new life back home in Canada in the company of my new wife. In those days — it was the Spring of 1982 — it was common to visit Shri Mataji. The relative handful of yogis who lived in London at the time often worked in Her house, plastering, painting goldleaf, working out their problems. On this day we sipped tea in Her company. "Fly like birds," She said. "Go back to Canada and be dynamic." "Enjoy." These words remain in my memory. Most of the rest have faded. But the feeling remains, the inspiration and the direction She gave us. "I haven't given you anything," She said, as the end of our visit neared. "I haven't given you anything." The words immediately echoed in my head followed by a list — my marriage, my Realization, a new life, hope, optimism, faith, meaning and two months in India, "What does She mean She hasn't given me anything?" Shri Mataji reached out to one of the few objects within reach. She grasped a glass vase from the end table. "I haven't given you anything." She offered us a rectangular glass vase as a combination wedding and bon voyage gift. It was graced by the image of an Austrian-looking couple waltzing. I remember too some objects on the coffee table between us — a spoon, a pen, perhaps a sugar bowl or paperweight. "See how the vibrations change?" She said. She moved the objects around on the tabletop. The new arrangement was more pleasing. She was giving me a lesson in composition, in vibrations, in balance. "What time is your flight tomorrow? How will you get there?" She told us how long it would take to travel by car from Wandsworth to Heathrow at that time of day. "Don't worry about your flight," She told us repeatedly, knowing that we were worrying about our flight. "Everything will be all right. Just fly like birds." Richard Payment 29) Avdhut Pai said: Why don't you give in the fourth dimension I think it could be somewhere in the month of January or February `78. What happened was we went to Jaipur and there was a very special sari, which we bought for Shri Mataji and also a number of pearls, false — these are not real pearls, but, how do you say, false stones, but very — looking quite real and very well known. So my father bought for Shri Mataji and I went and gave to Her. She said, "Why are you giving this to Me?" And so I gave Her, I thought, a smart reply, saying that all what you give us in the fourth dimension and this is all in the third dimension, so it is nothing. She said, "Why don't you give Me in the fourth dimension? Why are you giving me in third dimension?" I still remember that reply. Avdhut Pai 30) Felicity Payment said: Those small moments It is all these small moments that we experienced with Her, of Her love, care for our smallest and largest concerns that have bound us to Her forever. How could we ever go away from the one who cares for us, unceasingly reaching into the deepest corners of our beings that we didn't even know were there, touching, soothing us with love, laughter and smiles. Felicity Payment

NOTE: If this page was accessed during a web search you may wish to browse the sites listed below where this topic or related issues are discussed in detail to promote global peace, religious harmony, and spiritual development of humanity:

www.adishakti.org/
www.al-qiyamah.org/
www.adi-shakti.org/  — Divine Feminine (Hinduism)
www.holyspirit-shekinah.org/  — Divine Feminine (Christianity)
www.ruach-elohim.org/  — Divine Feminine (Judaism)
www.ruh-allah.org/  — Divine Feminine (Islam)
www.tao-mother.org/  — Divine Feminine (Taoism)
www.prajnaaparamita.org/  — Divine Feminine (Buddhism)
www.aykaa-mayee.org/  — Divine Feminine (Sikhism)
www.great-spirit-mother.org/  — Divine Feminine (Native Traditions)