SAHAJA MATA was one of Paramahansa Yogananda’s close inner circle of direct disciples that we hear little about because she served so humbly in the background. She was appointed to the Board of Directors by Paramahansaji himself and served as Co-Editor-in-Chief of his publications. She served Paramahansaji’s work for 50 years.
Just as inspiring are the stories included about her from others who knew her and worked with her, speaking of her sweetness, simplicity and devotion, and most of all her humility. She was a cheerful, willing and tireless worker. Daya Mataji called her “a perfect disciple in every way.”
SAHAJA MATA (1917 – 1996)
Excerpts (see complete article below)
SAHAJA MATA once confided to a group of Self-Realization nuns: “After the service at which I saw [Guruji] for the first time, my landlady arranged for me to meet him. We shook hands, and the first thing he said was, ‘When can you come to Mt. Washington?’ Needless to say, I was more than mildly surprised! It was some time before I was free to enter the ashram, but even then I knew deep inside that my life was to be with Master.” …
After Tara Mata’s passing in 1971, Sahaja Mata and Mrinalini Mata shared the title of Editors-in-Chief; they worked together in preparing the Guru’s lectures and writings for publication. For four decades she devoted heart and soul to the sacred task. She gave her personal attention to virtually every printed item produced by the society during those many years — books, magazines, introductory literature, catalogs, leaflets, and more—as well as supervising the translation and publication of the Guru’s works in other countries. To these responsibilities she brought exceptional literary skills and tireless dedication, until age and declining health necessitated her retirement in the late 1980s…
Sahaja Mata’s office had a window that opened up onto the parking area at the side of the Administration Building. One of the ministers who frequently traveled back and forth to the temples recalled that he had never left so early in the morning or returned so late at night that she was not in her office, serving God, Guru, and mankind. What was truly remarkable, he recalled, was that despite these very long hours, she was always joyous. Once this minister asked her how she maintained that state. Sahaja Mata seemed surprised at being singled out in this way, but said to him, “Well, I think we stored up so much joy being around Master it has never run out.” …
“She was always radiantly cheerful,” recalls one of the Sisters who worked closely with her for many years. “She struck me as the ideal karma yogi. She had so many talents and such a brilliant mind, such command of language; yet she was the humblest and most childlike person I knew. She was also very perceptive and could pick up when something was wrong with others; then she was so compassionate! When had to go on my first lecture tour to Europe, my father suddenly died. It was a very tragic experience for me. Dear Sahaja Ma, busy as she was, wrote me four letters during that period. I was astonished that she could find the time. Some extracts: “It is a tragedy,” she wrote, “yet who can say what good may come out of it all? A turn of the wheel and all is gloom; another turn and a new vista greets the beholder—’shadows, shadows all!’…It seems we are all rolling in heavy seas in one way or another, such are the times. It is comforting at least to think that our struggles will do some good in the world, even though we may transit to the next one during the battle!…I often think when troubles and bad times come, of how Master used to say that someday (presumably in the astral world!) we would all be together and laugh over our struggles here.”
“I had the blessing to be Sahaja Ma’s companion for an extended work retreat in the mountains,” relates another Sister of the Order. “Each morning she would go outside onto the deck of the cabin to fill a bird feeder attached to a tall pine tree. Watching her from the window each morning, I would see wild birds alight on Sahaja Ma’s shoulders and arms as she was pouring birdseed into the feeder. Although it is extraordinary to have wild birds perch calmly on an unknown human being, somehow with Sahaja Ma it looked absolutely natural. She was gentleness and kindness personified; how could any creature fear her? This happened more than once during our stay at the cabin.”
“When I had just come to Mt. Washington and was serving in the kitchen,” one of the monks recalls, “I often had to go to the storeroom near Sahaja Ma’s office. Sometimes when I was carrying supplies in or out of the storeroom, she would be ahead of me. Invariably when she saw me, she would hurry to let me pass, saying: “Oh, I’m so sorry, let me get out of your way.”
“Here was a disciple of many decades’ standing, a member of the Board of Directors; I was a ‘nobody’ who had just entered the ashram. Yet she treated me with such respect, such kindness as if I were her equal. Her humility made a profound and lasting impression on me; I knew that she saw me as a soul.” …
This comment from one of the monastics who worked under her guidance summarizes what was felt by all: “To my mind, she was literally an angel in human form.”
Self-Realization Magazine, Fall 1996
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