Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi  

London, UK
21 July 1978  

Your own dignity and gravity  

…the worshipping of your guru, not of your Mother, but of your guru. The guru establishes the dharma, the sustenance, in the disciples. He gives all clear-cut ideas about what is the sustenance power for the disciples. He may preach for the whole world but for his disciples, he gives very clear-cut instructions.

Most of the gurus, when they do it, they actually chisel out every disciple. First they weigh what is the urge of a disciple, how much a disciple really can receive, and then they accept somebody as a disciple after verifying if the disciple is really capable of receiving even the instructions about dharma. But not in Sahaja Yoga because your guru is a Mother. So she initiates you without finding out what is your urge, what is your capability and what quality of a personality you have. It’s a very different style of guru that you have which looks after your body, looks after your mind and looks after your problems and then bestows upon you the blessings of Kundalini awakening. But normally the gurus do not do [this]. The reason is: they are only gurus, not mothers.

When you do the Guru puja, what do you do really? You must understand that. That means you worship the principle of guru in you, by worshipping me.

The principle is within you: which is to be awakened, which is to be blossomed, by which you become the gurus. And the principle is that of dharma.

So one has to know that, when you are doing my puja, I would like this time, really, to give you that blossoming within your being, which makes you fragrant with dharma.

But, as you have seen, after Realisation you have to be very careful. In the same way, after becoming guru it is even more necessary to be careful. Because as you know that in the West we have ego problem. The Westerners are ego-oriented. ‘Guru’ means higher. ‘Guru’ means the one who has more weight within. ‘Guru’ word is used even for ‘magnetic’, which has more weight, gravity. Such a person has much more gravity than others have. So [that] he can teach others, he has to be a higher person.

When this awakens into you, it has to be sustained with complete observation within you, that you do not succumb to the ways of ego. Also you should not have irreligious behaviour, nor you should have indecent behaviour; neither you should be hot tempered, nor should be servile, but should be in the centre. You are the guru. You are the higher personality than the rest of them. So you have to maintain a certain higher values of dignity, of your own sustenance, which have to be higher than those to whom you teach, who become your disciples.

If you are defective, it would be a very big loss for the Sahaja Yoga. Like you become the activated organs of the body. Supposing one cell dies, makes no difference to the body. Even many die, makes no difference. But if the organ fails in its functioning, then all that depends on that organ fails completely. Maybe it would be fatal.

Now, with ego, superego also becomes very active. And many people feel that then, ‛How can we bear this load, oh Mother?“ And the other escape starts. As soon as I say that there should be no ego expression, people do not like it and they want to escape it by saying, ‛Oh we can’t do it, it’s too much for us. How can we come up to that point?“. This is a typical example of too much ego, superego in us. But it is not at all difficult. It’s not at all difficult.

First of all you must have faith in yourself and faith in Sahaja Yoga. I will definitely today awaken that in you, no doubt. I will. But keep it enlightened. By understanding that you are a guru, you will understand your responsibilities.

We change our positions very easily in general life. If you are made a jailer immediately you assume as a jailer. In the same way when you are the guru, not by bestowing upon you any names or anything I call you a guru, but because it has happened within your Nabhi Chakra and in the Void that you become the guru. It’s a happening in your awareness that blossoms you into that position of a guru. It is not artificial. It is no brainwashing or anything. It happens within you. But to retain it one has to know. But the biggest thing of the ego is playing games. That is the biggest thing. Some people try to show they are very innocent. Some people try to show they are very clever. Playing games is the worst thing of ego and that’s why you must know, as a guru, you are not to play games. You have to be absolutely straightforward, absolutely straightforward.

Everyone can make you out what you are. As soon as you are a guru, you have to be absolutely a transparent person. Face yourself! If you make mistakes makes no difference at all. It doesn’t make any difference at all if you make some mistakes. But do not pretend [to be] something which you are not. Trying to put up some sort of a face and all these things are not going to help you. Sahaja Yoga is a genuine thing, is a true thing and we have to be true gurus. It doesn’t happen by just giving somebody a name, ‛Now come along, you become an initiator and all that.“ It is not that way. You have to raise the Kundalini and give them Realisation and tell them that, unless and until it is realised it won’t work out.

You could be better gurus than me. I can assure you. For two reasons: firstly I am a Mother, so the love principle is much more. Always it supersedes the guru principle. You have to love others, no doubt, but in surrendering you can help me much more than I can help.

For example, I will give you the example of Bala: he had the centre in Birmingham and he had some people and he sent Philip to me yesterday; and he came down, I saw him. Of course he, he had lots of problems, tremendous problems on his Kundalini. But his surrendering capacity was so great that he just started sucking my vibrations, he just started flowing with me and it was only because he came through Bala. Because Bala must have told him that the only way to do it is to surrender. And that has gone into his being so clearly that he has done it. He has seen to all arguments and everything and he has finished them off. And when he came to me he just started getting everything into himself. And he was so much changed by the evening that I was amazed at the whole saintliness that was coming out. I was amazed at him.

But you yourself have to be very careful. You have to be loving, no doubt. But loving doesn’t mean that you show fear about things and go out of the way to please people. No, it never means that. Neither it means shouting at people or getting angry with people. But it never, never, means for a guru tattwa, never means, that you go on asking for votes. Have a little indifference about it: if the disciple accepts, well and good, but you are not going to throw pearls for these animals to trample over. So that dignity, the protocol of your own personality you must maintain. That is very important, because such people are extremely different. And nobody will accept a guru who is like this: trying to show that you are afraid of them. If you are afraid how could you be the guru? Or trying to show you are very innocent or very sweet, overnice and looking after food and this and that. No! They should look after you; not that you should look after them.

When you are the guru, they have to look after you. Of course, you have to be kind and you have to be nice to them, as your Mother has been, but you just don’t run after them. That would reduce your quality as a guru. Stand in your own dignity and understanding.

I know some of them will despise you: makes no difference. Some of them will laugh at you: makes no difference. Stand with your dignity: like the big elephant walking, and the dogs are barking. Dignity is the first thing, the ‘gurutwa’ as it’s called. There’s no words exactly which can match with ‘guru’ in English language.

But I would say that the dignity and the gravity of a personality: the gravity, the weight of the personality.

The personality should be such that it’s not frivolous. People know you cannot take liberties. It isn’t frivolous. It is joyous, but not frivolous. People who talk frivolously can never be good gurus. Any kind of frivolity is not good. This is the first thing you have to know: it’s the gravity you must have.

And second thing is, [in] dealing with your disciples, never despise them. Despising is against Sahaj Yog. It’s a sin! Even if somebody is suffering from very bad spirits, you should not despise. You can condemn, but not despise.

You must understand the difference between these words. And you can condemn that this guru is bad, he’s a rakshasa, he’s satanic, but you cannot despise. Despising is a very sly method. It is not meant for any Sahaja Yogi. It’s most indignified.

But you can clearly condemn a person – it’s all right. You have to be clear about this point: is never despise your disciples. Love them. Give them respect. And respect them, for maybe tomorrow they may be greater gurus than you are. I respect you. And you have to respect them. And never be in competition with your disciples. Be happy when you find your disciples come up higher and higher. That is the greatest fulfilment of a guru: is to see that your disciples are rising like this because they are your flowers, and you are the tree, and you are watching the flowers rising. It should be like that.

While talking you should not be very silent nor over-talkative. Any extreme should be given up and you must talk with dignity and gravity, and with experience, with understanding.

Now, supposing you have some problems, sit down in your meditation and find out. You will find out within yourself the answer. If not you can always ask. Now you will be amazed how the powers will be flowing through you.

Today, in this puja, please, be in a receptive mood and it will work out. If there are some problems, some chakras catching, just don’t worry about them. Pay attention to how much you are receiving in, that’s all. Some people have very funny ideas. Even during puja they’ll go on like this. It’s very bad. Even when I am speaking, they do it like this. It’s all frivolous. There’s a kind of a gravity a person must have that, when you are listening, you must listen with full gravity. And that is gravity of this Mother Earth. Which is nothing but is her awareness, is her vibrations,sandipan (??????). That is her gravity.

In the same way this gravity must come into us. When it comes into you, a person becomes like a magnet. Absolutely like a magnet a personality you become. A magnet as it attracts people, or we can say as it attracts the iron. It doesn’t attract every sort of thing. In the same way you’ll be attractive to the real seekers. The real seekers will come to you when they will see that magnet working in you. In India many people have put sign-doors in their houses. Sign-doors that: Sahaja Yoga centre. And you will be surprised that in every corner one can do work like that, and people can join and come there, and a centre can be established.

But first, of course, I will also tell you how you should before doing anything, you must before starting your guru work, you must always prostrate yourself before your own Guru, and then do it. Because in India even a musician, when he starts singing, first he takes his guru’s name, then of his family, gharana, as they call it. For you the family is Sahaja Yoga, so you should take the name of Sahaja Yoga.

And while singing the songs you see, sometimes these gurus have composed the poems and things, and there is the name of the guru somewhere in between that: ‛Kabir says,“ or somebody says. When the name comes in, they hold their ears like this. Even while dancing they’ll hold their ears like this. Musicians, carefully, they’ll hold their ears; meaning that, ‛Oh guru, please forgive us we are taking your name like this. So please forgive us, oh Guru.“ That kind of a complete respect for the guru has to be there.

If you do not give respect, you will not get respect. Respect is to be given, then it is to be commanded. First if you start demanding respect you cannot. First you have to give respect. And that is something you should remember: that people will respect you, no doubt.

Lastly, that you have to be very careful about how we behave with others, and how we dress up also. It’s better that you take to lighter shades of clothes, and whiter, more whiter shades of clothes, because that is how it is going to work out ultimately. When you are doing guru’s job, then take to lighter colours, and lighter shades; maybe white is the best. I mean now, henceforward when you buy something, buy of genuine stuff like cotton and all that, and buy one thing like that. You can have such a thing which is genuine thing for when you are doing guru’s work, when you are meeting your disciples, meet them in that dress. Because white colour is meant for the Satyuga, and that’s what you have to wear; only when you are dealing like a guru. That is important, that will help you, because you must have the personality of a guru.

When people see you they should know that you are a guru. When you walk they should see you are a guru. When you talk they should think that, ‛He is the man, we can say he is definitely the man who has achieved something in life.“

So in every way you will be blessed by the Divine, because you are doing the job of the Divine. The Divine is going to look after you, everything; only thing that you have to look after is your own dignity; own dignity and your own proper countenance, that’s important.

That’s why, I tell the hippies that you cut your hair a little bit. A little too much [hair] is not good. You shouldn’t look like something out of the blue. Even too much [of a] dandy person doesn’t look nice as a guru. Both the extremes must be avoided. It should be in the centre. Something very, very [much] in the centre you must take care of; nothing this extreme or that extreme.

As for the knowledge, that is within you. Actually I don’t have to tell you anything. That is within you. You just keep inside and it will be there. You just start speaking and it will be expressing itself. You won’t have to at all ask me, I can tell you this much. It will just come out. There’s a girl of ten years in India, and she started this, and when she was speaking, people said, ‛[It’s] as if Mataji Herself was speaking.“

So you don’t have to worry about it. But in case there is any problem I am always there to help you.

So may God bless you, let us be prepared for this puja.

By God’s Grace all of you will have it.

In this awakening, I have to tell you that age, race, sex, colour: nothing matters. Even…

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