Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi  

Moscow, Russia
16 July 1996  

We Have To Live Like One Family  

Tonight, we are going to worship the Lakshmi Principle within us. Lakshmi is the Goddess of wealth, prosperity and also of health Actually your country is already blessed, because you have so many things here. Firstly, this country has got such a lot of petrol and if discoveries are made there’s much more. Then secondly, you have got beautiful timber. Then thirdly you’ve got lot of steel, very lot of steel, very good steel. Also you have diamonds. So many things you have, apart from that you have so much of art [heart?]. Also gold you have. So all these things are in abundance in this country. Only thing is you don’t yet have somebody who will manage to get to you people. I’m sure it will work out. But in Sahaja Yoga, we have to know that this Principle of Lakshmi,gives us a great sense of satisfaction. If you don’t have satisfaction then any amount of Lakshmi cannot help you. One becomes very greedy. You have something but you want to have more and more and more; and for that one adopts all kinds of methods and measures. Thus you also have, a very bad Mafia system here,who are very greedy.

For Sahaja Yogis, one has to realise that he does not have to achieve anything he’s already achieved. First people try to seek food, in the Nabhi Chakra then they eat that is Swaha then it is being retained in the body. Now supposing somebody becomes very greedy of food, he gets sick, he has problems. But he goes to the second stage where he sustains it and called as Swadha, because he eats thinking that it is, as a human being, his duty to eat, that’s all. Not for taste, not for greed, not for showing off. In a very simple manner he eats. Like in the west I have seen people are very particular about where you put the spoon and where you put that. They spend thousands to buy those cutleries.

Now the thing that is the worst for the Lakshmi Principle is drinking. It is alcohol. They say in India, that a bottle comes from one side and the Lakshmi runs away from another door. So Sahaja Yogis don’t need to drink. They give up drinking, and thus Lakshmi Principle can be established much more easily. Now why should we have Lakshmi? We should have Lakshmi because in the symbol of Lakshmi you can see the reason. First of all the Lakshmi has got two beautiful pink coloured lotuses in Her hand. That symbolises that a person who has money should have a very comfortable house, which is very inviting pink colour is for love and invitation. Now the beetle comes to the lotus and it has got all kinds of thorns on its body. The beetle comes to the lotus to collect some honey but it has got thorns on its body but the lotus accepts. It invites, you see the lotus is very happy to have this beetle in it. Now the beetle is seeking the honey and it gets tired and sleeps inside the lotus so the lotus gives a beautiful corona the bed for it to sleep and all the fragrance of the lotus, for that beetle, till the morning. Then when the beetle has rested well, he gets his honey and then he flies out. We can state poetically that the beetle is respected by the lotus because it is seeking the honey. Even if it has got thorns, doesn’t matter.

Thus you people who have been seeking the truth, have received it on your Sahastrara, which is just like a lotus. Whatever you have done, whatever was the past is not important,you get your dignity because you are seeking the truth. Also when people get saturated with Lakshmi, as in the West I have seen, they take to seeking they get fed up, because material things is not Lakshmi, because it doesn’t give any satisfaction. So the other thing that Lakshmi has in Her hand what happens that She puts one hand like this this hand suggests that a person who has money has to give and share not to take it for oneself. If they do not share, then they cannot enjoy the Principle of Lakshmi when giving to others is so joyful. Another hand is like this this hand of the Goddess, suggests that those who are under your care, your relations, your friends, all those people, must be given complete protection by you. Anything happens in your family, anything happens to your relations or to your friends,you must stand by that person.

Some people try to help their relations by say many politicians do that way by cheating. But by cheating, what you are doing is you are spoiling the life of that relation, you are not really helping. So he’ll be losing his name, his dignity, everything specially his moral character. So with the Lakshmi, you must have your morality intact. In a country, like now, say America and all such people, there are horrible films coming and people are taking to the science, we call it, alakshmi. A person who has Lakshmi should dress up in a decent manner women and men. I find on the street women walking with very short clothes. With that, what will happen your Nabhi chakra will be caught, and you will have problems with money.

So the wealth that you have should be seen in your temperament, in your nature, in your behavior, in your living. Moreover the person who has Lakshmi has to be a very humble man. For example, Shri Lakshmi is standing on a lotus. Lotus is the lightest flower you could think because it floats over the water. So Her temperament should be not of a very serious type but of a very mirthful… and She doesn’t show off because it’s such a simple thing, like a lotus, to stand on that.

So for people who have money, or who have wealth should not try to show off by very big cars and this and that. That of course does not mean that you should become sanyasis. On the contrary, you should be very well dignified personalities. But there should be detachment. As you saw Raja Janaka, He was a king and still He was so detached, that all the Saints used to go and touch the feet of Raja Janaka. So there was this fellow called Nachiketa, he asked his master ‛Why do you touch His feet? He is a king“. So the master said ‛All right you go and meet Him now“. So what he saw was that Janaka had all the luxuries of life. He was living in the palace and in the procession there were thousands and thousands of people who were throwing pearls on him. So Nachiketa thought he should get one pearl at least.

Next day, he went to Raja Janaka and asked Him, ‛Give me Self-realisation.“ So Raja Janaka said, ‛I can give you all My kingdom but not Self-realisation, very difficult, because you are possessed by the idea of money, such a person cannot get Realisation.“ He said, ‛All right, I will live here till I get Realisation. Next day Raja Janaka took him for a bath in the river and He was enjoying the bath. And people came and told Him that there is a fire in His palace. But Raja Janaka was meditating, He didn’t bother. Then they said that the people who are in the palace have run away. Then he says that, somebody said that now the fire is coming here. Still Raja Janaka was meditating. But Nachiketa ran out because his clothes were outside, so ran out to save his…. And still Raja Janaka was not bothered. So when He came out He told him, ‛Nachiketa, this is all Mahamaya.“ This is how you are tested,if you are money-oriented you cannot get Self-realisation. She’s the one who is testing. All the greedy people, all the people, for money’s sake, do all kinds of thing, as you have here, Mafias, will be all punished. In any case they are not happy people, satisfied people,they are all the time worried. So first thing you must have is satisfaction. This is a very important thing in modern times to understand. Because is said also in the economics, that wants are not satiable in general. You want today a carpet all right,have it. You work very hard, save money to buy a carpet, then you have the carpet, you want to have a house you never enjoy the carpet, for which you have worked so hard. Then you have a house, so when you get the house, you want to have a car then from car, you want, I think, helicopter, maybe an aeroplane. This is how it goes on and you work so hard and have no satisfaction. Because of this, in these modern times, people are extremely restless. There is no peace in your heart but if you have this Lakshmi Principle in you, you will feel extremely satisfied with everything that is materialistic. If you have, well and good,if you don’t have, well and good.

But after that, this Mahalakshmi Principle is awakened within you, that you start seeking. And then that is also,later on as you have seen, is granted, because you get your Self-realisation. So nothing to copy these horrible materialistic people, but we have to be satisfied with what we have and we should express our love by giving something, whatever it is, to the needy person. I have seen Myself,I find it very difficult to buy anything for Myself. If it is expensive, I think I should not buy it. So once I went to a shop, I wanted to buy a particular sari, but I thought it was too expensive I didn’t buy it. But one Sahaja Yogi was with Me he went and bought it and gave it to Me on My birthday and I just started crying, you know, it’s too much.

We have stories like this in our Ramayana also, where Shri Rama ate the sour ber. We call it ber. I don’t know you too call it ber? (Yogi: Yeah.) Ah!  There is a story like that. She told Shri Ram that, she was an old woman from a down-trodden society that ‛I have eaten every, I have touched every ber with my teeth, you see, and I have found out that none of them are sour.“ In India, nobody eats anything which is touched by mouth, on any food, is regarded utishta,is something wrong. But Shri Rama immediately took, He said, ‛Oh, how sweet of you to have done this tasting for Me.“ But His brother was very angry,he didn’t like it, Lakshmana. Shri Rama ate, He said, ‛I have never eaten such beautiful bers.“ So His wife Sita said, ‛Give Me also, little bit, I am your half thing you should give me.“ So when Shri Rama gave Her, She ate and She said, ‛Oh my goodness what a beautiful fruit this one is.“ So Lakshmana said, ‛Why not give Me?“ He asked His sister-in-law, ‛Give me also“, She said ‛No, because you were so angry.“ But She gave it to Lakshmana, and Lakshmana said, ‛I have never eaten such beautiful fruits.“ What was in that ber was nothing but giving sense of this old lady.She didn’t have anything to give she was a poor lady so she did all this just to give to Shri Rama.

So the sharing of your things is an extremely joy-giving thing. The other day we had brought some presents, I mean nothing so great, but you all so enjoyed it, and I too enjoyed it. That is how we all have to live, that is how all of us have to live together sharing things. Don’t think about yourself, think of others. Think what others like. In India, the Gruha Lakshmis are that way very good. They know what you like to eat. So if you go to their house, immediately they will ask, ‛Please come for dinner.“ And they will make what I would like and I would love to eat. They’ll go out of the way to make that. But not only for Me, for anyone. It’s such a joy-giving thing to cook for others. So the principle of Lakshmi is only enjoyed when you share it with others. My father was a great Realised soul, and he never used to close the doors or windows in the night. And one day a thief came and took away the gramophone that he had. So he felt very sad that he has taken away the gramophone now, what about records he can’t buy how will he play? So My mother joked that, better give it in the newspaper that, ‛to the thief who has taken away our gramophone, please come and take away the records also.“

This is a sign of Lakshmi Principle. The one who is satisfied and is happiest when he can give something. If you give with one hand you’ll get from ten hands. So we have to learn to share, as it is you are giving the highest thing to others that is Self-realisation. What more can you give? You must have seen when you give Self-realisation, how happy you feel. The greatest happiness and the greatest joy is in giving Realisations to others. I have seen people, their faces change and people who give Realisation,their faces also get full of light. We are a new society,we are people of new age, where we have got our satisfaction in higher things. There are many Sahaja Yogis who have been working, giving Realisation, but there are many who do not. Unless and until you share your joy with others, you will not be happy. I heard the other day, one lady told Me that her father, mother are against Sahaja Yoga. I said, ‛What is your relationship?“ She said, ‛I don’t talk to them, I don’t like them, the way they are against Sahaja Yoga“. I told her, ‛You change your attitude, take some flowers for them, some present for them, talk to them in a very sweet manner. Because you have become such a dry person, that’s why they don’t like Sahaja Yoga.“ And it worked, it worked, the parents are now in Sahaja Yoga.

So the attitude of a Sahaja Yogi towards a non-Sahaja Yogi should be of helping, of supporting, of sharing. But I must warn you there are some Sahaja Yogis who will try to have their own party. They are very power-oriented. They will have an exclusive party. It is a dangerous sign it’s a cancer. Everything should be collective. Anybody who does that kind of thing, you should know is a possessed person, and you will be harmed if you follow such a person. We are all collective, we have to know everything among each other and we have to live like one family, not only in Russia but all over the world. Once you develop that kind of a love for everyone, then you will be surprised you have become a great personality. That means a drop becomes the ocean. I can go on saying about Lakshmi Principle for hours together. There are nine Lakshmis, but next time I’ll tell you. One of them is Gruha Lakshmi, is the housewife, and another is the Raja Lakshmi, which is the power of a king or of a person who is administrator or who is a bureaucrat. But I would request you to understand that you have got the greatest treasure that very few people have got in this world. Nourish it with your love. Nourish it with your compassion and peaceful existence. If there is any problem, anything suddenly, you must become peaceful within. Then immediately you’ll find solution will come before you. This is the subtle of Lakshmi Principle. I hope all of you will develop it and enjoy it. Before I come next year, I will see that you all have, each person, has given Realisation at least to hundred people. You got powers, you’ve got powers, you have knowledge, don’t waste it,we have to save the world.

So, May God Bless you all.