Sahaja Yoga

Sahaja Yoga (सहज योग) is a religion founded in 1970 by Nirmala Srivastava (1923–2011). Nirmala Srivastava is known as Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi (trans: ''Revered Immaculate Mother'') or, simply, as "Mother" by her followers, who are called Sahaja yogis.

During meditation, seekers of truth experience a state of self-realization produced by kundalini awakening, and this is accompanied by the experience of thoughtless awareness or mental silence. Shri Mataji described Sahaja Yoga as the pure, universal religion integrating all other religions.

Etymology

The word ' Sahaja' in Sanskrit has two components: 'Saha' is 'with' and 'ja' is 'born'. ''A Dictionary of Buddhism'' gives the literal translation of Sahaja as "innate" and defines it as "denoting the natural presence of enlightenment (bodhi) or purity." and Yoga means ''union'' ''with the divine'' and refers to a spiritual path or a state of spiritual absorption. According to a book published by Sahaja Yogis, Sahaja Yoga means ''spontaneous'' and ''born with you'' meaning that the kundalini is born within us and can be awakened spontaneously, without effort.

The term 'Sahaja Yoga' goes back at least to the 15th Century Indian mystic Kabir and has also been used to refer to Surat Shabd Yoga.

In Scientific Research

Meditation as an adjunct for medication has received considerable interest in the scientific community over the past two decades. As a method to both ameliorate and mitigate detrimental symptoms over the long-term without the consequent side-effects and financial stress of prescription medication, various forms of meditation and yoga have been considered, researched, and evaluated by the scientific community as a viable support to complement standard medical practices in order to better enhance patient wellbeing.

In particular, numerous clinical studies and medical trials have documented the potential efficacy of Sahaja Yoga meditation in disease management for patients with epilepsy, essential hypertension, asthma, menopausal symptoms, attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), cardiac arrhythmia, depression, and anxiety. It must be noted, however, that while most of the results were promising, many of the trials are tentative and/or pilot studies in their field. Yet, the results in and of themselves indicate that further research may yield more substantial gains.

Moreover, the purported state of mental silence established in some meditation practices – known in Sahaja Yoga as thoughtless awareness – has been of intense interest in neurological studies. The aim has been to identify and describe what metabolic or neurological changes occur within the body to facilitate this state, and whether or not sustained practice of Sahaja Yoga meditation gives rise to underlying anatomical differences in the long-term. These clinical studies have mostly had healthy, asymptomatic populations – including Sahaja Yoga practitioners – partaking in the studies to determine possible neurological, physiological or psychological phenomena conducive towards personal wellbeing.

Neurological

Electroencephalography (EEG) and, more recently, developments in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) have allowed researchers to peer into the complex web of neural networks that are activated in different types of meditation. When applied to Sahaja Yoga meditation, the results of a decade-long clinical MRI study by Hernandez et al. (2015, 2016, 2018, 2020, 2021) has made waves in the neurological community and beyond. The findings confirm that on average practitioners of Sahaja Yoga meditation (SYM) have significantly more GMV (grey matter volume) of about 6.9% than control groups when matched for age, sex, education, and general health. The research articles published in PLoS ONE an
Neuroscience
maintain that the difference in GMV is the largest ever recorded, and no other meditation technique or practice has shown such a large statistical difference in GMV at the whole brain level. The presence of GMV is an indication of a healthy and young brain, whereas in mental disorders like schizophrenia and depression patients suffer from a lack of GMV.

Another recent study by Dodich et al. (2019) found that, even after a short period (4 weeks) of SYM training, non-meditators demonstrated similar increased GMV changes, suggesting a direct association between SYM practice and the neuroplasticity of the brain.

A larger number of other studies have investigated the effects of Sahaja Yoga meditation on brain function by means of EEG. The first study by Panjawani showed that seizure reduction in patients with idiopathic epilepsy after 6 months of SYM was associated with increased ratios of EEG powers in delta, theta, alpha, and beta bands. These bands are usually weakened and/or abnormally fluctuating in epilepsy cases. On the other hand, Aftanas and Golocheikine showed that long-term SYM was characterised by increased theta synchronisation, which is indicative of reduced mental-clutter and mind wandering with increased mental silence, i.e thoughtless awareness. They also showed indications of a reduction in chaotic complexity in EEG measures over midline frontal and central regions, an indicator of a reduction in the interference of the default mode network (DMN).

All the aforementioned neural processes lead to what Aftanas calls on a systematic level the 'intentional self-regulation of attention' that reduces the subjective experience of anxiety, anger, and fear, while increasing positive affect, enhanced endurance to affective challenges and one's psychosocial coping ability. Lastly, and notably, during their 8 year study Aftanas and Golocheikine noticed that SYM practitioners exhibited no hemisphere asymmetry that, if present, is symptomatic of depression and anxiety, which are associated with a relative right asymmetry in frontal brain activity. When the condition is exacerbated, it is symptomatic of schizophrenia. The finding corroborates the SYM notion that an inflated 'superego' – located in the right hemisphere – makes one prone to depressive bouts and, when neglected, may develop into schizophrenic episodes.

Physiological

A number of novel clinical studies investigating various physiological and biological mechanisms vis-a-vis Sahaja Yoga meditation has produced a wide range of research, ranging from robust to some that could use more rigour. Hendriks (2018) conducted a systematic review of the available material on said field of research, providing a meta-analysis of the efficacy, soundness, and quality of available academic articles. While he admitted that 'there are limited number of studies on the effects of SY meditation', he also noted that 'the large majority of the studies are of high quality, which is an exception to the rule' (p.8). Moreover, the scientific research on physiological phenomena often reiterates the fact that SYM serves as an adjunct, not an alternative, to standard medical procedure.

On the more robust side
Dr Ramesh Manocha
from Sydney, Australia, author o
Silence Your Mind
has conducted 5 detailed clinical studies over the past two decades on the application of SYM in various medical scenarios. Those in the domain of physiology include a clinical study on the reduction of vasomotor symptoms, particularly hot flashes, in perimenopause; improvement of airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) in moderate to severe cases of asthma; and monitoring skin temperature as a possible concomitant physiological phenomena in meditation. While the former exhibit promising results for symptomatic patients, the latter one conducted with asymptomatic practitioners of SYM is of particular significance as they report of a subjective sensation called the 'cool breeze' in their hands, which is indicative of 'vibrations', i.e the movement of the Kundalini within and along the nerves of the body. The clinical study monitored by Manocha et al. confirmed that, indeed, the objective measurement of skin temperature in SYM practitioners in comparison to the control group showed a significant cooling along the palms of the hand, whereas the control group of non-meditators exhibited no difference – or even an increase in skin temperature.

Another area of physiological research has observed the possible corollary between meditation and hypertension control with Sahaja Yoga
Dr Sheng Chia-Chung
senior researcher from UCL, conducted a clinical trial with the Mahatma Gandhi Mission Hospital in India with a population of 129 participants of which 67 followed SYM methods while the other 62 acted as a control group. The beneficial effect of meditation as an adjunct for hypertension control was deemed significant in comparison to the control group who only followed standard medical procedure. Additionally, corroborative observations for the amelioration of blood pressure with SYM in ageing symptomatic populations were recently found by Yalta et al. (2020), as well asymptomatic healthy populations by Yunati et al.

Other research areas in physiology have investigated motor skills and performance, pulmonary functions, and cardiology. While pioneers in their respective fields of research, these clinical trials establish the potential for further inquiry into the unique and varied concomitant physiological phenomena between SYM and its compound effects on wellbeing and disease management.

Psychological

As observed by the neurological research conducted with Sahaja Yoga meditation, the practice of thoughtless awareness has a tangible, and conducive effect on the neuroplasticity of our brain. How is this reflected in day to day behaviour? Indelibly interlinked in an interdisciplinary manner with neurology, psychology has been yet another scientific domain to test, observe, and analyse the effects of SYM to create behavioural change from within for both the individual and the organisation, be it in the application of corporate psychology in the Indian Army, Hewlett-Packard, Walmart, Shell, public companies in Germany, or various EU decision-making organs.

From a clinical rather than corporate perspective, trials have been mainly conducted in India and abroad with symptomatic populations exhibiting traits of depression and anxiety that have seen significantly reduced remissions compared to control groups. Albeit, SYM was administered alongside, not instead of, conventional antidepressants as an adjunct to better facilitate and sustain mental health. Hendriks' systematic review of available academic literature posits that Sahaja Yoga 'is associated with reduced depression in both healthy adults, and in adults with a depressive disorder. SY is also associated with decreased anxiety and increased subjective and sychologicalwell-being among healthy adults.'

Of sustained interest has been the potential of Sahaja Yoga meditation in enabling behavioural change in people and organisations via the lens of management studies, promoted by the interdisciplinary research tea
CEL
Overseen b
Maurizio Zollo
the Professor of Strategy and Sustainability at Imperial College and Visiting Professor at MIT, alongside thought leaders in their respective fields, CEL has published a corpus of case studies and research over the past decade to gauge the extent to which sustainability can be galvanised by the practice of SYM in corporate settings. The aggregation of their results and insights were published by Routledge in the monograph ''The Evolutionary Leap toward Flourishing Organizations'' (2017) that provides a roadmap and adaptable methodology towards affecting systemic change via meditation. On the whole, training interventions in the form of SYM practice for managers and organisations via the CEL program exhibit a significant influence on both socially responsible behaviour (SRB) and on psychological antecedents that impact on SRB, therefore resulting in the cultivation of values that prioritise sustainable decision making in the long-term over self-centeredness in the short-term.

History

Before starting Sahaja Yoga, Shri Mataji earned a reputation as a spiritual healer. With a small group of devotees around her, she began spreading her message of Sahaja Yoga in India in the year 1970. As she moved with her husband to London, UK, she continued her work there, and year by year the movement grew and spread throughout Europe, by the mid-80's reaching North America. In 1989, Shri Mataji made her first trip to Russia and Eastern Europe. She charged no money, insisting that her lesson was a birthright which should be freely available to all. "There can be no peace in the world until there is peace within," she said. As of 2021, Sahaja Yoga has centers in at least 69 countries.

Beliefs and practices

The movement claims Sahaja Yoga is different from other yoga/meditations because it begins with self realization through kundalini awakening rather than as a result of performing kriya techniques or asanas. This spontaneous awakening is said to be made possible by the presence of Nirmala Srivastava herself, or even her photo. The hypothesis is that the experience of self realization can be individually verified. The teachings, practices and beliefs of Sahaja Yoga are mainly Hindu-based, with a predominance of elements from mystical traditions, as well as local customs of India. There are however important elements of Christian origin, such as the eternal battle between good and evil. References to a variety of other religious, spiritual, mystical as well as modern scientific frameworks are also interwoven in Srivastava's teachings, although to a lesser degree.

Religious sociologist Judith Coney has reported facing a challenge in getting behind what she called "the public facade" of Sahaja Yoga. She described Sahaja yogis as adopting a low profile with uncommitted individuals to avoid unnecessary conflict.

Coney observed that the movement tolerates a variety of world views and levels of commitment with some practitioners choosing to remain on the periphery.

Kundalini

Within the Indian mystic tradition, kundalini awakening has long been a much sought-after goal that was thought rare and hard to attain. Sahaja Yoga is distinctive in offering a quick and easy path to such an awakening.

Meditation

Meditation is one of the foundational rituals within Sahaja Yoga. The technique taught emphasises the state of "thoughtless-awareness" that is said to be achieved.

Role of women

Judith Coney has written that in general, Nirmala Srivastava's vision for the role of women within Sahaja Yoga was one of "feminine domesticity and compliance".

Some parents of Sahaja 'yogists', analyzing Nirmala Srivastava's remarks, noted that women play a subordinate role. The texts of Nirmala Srivastava say that "if you are a woman and you want to dominate, then Sahaja Yoga will have difficulty in curing you" and that women should be "docile" and "domestic". Judith Coney writes that women "are valued as mothers and wives but are limited to these roles and are not encouraged to be active or powerful, except within the domestic sphere and behind the scenes".

Coney has observed that "Gender roles for women and men within Sahaja Yoga are clearly specified and highly segregated, and positions of authority in the group are held almost exclusively by the men". Coney writes that the ideal of womanhood promoted within Sahaja Yoga draws both on the ideal wifely qualities of the goddess Lakshmi and on wider Hindu traditions. Coney believes these traditions are summed up in "The Code of Manu" which holds that woman should be honoured and adorned but kept dependent on men in the family. Women are also described in this book as "dangerous" and needing to be guarded from temptation.

Coney has written that Nirmala Srivastava did not display consistent views on women but gave a number of messages about the status of women. On the one hand she said women are not inferior but described the sexes as complementary. Describing the man as the head of the family, she likened the woman's status to the heart: "The head always feels he decides, but the brain always knows that is the heart one has to cater, it is the heart which is all-pervading, it is the real source of everything". She regretted what she saw as the loss of respect for women in society in both the East and West. However, she viewed Western feminism suspiciously, seeing it as a "route to damnation" because it required women to deviate from their true nature.

Family

Human rights lawyer Sylvie Langlaude has described the configuration of families within Sahaja Yoga as "unusual", noting that from birth children become familiarised with the movement's beliefs and Nirmala Srivastava's status by being closely involved in its day-to-day rituals including meditation, foot-soaking, and devotional singing.

The subtle system – chakras and nadis

Sahaja Yoga believes that in addition to our physical body there is a subtle body composed of nadis (channels) and chakras (energy centres). Nirmala Srivastava however equates the Sushumna nadi with the parasympathetic nervous system, the Ida nadi with the left and the Pingala nadi with the right sides of the sympathetic nervous system. Psychoanalyst Sudhir Kakar writes that Nirmala Srivastava's additions to this widespread traditional ' tantric' model include giving it a scientific, neurological veneer, an elaboration of the health aspects and an introduction of notions of traditional Christian morality.

Apostasy

In common with similar movements, most people who have left the Sahaja Yoga movement do not describe their experience as being unremittingly negative, often finding something positive they can say. Nevertheless, in interviews with ex-members Judith Coney heard various complaints from ex-members, including that they had experienced unwanted arranged marriage, had been dismayed by the difference between the reality of the movement and what they had expected, and had found their time in the movement frightening.

In general, members who believed that had gained some form of supernatural protection from being in the movement, were fearful of being exposed to retribution for having left, perhaps in the form of a terminal illness or fatal accident.

Eschatology

Within the Sahaja Yoga belief system, because we are in the final phase of the world (Kali Yuga) before the apocalypse, the Earth is rich in demons, who use satanic forces to possess people, impersonate gurus, and spread evil.

Judith Coney writes that Nirmala Srivastava claimed to be Adi Shakti, who had returned to earth to save it from "demonic influences."

Coney writes that Nirmala Srivastava identified what she saw as increased decadence in society as the work of demons "intent on dragging human beings to hell".

Organization

Vishwa Nirmala Dharma (trans: Universal Pure Religion, also known as Sahaja Yoga International) is the organizational part of the movement. It is a registered organization in countries such as Colombia, the United States of America, and Austria. It is registered as a religion in Spain.

Membership statistics

There are no available statistical data about Sahaja Yoga membership. In 2001, the number of core members worldwide were estimated to 10,000, in addition to which around 100,000 practitioners more or less in the periphery were estimated to be found. There are varying reports about the movement's distribution worldwide. According to the Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi Sahaja Yoga World Foundation, Sahaja Yoga centers are established in over 95 countries. In a news article in Indian Express published on the occasion of Mataji's death in 2011, however, Sahaja Yoga centers were told to be found in over 140 countries.

International Sahaja Public School

The International Sahaja Public School in Dharamsala founded in 1990, teaches around 250 international students annually , and has accepted children from the age of 6.

Yuvashakti

Sahaja Yoga's youth movement is called "Yuvashakti" (also "Nirmal Shakti Yuva Sangha"), from the Sanskrit words Yuva (Youth) and Shakti (Power).

The movement is active in forums such as the World Youth Conference and TakingITGlobal which aim at discussing global issues, and ways of solving them.

The Yuvashakti participated in the 2000 "Civil Society & Governance Project" in which they were "instrumental in reaching out to women from the poor communities and providing them with work".

Vishwa Nirmal Prem Ashram

The ''Vishwa Nirmala Prem Ashram'' is a not-for profit project by the NGO Vishwa Nirmala Dharma (Sahaja Yoga International) located in Noida, Delhi, India, opened in 2003. The ashram is a "facility where women and girls are rehabilitated by being taught meditation and other skills that help them overcome trauma".

Funding

The methods for practicing Sahaja Yoga are made available free of charge to those interested. According to the official Sahaja Yoga website there is a fee for attending international pujas to cover costs

According to author David V. Barrett, "Shri Mataji neither charged for her lectures nor for her ability to give Self Realization, nor does one have to become a member of this organization. She insisted that one cannot pay for enlightenment and she continued to denounce the false self-proclaimed 'gurus' who are more interested in the seekers' purse than their spiritual ascent".

Criticism

While well received across the globe, due to its syncretic nature integrating various different faiths under one rubric and relatively modest following in the West, Sahaja Yoga–much like other minor faiths and beliefs practiced across the centuries–has been the target of local opposition and resistance in majority Christian Catholic nations, who are informed by an orientalist perspective that is conducive towards fostering pejorative and rather limited views.

Discredited French cult expert Jean-Marie Abgrall has written that Sahaja Yoga exhibits the classic characteristics of a cult in the way it conditions its members. These include having a god-like leader, disrupting existing relationships, and promising security and specific benefits while demanding loyalty and financial support. Abgrall writes that the true activities of the cult are hidden behind the projection of a positive image and an explicit statement that "Sahaja yoga is not a cult".

In 2001, The ''Evening Standard'' investigated the claim that Sahaja Yoga had been "described as a dangerous cult". The reporter, John Crace, wrote about an event he attended and noted that a Sahaja Yoga representative asked him to feel free to talk to whomever he wanted. He remarked, that "either their openness is a PR charm offensive, or they genuinely have nothing to hide." He proposed that "one of the key definitions of a cult is the rigour with which it strives to recruit new members" and concluded that there was no aggressive recruitment squeeze.

Judith Coney found that most people who leave the movement voluntarily still had positive things to say about it. She wrote that ex members welcomed the chance to talk to her as an independent researcher and most were willing to talk to her "on the record". Coney described a meeting she attended in which the level of secrecy within the group was discussed. In response to some negative publicity, Sahaja yogis reflected on the ways in which some of their beliefs were disguised when in contact with non-members. Coney described the discussion as frank and revealing.

In 2001, ''The Independent'' reported the allegation made by some ex-members, that Sahaja Yoga is a cult which aims to control the minds of its members. Ex-members said that the organisation insists all family ties are broken and all communication with them cease, that crying children can be seen as being possessed by demons, that negative and positive vibrations need "clearing", and that being a member of the group is very expensive. In 2005, ''The Record'' reported that some critics who feel that the group is a cult have started their own websites.

In 2005 the Belgian State organisation IACSSO ( Informatie- en Adviescentrum inzake de Schadelijke Sektarische Organisaties) issued an advisory against Sahaja Yoga, which has since been rescinded. The advisory had categorized Sahaja Yoga as a synretic cult ("syncretische cultus") based on the Hindu tradition, and warns that the recruitment techniques used by Sahaja Yoga pose a risk to the public in general and young people in particular. Sahaja Yoga Belgium sued IACSSO and preliminary rulings were found in their favour, adjudging that Sahaja Yoga was "not a cult". However, on appeal in 2011 these preliminary rulings were overturned and in a final judgement it was found that Sahaja Yoga had been unable to refute IACSSO's statements.

In 2013, ''De Morgen'' reported that the Belgian Department of State Security monitors how often politicians are contacted and lobbied by organizations. The list of organizations includes Sahaja Yoga.

David V. Barrett wrote that some former members say that they were expelled from the movement because they "resisted influence that Mataji had over their lives". According to Barrett, the movement's founder's degree of control over members' lives has given rise to concerns.

The Austrian Ministry for Environment, Youth and Family states that "Sahaja Yoga" regards Nirmala Srivastava as an authority who cannot be questioned.

Bibliography

Academic Research

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* Rai, S., Rai, M., Kattimani, Y.R., & Agarwal, V. (2017
Sahaja Yoga for Management of Stress & Life Style Diseases
Association of Physicians of India: Medical Update. Vol:3. 1069-1071
* Rai, U.C.
Medical Science Enlightened
Life Eternal Trust, London/New York, 1993.
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* Singh, Vikram. (2010)
Effect of Sahaja Yoga Meditation on Hematological Variables of University Level Students.
''International Conference of Recent Advances in Yoga & Annual Assembly of Indian Academy of Yoga''
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References

External links

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{{Yoga

Religious organizations established in 1970
Religious organisations based in India
New religious movements
Hindu organizations
Meditation
Yoga schools