Country Leaders Meeting Minutes 16th October 2010

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MINUTES OF THE SAHAJA YOGA COUNTRY LEADERS MEETINGSaturday 16th October 2010 Navratri Puja Meeting Cabella School, Cabella, Italy

Brian Wells, UK Coordinator Chaired the Meeting and welcomed everyone –

The meeting started with a Meditation followed by each of the 33 attendees introducing

themselves and the country they represented:

Sweden, Australia, Italy, Russia, Greece, Turkey, UK, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Cabella,Ireland, Peru, France, Australia, Canada

There were 6 agenda items

Agenda Item 1: PUJA PROTOCOLBrian – summarised issues and inauspicious behaviour that arose at Ganesha puja, SY’shad been horrified at generally disrespectful behaviour e.g. As Shri Mataji’s car arrivedsome SY’s banged on the window and took flash photos; Eating through the Puja –

talking etc, the vibrations dipped; Crowded entrance & exit for Shri Mataji & family.National coordinators could not get to the stage due to photographers in the way.

It was commented that some SY’s had perhaps not had the benefit of Shri Matajiguiding them on Puja Protocol. The traditional Puja Protocol wisdom had been lost andsomehow we need to restore that and it was felt that Navaratri Puja would be a goodtime to do this.

Pasquale – we have created a national gift to the world in the form of a booklet on PujaProtocol which we will distribute one copy to each person present at the Puja– Geoffreydescribed it.

Geoffrey – This Souvenir Booklet was made up of extracts from Shri Mataji’s talks andnot instructions from Sahaja Yogis and therefore incontestable. As you can read, ShriMataji talked about historic Pujas to Christ and Mother Mary but as we forgot theintention behind it, understanding of Puja diminished. Everything has a symbolism to it,from grains of rice to offering the coconut etc.

When we have the pushing and shoving we are letting ourselves down. As you canread, SM has advised that new people should not come to puja, if you are not equippedyou start doubting and cannot take the vibrations, you may not be ready to receivethem, vibrations cannot go back, so Shri Mataji has to absorb them.

The idea is to help us get us to the state where we can more readily absorb thevibrations to relieve Shri Mataji from having to do this. Hopefully the photographs of the Devi’s feet will remind everyone of the subtle & sublime nature of Puja and how thisis going to help resolve everything for them.

The booklet will be given out before the Puja, at the registration desk, so everyone canhave a chance to read it beforehand and be reminded and informed so as to help startthe Puja auspiciously. It is hoped this may help evolve attitudes, and will need to berepeated over time to help re-establish a correct Protocol towards Puja.

Peter – there are a lot of people who are unable to attend this Puja, so a suggestion isthat the booklet should be included on the website so that for every single Puja

throughout the year you have a link to this protocol page which is always available.



There were 5000 copies printed and some booklets will be left for distribution at Diwaliand future Pujas.A PDF copy to be posted on the web allowing yogis to download the booklet. ACTIONGeoffrey/Robert

Alan – It was suggested that yogis/children should not be allowed in the car port areawhen Shri Mataji’s car arrives and leaves, allowing Mother and the family easy anddignified access (leaders to welcome Shri Mataji)– The front and the side of the stageshould also be kept clear/cordoned off allowing easy access and respect to all around.It was requested that hosting countries and Yuva Shakti should implement and monitorthis protocol for each Puja. The English have organised a security system to ensurethese protocols are observed for Navratri Puja. ACTION Hosting Countries and Yuva's

Pasquale – with regards conducting the Puja. Mr Nalgirkar’s sent an email stating thathe did not quite understand the idea behind reducing the Aarti to one verse and ShriMataji’s three great mantra’s being cut, when presentations went on forever.

It was explained that wearing the crown for the whole of Aarti is one of the reasons itwas cut down in the past, not to tire Shri Mataji unnecessarily. Furthermore there is arequirement to take off the regalia and saris that adorn Shri Mataji as soon as possibleso She does not get too hot.

Pasquale – reason for Sahaja Yogis losing attention during Puja is when leaders andyogis are on stage either making presentations or offerings, often obscuring views of Shri Mataji, this causes agitation and disturbances. It was suggested to preventprotracted present giving; offerings can be made off stage but in front of Shri Mataji: Of course the international/hosting countries present should be offered on stage as thisrepresents an offering from the whole world.

Brian – The difficulty is, since Shri Mataji has withdrawn, a lot of people use Puja to takethe chance to be close to Shri Mataji. Understandable, as coordinators we have to helpour countries to understand that it is not a party; it needs to be done in an auspiciousmanner. A lot of people see this as a festival; we have a responsibility to help peopleto understand this. Prasad is also not party food. There is a difference between a partyatmosphere and an auspicious atmosphere.

Robert – how do we actually implement these ideas, people do not listen. If you say:Do not let you child run behind the car they ignore it. This is the real problem; no onehas established enough authority over the collective to get them to listen. It has to

start in their own country where people are given at least minimum of instructions.

The hosting countries should ensure that basic rules are adhered too, whether peoplesit in hangar or outside the hangar. People have to take notice of announcements.When it is someone else turn to hosting then they should be listened too also - this hasto be communicated before everyone arrives. It is the prerogative of each group of hosting countries to deliver the Puja weekend and look after Puja Protocol in whateverway they feel is most effective. ACTION Hosting Countries

Brian – asked Robert to send an email to Country Leaders setting these points out.ACTION Robert

Majid – he thanked the UK collective for the excellent booklet produced and agreed thathaving the right manner is necessary for everyone. He felt that there was a question of



the stage not having enough room on it for everyone. He suggested some kind of extension to make enough room for everyone.

Robert – going to suggest something very similar, collect the gifts before Puja in areanext to stage and then people have to come and collect their gifts and give them in aproper dignified manner. ACTION Robert

Robert - 5 or 6 members/leaders of the (Country Representatives - Council) to sit downseparately and draw up recommendations. ACTION Robert

Robert – if Shri Mataji decides to leave before present giving, there is a scrum,everyone just wants to get rid of their gift and go. All presents should be offered in adignified manner even if Shri Mataji is not there to receive them personally. This shouldbe borne in mind.

Agenda Item 2: AUTHORITY OF COUNTRY LEADERS IN DECISION MAKINGPROCESSEs

Majid – There is a suggestion that the competency has been transferred to nationalleaders – what is the aim of the competency, what is our job? How can we integratethis into our national body?Currently we have 10 major projects around the world. We should use resources moreefficiently at national level.Communications and action is needed internationally, to inform everyone whathappens in Sahaja Yoga today.

Majid suggested a meeting of national coordinators once a year for one or two days tocommunicate properly and have more time to share thoughts. Generally such meetingswould be held in Cabella when Shri Mataji is in Italy which is easy for Europeans toattend but not for the rest of the world. Sometimes people from outside of Europe only

attend a Puja once a year (distance and expense issues) so such a meeting should beorganised for when we are able to get a bigger worldwide representation to share ideasand make decisions.

Robert: three days before or after a Puja in holiday time would be good to have such ameeting. We could accommodate everyone in the school, rather than on a pujaweekend. Maybe in August. Being altogether in Centrassi would be very good.

Brian – It would be logistically difficult to bring together around 100 leaders, it is anexcellent idea but really hard to execute, numbers are too big. We have to rely onemail - just too many people.

Majid – very correct… but today the Country leaders have the authority the power of decision making in Sahaja Yoga. If this gathering is looking after what ever we must do- it’s physically impossible to bring 100 people together, but we have the delegateswho can represent from each country and they can feed back this interaction.ACTION Thoughts from Country Leaders.

Duilio – recalled that there were discussions at Krishna Puja where we were give ourthoughts to Dave Dunphy.Who are going to take global decision?Alan – At the request of the Country Leaders a paper was written on Governance –onhow will SY be governed in the future? Inspiration and guidance was drawn from Shri

Mataji’s talk at Guru Puja 2008 where She mentioned a Central Committee with around10 people. As a result there was a proposal for the formation of a preparatory group to



develop terms of reference for an international body. At the Krishna Puja meetingleaders were asked to suggest members for this preparatory advisory group. Alan wasrequested to re-circulate these minutes.ACTION Alan

Agenda Item 3: MARRIAGE PROCEDURE & PROTOCOLRobert - certain issues that are seen as pressing, marriages, puja protocol, there is onlytime here for a short discussion and we can conclude very little.Why don’t we give a mandate for a small group of people to investigate issues andreport back?

Geoffrey – as has been said earlier - each hosting country has a prerogative to guidethe world collective when it gathers for International Puja’s. As Marriages oftenhappened at Shri Ganesha Puja’s, facilitating them often fell into the AustralianCollective’s lap. They have been looking after this responsibility.

Hari from Australia – suggested that we should not go over the past but look forward toa find solution. The marriage committee only shuffle the papers around but Shri Matajidoes everything. It would be better to have a collective process, we should have acommittee with representatives from other countries and this should be formed beforeChristmas just in case there are Christmas marriages.

Duilio – Italy. Personal information is given on the forms and he was not happy for otherto see these forms. He said he wrote some very strong comments on these forms andwas not happy for everyone to see them.

Geoffrey – perhaps it is not the best thing for Yuva Shaktis to be a part of checkingsuch things, those involved should have a depth of experience in life to do this. Whilst

we may wish to benefit from the vibrational awareness of the YS, we have to considerwhat effect it may have on them as individuals, particularly when they themselves mayreach a time of submitting a form. In the UK we have the idea that these documentsare treated somewhat like a doctor would treat a patients records – in strictestconfidence.

Majid – The problem is we do not know who are the brothers and sisters working on thiscommittee. This is a public matter we need transparency. We must know who is incharge of this committee and when the Sahaja Yogis send in forms they are carefullyconsidered. We send this very precious information; we cannot accept the Yuva Shaktiplaying with this information. It is one of the most joyful ceremonies in Sahaja Yoga but

must be very discrete. Have one representative from each country that we trust andbe confident in them.

Robert – there are practical problems, this is a long process, working near Shri Mataji, itdoes not happen in 2 days it goes over several weeks, and this is why a number of people get involved. We have to be careful.

Pasquale – we have a marriage committee in UK of 3 people and we have to respectthat the signature only comes from those people. The signature must only come fromthe authorised marriage committee.

Majid: Suggested that leaders should have access to this committee anytime and have

transparent communication with them, they will check all the forms. Every countryshould send their forms, as checking of the form is a big thing and they should be sent



early and on time. Discretion and confidentiality is to be maintained. Shri Mataji hadasked Mr Nalgirkar to assist in this matter and we should indeed ask him to do so.

It was proposed to get 8 to 10 people from the world collectivity - to have a committee– to evolve the situation and report back. ACTION Duilio/Mr Nalgirkar/Hari

Mary – Canada. No guide lines have been issued, can someone sign for someone intheir own family? Are there any rules about breaking a marriage, once, twice, etc.? Weneed some guidelines.

Kim – Australia. Certain people try everything to get permission to get married - applythrough separate countries – 2-3 fake forms submitted every time. We remain vigilant.

Duilio – they had someone with a very bad past it would be nice to have a report of such people.

Majid – the methods used by others should be circulated and communicated toeveryone to give them the idea.

Alan – question on disease, are people always truthful about their illnesses?

Kim – there are doctors available who can help with any medical issues on a form.

Agenda Item 4: UPDATE ON THE RUSSIAN SITUATIONBasically things have moved on at a considerable pace in the last few weeks.

Krishna from Russia gave an update regarding a recent meeting that had taken place inGenoa, Italy with Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi, Sir C.P. Shrivastava, Dmitriy Korotaev (with

translators) and various other members of the Russian and International Collective andsome members of the World Foundation.

Krishna expressed that he thanked Shri Mataji for giving Her attention to Russia.He said being in front of Shri Mataji it is only possible to meditate and go thoughtlesstherefore afterwards we collectively and immediately got together to record what wassaid.

Shri Mataji created SY for the emancipation of humanity and that there will be only loveamong the humans. It is very important that a Sahaja Yogi is free to exhibit himself and to take part in various Sahaj activities. And this is possible if the yogi will have freedom

and liberation inside which is a basic of Sahaja Yoga.

Power leads to corruption and destruction, absolute power is absolute corruption. Thereshould be an honest and transparent way of elections like in India. And this method canbe taken as an example and also other methods can be taken from the collectivedecisions. Dmitri has done a big work and now his tenure is completed.

He has to step down from his post including the process of election and to pass it on tothe new initiative group organization. The election can be conducted only when thecollective will settle down and that they understood each other by means of love and when there will one big collectivity and not many groups.

There is a need for a new regional and national committee to act on the behalf of thecollective. Council is needed and must be only



for spreading love and must be focused on it.

Russia is a big and great country and when the yogis will be collective and love eachother then Shri Mataji and I will come toRussia again and again, often, it’s a promise.

When I came to Russia last time we felt the love of the big collective of the yogis.

Hari – all people are equal and allowed to develop in their own country, and will forwardthe Australian method of committee selection to a number of people in Russia.

Majid, at Guru Puja there was a clear cut, collective decision, reached by the CountryCo-coordinators for Russia but it was not followed, what is your suggestion of thecommunication of all this to Russians so they can really listen and remove any doubtand confusion in Russia. How can we help our brothers and sisters in Russia?

Alan: Sir said Dmitriy Korotaev should step down and hand over everything to the new

organisation. Sir C.P. gave such an inspirational heartfelt talk and every one at themeeting felt emotional. Sir requested that above all love and unity should prevail.

Krishna – there is a collectivity in Moscow and more than 80% have come to thiscollectivity everyone is important and everyone has to participate in everything. It isimportant everyone is a guru; we have re-opened all centres that were closed, openedup the schools again. Opening one programme for the children and for the Yogini'swho are not able to come to the programmes because of children. Ministry of Cultureprogrammes are starting for all SY’s to come to. There were recently 5-6 programmeswhere 800 people came, it is all very successful.

Agenda Item 5: BUILDING A MEDITATIVE MOOD BETWEEN COUNTRY LEADERSVaibhav (Greece) – we should always check the vibrations before deciding things, feelwhat the Divine wants. Develop this and implement the same in our countries andpeople will follow this. We know we should check the vibrations but what does itmean? We have to develop our experience in this. ACTION Country Leaders

Pasquale – experience gives you a certain amount of knowledge in the ways things aredone. In your heart and mind you want to do what is best for Mother. In UK we see toit - see how you can - whatever you do - will work out the vibrations. With protocol andknowledge we have considered what would be the best to enforce – to help thevibrations, to offer the Puja in the way we have been given - because it will enhancethe vibrations and also stabilise the whole Puja pendal. If we change the way we do

things at the end then we all respect Mother’s privacy and also our brothers and sistersalso.

Agenda Item 6: ANY OTHER BUSINESS

Geoffrey – this question is to Hari and Kim as they are our brothers and sisters who arenearest to Shri Mataji in daily life …..to perhaps say: How Shri Mataji is.Kim - the answer is how can we really know? Shri Mataji is following Her Divine plan.

Kim then brought out some presents from Shri Mataji for everyone, vibrated water fromwashing Shri Mataji’s feet yesterday for everyone. Shri Mataji very kindly vibratedsome oil, so each country can take some vibrated oil and finally SM vibrated some

fudge and this was given out.



Robert – next year in June we will be opening a Vashi centre in Cabella in Centrassi - 25people over the month of June only. This will be put out by Robert he is still workingthis out.

Brian thanked Maureen Rossi (UK) for typing the meeting minutes

Brian thanked everyone for their attention and attendance and brought the meeting toa close.

Everyone did Namaskar.

Jai Shri Mataji.

Documents

Country Leaders Meeting Minutes 16th October 2010