Product Description

To read the words of Sri Daya Mata is to become acquainted with one who is in love with God. Hers is a love that reaches out and embraces all - a sublime expression of the soul's yearning and of its joyous fulfillment in Spirit. In this volume of informal talks, she gives us a glimpse into the realm of spiritual consciousness wherein the soul experiences the love of the Divine. Daya Mata shares with the reader the guidance and inspiration she received as a close disciple of Paramahansa Yogananda, one of the preeminent spiritual figures of our time and author of the widely acclaimed Autobiography of a Yogi.

This anthology conveys the in-depth guidance she absorbed during her more than twenty years of day-to-day association with the great teacher: the practices and principles that lead to realization of the infinite love and joy that are hidden within every human being, just waiting to be discovered.

Topics include: The role of meditation - Creating a personal relationship with God - Health and Healing - Making prayer effective - Spiritual aspects of raising children - Foundations of world unity - Understanding yourself and others.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #290755 in Books
• Published on: 1998-10
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 293 pages

About the Author
Sri Daya Mata is the foremost living disciple of Paramahansa Yogananda. A true "Mother of Compassion," as her name signifies, she has inspired those of all faiths and from all walks of life with the wisdom and great love of God conveyed through her talks, writings, and recordings. Referring to her first volume of spiritual counsel, Only Love, the former Ambassador of India to the United States, N. A. Palkhivala, wrote: "Sri Daya Mata personifies love and compassion and the other timeless values of Indian culture...Her speeches are not dry academic dissertations on abstract theological principles, but intensely personal hymns testifying to her ecastatic vision of the Creator."

Born Faye Wright on January 31, 1914 in Salt Lake City, Utah, Daya Mata met Paramahansa Yogananda at the age of seventeen when she attended a lecture series he was giving in her hometown. Upon hearing him speak, she inwardly thought: "This man loves God as I have always longed to love Him. He knows God. Him I shall follow." Not long afterward, she entered his ashram in Los Angeles as a nun of the Self-Realization Order. During more than two decades of day-to-day association with Yogananda, Daya Mata served as his confidential secretary; and over the years he entrusted her with increasing spiritual and administrative responsibilities. From the beginning it was evident that he had singled her out for a special role. He later told her that he had given to her the same intense spiritual discipline that his guru, Swami Sri Yukteswar, had given to him - a significant remark, since she was to inherit the spiritual and organizational mantle that Sri Yukteswar had bestowed on him.

As Paramahansa Yogananda's spiritual successor, Sri Daya Mata has guided his society for more than half a century, faithfully carrying out his wishes and ideals for the dissemination of his teachings worldwide and for the establishment of Self-Realzation Fellowship temples, centers, and retreats. In 1955, succeeding the late, saintly Rajarsi Janakananda, Sri Daya Mata became president of Self-Realization Fellowship/Yogoda Satsanga Society - the first woman to head a worldwide spiritual organization. She has made several global speaking tours, including extended visits to India. Under her leadership, the pioneering spiritual work of Paramahansa Yogananda has flourished, both in his native land and around the world. Two other books by Daya Mata have been published: Only Love: Living the Spiritual Life in a Changing World, and Enter The Quiet Heart: Creating a Loving Relationship with God. Many of her talks are also available on audio CD, and DVD.

Customer Reviews

A Divine Inspiration
This is a book that will open heart,mind and spirit and change forever the life of the reader.A true disciple of P.Yogananda, in these pages, Sry Daya Mata,shows clearly what are the results of being trained by such an exalted being.Undoubtely a Mother of compassion,as Her name implies,Daya Mata gives the reader a glimpse of the divine nature of man and the entire cosmos,with humility and unparalled realization.One has the certainty that the Author is living what is preaching,which makes this book a rare gem of deep spiritual insights.A "must" for everyone that is truly searching.

A LIVING SAINT!
Sri Daya Mata is the president of Self-Realization Fellowship.
Many people feel that she is a saint. And after you read this book, I don't think that you will have any doubts that this is true. I believe that she has glued herself so close to the teachings of her guru, Paramahansa Yogananda, that there is no
difference between her and the teachings. As one devotee has said, "She is love." This book is like a diamond. You will
see different facets of love for God as you turn each page. This is also a guide for loving God in modern life. How you can keep that love alive away from your meditation seat. I personally don't believe in God. I am ruled by the intellect
and I envy Sri Daya Mata very much. She is in touch with an existental being that cannot be defined by the intellect in words. Tibetan Buddhists say that Hindu-yoga is dangerous because it simply allows high concentration states which produce
bliss. But not wisdom-realizing emptiness. Please turn to page
558 of "God Talks to Arjuna" by Paramahansa Yogananda. Chapter 5
Verse 18. "A sleeping man, beholding a dream drama, may cry out:
'There's a low pariah! And there's my friend the priest! How
noisy it is here--dogs barking, cows lowing, and elephants trumpeting!' Yet, on awakening, he realizes (if he remembers the dream) that the various 'living' creatures possessed no inherent differences, all being unreal mind-spinnings." In this explanation of a verse, Yogananda makes in clear that a hindu-yogi does reach wisdom-realizing emptiness. That is, all things are merely what we impute on them. A "dog." A "cat." All unreal but at the same time real. In this book, Daya Mata exemplifys this position. She is not a "love-junkie." She is
not a "samadhi-junkie." She is in contact with an existential
force which proves itself by it's own existence. There is only one problem with this book. You may read it and get gooey-eyed
over "GOD." Go further. Sri Daya Mata asks you to put yourself to the test. Can you love God in modern day life? All the time?
Personally, I cannot. Can you?