Rakhi – The Thread of Pure Love, Trust and Protection between a Sister and a Brother celebrated on Rakhsha Bandhan Day

Shri Mataji: “Today in India, we celebrate a special festival. It is called as Raksha bandhan. ‘Raksha’ means protection and ‘bandhan’ means the bondage – the bondage of protection. It’s a very nice, good, social custom to have this beautiful festival today. Today is the full moon day and this day what we do is to tie a band of threads around the person whom you want to protect. It is done between brothers and sisters. The sisters tie this bondage to the wrist of the brothers, and when we do that, they’re putting all their love around the wrist, that it is the day for giving all their love, everything to their brother, as a protection, as a symbol of their protection through that thread. It’s a very, very simple thread they use. And this is has to be tied on the left-hand side. But people tie it on the right-hand side, which is a mistake, but it has to be tied on the left-hand side. In our Sahaja Yoga the significance of left wrist is that it is the left Vishuddhi. Left Vishuddhi, which is here. And this is the left Vishuddhi expressed here, you know that very well. Now, left Vishuddhi is the place where our relationship of brothers and sisters exist. When they are disturbed within us, we start getting the problem of the left Vishuddhi.”  Shri Mataji (excerpt from the Talk on Raksha Bandhan, London, US, Aug 26, 1980)

Rakhi stands for the celebration of emotions and is also known as Raksha Bandhan “ the knot of protection”. People have a belief that the thread of  Rakhi has a strong power to hold the affectionate relation of a brother and sister. Since ages, this festival is being celebrated to cherish the most sacred relation on this globe. The festival of Rakhi is celebrated in almost all the corners of this world and the name of this festival changes as soon as one enters into a new region. India is worldly known for its strong family based system, therefore, Rakhi is celebrated with lots of hues of love and care. The festivity of Rakhi has been showcasing the eternal love and care between brothers and sisters. This festival of Rakhi is seen as a way of expressing your love for those who are always there in dark days of your life. (source)

Letter from Shri Mataji to Sahaja Yogis on Rakhi & Raksha-Bandhan – on Purnima Day, August 17, 1978 (Translation from Marathi)

“Many blessings,

Received your Rakhis conveying your deep love.

Rakhi is Protecting Power. Its bond is very strong and extremely tender because it symbolizes the noble love of sister. Customarily, tying a Rakhi to someone is establishing a place of Pure Protection. However, man’s ability to understand love has become so feeble that tying of Rakhi has become merely a mechanical process. All beautiful human traditions become lifeless and dry formalities if there is no warmth of faith in them.

 

I have taken birth in this world in the binding of Sahaja Yogis and have been moving around only in their binding. I am desireless and hence my everything depends upon your desires.
You have to ask something with Rakhi. Please consult all Sahaja Yogis and ask what you want by writing a collective letter.
I am keeping good health because you are desiring it. There will be only minor operation on my ear and it should not make you anxious at all. Moreover, I have no trouble whatsoever. So do not worry.

Rakhi Purnima is a day of great significance. On that day you should ask for perfection, make big decisions and keep attention on high ideals. Sahaja Yogis should not destroy their attention on trifle issues. Lot of work has yet to be done. Those Sahaja Yogis who have progressed should get busy. New centres should be opened. People should be cured of their diseases and their attention should be drawn towards God realization.

 

Please show this letter to all Sahaja Yogis.

Always remembering you –

 

Your Mother
Nirmala”

Raksha-Bandhan Day & Importance & Relationship with Qualities of Chakras

History with Brother -Sister Incarnations that govern related Chakras (energy centres)

“Raksha Bandhan because is the sister relationship and brother relationship…So in the history, if you go, Shri Krishna was born the day his sister was born, and this Vishnumaya was transferred from, transformed I should say, into a lightning later on, but she was one who announced the existence of Shri Krishna at that time – that He is born, He is living, He is in the present. This is the job of the left Vishuddi, of the lightning, and you have seen that

whenever I am going to any place, or I will be giving a program or something, just before that, the lightning, the thunder, all this appears in the sky, you see, to show that announcement. So it is one of the things that is used for announcement.To make it more practical and understanding is that we use electricity now for our televisions, for our announcements, for telling people about messages of something of great importance. I don’t know if they do it, might not be. In the same way we should use our left Vishuddi for the announcement of the coming of Adi Shakti. But on the contrary, people start using it as a pocket kept for our extra ego to be filled. “

“”Now, brother sister relationship – the relationship of Vishnumaya is, that Vishnumaya (governing the Left Vishuddhi Chakra) is the one who is the Sister, sister of Shri Krishna (the Incarnation that opened Vishuddhi Chakra at universal level). She is the one who announced the Coming of Shri Krishna. She is the one who sacrificed her life to save Shri Krishna’s life. Vishnumaya is the one which surrounds Shri Krishna; and She was born as Draupadi who, you know, was later humiliated by Duryodhana and it was Shri Krishna (as a Raki brother) who came and helped her. “

“This (Raksha-Bandhan festival) is an extremely important day, especially for America. We can see that when we ascend in the collective consciousness and we have collective living, collective meeting at the Vishuddhi chakra – Shri Krishna established this or he manifested this pure relationship of a sister. In a collective life that we have .. if we do not have this basic principle within us there will be chaos, complete chaos. Like the chaos of the American social system. The purity of relationships should be established. A brother is a brother, a sister is a sister. ‘Apart from my wife all the rest are my sisters or mothers.’ Doesn’t matter what is the blood relationship. It is a common thing in the West, that a man starts having “bad eyes” towards a friend of the wife; Because from very childhood if you have not fixed your attention on your sister with all that purity – you cannot have that pure feelings for another woman. Small, innocent children can have that dimension of pure sisterly relationship, despite corruption in the society. It is a brother’s duty to protect and respect his sister’s chastity. And it is sister’s duty to keep the brother morally alright. In India or China for example they .. would correct the immoral behaviour. Also in other cultures, for example, a wife can count on help from the husband’s sister to correct his wrong behaviour. It is an innate thing, regardless of culture, that a sister would try to dissuade the brother from doing something immoral or illegal. It is her “divine right” to correct. In societies with pure brother-sister relationships usually sisters don’t do wrong things. And if they do – brothers will try to correct them. So this right to correct between brother and sister is an innate Ganesha principle (leading the Root = Mooladhara chakra) which acts on the Vishuddhi chakra.

“This (Vishuddhi chakra)  is the center of communication, mothers and sisters relationships. There are three types of relationships with women: first the mother, second the sister or daughter and third the wife. The daughter cannot correct the father but would stand by him even if he was wrong. The son will correct the father to protect the mother. It is a natural thing, male force supporting the female force or female force correcting the male force to keep the society clean and within proper mariadas (boundaries). Only rakshasas (demons) or barbarians will break that purity. But such is our society and mentally we accept these things as norms. Why look at every person with lust or greed?! This abandonment starts when basic relationships are spoiled in childhood due to the atmosphere or other things. Once this Ganesha principle on the Vishuddhi is ruined it’s very difficult … “

How to Improve the Left Vishuddhi Chakra?! How to bring down the Ego?!

“Now the whole idea of this..  is such that when you have called somebody as a sister or a brother then it is not only lip service, “You are my sister”. It is something innate, and very deep. You have to develop that feeling of a sister. Because that’s how your Sublimity will go up, your left-Vishuddhi (The energy centre placed on the left side between the neck and the shoulder) will improve, your Vishnumaya (power/principle that incarnated same time with Shri Krishna) will be satisfied. If you call somebody a

sister, the sisterly and daughterly relationships, and motherly relationships, always bring down the so-called ego, which is hiding in the Left Vishuddhi (chakr). So try to be kind and gentle with the person whom you call the sister. Stand by her. Look after her. If somebody you call your brother, you have to pray for his protection; then you must know that you have a right to ask him for his protection also. But you must also give something to him, and you must try to look after him, welcome him to your house, and treat him as a part and parcel of your being, because he is very much near to you because he is your brother, and he’s very much closer to you. But such a brother should not try to dominate .. “

Importance of Purity & Sincerity in Yoga (Unity)

“Try to be sincere. PURITY is brought forth by SINCERITY. If you are not sincere to yourself and to others, you cannot’ be pure. And purity is the main thing you have to achieve in Sahaja Yoga, apart from the unity, which I have given you. But if you do not use this Unity for Purity, no use. So this light should give you complete wisdom that you enjoy a pure good life.”

“So apart from ego, superego, the worst thing that has happened to those modern societies is that they have lost the Innate understanding of purity”

“So it’s a very sweet relationship of Purity, of Help. A very delicate relationship is to be maintained of a Brother and a Sister. And that is a special relationship. Today, those who want to tie the Rakhis to a sister should tie today before me, it will be a good idea. It is a greater relationship than any other relationship. .. So the brother and sister relationship should be alright.In that also one should not have preferences because some would like to have a rich sister! Or some sort of a nonsense like that. Or somebody would like to have the most miserable one. This is all but a relationship with a person with whom you would like to be happy, you should tie the Rakhi. And if there is anybody left out, I would say that best thing would be to have your lucky dips. I think for people, something like that could be done so that they choose their sisters and tie the things. Whichever way you like you choose it. :-)”

Ego as Guilt – in Chakras, in Family and in Community

“When we feel guilty, firstly we feel guilty when our sense of relationships are not alright. For example, we do not understand a sister and a brother, the relationship which is very pure,

and, is above all kinds of contamination. But, as you know in the West, because maybe of drinking and doing all kinds of things which are against awareness, people have lost the value system, and in that they have also lost the system to understand what is a sister and what is a brother. So Vishnumaya is so important – extremely important – because of Her announcement of an incarnation takes place. It’s, you can say, in the cosmos that is the “television” that announces.:-) It works it out. But in our own being Vishnumaya resides in the left Vishuddi, and I find that Vishnumaya is the thing that suffers the most, specially in the West, because it’s a fashion to feel guilty about everything.

So we have to see for ourselves that what makes us guilty for small things is actually is our own Ego reacting against us and wants us to reconcile with that mistakes we have committed. Like some people feel guilty because they have said something which they should not have said, or maybe because they have done something which they should not have done normally. May not be on a Sahaja Yoga basis, may be something else also, very frivolous.”

“So today is the day of a very big relationship between brother and sister where a sister never feels guilty and brother never feels guilty. Sister and brother should never feel guilty among themselves and they should always openly tell whatever they think wrong or whatever they think is right. There’s no harm, a sister can always go and correct the brother, and the brother can always come and correct the sister. This is the relationship in which nobody should feel hurt and bad, because this is the purest relationship that you could think of. As Mother, if she tells something, the difference of age is so much that you may not understand. Maybe, if the father says something the children may not understand, difference of age is too much. Also the norms we have created, of saying that there’s a generation gap and all this nonsense, that is also in the head. But supposing a brother and sister, if they, between themselves, understand Sahaja Yoga, they have every right to say whatever is wrong between them and work it out – not to put it as a guilt. But now with Rakhi sister is even better. Now with Rakhi sister we have established a beautiful atmosphere that somebody who is a brother, who cannot have any funny relationships with that person. It kills all your flirtations, all your funny, funny relationships that one develops, all kinds of marriage breaking problems, and people going astray, once you have understood the principle that we have to first settle ourselves on very holy relationship with each other. This is the way, in Sahaja Yoga, we establish that holy relationship. And moreover, one has to see that this holy relationship gives you joy, happiness, and pleasure. It is not just a holy relationship of some force or some sort of thing. Even if you cannot give anything to your sister, or, the brother cannot do anything for the sister, doesn’t matter. The relationship is in the heart, and is felt very much. When you feel it, that relationship, that sweetness of purity, of holiness, flows. I know of some people who have sacrificed such a lot for the brothers and so much for the sisters also.

So one has to understand this relationship is to be kept very clean, beautiful, and absolutely open – there should be no formality in it. That a brother should go and say ‘I’m sorry’, and the sister should go and say ‘I’m sorry’. You have to be open and tell – you should never feel bad about your brother and sister. But it can be the other way around. I have seen people, like there was a bhootish women, who turned out to be very bhootish (negative), and then somebody said, but ‘she’s my Rakhi sister’. So what?! As soon as she becomes bhootish there’s no Rakhi. Impurity, any impurity walking in, no Rakhi anymore. Finished. That’s broken long time back. You have to have pure relationships of pure personality. You cannot have impure personalities, “and then I must help, I have a weakness for the” – it has created lots of problems for me in America this Rakhi sister just started creating a king of a problem of a, we can say, intrigue, and she started telephoning to her Rakhi brothers, and all Rakhi brothers joined in, in that intrigue. It should not, in any way, cover discretion. That’s why the discretion stands in between. To understand when Rakhi sister is telling you something – is it going against Sahaja Yoga or for Sahaja Yoga? That discretion is in between. Before you go to this point you have a discretion here to see for yourself that this Rakhi relationship has to be nourishing, supporting, helping, Sahaja Yoga (= spiritual growth). Other than that it doesn’t exist.”

“We are brothers and sisters in Sahaja Yoga. Anything that breaks it, there’s no relationship at all, anyway. If you understand this simple thing I think we have done a good job today. May God Bless You!”

Shri Mataji: “But I have got some nice Rakhis for you; that should be done today. And I will be very happy.”

– all the above are excerpts from various lectures of Shri Mataji, when she was addressing to sahaja yogis all over the world, with the ocassion of Raksha Bandhan or other related festivals – Have A Happy Raksha Bandhan and A Happy Raki relationship with your Raki brothers or sisters 🙂

Enjoy below 3 other Letters filled with Sahaj Meditative Wisdom

1975 – Letter from Shri Mataji – About The Reality as Sun & Clouds

1972 – Letter from Shri Mataji – About Meditation and Searching as an Invitation to a Feast of Divine Vibrations

1978 -Letter from Shri Mataji – About Raki and Raksha Bandhan