I had the privilege of being in Rome when Shri Mataji arrived from India in mid April 1992. She arrived at Rome Airport on Saturday at lunchtime, to be greeted by a crowd of perhaps two hundred yogis, mostly Romans but with a sprinkling from other countries and centres. She took a seat on one side of the arrivals hall to receive flowers from all of us, and the children of Rome ashram sat in front of Her and sang a few songs, beginning with Vishwa Vandita and going on with Shri Ganesh Sits on the Roots of the Tree and Sitting in the Heart of the Universe. For the latter song the grown-ups also sang the refrain, but we did not know the words to the verses, which the children, all singing from memory, did; Shri Mataji told the children that they must teach the song to the rest of us!
The rest of the day Mother spent in Her room, resting and talking to a few Sahaja Yogis. Next morning, before Her departure to Cabella, She kindly came to give us all Her darshan in the ashram sitting room. She sat before us and spoke for a while, a short talk but very important. She said how pleased She was that all over the world Sahaja Yogis are becoming responsible, are taking responsibility for the spread of Sahaja Yoga, and that this is very necessary. It is no longer sufficient, She said, to love Her, nor even to be completely surrendered to Her and to fully recognise Her. We must become dynamic and active in the collective growth and spreading of Sahaja Yoga, as Sahaja Yoga will only be spread by us as Her instruments. Certain basic things are necessary: we must all meditate morning and evening, for instance. We should also know certain songs by heart; and She suggested we could have song competitions between ourselves.
A gentleman from Cuba was visiting the ashram, and he described conditions there as very difficult, as it is not allowed to talk openly about religion. Shri Mataji gave a bandhan to Cuba. She also put Her divine attention to Armenia. Shri Mother said the Sahasrara Puja will be on the following weekend, but on the 5th May itself we should all perform a havan, as this is the day when all wishes are to be fulfilled.
To end Her visit to Rome, we sang a few bhajans, and then Shri Mataji gave us a last blessing and left in Her car for Cabella, where She will be staying until Her return to Rome on Friday for the Easter Puja.
Phil Ward