Dear Ones,

On this special occasion of the release of the commemorative stamp honouring the 100th anniversary of Yogoda Satsanga Society of India (YSS), I send you my soul’s greetings and divine love. It fills me with immense joy and gratitude that through this function the Government of India is paying tribute to YSS and its founder—one of India’s great saints—Sri Sri Paramahansa Yogananda. My deepest thanks extend to all who had a role in bringing this about. Although much of his time was spent in America spreading India’s universal spirituality and ancient science of yoga meditation, Paramahansa Yoganandaji’s love and concern for his motherland never diminished. His very last words before departing this world—on this very day in 1952—were a heartfelt tribute to his beloved India.

India’s greatest wealth and strength—today as throughout her long history—lies in her cherishing and actively expressing the eternal spiritual truths that her seers have perceived and bequeathed to humanity. Down the ages, great souls—mahatmas, saints, sages of highest divine realisation—have been motivated by their great love of Mother India to serve that loftiest and most noble cause. That the Government of India has chosen today to honour the lifework of one such exemplary divine personage is a profound source of hope and inspiration not only for India, but for the millions worldwide who look to her for spiritual light in these troubled times.

Sri Sri Paramahansa Yogananda often said, “Reform yourself and you will reform thousands.” India’s divine and universal science of yoga and meditation embodies the most effective methods of bringing about lasting positive transformations in our behavioural and thought patterns. One of the main aims and ideals of Paramahansa Yoganandaji’s society is to disseminate among all nations the knowledge of the scientific techniques of meditation taught for millennia by India’s great rishis, by which each human being—regardless of nationality, caste, or creed—can realise his or her own divinity and experience inner peace, love, and joy. When each individual has peace within, world peace will naturally follow.

I deeply appreciate Hon'ble Prime Minister Sri Narendra Modi’s kindness in taking time out from his busy schedule to be personally present on this special day. How fitting it is that the commemorative stamp for the YSS centenary is being released by Sri Modi, himself an ardent practitioner of yoga. The International Day of Yoga—proposed by him and subsequently adopted as a United Nations resolution within a very short time by a record number of nations—is playing an important role in spreading the universal message of the yoga science around the world. We are grateful to Sri Modi for this landmark initiative.

Paramahansa Yoganandaji predicted that an ideal world civilization will emerge by combining the spirituality of India with the material efficiency of western nations. India therefore has an important and necessary role to play in helping elevate human consciousness in its upward evolutionary cycle. It is my ardent prayer that through the practice of the unity-bestowing spiritual teachings exemplified by Sri Sri Yoganandaji and other great masters of India we may move toward an era of global peace, divine harmony, and prosperity for every member of our human family.

May the light and love of God and the Great Ones bless and uplift you all,

Sri Mrinalini Mata
Sanghamata and President,
Yogoda Satsanga Society of India/Self-Realization Fellowship