Dear Ones,

On August 3, 2017, our beloved Sri Mrinalini Mataji, sanghamata and president of Yogoda Satsanga Society of India/Self-Realization Fellowship since 2011, peacefully departed from this world. We will miss her deeply. Yet we would want no sorrow to mar the bliss and freedom she is now experiencing in the heavenly realms, where Guruji has welcomed her with boundless joy and pours out to her his divine love and blessings for the faithfulness with which she fulfilled his trust. She was a pure channel for his teachings and the guidance he wished to convey, chosen by him because of her high spiritual advancement from past lives as his disciple and because he knew she had the wisdom and humility to set self aside, seeking only to please God and Guru.

When great souls such as our Gurudeva Paramahansa Yogananda incarnate on earth for a world mission, God often draws to them close disciples from the past to assist them in their work. Sri Mrinalini Mata was surely such a one. From Guruji’s first meeting with Mrinalini Mataji when she was only fourteen years old, he recognized that she would play a vital part in spreading the sacred science of Kriya Yoga that he was ordained by God and the Great Ones to bring.  

In this quiet, shy young girl, he saw a purity and depth of understanding that would be able to penetrate to the very core of the divinely revealed truths he taught and present them in print with the power and authenticity of his wisdom. He also realized that she had the capacity to be single-heartedly loyal to his ideals and guidance—a disciple to whom he could entrust the polishing of his priceless gems of inspiration, knowing that she would never stray from his meaning but capture its very essence. With great care he trained her personally to succeed Tara Mata in the momentous task of preparing his writings for publication, and to that task she dedicated heart, mind, and soul. All of us who practice Gurudeva’s teachings, and the generations of devotees yet to come, owe her an eternal debt of gratitude for the purity of her attunement with him, and her decades of selfless efforts, which have given us such a wealth of his divine wisdom.

With an understanding ever rooted in Gurudeva’s vast consciousness, Mrinalini Mataji fulfilled multiple roles during her many years in his ashrams. In addition to her lifetime responsibility for editing Guruji’s writings, she served as vice president for many years, working side by side with Sri Daya Mata to aid the growth of Gurudeva’s work in the West and India. She had a special place in her heart for Guruji’s homeland and rejoiced to see his work flourishing there. When she became president of YSS/SRF after Sri Daya Mata’s passing, she guided his society in the same spirit that Daya Mataji expressed in saying: “Not what do I want, but what would Master want.” Their example affirmed the changeless truth that Guruji is in charge of this sacred work, and it will always be so.

The lives of those who have inspired us, and helped us grow spiritually, leave an enduring imprint upon our souls. Through her unwavering devotion to God and Guru, her work with Guruji’s writings, and her deep caring for his spiritual family, our dear Mrinalini Mataji will ever be enshrined in our hearts. As we unite in sending her our love, gratitude, and prayers, we can be sure she receives those thoughts, and that we will meet again in God’s light and joy. May our lasting tribute to her be our own efforts to apply the truths in Gurudeva’s writings with zeal and persistence until they become a living, transforming power in our lives. That gift, placed at Guruji’s feet, is the expression of gratitude that will most touch her soul.