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{{Short description|President of Self-Realization Fellowship from 1955 to 2010}}
{{Short description|President of Self-Realization Fellowship from 1955 to 2010}}
{{Infobox Hindu leader
{{Infobox Hindu leader
| name = Daya Mata
| name = Daya Mata
| image = Daya Mata.jpg
| image = Daya Mata.jpg
| caption = Daya Mata (Rachel Faye Wright)
| caption = Daya Mata (Rachel Faye Wright)
| religion = [[Hinduism]]
| religion = [[Hinduism]]
| birth_name = Rachel Faye Wright
| birth_name = Rachel Faye Wright
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1914|1|31|mf=yes}}
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1914|1|31|mf=yes}}
| birth_place = [[Salt Lake City, Utah]]
| birth_place = [[Salt Lake City, Utah]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2010|11|30|1914|1|31|mf=yes}}
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2010|11|30|1914|1|31|mf=yes}}
| death_place = [[Los Angeles]]
| death_place = [[Los Angeles]]
| order = Self-Realization Fellowship
| order = Self-Realization Fellowship
| guru = [[Paramahansa Yogananda]]
| guru = [[Paramahansa Yogananda]]
| disciples =
| disciples =
⚫
| philosophy = [[Kriya Yoga school|Kriya Yoga]]
⚫
| occupation = President of Self-Realization Fellowship and Yogoda Satsanga Society of India (1955-2010)
⚫
| signature = Daya-Mata-Signature-Transparent.png
⚫
| philosophy = [[Kriya Yoga school|Kriya Yoga]]
⚫
| office1 = President of Self-Realization Fellowship and Yogoda Satsanga Society of India
⚫
| signature = Daya-Mata-Signature-Transparent.png
| term1 = 1955–2010
| predecessor1 = [[Rajarsi Janakananda]]
| successor1 = [[Mrinalini Mata]]
}}
}}


'''Daya Mata''', born '''Rachel Faye Wright''' (January 31, 1914{{spaced ndash}}November 30, 2010), was the third president and ''sanghamata'' (mother of the society) of [[Self-Realization Fellowship]]/[[Yogoda Satsanga Society of India]] (SRF/YSS), the only church founded by her spiritual teacher, [[Paramahansa Yogananda]], to disseminate his teachings. She was president of SRF/YSS for over 55 years until her death in 2010.<ref>{{wikisource-inline|SRF Articles of Incorporation 1935}}</ref><ref name="yogananda-srf.org">{{Cite web |title=A Glimpse Into the Life of our Sanghamata {{!}} Self-Realization Fellowship |url=https://yogananda.org/a-glimpse-into-the-life-of-our-sanghamata |access-date=2023-07-11 |website=Self Realization Fellowship |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name="Dennis Hevesi">{{cite news |author=Dennis Hevesi| title=Sri Daya Mata, Guiding Light for U.S. Hindus, Dies at 96 | location=New York, NY | newspaper=New York Times| date= 3 December 2010 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/03/us/03mata.html?_r=0}}</ref>
'''Daya Mata''', born '''Rachel Faye Wright''' (January 31, 1914{{spaced ndash}}November 30, 2010), was the third president and religious leader of [[Self-Realization Fellowship]]/[[Yogoda Satsanga Society of India]] (SRF/YSS).<ref name="yogananda-srf.org" /><ref name="Dennis Hevesi" /> SRF/YSS is the only spiritual organization founded by her [[guru]], [[Paramahansa Yogananda]], to disseminate his teachings.<ref>{{cite book |last=Wessinger |first=Catherine |editor= Timonthy Miller|title=America's Alternative Religions, Hinduism Arrives in America: The Vedanta Movement And The Self-Realization Fellowship|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=og_u0Re1uwUC&q=Self-Realization+Fellowship | page=179 |year=1995 |publisher=State University of New York Press|isbn=0-7914-2398-0 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Self-Realization Fellowship|url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/philosophy-and-religion/other-religious-beliefs-and-general-terms/miscellaneous-religion/self-realization-fellowship|access-date=2023-07-23 |website=Encyclopedia.com |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{wikisource-inline|SRF Articles of Incorporation 1935}}</ref> She was president of SRF/YSS for over 55 years until her death in 2010.<ref name="yogananda-srf.org">{{Cite web |title=A Glimpse Into the Life of our Sanghamata |url=https://yogananda.org/a-glimpse-into-the-life-of-our-sanghamata |access-date=2023-07-11 |website=Self Realization Fellowship |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name="Dennis Hevesi">{{cite news |author=Dennis Hevesi| title=Sri Daya Mata, Guiding Light for U.S. Hindus, Dies at 96 | location=New York, NY | newspaper=New York Times| date= 3 December 2010 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/03/us/03mata.html?_r=0}}</ref>


==Early life==
==Biography==
She was born in [[Salt Lake City, Utah]], to a family affiliated with [[the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]] (LDS Church).<ref name=":1" /> Her ancestors were among the original [[Mormon pioneers]] to the [[Salt Lake Valley]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Florence Youngberg, Presented by National Society for Sons Of Utah Pioneers |title=Conquerors of the West: Stalwart Mormon Pioneers (Her grandfather and father figure are in the book)|publisher=Agreka Books|year= 1998 |isbn=978-1-888106-31-2}}</ref><ref name="Daya" /> Her grandfather, Abraham Reister Wright, was an architect of the LDS Church's [[Salt Lake Tabernacle]].<ref name=":0">[http://www.deccanherald.com/content/117475/spiritual-leader-sri-daya-mata.html "Spiritual Leader Sri Daya Mata Dies in US"]. (Dec. 2, 2010) ''[[Deccan Herald]]''. Retrieved 12-02-2010</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/salt-lake-temple/|title=Temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints|access-date= 16 July 2023 }}</ref>
Faye Wright was born in [[Salt Lake City, Utah]], to a family affiliated with [[the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]] (LDS Church).<ref name=":1">{{cite news |author=Woo, Elaine |date=Dec 3, 2010 |title=Sri Daya Mata dies at 96; led L.A.-based Self-Realization Fellowship |work=The Los Angeles Times |url=http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-sri-daya-mata-20101203,0,6781315.story |access-date=March 16, 2012}}</ref> Her parents, Clarence Aaron Wright and Rachel Terry Wright, were descended from the original [[Mormon pioneers]] to the [[Salt Lake Valley]].<ref name=":3">{{cite book |author=Florence Youngberg, Presented by National Society for Sons Of Utah Pioneers |title=Conquerors of the West: Stalwart Mormon Pioneers |publisher=Agreka Books |year=1998 |isbn=978-1-888106-31-2 |pages=2784–2786}}</ref><ref name="Daya">{{cite web |title=A Life of Love, Humility, and Devoted Service to God |url=https://yogananda.org/a-life-of-love-humility-and-devoted-service-to-god |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230323152937/https://yogananda.org/a-life-of-love-humility-and-devoted-service-to-god |archive-date=2023-03-23 |access-date=2023-07-21 |website=Self-Realization Fellowship}}</ref> Her grandfather, Abraham Reister Wright Jr., was an architect of the LDS Church's [[Salt Lake Tabernacle]].<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":0">[http://www.deccanherald.com/content/117475/spiritual-leader-sri-daya-mata.html "Spiritual Leader Sri Daya Mata Dies in US"]. (Dec. 2, 2010) ''[[Deccan Herald]]''. Retrieved 12-02-2010</ref> She graduated from Franklin High School in 1932.<ref name=":1" />


⚫
From an early age, she desired a personal relationship with God.<ref name="Daya" /> When she was 17 years old in 1931, she met Yogananda for the first time in Salt Lake City. Her face was swollen and covered in bandages due to a chronic blood disorder. Yogananda openly declared the condition would be gone within seven days, and it was. She joined his [[ashram]] atop [[Mt. Washington in Los Angeles]], California on November 19 that year.<ref name="Williamson">{{cite book |last=Williamson |first=Lola |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yX4VCgAAQBAJ |title=Transcendent in America: Hindu-inspired Meditation Movements as New Religion |date=2010 |publisher=New York University Press |isbn=978-0-8147-9449-4 |location=New York and London |page=75}}</ref> In time, she took her monastic vows with Yogananda and was given the name ''Daya'', becoming one of Yogananda's first monastic disciples.<ref name="Dennis Hevesi" /><ref>{{cite journal |year=1952 |title=Self-Realization Magazine |location=Los Angeles |publisher=Self Realization Fellowship |volume=24 |issue=22}}</ref> ''Daya Mata'' means ''compassionate mother'' in [[Sanskrit]].<ref name="Dennis Hevesi" /> She described her experience with Yogananda in this way:<ref name="isbn0-87612-175-X">{{cite book |author=Sri Daya Mata |title=Enter the Quiet Heart: Creating a Loving Relationship with God|publisher=Self-Realization Fellowship |location=Los Angeles |year=1998 |isbn=0-87612-175-X}}</ref>
==Discipleship==
⚫
From an early age, Daya Mata desired a personal relationship with God.<ref name="Daya" /> When she was 17 years old in 1931, she met Yogananda for the first time, and she joined his [[ashram]] atop Mt. Washington in Los Angeles, California on November 19 that year. In time, she took her monastic vows with Yogananda and was given the name ''Daya'', becoming one of Yogananda's first monastic disciples.<ref name="Dennis Hevesi" /><ref>{{cite journal |year=1952 |title=Self-Realization Magazine |location=Los Angeles |publisher=Self Realization Fellowship |volume=24 |issue=22}}</ref> ''Daya Mata'' means ''compassionate mother'' in [[Sanskrit]].<ref name="Dennis Hevesi" /> She described her experience with Yogananda in this way:'<ref name="isbn0-87612-175-X">{{cite book |author=Sri Daya Mata |title=Enter the Quiet Heart: Creating a Loving Relationship with God|publisher=Self-Realization Fellowship |location=Los Angeles |year=1998 |isbn=0-87612-175-X}}</ref>


{{quote|I had the good fortune to attend a series of lectures given in my hometown of Salt Lake City by a great man of God, Paramahansa Yogananda. In the years that followed, I learned from him the way to total fulfillment of the lifelong yearning of my heart: perfect love, divine love—the all-consuming love experienced in communion with the Eternal Beloved of our souls.}}
{{quote|I had the good fortune to attend a series of lectures given in my hometown of Salt Lake City by a great man of God, Paramahansa Yogananda. In the years that followed, I learned from him the way to total fulfillment of the lifelong yearning of my heart: perfect love, divine love—the all-consuming love experienced in communion with the Eternal Beloved of our souls.}}


On a practical level, she assisted Yogananda by using her shorthand to record his speeches. Yogananda created lessons of his teachings that were distributed to his students and Daya Mata helped by organizing instructions on meditation techniques to be added to these lessons. Over time she was asked to take on more administrative responsibilities until in the 1940s she was given the full responsibility of running the SRF Mount Washington headquarters.<ref>{{cite news|last=Fletcher|first=Peggy|title=From Mormon teen to leader of mystics, Utahn Sri Daya Mata joined guru's fold and became "Mother of Compassion |date= December 10, 2010|publisher=The Salt Lake Tribune |url=https://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=50803228&itype=CMSID|access-date=16 July 2023}}</ref>
On a practical level, she assisted Yogananda by using her shorthand to record his speeches. Yogananda created lessons of his teachings that were distributed to his students, and Daya Mata helped by organizing instructions on meditation techniques to be added to these lessons. Over time, she was asked to take on more administrative responsibilities until the 1940s, when she was given the full responsibility of running the SRF Mount Washington headquarters.<ref>{{cite news|last=Fletcher|first=Peggy|title=From Mormon teen to leader of mystics, Utahn Sri Daya Mata joined guru's fold and became "Mother of Compassion |date= December 10, 2010|publisher=The Salt Lake Tribune |url=https://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=50803228&itype=CMSID|access-date=16 July 2023}}</ref> She also helped Yogananda prepare the manuscript for his ''[[Autobiography of a Yogi]],'' a text that has been translated in more than fifty languages {{as of|2024|lc=y}}.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Autobiography of a Yogi |url=https://yogananda.org/autobiography-of-a-yogi |access-date=2024-07-19 |website=Self Realization Fellowship |language=en-US}}</ref>


After Yogananda's death, and the death of his successor [[Rajarsi Janakananda]], she became the third president and spiritual leader of SRF/YSS in 1955.<ref name="yogananda-srf.org" /><ref>{{cite book|last1=Constance|first1=Jones|last2=James D.|first2=Ryan|title=Encyclopedia of Hinduism|date=2006|publisher=Infobase Publishing|isbn=0816075646|page=394|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OgMmceadQ3gC&q=Daya%20Mata%20Hinduism&pg=PA394|access-date=2 July 2015}}</ref> As Yogananda's next successor, she assumed responsibility for the guidance and training of SRF/YSS members and monastic disciples, and she oversaw the organization's spiritual and humanitarian efforts.<ref name=":0" />
After the deaths of Yogananda and his successor [[Rajarsi Janakananda]], Daya Mata was elected by the SRF Board of Directors as the third president and spiritual leader of SRF/YSS in 1955.<ref name="Williamson"/><ref name="yogananda-srf.org" /><ref>{{cite book|last1=Constance|first1=Jones|last2=James D.|first2=Ryan|title=Encyclopedia of Hinduism|date=2006|publisher=Infobase Publishing|isbn=0816075646|page=394|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OgMmceadQ3gC&q=Daya%20Mata%20Hinduism&pg=PA394|access-date=2 July 2015}}</ref> As Yogananda's next successor, she assumed responsibility for the guidance and training of SRF/YSS members and monastic disciples, and she oversaw the organization's spiritual and humanitarian efforts.<ref name=":0" /> She died on the evening of November 30, 2010 at one of SRF's retreats for nuns in [[Los Angeles]], where "she had been living in seclusion".<ref name="Dennis Hevesi" /><ref name=":1" />


== Influence ==
⚫
Some of Daya Mata's family members became members of SRF. Her brother Richard Wright served as Yogananda's personal secretary for many years, accompanying Yogananda on his trip to India on June 9, 1935, and appearing in his ''[[Autobiography of a Yogi]].''<ref>{{cite book|author=Paramahansa Yogananda |title=Autobiography of a Yogi|publisher=Self-Realization Fellowship Publishers |location=Los Angeles, CA |year= 1997 |pages=415 |isbn=0-87612-086-9}}</ref> Her other brother and her mother were also SRF members.<ref name=":1" /> Her sister, Ananda Mata (Virginia Wright), served on the SRF Board of Directors.<ref name="Daya" />
⚫
Daya Mata was one of the first women to lead a worldwide religious organization and monastic order. American yoga scholar [[Linda Johnsen]] noted that Daya Mata was an example of a new wave of women who acquired leadership positions in Hindu spirituality.<ref>{{cite book |last=Sharma |first=Arvind |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dyQpNKH1oOYC&pg=PA130 |title=Today's Women in World Religions |publisher=SUNY Press |year=1994 |page=130|isbn=9780791416884 }}</ref> SRF/YSS members referred to her as the organization's ''sanghamata'' (mother of the society).<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Jain |first=Andrea R. |date=2011-01-12 |title=Mormon-Born Daya Mata Typifies American Yoga |url=https://religiondispatches.org/mormon-born-daya-mata-typifies-american-yoga/ |access-date=2023-07-20 |website=Religion Dispatches |language=en-US}}</ref>


Daya Mata met [[Elvis Presley]] in the 1960s, and she occasionally gave him spiritual advice. Elvis read her book ''Only Love'' and kept a copy of it in his collection of books.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" />
⚫
Daya Mata was one of the first women to lead a worldwide religious organization and monastic order. American yoga scholar [[Linda Johnsen]] noted that Daya Mata was an example of a new wave of women who acquired leadership positions in Hindu spirituality.<ref>{{cite book |first= Arvind |last=Sharma|title=Today's Women in World Religions |year=1994 |publisher=SUNY Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dyQpNKH1oOYC&pg=PA130 |page=130}}</ref> She died on the evening of November 30, 2010 at one of SRF's retreats for nuns in Los Angeles, where "she had been living in seclusion".<ref name="Dennis Hevesi"/><ref name=":1">{{cite news |url=http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-sri-daya-mata-20101203,0,6781315.story |author=Woo, Elaine |date=Dec 3, 2010 |title=Sri Daya Mata dies at 96; led L.A.-based Self-Realization Fellowship |work=The Los Angeles Times|access-date=March 16, 2012}}</ref>

⚫
Some of Daya Mata's family members became members of SRF. Her brother Richard Wright served as Yogananda's personal secretary for many years, accompanying Yogananda on his trip to India on June 9, 1935 and appearing in his ''[[Autobiography of a Yogi]].''<ref>{{cite book |author=Paramahansa Yogananda |title=Autobiography of a Yogi |publisher=Self-Realization Fellowship Publishers |year=1997 |isbn=0-87612-086-9 |location=Los Angeles, CA |pages=415}}</ref> Her other brother and her mother were also SRF members.<ref name=":1" /> Her sister, Ananda Mata (Virginia Wright), served on the SRF Board of Directors.<ref name="Daya" />


==Works==
==Works==
Daya Mata authored these volumes:
Daya Mata authored these books:


* ''Enter the Quiet Heart: Creating a Loving Relationship with God''<ref name="isbn0-87612-175-X">{{cite book |author=Sri Daya Mata |title=Enter the Quiet Heart: Creating a Loving Relationship with God|publisher=Self-Realization Fellowship |location=Los Angeles |year=1998 |isbn=0-87612-175-X}}</ref>
* ''Enter the Quiet Heart: Creating a Loving Relationship with God''<ref name="isbn0-87612-175-X">{{cite book |author=Sri Daya Mata |title=Enter the Quiet Heart: Creating a Loving Relationship with God|publisher=Self-Realization Fellowship |location=Los Angeles |year=1998 |isbn=0-87612-175-X}}</ref>
* ''Finding the Joy Within You: Personal Counsel for God Centered Living''<ref name="Joy">{{cite book |author=Daya Mata |title=Finding the Joy Within: You: Personal Counsel for God Centered Living |publisher=Self-Realization Fellowship Publishers |year= 1990|pages=Foreword pp. xiv-xv |isbn=0-87612-288-8}}</ref>
* ''Finding the Joy Within You: Personal Counsel for God Centered Living''<ref name="Joy">{{cite book |author=Daya Mata |title=Finding the Joy Within: You: Personal Counsel for God Centered Living |publisher=Self-Realization Fellowship Publishers |year= 1990|pages=Foreword pp. xiv-xv |isbn=0-87612-288-8}}</ref>
* ''How to Change Others''<ref>{{cite book |author=Daya Mata |title=The Skilled Profession of Child-Rearing |date=1979|publisher=Self-Realization Fellowship Publishers |isbn=978-0-87612-412-3}}</ref>
* ''How to Change Others''<ref>{{cite book |author=Daya Mata |title=The Skilled Profession of Child-Rearing |date=1979|publisher=Self-Realization Fellowship Publishers |isbn=978-0-87612-412-3}}</ref>
* ''Intuition: Soul-Guidance for Life’s Decisions''<ref>{{cite book |author=Daya Mata |title=Intuition: Soul-Guidance for Life’s Decisions |date=2003|publisher=Self-Realization Fellowship Publishers |isbn=978-0-87612-465-9}}</ref>
* ''Intuition: Soul-Guidance for Life’s Decisions''<ref>{{cite book |author=Daya Mata |title=Intuition: Soul-Guidance for Life's Decisions |date=2003|publisher=Self-Realization Fellowship Publishers |isbn=978-0-87612-465-9}}</ref>
* ''Only Love: Living the Spiritual Life in a Changing World''<ref name="isbn0-87612-216-0">{{cite book |author=Daya Mata |title=Only Love: Living the Spiritual Life in a Changing World |date=October 1998 |publisher=Self-Realization Fellowship Publishers |isbn=0-87612-216-0}}</ref>
* ''Only Love: Living the Spiritual Life in a Changing World''<ref name="isbn0-87612-216-0">{{cite book |author=Daya Mata |title=Only Love: Living the Spiritual Life in a Changing World |date=October 1998 |publisher=Self-Realization Fellowship Publishers |isbn=0-87612-216-0}}</ref>
* ''Overcoming Character Liabilities''<ref>{{cite book |author=Daya Mata |title=Overcoming Character Liabilities |date=1975|publisher=Self-Realization Fellowship Publishers |isbn=978-0-87612-418-5}}</ref>
* ''Overcoming Character Liabilities''<ref>{{cite book |author=Daya Mata |title=Overcoming Character Liabilities |date=1975|publisher=Self-Realization Fellowship Publishers |isbn=978-0-87612-418-5}}</ref>
Line 58: Line 63:
==External links==
==External links==
* [http://www.yogananda-srf.org/Sri_Daya_Mata_in_Memoriam.aspx Sri Daya Mata in Memoriam]
* [http://www.yogananda-srf.org/Sri_Daya_Mata_in_Memoriam.aspx Sri Daya Mata in Memoriam]
* About [[Sri Anandamayi Ma]], an Indian Saint, by Sri Daya Mata click here [http://www.anandamayi.org/ashram/Dayama1.htm]
* [http://www.anandamayi.org/ashram/Dayama1.htm Memoir written by Daya Mata] about a meeting between her and [[Sri Anandamayi Ma|Anandamayi Ma]], an Indian saint
* {{Find a Grave|62447181|name=Sri Daya Wright Mata}}
* {{Find a Grave|62447181|name=Sri Daya Wright Mata}}
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bW3hyJWpuRE&list=PLCqADxk3PzvhD6uSSA-9ZLNc67KBonSFf Talks by Daya Mata]


{{Authority control}}
{{Authority control}}

Latest revision as of 12:30, 19 July 2024

Daya Mata
Daya Mata (Rachel Faye Wright)
President of Self-Realization Fellowship and Yogoda Satsanga Society of India
In office
1955–2010
Preceded byRajarsi Janakananda
Succeeded byMrinalini Mata
Personal
Born
Rachel Faye Wright

(1914-01-31)January 31, 1914
Salt Lake City, Utah
DiedNovember 30, 2010(2010-11-30) (aged 96)
Los Angeles
ReligionHinduism
Signature
Organization
OrderSelf-Realization Fellowship
PhilosophyKriya Yoga
Religious career
GuruParamahansa Yogananda

Daya Mata, born Rachel Faye Wright (January 31, 1914 – November 30, 2010), was the third president and religious leader of Self-Realization Fellowship/Yogoda Satsanga Society of India (SRF/YSS).[1][2] SRF/YSS is the only spiritual organization founded by her guru, Paramahansa Yogananda, to disseminate his teachings.[3][4][5] She was president of SRF/YSS for over 55 years until her death in 2010.[1][2]

Biography

[edit]

Faye Wright was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, to a family affiliated with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church).[6] Her parents, Clarence Aaron Wright and Rachel Terry Wright, were descended from the original Mormon pioneers to the Salt Lake Valley.[7][8] Her grandfather, Abraham Reister Wright Jr., was an architect of the LDS Church's Salt Lake Tabernacle.[7][9] She graduated from Franklin High School in 1932.[6]

From an early age, she desired a personal relationship with God.[8] When she was 17 years old in 1931, she met Yogananda for the first time in Salt Lake City. Her face was swollen and covered in bandages due to a chronic blood disorder. Yogananda openly declared the condition would be gone within seven days, and it was. She joined his ashram atop Mt. Washington in Los Angeles, California on November 19 that year.[10] In time, she took her monastic vows with Yogananda and was given the name Daya, becoming one of Yogananda's first monastic disciples.[2][11] Daya Mata means compassionate mother in Sanskrit.[2] She described her experience with Yogananda in this way:[12]

I had the good fortune to attend a series of lectures given in my hometown of Salt Lake City by a great man of God, Paramahansa Yogananda. In the years that followed, I learned from him the way to total fulfillment of the lifelong yearning of my heart: perfect love, divine love—the all-consuming love experienced in communion with the Eternal Beloved of our souls.

On a practical level, she assisted Yogananda by using her shorthand to record his speeches. Yogananda created lessons of his teachings that were distributed to his students, and Daya Mata helped by organizing instructions on meditation techniques to be added to these lessons. Over time, she was asked to take on more administrative responsibilities until the 1940s, when she was given the full responsibility of running the SRF Mount Washington headquarters.[13] She also helped Yogananda prepare the manuscript for his Autobiography of a Yogi, a text that has been translated in more than fifty languages as of 2024.[6][14]

After the deaths of Yogananda and his successor Rajarsi Janakananda, Daya Mata was elected by the SRF Board of Directors as the third president and spiritual leader of SRF/YSS in 1955.[10][1][15] As Yogananda's next successor, she assumed responsibility for the guidance and training of SRF/YSS members and monastic disciples, and she oversaw the organization's spiritual and humanitarian efforts.[9] She died on the evening of November 30, 2010 at one of SRF's retreats for nuns in Los Angeles, where "she had been living in seclusion".[2][6]

Influence

[edit]

Daya Mata was one of the first women to lead a worldwide religious organization and monastic order. American yoga scholar Linda Johnsen noted that Daya Mata was an example of a new wave of women who acquired leadership positions in Hindu spirituality.[16] SRF/YSS members referred to her as the organization's sanghamata (mother of the society).[17]

Daya Mata met Elvis Presley in the 1960s, and she occasionally gave him spiritual advice. Elvis read her book Only Love and kept a copy of it in his collection of books.[6][17]

Some of Daya Mata's family members became members of SRF. Her brother Richard Wright served as Yogananda's personal secretary for many years, accompanying Yogananda on his trip to India on June 9, 1935 and appearing in his Autobiography of a Yogi.[18] Her other brother and her mother were also SRF members.[6] Her sister, Ananda Mata (Virginia Wright), served on the SRF Board of Directors.[8]

Works

[edit]

Daya Mata authored these books:

  • Enter the Quiet Heart: Creating a Loving Relationship with God[12]
  • Finding the Joy Within You: Personal Counsel for God Centered Living[19]
  • How to Change Others[20]
  • Intuition: Soul-Guidance for Life’s Decisions[21]
  • Only Love: Living the Spiritual Life in a Changing World[22]
  • Overcoming Character Liabilities[23]
  • The Skilled Profession of Child-Rearing[24]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c "A Glimpse Into the Life of our Sanghamata". Self Realization Fellowship. Retrieved 2023-07-11.
  2. ^ a b c d e Dennis Hevesi (3 December 2010). "Sri Daya Mata, Guiding Light for U.S. Hindus, Dies at 96". New York Times. New York, NY.
  3. ^ Wessinger, Catherine (1995). Timonthy Miller (ed.). America's Alternative Religions, Hinduism Arrives in America: The Vedanta Movement And The Self-Realization Fellowship. State University of New York Press. p. 179. ISBN 0-7914-2398-0.
  4. ^ "Self-Realization Fellowship". Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2023-07-23.
  5. ^ Works related to SRF Articles of Incorporation 1935 at Wikisource
  6. ^ a b c d e f Woo, Elaine (Dec 3, 2010). "Sri Daya Mata dies at 96; led L.A.-based Self-Realization Fellowship". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 16, 2012.
  7. ^ a b Florence Youngberg, Presented by National Society for Sons Of Utah Pioneers (1998). Conquerors of the West: Stalwart Mormon Pioneers. Agreka Books. pp. 2784–2786. ISBN 978-1-888106-31-2.
  8. ^ a b c "A Life of Love, Humility, and Devoted Service to God". Self-Realization Fellowship. Archived from the original on 2023-03-23. Retrieved 2023-07-21.
  9. ^ a b "Spiritual Leader Sri Daya Mata Dies in US". (Dec. 2, 2010) Deccan Herald. Retrieved 12-02-2010
  10. ^ a b Williamson, Lola (2010). Transcendent in America: Hindu-inspired Meditation Movements as New Religion. New York and London: New York University Press. p. 75. ISBN 978-0-8147-9449-4.
  11. ^ "Self-Realization Magazine". 24 (22). Los Angeles: Self Realization Fellowship. 1952. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  12. ^ a b Sri Daya Mata (1998). Enter the Quiet Heart: Creating a Loving Relationship with God. Los Angeles: Self-Realization Fellowship. ISBN 0-87612-175-X.
  13. ^ Fletcher, Peggy (December 10, 2010). "From Mormon teen to leader of mystics, Utahn Sri Daya Mata joined guru's fold and became "Mother of Compassion". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  14. ^ "Autobiography of a Yogi". Self Realization Fellowship. Retrieved 2024-07-19.
  15. ^ Constance, Jones; James D., Ryan (2006). Encyclopedia of Hinduism. Infobase Publishing. p. 394. ISBN 0816075646. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
  16. ^ Sharma, Arvind (1994). Today's Women in World Religions. SUNY Press. p. 130. ISBN 9780791416884.
  17. ^ a b Jain, Andrea R. (2011-01-12). "Mormon-Born Daya Mata Typifies American Yoga". Religion Dispatches. Retrieved 2023-07-20.
  18. ^ Paramahansa Yogananda (1997). Autobiography of a Yogi. Los Angeles, CA: Self-Realization Fellowship Publishers. p. 415. ISBN 0-87612-086-9.
  19. ^ Daya Mata (1990). Finding the Joy Within: You: Personal Counsel for God Centered Living. Self-Realization Fellowship Publishers. pp. Foreword pp. xiv-xv. ISBN 0-87612-288-8.
  20. ^ Daya Mata (1979). The Skilled Profession of Child-Rearing. Self-Realization Fellowship Publishers. ISBN 978-0-87612-412-3.
  21. ^ Daya Mata (2003). Intuition: Soul-Guidance for Life's Decisions. Self-Realization Fellowship Publishers. ISBN 978-0-87612-465-9.
  22. ^ Daya Mata (October 1998). Only Love: Living the Spiritual Life in a Changing World. Self-Realization Fellowship Publishers. ISBN 0-87612-216-0.
  23. ^ Daya Mata (1975). Overcoming Character Liabilities. Self-Realization Fellowship Publishers. ISBN 978-0-87612-418-5.
  24. ^ Daya Mata (1987). The Skilled Profession of Child-Rearing. Self-Realization Fellowship Publishers. ISBN 978-0-87612-415-4.
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