To read the words of sri daya mata is to become acquainted with one who is in love. Hers is a love that reaches out and embraces all - a sublime expression of the soul's yearning and of its joyous fulfillment in god. In this volume of informal talks, she gives us a glimpse into the realm of spiritual consciousness wherein the soul experiences the love of the divine.
Sri Daya Mata (1914 - 2010) was the foremost disciple of Paramahansa Yogananda. A true "Mother of Compassion," as her name signified, she inspired those of all faiths and from all walks of life with the wisdom and great love of God conveyed through her talks, writings, and recordings. Referring to her first volume of spiritual counsel,
Only Love, the former Ambassador of India to the United States, N. A. Palkhivala, wrote: "Sri Daya Mata personifies love and compassion and the other timeless values of Indian culture...Her speeches are not dry academic dissertations on abstract theological principles, but intensely personal hymns testifying to her ecastatic vision of the Creator."
Born Faye Wright on January 31, 1914 in Salt Lake City, Utah, Daya Mata met Paramahansa Yogananda at the age of seventeen when she attended a lecture series he was giving in her hometown. Upon hearing him speak, she inwardly thought: "This man loves God as I have always longed to love Him. He knows God. Him I shall follow." Not long afterward, she entered his ashram in Los Angeles as a nun of the Self-Realization Order. During more than two decades of day-to-day association with Yogananda, Daya Mata served as his confidential secretary; and over the years he entrusted her with increasing spiritual and administrative responsibilities. From the beginning it was evident that he had singled her out for a special role. He later told her that he had given to her the same intense spiritual discipline that his guru, Swami Sri Yukteswar, had given to him - a significant remark, since she was to inherit the spiritual and organizational mantle that Sri Yukteswar had bestowed on him.
As Paramahansa Yogananda's spiritual successor, Sri Daya Mata guided his society for more than half a century, faithfully carrying out his wishes and ideals for the dissemination of his teachings worldwide and for the establishment of Self-Realzation Fellowship temples, centers, and retreats. In 1955, succeeding the late, saintly Rajarsi Janakananda, Sri Daya Mata became president of Self-Realization Fellowship/Yogoda Satsanga Society - the first woman to head a worldwide spiritual organization, a role she fulfilled until her passing in 2010. She made several global speaking tours, including extended visits to India. Under her leadership, the pioneering spiritual work of Paramahansa Yogananda flourished, both in his native land and around the world. Two other books by Daya Mata have been published: Only Love: Living the Spiritual Life in a Changing World, and Enter The Quiet Heart: Creating a Loving Relationship with God. Many of her talks are also available on audio CD, and DVD.
