The Record Newspaper, Local Section
Sunday, July 24, 2005

(Shortened for yoganewjersey.org)

Hundreds fill weekend with devotion, bliss

By JOHN CHADWICK STAFF WRITER

EAST RUTHERFORD - They gathered, radiant and worshipful, at a Meadowlands hotel, turning the grounds of the Sheraton into a haven for meditation, and paying tribute to an 83-year-old woman who they say transformed their lives.

Some 800 members of the Sahaja Yoga religion were expected to attend the weekend conference, arriving from as far away as Australia, and as close as Teaneck.

"I think I'm just like the average person who lives in Teaneck, New Jersey," said Heidi Stonier. "We're raising our families, going to work and doing the finances. But there is a point where you get very drained and you wonder where is the joy in all this running around?"

Stonier, an adult education teacher and mother of three, said practicing Sahaja Yoga meditation helped her find inner peace.

"I didn't need to look to the outside anymore," she said.

"I didn't need a bigger house, or a bigger car or my husband to take care of me. I just became my own master."

The conference, one of several gatherings followers are holding throughout the Northeast this summer, featured a 7,000-square-foot tent in which members meditated, chatted and listened to Indian music and chanting.

The diverse crowd ranged from Americans dressed in jeans and T-shirts to South Asians wearing saris.

The mood was unabashedly blissful.

"It's like being with the very best friends you ever met in your whole life," said Mark Taylor, a graphic artist from Ridgefield Park. "It's indescribable."

The movement was started by Shri Mataji, a native of India, who in 1970 developed a system of meditation and movement that she said would bring physical, spiritual and emotional well-being to mankind.

The system is different from the exercise regimen of stretches and poses that most Americans recognize as yoga. For the most part, practitioners of Sahaja Yoga stay in a cross-legged position while moving their hands and arms and repeating phrases dwelling on forgiveness and reconciliation as well as expressions of devotion to Mataji.

Followers speak of Mataji in messianic, miraculous terms.

Taylor said he once witnessed Mataji restoring eyesight to a blind woman in India.

"I have seen her do things that no human being can do," he said. "The word that seems to fit best is divine."

Mataji was unavailable for an interview and wasn't scheduled to address the conference on Saturday.

E-mail: chadwick@northjersey.com