by the Mother Meera Foundation, United Kingdom: Mother Meera is a much-revered Indian avatar who has lived quietly in a small village in the picturesque Lahn Valley in Germany since the 1980’s. On four evenings every week She has been unobtrusively giving Darshan, or silent spiritual blessing, to people who come from all over the world to be in Her presence. For many who have made the trip to Germany, it has been a wonderful pilgrimage.

Mother was born in 1960 and has been giving Darshan completely free of charge since She was seventeen, when people first began to seek out Her blessing and receive Her Light. For many years She told Her devotees that She would not travel outside Germany. But in 2006, after decades of beseeching requests from across the world, She began to give Darshan in places as widely distant as New Mexico, France, London, Canada andIndia, visiting 18 cities over a six week period during one tour. Since 2007 Mother Meera has visited London several times a year. This year She has already offered Her Darshan in Manchester and Bristol giving three Darshans a day and blessing nearly 1000 people. Further Darshans will take place in London and Warwick in March and April respectively.

As Mother’s work is offered in silence, we do not know what has prompted this change in Her already tireless regime, but it seems to Her devotees that Mother is always completely and selflessly surrendered to the Divine in Her work; and that She is now offering the world what it needs at this time of great change.

It is also Mother’s wish to build permanent Darshan Halls in a number of places: America, Canada, Franceand also in the UK. Devotees in Britain are actively seeking a suitable site for this, and welcome help in this project to bring Mother’s work even closer to us here. Mother Meera does not allow fundraising, but anyone who wishes to donate land or funds is welcome to make contact at info@mothermeera.org.uk.

Helpers are sometimes asked by people who are coming for Darshan for the first time – what is it like? What should I do?

Briefly, several hundred people gather together and sit in silence. Each person in turn receives a personal blessing from Mother, which consists of kneeling before Her while She touches your head, (pranam) then sitting back while She looks into your eyes (darshan). The process is very simple, but for many is deeply moving and a true blessing in their lives. Every person experiences Darshan differently; some would say that their lives have been subtly changed for ever after receiving Her touch.

Mother has said that we do not need to visit Her physically to receive Her blessing. If we focus on Her inwardly, or do japa (repeating Her name to ourselves) we can still feel Her Divine presence and help when we need it. But to those of us who are fortunate enough to be able physically to receive Mother’s Darshan, we still cherish that special moment of contact when we, as limited humans, are touched by the hand of the Divine. It hardly seems believable to be living in an age when such loving and dedicated Beings as Mother Meera are willing to come amongst us, to touch our lives and our hearts, and ask nothing in return from us other than that we should live harmoniously together, helping one another.