(b. 1923) - Vishva Nirmala Dharam, a Hindu organization dedicated to propagating her teachings, was founded by a modern Hindu guru who claims to be an incarnation of the primordial Goddess.
Nirmala Devi's teachings are based on traditional hatha yoga
and subtle body concepts.
The subtle body is a separate physiological system from
gross matter that corresponds to the material body.
It exists on a different level than gross matter.
It's represented as a series of six psychic centers
(chakras) that run approximately parallel to the spine, with two divine
principles, Shiva (consciousness) and Shakti (power), residing above and below.
The seeker strives to awaken the dormant spiritual force of
Shakti known as kundalini, unite it with the Shiva principle in the crown of
the head, and change the perishable components in the gross body into
immortality by practicing this yoga.
Nirmala Devi believes that by infusing her own spiritual
strength into a devotee's (bhakta) kundalini, she may greatly accelerate the
journey to freedom.
Her devotees in India are mostly middle-class, although she
claims to have a sizable following in Europe, North America, and Australia.
Sudhir Kakar's "Cooling Breezes," in Shamans,
Mystics, and Doctors, 1991, has a dubious description of a meeting with Nirmala
Devi.
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