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'''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), founded by her spiritual teacher, [[Paramahansa Yogananda]]. 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 ''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>


==Early life==
==Early life==

Revision as of 03:01, 16 July 2023

Daya Mata
Daya Mata (Rachel Faye Wright)
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
OccupationPresident of Self-Realization Fellowship and Yogoda Satsanga Society of India (1955-2010)
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 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.[1][2][3]

Early life

She was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, to a family affiliated with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church).[4] Her ancestors were among the original Mormon pioneers to the Salt Lake Valley.[4][5] Her grandfather, Abraham Reister Wright, was an architect of the LDS Church's Salt Lake Tabernacle.[6][7] She has been listed as a "Famous Utahn" by the Utah Office of Tourism.[8]

Discipleship

From an early age, Daya Mata desired a personal relationship with God.[9] 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.[3][10] Daya Mata means compassionate mother in Sanskrit.[3] She described her experience with Yogananda in this way:[9]

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.

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.[2][11] 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.[6]

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.[12] Her mother was also an SRF member. Daya Mata and her sister Ananda Mata (Virginia Wright) served on the SRF Board of Directors.

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.[13] 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".[3][14]

Works

Daya Mata authored three volumes:

  • Enter the Quiet Heart: Creating a Loving Relationship with God.[15]
  • Finding the Joy Within You: Personal Counsel for God Centered Living,[16]
  • Only Love: Living the Spiritual Life in a Changing World,[17]

See also

References

  1. ^ Works related to SRF Articles of Incorporation 1935 at Wikisource
  2. ^ a b "A Glimpse Into the Life of our Sanghamata | Self-Realization Fellowship". Self Realization Fellowship. Retrieved 2023-07-11.
  3. ^ a b c d Dennis Hevesi (3 December 2010). "Sri Daya Mata, Guiding Light for U.S. Hindus, Dies at 96". New York Times. New York, NY.
  4. ^ a b Self-Realization Fellowship - Memorial Service for Sri Daya Mata
  5. ^ Florence Youngberg, Presented by National Society for Sons Of Utah Pioneers (1998). Conquerors of the West: Stalwart Mormon Pioneers (Her grandfather and father figure are in the book). Agreka Books. ISBN 978-1-888106-31-2.
  6. ^ a b "Spiritual Leader Sri Daya Mata Dies in US". (Dec. 2, 2010) Deccan Herald. Retrieved 12-02-2010
  7. ^ Salt Lake Temple
  8. ^ Official welcome to Utah website, General Information. Retrieved 12-02-2010
  9. ^ a b "A Life of Love, Humility, and Devoted Service to God". Archived from the original on 2012-09-27. Retrieved 2012-08-18.
  10. ^ "Self-Realization Magazine". 24 (22). Los Angeles: Self Realization Fellowship. 1952. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  11. ^ Constance, Jones; James D., Ryan (2006). Encyclopedia of Hinduism. Infobase Publishing. p. 394. ISBN 0816075646. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
  12. ^ Paramahansa Yogananda (1997). Autobiography of a Yogi. Los Angeles, CA: Self-Realization Fellowship Publishers. p. 415. ISBN 0-87612-086-9.
  13. ^ Sharma, Arvind (1994). Today's Women in World Religions. SUNY Press. p. 130.
  14. ^ 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.
  15. ^ Sri Daya Mata (1998). Enter the Quiet Heart: Creating a Loving Relationship with God. Los Angeles: Self-Realization Fellowship. ISBN 0-87612-175-X.
  16. ^ 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.
  17. ^ Daya Mata (October 1998). Only Love: Living the Spiritual Life in a Changing World. Self-Realization Fellowship Publishers. ISBN 0-87612-216-0.
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