Sahaja Yoga (Nirmala Srivastava)
Movement founded by Nirmala Srivastava ('Mataji', 'Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi') in 1970 teaching kundalini awakening. Followers believe Srivastava was a divine incarnation. Long-running disputes over Britain's Sahaja Yoga school led to closure.
CLCI radar
BITE breakdown
0 — guru-centric movement; founder revered as divine incarnation by followers.
Profile facts
In context
Sahaja Yoga teaches a self-realisation experience said to awaken kundalini through founder Srivastava's grace. Followers ('Sahaja Yogis') consider her the Adi Shakti incarnate. Critics document patterns of arranged international marriages, separation of children into ashram schools (notably the closed UK school), and substantial financial expectations. Movement continues post-Srivastava (d. 2011) under family-led trust.
Key control doctrines
- Srivastava as Adi Shakti incarnate
- Kundalini awakening through her grace
- Arranged international marriages
Recovery resources
- ICSA (International Cultic Studies Association) — General referral and cult-aware therapist directory; ICSA has Sahaja Yoga material in its archive.
- INFORM — LSE-founded UK information service; Sahaja Yoga has had a substantial UK presence including the closed Ofsted-flagged school.
- Sarlo's Guru Rating Service — Long-standing critical assessment of guru-led movements including Sahaja Yoga.
- Reclamation Collective — Religious-trauma-aware therapist network.
- Freedom of Mind Resource Center — Steven Hassan's organisation; BITE-model resources.
See the full curated list at /resources.
Notable public ex-members
- Multiple ex-members documented in BBC and Guardian coverage
Legal cases & controversies
- UK school closure following Ofsted concerns
This profile is in progress — history, deeper BITE evidence and survivor voices are still being added. Contributions welcome via GitHub.
Timeline
- 1970Srivastava's first 'self-realisation' experience
- 1990sInternational expansion; UK / Italy schools established
- 2011Srivastava dies in Italy
Sources
- Judith Coney, 'Sahaja Yoga: Socializing Processes in a South Asian New Religious Movement' (1999) search ↗
- BBC documentary on Sahaja Yoga school closures search ↗
We cite sources by name and outlet rather than fabricating links. Where a source includes its own URL, the open ↗ link opens it directly; otherwise search ↗ runs a Google Scholar query for the cited title — useful for verifying academic sources. For news outlets, search the outlet's own archive.
Change history
Substantive edits logged per the score-updates policy.
- 2026-05-29Phase 1 Batch D: per-group recovery resources curated. 5 verified entries.
- 2026-05-20Source-density flags derived from existing free-text sources[]: investigative journalism. Heuristic auto-flag; subsequent editorial pass will populate structuredSources[] with reliability tiers.
- 2026-05-20Score band scheme migrated from 4 bands to 5 (Minimal 0–5 / Low 6–12 / Moderate 13–20 / High 21–30 / Extreme 31–40). No CLCI value changed; the new Minimal band was carved out of the bottom of the previous Low band.
Relevant hubs
Curated entry points on CLCI Hub for situations connected to this group.
You may also want to explore
Found something wrong on this profile?
We accept correction requests from anyone — current and former members, researchers, journalists, family members, and the listed organisation. Submissions are reviewed by an editor; we do not auto-publish.