Our Founder, Holy Mataji

Holy Mataji, a teacher of Meditation and Yoga for over 25 years, is the Founder and Spiritual Director of Kailashananda Mission of America, Inc., which she established as a non-profit organization in 1981 to promote health and well-being. When anything is created in the Yoga tradition, the female creator of the project is called "Mataji," a title showing respect and literally translated as "Mother." The title of "Holy Mataji" was conferred on the Founder of K.M.A., Inc. by her teacher, Swami Kailashananda, who designated her a self-liberated individual, qualified to continue the ancient tradition of the compassionate service of teaching meditation.

Trained in Hatha, Raja, and Vedanta Yoga since 1973, Mataji holds an advanced degree in Anatomy/Physiology specializing in Yoga Therapy from Biomedical Institute, Cambridge, England. She is certified to train Yoga instructors and is a certified Yoga Therapist, as well as being a public speaker, author, and behavioral therapist. Mataji teaches Vedanta and Meditation and offers special retreats and programs for advanced study; she has developed the meditation training programs being offered by Kailashananda Mission of America, Inc.; and she has trained all affiliated instructors.

Mataji is an experienced public speaker for colleges, universities and medical schools. She is also an author. Her book, Mother Light: Reflections of Life, was published in 1994 and is a soulful expression of the journey toward self-understanding. According to Mataji, "This inward journey is initiated by meditative practices that intensify as the practitioner becomes preoccupied with the excitement of discovering the natural Light within." In his foreword to the book, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, the late Right Reverend Lord Runcie, wrote, "There is here a soul turned towards the light and so there is depth in these sentences. [The author] has the gift of contemplation."

Click here for information about Mother Light