Enter the Quiet Heart: Creating a Loving Relationship With God
Sri Daya Mata, one of Paramahansa Yogananda's earliest and closest disciples, was the president of Self-Realization Fellowship/Yogoda Satsanga Society of India from 1955 until her passing in 2010. Born Faye Wright on January 31, 1914, in Salt Lake City, Utah, Daya Mata met Paramahansa Yogananda at the age of seventeen when she attended a lecture series he was giving in her hometown. Upon hearing him speak, she inwardly thought: "This man loves God as I have always longed to love Him. He knows God. Him I shall follow." Not long afterward, she entered his ashram in Los Angeles as a nun of the Self-Realization Order. During more than two decades of day-to-day association with Sri Yogananda, Daya Mata served as his confidential secretary; and over the years he entrusted her with increasing spiritual and administrative responsibilities. From the beginning he singled her out for a special role, and he encouraged other disciples to pattern their lives after her example. As Paramahansa Yogananda's spiritual successor, Sri Daya Mata guided his society for more than fifty years, faithfully carrying out his wishes and ideals for the dissemination of his teachings worldwide and for the establishment of Self-Realization Fellowship temples, centers, and retreats. She made several global speaking tours, including extended visits to India. Under her leadership, the pioneering spiritual work of Paramahansa Yogananda flourished, both in his native land and around the world. Two anthologies of her lectures and informal talks have been published,Only Love: Living the Spiritual Life in a Changing World, andFinding the Joy Within You: Personal Counsel for God-Centered Living. Many of her talks are also available on CD and DVD. A true mother of compassion as her name signifies, Sri Daya Mata inspired truth-seekers of all faiths and from all walks of life.