Illustration by David Jesus Vignolli

Virata: Hi Maria Amélia! Welcome to our Virata podcast. Thank you so much for being here.

Maria Amélia: Thank you for inviting me.

Virata: When did Shri Mataji ask you to go to Brazil?

Maria Amélia: It was in ’92. She told me to go and stay in Rio for a while, to prepare everything for Her visit in October. Of course I did so right away. My eldest son was in Dharamshala at the time, and my two daughters were in school in Rome, so it wasn’t a problem, and I went.

Virata: During this visit, Mother said some interesting things about Brazil. Let’s have a look at a short video.

“It is so nice to be here in Brazil, especially in Salvador. I met one gentleman a long time back, from my husband’s office, from Brazil, and his wife was suffering from terrible black magic. And she really was cured of that trouble. He told Me “You have to go to Brazil because it is full of negative things, especially black magic. You must go there somehow.” And so it was my great desire to come here and that’s how I came, a few years back. Also, Duilio was here and, I mean, things were arranged somehow, Sahaj, so I came here. So, the problem in this country is more this black magic that was brought by people from Africa.”

Shri Mataji, Shri Mahakali Puja, Brazil ’92

Maria Amélia: It was impressive. I remember it well. It was amazing to see me in the video. You don’t recognise me because I’m 30 years old, but I was there holding Shri Mataji’s handbag. She arrived and the Puja took place on the 14th October – we arrived the day before. During the night, She felt that there were many lost souls asking Her for salvation. These were the souls of formerly enslaved people who had come to Brazil from Africa. She didn’t sleep very well that night as She could hear the souls screaming and was in pain. I didn’t hear anything, but I saw She was in pain. The next day Shri Mataji performed the Mahakali Puja to clear everything there. She asked us to absorb the vibrations because at that time Shri Mataji used to ask people who were with Her to do that. She asked us to put our right hand on Her chakra and our left hand out so that whatever was coming in would then go out and She could feel better. All the issues were absorbed by Shri Mataji, She would absorb all the problems and solve them, and we were cleansed beautifully in the process. The Puja at the house in Salvador was very powerful.

Virata: Yesterday, while we tested the audio, you told us a fantastic story about giving Shri Mataji a massage.

Maria Amélia: It was also in Salvador. Shri Mataji went to sleep, it was a night with a full moon and the window was open. It was dark, but the room was well lit by the moonlight. Shri Mataji wore a white sari. Well, I don’t know if I’m going to shock anyone, but what I’m going to tell you really happened. Shri Mataji said to me, “Put your right hand on My Nabhi, on My Swadisthana, and press.” I was pressing, but then I became afraid of hurting Her, and thought “Am I pressing too hard? I’m going to hurt Shri Mataji. I can’t do this.” But She said, “Harder!” Shri Mataji was lying down, and I was standing and pushing with all my strength, using all my weight. Again She said, “Stronger, stronger,” and at that point, I thought, “My God, what am I going to do?”

I said a silent prayer to Shri Ganesha. “Shri Ganesha, please help me, I don’t want to hurt Shri Mataji.” It was just a thought, but She responded: “You cannot hurt Me; this body is only vibrations.” At that moment my hand that was pressing disappeared up to the elbow in Mother’s body. My hand disappeared completely, it entered Shri Mataji’s body, and Shri Mataji’s sari reached my elbow. I kept seeing my hand disappearing and all around I felt only vibrations. A little later, Shri Mataji fell asleep and before falling asleep She asked me to massage Her feet. I massaged and massaged but, around two or three o’clock in the morning, I was so tired that I fell asleep and kept sleeping on the floor. I’m sorry, but I fell asleep doing Shri Mataji’s foot massage. At around four or five o’clock in the morning, Shri Mataji wakes up, gets up, and says, “What are you doing here sleeping on the floor? Maria Amélia, get up and go to your bed. You can’t sleep on the floor!” (laughs) And there I went, but I didn’t feel any inconvenience. I was sleeping on the stone floor as if it was a soft bed.

Watch the whole interview in Portuguese here

Interview conducted on 31/07/2021 by Aída Dias, Daniel and David Jesus Vignolli and Fábio Reis

Transcription: Surya Rhossard / Translation and editing: Leela Jesus Vignolli