INTRODUCTION – MANAV DHARAM SOCIETY OF AUSTRALIA

Brief History of MDSA

M Angira Baiji

Mahatma Gargi Baiji

Mahatma Dharni Baiji

Mahatma Suvidhya Baiji

MDSA is pleased to announce that Mahatma Angira Bai Ji is currently in Australia to organise Satsang/Spiritual Discourse programs and generally guide the development of our spiritual community. She arrived in Sydney in December 2015 and plans to tour Australia, New Zealand and Fiji.

Bai Ji has served as a mahatma for 31 years in India, USA, South Africa, East Africa and Mauritius. Her deep experience, wisdom and knowledge of all Holy Scriptures and writings of the saints is already having a profound effect on the spiritual development of both members and anyone who visits her.

How MDSA Was Formed

Manav Utthan Sewa Samiti (MUSS) has been a powerful force for national, social and religious integration in India since 1974. For further information on MUSS visit: www.manavdharam.org

Previously, representatives of MUSS, Mahatma Gargi Baiji and Mahatma Dharni Baiji, had been invited to visit Australia as temporary resident / religious worker. Gargi Baiji arrived in Sydney in February 2004 and addressed gatherings in temples and private homes in both Sydney and Melbourne. In the course of the following six months hundreds of people heard her speak and dozens were inspired to learn the techniques of meditation and yoga she offered. In May 2004 she also toured many places in Fiji, where more than twenty-five programs in schools, temples and homes were arranged.

Mahatma Gargi Baiji returned to Australia in April 2005 and held more than sixty programs in halls, temples and private homes until her departure in September 2005 for New Zealand, where there is also a great demand for her lectures.

Meanwhile, the number of regular attendees and members had grown to a point where it was felt incorporation was the next step and in May 2005 this occurred, the new entity being known as Manav Dharam Society of Australia Incorporated (MDSA).

Incorporation

MDSA was incorporated on 11th May, 2005.

Mahatma Dharni Baiji arrived in Sydney on 6th July, 2006 and continued nurturing and growing spirituality left by M Gargi Baiji. M Dharni Baiji held over 204 sessions in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne including spiritual discourses, meditation, reciting from Holy Books and Radio Interviews during her stay from 06 July 2006 to17 October 2007.

Thereafter, MDSA was very fortunate to host a senior mahatma from MUSS, Mahatma Suvidhya Baiji, from February 2011 to October 2012. A qualified lawyer before taking sannyas, Baiji had already spent several years spreading the practical teachings of Manav Dharam in South Africa, Kenya, Mauritius and Canada. Prior to that she was involved in running large ashrams of MUSS in India, where she was actively engaged in a variety of social welfare activities.

Bai Ji toured Australia a few times, inspiring and strengthening the MDSA communities in Canberra, Melbourne, Ballarat, Bendigo, Brisbane and Perth as well as working tirelessly to minister to the members and friends of MDSA in Sydney.

She will always be lovingly remembered for her invaluable help and guidance in aquiring our Casula ashram. She transformed a house into MDSA’s spiritual home and the focus of its community activities. She organised the Friday meditation sessions, Sunday satsang and the children’s Sunday School (Bal Vikas) programs. Bai Ji will be greatly missed and we hope she can visit us again.

Regular Meeting Places

In Sydney majority of the events are held at the MDSA Yoga and Meditation Centre acquired in Dec 2011. In other states, the meetings are usually held at member residences. Community halls are hired for major functions.

MDSA members come from different backgrounds: Australian, New Zealand, Fijian, Nepalese and Bhutanese and include followers of Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam. There are branches in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth and Hobart and some members in Darwin, Ballarat and Bendigo. Manav Dharam can be practised by anyone following any belief system – or even no beliefs at all, as it operates on a level of consciousness which is beyond all concepts and beliefs. Like Yoga, it is truly universal, non-denominational and independent of all thought.

Organisational Structure

The organisational structure is based on the model rules of the “Model Rules for associations incorporated under the Associations Incorporation Act, 1984”. Refer to constitution for further information.