HH Shri Mataji's Properties
HH Shri Mataji blessed the Australian Collective with 7 National Centres to meet, hold puja celebrations, festivities, camps and enjoy being together. A number of centres are located in the country with beautiful surroundings and the gentle healing powers of immersing ourselves in the nature. Her Holiness was personally involved in selecting and assisting in the purchase of some of the centres.
All the properties have a room set aside as Shri Mataji's bedroom to invite Her attention and blessings.
HH Shri Mataji's Australian Centres
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Clarence St Burwood Sydney NSW
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Railway Pde Balmoral Village NSW
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Chewings St Scullin ACT
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Albert River Rd Hiawatha VIC
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Mclintock Rd Wamuran QLD
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O’Brien Rd Gidgegannup WA
Clarence St Burwood Sydney NSW
HH Shri Mataji's Burwood home was purchased in 1987 and extensive renovations added a second storey with bedrooms and bathrooms and a meeting room upstairs, and HH Shri Mataji’s bedroom and bathroom and Sir CP’s rooms on the lower floor were updated.
Her Holiness and many of Her family members enjoyed staying at 'No 10' on a number of occasions for extended periods, and expressed their great appreciation for the generosity, hospitality and love of the Australian Collective.
HH Shri Mataji's bedroom has been maintained as is and Yogis feel Her strong presence around the property. 'No 10' is considered the National Sahaja Yoga Centre for Australia.
Until recently the Sydney collective held their weekly meetings at ‘Burwood’ and it was used to host numerous special Sahaja events including the first Shri Ganesha Puja. The property is cared for by several resident volunteers, and occasional visitors enjoy the strong Divine vibrations of the Centre.
Railway Pde Balmoral Village NSW
HH Shri Mataji’s Balmoral 13.27 ha country property is located around 1.5 hours drive southwest of Sydney, midway to Canberra, in a quiet village of rural homesteads, farming and orchard properties.
When the site was purchased it only had a farmhouse, and over the years the NSW and other collectives have transformed the site with a number of buildings, two water storage dams, planted hundreds of trees and shrubs creating very pleasant gardens, and other ongoing improvements. The remainder of the site is native bushland and home to local birds and animals.
The property now has a large meditation hall, commercial style kitchen, store and cool rooms, caretakers’ cottages and sheds and a dedicated camping area and sports grounds. A cottage is dedicated as HH Shri Mataji’s spiritual home where Her bedroom, bathroom and lounge are all lovingly maintained, and Her spiritual presence is very pronounced.
Balmoral is our major National Country Property and is home to regular celebrations by NSW and ACT yogis. Yuvas, children and family camps, and large numbers of interstate and international yogis come together at Easter and other times for multi day celebrations.
HH Shri Mataji recently displayed Her attention on and protection of the property when severe bushfires razed the surrounding area and the flames stopped just before reaching any of Her buildings.
Albert River Rd Hiawatha VIC
The Victorian Collectives country property ‘Hiawatha’ is located some 3 to 4 hours drive east from Melbourne, set in delightful surroundings of lush farmland and native forests of the Gippsland countryside with a substantial building containing numerous bedrooms, a kitchen and an ideal space for Pujas and enjoying the collectivity.
Wilson’s Promontory and beaches are nearby, and a meandering Arthur River which is ideal for foot soaking passes through the property.
The collective centre is also home to sheep, lambs and cattle and a caretaker's cottage.
National Diwali Puja celebrations are traditionally held at Hiawatha and it has also hosted Children’s Camps, Family Events, Yuva workshops, week-long Clearing Seminars and other national events. The property is a delightful contrast to city life and refreshing for all the senses and the spirit.
McLintock Rd Wamuran Queensland
In 1992 HH Shri Mataji was staying in Brisbane and advised that the Queensland Collective should purchase a property to have a country Collective Centre. She happened to be looking through a newspaper and an advertisement for the Wamuran property had strong vibrations for the 5.4ha site mostly covered with native Australian trees. As the Collective had no ability to purchase the property at the time, HH Shri Mataji’s husband Sir CP very kindly paid for the land. These funds were repaid to Sir CP some time later by the Collective. The property only had a very basic shed which was home to a number of families with young children.
HH Shri Mataji helped design the main building, and 14,000 mud bricks were made by resident and visiting yogis with clay from the site. Local timber was milled for the large two storey ashram along with recycled timber from the Darwin Navy stores. As the Collective grew and regular Guru Puja celebrations were held at Wamuran the Meditation Room in the Centre spread to outside on the lawn area with a gazebo in the garden as the focal point.
Walls were removed from the original shed and it was used for larger events, however, electrical and other problems led to the National Collective fundraising to build a new Meditation Hall on the site where Shri Mataji had vibrated the floor.
Please use this link for a comprehensive description of the purchase and construction of the Wamuran Centre. WAMURAN PDF
O’Brien Rd Gidgegannup WA
A conversation between two yogi's while travelling with HH Shri Mataji lead to the very generous gift of a 20 hectares of land in the Eastern foothills of Perth which would become the center of collective activities in Western Australia. She asked that we build her a cottage and that She would come to stay.
HH Shri Mataji blessed us with two visits to the property where we were to worship Her in the form of Shri Mahavira in 1991, and again as Shri Ganesha in 1992.
The now-familiar hanger nestles gently into the landscape providing us with the opportunity to be together with laughter and joy, while we praise Her for the many blessings of Her advent and mission to bring peace to humanity.
Gidgegannup is located 45 minutes drive north east of Perth in Western Australia. A recent catastrophic fire in the area completely skirted around the property and the Collective Centre was saved.
Jai Shri Mataji!
Chewings St Scullin ACT
Sahaja Yoga was established in Canberra in1984 with public and Collective programs and pujas being held at numerous public and collective venues. In 1999 the collective decided to buy a house to establish a permanent residence for the Collective. The deposit on the house was provided from funds raised from a food stall managed by Canberra yogis (for several years) at a Computer Fair held monthly at the Canberra Showground, and subsequently at the Canberra Depot. These funds were supplemented by generous donations from the Collective.
In 1999 a home in Chewings Street, Scullin on north side of Canberra was discovered and a deposit was put down and a few families moved in and Canberra’s Collective ashram was born. A board of local Trustees was set up as guarantors for the mortgage of the house which was later transferred to Life Eternal Properties Australia to ensure the tenure and security of the property for the Collective.
In 2000 renovations were carried out to extend the meditation room, add three bedrooms, an additional living area and amenities and convert makeshift quarters in the garage into a proper bedroom to be later converted into a room for HH Shri Mataji enhancing the vibrations in the ashram. The ashram has been a focal point for numerous community related Sahaja Yoga activities including hosting Music of Joy on multiple occasions as well as seekers attending regular workshops and collective programs.
A number of Sahaja Yogis (mostly families with young children) live at the ashram which is also enjoyed by the wider Canberra Collective.
Trustees ensuring secure tenure for our properties and achieving significant savings
As the LETA Trust in not allowed to own properties specialist legal advice was sought to safeguard and ensure the ongoing ownership of the properties by the Australian Collective and Life Eternal Properties Australia (LEPA) was created as a Sole Corporate Trustee within LETA to hold and manage our properties.
Within this arrangement the Collective are the owners and the Trustees and no other individuals have direct ownership or personal financial access to the properties.
The LETA Trustees have been closely involved in the purchase arrangements or transfers of properties to LEPA and through a rigorous application process were able to achieve substantial saving for the Collective.
A not for profit expert legal firm provided enhancements to Trust so the OSR could approve the transfer of titles of No 10 Clarence Street and Scullin from individual names to LEPA. OSR charged no Stamp Duty for the transfer and the Trustee-Directors saved the Collective $170,000 in stamp duty. This secured the Title for No 10 Clarence St from any possible legal claims.
The enhancements to the Trust was key to meeting the Government requirements for the manner with which not for profit entities own and manage properties.
LEPA is the sole Corporate Trustee of Life Eternal Trust . A windup clause was added to LETA to ensure that if its assets were ever disposed they would be transferred to a like body being LET Western Australia and not under the direction of the Trustee-Directors.
