Özlem Gibeau and Ekaterina Lavrentyeva performing at Sunday's Festival of Inner Lights.

A crowd gathered at the Art Gallery of Burlington on Sunday to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi, founder of the Sahaja Yoga movement, with the Festival of Inner Lights, organized by the Halton Sahaja Yoga Network.

There were musical performances, videos highlighting the work of the Halton Sahaja Yoga Network (HSYN) and their 100 Seeds of Joy project, and a period of collective meditation. MP Karina Gould spoke, thanking HSYN for their “wonderful work,” and congratulating them for the 400-plus free events they put on this year.

Left: MP Karina Gould speaks at the Festival of Inner Lights; middle: the group leading the crowd in a rendition of “This Little Light of Mine,” right: the “fire” made of flames of positive energy.

French-Canadian musician Ekaterina Lavrentyeva, who is originally from Ukraine, sang songs in English and Ukrainian, interspersed with the videos and a Métis circle dance by Özlem Gibeau. Gibeau is Turkish, but moved to Canada with her husband; after a lifelong interest in Indigenous culture, she forged a relationship with Les Griffons du Kebek, a Métis group in Quebec. The Griffons later adopted Gibeau as one of their own.

Participants were also invited to write some positive thoughts onto brightly-coloured flame-shaped pieces of paper, which were then collected and pinned into place to make a larger “fire.”

The videos also spoke about Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi herself, who was born as Nirmala Srivastava in India into a Christian family in 1923. She later worked with Mahatma Gandhi and studied medicine before founding Sahaja Yoga. The practice of Sahaja Yoga centres on spiritual meditation that aims to awaken the energy within and achieve self-realization.


To this end, in celebration of Shri Mataji’s 100th birth anniversary, and of Burlington’s 150th anniversary, HSYN developed the 100 Seeds of Joy project in 2023. They have surpassed their goal of 150 events this year; events have included in-person meditations at the Orchard Hub and in Oakville, private group seminars in backyards, regular online lunchtime meditations, and more.

To find out about upcoming 100 Seeds of Joy events, click here; for more information on the Halton Sahaja Yoga Network, visit their website (click here).