Mrinalini Mata (born Merna Loy Brown, May 8, 1931 – August 3, 2017) was the fourth president of
Self-Realization Fellowship /
Yogoda Satsanga Society of India (SRF/YSS), the only church founded by
Paramahansa Yogananda
Paramahansa Yogananda (born Mukunda Lal Ghosh; January 5, 1893March 7, 1952) was an Indian and American Hindu monk, yoga, yogi and guru who introduced millions to meditation and Kriya Yoga school, Kriya Yoga through his organization, Self ...
to care for and disseminate his teachings.
Biography
She was born in
Wichita, Kansas
Wichita ( ) is the List of cities in Kansas, most populous city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County, Kansas, Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 397, ...
, USA. Mrinalini Mata's parents were Vera and William Wesley Brown. She spent most of her youth in Southern California. From an early age, she showed an interest in religion, regularly attending church with her family. She was drawn to the teachings of Paramahansa Yogananda at the age of fourteen, after she heard him speak at the Self-Realization Fellowship (SRF) Temple in San Diego, California, which her sister and mother had begun attending. On June 10, 1946, Mrinalini Mata came to live at the SRF Hermitage in Encinitas, California, where she began receiving Yogananda’s guidance while she finished her education at the local high school. She entered the SRF
monastic order in 1946, at the age of fifteen. Yogananda chose for her the monastic name ''Mrinalini'', which signifies the purity of the lotus flower, an ancient symbol of spiritual unfoldment. Her mother later also entered the ashram and took the monastic name ''Meera Mata''. Following the passing of the former SRF/YSS president
Daya Mata in 2010, Mrinalini Mata became president of the society in 2011 and remained president until her death in 2017.
Books
*
References
External links
* YouTube playlist
Talks by Mrinalini Mata
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mata, Mrinalini
1931 births
2017 deaths
American women writers
American spiritual writers
American yogis
Devotees of Paramahansa Yogananda
Kriya yogis
People from Wichita, Kansas
Women yogis
Women mystics
Writers from Los Angeles