Daya Mata

Daya Mata (Sanskrit for Compassionate Mother), born Rachel Faye Wright, (January 31, 1914 – November 30, 2010) was the president and sanghamata (mother of the society) of the organization that Paramahansa Yogananda created to disseminate his teachings, Self-Realization Fellowship (SRF) in Los Angeles, California / Yogoda Satsanga Society of India (YSS), for over 55 years.

She was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, to a family affiliated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Her ancestors were among the original Mormon pioneers to the Salt Lake Valley. Her grandfather, Abraham Reister Wright, was an architect of the LDS Church's Salt Lake Tabernacle. She has been listed as a "Famous Utahn" by the Utah Office of Tourism.

Daya Mata first met Yogananda in 1931 at the age of 17 years, while seeking one thing: perfect, unconditional love. She found it in Yogananda, Premavatar (divine incarnation of love), and joined Yogananda's ashram that year. In time she took her monastic vows with Yogananda and was given the name Daya. She describes her steadfast yearning:

Every human being yearns for love. From childhood, that was the tremendous desire of my heart; to me, there is no meaning to life without love. But I had the notion that I could never be content with imperfect love. The love that would satisfy me was a love unconditional, a love that would never disappoint me. My reason told me that in seeking perfect love, I must go to the Source; I must go to the One who alone is capable of giving such love. Thus began my search for God.

I was a girl of seventeen when, in 1931, my quest led to a meeting that forever changed my life. I had the good fortune to attend a series of lectures given in my hometown of Salt Lake City by a great man of God, Paramahansa Yogananda. In the years that followed, I learned from him the way to total fulfillment of the lifelong yearning of my heart: perfect love, divine love—the all-consuming love experienced in communion with the Eternal Beloved of our souls.

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