Antoaneta (maiden name Catsoiu) Costian was born on June 14, 1944 in Romania. Her father was the general manager of a hospital in Bucharest and her mother was a homemaker. As a child she loved playing the piano and reading Romanian and foreign literature, especially classics. She learned French, Russian and English. Being passionate about unlocking the secrets of the human soul and mind, she studied Psychology at the University of Bucharest. She was married to Dan Costian in her last year of studies (1966), graduated, and then had a baby boy who she named Calin (her husband gave him the middle name of Radu, which means “happy”).
Antoaneta, known by many of her friends as “Toni”, worked the first part of her career as a psychologist for the Romanian Department of Transportation where she created and administered psychological tests and evaluations to commercial drivers. She then spent the second half of her career as a clinical psychologist at the Central Hospital of Bucharest, Section 9, diagnosing and treating patients suffering from mental ailments. It was during this period that she discovered Sahaja Yoga, receiving her Self-realization in Bucharest on August 1st, 1990, on the same evening as her husband Dan and her son Calin. A couple months later she met Shri Mataji during Her first visit to Romania. Antoaneta remembered how, while she was at work during the couple of days when Shri Mataji was in Bucharest, a patient who had been waiting outside her office entered and told her that she had felt a very strong cool breeze blowing out of her entire head, just waiting outside her door. She was a bit worried about it, but Antoaneta explained that it was something very positive that had happened to her.
In December 1990, after being invited to the India Tour by Shri Mataji, her husband Dan was appointed as one of the two co-leaders of the Romanian Sahaja collective. As a psychologist with rigorous scientific training, Antoaneta was initially a bit skeptical about the divine nature of Shri Mataji and of Sahaja Yoga, but as she practiced more and more she became more and more convinced of its reality. When her husband returned from India, the first question Antoaneta asked him as he entered the door was: “Tell me one thing: who is Shri Mataji?” Dan Costian responded with a smile and a single word: “God”. That was the last confirmation she ever needed to receive, and through her own experiences and miracles she witnessed, she engrossed herself in the practice of Sahaja and became a dedicated Sahaja Yogini.
She dedicated the next 10 years of her life to supporting her husband in his often challenging duties as the leader of the Romanian collective, the size of which grew 10 times during that period (from nearly 200 to nearly 2000 Yogis, expanding from a couple of cities to over 40 places around the country where Sahaja Yoga was practiced). In the meantime she also discharged beautifully her duties as a mother, wife, daughter, sister, and a Lakshmi for the household and for the Romanian collective.
In 2001 she moved with her husband to the United States, where she joined her son, daughter in law and their children in Dallas, Texas. Her love for her grandchildren James and Isabel was boundless, and she spent a very fulfilling life as a grandmother and looking after the whole family who she showered incessantly with her love and affection. In America she continued to be a pillar of support for her family and the growing Dallas collective, supporting her husband ceaselessly and selflessly through the many years of writing and research he conducted for his three-volume book, “Bible Enlightened”. When he finally completed the trilogy, he assembled the whole family and turning towards her, recognized her love, support, and sacrifices made during this period, marking a very auspicious and sweet moment in the family’s life.
Her wisdom, balance, grace, sweetness, kindness, and above all gentle love and compassion towards everyone, always distinguished her through her actions and words. She had a very kind and balanced way of dealing with all sorts of problems and crises which she had become used to handling since the time spent in Romania during her husband’s leadership of the country’s collective. People who knew her well always described her as a “very classy lady”, as there was always a kind of gracefulness that emanated from everything she did and from her very being. Moreover, she had a very joyful personality and used to laugh heartily with what many described as “an infectious laughter”.
Antoaneta Costian passed away on October 10, 2005 in Dallas. She will always be remembered by her family, friends, and above all Sahaja Yogis in Romania, the United States, Western Europe, and all over the world who had the opportunity to know her.