Sonja Rimokh, known to many as Rama, was born in Israel, although she lived most of her life in the Tristate Area (New York and New Jersey). During the last year of her life she moved to Maine and was living in an apartment in a retirement community within walking distance of the ocean, which she dearly loved.
She got her self-realization in 1987 in New York City through a work connection. While teaching ESL at Hunter College, a new teacher, Linda Taylor, needed to contact Sonja to get a textbook for a writing course she was teaching. They met and didn’t speak much about teaching writing, but had a lot to say about her spiritual journey and Sahaja Yoga.
Rama leaves behind two precious legacies. One is that she initiated our involvement with Health Corps. In 2008, she took an apartment in Cliffside Park, NJ across from the high school. She met the Health Corps Coordinator there and began Sahaja Meditation sessions with students and teachers. It was a striking convergence of circumstances that Dr. Mehmet Oz, the founder of Health Corps, lived in Cliffside Park at the time and Rama was very keen to develop our collaboration with his organization.
Rama also began a weekly Sahaja Meditation meeting in Edgewater, NJ, in 2010. This dynamic meeting continued with several of the original people continued to attend, some becoming fully established Sahaja Yogis, thanks to Rama’s ongoing mentoring at a distance from Maine.
She could also dance very beautifully. Her rhythm and sense of grace were captivating to watch and she often stole the show even when she was dancing next to many other young and dynamic shaktis. Her style just seemed to leap off the stage.
Rama was a language teacher by profession, teaching ESL (English as a Second Language) and French to adults. She was also a talented painter. Whenever Shri Mataji would see her, She gave her encouragement about how her vibrations were improving.
Nothing was more important to her than her personal spiritual development, her unrelenting dedication to spreading Sahaja Yoga, and her devotion to Shri Mataji.
Rama was looking forward to her trip to the Sahaja Medical Center in India. The hospital is a holy place where Shri Mataji’s attention is very strong. In the evening before she passed away, she was in good spirits and went to the kitchen to compliment the cooks on the food. Dr. Madhur Rai told us that Rama made a point of asking the night security guards not to tap their batons outside her door during their rounds that night because she was planning to have a long, deep sleep.
Rama passed away on January 12, 2012, during the night, after being at the health center for three days.
She was survived by a son in Los Angeles, a brother in New York City, and scores of Sahaja brothers and sisters who will greatly miss her laughter, her strong opinions, and her generous spirit. She had a lot of energy and a real zest for living a creative life– expressed in her work, her relationships with friends, and her art.
Her departure was at an auspicious time, according to the Hindu calendar. She died just before Sankrant, and was cremated on the day of Sankrant. Permission was given by her son to cremate her body in a place near the hospital, as he knew how much she loved Mother India.