The coming Messiah would inaugurate the age of salvation with the pouring out of the Spirit on all flesh.

"The concept of the Holy Spirit was broadened through the Wisdom Literature, especially in the personification of wisdom as that idea came into contact with the idea of Spirit. As early as Prov. 8:22ff. and Job 28:25ff. wisdom is presented as a more or less independent aspect of God's power (here as agent in creation), and wisdom is credited with functions and characteristics that are attributed to the Holy Spirit in the NT. Wisdom proceeded from the mouth of God and covered the earth as a mist at creation (Sir. 24:3); she is the breath of the power of God (Wisd. Solomon 7:25); and by means of his wisdom God formed man (Wisd. Sol. 9:2). The Lord poured out wisdom upon all his works, and she dwells with all flesh (Sir. 1:9-10). Moreover, wisdom is full of spirit, and indeed is identified with the Spirit (Wisd. Sol. 7:22; 9:1; cf. 1:5). Thus the Jews of NT times were familiar with the background of these ideas as they are variously expressed in the NT, ideas which use these background concepts but move beyond them to some unexpected conclusions. Indeed, Jesus taught that his messiahship and the corresponding outpouring of the Spirit were firmly rooted in OT understanding (Luke 4:18ff., citing Isa. 61:1-2), and, similar to intertestamental Judaism, understood the messianic Spirit of the Lord to be the Holy Spirit (Matt. 12:32), the spirit which had foretold through the prophets that the coming Messiah would inaugurate the age of salvation with the pouring out of the Spirit on all flesh."

Holy Spirit, Holy Ghost, Paraclete, Advocate, Comforter

"The Old Testament

In the OT the spirit of the Lord (ruah yhwh; LXX, to pneuma kyriou) is generally an expression for God's power, the extension of himself whereby he carries out many of his mighty deeds (e.g., 1 Kings 8:12; Judg. 14:6ff; 1 Sam. 11:6). As such, "spirit" sometimes finds expression in ways similar to other modes of God's activity, such as "the hand of God" (Ps. 19:1; 102:25); "the word of God" (Ps. 33:6; 147:15, 18); and the "wisdom of God" (Exod. 28:3; 1 Kings 3:28; Job 32:8). The origins of the word "spirit" in both Hebrew (ruah) and Greek (pneuma) are similar, stemming from associations with "breath" and "wind," which were connected by ancient cultures to unseen spiritual force, hence "spirit" (cf. John 3:8, note the association with air in English; e.g., "pneumatic," "respiration," etc.). The AV uses the term "Holy Ghost" for "Holy Spirit" based on an obsolete usage of the word "ghost" (from Middle English and Anglo-Saxon, originally meaning "breath," "spirit", cf. the German Geist). Thus it is understandable that God's creative word (Gen. 1:3ff.) is closely akin to God's creative breath (Gen. 2:7). Both ideas are identified elsewhere with God's spirit. As an agent in creation, God's spirit is the life principle of both men and animals (Job 33:4; Gen. 6:17; 7:15).

The primary function of the spirit of God in the OT is as the spirit of prophecy. God's spirit is the motivating force in the inspiration of the prophets, that power which moved sometimes to ecstasy but always to the revelation of God's message, expressed by the prophets with "thus saith the Lord." Prophets are sometimes referred to as "men of God" (1 Sam. 2:27; 1 Kings 12:22; etc.); in Hos. 9:7 they are "men of the Spirit." The general implication in the OT is that the prophets were inspired by the spirit of God (Num. 11:17; 1 Sam. 16:15; Mic. 3:8; Ezek. 2:2; etc.).

The phrase "Holy Spirit" appears in two contexts in the OT, but is qualified both times as God's holy Spirit (Ps. 51:11; Isa. 63:10-11, 14), such that it is clear that God himself is the referent, not the Holy Spirit which is encountered in the NT. The OT does not contain an idea of a semi-independent divine entity, the Holy Spirit. Rather, we find special expressions of God's activity with and through men. God's spirit is holy in the same way his word and his name are holy; they are all forms of his revelation and, as such, are set in antithesis to all things human or material. The OT, especially the prophets, anticipates a time when God, who is holy (or "other than/separate from" men; cf. Hos. 11:9) will pour out his spirit on men (Joel 2:28ff.; Isa. 11:1ff.; Ezek. 36:14ff.). who will themselves become holy. The Messiah/ Servant of God will be the one upon whom the spirit rests (Isa. 11:1ff.; 42:1ff.; 63:1ff.), and will inaugurate the time of salvation (Ezek. 36:14ff.; cf. Jer. 31:31ff.).

Intertestamental Judaism

Within intertestamental Judaism several significant developments shaped the idea of "Holy Spirit" as it was understood in NT times. After the OT prophets had proclaimed the coming of the Spirit in the messianic age of salvation, Judaism had developed the idea that the spirit of prophecy had ceased within Israel with the last of the biblical prophets (Syriac Bar. 85:3; 1 Macc. 4:46; 14:41; etc.; cf. Ps. 74:9). Consequently, there arose from time to time a hope of the dawning of the new age, especially within the apocalyptic movement, which generally pointed to a supposed messiah and/or prophetic reawakening of some kind (cf. Acts 5:34ff.). The Qumran community is illustrative of this, since it understood itself to be involved in the fulfillment of Israel's messianic hope as the "preparers of the way of the Lord" (Isa. 40:3; cf. 1QS 8. 14-16). The Qumran literature also shows increased identification of the spirit of prophecy with "God's Holy Spirit" (1QS 8. 16; Zadokite Documents II. 12). The phrase, "the Holy Spirit," occasionally occurs in Judaism (IV Ezra 14:22; Ascension of Isa. 5:14; etc.), but, as in the rabbis, it generally meant "God's spirit of prophecy." Thus, the messaianic expectation of Judaism, which included the eschatological outpouring of God's spirit (e.g., 1 Enoch 49:3, citing Isa. 11:2; cf. Sybilline Oracle III, 582, based on Joel 2:28ff.), was bound up with the conviction that the Spirit had ceased in Israel with the last of the prophets; the Holy Spirit was understood as God's spirit of prophecy, which would be given again in the new age to a purified Israel in conjunction with the advent of a messiah.

The concept of the Holy Spirit was broadened through the Wisdom Literature, especially in the personification of wisdom as that idea came into contact with the idea of Spirit. As early as Prov. 8:22ff. and Job 28:25ff. wisdom is presented as a more or less independent aspect of God's power (here as agent in creation), and wisdom is credited with functions and characteristics that are attributed to the Holy Spirit in the NT. Wisdom proceeded from the mouth of God and covered the earth as a mist at creation (Sir. 24:3); she is the breath of the power of God (Wisd. Solomon 7:25); and by means of his wisdom God formed man (Wisd. Sol. 9:2). The Lord poured out wisdom upon all his works, and she dwells with all flesh (Sir. 1:9-10). Moreover, wisdom is full of spirit, and indeed is identified with the Spirit (Wisd. Sol. 7:22; 9:1; cf. 1:5). Thus the Jews of NT times were familiar with the background of these ideas as they are variously expressed in the NT, ideas which use these background concepts but move beyond them to some unexpected conclusions. Indeed, Jesus taught that his messiahship and the corresponding outpouring of the Spirit were firmly rooted in OT understanding (Luke 4:18ff., citing Isa. 61:1-2), and, similar to intertestamental Judaism, understood the messianic Spirit of the Lord to be the Holy Spirit (Matt. 12:32), the spirit which had foretold through the prophets that the coming Messiah would inaugurate the age of salvation with the pouring out of the Spirit on all flesh."

Holy Spirit, Holy Ghost, Paraclete, Advocate, Comforter
www.mb-soft.com/believe/text/holyspir.htm

Advocate, (Gr. parakletos), one who pleads another's cause, who helps another by defending or comforting him. It is a name given by Christ three times to the Holy Ghost (John 14:16; 15:26; 16:7, where the Greek word is rendered "Comforter," q.v.).

Comforter, the designation of the Holy Ghost (John 14:16, 26; 15:26; 16:7; R.V. marg., "or Advocate, or Helper; Gr. paracletos"). The same Greek word thus rendered is translated "Advocate" in 1 John 2:1 as applicable to (the Comforter to be sent by) Christ. It means properly "one who is summoned to the side of another" to help him in a court of justice by defending him, "one who is summoned to plead a cause."

Spirit, Breath
Ruah: "breath; air; strength; wind; breeze; spirit; courage; temper; Spirit." This noun has cognates in Ugaritic, Aramaic, and Arabic. The word occurs about 378 times and in all periods of biblical Hebrew...

ruah frequently represents the element of life in a man, his natural "spirit": "And all flesh died that moved upon the earth,... All in whose nostrils was the breath of life ..." (Gen. 7:21-22). In these verses the animals have a "spirit" (cf. Ps. 104:29). On the other hand, in Prov. 16:2 the word appears to mean more than just the element of life; it seems to mean "soul": "All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the Lord weigheth the spirits [NASB, "motives"]." Thus, Isaiah can put nepes, "soul," and ruah in synonymous parallelism: "With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early ..." (26:9). It is the "spirit" of a man that returns to God (Eccl. 12:7).

... the Bible often speaks of God's "Spirit," the third person of the Trinity. This is the use of the word in its first biblical occurrence: "And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters" (Gen. 1:2). Isa. 63:10-11 and Ps. 51:12 specifically speak of the "holy or free Spirit." "

Holy Spirit, Holy Ghost, Paraclete, Advocate, Comforter
www.mb-soft.com/believe/text/holyspir.htm

"It states that the Fourth Gospel does not narrate Jesus' baptism but explains its significance. Since the Holy Spirit descended and remained on Him, He is singled out as the Son of God who will baptize with the Holy Spirit (John 1:32-34.) His teachings direct to rebirth through the Spirit where a new state of being is attained by the grace of the Spirit — this is the only way of entering the Kingdom of the Spirit. Water is associated with the Spirit (John 3:5-8; cf 1:13.) However, this salvation of humankind through rebirth can only take place after His death and exaltation (cf 3:14.) Therefore this promise of the coming Spirit points to the future: "Now this he said about the Spirit, which those who believed in him were to receive; for as yet the Spirit had not been given [or, Spirit was not yet], because Jesus was not yet glorified" (7:39.) The discourses following Last Supper hold the key to the narration of the Spirit. It is referred to as the "paraclete"
(Counselor) or "advocate", "intercessor" or more appropriately the Spirit of paraclesis i.e. the declaration of the comfort and encouragement of the gospel in the coming age that would fulfill this promise."

Dictionary of the Bible, C. S. Sons, 1963, p. 393

Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi

"If we follow Him (Jesus) then we cannot be conditioned by anything because He talked of Spirit only. Spirit cannot be conditioned, conditioned by anything. . . . I am here to tell you all these things which Christ could not tell, and to fulfill what He wanted to say. All those things I am saying to you."

Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi
Christmas Puja, Delhi, India — December 24, 1995

"The Kundalini rises through a very thin line of Brahmanadi. In the beginning only a hair like thing rises, it pierces through; in some people, of course, in a big way it rises also. And then it pierces this fontanel bone area which is a real baptism. Real! Today only people felt the cool breeze coming out of their heads. Can you do that by jumping, or by paying money? They felt the cool breeze in the hand. It's written in the Bible, even in the Bible very clearly, that it's the cool breeze. Cool breeze is the sign of the Holy Ghost. You start feeling the cool breeze in your hands and you start feeling the cool breeze on your head. This is the actualization.

Of course, you people don't read other books which are very good, like Adi Shankaracharya, People don't even like the mention of his name who has really and clearly said that it is the cool breeze; the chaitanya is to be felt like cool breeze in the hands. They do not want that you should know the truth. And this is the truth that when you get your realization, you have to feel the cool breeze in your hands yourself. You have to judge yourself. I'm not going to tell you. It is you who has to see, it is you who has to feel, and then you have to grow and you have to know all and everything; all the secrets of Divine Science. You become the master then, you are the guru.

You are the Spirit, and you should get it. It's your own which is given to you. I have nothing to do about it. I'm just a catalyst."

Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi
Maccabean Hall, Australia on March 22, 1981

"This is the most important time because Sahaja Yoga is the Last Judgment. It is fantastic to have this, but that’s a fact and is the truth. Though you can understand that Mother's Love makes it very easy for you to get to your Realization and that the whole story of Last Judgment—which looks such a horrifying experience—has been made very beautiful, and very tender, and delicate, and does not disturb you.

But this is the Last Judgment, I tell you, and you are all going to be judged through Sahaja Yoga, whether you can enter into the Kingdom of God or not."

Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi

"Today, Sahaja Yoga has reached the state of Mahayoga, which is en- masse evolution manifested through it. It is this day's Yuga Dharma. It is the way the Last Judgment is taking place. Announce it to all the seekers of truth, to all the nations of the world, so that nobody misses the blessings of the Divine to achieve their meaning, their absolute, their spirit."

Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi

"The main thing that one has to understand is that the time has come for you to get all that is promised in the scriptures, not only in the Bible but all the scriptures of the world. The time has come today that you have to become a Christian, a Brahmin, a Pir, through your Kundalini awakening only. There is no other way. And that your Last Judgment is also now."

Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi

"Sahaja Yoga is for the emancipation of the whole world, at every level. Once we have people of a certain number in Sahaja Yoga, it will start triggering understanding of real righteousness, religiousness and our love for God, and enlightened faith in God. This is how the Resurrection time is going to be worked out. This is the Last Judgment time, and everyone can judge him or herself through the light of the Spirit."

Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi

NOTE: If this page was accessed during a web search you may wish to browse the sites listed below where this topic or related issues are discussed in detail to promote global peace, religious harmony, and spiritual development of humanity:

www.adishakti.org/
www.al-qiyamah.org/
www.adi-shakti.org/  — Divine Feminine (Hinduism)
www.holyspirit-shekinah.org/  — Divine Feminine (Christianity)
www.ruach-elohim.org/  — Divine Feminine (Judaism)
www.ruh-allah.org/  — Divine Feminine (Islam)
www.tao-mother.org/  — Divine Feminine (Taoism)
www.prajnaaparamita.org/  — Divine Feminine (Buddhism)
www.aykaa-mayee.org/  — Divine Feminine (Sikhism)
www.great-spirit-mother.org/  — Divine Feminine (Native Traditions)