By The SATimes News Service
Official Message from BKs
Dadi Janki
The late leader of the Brahma Kumaris posing in front of a portrait of BKs founder Dada Lekhraj
The new year and the new decade announced themselves with a wakeup call. Without much of a warning, the coronavirus appeared and spread around the world. People have been dying, others experiencing isolation and hardship.
As much as the pandemic poses a global threat to peace and security, it also presents an opportunity to demonstrate unity and join hands. Brahma Kumaris is supporting the efforts to prevent the virus from spreading. All our centers and retreat places around the world stayed closed and we are actively encouraging our community to implement preventative measures and observe government guidelines and rules.
The Internet has become more and more helpful as a way to stay connected – to help us to share our thoughts and feelings, to reflect and to find a place of peace and calm within. We have initiated daily global meditation sessions, joined by our 6,000 centers and offer regular online courses and spiritual talks for the public and our regular students.
From a spiritual viewpoint, we understand that what we are experiencing has its roots in our past actions. There have been plenty of signs that things are going in the wrong direction. Climate change and the loss of biodiversity have been clear calls for change. However, the solutions we agreed upon have been half-heartedly executed and, as a global community, we failed to change our lifestyle and our economic model on the scale that is needed.
The old paradigm has failed us and doesn’t hold the promise of a better world. As we reflect deeply, it is clear that the change needed is a radical one. One thing is, of course, to deal with the virus and overcome the immediate crisis, but what spiritual lessons can we learn? And, on that basis, what changes do we need to make? It is our consciousness that underpins our decision-making and our consequent actions and behavior. Therefore, a deep inner transformation is needed at this time.
Inner transformation begins with a change in awareness, which leads to a change in our attitude and the vision we hold. With a different vision we take different action.
Taking time to reflect each day on how closely connected the human family is with the natural world will make it clear that the awareness we hold and the actions we take as a result of that vision, ripple across the planet, touching all of its inhabitants
Some years ago, Dadi Janki, leader of the Brahma Kumaris who has passed on, spoke of this ripple effect and how it can work for bad and for our great benefit:
“We talk about how science, technology and media have made this world a global village. There is a kind of sharing that causes the world to be global. One bird from Asia can bring a flu to the rest of the world. The same thing can happen with the spreading of a change of awareness. When enough people begin to experience themselves and humanity in a way that is not limited by the physical world, in the unlimited way that God sees us, the world will reach a tipping point and will tip into an age of truth.” (in ‘Something Beyond Greatness’)
Each of us can support a change in the natural world through our thoughts and reflections. It is a gift to the world, when we sit in meditation and offer an elevated vision:
“In my mind’s eye, I see the earth in the way that those who travelled into space could see her – a blue marble floating in the vastness of the cosmos. Looking more closely, I am aware of how fragile she has become. I sense that her rivers and forests, her air and her oceans, and many of her creatures are distressed, and I make a quiet promise that I will preserve and protect her. I have the awareness that this is a time when beauty is to be restored to the world, and I hold a vision of the Earth in her original, pure state, knowing in my heart that this affirmation will draw God’s mercy and blessings.”
Brahma Kumaris understands that meditation is a powerful tool to change our consciousness and restore peace and harmony on our planet. You are welcome to join our daily 15-minute global meditation at 12.30pm (UK time; GMT+1), wherever you are, whenever you can. Be with us in creating peaceful and positive thoughts for the world.
About Brahma Kumaris
Origin
When the University came into being under the name “Om Mandali”, it consisted
of only a handful of men, women and children living in Hyderabad,
Sindh (now part of Pakistan). Then, a respected and wealthy member of their community, Dada Lekhraj, experienced a series of visions in 1936, which revealed a body of knowledge
about the nature of the soul, of God and of time – concepts
so simple in their expression but so profound in
meaning that they awakened a powerful sense of recognition
in those with whom the visions were shared.
In a year, they moved from Hyderabad to Karachi. The founding group of nearly 400
individuals lived there till 1949 as a self-sufficient community devoting their time to intense
spiritual study and meditation.
World Headquarters
In 1950, the community moved to Mount Abu, a quiet place reputed for its
ancient heritage and regarded as a sacred destination by many in search
of spiritual rejuvenation and empowerment. Nestled high in the Aravali
Mountains of Rajasthan, it provided an ideal location for reflection and contemplation.
In time, the community moved to the site which remains the University’s world headquarters: Madhuban.
Philosophy
Raja Yoga “Meditation, accurately directed, makes God accessible
to everyone.” –Sister Jayanti, ‘God’s Healing Power’ (Michael Joseph, Penguin
Group, 2002)
Raja Yoga meditation redefines the self as a soul and enables a direct connection
and relationship with the Supreme Source of purest energy and
highest consciousness. Every soul has a right to experience this ultimate relationship.
Organization
Today there are hundreds of thousands of students attending thousands of
meditation centers in nearly one hundred countries.
Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University (Prajapita Brahma Kumaris
Ishwariya Vishwa Vidyalaya) comprises a global community of
individuals, associating themselves together as an NGO through the various recognized centers and sub-centers in India and worldwide.
BK Students
They reflect a diversity of backgrounds, levels of education,
occupation and age and are wishing to participate in an active change
process through personal growth based on spiritual knowledge and the
practice of meditation.
Retreat center in New York
Peace Village Learning and Retreat Center is nestled in a valley
high in the Catskill Mountains of upstate New York. The calm, natural environment complements the Village’s purpose – to offer the experience of the power of peace and inner silence that belong to the
depths of the soul. Peace Village offers residential, non-residential, and off-site community
programs. A fuller outline of all activities at Peace Village can be found at
Long Island Location
Global Harmony House
Great Neck, NY 11021
–Provided by: Arvind Vora, Chairman of Long Island Multi Faith Forum
BK Mohini Panjabi
Coordinator for the BKWSU in the Americas and
the Caribbean, President of the BKWSO in the
United States
Dr. BK Kalarani Iyengar
Physician and Retreat Center Coordinator of Peace
Village : Learning and Retreat Center. A founding
director of the Long Island Multi Faith Forum
Mr Erik Larson
Civil engineer and Coordinator of Activities at
Global Harmony House, Great Neck, NY. A founding
director of the Long Island Multi Faith Forum.