Since childhood, I was exposed to lots of spiritual as well religious activities in our typical Hindu family. I feel, India is a land of ancient wisdom, knowledge and spirituality and that is why, almost every home must be having someone in the family closely connected with spirituality very strongly. In my family, there was one distant uncle who was a saint in some ashram in Haridwar or Rishikesh. I remember those days when my aunt used to take me along for his satsang (spiritual discourse). Also, it was a routine to visit temple, to keep fasts, do prayers at home and so on. This environment also allowed me to read publications from various sects established in the field of religion and spirituality. It was only after coming in contact with Brahma Kumaris and their teachings, that all the learnings taken and accumulated over the years started falling in line with the realities of life. It was only with the lessons of spirituality taken at Brahma Kumaris that my young (teenage) mind could put two plus two together. The spiritual teachings were as impressive as the people connected with the organization, needless to say, those who were managing the Brahma Kumaris centres and staying full time at the BK Headquarters at Mount Abu were truly angelic. There smiles were natural, true and refreshing for the hearts of those who would meet them. Much more phenomenal was the impact of the dynamic personality of the images seen across Brahma Kumaris premises all over the globe, whom they affectionately call Brahma Baba. Brahma Baba, as the name gives the feeling of a fatherly affection, was a renowned business man from Hyderabad Sindh (part of undivided Bharat before Independence). His name was Lekhraj Kripalani and his jewellery business had brought him wealth and reputation in the society. In person he exhibited clarity of thought, religious inclination coupled with religious practices, dedication for Gurus, and noble behaviour. His charismatic pictures in Meditation Rooms of Brahma Kumaris have such strong positive powerful vibrations, the aura of the places is strong and divine, that every time it seems to be showering love and power and that too, unconditionally. Even for newcomer without the knowledge of Rajyoga Meditation, it usually comes as an experience of power and offers solutions to many problems that they might be facing internally. To my such short visits to these Meditation Rooms, it’s like reaching a fresh water stream when you are exhausted travelling in the heat of hot sandy deserts. And, Dada Lekhraj Kripalani or Brahma Baba is a True Role model demonstrating a living example of ‘Simple Living, High Thinking. Man today is reeling under times of extreme stress and tension. There is an atmosphere of total lack of peace, disharmony and desperation everywhere. It is during such times that all of mankind, across all nationalities, religions and languages, crave for that which seems to be unavailable everywhere- PEACE!
In our discussion points in the series called as ‘Awakening with Brahma Kumaris’ let us contemplate on these problems faced by mankind today and also look at what can be the accurate method for solving these problems. Before we proceed, let us first understand what we mean by the term ‘Awakening’. Awakening here means- rousing our conscience from the deep slumber of ignorance about our true identity. The questions that may arise in our minds are- Why do we need to awaken our consciousness? What do I gain from this? And how do I do this? The answer is that, only when our conscience is awakened, can we empower ourselves to overcome the problems like stress, tension, unhappiness, depression, anger, disharmony, hatred and several other related issues faced by mankind. Our conscience can be awakened only when we get true knowledge about our self. As a first step towards getting this knowledge, ‘Awakening with Brahma Kumaris’ series is an eye opener. This ‘Awakening with Brahma Kumaris’ spiritual guidance will lead us to empower ourselves. Now, let us look at the common belief that is prevalent today about the basic information about the self. Existing Belief System about myself - Man today is under the illusion that ‘I am this body and this body is me’ and as a result, the focus is on nurturing the body over soul. This has over a period of time resulted in a deterioration of the inner power of the soul resulting in the manifestation of the 5 main vices- lust, anger, greed, attachment and ego. Several other forms of vices also exist which are combinations of these 5 vices. True Belief System about myself - We need to understand that I am not this body. My true identity is that I am a soul. The soul is not a physical entity- it is a point of energy which is not visible to the human eye. The seat of the soul in a body is center of the forehead, in the middle of the eyebrows. In fact, the soul is like a driver for the body which is like a car. There is still no scientific equipment that has been created to see a soul. We can see the soul using the mind’s eye, just as we can visualize a friend of ours in another city simply by thinking about him. Similarly, we can visualize ourselves as souls just by visualizing a tiny point of light in the center of the forehead. Soul is the energy that runs the body. Just like we need a driver to run a car, so does our body need a soul to run itself. When the soul leaves the body, it is called as a dead body (and not human being address by name) and even though it has all the organs still intact, it is not able to do anything by itself. In fact, we call a dead body as the ‘Body of person X’. All along, somewhere, we had mistakenly formed the assumption that I am the body. Let us try to experiment with this new found learning today onwards- Homework for Practice- Visualize that you are a soul, a tiny point of light, different than the body, residing in the center of my forehead. You are not the body, but the Master of this body. Practice this thought at least 7 times during the day, as part of your daily routine. "Awakening with Brahma Kumaris " is focused on realizing the self. The self, which is associated with every human being i.e. "spirit". True knowledge of spirit unveils true spirituality. The next question that comes to my mind is, "Does spirituality serve the purpose of humanity when science has advanced in every sphere of life? "Science has made life much easier than before. Though science has reduced the complexities of material life, psychological complexities of man has increased. The society which was supposed to prosper towards "peace, love, unity, truth" is moving the other way round. The meaning of these values which once formed the basis for "harmony" in society, has changed entirely in the world of capitalism. To establish peace, every nation is inventing new philosophies by gaining hold on natural resources. With the discovery of diverse philosophies, the challenge to face the crises has been increasing. The ugly face of "Terrorism, Depression, suicide rates, the adverse effects of global warming" has reached its extremity. "Awakening with Brahma Kumaris" is the hope to regain the lost prosperity, peace and harmony in society. It is realization of inner strength associated with every individual which could be the healing process for all psychological problems. It is the hope for the world which is struck by evils of greed where countries are fighting to get control over others, by physical means. The re-establishment of those values which once societies plundered, where people could love each other, where truth prevailed is very much necessary. By practicing spirituality as taught by these shows, the society where " Greed, Ego, Anger, lust" find no place could be reality. As our great Father of Nation said, "Nature has provided man enough to his need, but not to his greed". The human greed has depleted natural resources to such an extent that the consequences are dreadful. To replace this greed with need, it is necessary for individuals to inculcate values. This building of value system for an individual as well as for the society is Real Awakening i.e. the "Awakening with Brahma Kumaris". |