London ( UK ): BK Claudia danced and demonstrated the power of the wings of faith and peace to Lucinda Drayton’s ‘Tiny Flower’ song, beautifully setting the scene for the evening’s exploration of ‘Feeling Safe’, an event with BK Sister Jayanti, Director of the Brahma Kumaris in Europe and the Middle East.
Master of Ceremony BK Nik welcomed and introduced the evening with 300 present and a further 200 joining online. Nik first mentioned how we ‘live in turbulent times, with a lot of anxiety and apprehension and so how do we create a life ‘feeling safe’. He invited everyone to turn to their neighbor and to ask each other what pulled them to come to this event.
Nik invited BK Sister Jayanti to the stage. The talk on this subject was so relevant to everyone’s lives today. Answering such questions as: ‘Where is a ‘safe’ place today?’, ‘How can we feel safe?’, ‘Is it possible to create a safe place for the self by simply using the power of the mind?’, Sister Jayanti also shared reflections throughout the evening to take people into their ‘inner sanctuary’, their ‘safe space’ within themselves.
“The opposite of fear is love, not just safety. It can change a situation from danger to safety. Positive psychology has been a subject of a lot of research in recent years. Before that psychology, for over 100 years, dealt with negative feelings and anger issues, etc. When these feelings come, they feel like a sledge hammer and we lose touch with what we are saying and doing. These feelings are strong and last for a period of time. Yet often the experiences of happiness, joy and love are very transient.”
The memory track carries our experiences and holds deep imprints within the self. Memories of pain, fear and trauma are not just in the mind and memory but also registered in the physical body, our physiology. Memories of fear are carried within the physical cells and can be activated when there is a trigger. Often this happens in a subconscious way – ‘flight or fight’ reflexes show us this.
The subject of fear and insecurity is a huge subject. We are all exposed daily to bad news flashing around the world that are magnified by the media and the fastest growing business in London is security.
What can we do? Take practical precautions: What am I watching and what am I ‘consuming’ and exposing myself to? What is going to nourish the mind? What is going to help us feel secure and safe and warm inside? A plant-based diet is non-violent and safe. When we eat meat, we consume the antibiotics and the fear of that animal.
It all depends on our thoughts. And it starts with a few steps … we can create feelings of warmth and safety by directing our thoughts to the ‘sacred space within’ that only the self has access to. It can be difficult to keep the mind quiet and still and it is a reality that it takes training and consistent practice. We can start by returning to this center point of our existence and by taking pauses to allow the mind to slow down.
An African philosopher recently shared: ‘When there is an emergency, a crisis, slow down’! People are often hurt by panic more than by the situation itself. When we allow the mind to slow down we are allowing the possibility of clarity in our thinking. When the mind is having many thoughts in different directions there can be confusion. We have to tone up the muscles of the mind just as we exercise the muscles of the body, in order for it to work well. So we have to practice this ‘slowing down’.
It takes attention and effort to ‘climb up’ in our thoughts. It is easier to slide down and not even realize it. It has to be a conscious thought to elevate my thinking and go beyond fear. For example, maybe I am given a diagnosis of a disease; I can choose my response to this. I can get scared or I can calmly say: ‘It is going to be fine’; it is going to be ok’. Even if there isn’t physical survival, the steadfast way it is dealt with will leave the family with a sense of love and warmth rather than anxiety.
Memories of childhood remain with us without conscious awareness. These are deeply imprinted within the soul. A child can feel a sense of abandonment very easily. The grief, insecurity and anger that a child has felt can continue to be expressed throughout life. The experience of the child creates the psychology and physiology of the adult, and the way we respond or react. Spirituality says that no matter what has happened up until now, when I become aware of who I really am, I can change my perspective.
Who am I? If I was just the body, would I be thinking, feeling, remembering, communicating …. all the subtle things happening within are not just the brain but the spiritual being, the atma, the soul. We cannot measure thought, but we can measure the impact of thought, whether negative or positive. The mind that generates thought is a faculty of soul. When we return to our spiritual identity as a being of light, then the energy that we are generating is connected to light. We know to ‘think before we see’ and ‘think before we hear’, (so we don’t listen to gossip, etc). ‘Think before we speak’. We can add ‘think before we think’. Here is a thought that comes, is it useful to pursue or not? So instead of choosing fear-based thought we can choose loveful ones and share and give this.
Animals pick up vibrations and feelings. Children too pick up vibrations and they will feel your love. As adults we have developed barriers to ‘protect’ ourselves from other’s vibrations. But then we block our good vibrations from reaching out. We can transcend all these ‘barriers’ and also ‘boxes’ of age, gender, race, when we meet in the awareness of soul. We can then generate vibrations of love, peace and truth and hold our self in this ‘capsule of protection’. Others will be touched by this.
As we tap into the treasure store within we can recognise the pure innocence that is at the heart of our being. I started my journey pure and clean and filled with truth. As I emerge this, the power of peace emerges and protects me. The power of love deflects any antagonism that maybe directed at me. The power of truth melts away illusions and falsehood. When we look within we can also see the subtle causes of fear. Fear is created when the conscience and behavior aren’t aligned. My conscience is clearly telling me something and yet I am not following it through; this creates a subtle but strong sense of fear as I know that I am not on track and at some point there will be repercussions.
On the path of spirituality we need to accumulate sufficient power in the conscience so our thoughts and behavior stay on track and there is alignment within. We lose self-respect when there is inner conflict. As we learn to meditate and draw power, then the ‘compass of the conscience’ rules and not our emotions. When it is strong it can recognize when the emotions are out of line. We need to clean out our conscience. We can be free from any animosity, any bad feelings, and with this become fearless. With good wishes for every one we are surrounded by the power of goodness and we will feel safe and secure. There is the law of cause and effect working within our thoughts. We send out peace and we will get that return.
Meditation is joyful work. We feel great. Meditation means creating the flow of energy of pure thoughts, and this ‘cleans’ the mind. When we connect with the One who is Truth, there is power and this can clean the conscience and clean out deepest held habits. We are simply coming back to something we know is there.
There was a powerful Question-and-Answer session with different souls sharing their personal experience and dilemmas, and Sister Jayanti answered these with empathy and inspiration.
In her conclusion Sister Jayanti reminded everyone that with our collective energy we can make a better world, a world of peace and love – one by one, cluster by cluster. Every place in the world now has groups of people practicing these ideas and holding a vision of this. When the darkness ends, the sun appears, the dawn breaks and the day begins. The dawn has broken across the world. There is a vision of a better world ahead.
After a final reflection, thanks and toli (holy sweet) and blessings were shared at the end of the program.
