Sister BK Jayanti, European Director of Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual Organisation Spoke to Editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami on Republic TV about Raja Yoga Meditation and Awareness of the Inner Being.
Amid the ongoing strife in the world over Coronavirus, clashes in India over farm laws, Brahma Kumaris European Director Sister Jayanti spoke to Republic Media Network Editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami on Saturday, about meditation, Raj Yoga, the need for introspection, and soul-searching. Sister Jayanti, who hails from London, also spoke who she came to India in search of her roots and joined the Bramha Kumaris to know more about herself. Envisioning a harmonious future for humanity, she said that we will move to Satyug – the age of truth.
*Sister Jayanti of Brahma Kumaris speaks to Arnab, shares philosophy against violence.*
Crime continues to be one of the major challenges for most countries and India too faces the task of keeping the law and order situation intact. The most recent example of this was the farmer protests against the government’s three agricultural laws, that led to violence in Delhi. Amid this chaos, numerous spiritual organisations and mystics have been spreading the message of peace across the world, aiming to help people on an individual level, in an attempt at reducing the cases of law and order problems in the country.
*Sister Jayanti speaks on COVID lockdown & recharging the battery*
With the world battling the COVID-19 pandemic and its subsequent consequences, the past one year since the virus outbreak, has been difficult for people across the globe. The fears of lockdown and feeling of being caged took over individuals as governments imposed stringent curbs to cut down the spread of the virus. As a result, several beings were left alone and uncared for facing tougher times without any preparations. Shedding light on methods to cope up with the difficulties faced by the globe today, Sister Jayanti Kirpalani of the Brahma Kumaris spoke to Republic Media Network’s Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami and elaborated on the way to traverse through lockdown and recharging the ‘inner battery’. Drawing parallels between our technology devices and the human body, Sister Jayanti remarked that just like mobiles, bodies were also discharged after prolonged use.
*Awareness of the Inner Being*
Elaborating on the ways to get through tough times in the current state of affairs, she said, “Just looking at the current state of the world, I would say that this is such a difficult time for many many people to travel through and it feels as if it is a time that is very heavy, very difficult but also very dark. At such a time, meditation and the awareness of the inner being soul and the connection with God is the most critical aspect of our life. Because if I can go within and come to that awareness in which I can have a stable mind and a loving mind, a generous heart and an intellect that is able to recognise the difference between truth and reality and that which is false and illusions.” “I think that if I can develop these facets of my own being through meditation, I’ll be able to traverse this very difficult journey of life and without that inner capacity and inner strength its going to be very difficult. I know that for many people a long lockdown across the world has been a very difficult challenge and that’s because either they felt lonely, they had nobody who could support them or they felt too much burdened by the family,” Sister Jayanti added. Emphasizing on the need to recharge and rejuvenate, Sister Jayanti said, “If you have a battery, it gets discharged. Like with your phone, if you don’t charge it gets discharged. The same thing is with your inner being. You need to give time to recharge your own inner battery, your mind will become sensitive, your decisions will fluctuate. If you recharge your inner battery with meditation, you will have the power to deal with everything. It is important, especially today to give time to yourself.” When asked of the message and teachings of the Brahma Kumaris, Sister Jayanti noted, “We feel it is very important to be able to study spiritual teachings because very often so far we have just been taught to believe something and not necessarily have an understanding of the ideas that come up. So, Brahma Kumaris believe that the first step is to be able to understand yourself very often they say how self-realization to god-realization. So for me, that was absolutely true. When I began to understand what is the soul, but more importantly I began to understand the existence of the inner being, the being of light and peace.”
*Sister Jayanti speaks on impact of COVID-19 on world & need for recharging ‘inner battery*
*Light is not fighting with darkness*
Sister Jayanti Kirpalani replied, “When there’s great darkness and light begins to end to the world, then it is a battle between light and dark. But always, not just in fairytales, but in reality, ultimately it’s the light that wins, because the light isn’t fighting the darkness. If there’s darkness, what do you do, you just light a candle and the candle and the power of the illumination of the candle, will gradually allow the darkness to go away.” Kirpalani, who is the European Director of the Brahma Kumaris, also stated,” In a way ignorance and darkness is coming because there is an absence of light. But when light begins to enter the world, the darkness disappears.”
*Healing the soul through meditation*
Brahma Kumaris’ BK Sister Jayanti remarked, “If you scratch below the surface, I don’t think there is a single human being around at this moment who doesn’t have pain and sorrow that they are carrying. It is only through meditation and God’s love that soul can be healed. In physical terms, I scratch myself and there is a bit of blood or I have an accident and there is a lot of blood spilled. (There is) a race to heal the body. But the healing of the soul is a very different matter.” She added, “It is not even a question of time. Something may have happened 10 years ago, 20 years ago and I still carry the pain of that. My experience is that in meditation, I am genuinely feeling that I want to come closer to God. I want to be able to move forward. Then, my connection with God opens up a stream of love. And the power of God’s love is such that the power is able to heal the wounds of the soul. And my wounds have been healed and I am filling myself with God’s love so that my own heart becomes open and generous, then I can share that pure love not with one, not with two, not with 4 but with each and every individual that I am in contact with.”
*Soul can be healed through meditation & God’s love: Sister Jayanti shares mantra*
Speaking to Republic Media Network’s Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami, Sister Jayanti- the European Director of the Brahma Kumaris opined that it is possible to heal the soul. According to her, the soul can be healed only through meditation and God’s love. Maintaining that the healing of a soul is a very different matter as compared to physical healing of the body, she stressed that meditation strengthens one’s connection with God. Moreover, Sister Jayanti contended that God’s love can then be shared with as many people as possible. Brahma Kumaris’ Sister Jayanti remarked, “If you scratch below the surface, I don’t think there is a single human being around at this moment who doesn’t have pain and sorrow that they are carrying. It is only through meditation and God’s love that soul can be healed. In physical terms, I scratch myself and there is a bit of blood or I have an accident and there is a lot of blood spilled. (There is) a race to heal the body. But the healing of the soul is a very different matter.” Continuing her argument, the European Director of the Brahma Kumaris contended that the entire world is need of healing at the moment. She said, “The whole of the world is in the need of healing at this moment. This is why there is such anger and violence and aggression that we see continuously. When I am hurt, there is a saying that goes something like this- hurt people, hurt people. This is a fact. So, if I can heal myself with God’s love, then I can also be an instrument to connect others with God so that they can also take this healing power of love from God.” /“Not only is it possible to heal oneself through God’s love, It is possible to go through a whole transformation. And through that transformation be able to remove whatever is negative in oneself. If you think about it, you see that whenever there is a negative thought- its ego, its anger, greed, attachment whatever, the basis of that thought is a false notion that my identity is connected with my physical form,” Sister Jayanti elaborated. /
*Sister Jayanti’s world vision*
Speaking about her vision for the world in the future, she said, “I always think about myself. Can I think about the world and its needs? Mahatma Gandhi said, ‘There is enough for everyone’s need, but not enough for one’s greed’. Humanity will move together to the next level. Satyug is the age of truth – a world in which all of us can live harmoniously as one family, one world”.
*‘Light always wins’: Sister Jayanti’s top 10 quotes on Brahma Kumaris’ philosophy*
*1.’Meditation a necessity in today’s dark times’*
While talking about the anarchy being witnessed by the world in today’s time and the pain that the pandemic had caused, Sister Jayanti said, “In today’s world, at this moment of time when we are all part of the global family. Looking at the current state of the world it is such a difficult time for many people. It is a time that is heavy, difficult, and dark. Meditation, connection with the inner being of the soul and god is very important at this part of the time. The first step is to have self-awareness and the second step is to connect to the divine, the being of light.”
*2.’In the battle between light & darkness, light always wins’*
“When there’s great darkness and light begins to end to the world, then it is a battle between light and dark. But always, not just in fairytales, but in reality, ultimately it’s the light that wins because the light isn’t fighting the darkness. If there’s darkness, what do you do, you just light a candle and the candle and the power of the illumination of the candle, will gradually allow the darkness to go away. In a way ignorance and darkness is coming because there is an absence of light. But when light begins to enter the world, the darkness disappears,” she said.
*3.’Recharge your inner battery with meditation’*
Drawing parallels between our technology devices and the human body, Sister Jayanti remarked that just like mobiles, bodies were also discharged after prolonged use. “If you have a battery, it gets discharged. Like with your phone, if you don’t charge it gets discharged. The same thing is with your inner being. You need to give time to recharge your own inner battery, your mind will become sensitive, your decisions will fluctuate. If you recharge your inner battery with meditation, you will have the power to deal with everything. It is important, especially today to give time to yourself,” she stated.
*4.’You have everything you need within yourself’*
Stressing on the need for introspection she said, “First you must give time to yourself for introspection. You need to understand you have everything you need within yourself. You just need to connect yourself under the layers and layers of dust that have accumulated. I need to slowly get deeper and reach the shining star that I am.”
*5. ‘If you have self-esteem, you can treat others with dignity and respect’*
‘If you have self-esteem, you can treat others with dignity and respect. I don’t need you to give me respect but rather I am able to give respect to you and probably you will start giving me respect in return.
*6.’Happiness is something I have within myself’*
Sister Jayanti also asserted that happiness never lay in persons or material things. “Happiness is something I have within myself. When I connect with the divine, I am able to connect with the happiness truly mine. I don’t need things or people to make me happy,” she stated.
*7.’Healing of the soul is not a question of time’*
Talking about whether souls could be healed at any time and age, she said, “Only through meditation and god’s love can the soul be healed. Healing of the soul is not a question of time. I can carry the pain of something that happened 20 years ago. In meditation, when I feel I want to move forward, my connection with God opens the stream of love, and God’s love has the power to heal the wounds of the soul.”
*8.’Your identity is much more than your physical form’*
“Whenever there is a negative thought, the basis of that thought is a false notion that my identity is connected with my physical form. Not true. My identity is something much more than my physical form. It is latent within my inner being,” she remarked.
*9.’Each one of us has gifts from the divine’*
“In the eternal identity of who I truly am, I see everyone as equal. Each one of us has gifts from the divine. There will be no ego if you recognize this. We need to maintain awareness of who we truly are. Every human being is valuable, every form of life, nature, and the planet is valuable,” she stated.
*10.’There is no lack of anything, only a lack of love’*
“When I’m in this limited form, I think about me, what I want, and the members of my family. That is a limited narrow way. Can I think of the world as my family? Being concerned for their needs as I am for my needs. There is not a lack of anything in the world, there is a lack of love, we are not willing to share,” she stated.
