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Re: Dadi's blessings

PostPosted: 22 Mar 2007
by ex-l
alladin wrote:Are the SS omniscients, or do they channel perfect touchings and messages from the Almighty, so that they are enabled to give proper advice about any issue for anybody of any background and nationality without a need to listen for more than few minutes to the description of situations individuals find themselves into?

It's true, but there's always an escape route for the Yagya's representatives ... "Baba will put everything right".

And it is not even just the SS, I can confirm that junior center-in-charges and middle management like BK Maureen Goodman believe and do just the same thing. And love themselves whilst they do it. I think they also believe that they have the power to absolve sin and make things better.

I have had my life, and my family's lives, tossed around by a voice on a telephone that had never even met me but which I was told to call by my center-in-charge as it dispensed wisdom and advice equal to God's. A senior Brahmakumari Sister ... I know many others who experience similar. It was crazy.

Dadi worship

PostPosted: 18 May 2007
by v
In a short while it would be ... "if you cant remember Dadi, remember the SS or center-in-charge", and later "if you cannot remember SS or center-in-charge, remember the animals in the zoo". This is also Yoga, as they are close to GOD.

I can see how Bhakti (devotion) developed.

PostPosted: 18 May 2007
by arjun
V wrote:I can see how Bhakti (devotion) developed.

I have a recent revised Sakar Murli published by the BKs in which ShivBaba (through Brahma Baba) has dealt with the above subject, but unfortunately I have only the 2nd and 3rd page of the Murli in Hindi. The second page of that Murli begins with the following lines:

" ... Jab mujhey Didi Yoga may bithati hai toh majaa aata hai. Unka Yoga kab sthai nahee rah sakega. Samjho heartfail kee takleef ho jaati hai toh us samay koi Yoga may bithayega kya? Yah toh buddhi say Yaad karnaa hai. Manushya jo bhi Yoga sikhlaatey hain vah hai wrong. Yogi koi bhi is duniya may hai nahee. Yoon toh kisko bhi Yaad karo toh vah bhi Yoga hua. Aam achha lagtaa hai toh unsay Yoga lag jata hai, laalbatti achhi lagti hai toh vah Yaad aayegi toh unsay bhi Yoga hua. Parantu yahaan toh deh sahit deh kay jo bhi sambandh hain us sabko bhool mujh ek kay saath Yoga lagaao tab tumhara kalyaan hoga aur tum vikarmajeet ban jaayengey."

" ... when Didi makes me sit in Yoga, I enjoy it. Their Yoga would never remain constant. Suppose one suffers a heart attack, then would anyone make you sit in Yoga? One has to remember through the intellect. Whatever Yoga is taught by human beings is wrong. Nobody is yogi in this world. In a way, if you remember anything it is also Yoga. If someone likes Mango, then one develops Yoga with it; if someone likes red light, and if one remembers it, then it is also a Yoga with it. But here if you forget all the relationships of the body including the body and remember Me alone, then your welfare would be caused and you would become victorious over sins." (Revised Sakar Murli dated 27.04.07, pg.2 published by BKs in Hindi, narrated by ShivBaba through Brahma Baba, translated by a PBK)

From the above extract it appears as if Baba was speaking about some BKs who say that 'when Didi makes me sit in Yoga, I enjoy it'.

Regards,
OGS,
Arjun

Not quite Dadi worship but ...

PostPosted: 04 Jun 2007
by abrahma kumar
On the topic: What about Shrimat?! someone pointed out that as BKs we sometimes develop the tendencey to use Shrimat as a sort of whip to beat ourelves and others up with. If true it does not seem a particularly elevated Godly character trait and so I am keeping lookout for it in my own self just in case it slips through the net (you know how tricky these sanskaras are ;))

Anyway during a chit chat with one of my BK associates I heard a complaint that highlights some confusion that we BKs may find ourselves in everynow and then. As the story goes, Sunday 03rd June 2007 in GCH London, Dadi Janki called (live speaker phone broadcast) to have Godly chit chat with the gathering. Together with giving a short class Dadi took timeout to publicly mention in very glowing terms and enquire about some BKs by name. Some even mentioned more than once. Dadi also bid a Happy Birthday to ... guess who?

Brother Brian Bacon! And congratulated him on his service (see this site for some of what she may have been alluding to).

But actually none of that seemed to upset my confidant more than the fact that Dadi's call was patched through at a rather key point in Sister Sudesh's pre-murli class. Sudesh Bhen was about to further elaborate on some churnings regarding the deities and the first emergence of body-conscious thoughts ... oh ring, ring! ring, ring! Hello! Ji Dadi! Ji Dadi! Om Shanti Dadi! ...

Suffice it to say once Dadi had done it was time for Bhog to be offered so Sister Sudesh royally wrapped-up the class and that was that.

In case you want to know why i mentioned Shrimat at the top of this post then check the revised Sakar Murli of 26th May 2007 a section from which follows:
Shiva Baba spoke not wrote:The Godly birth is higher than a wordly, devilish birth. Nowadays, many people celebrate their wordly birthdays. That should be cancelled and spiritual birthdays should be celebrated so that it becomes firm. Baba advises cancel celebrating your old birthday and celebrate your new birthday. Nowadays, they even celebrate their wedding anniversaries. That too should be cancelled. There have to be some changes...

Om Shanti

PostPosted: 04 Jun 2007
by alladin
Bhakti is hard to die, and there are always excuses to get away from Shrimat, calling things with different names, etc ... memorials? Or just to ... "keep children happy ...".

PostPosted: 05 Jun 2007
by abrahma kumar
Hi folks, just to tie-up a lose end and perhaps to add some balance to the earlier post I received the Dadi Janki Class from last Sunday as distributed by the BKWSU. ;)

Dadi Janki - 3rd June 07 - on the phone to London
Be a knowledgeable and yogi soul

Baba says - wherever you are, just hold the globe in your hand and when you come to Me - just sit on the globe. There is not need to make efforts to climb - just sit up there and enjoy the scenes from up above. It is a wonder - Baba is giving us the kingdom now. There is no worry and no tension - everything is in order. Baba gives us the wisdom of knowing how to keep everything in order. At no point in time should we allow anything to rule over us. Sometimes Maya adopts such a role that she controls or rules us and brings us down. She can take many forms - she is almighty. Be a knowledgeable and yogi soul - transform yourself and transform the world.

Brahma Baba and Shiv Baba are not separate - they are combined. So why should I see them separate? Some say that they only remember the Incorporeal - but thinking like this brings ego in between. Remember Shiv Baba through Brahma Baba so that you become egoless and viceless. And as you sit with Shiv Baba - experience the bodiless stage. Shiv Baba does not have ego because He does not have a body - He does not come in The Cycle but comes at the end to liberate us from it. He gives us signals. He says - just spin the discus of self realisation -realise that now is the time to return home - that your part of 84 births is completed.

Baba speaks to us directly. He has given so much but now check how much you have inculcated and shared with others. Keep this account with you and see how much transformation has taken place. Imbibe the essence and do not go into expansion; stay in silence and don't go into detail. Let everything be clear - and then automatically - The Cycle will spin in your intellect. See if you are knowledgeful or if you have half knowledge. Maintain your self respect -and do not bring tension or become perplexed - but pay attention and maintain your glory.

Those who have such feelings and faith; those who imbibe knowledge; those who make good incognito efforts; those who have good connection with Baba - they don't become attached to anyone else. Now God loves you - He sacrificed Himself to you - He is in love with you and so He cannot be separated. Be lost in that love - remain combined and do not depend on human beings. Those who have such unshakable faith are unique in the whole world - unique in the family and Baba remembers them - with a lot of love.

Om Shanti

Dadi J does Los Angeles

PostPosted: 27 Jun 2007
by abrahma kumar
Received the following via the BKWSU grapevine:
Dadi Janki spoke to two hundred guests in a public program in Los Angeles on Sunday evening June 24th. Her topic was "Time and Transformation". She started out by reflecting on the past 70 years: "70 years ago the state of the world wasn't one that made you feel that you have to transform, but even then I had the feeling that yes I want to transform. I want to be different than I am today. 70 years on, I can now say that clearly the world really does need to transform. Even 70 years ago I was looking at how people spent their time, what they spent their money on and what was the direction of their relationships and I thought, yes, the world has to change. What has happened to the heart is that it has become filled with desires and it has gotten attached to things."

She spoke for over an hour and then took questions from the audience who were totally engaged: "How can you use the intellect in meditation?" they wondered, and "If I am given sorrow because of sickness or death, how do I get rid of it?" Lucinda Drayton of Bliss joined Dadi in the program, opening and closing the evening with her songs.

The following night, Dadi was featured in a program at the Beverly Hills Country Club called "The Yogi and the Director," which was facilitated by John Levoff, a relatively new BK who is in the film industry. Attending the program were friends of John's and his wife Melissa's from the entertainment industry. He opened the evening by recalling his experience in Madhuban at the Call-of-the-Time. He and director, Rod Hardy, who has also been to Madhuban, spoke about the deep feeling with which they returned from Madhuban - a lasting smile and some simple but powerful ideas that Rod put into his work as a film director.

They asked Dadi to address a number of questions. One question was "The desire for money and power drive the film business. How do we come from a place of love and peace?" Dadi chided John for his questions about "how" and went on to explain, "There is peacelessness and sorrow, because everyone is thinking about how to earn money and how to spend it. Ask, what is the purpose of my life? What is the quality of my life? When you keep it simple, there are no worries." John asked a related question, "We are in one of the world's capitals of body consciousness. How do we remain stable, given how fast the pace is here?" Dadi asked the room to join her in 30 seconds of silence while she considered the question. She added that in that 30 seconds the truth would begin to emerge in them. Then she responded, "The quality of life will continue to be a concern for people. Since 1974 the world has become much more materialistic. In the last 30 years people have also become more interested in searching for the truth. There is this growing understanding that self transformation and world transformation can happen now. It is as if we are moving from night to day."

The conversation opened and closed with music from Lucinda and blessings and toli for each one in the room. Dadi said to Gitabehn and Chandrubehn that when she first came to Los Angeles in 1978, it was hard to attract people to talk about spirituality, but this time
in the U.S. has proven that times have changed, that the people in Los Angeles and in America are drawn to programs about spirituality in large numbers.

Dadi does Hollywood.

PostPosted: 27 Jun 2007
by ex-l
It will be very interesting to see what qualitied and activities these individuals bring into the BKWSU. Beverley Hills Country Club, woo ... members only.

There was a long time BK involved with networking the movie industry, cant remember her name but it was not Hema from San Francisco nor Sister Gita from the Los Angeles Center. Note how they seem to let the whities start up service but then stick an Indian Sister into the center later? This appears to be what happened to Di's partners center in Australia. Levoff is more of a producer type, his credits look fatefully accurate;
    "I Married a Monster" - one for any partner of a BK
    A Family Torn Apart - one for the PBKs
    The Last of His Tribe - fair enough for BB
But he is more known for this Sci Fi work like Battlestar Gallactica and Six Billion Dollar Man.

He and, we presume his relative (?), were also on the Event Committee for The Peace Abbey that gave Dadi Janki her Courage of Conscience Award. This could become interestingly ethically if it was a BK giving a BK award.
The Peace Abbey wrote:Event Committee
    Executive Producer; John Levoff
    Producer; Melissa Oberon Levoff

The BKWSU seems to be moving in with The Peace Abbey and is a co-sponsor now of this award
The Peace Abbey, The Brahma Kumaris, and Agape invite you and a guest to participate in an extraordinary evening of music and inspiration honoring 2007 Courage of Conscience Award recipients;
    Jackson Browne, CODEPINK, Grassroot Soccer and Eugene Jarecki

At one point there was a big buzz about a movie being made about the story of Adi Dev with Robert Redford .. or some such star ... to play Lekhraj Kirpalani. All the Sisters were weak at the knees but "being stable in Drama". Can anyone else remember?

This event seems to have had something to do with Unity-and-Diversity World Council and come close via the Visions of Hope service front where in 2005, John Levoff shared a stage with BK Neville Hodgkinson doing what I call the "Identity Dance". Where BKs pretend to be non-BKs or representing some other BK Wing like the IVofH.

So couple of year ago, it was actually John Levoff who presented the Courage of Conscience award to Dadi Janki at The Peace Abbey. Usual factual inaccuracies and PR are rife regarding Janki from the "every single day for 69 years on" to the "the original 16 women Lekhraj assembled in 1937 to found the organization". That is outrageous (... unless she actually left and got married AFTER being one of the Om Mandli committee, why is not her name on the officialist then?).

Ditto "Dadi was named Co-Administrative head of the organization" ... whatever happened to Didi Manhar !?! This just is not true.

I am raising my eyebrows at "Dadi still has no personal possessions" ... I suppose the bank account is not a personal possess though. In fact, there are so many inaccuracies, I give up ...
|
Award Speech by John Levoff, - Advisory Board Member, Peace Abbey
COURAGE OF CONSCIENCE AWARD PRESENTATION, CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS JUNE 6, 2005

|
It's my great good fortune to be here this evening to join you as we honor and are about to be inspired by one of the world's great spiritual leaders.

Dadi Janki, Co-Administrative Head of the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University and a member of the United Nations' prestigious Keepers of Wisdom, is a spiritual lighthouse dressed in a white sari, who has inspired people every single day, for the last 69 years, to transform the world by finding peace and harmony within themselves. World transformation through self-transformation - that's the Brahma Kumaris' gift to the world.

I first became acquainted with the University when I was invited to attend a conference at the organization's international headquarters in Mt. Abu, India. The University has not one but three spectacular, solar powered campuses in Mt. Abu, one of which features a convocation hall holding 25,000 people. They feed hundreds of full time residents, free of charge, every single day. I 'd never heard of the Brahma Kumaris before. Who are these people, I wondered. One of my fellow conferees from England, Andrew Stone, former chairman of Marks and Spencer and a member of the House of Lords, had a memorable insight about the BKs up on the mountain. He told me "I've tried it all- Buddhism, Taoism, Shintoism, you name it ... these are the only people who are happy!" The BK happiness is that generosity of spirit embodied by our honoree this evening. Dadi Janki is the heart and superior soul of this extraordinary organization.

Born in northern India, in 1916, Dadi's childhood reflected a deep love for God, as well as an unswerving desire to serve humanity. Just 14 years old, with little formal education, she insisted that her Father take her on an extended tour of India's many holy sites. Dadi (the Hindi word for "Senior Sister") met with all the foremost gurus, sages and saints of the day. She approached them all with the same query, "Who is God? Where is He? How can I find Him? How can I experience Him?"

At 21, she met a wealthy jeweler in Karachi, Dada Lekhraj, who had just founded the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University. The essence of his teaching is for each of us to recognize that we are not a body but, in fact, a soul. that the body is merely the means by which we express our inner truth. By being soul conscious, we can create inner stability and happiness by connecting to God, to the Supreme Soul, through meditation. At first sight, Dadi simply knew that this man was the instrument of the Divine that she had been seeking. A few years later, Dadi herself became part of the University, surrendering her life, not to a guru, but to God.

Dadi Janki was one of the original 16 women Lekhraj assembled in 1937 to found the organization and forge its rapidly expanding vision of the future. Brahma Baba, as the founder came to be known, recognized that women hold inherent power as the creators and protectors of life, a revolutionary concept in India, or anywhere for that matter. He soon vested control of his entire fortune and all administrative responsibility for the organization to those original 16 female students.

By the early 1950's, Dadi had become one of the institution's foremost teachers, responsible for the establishment of BK centers throughout India. The community began outreaching to cities across the sub-continent. They had absolutely no status, no money and no possessions; however what they did have were hearts full of love for all souls. They made everyone feel that, at last, they had found the spark of enlightenment for which they had been searching their entire lives.

In 1969, after the passing of the founder, Dadi was named Co-Administrative head of the organization, sharing leadership responsibilities for a dramatically expanding University with two of her original classmates. In 1974, she arrived for the first time in the UK to lead the organization's expansion throughout Europe, Australia and the Americas. In 1979, the first custom-built BK center was opened in central London. In 1991, a retreat center was acquired near Oxford and, before long, other retreat centers were opening around the world including Peace Village Learning & Retreat Center in upstate New York and the Brahma Kumaris Learning Center for Peace right here in Watertown, Massachusetts. In 1974, there were no BK centers outside India. Despite making no charge for any spiritual teaching or service, the Brahma Kumaris are now represented by 6000 centers in over 88 countries serving more than 700,000 students.

Today, after 69 years of absolute commitment to spiritual purity, Dadi still has no personal possessions, considering herself only a humble instrument for the Supreme. By her example, she demonstrates that it is possible to live an authentic spiritual life in a world of spiritual poverty. By her words, she inspires and enlightens all who meet her, as she challenges us to look deeply inside ourselves to realize who we are and what we need to do at this time. By the absolute purity of her heart, she inspires stability and strength while the world struggles in the chaos of transformation. At the age of 89, with a childlike lightness combined with the wisdom of the deepest sage, Dadi Janki continually circles the globe, sustaining the students and teachers of the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University, bringing a message of peace and a method of enlightenment to hundreds of thousands who attend her public talks.

For a lifetime dedicated to the service of humanity, the Peace Abbey is honored to present Dadi Janki with the 2005 Courage of Conscience Award.

THE COURAGE OF CONSCIENCE AWARD is given out of a desire to promote the causes of peace and justice, non-violence and love that The Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience Award is humbly given.

A sample of other recipients who have received this award includes:
    Dalai Lama, Mother Teresa, Mikhaol Gorbachev, Jim Henson
    Mahatma Gandhi, Robert Francis Kennedy, Yoko Ono

I wonder if some of our ex-BK musicians and artists agree with this quote from the IVofH;
BKs wrote:The Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual Organization is a non-profit organization working at all levels of society for positive change and creativity.

So, how do the BKWSU become co-sponsors? Does that mean, like any other sponsorship deal, that they buy credit by giving donated money away to present awards "Celebrating Human Greatness"?

Is it a sort of Karankaravanhar "service through other's service" without having to do anything, as in they have realised that by sharing the financial and organization responsibilities they still get just as much PR value AND enter into closer association with cooperative souls? Or is it just a way of being able to look good to the UN et al.

The Peace Abbey wrote:Dadi Janki, the founder of Brahma Kumaris, will receive the Courage of Conscience award on June 6. Eighty-nine years old, she has been a spiritual leader her entire life and still travels the world spreading her message of peace and enlightenment. A spiritual advisor to United Nations, her organization has opened more than 6,000 Brahma Kumaris centers in 88 countries