What is the atmosphere like in the Centres?

for ex-BKs to discuss matters related to experiences in BKWSU & after leaving.
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bansy

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What is the atmosphere like in the Centres?

Post03 Apr 2007

Mr Green wrote:
John wrote:I remember with love and gratitude the center where I got my first lessons. It was in an old building in a very crowded street of A...... It was very hot in summer and icecold in winter (we used to listen to Murli with our coats on ...) but the atmosphere was loving and warm. And one day I noticed that my BK teacher (who never asked for any money from us.) was going around with holes in his shoes. The little money that was coming in Baba's box was used for service of the students only). Kind of reminds me of my old centre, very simple, clean and a great atmosphere, plus nice grub Laughing. Have the BKs become clinical, sanitised and production lined with the larger centres and extravagance? I must admit Oxford looks very beautiful, but I've never actually been.
I never liked oxford, except the garden ... it's such a stuffy false atmosphere there

OK, something to take one's mind off some of the recent heavy stuff ...

What do people think of the atmosphere about the BK/PBK centres across the world. Also include Madhuban (Pandav Bhavan, Gyan Sarovar, Shantivan, Peace Park), Delhi (ORC, Pandav Bhavan Delhi, Manesar (DG's place)), Ahmedebad, GCH, GRC, Oxford, Madrid, Paris, etc) ?

Light, colourful, stuffy, gloomy, cold, small, smelly, fragrant, etc. OK, usually the people make up most of the "vibrations" but how about that first step into a centre or retreat somewhere someplace whether you were a first timer or a seasoned BK taking the first step into a centre for the first time so you would not have known about the people. PBKs could also describe some of their centres.

How different or same are the centres ?
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alladin

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Post04 Apr 2007

Unfortunately, I had the same impressions the Brothers shared in the above posts. Both in India and in the West, centers where I took Gyan or just visited, had a special atmosphere of "no frills", silence, simplicity, that would strike you and your heart in comparison to any other religious group's space. All of this has changed a lot. As if due to a widespread contamination including, of course, Madhuban. As it happens in natural places we visited for leisure, we don't want to return there after they become too "touristy" or "built up". I don't care much for going to Madhuban and spoil the good memories, as I see a regression in the organisation, please let's at least leave the memories untouched!!

Generally, though, I noticed how it's the in charges that determine the atmosphere and even the layout of the center. Want it a place for Yoga, socialization, bureaucracy? Accordingly you'll have the meditation room, kitchen, gardens or terraces, the office. All depends on the priority. If the teacher is a warm open person, and truly considers himself a trustee, and the house as one belonging to all Baba's children, all are welcome, he will pull souls to Baba that way.

Unfortunately in many cases, one feels rejected or used and the center becomes Miss. XXX's house full of laws and prohibitions. As soon as Murli is over, kick you out, when needed for karma Yoga, you get the phone call. Nothing new. Ordinary stuff. I stopped forcing myself to go to such type of unwelcoming places . Do you knock at a stranger's private home at 6 am, anyway?? :roll:
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arjun

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Post04 Apr 2007

alladin wrote: If the teacher is a warm open person, and truely considers himself a trustee, and the house as one belonging to all Baba's children, all welcome,he will pull souls to Baba that way.

You have summed up the essence of what any BK/PBK center should be. This what ShivBaba has said about BK centers in one of the revised Sakar Murlis published by the BKs recently:

"BK ko seva kay samay sona nahee hai. Koi koi bachhiyaan time rakhtee hain yukti say. Samajhtee hain din may koi naa aaye. Vyaapari log athava naukari karney vaaley log din may sotey nahee hain. Yahaan toh jitnaa Baba kay Yagya kee seva karengey utnaa kamaai hee kamaai hai. Bahut faaydaa hai. Saara din kaam may busy rahnaa chaahiye. Pradarshani may bahut busy rahtey hain. Kahtey hain Baba boltey-boltey gala ghut jaata hai kyonki achaanak aakar service padtee hai. Hamesha itnee service karney vaaley hotey toh gala kharaab nahee hota. Aadat pad jaaney say fir thakaavat nahee hoti hai. Fir ek jaisey bhi sabhi nahee hain. Koi toh bahut honest hain, jitnee service miley toh unko khushi hoti hai kyonki evaza bhi miltaa hai, jo achhi reeti service may lagey rahtey hain." (Brahmakumariyon dwara prakaashit revised Sakar Murli dinaank 24.03.07, pg 1 & 2)

“BKs must not sleep at the time of service. Some Sisters tactfully fix a time. They think that nobody should come in the daytime (i.e. afternoon). The businessmen or job holders do not sleep in the day time. Here, the more one does yagya-service, the more one stands to earn income. There is a lot of benefit. One must remain busy in work throughout the day. Many people remain very busy in exhibitions (pradarshani). They say – Baba, our throat gets choked by speaking continuously (in the exhibition) because the opportunity for service comes suddenly. If one had been habituated of doing this much service, then his/her throat would not have got choked. If one becomes habituated, then one does not feel tired. Then, all are not equal. Some are very honest. The more service they get the happier they feel because the ones who remain nicely engaged in service get returns." (Revised Sakar Murli dated 24.03.07, pg 1 & 2 published by BKs in Hindi)

Those who are honest get recognized wherever they are, whether in BK/PBK/outside world.

Regards,
OGS,
Arjun
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bro neo

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Post14 Apr 2007

Many recent studies have been done where thought, but more importantly feelings have proven to affect physical matter. Like if a group of people in a room are concentrating on the feeling of peace and an angry person walks in, the angry person will be able to think the same thoughts that stimulated the anger before but will not be able to feel angry.

Also, I have heard speculations about how people release certain pheromones dependent on their emotional state. So if you walk into a room and feel scared its because the fear pheromone might have been secreted by people in that room previously.

I agree that the people in charge are those most responsible for the way an atmosphere feels, but also the quality and quantity of people there. Are they meditating? Are they just socializing?

I remember some of the meditations at Amrit Vela in Maduban to have absolutely stunning atmospheres of blinding peace from the mediators in the room. But I also remember going to morning class sometimes and the room felt absolutely dreadful and so irritable, partially because the Sister leading mediation was a putz :) .
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arjun

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Post15 Apr 2007

I agree that the people in charge are those most responsible for the way an atmosphere feels, but also the quality and quantity of people there. Are they meditating? Are they just socializing?

Dear bro neo,

Welcome to the forum. The above statement is true to a great extent. The nimit (instrument) souls are responsible in creating the atmosphere at any center. Although there are no official in-charges of mini-madhubans set up for the PBKs, the atmosphere at the mini-Madhubans depends a lot on the behaviour of the nimit Sisters.

Regards,
OGS,
Arjun

bansy

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Post17 Apr 2007

bro neo wrote:I agree that the people in charge are those most responsible for the way an atmosphere feels, but also the quality and quantity of people there. Are they meditating? Are they just socializing?

I raised this topic because I often hear of disgruntled BKs talk about their centres, and even this has come up in Murlis.

Usually I hear of some BKs promising to do something and not doing it, a senior ordering to do things or dictating things when a project is to be done, or conflicts in the kitchen about who can or what should be cooked and prepare. There are other discomforts, all of it is under the banner of "cooperation" or to put it more gyanically the "merging of sanskars", of course.

Do folks find they are being watched or do they watch others. There are no hidden cameras I suppose, but does one sense that being a BK means you are always being watched, even more so when in a centre? And does the atmosphere change (of fear) when Dadis come to the centre?
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bro neo

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Post19 Apr 2007

Yeah, if a Yogi is ****** off you can really feel it. That sharpened mind, when it has a focal point (Brothers like me seemed to make good targets) for its justified-unjustified/repressed-overt anger can do some serious quantum damage.

I remember a couple of times I was in the center alone with a Co-operative Sister (I mean she was not a white wearing celibate Morning Class going vegan; Co-operative in that way). After a short period of time of being alone with her, baking a cake or talking about Gyan or something, a Senior would show up seemingly out of the blue to check up on us. Acting very much like a child looking to tell the teacher about a classmate being bad. Perhaps the Senior thought we were making out or burning a Murli.

My stage was something of legend (so I say) back then, so it didn’t phase me the least bit. I just repressed the pain of not being trusted and went on letting them be as paranoid as they wanted to be.
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arjun

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Post21 Apr 2007

Those who are honest get recognized wherever they are, whether in BK/PBK/outside world.


“Tumko maat-pita ko follow karnaa chaahiye. Mama kabhi kisko tang nahee kartee thi. Kaiyon kee bahut report aati hai, manners nahee hain. Parampita Parmatma padhaatey hain, kitnaa dimaag chaahiye. Achhi chalan vaaley par sabhi ka pyaar rahega. Koi toh badaa tang kartey hain. Apney aapko chamaat maartey hain. Toh pad bhrasht ho jaayega.” (Brahmakumariyon dwara prakaashit revised Sakar Murli dinaank 13.04.07, pg 4)

“You must follow the Mother and the Father. Mama never used to trouble anyone. The reports about many souls comes (to Baba informing) that they do not have manners. When the Supreme Father Supreme Soul is teaching then one should be so intelligent. Everyone loves those whose behaviour is good. Some cause a lot of trouble. They slap themselves (i.e. cause harm to themselves). So they would lose their post.” (Revised Sakar Murli dated 13.04.07, pg 4 published by BKs in Hindi, narrated by ShivBaba through Brahma Baba, translated by a PBK)

Were there any souls in the Yagya who used to trouble Mother Brahma (Lekhraj Kirpalani) a lot, especially after Mama left her body?

Regards,
OGS,
Arjun
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sparkal

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Post21 Apr 2007

Take responsibility for the atmosphere, both within the self and in the centre.

Given the powerful souls who have left disgruntled and the vibes they will be sending to their centres, the hooks, crooks and comic singers beyond, the have souls who are settling accounts while trying to keep a blissful face; it may be naive to expect to much. Indeed, it may be worth asking the self, 'do I expect too much from the coordinators of centres?'.

Are they under pressure to be a powerful yogi who blast's souls out of their bodies in a second consistently? What if Yoga is not their speciality? If not, then it is, and always was, the responsibility of all to create the atmosphere. The Sisters do the hands on gentle thing with the public, and the yogic Brothers are in the background creating the vibrational backdrop and practical stuff. None of these by law though.

If you run a centre and Yoga is not your strong point, then accept it and continue to coordinate the yogic qualities of others. If you are "in charge" and not notorious for your Yoga power, then you need to put the yogi souls forward, regardless of body type, colour of skin, type of bodily genes etc.

This is all debatable, we have stopped looking, sorry "searching" for the "truth" now and are flowing in a flexible gyany way, learning, mutating, developing. We all need to take responsibility for "service" = (Yoga) and, of course, there are menial tasks which also need to be done which are also important. When souls think that they can steam roller over yogis with menial service tasks, their world is surely about to fall apart.

Love
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arjun

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Post21 Apr 2007

Sparkal wrote:This is all debatable, we have stopped looking, sorry "searching" for the "truth" now and are flowing in a flexible gyany way, learning, mutating, developing. We all need to take responsibility for "service" = (Yoga) and, of course, there are menial tasks which also need to be done which are also important. When souls think that they can steam roller over yogis with menial service tasks, their world is surely about to fall apart.

You have correctly pointed out that it is the responsibility of every Brahmin soul to create the required yogic atmosphere in the center. Many a times the atmosphere created by the students may cover up the shortcomings of the teacher or vice-versa.

In one of the recend discussion CDs between ShivBaba (through Baba Virendra Dev Dixit) and the PBKs, Baba clarified that a soul who cleans the latrine in remembrance of the Father may accumulate more fortune than a soul who may be very good at narrating knowledge (but may be egotistic of his/her knowledge) because the soul who is cleaning the toilets is performing his/her task in Baba's remembrance is only accumulating fortune, whereas the soul who is good at knowledge, but is at the same time egotistic, is earning as well as losing fortune. So the balance is nil.

I have seen one such soul at the mini-Madhubans which I visit once a week. Although that soul cannot read/write Hindi nor narrate knowledge that perfectly, he cleans the entire portion of the building that contains many toilets, latrines and bathrooms once a week. And he does that with a lot of love and affection for Baba. And he does that after travelling a great distance and after putting in double shifts of work 7 days a week (except the time that he visits the mini-Madhubans).

Regards,
OGS,
Arjun

bansy

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Post21 Apr 2007

a soul who cleans the latrine

This is a good point, it also comes out in the movie "Gandhi" when Gandhiji requests his wife Kasturbaji that even she had to set the example to clean the lactrines at their ashram, regardless of colour creed or caste.

Whilst the advances in toilet design had made significant hygenic improvements in the past century especially in the West, in the poorer countries, a latrine are simply a "hole in the ground", and are more common in rural areas. Latrines are an indication of the sewage and water systems in a country or part of a country. So I would expect developing countries still have these, though getting replaced for modernisation. When a village neigbhour installed the first chain-pull flushing toilet with a seat, he would charge a penny for its use, neigbour or not. There were still queues, bacause a visit to a latrine during the hot summer season where there are many bugs is not very pleasant. :oops: The cleaning of latrines is a very humble one.
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bro neo

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Post21 Apr 2007

bansy wrote:The cleaning of latrines is a very humble one.

Let us think of the Brothers (and Sisters) in and out of these rooms that are still cleaning latrines in Rememberence of Baba. :shock:

Om Shanti
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sparkal

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Post24 Apr 2007

There can be the misconception that the self and world is going to change by getting physical service right. Far too much importance is placed on it, and the outcome. Cleaning the bogs is probably far more important than much of the high end(?) service which supposedly goes on.

Many souls fall out over so-called service, is this a diversion ... an anti-lust/love distraction? And so we don't really care if it has little substance. It works, so we will do it. Whatever. We are learning how to interact in a more elevated way generally, with regards to love. Love will do far more service than running around like a blue ersed flee.
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ex-l

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Post24 Apr 2007

sparkal wrote:There can be the misconception that the self and world is going to change by getting physical service right. Far too much importance is placed on it, and the outcome. Cleaning the bogs is probably far more important than much of the high end(?) service which supposedly goes on.

Too right. Far better the latrines than enter the moral sewers that goes along with some of the BK Brahmin horsetrading.
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alladin

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Pukka sick and atmosphere

Post28 May 2007

One typical question or "Maya" that arises in students is, "how can God allow such nasty, bestowers of law and sorrow, love lacking, unhappy, unsupportive, uncompassionate, sour people be in charge of a center?".

Seniors know what's going on. So does God. How do they allow that?

Many doubts surface. Teachers who apparently follow all the rules, Shrimat, Maryadas litterally and strictly, at least externally, for decades and never change!! They even get worse!! This tells a lot about the atmosphere at centers.

I remember one class of Brij Mohan Bhai in Madhuban in which he was comparing the BK family to a veg soup: different veggies require different cooking lengths. So, Baba picked the hard potatoes and put them in the hot water first, knowing that they'll need ages to cook. Some last go fast souls, transform/quickly like tomatoes or leaves.
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