L Monthly E-Newsletter of
BRAHMA KUMARIS CENTER FOR SPIRITUAL LEARNING
Diary of a spiritual pilgrim
March 31
COMING TO the Center for Spiri-
tual Learning is a welcome respite
from the stresses of big city life.
In an atmosphere of pure love
and relaxation, I am freed from
pressing concerns and let loose
on an experience of uncovering
layers of time and transforma-
tion. The minute I walk through
the door, the very air changes,
becomes cooler. Whatever hap-
pened that upset me in the past
is quickly erased. I’m here to
regain my strength for the future.
Like a child, I’m ready to open up
to new insights. There’s the intui-
tive aspect, too, of a soul that is
free to gather happy memories of
this place to bring back home.
Although the aim is to “chillax”
in spirituality, I still enjoy little indulgences. I just
had a bowl of hearty soup and a slice of crusty vege-
tarian pizza for dinner, capped with a piece of
chocolate cake, made luscious not by eggs but by
heavy cream as binder.
April 21
The retreat center is beautiful at any time
of day. In the afternoon, I hear the sound of the
birds and the gushing of water that nourishes the
plants in the garden. It’s so quiet here; one has to
tread like an angel.
My mobile phone is quiet but my mind
isn’t… yet
April 23
I’m leaving soon. In the past couple of
days, I’ve soaked in the coolness of the meditation
room, sorting out my life. I wrote so many letters to
Him, asking for signs and answers.
May 4
When I’m not in the meditation room, I
take a walk to the ridge and savor the view of Taal
Volcano, rising from the lake. A few blocks from
CSL, clusters of cafes and restaurants line the ridge.
My favorite is The Cliffhouse, with its well-
manicured tropical garden, and benches that face
the best view of the lake. In the wet and cold
months, mist shrouds the volcano. In the peak of
summer, billowy white clouds drift across the blue
skies. Early Friday, the establishments are still quiet
but, by tomorrow, the weekend crowd gives life to
the place. I sometimes sit on the bench, enjoying a
Visit the Center for Spiritual Learning at 1020 Magallanes Drive, Silang Crossing West, Tagaytay City. Contact us at (046) 483 2128
See our local website www.bktagaytay.com, our blog site www.bk-tnt.blogspot.com and our international website www.bkwsu.org.
MEDITATION dome welcomes the day.
sunset meditation and watching the sky turn from
orange to a pale violet, then blue. As I walk back to
the retreat center, I smell the flowers from behind
the walls of the neighboring retreat places. Back at
CSL, a symphony of the crickets welcomes me.
May 5
After the dawn meditation at the dome, before the
morning class, I sat in the garden and enjoyed the
chirping of the birds that greeted the roseate
sunlight. I’m still feeling the pains and the traumas
of life. I’ve come here for some healing, hoping that
the atmosphere of silence serves as a soothing
balm.
July 31
The classroom is oriented towards the morning
sun. Sitting in the corridor at 5:30 am., I watch the
sky change colors, from a deep blue into a golden
orange While the discourse is being read, the birds
seem to conduct their own conversation. The rays
of the sun stream into the classroom, providing
warmth, calming the cold. I am enveloped in pure
love.
After the class, I sit in the garden. I can’t help but
feel I’m in a little paradise. The gazebo that was
once bare is now covered with flowering vines. The
place teems with varied textures—golden trumpets,
yuccas, bromeliads, herbs, fruit trees—all untamed.
The sky has turned light blue.
I start the day with breakfast at the atrium. It’s a
tropical setting, the perimeter walls lined with bam-
boo and bird’s nest ferns and clusters of boulders
© Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University 2009.
The Point
Volume 3 Issue 27 August 2009
forming organic sculptures.
Breakfast is soursop and other tropical
fruits and native rolls. Lunch is an
eggplant omelet and purple rice from
the uplands.
I meet up with a friend, who
asks how I’ve been. I have to stop
feeling sorry for myself.
In the afternoon, I take a
break from a long meditation. “Do
you want empanada?” Sushiela asks
with her trademark Chesire Cat grin.
An empanada is our version of the
samosa or vegetable tart. Sweet and
crispy carrots, raisin, mushrooms and
potatoes are wrapped in a buttery
crust, then baked to a crisp.
Evening yoga is very power-
ful. I surrender to sweet silence, oblivi-
ous of the sounds from the neighbor-
ing retreat center, a congregation
saying evening prayers. Again in the dome, the
crickets and the evening birds sing their own cho-
rus, one that doesn’t overpower the silence.
For dinner, I enjoy vermicelli laced with
carrots and zucchini and a hot soup. Talk about the
ultimate comfort food. Everything is prepared with
love in a meditative setting. All the food has soaked
up the positive vibes.
Nov. 3
It’s a long weekend. Driving up with kin-
dred spirits was fun. Along the way, we shared ex-
periences and joked a lot. When we arrived, our
lunch was a healthy dish of water spinach which we
call kangkong and tofu wrapped in nori seaweed
with a sweet tomato sauce.
Nov. 4
Dining is a highlight of any retreat here simply
because food is always served with love. It’s an
affirmation of our own goodness and our familial
times. For lunch, we had broccoli soup in a mush-
room stock thickened with potatoes and spiced with
ginger strips. It accompanied the eggplant casse-
role with tots of cheeses. After the afternoon medi-
tation, merienda—our version of the high tea— was
banana cake laden with nuts and raisins.
Nov. 5
I’ve been doing a lot of meditation. If I look at
my life objectively, it is far from the ideal. Nonethe-
less, I don’t feel the negative effects as much as I
did before. As the cliché goes, “Somebody Up
There has been looking after me.”
 2 The Point
Alone again, but lonely no more
FORMER TOURISM Secretary Jose Antonio Gonzalez
had hit rock bottom when he first encountered the
Brahma Kumaris. He recalls: “I was very stressed.
My businesses and personal life were going through
a cycle. A close friend suggested that I try medita-
tion,” he recalls.
Before he joined government service,
Gonzalez had built an empire on personal care
products, cosmetics and women’s lingerie. His com-
pany was one of the country’s biggest in direct sell-
ing. He led the glamorous life of a jet-setter. As
tourism secretary during the Aquino administration
in the mid ’80s, he was at the forefront of promot-
ing the Philippines as prime destination.
When he rejoined the private sector, Gon-
zalez developed a tourism estate in Central Luzon.
However, it was mired in challenges at about the
same time that his direct selling empire ran into
trouble.
On his very first visit to the meditation center,
Gonzalez was impressed by the kindness, wisdom
and sincerity of the teachers. “I became interested
in what they had to tell me,” he says. He took some
lessons and attended the regular programs. And
when he needed someone to talk to, a teacher
would invariably lend an ear.
“Everybody was so accommodating,” he
says. “I got more involved and started experiencing
a profound spiritual renewal that was both calming
and uplifting.”
As he became closer with the Brahma Ku-
maris, he took to accompanying those who were
tasked with building the Center for Spiritual Learn-
ing. “We’d talk to the contractor and help in the
planning. “The retreat center is proof that anything
is possible. With the BKs, everything seems to work
out in accurate time. I had the good fortune of in-
troducing the Brahma Kumaris to some people,
Solace for the Soul, August 28 –30, 4pm Friday—4pm Sunday
Raja Yoga: A Meditation Experience, Ring up to reserve
Headline
To participants of “Solace for the Soul,” the three
-day meditation intensive not only provides them
a respite from the madding crowd of city life. It also
gives them the opportunity to take stock of their
lives.
Mykee Morales, who works in sales at a realty
company, initially joined the anger management
workshop. “I realized that there is no such thing as
‘constructive anger.’ It is detrimental to one’ s
health, especially if you get mad at yourself for
getting angry,” he says. Conscientiously, he applied
what he learned at work: learning to look at his
colleagues as spiritual beings whose original nature
is goodness. He was even surprised that he was not
as reactive.
The following weekend, he attended
Solace with his wife, Sunjie, a manager of a phar-
maceutical company. She and another participant,
GONZALEZ: Using his experiences to help others
especially those who were extremely stressed, and started bonding with his children from his first mar-
they all thanked me.”
But the real turning point was when Gon- ond marriage. He is grateful that his first wife,
zalez attended the Peace of Mind retreat in Madhu- Patsy, brought up their kids well, making it easy to
ban, the BK main campus in Mount Abu, Rajasthan, re-connect.
India. “I met the most interesting people from all
over the world and was fascinated by their in-
sights,” he recounts. “I learned the many ways of
regarding the universe. In the past, I was very secu-
lar and interested mostly in material things. When
the bottom fell out from under my feet, it was a
Mel Solidum, an operations officer of a bottling
plant, face the stress of motivating their subordi-
nates to be productive. Their biggest challenge was
the ego of high expectations. In the workshop, they
recognize that before they could change people,
they themselves as managers have to change their
attitude.
“I should see them as souls with their quali-
ties and not as lesser mortals,” says Mel.
Mykee feels he’s taken a big leap. Meditation
has taught him to forget the past, not worry about
the future and savor the present. “It has lessened
my anxiety attacks.”
Public relations consultant Peachy Guio-
guio who has been attending Brahma Kumaris pro-
grams and workshops says that meditation has
given her power. “With inner peace, when crisis
hits, I can handle it. I’ve learned to be detached.”
Volume 3 Issue 27 August 2009
shattering experience but I embraced it immedi-
ately. I felt that a lifeline was being thrown to me—
the company of people with powerful thoughts and
positive attitudes.
Gonzalez was also impressed with the
Brahma Kumaris administrative system. As a former
Cabinet member, he believes government leaders
can learn from the BKs. “This organization is run in
the spirit of cooperation and the absolute shunning
of ego. I look at our society and see that everything
is blocked by ego.”
He continues: “It takes an extremely successful
person to give up material things and move forward
to start a revolution in thinking and approach.” He
refers to the founder, Prajapita Brahma, a diamond
merchant and philanthropist who gave up his for-
tune to start a school for character building. “That’s
what we all need in whatever calling. How many
cars should anyone own, when there’s so much
need?”
Gonzalez points out that the singular attraction
of the BKs is the transformation through positive
thinking and continuous learning. “When I came
back from Madhuban, I continued my schedules but
I felt very light. I faced the same difficult situations
without panic.”
Thus, with a renewed spirit, Gonzalez
riage. He was estranged from them during his sec-
Today, at 71 and single again, Gonzalez is enjoy-
ing life. “I’m never lonely, as I’m always with peo-
ple.”
He points to the futility of dwelling on the
past: “Never mind what happened yesterday, ex-
cept what you learned from it.”
SOLACE AND BONDING: (clockwise) Mel,
Peachy, Sunjie and Mykee (seated)