L Monthly E-Newsletter of
B R A H M A K U M A R I S RETREAT C E N T E R F O R S P I R I T U A L L E A R N I N G
Decide in a second!
(Part 1)
AS TIMES become fragile, we need to
make quick and accurate decisions in
responding to unexpected and extremely
challenging situations. International lec-
turer and senior raja yoga teacher Meera
Nagananda explains that one needs to be
highly intuitive.
“We have to make a decision in a split
second on what I have to do. If I lose that
moment, I have lost everything. In order
to prepare and save ourselves, we need
to understand and refine our inner facul-
ties,” she says.
The soul is composed of five subtle
energies—the mind, conscience, heart,
attitude and the mental track—all of
which need to be empowered. They are
likened to a council of a municipality.
The intellect serves the head honcho.
It is sometimes symbolized as a golden
vessel that holds the substance of spiri-
tual wisdom.
SEEING THE GOODNESS
Developing clear thinking begins with
checking the intellect. “Is the intellect
caught up with material desires or is the
To believe is to see… seeing only what is good in myself and others.
intellect filled with spiritual understand-
ing?” asks Meera. An ordinary intellect becomes
extraordinary when it absorbs the knowledge of
the self, the Supreme, destiny and the laws of
cause and effect.
The sign of a clear intellect is the lack of duality
or opposing values. “It is important to keep on
feeding our intellect with spiritual understanding
so automatically the materialistic desires will di-
minish,” says Meera. The sign of a weak intellect
is fluctuation. “Like a yoyo, it bounces from having
faith to doubt or being critical then appreciative.”
Going into the depths of spiritual knowledge
cleanses and energizes the intellect. “Once the
intellect is filled with that spiritual wisdom, my
perception of thing around me is not based on my
ordinary thinking. The wisdom of the Supreme
becomes the guiding light for the soul.”
A clear intellect also sees the virtues in others.
“The vision will not fall on any weakness and de-
fect. Because the intellect is pure, even if 99 per
cent of something is wrong, but it only sees that
one per cent of what is right. Souls with a clear
intellect will have pure feeling and good wishes.
This actually requires a genuine effort. To see only
the goodness is a reflection of the extent of a
Visit the Brahma Kumaris Retreat 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.
The Point
Volume 4 Issue 37 June 2010
person. You lose your own decision making,
you just follow that person blindly without
understanding. No self respect. The Divine
cannot influence my intellect anymore be-
cause I consider that person to be even
greater,” she says.
The third is very subtle—arrogance of
one’s abilities. “I’m so good; there is no one
like me.” Self praise is no recommendation,
but sometimes the ego comes in such a way
that it makes me believe I am right,” she
says.
“I have to take care that I don’t get influ-
enced by dictates of other people’s mind,
nor dictates of my own self, nor get im-
pressed by someone or even have any feel-
ing of hate for others. The slightest feeling
of hate is also called attachment. You can-
not move that soul away from your intel-
lect.”
Ego is a vice that should be yielded.”
When the intellect is influenced by His
wisdom, it becomes ready to make an accu-
rate decision. I always consider the intellect
the greatest asset in our life. We must take
care of it at any cost, not allowing the intel-
lect to be influenced, any form.”
SYNERGY
clean and pure intellect,” says Meera. Meera suggests writing a letter to the Source,
She cites the examples of the pioneering yogis telling Him of the obstacles that prevent clear think-
of the Brahma Kumaris. “They are human beings ing. “He can influence His intellect and my intellect
like us, but what do they see in us? Potential good- can catch His touching. If my intellect is not clear in
ness! So as we go further, when the intellect be- the final moments, He can touch me but I cannot
comes more refined, then we begin to see the catch so I will not be able to make an accurate deci-
benefit in every scene of the drama. Sometimes we sion.”
don’t see the benefit. Then we keep asking ques- How does the mind complement the intellect
tions. Why this is happening? This is not right.” “People say everything is in the mind, you become
NEGATIVE INFLUENCES what you think. If I want to make an accurate deci-
Refining spiritual knowledge and awareness is sion, I must teach my mind to be quiet,” says
important in keeping the intellect clear. It requires Meera. She quotes Dadi Janki, Brahma Kumaris
constant attention so that in emergency situations, chief and the World’s Most Stable Mind,” as saying
the intellect will cooperate. “I can see myself clearly “Don’t think!”
so when there is that constant attention to myself, I Meera explains, “When my intellect is filled with
am able to understand where the intellect is being His wisdom, it becomes powerful enough for the
influenced and I can remove myself away from the mind to become quiet. Our mind is not quiet today
influence. So we have to be clear and clean enough because intellect is weak. So mind takes the chance
to know what is influencing us,” she explains. to suppress the intellect, right? When someone is
Meera says one should guard against three influ- weak the other person who is strong can influence
ences. Dictates or desires of the mind, born out of isn’t it? Once the mind is quiet, the intellect is pow-
the subconscious, can influence one’s thinking. erful that it can connect with the Source to receive
Following the dictates of others based on betting His power to attain clarity in making the right pre-
impressed by individuals in a negative or positive cise decision.”
way is obstructive. “Your intellect bows to that (To be continued)
© Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University 2010.
 2 The Point
It’s not about them—it’s me
MODERN MAN, in his unending
quest for success and power, lives a
very stressful life, albeit prone to
anger and intolerance. He sees the
community, the workplace and even
his home as places of chaos that he
forever seeks to transform accord-
ing to his wishes.
Nobody is immune to this whim
of human nature.
But is it the events, the people
and the environs that we really
need to change? Or is it our inner
selves that need transformation in
order to make our world a better
place?
As fate would have it, I was one
of the very lucky individuals to real-
ize that transforming oneself is the
key to making your world a better
place to live in and leading a peace-
ful and meaningful life. Other partici-
pants shared the same comments
after living what they called their “tumultuous
lives.”
Last May 1, employees of the Malacañan News
and Information Bureau (NIB) were treated to a
two-day seminar on managing stress and anger at
the Brahma Kumaris Center for Spiritual Learning
in Tagaytay City. Brahma Kumaris is a United Na-
tions-affiliated NGO committed to self transfor-
mation through meditation and positive thinking.
The sessions were led by Sister Salud Idio, a
former educator, who, together with several fel-
low volunteers, runs the center.
Mixed feelings immediately ran high on the
first session when we were asked to define stress
and its causes. As in any workplace, especially in a
government office, we saw the working environ-
ment, co-workers’ attitude, deadlines and super-
visors as our chief causes of stress. Although fi-
nancial and health problems topped the lists, the
workplace was the only one that we were very
emotional about.
Furtive but meaningful glances full of negative
thoughts could be plainly seen and pervaded the
air as the discussions went on. But as Sister Salud
pointed out, is it really the workplace and our co-
workers that are really the cause of our stress, or
it is just our thoughts, our inner selves that is the
culprit?
Stress, she said, is a form of pain that comes
to tell us that there is something that needs to
be changed. The pain emanates from the inner
self.
“We become stressed because we try to con-
Inner Power, Inner Peace,
We’d like to hear from you. Write us at
Nobody, nobody but me. I see the world as I am.
trol that what we cannot change, and forget to
control that what we can change – ourselves,”
she declared.
As the sessions wore on, I came to realize the ness within ourselves that helps us control our
wisdom of this train of thought. Instead of ac-
cepting, we blame, criticize or flee from that
what we cannot change. We cannot change the
weather, we cannot change death; nor can we
change others thoughts, attitudes, choices, feel- the same statements.
ings and what have you.
But we can change ourselves – our thoughts,
our feelings, our attitudes and our choices. In-
deed, we can do it.
This is where the Brahma Kumaris way comes
in – positive thinking and meditation as a means
to de-stress and become a better being.
“One must become an agent of change and
not a change victim,” Sister Salud further ex-
plained.
According to the very amiable Sister Salud,
one must empathize with others, respect others,
accept and harmonize, face one’s problems and
learn to appreciate others in order to become an
agent of change.
“Exuding positive thoughts is one way to
change oneself. When you change yourselves,
the world changes,” she said.
The other way of changing oneself is
through meditation. I found out that meditation
is not just communing with Mother Nature, as
some would have believed. In Brahma Kumaris,
meditation is a way of discovering the truth of
who you really are.
4pm Fri - 4pm Sun, June 25 - 27, 2010
thepointfeedback@gmail.com.
Volume 4 Issue 37 June 2010
As Sister Salud emphasized,
the journey within oneself, within
our souls is the most important
journey one can ever take. It is
through meditation, she said, that
spiritual empowerment begins. An
empowered spirit gives an individ-
ual to choose positive and creative
thinking over negative thoughts
and choosing peace, love and
harmony over stress, conflict and
chaos.
Meditation likewise helps an
individual disengage from nega-
tive thoughts, feeling and actions.
Anger in the workplace, com-
munity and even at home is as
commonplace as the air we
breathe. Brahma Kumaris taught
us that we cannot change people,
circumstances and situations
around us but we can control the
way we choose to respond.
Through meditation, we can learn to increase
our capacity to tolerate, understand better and
nurture love. It helps us maintain a space of calm-
thoughts and feelings.
True enough, the seminar inculcated in me a
deeper sense of purpose, and a deeper knowledge
of myself. My fellow participants likewise echoed
Soon the two days were over. Two days spent
knowing ourselves through sessions of teaching and
meditation interspersed with refreshing exercises,
humor and inspirational songs rendered by Brahma
Kumaris volunteer and showbiz personality Timmy
Cruz.
My co-workers and I left the center with various
positive emotions. Others felt refreshed, heartened
and inspired while others, including myself, felt a
new sense of spirituality and well-being.
Up to now, whenever I feel negative thoughts
entering my mind, I only have to recall the phrase
that Sister Salud taught us. I always feel a creeping
calmness and serenity returning in my mind.
“Om shanti.” Om means I am, shanti means
peace. Literally, it means “I am a peaceful soul.”
I can always turn to this phrase at any moment
and regain control of myself again. I hope my fellow
workers do too.
Indeed the teachings of the Brahma Kumaris
serve as a boon to keep one spiritually motivated
and be at peace with one self.
“Om shanti!”
–Lito Riganit