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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
Nothing like the Original
WHILE giving a talk in Colombia, Ken
O’ Donnell, international lecturer,
author and Brahma Kumaris regional
coordinator for South America, met a
member of the audience who
wanted to give up chain smoking. He
had been puffing 30 sticks a day for
30 years. O’Donnell did the math and
came up with a total of 328,500 ciga-
rettes in the man’s lifetime.
“Those few centimeters of herb
have become more powerful than
the individual. Imagine a soul that
has given away its power to a mix-
ture of herb with a filter,” O’Donnell
remarks.
The late Jagdish Chander, a senior
yogi of the Brahma Kumaris and
noted writer, once told O’Donnell
that every individual is intrinsically
powerful. “We are like loaded revolv-
ers,” Chander said. “All we have to
do is learn to pull the trigger.”
By “power” Chander meant the
virtues and qualities of the soul that
have been lost over time, not unlike
a battery drained of its energy.
O’Donnell points out that the job of
the Supreme is to restore the soul to
its original level of power.
“Because of our lack of power,
situations can break us,” says O’Don-
nell. “We can see how much power
we have by looking at the source of
situations that blocks us.”
Being blocked feels as if there is a roof that
one can’t get past. Is this a bondage, a burden
or a barrier? “We are stopped; there’s some-
thing in front of us, a situation, maybe even
another soul, or something that I’ve created in
my mind that does not really exist. I’m in bash-
ing my head against it, using up the power that
I’ve generated while in meditation. At the end
of the day, nothing is,” says O’Donnell.
“Every one has someone on the horizon
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.
who presents difficulty, someone who’s a test.
In fact, we empower the things that end up
taking power away from us. If bondages,
blockages and burdens affect me, that’s be-
cause I have given them power. I’ve made
them more powerful than I am.”
These obstacles are always a matter of per-
ception, he continues. “We very rarely see
things or people as they are. We actually see
ourselves in them. People’s vices affect us be-
cause we have them, too.”
© Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University 2010.
The Point
Volume 4 Issue 36 May 2010
It helps to look at the situation dis-
passionately, from a different perspec-
tive. “From His point of view, there are
no problems, difficulties or struggles.
Everything is exactly as it should be;
each soul is going through his own
story. My job is to sort out my part,
not any other person’s. To do this, I
need to reclaim the spiritual power
that I’ve lost by investing my ego in
things, people and situations.
O’Donnell recalls when Brahma Ku-
maris chief Dadi Janki, dubbed the
World’s Most Stable Mind, was once
asked if a person can still help another
who has betrayed him. He quotes her
as saying, “You betray yourself; no one
betrays us.”
He explains how ego deludes the
soul, “If something doesn’t happen
that I want to happen and it makes me
suffer, it’s because I have invested
myself in that thing. What I have to do
is go beyond it, and then I will see it for
what it is. If someone makes me suffer,
it’s because I want something from
that person that I’m not getting.”
He adds: “It is important to regain
self-mastery through meditation. With
power, I make things happen; without
power, things happen to me. Without
power, people influence me; with
power, I influence people.” The good
news, O’Donnell says, is that “ I can ask
Him to give me what I’ve lost. This is nothing
new. I’m not trying to create a state that is
outside of my abilities. I’m just going back to
being what I was—powerful and pure. That’s
the real me.”
How to involve the Supreme in this? “Invite
Him to see whatever we are looking at. This
tiny little point of light called the soul, the real
me, has to come to terms with the situation in
the highest possible manner. That can happen
only when I connect with the Supreme.”
 2 The Point
The art of teaching the heart
I HAVE noticed that spiritual learning
often begins with rapid questioning that
hits you where you least expect it. Delv-
ing into one’s potentials by sharing gut
reactions and personal insights posed by
well meaning spiritual guides and smiling
gurus helps you see yourself in a new
light. These were my feelings during the
Creativity Workshop at the Brahma Ku-
maris Center for Spiritual Learning in
Tagaytay, part of our activity as UP Dili-
man students in the Art Studies class of
Prof. Rina Corpus. Facilitator Antonio
Santos intriguingly said he was there to
“kick our brains.”
We had just finished the first half of
the day’s journey in self-awareness, and I
had opted to enjoy the seminar “rather
than to endure it,” as he had suggested. I
figured, with all the stress, challenges,
and drama going on in my life, I had noth-
ing to lose by opening up to a group of doe-eyed
freshmen who were virtual strangers, anyway. They
were probably thinking the same thing, as the day
started off with a group dynamic game in the gar-
den: When you’re asked to pose like a rock star
being photographed by the paparazzi, or become
the head of an elephant while the people next to
you serve as ears, you either work it or deal with it.
I think I worked it.
I assumed Antonio could see I was taking the
seminar seriously. My brows furrowed deeper as
the morning progressed and the questions and
answers started to fly. Actually, I didn’t want stand
out. When you’re a 32-year-old undergraduate
among teenagers attending a self-awareness semi-
ON Sunday, April 25, was held a most beautiful
event for more than 20 guests who came to meet
the angelic BK Shashi. The visiting senior Raja Yogi
teacher of the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual Uni-
versity—just arrived from the main campus, Mad-
huban, in Rajasthan, India—treated everyone like
kin, unselfishly bequeathing to us precious pieces of
advice on nourishing our self-worth and discerning
every action.
Four golden halos hung in the foyer of the BK
Center for Spiritual Learning in Tagaytay City, by
way of announcing the presence of the amiable
visitor. We invitees would be an enrapt audience as
BK Shashi delivered her motherly message and gift
of wisdom. No, she didn’t have the usual creden-
tials, such as a doctorate in any academic field. But
she spoke from her heart and made us all feel like
Inner Power, Inner Peace,
We’d like to hear from you. Write us at
Like child’s play: telling one’s story with clay.
nar, you want to draw as little attention as possible
to yourself. Then again, you tend to pay more at-
tention when someone like Antonio says he’s there
to kick your brains.
‘’You look like you’re very affectionate,” Antonio,
sitting down with us, said. “What does your name
mean?” I gave my canned response about it being a
biblical name, referencing a king and the forerunner
of a civilization—to over up my consternation at
such a direct compliment. Nonplussed, he replied,
“You look like you will definitely start a new civiliza-
tion.’’ So that was that, my brain had been kicked.
What a concept to digest, along with the tasty lunch
prepared by BK yogis while under meditation! Food
infused with good thoughts and words filled with
Mom’s the word
little children, eager to put into action every word
she uttered.
Overall, the exchange felt like being hugged by
one’s parent. It was total acceptance; it was faith
working. Live a virtuous life, she exhorted, and we
understood how: concentrate on one virtue a day.
After BK Shashi’s talk, each one was given a toli
(sweet) from Madhuban (which literally means
“forest of honey”), blessings and virtue cards.
Earlier, in her brief introduction of the speaker,
Senator Leticia Ramos Shahani related how being a
BK kept her grounded and helped her become the
spiritually mature being that she is. She heaped
praise upon Sr. Shashi, citing her as the “goddess of
accommodations,” who worked like a sleek ma-
chine, handling the room assignments of thousands
of international guests in three Madhuban
4pm Fri - 4pm Sun, May 28 - 30
thepointfeedback@gmail.com.
Volume 4 Issue 36 May 2010
hope from Antonio. I took advantage of
the heady conversation and finished five
sticks of the vegetarian barbecue.
The afternoon reinforced the opening
up of my heart earlier. More questions
to ponder and answers to digest: What
is the internet and what is meant by
networking? What is the soul? Do you
know where it is? Conversation facili-
tated with purpose.
Why I joined that Sunday seminar
was made clear. I needed a retreat
from my life and found it in the center’s
tranquil spaces. I received respite from
stress and pressure and relearned a
significant lesson—that the heart needs
educating as well. Questioning and con-
tinuously delving into the heart is truly
necessary as it affords us a better grasp
of the bigger picture and where we are
in the scheme of things.
The seminar concluded with a symbolic
acknowledgment of each other’s newfound aware-
ness by pasting metallic star stickers onto each
other’s foreheads. I was fortunate to be the first
person chosen by a peer so I was able to watch as
each participant received similar validation.
All the questions and answers coalesced into a
profound sense of well-being for me. It was a day
well spent and time beneficially shared. We often
approach the unknown with fear and trepidation,
so that we fail to see that, by so doing, we are
allowing our comfort zones and daily travails to
hinder us from possibilities bequeathed by an
open heart.
-Cush Marcellus Evangelista
complexes.
Meals at the
CSL are always
healthy, creative
and memorable.
This day, as
usual, those who
partook of it
were energized
and eager to
converse with
new-found BK Shashi: warm like a mom.
friends. BK Tina
regaled us with songs of peace that she had com-
posed. A bonus was an impromptu stand-up com-
edy performance by Malou Cordova.
-Yolanda L. Punsalan