And did you know that your endless search for happiness and love won’t be fulfilled until you discover just who you are not?
Unknowingly, our lives are a product of the ‘me’ that we think we are. This ‘me’ consists of a mass of uninvestigated beliefs that tells us what reality is.

We think that reality occurs externally from and independently of the mind, but that’s not true. Quantum physics has a theory called the “observer effect” which illustrates that no reality exists externally from or independently of the mind because we, as ‘observers’, affect reality: we make it. As the ‘Law of Attraction’ rightly teaches, we do have the power to manifest.

The challenge we all face is that the uninvestigated ‘me’ is the ego, the one that’s plagued by intermittent fears, relationship break-ups, financial difficulties and ill-health. It’s a false-self, a mental construct and one that’s life mantra is seek and never find. Until we’re brave enough to undo this self-image we can use the law of attraction all we want but it will be manifesting from the unconscious mantra, ‘seek and never find’. Yes, you’ll probably attract a new love, car, wealth, or career however the ego will make sure you lose in another area of your life. It sets us up for repeated suffering. This way we stay ever focused on the cycle of ‘desiring, having and becoming’…but you won’t have peace.

According to ‘A Course in Miracles’, we effectively introduced an alternate mind reality (dream) which we call the human ego. Its claim to fame was that it truly believed that it should play the role of God by usurping God’s power. The cost of this universal charade was immense. Massive unconscious guilt was the legacy of shunning the Creator to make this often loveless reality we call the cycle of life and death. The monumental guilt we felt just had to be placed somewhere where we did not have to face it; where it was unseen and that’s when we came up with the ‘projection’ idea. In projecting the concept of separation (duality) we off – loaded our deep unconscious guilt by projecting it onto others thus believing that we were the victims of others & external influences.

Where Are You on the Guilt Meter?
The reality you see out there is made by your own ego-mind’s projection. It’s an outward manifestation of your unconscious beliefs. Every person, every thing or situation is your movie. What you perceive out there is a product of what you believe. So, trusting what you see ‘out there’ to be the truth is fallacy. Your mind together with the collective minds of the world have made this reality, so if you want externals to change there’s only one central place from which to make that change; your own mind. We are the ‘cause’ of our life, and life is the ‘effect’, not the other way around. The ‘Guilt Meter’ below (taken from ‘Take Me to Truth, Undoing the Ego’) is an attempt to help us quickly identify any unconscious guilt that causes suffering in us. It shows us, in some ways how the ego’s unconscious guilt manifests in our lives. You can gauge any unconscious guilt to the degree that you still experience the following:

· You either judge others or perceive them judging you
· You react negatively to a perceived offence ( with anger, defense, frustration or judgment etc,)
· You judge yourself
· You experience seeming injustice in the form of perceived attack
· You perceive threat or anxiety in the case of personal or worldly adversity
· Your perceived needs appear not to be met (money, relationships, etc)
· You experience “doubt” in the beneficence of your life. 
· You perceive struggle or sacrifice
· You feel physical discomfort or unease

Guilt is the core and the fuel of the ego. Most of this guilt is not observable to us; it’s hidden. Where? Most of it appears outside and in others! Your own unhealed guilt is hidden in everyone and everything else. And anytime you judge another, or feel attacked, is when you are ‘projecting’ your very own guilt. There is only one of us in this ego dream, appearing as many.

There is an all-loving Creator, perhaps not unlike an infinite holographic mirror. We just happen to have forgotten that we are all fragments of that one mirror. An all-loving Creator is LOVE, that means that no-thing other than LOVE exists, period. Fear & suffering do not exist except in a dream, one that we’re having right now. We are dreaming that we separated from God and made a world where we each appeared to be separate. To begin healing our perception we need to recognize that whatever may upset us presents us with a useful catalyst to help us undo the ego. Undoing our old perception through forgiveness reveals true love, peace and happiness; the kind that can’t be affected by anyone or anything. Struggle, sacrifice and suffering must fall away when we undo the ego, the false-self.

Recently, there has been an evolutionary leap in our collective search for ‘purpose and meaning’. Beyond the confines of organized religion, a surge of independent spiritual seekers are questing for Truth. Heaven is not a place we go to after death; it’s a state of mind that is our natural inheritance once we have demolished our ego’s perception. Infinite love permeates every particle of our existence, because anything that is not love does not exist. If we see or feel anything other than love, then we literally perceive illusion. To the degree we still perceive suffering of any kind is the degree to which we must undo the ego.

By: Take Me to The Truth

Footnote: Nouk Sanchez & Tomas Vieira, authors of ‘Take Me to Truth, Undoing the Ego’. Visit: www.takemetotruth.com

In fact it is our normal, natural state. If we break it down, being enlightened is about living a life of extending ourselves in love and forgiveness, which I need to qualify. By forgiveness I mean that nothing really happened! It doesn’t mean that I’m big enough to forgive you, which implies that something really did happen! Being enlightened is also about not investing in the daily fears our ego subjects us to.

What? Could it be that simple? Yes it is. The only difficulty is our investment in our ego, which we believe to be real. In fact our body, our job, our perceptions and judgments….this whole life we think we are living is just a charade, all a massive investment we made up to hide our shame because we believe we have betrayed God!

Yet clues and aides to living an enlightened life abound. In fact they are right before us every waking moment of our lives. As soon as we wake up, we have a choice to let the day’s worry fill our space or realize that regardless of what we do, we are and have always been, safe at home with God. We realize that this day is in fact an illusion save the opportunities to offer love and forgiveness.

At work, we interact with our fellow staff and customers. Here we are presented with multiple opportunities to offer only acceptance and forgiveness. When someone is seemingly causing conflict, it is an opportunity for us to extend forgiveness and love because we realize that the other person does not realize who he/she is. By not reacting, we mirror to them who they are and we reclaim another part of our Unified Self. When challenged to assert our self, it is a signal that we have temporarily forgotten who we are and we should be grateful rather than react with attack or defence.

Back at home in the evenings, the news entertains us with stories of terror and loss and the occasional ‘saving a cat from a tree’ story. Notice how we take sides depending on our values and beliefs. Here again is a wonderful opportunity to forgive on a global scale, which is no different to forgiving our family members, work colleagues or clients.

I’ll bet I can hear your mind going through the motions, “Yes, but….there are always exceptions.” In fact there are no exceptions. There are no degrees of error or forgiveness! Herein lays the core of the ego. It loves judgments and degrees of right and wrong, because its whole being is based on duality. So long as you embrace duality you maintain separation from The Unified Self.

Here’s another often spoken statement – “The devil’s in the detail.” I like this one. For me this is a true statement if I substitute ‘ego’ for devil. The ego is always looking for degrees of right and wrong and levels of love and forgiveness. It constantly looks into the details to find ways of separating you from others and yourself and making you unhappy!

Our illusions of duality maintain our separation from one another and prevent us from seeing our Oneness by keeping us in perpetual conflict. Forever judging and maneuvering. Just stop for a few minutes and ask yourself how much energy you invest in making and maintaining judgments every day? How much effort is spent on trying to change others perceptions of you? How much conscious effort goes into ‘doing the right thing’ by your partner, workmate, customer? Do you think it’s natural to have to spend so much time and effort maintaining relationships and making sense of your world?

If our natural state is enlightened already, then can you imagine just how much the ego’s belief system has obscured from our awareness? Enlightenment therefore is a demolition project. We can’t get there without dismantling everything we think we know to be real. It’s about unlearning anything that keeps us tied into believing we must maintain control.

There is only here and now. Our Unified Self is already enlightened; everyone is. This is not a state or experience to accomplish through external searching and accumulated knowledge. And it doesn’t come closer just because you’re improving your self-esteem or meditating more. The most difficult challenge to removing the blocks that conceal our enlightenment, is the act of surrender. This is the unconditional acceptance of ‘what is’.

We remember who we are by seeing the Truth in everyone, no matter what their ego projects. While we perceive reality from behind the lens of our false-identity, we haven’t a clue as to ‘who’ we are, nor anyone else! We will find our Self through training ourselves to overlook error in others. As we begin to see others without their ego projections, we’ll be seeing Truth beneath the illusion. Now, watch for the miraculous transformation as our very own enlightened state begins to be revealed.
Clearly, there is no peace where duality resides and how can that be a normal state for us?

In truth, we have never left Home and being enlightened is really just remembering who we are and the eternal peace that comes from that space.

By: Take Me to the Truth

Nouk Sanchez and Tomas Vieira- ‘Take Me to Truth, Undoing the Ego’. Release: Sept.2007
For more info on workshops, visit: www.takemetotruth.com
We’d love to hear from you, contact us at: info@takemetotruth.com

This is a fundamental question which will tell me whether there is any trace left of the innocent, trusting child you once were. Life has a habit of chipping away at us until we can hardly recognise ourselves any more. However, if you still believe in magic, then there may be hope for you.

If you find yourself resisting the idea that magic exists, then I want you to suspend your disbelief for a short while and pretend that you really do believe. I want you to take your doubts, your cynicism, your fears of looking foolish, and put them all away in a small box at the back of your mind – you can always get them back again whenever you think you might need them. Now let’s play a game of make believe.

Let’s pretend that you can do magic. Let’s pretend that you can conjure up anything your heart desires. What would you do? I know that everyone’s initial reaction will be to create a great big pile of money, enough to pay off all your debts, quit your lousy job, buy the home of your dreams and take a really long holiday somewhere warm and wonderful. Okay, now you have all that – what else do you want?

Let me guess. You want to be beautiful and slim and healthy and successful. You want to be happy and fulfilled and loved by all who know you. You want to find your soul mate and spend the rest of your days with them, in blissful abandon, enjoying all the wondrous things that life has to offer. You have chosen well, but you can have more if you want.

How about having the whole enchilada? Why not fulfil every dream you ever had? Didn’t you once want to be a famous singer, star in the movies, write that bestselling novel? I remember you – weren’t you going to change the world? Well, what ever happened to all those dreams? Are they gone for good or can you get them back again? This is make-believe after all, so you can have all your dreams come true.

Now, this is where it gets interesting. I know we have just been playing make believe and it has been a lot of fun, but now we need to decide if simply dreaming of a better life is enough for us. Remember, if you believe in magic, then there is hope for you. For if you believe in magic then these dreams you have do not have to stay in your imagination, you have the power to make them real. Yes, it’s a big leap to go from daydreaming to actually doing, but it can be done, I’ve seen it done, I’ve even done it myself.

How do you do it? Well, first of all, you believe it can be done. This is crucial, and without this step you will not be able to realize your dream. Next, you think about what you desire for a long time, planning every tiny detail. When you feel ready you take that first small step, followed quickly by another and another. Progress will be slow at first, but you must not give up, even when it looks as if you will almost certainly fail. You must refuse to let go of your dream, and I promise you, one morning you will wake up and find, as if by magic, it has come true.

Then you know what you do next? You have another dream.

By Sue Vincent

Okay, I hear you all saying – so what’s this got to do with us? Well, I think that in seeking spiritual answers to your problems and questioning what you have been taught by society, you have chosen to walk the road less travelled. Be warned, this is not an easy path – it is steep, it is jagged and there are rocks strewn all around.

Doing nothing is easy, change is hard. Why not just settle for less? Why not just accept that for you, this is the most life has to offer? Everybody around you seems to be satisfied with just putting in the hours and collecting their pay cheque. They seem to think that the minimum wage is all that they can achieve, and sign their lives away on 25 year mortgages and debt consolidation loans. They are glad to get four weeks holiday a year, and steal an odd day off pretending they’re sick.

They have made their choice, and it’s enough for them. They’ve joined the masses on life’s highway and are too busy keeping their head down and just getting by to notice that life has anything more to offer. You, on the other hand, have raised your head up and looked to the horizon. You have glimpsed another way. You have seen individuals dotted here and there, dropping out of the trudging mass and looking about them with a strange expression on their faces. Relief, excitement, happiness or maybe it is hope.

Suddenly, before you fully realised what was happening you had pushed through the crowd, and broken free of the many. Like us, you had chosen to walk with the few. Other people wonder why you do it, why you choose to expose yourself to the risks on that road, surely it’s better to follow everyone else. But that life is not for me, and something tells me it is not for you either. It doesn’t matter if you stumble or fall, it doesn’t matter if you can’t walk as fast as others, and it doesn’t matter if you sometimes feel lost or unsure of which direction to take. What matters is that you are embracing life.

It’s not your imagination – the air is sweeter, the water purer, the sun hotter, the winds colder, the whole world is suddenly more exuberant. Yes, it’s hard work. Yes, it’s risky. Yes, it could get a lot worse before it gets any better. But, I’m glad I took this road. I don’t mind if it challenges me, I don’t care if I keep slipping, and I’m not bothered if I can’t get there today. I am happy just to be on the journey. Look at that blue sky, feel the warmth of that sun, breathe in that pure air – isn’t life grand? Don’t hesitate, don’t waste another moment, and don’t throw away your life on someone else’s dream. Come walk with us on the road less travelled.

By: Suzanne Vincent

These teachings were not only true in ancient times, but are also true now and are used by many Hawaiians today, even though they may not be aware of the source. Most Hawaiians live western lives and culture, and sadly are unaware of their marvellous heritage. However, there is a growing resurgence, and these teachings are growing stronger after a long dormant period., to come back to help us all to live our lives more easily. Some would say that in order to even read this you probably have a past life in Hawai’i.

The Huna system of healing, spirit and wisdom is as complete as any other system on the planet. We share with you today a small part of the ancient traditions of Hawai’i, and the respect we have for the culture, for the wisdom of the elders and our ancestors. We share from an unbroken lineage stretching back thousands of years. Some say 35,000 years, from before Atlantis and before even Lemuria.

Lineage is very important, and I am delighted to be able to pass this on to you. All wisdom is from my teachers, and all mistakes are my own. From Tad & Matt James, and ‘Uncle’ George Lanakilakeikiahiali’I Naope, Kahuna Po’o O ka Hula, and Hula Masters Etua Lopes of Kona, and John Ka’imikaua of Molaka’i, with additional teachings from Serge Kahili King of Kau’i.

This is why Huna has correspondences with most other systems: guardian spirit – native American; 4/5 elements – alchemy, hermetic, celtic, Egyptian; Dream-time – maori, aborigine, native American; spell-casting – wicca; ho’omanaloa energy healing –Philippines, Reiki; herbal healing and astrology – most systems; and many more.

The principles of Huna are powerfully simple: if something increases your life force energy, then do more of it and if something decreases your life force energy, then do less of it. So just for a moment go ahead and fully consider, how easily you can change your life to follow this timeless advice?

Each island, and even each family, had its own traditions, so you may see variations on the teachings given here. This does not make one better or worse, only different. Like a new overcoat, try on each idea. Some will fit straight away, some you will grow into with practice. Do not do these because I say so, try them because they work for you.

You are in good company. Millions all over the world are awakening to the great joy and resurgence in these most ancient teachings. I’m sure you’ve noticed more and more people are tuning in, connecting and paying attention to the usefulness of these ancient timeless truths in these high-stress, over-busy, fast-paced modern times.

Unfortunately when the missionaries arrived, they did not understand what they found, and sadly these teachings were banned in the ‘land of the free’ until 1989, so this may well be your first discovery of these powerful and uplifting teachings.

The Kahuna or specialist experts/Professors, knew that although we are one holistic whole, it is extremely useful to understand ourselves as having 3 minds, each with differing roles. Very briefly:

Firstly there is your conscious mind, that you are thinking with right now. This is where you direct your life, make decisions and understand concepts.

Secondly, you have an unconscious mind, which runs your body, maintains your habits, values and beliefs, stores your memories and is the seat of your emotions and feelings.

Thirdly your higher conscious mind or higher self. This is your connection to the infinite universal energy, or God as some call it, sometimes called higher spirit, holy spirit, guardian spirit or guardian angel.

However, one mind may not tell another what to do, which is why you can’t just tell yourself to quit smoking or lose weight instantly.

We are fortunate to be able to teach a most beautiful ceremony in our classes where most students are able to easily connect with their higher self, a very powerful and uplifting experience.

However, for many of us in the west, we are so caught up in conscious mind activities such as work, computers, TV or reading that we create blockages to our unconscious self. This means that we are less in touch with our inner feelings and emotions, and so we feel unhappy but don’t know why, or we do things we regret later. Huna teaches you how to easily clear these blockages to live a simpler, happier, less anxious and less angry and more fulfilled life.

The Hawaiians didn’t stop there, but invented numerous ceremonies and techniques to enhance their life force energy, including breathing, meditation and Hulahula.

Hula isn’t just about grass-skirted dancers in Elvis Presley movies, although it can be. This style is called ‘Hula Mele’ and is considered akin to our pop music.

Hula Kahiko is the more ancient style, and is more chant-based, similar to our hymns, although with dancing and music is a lot more lively and fun! These dances, singing and chants are considered a ‘body-prayer’, an offering of fun, light-heartedness to the ‘goddess’ Laka, spirit of the Hula.

Once again, the missionaries misunderstood the Hawaiians who appeared to revere carved wooden poles, one for each spirit. In fact, the Hawaiians believe that we are all part of one whole, unifying and connected universal energy, of which there are many aspects, and therefore many ‘gods’.

Each place has its own spirit, and each wind, each rain, each tree, each rock, each animal and each human. So we humans and the land are one indivisible whole. Humans are not superior to any part of nature, and the Hawaiians go to great lengths to always give back, whenever they take anything from nature, often giving gifts or offerings of flowers or chants to the spirits of the ancestors.

In a way, we do this too, naming mountains and lakes as well as hurricanes (eg Katrina).

At the deepest and highest levels, the universe consists of a pure potentiality of both everything and nothing. A dichotomy known as  IO. This splits into the greater male energy, known as the creator-god Kane, representing form, action, and structure, whilst the feminine aspect of the universe is called Na Wahine, representing pure energy, the spark to ignite Kane into action.

There are many gods and goddesses, or aspects to spirit in the Hawaiian system. Probably the best known is Pele, the goddess of fire and volcanoes. The Hawaiian islands have all been created by volcanic action, and Pele is still active in the south of the Big Island of Hawai’i, spewing out molten lava and creating new land mass as the lava cools.

Having walked through the Kilauea crater, it is hard to overestimate the power of Pele, and settlers who get too close have seen their houses go up in flames as the lave changes direction. Each year, tons of volcanic rocks are returned by mail to the Park Rangers as tourists have found the fast transformational energy of cooled lava to be too much upheaval for them. One lady who planted lava rock all around her garden, and was then surprised when her house caught on fire!

In such a short space it is not possible to give you a full flavour of the power and depth of the healing and spirit of the Hawaiian traditions. I have seen a paralysed man regain full use of his arm and leg in an hour, arthritis and rheumatism reduced and IBS and many other ailments cleared in just minutes.

Everyone who experiences Higher-Self Connection finds it to be a deeply touching and uplifting experience to literally touch the face of Spirit.

The best way to learn Huna is to do it. Either an introductory workshop, or even better, a spiritual retreat in Hawaii itself, as the energy there is fabulous!

Mahalo, thank you for reading, if you would like to improve your relationships, your health or your wealth, I would love to hear from you!

By Gary Plunkett © 2007
Student and Certified Teacher of Hawaiian Huna, 0800 458 56799

www.spiritofhawaii.co.uk

So what is Meditation?

The word meditation simply means to think or to heal. A lot of people believe that to meditate is to stop thinking but this is not the aim although it is true that when a person has had a lot of practice at meditating thinking often stops and there is the experience of just ‘being’. Meditation also heals the hurt in the soul, hurt which has been inflicted by life on this world. Even if we only spend a few moments in silence each day this will remind us of who we are, spiritual beings, and that our true state is peace.

I have been practicing and teaching with the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University for 26 years now, and as a result of this, my life has completely changed for the better. My first experience gained from meditation was one of peace and a feeling of being uplifted. People often say to me that after meditating for the first time that they didn’t have an experience but when I ask them if they felt peaceful whilst meditating they reply that they did. I then point ouT that to feel peaceful is a good experience in itself!

There are many different ways of meditating and the one practiced by the Brahma Kumaris is somewhat different to the others. Firstly we meditate with our eyes open. The reasons for this are very practical. Keeping the eyes open helps to prevent one from falling asleep – sleep is not the intention – rather we want to be balanced on a thin line of awareness. Secondly we meditate whilst walking along and carrying out simple tasks which don’t require much concentration, and especially whilst cooking our food. So you see, it makes sense to have our eyes open because otherwise we would walk into something or trip over some obstacle.

When someone first comes to the Brahma Kumaris to learn to meditate they take the foundation course in meditation which is free. The course includes the method and experience of meditation and how to make meditation and spirituality a part of daily life. Also students gain a grounding in spiritual knowledge, an understanding of the nature of the self and God and the philosophy of karma and the cycle of time.

The student learns that they are not really this physical body but a spiritual being, an eternal soul, a tiny point of energy and this spiritual being just happens to be in this body at this time but it is not the body. The body is entrusted to the soul for the period of a lifetime and the soul gives life to the body. They also have the opportunity to sit and meditate with an experienced Raja Yogi and it is in this way this easy but uplifting method of meditation is learned.

When beginning to meditate, we turn our thoughts inward to a point behind the forehead where the spiritual being, the soul, sits and begin to realise the wonderful innate qualities of the soul which have become hidden during life on this world. These qualities are peace, love, light, happiness, contentment and many more. The practice of meditation brings out these qualities so that we can use them as values in our lives.

We go on to make contact with the higher source of power – the Supreme Soul, God, and to create a link with that one. This is something too beautiful to describe in mere words. This experience is known as yoga and it is the power of this yoga, which enables us to bring about transformation in ourselves eliminating weaknesses, building on strengths and reclaiming the soul’s original state of total peace. We cannot change others or the world, but when we change then this will bring about change in the world.

Raja Yoga isn’t only a method of meditation; for those of us who take up the practice, and want to bring about change in our lives, it is a total way of life. Of course, we still live in the world, have jobs, families, friends but our spiritual life is very important, and we carry with us the awareness of who and what we are.

The basic foundation course is just the beginning and we have an opportunity to go on to study further, being encouraged to study ourselves and we soon see how we can create a new and beautiful way of being.

The Brahma Kumaris also offer free courses in Positive Thinking, Self Esteem, Anger Management and Stress Free Living, as well as offering self-development talks, workshops and seminars. We also have a very beautiful Retreat Centre – Global Retreat Centre, at Nuneham Courtenay, Oxford where there is the opportunity to experience day and weekend retreats.

The benefits of Raja Yoga meditation include inner peace, relaxation of body, mind and spirit, new attitudes and responses to life, positive relationships, a deep sense of self worth, a sense of purpose, contentment and better concentration.

By Sheila Hammond

To find out where your nearest Brahma Kumaris representative is located please telephone 0191 284 7681 so that I can pass this information on to you or go to our website www.bkwsu.org.uk and www.bkpublications.com
Sheila Hammond

The Brahma Kumaris is a spiritual organization and also a very large family. We understand we are all brothers and sisters. It is the only organization I know of which is for men and women but which is mainly administered by women.

The organization started in India in the 1930’s following one man having visions of what is to come and a better world in the future, which led him to decide to give up the remainder of his life to helping to bring about this vision. Since then the organization has grown until now there is over 400,000 of us living in around 100 countries. We believe in being peaceful and in emerging our innate qualities of purity, peace, love, light, happiness, cooperation, contentment and many more.

I found the Brahma Kumaris in 1980 after spending years searching for truth and peace. I read about different systems of meditation, but nothing seemed right for me. However, it all really started for me when I was driving from a small village where I went to teach yoga asanas. I was driving along a totally deserted country lane when suddenly I saw a man’s face looking at me through the windscreen of the car. I really thought someone was on the bonnet of the car and pulled up and got out. Having walked round the car I found myself totally alone. I have always understood that there is a reason for everything that happens, so the experience left me very thoughtful.

Nothing further happened until exactly one week later when I was again driving home, and the same thing happened again. This time the face was a little way away from the windscreen and a rather beautiful hand with very long fingers was help up beckoning me. I stopped and sat in the car for quite some time wondering what this could mean. Nothing further happened but I took up search with renewed vigour. A few weeks later I went to the Mind, Body and Spirit Exhibition at Olympia, London. After looking around many stalls and finding nothing that seemed significant, I looked in the brochure and saw a small advertisement suggesting a visit to the Raja Yoga stall. I felt instantly drawn to it and when I hurried along to a remote corner of the hall where it was situated a young Indian man left the stall, hurried towards me, and asked if I was coming to the stall. He talked to me at length and I left with details of how to take to Brahma Kumaris ‘Foundation in Meditation’ course by correspondence.

Raja Yoga meditation is not about blanking out your mind. It is all about changing the pattern of your thoughts so that you think pure, peaceful, positive thoughts. The foundation course consists of 8 lessons of basic spiritual knowledge, as well as instruction and practice of the method of Raja Yoga Meditation, answers many questions which everyone asks themselves. The first and most important of these is ‘Who am I?’ I came to understand that I am a soul, pure energy, a spiritual being who happens to be in a physical body at this time. Understanding this I went on to learn a lot of spiritual knowledge which included why the world is in such a terrible state and how this will be changed. Whilst visiting the Brahma Kumaris headquarters in London, I was very surprised to find a picture of the man whose face had appeared in my windscreen.

He is the founder of the Brahma Kumaris. Brahma Baba, as we know him, left his physical body in 1969, having worked on himself to bring about transformation, and took on an angelic form. I now know that it was always going to be my good fortune to come onto this spiritual path and that I, like everyone else, had to come at the right time for me. That was just over 27 years ago and my life has changed completely for the better since then. Since that time, I have met many Brahma Kumars and Kumaris – my brothers and sisters – and my life has been greatly enhanced by my practice of Raja Yoga.

Brahma Kumaris students take instruction in how to live a better way of life. It isn’t simply meditation, although some people learn the meditation technique and decide that it is all they need. Each one takes what they want from the instruction they receive. For me and many others, it is a total way of life. We learn that everything that happens is part of a vast ongoing drama, and the whole world is the stage that the drama is played out on. Everyone has a role in the drama and their actions in this lifetime determine what their next life will be like. It is wrong for us to criticise others, we have to respect them and of course we need to have self respect.

The Brahma Kumaris run courses in Positive Thinking, Anger Management, Self Management Leadership and Self Esteem, as well as Meditation. All our courses are free of charge, as are the talks we give on meditation and spiritual subjects to organizations. It is our understanding that whilst we can’t change the world, we can change ourselves and if enough of us do this, then the world will change.

By Sheila Hammond