Theme of Brahma Kumari symposium
THE ambience of harmony and tranquility was immediate and impactful upon entry into the compound of the Guyana Chapter of Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University in High Street, Kingston, where the organization was hosting a symposium last Tuesday evening on the caption theme. The gathering was like the United Nations, with an audience comprising of a broad representation of the several religious communities in Guyana, that cut across every racial and caste divide, and encompassed a spectrum of humanity that forms the tapestry that interweaves the peculiar Guyanese identity.
First speaker, Sister Hemlata, who is the Caribbean Co-ordinator of the organization, said that, having no interest in material things, she had always been seeking ways to serve humanity, so she pursued a profession in medicine.  However, it is only when she discovered her inner light through the spiritual process that she discovered her true calling and recognized that she had a mission in the spiritual life.  She is convinced that she can best serve humanity by relinquishing the medical profession to serve humanity through the Brahma Kumaris Spiritual Organization.  She said that she was inspired by the biography of Founder Brahma Baba to become a serving member of the Brahma Kumari movement.
Thus she realised the potential in her life for compassion, mercy, and all the graces that inheres in a person whom is prepared to subsume self for the greater good of humanity.
According to Sister Hemlata, money does not guarantee peace or happiness, but the quintessential innate qualities – such as the potential for peace, happiness, love, are inherent qualities in each person and should be nurtured because they are critical to personal development.
Sister Hemlata said that practising meditation and studying the philosophy of the Brahma Kumaris will uncover deep wells of strength and develop the finer spiritual aspects of the self.
Describing humanity as the brotherhood of man under the fatherhood of God, Sister Hemlata denounces outer beauty and general appearance as being transient features, whereas a good, wholesome heart is abiding and perennially beautiful, because it reflects the inner person.  She elucidated that beauty of spirit is power and innate strength and made allusion to the appropriate Brahma Kumari logo of a hand cradling a heart within its palm.
Sister Hemlata said that the greatest obstacle to one’s personal development is the ego, with all its subsidiary negative traits such as greed, envy, desire, fear, ignorance, impatience – all of which leave no space for developing one’s inner strength.
Describing the human bodies as outer shells, Sister Hemlata said that the souls are the instruments of God.  She concluded by wishing for the new year special things to happen to everyone.
Guest Speaker, Sister Mohini, is described as a spiritual leader and teacher with over fifty years of study and practice of raj yoga as taught by the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University, is the president of the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual Organization of the USA, regional co-ordinator of the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University for the Americas and the Caribbean, and representative of the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University to the United Nations in New York.
According to Sister Mohini, January is a significant month for the Brahma Kumaris, because this month has been made sacred through the passing to a higher stage of self of Founder Brahma Baba.
Sister Mohini’s discourse centred on the need for balance between the heart and the brain.  She said that, in this world of efficiency culture, where young persons diligently pursue intellectual achievements, while disdaining emotional ties to family and good values, there is a great need to expand the heart to balance the equation of the brain for alignment to build good and rounded character.
Citing examples in the Ramayan and the Gita, where the greatest virtue practised even by Lord Ram, is obedience and deferment to elders, parents, and teachers.
Sister Mohini said that knowledge is light; but that light encompasses the capacity to see beyond what the eye beholds.  The real light is perception, right-thinking, good values, resilience, courage and strength in the face of adversity; because the power to discern, reason, and make the right choices, and the ability to decide revitalizes the thought processes and renews and restores the soul; while all the negative factors dissipates the spiritual energies.
Describing troubling thoughts as negative files in the mind, Sister Mohini said that many of those files could be discarded because they are redundant and irrelevant.  They also overwhelm the inner resources.
According to Sister Mohini, meditation provides the answer whereby one can connect to the inner resources and rejuvenate one’s strengths; increasing concentration to what she terms “direct the traffic controls of the mind” into positive channels.
Sister Mohini urged the audience to embrace silence because, while there is no fixed formula to increase the capacity to focus, anxieties of issues that are beyond one’s control should be discarded like redundant files in the mind, which necessitates much mental and spiritual discipline – both of which evolve from meditation.  According to Sister Mohini, the inner potential is not acquired skills nor product, but the power to think and reason.
Mother of former Public Works Minister Anthony Xavier, Seineid Xavier, sang beautifully of the healing powers of good living and a caring heart, while the students of the Indian Cultural Centre mesmerized the audience with synchronized movements of symmetrical grace as they displayed the inner beauty of the soul in the form of dance.  According to Master of Ceremonies, Mark Chan, dance has spiritual roots and is integral to every human culture.
The Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University currently has 10,000 centres in 137 countries in all the continents of the world.  The Guyana chapter of the organization was established approximately 35 years ago.