My friend appeared strong because a sick mother, a younger brother and an older sister depend on her for emotional strength. She could not even afford to cry.
She was very happy to see us when I and my mother visited her house a few weeks after her father’s sad demise.
When she went to the kitchen to get us tea and snacks, the elder sister signaled to me about her. What I understood from her silent message left me upset. She meant my friend is torn and worn out inside – Just putting up a brave front.
Her father was partially blind - trusted my friend the most, counted only on her decisions and opinions for almost everything.
My friend is a strong personality. I knew she will be steady. In fact after talking to her, I thought she was doing just fine.
I remembered those thirteen days when I lost my father – and acted strong in front of my family and wept in the afternoon, when everyone was sleeping. I could see my friend through – beyond that smile, beyond the tea she offered, beyond what she related about how her father struggled in the hospital. Her sorrows lay bare open for those who can see beyond that brave exterior.
One fine morning, to cheer her up I asked if she would like to visit Brahmakumari center in Shyam Nagar. I am actually quite fortunate to have a few friends who like to evolve their spiritual intelligence like I do, once in a while.
She immediately agreed. She was the one who had mentioned about this center long time back however I never got the chance to visit.
We both had done the seven day free course and knew the basics.
A few days later, one sunny afternoon a Toto takes us to the local station (INR 10), then we board a train to Shyam Nagar Station (INR 5/-), then we walked to the center. My friend had been there before, so she knows the place fairly well. I spotted the exact building based on this sign.
Anyone who knows about the Brahmakumaris, know what this means.
I was there for the first time as I had done my course in Bangalore.
What To Expect
When we got into the building one of the Brahmakumaris asked us politely if we had completed the seven day course. Without attending the course one is not allowed to go to the meditation room. We nodded and quickly used the stairs to join the troupe that meditated upstairs.
My friend’s elder sister who had not completed the course had to wait in the study to participate in the first day learning of the course that starts in the evening. For those of you who are not aware, it is a free course and what it mainly covers in those seven days are:
Understanding the Self
God and Understanding God
Understanding the Human Tree
Understanding the cycle of time
The story of the rise and fall of human souls
The Raj Yoga Meditation
The benefits of Meditation
Just that, in the daily whirlwind the lessons are soon forgotten. That is the truth at least in my case.
I noticed only a few people were in the meditation room. The wall had a huge photograph of Shiv Baba smiling at all of us - king size picture almost covering the whole wall.
We meditated there for some time, the vibes are encouraging but with my diminishing focus I was not quite able to meditate. I cast a quick glance at my friend. She had her eyes closed. I tried to focus back and concentrate but could not. So, I got out of the room and read stuff on the notice board while my friend meditated.
After she was done, she joined me to read what I was reading – events, spiritual quotes etc. She turned around to look back at Shiv Baba one last time before leaving. That’s when I saw her eyes clearly. She wasn’t just meditating – she was probably living a few lost moments with her father.
As she got down the steps, looking at Shiv Baba, I saw something that choked me – My strong friend was not so strong after all. Her eyes were moist. Seriously, it did not suit her.
If there is anything I wanted to believe then, at that moment, then it is what the Brahmakumaris believed – We are just spiritual beings, eternal soul and a tiny point of divine light.
Prajapita BrahmaKumaris Ishwariya Vishwa Vidyalaya (also called Brahma Kumaris in short) can be a university for spiritual value based education for the world – but for the two of us it was an abode to lift our weary souls, when we were down.
I realized we had not forgotten our lessons after all. We knew exactly where to come, to break away from grief and source the energy we needed to take up worldly affairs again, head on, with renewed enthusiasm.
We sat through the evening session again in the study downstairs to give company to my friend's elder sister who was taking her first lesson.
Class Timings: 6:30 AM or 6:30 PM (One Hour)
Reflecting on self is always the first step in any spiritual journey . We hope we got that far at least with this visit and will transverse the rest of the distance with many more visits.
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