Snapshots frrom our partner organisations around d the world Haiti: Volunteers for The Children’s Voice Foundation taking part in Living Values Education training in Port au Prince on 27th July 2009. LVE is a partnership project of the Brahma Kumaris. www.livingvalues.net
Issue 7: Sept /Oct 2009
The Inner Wave News, insights and experiences from the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University (UK) Welcome to this 1st birthday issue of the Inner Wave. A warm thank you from all of us for your support, comments and ideas about the newsletter – please keep them coming to newsletter@uk.bkwsu.org. In this issue we explore what is meant by inner power and protection. Editorial Team
Russia: Dadi Gulzar, Co-Administrative Head of the Brahma Kumaris, inaugurates the 'Golden Dawn' Festival in St Petersburg on September 17th 2009, along with representatives of the Russian capital’s TV, arts and academic circles.
A Reflection at Dusk
Meeting Life’s Challenges
Ultimately, I only have what I truly am. That is strength. If I have borrowed strength from a name, A role, a position a group or a person There comes a point when it all dissolves and I will feel empty, Floundering for a sense of identity and Desperate for self esteem. I go ‘inside’ and find myself. All support, all wisdom, all solutions are already there. Simply, I need to remember.
Neville Hodgkinson USA: An exhibit at the Peace, Power & Protection Village Fair at Peace Village in Upstate New York, 29th August – 6th September 2009, which celebrated the Learning & Retreat Center’s 10th birthday.
In My Life Bipin Anand I was introduced to meditation while at college. I used to be very shy but, after learning about spirituality, I began to open up, make friends and feel more confident. Later, at uni, I gave up drinking and smoking - not because I felt I had to; it just came naturally. My friends found this weird but cool, as it’s something people find hard to do. It was at uni that I started making films. The first one I made was about how all religions are talking about the same things. I’ve since done a lot of video projects for the BKs and now work professionally as a filmmaker. I want to use film to help create a better world. Raja Yoga has helped me be naturally positive. It’s built me up inside and enabled me to express my true personality more deeply. I’m a fun-loving, enthusiastic person but I can also be serious. It has also helped me organise things in my head. For instance, when I was burgled at uni and my computer with all my work on it was taken, I actually remember smiling at the time. OK, there was an ‘Oh man!’ moment, when I realised what had gone, but then I just made a list of what needed to be replaced and then said to
myself: time to move on. That ability to organise my thoughts means that events don’t overtake me. Meditation is like finding something you never knew you’d lost and then realising: ‘Oh, yes!’ It’s so subtle and very powerful. Meditating for a few minutes isn’t going to change everything. It’s the months and years of practice that are transforming me, making me feel calm and peaceful. I feel I’ve grown and gained strength. It’s fun, down to earth, deep and practical - I use it every day.
Bipin Anand is a film-maker and an active member of the Brahma Kumaris involved in media and youth work teaching practical, values-based living.
© Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University (UK) The Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University (UK) teaches Raja Yoga as a way of experiencing peace of mind and a positive approach to life. For more information about our activities around the UK, please see www.bkwsu.org/uk Registered Charity in England & Wales (269971) and Scotland (SC040512)
Bipin Anand at a retreat for emerging leaders from many professions aged 18-30 entitled Choose, Change & Become at Global Retreat Centre, Oxfordshire, September 2009.
Next issue: Time Learn to meditate For information about free Raja Yoga meditation courses around the UK: www.bkwsu.org/uk/uk/whatwedo/ courses
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To be able to generate and sustain inner power you need a change of attitude, vision, and perception. This has been my own experience and it has made a huge difference to me. But it is no small matter; you are talking about radically changing your outlook on life. It’s a conceptual shift to understand that there can be space between you, the observer of life, and the part you are playing in it. When you see yourself as a physical being, then, because the material world is in a state of constant flux, keeping up with change becomes progressively draining. You suffer, because your sense of who you are is defined by those things that can be at risk - like your job, your partner, your health. You lose power in the sense that you lose equanimity, happiness and clarity of judgement. You also lose your compassion, your ability to be sensitive to others, because of being needy yourself. My understanding now is that we’ve all come from the Seed, a Source of goodness, peace and compassion - which is our original nature too. When we let go of the thinking patterns that create selfishness, we start to experience that original nature and this puts us on the same wavelength as the Source.
What’s Inside...
Neville Hodgkinson
From Reflections at Dawn, Day and Dusk available from www.bkpublications.com
Divine protection isn’t about helping us pass our exams or earn more money, let alone win a war; it is at a level where what is protected is the flow of goodness, unselfishness and joy that human beings experience when they feel able to live true to their innermost nature. Right now, the world seems to be re-awakening to the need for this kind of power. When we learn to align with Divine purpose, it is as though we ride a wave that carries us over what might otherwise have seemed like insuperable obstacles. This is a powerful way of thinking to help us in our everyday efforts to live by our highest values. Neville Hodgkinson is a writer and journalist, specialising in health and science issues. He has been practising Raja Yoga meditation for 30 years.
Experiencing Inner Protection Power & Prot
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You are what you think… Love, purity, peace, wisdom. The more you think of these things, The more you will become them. Dadi Janki, From Companion of God, available from www.bkpublications.com In My Life Bipin Anand
Elizabeth Edmunds
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Spirituality gives you strength.
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E is for Elevated Thinking
The Voice of Stillness
Special Feature Spec
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The A-Z of Spiritual Living
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I do experience protection but I have to tune into it.
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Meditation is like finding something you never knew you’d lost and then realizing: Oh, yes!
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I make a point of “creating thoughts and feelings of happiness, peace and benevolence, which make me feel better – not worse.
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