Group teaches peace in becoming grounded for life
Group teaches peace in becoming grounded for life
Bruce Emond
The Jakarta Post
Jakarta
It's a little after 6 p.m. as a trickle of people files out into
the creeping darkness from a house on a quiet side street in
South Jakarta.
At a time when many of us are making one last mad dash through
the malls, or preparing for the I-hate-Mondays return to work,
there is a distinct sense of calm on the faces of the group,
ranging from an older couple, a few young men in T-shirts and
jeans as well as a smiling young woman wearing a Muslim
headscarf.
They are "first-timers" at a meditation class run by Brahma
Kumaris World Spiritual Organization, founded in the 1930s
through the vision of one man to educate people in human,
spiritual and moral values to make a better world.
Like the members of the beginners' meditation class, Mala, one
of two national coordinators for the organization's activities in
Jakarta, identifies herself as a "seeker" in her youth, hunting
through bookshops in her hometown in Australia for works on
philosophy and yoga.
She chanced upon a poster in a shop window for free yoga
lessons as she rode her bike one day.
"I was really interested in raji yoga because I had read a lot
about it, and when the Brahma Kumaris centers first opened in
Australia that was how they were first advertised, as places for
raji yoga meditation," she said.
For Mala, it was the end of her spiritual seeking and the
beginning of a journey into herself to find inner peace.
"I had sat in on discussions of other philosophies, but it
never really jived with me ... I remember waking up so early the
next morning and going there for class, which was strange because
I was a late riser and still am," she said.
After visiting the organization's headquarters in Rajasthan,
India, she moved into her local center a year and a half later,
adopting the principles of vegetarianism (the diet also includes
avoiding eating "stimulating" foods like onions and garlic) and
daily meditation. She now has the rank of a "sister" within the
organization.
As an international organization, Brahma Kumaris was still
relatively new when Mala joined, having opened its first center
in London in 1974, and others in Sydney and Melbourne in 1975 and
1977 respectively.
"When I first went to the headquarters in India, there were
only 50 foreigners -- that was all there was. But going there
really helped me increase my knowledge and reach out."
The organization came into being in 1936 when Brahma Baba, an
Indian from a poor family who had made his fortune in the jewelry
business, felt the need to become more reflective about life and
its meaning. During meditation over a period of months, the 60
year old (his benign visage stares down from walls in the center)
saw a number of visions depicting the process of world
transformation into a more peaceful place.
The organization was initially limited to a small self-
sufficient community in Karachi (before it became part of
Pakistan in the partition of India), but in 1952 Brahma Baba sent
several sisters out to set up centers in Bombay and New Delhi.
Brahma Kumaris was already looking farther afield when its
founder passed on in 1969. But spiritual organizations from India
were a dime a dozen in the early and mid-1970s, blossoming as
flower children making their way along the subcontinent and Goa
in the quest for new spiritual horizons. Mala remembers having to
deal with shouts of "hippie" in those first days in becoming part
of the organization in Australia.
Unlike other groups which have fallen by the wayside over
time, Brahma Kumaris has continued to grow, with estimates in
1996 of 3,200 meditation centers in 70 countries and more than
450,000 students (women, like the first sisters sent out to
spread the word of peace, continue to play a prominent role in
the organization).
The success is no doubt thanks to an approach which is,
naturally, a bit preachy about its convictions for a better world
without ever being overbearing. Thankfully, the members are not
shoving flowers on people at the airport, chasing the unwilling
down the street or banging on doors to foist piles of their
literature on you.
At its core is a simple code for spirituality that we all can
understand: Get number one in order, and the rest of the world
will follow.
At the Jakarta centers located in Kebayoran Baru and Sunter,
North Jakarta, that drive is focused on meditation classes,
although classes on positive thinking and stress-management are
offered at other centers around the world.
It's other draw is that it does not impose an "all-or-nothing"
philosophy; the interested, like those who showed up on that
recent Sunday night, do not have to swear off meat or go through
some wacky initiation ceremony to set foot in the door.
"People come here for different reasons. I was seeking
knowledge and understanding, but others come to stop worrying or
something like that through meditation," Mala said.
"I was looking to commit to something, because I think life is
not worth living if you can't do something constructive to make a
difference."
For "Sheila", a 30-something expatriate who has taken
meditation classes at the center, it's been an enriching
experience.
"I had just gone through a bad period in my life, coming out
of a bad work environment," she said.
"The meditation, even in a few short lessons, has helped me
peel off the layers, and return to who I really am."
For more information on free meditation classes, call Mala at
Tel. 7246-794.