Sister Mohini Panjabi is the President of Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual Organization, USA and also serves as the Regional Coordinator for North America, Latin America and Caribbean. The Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University headquartered in India is an International Organization with General Consulate status with United Nations, and Siste Mohini serves as their Main Representative in New York. She holds a Bachelor's Degree in History and Political Science from the University of New Delhi, India and a Diploma in Journalism. Influenced by the honesty, simplicity and authenticity of the organization she has been part of Brahma Kumaris for about 50 years and made it a mission to share spiritual knowledge with everyone. 

Brahma Kumaris Chapter in Boston  organized “Confluence: A festival of Hope” which began on Saturday June 21, 2008 and continues through the week.  The unique program designed to bring together people of the Indian community also featured several exhibits showcasing culture, music and dance presentations, meditation and words of inspiration by community leaders.  At the confluence, Sister Mohini inspired the audience by stating the importance of Hope during the turmoil in one’s life. 

Lokvani got an opportunity to interview Sister Mohini during the festival and following is the transcript.

How did you get introduced to Brahama Kumaris (BK)?

It is a long story, about 50 years ago when I was a student in college. I wanted to understand the meaning of life, purpose of life and make life more meaningful. Somebody told me about the BK center starting near our home. I went there and liked the honesty, simplicity and authenticity. In the beginning I didn’t quite understand the teachings,  because spiritual knowledge has lot of wisdom.  One thing that struck me most was that ‘Innate qualities are love and peace”.  I took those two words peace and love and started practicing them.  During the day when there was confusion, fear or anger, I would say ‘I am peaceful, I am loveful’ and this helped me realize that I could be peaceful and live happily in this world.

Secondly, I found the mission of my life. My mission was to share that knowledge is light and knowledge is also power. If each one of us has the understanding of spiritual knowledge then there won’t be suffering. Lot of suffering comes through our own thinking. If we can think positively and can change our thoughts from negative to positive then there will not be suffering.  I found that knowledge useful and decided that I will serve humanity by sharing this knowledge.  After finishing college I started getting involved into the organization

How has BK changed your life?

On Spiritual level, feeling connected to God, feeling connected to humanity has generated a positive outlook. I found my relationship with God very personal and because of that, I saw  people as children of God and developed appreciation and respect for everyone. With regular practice of meditation, I noticed enhancement in my concentration. As a student it was very useful, I noticed that I was able to work clearly and efficiently. Even today, I find that skill useful. I am able to work on any project successfully and deliver results. Through meditation I am able to focus and use my energy to obtain positive results.  I have a very practical outlook towards life.   You notice that people are doing but not being involved but the real joy is being and doing.

Finally, through meditation I was able to live the life with the values, which I believed in since childhood.   People feel they need to comprise their values to achieve success, but that is not true.  For example you can be honest and truthful and still achieve success.  I preach the importance of value based career and share inspirational stories. 

What does BK offer? Can you tell us about Raja Yoga?  

We are offering many courses that teach the importance of values.  These courses are interactive and contain examples. We also believe in activity based learning. Especially, for children and teenagers we show them what it means to be responsible.

Brahma Kumaris  teaches 4 subjects and one of them is Raja Yoga meditation. Raja means sovereign, control and yoga means union, connection therefore  Raj Yoga is connection with yourself. You control your mind through this technique.  Meditation is the practice and the thinking process which enables you to attain this control. Meditation enables an integration of your spiritual identity with the social and physical realities around you, restoring a functional and healthy balance between your inner and outer worlds.

How is BK Raja Yoga  related to Patanjali’s Raja Yoga?

While Patanjali’s  Raja Yoga constitutes of 8 steps, we focus on  steps 1, 2 and 6.  The first step ‘Yama’ refers to abstentions, the second step: ‘niyama’ refers to observances and the sixth step: dharana  refers to concentration of mind on a physical object, such as a flame of a lamp, the mid point of the eyebrows, or the image of a deity. We focus primarily on the meditation part. We feel that meditation leads to self control.  This practice can be done by people of all age groups and religions.

What are your thoughts on ‘peace’ and what would you recommend for people to lead peaceful life?

Lots of people think that when there in no conflict there is peace.  For us, peace is inner experience, which means the conflict is within your own thinking, the conflict is  power to discern. Once you begin experiencing inner peace, you bring it in relationships, you take it to the work place and make it part of all  activities.  With inner peace you can build peaceful relationships and peaceful world.

Can you tell us about this program: “Confluence: The Festival of Hope”?

We find that people are often disappointed and there is no hope left in younger generation.  We know that the world is always in state of transition and change, there is creation and destruction.  It is up to us on what we choose the right path. Most of the time people are focused on problems or contemplating their failures instead of thinking of pleasant things. When they see hope of light then it increases their ability to find positive solutions.  This program aims at igniting the lamp of hope.

All BK events are free. How do you sustain your organization and its activities?

We are based on the principle: You can’t pay for knowledge.  Poor and rich have equal right to the knowledge.  

Most of the work is done by us and our services are voluntary. Over here, labor costs about 3 times more than materials thus doing the work cuts the cost. We do get donations from people who have benefited by our services. 

More information about Boston Chapter of Brahma Kumaris can be found at http://www.bkboston.org/.

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