Madhuban literally means the ‘forest of honey’. We arrived at four o’clock in the morning. Figures wrapped in white shawls were silently, gliding in the thick mist, all heading to the same direction, towards a building with white domes peaking above the clouds of mist. What were they all doing so early in the morning? Where have we come? The silence was so absorbing, we hardly whispered as we were shown to our rooms.
A bright sun cleared the mist. A tour of the campus showed a place that worked like a well wound clock. Everything was there, clean and simple and functional. From the kitchens to the VIP accommodation building, to the offices of the different departments, electrical, pluming, sawing, furniture making, milk kitchen, laundry, and about 35 others. Self sufficiency and economy are the law in Madhuban. Not a penny is wasted in something unnecessary. Everyone living there is a volunteer. Everything the Brahma Kumaris do is offered free. We were being hosted, about forty of us, for a whole week. The obvious question that comes to every visitor is: Where does the money come from? And so, it was the first time I heard the word Baba. Everything was funded from Baba’s Box: a system of voluntary, incognito donations, offered only by the students. Those who felt they took benefit from what the BKs offer, put their pennies in the box so that others could benefit also. It is a financial system to be looked at.
Was it the loving care of our hosts or was it some secret ingredients that made the vegetarian food we were offered so delicious? I think it was the love with which we were served by a host of young Indian students.
During the meetings, the workshops, the seminars, I was trying to learn who the BKs are and what is their philosophy. I knew very little, next to nothing.
Meeting the Dadis
Dadi means senior sister. Two Dadis are heading the BKWSU — which was founded by Brahma Baba in 1937 and has been governed ever since by women. We were received in the evening of the first day. First by Dadi Prakashmani and then by Dadi Janki. Meeting the Dadis is like time stops, like the world comes to a standstill. The words are in Hindi and then translated in English but they might as well not be. Their eyes say it all. In Dadi Janki’s glance I recognized someone I already new. Very well.
The Conference
The task we had was an interesting challenge. The global survey on values that the BKs had executed during the past two years had resulted in a flood of positive thoughts, words and actions from all over the world, from people from all walks of life. People had been asked to deposit to a virtual bank, their ideas and dreams of how a better world should be and more than that, do something to contribute towards its establishment. What we had to do was to extract the common values that people cherish and to create a short document called ‘The Peoples Vision’ that would later be presented to the House of Lords and to the United Nations.
Everyone here wears white. I had been warned and came well equipped. Was it curiosity that woke me up at 4am? I put on my whites and followed the silent figures to the big hall. Silent meditation. Soft music was punctuating the time. 45 minutes in silence. The atmosphere was so peaceful and yet so rich, so filled with positive energy.
Rebirth
I risk the word, knowing the religious and cultish connotations. But this was real. A group from Australia was coaching a meditation exercise guiding us towards ourselves, gently leading us to the place we ‘live’, to the seat of our existence. I can’t remember the words. All I remember is that I had turned inside and was beginning to experience a new reality. I was in peace, in balance. I experienced the conscious energy, the point of spiritual energy in the middle of the forehead.
I went to my room, looked in the mirror and said hello to myself, meeting him for the first time.
