When I think of someone who could be said to have lived a powerful life, I think of only one person. I spent 40 years watching her, travelling with her, translating for her, and Dadi Janki (late Administrative Head of the Brahma Kumaris) was someone whose life was powerful in the way that it matters most – a life that gave positive inspiration to others. Her every act, every thought, had an impact on others, and she made sure that the impact was positive.
Her life began in an ordinary way, like the rest of us, although her family was religious, her father kindly, and she was certainly spiritually inclined from a very young age. She was looking for truth and for God. Those of us who spent a lot of time with her, saw how she created the powerful life she lived, until the age of 104. She created it herself by the habits she adopted, in full recognition of the importance of those habits. She woke and rose early every day for the whole of her spiritual life, and no matter what had happened the day before, she was present in the early morning 4 o’clock meditation. She never wasted a moment of her time and yet, she had time for everyone. She was incredibly courageous because she had become fully aware of the truth. Truth for her, as a point of reference, was the Divine, God. Therefore, she knew that abiding by that truth would only have a positive, beneficial outcome. She was never afraid of failure, because for her such a concept did not exist. Things that did not work out as may have been expected, were not failures but learning opportunities. Her diet was simple, nothing spicy or elaborate. She ate in silence, maintaining the awareness of the consciousness of being the soul within the body she was alimenting. It was not that she ignored her companions, but would indicate that it would be better to discuss something after the meal was over. Her life was not for herself, it was for others, but she loved her life. Her spiritual faith ran so deep that nothing could change it. She was never fazed by anything because she had the ability to go beyond the confines of space and time. She could catch what ‘is’ and remain still and stable in a state of conviction of the present moment with the understanding that what was to come was going to be right.
One of the most powerful lessons I have learnt from her is that I am the creator of myself. I create every aspect of my personality. Habits are completely under our control. A powerful life is meaningful, consistent, generous, courageous, compassionate and kind. To make life that powerful is to create habits that make life full of meaning and allow me to place my hand on my heart at the end of the day and know that I did the best I could for myself and for everyone else. Dadi Janki would say that you create a habit when you recognise the value and importance of that habit. One of the most powerful habits is the habit of love. Love is not an emotion, or based on attraction or infatuation – love is actually our state of being, intrinsic to the soul. The habit of love gives space and time to every individual and every situation, and this brings tolerance and patience.
The way to do this is to become aware of the self as a pure, spiritual, unconditional being. Waking early and spending time with the self, the real self, and connecting to the Supreme Being is a life-changing habit. It is then that we can gather energy and see our own beauty and truth. What made Dadi Janki so powerful was her relationship with God. A constant, unconditional presence of the love of and for God, was there for her all the time. This is what made her life powerful, and this is a habit we can create. We can make God our point of reference in all that we think, say, and do. There is nothing more powerful than that.
Manda Patel is a Rajyoga teacher based at the Brahma Kumaris Global Retreat Centre, Oxford, UK.