In a time considered in spiritual cosmology to be the "Confluence Age," when the darkest moment in human history begins to be penetrated by an illuminating wisdom, Dadi Janki is like a divine messenger "bringing the first rays of light from the pure and peaceful future world that lies ahead." At the age of eighty-nine, Dadi Janki, who is the co-administrative head of the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University, continues to travel tirelessly around the globe imparting her message of hope. She is compelled by the spiritual awakening that occurred nearly seventy years ago in the presence of her teacher, the founder of the Brahma Kumaris, Prajapita Brahma, known with affection and reverence as Brahma Baba. Here, Dadi Janki describes her experience of awakening to this higher consciousness and how it ultimately led her to become one of India's most venerated female spiritual leaders and a guiding presence for many souls worldwide. -Jessica Roemischer
I encountered many gurus when I was young, and my father would advise me to adopt a guru. But I would reply, "No. I want to find God." I didn't want to be a follower and sit at somebody's feet. What is the benefit of that? I wanted my mind to be focused on God.
Now, I knew Brahma Baba as a family friend before his transformation, and his life had been based on high principles of great honesty. He had a jewelry business in Calcutta that was well known, but he worked only a few hours each day. In the morning hours, he would go to the parks and spend time contemplating God. He had a great thirst to know God. Who is God? Where is He? After his transformation—after he'd had a series of visions—I could see that there was a new light in him. It was as if there was a current flowing from him that was reaching us, but he never set himself up as a guru. He was a mother and a father. He would sit with us as a parent would sit with his children; he was very friendly. He did whatever needed to be done in the physical plane without a trace of ego, and he would never accept service from us as most gurus would.
We saw that he was continually in communication with the Supreme, and as a result, he had so much energy that he would serve all of us, and many others, and never tire. He never slept. At eleven o'clock at night, I'd go to his room and I'd say, "Baba, it is time for rest." And he'd say, "No child. As much as I can stay awake, it is good." He would teach us how to sleep in God's remembrance. At two AM he'd still be awake. He would say, "The world is crying, so how can I sleep?" At four o'clock in the morning, he would be lying awake and he would say, "I was thinking of children like you who can wake up the world so that the world can change. God wants children who can remove sorrow from the souls of those who are suffering." And I had this determined thought: "I want to be a worthy child and give the fruit and substance to others that Baba is giving me."
After I decided that I wanted to surrender to this calling, there was an amazing experience with Brahma Baba in which the inner eye opened up, and I was able to see myself and know who I am. And I could see that Brahma Baba had a direct link with God. It was as if his physical form was not physical. There was light radiating from his forehead. It was as if he was not the one speaking, but rather as if he was an instrument for the Divine to speak through. Although I had studied the Gita and the scriptures, I hadn't been able to understand them. But now I understood. He was enabling us to have a direct connection to God. He was giving us a vision of soul consciousness and reminding us that we belong to Him—that I belong to God and God belongs to me.
So when Brahma Baba looked at me, he transmitted the awareness of God's remembrance—that I, the soul, am totally free from the consciousness of the body, detached from the body. I am separate from my relatives, my mother and father. The whole physical world is quite separate, and I, the soul, belong to God. It was such a deep transformation.
When a person physically dies, the whole world dies for that person, and that was what it was like. Nothing was the same. It was as if the soul became totally separate from the body. I didn't belong to this world and nothing here belonged to me. When a person tries to achieve that kind of detachment, it's usually quite difficult, but in this case it happened in such a powerful and natural way. There was the awareness that all physical things and all physical relationships are temporary because they belong to the world of matter. They have a finite limit to them. So I'm not attached to my body. I'm not afraid of death because I know I'll die in God's remembrance. Why should I be afraid? I, the soul, am eternal.
So from Baba's words, we received great understanding. And through his eyes we could feel the power of peace. He had taken so much from God that he was able to be an instrument of that peace, which was so powerful that it cleansed the self. Some years later, as Brahma Baba was sharing a vision of soul consciousness, I suddenly saw God as a being of light. And I saw myself traveling around the world so that the world could see that this is God, this being of light, and see how beautiful God is. Of course, at that time, I had no idea that I would travel abroad, that I'd be circling the globe so often. It was just a deep motivation to want the world to see God and be able to experience that level of consciousness, the consciousness of the One who removes our sorrow.
www.bkwsu.com
November 2007 
permarshall
Access: Public
