Yogi in town with message to ‘anyone who has been strong for too long’
No one GOPI PATEL: “Sprituality is very natural. Just allow yourself to step into it.”
LIFE, like mathematics, is an exact science, says Gopi Patel, a senior Raja Yoga teacher with the Brahma Kumaris, the world’s largest spiritual movement led by women. “All things add up. There is a reason that certain people and situations are in your life, and a reason that they stay or leave when they do. Everyone grows out of certain things and into new ones.”
This world being home to humankind, the same mechanics move planet Earth. Most everything that happens is an indication of people, systems, and cultures reacting to change, growing out of old ways and thinking. In light of current global events, BK Gopi, also known in Brahma Kumaris as Sister Gopi, is tracing the process full cycle, from old to new and back, in three gatherings this week.
She is in the country to conduct two public programs and a national retreat for students of Raja Yoga Meditation. Invitations to the programs carried a stirring message: “To anyone who has been strong for too long: You need no longer shoulder the burden of overwhelming change alone.”
Reclaim peace
Brahma Kumaris Philippines has announced in social media that the talks will each be a call to reclaim peace, love and joy in these times of uncertainty “by reconnecting with the Source of strength that never runs out.” As this teacher’s reputation goes, the rich concept is bound to be deconstructed in the familiar way that her repeat audiences have come to look forward to —with straightforward and absorbing explanations.
In one television interview, she started to answer a question about corruption and conflict with an intentional diversion into greed versus thoughtful choices. “How many of us stop to consider the almost imperceptible level of greed sparked by the simplest decisions that we make daily, for instance, opening a packed refrigerator to fetch a snack?”
For this spiritual teacher and traveler, such detailed attention to the workings of the mind and knowledge of the self started at age eight. She was born and raised in Africa, educated in the United Kingdom (where she studied to be a barrister) and India. She found Raja Yoga by example. “My parents, who were practitioners, brought me to the headquarters of Brahma Kumaris in Rajasthan (India). That first experience of meditation opened a whole new world for me, a world of choice. I understood how much power I had.”
The practice, she quickly discerned, was “less of the ritualism associated with mainstream religions, and more of connection with the self and God.” As she matured in the discipline, she understood spirituality more intimately.
GOPI PATEL: “There so much richness in knowing what you’re actually made of.”
Parallel dimension
“Spirituality is a parallel dimension, very natural if you just allow yourself to step into it. ‘Human being’ means I am a being that experiences the human dimension. I am a soul, a light, in this body. There is so much richness in that knowledge alone!”
“Soul consciousness” is the all-encompassing term for the set of principles that binds the discipline, she said during the same TV interview. And again with the deconstruct: “When you love yourself enough to be with yourself, you will take frequent tiny moments during the day to allow peace to come inside. At day’s end, you reflect on your thoughts, find the value in them. You are grateful, equipped. That is beyond an emotional state, which is like the surface waves of the ocean. Where you want to be, is in the depths of the ocean, the bosom of stillness and wholeness. That is the home of the soul, where it finds God.”
Her words are not always this intense; they can be humorous as much as swift and surgical.
“You get only what you give.”
“Death is just a change of name and address.”
Wealth of experience
Singer-songwriter Timmy Cruz will perform in the Makati program, “One God, One Light.”
The ease and clarity of Sister Gopi’s discourse can belie the wealth of her experience as an educator. She has spoken in global gatherings, including the UN World Conference of Ministers Responsible for Youth, and the CHOGM (Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting) Youth Forum. She currently heads the Environment, Health and Safety initiative of the Brahma Kumaris headquarters in Mount Abu, Rajasthan.
Over the last 30 years, she has either initiated or coordinated projects exploring and promoting the inner principles in leadership, among them seminars and retreats for the empowerment of young women; “Choose, Change, Become,” a training program for young leaders; “The Feminine Renaissance,” a series of programs for women in leadership positions; and “The Future of Power” dialogues with global leaders that aim to raise the awareness of responsible leadership.
BK Gopi discusses “Stability in Times of Uncertainty” on Tuesday, May 12, 2 p.m., at Palmer Hall, Hotel Tropika, Km. 7, Lanang, Davao City. The message: “Even the strongest storms will not shake the faithful soul.” (For queries and confirmation, text or call 0999 995 3862 or 0991 431 6553.)
On Thursday, May 14, she talks about “rediscovering that version of yourself that was never lost” in the program titled “One God, One Light,” 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Makati Sports Club, L. P. Leviste cor. Gallardo Streets, Salcedo Village, Makati. The message: “Reconnect with the Divine Source of All Love, Strength, and Happiness.” With the special participation of singer/songwriter Timmy Cruz. (WhatsApp/Viber 0917 834 0118.)
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