More than 145 people gathered together to experience God’s power and God’s blessings through the special celebration of Shivratri. Held at the Watertown Free Public Library, this event was organized by the Brahma Kumaris Learning Center for Peace in Watertown, MA. The program, a unique blend of cultural programs, experience-sharing, meditation, and food, provided insight into how the Light of Truth shines on the soul and shows us our own innate worth and the true inner beauty of others.

The keynote speaker for the evening was Sister Kala Iyengar, who serves as the director of Peace Village Learning and Retreat Center in upstate New York(www.peace-village.org). An M.B.B.S degree holder and formerly a trained pediatrician by profession, she has practiced and taught Raja Yoga meditation for 22 years.

She shared her message and personal experiences about her relationship with the Divine Light that one can refer to as God or the Supreme Being. She said that “Shiva Ratri is celebrated in India and other countries in a very auspicious way to commemorate incarnation of God Shiva.  There are 12 Jyothirlingams in India that go by various names and forms. God Shiva is really a Jyothirbindu, or simply a point of light. In order to show our love, devotion and appreciation, we adopted to physical means to remember beautifully what we have experienced. We replicated those experiences as different Jyothirlingams all over India.

God Shiva is the Supreme Soul. He incarnates at the darkest time of the night to bring light of knowledge to the world. He is a magnificent Point of Light. It is not the physical light but the light of spiritual wisdom, the Light of Inner Knowing, and the Light of Truth which we seem to have forgotten.

Firstly, He came to this world to give us the sense of being his children.  Tvameva Mata Cha Pita Tvameva. God doesn’t like the title of God as much as He likes the title of Father and Mother. We call ourselves Children of God but we have forgotten to be children of God.  Ideally, parents take care of children’s needs.  As children, we are able to let go of our frustrations, guilt from the past, and worries of the future.  As His children, we become a family – a Human Family. As the Father and Mother, he instills this sense of love, care, protection, security and trust so that we can start relating to each other as a Family. We then treat each other Brothers and Sisters.

Secondly, He comes to educate us as a Teacher, orient us again to certain basic spiritual principles that allow us to live in peace and happiness. This knowledge or education is all about getting in touch with ourselves as spiritual beings as that child in me, that soul in me. He teaches us the method to remember Him in a way that we can feel and experience His love, His power, His qualities.  We begin to understand how far we moved away from ‘Soul Consciousness’.  He came to create this university at Brahma Kumaris to make us into the highest caliber, happiest, and the most peaceful human beings.

Thirdly,  He came to lay the path for us as a Satguru to give the direction to our lives.  We have lost our way and someone needs to put us back on the track. Satguru is the highest one who can take us back to liberation and salvation which really means he can take us back to where we came from. He gives us these set of directions that is called Shrimat. Shrimat Bhagavat Gita – Direction given by the Supreme God as a sweet song. He needs a human instrument to do all this. The presence of a Nandigan in front of Shivalingam in temples symbolizes that He uses an instrument. Similarly Shiva is shown riding on a bull. At Brahma Kumaris,  our founder Bramha Baba served as that instrument not just to bring that knowledge but also to live it and then handed it over to many senior yogis in the organization.

God Shiva, the Supreme Soul, is our Father, Mother, Teacher, Satguru, Friend, and our Beloved. It is this relationship that can transform our lives. We have to bring our mind to be extremely positive to feel that relationship with God and slow down from time to time to experience the original qualities of the soul. He teaches us Raja Yoga Meditation - Remembrance of God as a Soul. “

At the end of her talk, Sis. Kala conducted a powerful guided meditation and gave the experience of inner power and bliss by helping the attendees connect with their inner self and then connecting to the Supreme.

Other performances included a children’s song (Shiv Aarti), two dance performances of “Purvarangam” by Isha Mukherjeeand “Jatiswaram” by Aditi Patil, Shruthi Datari,Sushmitha Datari, Nitya Yelamanchili

An entertaining skit shedding light on Shivratri by explaining the true significance of the rituals of staying awake and fasting during Shiva Ratri was also staged. Also an amazing video of the 12 sacred Jyothirlingams in India was shown.

For more information about the programs offered by the Brahma Kumaris Learning Center for Peace, or to learn the simple but powerful method of Raja Yoga meditation, contact 617 926 1230 or email boston@us.bkswu.org or visit our website at www.bkboston.org

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