Dadi Janki (born in 1916) is the spiritual head of Brahma Kumaris spiritual organization. Dadi Janki Teachings is a collection of thoughts and sayings of Dadi Janki, a true Raj Yogi. This collection of 108 Teachings are mainly from newspapers, books, magazines and talks.
Those whose thoughts are filled with determination find everything to be possible.
Those whose thoughts are filled with determination find everything to be possible.
When discipline comes from commitment to a spiritual goal, it brings safety. It allows you to go on, to keep walking through the actions which will ultimately bring back your joy.
In the midst of uncertainty, keep determination in your thoughts and it will become a guiding light in front of you.
Battering at life from the outside, trying to change only what is visible, is inverted determination. When a quality of mind – peace, happiness, depth, purity – can remain still and uninterrupted by the bumps of life, that is true determination.
People need peace as much as they need food and shelter.
Peace is an energy created inside.
If I allow myself to experience worry, fear or sorrow, I will make myself restless and unhappy and the atmosphere around me will be filled with similar feelings. How does that help either me or others?
In contrast, if I free the self from these negative emotions, I will find myself having good thoughts, filled with positive feelings towards others. This will help to create a peaceful and loving atmosphere, even when harmony has been absent.
My experience tells me that when I am able to stay free from sorrow, fear and worry, there are values in me that come to the fore and that will be used in my life practically, giving me much strength and power.
If my friends and relations do not choose to accompany me on my spiritual path, why should I chase after them trying to get them to change? They won’t listen to me anyway, no matter what I say. A better approach is to focus on my own change process. A river doesn’t need to urge people into drinking its water. People are naturally drawn to it, provided its waters are pure, free-flowing and sweet. In the same way, become so attractive through your spiritual efforts that everyone will want to join you, naturally.
We are hindered in this by attachments, which tend to make us forget that our well-being is not dependent on others at all, that we each have the capacity to flow and sparkle in our own unique way. Having forgotten this, we developed the habit of turning to others to feel good about ourselves. Using other people in this way is a deceptive source of well-being, and this deception leads to a great deal of pain. We can change this habit by keeping an eye on our aim. If we don’t, our spiritual powers will be destroyed again and again as we follow ourselves to come under the influence of limited emotions. Instead of losing out like this, we should pay more attention to what we are doing. We will only be able to make others free when we free ourselves first.
Inner satisfaction brings creativity.
We often find ourselves falling into a routine. We perform tasks the way we have always done them – often for no particular reason. Life becomes monotonous, and we find it difficult to become inspired.
Only when I am happy within myself can I bring creativity to my life. Even though I have to do a number of routine jobs each day, they do not have to become dull – when I am happy, I can think of innovative ways to doing them. Even small changes have a big impact, and I will soon be inspired to make even larger changes to challenge me further.
Real progress can be experienced when we face obstacles.
When I come across a difficulty, I often see it as something negative. Instead of seeing it as threat, I need to regard each new obstacle as an opportunity to stretch myself and develop my skills. If I only attempt things I know I can do easily, I will not experience progress. I need to keep in mind that to develop I need to experience challenges on a regular basis.
Patience brings harmonious relationships.
Misunderstandings can cause problems in a relationship, especially when we make little effort to understand another person and their point of view. We tend to become impatient and do not listen to what the other person is saying. Instead, we make assumptions, which are often wrong and cause further misunderstandings.
When I have a difference of opinion with someone, I need to make time to listen to what the other person has to say. Only then will I be able to understand their point of view. This practice will help me clear up misunderstandings I have with others and bring harmony to my relationships.
When you know the self in this way, then you can know others. ‘I should be understood’ changes to ‘I should understand’. Not, ‘They should change’, but ‘I will give what is needed’. Patience, peace and maturity develop. Spiritual tolerance cultivates innate wisdom, the kind you can’t get from books.
A major obstacle to spiritual progress is one’s own negative nature. The root cause of this kind of nature is limited consciousness. This root has to be eliminated completely because obstacles that arise from a negative nature will prevent you from taking power from God.
Power from God is received through the awareness and faith that God belongs to you. A negative nature could destroy even this faith.
Limited thinking should simply not be tolerated.
There should be total cleanliness inside. For this you need to be very honest about the obstacles you are facing, because it is easy to deceive yourself.
Limited thinking will be transformed when you spend time in the awareness of your true nature of peace and in being of help to others.
To be wise is to use the treasure of time well.
We are all aware of the physical resources we have and usually make good use of them. But we are often careless about the resource time. We tend to believe that using time well means planning the day and working according to that plan – and we manage to do that most of the time. But all of us find that a large amount of time goes to waste.
Using time well means being aware of where I am investing it. When I invest time in creating positive thoughts, words, and actions, then I save lots of time. And I am sure to get the best out of this investment, too – I find myself gaining good returns from everything I do.
Our problem has been that whilst living in this body of five elements, our mental energies gradually become trapped by our physical surroundings, including the body. We lost sight of our divinity. Consequently, those original qualities diminished. To the extent that we lost them, the gap tended to be filled by five negative tendencies or vices – lust, anger, attachment, greed and ego.
These vices are not original to us, but they took more and more of a grip on our consciousness as our actions moved progressively further away from our true and original nature.
We live increasingly from outside to in, such that the world outside eventually so dominated our thinking as to obscure or block our awareness of the inner being.
When I have the experience that I am, in truth, a divine being, distinct from the body, the original qualities of the soul re-emerge naturally. They become fully active again.
The good atmosphere is created through our mental attitude.
To be honest with oneself is the only way to progress.
When we do not perform well, it is tempting to make excuses. One of the hardest things to learn is how to acknowledge our weaknesses. Until we are able to do this, we will continue deluding ourselves that we are something we are not, and we will never reach our full potential.
Never miss any opportunity for doing service. To do service is to increase distribute one's fortune and to become worthy of receiving God's love.
When I am totally honest with myself, I will be able to see my weakness as clearly as in the mirror. Once I have accepted that I need to make changes, I will become motivated to succeed. Each small success will inspire me to the next step and I will continue to progress.
When the mind is strong external difficulties stay external – they do not shake from inside and do not rob a person of stability.
Internally, people do create many difficult situations for themselves. Arrogance, for example, makes you feel disrespect and causes you sorrow. Arrogance brings a desire for regard and respect and when you don’t receive these, you feel it to be an insult.
To become upset, or to be unhappy about something, even to have an off-mood, is like putting a drop of poison into a pot of nectar. It spoils everything. It doesn’t just take away peace, it brings unhappiness.
People feel sorrow when they are holding on to situations. They forget that these situations are external to them. All it takes is to let go. Once they achieve this, they become happy and peaceful again and can begin to smile. How often have we looked back on some previous trouble and wondered what all the fuss was about.
Truth brings simplicity.
Truth never needs to be proved.
Every day you should ask yourself how much you have thought of yourself in your essenceful form, that is, as a spiritual being, an eternal child of the Divine. This is the method to increase not just your awareness, but your spiritual beauty as well. This makes problem-solving easy.
The trick to problem-solving is to get to the root of a problem before it even shows up.
This requires virtues such as objectivity, clarity and honesty, because the solution to all problems is Truth.
Truth means your spirituality; that is, your essence – the way something is before attitudes and opinions are added. This truth will bring you closer to God, and His pure influence will allow you to perceive the essence of any problem easily.
Working on a problem at the level of its essence is a beautiful experience.
This beauty has transformative effect, not just on you and the problem, but also on the ones who cause the problems.
Truth is always revealed in the right place, at the right moment. We don’t need to be concerned about proving it. We need only be concerned with being it and living it. Trying to prove truth reveals stubbornness, and is often counterproductive.
When someone does not believe what I say, I need to ask myself whether I truly believe in it. If I am sure it is true, then I need not be concerned about proving it to others. Only when I doubt something will I wish to prove to everyone.
When we understand the power of truth, life becomes simple. Falsehood only leads to artificiality and complications. If we have the power of truth within us and live with it, then we will never want to show off, nor become dependent on the compliment of others. Then life becomes easy.
If I ever find myself having negative thoughts because of my expectations of others, I should ask myself what I expect from them that I do not have within myself. The more I learn the art of connecting to my own innate truth, the easier it will to keep my life free from complications.
To recognize others’ needs and to give unconditionally is to be truly happy.
We expect a great deal from others and often forget what we have to offer them in return. We find it difficult to give ourselves unconditionally, and instead tend to think about what we are going to get out of giving. By focusing on what we hope to gain, we lose the joy of giving, and when we don’t get what we expected experience negative feelings.
There is true joy in giving. When I realize I am able to help someone, I will give them what they need without expecting anything in return. I will learn the pleasure of giving unconditionally, using my gifts to benefit others. This will put me get in touch with my inner self and help me experience true happiness.
Dadi Janki Teachings on Tolerance
Tolerance is based on going beyond the superficial things that divide us. It is the result of turning within and coming to know the Self.
If I can deal with my own ego, then my own anger can be resolved. This goes a long way in resolving external issues, too. With my own ego out of the way, I will be able to handle anything. Otherwise, it is just the same old thing – you versus me, yours versus mine, etc. – intolerance.
If I am unselfish and honest in my heart, and am concerned about other’s needs, then I will be full enough to give.
Dadi Janki Teachings on Contentment
First of all, understand discontentment. Discontent is caused by constant multiplication of desires.
One desire leads to another until there is never a moment when you feel fulfilled.
Desires are like traps.
Because of endless desires relationships have become very fragile. There is a lot of irritability an anger due to selfish attachments (to possessions and people) and pride (attachment to a particular image of the Self). Where there is discontentment, the heart can never be still because wasteful, negative thoughts destroy peace.
Contentment is the result of spiritual awareness which allows you to recognize negativity. It changes your pattern of thinking. As you tap your huge inner potential, all desires are fulfilled and you regain your Peace.
Dadi Janki on How to Overcome Obstacles on the Path
Obstacles are inevitable so don’t get upset any form of worry erodes your strength.
Never see a situation as difficult.
Never ask, “Why has this happened?”
Never feel you’re on you own.
Remember god is always with you god is give you support.
Take time to go into silence. Silence stops confusion. Your power will be restored.
Many obstacles occur because of your own mistakes. Don’t become someone else’s obstacle because of your own.
Dadi Janki Teachings on Inspiring Others
Teaching other is best done with subtlety, explaining in such a way that the mind opens because the heart has understood.
Aim to inspire, rather than teach.
Those who trying to inspire must believe that my love for those I teach will do that; my love for god will do that; to the extent that I am soul-conscious when teaching, so others will have this experience.
Never force anyone to make spiritual effort. When the mind opens, this happens naturally.
Avoid making comparisons. It creates loss of hope.
Harbor no ill will and never try to score a point.
Be like the parent whose love for the child is what makes him grow.
Dadi Janki on Comparison with others
Comparing your progress in self-development with that of others will leave you vulnerable on three counts: You will either feel inferior, superior, or impressed. All three of these states are dangerous because they disregard the underlying principle of our true connection with each other – mutual love and regard, based on independently generated self-esteem.
To protect yourself from this vulnerability, make sure that your attention remains turned within, towards the spiritual experience.
Staying in your elevated self-respect will help you remain undisturbed by others around you. Keep asking yourself, ‘Who am I?’ “How would my spiritual personality respond to this event or person?” This will help to center you further, and allow you to enjoy the successful efforts of others.
Dadi Janki Teachings on Trust
Trust is essential if you want to help people. There are two aspects to trust – your own trust in others and their trust in you.
People will naturally start trusting you when they see you overcoming problems in a reliable and constant way.
However, a more powerful and long-term way of gaining people’s trust is to give them the experience of your trust in them.
This is an art which can be cultivated as follows: never listen to gossip and never foster it yourself; form neither judgments nor opinions; rather, be spiritual and clean in your feelings. Learn to develop good wishes for others. This will be the ultimate measure for your ability to trust.