I came to the Brahma Kumaris at the age of 13. I recognized that if God, the Father of the World, is also the Benefactor, then that made us the children of the Benefactor. Knowing this transformed my feelings about myself. I felt I needed to become an instrument to bring benefit to the whole world.
Brahma Baba once asked me: „Those who consider themselves to be instruments to bring benefit to the world, what would be their characteristics?” I gave many replies, but Baba’s answer was they would have courage and mercy. To inculcate such characteristics, one needs the power to realize spiritual truths. Selfless service is done on the basis of deep realization and not on the basis of anything external done for the sake of recognition and praise. To sustain this awareness, the subtle, incognito effort needed is to strengthen the basis for actions through practical experiences rooted in the realization of spiritual truths.
From the very beginning, my attitude was one of courage — to face the challenges which we encountered during the early stages of the establishment of the Organization and which continued throughout the years at many different levels. So it was indeed an honor for me when Baba gave me the title, „Lioness of Punjab,” when I was appointed as the Chief Coordinator of service activities in that region of India.
Looking back in time, most of who I am today rests in the early days of my spiritual training and the teachings which I was exposed to and lessons learned at many practical levels.
In the early days, we used to observe long periods of meditation, and Brahma Baba himself would lead us into in-depth experiences at two-hour intervals. The focus would be on how to be in a spiritual awareness while doing actions throughout the day. Various topics relating to how to perform quality actions would be explained, and then we would have to experiment with these ideas in silence. If there was a need to communicate something important to one another, it would be written on a chalkboard. This practice enabled us to understand what it actually means to stay in silence from words and to be in the remembrance of God while performing actions at the same time. This was a very effective method to accumulate the power of spirituality within the self. This power of silence was very important for us in order to face difficulties and obstacles encountered in daily life.
During the partition of India and Pakistan, there was a lot of disturbance outside our building, but Brahma Baba would divert our attention from what was going on outside by encouraging us to practice silent meditation or yoga. This practice gave us the experience of peace, love, happiness, and power on the inside and strength to face and tolerate what was happening on the outside without fear. There was an example when one of our sisters came out of the building and was confronted by a soldier who was about to attack her. She fearlessly looked at him radiating vibrations of her inner spirituality, and this served to protect her as the soldier ran away as if disempowered and helpless. This scene demonstrated to all of us how obstacles would melt away with the power of yoga and silence. Brahma Baba prepared us in this way, and even after the partition, we stayed on in Karachi and received a lot of cooperation from the newly appointed officials. However, our families had moved to India and so were very concerned that their daughters and sons were left behind in Pakistan. They wrote to Brahma Baba requesting him to relocate to India with their assistance. Brahma Baba then sent Didi Manmohini over to India and told her to find a place where the environment was conducive to silent meditation. After looking at many places, finally, Didi wrote to Baba telling him of the sacred and holy environment of Mt. Abu.
As we were preparing to leave Pakistan, the officers met with Baba and told him that he should not leave, as it was because of the collective meditation of his „young spiritual family” that Pakistan remained the „pure land.” On the day of our departure, before boarding the ship, the officers came to say goodbye to us, and so Baba made us stand in a line and sing them a farewell song: „Neither will I be separated from you, nor you be separated from me.” There was one time during the journey when it became very stormy and the ship began to rock violently, making a number of us very ill. At this time, in order to comfort us, Baba called us out of our rooms and had us sit on the deck and practice meditation. The stormy conditions gradually receded.
I have witnessed the power of yoga working in many different situations.
(Excerpted from a lecture given on March 26, 1989, by Dadi Chandramani)
Rajyogini Dadi Chandermani Ji was one of the founding members of Prajapita Brahma Kumaris Ishwariya Vishwa Vidyalaya—a world wide organisation working in the field of spiritual upliftment of the humanity by imparting Godly wisdom and Rajyoga meditation with its international headquarters at Mount Abu (Rajasthan) India.
She came in contact with Prajapita Brahma Baba—the corporeal founder of this Ishwariya Vishwa Vidyalaya at a tender age of 15 and was impressed by the teachings of the institution. She was chosen as one of the faculty members when Brahma Baba established one boarding school for little children to prepare them as instruments for New World Order.
Later on, when Godly Services were started, Rjayogini Dadi Chandermani became a powerful instrument and established a number of branches—especially in north India. As such she was made the Zonal In charge of Punjab Zone comprising Punjab, Haryana, Himachal, Jammu & Kashmir states. She traveled throughout India a number of times to disseminate the Godly Knowledge. She also traveled some other countries with the same object. In the year 1983, she was made Joint Administrative Head of the Ishwariya Vishwa Vidyalaya and on the establishment of Gyansarovar—Academy for a Better World, she was mad the in charge of this prestigious complex.
At the time of her demise, she was supervising Godly Services in Karnataka and Indore zones also. She was also the chairperson of Social Service Wing of Rajyoga Education and Research Foundation besides founding member of Brahma Kumaris Educational Society. She was also one of the governing members of Ishwariya Vishwa Vidyalaya.
Dadi Chandramani Ji left her mortal body on 11th March, 1997 at Vardani Bhawan, Bangalore.