The legacy of Brahma Baba
Brahma Baba was a tireless server. He hand-wrote letters to early students who were far away just so they could read the day's lesson.
A humble teacher and an embodiment of experience who taugh these young volunteers everything they needed to learn in life. From wisdom to relationships, from cooking to cleaning.
Always flexible, he was child-like when with children, and spoke profound wisdom with the elderly.
Brahma Baba foresaw that core valuesbased on traditionally feminine qualities – patience, tolerance, sacrifice, kindness and love – would increasingly become the foundation of progress in personal growth, human relations and the development of caring communities.
Dada Lekraj soon became known as Brahma Baba. He spent the rest of his life bringing people of all cultural, socio-economic and religious backgrounds together to rediscover and develop the spiritual dimensions of their personal lives and to integrate this into their world. He insisted that his role was that of a simple instrument and not that of a guru. He recognised God, the Being of Light, the Benevolent One, as the primary inspiration for Brahma Kumaris and their work.
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Brahma Baba became the instrument to uplift thousands with a special virtue of generosity. He surrendered his wealth for the establishment and sustenance of the young organization then. He especially educated the mothers, and the young women who did not receive formal schooling as it was a tradition in those days. He helped others develop their strengths by always highlighting their virtues, not their weakness. He sustained any soul who came in front of him with his wisdom, love and respect.
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Brahma Baba was a true visionary and a world server who envisioned a time when foreigners would come to Mount Abu to study Raja Yoga too. He only had good wishes and pure feelings for everyone, and often thought of bringing benefit in the foreign lands. He would wake up at two o-clock in the morning for his deep meditation where he envisioned spreading rays of peace and love to the whole word. Anyone who came to Mount Abu for the first time was automatically drawn by his drishti or his spiritual vision and made him belong to them.
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Establishing the Brahma Kumaris had its share of challenges especially from the community that did not quite understand what was going on. Despite oppositions from families, Brahma Baba remained a carefree emperor. Instead of asking why certain things happened, he put a full-stop in every situation by thinking about its benefit. His faith in God as his one strength and support enabled him to be constantly unshakeable. He became a living example for others to follow. To this day, stories of his special qualities and how he touched lives even with his silent presence is told in books, films and articles in the organization.
In May 1950 he moved with the other founding members from Karachi, Pakistan, to Mt. Abu in India, where he remained until his passing in 1969. Every year on January 18, the BKs hold a special and very powerful day of silence and remembrance in honor of Brahma Baba.
Brahma Kumaris means ‘daughters of Brahma'. Some of the original jewels that started the organization and took on leadership roles when Brahma Baba passed on in 1969 are photographed here. The Dadis or elderly sisters, now in their 90s, always full of love for one another and for world service, always greeted by thousands wherever they go.