Philippines ( Asia ): The Brahma Kumaris Philippines, on its first national public program for 2022 invited BK Denise Lawrence, an esteemed teacher of the Brahma Kumaris spiritual university for more than 50 years who is currently based in southern France.
Butterfly: A Metaphor
The image of the metamorphosis of the caterpillar into the butterfly, simple as it may sound, is actually a series of crises. The chrysalis is the deeper secret internal world of transformation. It is a very fragile subtle state where everything is totally melted down leading to a very upsetting feeling that causes anxiety.
An interesting word that describes this transformation in Hindi language is PARIVARTAN, which means a return to the pristine original condition and this return takes place in the midst of massive and multiple crises. This image is quite relevant for us because it helps us to understand what kind of a mindset we need to adopt in order to get through this crisis.
What happens inside that chrysalis is that there is something pulling up inside the insect which is future change. Change is something that can only happen when there is an intense crisis. People are afraid of change because they don’t know it, because it is an uncharted territory.
The resistance that we are applying to the process of change actually takes away the energy that we need to get through the critical times and emerge like that beautiful butterfly. It is very important to build strength when going through critical times because the one who is strong can get through a crisis. Thus, meditation and spiritual study play an important role in determining the angle of change that one needs to work with. It draws spiritual power that cultivate adequate resilience to get through crisis and to protect us from losing energy. Meditation is so helpful in giving power into the self through connection with the divine source.
How do you help a family member overcome cynicism and weakness?
It’s really the image of the conflict going on inside that caterpillar. I think it’s just very important for those in the family who want to be part of that butterfly ,who want to be part of that change to allow it within their own selves because it’s a very powerful influence. We also have to bring in a little bit the idea of the law of karma and the law of karma is that whatever you do whatever you think,
whatever you say, there are consequences. If you think, speak and act in such a way that you’ll be producing that positive future and that you have faith in goodness within your own self and that you’re not going to allow the negativity of others to take over, then you become the agent for change. It does require action. We cannot do this passively, we have to act. But there’s a difference
between acting to bring things into a positive condition and being so preoccupied with resisting the negative things that you give your power to the negativity and that makes it stronger.
The program can still be viewed at https://youtu.be/u9zB6rbXbQk under Brahma Kumaris PH
