● <B> What is the Brahma Kumaris and what is its raison d?être?</B>

Brahma Kumaris is a non-governmental organization. Its headquarters are located in Mount Abu, Rajasthan. It started in 1937 in Karachi, Pakistan but moved to India in 1950. The founder of Brahma Kumaris, Leckraj Kripalani, had a vision of a future world that was changing fast due to environmental problems and scientific developments, such as the atom bomb, as well as the degradation of ethical and moral values. He saw all these changes so he became an instrument to establish life values.

<I>«We?re not interested in pushing or brainwashing people. We?re available to whoever understands that something is wrong and would like to find the right path.»</I>

● <B>What exactly are those values?</B>

The first one is peace. Nowadays, peace is a very rare commodity, be it on the indivi-dual level, national or international levels. His first interest was to establish peace. The second value is love, which is so badly misunderstood, be it individual or universal love. He saw the world as a global family. That was his conception of love. The third one is happiness. If you are not happy in life then it has no value. He thought that happiness can?t just be boiled down to monetary or physical things. Happiness is all about giving. It?s a universal way of thinking. Leckraj Kripalani taught a meditation technique known as positive meditation, or Raja Yoga, which aims to show people how to think positively about the world. Raja in India means ?king? and, in the context of this meditation, it means ?king of self?. If you are not able to rule over yourself, if you are the slave of your own desires, you are lost. Raja Yoga thus teaches people how to control themselves. The founder found that these teachings could be dispensed by Sisters. He thus recommended that the organization be run by Brahma Kumaris, which means The Sisters. Today Brahma Kumaris has 900 000 dedicated members in 120 countries stri-ving for peace day and night.

● <B> The media plays an important role in society on many different levels. It seems however to often focus on the bad news. What is your interpretation of this?</B>

I am a journalist by profession. I spent more than 30 years in the industry. It is true that we are taught that good news is not really news. But, because of the growing competition in the industry, the media can no longer survive by only giving the bad news. In India I have noticed this shift. Media is increasingly talking about spirituality and values.

● <B> Let?s talk about technology. Many people think that technology is the only hope for a planet that is increasingly suffering from environmental problems, such as climate change. On the other hand, many of these problems have arisen because of technology. Do you think that technology can solve our problems?</B>

We have to be very clear about this. Scientists are dedicated to making the world a better place. They try to help humanity. On the other hand, politicians and power-hungry people, try to use scientists and their inventions to negative ends. Unfortunately, we began exploiting the environment long before we understood how it works. Nowadays, everyone is paying for the exploitation of nature. Technology itself is not going to change that. Yet we can use technology to reach the maximum number of people to caution and tell them to strive for spirituality and peace. Technology is always created for the greater good, but it is often used to do bad things. India is facing these sorts of problems with the nuclear treaty.

● <B> Do you hope that Brahma Kumaris will gradually achieve the critical mass necessary to influence the world system? </B>

I wouldn?t say that. We?re not interested in pushing or brainwashing people. We?re available to whoever understands that something is wrong and would like to find the right path. We?re more like a humanitarian organization. It?s very simple. Our interest is in personal peace. If we can help someone to achieve peace we have succeeded.

● <B> How does one achieve a state of inner peace?</B>

The first thing is lifestyle. People lack the proper discipline. Then comes food. People care more about satisfying their palate than looking after their health. The third thing is work. We find that many people lead very stressful lives because of their jobs. There?s a lot of exploitation. Nobody is interested about the person behind the employee; it?s all about the company?s progress. Be happy and make others happy. That?s the aim of life.