Eighty Years, A Gentle Reaffirmation: Life Becomes Easy in God’s Hands
By Raj Shah
After a long time, Aruna and I decided to visit the Brahma Kumaris Meditation Center in Miami. This was not a routine visit—we made a special point to go there on my 80th birthday to seek blessings and spiritual strength from the Brahma Kumari sisters. On such a milestone day we felt a more profound need to pause, reflect, and reconnect with the Divine. There could be no better place than a space filled with peace, purity, and elevated spiritual vibrations.
What made the moment even more meaningful was when Sister Wady Ben gently reminded me of something I had almost forgotten—that on my last birthday, I had begun a one-week introductory course with the Brahma Kumaris. That reminder felt powerful. It was as if my spiritual journey had quietly come full circle. A year ago, I had taken a small but sincere step toward spiritual understanding. Now, on my 80th birthday, I was being reminded to keep going down that path with more awareness and dedication.
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The Brahma Kumari sisters greeted us with warmth, love, and real love. Receiving a special blessing and a thoughtful gift on this occasion deeply touched me. In that sacred atmosphere, I did not feel the weight of eighty years; instead, I felt light, peaceful, and deeply grateful. It felt as though the Divine was gently reminding me that life, when lived with spiritual awareness, only becomes richer and more meaningful with time.
During our visit, we had the privilege of listening to a Murli shared by Sister Wady Ben. The words were simple, yet profoundly transformative:
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“May you become free from care and worry and make anything difficult become easy by remaining aware of the Father’s hand and His company.”
The message is simple and easy to understand with a beautiful analogy. When a child holds the hand of an elder, there is an immediate sense of safety. The child does not worry about where the path leads or what obstacles may come. That trust removes fear. In the same way, in this alokik ( Divine, Beyond the physical world ) life, we must constantly remain aware that our hand is in the hand of the Divine—BapDada (Brahma Kumaris use the term BapDada to refer to the combined form of the incorporeal God (Shiv) and the founder of the movement, Brahma Baba (Lekhraj Kripalani). When we truly comprehend that our life is in His hands, everything transforms. We stop carrying unnecessary burdens. We stop worrying about outcomes. We become light.
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This message resonated deeply with me, especially when I reflected on the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita, where Bhagavan Krishna guides Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra. Arjuna, overwhelmed by confusion and emotional conflict, feels unable to act. Krishna does not remove the battlefield; instead, He transforms Arjuna’s understanding.
Krishna’s timeless teaching, the Bhagavad Gita Chapter 18 Sloka 66,
सर्वधर्मान्परित्यज्य मामेकं शरणं व्रज |
अहं त्वां सर्वपापेभ्यो मोक्षयिष्यामि मा शुच: || 18.66 ||
sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śharaṇaṁ vraja
ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo mokṣhayiṣhyāmi mā śhuchaḥ
Abandon all varieties of dharmas and simply surrender unto Me alone. I shall liberate you from all sinful reactions; do not fear.
This teaching echoes the same truth we heard in the Murli. Surrender is not weakness; it is the highest strength. It is the realization that we are never alone. When we give our burdens to the Divine, we are not fleeing life; we are letting it guide us.
Both teachings remind us of a profound truth: life becomes heavy when we try to control everything, and it becomes light when we trust the Divine. When we hold the “Father’s hand,” or follow Krishna’s guidance, even the most difficult situations begin to feel manageable.
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As Aruna and I left the meditation center that day, we carried more than just blessings—we carried a renewed awareness. The challenges of life had not disappeared, but they no longer felt overwhelming. There was a quiet confidence, a deep sense of being protected and guided.
On my 80th birthday, this became my greatest gift—not just the blessings and the thoughtful present, but the realization that my spiritual journey, which I had consciously begun a year ago, continues with grace. When we remain aware of the divine presence—whether we call Him BapDada or Krishna—we discover that we never walk alone, and what once seemed difficult becomes beautifully easy.
