Nashauna Drummond, Acting Lifestyle Coordinator

Masana DeSouza says she has found her true purpose in life. - photo by Nashauna Drummond

Dressed in white, she exudes the peace she speaks of and a shadow of the other hat she wears as a qualified nurse. Surrounded by sterile white walls, a fan oscillates quietly in the centre of the room of the Brahma Kumaris world spiritual organisation on Paddington Terrace in Barbican. The piercing eyes of the founder of the Brahma Kamaris movement, Brahma Baba, stares out from his black and white photograph on one wall.

Sitting beside me with a perennially calm expression is Masana DeSouza qualified nurse, midwife, mediator, facilitator, trainer and consultant. Born in England but raised in Jamaica, Masana has spent most of her professional life between these two countries. The daughter of Ivo DeSouza, who worked in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, she has lived in Canada, Trinidad, Venezuela and Guyana. After graduating from Immaculate Conception High School, she went to London and became a nurse and worked at Guy's Hospital. She then qualified as a midwife. Between 1974-75, she also worked as a flight attendant at Air Jamaica.

The world is a stage

Masana is able to have worked in all these different roles as well as being a mother and grandmother because, as she describes it, the world is a stage. "The world is a stage and as we enter different scenes, we have different costume changes." Two years ago, DeSouza became a Brahma Kumaris. "I was at a crossroads in my life. I was freelancing and the different heart works wasn't coming in; money I was owed wasn't coming in. I knew about Brahma Kumaris from I was in Jamaica and I always went to their talks or workshops and loved it. I had enough spiritual knowledge to be very quiet and still, and I knew if I stayed in this inner process I could know when to take another path. I came up with two requests and I never felt to ask God for anything before because I've always felt so blessed. I asked for a global spiritual family and to be able to deepen my present spiritual practice (of meditation) which had served me well up to that time."

Raja Yoga

This ancient form of meditation enables one to return to a state of inner peace, which Masana practises every day. "Through Raja Yoga meditation, I can focus on what I'm doing now while I'm still conscious of everything else around me." She explains that the original quality of every soul is uncon-ditional love, peace and purity of thoughts/mind, happiness, wisdom.

"Meditation enables us to tap in to these to improve our role in life and those we interact with. The five diseases of anger, desires, greed, attachment and ego can cause us to do things that are not in our greatest good or good of others."

Now she is confident she has found her true purpose in life. "Oh yes, I have found my purpose and when I did the course it confirmed it." DeSouza now lives in a way that benefits others.

Three missions

On this visit to Jamaica, she has three missions. The first is to introduce others to the Raja yoga meditation centre on Paddington terrace that has been in Jamaica for 18 years. She will be offering free meditation classes beginning today at 6:30 p.m. She notes that the classes will be based on 'Oasis of calm in the city".

"In the first half we will be dealing with issues that confront them or issues that may have arisen during the day. The second half on understanding what meditation is and get a chance to meditate in silence." Her second mission is working the centre for dispute resolution and introduce the Janki Foundation. "I'm a senior facilitator there and we offer highly professional participatory workshops on values in health care, a spiritual approach."

Finding inner peace

Masana DeSouza explaining the original qualities of the soul, which are unconditional love, peace, purity of thoughts/mind, happiness and wisdom. - photo by Nashauna Drummond

She notes that through meditation one can achieve this inner peace. If you ask most persons what they wanted the response would be 'inner peace'. She notes that, "Going within and getting to know who I truly am is how I can connect with my highest source."

She added that God is represented in every religion and it takes time and patience to be connected.

Her visit to the Brahma head office in India was an experience she describes as "heaven on earth, the atmosphere was very pure vibration, the quality of people there coming from open heart, very open mind, so many people making a difference in the world in such a quiet way, touched the heart and soul and everyone who works there and gives of their time and service free of charge."

This, she says, proves that everyone can live in unity and harmony, honouring our unique speciality without criticism internally or externally of others. At their large convention with about 20,000 persons in the hall at any one time, you can hear a pin drop.

"If I always do what I've always done, I'll always get the same result so if I want something different, do something different."

- Brahma Kumaris Masana DeSouza