Brahma Kumaris

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Prajapita Brahma Kumaris Ishwariya Vishwa Vidyalaya or Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University is considered a new religious movementaccording to John Wallis, Ph.D who refers to it as "a millenarian NRM (New Religious Movement)of Indian origin."However, other scholars refer to this movement as a religion or as stated by Professor R. Kranenborg “Brahma Kumaris is in fact a new religion, originating within Hinduism but going its own way.” The Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University (BKWSU) teaches a form of meditation denominated Raja Yoga. According to Kranenborg: “The entire way of the Brahma Kumaris can be characterized as raja yoga. One should not think here in the first place of classical yoga, as described by Patanjali. Central to raja yoga is that one becomes connected with the Highest Soul and with the highest in oneself. It is a way to the true self, which is to be expressed in everyday life."

Origins

The movement was founded in 1936 in Karachi by Lekh Raj Kripalani who was born in 1876. "When he wanted to withdraw from this life in 1936 so that he could devote himself to the spiritual life, he had a radical religious experience. He had the feeling that he had come into contact with the Supreme Soul or God; at the same time he experienced himself in this encounter as an eternal soul and the connectedness of that soul with the Supreme Soul.'”

History

The story of the Brahma Kumaris begins with its founder Dada Lekhraj, a retired diamond merchant, who had frequent visions "most importantly the destruction of the world and its population through war, strife and natural calamities and the emergence of a post-apocalyptic paradise to be populated by the chosen few. Understandably disoriented by these visions Lekhraj decided to sell his business to his partner and retire." The movement led by Lekhraj moved from Hyderabad to Karachi and then to their current location in Mt.Abu.

"it is unquestionably that from the very beginning of the life of the organization its male founder, Dada Lekhraj, gave special encouragement to women to develop their spiritual lives and take leadership positions. Not only did he devolve his fortune and the responsibilities of administering it upon a trust of nine women as the very act of foundation of the Brahma Kumaris, but when, some few years after his life transforming visions, he came to believe that celibacy was necessary to achieve salvation, he rejected the Hindu practice of restricting the elevated status of celibate seeker to men. Indeed much was made in the early life of the organization of the failure of so many Hindu men to live up to their traditional roles as "gurus" to their wives; correspondingly women enjoyed much appreciation as the ones who so often demonstrated their capacity for virtue as required by traditional family life (Chander 1981: 23). Anyone, regardless of sex, who was prepared to adopt chastity and follow purity rules concerning diet and alcohol was eligible to join Lekhraj and be a full member (a brahmin) of the organization. As it happened, a high proportion of early members were women and their children.

In the 1950s when Dada Lekhraj (or "Brahma Baba") judged the time right to send people out from the home community (by then in Mt. Abu, India) to open teaching centers elsewhere in India, it was young women he chose to spread the Brahma Kumaris teachings (cf. Chander 1981: 156). Today the leadership of the BK movement in India remains heavily female."''

The Indian version of the religion's history can be found at http://www.brahmakumaris.com/aboutus/history.htm
The international version can be found at http://www.bkwsu.org/whoweare/history.htm

Global Expansion

Brahma Kumaris World Outreach As expressed by researchers Nesbitt and Henderson: "Whaling (1995) and Walliss (1999, 2002) summarise the historical development and content of BK outreach at a local and national level in terms of the development of meditation, stress reduction and self-esteem classes, and associated work in prisons, homes for the elderly, drug clinics and hospitals; and they show the Brahma Kumaris increasing internationalisation and links with the United Nations and UNICEF, through their central role in such international projects as ‘The Million Minutes for Peace’, ‘Global Co-Operation for a better World’ and ‘Living Values: An Educational Initiative’ (Walliss,1999). The meditation practice, of verbalised reflection with one’s eyes open, is supported by a disciplined way of life (Howell, 1997, p. 151) and in the West this practice is linked with opportunities for empowerment and success in life." (Skultans,1993, p. 58; Walliss, 1999.")

Beliefs and Practices

It is important to recogize that Brahma Kumaris as a Spiritual University has a variety of membership patterns thus, there is a different type of "identity negotiation" (term coined by Wallis) beliefs and practices engaged in by individuals in relationship with the University. Wallis in his article "Reflexive Traditions New Religious Movements and the 'Negotiation' of Identity" recognizes four different types of members in Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University:
1) Instrumental users: Individuals drawn to the University through what they perceive as tangible benefits through their life in the "here and now" usually emotionally or physically related issues.

2) Eclectic users:individuals looking for "self development" or "self-spirituality", there is a spiritual quest behind their association.

3) Spiritual searchers: Individuals who feel belong to the spiritual path, however; their involvement with the University grew out of sense of disillusionment with conventional religiosity.

4) Interpretative drifters: Individuals originally involved due to instrumental reasons, however; "gradually discovered that the ideas are true." (Luhrmann, 1994:124 as quoted by Wallis.)

For this topic, the outline given by Professor Kranenborg will be closely followed: In his article "Brahma Kumaris: A new Religion?,"1999 (reproduced with author's permission) Kranenborg points out 6 different areas:

1) Ideas about God: "The ideas concerning God deviate considerably from what we encounter within Hinduism as a whole. Not only is God eternal, the eternal power or energy but matter is also eternal—it is not created by God. But the souls that we encounter in human beings are also eternal. They do not emerge from God and are not created by him. God is seen as one of the souls, even though he is the ‘supreme soul' or the ‘all-highest soul'. He therefore has all knowledge and is in that sense omniscient, although he is not omnipresent. Traditionally, Hinduism speaks of Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva, and these three are seen as a unity. In Brahma Kumaris, however, Shiva stands above the trimurti and the third aspect is termed Shankar. On the one hand, this notion of trimurti is understood in line with the traditional Hindu view, namely as creator, preserver, and destroyer. But on the other hand the movement gives a more specific content to these terms. The meaning of the ‘creator aspect' means that God, whenever humanity is at a low point, will come into the world, awaken humanity and thus restore primal harmony; such an act of creation will preferably occur via a messenger, whereby one can think of someone like Lekh Raj. Shiva's ‘preserver aspect' becomes visible in the energy that he gives through, for example, the power of the raja yoga and through the knowledge that is derived from him in this last period, through which one can develop a balanced personality. The ‘destroyer aspect' is expressed in the fact that evil and negativity will be eliminated, particularly by the meditative activities of those who walk along the way."''

2) Ideas about Human Beings: "The human being is essentially an eternal soul. In the beginning all souls lived together, with the All-Highest Soul in an non-material world, but because of the law of karma the souls left this world for the material world and entered into human bodies. All souls play their own roles in the material world and therefore assume a body in order to give expression to their original positive qualities. Only in the body is the soul able to experience life. Apart from the connection to the physical, the soul has three aspects: intellect, conscious mind, and subconscious mind. The intellect is the guiding and determining part of the soul; it determines the thoughts and the condition of the human being, with the intention that it become independent of the human being and does not allow itself to be influenced by external factors. The mind is that part of the soul that produces thoughts and ideas; emotions, feelings and experiences are also located in this part of the soul. It is of great importance to discover how and why thoughts are created, for if they are determined or created by external negative influences, the individual becomes spiritually darkened. It is very important to understand the origin of thoughts. The unconscious mind contains the so-called sanskars, i.e. the impressions or consequences of everything that one undergoes or has undergone in this life or has undergone in previous lives. It is in particular this unconscious mind that primarily bears on the origin of the thoughts. It is the intention of Brahma Kumaris that the origin of thoughts and thinking itself become increasingly determined by the orientation to the All- Highest Soul. If this contact exists, people will become freer and the sanskars will be purified."

3) Ideas about the World Cycle: "In accordance with classical Hinduism, there is within Brahma Kumaris the doctrine of the four or five world ages: the golden age (sat yuga), the silver age (treta yuga), the copper age (dvapar yuga) and the iron age (kali yuga). Within this last age, however, as a kind of preparation for the new golden age, there is the diamond age (samgam yuga). The content of the ages is about the same as in Hinduism; the most striking difference is that for Brahma Kumaris the whole cycle lasts 5000 years in total. At the moment the world is now in the kali yuga, although this age is near its end. After the kali yuga the world will be completely different and transformed into a new golden age."

4) The Practice of Raja Yoga: "Above all, raja yoga has to do with meditation, whose content consists in that one is occupied with the understanding that the soul is on the way to God. The meditation strengthens this understanding, increases one's knowledge and strengthens the connectedness. The meditation and the knowledge leads to the formation of character and to service. Meditation makes a person internally and personally stronger and leads others to be inspired to follow the way and to become purified as well. Raja yoga also entails a ‘spiritual lifestyle', which includes that one be a vegetarian, seek good company, be regularly occupied with study and have as many fixed moments as possible during the day for meditation and live a life oriented towards celibacy. The meditation practice of the raja yoga consists of sitting properly, eyes open but directed internally, possibly listening to a text or music, preferably under the supervision of a (female) guide. There are different stages in the meditation: first, the preparation within which visualization plays a role, followed by the initial meditation in which one is conscious of one's soul and of God, next is concentration in which one experiences the purity and directness of the One and finally, realization, in which the unique connectedness of the soul with the Supreme Soul is attained."

5) Different Activities: "Brahma Kumaris has been active, primarily in recent years, in many different areas. A number of these activities need to be mentioned. Of course, courses are given which are connected to raja yoga. One should mention here the course ‘Positive Thinking'. Related to this is the course, ‘Stress-free Living' which is also concerned with developing a proper way of thinking and a proper tuning in to one's most profound nature. Courses such as ‘Self-Managing Leadership', ‘Secrets of Self-Esteem', ‘Self-Management for Quality of Life' have a similar orientation: the emphasis continually falls on understanding who the human being is, how the human being is connected with the All-Highest and how rest, power and balance can be brought into life. Another category of activities is more global in nature. Brahma Kumaris has been involved in the activities of UNO, UNESCO and UNICEF, it has supported human rights, the importance of a good education, and defended more equality among people. Within this framework there are a number of connected programs, such as ‘The Million Minutes for Peace' (in which the intention is that for a few minutes every day several people think positively of world peace), ‘Global Cooperation for a Better World', ‘Sharing our Values for a Better World'. The latter project has been continued in the still existent ‘Living Values'. The ‘interfaith' projects should be mentioned in this same context: the unity of all religions is sought and members are active in organizations that promote or pursue this. Finally, the attempt is made to be active in different sectors of social life. Thus there are programs dealing with art, organization of academic conferences (it is not for nothing that Brahma Kumaris is called the Spiritual University), contacts within the world of medicine, and programs for working with prisoners, etc."

6) The Murli: "Formally, the movement does not have any ‘holy book'. Nevertheless, there is the so-called ‘Murli', a work that has originated since Lekh Raj received his messages. It contains the words of the Highest Soul itself. These messages have been written down and are largely to be found in the Murli. The work is thus to be used for teaching and study. This material is therefore extremely important, for it provides the truth and true knowledge. The truth content of the book also has a continual effect in the experiences of the disciples: one does not accept the words in a purely intellectual way but learns in one's own life that the knowledge is completely true. The Murli is read and studied carefully. Nevertheless, the Murli did not close with the death of Lekh Raj. Messages continue to be received from the other world via one person, Dadi Gulzar. The messages are becoming increasingly more rare, but they still occur. The knowledge that has been passed on also appears in the Murli.

It has become an important text. Brahma Kumaris does not discuss it right away in courses and the text is not available for sale, but in later stages it plays an important role. In the course of time the book is discussed in advanced courses. It is not discussed until this point because a certain spiritual level has to be attained before one can work with it. The adherents are to take it very seriously and study it carefully. The degree of seriousness with which it is to be studied is apparent in the fact that the participants are engaged in study of this text for a long time from six o'clock in the morning.
As Dr. Howell points out to underline the uniqueness of the University: "Through the channelled messages it became clear that Shiva was not to be understood as one of many Hindu gods, but in monotheistic terms as ‘The Supreme Soul.’ In this and other respects the movement distinguished itself from Hinduism, and indeed from all religions. Its knowledge, gyan, the true knowledge, was thus identified as ‘spiritual’ rather than ‘religious,’ and the movement as a whole was cast as a ‘university.’

7 Day Course

Wallis when referring to "world service" which was started in 1952, states:"Lekhraj had from the very beginning published numerous pamphlets and written a huge amount of letters to important national and international figures in which he interpreted contemporary events with reference to his revealed knowledge. Rather, this marked an intensification of the process, with seven-lesson courses in the group's teachings being offered to outsiders." An overview of the seven-lesson course can be found here: under "Foundation Course in Raja Yoga Meditation." Also, here: under "Foundation Courses in Meditation."

The Advance Party

Wallis mentions the advent of a movement which may be seen as an internal response to "the University's world ambivalence;" Wallis refers to them as the Advance Party.

References

According to wikipedia policies
Reflexive Traditions: New Religious Movements and the 'Negotiation' of Identity.-John Wallis, Ph.D University of Warwick, UK.
As suggested by Professor Richard Barz, Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Asian Studies. The Australian National University.
Professor Reender Kranenborgh from Free University of Amsterdam. All citations originate from this web article unless noted differently.
From World Rejection to Ambivalence: The Development of Millenarianism in the Brahma Kumaris. Wallis, John; Journal of Contemporary Religion; Oct99, Vol. 14 Issue 3, p375, 11p
Gender Role Experimentation in New Religious Movements: Clarification of the Brahma Kumari Case, Howell, Julia. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion; Sep98, Vol. 37 Issue 3, p453-461, 9p. Julia Day Howell is Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Asian and International Studies, Griffith Universtiy, Australia
Journal of Beliefs and Values, Vol.24, No.1, 2003 Religious Organisations in the UK and Values Education Programmes for Schools by Eleanor Nesbitt, Senior lecturer in Religions and Education, University of Warwick, UK and Ann Henderson, Research Fellow from The Univeristy of Warwick, UK.
Reflective Traditions: New Religious Movements and the 'Negotiation' of Identity. Wallis, John; University of Warwick, UK.
Reender Kranenborg, Free University of Amsterdam. "Brahma Kumaris: A New Religion?", 1999
Dr. Julia D. Howell. Changing Meanings of Religious Pluralism, 2003
From World Rejection to Ambivalence:The development in Millenarianism in the Brahma Kumaris." by John Wallis. Journal of Contemporary Religion, Vol.14,N 3, 1999
From World Rejection to Ambivalence:The development in Millenarianism in the Brahma Kumaris." by John Wallis. Journal of Contemporary Religion, Vol.14,N 3, 1999

Bibliography

Dr Julia D. Howell, Asian and International Studies, Griffith University, Australia & Dr Peter L. Nelson, Nelson Center for Humanities and Human Sciences, Southern Cross University, Australia. "Surviving Transplantation: The Brahma Kumaris in the Western World".
Dr. Julia D. Howel. Changing Meanings of Religious Pluralism, , 2003.
John Walliss, Ashgate New Critical Thinking in Religion, Theology and Biblical Studies, Aldershot. "The Brahma Kumaris as a ‘reflexive Tradition’: Responding to late modernity ", 2002 ISBN 0-7546-0951-0
Reender Kranenborg, Free University of Amsterdam. "Brahma Kumaris: A New Religion? ", 1999.
Peter Clarke, "Dada Lekhraj" & "Brahma Kumaris." Encyclopedia of New Religious Movements. Routledge 2005.
William Shaw , "Spying in Guruland: Inside Britain’s Cults", Fourth Estate, London, England 1994.
Lawrence A. Babb, "Amnesia and Remembrance in a Hindu Theory of History", Asian Folklore Studies, Vol. 41, No. 1 (1982), pp. 49-66.
Lawrence A. Babb "Indigenous Feminism in a Modern Hindu Sect", Signs, Vol. 9, No. 3 (Spring, 1984), pp. 399-416.
Mayer, Jean-François et Reender Kranenborg, Geneve, Suisse. "La Naissance des Nouvelles Religions". 2004 ISBN 2-8257-0877-1
Frank Whaling, Emeritus Professor of the Study of Religion, University of Edinburgh. "Understanding the Brahma Kumaris", 2006. ISBN 1-903765-51-X.
Suma Varughese. "Satyug is as Sure as Death". 1998
BK Jayanti. "Valuing the Future : Education for Spiritual Development", 1999
Interreligious Insight. "Brahma Kumaris, World Spiritual University",
Ken O'Donnell. "Raja Yoga for beginners", 1987.
Jagdish Chander, Translated from original Hinu by Shanta Trivedi, PhD , Edited by Robert Shubow, J.D. "Adi Dev: The First Man", 1981.
Dadi Janki, "Companion of God", 2003 ISBN 0-340-82915-X
BKWSU. "World Drama", unknown date.
BKWSU. "Easy RajYoga", unknown date.
BKWSU. "The Seven Day Course" Pamphlet series, unknown date.
Near-Death Experience/Heide Fittkau-Garthe, 1998.
A Critique of the BK Philosophy as presented in the 7 Day Course,By Andy Harangozo
Report on Child Abuse,Beliefs and Lifestyle
Pamphlets Take a Closer Look,The Successful Subtle Soft-sell of Raja Yoga By CCG Training Insititue, Australia March 1989

Misplaced Pages

Origins

History

Global Expansion

Beliefs and Practices

7 Day Course

The Advance Party

Links

BK

B.K. teaching posters

ex-B.K.

P.B.K.

Vishnu Party

Critical

Christian

Islamic

References

Bibliography

See also