IIAS Newsletter 47
|
Spring 2008
|
free of charge
|
published by IIAS
|
P.O. Box 9515
|
2300 RA Leiden
|
The Netherlands
|
T +31-71-527 2227
|
F +31-71-527 4162
|
iias@let.leidenuniv.nl
|
www.iias.nl
New Religious Movements
47
P
h
o
to
‘
B
lu
e
B
u
d
d
h
a’
b
y
Lu
n
gs
tr
u
ck
.
C
o
u
rt
es
y
w
w
w
.f
li
ck
r.
co
m
The Indian-based BKWSU arose from a Hindu cultural base, but
distinct from Hinduism. It began in the 1930s as a small spiritual
community called Om Mandli (Sacred Circle), consisting primarily of
young women from the Bhai Bund community of Hyderabad Sindh,
now part of Pakistan. Since the 1960s the community has been known
as the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University (BKWSU), translated
from the Hindi, ‘Brahma Kumaris Ishwariya Vishwa Vidyalaya’. It is
significant that the movement included a ‘world’ focus in its name,
even though active overseas expansion did not begin until 1971.
The Brahma Kumaris
World Spiritual University
W
en
dy
S
m
it
h’
s
fa
sc
in
at
in
g
th
em
e
on
‘A
si
an
N
ew
R
el
ig
io
us
M
ov
em
en
ts
’ e
xa
m
in
es
h
ow
th
es
e
N
R
M
s
ha
ve
s
pr
ea
d
be
yo
nd
A
si
a’
s
bo
rd
er
s
an
d
be
co
m
e
gl
ob
al
o
rg
an
is
at
io
ns
.
pp
. 1
-
13
‘F
ro
m
s
ci
en
ce
fi
ct
io
na
l J
ap
an
t
o
Ja
pa
ne
se
s
ci
en
ce
fi
ct
io
n’
-
C
hr
is
G
ot
o-
Jo
ne
s
re
ve
al
s
hi
s
fa
sc
in
at
io
n
fo
r
‘w
ei
rd
-s
ci
en
ce
’.
p
p.
1
4
+
15
In
F
oc
us
: C
ul
tu
re
a
s
a
ba
si
c
ne
ed
?
A
s
pe
ci
al
r
ep
or
t o
n
th
e
C
ul
tu
ra
l E
m
er
ge
nc
y
R
es
po
ns
e
P
ro
gr
am
o
f
th
e
P
ri
nc
e
C
la
us
F
un
d
fo
r
C
ul
tu
re
a
nd
D
ev
el
op
m
en
t.
pp
. 2
0
+
2
1
N
et
w
or
k
A
si
a:
n
ew
s
an
d
vi
ew
s
fr
om
th
e
w
or
ld
o
f A
si
an
S
tu
di
es
p
p.
3
8-
41
tors are all ethnic Indian women although
they have long been resident overseas.
National coordinators may be ethnic
Indian, local members, or third country
nationals, and some are males. In this
sense the BKWSU closely resembles a
multinational corporation (MNC) in tend-
ing to have home country nationals posted
to key management roles overseas, with a
degree of localisation at the host country
level. The use of third country nationals,
or members from one overseas branch
posted to lead another overseas branch,
attests to the strength of its organisational
culture and the strength of shared values
of its members.
BKWSU is an international non–govern-
mental organisation (NGO) that holds
general consultative status with the Eco-
nomic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the
UN and consultative status with the Unit-
ed Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). It
is also affiliated to the UN Department of
Public Information (DPI). It is a truly glo-
bal organisation: with over 7000 centres
dle East), the US (America and Carib-
bean Islands), Russia (Eastern Europe)
and Australia (Australia and Asia). The
National Coordinating Offices are located
in all countries where the activities of the
BKWSU are carried out and are officially
registered bodies. The six main coordina-
Tamasin Ramsay and Wendy Smith
T
he BKWSU headquarters in Mt. Abu,
Rajasthan, India, were established
in 1952. There are Regional Coordinating
Offices (RCO) in London (coordinating
Western Europe, South Africa, the Mid-
c o n t i n u e d o n p a g e 4
>