The Brahma Kumaris and their World Spiritual University

4. FR JOHN FERREIRA-YOGA, SURYANAMASKAR AT ST. PETER’S COLLEGE, AGRA

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/FR_JOHN_FERREIRA-YOGA_SURYANAMASKAR_AT_ST_PETERS_COLLEGE_AGRA.doc

5. FR JOE PEREIRA-KRIPA FOUNDATION-WORLD COMMUNITY FOR CHRISTIAN MEDITATION

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/FR_JOE_PEREIRA-KRIPA_FOUNDATION-WORLD_COMMUNITY_FOR_CHRISTIAN_MEDITATION.doc

6. FR ADRIAN MASCARENHAS-YOGA AT ST PATRICK’S CHURCH BANGALORE 

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/FR_ADRIAN_MASCARENHAS-YOGA_AT_ST_PATRICKS_CHURCH_BANGALORE.doc

7. FR JOHN VALDARIS-NEW AGE CURES FOR CANCER

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/FR_JOHN_VALDARIS-NEW_AGE_CURES_FOR_CANCER.doc

8. NEW AGE GURUS 1 SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR AND THE ‘ART OF LIVING’

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/NEW_AGE_GURUS_1_SRI_SRI_RAVI_SHANKAR_AND_THE_ART_OF_LIVING.doc

9. PAPAL CANDIDATE OSWALD CARDINAL GRACIAS ENDORSES YOGA

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/PAPAL_CANDIDATE_OSWALD_CARDINAL_GRACIAS_ENDORSES_YOGA.doc

10. YOGA AND THE BRAHMA KUMARIS AT A CATHOLIC COLLEGE IN THE ARCHDIOCESE OF BOMBAY

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/YOGA_AND_THE_BRAHMA_KUMARIS_AT_A_CATHOLIC_COLLEGE_IN_THE_ARCHDIOCESE_OF_BOMBAY.doc

11. YOGA IN THE DIOCESE OF MANGALORE

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/YOGA_IN_THE_DIOCESE_OF_MANGALORE.doc

12. YOGA, SURYANAMASKAR, GAYATRI MANTRA, PRANAYAMA TO BE MADE COMPULSORY IN EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/YOGA_SURYANAMASKAR_GAYATRI_MANTRA_PRANAYAMA_TO_BE_MADE_COMPULSORY_IN_EDUCATIONAL_INSTITUTIONS.doc
ARTICLES

1. TRUTH, LIES AND YOGA-ERROL FERNANDES

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/TRUTH_LIES_AND_YOGA-ERROL_FERNANDES.rtf

2. WAS JESUS A YOGI? SYNCRETISM AND INTERRELIGIOUS DIALOGUE-ERROL FERNANDES

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/WAS_JESUS_A_YOGI_SYNCRETISM_AND_INTERRELIGIOUS_DIALOGUE-ERROL_FERNANDES.doc


3. YOGA

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/YOGA.doc

4. YOGA-02

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/YOGA-02.doc

5. YOGA AND DELIVERANCE

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/YOGA_AND_DELIVERANCE.doc

6. YOGA IS SATANIC-EXORCIST FR GABRIELE AMORTH

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/YOGA_IS_SATANIC-EXORCIST_FR_GABRIELE_AMORTH.doc

7. YOGA-SUMMARY

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/YOGA-SUMMARY.doc

8. YOGA-THE DECEPTION-FR CONRAD SALDANHA

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/YOGA-THE_DECEPTION-FR_CONRAD_SALDANHA.doc

9. YOGA-WHAT DOES THE CATHOLIC CATECHISM SAY ABOUT IT

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/YOGA-WHAT_DOES_THE_CATHOLIC_CATECHISM_SAY_ABOUT_IT.doc

10. YOGA-WHAT DOES THE CATHOLIC CHURCH SAY ABOUT IT?

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/YOGA-WHAT_DOES_THE_CATHOLIC_CHURCH_SAY_ABOUT_IT.doc
DOCUMENTS

1. LETTER TO THE BISHOPS OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH ON SOME ASPECTS OF CHRISTIAN MEDITATION CDF/CARDINAL JOSEPH RATZINGER OCTOBER 15, 1989

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/LETTER_TO_THE_BISHOPS_OF_THE_CATHOLIC_CHURCH_ON_SOME_ASPECTS_OF_CHRISTIAN_MEDITATION.doc

2. JESUS CHRIST THE BEARER OF THE WATER OF LIFE, A CHRISTIAN REFLECTION ON THE NEW AGE COMBINED VATICAN DICASTERIES FEBRUARY 3, 2003

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/JESUS_CHRIST_THE_BEARER_OF_THE_WATER_OF_LIFE_A_CHRISTIAN_REFLECTION_ON_THE_NEW_AGE.doc
TESTIMONIES

1. TESTIMONY OF A FORMER YOGI-01 MIKE SHREVE

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/TESTIMONY_OF_A_FORMER_YOGI-01.doc

2. TESTIMONY OF A FORMER YOGI-02 TERRY JUSTISON

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/TESTIMONY_OF_A_FORMER_YOGI-02.doc

3. TESTIMONY OF A FORMER YOGI-03 KENT SULLIVAN

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/TESTIMONY_OF_A_FORMER_YOGI-03.doc

4. TESTIMONY OF A FORMER YOGI-04 MICHAEL GRAHAM

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/TESTIMONY_OF_A_FORMER_YOGI-04.doc

5. TESTIMONY OF A FORMER YOGI-05 BRAD SCOTT

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/TESTIMONY_OF_A_FORMER_YOGI-05.doc

6. TESTIMONY OF A FORMER YOGI-06 JANICE CLEARY

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/TESTIMONY_OF_A_FORMER_YOGI-06.doc

7. TESTIMONY OF A FORMER YOGI-07 CARL FAFORD

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/TESTIMONY_OF_A_FORMER_YOGI-07.doc

8. TESTIMONY OF A FORMER YOGI-08 ANONYMOUS

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/TESTIMONY_OF_A_FORMER_YOGI-08.doc

9. TESTIMONY OF A FORMER YOGI-09 DEBORAH HOLT

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/TESTIMONY_OF_A_FORMER_YOGI-09.doc

10. TESTIMONY OF A FORMER YOGI-10 DANION VASILE

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/TESTIMONY_OF_A_FORMER_YOGI-10.doc

11. TESTIMONY OF A FORMER YOGI-11 MICHAEL COUGHLIN

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/TESTIMONY_OF_A_FORMER_YOGI-11.doc

12. TESTIMONY OF A FORMER YOGI-12 LAURETTE WILLIS

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/TESTIMONY_OF_A_FORMER_YOGI-12.doc

13. TESTIMONY OF A FORMER YOGI-13 KEITH AGAIN

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/TESTIMONY_OF_A_FORMER_YOGI-13.doc

14. TESTIMONY OF A FORMER YOGI-14 VIRGO HANDOJO

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/TESTIMONY_OF_A_FORMER_YOGI-14.doc

15. TESTIMONY OF A FORMER YOGI-15 PURVI

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/TESTIMONY_OF_A_FORMER_YOGI-15.doc
UPDATE

From: "mail" <[e-mail]> To: <[e-mail]>

Sent: Monday, September 16, 2013 5:45 AM Subject: Brahma Kumaris

Dear Michael,

This is the administrator of the website for exiting members of the Brahma Kumaris cult (BrahmaKumaris.Info).
I am not a member of the Brahma Kumaris.
I am concerned by what I have read on your website regarding the infiltration of the Brahma Kumaris into schools and further education and further evidence of their persistent manipulativeness and dishonesty.
If there is any help you need in qualifying statements regarding the BKWSU (PBKIVV), or explaining their agenda and modus operandi, then please let us know.
Thank you
Brahma Kumaris Info

From: "Michael Prabhu" <[e-mail]> To: "mail" <[e-mail]>

Sent: Monday, November 25, 2013 8:42 AM Subject: Re: Brahma Kumaris

Dear Sir,

I thank you for your kind letter and your offer of assistance if need arises.
God bless you,
Michael
Yoga – A Path to God?

http://www.bognabialecka.pl/media/_yoga-a-path-to-god.doc EXTRACT

By Louis Hughes, OP, Mercier Press, 1997

8. RAJA YOGA AND THE BRAHMA KUMARIS

The entire yoga culture of India has for two millennia been inspired by the *ashtanga or ‘eight-limbed’ path of Patanjali. Asana (posture) and *pranayama (breath control), the third and fourth of the eight limbs were developed within the context of hatha, *tantric and *kundalini yogas. These disciplines however, generally have beliefs very different from Patanjali’s. Yoga movements which base themselves on the philosophy of Patanjali are relatively rare. Among such movements with an outreach in the West, the outstanding example is the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University, the subject of this chapter.

ONE MILLION MINUTES OF PEACE

In August 1986 a high-powered international advertising campaign was launched looking for support for the observance of a minute’s silence for peace at midday on the 16th September of that year. During the month that followed people were asked to donate as much time as possible to holding in their minds “positive thoughts of peace”. They were also invited to fill up and send in to a prescribed address a donation form indicating the amount of time they would pledge to “positive thoughts”, “meditation” or “prayer”. The project was given the title “The Million Minutes of Peace” (MMOP for short). Its launch took the form of large-scale public meetings led by well-known artists, scientists, politicians, media and sports personalities - as well as religious leaders of all faiths - in many countries. The event was an organizational tour de force that took many different forms. The minute of silence was announced and observed at a tennis match in Sydney between Boris Becker and Ivan Lendl. At midday on September 16 the Hong Kong stock exchange stopped all dealings for one minute. A pause during Church services was widely observed in the Philippines. Minutes of peace were donated during the Frankfurt Book Fair. In Britain Queen Elizabeth and the Archbishop of Canterbury joined in the minute’s silence, while most of Ireland’s contribution of minutes was collected by the Irish Catholic newspaper. It was estimated that the appeal reached 88 countries and that over one billion minutes of peace were “gathered”¹. However, MMOP was also remarkable for another reason.

MMOP was supported by well-known public figures and sponsors in each of the countries in which it took place. However, the principal organizers of the event were not those sitting on public platforms or listed on headed note-paper, most of whom learnt of the event only a matter of weeks beforehand. The planning and administration of the Million Minutes of Peace project was initiated in India, at the headquarters of the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University (BKWSU) at Mount Abu in Rajasthan. Delegates from over 50 countries who had attended an international peace conference there, returned to their countries and began organizing the event.

The United Nations presented seven Peace Messenger Awards to the Brahma Kumaris for their work in organizing “The Million Minutes of Peace” project². These awards were but a few of many tokens of recognition that the UN has accorded BKSWU. In 1984 the Secretary-General of the UN, Perez de Cuellar presented BKSWU with a peace medal. BKSWU has enjoyed consultative status with UNESCO since 1983 and with UNICEF since 1988. It is the only religious organization accredited to participate in the UN Economic and Social Council.

MMOP is not the only international outreach to have been organized by BKWSU. In 1988 it launched a movement called Global Co-operation to promote understanding between nations, communities and peoples. In 1989 the Global Hospital and Research Centre was established by BKSWU at Mount Abu. This focuses on a holistic approach to health and healing in a spiritual environment.

What is BKWSU? The next section will look at this institution and the dedicated group that operate BKSWU - the Brahma Kumaris, a religious movement whose philosophy and spiritual practices are rooted in one of India’s most ancient yogic traditions, the raja yoga philosophy outlined by Patanjali two thousand years ago³.

HISTORY

The Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University (kumari means ‘girl’ or ‘unmarried woman’) was founded in Karachi in 1936 by Dada Lekhraj (1877 - 1969), a business man who devoted all his wealth to the undertaking. Lekhraj is reported to have received a number of visions during one of which his body became illumined and a voice not his own was heard to say: “I am the Blissful self, I am Shiva....I am the Knowledgeful self....I am the Luminous self....” Lekhraj’s mainly female followers - who were to be known as Brahma Kumaris - believed that *shiva had entered his body to empower him to inaugurate a new world order. The original group of 300 Brahma Kumaris lived as a self-sufficient community, spending their time in intense spiritual study, meditation and self-transformation. In 1951 the community moved to Mount Abu and soon afterwards established centres in Delhi and Bombay. By 1969, when Lekhraj died, there were over 400 centres throughout India. Two women from the founding group, Dadi Prakashmani and Didi Man Mohini, then took responsibility for administration and the group moved into a new phase of expansion.

In 1971 the first centres outside India were established in London and Hong Kong. By the early 1980s the movement was operating in over 40 countries. Following Didi Man Mohini’s death in 1983, her place as joint head of administration was taken by Dadi Janki, another woman from the founding group. There are currently about 3000 Brahma Kumaris centres in some 62 countries throughout the world. Each centre is normally guided by at least three Sisters who offer courses in meditation and in spiritual and moral values.

BKWSU is unique among Hindu religious organizations in being led by women. The Sisters receive fourteen years of training, in order to bring forth the loving qualities of *shakti - the female Hindu deity of Power - to the world. Purity and celibacy is emphasized. The group is vegetarian.

The Brahma Kumaris believe that - through the visionary experience of their founder - *shiva has communicated to them the message that the world is approaching the end of the present historical era, which is known as the kali-yuga (literally ‘Age of Kali’). Kali is the Hindu goddess who, even more than *shiva, is associated with destruction. She is also seen as a life-giving Mother. The Age of Kali has to be understood within the context of the doctrine of cosmic cycles that has for centuries been common both to Hinduism and Buddhism. It refers to the lowest phase in the cycle. It is seen as a dark age, an age of degeneration of human society, particularly in its spiritual and moral values and is “characterized by strife, discord, quarrelling and contention; at the end of this age the world is to be destroyed”⁴. In keeping with Indian tradition the ending of the Age of Kali has been conceived by some members of the Brahma Kumaris as coming to pass violently, possibly as a result of nuclear war⁵. However, the good news is that a Golden Age, in which BKWSU will play a leading role - will begin after the end of the Age of Kali.
RAJA YOGA MEDITATION

Raja yoga meditation holds a central place in the life and work of the Brahma Kumaris. An introduction to meditation is given by the Brahma Kumaris as part of their public seminars on stress management. A typical setting for one of these would be a hotel conference room which has been carefully prepared to create the right atmosphere - subdued lighting, neatly-ordered chairs and soft music -designed to create a relaxed, quiet atmosphere. Those attending tend to be educated and middle-class for the most part, between the ages of 25 and 50, among them a fair sprinkling of those already involved in the practice of raja yoga.

Raja yoga meditation does not involve the use of mantras. In addition, little emphasis is given to hatha yoga postures or breathing exercises, both of which in germ at least are key elements of Patanjali’s yoga. Instead, BKWSU stresses the importance of the mind and its powers. Nevertheless beginners are usually invited to prepare for meditation by using “progressive muscular relaxation”⁶.

This involves sitting with back upright and first becoming aware of, then moving, and finally relaxing different parts of the body - toes, soles of the feet, calves, thighs, buttocks, back, arms, shoulders, neck and head. One is then invited to keep one’s attention in the head and to “relax the muscles of your mind”. At this point one begins raja yoga meditation proper, which is performed with the eyes kept open throughout⁷.

The first step in raja yoga meditation is to withdraw one’s attention from the outside world and from one’s body, focusing on the space at the centre of the forehead. This space is technically known as the ajna *cakra (“command centre”), but popularly called the ‘third eye’. This *cakra is the one that is particularly active when the mind is at work. Keeping one’s awareness on the ajna *cakra, one begins to direct one’s thoughts in a positive way through visualization and verbalization. Typical of the phrases/thoughts which one might form in one’s mind would be: “I am peace....Peace is my true state of being”; “I now know my true self - an eternal, pure, peaceful soul”; “I feel that everything is totally still - timeless”; “I am with God in my eternal home of silence”; “I absorb the Ocean of Peace” ⁸. Along with phrases like these, one is encouraged to imagine situations such as a star or a point of light at the centre of the forehead, waves of peace washing over one, or an ocean of peace. Such images help to hold the attention on and give power to one’s positive thoughts.

The effects of raja yoga meditation radiate from the ajna *cakra out into the meditator’s body. Strong feelings of peacefulness, love and stillness can result. The meditator is encouraged to explore these associated feelings during meditation. One need only concentrate on the “command centre” and in time the benefits of meditation will cascade down. As one raja yoga teacher put it: “Once I get my higher values together, my lower values will take care of themselves”⁹.

This is the reason why the Brahma Kumaris see no need to resort to the more earth-bound yogic techniques such as postures, breathing and use of mantras. However, there is a deeper reason why raja yogis do not concern themselves with physical yogic practices.

Raja yoga practice is based on the belief that human beings are essentially souls. The eternal soul is a person’s true identity and meditation helps one to see both oneself and every other person “as a soul”¹⁰. The body and the material world rank very low in this philosophy and are seen as the cause of all our ills. It is the soul that really matters. In a phrase that is reminiscent of Plato, raja yogis believe that “The soul is like a driver and the body is the car”¹¹. In order to be happy the only thing one need do is “escape this physical world and fly to that timeless expanse, the soul world”¹². The soul world is seen as a place of utter stillness, silence and peace. Happiness is guaranteed to those who manage to escape the physical world because “in soul consciousness, the soul can only experience peace”¹³.

The Brahma Kumaris believe that the soul-consciousness that develops from meditation, helps one to see the good in others and to respect them. It will sustain a habit of acting altruistically in relation to other people. This is because one can give to others only what one possesses oneself and the raja yogin has the greatest gifts of all - clarity and strength of mind¹⁴. Soul-consciousness, together with the *sanskaras - a Sanskrit term which will be looked at in the next paragraph - are seen as the keys to good ethical and social behaviour.

The Sanskrit word *sanskara can probably best be translated as ‘unconscious impression’¹⁵. The thinking behind the term is that each of our actions leaves a corresponding impression on the soul, of which the person is usually unaware. In the words of a BKWSU booklet, “Habits, emotional tendencies, temperaments, personality traits are all built up by sanskaras imprinted on the soul”¹⁶. These personal characteristics in turn have an influence on how a person will think, judge and act in the future. BKWSU speaks of a three-phase cycle of first the “mind” imagining and forming ideas; then the “intellect” understanding and deciding around these ideas or images. In the third phase, the decisions of the intellect form and shape the *sanskaras. The new *sanskaras then feed back into the mind and the process starts all over again. It can readily be seen how a person can be caught in a bad cycle of thoughts and actions.

However, beneficial intervention is possible through meditation, during which positive thoughts of peace can generate positive *sanskaras and so create a good cycle. One can also create positive *sanskaras by making positive choices within the intellect to change one’s behaviour. Particularly effective is the mechanism known as “giving”. Giving is the practice of “having the thought to only spread peace and good wishes”¹⁷ - particularly applicable in situations where a relationship is hostile or uncomfortable. The giver is amply rewarded in accordance with the Law of *karma whereby “What I give out to the world and other people, I get back an equal amount”¹⁸.

In speaking about *karma and the *sanskaras, the booklet mentioned above makes no reference to any bodily life apart from the one that is being presently lived. In the context of the entire Hindu yogic tradition however, the Law of *karma and the *sanskaras are viewed in the much wider context of all the other lives that one may have lived in the past or may yet live in the future. In this regard and in other ways raja yoga as practised by the Brahma Kumaris rests on the classical raja yoga of Patanjali. The connection between the two will be studied next.

PATANJALI

According to Patanjali's philosophy reality is composed of two principles: *purusha, which means ‘spirit’ or ‘soul’; and *prakriti or ‘nature’. *Prakriti includes the entire material universe and in addition feelings, thoughts, the ego and personality - everything in fact that is not spirit. The true Self of each human being is spirit or soul alone, though most people go through life remaining ignorant of this truth. Instead they confuse spirit with the earth-bound psychological experience which is known through the senses and the mind. And it is this confusion that is the cause of all human suffering¹⁹. The soul from the moment of physical conception experiences itself as enmeshed in the material world, the slave of ignorance of its own Self. In reality the Soul remains eternally distinct from Nature. It is only by escaping the “illusion” that one is a body-mind composite with its attachments and aversions, that one awakens to one’s true nature as an “isolated, neutral, intelligent and inactive”²⁰ soul. The path to Self-realization and freedom involves, on the one hand, letting go of the false belief that one belongs to the realm of *prakriti; and, on the other hand, recognizing one’s true identity as a soul or *purusha. This Self-realization automatically frees the “enslaved”²¹ spirit. As a practical means of bringing this about, Patanjali described a rigorous programme of yogic practice by which the soul strives to dissociate itself from the material universe and so become free to ‘enjoy’ its ‘natural’ state of *kaivalya (“isolation”). This programme consists of the *ashtanga (‘eight limbs’) described earlier.

Patanjali defines yoga as “the restraint of the processes of the mind”²². When this has been achieved, there will result “the establishment of the seer in his own nature”²³, the ‘seer’ being the soul of the liberated yogi. Central to this process of liberation is the elimination of *sanskaras or impressions on the soul, because every *sanskara is by definition an element of mental activity, which though dormant for the moment, must inevitably give rise to further mental processes in the future. Patanjali’s yoga is a complex and finely-tuned discipline designed, not just to eliminate existing *sanskaras, but also to ensure that the yogic practice itself does not result in the formation of new ones²⁴. The goal of the yogic quest is attained only as a result of strenuous ascetic effort over many lifetimes - the fruits of each lifetime being accumulated and passed on in the form of *sanskaras to the next.

For Patanjali and the classical commentators on the Yogasutras, God (in Sanskrit *ishvara) is not a Creator nor does he intervene in human history. He is simply a special *purusha who is distinguished from all others by the fact that he has been there through all eternity and has never been in bondage to the material principle *prakriti. Though merciful, he helps people only in so far as each deserves²⁵. Since every *purusha is by nature inactive, *ishvara inasmuch as he is a *purusha, is incapable of actively helping people.

The way in which *ishvara can help has been compared to a magnet which, while itself remaining motionless, nonetheless causes movement in other bodies. *ishvara’s presence alone is believed to remove obstacles in the way of people’s performance of good deeds that will eventually over many lifetimes lead to liberation²⁶. Here Mircea Eliade notes that later commentators on the Yogasutras tend to attribute a much larger role to *ishvara that do the earlier commentators and Patanjali himself. This is because Hinduism had become much more mystical and devotional during the Indian medieval period as compared with Patanjali’s time²⁷.

As indicated above, Patanjali used the word *kaivalya to describe the state of the completely liberated soul. Eliade translates *kaivalya as “absolute isolation”²⁸. There is no longer any mere ‘human’ consciousness. Each individual liberated *purusha or soul contemplates only itself. "The cosmos is populated by these eternal, free, immobile purushas, monads among which no communication is possible....this is a tragic and paradoxical conception of the spirit, which is thus cut off not only from the world of phenomena but also from other delivered ‘selves’"²⁹.