The Brahma Kumaris and their World Spiritual University



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How They Do This?

1. Their leader/s may claim a special, exclusive ministry, revelation or position of authority given by God.

The bureaucracy of the BKWSU is a hierarchy of "exceptional souls" who are the dispensers of "Shrimat" - the divine directions of god - to the general membership. Ones' seniority within the organisation is seen as an indication of one's past good karma and current good efforts, and of ones overall "fortune". It would also suggest that one's "yoga" or connection with God, is of a higher quality and therefore one is able to receive "touchings" from God and would also have a clearer understanding of what God wanted or expected of his "beloved children" at any given moment. Thus the senior is worthy to dispense shrimat and, effectively, control the lives of members under their "care".



2. They believe they are the only true path and take a critical stance regarding the Christian church while at the same time praising and exalting their own group, leader/s and work.

The BKWSU believe that God has incarnated directly into the body of their founder, Dada Lehkraj, and is teaching them personally and exclusively. From 1936 to 1969 BKWSU religious philosophy was "channelled" in daily sermons known as Murlis. As there is only one God and they are the only ones who know him or the Truth, then definitely they are the only one true path. The Senior members (known as Dadis) are praised as angels, and as the highest and purest souls of all time. Everyone else is patronised as good souls but without the power of purity or greatness that the Seniors have.



3. They use intimidation (albeit subtle) or psychological manipulation to keep members loyal to their ranks. This could be in the form of threats of dire calamity if they leave; certain death at Armageddon; being shunned by their family and friends etc. This is a vital part of the mind control process.

Members are continuously reminded that the world is to end soon and to leave would be the greatest misfortune and lead to "a thousand years of suffering in a second" as a result. They are told to break their attachments to the "old world" (family, friends, career, money etc) because that is only bondage to a life of suffering. They are instructed by Seniors, on behalf of God, to dedicate themselves to their new spiritual life exclusively. Their self-respect is based entirely upon being a committed child of God Shiva who is obedient to Seniors. The Seniors are very much in control of the minds and hearts of the members. A simple example of group manipulation is one of Dadi Janki, now head of the BKWSU. In 2006 it was known to many that the then head of the BKWSU - Dadi Prakashmani - was seriously ill with Alzheimers. Dadi’s Alzheimers was creating some confusion in the ranks for a variety of reasons. Typically Dadi Janki used the philosophy to pull members back into line. In 2006 Dadi Janki, in a typically moving and emotive lecture, told everyone that "the time is close? (Meaning that the world is about to end) and that as sick as Dadi Prakashmani is, she would be there with all of them until the end. Suddenly all the doubters are 'inspired' to refocus on their personal efforts for purity. If they do not become pure in time, they will have to suffer judgement, punishment and a lower status in the new world.

In fact, Dadi Prakashmani died in early 2007. Dadi Janki has been made head of the organisation, and everyone has forgotten the guarantee that she gave in that lecture.

4. Members will be expected to give substantial financial support to the group.

This could be compulsory tithing (which is checked); signing over all their property on entering the group; coercive methods of instilling guilt on those who have not contributed; selling magazines, flowers or other goods for the group as part of their ministry. At the same time bible-based cults may ridicule churches that take up free-will offerings by passing collection plates and/or sell literature and tapes. They usually brag that they don't do this. This gives outsiders the intimation that they are not interested in money.

The BKWSU is a very wealthy organisation. Vast sums of money, property, jewellery and other assets have been 'donated' to the organisation. Hapless members who are convinced of the truth of the BKWSU teachings believe that the world is soon to be destroyed and that they will reincarnate in paradise in the very near future. A new member who is experiencing the "honeymoon stage" of their "new life" will be encouraged to give all they can in this context. In some cases this can be houses, cars and bank accounts. Ultimately all funds and assets received by the BKWSU have been solicited - BKWSU are lectured on the good karma of giving and are reminded regularly of the need to 'donate' to the Godly purpose. It was uncommon for any new person to be asked for money. The public or interested parties were always told that all services of the BKWSU are free and that the organisation is funded entirely by donations. The general perception of 'outsiders' is that the BKWSU are not interested in money and that the property they do have is really a sign of the integrity of the organisation and the donations they have received as a result.

5. There will be great emphasis on loyalty to the group and its teachings.

The lives of members will be totally absorbed into the group's activities. They will have little or no time to think for themselves because of physical and emotional exhaustion. This is also a vital part of the mind control process.

A member’s day begins with meditation at 4.00am. It is known as "Amrit Vela" and is one of several ["Mariadas"]. Mariadas are the basic rules by which a good member should live their lives. In reality someone is only considered a true or real member/student/child of god if they are following these rules. The list of mariadas includes celibacy, vegetarian diet (with no eggs, onions or garlic) and daily morning class (Murli class).There is a real if unspoken pressure to conform to these Mariadas (and thereby demonstrate one's loyalty) if one is to be taken seriously by the group, especially the Seniors.

Additional to Mariadasis Shrimat (the supposed directions of God)

Shrimat coerces members to think and behave according to the directions spoken by god in the murli, and directions given by seniors. Supposedly mariadas and shrimat are to ensure the 'child' receives maximum benefit from god, their true father. The main benefit is to be purity of the soul. To not follow Mariadas and Shrimatis a great sin - very bad karma. Shrimat requires obedience, submission and compliance from the member. The member who follows Mariadas and Shrimat will start their day at 4.00am and will be busy until they sleep at night. If they are not busy meditating or earning an income they will be kept busy doing "service". There is no room for free will, only loyalty, obedience and "cooperation". The net effect is an almost permanent state of tiredness or exhaustion.

6. There will be total control over almost all aspects of the private lives of members.

This control can be direct through communal living, or constant and repetitious teaching on how to be a true Christian (or member) or being obedient to leadership. Members will look to their Seniors for guidance in everything they do. A good student will follow Shrimat. They will not make a decision about their lives without consulting Seniors in order to get shrimat. Their lives are heavily influenced by seniors in this way, and in the process the Seniors will come to know the detail of the member’s life. A good student would not risk making a mistake and accumulate even more bad karma by either not consulting a senior or by disobeying shrimat. Shrimat will commonly include instructions to donate money, to dissociate from family and friends, to give up ones career, to only eat food cooked by other members, to not watch television and movies or read books and magazines, and to give up all "worldly interest".



7. Any dissent or questioning of the group's teachings is discouraged.

Criticism in any form is seen as rebellion. There will be an emphasis on authority, unquestioning obedience and submission. This is vigilantly maintained. Questioning or doubts are the sign of a weak intellect. Dissent means the soul is under the influence of past bad karma and is the proof of past sin. The senior sisters especially are to never be challenged. To do so is proof of ignorance. Any member who continues to dissent will be excommunicated. [8 is not to be found –Michael]



9. Members are required to demonstrate their loyalty to the group in some way. This could be in the form of informing on fellow members (including family) under the guise of looking out for their 'spiritual welfare'. They may be required to deliberately lie (heavenly deception) or give up their lives by refusing some form of medical treatment.

In the BKWSU members would demonstrate their loyalty through their financial support, commitment to service and obedience. They would follow the party line publicly and talk the talk. They adopt the view that they are one family - a divine family of future deities and act according to the rules of the family [Mariadas].



10. Attempts to leave or reveal embarrassing facts about the group may be met with threats.

Some may have taken oaths of loyalty that involve their lives or have signed a covenant and feel threatened by this.

Ranjana and Sharad both demonstrated the state of mind one experiences when leaving the BKWSU. They were indoctrinated into the belief that any form of dissent is a mortal sin that they will be burdened with it for all eternity. Therefore the system is never challenged and the status quo within the organisation is not interrupted. People leave, are crushed by the belief system that they had been manipulated by during their membership, and will suffer severe depression and may suicide. But they do not dissent. The BKWSU have generally maintained a 'softly softly' approach in public to all issues. They have no concern for those who leave. Former members may be encouraged to return, but BKWSU teachings recommend leaving ex-members alone in case existing members become "trapped" trying to help them and leave as well. Ex-members are so affected by guilt that they rarely become dissenters even after they leave. Or so they teach adherents.
Brahma Kumaris and families

Do Brahma Kumaris break up families or split apart husbands and wives?

Yes. Brahma Kumaris have quite correctly been accused of interfering with other individuals' marriages and bringing about the breaking up of families since the 1930s, every decade since and on every continent. Unlike orthodox religions, as a celibate religion, its expansion has only come about by individuals leaving their families or by families converting to it. In the West, the latter is extremely rare. The BK Leadership has throughout their history been active in encourage and advising its adherents on how to achieve breaking heterosexual and homosexual partnerships. Very specifically, yes, and gradually if necessary. Brahma Kumari leaders and other followers will give specific advice to males, but much more likely female adherents, on how to split apart from their partners. This will graduate from stopping physical and sexual contact and changing sleeping arrangements and has in some circumstances even involved support in initiating divorce proceedings. This has included avoiding skin contact, sleeping in separate rooms, refusing to eat food cooked by relatives, refusing to socialize or attend other religious events and so on. In other cases, this has involved senior sisters advising on how and when followers should satisfy their partners' sexual demands until leaving them and even advise to have an abortion in order to avoid the distraction of having children. It is accurate to say that leading Brahma Kumaris have also left family, partners and children behind to join the group.


Can I have a BK as a partner?

Basically, no. Our experience is, do not even try. Brahma Kumari adherents can appear to be very attractive and a perfect potential partner but their purpose and intents is supposed to be single heartedly promoting the religion without any such distraction. If a BK is being attractive to you, it is far more likely that they are using their personality or even their sexuality on a discrete level, to draw you into the religion. Even if you were to accept such limitations as complete celibacy, separate sleeping arrangements, lack of socializing and the not eating of food not cook by BKs, it is likely that your role could only become supporting them evangelize their religion.

Within the BKWSU there is the expectation that BKs leaving to form partnerships will return at some point with their partner and children.
Can I make a partnership with another BK?

Basically, no. Extreme celibacy is the norm which excludes even normal affection and socializing. Males and female live separately. All efforts and intentions are aimed toward expanding the religion and earning a high status and good fortune for the next lives. Anything else is seen as "maya" or an evil distraction. "Attachment" to another human being as a sin is probably only second worst to having lustful thoughts.

Some very rare marriages have occurred within the BKWSU for a variety of reasons, e.g. to save a female adherent from an arranged marriage, for the sakes of immigration and BKWSU evangelistic service.
Are children of adherents indoctrinated into the BKWSU?

Yes. Non-BK parents should be aware that BK adherents will subtly and persistently attempt to indoctrinate their children and grand-children with BKWSU teachings and initiate them into BKWSU practise. Brahma Kumaris beliefs are seen to be the one and only savour of humanity. The BKWSU also used a number of discrete methods targeted at both children within families and disadvantages children such as orphans or street children such as "Relax Kids" products and Values in Education. Additionally, the channelled entity the Brahma Kumaris consider to be God has specifically encouraged followers to target children and schools.


Brahma Kumaris and money

How are the Brahma Kumaris funded?

The Brahma Kumaris both claim in public, and are instructed by their spirit guide, that they do not accept donations from non-BKs. However, increasingly they are seeking funding from external sources. Whilst the majority of funds supporting their property acquisition and evangelistic activities come from adherents, the BKWSU leadership has for some time successfully sought land, property and funding from governments internationally, and wealthy non-BK outsiders. They have largely benefited from Hindu tradition, or superstition, to give to the holy and have marketed themselves in such a manner providing recognizable religious services such as Raksha Bandhan to Indian communities. Adherents are encouraged to give for 10% of their income; many center-in-charges will spend considerably more. The aim is to surrender 100%.Their native Sindhi community is also a well known, successful and wealthy business community and has been known to support their activities whilst not always following their principles. Financiers and donors or property have also been sought from wealthy individuals of other religions, such as Islam, who are likely not to know of the real nature of their teachings. Tax systems have been used and abused to their benefit as a charity or a religion.


Do the Brahma Kumaris accept donations?

Yes. Although strictly their philosophical teachings tell them not to accept money from non-BKs, recently the Brahma Kumaris have been seen increasing not just to accept donations from non-adherents but also rent their properties out to other business and religious groups and allow adherents to provide professional services as long as a commission is paid back to the organization or one of its fronts such as the Janki Foundation.


Financial policies and investments

Financial dealings with the Brahma Kumari movement are bound with secrecy and obscurity. Adherents are discouraged from requesting details and few if any public statements are made. Financial matters are dealt with by an elite inner circle without any democratic process. Invariably any serious matters will be referred to the organization's mediums to request advice and clearance from its spirit guides. A number of charitable front organizations have been established to channel materials and funds back to the main organization. Increasingly, the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University and its leaders are being discovered to hold investment and considerably large bank accounts. In the case of the UK branch, a surplus in excess of £3,000,000.Global leader Janki Kripalani, despite having surrendered to the organization in the 1930s and have never held a job, was recently reported to have private a bank account at a private meeting. Whilst encouraging followers to surrender their money and insurance policies, even donate property, work for free and give up both education and career ambitions, other Brahma Kumaris leaders have been found to depend on private pensions in order to support their privileged position. The BKWSU organization, at the very least, also appears to have profited from property speculation and development at its Mount Abu headquarters. Running largely a "cash economy", at one point the Indian government acted to remove donation boxes from BK centers. Indian followers especially have been encouraged to give gifts of silver and gold jewelry some of which has been given as gifts to VIPs, it is not know what happens to the rest. There have been other reports of individuals and the organization having profited from property speculation and development especially around their Rajasthan headquarters.


How wealthy is the BKWSU?

In India, the Brahma Kumaris are thought of as a wealthy religion and to target wealth followers. In the UK, as an example, the BKWSU holds approximately £3,000,000 hold in bank accounts, £16,000,000 worth of property, £2,000,000 donations annually. Figures for India are not known but the BKWSU is known as a wealthy religion targeting a middle class following. If you know of local amounts, please contact us.



Does the BKWSU distribute charity?

As a rule, no. It is seen as bad to create such "karmic accounts" to give money to charity, whereas the highest karma and liberation is achieved by donating wealth, property and free labor to the Brahma Kumaris. As what many see as a face saving effort, the BKWSU did donate some money and goods following the Tsunami in India. It is understood that these were taken from special donations by adherents and not from the existing or general collection. In one year, whilst the BKWSU (UK), a charity established to "alleviate poverty" collected over £2,000,000 in donations for its own use, it distributed just over £20,000 in emergency relief aid. No records of any programmes of alleviating poverty can be seen in the public accounts. None have happened.


Wills and property

The BKWSU leadership regularly encourages all followers to write their last will and testimony completely in favor of the organization, leaving property to the cult even when their are living dependents and descendants in order to "earn a fortune" and high status in the future heaven on earth. It offers followers a standardized will to do so. While the organization does offer geriatric support to its followers and leaving caring to the physical family, some widows in such situations have been offered live in cooking positions within centers.


Brahma Kumari beliefs and experiences

Brahma Kumaris believe that they are unique amongst all religions in that God speaks to them, in Hindi with a few English words, directly through their mediums. They believe that God has come to earth in person. Prior to 1950, the Brahma Kumaris had no knowledge of this God and thought that millionaire businessman founder Lekhraj Kripalani was God, the Inventor of the Gita and a reincarnation of Krishna. Since approximately 1950, the BKWSU has believed that the channelled entity, spirit guide that speaks through their mediums is the God of all religions. This God is called Shiva, his form an infinitesimal point of light and that he possesses first the body of millionaire founder Lekhraj Kripalani and other Brahma Kumaris to speak through to humanity. Each Year, Brahma Kumaris make an annual "pilgrimage" to listen and meet "God" in person speaking through their main medium in their Indian Headquarters. By habit, the Brahma Kumaris do not make it obvious to non-BKs that they mean that their god is the God of all religion. Instead, BKs tend to talk in general terms about; "the Light", the "One", the "Supreme" and so on. What they specifically believe is that God meets and speaks to them directly via their mediums in India and does not do so to any other religion.



The Self

The Brahma Kumaris believe we are souls, infinitesimal points of light, existing in the physical body. They teach that human re-incarnate into a maximum of 84 bodies declining with each birth. The maximum number of rebirths is limited to Brahma Kumari followers, no other religion or practise having become enlightened or having gained liberation from rebirth.



The Three Worlds

The Brahma Kumaris believe that there is only life on Earth, that the universe is limited in size and is only 5,000 year old. They teach adherents that there are Three Worlds; the physical universe, an infinite spiritual world of red light using classical terms such as Brahm or Nirvana to describe it, and between the two a temporary world of white light in which there are visions but no sounds and in which BKs can exits, travel around as angels, receiving and giving psychic visions. This last world they call "The Subtle (or Angelic) Regions". "The Three World" is one of the core original classes of BK philosophy and often referred to. No mention of any other "spirit worlds" or heaven realms are made nor are they accepted as existing and they do not correlate to the Subtle Regions.



Karma

The BKWSU has its own unique and simplified understanding of Hindu Karma philosophy which includes the theory that ever misfortune was originally caused by the victim themselves, e.g. whether child sex abuse, as happened at the organizations headquarters, or the Jewish Holocaust etc. It believes that ill fortune can only be removed by suffering or BK Raja Yoga and that this time is the only time to earn the greatest material good fortune which will lead to a maximum of 2,500 years in heaven on earth.



The 5,000 year Cycle of Time

The Brahma Kumaris believe that, although matter is eternal, time is at most 5,000 years old and that it repeats identically ever 5,000 years in a cyclic fashion. What that means is that, literally, you read this identically 5,000 years ago and will read this again in 5,000 years time. This Cycle starts off pure and perfect and declines until it is 100% impure and imperfect in a series that goes; gold, silver, copper, iron as by classical Hindu and Greek philosophies. BKs believe that dinosaurs existed 2,500 years ago at the same time as Abraham and offer no scientific explanations for the numerous anomalies arising from this faith. At the end of each Cycle, there is an age of upliftment called the Diamond or Confluence Age which was originally 12 years long but currently stands as 10 years long, 70 of which have finished.



Tree of religions

A common metaphor deployed by the BKWSU is the Tree of Humanity, human civilization visualized as a tree of which the Brahma Kumaris, as reborn gods and goddess, form the trunk, all other religions, the branches of the tree and all sects and cults, the twigs.



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