Prajapati Brahmakumaris

The Brahma Kumaris (daughters of Brahma) is a relatively new religious movement that originated in Hyderabad, Sind during the 1930s. The movement was founded by Dada Lekhraj Kripalani, who later took the name Brahma Baba. It is distinctly identified by the prominent role that women play in the movement. The Brahma Kumaris were originally called Om Mandali, because members would chant ―Om‖ together, before having discourse on spiritual matters in the traditional satsang style. The original discourses were closely connected to the Bhagavad Gita. In 2008, the movement claimed to have more than 825,000 regular students, with over 8,500 centres in 100 countries….

Brahma Baba: The Founder: Brahma Baba, born into a humble home as Lekhraj Kripalani in the 1880s, was the son of a village schoolmaster. Lekhraj was brought up within the disciplines of the Hindu tradition. After different jobs, he entered the jewellery business, later earning a considerable fortune as a diamond trader. He was the father of five children and a leader within his local community, known especially for his philanthropy. In 1936, around the time when most people at his age start to plan their retirement, he actually entered into the most active and fascinating phase of his life. After a series of deep spiritual experiences and visions, he felt an extremely strong pull to give up his business and dedicate his time, energy and wealth to laying the foundations of what later would become the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University….

History: Lekhraj reported what he said were a series of visions and other transcendental experiences that commenced around 1935 and became the basis for the discourses. He said he believed there was a greater power working through him and that many of those who attended these gatherings were themselves having spiritual experiences. The majority of those who came were women and children from the Bhaibund caste – a caste of wealthy merchants and business people whose husbands and fathers were often overseas on business.

After about three years of meetings it became clear that Om Mandali was giving very special importance to the role of women, and was not adhering to the caste system. The group had named a 22-year-old woman, Radhe Pokardas Rajwani (then known as ―Om Radhe‖) as its president, and her management committee was made up of eight other women. People from any caste were allowed to attend meetings. The group also advocated that young women had the right to elect not … to marry and that married women had the right to choose a celibate life. In traditionbound patriarchal India, these personal life decisions were the exclusive right of men….

A committee headed by a number of important male members of the Bhaibund community began to form in opposition and became known as the ‗Anti-Om Mandali Committee‘. On 21 June 1938 this group picketed Om Mandali’s premises preventing members from entering. This caused considerable upheaval in the community. Women attending were verbally abused, there was an attempt to burn the premises down and the police made several arrests. Many women and girls were later victims of domestic violence in their homes. The picketing resulted in criminal proceedings being taken against both groups, and on 16 August 1938 the local District Magistrate ordered that Om Mandali be prevented from meeting. This ban was reversed on 21 November 1938 after an appeal to the Court of the Judicial Commissioner of Sind. In an unusual move the judges directly criticised the District Magistrate for trying to punish the victims for the disturbance caused by the perpetrators and for trying to apply the law according to his own personal bias. Nevertheless, in an increasingly sour atmosphere, Om Mandali had decided to leave Hyderabad and gradually relocated its activities to Karachi in the latter half of 1938. Approximately 300 members moved….

On 31 March 1939 the government appointed a tribunal to inquire into the activities of Om Mandali. When the Tribunal made its findings, Om Radhe responded by compiling a book titled Is this Justice? criticising the tribunal, which did not have a constitutional basis and made its findings without taking evidence from Om Mandali. In May 1939 the government used the tribunal’s findings to effectively reinstate the ban, declaring Om Mandali an ―unlawful association‖ under section 16 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1908. Nevertheless, Om Mandali continued to hold their Satsangs, and the government did not enforce it. Possibly because of this the committee then hired someone to kill Om Baba, but the attempt was unsuccessful….

In May 1950 Om Mandali moved to Mount Abu in Rajasthan India. From the beginning, the organization’s focus had been on education, not worship, and for this reason it renamed itself as Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University. In 1952, after a 14-year period of retreat, a more structured form of teaching began to be offered to the public by way of a seven lesson course.
After an unpromising beginning when it almost ran out of funds, from the mid 1950s the Brahma Kumaris began an international expansion programme. Since the 1970s it first spread to London and then to the West. The most visible manifestations of the religion are its ―Spiritual Museums‖ located in most major Indian cities….

In 1980 the Brahma Kumaris became affiliated to the United Nations Department of Public Relations as a Non-Governmental Organisation. In 1983 the Brahma Kumaris achieved consultative status with the Economic and Social Council at the United Nations. The Brahma Kumaris now has a permanent office space in New York for their work with the United Nations.
The leadership and membership of the Brahma Kumari movement remains primarily female, for example, in the UK only one-third of the 42 centres are run by males and 80% of the members are women. As of February 2015, centres are mostly in followers’ own homes with a tendency toward middle or upper class membership. Estimates for its worldwide membership ranges from 35,000 in 1993 to 400,000 in 1998 to 450,000 in 2000, however, it is reported that many were probably not completely committed to the group’s worldview….

Beliefs: The movement has distinguished itself from its Hindu roots and sees itself as a vehicle for spiritual teaching rather than as a religion.

Self: The Brahma Kumaris see humans as being made up of two parts; an external or visible body (including extensions such as status and possessions) and a subtle energy of the soul whose character structure is revealed through a person’s external activity – but always this is created by the inner soul -whether actions are done with love, peacefully, with happiness or humility is an aspect of one’s soul. The group teaches that the soul is an infinitesimal point of spiritual light residing in the forehead of the body it occupies, and that all souls originally existed with God in a ―Soul World‖, a world of infinite light, peace and silence.

… The Brahma Kumaris teach that Souls enter bodies to take birth in order to experience life and give expression to their personality. Unlike other Eastern traditions, the Brahma Kumaris do not believe that the human soul can transmigrate into other species.

Supreme Soul: The Brahma Kumaris use the term ―Supreme Soul‖ to refer to God. They see God as incorporeal and eternal, and regard him as a point of living light like human souls, but without a physical body, as he does not enter the cycle of birth, death and rebirth. God is seen as the perfect and constant embodiment of all virtues, powers and values and that He is the unconditionally loving Father of all souls, irrespective of their religion, gender, or culture.
The Brahma Kumaris believe God’s purpose to be the spiritual re-awakening of humanity and the removal of all sorrow, evil and negativity. They do not regard him as the creator of matter, as they consider matter to be eternal….

Karma: The Brahma Kumaris believe that every action performed by a soul will create a return accordingly, and that the destiny of the soul‘s next body depends on how it acts and behaves in this life. Through meditation, by transforming thinking patterns and eventually actions, the Brahma Kumaris believe that people can purify their “karmic account” and lead a better life in the present and next birth.

New Golden Age: The present time[when?] is believed to bring great global transformation as the world is transitioning from its present Iron Age to begin a new Golden age. The Brahma Kumaris believe that modern civilization is unsustainable and that economic and environmental pressures will ultimately boil over into civil and global conflict, coupled with natural calamities. They believe that there will always be a human population on Earth and that cataclysmic events form part of a natural and cathartic cyclic process.

… When the organisation began, emphasis was placed on the physical destruction of the world as seen in the cataclysmic visions of Dada Lekhraj. As the organisation developed, it witnessed World War II, the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the Cold War, and the destructive aspects of its teachings were reframed as a process transformation. The group had also made many failed predictions of the violent destruction of the world, between 1987 and 2008, aspects which are now downplayed.

Practices

Meditation: The Brahma Kumaris teaches a form of meditation through which students are encouraged to purify their minds. This may be done by sitting tranquilly, then making affirmations regarding the eternal nature of the soul, the original purity of one’s nature, and the nature of God. The aim of the BK meditation is also to learn to hold meditative states while being engaged in everyday life. For this reason meditation is usually taught and practiced with open eyes….

Good Wishes and Pure Feelings: Flowing on from the BK belief that everyone is a spiritual being, is the practice of Shubhawna (pure feelings) and Shubkamna (good wishes). For Brahma Kumaris, all prejudices and ill-feelings are seen as arising from identifying the self and others based on external labels like race, religion, gender, nationality, beauty (or lack of), etc. However, when there is the practice of finding the intrinsic goodness in each one, the prejudice based on those labels is replaced by the vision of one Spiritual Parent, one Human family, and universal spiritual values such as respect, love, peace and happiness. A flagship slogan for the Brahma Kumaris has been When we change, the world changes. It is for this reason that BKs consider bringing about this kind of change within the self as an important form of ―world service‖….

Study (Murli): Brahma Kumaris’ students study the murli. The Hindi word murli literally translates to ―flute‖. It is an oral study, read to the class early each morning in most BK centres on the world. The murlis are derived from mediumship and spirit possession.

There are two types of murli:

• Sakar Murlis refer to the original orations that Brahma Kumaris believe to be the Supreme Soul speaking through Brahma Baba.
• Avyakt Murlis are spoken by BapDada. Brahma Kumaris believe BapDada is God and the soul of their deceased founder. BapDada(God) is believed to speak to the Brahma Kumaris through a senior Brahma Kumari medium, Dadi Gulzar.

Avyakt murlis are still being spoken at the Brahma Kumaris headquarters in India. Students must complete the Brahma Kumaris foundation course and start by attending morning Murli class before visiting the headquarters.

… Lifestyle: Brahma Kumaris recommend a specific lifestyle in order achieve greater control over physical senses. However many participate in a casual way electing to adopt whichever beliefs and lifestyle disciplines in the following list they wish:

• Complete celibacy, in or out of marriage
• Sattvic vegetarianism, a strict lacto-vegetarian diet (excluding eggs, onions, garlic and/or spicy food) cooked only by the self or other members of the Brahma Kumaris.
• Abstaining from alcohol, tobacco and non-prescription drugs.
• Daily early morning meditation at 4:00 to 4:45 am, called ‗Amrit Vela’.
• Daily morning class at approximately 6:30 am.
• Men and women traditionally sit on separate sides of the room at the centres during classes.
• Brahma Kumaris can be identified by their frequent adoption of wearing white clothes, to symbolise purity.
• Students often prefer to keep the company of yogis (soul conscious individuals) as opposed to bhogis (those given over to worldly pleasures)….

Activities:

United Nations: The Brahma Kumaris run an NGO called the Brahma Kumaris at the United Nations, in general consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the UN and UNICEF. It is associated with the UN Department of Public Information and was granted International Peace Messenger Initiative status by the UN for the Global Co-operation for a Better World campaign. It also has permanent office space in New York City for their work at the UN.

Education: The Brahma Kumaris conducted an Introduction to meditation which consists of 7 one-hour long sessions. These sessions include their open-eyed meditation technique and philosophy. They also offer courses in ―positive thinking‖, ―self-management leadership‖ (SML) and ―living values.‖ They also have a number of voluntary outreach programs in prisons. The SML course is closely related to their philosophy and is the backbone of their management philosophy….

Renewable energy: The Brahma Kumaris have launched several environment initiatives. Their work in solar energy and sustainable energy has included the 2007 development of the world‘s largest solar cooker, and a solar thermal power plant in Talheti at the base of Mt. Abu. The 25acre site is projected to produce 22000 kwh of electricity daily. This project was completed with financial help from the Indian and German governments.

Healthcare: Global Hospital and Research Centre (GHRC) was started Rajasthan India in 1991, funded by the J. Wattammull Memorial Trust. GHRC provides free healthcare to one of the most impoverished areas in India.

In 2004, the Brahma Kumaris established the G.V. Mody Rural Health Care Centre & Eye Hospital, located at the base of Mount Abu….

Sustainable Yogic Agriculture: Sustainable Yogic Agriculture (SYA) is a program started in Northern India in 2009. The program has been a collaboration between Sardarkrushinagar Dantiwada Agricultural University in Gujarat India and the Brahma Kumaris Rural Development wing. The program has now been publicly backed by the Indian Government. With the governments support the program has been redesigned into Akhil Bharatiya Krushak Sashakatikaran Abhijan (ABKSA), and was launched in December 2015. ABKSA extends the initial scope of the SYA program to include teaching meditation and self-empowerment to the farmers themselves. This is possibly a response to the problem of farmer suicides in India. ABKSA now comprises three main elements:

1. A self empowerment program for Indian farmers;
2. Ongoing research on whether the use of meditation can improve crop yields;
3. Education on a blend of traditional and organic farming techniques.

… Criticisms: The Brahma Kumaris have been accused of the practice of families ―dumping‖ their daughters by requiring a payment from the families who wish to dedicate their daughters to work and serve in the organisation. The payment, it is argued, is to cover the living expenses during the trial period.

The Brahma Kumaris require the practice of celibacy in or out of marriage. Due to this requirement, they have also been accused of breaking up marriages. When the organisation started, empowering women to assert their right to remain celibate, particularly in marriage, this became a prime factor in the controversy that arose in 1930s Sind, as it directly challenged the dominance of men over women in patriarchal India.

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