Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University / Organization -- Research Resources

Apologetics Index breadcrumbs You are here: Apologetics Index | Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University | Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University / Organization -- Research Resources

About Our Research Resources Color Key

Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University (BKWSU) or Prajapita Brahma Kumaris Ishwariya Vishwa Vidyalaya is a religious movement of Indian origin whose teachings are based on occult practices such as mediumship and channeling.

In the US the group is called Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual Organization.

A prosperous ascetic meditation movement based in India, with some 500,000 members (mostly women) worldwide, the group was founded by Dada Lekh Raj, a Hindu diamond merchant who in the 1930s experienced a series of powerful visions revealing "the mysterious entity of God and explaining the process of world transformation." Its establishment was originally rooted in a desire to give self-determination and self-esteem to Indian women. Members wear white, abstain from meat and sex, and are committed to social-welfare projects. They believe in an eternal, karmic scheme of time that involves recurring 1,250-year cycles through a Golden Age (perfection), a Silver Age (incipient degeneration), a Copper Age (decadence ascendant), and an Iron Age (rampant violence, greed, and lust-our present state). The group is recognized as a nongovernmental organization by the United Nations, with which it often works.- Source: Oh Gods, by Toby Lester, Atlantic Monthly, Feb. 2002.

Articles

Just Add Followers Jeffrey Weiss, Dallas Morning News, Oct. 6, 2004.
“Baba” was originally a wealthy Hindu grain merchant and diamond trader named Lekh Raj. When he turned 60, visions told him that he was channeling the spirit of God, and that he’d been chosen to return truth to an ignorant world.
He adopted new names, eventually settling on Brahma Baba - “Father God.” In 1937, he formally founded the Brahma Kumaris, “sisters of God.” (Among Baba’s revelations was the notion that women deserved more control of religious institutions. So he put women in charge.)
Baba Brahma’s tale of himself as a leader chosen by God follows a pattern in many longstanding religions and in many of the hundreds of new religious movements in the world today. More than 800 of these movements have a foothold in the United States.
Most are New Age, with a vague sense of spirituality that appeals to Western seekers.
Brahma Kumaris, on the other hand, have a specific set of core beliefs similar to some Hindu traditions. In America and elsewhere, most “students,” as they call their followers, are members of Indio-Pakistani families.
Considering that most new religions die with their founders, the Brahma Kumaris (who often refer to themselves as “BK”) count as unusually successful.

Profile

Overview of Brahma Kumaris by ReachOut Trust

Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University Wikipedia entry

Websites

BKWSU Watch [Contra]
The Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University is a large international cult that teaches a philosophy that is unique unto itself whilst maintaining an appearance of traditional eastern schools of thought. The message is one of love and peace, of purifying one’s karma and of helping the souls of the world achieve happiness. What they actually believe is extreme and unrelated to any scripture. Their organisational practises are deceptive if not fraudulent. The result has been traumatic for many.
The growth of the Brahma Kumaris over 70 years has been the result of the dedicated efforts of those who have come and gone during that time. They believed in spirituality but trusted people they shouldn’t have. Many people have given many years of their lives, all their effort, money, and other resources while they were manipulated by their desire to be better people than they believed they were. When they were exhausted they were abandoned by an organisation that has no duty of care policy or practise and that accepts no responsibility for the outcomes it creates.
This website is dedicated to minimising trauma and saving lives by pressuring the Brahma Kumaris (BKs) to implement a meaningful duty of care program. The following pages will allow you to understand The Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University and how it operates, demonstrate that the BKWSU is a cult, and provide evidence of deception and tax fraud. It will help you to understand how people become trapped in its ranks. And how members and former members reach such desperation that they take their own lives.
- Source: Brahma Kumaris Raja Yoga: the real story

Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University [Official Website]

BrahmaKumaris Info for exiting-BKs - Friends & Family of BKs [Neutral/Contra]
BrahmaKumaris.info is volunteer run collaboration of mainly ex-members and associates of the BKWSU* offering a forum for mutual support and discussion and free access to information. It is impartial and non-doctrinal. Intended to be honest, informed and accurate, the site and its contributors take a detailed look at this international organization, its leaders and the effects of the lifestyle promoted by its leaders.
Contributors to BrahmaKumaris.info have had many years experience, worldwide, within the organization of the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University as "BKs" (Brahma Kumaris [female] or Brahma Kumars [male]). Many have lived in centres and been teachers of Brahma Kumaris' style Raja Yoga, organisers and financial sponsors of activities. We also call on the expertise of friends and family members of both current and ex-Brahma Kumaris followers and individuals who are current exploring BKWSU breakaway groups such as the PBKs (Advance Party), Vishnu Party and others. We are unique for our non-exclusive, ecumenical approach and are attempting to raise and resolve issues effecting all parties. The information to be presented here within is often not made publicly available by the BKWSU. Established in response to an increasing pattern of historical & philosophical revisionism by the BKWSU leadership, the focus of activity is the Forum, Encyclopedia and the Open Letter & Report to the BKWSU.

Bookmark, Share, Print or Email This Page

More About...

Topic: Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University

Comment

Responses are currently closed, but you can comment on your own website, blog, or elsewhere (e.g. Google+, Facebook) and include a 'trackback' link to this page.
Note: If the current entry includes a Table of Contents (top, right-hand corner), the comments section is located on the first page of the entry (and may indeed be open. Do check.) Also, on some entries, the comments section is located on a separate page. Again, see the topic's Table of Contents -- if included.