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Brahma Kumaris (view source)

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'''Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University''' (BKWSU) or '''Prajapita Brahma Kumaris Ishwariya Vishwa Vidyalaya''' is a [[monastic]], renunciate, <ref name="Tessa_Bartholomeusz_Bo_Tree">{{cite book

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'''Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University''' (BKWSU) or '''Prajapita Brahma Kumaris Ishwariya Vishwa Vidyalaya''' is a [[monastic]], renunciate,<ref name="Tessa_Bartholomeusz_Bo_Tree">{{cite book

| last1 = Bartholomeusz

| first1 = Tessa J.

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| publisher = [[Oxford University Press]]

| isbn = 0706925637

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}}</ref> [[new religious movement]] (NRM) of [[India]]n origin whose teachings are based on, and practises, involve both mediumship and [[Channelling (mediumistic)|channelling]]. <ref name="Klimo">{{cite book

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}}</ref> [[new religious movement]] (NRM) of [[India]]n origin whose teachings are based on, and practises, involve both mediumship and [[Channelling (mediumistic)|channelling]].<ref name="Klimo">{{cite book

| last = Klimo

| first = Jon

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| publisher = Routledge

| isbn = 978-0415200493

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}}</ref> It promotes a form of meditation<ref name="Tessa_Bartholomeusz_Bo_Tree"/> called ''Raja Yoga'', which differs from classical [[Raja Yoga]] as described by [[Yoga|Patanjali]]. <ref name="Kranenborg">{{cite web

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}}</ref> It promotes a form of meditation<ref name="Tessa_Bartholomeusz_Bo_Tree"/> called ''Raja Yoga'', which differs from classical [[Raja Yoga]] as described by [[Yoga|Patanjali]].<ref name="Kranenborg">{{cite web

| url = http://www.cesnur.org/testi/bryn/br_kranenborg.htm

| title = Brahma Kumaris: A New Religion?

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| accessdate = 2007-07-27

| quote = The entire way of the Brahma Kumaris can be characterized as raja yoga. One should not think here in the first place of classical yoga, as described by Patanjali.

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}}</ref> As a neo-Hindu sect, the Brahma Kumaris (BK) pre-date the [[New Age]] movement but have developed characteristics that link them to its thinking. <ref name="Walliss-ars">{{cite book

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}}</ref> As a neo-Hindu sect, the Brahma Kumaris (BK) pre-date the [[New Age]] movement but have developed characteristics that link them to its thinking.<ref name="Walliss-ars">{{cite book

| author = Walliss, J.

| year = 1999

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| volume = 14

| issue = 3

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| pages = ~~375-385~~

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| pages = 375–385

| url =http://www.arsdisputandi.org/index.html?http://www.arsdisputandi.org/publish/articles/000108/index.html

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}}</ref>. Active within the United Nations Organization and likes to promote itself and its leaders as "advisers" to the UN. Notable in its early years for pamphleteering the British and Indian establishment encouraging them to suspend civil law, impose martial law and embark on a scorched earth policy in order to purify the world and help create a heaven on earth for its followers. Has toned down the public face of its political lobbying in recent year but is still strictly millenarianist and supremecist at heart and has incorporated an imminent and desirable nuclear holocaust into its theology.

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}}</ref> Active within the United Nations Organization and likes to promote itself and its leaders as "advisers" to the UN. Notable in its early years for pamphleteering the British and Indian establishment encouraging them to suspend civil law, impose martial law and embark on a scorched earth policy in order to purify the world and help create a heaven on earth for its followers. Has toned down the public face of its political lobbying in recent year but is still strictly millenarianist and supremecist at heart and has incorporated an imminent and desirable nuclear holocaust into its theology.

The BKWSU is still politically ambitious and noted for its focus on "VIP service" and inflitrating multi-faith organizations. The spirit guide the leadership consider to be God informs them via their mediums that shortly in the future, the Government of India will hand over power to them. All Western nations are to be destroyed and sink below rising oceans leaving only picnic islands where Brahma Kumari centers once stood. The organization was recently outed for making claims over a period of 30 years that their global leader Ms Janki Kripalani was scientifically proven to be "the most stable mind in the world" by the University of Texas where no such claims or even department could be found. Elsewhere on the internet, the organization has been reported to have made claims for cancer and other miracle cures.

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| publisher = Ashgate Publishing

| isbn = 978-0754609513

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| pages = ~~99-129~~

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| pages = 99–129

}}</ref><ref name="BK_Jagdish_Chander_Adi_Dev">{{cite book

| last = Chander

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}}</ref> Dada Lekhraj retired from his business in 1932 with assets of 1,000,000 Indian [[rupees]]<ref name="Hardayal_Hardy_Struggles"/> to turn to spirituality. Their original spiritual knowledge was obtained though divine revelations and divine visions of women who had the gift of trance-vision.

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Lekhraj started holding [[satsang]]s which attracted many people and the group became known as Om Mandali. One of his main visions concerned the establishment of a perfected paradise after a kind of universal destruction of the cosmos, a destruction necessary for an ideal world to be established. <ref name ="Walliss-ars" /> In 1937, he named some of his followers as a managing committee, then reportedly transferred his fortune to the committee.<ref name="Elizabeth_Abbott_Celibacy">{{cite book

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Lekhraj started holding [[satsang]]s which attracted many people and the group became known as Om Mandali. One of his main visions concerned the establishment of a perfected paradise after a kind of universal destruction of the cosmos, a destruction necessary for an ideal world to be established.<ref name ="Walliss-ars" /> In 1937, he named some of his followers as a managing committee, then reportedly transferred his fortune to the committee.<ref name="Elizabeth_Abbott_Celibacy">{{cite book

| last = Abbott

| first = Elizabeth

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| publisher = James Clarke & Co.

| isbn = 0718830067

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| pages = ~~172-174~~

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| pages = 172–174

}}</ref> Several women joined Om Mandali, and contributed their wealth to the association as well.<ref name="Hardayal_Hardy_Struggles">{{cite book

| last = Hardy

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| publisher = Vikas Publishing House

| isbn = 0706925637

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| pages = ~~37-39~~

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| pages = 37–39

}}</ref>

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| publisher = HCI

| isbn = 1558749624

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| pages = ~~2-29~~

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| pages = 2–29

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}}</ref> including that of his own daughter who he had married into the family of the leader of what was to become the Anti-Party. <ref name="Hardayal_Hardy_Struggles"/> Om Mandali was denounced as disturber of [[family]] peace and some of the Brahma Kumari wives were mistreated by their families. Lekhraj Kripalani was accused of [[sorcery]], [[lechery]], <ref name="Elizabeth_Abbott_Celibacy"/> accused of forming a cult and controlling his community through the art of [[hypnotism]].

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}}</ref> including that of his own daughter who he had married into the family of the leader of what was to become the Anti-Party.<ref name="Hardayal_Hardy_Struggles"/> Om Mandali was denounced as disturber of [[family]] peace and some of the Brahma Kumari wives were mistreated by their families. Lekhraj Kripalani was accused of [[sorcery]], [[lechery]],<ref name="Elizabeth_Abbott_Celibacy"/> accused of forming a cult and controlling his community through the art of [[hypnotism]].

Children were removed from his school.<ref name="Radhe_is_this_justice">{{cite book

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| year = 1939

| publisher = Pharmacy Printing Press

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| pages = ~~35-36~~

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| pages = 35–36

}}</ref> Hindu members of the Sindh Assembly threatened to resign unless the Om Mandali was outlawed, so the Sindh Government used the Criminal Law Amendment Act of 1908 to declare it an unlawful association.<ref name="Hardayal_Hardy_Struggles"/> Under further pressure from the Hindu leaders in the Government, the group was ordered to close and vacate its premises.<ref name="Indian_Problem">{{cite book

| last = Coupland

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| publisher = Routledge

| isbn = 978-0415267076

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| pages = ~~63-64~~

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| pages = 63–64

| quote = The call for women brahmins (i.e. kumaris or 'daughters') to remain celibate or chaste in marriage inverted prevailing social expectations that such renunciation was proper only for men and that the disposal of women's sexuality should remain with their fathers and husbands. The 'Anti-Om Mandali Committee' formed by outraged male family members violently persecuted Brahma Baba's group, prompting their flight to Karachi and withdrawal from society. Intense world rejection gradually eased after partition in 1947, when the BKs moved from Pakistan to Mt Abu

}}</ref>

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| volume = 37

| issue = 3

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| pages = ~~453-461~~ }}</ref> establishing centers across India with female teachers. From 1964 to 1969 methods of outreach began involving exhibitions, seminars and conferences in different parts of India.<ref name="Frank_Whaling_Contemporary_Religion>{{cite book

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| pages = 453–461 }}</ref> establishing centers across India with female teachers. From 1964 to 1969 methods of outreach began involving exhibitions, seminars and conferences in different parts of India.<ref name="Frank_Whaling_Contemporary_Religion">{{cite book

| last = Whaling

| first = Frank

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| volume = 10

| issue = 1

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| pages = ~~3-28~~

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| pages = 3–28

}}</ref>

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| volume = 37

| issue = 3

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| pages = ~~453-461~~

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| pages = 453–461

| doi = 10.2307/1388052

| quote = Today the leadership of the BK movement in India remains heavily female. Sisters, or kumaris (daughters), are still "put in front", that is favored for the position of "center-in-charge" (head of a local center). As of December 1995 all Indian centers were run by "sisters." However, "brothers" also reside in many of the centers run by "sisters". Brothers are expected to work to earn an outside income, which provides a substantial share of the support of the centers, and do the domestic work other than cooking. This frees the sisters to engage full-time in service to the organization as teachers, leaders of meditation sessions and spiritual directors. Indian migrants made up half the number of Brahmins in the UK.

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| accessdate = 2007-08-20

| quote = Worldwide, this path has 4000 centres and approximately 400,000 members.

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}}</ref> The 2001 Census of the United Kingdom records 261 individual members. <ref name=Lewis2004>{{cite book

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}}</ref> The 2001 Census of the United Kingdom records 261 individual members.<ref name=Lewis2004>{{cite book

| author = Lewis, J.R.

| coauthors = Aris, R.I.S.

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| quote = "The article reports initial findings from a values education programme that is currently being implemented, in various forms, in several primary schools in England. The programme is 'Living Values: an educational program' and it was developed in association with a Hindu-related religious organisation, the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University. The article situates the research within a social and theoretical context and reports from fieldwork conducted over a period of twelve months in schools and Brahma Kumaris centres."

| issue = 1

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| pages = ~~75-88~~

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| pages = 75–88

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}}</ref> Service requires active support of the movement, especially by participating in its many proscelyting activities. Great emphasis is placed on the value of bringing converts into the movement, particularly converts who stick. Meditation is the movement's most significant 'effort'. Efforts to reform the Kaliyug are not in accord with Shiv Bab's will. <ref name="Babb_service">{{cite book

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}}</ref> Service requires active support of the movement, especially by participating in its many proscelyting activities. Great emphasis is placed on the value of bringing converts into the movement, particularly converts who stick. Meditation is the movement's most significant 'effort'. Efforts to reform the Kaliyug are not in accord with Shiv Bab's will.<ref name="Babb_service">{{cite book

| last = Babb

| first = Lawrence A.

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}}</ref> which involves:

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* [[Celibacy]], including no sex within marriage.<ref name="Bryan_Wilson_NRM">{{cite book

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* [[Celibacy]], including no sex within marriage.<ref name="Lawrence_Babb_Redemptive"/><ref name="Bryan_Wilson_NRM">{{cite book

| last = Wilson

| first = Bryan

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| publisher = Routledge

| isbn = 978-0415200493

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}}</ref~~><ref name="Lawrence_Babb_Redemptive"/~~> So long as chastity is followed, marriage and family life are allowed.<ref name="Bryan_Wilson_NRM"/>

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}}</ref> So long as chastity is followed, marriage and family life are allowed.<ref name="Bryan_Wilson_NRM"/>

* [[sattva|Sattvic]] [[vegetarianism]], a strict [[lacto vegetarianism|lacto-vegetarian]] diet <ref name="Bo_Tree">{{cite book

| last = Bartholomeusz

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| quote = "The most strict will not eat fard which is not prepared by a Brahma Kumaris. While traveling they abstain from public fare and carry their own utensils for cooking."

}}</ref>

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* Abstaining from [[alcohol]], [[tobacco]] and non-prescription drugs.<ref name="~~Bo_Tree~~"/><ref name="~~Lawrence_Babb_Redemptive~~"/>

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* Abstaining from [[alcohol]], [[tobacco]] and non-prescription drugs.<ref name="Lawrence_Babb_Redemptive"/><ref name="Bo_Tree"/>

* Regular early morning [[meditation]] at 4:00<ref name="Lawrence_Babb_Redemptive"/> to 4:45 am, called 'Amrit Vela.'

* Regular morning class at approximately 6:30 am.<ref name="Enc_New">{{cite book

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| publisher = HMSO, London

| isbn = 0-14-051261-6

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| pages = ~~168-70~~

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| pages = 168–70

}}</ref><ref name="Melton">{{cite book

| last = Melton

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| publisher = Gale, Detroit

| isbn =

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| pages = ~~909-10~~

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| pages = 909–10

}}</ref>

* Recommends that companions be other BK Brahmins as opposed to those given over to worldly pleasures (non-BKs), known as ''bhogi''s or [[Shudras]] (meaning Untouchables).<ref name="Lawrence_Babb_Redemptive"/>

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* All except the very senior BKs in the Western branches must support themselves (most work), most BKs live in shared accommodation with other members enabling the organization to powerfully reinforce its beliefs. <ref name="Howell_support">{{cite book

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* All except the very senior BKs in the Western branches must support themselves (most work), most BKs live in shared accommodation with other members enabling the organization to powerfully reinforce its beliefs.<ref name="Howell_support">{{cite book

| last = Howell

| first = Dr Julia D

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| quote = [BKWSU] ... does not associate itself with any earlier Hindu movement, bhakti or otherwise,

| accessdate = 2008-01-25

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}}</ref> but projects itself as a vehicle for spiritual teaching rather than a religion.<ref name="Enc_New">{{cite book

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}}</ref> but projects itself as a vehicle for spiritual teaching rather than a religion.<ref name="Kranenborg"/><ref name="Enc_New">{{cite book

| last = Howell

| first = Julia Day

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| isbn = 978-0415267076

| quote = The "Brahma Kumaris" are a world-wide millenarian movement. Drawing on Hindu religious culture of its founder, the movement has nonetheless distinguished itself from Hinduism and projects itself as a vehicle for spiritual teaching rather than a religion

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}}</ref~~><ref name="Kranenborg"/~~>

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}}</ref>

===Central beliefs===

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| publisher = Routledge

| isbn = 978-0415267076

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| pages = ~~63-64~~

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| pages = 63–64

| quote = The BK teachings revise Hindu beliefs in a Golden Age that deteriorates into successive ages in an endlessly recurring cycle of time; according to the movement, we are now in the worst age, on the eve of destruction, and only BKs who have purified themselves through a vegetarian diet and chastity and cultivated "soul consciousness", will be reborn into the Golden Age.

}}</ref> as Gods and Goddesses.<ref name="Glancing"/>

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| title = Redemptive Encounters: Three Modern Styles in the Hindu Tradition (Comparative Studies in Religion and Society)

| year = 1987

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| ~~page~~ = ~~112-113~~

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| pages = 112–113

| publisher = [[Oxford University Press]]

| isbn = 0706925637

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===5,000 Year Cycle===

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Time is [[wheel of time|cyclic]], repeating identically every 5,000 years, and composed of five [[yugas| ages]] or "Yugas"; the [[Sat Yuga|Golden Age]], the [[Treta Yuga|Silver Age]], the [[Dvapara Yuga|Copper Age]], the [[Kali Yuga|Iron Age]] each being exactly 1,250 years long,<ref name="New_Believers">{{cite book

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Time is [[wheel of time|cyclic]], repeating identically every 5,000 years, and composed of five [[yugas|ages]] or "Yugas"; the [[Sat Yuga|Golden Age]], the [[Treta Yuga|Silver Age]], the [[Dvapara Yuga|Copper Age]], the [[Kali Yuga|Iron Age]] each being exactly 1,250 years long,<ref name="New_Believers">{{cite book

| last = Barrett

| first = David V

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| accessdate = 2007-07-18

| quote =

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}}</ref> in an event called Destruction. <ref name="John_Walliss_Cycle">{{cite book

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}}</ref> in an event called Destruction.<ref name="John_Walliss_Cycle">{{cite book

| last = Walliss

| first = John

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| title = Death, Fantasy, and Religious Transformations

| book = The Psychology of Death in Fantasy and History

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| url = http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&id=SjIKL5q8HrEC&oi=fnd&pg=PA87&dq=bkwsu&ots=8JzjGa25Uy&sig=4RWN7gdUstsYI5QCom8I175Nstk

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| url = http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&id=SjIKL5q8HrEC&oi=fnd&pg=PA87&dq=bkwsu&ots=8JzjGa25Uy&sig=4RWN7gdUstsYI5QCom8I175Nstk quote = A case study of Brahma Kumaris, a contemporary group characterized by an apocalyptic vision (kept hidden from nonmembers).

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quote = A case study of Brahma Kumaris, a contemporary group characterized by an apocalyptic vision (kept hidden from nonmembers).

| accessdate = 2008-01-25

}}</ref>

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| pages = 13

| quote =

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}}</ref>. Babb states that Brahma Kumari movement enter the fifth era (Confluence Age) with the expectation that they will become "fit to be reborn in the paradisical phase of the next world cycle ... indeed they are the very gods and goddesses of the Hindu pantheon imperfectly remembered through texts today".

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}}</ref> Babb states that Brahma Kumari movement enter the fifth era (Confluence Age) with the expectation that they will become "fit to be reborn in the paradisical phase of the next world cycle ... indeed they are the very gods and goddesses of the Hindu pantheon imperfectly remembered through texts today".

===Tree of Humanity===

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and at the end of each Cycle, everyone will see visions in which their personal destinies will be fully disclosed.<ref name="John_Walliss_reflexive"/>

===Meditation===

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The Brahma Kumaris teach a form of meditation through which members are encouraged to purify their minds and 'burn away' the [[karma|Karmic]] effects of past misdeeds. <ref name="Lawrence_Babb_Redemptive" /> This may be done by sitting tranquilly in front of a screen on to which Dada Lekhraj's image is projected, then making [[affirmations]] regarding the [[eternal]] nature of the [[soul]].<ref name="_Chryssides_Historical/">{{cite book

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The Brahma Kumaris teach a form of meditation through which members are encouraged to purify their minds and 'burn away' the [[karma|Karmic]] effects of past misdeeds.<ref name="Lawrence_Babb_Redemptive" /> This may be done by sitting tranquilly in front of a screen on to which Dada Lekhraj's image is projected, then making [[affirmations]] regarding the [[eternal]] nature of the [[soul]].<ref name="_Chryssides_Historical/">{{cite book

| last = Chryssides

| first = George

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| volume = Winter

| issue = 4

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| pages = ~~387-401~~

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| pages = 387–401

| quote =

}}</ref> Babb also states that while staring (gazing into the eyes of an adept) at the teacher, many students experience visual [[hallucinations]] involving lights.<ref name="Lawrence_Babb_Redemptive"/>

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| accessdate = 2007-07-22

| quote = Sister Denise, Director of the San Francisco Center, flew right away to Mt. Abu, and shared this very intimate account of the traditional 13-day period of sacred ritual and vigil which honored Didi: "Large piles of red rose petals covered her - offered by nearly 1,500 devotees who managed the difficult ascent up Mt. Abu, braving the driving rains. After two days, we put her on a wooden litter and carried her through the city of Mt. Abu, pinnacled high above the flat plains of Rajasthan far below. Ghee, sandalwood and other substances were applied to her body. She was placed on the wood pyre and cremated. Soon afterward, messages began to come from Didi through one of previous month, while apparently in a coma state, had been in trance, in total God-consciousness, enjoying the fulfillment of all her deep spiritual sadhanas. Didi shared detailed accounts of everything that was transpiring in the so-called "transition experience.' One message said that the sincere and deep meditations performed by so many of the Brahma Kumaris worldwide during this time had purified the womb that Didi would enter for her next birth on the 13th day. On that 13th day, rather than just deliver a message through the medium, she came fully into the body. I was there and saw this.

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}}</ref> In its early days, children would commonly go into [[trances]], having visions of [[Krishna]] and [[Golden Age]]d [[Heaven]] and engaging in [[Ecstasy (emotion)|ecstatic]] dances for as long as 7 days. <ref name="Lawrence_Babb_Redemptive"/> A number of [[Channelling (mediumistic)|mediumistic]] female followers known as ''Sandeshputris'' ([[Trance|trance messengers]]) also helped add to the group's spiritual knowledge through [[psychic]] visions.<ref name=history/>

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}}</ref> In its early days, children would commonly go into [[trances]], having visions of [[Krishna]] and [[Golden Age]]d [[Heaven]] and engaging in [[Ecstasy (emotion)|ecstatic]] dances for as long as 7 days.<ref name="Lawrence_Babb_Redemptive"/> A number of [[Channelling (mediumistic)|mediumistic]] female followers known as ''Sandeshputris'' ([[Trance|trance messengers]]) also helped add to the group's spiritual knowledge through [[psychic]] visions.<ref name=history/>

God Shiva, and the deceased human founder Lekhraj Kripalani, continue to be channelled <ref name=Robbins1997>{{cite book

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| volume = 37

| issue = 3

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| pages = ~~453-461~~

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| pages = 453–461

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| quote = "The likelihood that surrendered sisters in India will remain Brahmins throughout their lives is increased by the practise of parent giving dowries to the Brahma Kumaris for daughters they concede will not marry. This practise goes back to the early days of the organization but it is not clear how common it was. Whaling and Babb report it as an occasional practice.

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| quote = "The likelihood that surrendered sisters in India will remain Brahmins throughout their lives is increased by the practise of parent giving dowries to the Brahma Kumaris for daughters they concede will not marry. This practise goes back to the early days of the organization but it is not clear how common it was. Whaling and Babb report it as an occasional practice. Recently the pattern has been formalized, with retreats at Mount Abu being offered for girls in their mid-teens who may wish to undertake a fuller commitment to the organization. The girls are offered a short period of taking classes and living near Senior Sisters, at the end of which they may nominate to undertake a year trial as surrendered sisters. A payment equivalent to a dowry is required from the girls' natural families to cover their living expenses over the trial period. This payment is also meant to prevent parent "dumping" daughters on the Brahma Kumaris to avoid the dowries and other costs of ordinary marriages. Return to the world for women who have has such a dowry paid for them is difficult."

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Recently the pattern has been formalized, with retreats at Mount Abu being offered for girls in their mid-teens who may wish to undertake a fuller commitment to the organization. The girls are offered a short period of taking classes and living near Senior Sisters, at the end of which they may nominate to undertake a year trial as surrendered sisters. A payment equivalent to a dowry is required from the girls' natural families to cover their living expenses over the trial period. This payment is also meant to prevent parent "dumping" daughters on the Brahma Kumaris to avoid the dowries and other costs of ordinary marriages. Return to the world for women who have has such a dowry paid for them is difficult."

}}</ref>

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* BK followers belief that the BKWSU is the precursor to all world religions, even those that predate it, which are seen as being only facets of "the complete diamond" Raja Yoga. <ref name="John_Walliss_Cycle">{{cite book

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* BK followers belief that the BKWSU is the precursor to all world religions, even those that predate it, which are seen as being only facets of "the complete diamond" Raja Yoga.<ref name=Barz1992 /><ref name="John_Walliss_Cycle">{{cite book

| last = Walliss

| first = John

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| isbn = 978-0754609513

| pages = 105

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}}</ref~~><ref name=Barz1992 /~~>

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}}</ref>

* Of primary importance is that the members of the Brahma Kumari ‘university’ should undergo a ‘death-in-life’. They should ‘die towards the outer world’. They had to renounce their families and thus be ‘divinely’ in the ‘divine family<ref name="John_Walliss_Family">{{cite book

| last = Walliss

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| isbn = 978-0754609513

| pages = 37

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}}</ref> In 2007, the British [[tabloid]] newspaper [[The Daily Mail]] reported Graham Baldwin, a former university chaplain and army officer who is president of the educational countercult organization Catalyst<ref>http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_19960115/ai_n9636788</ref>, stating that the former members and the families of members had told him that BKWSU has driven a wedge between husband and wife and that there were complaints that it encourages single women and widows to donate property and savings. The BKWSU, a organisation being notable for its sex ban, was said to have "used pernicious methods to control its followers". Ian Howarth of the [[Cult Information Centre]], was further quoted about complaints that people have gone undergone personality changes after joining BKWSU and become alienated from their families. A BKWSU spokeswoman replied, "this is very much a minority thing", declining to comment on allegations that BKWSU encourages followers to donate property and savings. <ref name=Mail> {{Cite web

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}}</ref> In 2007, the British [[tabloid]] newspaper [[The Daily Mail]] reported Graham Baldwin, a former university chaplain and army officer who is president of the educational countercult organization Catalyst,<ref>http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_19960115/ai_n9636788</ref> stating that the former members and the families of members had told him that BKWSU has driven a wedge between husband and wife and that there were complaints that it encourages single women and widows to donate property and savings. The BKWSU, a organisation being notable for its sex ban, was said to have "used pernicious methods to control its followers". Ian Howarth of the [[Cult Information Centre]], was further quoted about complaints that people have gone undergone personality changes after joining BKWSU and become alienated from their families. A BKWSU spokeswoman replied, "this is very much a minority thing", declining to comment on allegations that BKWSU encourages followers to donate property and savings.<ref name=Mail>{{Cite web

| last = GALLAGHER

| first = IAN

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| pages =

| url =http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=426903&in_page_id=1770

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| accessdate = 2008-01-24 }}</ref> <ref name=DNA> {{Cite web

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| accessdate = 2008-01-24 }}</ref><ref name=DNA>{{Cite web

| last = Momin

| first = Sajeda

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| url = http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1073280

| accessdate = 2008-01-24 }}</ref>

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* Questioned how [[dinosaurs]] fit within a 5,000 year Cycle of Time BK Neville Hodgkinson, a former scientific correspondent for an English national newspaper, questioned the existence of dinosaurs on the basis of the lack of bones that have been found whilst other BK [[follower]] argued that dinosaurs exist in a parallel [[space-time]] [[dimension]] and because of a [[Black Holes and Time Warps|warp hole]] end up in this dimension. <ref name="John_Walliss_dinosaurs">{{cite book

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* Questioned how [[dinosaurs]] fit within a 5,000 year Cycle of Time BK Neville Hodgkinson, a former scientific correspondent for an English national newspaper, questioned the existence of dinosaurs on the basis of the lack of bones that have been found whilst other BK [[follower]] argued that dinosaurs exist in a parallel [[space-time]] [[dimension]] and because of a [[Black Holes and Time Warps|warp hole]] end up in this dimension.<ref name="John_Walliss_dinosaurs">{{cite book

| last = Walliss

| first = John

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| pages = 106

}}</ref>

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* The Brahma Kumaris have featured in the 'Wissen schtzt' reports of Austria (edited by then Austrian Minister for Family Affairs Mr. Martin Bartenstein), <ref>http://www.hrwf.net/religiousfreedom/news/austria_2003.html#TheStateOfReligious</ref>, Russia (International Conference "[[Totalitarian]] [[Cul]]ts - Threat of Twenty-First Century", Nizhny Novgorod, 2001) and in a [[MIVILUDES ]] report submitted to the French National Assembly as a "sectes dangereuses" (harmful cult) and "groupe d'enfermement" (group of confinement).<ref name = MIVILUDES > {{Citation

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* The Brahma Kumaris have featured in the 'Wissen schtzt' reports of Austria (edited by then Austrian Minister for Family Affairs Mr. Martin Bartenstein),<ref>http://www.hrwf.net/religiousfreedom/news/austria_2003.html#TheStateOfReligious</ref> Russia (International Conference "[[Totalitarian]] [[Cul]]ts - Threat of Twenty-First Century", Nizhny Novgorod, 2001) and in a [[MIVILUDES]] report submitted to the French National Assembly as a "sectes dangereuses" (harmful cult) and "groupe d'enfermement" (group of confinement).<ref name = MIVILUDES >{{Citation

| last1 = Gest

| first1 = Alain

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| pages =

| url = http://www.cftf.com/french/Les_Sectes_en_France/cults.html

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| year = 1995/6 }} </ref> This has leading to the presecution of followers in local media leading to job losses after it discovered that they belonged to a [[sect~~|secte~~]] <ref name=CAPLC> {{Cite web

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| year = 1995/6 }}</ref> This has leading to the presecution of followers in local media leading to job losses after it discovered that they belonged to a [[sect]]e <ref name=CAPLC>{{Cite web

| title = Orthophoniste et naturopathe, il est dénoncé comme "gourou"

| publisher = Coordination des Associations & Particuliers pour la Liberté de Conscience

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| pages =

| url = http://www.coordiap.com/temo13.htm

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| accessdate = 2008-01-24 }}</ref> and denouncement for their influence on children under their care. <ref name=AFP>Licenciements dans une crèche en Gironde pour appartenance à une secte, Agence France-Presse [http://www.afp.fr/english/home/] 18 Juin 2003 [http://www.prevensectes.com/rev0306.htm#18c]</ref>

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| accessdate = 2008-01-24 }}</ref> and denouncement for their influence on children under their care.<ref name=AFP>Licenciements dans une crèche en Gironde pour appartenance à une secte, Agence France-Presse [http://www.afp.fr/english/home/] 18 Juin 2003 [http://www.prevensectes.com/rev0306.htm#18c]</ref>

====Claim of divine indication====

[[Pratibha Patil]], the [[United Progressive Alliance|UPA]]-[[Indian left|Left]] candidate and current [[President of India]], said on camera during the [[Indian presidential election, 2007]], that she had communicated with the spirit of the deceased leader<ref name="ibnlive_ghost">{{cite web

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| isbn = 978-0754609513

| quote = Another rendition of the University's Millenarianism [is] put forward by a group named the Advance Party. This group is made up of predominantly disaffected ex-members of the University and are highly critical of what they allege to be the increasing worldliness and corruptness of the University's hierarchy. The University, they claim on their website, has become a true Ravan Rajya (Kingdom of Devil) where pomp and show and grandeur are given preference over true godly knowledge. At a deeper level, the Advance Party's critique is aimed at the BK theodicy and the manner in which they allege its millenarianism has been understood.

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}}</ref> elsewhere they are referred to as the [[AIVV|Prajapita Brahma Kumaris]] or PBKs <ref>{{cite web

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}}</ref> elsewhere they are referred to as the [[AIVV|Prajapita Brahma Kumaris]] or PBKs.<ref>{{cite web

| url = http://www.shivbaba.org.pl/

| title = Advance Knowledge

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| accessdate =

| quote =

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}}</ref>. Walliss states that as Lekhraj Kripalani's original message of separation, spiritual introversion and violent Destruction becomes repackaged as the emergence of a [[New Age]] through self-understanding and self-development, this direction has caused discontent within certain segments of the Brahma Kumari movement, likening them to the "[[Protestant Reformers]] to the BKWSU's [[mediaeval]] [[Catholic Church]]".

+

}}</ref> Walliss states that as Lekhraj Kripalani's original message of separation, spiritual introversion and violent Destruction becomes repackaged as the emergence of a [[New Age]] through self-understanding and self-development, this direction has caused discontent within certain segments of the Brahma Kumari movement, likening them to the "[[Protestant Reformers]] to the BKWSU's [[mediaeval]] [[Catholic Church]]".

The "Advance Party" offer a radicalised rendition of the BKWSU's original [[millenarian]] message. In particular, they are exceptionally hostile to the University's New Age and UN involvement claim that Shiva is now manifesting Himself through a different medium to correctly interpret the original teachings and that Lekhraj Kirpalani's business partner Sevak Ram was the original medium. PBKs report hostile resistance from the BKWSU and Walliss met with a wall of silence and irate phone call from the University threatening him that the BKWSU would "block [him] every step of the way if [he] persisted along this line of investigation". The University restricting its member's "knowledge and access to the group so as to prevent any further defections." Founder Baba Dev Dixit was debarred from the BKWSU.<ref name="John_Walliss_reflexive"/>

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| volume = 1

| issue = 2

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| pages = ~~309-311~~

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| pages = 309–311

}}

*{{cite book

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| volume = 26

| issue = 2

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| pages = ~~133-149~~

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| pages = 133–149

| url = http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/carfax/cbre/2004/00000026/00000002/art00003

| accessdate = 2008-01-25

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| title = The Brahma Kumaris and the role of women

| book = Women and Teachers and Disciples in Traditional and New Religions

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| pages = ~~47-62~~

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| pages = 47–62

}}

* {{cite book

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| volume = 58

| issue =

−

| pages = ~~141-164~~

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| pages = 141–164

| date = 1997

| url =

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| book = Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion

| volume = 8

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| pages = ~~1-33~~

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| pages = 1–33

}}

*{{cite book

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| volume = 37

| issue = 3

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| pages = ~~453-461~~

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| pages = 453–461

}}

* {{cite book

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| volume = 41

| issue = 1

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| pages = ~~49-66~~

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| pages = 49–66

| date = 1982

| url =

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| volume = 37

| issue = 4

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| pages = ~~387-401~~

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| pages = 387–401

| date = 1981

| url =

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| volume = 9

| issue = 3

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| pages = ~~399-416~~

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| pages = 399–416

| url = http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0097-9740(198421)9%3A3%3C399%3AIFIAMH%3E2.0.CO%3B2-E

| accessdate = 2008-01-25

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| volume = 12

| issue = 1

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| pages = ~~329-346~~

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| pages = 329–346

| doi = 10.1146/annurev.so.12.080186.001553

}}

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| volume = 90

| issue = 4

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| pages = ~~403-439~~

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| pages = 403–439

| date = Aug 2003

| url =

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* [http://www.pbks.info PBKs.Info - Alternative interpretations of murlis]

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[[~~category~~:Hinduism]] [[~~category~~:Cults]]

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[[Category:Hinduism]] [[Category:Cults]]

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