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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.
| last2 = Clayton
| first2 = John
| last3 = Collins
| first4 = Stevens
| last5 = de Lange
| first5 = Nicholas
| title = Women under the Bo Tree: Buddhist nuns in Sri Lanka
| series = Cambridge Studies in Religious Traditions
| year = 1994
| publisher = Cambridge University Press
| isbn = 978-0521461290
}}</ref> [[Millenarianism|millenarian]]<ref>{{cite book
| last = Robbins
| first = Thomas
| title = Millennium, Messiahs, and Mayhem: Contemporary Apocalyptic Movements
| year = 1997
| publisher = Routledge
| isbn = 978-0415916486
}}</ref><ref name="Lawrence_Babb_Redemptive">{{cite book
| last = Babb
| first = Lawrence A.
| title = Redemptive Encounters: Three Modern Styles in the Hindu Tradition (Comparative Studies in Religion and Society)
| year = 1987
| publisher = [[Oxford University Press]]
| isbn = 0706925637
}}</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
| title = Channeling: Investigations on Receiving Information from Paranormal Sources
| year = 1998
| publisher = North Atlantic Books
| isbn = 978-1556432484
| pages = 100
}}</ref><ref name="Bryan_Wilson_NRM">{{cite book
| last = Wilson
| first = Bryan
| coauthors = Eileen Barker, James Beckford, Anthony Bradney, Colin Campbell, George Chryssies, Peter Clarke, Paul Heelas, Massimo Introvigne, Lawrence Lilliston, Godeon Melton, Elizabeth Puttick, Gary Sherpherd, Colin Slee, Frank Usarski
| editor = Bryan Wilson
| title = New Religious Movements: Challenge and Response
| year = 1999
| publisher = Routledge
| isbn = 978-0415200493
}}</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?
| publisher = Reender Kranenborg, Free University of Amsterdam
| 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.
}}</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
| title = From world rejection to ambivalence: the development of millenarianism in the Brahma Kumaris
| book = book of Contemporary Religion
| volume = 14
| issue = 3
| pages = 375-385
| url =http://www.arsdisputandi.org/index.html?http://www.arsdisputandi.org/publish/articles/000108/index.html
}}</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.
It recently lost a domain name dispute legal action against a support group website set up by ex-members.
== Early history ==
The origin of BKWSU can be traced to a 1930s group called "Om Mandali", founded by multi-millionaire jeweler [[Lekhraj Kripalani]] who the organization now claims was born in 1876 <ref name="Hardayal_Hardy_Struggles"/> to match psychic prediction but in early books it published itself, was stated to be born in 1884 [[Hyderabad, Sindh]]. Lekhraj Kripalani, known as "Dada Lekhraj", "Om Baba" or "Brahma Baba" to his followers, was a Bhaibund merchant and follower of the [[Vaishnavite]] [[Vallabhacharya]] [[Sect]].<ref name="John_Walliss_reflexive">{{cite book
| last = Walliss
| first = John
| title = The Brahma Kumaris As a Reflexive Tradition: Responding to Late Modernity
| year = 2002
| publisher = Ashgate Publishing
| isbn = 978-0754609513
| pages = 99-129
}}</ref><ref name="BK_Jagdish_Chander_Adi_Dev">{{cite book
| last = Chander
| first = B. K Jagdish
| title = Adi Dev: The first man
| year = 1981
| publisher = B.K. Raja Yoga Center for the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University.
}}</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.
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
| title = A History of Celibacy
| year = 2001
| publisher = James Clarke & Co.
| isbn = 0718830067
| 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
| first = Hardayal
| title = Struggles and Sorrows: The Personal Testimony of a Chief Justice
| year = 1984
| publisher = Vikas Publishing House
| isbn = 0706925637
| pages = 37-39
}}</ref>
Members of the local [[Sindhi people|Bhaibund community]] reacted unfavorably to his movement. Many young married Sindhi women attended his [[ashram]] and were being encouraged to take vows of [[celibacy]], so the Om Mandali was accused of breaking up families <ref name="David_Barrett_New_Believers">{{cite book
| last = Barrett
| first = David V
| title = The New Believers: A Survey of Sects, Cults and Alternative Religions
| year = 2001
| publisher = Cassell & Co.
| isbn = 978-0304355921
| quote = 'sex is an expression of 'body-consciousness' and leads to the other vices', probably stems in part from the origins of the movement in 1930s India, when women had to submit to their husbands.
}}</ref><ref name="Liz_Hodgkinson_Peace">{{cite book
| last = Hodgkinson
| first = Liz
| title = Peace and Purity: The Story of the Brahma Kumaris a Spiritual Revolution
| year = 2002
| publisher = HCI
| isbn = 1558749624
| pages = 2-29
}}</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
| last = Radhe
| first = Brahma-Kumari
| title = Is this justice?: Being an account of the founding of the Om Mandli & the Om Nivas and their suppression, by application of the Criminal Law Amendment Act of 1908
| year = 1939
| publisher = Pharmacy Printing Press
| 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
| first = Reginald
| title = The Indian Problem: Report on the Constitutional Problem in India
| year = 1944
| publisher = Oxford University Press
}}</ref> To avoid [[persecution]], legal actions and opposition from family members of his followers, the Brahma-kumaris moved from Hyderabad to [[Karachi]], where they settled in a highly structured [[ashram]]. The Anti-Om Mandli Committee which had opposed the group in Hyderabad followed them.<ref>{{cite book
| last = Howell
| first = Julia Day
| editor = Peter Clarke
| title = Encyclopedia of New Religious Movements
| year = 2005
| publisher = Routledge
| isbn = 978-0415267076
| 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>
In April 1950, after the [[Partition of India]], the Brahma Kumaris moved to [[Mount Abu]] in India saying that they had been instructed by God to do so.<ref name="BK_Jagdish_Chander_Adi_Dev"/> After Dada Lekhraj's death in 1969, his followers expanded the movement to other countries.<ref name="Stephen_Hunt_Alternative">{{cite book
| last = Hunt
| first = Stephen J.
| title = Alternative Religions: A Sociological Introduction
| year = 2003
| publisher = Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.
| isbn = 0754634108
| pages = 120
}}</ref>
==Expansion==
[[Image:MadhubanBKWSUOmShantiBawan.jpg|thumb|Om Shanti Bawan, the main hall at the Brahma Kumaris headquarters]]
Beginning in the 1950s, the Brahma Kumaris began an internationalization expansion program,<ref name="Howell_Nelson_1998">{{cite book
| last = Howell
| first = Julia
| year = 1998
| month = Sep
| title = Gender Role Experimentation in New Religious Movements
| book = book for the Scientific Study of Religion
| volume = 37
| issue = 3
| 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
| year = 1995
| title = The Brahma Kumaris
| book = book of Contemporary Religion
| volume = 10
| issue = 1
| pages = 3-28
}}</ref>
The leadership of the BK movement remains primarily female. For example, in the [[United Kingdom|UK]], only one-third of the 42 centers are run by males.<ref name="Julia_Howell_Gender_Role">{{cite book
| last = Howell
| first = Julia Day
| year = 1998
| month = September
| title = Gender Role Experimentation in New Religious Movements: Clarification of the Brahma Kumari Case
| book = book for the Scientific Study of Religion
| volume = 37
| issue = 3
| 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.
}}</ref> According to the BKWSU website, there are currently 825,000 students and over 8,500 [[Raja Yoga]] centres in 100 [[countries]] and territories.<ref name="BKWSU_administration">{{cite web
| url = http://www.bkwsu.org/whoweare/administration
| title = Brahma Kumaris Administration
| publisher = BKWSU
| accessdate = 2007-08-10
| quote = Present statistics indicate that the University has 825,000 students and over 8,500 centres in 100 countries and territories.
}}</ref> According to sources quoted in the [[Adherents]] website, worldwide membership ranges from 35,000 (in 1993) to 400,000 (in 1998).<ref name="Adherents_stats">{{cite web
| url = http://www.adherents.com/Na/Na_83.html#584
| title = Adherent Statistic Citations
| publisher = Adherents.com
| accessdate = 2007-08-20
| quote = Worldwide, this path has 4000 centres and approximately 400,000 members.
}}</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.
| year = 2004
| title = New Religion Adherents: An Overview of Anglophone Census and Survey Data
| book = Marburg book of Religion
| volume = 9
| issue = 1
| url = http://www.uni-marburg.de/religionswissenschaft/book/mjr/pdf/2004/lewis2004.pdf
| accessdate = 2008-01-28
}}</ref>
==Activities==
The Brahma Kumaris conduct seven one-hour-long courses in their philosophy and open-eyed meditation technique. The organization offers courses in "[[positive thinking]]", "[[Oxford Leadership Academy|Self Management Leadership]]", and "Living Values."<ref name="Values_Education">{{cite book
| last = Nesbitt
| first = Eleanor
| coauthors = A. Henderson
| year = 2003
| month = April
| title = Religious Organisations in the UK and Values Education Programmes for Schools
| book = book of Beliefs and Values,
| volume = 24
| 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
| pages = 75-88
}}</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.
| title = Redemptive Encounters
| year = 2002
| quote = "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".
| publisher = University of California Press
| isbn = 0-520-07636-2
}}</ref>
The Brahma Kumaris also have a number of voluntary outreach programs in prisons.<ref name="Bedi">{{cite book
| last = Bedi
| first = Kiran
| title = It's Always Possible : One Woman's Transformation of India's Prison System
| year = 2007
| publisher = Himalayan Institute Press
| isbn = 978-0893892586
}}</ref>
==Lifestyle==
The movement teaches that the world is approaching a time of great change that will be heralded by war, natural calamities and suffering.<ref name="Lawrence_Babb_Redemptive"/> As a form of developing inner spiritual resilience, the Brahma Kumaris adopt a disciplined lifestyle<ref name="Liz_Hodgkinson_Peace"/><ref name="Hinduism_Encyc">{{cite book
| last = Lochtefeld, Ph.D.
| first = James G.
| title = The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism'' Vol. I, entry "Brahma Kumaris"
| series =
| year = 2002
| publisher = Rosen, New York
| isbn = 0-8239-3179-X
}}</ref> which involves:
* [[Celibacy]], including no sex within marriage.<ref name="Bryan_Wilson_NRM">{{cite book
| last = Wilson
| first = Bryan
| coauthors = Eileen Barker, James Beckford, Anthony Bradney, Colin Campbell, George Chryssies, Peter Clarke, Paul Heelas, Massimo Introvigne, Lawrence Lilliston, Gordon Melton, Elizabeth Puttick, Gary Sherpherd, Colin Slee, Frank Usarski
| editor = Bryan Wilson
| title = New Religious Movements: Challenge and Response
| year = 1999
| publisher = Routledge
| isbn = 978-0415200493
}}</ref><ref name="Lawrence_Babb_Redemptive"/> 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
| first = Tessa J.
| title = Women Under the Bo Tree,:Cambridge Studies in Religious Traditions
| series = Edited by John Clayton (University of Lancaster), Steven Collins (University of Chicago) and Nicholas de Lange (University of Cambridge)
| year = 1994
| publisher = Rosen, New York
| isbn = 0-521-46129-4
}}</ref> (excluding eggs, onions, garlic and/or spicy food) cooked only by the self or other members.<ref name="Lawrence_Babb_Redemptive"/><ref name="Fard">{{cite web
| url = http://www.hinduismtoday.com/archives/1995/5/1995-5-02.shtml
| title = Brahma Kumaris: Conquering A Callous World with Purity
| publisher = Hinduism Today
| accessdate = 2007-07-28
| 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>
* Abstaining from [[alcohol]], [[tobacco]] and non-prescription drugs.<ref name="Bo_Tree"/><ref name="Lawrence_Babb_Redemptive"/>
* 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
| last = Whaling
| first = Prof Frank
| title = Encyclopedia of New Religions; New Religious Movements, Sects and Alternative Spiritualities
| series = Edited by Christopher Partridge and Gorden Melton
| year = 2004
| publisher = Rosen, New York
| isbn = 0-745-95073-6
}}</ref>
* Men and women traditionally sit on separate sides of the room at the centers during classes.<ref name="Lawrence_Babb_Redemptive"/>
* Brahma Kumaris can be identified by their frequent adoption of wearing white clothes, to symbolize purity.<ref name="Hinnells">{{cite book
| last = Hinnells
| first = John
| title = The Penguin Dictionary of Religions
| series = Extract by [[Eileen Barker]]
| year = 1997
| publisher = Rosen, New York
| isbn = 0-14-051261-6
}}</ref><ref name="Barker">{{cite book
| last = Barker
| first = Eileen
| title = New Religious Movement: A Practical Introduction
| series =
| year = 1989
| publisher = HMSO, London
| isbn = 0-14-051261-6
| pages = 168-70
}}</ref><ref name="Melton">{{cite book
| last = Melton
| first = J. Gordon
| title = The Encyclopedia of American Religions
| series = 4th edition
| year = 1993
| publisher = Gale, Detroit
| isbn =
| 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"/>
* 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
| year = 1997
| month = April
| title = ASC induction techniques, spiritual experiences, and commitment to new religious movements
| book = book of Beliefs and Values,
| volume = 58
| quote = "All accept the very senior BKs in the Western branches must support themselves (most work), but the pressure to adopt the BK's "purity rules" (non-commensality with non-members; avoidance of meat and certain other foods, alcohol, and sex), and most Brahmins live in shared accommodation with other members ... enabling the organization to powerfully reinforce its beliefs."
| issue = 2
| pages = 149
}}</ref>
==Beliefs==
In 1952, after a 14 year period of retreat during which the Brahma-kumaris published numerous pamphlets, newspaper articles and wrote letters to important national and international figures, a more structured form of teaching began to be offered to the public by way of a seven lesson course.<ref name="John_Walliss_reflexive"/> The movement does not associate itself with [[Hinduism]] <ref name=Barz1992>{{cite book
| author = Barz, R.K.
| year = 1992
| title = A reinterpretation of bhakti theology: from the Pustimarg to the Brahma Kumaris
| book = Devotional Literature in South Asia: Current Research, 1985-8
| url = http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&id=BE40dp6SCFUC&oi=fnd&pg=PA298&dq=+brahma+kumaris&ots=IPrew0g-1f&sig=Q1R_YpUPX5wKgdZ_fRMuOPjcq4s
| quote = [BKWSU] ... does not associate itself with any earlier Hindu movement, bhakti or otherwise,
| accessdate = 2008-01-25
}}</ref> but projects itself as a vehicle for spiritual teaching rather than a religion.<ref name="Enc_New">{{cite book
| last = Howell
| first = Julia Day
| editor = Peter Clarke
| title = Encyclopedia of New Religious Movements
| year = 2005
| publisher = Routledge
| 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
}}</ref><ref name="Kranenborg"/>
===Central beliefs===
Central to its faith are the beliefs that:
* The human being is an eternal [[soul]] living within a physical body and is not the physical body which is dualistic "I am a soul, my body is a garment".<ref name="Bryan_Wilson_NRM"/>
* [[Reincarnation]] happens only from one human body to another.<ref name="Lawrence_Babb_Redemptive"/>
* [[human race|Humanity]] is currently reaching the end of the current cycle and thus the world will be destroyed, a time referred to as "Destruction".<ref name="Liz_Hodgkinson_Peace"/>
* [[Indian subcontinent]] will be the site of the future [[Golden Age]] [[paradise]] and that a form of [[Hindi]] is the original language of humanity, all other continents being destroyed.
* Followers are taught that only they will live in the coming Golden Age paradise<ref>{{cite book
| last = Howell
| first = Julia Day
| editor = Peter Clarke
| title = Encyclopedia of New Religious Movements
| year = 2005
| publisher = Routledge
| isbn = 978-0415267076
| 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"/>
* God has incarnated into Dada Lehkraj, the founder, and is teaching them directly and exclusively.
===God===
God (Shiva) is considered to be an eternal soul, a personality like human souls, but the Supreme one (Paramatma) and "knowledgeful". His purpose is to awaken humanity and restore harmony, giving power through the Brahma Kumaris' practise of ''Raja Yoga'', eliminating evil and negativity. He is not the creator of matter which is itself considered to be eternal.<ref name="Kranenborg" /> He speaks through the mouth of Dada Lekhraj.<ref name="Lawrence_Babb_Redemptive">{{cite book
| last = Babb
| first = Lawrence A.
| title = Redemptive Encounters: Three Modern Styles in the Hindu Tradition (Comparative Studies in Religion and Society)
| year = 1987
| page = 112-113
| publisher = [[Oxford University Press]]
| isbn = 0706925637
}}</ref>
===Self===
Human and even animal [[soul]]s, called atmas, are believed to be an infinitesimal point of spiritual light residing in the forehead of the body it occupies. Souls are believed to originally exist with God in a "Soul World", a world of infinite light, peace and silence called Paramdham.<ref name="Lawrence_Babb_Paramdham">{{cite book
| last = Babb
| first = Lawrence A.
| title = Redemptive Encounters: Three Modern Styles in the Hindu Tradition (Comparative Studies in Religion and Society)
| year = 1987
| publisher = [[Oxford University Press]]
| quote = Souls have a 'true home', and this is a region of perfect peace and absolute silence at the top of the universe known as paramdham (the supreme abode) or brahmlok (the world of brahm). As imagined by Brahma Kumari teachings, the universe has the shape of an egg. at is apex is the Supreme known as Soul Shivbaba.
| isbn = 0706925637
}}</ref> Here souls are in a state of rest and beyond experience. Souls enter bodies to take birth in order to experience life and give expression to their personality. Unlike other Eastern traditions, the soul is not thought to transmigrate into other species and does not evolve but rather devolves birth after birth. Within this "point of light" all aspects of the personality are contained and is said to enter the human body in the 4th to 5th month of pregnancy.<ref>{{cite web
| url = http://www.hinduismtoday.com/archives/1985/09/1985-09-07.shtml
| title = Hindus In America Speak out on Abortion Issues
| publisher = Hinduism Today
| accessdate = 2007-07-18
| quote = The Brahma Kumaris view the body as a physical vehicle for the immortal soul, and therefore the issue is not "pro-life" or "anti-life" but a choice between the amount of suffering caused to the souls of the parents and child in either course, abortion or motherhood. They view existing legislation in America as fair and reasonable, with the proviso that abortion after the 4th month should be avoided except in medical emergencies, since in their view the soul enters the fetus in the 4th to 5th month.
}}</ref>
===Three Worlds===
The Brahma Kumaris believe that there are 3 worlds or dimensions; the physical universe, a soul world known as Paramdham and an intermediate region called "The Subtle Regions" where they claim to journey to experience visions regarding world history where Lekhraj Kirpalani and God Shiva combined as BapDada jointly communicate with the university.<ref name="Walliss_Subtle Regions">{{cite book
| last = Walliss
| first = Dr John
| quote = "Raja Yogis claim that there are other, more important planes including the home of all souls and the Supreme Soul ... The subtle realm represents an intermediate region between the physical and incorporeal realm. It is here where experienced BK Yogis claim to journey to experience visions regarding world history and their place within it as well as being where Lekhraj and Shiva as BapDada jointly communicate directly to the University through the Avyakta murlis"
| title = The Brahma Kumaris as a Reflexive Tradition
| year = 2002
| publisher = Ashgate Publishing Limited
| isbn = 0-7546-0951-0
}}</ref> Souls exists in the soul world "totally untained by matter ... as a starlike point of light until they have to 'play their part' within the world drama on the physical plane" at whatever time in history they are destined to incarnate for the first time.<ref name="o'Donnell_Soul_world">{{cite book
| last = O'Donnell
| first = Ken
| title = New Beginnings
| year = 1995
| publisher = Brahma Kumaris World University
| isbn = 0-9637-3964-6
}}</ref>
===5,000 Year Cycle===
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
| title = The New Believers
| series =
| year = 2001
| publisher = Cassell & Co
| isbn = 0-304-35592-5
| pages = 265
| quote = Time is cyclical with each 5,000 year cycle consisting of a perfect Golden Age, a slightly degraded Silver age, a decadent Copper Age, and an Iron Age which is characterized by violence, greed, and lust. Each of these lasts for exactly 1,250 years. Our current Iron Age will shortly come to an end, after which the cycle will begin again.
}}</ref> and the Confluence Age (''Sangam Yuga''). The Confluence Age is said to be 100 years long, beginning in 1936 with the descent of Shiva into Lekhraj Kirpalani, during which present day civilization is to be completely destroyed by natural disasters, civil and nuclear war<ref>{{cite web
| url = http://www.hinduismtoday.com/archives/1995/5/1995-5-02.shtml
| title = Brahma Kumaris: Conquering A Callous World with Purity
| publisher = Hinduism Today
| accessdate = 2007-07-18
| quote =
}}</ref> in an event called Destruction. <ref name="John_Walliss_Cycle">{{cite book
| last = Walliss
| first = John
| title = The Brahma Kumaris As a Reflexive Tradition: Responding to Late Modernity
| year = 2002
| quote = "The final evening classes that I attended, at which the core content of the murli was the Destruction ... during one part of this an eclectic user asked 'so, you're an end-of-the-world cult then?' to which the center co-ordinator replied, no, we believe in world '''transformation'''. In response, the questioner asked 'well, surely the "transformation" you're talking about is Destruction? The whole population is going to shrink almost to instantly down to a couple of thousand, whole areas of the world are going to be flooded, nuclear bombs are going to be going off.' 'Well, replied the co-ordinator, 'it depends on how you look at it'."
| publisher = Ashgate Publishing
| isbn = 978-0754609513
| pages = 107
}}</ref> [[Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi]] states this information is generally hidden from non-members.<ref name=Beit-hallahmi2004>{{cite book
| author = Beit-hallahmi, B.
| year = 2004
| title = Death, Fantasy, and Religious Transformations
| book = The Psychology of Death in Fantasy and History
| 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).
| accessdate = 2008-01-25
}}</ref>
During the first half of the cycle, procreation is believed to be possible through the power of yoga without sexual intercourse.<ref name="Lawrence_Babb_Redemptive2">{{cite book
| last = Babb
| first = Lawrence A.
| title = Redemptive Encounters: Three Modern Styles in the Hindu Tradition (Comparative Studies in Religion and Society)
| year = 1987
| publisher = [[Oxford University Press]]
| isbn = 0706925637
| quote = Sexual intercourse is unnecessary for reproduction because the souls that enter the world during the first half of the Cycle are in possession of a special yogic power (yog bal) by which they conceive children
}}</ref> The Universe is never transformed into primordial or atomic state matter, nor does the world ever becomes devoid of human beings.<ref name="Lib">{{cite book
| last = Lalrinawma
| first = V.S.
| title = The Liberation of Women in and through the Movement of the Prajapita Brahma Kumaris
| series = ISPCK
| year = 2003
| publisher = Cambridge Press, Delhi
| isbn = 81-7214-771-6
| pages = 13
| quote =
}}</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===
It is taught that all of humanity will die and return to Paramdham then take birth in the forthcoming cycle at their predestined time and place. This is portrayed as the "Kalpa Vriksha Tree", or the "Tree of Humanity", in which the founder Lekhraj Kripalani and his Brahma Kumaris followers are shown as the roots of the humanity. A new world order starting with the birth of Krishna and a population of 900,000 is believed to go on to enjoy 2,500 years of paradise as living deities before humanity splits and the religious founders incarnate. Each creates their own branch and brings with them their own followers from the Infinite Light, until they too decline and splits, schisms, cults and sects appear at the end of the Iron Age.<ref name="John_Walliss_reflexive"/><ref name="Lib">{{cite book
| last = Kelegama
| first = Keerthi
| title = Year 2000 doomed: Mankind destroyed' [Exclusive report on imminent world destruction]
| series =
| year = 1998
| publisher = Cambridge Press, Delhi
| isbn = 955-95823-3-X
| pages =
| quote = Brahmakumaris say that the world destruction takes place in every 5000 years and that 5000 years have already passed after the previous destruction. Soon the new world order would be started with 900,000 people after destroying the rest". "Brahmakumaris World Spiritual University affiliated to the United Nations Department of Public Information as a non-governmental organisation teaches that in every 5000 years world destruction takes place and now is the time for it." "Brahmakumaris also expect the world destruction to take place immediately followed by the birth of Krishna once again". "There must be 900,000 pure souls who are ready to take over the new world order (Golden Age) before the destruction would begin. When the Golden Age [Sath Yug] comes after the world destruction, it would only be heaven on earth. People there would literally be deities
}}</ref>
The aim of the individual Brahma Kumari is to gain a high status in the coming paradise where a select 108 who are 'totally victorious' and will rule there. Members of the physical families of Brahma Kumaris who have contact with the University are said to become members of the 16,000 top souls <ref name="Lawrence_Babb_status">{{cite book
| last = Babb
| first = Lawrence A.
| title = Redemptive Encounters: Three Modern Styles in the Hindu Tradition (Comparative Studies in Religion and Society)
| quote = "The real issue is what one's status will be in the coming paradise ... Those of the highest status will not only be the rulers of heaven, but will be close to Lekhraj throughout their world-careers."
| year = 1987
| publisher = [[Oxford University Press]]
| isbn = 0706925637
}}</ref>
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===
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
| quote = "Members are encouraged to purify their minds by the practise of Raja Yoga. This can entail sitting tranquilly, in front of a screen which Dada Lehkraj's picture projected, then making a number of "affirmations", regarding the eternal nature of the soul (''[[Atman (Hinduism)|atma]]''), the original purity of one's nature, and the nature of God (paramatmÄ Shiva). The Brahma Kumaris believe that practice of Raja Yoga enables spiritual progress as well as having pragmatic benefits, for example, business success. Brahma Kumaris frequently organize seminars on business management and on developing personal life skills"
| title =
| year =
| publisher =
| isbn =
}}</ref>
Lawrence Babbs described another practise where "the student or students sit in a semi-darkened room facing the teacher (usually a woman). Just above and behind the teacher's head is a red plastic [[ovoid]] that glows from a lightbulb within, in its center is a tiny hole which appears as an intense whitelight against the red glow.<ref name="Lawrence_Babb_Redemptive"/> This device represents the Supreme Soul (known as Shiv Baba) who is the presiding [[deity]] of the [[universe]]. With [[devotional songs]] playing softly in the background, student and teacher gaze intently at each other, either in the eyes or at the [[forehead]]. While doing this the student is supposed to imagine him or herself as a soul and not as a body. The student is told to think of themself as separate from the body, as bodiless, as light, as power, as bathed in the love and light of the Supreme Soul, and so on. This might continue for fifteen or twenty minutes".<ref name="Glancing">{{cite book
| last = Babb
| first = Lawrence A.
| year = 1981
| month =
| title = On celibate marriages: the Polish Catholics' encounter with Hindu spirituality
| book = Glancing: Visual Interaction in Hinduism", book of Anthropological Research
| volume = Winter
| issue = 4
| 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"/>
===Murlis===
David Barrett states, "Unlike traditional forms of Hinduism, the Brahma Kumaris' teachings come not so much from ancient scriptures but from revelations given in trance states".<ref name="David_Barrett_New_Believers"/> However, these mediumistic messages known by Brahma Kumaris as "Murlis", read at the 6.30 am meetings, are slowly developing the nature of potential scriptures.<ref name="Enc_New"/> The earlier ones channeled by [[Lekhraj Kripalani]] while he was alive, are now repeated in a five year cycle. They are supplemented by later murlis, channelled by Hirday Mohini of Delhi in trance states, which are also written down.
There are two types of mediumistic messages; ''sakar'' and ''avyakt'';
* ''Sakar'' Murlis refer to the original classes said to be spoken by "Shiva" through the medium of Lekhraj Kripalani in the 1960's, before he died of a heart attack on [[18 January]] [[1969]].<ref name="Ratan">{{cite book
| last = Ratan
| first = Vishwa
| title = A Unique Experience. Autobiography of Dada Vishwa Ratan
| series =
| year = 2000
| publisher = Om Shanti Press
| isbn = 955-95823-3-X
| pages = 57
| quote =
}}</ref> These include teachings by Shiva and the life of personal experience of Lekhraj.
* ''Avyakt'' Vanis, or Murlis, refer to the teachings of Shiva and the soul of the deceased Lekhraj Kripalani combined through a [[medium]] named Hirday Mohini, or "Dadi Gulzar".<ref>{{cite web
| url = http://www.brahmakumaris.org.in/Landmarks.htm
| title = Brahma Kumaris: Landmarks in History
| publisher = BKWSU
| accessdate = 2007-07-18
| quote =
}}</ref> The Brahma Kumaris believe that the soul of Lekhraj Kripalani has become perfect and now has the role of an [[angel]]. These messages are understood by members of the BKWSU to be the words of God. The Murli's are what the Brahma Kumaris use to direct their personal spiritual effort and institutional service.
One must complete the Brahma Kumaris foundation course before starting to attend morning murli class and visiting the headquarters in India during the period when the deceased founder communicates via a [[trance medium]].<ref name="Howell and Nelson">{{cite book
| last = Howell and Nelson
| first =
| year = 1998
| month =
| title = On celibate marriages: the Polish Catholics' encounter with Hindu spirituality
| book = Glancing: Visual Interaction in Hinduism", book of Anthropological Research
| volume =
| issue =
| pages =
| quote = in order to progress to the next stage of membership - the visit to the University's headquarters in Rajasthan during the period where its deceased founder communicates via trance-medium - they have to not only demonstrate their commitment by following the recommended lifestyle but also, more importantly, be seen to be doing so by the university. this is instrinsicly linked with the second technique, the utilisation and negotiation of different metaphors or readings of the university's theodicy at the different events and in different types of literature in relation to its intended (core or periphery) audience" ... "amongst committed, core members "...the tradition is lived [and expressed] without apology, translation or dilution".
}}</ref>
==Achievements==
The Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University is an international non-governmental organization ([[NGO]]) in general consultative status with the [[United Nations Economic and Social Council|Economic and Social Council of the United Nations]]<ref name="UN">{{cite web
| url = http://www.un.org/documents/ecosoc/docs/1998/e1998-8.htm
| title = ECOSOC
| publisher = UNO
| accessdate = 2007-07-22
| quote =
}}</ref> and UNICEF.<ref name="UNESCO">{{cite web
| url = http://www.un.org/esa/coordination/ngo/pdf/INF_List.pdf
| title = List of UN NGO and respective status within UNICEF
| publisher = UNO
| accessdate = 2007-07-22
| quote =
}}</ref> It is associated with the [[UN]] Department of Public Information.<ref name="UN_DPI">{{cite web
| url = http://www.un.org/dpi/ngosection/dpingo-directory.asp?RegID=--&CnID=all&AcID=0&kw=brahma%20kumaris&NGOID=226
| title = DPI/NGO Directory
| publisher = United Nations Department of Public Information
| accessdate = 2007-08-20
| quote = NGO in consultative status with ECOSOC; associated with DPI
}}</ref>
* The organization now has 100s of branches internationally and has co-ordinated three major international projects; The Million Minutes for Peace in 1986, for which it was awarded 7 [[United Nations|UN]] Peace Messenger Awards, 1987 and Global Co-operation for a Better World in 1988.<ref name="Walliss_Prophesy_p5">{{cite book
| last = Walliss | first = John
| title = When Prophecy Fails: The Brahma Kumaris and the Pursuit of the Millennium(s)
| year = 1999
| month = September
| pages = 5
| quote = ...The Million Minutes of Peace which raised over one billion 'minutes of peace' people in 88 countries participating in prayer, meditation and positive thoughts. For this the University was awarded one International and six UN National 'Peace Messenger' Awards.
}}</ref> and in 1994, launched "Sharing Our Values for a Better World" <ref>http://209.85.175.104/search?q=cache:6EZxwzp6TvEJ:www.globalretreatcentre.org.uk/bk/projects.htm+Million+Minutes+for+Peace+in+1986&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=3&client=safari</ref>
* Deceased chief administrator Prakashmani was awarded International Peace Messenger Award from the UN Secretary General in 1987 for the "Million Minutes of Peace" project.<ref name="SundayExpressIndia">{{cite web
| url = http://www.indianexpress.com/sunday/story/31939.html
| title = The Sunday
| publisher = Indian Express
| accessdate = 2007-08-21
| quote = Current head is Dadi Prakashmani. Recipient of UN Peace Medal for her efforts to spread across the message of peace and goodwill.
}}</ref>
* It was granted International Peace Messenger Initiative status by the U.N.for the Global Co-operation for a Better World campaign.<ref>{{cite web
| url = http://www.hinduismtoday.com/archives/1995/5/1995-5-02.shtml
| title = Hinduism Today
| publisher = Hinduism Today
| accessdate = 2007-07-22
| quote =
}}</ref>
* Follower Golo Pilz pioneered work in [[Solar energy|solar]] and [[sustainable energy]] developing, the world's then largest [[solar cooker]] at the BKWSU headquarters in Rajasthan.<ref>{{cite web
| url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/606951.stm
| title = BBC
| publisher = BBC
| accessdate = 2007-07-22
| quote =
}}</ref>
==Use of channeling and mediumship==
The BKWSU is believed by its members to have been established by ''Shiva Baba'' (God-Father Shiva), described as the "Supreme Soul" and claimed to be the one [[God]] of all religions through the [[Mediumship|medium]] of the group's founder [[Lekhraj Kripalani]].<ref name="BK_Jagdish_Chander_Adi_Dev" /> From the beginning, a number of trance-messengers have received messages and teachings.<ref name=history>{{cite web
| url = http://web.archive.org/web/20021012192150/http://www.brahmakumaris.org/history/index.html#39Onwards
| title = BKWSU History
| publisher = BKWSU
| accessdate = 2007-07-22
| quote =
}}</ref> Its mediums also directly channel a messages from deceased senior Brahma Kumaris leaders.<ref name="hinduismtoday_beloved_didi">{{cite web
| url = http://www.hinduismtoday.com/archives/1983/10/1983-10-03.shtml
| title = Beloved "Didi", Sivabhaktar and Co-Head of Brahma Kumaris, Passes In Bombay
| publisher = Hinduism Today
| 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.
}}</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
| author = Robbins, T.
| coauthors = Palmer, S.J.
| year = 1997
| title = Millennium, Messiahs, and Mayhem: Contemporary Apocalyptic Movements
| publisher = Routledge
| quote = the modern Brahma Kumaris movemement contiunes this thousands of year old Hindu tradition of receiving teeachings and guidance in a channeling manner from transpersonal gurus
| isbn = 0415916496
| page =108
}}</ref> through a senior sister Hirdaya Mohini (referred to familiarly as Dadi Gulzar), at the organization's [[Rajasthan]] headquarters. The combined presence of the BKWSU's human [[founder]] and the [[spiritual being]] the BKWSU believe is God are referred to as ''BapDada'' (meaning Father and Grandfather) by BKs. The pair continue to direct the organization to this day.<ref>{{cite web
| url = http://www.hinduismtoday.com/archives/1995/5/1995-5-02.shtml
| title = Hinduism Today
| publisher = Hinduism Today
| accessdate = 2007-07-22
| quote = Prajapita Brahma gave up his physical frame on [[January 18]], [[1969]]. This day is celebrated as the day of his spiritual ascension. It is believed that he continues to aid the organization from inner worlds, but the ultimate guidance and authority still comes directly from God Siva, who has since chosen another to be His "trance messenger." Currently Sister Raday Mohini serves as the instrument to give voice to Siva's messages, but this is viewed as a temporary assignment given by God. Every year, around February/March, a gathering occurs in Mt. Abu where Siva speaks, guides and gives blessings. This sets the patterns for the coming year as the guidance is distributed to the centers around the world, including through their intra-organizational e-mail
}}</ref>
| last1 = Bartholomeusz
| first1 = Tessa J.
| last2 = Clayton
| first2 = John
| last3 = Collins
| first4 = Stevens
| last5 = de Lange
| first5 = Nicholas
| title = Women under the Bo Tree: Buddhist nuns in Sri Lanka
| series = Cambridge Studies in Religious Traditions
| year = 1994
| publisher = Cambridge University Press
| isbn = 978-0521461290
}}</ref> [[Millenarianism|millenarian]]<ref>{{cite book
| last = Robbins
| first = Thomas
| title = Millennium, Messiahs, and Mayhem: Contemporary Apocalyptic Movements
| year = 1997
| publisher = Routledge
| isbn = 978-0415916486
}}</ref><ref name="Lawrence_Babb_Redemptive">{{cite book
| last = Babb
| first = Lawrence A.
| title = Redemptive Encounters: Three Modern Styles in the Hindu Tradition (Comparative Studies in Religion and Society)
| year = 1987
| publisher = [[Oxford University Press]]
| isbn = 0706925637
}}</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
| title = Channeling: Investigations on Receiving Information from Paranormal Sources
| year = 1998
| publisher = North Atlantic Books
| isbn = 978-1556432484
| pages = 100
}}</ref><ref name="Bryan_Wilson_NRM">{{cite book
| last = Wilson
| first = Bryan
| coauthors = Eileen Barker, James Beckford, Anthony Bradney, Colin Campbell, George Chryssies, Peter Clarke, Paul Heelas, Massimo Introvigne, Lawrence Lilliston, Godeon Melton, Elizabeth Puttick, Gary Sherpherd, Colin Slee, Frank Usarski
| editor = Bryan Wilson
| title = New Religious Movements: Challenge and Response
| year = 1999
| publisher = Routledge
| isbn = 978-0415200493
}}</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?
| publisher = Reender Kranenborg, Free University of Amsterdam
| 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.
}}</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
| title = From world rejection to ambivalence: the development of millenarianism in the Brahma Kumaris
| book = book of Contemporary Religion
| volume = 14
| issue = 3
| pages = 375-385
| url =http://www.arsdisputandi.org/index.html?http://www.arsdisputandi.org/publish/articles/000108/index.html
}}</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.
It recently lost a domain name dispute legal action against a support group website set up by ex-members.
== Early history ==
The origin of BKWSU can be traced to a 1930s group called "Om Mandali", founded by multi-millionaire jeweler [[Lekhraj Kripalani]] who the organization now claims was born in 1876 <ref name="Hardayal_Hardy_Struggles"/> to match psychic prediction but in early books it published itself, was stated to be born in 1884 [[Hyderabad, Sindh]]. Lekhraj Kripalani, known as "Dada Lekhraj", "Om Baba" or "Brahma Baba" to his followers, was a Bhaibund merchant and follower of the [[Vaishnavite]] [[Vallabhacharya]] [[Sect]].<ref name="John_Walliss_reflexive">{{cite book
| last = Walliss
| first = John
| title = The Brahma Kumaris As a Reflexive Tradition: Responding to Late Modernity
| year = 2002
| publisher = Ashgate Publishing
| isbn = 978-0754609513
| pages = 99-129
}}</ref><ref name="BK_Jagdish_Chander_Adi_Dev">{{cite book
| last = Chander
| first = B. K Jagdish
| title = Adi Dev: The first man
| year = 1981
| publisher = B.K. Raja Yoga Center for the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University.
}}</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.
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
| title = A History of Celibacy
| year = 2001
| publisher = James Clarke & Co.
| isbn = 0718830067
| 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
| first = Hardayal
| title = Struggles and Sorrows: The Personal Testimony of a Chief Justice
| year = 1984
| publisher = Vikas Publishing House
| isbn = 0706925637
| pages = 37-39
}}</ref>
Members of the local [[Sindhi people|Bhaibund community]] reacted unfavorably to his movement. Many young married Sindhi women attended his [[ashram]] and were being encouraged to take vows of [[celibacy]], so the Om Mandali was accused of breaking up families <ref name="David_Barrett_New_Believers">{{cite book
| last = Barrett
| first = David V
| title = The New Believers: A Survey of Sects, Cults and Alternative Religions
| year = 2001
| publisher = Cassell & Co.
| isbn = 978-0304355921
| quote = 'sex is an expression of 'body-consciousness' and leads to the other vices', probably stems in part from the origins of the movement in 1930s India, when women had to submit to their husbands.
}}</ref><ref name="Liz_Hodgkinson_Peace">{{cite book
| last = Hodgkinson
| first = Liz
| title = Peace and Purity: The Story of the Brahma Kumaris a Spiritual Revolution
| year = 2002
| publisher = HCI
| isbn = 1558749624
| pages = 2-29
}}</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
| last = Radhe
| first = Brahma-Kumari
| title = Is this justice?: Being an account of the founding of the Om Mandli & the Om Nivas and their suppression, by application of the Criminal Law Amendment Act of 1908
| year = 1939
| publisher = Pharmacy Printing Press
| 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
| first = Reginald
| title = The Indian Problem: Report on the Constitutional Problem in India
| year = 1944
| publisher = Oxford University Press
}}</ref> To avoid [[persecution]], legal actions and opposition from family members of his followers, the Brahma-kumaris moved from Hyderabad to [[Karachi]], where they settled in a highly structured [[ashram]]. The Anti-Om Mandli Committee which had opposed the group in Hyderabad followed them.<ref>{{cite book
| last = Howell
| first = Julia Day
| editor = Peter Clarke
| title = Encyclopedia of New Religious Movements
| year = 2005
| publisher = Routledge
| isbn = 978-0415267076
| 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>
In April 1950, after the [[Partition of India]], the Brahma Kumaris moved to [[Mount Abu]] in India saying that they had been instructed by God to do so.<ref name="BK_Jagdish_Chander_Adi_Dev"/> After Dada Lekhraj's death in 1969, his followers expanded the movement to other countries.<ref name="Stephen_Hunt_Alternative">{{cite book
| last = Hunt
| first = Stephen J.
| title = Alternative Religions: A Sociological Introduction
| year = 2003
| publisher = Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.
| isbn = 0754634108
| pages = 120
}}</ref>
==Expansion==
[[Image:MadhubanBKWSUOmShantiBawan.jpg|thumb|Om Shanti Bawan, the main hall at the Brahma Kumaris headquarters]]
Beginning in the 1950s, the Brahma Kumaris began an internationalization expansion program,<ref name="Howell_Nelson_1998">{{cite book
| last = Howell
| first = Julia
| year = 1998
| month = Sep
| title = Gender Role Experimentation in New Religious Movements
| book = book for the Scientific Study of Religion
| volume = 37
| issue = 3
| 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
| year = 1995
| title = The Brahma Kumaris
| book = book of Contemporary Religion
| volume = 10
| issue = 1
| pages = 3-28
}}</ref>
The leadership of the BK movement remains primarily female. For example, in the [[United Kingdom|UK]], only one-third of the 42 centers are run by males.<ref name="Julia_Howell_Gender_Role">{{cite book
| last = Howell
| first = Julia Day
| year = 1998
| month = September
| title = Gender Role Experimentation in New Religious Movements: Clarification of the Brahma Kumari Case
| book = book for the Scientific Study of Religion
| volume = 37
| issue = 3
| 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.
}}</ref> According to the BKWSU website, there are currently 825,000 students and over 8,500 [[Raja Yoga]] centres in 100 [[countries]] and territories.<ref name="BKWSU_administration">{{cite web
| url = http://www.bkwsu.org/whoweare/administration
| title = Brahma Kumaris Administration
| publisher = BKWSU
| accessdate = 2007-08-10
| quote = Present statistics indicate that the University has 825,000 students and over 8,500 centres in 100 countries and territories.
}}</ref> According to sources quoted in the [[Adherents]] website, worldwide membership ranges from 35,000 (in 1993) to 400,000 (in 1998).<ref name="Adherents_stats">{{cite web
| url = http://www.adherents.com/Na/Na_83.html#584
| title = Adherent Statistic Citations
| publisher = Adherents.com
| accessdate = 2007-08-20
| quote = Worldwide, this path has 4000 centres and approximately 400,000 members.
}}</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.
| year = 2004
| title = New Religion Adherents: An Overview of Anglophone Census and Survey Data
| book = Marburg book of Religion
| volume = 9
| issue = 1
| url = http://www.uni-marburg.de/religionswissenschaft/book/mjr/pdf/2004/lewis2004.pdf
| accessdate = 2008-01-28
}}</ref>
==Activities==
The Brahma Kumaris conduct seven one-hour-long courses in their philosophy and open-eyed meditation technique. The organization offers courses in "[[positive thinking]]", "[[Oxford Leadership Academy|Self Management Leadership]]", and "Living Values."<ref name="Values_Education">{{cite book
| last = Nesbitt
| first = Eleanor
| coauthors = A. Henderson
| year = 2003
| month = April
| title = Religious Organisations in the UK and Values Education Programmes for Schools
| book = book of Beliefs and Values,
| volume = 24
| 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
| pages = 75-88
}}</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.
| title = Redemptive Encounters
| year = 2002
| quote = "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".
| publisher = University of California Press
| isbn = 0-520-07636-2
}}</ref>
The Brahma Kumaris also have a number of voluntary outreach programs in prisons.<ref name="Bedi">{{cite book
| last = Bedi
| first = Kiran
| title = It's Always Possible : One Woman's Transformation of India's Prison System
| year = 2007
| publisher = Himalayan Institute Press
| isbn = 978-0893892586
}}</ref>
==Lifestyle==
The movement teaches that the world is approaching a time of great change that will be heralded by war, natural calamities and suffering.<ref name="Lawrence_Babb_Redemptive"/> As a form of developing inner spiritual resilience, the Brahma Kumaris adopt a disciplined lifestyle<ref name="Liz_Hodgkinson_Peace"/><ref name="Hinduism_Encyc">{{cite book
| last = Lochtefeld, Ph.D.
| first = James G.
| title = The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism'' Vol. I, entry "Brahma Kumaris"
| series =
| year = 2002
| publisher = Rosen, New York
| isbn = 0-8239-3179-X
}}</ref> which involves:
* [[Celibacy]], including no sex within marriage.<ref name="Bryan_Wilson_NRM">{{cite book
| last = Wilson
| first = Bryan
| coauthors = Eileen Barker, James Beckford, Anthony Bradney, Colin Campbell, George Chryssies, Peter Clarke, Paul Heelas, Massimo Introvigne, Lawrence Lilliston, Gordon Melton, Elizabeth Puttick, Gary Sherpherd, Colin Slee, Frank Usarski
| editor = Bryan Wilson
| title = New Religious Movements: Challenge and Response
| year = 1999
| publisher = Routledge
| isbn = 978-0415200493
}}</ref><ref name="Lawrence_Babb_Redemptive"/> 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
| first = Tessa J.
| title = Women Under the Bo Tree,:Cambridge Studies in Religious Traditions
| series = Edited by John Clayton (University of Lancaster), Steven Collins (University of Chicago) and Nicholas de Lange (University of Cambridge)
| year = 1994
| publisher = Rosen, New York
| isbn = 0-521-46129-4
}}</ref> (excluding eggs, onions, garlic and/or spicy food) cooked only by the self or other members.<ref name="Lawrence_Babb_Redemptive"/><ref name="Fard">{{cite web
| url = http://www.hinduismtoday.com/archives/1995/5/1995-5-02.shtml
| title = Brahma Kumaris: Conquering A Callous World with Purity
| publisher = Hinduism Today
| accessdate = 2007-07-28
| 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>
* Abstaining from [[alcohol]], [[tobacco]] and non-prescription drugs.<ref name="Bo_Tree"/><ref name="Lawrence_Babb_Redemptive"/>
* 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
| last = Whaling
| first = Prof Frank
| title = Encyclopedia of New Religions; New Religious Movements, Sects and Alternative Spiritualities
| series = Edited by Christopher Partridge and Gorden Melton
| year = 2004
| publisher = Rosen, New York
| isbn = 0-745-95073-6
}}</ref>
* Men and women traditionally sit on separate sides of the room at the centers during classes.<ref name="Lawrence_Babb_Redemptive"/>
* Brahma Kumaris can be identified by their frequent adoption of wearing white clothes, to symbolize purity.<ref name="Hinnells">{{cite book
| last = Hinnells
| first = John
| title = The Penguin Dictionary of Religions
| series = Extract by [[Eileen Barker]]
| year = 1997
| publisher = Rosen, New York
| isbn = 0-14-051261-6
}}</ref><ref name="Barker">{{cite book
| last = Barker
| first = Eileen
| title = New Religious Movement: A Practical Introduction
| series =
| year = 1989
| publisher = HMSO, London
| isbn = 0-14-051261-6
| pages = 168-70
}}</ref><ref name="Melton">{{cite book
| last = Melton
| first = J. Gordon
| title = The Encyclopedia of American Religions
| series = 4th edition
| year = 1993
| publisher = Gale, Detroit
| isbn =
| 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"/>
* 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
| year = 1997
| month = April
| title = ASC induction techniques, spiritual experiences, and commitment to new religious movements
| book = book of Beliefs and Values,
| volume = 58
| quote = "All accept the very senior BKs in the Western branches must support themselves (most work), but the pressure to adopt the BK's "purity rules" (non-commensality with non-members; avoidance of meat and certain other foods, alcohol, and sex), and most Brahmins live in shared accommodation with other members ... enabling the organization to powerfully reinforce its beliefs."
| issue = 2
| pages = 149
}}</ref>
==Beliefs==
In 1952, after a 14 year period of retreat during which the Brahma-kumaris published numerous pamphlets, newspaper articles and wrote letters to important national and international figures, a more structured form of teaching began to be offered to the public by way of a seven lesson course.<ref name="John_Walliss_reflexive"/> The movement does not associate itself with [[Hinduism]] <ref name=Barz1992>{{cite book
| author = Barz, R.K.
| year = 1992
| title = A reinterpretation of bhakti theology: from the Pustimarg to the Brahma Kumaris
| book = Devotional Literature in South Asia: Current Research, 1985-8
| url = http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&id=BE40dp6SCFUC&oi=fnd&pg=PA298&dq=+brahma+kumaris&ots=IPrew0g-1f&sig=Q1R_YpUPX5wKgdZ_fRMuOPjcq4s
| quote = [BKWSU] ... does not associate itself with any earlier Hindu movement, bhakti or otherwise,
| accessdate = 2008-01-25
}}</ref> but projects itself as a vehicle for spiritual teaching rather than a religion.<ref name="Enc_New">{{cite book
| last = Howell
| first = Julia Day
| editor = Peter Clarke
| title = Encyclopedia of New Religious Movements
| year = 2005
| publisher = Routledge
| 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
}}</ref><ref name="Kranenborg"/>
===Central beliefs===
Central to its faith are the beliefs that:
* The human being is an eternal [[soul]] living within a physical body and is not the physical body which is dualistic "I am a soul, my body is a garment".<ref name="Bryan_Wilson_NRM"/>
* [[Reincarnation]] happens only from one human body to another.<ref name="Lawrence_Babb_Redemptive"/>
* [[human race|Humanity]] is currently reaching the end of the current cycle and thus the world will be destroyed, a time referred to as "Destruction".<ref name="Liz_Hodgkinson_Peace"/>
* [[Indian subcontinent]] will be the site of the future [[Golden Age]] [[paradise]] and that a form of [[Hindi]] is the original language of humanity, all other continents being destroyed.
* Followers are taught that only they will live in the coming Golden Age paradise<ref>{{cite book
| last = Howell
| first = Julia Day
| editor = Peter Clarke
| title = Encyclopedia of New Religious Movements
| year = 2005
| publisher = Routledge
| isbn = 978-0415267076
| 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"/>
* God has incarnated into Dada Lehkraj, the founder, and is teaching them directly and exclusively.
===God===
God (Shiva) is considered to be an eternal soul, a personality like human souls, but the Supreme one (Paramatma) and "knowledgeful". His purpose is to awaken humanity and restore harmony, giving power through the Brahma Kumaris' practise of ''Raja Yoga'', eliminating evil and negativity. He is not the creator of matter which is itself considered to be eternal.<ref name="Kranenborg" /> He speaks through the mouth of Dada Lekhraj.<ref name="Lawrence_Babb_Redemptive">{{cite book
| last = Babb
| first = Lawrence A.
| title = Redemptive Encounters: Three Modern Styles in the Hindu Tradition (Comparative Studies in Religion and Society)
| year = 1987
| page = 112-113
| publisher = [[Oxford University Press]]
| isbn = 0706925637
}}</ref>
===Self===
Human and even animal [[soul]]s, called atmas, are believed to be an infinitesimal point of spiritual light residing in the forehead of the body it occupies. Souls are believed to originally exist with God in a "Soul World", a world of infinite light, peace and silence called Paramdham.<ref name="Lawrence_Babb_Paramdham">{{cite book
| last = Babb
| first = Lawrence A.
| title = Redemptive Encounters: Three Modern Styles in the Hindu Tradition (Comparative Studies in Religion and Society)
| year = 1987
| publisher = [[Oxford University Press]]
| quote = Souls have a 'true home', and this is a region of perfect peace and absolute silence at the top of the universe known as paramdham (the supreme abode) or brahmlok (the world of brahm). As imagined by Brahma Kumari teachings, the universe has the shape of an egg. at is apex is the Supreme known as Soul Shivbaba.
| isbn = 0706925637
}}</ref> Here souls are in a state of rest and beyond experience. Souls enter bodies to take birth in order to experience life and give expression to their personality. Unlike other Eastern traditions, the soul is not thought to transmigrate into other species and does not evolve but rather devolves birth after birth. Within this "point of light" all aspects of the personality are contained and is said to enter the human body in the 4th to 5th month of pregnancy.<ref>{{cite web
| url = http://www.hinduismtoday.com/archives/1985/09/1985-09-07.shtml
| title = Hindus In America Speak out on Abortion Issues
| publisher = Hinduism Today
| accessdate = 2007-07-18
| quote = The Brahma Kumaris view the body as a physical vehicle for the immortal soul, and therefore the issue is not "pro-life" or "anti-life" but a choice between the amount of suffering caused to the souls of the parents and child in either course, abortion or motherhood. They view existing legislation in America as fair and reasonable, with the proviso that abortion after the 4th month should be avoided except in medical emergencies, since in their view the soul enters the fetus in the 4th to 5th month.
}}</ref>
===Three Worlds===
The Brahma Kumaris believe that there are 3 worlds or dimensions; the physical universe, a soul world known as Paramdham and an intermediate region called "The Subtle Regions" where they claim to journey to experience visions regarding world history where Lekhraj Kirpalani and God Shiva combined as BapDada jointly communicate with the university.<ref name="Walliss_Subtle Regions">{{cite book
| last = Walliss
| first = Dr John
| quote = "Raja Yogis claim that there are other, more important planes including the home of all souls and the Supreme Soul ... The subtle realm represents an intermediate region between the physical and incorporeal realm. It is here where experienced BK Yogis claim to journey to experience visions regarding world history and their place within it as well as being where Lekhraj and Shiva as BapDada jointly communicate directly to the University through the Avyakta murlis"
| title = The Brahma Kumaris as a Reflexive Tradition
| year = 2002
| publisher = Ashgate Publishing Limited
| isbn = 0-7546-0951-0
}}</ref> Souls exists in the soul world "totally untained by matter ... as a starlike point of light until they have to 'play their part' within the world drama on the physical plane" at whatever time in history they are destined to incarnate for the first time.<ref name="o'Donnell_Soul_world">{{cite book
| last = O'Donnell
| first = Ken
| title = New Beginnings
| year = 1995
| publisher = Brahma Kumaris World University
| isbn = 0-9637-3964-6
}}</ref>
===5,000 Year Cycle===
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
| title = The New Believers
| series =
| year = 2001
| publisher = Cassell & Co
| isbn = 0-304-35592-5
| pages = 265
| quote = Time is cyclical with each 5,000 year cycle consisting of a perfect Golden Age, a slightly degraded Silver age, a decadent Copper Age, and an Iron Age which is characterized by violence, greed, and lust. Each of these lasts for exactly 1,250 years. Our current Iron Age will shortly come to an end, after which the cycle will begin again.
}}</ref> and the Confluence Age (''Sangam Yuga''). The Confluence Age is said to be 100 years long, beginning in 1936 with the descent of Shiva into Lekhraj Kirpalani, during which present day civilization is to be completely destroyed by natural disasters, civil and nuclear war<ref>{{cite web
| url = http://www.hinduismtoday.com/archives/1995/5/1995-5-02.shtml
| title = Brahma Kumaris: Conquering A Callous World with Purity
| publisher = Hinduism Today
| accessdate = 2007-07-18
| quote =
}}</ref> in an event called Destruction. <ref name="John_Walliss_Cycle">{{cite book
| last = Walliss
| first = John
| title = The Brahma Kumaris As a Reflexive Tradition: Responding to Late Modernity
| year = 2002
| quote = "The final evening classes that I attended, at which the core content of the murli was the Destruction ... during one part of this an eclectic user asked 'so, you're an end-of-the-world cult then?' to which the center co-ordinator replied, no, we believe in world '''transformation'''. In response, the questioner asked 'well, surely the "transformation" you're talking about is Destruction? The whole population is going to shrink almost to instantly down to a couple of thousand, whole areas of the world are going to be flooded, nuclear bombs are going to be going off.' 'Well, replied the co-ordinator, 'it depends on how you look at it'."
| publisher = Ashgate Publishing
| isbn = 978-0754609513
| pages = 107
}}</ref> [[Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi]] states this information is generally hidden from non-members.<ref name=Beit-hallahmi2004>{{cite book
| author = Beit-hallahmi, B.
| year = 2004
| title = Death, Fantasy, and Religious Transformations
| book = The Psychology of Death in Fantasy and History
| 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).
| accessdate = 2008-01-25
}}</ref>
During the first half of the cycle, procreation is believed to be possible through the power of yoga without sexual intercourse.<ref name="Lawrence_Babb_Redemptive2">{{cite book
| last = Babb
| first = Lawrence A.
| title = Redemptive Encounters: Three Modern Styles in the Hindu Tradition (Comparative Studies in Religion and Society)
| year = 1987
| publisher = [[Oxford University Press]]
| isbn = 0706925637
| quote = Sexual intercourse is unnecessary for reproduction because the souls that enter the world during the first half of the Cycle are in possession of a special yogic power (yog bal) by which they conceive children
}}</ref> The Universe is never transformed into primordial or atomic state matter, nor does the world ever becomes devoid of human beings.<ref name="Lib">{{cite book
| last = Lalrinawma
| first = V.S.
| title = The Liberation of Women in and through the Movement of the Prajapita Brahma Kumaris
| series = ISPCK
| year = 2003
| publisher = Cambridge Press, Delhi
| isbn = 81-7214-771-6
| pages = 13
| quote =
}}</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===
It is taught that all of humanity will die and return to Paramdham then take birth in the forthcoming cycle at their predestined time and place. This is portrayed as the "Kalpa Vriksha Tree", or the "Tree of Humanity", in which the founder Lekhraj Kripalani and his Brahma Kumaris followers are shown as the roots of the humanity. A new world order starting with the birth of Krishna and a population of 900,000 is believed to go on to enjoy 2,500 years of paradise as living deities before humanity splits and the religious founders incarnate. Each creates their own branch and brings with them their own followers from the Infinite Light, until they too decline and splits, schisms, cults and sects appear at the end of the Iron Age.<ref name="John_Walliss_reflexive"/><ref name="Lib">{{cite book
| last = Kelegama
| first = Keerthi
| title = Year 2000 doomed: Mankind destroyed' [Exclusive report on imminent world destruction]
| series =
| year = 1998
| publisher = Cambridge Press, Delhi
| isbn = 955-95823-3-X
| pages =
| quote = Brahmakumaris say that the world destruction takes place in every 5000 years and that 5000 years have already passed after the previous destruction. Soon the new world order would be started with 900,000 people after destroying the rest". "Brahmakumaris World Spiritual University affiliated to the United Nations Department of Public Information as a non-governmental organisation teaches that in every 5000 years world destruction takes place and now is the time for it." "Brahmakumaris also expect the world destruction to take place immediately followed by the birth of Krishna once again". "There must be 900,000 pure souls who are ready to take over the new world order (Golden Age) before the destruction would begin. When the Golden Age [Sath Yug] comes after the world destruction, it would only be heaven on earth. People there would literally be deities
}}</ref>
The aim of the individual Brahma Kumari is to gain a high status in the coming paradise where a select 108 who are 'totally victorious' and will rule there. Members of the physical families of Brahma Kumaris who have contact with the University are said to become members of the 16,000 top souls <ref name="Lawrence_Babb_status">{{cite book
| last = Babb
| first = Lawrence A.
| title = Redemptive Encounters: Three Modern Styles in the Hindu Tradition (Comparative Studies in Religion and Society)
| quote = "The real issue is what one's status will be in the coming paradise ... Those of the highest status will not only be the rulers of heaven, but will be close to Lekhraj throughout their world-careers."
| year = 1987
| publisher = [[Oxford University Press]]
| isbn = 0706925637
}}</ref>
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===
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
| quote = "Members are encouraged to purify their minds by the practise of Raja Yoga. This can entail sitting tranquilly, in front of a screen which Dada Lehkraj's picture projected, then making a number of "affirmations", regarding the eternal nature of the soul (''[[Atman (Hinduism)|atma]]''), the original purity of one's nature, and the nature of God (paramatmÄ Shiva). The Brahma Kumaris believe that practice of Raja Yoga enables spiritual progress as well as having pragmatic benefits, for example, business success. Brahma Kumaris frequently organize seminars on business management and on developing personal life skills"
| title =
| year =
| publisher =
| isbn =
}}</ref>
Lawrence Babbs described another practise where "the student or students sit in a semi-darkened room facing the teacher (usually a woman). Just above and behind the teacher's head is a red plastic [[ovoid]] that glows from a lightbulb within, in its center is a tiny hole which appears as an intense whitelight against the red glow.<ref name="Lawrence_Babb_Redemptive"/> This device represents the Supreme Soul (known as Shiv Baba) who is the presiding [[deity]] of the [[universe]]. With [[devotional songs]] playing softly in the background, student and teacher gaze intently at each other, either in the eyes or at the [[forehead]]. While doing this the student is supposed to imagine him or herself as a soul and not as a body. The student is told to think of themself as separate from the body, as bodiless, as light, as power, as bathed in the love and light of the Supreme Soul, and so on. This might continue for fifteen or twenty minutes".<ref name="Glancing">{{cite book
| last = Babb
| first = Lawrence A.
| year = 1981
| month =
| title = On celibate marriages: the Polish Catholics' encounter with Hindu spirituality
| book = Glancing: Visual Interaction in Hinduism", book of Anthropological Research
| volume = Winter
| issue = 4
| 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"/>
===Murlis===
David Barrett states, "Unlike traditional forms of Hinduism, the Brahma Kumaris' teachings come not so much from ancient scriptures but from revelations given in trance states".<ref name="David_Barrett_New_Believers"/> However, these mediumistic messages known by Brahma Kumaris as "Murlis", read at the 6.30 am meetings, are slowly developing the nature of potential scriptures.<ref name="Enc_New"/> The earlier ones channeled by [[Lekhraj Kripalani]] while he was alive, are now repeated in a five year cycle. They are supplemented by later murlis, channelled by Hirday Mohini of Delhi in trance states, which are also written down.
There are two types of mediumistic messages; ''sakar'' and ''avyakt'';
* ''Sakar'' Murlis refer to the original classes said to be spoken by "Shiva" through the medium of Lekhraj Kripalani in the 1960's, before he died of a heart attack on [[18 January]] [[1969]].<ref name="Ratan">{{cite book
| last = Ratan
| first = Vishwa
| title = A Unique Experience. Autobiography of Dada Vishwa Ratan
| series =
| year = 2000
| publisher = Om Shanti Press
| isbn = 955-95823-3-X
| pages = 57
| quote =
}}</ref> These include teachings by Shiva and the life of personal experience of Lekhraj.
* ''Avyakt'' Vanis, or Murlis, refer to the teachings of Shiva and the soul of the deceased Lekhraj Kripalani combined through a [[medium]] named Hirday Mohini, or "Dadi Gulzar".<ref>{{cite web
| url = http://www.brahmakumaris.org.in/Landmarks.htm
| title = Brahma Kumaris: Landmarks in History
| publisher = BKWSU
| accessdate = 2007-07-18
| quote =
}}</ref> The Brahma Kumaris believe that the soul of Lekhraj Kripalani has become perfect and now has the role of an [[angel]]. These messages are understood by members of the BKWSU to be the words of God. The Murli's are what the Brahma Kumaris use to direct their personal spiritual effort and institutional service.
One must complete the Brahma Kumaris foundation course before starting to attend morning murli class and visiting the headquarters in India during the period when the deceased founder communicates via a [[trance medium]].<ref name="Howell and Nelson">{{cite book
| last = Howell and Nelson
| first =
| year = 1998
| month =
| title = On celibate marriages: the Polish Catholics' encounter with Hindu spirituality
| book = Glancing: Visual Interaction in Hinduism", book of Anthropological Research
| volume =
| issue =
| pages =
| quote = in order to progress to the next stage of membership - the visit to the University's headquarters in Rajasthan during the period where its deceased founder communicates via trance-medium - they have to not only demonstrate their commitment by following the recommended lifestyle but also, more importantly, be seen to be doing so by the university. this is instrinsicly linked with the second technique, the utilisation and negotiation of different metaphors or readings of the university's theodicy at the different events and in different types of literature in relation to its intended (core or periphery) audience" ... "amongst committed, core members "...the tradition is lived [and expressed] without apology, translation or dilution".
}}</ref>
==Achievements==
The Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University is an international non-governmental organization ([[NGO]]) in general consultative status with the [[United Nations Economic and Social Council|Economic and Social Council of the United Nations]]<ref name="UN">{{cite web
| url = http://www.un.org/documents/ecosoc/docs/1998/e1998-8.htm
| title = ECOSOC
| publisher = UNO
| accessdate = 2007-07-22
| quote =
}}</ref> and UNICEF.<ref name="UNESCO">{{cite web
| url = http://www.un.org/esa/coordination/ngo/pdf/INF_List.pdf
| title = List of UN NGO and respective status within UNICEF
| publisher = UNO
| accessdate = 2007-07-22
| quote =
}}</ref> It is associated with the [[UN]] Department of Public Information.<ref name="UN_DPI">{{cite web
| url = http://www.un.org/dpi/ngosection/dpingo-directory.asp?RegID=--&CnID=all&AcID=0&kw=brahma%20kumaris&NGOID=226
| title = DPI/NGO Directory
| publisher = United Nations Department of Public Information
| accessdate = 2007-08-20
| quote = NGO in consultative status with ECOSOC; associated with DPI
}}</ref>
* The organization now has 100s of branches internationally and has co-ordinated three major international projects; The Million Minutes for Peace in 1986, for which it was awarded 7 [[United Nations|UN]] Peace Messenger Awards, 1987 and Global Co-operation for a Better World in 1988.<ref name="Walliss_Prophesy_p5">{{cite book
| last = Walliss | first = John
| title = When Prophecy Fails: The Brahma Kumaris and the Pursuit of the Millennium(s)
| year = 1999
| month = September
| pages = 5
| quote = ...The Million Minutes of Peace which raised over one billion 'minutes of peace' people in 88 countries participating in prayer, meditation and positive thoughts. For this the University was awarded one International and six UN National 'Peace Messenger' Awards.
}}</ref> and in 1994, launched "Sharing Our Values for a Better World" <ref>http://209.85.175.104/search?q=cache:6EZxwzp6TvEJ:www.globalretreatcentre.org.uk/bk/projects.htm+Million+Minutes+for+Peace+in+1986&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=3&client=safari</ref>
* Deceased chief administrator Prakashmani was awarded International Peace Messenger Award from the UN Secretary General in 1987 for the "Million Minutes of Peace" project.<ref name="SundayExpressIndia">{{cite web
| url = http://www.indianexpress.com/sunday/story/31939.html
| title = The Sunday
| publisher = Indian Express
| accessdate = 2007-08-21
| quote = Current head is Dadi Prakashmani. Recipient of UN Peace Medal for her efforts to spread across the message of peace and goodwill.
}}</ref>
* It was granted International Peace Messenger Initiative status by the U.N.for the Global Co-operation for a Better World campaign.<ref>{{cite web
| url = http://www.hinduismtoday.com/archives/1995/5/1995-5-02.shtml
| title = Hinduism Today
| publisher = Hinduism Today
| accessdate = 2007-07-22
| quote =
}}</ref>
* Follower Golo Pilz pioneered work in [[Solar energy|solar]] and [[sustainable energy]] developing, the world's then largest [[solar cooker]] at the BKWSU headquarters in Rajasthan.<ref>{{cite web
| url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/606951.stm
| title = BBC
| publisher = BBC
| accessdate = 2007-07-22
| quote =
}}</ref>
==Use of channeling and mediumship==
The BKWSU is believed by its members to have been established by ''Shiva Baba'' (God-Father Shiva), described as the "Supreme Soul" and claimed to be the one [[God]] of all religions through the [[Mediumship|medium]] of the group's founder [[Lekhraj Kripalani]].<ref name="BK_Jagdish_Chander_Adi_Dev" /> From the beginning, a number of trance-messengers have received messages and teachings.<ref name=history>{{cite web
| url = http://web.archive.org/web/20021012192150/http://www.brahmakumaris.org/history/index.html#39Onwards
| title = BKWSU History
| publisher = BKWSU
| accessdate = 2007-07-22
| quote =
}}</ref> Its mediums also directly channel a messages from deceased senior Brahma Kumaris leaders.<ref name="hinduismtoday_beloved_didi">{{cite web
| url = http://www.hinduismtoday.com/archives/1983/10/1983-10-03.shtml
| title = Beloved "Didi", Sivabhaktar and Co-Head of Brahma Kumaris, Passes In Bombay
| publisher = Hinduism Today
| 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.
}}</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
| author = Robbins, T.
| coauthors = Palmer, S.J.
| year = 1997
| title = Millennium, Messiahs, and Mayhem: Contemporary Apocalyptic Movements
| publisher = Routledge
| quote = the modern Brahma Kumaris movemement contiunes this thousands of year old Hindu tradition of receiving teeachings and guidance in a channeling manner from transpersonal gurus
| isbn = 0415916496
| page =108
}}</ref> through a senior sister Hirdaya Mohini (referred to familiarly as Dadi Gulzar), at the organization's [[Rajasthan]] headquarters. The combined presence of the BKWSU's human [[founder]] and the [[spiritual being]] the BKWSU believe is God are referred to as ''BapDada'' (meaning Father and Grandfather) by BKs. The pair continue to direct the organization to this day.<ref>{{cite web
| url = http://www.hinduismtoday.com/archives/1995/5/1995-5-02.shtml
| title = Hinduism Today
| publisher = Hinduism Today
| accessdate = 2007-07-22
| quote = Prajapita Brahma gave up his physical frame on [[January 18]], [[1969]]. This day is celebrated as the day of his spiritual ascension. It is believed that he continues to aid the organization from inner worlds, but the ultimate guidance and authority still comes directly from God Siva, who has since chosen another to be His "trance messenger." Currently Sister Raday Mohini serves as the instrument to give voice to Siva's messages, but this is viewed as a temporary assignment given by God. Every year, around February/March, a gathering occurs in Mt. Abu where Siva speaks, guides and gives blessings. This sets the patterns for the coming year as the guidance is distributed to the centers around the world, including through their intra-organizational e-mail
}}</ref>