Talk:Brahma Kumaris/History of the Brahma Kumari Movement

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Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University
Formation1930s
Type
Lekhraj Kripalani (1876-1969), known as "Brahma Baba" to the followers
Key people
Janki Kripalani, Jayanti Kirpalani
Websitebkwsu.org

see previous copy for proposed outline [1]

Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University (BKWSU) or Prajapita Brahma Kumaris Ishwariya Vishwa Vidyalaya is a

Raja Yoga as described by Patanjali. [6]

See also,

Brahma Kumari Beliefs and Lifestyle
.


Early history

See also:
Lekhraj Kripalani

The origin of BKWSU can be traced to the group "Om Mandali", founded by

rupees[7] 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 satsangs which attracted many people and the group became known as Om Mandali. In 1937, he named some of his followers as a managing committee, then reportedly transferred his fortune to the committee.[10] Several women joined Om Mandali, and contributed their wealth to the association as well.[7]

Members of the local

hypnotism. Children were removed from his school.[13] 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.[7] Under further pressure from the Hindu leaders in the the Government, the group was ordered to close and vacate its premises.[14] 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.[15]

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.[9] After Dada Lekhraj's death in 1969, his followers expanded the movement to other countries.[16]

Expansion

Om Shanti Bawan, the main hall at the Brahma Kumaris headquarters

Beginning in the 1950s, the Brahma Kumaris began an internationalization expansion program,[17] 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.[18]

The leadership of the BK movement remains primarily female. For example, in the

countries and territories.[20] According to sources quoted in the Adherents website, worldwide membership ranges from 35,000 (in 1993) to 400,000 (in 1998).[21]

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", "Self Management Leadership", and "Living Values."[22] 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. [23]

The Brahma Kumaris also have a number of voluntary outreach programs in prisons.[24]


See also

Concepts associated with Brahama Kumaris

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 978-0521461290. {{cite book}}: |first4= missing |last4= (help
    )
  2. ISBN 978-0415916486
    .
  3. ISBN 0706925637
    .
  4. ISBN 978-1556432484
    .
  5. ISBN 978-0415200493. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help
    )
  6. ^ "Brahma Kumaris: A New Religion?". Reender Kranenborg, Free University of Amsterdam. Retrieved 2007-07-27. 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.
  7. ^
    ISBN 0706925637
    .
  8. ISBN 978-0754609513
    .
  9. ^ a b Chander, B. K Jagdish (1981). Adi Dev: The first man. B.K. Raja Yoga Center for the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University.
  10. ^
    ISBN 0718830067
    .
  11. ISBN 978-0304355921
    . '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.
  12. ISBN 1558749624
    .
  13. ^ Radhe, Brahma-Kumari (1939). 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. Pharmacy Printing Press. pp. 35–36.
  14. ^ Coupland, Reginald (1944). The Indian Problem: Report on the Constitutional Problem in India. Oxford University Press.
  15. ISBN 978-0415267076
    . 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
  16. ISBN 0754634108
    .
  17. ^ Howell, Julia (1998). "Gender Role Experimentation in New Religious Movements". Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. 37 (3): 453–461. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  18. ^ Whaling, Frank (1995). "The Brahma Kumaris". Journal of Contemporary Religion. 10 (1): 10.
  19. doi:10.2307/1388052. 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. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help
    )
  20. ^ "Brahma Kumaris Administration". BKWSU. Retrieved 2007-08-10. Present statistics indicate that the University has 825,000 students and over 8,500 centres in 100 countries and territories.
  21. ^ "Adherent Statistic Citations". Adherents.com. Retrieved 2007-08-20. Worldwide, this path has 4000 centres and approximately 400,000 members.
  22. ^ Nesbitt, Eleanor (2003). "Religious Organisations in the UK and Values Education Programmes for Schools". Journal of Beliefs and Values,. 24 (1): 75–88. 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. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link)
  23. ISBN 0-520-07636-2
    . "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".
  24. ISBN 978-0893892586
    .

Further reading

Brahma Kumaris publications

Other publications

External links

BKWSU

non-BKWSU

[[Category:1937 establishments]] [[Category:New religious movements]] [[Category:Spiritual organizations]] [[Category:Yoga organizations]] [[Category:Religious organisations based in India]] [[de:Brahma Kumaris]] [[es:Brahma Kumaris]] [[fr:Brahma Kumaris]] [[nl:Brahma Kumaris Spirituele Akademie]]

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