Fwd: Brahma Kumaris Doctrines

July 25, 2005

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Sister BabithaJi!

Many many thanks for your detailed information with all requisite details and comments on Brahma kumaris.

With regards, & namaste,

R N Guptababitha70 <babitha70 wrote:

, Babitha Vasanth wrote:Namaste RamJi,Firstly I am sorry for the delay.Please find below in brief regading your request about Brahma Kumaris Philosophy and My study about it.Hope you will appreciate my work and the same will be of more info to you.Namaste,Babitha.Brahma Kumaris Doctrines The teachings of the Brahma Kumaris are called Raj Yoga. They are derived from traditional Hindu yogic practices but have also been Westernized following the movement's growth in the West. The philosophy is more dualistic than most Hindu-based NRMs. The key mantra is: 'I am a soul, my body is a garment', and the aim is to realize one's essential nature as a soul, partly through the purification and sublimation of the body and its needs and desires. The main

practice is simple meditation, morning and evening. There is a growing emphasis on social and environmental action, education and human rights. The movement is also moving into management training, offering courses on positive thinking, stress reduction and leadership, with an emphasis on the importance of spirituality in business. A key belief is that 'When we change, the world changes'. History The founder of Raj Yoga was Dada Lekhraj (1877-1969), a diamond merchant now known as Brahma Baba, who claimed to receive visions of Shiva instructing him to found a new world order. The movement was unusual in being run by women from the beginning. The heads of the main centres and most of the teachers and administrators are still women. The Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University (BKWSU) as it is now known has spread throughout the world since the 1970s, as predicted by Brahma Baba, and is particularly successful in

Britain, supported by the indigenous Indian community. It recently opened a retreat centre in a former stately home in Oxfordshire. In 1980 the organization became affiliated with the United Nations as a non-governmental organization, and has sponsored many peace initiatives, human rights and educational projects under its auspices. Only a small percentage of the membership work for the movement full-time, living in communal centres, but it has a large andinfluential grass-roots membership who donate time, money and other resources to it. It has many supporters among governments and the business community. It is less controversial than many other NRMs but has been criticized for its evangelical activity under the guise of social work, and for the damaging effects of celibacy upon family life. Symbols Raj Yoga has dropped much of its original Hindu symbolism, but full-time members still wear white, either saris or

Western-style clothing, symbolizing purity. Purity is the aim of the practice and ascetic regime, with a strong emphasis on celibacy which is essential for full-time male and female members, including married people; this is a departure from the Hindu prescription of celibacy for older men. The food comprises a simple, non-spicy Indian vegetarian diet. Images of Brahma and Shiva are central to the meditation practice. There is also devotion to Brahma Baba, although he is not formally regarded as a guru to be worshipped. There is a millennialist belief, based on Hindu cosmology, that the present world cycle will end in destruction to be followed by a golden age centred on New Delhi, but this belief is downplayed in the West. Adherents The official literature of the Brahma Kumaris claims 250,000 regular students worldwide, though this may be an overestimate (Skultans 1993, 49). There is a preponderance of members in

India and Britain. Headquarters/Main Centre PO Box No 2, Mount Abu, Rajasthan 307501, India. International Centre 65 Pound Lane, London NW10 2HH, UK. Ram Narayan Gupta wrote:Dear Sister Babitha!I had sent me one E mail regarding your views about Brahma Kumaris Phylosophy. However i did not here anything from u though there r alot of othrer E mails . will u pl. look into & give me your view about the same.BTW I m from Mumbai, India presently at Minneapolis, USA with my son & leaving for India shortly.Pranam Ram --- End forwarded message ---

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