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{{Infobox Organization |name=Brahma Kumari World Spiritual University |image=Bkwsulogo.jpg |size=80px |caption= |map= |msize= |mcaption= |formation=1930s |type=[[Millenarian]]ist [[New Religious Movement]] |headquarters=[[Rajasthan]], [[India]] |membership= |language=[[Hindi (language)|Hindi]],  [[English (language)|English]] |leader_title=Founder |leader_name=[[Lekhraj Kripalani]] (1884&ndash;1969), known as "Brahma Baba" to the followers |key_people=Janki Kripalani, Hirday Mohini, Ratan Mohini, Jayanti Kirpalani, Mohini Panjabi, Dr. Nirmala R. Kajaria, Ramesh Shah, Nirwair Sani, Brij Mohan, Karunakara Shetty. |num_staff= |budget= |website=[http://www.bkwsu.org/ bkwsu.org] [http://www.brahmakumaris.com/ brahmakumaris.com]
}}'''Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University''' (BKWSU) or '''Prajapita Brahma Kumaris Ishwariya Vishwa Vidyalaya''' (Sanskrit/Hindi: प्रजापिता ब्रह्माकुमारी ईश्वरीय विश्वविद्यालय ) 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 practices involving 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 |page=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"/> which adherents call ''Raja Yoga'' but which differs from classical [[Raja Yoga]] as described by [[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> 

A neo-Hindu religious movement, the '''Brahma Kumaris''' ({{lang-hi|ब्रह्माकुमारी}}, pron. {{IPA-hns|ˈbrəɦmaː kʊˈmaːriː|}}, abbrv. BK) or "'''Daughters of Brahma'''" pre-date the [[New Age]] movement but have developed characteristics that link them to its thinking.<ref name="John_Walliss_reflexive" />

== Early history ==
{{See also|Lekhraj Kripalani}}
The origin of BKWSU can be traced to the group "Om Mandali", founded by [[Lekhraj Kripalani]] (1884&ndash;1969)<ref name="Hardayal_Hardy_Struggles"/> in [[Hyderabad, Sindh]] in the 1932.<ref name="Radhe_is_this_justice" /> 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&ndash;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 through divine revelations and divine visions of women who had the gift of trance-vision. 

Kripalani 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 world, a destruction necessary for an ideal world to be established.<ref name="John_Walliss_reflexive" /> In the midst of legal controversies during 1937,<ref name="Radhe_is_this_justice" /> he named his wife and some of his followers as a managing committee, then reportedly transferred his fortune to the control.<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&ndash;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&ndash;39
}}</ref>

The sect generated fierce hostility in [[Hyderabad, Sindh|Hyderabad]], which led it to transfer its seat to Karachi.<ref name="Markovits">{{cite book |last=Markovits |first=Claude |title=The Global World of Indian Merchants, 1750-1947 |year=2000 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=0521622859 |page=275 |quote=What must be noted is that the sect generated fierce hostility in Hyderabad, which led it to transfer its seat to Karachi after a few years.
}}</ref> Many young married Sindhi women had attended his [[ashram]] and were being encouraged to take vows of [[celibacy]]. 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&ndash;29
}}</ref> including that of his own daughter whom 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 a disturber of [[family]] peace, some of the Brahma Kumari wives were mistreated by their families. Lekhraj Kripalani was accused of [[Magic (paranormal)|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 and there were concerns about them being put in trance states.<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&ndash;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&ndash;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"/> The move being made on the promise of funds from the family of an adherent which never manifested.<ref name="Ratan">{{cite book |last=Rose |first=B.K. |title=A Unique Experience. Autobiography of Dada Vishwa Ratan. |year=unknown |publisher=Om Shanti Press, Mount Abu |isbn= |pages= |quote=
}}</ref>   After Kripalani'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 |page=120
}}</ref>

==Administration==
From 1936, the Bahma Kumaris were headed by Lekhraj Kriplani till 1969 after which Dadi Prakash Mani took the responsibilities until 2007. Following her death in 2007, Janki Kripalani headed the organisation. BK Hirday Mohini and Ratan Mohini are the additional administrative heads. 

The legal entity controlling the movement is the "World Renewal Spiritual Trust", established on 16 January 1969 by Ramesh Nanalal Shah,  Mrs Shanta Nanalal, Miss Nirmala R. Kajaria and Sheel Indra all of Bombay, two days before the heart attack that killed the movement's founder and primary medium.<ref>http://www.archive.org/download/Brahma_Kumaris_-_World_Renewal_Trust_Deed/World_Renewal_Trust_Deed.pdf</ref> Where it operates globally, the organization has registered a number of trust, charities and private businesses, e.g.<ref>http://www.charity-commission.gov.uk/registeredcharities/ScannedAccounts/Ends71%5C0000269971_ac_20071231_e_c.pdf</ref><ref>http://www.brahmakumaris.info/download/BK%20Legal%20documents/BKWSO%20Articles.pdf</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 journal |last=Howell |first=Julia |year=1998 |month=September |title=Gender Role Experimentation in New Religious Movements |journal=Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion |volume=37 |issue=3 |pages=453&ndash;461 |doi=10.2307/1388052 }}</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 journal |last=Whaling |first=Frank |year=1995 |title=The Brahma Kumaris |journal=Journal of Contemporary Religion |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=3&ndash;28 |doi=10.1080/13537909508580723
}}</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 journal |last=Howell |first=Julia Day |year=1998 |month=September |title=Gender Role Experimentation in New Religious Movements: Clarification of the Brahma Kumari Case |journal=Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion |volume=37 |issue=3 |pages=453&ndash;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.com|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 journal |author=Lewis, J.R. |coauthors=Aris, R.I.S. |year=2004 |title=New Religion Adherents: An Overview of Anglophone Census and Survey Data |journal=Marburg Journal of Religion |volume=9 |issue=1 |url=http://www.uni-marburg.de/fb03/ivk/mjr/pdfs/2004/articles/lewis2004.pdf |format=PDF}}</ref>

In America, authorities did not allow the Brahma Kumaris Organization to use the "university" title, as they did not provide accredited courses and diplomas, and there they became known as the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual Organization.<ref name="Purity_and_Peace">P. 169 Peace and Purity: The Story of the Brahma Kumaris a Spiritual Revolution By Liz Hodgkinson</ref> "''The term "university" could be retained at the United Nations, however, as this word is a literal translation of the Hindu original.''"<ref name="Purity_and_Peace" />

==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."<ref name="Values_Education">{{cite journal |last=Nesbitt |first=Eleanor |coauthors=A. Henderson |year=2003 |month=April |title=Religious Organisations in the UK and Values Education Programmes for Schools |journal=Journal 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&ndash;88 |doi=10.1080/1361767032000053015
}}</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 Baba'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 Baba's will". |page=129 |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>

The headquarters of this group are in [[Mount Abu]], Rajasthan. The reason why this place was chosen to be the spiritual capital of the sect is because this is where "the first deity, [[Brahma]], had done his penance with the first goddess, [[Saraswati]], 5,000 years previously and all members of Om Mandali, now known as the yagya, firmly believed that Lekhraj Kripalani and young female follower Radhi Pokardas Rajwani were the reincarnation of those original deities."<ref>P. 35 ''Peace and Purity: The Story of the Brahma Kumaris a Spiritual Revolution'' By Liz Hodgkinson</ref> Lekhraj Kripalani was thought to be Prajapati God [[Brahma]], the inventor of the [[Gita]]<ref name="Radhe_is_this_justice" /> in contradiction to the Hindu view its primary teacher is [[Krishna]]. The Brahma Kumaris also believe that their founder will imminently re-incarnate as Krishna.

==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" /><ref name="Lawrence_Babb_Redemptive_2"/> So long as chastity is followed, existing marriages and family life are allowed but not the creation of new partnerships.<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) cooked only by the self or other Brahma Kumari members<ref name="Lawrence_Babb_Redemptive"/><ref name="Fard">{{cite web |url=http://www.hinduismtoday.com/modules/smartsection/item.php?itemid=3415 |title=Brahma Kumaris: Conquering A Callous World with Purity |publisher=Hinduism Today |accessdate=2007-07-28 |quote="The most strict will not eat food which is not prepared by a Brahma Kumaris. While traveling they abstain from public fare and carry their own utensils for cooking."
}}</ref> even excluding their own mother or relatives.<ref name="smith_food">{{cite journal |last=Smith |first=Dr Wendy A. |year=2007 |month=Autumn |title=Gender Role Experimentation in New Religious Movements: clarification of the Brahma Kumari case |journal=Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion |volume=45 |pages=16&ndash;17 |quote=Strict adherence requires that they only eat food cooked by themselves or other Brahma Kumaris in order to benefit from the pure vibrations of the person cooling the food. This has meant that some members do not eat food cooked by their mothers or other relatives who are not in the movement thus challenging one of the most basic social activities which fosters social relationships, eating together.
}}</ref>
* Abstaining from [[alcohol]], [[tobacco]] and non-prescription drugs.<ref name="Lawrence_Babb_Redemptive"/><ref name="Bo_Tree"/>
* Daily early morning [[meditation]] at 4:00<ref name="Lawrence_Babb_Redemptive"/> to 4:45 am, called 'Amrit Vela.'
* Daily 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&ndash;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&ndash;10
}}</ref>
* Recommends that companions be other BK Brahmins as opposed to those given over to worldly pleasures (non-BKs), known as ''bhogis'' or ''[[shudra]]s'' (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 journal |last=Howell |first=Dr Julia D |year=1997 |month=April |title=ASC induction techniques, spiritual experiences, and commitment to new religious movements |journal=Journal 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 journal |author=Barz, R.K. |year=1992 |title=A reinterpretation of bhakti theology: from the Pustimarg to the Brahma Kumaris |journal=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="Kranenborg"/><ref name="Enc_Routledge">{{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>

The BKWSU teaches that this world is beyond redemption<ref name="Babb_no_hope">{{cite book |last=Babb |first=Lawrence A. |title=Redemptive Encounters |year=2002 |quote="But what kinds of effort count? Apparently not efforts to reform the kaliyuga in accord with Shiv Baba's will. The kaliyug is quite beyond redemption ... There is nothing we can do to change history since the cycle is fixed" |page=128 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=0-520-07636-2
}}</ref> and so the ultimate aim of Brahma Kumari followers is to gain a high status as a royalty in a soon to be heaven on earth, a member of an elite 108 or 160,000 who will be the rulers of a heaven on earth, and to create subjects for it.<ref name="Babb_status">{{cite book |last=Babb |first=Lawrence A. |title=Redemptive Encounters |year=2002 |quote="Only a tiny minority of the earth's present population will inherit the Satyug (Golden Age) ... But the real issue is what one's status will be in the coming paradise? Will one be among the elite, a select 108 who are 'totally victorious'? ... not only the rulers of heaven but will be close to Lekhraj throughout their world-career. Or will one only be among the 16,000 - those in the 'high royal families' of the heavenly world, but not the top. Will one rule, or will one serve?" |page=128 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=0-520-07636-2
}}</ref> A heaven on earth which is to follow a total and imminent "Destruction" of the present day world including a Nuclear holocaust and death of the rest of humanity. This high status is achieved by supporting the movement, obeying its rules, engaging in proselytizing activities<ref name="Babb_method">{{cite book |last=Babb |first=Lawrence A. |title=Redemptive Encounters |year=2002 |quote="The first consists of serving the movement and obeying its rules. Service requires active support of the movement, especially by participating in its many proselytizing activities." |page=128 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=0-520-07636-2
}}</ref> and attempting to follow "almost inhumanly high standards" of "purity".<ref name="Babb_method" />

===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"/>
* God is considered to be such an eternal soul too and not omnipresent.
* [[Reincarnation]] happens only from one human body to another.<ref name="Lawrence_Babb_Redemptive"/>
* There is a fixed number of human beings reincarnating. BKs currently claim this number to be exactly 7 billion, although earlier they said it was 5 and then 6 billion. The number of souls incarnated gradually increases throughout the supposed 5,000 year cycle and just before the 'end of the world' all these souls are incarnate {{Citation needed |date=August 2009}}.
* There was one single 'heavenly' continent on Earth, which broke into pieces (the current continents) at the end of "Silver Age" which, accordingly to BKs, was around 2,500 years ago.
* [[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 except the Indian Subcontinent 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&ndash;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 {{Citation needed |date=August 2009}}.

===God===
Brahma Kumaris are monotheistic in their doctrine. God, addressed by most BKs "Shiv Baba", is considered to be an eternal soul, a  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 negativity. He is not the creator of matter which is itself considered to be eternal.<ref name="Kranenborg" /> He is said to have spoken in person through the mouth of the organization's primary medium Lekhraj Kripalani<ref name="Lawrence_Babb_3">{{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 |pages=112–113
}}</ref> and to be the destroyer of evil.<ref>[http://www.shivbaba.org.pl/en/?name=arts-Kumaris-islam "Astonishing similarities between Brahma Kumari and Islam"]</ref>

The BKWSU teaches that individual humans are like "''tiny stars, minute points of invisible luminous energy that is the soul''"<ref name="Exploring New Religions">P.195, ''Exploring New Religions'', By George D Chryssides</ref> which center around Shiva in the soul world.

===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.

* Corporeal World; the sun, the moon and even the distant stars make up the Physical World. Whatever we can see with our physical eyes belong to this Physical World. Here, human souls take up bodies and play out their roles. 
* Subtle region or Angelic world; a world filled with divine luminous white light where BK followers claim to journey to experience visions regarding world history and Lekhraj Kirpalani and Shiva, combined as "BapDada", jointly communicate with the university through its mediums.
* Incorporeal world; the "Soul World", filled with the "brahm" element (the sixth element of light), a luminous golden red in color. This, it is claimed, is the original residence of all souls and the residence the Supreme Soul. BKWSU claims this is also known by other names such as Shantidham, Mukthidham, Brahmlokh, Paramdham or Nirvana.<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>

===Karma===
The Brahma Kumaris teach their own version {{Citation needed |date=August 2009}} of the "law of [[karma]]" and believe that that status of a reborn individual is according to its state of consciousness. In it there are 3 types of karma i.e. Sukarma, Vikarma and Akarma. Through BK Raja Yoga meditation, it is claimed that one is able to burn away ones' sins or bad karma (Vikarma).<ref name=Hunt2003>{{cite book |author=Hunt, S. |year=2003 |title=Alternative Religions: A Sociological Introduction |publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. |quote=Along with other Hindus, the Brahma Kumaris believe in the law of karma, and that the individual is reborn according to one's state of consciousness. |page=121 |isbn=0-7546-3410-8
}}</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 |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. |page=265
}}</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 |page=107
}}</ref> [[Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi]] states this information is generally hidden from non-members.<ref name="Beit-hallahmi2004">{{cite journal |author=Beit-hallahmi, B. |year=2004 |title=Death, Fantasy, and Religious Transformations |journal=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_Redemptive_2">{{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 |quote= |page=13 
}}</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="Keerthi">{{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 |ISBN-status=May be invalid - please double check
}}</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 [[eternity|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 (paramatmā 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 Babb 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 themselves 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 journal |last=Babb |first=Lawrence A. |year=1981 |month= |title=On celibate marriages: the Polish Catholics' encounter with Hindu spirituality |journal=Glancing: Visual Interaction in Hinduism", Journal of Anthropological Research |volume=Winter |issue=4 |pages=387&ndash;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 1960s, 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 |quote= |page=57 
}}</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 journal |last=Howell and Nelson |first= |year=1998 |month= |title=On celibate marriages: the Polish Catholics' encounter with Hindu spirituality |journal=Glancing: Visual Interaction in Hinduism", Journal 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= |format=PDF}}</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 |page=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://www.bkun.org/peoples/mmpa.html]</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>
* Pioneering work in [[solar energy]]. Funded by the German Government and World Bank<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.downtoearth.org.in/full6.asp?foldername=20030228&filename=spr&sec_id=50&sid=5 |title=Renewable spirit; An extension of the ‘pursuit of inner purity’ to purer forms of energy |publisher=downtoearth.org |accessdate=2008-04-08 |quote=Finances for the approximately Rs 25 lakh project came from the German Society for Technological Cooperation (GTZ; Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit).
}}</ref>, BK follower Golo Pilz developed with inventor [[Wolfgang Scheffler]] and Gadhia Solar Energy Systems<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.unesco.or.kr/kor/activity2004/data/sn200407_Gadhia.doc |title=Environmental and Economic Impacts of Solar Heat Cookers |publisher=UNESCO |accessdate=2008-04-08 |quote=Finances for the approximately Rs 25 lakh project came from the German Society for Technological Cooperation (GTZ; Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit). |format=DOC}}</ref> the world's then largest [[solar cooker]] of a hybrid nature backed up with an oil fired boiler,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://neda.up.nic.in/ALLGO/Page21to62.pdf |title=Implementation of Solar Thermal Energy Programme during 
2000-2001- Sanction order |publisher=Government of India, Ministry of Non-conventional Energy Sources |accessdate=2004-05-14 |quote=The system is of a hybrid nature backed up with an oil fired boiler to make it reliable under all conditions. A maximum of 33,800 meals have been reported to be cooked in a single day with this system apart from boiling 3000 litres of water for preparing tea. The system has been reported to save around 400 litres 
of furnace oil on its full use. |format=PDF}}</ref> at the BKWSU headquarters in Rajasthan.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/606951.stm |title=BBC |publisher=BBC |accessdate=2007-07-22 |quote=An ashram in Rajasthan has put in place the world's largest solar powered steam cooking system. Thirty-four thousand people can be fed in a day.
 | date=2000-01-17}}</ref> The organization has since extended this project to its other Indian centers, funded by the Indian government, and attempted to establish local outreach programmes.

==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 [[Channelling (mediumistic)|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> It is claimed that in its early days, the followers commonly go into [[trance]]s, 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 mediumistic female followers known as ''Sandeshputris'' (trance messengers) also helped add to the group's spiritual knowledge through [[psychic]] visions.<ref name="history"/> Their founder, is also reported to have had visions of himself as [[Vishnu]], in which Vishnu said, "''Thou art that''" (a well-known verse from the [[Upanishads|Chadogya Upanishad]]).<ref name="Exploring New Religions" />

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 movement 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 via its mediums.<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>

==Controversies and criticism==

* Dr. John Wallis notes the re-editing of mediumistic messages<ref name="Prophecy">{{cite journal |last=Walliss |first=John |year=1999 |month=September |title=When Prophecy Fails: The Brahma Kumaris and the Pursuit of the Millennium(s) |journal=British Association for the Advancement of Science, Sheffield |volume= |issue= |pages= |quote=In addition, they accuse the University hierarchy of actively censoring or altering murlis that could potentially undermine their privileged position or which 'don't suit their philosophy'. The 'Special instruments' (senior members are, they allege 'constantly revising Murlis" to the extent that, for example, a passage from a 1969 murli referring to Shiva being unable to 'mount a virgin' was altered in the 1990 revised edition before being removed completely in the 1993 revision..."  Dr. Walliss also notes that while the BKWSU was, "originally a reclusive, [[classifications of cults and new religious movements|world-rejecting]] organization, over the last 30 years the Brahma Kumaris have begun a campaign of active [[proselytism|proselytizing]] and international growth. Thus, whilst still retaining its original millenarianism, currently within the West the organization promotes itself as part of the New Age movement and emphasizes ideas around the issues of self-development, empowerment and personal success."  Finally, Dr. Wallis disputes BKWSU's belief that Raja Yoga is the precursor to all world religions, including those that historically predate it.  Specifically, "This is part of a lengthy answer to the question of how the University could claim that Raja Yoga is the precursor to and influence of world religions that historically predate it often by a few thousand years. Again, 'Baba' is cited as the source of ultimate authority."
}}</ref> and failed predictions of the End of the World<ref name="John_Walliss_Destruction">{{cite book |last=Walliss |first=John |title=The Brahma Kumaris As a Reflexive Tradition: Responding to Late Modernity |year=2002 |quote=" Destruction did not materialise ... many Brahmins left the (University) because their hopes were dashed. Those who stayed had their faith reduced by half. They sacrificed their lives in this godly institution, left their families and invested all their wealth in this cause." |publisher=Ashgate Publishing |isbn=978-0754609513 |page=111
}}</ref> which had been removed from the teachings and hidden from those that came later on.
* In a paper for the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, Howell wrote that teenage girls surrendering to the organisation are required to pay the equivalent of a dowry to the organization. The payment was meant to prevent parents from "dumping" their daughters at the BKWSU as a way to avoid the costs of ordinary marriages. Return to the world for women who have had such a dowry paid for them is difficult.<ref name="Howell_Gender">{{cite journal |last=Howell |first=Julia Day |year=1998 |month=September |title=Gender Role Experimentation in New Religious Movements: clarification of the Brahma Kumari case |journal=Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion |volume=37 |issue=3 |pages=453&ndash;461 |quote="The likelihood that surrendered sisters in India will remain Brahmins throughout their lives is increased by the practise of parent giving dowries to the Brahma Kumaris for daughters they concede will not marry. This practise goes back to the early days of the organization but it is not clear how common it was. Whaling and Babb report it as an occasional practice. 

Recently the pattern has been formalized, with retreats at Mount Abu being offered for girls in their mid-teens who may wish to undertake a fuller commitment to the organization. The girls are offered a short period of taking classes and living near Senior Sisters, at the end of which they may nominate to undertake a year trial as surrendered sisters. A payment equivalent to a dowry is required from the girls' natural families to cover their living expenses over the trial period. This payment is also meant to prevent parent "dumping" daughters on the Brahma Kumaris to avoid the dowries and other costs of ordinary marriages. Return to the world for women who have has such a dowry paid for them is difficult." |doi=10.2307/1388052
}}</ref>
* BK followers belief that the BKWSU is the precursor to all world religions, even those that predate it, which are seen as being only facets of "the complete diamond" Raja Yoga.<ref name="Barz1992" /><ref name="John_Walliss_Other_Religions">{{cite book |last=Walliss |first=John |title=The Brahma Kumaris As a Reflexive Tradition: Responding to Late Modernity |year=2002 |quote="This is part of a lengthy answer to the question of how the University could claim that Raja Yoga is the precursor to and influence of world religions that historically predate it often by a few thousand years. Again, 'Baba' is cited as the source of ultimate authority" |publisher=Ashgate Publishing |isbn=978-0754609513 |page=105
}}</ref>
*The institution uses Hindu terminologies such as [[Raja Yoga]] and [[Bhagavad Gita]] to attract people but what is taught in the organization is completely different from what they supposed to mean in [[Hindu]] system of belief.<ref name="Kranenborg" />
*  Followers are encouraged to undergo a ‘death-in-life’ and ‘die towards the outer world’ renouncing their families and thus be ‘divinely’ reborn in the ‘divine family<ref name="John_Walliss_Family">{{cite book |last=Walliss |first=John |title=The Brahma Kumaris As a Reflexive Tradition: Responding to Late Modernity |year=2002 |quote=Of primary importance in the revelations Lekhraj is said to have received is that the members of the Brahma Kumari ‘university’ should undergo ‘death-in-life’, they should ‘die towards the outer world’. They had to renounce their families and thus they got the opportunity to be ‘divinely reborn’ in a ‘divine family |publisher=Ashgate Publishing |isbn=978-0754609513 |page=37
}}</ref> consequently, the Brahma Kumaris have been accused of breaking up marriages and families since the 1930s.<ref name="smith_marriages">{{cite journal |last=Smith |first=Dr Wendy A. |year=2007 |month=Autumn |title=Asian New Religious Movements as global cultural systems |journal=International Institute for Asian Studies |volume=45 |pages=16&ndash;17 |quote=Conversion involves members changing their daily lifestles and even leaving long term relationships...Married converts have often had to forgo their marriage partnerships.
}}</ref><ref name="Kościańska">{{cite journal |last=Kościańska |first=Agnieszka Z |date=May 15–17, 2003 |month=Autumn |title=On celibate marriages: the Polish Catholics' encounter with Hindu spirituality |journal=On the Margins of Religion, Institute of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology, Warsaw University |quote=Conversion to so-called new religions often causes a conflict within converts' families. He/she  changes his/her beliefs, but also lifestyle: He converts prays differently and eats differently. The Brahma Kumaris members spend most of their time on 'spiritual development'. To be successful on this path one must fulfil very strict requirements, which totally reorganise everyday life of both members and their families. Families of converts become arenas of conflict between spirituality rooted in Hindu  tradition and the very Polish 'popular Catholicism', on two indissoluble levels. First, on the level of religious practices and second, on the level of daily live. Sexual relations within marriage are considered to be 'sacred' by Catholics in Poland. The Brahma Kumaris believe that relations between husband and wife should be based on 'a marriage of souls' e.g. they should meditate together, communicate via telepathy etc. 
}}</ref> In 2007, the British [[tabloid]] newspaper [[The Daily Mail]] reported Graham Baldwin, a former university chaplain and army officer who is president of the educational countercult organization Catalyst<ref>[http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_19960115/ai_n9636788 Is joining a cult always wrong?Geraldine Bedell on the murky ethics | Independent, The (London) | Find Articles at BNET.com<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>, stating that the former members and the families of members had told him that BKWSU has driven a wedge between husband and wife and that there were complaints that it encourages single women and widows to donate property and savings. The BKWSU, a organisation being notable for its sex ban, was said to have "used pernicious methods to control its followers".  Ian Howarth of the [[Cult Information Centre]], was further quoted about complaints that people have gone undergone personality changes after joining BKWSU and become alienated from their families. A BKWSU spokeswoman replied, "this is very much a minority thing", declining to comment on allegations that BKWSU encourages followers to donate property and savings.<ref name="Mail">{{Cite web |last=GALLAGHER |first=IAN |last2=RICE |first2=DENNIS |last3=CHURCHER |first3=SHARON |title=The PM's wife, the Druid priestess and the no-sex guru |publisher=Daily Mail |quote=Brahma Kumaris, a women-led spiritual organisation that, while striving for world peace, has allegedly used 'pernicious' methods to control its followers. The group is led by 90-year-old Indian spiritualist Dadi Janki, a woman Dwina regards as her guru and whom she consults, according to a source close to her, 'about everything'. Both Dwina and Robin make regular donations to Brahma Kumaris ...  "Former members and the families of members have told me that Brahma has driven a wedge between husband and wife,' said Graham Baldwin, a cult expert who has counselled former Brahma members. |year=2007 |pages= |url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=426903&in_page_id=1770 |accessdate=2008-01-24 }}</ref><ref name="DNA">{{Cite web |last=Momin |first=Sajeda |title=Is Cherie becoming a Brahma Kumari? |publisher=Daily News and Analysis, Mumbai |year=2007 |pages= |url=http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1073280 |accessdate=2008-01-24 }}</ref>
* Questioned how [[dinosaur]]s fit within a 5,000 year Cycle of Time BK Neville Hodgkinson, a former scientific correspondent for an English national newspaper, questioned the existence of dinosaurs on the basis of the lack of bones that have been found whilst another BK follower argued that dinosaurs exist in a parallel [[space-time]] [[dimension]] and because of a [[Black Holes and Time Warps|warp hole]] end up in this dimension.<ref name="John_Walliss_dinosaurs">{{cite book |last=Walliss |first=John |title=The Brahma Kumaris As a Reflexive Tradition: Responding to Late Modernity |year=2002 |isbn=978-0754609513 |page=106 |publisher=Ashgate |location=Aldershot
}}</ref>
* The Brahma Kumaris have featured in the 'Wissen schützt' reports of Austria (edited by then Austrian Minister for Family Affairs Mr. Martin Bartenstein),<ref>[http://www.hrwf.net/religiousfreedom/news/austria_2003.html#TheStateOfReligious Human Rights Without Frontiers, Int<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Russia (International Conference "[[Totalitarian]] [[Cul]]ts - Threat of Twenty-First Century", Nizhny Novgorod, 2001) and in a [[MIVILUDES]] report submitted to the French National Assembly as a "sectes dangereuses" (harmful cult)  and "groupe d'enfermement" (group of confinement).<ref name = "MIVILUDES" >{{Cite web |last1=Gest |first1=Alain |last2=Brar |first2=president, Jean- Pierre |last3=Sauvaig and others |first3=Suzanne |contribution=Cults in France |title=Cults in France |publisher=French National Assembly in the name of The Board of Inquiry into Cults |pages= |url=http://www.cftf.com/french/Les_Sectes_en_France/cults.html |year=1995/6 }}</ref> This has leading to the presecution of followers in local media leading to job losses after it discovered that they  belonged to a [[sect]]e<ref name="CAPLC">{{Cite web |title=Orthophoniste et naturopathe, il est dénoncé comme "gourou" |publisher=Coordination des Associations & Particuliers pour la Liberté de Conscience |year=2000 |pages= |url=http://www.coordiap.com/temo13.htm |accessdate=2008-01-24 }}</ref> and denouncement for their influence on children under their care.<ref name="AFP">Licenciements dans une crèche en Gironde pour appartenance à une secte, Agence France-Presse [http://www.afp.fr/english/home/] 18 Juin 2003 [http://www.prevensectes.com/rev0306.htm#18c]</ref> 
* Since 1978, the BKWSU is accused of falsifying claims internationally that its current leader and relative of the founder Dadi Janki Kripalani is "the most stable mind in the world".<ref name="mental">{{cite web |url=http://www.companionofgod.com/gallery.htm |title=Companion of God |publisher=BKWSU |accessdate=2009-02-28[code] |quote=In 1978 Scientists at the Medical and Science Research Institute at the University of Texas, USA examined the brain wave pattern of BK Dadi Janki, Joint Chief of Brahma Kumaris. She was described as the ‘most stable mind in the world’ as her mental state remained completely undisturbed whilst undergoing tests at the Institute)
}}</ref> Journalists quoted archivists at the University in question and "found no mention of the experiments performed on Dadi Janki in 1978". Indeed, they could not even "find any University of Texas organization called the Medical and Science Research Institute."<ref name="fraud">{{cite web |url=http://www.rickross.com/reference/general/general924.html |title=Companion of God |publisher=The Keinnyung Gazette, South Korea |accessdate=2007-04-26 |quote=Dadi Janki, now in her nineties, has been a member of the BKWSU from the beginning. Her current official title is Joint Administrative Head of the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University. According to the BKWSU ... Dadi Janki was declared by scientists from the University of Texas’ Medical and Science Research Institute in 1978 as having the most stable mind in the world.

The Gazette contacted an archivist at the University of Texas Archives who replied, “I have searched the likely places and found no mention of the experiments performed on Dadi Janki in 1978. Indeed, I didn't even find any University of Texas organization called the Medical and Science Research Institute." Despite evidence that the institute that ran those experiments never existed, Dadi Janki recently described to the Indian news site www.tribuneindia.com the experiments carried out on her and repeated the claim.
}}</ref>
* [[Pratibha Patil]], the [[United Progressive Alliance|UPA]]-[[Indian left|Left]] candidate and current [[President of India]], said on camera during the [[Indian presidential election, 2007]], that she had communicated with the spirit of the deceased leader<ref name="ibnlive_ghost">{{cite web |url=http://www.ibnlive.com/videos/43632/pratibha-patil-speaks-to-a-ghost.html |title=Race for Raisina: Shekhawat vs Patil |publisher=IBN |accessdate=2007-07-22 |quote=Dadiji ke shareer mein Baba aye ... Maine unse baat ki ("Baba entered Dadi's body and he communicated to me through her")
}}</ref> of the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University at their headquarters in [[Mount Abu]], Rajasthan.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/subcontinent/2007/June/subcontinent_June1110.xml&section=subcontinent |title=Patil kicks up another row |publisher=IBN |accessdate=2007-07-22 |quote=
}}</ref> Patil added that she had received a [[Channelling (mediumistic)|mediumistic message]] indicating great responsibility coming her way.<ref name="ibnlive_ghost"/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dailypioneer.com/columnist1.asp?main_variable=Columnist&file_name=shankar%2Fshankar227.txt&writer=shankar |title=Battle for the palace |publisher=The Pioneer |accessdate=2007-07-22 |quote=
}}</ref><ref name="Spirit">{{cite web |url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Pratibha_believes_in_spirits/articleshow/2152156.cms |title=Pratibha believes in spirits? |publisher=Times of India |accessdate=2007-07-22 |quote=
}}</ref> She had gone to seek the [[blessings]] of Hirday Mohini, also known as Dadi Gulzar or Dadiji.<ref name="BKWSU_Official_Site">{{cite web |url=http://www.bkwsu.org/whoweare/spiritualleaders/dadihirdayamohini.htm |title=Dadi Hirdaya Mohini- Joint Administrative Head |publisher=BKWSU |accessdate=2007-07-28 |quote=
}}</ref>

==Relationship with splinter and reform movements==
===The Advance Party===
{{මූලික|Adhyatmik Ishwariya Vishwa Vidyalaya}}
A number of Brahma Kumari splinter groups exist, the most notable documented by Dr. John Walliss as the '''Advance Party''', '''Shankar Party''' or '''AIVV''' to the BKWSU.<ref>{{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 |quote=Another rendition of the University's Millenarianism [is] put forward by a group named the Advance Party. This group is made up of predominantly disaffected ex-members of the University and are highly critical of what they allege to be the increasing worldliness and corruptness of the University's hierarchy. The University, they claim on their website, has become a true Ravan Rajya (Kingdom of Devil) where pomp and show and grandeur are given preference over true godly knowledge. At a deeper level, the Advance Party's critique is aimed at the BK theodicy and the manner in which they allege its millenarianism has been understood.
}}</ref> Elsewhere they are referred to as the [[AIVV|Prajapita Brahma Kumaris]] or PBKs.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.shivbaba.org.pl/ |title=Advance Knowledge |publisher= |accessdate= |quote=
}}</ref> Walliss states that as Lekhraj Kripalani's original message of separation, spiritual introversion and violent Destruction becomes repackaged as the emergence of a [[New Age]] through self-understanding and self-development, this direction has caused discontent within certain segments of the Brahma Kumari movement, likening them to the "[[Protestant Reformers]] to the BKWSU's [[mediaeval]] [[Catholic Church]]". 

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

==See also==
* [[Adhyatmik Ishwariya Vishwa Vidyalaya]]
* [[List of Brahma Kumaris]]
* [[Spiritualism]]
* [[Millenarianism]]/[[End times]]
* [[Channeling (mediumistic)]] / [[Spiritualism]]
* [[Raja Yoga]] / [[Meditation]]
* [[Kumar]]
* [[Kumarbi]]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

== Further reading ==
<!-- needs to use cite book and cite journal templates. Also, books/journals already covered in references can be removed from this section -->
===Other publications===
<div class="references-small">
===Books===
* {{cite book |last=Anti Om Mandli Committee |first= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Om Mandli : a true authenticated story about its activities being a reply to "Is This Justice" |publisher=Anti Om Mandli Committee, Hyderabad |year=1940 |pages= |oclc=32117471 }}
* {{cite book |last=Lalrinawma |first=V.S. |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=The Liberation of Women in and through the Movement of the Prajapita Brahma Kumaris |publisher=ISPCK, Cambridge Press, Delhi |date= |pages= |isbn=81-7214-771-6 }}
* {{cite book |last=Shaw |first=William |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Spying in Guruland: Inside Britain's Cults |publisher=Fourth Estate, London |year=1994 |url=http://www.csj.org/infoserv_bookreview/csjbkrev122spy.htm |isbn=}}
* {{cite book |last=Babb |first=Lawrence A |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Redemptive encounters : three modern styles in the Hindu tradition |publisher=Berkeley : University of California Press |year=1986 |pages= |isbn=0520056450 }}
*{{cite journal |author=Barz, R.K. |year=1992 |title=A reinterpretation of bhakti theology: from the Pustimarg to the Brahma Kumaris |journal=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 |accessdate=2008-01-25
}}
* {{cite book |last1=Mayer |first1=Jean-François |last2=Kranenborg |first2=Reender |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=La Naissance des Nouvelles Religions |publisher=Geneve, Suisse |date= |pages= |isbn=2-8257-0877-1 }}
* {{cite book |last=Whaling |first=Dr Frank |title=Understanding the Brahma Kumaris |publisher=Dunedin Press ltd |year=2008 |pages= |isbn=1-903765-51-X |ISBN-status=May be invalid - please double check }}
*{{cite book |author=Francis, L.J. |coauthors=Katz, Y.J. |year=2000 |title=Joining and Leaving Religion: Research Perspectives |publisher=Gracewing Publishing |isbn=0 85244 517 2 |page=336
}}</ref>
===Journals===
*{{cite journal |author=Brasher, B.E. |year=1998 |title=Millennium, Messiahs, and Mayhem: Contemporary Apocalyptic Movements |journal=Nova Religio |volume=1 |issue=2 |pages=309&ndash;311 |doi=10.1525/nr.1998.1.2.309.2
}}
*{{cite journal |author=Arweck, E. |coauthors=Nesbitt, E. |year=2004 |title=Living Values: an educational program--from initiative to uptake |journal=British Journal of Religious Education |volume=26 |issue=2 |pages=133&ndash;149 |url=http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/carfax/cbre/2004/00000026/00000002/art00003 |accessdate=2008-01-25 |doi=10.1080/01416200420042000181910 |format={{Dead link |date=May 2009}}
}}
* {{cite journal |author=Skultans, V. |year=1993 |title=The Brahma Kumaris and the role of women |journal=Women and Teachers and Disciples in Traditional and New Religions |pages=47&ndash;62
}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Howell |first1=Dr Julia D. |last2=Nelson |first2=Peter L. |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Surviving Transplantation: The Brahma Kumaris in the Western World |journal=Nelson Center for Humanities and Human Science |volume= |issue= |pages= |date= |url= |doi= |id=}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Howell |first1=Dr Julia D. |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Altered States of Consciousness (ASC) Induction and New Religious Movements |journal=Sociology of Religion |volume=58 |issue= 2|pages=141&ndash;164 |year=1997 |url= |doi=10.2307/3711874 |id=}}
* {{cite journal |author=Howell, J.D. |coauthors=Nelson, P.L. |year=1997 |title=Structural adaptation and ‘success’ in the transplantation of an Asian New Religious Movement: the Brahma Kumaris in the Western world, Part I |journal=Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion |volume=8 |pages=1&ndash;33
}}
*{{cite journal |author=Howell, J.D. |year=1998 |title=Gender role experimentation in new religious movements: the case of the Brahma Kumaris |journal=Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion |volume=37 |issue=3 |pages=453&ndash;461 |doi=10.2307/1388052
}}
* {{cite journal |last=Babb |first=Lawrence A. |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Amnesia and Remembrance in a Hindu Theory of History |journal=Asian Folklore Studies |volume=41 |issue=1 |pages=49&ndash;66 |year=1982 |url= |doi=10.2307/1178308 |id=}}
* {{cite journal |last=Babb |first=Lawrence A. |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Glancing: Visual Interaction in Hinduism |journal=Journal of Anthropological Research |volume=37 |issue=4 |pages=387&ndash;401 |year=1981 |url= |doi= |id=}}
*{{cite journal |author=Babb, L.A. |year=1984 |title=Indigenous Feminism in a Modern Hindu Sect |journal=Signs |volume=9 |issue=3 |pages=399&ndash;416 |url=http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0097-9740(198421)9%3A3%3C399%3AIFIAMH%3E2.0.CO%3B2-E |accessdate=2008-01-25 |doi=10.1086/494068
}}
*{{cite journal |author=Barker, E. |year=1986 |title=Religious Movements: Cult and Anticult Since Jonestown |journal=Annual Review of Sociology |volume=12 |issue=1 |url=http://arjournals.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev.so.12.080186.001553?prevSearch=%5Bauthor%3A+barker%5D&searchHistoryKey= |pages=329&ndash;346 |doi=10.1146/annurev.so.12.080186.001553
}}
* {{cite journal |last=Beit-Hallahmi |first=Benjamin |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Apocalyptic Dreams and Religious Ideologies: Losing and Saving Self and World |journal=Psychoanalytic Review |volume=90 |issue=4 |pages=403&ndash;439 |month=August |year=2003 |url= |doi=10.1521/prev.90.4.403.23912 |id=}}
* {{cite journal |last=Chowdhry |first=Prem |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Marriage, sexuality and the female "ascetic" : understanding a Hindu sect |journal=Economic and Political Weekly, New Delhi |volume=31 |issue=34 |pages=24–31 |month=August |year=1996 |url=http://epw.in/epw/user/userindex.jsp |doi= |id=}}

===Conference===
*{{Cite journal |last1=Gorgio |first1=Barbara. |contribution=A transformational model of education based on critical reflection, core values and service learning incorporating Brahma Kumaris Raj Yoga, Bahai and Vipassana views on teaching and learning. |title=Symposium on Philosophical and Theological Approaches to Teaching and Learning. |publisher=Australian Catholic University, St Patrick’s Campus, Melbourne. |pages= |year=2004 }}
*{{Cite web |last1=Howell |first1=Dr Julia D. |contribution=Changing Meanings of Religious Pluralism |title=Religion and Democracy: an exchange of experiences between East and West: The CESNUR 2003 International Conference |publisher=CESNUR |url=http://www.cesnur.org/2003/vil2003_howell.htm |pages= |year=2003 }}
*{{Cite journal |last1=Gorgio |first1=Barbara. |contribution=Humanising education in the 21st Century: Promoting global solidarity through Spiritual Intelligence |title=32nd ANZCIES International  Conference, Melbourne, Australia |publisher=The Australian and New Zealand Comparative and International Education Society |pages= |year=2004 }}
*{{Cite journal |last1=Gorgio |first1=Barbara. |contribution=An holistic perspective on International Education: does International Education in Australia promote a philosophically defensible model of education for the future? |title=15th ISANA International Conference, Melbourne, Australia |publisher=International Education Associationt |pages= |year=2004 }}

===Websites===
* {{Cite web |last=Kranenborg |first=Reender |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Brahma Kumaris: A New Religion? |publisher=Free University of Amsterdam |year=1999 |pages= |url=http://www.cesnur.org/testi/bryn/br_kranenborg.htm |accessdate=2008-01-24}}
* {{cite web |last=Varughese |first=Suma |title=Brahma Kumaris, World Spiritual University |publisher=Interreligious Insight |year=1998 |url=http://www.interreligiousinsight.org/October2004/Oct04Madhuban.pdf |accessdate=2007-07-28 |format=PDF}}
* {{Cite web |last=Velde |first=Paul van der |title=The Brahma Kumaris as a ‘reflexive Tradition’: Responding to late modernity by John Walliss |publisher=Ars Disputandi |year=2002 |pages= |url=http://www.arsdisputandi.org/index.html?http://www.arsdisputandi.org/publish/articles/000108/index.html |accessdate=2008-01-24 }}
</div>

== External links ==
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; Official BKWSU sites
* [http://www.bkwsu.org BKWSU.Org] - Brahma Kumaris International website
* [http://www.brahmakumaris.com BrahmaKumaris.Com] - Brahma Kumaris Indian website

; Other sites
* [http://www.brahmakumaris.info BrahmaKumaris.Info] - Independent support website run by mainly ex-members and associates of the BKWSU
* [http://www.reachouttrust.org/articles/othergrp/brahma.htm ReachoutTrust.Org] - Christian perspective of Brahma Kumaris
* [http://www.rickross.com/reference/general/general924.html RickRoss.Com] - End of the World Predicted.
* [http://www.pbks.info PBKs.Info] - Alternative interpretations of Brahma Kumaris' channelled messages

[[Category:Channelling]]
[[Category:නව ආගම්]]
[[Category:Religious organisations based in India]]
[[Category:Spiritual mediums]]
[[Category:Religious organizations established in the 1930s]]
[[Category:Brahma Kumari| ]]

[[az:Brahma Kumaris]]
[[de:Brahma Kumaris]]
[[en:Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University]]
[[fr:Brahma Kumaris]]
[[he:ברהמא קומאריס]]
[[hi:प्रजापिता ब्रह्माकुमारी ईश्वरीय विश्वविद्यालय]]
[[nl:Brahma Kumaris Spirituele Academie]]
[[pl:Światowy Uniwersytet Duchowy Brahma Kumaris]]
[[pt:Brahma Kumaris]]
[[ro:Brahma Kumaris]]
[[ru:Брахма Кумарис Всемирный Духовный Университет]]