Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University
Please post your comments and suggestions for this article.
Comment by simonb on March 17th, 2009 at 2:03 am
Hi, The article seems to be largely lifted from the Wikipedia article. I have in the past been involved in the editing of that article. A quick scan of the discussion pages will show my involvement there up until about Jan 2008.
Unfortunately, the article is currently biased so as to make the subject look crazy, dangerous and foolish. It is unfortunate that the article is now taken as gospel as being an authoritative account of the BKWSU. It is nothing of the sort. The reference are cherry-picked to show the subject in an unfavorable light. The article is weighted towards controversy, especially surrounding it’s begining. It doesn’t really give an accurate impression of how you would actually find a typical BK centre, and BK adherents now.
The first paragraph uses shocking language such as “celibate nuns”, “neo-Hindu sect”. This is non-neutral language which makes the subject look a lot more extremist than it actually is. I certainly wouldn’t expect to see language like that in, say, the Encyclopedia Britanica.
I would really appreciate that you take a look at an alternative article of the BKWSU such as the one I contributed to Citizendium.
http://en.citizendium.org/wiki/BKWSU
If you want to use the content then by all means take last version of the article only edited by me and use it under the GFDL license.
http://en.citizendium.org/wiki?title=Brahma_Kumaris&oldid=100135282
I also recommend chasing the sources used to make the article. They also give a different impression. I hope that it will be clear then how they have been misused according to an agenda to make the Wikipedia article.
Comment by Julia Day Howell on September 15th, 2009 at 7:21 pm
In the footnotes to this article Wendy Smith is wrongly cited as the author of my 1998 article “Gender Role Experimentation in New Religious Movements: The Case of the Brahma Kumaris.†Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 37, 3:453-461.
Please correct this.
Comment by Sarah Emily Buckley on September 2nd, 2011 at 12:09 am
Greetings. I notice that you referenced this book in your list of references: http://www.worldcat.org/title/om-mandli-a-true-authenticated-story-about-its-activities-being-a-reply-to-is-this-justice/oclc/32117471
Could you please tell me where you got a copy, and how I could get one. I have been seconded to do special indepth historical research into the Brahma Kumaris and it would be very useful. Everyone I have contacted says the book is missing, but – given that you wrote it in your list of references – you must have referred to it (otherwise it would be unethical of course!). Please – I would so appreciate your help. Do let me know how I can receive access to a copy.
Best regards and thanks,
Sarah
Comment by Jennifer Tanabe on September 15th, 2011 at 12:05 pm
Thank you for your comment, Sarah. Indeed the link does show the book is currently missing. Sorry, but I do not know where you can obtain a copy.
Comment by DanH on November 19th, 2013 at 4:26 pm
Hi there,
While the article has improved substantially since I last looked, it still carries a range of inaccuracies on content that appears to be lifted directly from Wikipedia. Wikipedia has recently blocked the troll editor so it may be worth seeing the content now that it is written more neutrally: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brahma_Kumaris_World_Spiritual_University
The controversies section is a problem in this article. Also I have never heard the BKs teachings described as militant as per the lede here – they believe in non-violence, so that is an unfortunate choice of words. The BK is millenerian, but not eschatological as there is a belief in an eternally continuing human population on the planet who pass through different phases of the ‘cycle’ of time. While there is upheaval, it’s believed people are immortal souls who return to Nivana/soul world. So even the millenerian views are on the ‘softer’ side.
The early history section also has issues here. The new section in Wikipedia now draws heavily on reliable sources proximate to the time and covers the more poignant aspects of the movement.
Also, I don’t think there is evidence that BK followers are “status driven” in their personal aims (tree of humanity section). Most material I’ve read suggests the organisation is heavily service driven, believing that whatever good karma they perform will ultimately come back to them – so more like a community of nerdy “do-gooders” (no offence intended).
I hope that helps. Kind Regards, Dan
Comment by Jennifer Tanabe on November 20th, 2013 at 4:13 pm
Thank you, Dan for your feedback. The article will be revised according to your suggestions. Thank you again for taking the time to comment and help make NWE a valuable information resource.
Comment by Tamasin Ramsay on July 30th, 2024 at 7:28 pm
To whom it may concern,
I note the date of Dada Lehkraj’s birth is incorrect – it was corrected in the scholarship some years ago with the benefit of sighting a copy of his birth certificate acquired in Sindh. The year of his birth was 1884.
During the expansion years, it is worth mentioning their first overseas service trip to Japan in 1954-55. This is a key moment in the development of their knowledge where – the documents from the Congress of World Religions in Japan – we read the BK entries demonstrating how it transitions from its early rudimentary understanding to the more disciplined structured understanding of today.
Note 7 is incorrectly cited. It should read “Ramsay, Tamasin, Wendy Smith, and Lenore Manderson. “Brahma Kumaris: purity and the globalization of faith.” Flows of Faith: Religious Reach and Community in Asia and the Pacific (2012): 51-70.
Further, there are some key works missing from the entry, some of which are very current (like the first listed here) as well as some older ones I and others have authored.
Karapanagiotis, Nicole. “Preparing for the Past, Packaged for the Present: The Brahma Kumaris, Meditation, and a Self-(Help) Styled Monasticism.” International Journal of Hindu Studies (2024): 1-32.
Musselwhite, Richard. “Possessing knowledge: organizational boundaries among the Brahma Kumaris.” (2010).
Ramsay, Tamasin. “Making a Model of Madhuban: The Brahma Kumaris’ Journey to and Presence in Europe.” In Handbook of Hinduism in Europe (2 vols), pp. 528-554. Brill, 2020.
Ramsay, Tamasin. “Custodians of purity: An ethnography of the Brahma Kumaris.” PhD diss., Monash University, 2009.
Ramsay, Tamasin, Lenore Manderson, and Wendy Smith. “Changing a mountain into a mustard seed: Spiritual practices and responses to disaster among New York Brahma Kumaris.” Journal of Contemporary Religion 25, no. 1 (2010): 89-105.
If you have any questions or need clarification please feel free to write.
Thank you for your work on this.
Kind regards,
Tamasin
Comment by Jennifer Tanabe on July 31st, 2024 at 2:44 pm
Thank you for your comment.
The article will be updated to include the corrected date of birth and the other information you gave, as appropriate.
Thank you again for taking the time to help make NWE a valuable information resource.
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