Understanding the Brahma Kumaris (Understanding Faith)

It's worth point out that reviewer 'Rosemary Turberville Smith' is the Head of External Media at so called Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University (UK) and Neville J Hodgkinson, below, is a PR supremo for the cult.'Understanding the Brahma Kumaris' by Frank Whaling is a public relations puff piece by a long term BK supporter. If the Brahma Kumaris had paid someone to write the book they wanted, they could not have wished for a better book than this. It's worth also pointing out that reviewer Neville J. Hodgkinson, above, is a leading adherent of the cult and one of their PR supremos.'Understanding the Brahma Kumaris' is littered with factual inaccuracies and for the most part merely repeats what the Brahma Kumaris want the world to think of them without question or critique. A history and view of their spiritualist 'End of the World' cult that the Brahma Kumari elite have been doctoring and propagating for decades that is far from the truth. The book offers no insights into the religion than have not already been published by the spiritualist cult themselves.Whaling, whose relationship with the Brahma Kumaris was so close they believed he was going to become an adherent, goes beyond the position of an apologist to allow his voice and credentials to be used by the BKWSU to further establish their credibility, bury the falsification of their history and philosophical revision, and ameliorate their extreme beliefs for public consumption.It appears that the BKs' VIP handling of him has paid off handsomely in a book they can then use to promote and defend themselves with.The author's understanding of the Brahma Kumaris lacks depth and accuracy over the simplest of factual details. He supports the BKs' attempt to discredit their critics and internally reform movements by accusing them of being "fundamentalist", as echoed by Hodgkinson above. A word not used in the original source which defined them as "reformist".Indeed, there is a very highly likelihood of collusion between the two parties as ex-journalist and author Hodgkinson works closely with the BKs Whaling credits, and lives at their exclusive Oxford Retreat where Whaling spent time.What little critical analysis Whaling offers is lifted secondhand from Dr John Walliss's book, 'The Brahma Kumaris as a Reflexive Tradition: Responding to Late Modernity'. Whaling did not even go as far as to contact the other parties to verify the BKs' claims about them but relies on now non-existent, fan websites as reference to discredit them whilst making vague, unaccounted and unsubstantiated flattering claims in favor of the BKWSU.He even makes accusation against the reformists that are based on the claims and beliefs of the Brahma Kumaris themselves instead, inverting the factual position.The current background to this book is rising public criticism of the Brahma Kumaris based on revelations that their leaders have largely and widely falsified their history in order to deify their founder. The BKs have extensively revised, in secret, embarrassing elements of their history and philosophy in order to re-invent themselves more than once. This includes covering up of numerous failed predictions of the End of the World by their god spirit; false claims to God's incarnation onto earth and his possession of the Brahma Kumaris' spirit medium; the dates and ages of it happening; and, especially, his attitudes towards other 'impure' religions.Whaling makes no comment about all this. This is a God, the BK god spirit, who believed Islam was founded 2,500 years ago, did not know about Judaism, believes dinosaurs existed at the same time, who teaches that time is only 5,000 years old, and said the population at the End of the World will be 4.5 billion.Whaling repeats the BKs false claims and cover ups. He does not question their remarkable leaps from worshipping their human guru and spiritualist medium Lekhraj Kirpalani as "God Brahma the Creator" for their first 20 years, to an omnipresent god, and then finally settling on a novel interpretation of a personal deity named after the Hindu god Shiva. Nor does he question the ethics of hiding all this from current adherents or outsiders.Even where he dabbles in HInduism about Shiva/Kirpalani's phallus, Whaling gets it all wrong and clearly has not understood how the Brahma Kumaris differentiate between Shiva and Shankar. That they have just purloined just about even name in the Hindu pantheon to mask an entirely new belief system which has nothing to do with it. A confusion which would have been clearer in his mind if had Whaling bothered to study the actual evolution of the cult's philosophy rather than swallow their current PR whitewash.Nor does Whaling raise questions about the audaciousness of the re-marketing the "Destruction" of all humanity except for the cult by nuclear holocaust into a benign sounding, New Agey "Transformation". A "transformation" which will still see all other religions destroyed and 7 billion human beings killed terribly allowing the Brahma Kumaris to exclusively inherit a Heaven on Earth which will magically rise before 2036.Nor does Whaling question the state of mind of the multi-millionaire business man who, in turn, has claimed to be Brahma, Vishna, Krishna, Narayan, Adam, God, then possessed by God Himself ... and, incredibly, even the individual who caused the fall of humanity ... all the time whilst surrounding himself and consorting with attractive young women as if they were his gopi lovers.In fact, Whaling entirely swallows the BK spin which claims that his community reacted against him because of their "purity". "Purity" being defined as the absolute control of his female followers' sexuality.Whaling's dedication is to a relative of the founder BK Jayanti Kripalani, BK Maureen Goodman and others for their "considerable help". Brahma Kumari leaders who have for decades manipulated and misled both followers and outsiders to the truth of the BKWSU, presided over terrible failures of duty of care which have seen adherents commit suicide, and dragged their heel over ethical issues such as the sexual abuse of children under their care whilst making efforts to cover it. Again none of which he picks up on.He fails to realise that they were helping themselves, and creating through him another layer of deception with which to encult individuals.One can hear the BKs' words echo, clearly and unfiltered, through Whaling.The Brahma Kumaris even have words for this technique. It is "karankaravanhar" meaning the one who does and also works through others, and that is what they have done with Whaling; using him as what they would call, a "microphone soul" to spread their message. Had Whaling understood the BKs better, he might have realised this.Highly disappointing but expected by BK watchers. It's amazing what one can buy with the offer of free holiday, holy sweeties, and the flattering attention of some young women.

Really gives a good overview of the Brahma Kumaris - not too academic - an easy and interesting read. Glad I bought it.

As author Frank Whaling (Professor Emeritus of the Study of Religion, Edinburgh University) says in this clear, engaging and highly informative book, `The Brahma Kumaris are a new spiritual tradition...The Brahma Kumaris tradition...is different, bewildering and fascinating in its complexity, and its newness adds to its attraction... It is one thing to describe the Brahma Kumaris. It is another to understand them. The aim of this work is to try to do both.'His carefully researched volume presents a history of the 'BKs', as they are commonly known, giving some un-common details of their inception and development over the past 77 years, starting in Sind (then in India) in 1936, and offering a sympathetic, or as Frank would say, empathetic, view of the joys and difficulties encountered along the way.The book also explains the beliefs and structures, the importance of spiritual education, meditation, Raja yoga, and the BK World Spiritual University, and describes the service and dedication with which adherents operate not only within their own community but in the world at large, emphasizing the fundamental importance of women in the leadership and growth of the organisation. Comprehensive and insightful: Recommended.