Take what you need, but then move on, don’t be caught by the honey trap. Even those who move on without becoming overly “disgruntled” often feel they stayed much too long with the BKs, because the culture and their teachings say those who leave are spiritual failures.

They will say otherwise to your face if you ask them, but that is PR, just listen to what is said in the murli or the classes, creating spiritual caste system, hierarchy and elitism.

There are some ultimate truths of this world. There are some things that are true as we can observe them, test them and prove them. Over the last 200 years, humans have made huge advancements into the understanding of biology, chemistry, and ultimately physics. The understanding and use of these laws have sent man to the moon, and built the modern world.

One very true concept in chemistry is something called isotopes and radioactive decay. some elements* have a few different versions of themselves, and some of these versions are radioactive (meaning some of the element will disappear at a measurable rate). Halflife measures the time it takes for the anount of element to be halved. Carbon has a radioactive version called Carbon 14. When carbon is 5,730 years old, the amount of Carbon 14 is halved. we can use this to date items between 50,000 and 60,000 years old, and therefore can be very confident in that things in the earth are older than 5000 years. Combined with what we know about the formation of continents, natural wonders like the grand canyon (which must have taken a long time and cannot possible repeat), the BK theory of cycles is the truest failing of the philosophy.

So what can you take?? Well the general life philosophies (that are similar to all religions) including selflessness, simple living, kindness, (though interestingly not charity) are all good, but basically only if you take just the cream of the concepts. However, there are a large number of other issues. They teach you that some are better than others, and can convince you that even your family are not good enough souls to even cook for you. They encourage you to become dependent on them, and hence unable to function normally without them. this leaves people with no choice but to conform.

The religion was formed using Human eyes (Lakhraj), basic hindu philosophies, and a number of strange ideas as written about on this site. There are huge inconsistencies in the theories like the random late appearence of Shiv (also the fact that Dada Lekraj is also refered to as shiv baba but apparently not worshipped). The dates for the end of the world have changed and are now conviniently “Some point in the future”.

The religion is run by power hungry people, who now try just to promote their religion and increase the size of their bank accounts (by members leaving money in their wills and giving time). They hide core beliefs from the public and put a face of peace over their teachings. (they interestingly enjoy a rather lavish lifestyle and experience a sense of worship from the followers)

My advice would be steer clear. Look at Bhudism, hinduism, or any other major religion. They all teach basically the same thing so long as you dont get to carried away with the traditions. BK just forces you with the threat of you dying soon and being chucked at the bottom of the “soul” pile unless you do as you’re told.

Good luck in whatever you choose to do. Read this site thouroughly though..and always ask questions.

JK

*(real elements in the periodic table, not “hindu” elements of fire (which is oxidation), water (which is a compound of hydrogen and oxygen), earth (which includes all sorts), air (mixture of gases), sky (mainly a vacuum). Also, BK’s teach that the earth always was, is and always will be.We know that this is not true.

I agree with Filthy, an as an ex-BK myself, it is possible to touch your potential as a person without surrendering yourself to others. To subsume oneself to the will of another is the tradition of armies, churches, and gurus.

The healthiest BKs are the ones who never get sucked into the habit of obedience. It is the unhealthy ones who tend to get drawn toward dependencies and self-harming denial.

Some excellent ex-BK stories can be found at http://xbkinfo.com

As far as the 5000 year cycle goes, it’s a story like many others. The evidence doesn’t support it. As far as time, history and dating, it’s not the case (as BKs would tell it) that millions of educated and inquistive scientists are deluded in a shared trance.

The shared trance belongs to the BKs. Like many relationships, it can seem like sweet honey for years before turning sour. To be honest, shared trances are pretty much everywhere.

At present I would say that physical awareness of body and sensation is a grounding reality that helps me to avoid being sucked into others’ trances.

The BK community may seem nourishing to you right now. They can be. Along with Filthy, I would caution you that your inner voice, with its hopes, dreams, pains and doubts, will always be truer to you than any outside system of beliefs or values could ever be.

The BK Raj Yoga technique can be very beneficial at first, especially for people who need to get their act together.

However there is a lot more to being a committed BK than first meets the eye, and the good stuff becomes quickly outweighed by the price demanded later. The good news is, unlike what their murli says, they are not the only shop in town.

My advice is to avoid any group that is implying you need to surrender or considers itself elite, and find paths that encourage your autonomy and individuality while teaching goodness of common humanity.

Try to see objectively and not just what you want to see. Maintain broad horizons- investigate and practice wholistically – for body, heart and mind – i.e physical activity, emotional nurture and philosophical/psychological understanding. BKs will shut this down and proclaim their “god” is the only truth and all normal human knowledge is impure.

Take care of yourself

Typically of their deceit, the Brahma Kumaris teach their own unique practise, based on spiritualism, which has its roots no further back than the 1950s when they first introduce the concept of “God Shiva” entering into, possessing and speaking through their founder and medium Lekhraj Kripalani.

It is to this “spirit” that the Brahma Kumaris encourage their followers to surrender their minds, bodies and wealth. It is this practise which they call “Rajyoga” or “Raja Yoga”.

The Brahma Kumaris are not Hindu. They use the language and some outward forms of Hinduism in order to promote entirely different, spiritualist beliefs. Increasingly, these beliefs are being dressed in New Age or executive coaching type language in order to attract new individuals.

However, underneath these, the core beliefs as presented in the channeled messages called the Murlis, which they protect secretively, remain relatively unchanged … unaccountable historical revisions aside.