Rita wrote:What are they trying to communicate to followers?
They are not "trying" to communicate, they are very clearly and specifically 'succeeding' - not just to communicate what they want but in indoctrinating their followers too ... achieving a total separation of individual family members from the rest of their family, community and all other influences that might question of challenge their control over and exploitation of their adherents. Even other BKs.
The deeper question though is, what are they really communicating by such internal statement and their external statements in total.
Externally, they will spout all sort of "sounds right", "feel good" or "New Agey" platitudes about loving, showing respect and fulfilling one's karmas etc. But internally, they teach adherents to "die alive" to their families, and all sorts of insulting claims about them being "demons", "impure", ignorant "shudras" and so on ... even when family members are far more educated, experienced, even genuinely spiritual than the Brahma Kumari teachers.
They will also instruct their followers to lie to and deceive their families (
I have experienced this myself and e have read many such cases on this forum).
This, to me, is the even greater danger or problem ... the Brahma Kumaris teach people to be dishonest and call it "Spirituality" and "godliness" when, in fact, it is the entire opposite.
The practise does not invoke but is a sort of schizophrenia between the external face and the internal reality they know perfectly well - from decades of criticism - damages and destroys families.
For me, if one was to stand back and look at the biggest possible picture, this problem is this ...
Having adopted a non-sexual, anti-family, anti-child bearing culture -
for the sake of a 'religious' appearances they can exploit for material gains - the Brahma Kumaris have had to develop a different way to procreate and expand.
That way is, in essence, to steal other ready made adult children, by breaking up families, and then infantilise them ... to make them into submissive children. They then becoming the surrogate mothers or elder Sisters.
The benefit of stealing ready made adult children (
and they have recruited young virgin females in their 10,000s), is that the Brahma Kumari community
is saved the expense of raising them. The mental, emotional and financial cost of raising children is huge. Between $100,000 and $250,000 in the West (translate that into an equivalent rate in India, say, 10 to 15 years salary).
Each adult the Brahma Kumaris 'steal' from society, they save the equivalent of $100,000 and $250,000 and can expand much faster.
Clearly they don't just steal children and young adults - although that was how they started - now they steal elders too (useful as retired people have more time and money), even Father figures, to create their surrogate society.
On one hand, it all comes down not to just "money", but to economics. Their God needs lots of money and to save as much as possible by acquiring valuable "free stuff".
On the other hand, we are seeing - I would argue - a very sick mental condition where dishonesty has led to a sort of schizophrenic activity.
I would have to say I suffered from that during my time inside the BKs ... but I was not as sick (because I was not so dishonest) as the leaders.