Corona and/or Krishna? Brahma Kumaris Covid-19 & Coronavirus

Scientific challenges to the beliefs promoted by the Brahma Kumaris so called "World Spiritual University"
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Arcane

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Corona and/or Krishna? Brahma Kumaris Covid-19 & Coronavirus

Post04 May 2020

What can be said!!

In the name of god and religion, throughout history, mankind has already committed a battery of heinous and stupid acts and it's still continuing!! Seriously speaking, all a priori convictions about god and religion have failed, will eventually fail. That's why sometimes a thought comes over in my mentation, as I am on the verge of completion of this "Why Buddhism is true" by Robert Wright (I am not trying to promote Buddhism here though): The issue of God is at all not important for mankind and what the Buddha preached (---> peace, love, kindness, compassion and etceteras) might possibly work for centuries and millennia ahead.

Also, in one of his videos, Jordan Peterson has said something like this, "I think Jesus was also stupid in a way. He preached that he only was the son of God". Had he said that everyone around him also equally was the son/daughter of God, the case would have been entirely different and not much of bloodshed would have happened! Kind of resonates!

The problem exactly lies in the minds of these so-called saviors themselves. Looking at things from the "psychodynamics" vantage point; first, they create some sense of guilt in people's minds and second, they preach indirectly and subtly, "you have to rise to be as good as I am".

In the web of life, why should a "rose" coerce, no matter how subtle the coercion is, a "marigold" to be a "rose?" It never happens though, in the garden of flowers!! Diversity is the rule of law in nature, we cannot disagree that!

On a rather personal note, I think, the hunger for Moksha or for an after death paradise (if there is such a thing in actuality) is what's causing all the misery and fanning the flames!! 21 births in the Golden Age?! Frivolous!! The so called saviors of mankind are the ones creating all the trouble, it occurs.

When I go for a morning walk, I find a blithely singing bird or a stray dog more content and satisfied than a human being is or has ever been. Poor us, miserable us!!
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ex-l

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Corona and/or Krishna? Brahma Kumaris Covid-19 & Coronavirus

Post04 May 2020

Arcane wrote:In the name of god and religion, throughout history, mankind has already committed a battery of heinous and stupid acts and it's still continuing!!

Having lost their "most stable mind in the world", it appears the current big boast of the BKs is, "the world biggest religion run by women".

Therefore, "in the name of god and religion", we now have womankind committing a battery of heinous and stupid acts.

Putting aside the question of whether it is true or not (both in terms of scale and whether it is really women who have run the BKWSU), I was thinking about this just the other day,
    Is it really a great advancement for humanity to be liberated from 1,000s of years of suppression and exploitation by backwards male religious parasites ... only to now be suppression and exploitation by backwards female religious parasites?
Would a secular, humanistic liberation from religion and all religious parasites not be an even better result and higher evolution?

Referring back to the subject of this topic, would a "the world's largest scientific network run by women, for the benefit of women and children" not be a far greater accomplishment than yet another rebranding cultic dynamic of money grabbing, self-serving, anti-scientific nonsense whose best response to a global pandemic killing 100,000s is to claim "thinking positively will protect you from viruses".

Tell that to the doctors and nurses dying in hospitals trying to save people's lives ... to which all the BKs can answer, "it was their karma to die, they must have done something bad in their previous life to deserve it". Only about 20% of deaths in India are medically investigated, so no one knows or will know the full scale of the pandemic there.
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ex-l

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Corona and/or Krishna? Brahma Kumaris Covid-19 & Coronavirus

Post04 May 2020

In India, the BKs are handing out bags of rice to those who accept a bit of brainwashing and to be used for publicity and, of course, using it as an opportunity to promote their introduction courses.
Brahma Kumaris, the home of Raja Yoga in Pound Lane, has seen thousands join in with their online meditations in recent weeks. They offer daily morning and evening meditations which are open to the public as well as other activities which change week to week.

Sister Maureen Goodman, programme director at the charity, said: “We’ve been getting a great response, there’s more people joining online that would fit in a room". She said the guided meditations offer people the opportunity to let go out outside circumstances, go within themselves, where they can, with practice, feel greater stability.

“You need to have an anchor, and that anchor has to come from within you because that’s where you find stability,” she said ... Give yourself time to pause, find space, get a little help from the commentary, it can offer a sense of stability. People have found that useful.”

BK Shivani is still on about the effect of fear radiation upon organs and fear pollution spreading through neighborhoods and into the air, water, plants and so on, suggesting that they must all be vibrating with fear. Further more, that through all the fear in the air and water, our bodies are being affected by it too as we take it in. Is that even logical?

(English subtitles are available if you click the symbol on the video).

These folk don't look very happy ...

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BK_Shivani_Coronavirus.jpg

Arcane

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Re: Corona and/or Krishna? Brahma Kumaris Covid-19 & Coronav

Post05 May 2020

Yes, they do exhibit this arrogance/abhivan of “The Sat”.

We do know their history, it all started from the non-dual teachings. The whole world now follows that. In that sense, I have a gut feeling that sooner or later they do have to mend their teachings to non-duality. Nobody has to give them ideas about this; I think they too know that already. They will also stop this arrogance that their path is the genuine kind and the one led by the women fraternity, best in the world!! The sentimentality that has come in the picture will soon crumble. They don’t have a choice!

A secular, humanistic liberation from religion and all religious parasites will be a better result for a higher revolution. Yes, I totally agree on that. That’s why I talked about Robert Wright’s book in my post but that too entails Buddhism. No religion at all is the best version of religiosity but what can we do?! This “spiritual” search or quest has already set in in the picture/history of mankind since time immemorial. This has to go in the first place. In that sense, too, I like the works of Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins, late Christopher Hitchens, David Chalmers, Shyam Manav and U. G. Krishnamurti. The pathos is that the painting is already dirty, rigorous cleansing is the highest need of the time!!

Ex-I wrote: “Referring back to the .... from viruses.” Yes!! My total acquiescence on that!!

Blaming everything on the second person saying, “It is/was your Karma” reflects the first person’s sheer lack of wisdom. I am not saying that “the law of cause and effect” does not hold right. It holds right in a way, yes! For example, if I do something good/bad to the other I get good/bad in return. It has been a living truth for me, at least, but relating that to past lives?! Haha!! I don’t know and this in itself has been a beautiful knowing for me!! Why bring in the notion of past life or the future life in the present spoiling the latter?! “Be good, do good” is the axiom I love to follow. No worry about the past life, no worry about the future life!! A sigh of relief, I assume.

Anything that’s based on a lie is not going to live forever. What the BKs are doing might seem good on the outside (doesn’t totally seem so) but more and more people will know about their deceits sooner or later. Their intentions might be good (do not totally seem so) but the method is wrong and the way with which they manipulate innocent people is implausibly detestable!!

Personally, not telling a lie, I can only have compassion for them.
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Pink Panther

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Re: Corona and/or Krishna? Brahma Kumaris Covid-19 & Coronav

Post05 May 2020

ex-l wrote:Having lost their "most stable mind in the world", it appears the current big boast of the BKs is, "the world biggest religion run by women".

Any feminist would agree that the aim of feminism is not to have women acting as badly as men do.

If any BKs dispute that the BKs are different because women are in charge are simply not looking at anything other than that women are in charge. It's like saying charity done by women is better than charity done by men, wars started by women leaders are not as bad as wars started by men leaders, women exploiting others is not as bad as men expoliting others.

Stupid.
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ex-l

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Corona and/or Krishna? Brahma Kumaris Covid-19 & Coronavirus

Post05 May 2020

Back in the real world, symptoms of Covid-19 appear to be partly down to genetic makeup, according to researchers at King’s College London.

Meanwhile, 'Covid-19: the psychology of conspiracy theories'.

Dr Daniel Jolley raises issue based on research of individuals spreading and believing in conspiracy theories, that could quite easily apply to us that fell for a cult. On one hand, he talks about the lack of skill sets, eg the ability to appraise evidence and, on the other, how it has a social element, of how believing in something despite it being clearly untrue, is more about confirming social dynamics, eg belonging to a group and affirming an identity.

Meanwhile, professional conspiracy theorists like Alex Jones, who also makes his money off selling supplements, likens the stay at home orders in the US to what the Nazis did to 1930s Germany call it a “21st century war” and using a trigger word for right wing patriots, calling those who ordered them “tyrants”. A reference to the War of Independence against the British.

Looking over the BKs' social media, the BKs appear to be playing it super safe and obediently, while exploiting it both for its fear factor (a sign of the End Time) and its PR value; eg being seen to hand out limited food supplies and fellatiating the local police etc (I think that's what it said). Clearly having more people sitting at home, worried and with nothing to do, is good for their business and they are mobilising numerous online programmes and interviews.
BK Spain wrote:Another positive effect of the lockdown is that families have time to be together at home, and do activities together, they have plenty of time.

Another effect of this unexpected situation has been to increase the interest for meditation and spiritual knowledge. The BK centres are closed since the starting of the lockdown as are all shops and social events. Previously, before the pandemic, we had already some service on-line and through YouTube, but, with the centres closed we accelerated strongly this service.

The audience is very large ... Another good surprise from this lockdown has been the acceptance of the Raja Yoga course ... BKs are happy as well with all this service, and many are collaborating, preparing the sessions technically ... all this communication and service is uniting the Spanish BK family even more.
BK Italy wrote:We are also investing in technical items in order to offer good quality online events as this seems to be the way forward.

Lockdown is a massive opportunity in drama.

Some points Jayantibhen gave at the end of her 18th April chat with the European family indicated some excellent ideas for this.

At least that will reduce their usual jet setting carbon footprints.

Being seen to respond to disaster relief has become part of their thing after its successfulness during the Asian tsunami some years ago. They have various "Disaster Exploitation Management Teams" (see copy of a manual). Of course, I would have to question how they fit into the philosophy and how sincere they are.

I wonder whether their concerns are partly due to the value placed on their vulnerable elderly, and the cost and difficulty or impossibility of replacing any unpaid workers who might die?

The manual above, written by Western BK Tamasin Ramsay and Sona Bahri, is surely sincere and based on good sources, like anything BK one has to ask how well it translates to BK India.
n our public information we shall portray an objective image of the disaster situation where the capacities and aspirations of disaster victims are highlighted, and not just their vulnerabilities and fears. While we will cooperate with the media in order to enhance public response, we will not allow external or internal demands for publicity to take precedence over the principle of maximising overall relief assistance.

Something new to me is that they are actually handing out money to local government this time.
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ex-l

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Re: Corona and/or Krishna? Brahma Kumaris Covid-19 & Coronav

Post05 May 2020

I see they are still not entirely reformed and are still claiming theirs is the "ancient" Raja Yoga, despite the practise being no older than 1956 ... picture 2, do they have special cheques with a Shiva logo on it?

BKs_giving_away_money3.jpg

BKs_giving_away_money2.jpg

BKs_giving_away_money.jpg

BK masks.jpg

BK_ancient-masks.jpg
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ex-l

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Re: Corona and/or Krishna? Brahma Kumaris Covid-19 & Coronav

Post05 May 2020

Pink,

private messaged you.

Arcane

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Corona and/or Krishna? Brahma Kumaris Covid-19 & Coronavirus

Post05 May 2020

Yeah, it seems that they still are adamant about their way.

Rigidity is fragility, doesn't last longer, is always vulnerable to crumbling. No way is the way, but in having this come by, this should not in itself be the way. Nobody exactly knows what the way should be or actually is. Life in itself is mysterious expressing itself in a multivariate manifestations, there are no concrete patterns here. Everything seems to be filmsy!! Any holding on to a particular pattern or to a particular belief system has always been counterproductive!! Such has always been the history of all religions and cults throughout the globe.

Who is to help!! Who is to save!!

I wonder in silence but that too goes in vain ... Is silence in itself the ultimate reality then?!!
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ex-l

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Corona and/or Krishna? Brahma Kumaris Covid-19 & Coronavirus

Post06 May 2020

Arcane wrote:Yeah, it seems that they still are adamant about their way ...

    Do you know what Corona is to the BKs ... it's a VIV.

    A "Very Important Virus" to which their habit of sucking up and exploiting an association with VIPs, (Very Important People), can be applied!
That's all it is. It's getting a lot of press and media attention ... and the BKs want to be in the picture with it too. They are even donating money, and investing in social media campaigns, to buy part of that media exposure and public attention.

Brahmakumaris_Coronavirus.jpg

This is interesting from our point of view of documenting their changes, but obviously irresponsible from dealing with a pandemic ... "Thoughts for Protection | Covid-19 | Awakening TV | Brahma Kumaris".

The meditation goes,
"affirm God has incarnated in my life, home, city, country, and world. God's power has cleaned corona completely and forever".

Now, from a classical BK point of view, it's total rubbish. Their god spirit has not "incarnated in my life, home, city, country, and world" (and, of course, to do so he'd have to be omnipresent ... and so are we seeing a return to that idea, or a revision of the meaning of "god's incarnation").

You see influences of Western, New Age power of thought or "affirmations". I would argue an element of Buddhist expanding mettā practise (metta-bhavana) ... but, from a BK point of view, does their god spirit actually have the power to clean a virus "completely and forever"? If so, might they not consider doing rabies, ebola, HIV, smallpox, dengue, hepatitis etc? Why did he sleep through Swine flu (H1N1)? It's still killing 1,000s (the BK homelands of Gujarat and Rajasthan were the worst affected). Hell, a cure for the common cold is still up for grabs.

And why would their meditation only work specifically on coronavirus if it was radiating out everywhere ... are they able to tune it to a specific vibration that only kills it?

Of course he does not have the power to do so, so what are they doing? Exploiting Covid-19 to just get people to adopt to their god and practise? Or setting themselves up to be able to claim magically, "We did it!". "Look, you meditated and the scientists were inspired to invent a cure to serve us, wah Baba, wah!".

Then afterwards they can vacuum up all the donations from people grateful for their invisible god's intervention in saving them.

BTW, if it works on viruses, what about bacteria? Tuberculosis is still killing 100,000s of lives in India and is the most fatal disease in the country. Where was their god spirit during the recent pandemic in Sikkim and Himachal Pradesh and why wasn't he interested then? I mean, I get he would not care about HIV victims but why not all the others?

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ex-l

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Corona and/or Krishna? Brahma Kumaris Covid-19 & Coronavirus

Post06 May 2020

I see they are also running campaigns on Facebook, Meditation for Corona Virus | BK Shivani | Awakening TV | Brahma Kumaris, involving a new idea of an "energy circle" (like aura, in English) that protects individuals and energizing food and water.

I suppose it also works in elevating BK Shivani to saviour level of which, no doubt, we'll read accounts of miracles afterwards (and watch reports of BK deaths filtered out and swept under the carpet).
Awakening with Brahma Kumaris wrote:This meditation commentry guides us to remain powerful and protected from the Corona virus. Sit back, relax the body and start this Guided Commentary. As you listen to each thought, visualize it and start feeling it. Repeat this every morning, every night before you sleep. Also repeat these thoughts just before you consume food and water each time, to energize them.

Arcane

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Corona and/or Krishna? Brahma Kumaris Covid-19 & Coronavirus

Post06 May 2020

They are exploiting everything and everyone they can!!

I think this forum alone does not suffice. A serious and a rigorous exposure is required!

When I see my dad not spending 10 minutes with family members and always chasing for that "21 births in the Golden Age" I feel so bad on the inside. For the greed of the unreal future he is missing the present.

"Terrorism and Violence in the name of Spirituality", I would christen. Seriously!!

Peace and harmony cannot be brought about through crooked mannerisms. Innocent minds should not be played with any longer. Enough is enough!!
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Pink Panther

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Corona and/or Krishna? Brahma Kumaris Covid-19 & Coronavirus

Post07 May 2020

So the BKs donated a cheque for Rupees 1 lakh. That’s 100,000 rupees.

Equal to about $US 1,300.

So is this the state (zone) BK donation to a state of Manipur of 2.5million people? Not much in the scheme of things, especially when compared to the wealth the BKs sit on like a dragon sits on its gold. Is this a zonal initiative, or something that all zones and centres are doing?
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ex-l

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Corona and/or Krishna? Brahma Kumaris Covid-19 & Coronavirus

Post07 May 2020

Pink Panther wrote:Is this a zonal initiative, or something that all zones and centres are doing?

I don't have any inside sources, but looking at the media releases, it appears to be an India-wide initiative and I would find it hard to believe there wasn't a centralised decision.

They're giving out food, masks, money.

In one case, they were donating to 1,000s of adherents trapped in Mount Abu because they arrived there just before the lockdown was put in place.
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Re: Corona and/or Krishna? Brahma Kumaris Covid-19 & Coronav

Post09 May 2020

Arcane wrote:When I see my dad not spending 10 minutes with family members and always chasing for that "21 births in the Golden Age" I feel so bad on the inside. For the greed of the unreal future he is missing the present.

I think the present is a far better candidate for the only reality, not "silence". Forget "ultimates".

Most of us have entropic tendencies towards excess. We start at something and it becomes more and more compulsive and obsessive, whatever hobby it is, let alone if it all become wrapped in fears of missing out for eternity. BKism exploits that tendency. In fact, I think the center-in-charges exploit it, quite simply, in the same manner as a mistress does, slowly capturing the attention of someone else's husband and Father.

A large part of it, is pretty much as the same level. They promise, but they never put out. They dangle a little love and attention, some thrill and excitement, and then take it away. "Always leave the audience asking for a little more", is the old theatre saying. Or, as someone was taught me, it's the "jam tomorrow" promise; meaning, *if* you are good today, you'll get jam (sweetness, rewards) tomorrow ... but tomorrow never comes.

Do you think it is some kind of escapism on his behalf? What does he get out of it?
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