Ex BK feelings

for ex-BKs, exiting BKs, Friends & Family of BKs and newcomers to the forum.
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sorova

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Ex BK feelings

Post28 Jul 2021

I say I am an ex-BK but I am not a surrendered one. I could never accept the 5000 years cycle and never went to Madhuban on the yearly pilgrimage. I did however swallow all of The Knowledge pretty well and loved the meditations and people. At one time I was told by the centre Sister that if I did not pull my socks up I would be lucky to make the end of the Golden Age!

When on a trip to London HQ I was set aside and given a telling off by a Senior Sister for not putting in enough effort. I remember waiting to see her and many female BKs coming up to me and asking me for a lift if I was going anywhere! In fact, I had taken the train and wasn't a taxi service!

I had first become aware of the BKs around 1978 in London and it made a deep impression on me. I later joined them (sort of) in the 1990s and was with them 5 years. I knew all along they were a cult, but a more or less benign one compared with some of the others. I realised that families had been broken up, but then again the marriage was probably not secure anyway. So I did not blame them for anything, but would sit in amusement often.

As a Brother, I was used to fix things and transport mainly so I was of use to them. As somebody with a scientific (engineering) background I thought their knowledge was pretty well thought up and concise except for one glaring thing - there was no evidence for any of it. I did think it was a good way to run your life and got through many a crisis by their way of thinking. A sort of nothing really matters approach to existence except self development. I even taught the positive thinking course once and it was a great course apart from a few things here and there.

I have never stopped thinking of them in one way or another, especially as major events unfold. What I saw in my time was a great spiritual way of existence which was being converted into a religion by the introduction of ritual and blind faith. Something they themselves said was not a good thing. It was becoming a new religion and I realised what it must be like to have been around at the start of say Christianity in its early evangelical years when it first spread. I still think the meditation is great though don't practice it at present much at all.

The cyclic nature of things is of course true but there is no evidence for a cycle of 5000 years. The moon would also have to renew otherwise astronauts would see their 5000 year old relics when they landed. BKs never mentioned lifeforms elsewhere in the universe, just humans. OK, so maybe it doesn't matter but surely alien life would also have souls and also go through a cycle like ours.

Then eventually, although I am not a firm believer in this either, I came to the conclusion that there is but one way and one way only how the BK version of events can be true. That is if our existence is indeed illusion, that we are a computer simulation and it stops and repeats and runs again. The purpose of such a thing is in itself puzzling. Most days, however, I am at first n atheist and follower of evidence based research only. It is the only way to be sure, the rest is wishful thinking.
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Pink Panther

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Re: Ex BK feelings

Post29 Jul 2021

sorova wrote:What I saw in my time was a great spiritual way of existence which was being converted into a religion by the introduction of ritual and blind faith. Something they themselves said was not a good thing. It was becoming a new religion


That's the way it has always been, especially since they came to the Western countries. What happened to you is what happens to everyone who eventually sees through it all. You spent more and more time among it all and began to see through the facade to the fact it's "just another" organised, albeit small, religion with dogmas requiring acceptance without solid foundation.

What happens at the beginning, when we first choose to go along with it, is a selective kind of thinking and seeing, a lot of internal rationalising goes on within us so that we can enjoy the parts we want to enjoy. It's why other people choose not join even though they too may enjoy parts of it, they notice and are bothered by things we seem to out aside. They don't kid themselves to buy into the package as it is being sold the way you and I did.

Anyone who has a modicum of a critical thinking faculty eventually starts to notice then question the various dissonances. If their loyalty is to truth ahead of desire to belong or find validation from others in that group, they will find their way free.
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ex-l

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Re: Ex BK feelings

Post29 Jul 2021

Welcome Sorova, & thank you for your post.

In truth, I think you sum up it very well, a stage or relationship with the BKs that many of us go through ... especially BK Brothers being used as taxi drivers! I suspect also that many remain in a relationship in exactly the same state as you document, as in "it may be a cult but it is benign & increasingly comfortable one", especially where individuals have been hurt before, or find life hard to fit in with. It's a predictable, relatively gentle existence (except, of course, for all of the major predictions!), even if you don't believe in it any more. It provides company, the odd free meal, & the feeling of being special to bolster the ego.

And, for some, it has been turned into a nice income stream, even among the Westerners, e.g. all the personal coaches, & business consultants ... if that is still going on.

I think the 'left field' speculations that many with a few more brain cells do, e.g. your virtual simulation theory, is one of the things that keep some people trapped by them, again another ego trap of believing "I know better", reading things into that aren't there. We can probably remember a few, trying to fit BKism into a bigger picture of what we know about space time now, but Lekhraj Kirpalani & the BKs did not.

You made me laugh with your one liner
except for one glaring thing - there was no evidence for any of it.

Who needs evidence when the cure is obviously doing more self-hypnosis meditation!!! The demand for evidence is punishable Maya. You must have blind faith in The Knowledge (... even though Bhakti is a terrible thing!!!).

Are you still involved with them currently (you don't need to say where), how have things changed? You've pretty much witnessed their entire evolution within the West, from Tennyson Road days.

sorova

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Re: Ex BK feelings

Post04 Aug 2021

Haven't been with them for 20 years now. Still in my heart though.
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ex-l

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Re: Ex BK feelings

Post04 Aug 2021

The god spirit, the people, the concepts, or what?

Are you reporting that as a good thing, or something you are concerned about?

Do you feel like if you are still psychically bound to them in someway?
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Pink Panther

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Re: Ex BK feelings

Post05 Aug 2021

sorova wrote:Haven't been with them for 20 years now. Still in my heart though.

It's a bit like High school. Whether a good or bad or mixed experience, it was an important formative part of your biography. There were kids you hung out with just because you shared the same location and subjects. Some may have been true friends most were simply "acquaintances" who you never saw outside school hours. Some people never had real friends in school. Some teachers were more humane than others. Some knew what they were talking about within their subject, others were winging it, just making a living.

But if you learnt you lessons and have"graduated", let it be and get on with living.

My reply here is not to usurp ex-l's very valid questions. It will be worth answering those too, to process it all.
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human being

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Re: Ex BK feelings

Post30 Jun 2023

I think it's the way we are designed as a species. We have several hacks in our system. We end up being in toxic relationships, the whole Stockholm Syndrome thing and many other such cheat codes are built in our systems. The problem with atheism is the same as that with any other belief system. It's just that some say there is a god up there and some say there cannot be one because I haven't seen one. I believe that being constantly open to new ideas is a better way to live. Of course, one has to check all the evidences behind any claim and do all the due-deligence and stuff.

What I do believe is that we are more than our intellects and emotions put together. That there is definitely a non-materialistic side to our existence and it gets affected as frequently by other people and circumstances as our emotional and intellectual side. If we take into account this aspect of us, we can clearly see that the BKs aim to influence us at that level, although in many cases they fail miserably. But when they succeed we just put aside all our rationality and commonsense and 'go with the flow'.

Those who have experienced a bit of traditional Yoga or tantra (in their true sense) would be aware of such abnormal states of mind and develop an intuition to not fall prey to these so called 'spiritual experiences'. But if someone is totally new to the realm of spirituality, as most people are, these half baked psycho-emotional highs and lows one experiences in the initial BK phase can be long lasting and in some cases damaging as well.

I think I am just rambling :D, but you get the idea ...

jayadeepan

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Re: Ex BK feelings

Post11 Aug 2023

I was once affiliated with the BK (Brahma Kumaris), although I haven't fully dedicated myself to following their teachings. The concept of a 5000-year cycle has never appealed to me, and I have consistently abstained from joining the yearly journey to Madhuban.

This is what ex-BK wrote and my response is (please do not take it personally it is for all ex-PBK, BK etc).

It is unwise to invest in someone else's mistake; rather, it is more prudent to perceive it as your own foolishness for getting involved in the first place. If it doesn't come easily to you, then simply move on and release it. It is detrimental to your own well-being to spend valuable time and energy dwelling on other people's affairs. The mind constantly seeks a dopamine surge by indulging in a victim mentality.

Within the Brahma Kumari instructing, you'll discover they are calling you irreligious but in reality, they are talking to themself and you may take it personally. This instructing is, as it were, for themselves and it has nothing to do with materialist atheist common religion according to the teaching. Once more I am not charging you as a non-believer.

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