God
The BK God is claimed to be the same God of the other main religions - the God of Jesus, Allah, Jehovah, the supreme soul, the light, whatever name you know him/her/it by. The BKs deny that God is omnipresent, instead seeing God a human soul, named Shiva, who never takes a body in the endless cycle of reincarnation, and is accordingly perfectly spiritual and untainted by contact with matter and Maya. God enters, or possesses, the body of first Lekhraj Kripalani and then BK Hirday Mohini who becomes his mediums and spoken messages to humanity called Murlis are channelled through him.
Although in BK teachings God is generally referred to as male, God is actually seen as beyond gender, because of never taking a physical body. God is personalised as He or The Father, rather than "it", in order to help develop a sense of close relationship, and also, presumably, because the role of Shiva in Hindi mythology and cosmology, is male.
The BKs teach that one should develop all relationships with God: father, mother, child, sister, brother, friend, companion, etc. However the Father role is generally emphasised, and the mother role often assigned to Brahma Baba. God as The Mother is rarely encountered in BK teachings.
God (Shiva), addressed by most BKs "Shiv Baba" is considered to be an eternal soul like human souls but the Supreme One. He is knowledgeful and His purpose is to awaken humanity and restore harmony, giving power through the Brahma Kumaris' practise of Raja Yoga and eliminating evil and negativity. He is not the creator of matter which is itself considered to be eternal.<ref name="Kranenborg" />
God is the destroyer of evil<ref> "Astonishing similarities between Brahma Kumari and Islam" </ref>, or Ekambaranatha (Sanskrit एकम्बरनाथ) as He is usually called by BK and non-BK devotees. Like Lord Shiva, the BKs attempt to become great yogis as The Lord is Mahāyogi (Sanskrit महायोगी). Lord Shiva is also known as "Shankara" meaning auspiciousness.HINDU FESTIVALS. There is a BK faction known as the "Shankar Party".
Although Lord Shiva is God Almighty in the BKWSU, Dada Lekhraj, the Brahma Baba is said to have had visions of Lord Vishnu also, one in of which, Vishnu says, "Thou art that", a well-known verse from the Chadogya Upanishad. <ref> P.195, Exploring New Religions, By George D Chryssides </ref> Brahma Baba further taught that everyone should visualize themselves as a "tiny star, a minute point, of invisible luminous energy that is the soul."<ref> P.195, Exploring New Religions, By George D Chryssides </ref> Those starts centered around Shiv Baba, who is the brightest luminary. Nearest of Shiv Baba, is Lord Krishna, followed by Goddess Laxmi. The superior beings wanted to 'explore' the physical world; Krishna and Laxmi went first, followed by other superior beings. The BKs believe that as Shiv Baba destroys the world through the Shankara avatar, through his Vishnu form He sustains it.[1]
There is also a BK faction named the "Vishnu Party."