I recently spoke to an educated and professional 'relative' of Lekhraj Kirpalani, an independent individual in close proximaty to the Om Mandli with clear recollection of the happenings of the early days and have a connection to others.
I am slightly convering my sources here because, obviously, the BKWSU are all over my posts right now and I do not want the individuals targeted, nobbled or otherwise prejudiced in a way the BKs work media people and so on. There are certain confidence involved.
All the same, what with the legal proceedings, it is time to move ahead fast and I need other individual's assistance in these matters.
Firstly, their recollections of the Om Mandli gatherings were quite different from the publicised versions. They spoke of Om Mandli as a very secret society targetting mainly women whose husbands were working abroad and at which, during the gatherings, the women would go into and I quote here, "frenzies" and "howl" and utter "howling screams". The individual witnessed this and those were the exact words they used. Quite a different picture from, and not nencessarily exclusive of, the "visions of Golden Age" and dancing with Krishna scenes the BKWSU paints.
The legend was that Lekhraj Kirpalani had met a saddhu during his time in Calcutta and it was this meeting or involvement that had brought about the transformation in him.
Do I take this individual to be a relilable winess? Yes, I very much do. Do I know who this saddhu, his siddhi or his tradition might have been? No, I don't. It is about this that I wondered if anyone else might be able to help with these leads. Many of their other stories correlated with those told broadly by the BKWSU or in the materials produced in Om Radhe's name.
We remember other reports of Lekhraj Kirpalani kind of breaking down and becoming like a child and, likewise of times where he had to be looked after or nursed by Om Radhe. Stuff the BKWSU have not been keen to have discussed. I for one do not believe their version as their elders have been proven not just to make mistakes but falsify it.
Now, what do we make of this? What were these experiences?
In some yogic traditions such as Kundalini, individuals are guided into experiencing "purification" purification or cleansing crises caused by movements of energy through chakras, breaking down blockages etc. These experiences sound very similar to those of charismatic, evangelistic and African Christian churches where individuals are said to be taken or slayed by the spirit, talk in tongue and so on.
They sound quite like the symptoms described during possession, the casting out of spirits or exorcisms and, of course, we know that trance mediumship was much more widespread in the early days than it is now. Similar events still happening from time to time. Likewise, they are also similar to events within other esoteric traditions. In Hindu mythology, the Nagas are "snake-shaped beings who live in the underworlds and are the keepers of mighty powers of consciousness". Saddhus practice Kundalini type practises awaken such powers.
My feelings at present, and these are not in anyway substantiated yet, is that the 12 gurus story, the millenarianism and the monotheistic God within the BKWSU are adoptions from Christian influences, either direct or indirect. We do not yet have any solid indication HOW AND WHEN the Shiva bindi concept entered the Brahma Kumari traditions. It could also be that the BKs have mixed up the story of Lekhraj Kirpalani's life with the story of someone else in the Mandli's life to make him appear more saintly.
Others question Masonic influences on Lekhraj Kirpalani, which I do not know but which would be very easy to check as the Calcutta Lodges in India, at that time, were according to the English Masonic constitutions and good records of membership were kept from the mid-1800s. This to me would not suggest a direct lineage, but a possible setting of the foundations.
The source suggest there was not a connection, neither with the Masons nor the Theosophical society as Lekhraj Kirpalani was of a low class and education and was not part of those worlds.
"12 gurus" sounds very much like 12 disciples and Hinduism does not have a strong millenarianist tendancy. So what? (Joke) My Father is a carpenter and my best friends fishermen but that does not make me Jesus ... to me, this suggestion of a single mysterious saddhu blowing Lekhraj Kirpalani's third eye open and leaving him to deal with it sounds much more likely.
Mysticism, full on sorcery and shamenism, both 'black' and 'white', were and are very common in that part of the world even to this day.
I am slightly convering my sources here because, obviously, the BKWSU are all over my posts right now and I do not want the individuals targeted, nobbled or otherwise prejudiced in a way the BKs work media people and so on. There are certain confidence involved.
All the same, what with the legal proceedings, it is time to move ahead fast and I need other individual's assistance in these matters.
Firstly, their recollections of the Om Mandli gatherings were quite different from the publicised versions. They spoke of Om Mandli as a very secret society targetting mainly women whose husbands were working abroad and at which, during the gatherings, the women would go into and I quote here, "frenzies" and "howl" and utter "howling screams". The individual witnessed this and those were the exact words they used. Quite a different picture from, and not nencessarily exclusive of, the "visions of Golden Age" and dancing with Krishna scenes the BKWSU paints.
The legend was that Lekhraj Kirpalani had met a saddhu during his time in Calcutta and it was this meeting or involvement that had brought about the transformation in him.
Do I take this individual to be a relilable winess? Yes, I very much do. Do I know who this saddhu, his siddhi or his tradition might have been? No, I don't. It is about this that I wondered if anyone else might be able to help with these leads. Many of their other stories correlated with those told broadly by the BKWSU or in the materials produced in Om Radhe's name.
We remember other reports of Lekhraj Kirpalani kind of breaking down and becoming like a child and, likewise of times where he had to be looked after or nursed by Om Radhe. Stuff the BKWSU have not been keen to have discussed. I for one do not believe their version as their elders have been proven not just to make mistakes but falsify it.
Now, what do we make of this? What were these experiences?
In some yogic traditions such as Kundalini, individuals are guided into experiencing "purification" purification or cleansing crises caused by movements of energy through chakras, breaking down blockages etc. These experiences sound very similar to those of charismatic, evangelistic and African Christian churches where individuals are said to be taken or slayed by the spirit, talk in tongue and so on.
They sound quite like the symptoms described during possession, the casting out of spirits or exorcisms and, of course, we know that trance mediumship was much more widespread in the early days than it is now. Similar events still happening from time to time. Likewise, they are also similar to events within other esoteric traditions. In Hindu mythology, the Nagas are "snake-shaped beings who live in the underworlds and are the keepers of mighty powers of consciousness". Saddhus practice Kundalini type practises awaken such powers.
My feelings at present, and these are not in anyway substantiated yet, is that the 12 gurus story, the millenarianism and the monotheistic God within the BKWSU are adoptions from Christian influences, either direct or indirect. We do not yet have any solid indication HOW AND WHEN the Shiva bindi concept entered the Brahma Kumari traditions. It could also be that the BKs have mixed up the story of Lekhraj Kirpalani's life with the story of someone else in the Mandli's life to make him appear more saintly.
Others question Masonic influences on Lekhraj Kirpalani, which I do not know but which would be very easy to check as the Calcutta Lodges in India, at that time, were according to the English Masonic constitutions and good records of membership were kept from the mid-1800s. This to me would not suggest a direct lineage, but a possible setting of the foundations.
The source suggest there was not a connection, neither with the Masons nor the Theosophical society as Lekhraj Kirpalani was of a low class and education and was not part of those worlds.
"12 gurus" sounds very much like 12 disciples and Hinduism does not have a strong millenarianist tendancy. So what? (Joke) My Father is a carpenter and my best friends fishermen but that does not make me Jesus ... to me, this suggestion of a single mysterious saddhu blowing Lekhraj Kirpalani's third eye open and leaving him to deal with it sounds much more likely.
Mysticism, full on sorcery and shamenism, both 'black' and 'white', were and are very common in that part of the world even to this day.
"Nagas are a class of beings (often snake-like in form) that dwell in a variety of locations ranging from waterways and underground locations to unseen realms. These beings have their own perceptions and vary in their enlightened level as do humans and other beings. Nagas are susceptible to suffering created by mankind's carelessness and basic ignorance of proper conduct in nature and disrespectful actions in relation to our environment. Therefore Nagas often retaliate towards humans when they behave in such ignorant manners. The expression of the Nagas' discontent and agitation can be felt as skin diseases, various calamities and so forth.
Additionally, Nagas can bestow various types of wealth, assure fertility of crops and the environment as well as decline these blessings. For this reason the practices have been developed or arise as a natural methods to increase prosperity."