Organisation and Culture
“The Brahma Kumaris aspire to serve the world as a model of good management and effective leadership, and to this end, they have constructed organizational boundaries, status hierarchies, and managerial practices that support their esoteric, service-oriented religion by emphasizing the importance of well-managed personal relationships within and beyond their institution’s boundaries.
Organizational administrators (are) clearly positioned within a chain of command that flows from God (Bap-Dada), through the board of directors, the joint administrative chiefs, regional or zonal directors (within the Indian and international divisions of the organization, respectively), subdirectors (where relevant), and center coordinators.”
A cultural map of the Brahma Kumaris - Ramsay & Le Reste 2024
The image above is an attempt to map some of the complex systems operating within the Brahma Kumaris organisation. These include political, social, cultural and geographical dimensions, shaped by relationships between tradition and modernity, discipline and knowledge, language and history. The map offers a broad organisational and cultural canvas through which some of these interacting components can be considered. It draws on decades of lived experience and observation by a number of people, alongside social research on organisations and movements. It remains a draft and experimental representation rather than a definitive organisational model, and feedback is welcomed.
Management and Structure
The Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University can be understood both as an organisation and as a community, but within the community its identity is multiple, complex and sometimes overlapping. The murlis (daily BK teachings), for example, variously describe the collective as a family, hospital, university and clan. It is also understood as a yagya, an organisation, an institution and a spiritual community.
Even those at the most senior levels of the Brahma Kumaris identify primarily as students, sisters and God's children. For functional purposes, senior members may hold administrative roles, while the one Spiritual Head is understood to be the Supreme Soul.
Organisationally, the Brahma Kumaris has developed a hierarchical and command-oriented administrative structure alongside an ideal of servant leadership.
Customs and Systems
The 1950s were an important period in the institutional development of the Brahma Kumaris. In 1954, the organisation’s constitution was formalised and the name Brahma Kumaris Ishwariya Vishwa Vidyalaya came into use. During this period, Mama (Om Radhe) played an important role in establishing many of the practices, symbols and systems that came to characterise the organisation, including the Shiv Baba flag, the wearing of badges, and white saris for sisters and kurta pyjamas for brothers.
Brother Jagdish Chander also became influential during this period, contributing to the development and standardisation of teaching and administrative practices. He played a significant role in formalising the seven-day introductory course and in developing more consistent approaches to centre management across India.
This period also saw increasing engagement beyond India. Senior sisters of the Brahma Kumaris travelled to Japan to participate in an international religious congress, the first step in the movement’s later international expansion.