Boston ( USA ): Harvard Divinity School held a 3-day conference on “Uses and Abuses of Power in Alternative Religions” from April 27-29 in which Boston Brahma Kumaris addressed a session entitled “The Brahma Kumaris: a women-led spiritual organization challenging a male-dominated spiritual landscape.”
With the inspirations from BK Rita Cleary (Boston), BK Judy Rodgers (Peace Village, New York) co-presented the session with BK Sudarshan Sundar (Boston).
Amidst the backdrop of countless sessions on abuses of power by gurus and spiritual leaders, the BK session featured photos of the school opened by Brahma Baba, the Founding Father of the Brahma Kumaris, the young kumaris(sisters) and the elder Dadis(Senior Rajayogis) who governed the organization with love. The audience in the room and on zoom were fascinated and had many questions about how the organization managed to support continued leadership by women and maintained a culture of harmony.
Three weeks prior to the conference, Professor Dan McKanan, Senior Lecturer at Harvard Divinity School was on a field trip to Peace Village with nine students. They joined this conference session held by the Brahma Kumaris.
The abstract of the Harvard-published paper submitted by BK Sudarshan Sundar can be found below.
Harvard Divinity School Publication – Brahma Kumaris: A women-led spiritual organization