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Brahma Kumaris Meditation Techniques

Brahma Kumaris, meaning "Daughters of Brahma," is a quasi-Hindu organization that has developed its own form of meditation. A form of Raja Yoga, it is said to purify the minds of its practitioners, ridding them of residual karma left over from sins of past lives. Here are meditation techniques employed by Brahma Kumaris.

  1. Music

    • Often, Brahma Kumaris turn on music to aid meditation. Brahma Kumaris have their own devotional music, based on traditional Hindu devotional music, played on the sitar. Brahma Kumaris also meditate to New Age music, with instruments like synthesizers or computer-enhanced sounds. Still other meditation music utilizes human voices, often in harmony. Once the music is on, the practitioner can more easily slip into the desired meditative state.

    Images

    • Most Brahma Kumaris meditate with the aid of an image on a screen in a semi-darkened room. One image used is that of the Brahma Kumaris' founder, Dada Lekhraj. Looking intently at him, eye-to-eye, the meditation begins. Other images include the "Ocean of Values," featuring a picture of an oyster representing the world, the "Tree of Humanity," designed to help the practitioner concentrate on the history of time, and "Three Worlds," an image that aids in understanding sound versus silence. The practitioner concentrates intently on the image while verbally or silently pondering the soul's eternal nature.

      Or the practitioner sits across from a trained teacher. Meditating together, they stare at each other, either eye-to-eye or eye-to-forehead, and concentrate on becoming bodiless. Thus images and real people are used as meditation aids.

    State of Mind

    • During meditation, Brahma Kumaris think of themselves not as individuals but instead strive to get outside of their bodies mentally. They concentrate on becoming one with the Supreme Soul, or Shiv Baba. This is the most critical meditation technique employed by Brahma Kumaris--striving to change your very state of mind until, for 20 to 30 minutes, you are mentally joined with the Supreme Soul itself. The goal is to imagine yourself not as a soul in a body but as a soul outside of your own body, just a single part of a larger soul.

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