There is a wave of mourning in the wholecountry due to the death of famous TV actor Siddharth Shukla. At the age of 40,when Siddharth was getting name and fame. Sidharth Shukla’s Funeral wasperformed in Oshiwara, Mumbai. The special thing was that the last rites of theactor were done according to the Brahmakumari rituals (Sidharth Shukla Funeralfrom Brahmakumari Rituals). Siddharth Shukla also had a deep attachment tospirituality and this is the reason why he was associated with Brahma KumarisSansthan for a long time.
Actually, Sidharth Shukla’s mother RitaShukla has been associated with Brahma Kumaris Sansthan for a long time andmostly she used to go to Mount Abu for Raja Yoga meditation. Sidharth alsoused to frequent the Sidharth Brahmakumari Center with his mother.
Sidharth’s mother when asked how she iscoping up to which Tapaswiniji said, "It is a shock for hismother but our study and teachings help people stay strong."
There has always been a perception that Sidharthhad anger issues but Tapaswiniji denies it and said, "He never had angerissues and we have never seen it he only played angry characters besides heleft his body in his sleep so the question of anger does not arise."
Sidharth was a regular at the Brahmakumari centre at Vile Parle and was lastseen there on rakhi, Tapaswiniji said, "He came to our Vile Parle centreand our Yoginiji from that centre tied rakhi to him."
What is the Brahma Kumari Samaj?
The Brahma Kumaris are a spiritual movementthat originated in Hyderabad, Sindh, during the 1930s. The Brahma movement wasfounded by Dada Lekhraj Kripalani.
According to the group's website, themovement began when Dada Lekhraj Kripalani experienced a series of visions in1936 and was inspired to create a school where the principles and practices ofa virtuous and meditative life could be taught.
Based on that, he formed the 'Om Mandali',which consisted of a handful of men, women and children, many of whom decidedto stay together as a community.
In 1950, the group moved to its presentlocation at Mount Abu in Rajasthan. Starting off with a three-acre propertycalled Madhuban, it now owns more than 45 acres in Mount Abu and around 150acres in Abu Road, about 25km away From the beginning, the organisation's focushad been on education, not worship, and for this reason, it renamed itself asBrahma Kumaris World Spiritual University.
The organisation now has a worldwide networkof centres in more than 110 countries and is an international non-governmentalorganisation of the United Nations accredited with General Consultative Statuswith the Economic and Social Council.
Presently, the group has over one millionadherents across the world.
Teachings of the group
The Brahma Kumaris is a spiritual awarenessmission not affiliated with any religion.
It teaches a form of meditation that focuseson identity as souls, as opposed to bodies.
They believe that all souls are intrinsicallygood and that God is the source of all goodness.
The organisation teaches to transcend labelsassociated with the body, such as race, nationality, religion, and gender, andit aspires to establish a global culture based on what it calls"soul-consciousness".
There are four main pillars of the BrahmaKumaris way of life. They are as follows:
• Study: The daily study of spiritualknowledge gives nourishment to the soul to remove blind faith and to seeevents, situations and circumstances as opportunities to apply the teachings.
• Meditation: Meditation provides adirect connection to the Source, enabling the soul to draw power and buildresilience and spiritual capacity.
• Practice virtues: The awarenessof the self as a soul awakens the essential core of divine virtues, giving theinner strength to overcome negative self-beliefs and the freedom to be theauthentic self.
• Serve: Being is seen as the basisfor serving -- bringing the virtues of the soul into whatever role one happensto be playing.
The group also strongly believes in womenempowerment. Women head almost all departments in the organisation and havewomen at the forefront from the very beginning, breaks the mould of religionsand spiritual movements across the world.
They have also carried out several programmesacross the world to provide women with opportunities and a platform to shine.