The Brahma Kumaris use of visual art for disseminating spiritual knowledge and experience of Raja Yoga meditation open to a person of any religious tradition and challenging the reification of "world religions"
Publication information:
Abstract
Workshop: This workshop will (i) illustrate the foundational use of spiritual art for knowledge dissemination of the Brahma Kumaris (BK), a women-led spiritual movement which has now spread to over 110 countries in the world, (ii) deep-dive on the BK’s artistic depiction of the [cosmic] “tree of humanity” representing a connectivity amongst the vastly dissimilar and dynamic religious traditions of the world, and (iii) provide a gentle and guided experience of open-eyed and “soul-conscious” BK Raja Yoga meditation using both visual art and instrumental music. The theme of “inner-decolonization,” as presented in the 2024 PES conference, challenging both inner biases and the Eurocentric reification of “world religions,” will also be touched upon.
Presenter Biographies
Sudarshan Sundar has been a student and teacher of Brahma Kumaris Raja Yoga Meditation since 2001. Sudarshan helped start and co-coordinated the activities of "Inner Space Meditation Center and Gallery" in Harvard Square from 2012 to 2020. Sudarshan has been a Software Engineer by profession at Microsoft since 2003 and working part-time since 2020. Sudarshan is currently a Resident Fellow at Harvard Divinity School for the 2024-25 academic year.
Judy Rodgers has been a student of the Brahma Kumaris and teacher of Raj Yoga meditation for 27 years. She spent much of her working life in media and as a consultant and communication strategist, working with businesses and universities. The emphasis in her work has been on the power of narrative, how the questions we ask ourselves, and the stories we tell ourselves affect our life journeys. In 2004 she co-founded the Center for Business as Agent of World Benefit at Case Western Reserve University. In 2007 she co-authored a book on altruism called Something Beyond Greatness: Conversations with a Man of Science and a Woman of God. Since 2006 she has lived in the Brahma Kumaris’ Peace Village Retreat Center in the Catskill Mountains north of New York City.
Rita Cleary is a co-founder of The Learning Circle and The Visions of A Better World Foundation in 1993. She is also a founding partner of The Society for Organizational Learning and Images and Voices of Hope Media Project and the Call of the Time Global Leadership Dialogues and Retreats series since 1998. For over 30 years, she has been a student and teacher of Raja Yoga Meditation. Rita currently serves as the Co-Coordinator of the Boston chapter of the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual Organization.
David Kilowsky, born in Adelaide, South Australia, has airbrushed spiritual paintings which are displayed all over the world, primarily used for meditation and to experience a deep sense of peace and silence. David has been based at the Brahma Kumaris spiritual headquarters in India for the past 15 years where he manages the Art Department and continues to develop his gifts in Art & Music.