The Supreme Source of Knowledge in the Brahma Kumaris: Understanding God Father Shiva

People today feel stressed, morally confused, and search for meaning, problems that material knowledge alone cannot solve. Inner spiritual wisdom is often dismissed as myth or personal belief in academic circles, missing the lived experience of spirituality. This paper explores how the Brahma Kumaris understand spiritual knowledge, particularly their concept of the Supreme Source: God Father Shiva, seen as an incorporeal, pure, loving, peaceful consciousness beyond body or identity. Using a qualitative, phenomenological approach, the study examines how practitioners experience these teachings, especially through the Avyakt Murlis, drawing on consciousness studies, spiritual education, and transpersonal psychology. The analysis suggests this system's structure and psychological benefits allow it to be interpreted as a model for consciousness-based education, relevant for both everyday people and scientists.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Modern education has made incredible progress in science and technology, but for all the breakthroughs, people still feel stressed out, confused about morals, and keep searching for meaning in their lives. You can’t fix those problems with material knowledge alone. The kind of inner spiritual wisdom that addresses these things rarely gets any attention in academic circles. Most scholars set it aside as myth or just personal belief and, as a result, miss out on the lived experience of spirituality. This paper dives into how the Brahma Kumaris look at spiritual knowledge, especially their idea of the Supreme Source: God Father Shiva. For them, God Father Shiva isn’t some myth or a god with a human face. They see Shiva as an incorporeal, evrerpure, loveful, peaceful consciousness and wisdom, beyond body or identity. So how do people in the Brahma Kumaris actually understand this Supreme Source? How is this spiritual knowledge shared—especially through the Avyakt Murlis—and what does it feel like for those who practice it? The paper takes a qualitative, phenomenological approach: instead of trying to prove metaphysics, it looks at how people experience and understand these teachings. It draws from fields like consciousness studies, spiritual education, and transpersonal psychology, focusing on the impact, coherence, the universal ethics, and the consistent symbolism found throughout the Brahma Kumaris teachings. The analysis shows that this system doesn’t just sit in the realm of belief or myth. Its structure and psychological benefits allow it to be interpreted as a model for consciousness-based education, worth exploring both for everyday people and for scientists.