A Raja Yogi at HDS on the Divine Spark of Light That Each of Us Is
Brahma Kumaris monastic Sudarshan Sundar reflects on interfaith exploration, academic growth, and a year of spiritual connection at HDS.
As a member of the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual Organization, Sudarshan Sundar’s approach to spiritual life emphasizes what he calls “meditation in motion.”
“It’s not meditation in terms of closed eyes and sit down,” said Sundar, a Hindu monastic fellow at Harvard Divinity School (HDS) for the 2024–25 academic year. “It's something that’s integrated while walking and moving around.”
A software engineer by profession who works part-time at Microsoft in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Sundar came to HDS following a 2023 conference on power in alternative spiritualities.
“I submitted a paper, and it got accepted,” he said.
The paper focused on the leadership structure of the Brahma Kumaris (BK)—a global organization uniquely led by women.
“The founder was male, but he always thought that women should be put in front,” Sundar said. “So, among the 5,000 centers around the world, it's predominantly led by women. The top administrators have to be women—and they are.”
That ethos shaped his decision to attend HDS.
“I was really impressed by the diversity that I saw here—the faces and different traditions represented, different nationalities,” he said. “I wanted to expose myself to this because it broadens your perspective.”
At HDS, Sundar enrolled as a special student under the title of resident fellow. His academic interests spanned religious studies, theology, interfaith dialogue, and philosophy.
He began with “Theories and Methods,” an intense and illuminating introduction to religious studies.
“It was worth it, but it was a lot of mind-boggling work,” he said. “It really questioned the way I separated religions, maybe even subconsciously.”
His final paper examined how BK meditation can help undo the reification and partitioning of religions. The practice, he wrote, connects individuals to the essence of the inner self and temporarily releases attachment to external labels like religion, race, or gender. The goal is to become a better Hindu, Buddhist, Jew, Christian, or Muslim—while growing in compassion toward others.
He found similar resonance in the class “Who Needs God?”, where students explored responses to atheism in Hindu and Christian theology. Other courses he attended for deeper inter-religious understanding were “Exploring the Qur’an,” a Bhagavad Gita seminar, and “Reading Howard Thurman Today.”
Sudarshan Sundar, a Hindu monastic fellow at HDS during the 2024-25 academic year, engages with the audience during a presentation in Swartz Hall's James Room. Photo by Marisol Andrade Muñoz.
“That was a great class,” he said of the Thurman course. “It was very similar to the Brahma Kumaris philosophy of the inward journey first and that each one of us is a divine spark of light, and a child of the Supreme spark of light.”
Throughout the year, Sundar explored opportunities to engage with different religious groups on campus.
“I attended many of the noon services of Christian, Islam, and Buddhist groups,” he said. “I sat in the Quakers meditations and went to the feminists making midrash.”
These gatherings helped illuminate spiritual traditions beyond his own.
“It was great to be exposed to all this because then there is maturity in the thinking,” he said. “So, when speaking to somebody, you can meet them where they are.”
Sundar noted the open-mindedness of HDS students as a highlight. At the same time, he observed how the academic pace could leave students siloed in their work.
In response, Sundar led bi-weekly sitting meditations in the interfaith space offered by the Office of Religious and Spiritual Life, and he participated in the HDS Interfaith Council.
Going forward, Sundar hopes to explore how religious traditions influence one another—concepts he presented at HDS conferences. Ultimately, Sundar came to HDS to follow those threads of connection.
“I took all these classes in different diverse areas, not just interfaith work, but multireligious work to explore the intersection of Brahma Kumaris philosophy in a multireligious context.”
Banner photo by Marisol Andrade Muñoz.