Transcendent in America: Hindu-Inspired Meditation Movements as New Religion (New and Alternative Religions)

276 Pages·2010·2.09 MB·English

by  Lola Williamson

Transcendent in America
THE NEW AND ALTERNATIVE RELIGIONS SERIES
General Editors: Timothy Miller and Susan J. Palmer
Hare Krishna Transformed
Burke Rochford, Jr.
Transcendent in America:
Hindu-Inspired Meditation Movements as New Religion
Lola Williamson
Transcendent in America:
Hindu-Inspired Meditation
Movements as New Religion
Lola Williamson
a
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS
New York and London
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS
New York and London
www.nyupress.org
© 2010 by New York University
All rights reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Williamson, Lola.
Transcendent in America : Hindu-inspired meditation
movements in America / Lola Williamson.
p. cm. — (The new and alternative religions series)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978–0–8147–9449–4 (cl : alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 0–8147–9449–1 (cl : alk. paper)
ISBN-13: 978–0–8147–9450–0 (pb : alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 0–8147–9450–5 (pb : alk. paper)
1. Hinduism—United States. 2. Meditation—Hinduism.
3. Spiritual life—Hinduism. I. Title.
BL1168.U532W55 2010
294.5’4350973—dc22 2009039813
New York University Press books are printed on acid-free paper,
and their binding materials are chosen for strength and durability.
We strive to use environmentally responsible suppliers and materials
to the greatest extent possible in publishing our books.
Manufactured in the United States of America
c 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
p 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
A Note on Transliteration vii
Preface ix
Part I: Background
1 What Are Hindu-Inspired Meditation Movements? 3
2 Laying the Foundation for American-Style Hinduism 26
Part II:
Three Hindu-Inspired
Meditation Movements
3 Self-Realization Fellowship 55
4 Transcendental Meditation 80
5 Siddha Yoga 106
Part III: In Their Own Words
6 The Guru-Disciple Relationship 135
7 Mystical Experiences 161
8 Worldview 186
Conclusion 215
Notes 235
Bibliography 243
Index 251
About the Author 261
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A Note on Transliteration
Hindi and Sanskrit terms are italicized the first time they appear
with the exception of words that are becoming part of the American lexicon,
such as “guru” and “ashram.” Transliteration of words does not employ dia-
critical marks (i.e., Shiva and not Śiva, kundalini and not kun.d.alinī). Addi-
tionally, transliteration follows the custom of the particular movement under
consideration. Thus, for example, Śrī Yukteśvar, Yogananda’s guru, appears as
Sri Yukteswar, which is the spelling used in the literature of Self-Realization
Fellowship. Words that traditionally appear together such as Bhagavadgita
and Rammohun, I render separated (Bhagavad-Gita and Ram Mohun) to aid
in facility of reading for a general audience.
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Preface
Well before dawn when most Americans are asleep, Walter rises
early to sit for meditation. He has been practicing the techniques he learned
through Self-Realization Fellowship every day since 1961. “Something essen-
tial is missing,” he says, “if I don’t meditate.” Meanwhile, Aaron goes to the
“Dome,” where he is joined by a thousand others who practice Transcenden-
tal Meditation together every day. He is so used to this routine that it has
become, in his words, a “biological rhythm.” Jennifer, a follower of the Sid-
dha Yoga tradition, enters her meditation room at 5:15 a.m. each morning to
chant and meditate. She says, “If I can touch that place of deep stillness, even
for a moment, it makes all the difference.”
This book is about Walter, Aaron, Jennifer, and others like them who have
practiced meditation under the auspices of a Hindu guru for twenty or more
years. It is also about the meditation movements in which they participate:
Self-Realization Fellowship, Transcendental Meditation, and Siddha Yoga.
These are three of many such movements that, taken together, comprise a
new hybrid form of religion. This new religion combines aspects of Hindu-
ism with Western values, institutional forms, modes of teaching, and reli-
gious sensibilities. Lying at the conjunction of two worldviews, this phenom-
enon could be called “Hindu-inspired meditation movements,” or HIMMs.
Through personal, historical, and cultural lenses, this book explores the con-
tours of Hindu-inspired meditation movements and their implications for
American culture.
When I first began working on this book in the fall of 2002, I had par-
ticipated for twenty-one years in Siddha Yoga and viewed myself as a devout
disciple of Gurumayi, the current guru of that movement. Before that I had
been involved for ten years with Transcendental Meditation. When I dis-
covered meditation at the age of eighteen, I was overjoyed, sensing that my
life’s purpose had been found. Thus, I began this study with a fair degree of
bias. But as I began to investigate the movements in order to write this book,
I learned of some disturbing accounts of abuses that had occurred within
the Siddha Yoga organization. As I continued to investigate, I found that
the phenomenon of abuse—or at least some type of organizational dysfunc-
tion—was endemic to many of these groups. I realized that even though I
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