Eckankar

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Eckankar.

Eckankar is a new religious movement that focuses on spiritual exercises enabling practitioners to experience what its followers call "the Light and Sound of God."

According to the Eckankar glossary, the term Eckankar means "Co-Worker with God". [1] It is likely drawn from the Sikh term, Ik Onkar. Since 1985 Eckankar is described as “The Religion of the Light and Sound of God”. Prior to 1985 Eckankar was known as the Ancient Science of Soul Travel.

Eckankar headquarters are in Chanhassen, Minnesota (southwest of Minneapolis). At this site there are the Eckankar Temple, an outdoor chapel, an administrative building, and the ECK Spiritual Campus.

Contents

[edit] History

The leader of Eckankar is known as the Living ECK Master. According to Eckankar doctrine, the Living ECK Master is respected, but not worshiped by followers of Eckankar. Paul Twitchell founded Eckankar in 1965 and led it until Darwin Gross took over leadership from 1971 until 1981. On October 22, 1981 Harold Klemp became the Mahanta, the Living ECK Master and took over leadership of Eckankar.

[edit] Teachings

One of the basic tenets is that soul (awareness or consciousness) can leave the body in full consciousness and travel freely in other planes of reality. Eckankar emphasizes personal spiritual experiences as the most natural way back to God. [2] These are attained via "soul travel", shifting the awareness from the body to the inner planes of existence.

Certain mantras are used to facilitate spiritual growth. One important spiritual exercise of Eckankar is the singing or chanting of hu. The Hu has been used in the Sufi and other traditions, and is viewed as a “love song to God.” It is pronounced like the word “Hue” in a long drawn out breath and is sung for about 20 minutes. Eckists sing it alone or in groups for spiritual upliftment. This practice is claimed to allow the student to step back from the overwhelming input of the physical senses and emotions and regain soul’s spiritual viewpoint.

Dreams are regarded as an important teaching tool and members often keep a dream journal to facilitate study. [3] According to followers of Eckankar, dream travel often serves as the gateway to soul travel[4] or the shifting of one’s consciousness to ever-higher states of being.

Eckankar teaches that "spiritual liberation" in one’s lifetime is available to all and that it is possible to achieve self-realization (the realization of oneself as soul) and God-realization (the realization of oneself as a spark of God) in one’s lifetime. The membership card for Eckankar states: “The aim and purpose of Eckankar has always been to take soul by its own path back to its divine source.”

The emphasis has shifted in current times away from out of body experiences to expansion of awareness through experiencing God’s love in everyday matters. The final spiritual goal of all Eckists is to become conscious co-workers with God.[citation needed]

The Shariyat-Ki-Sugmad, which means "Way of the Eternal," is the holy scripture of Eckankar, a modern religious movement that teaches of the light and sound of God. Rather than being a collection of different perspectives, as in the Bible, the Shariyat, as Eckists call it, is a set of two books that tell of spiritual meaning and purpose as written by the Mahanta, the current head of Eckankar. Some of the key beliefs taught in the Shariyat-Ki-Sugmad include soul travel, karma, reincarnation, love, light and sound, and many other spiritual topics. Sugmad is the endless world from which all forms were created. Out of the Sugmad flows the ECK, the sound current, into lower dimensions.

[edit] Origins

Paul Twitchell founded Eckankar in 1965, although Eckists claim that the basis for the Eckankar teachings date back to the beginning of human life and that an early Eckankar teacher is Gakko from Venus.[5]

According to Doug Marman, Paul Twitchell sourced many modern and ancient religious teachings in his creation of the Eckankar Teaching, but the main sources appear to be Sufism and a little known teaching in India called “The Parent Faith.” (This is where other light and sound teachings such as Sant Mat also derived their roots.)[6]

Eckankar headquarters were originally in Las Vegas, Nevada. Under the leadership of Darwin Gross, the organization was moved to Menlo Park, California in 1975. In 1986 Harold Klemp moved the base of operations to Minnesota where it remains today.[7]

Eckankar was founded in 1965 as a business; however, the Panel of Administrators urged Twitchell to conform to usual standards, and the teaching was later registered as a non-profit organization. Eighteen years later, in 1983, Harold Klemp changed it to a recognized religious institution. Currently Eckankar is accepted as a religion by the US Army, Boy Scouts, and many other public institutions. US Military approved gravestone markers[citation needed]

[edit] Beliefs

Primary to the teaching is the belief that human consciousness can leave the body at will (soul travel) and explore the inner planes of creation. Also, the doctrines of karma and reincarnation are strongly supported.

Soul is seen as the true self, and it wears a mind, emotions and the physical body in the same way as we might put on layers of clothes. Soul can thus leave the body and return at will, once it learns how. Dreams are seen as very important, with books such as The Art of Spiritual Dreaming forming part of the essential reading for all Eckankar students (Chelas).

The beliefs that individuals are responsible for their own destiny and that their decisions determine their future are core principles of the religion. Eckankar students meet in satsang ("spiritual meeting") to discuss books and discourses. Questioning of the stated beliefs is not opposed, and indeed is recommended for new students.

Many people report that they are drawn to this belief because it confirms to them the validity of experiences they had prior to even hearing about the group. These experiences are generally with either the light or sound, or some of the Eck Masters. A common example is when an adult recalls meeting one of the Eckankar teachers as a child and recalls this when finding a picture of that Master on the wall of an Eckankar center, or at friend's home, or in one of the group's publications. Many of these stories are recorded in the numerous books and magazines published by the organization.

Eckankar does not proselytize, and it seems to attract membership from those who find confirmation of personal experiences and understandings after reading the books, meeting with a member, or seeing one of the many videos available to the public.

After membership, adherents claim that the techniques given in the discourses and books of Eckankar provide individuals with the means by which to have direct and clear inner and outer experiences of the Light and Sound and with the Eck Masters. Members commonly speak of how a dream of inner experience has helped them resolve some issue in their life. Some claim to have learned the art of reading their own past lives and garnering healing or understanding from this. Most report a gradual growth in consciousness that they have experienced through the teachings and initiations. There is a 20-25 year program of discourses provided by the group to members.

According to the US Department of State (International Religious Freedom Report for Cote d'Ivoire 2008), the current Nigerian branch of Eckankar describes their beliefs as "a syncretistic religion founded in 1965 in Nigeria that sees human passion as an obstacle to uniting a person's divine qualities".[8]

[edit] Current status

Eckankar claims an active membership base in over one hundred countries throughout the world, including the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia and Africa.[9][10] 26,000 American Eckists were estimated in 2001 and 36,700 in 2004.[11] Estimates from varying authors [12] varies from 500,000, in 1972[13] to 50,000 or less in more recent years. Eckankar does not publish membership figures.

Eckankar’s 50,000-square-foot (4,600 m2) main "Temple of ECK"[14] was dedicated in Chanhassen, Minnesota on October 22, 1990. As of late 2007, the largest capacity Eckankar Temple was in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria, with a total capacity of 10,000.

Eckankar has produced dozens of books, videos, CDs, and tapes on a variety of spiritual topics. Members receive discourses, and they are invited to study at home or in the company of other members in Eckankar Satsang classes. Eckankar does not attempt to convert individuals. They do, however, advertise their presence and distribute literature to interested persons.

The Eckankar “EK” symbol appears on the list of Available Emblems of Belief for Placement on Government Headstones and Markers by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs.[15]

[edit] Ceremonies and rites

There are few personal requirements to be an Eckist; however, certain spiritual practices are recommended. Chief among these is daily practice of the "spiritual exercises" of ECK for 15-20 minutes a day. The most basic ECK spiritual exercise is singing the word hu, an ancient name for God (also known and practiced in Sufism), for upliftment and spiritual experiences. A wide variety of spiritual exercises are offered, and members are encouraged to create their own. There are no dietary requirements, sexual taboos, or enforced ascetic practices. Eckankar does not require potential members to leave their current faith to join.

There are a number of rituals an Eckist can experience as part of the teaching:

  • ECK Consecration Ceremony : Celebrating the entrance of the young and infant into Eckankar, and new life in the light and sound of God.
  • ECK Rite of Passage : Celebrating the passage from youth into adulthood, usually around thirteen.
  • ECK Wedding Ceremony : Celebrating the marriage bond as two Eckists commit their lives to one another before God.
  • ECK Memorial Service : Honors the journey of soul and welcomes it into the worlds beyond the physical.

In its original form the Consecration Ceremony,Rite of Passage or Memorial Service did not exist. These were added later by Harold Klemp who has made changes to the path. Now it is referred to as a religion with rituals mirroring more mainstream religions.

Eckists celebrate a spiritual new year on October 22. There is no celebration of personal anniversaries such as birthdays of the leaders.

[edit] ECK masters

Main article: ECK master
 The neutrality of this section is disputed. Please see the discussion on the talk page. Please do not remove this message until the dispute is resolved. (December 2008)

ECKists believe contact with Divine Spirit, which they call the ECK, [16] can be made via the spiritual exercises of ECK and the guidance of the living ECK master. It is held that the ECK masters are here to serve all life irrespective of religious belief. The main Eckankar website offers this list of Masters: Official Eckankar Masters List

The following masters are among the better known:[17]

  • Kata Daki : An ECK Master in the Ancient Order of Vairagi Adepts. She helps people get back on their feet during hardship.
  • Gopal Das : The Mahanta, the Living ECK Master in Egypt, 3000 B.C., who founded the mystery cults of Osiris and Isis; the guardian of the fourth section of the Shariyat-Ki-Sugmad on the Astral Plane; he teaches at the Temple of Golden Wisdom there. Gopal Das is said to be youthful but mature in appearance, fair-skinned, clean-shaven, and with longish light-colored hair.
  • Rebazar Tarzs : The officially-designated “torchbearer” of Eckankar in the lower worlds; the spiritual teacher of many ECK masters including Peddar Zaskq, or Paul Twitchell, to whom he handed the Rod of ECK Power in 1965. Said to be over five hundred years old, Rebazar Tarzs was Tibetan by birth and lives in a hut in the Hindu Kush mountains. He is said to be about 5 feet 10 inches (1.8 m) tall, with an athletic physique, dark skin, closely-cropped black hair and beard, and piercing black eyes.
  • Rami Nuri : The ECK Master who is the guardian of the holy book, the Shariyat-Ki-Sugmad, on the Pinda Lok (the physical world) at the House of Moksha, Temple of Golden Wisdom in the spiritual city of Retz on the planet Venus. The letter M appears on his forehead. He also once served as the Mahanta, the Living ECK Master.

[edit] Related groups

Some groups, such as ATOM, started by a former Living ECK Master, Darwin Gross and John Roger’s Movement of Spiritual Inner Awareness, appear to have split from the main body of the Eckankar. Gross made this public, while Roger denies any connection to Eckankar beyond having once been a student of Paul Twitchell.

More recently, former Eckist Ford Johnson formed a spiritual organization based on the idea that one does not need a master or spiritual guru to achieve spiritual enlightenment.[18] [19] Other groups created by former Eckists, like Michael Owens’ The Way of Truth :: Path to God Realization; Michael Turner's "Google group" Spiritual Freedom Satsang and Gary Olsen’s MasterPath[20] could be construed as organizations which maintain Eckankar-like cosmogonies.

Professor of Philosophy Dr. David C. Lane discusses the phenomenon of these numerous related teachers.[21] Lane suggests these might be seen more traditionally as an organic continuum- or an historical school of "American Shabd" teachings, rather than a "splintering" of any movement. Lane is already distinguished in this particular subject[citation needed] for his original, vanguard and revelatory critical research from the late 1990s concerning perceptions of distortions, plagiarism and concealment around author Paul Twitchell in the first decades of Eckankar.

The current leader of Eckankar has stated that members should feel free to leave Eckankar unbounded by guilt or fear.

[edit] Legal disputes

In 1983 Sri Darwin Gross was asked to completely step down from all leadership roles and association with Eckankar by Sri Harold Klemp under controversial circumstances involving charges against Gross of misappropriation of Eckankar corporate funds.[22] As Klemp took an exclusive leadership role, the corporate structure of Eckankar changed in California giving Klemp much more authority as the only voting member of the corporation.[23][24] This change, considered by Gross as a "hostile takeover" of the corporation, was formally filed in the State of California on June 20, 1985. The policies giving Klemp exclusive powers were changed in a similar vein in Eckankar's Minnesota corporate papers on January 30, 1987 and were also changed in the Eckankar Nevada corporate papers on December 21, 1987.[25]

[edit] Twitchell's plagiarism

After Twitchell’s death in 1971 David C. Lane published a book [26]that documented how most of Twitchell's Eckankar books contained plagiarized passages from other authors' books without proper citation. Twitchell’s The Far Country is said to contain the most plagiarism (of Julian Johnson’s Paths of the Masters).

Though there is overwhelming evidence that Twitchell plagiarized several authors when writing his Eck books and discourses,[27] Eckankar has never admitted that Twitchell ever used plagiarized material. The official Eckankar website goes as far to say that “Paul had taken it [the ECKANKAR teachings] and built upon it from many different areas, and he then moved it more than a step further.” [28]

A defence for Twitchell's plagiarism was published in 2007 by a long standing Eckankar High Initiate, Doug Marman [29] in The Whole Truth, a biography of Paul Twitchell. Marman lists several books that he feels Twitchell used as uncredited sources, even of the words of "eck masters" from whom Twitchell claimed to have taken dictation.[30] In relation to this book Twitchell’s widow (Gail) has written "... finally, someone got the whole thing right... Paul's work [put in] in the proper perspective."[31][unreliable source?] Twitchell biographer and paranormal researcher Brad Steiger has also written and commended this work as the most researched and authoritative to date on Paul Twitchell.[unreliable source?][32]

Lane has written a commentary to the Doug Marman book, reaffirming his view that Twitchell did try to cover up his past associations, did plagiarize several authors, and generally had a history of being free with the truth. [33]

[edit] Criticism

Internet communities of ex-members and critics, such as the Usenet newsgroup alt.religion.eckankar, include criticisms dating back over ten years. Eckankar has been labeled a cult by some critics, including both former members and Christian writers.[34]

In the introductory level Eckankar states that spiritual truth is not the possession of a single person or group, and that the many paths all lead to the same goal. However, Eckankar states it is the only direct path to the highest heaven. The Shariyat-Ki-Sugmad, Eckankar’s “Bible,” unambiguously states that Eckankar is the most direct path to God.

Some outspoken ex-Eckists, including the last Eckankar Living Eck Master, Darwin Gross, [35] believe that Eckankar is unethical and dishonest in how it presents itself and its history. [36] Accordingly, some former Eckankar initiates feel an obligation to inform the public as to what they are not being told about Eckankar, and some critics cite the evidence of Eckankar's founder's plagiarism [2] as a key (but not the only) reason to avoid Eckankar.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ A Glossary of ECK Terms
  2. ^ Eckankar: Spiritual Exercise of the Week
  3. ^ Dreams: A Source of Inner Truth
  4. ^ Soul Travel
  5. ^ Shariyat Ki Sugmad, Illuminated Way Press
  6. ^ Marman, Doug. The Whole Truth.
  7. ^ "Soul Travelers Move," San Jose Mercury News, 24 August 1986
  8. ^ Highlighted Google page mentioning Eckankar / US Department of State 2008
  9. ^ ECKANKAR Nigeria Website "Homepage'
  10. ^ Eckankar around the World
  11. ^ Top Twenty Religions in the United States, 2001
  12. ^ Adherents.com. "43,941 adherent statistic citations: membership and geography data for 4,300+ religions, churches, tribes, etc". http://www.adherents.com/Na/Na_264.html. 
  13. ^ Godwin, John. Occult America; Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company, Inc. (1972); pg. 114. “But within the metaphysical world [Twitchell] looms large indeed. With an estimated 500,000 followers worldwide, fifteen centers in the US and four overseas, and a weekly mailbag of some 10,000 letters...”
  14. ^ Eckankar: The Temple of ECK in Chanhassen, Minnesota, USA
  15. ^ Available Emblems of Belief for Placement on Government Headstones and Markers - Burial & Memorials
  16. ^ A Glossary of ECK Terms
  17. ^ Eck Masters
  18. ^ The Truth Seeker
  19. ^ Higher Consciousness Society
  20. ^ MasterPath: Light and Sound is the Cutting Edge of Spirituality
  21. ^ Introduction
  22. ^ United States District Court Oregon 1984 - Sri Darwin Gross vs Eckankar Corporation
  23. ^ http://law.justia.com/california/codes/corp/9220-9226.html California corporate law code 9224(a)- Selection, Removal and Resignation of Directors
  24. ^ http://www.geocities.com/bill_flavell/SriDarwinGrossHaroldKlemp10.14.89LetterPg5.jpg Darwin Gross letter Oct. 11, 1989
  25. ^ Hoovers profile: Eckankar
  26. ^ [1]
  27. ^ New Page 1
  28. ^ The Writing of Paul Twitchell
  29. ^ http://www.littleknownpubs.com spiritualdialogues.com
  30. ^ Document
  31. ^ spiritualdialogues.com
  32. ^ The Whole Truth
  33. ^ master index
  34. ^ Internet Church of Christ - List of Cults and Religions N-Z
  35. ^ http://members.tripod.com/~dlane5/darji.html)
  36. ^ Why Ex-Eckists Left Eckankar

[edit] External links

[edit] Plagiarism discussion

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