Ananda Marga Yoga Society

Founder : He is known to his followers as Marga Guru Shrii Shrii Anandamurti (which means “He who attracts others as the embodiment of bliss”), but is also known as Prabhat Rainjan Sarkar (his birth name), or Ba’Ba (which means father). 1

Date of Birth : May 21, 1921-October 21, 1990. 2

Birth Place : The small town of Jamalpur in Bihar, India. 3

Year Founded : 1955 in Jamalpur, Bihar, India. 4

Sacred or Revered Texts : Although there aren’t any sacred texts in Ananda Marga, there are works by the founder of Ananda Marga and other writers that are used as a philosophical skeleton to help guide the members. The founder used the name Shrii Shrii Anandamurti when he wrote books on spiritual topics and the name Shrii Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar when he authored books on other areas. The first book was Ananda Marga- Elementary Philosophy that was written by Shrii Shrii Anandamurti, and outlines the philosophy of Ananda Marga. Besides this book, there are many more books that outline the philosophy of Ananda Marga and other important doctrines written by Anandamurti and others. These books can be found on the Ananda Marga Homepage. 5

Size of Group : The largest concentrations of Ananda Marga are located in India and in the Phillipines, but members are found throughout the world and can be found in most countries. “Though it has been suggested that this ‘revolutionist’ movement has several million adherents, the actual membership is undoubtedly very much smaller” 6 . Worldwide, there are spiritual and social activity centers in over 160 countries. 7

History

Prabhat Rainjan Sarkar was born on May 21, 1921 on Vaesha’Khii Pu’rn’ima’, or Buddha Pu’rn’ima’ (the day of the full moon of the lunar month). He was the fourth child in a family of eight. 8

He was a bright student who eventually went to Vidyasagar College in Calcutta, and it was here that his spiritual powers manifested. The story of his first disciple is said to have taken place when he was a freshman in college in 1939. One night Sarkar took his usual walk along the banks of the Ganges and sat down to rest and there went into a state of meditation. A man by the name of Kalicharan came up to him and tried to rob him. Sarkar acted very calmly and began to talk to Kalicharan and finally asked him if he was interested in changing his life. As Sarkar continued to talk, Kalicharan became captivated and ended up bathing in the river and becoming the first sadhaka (spiritual aspirant) initiated to the spiritual path by Sarkar. Kalicharan then changed his name to Kalikananda. This event occurred on a full moon in August, Shra’van’ii Pu’rn’ima’, and every year this date is celebrated. 9

In 1941 Sarkar passed the intermediate science exam and went to work on the railway where his father had worked. During this time before the establishment of the Ananda Marga Yoga Society, Sarkar built up a following. He was evidently able to look over his followers with his “omniscient power” and the ability to see whether they correctly observed yama and hiyama (the ten cardinal principles of morality). 10

In 1954 Sarkar told his senior sadhakas that he would be establishing a new organization and preparations went under way for the inauguration (by-laws and articles of association were drawn up), which would take place on January 1, 1955. On this date, Sarkar and his followers met at house 339 at the Rampur Rail Colony where he was instated as the organization’s founder-president. The organization took the name of Ananda Marga Pracaraka Samgha, “The Society for the Propagation of Ananda Marga Ideology,” which would be better known as the Ananda Marga Yoga Society. 11

The name “Ananda Marga” came from a relationship with saint Brghu. Saint Brghu had attained Brahma (infinite consciousness) after a long period of penance. From this infinite bliss, the universe and its entities were created. In this bliss (Ananda) everything flourishes and in the end everything also returns to Ananda and merges with it. Because of this, Ananda is the same as Brahma. 12

After the founding of Ananda Marga, Sarkar started to train missionaries to spread his teaching of “self-realization and service to humanity” (which became the motto of Ananda Marga) into India and the rest of the world, and in 1962 initiated the first monk (called Dada, meaning elder brother) of Ananda Marga. He followed this with the creation of an order of nuns (called Didis, meaning elder sister) in 1966. 13 In 1963, Sarkar established the Education Relief and Welfare Section (ERAWS) of Ananda Marga. ERAWS has created schools, colleges, homes for children, hospitals all over the world. 14 Sarkar also created the theory of PROUT (Progressive Utilization Theory) in 1959 which is a theory of how to end social and economic injustice in society and the world. 15

In December 1971 Sarkar was arrested and charged with murder which was later reduced to the charge of “abetment to murder” and had no trial for four years. When he finally had a trial he was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison. After Indira Gandhi fell from power in 1978 he was granted a new trial and found innocent. Sarkar and Ananda Marga have sparked much controversy due to its political activism. In the early and mid- 1970s, the Indian government considered the organization a terrorist organization that taught its members ritual murder. He continued to work to expand his philosophy and also Ananda Marga to the rest of the world until his death in 1990. 16

Because Sakar’s philosophy of “service to humanity” covers such a broad base of ideas, his organization is made up of numerous branches dedicated to different aspects that Ananda Marga focuses on, such as environmental awareness and disaster relief. Under environmental awareness, he used the term “Neo-Humanism” to define his belief that one should extend humanism to love for animals and plants as well as people. 17 With this belief, he established a global plant exchange program to save plant species around the world and also established animal sanctuaries around the world. Under disaster relief, Ananda Marga has created two organizations to help with disaster relief efforts. AMURT (Ananda Marga Universal Relief Team) and AMURTEL (Ananda Marga Universal Relief Team Ladies) were created in 1965 and 1977 respectively.

AMURT was first founded to help victims of the numerous floods in India but has eventually expanded globally to 80 countries. Each sector is independent (choice of projects and obtaining funds) but can obtain technical help from other sectors. In each country that AMURT exists, it not only helps with disaster relief but also works with helping to develop the country. They follow the method called “co-operative development” which is when workers of AMURT work with the people to help improve their situation through construction, agriculture, and water preservation. It also participates in social programs such as owning and running schools, renovating schools, training teachers, running children’s homes, and providing medical aid. 18

AMURTEL is the sister organization of AMURT and is geared toward the specific needs of women and their families and is also run by women. AMURTEL provides medical care for pregnant and nursing mothers, helps educate women in home industry such as tailoring, handicraft, and commercial food production, and also promotes effective birth control. AMURTEL also sets up relief and refugee camps, distributes food, medicine and clothing, provides cheap kitchens and nutrition classes, and aids underprivileged children by running low tuition schools. It also sponsors homes and halfway houses for children, the elderly, the handicapped, battered women, and also run cheap hostels for underprivileged students. 19

Today, Ananda Marga is a worldwide organization with centers in over 160 countries, including the United States. 20
Beliefs

The ideology of the group is universal and it stresses the unity of human society. Criticizing religions and other spiritual paths is strongly discouraged and the group has a strong commitment to bring progress to the whole of human society (and other creatures) by doing service to the suffering in all kinds of ways. To this effect, Sakar created organizations such as AMURT, AMURTEL, and the philosophy of PROUT to carry out the activities to achieve this progress.

His philosophy of PROUT called for economic democracy, which is maintaining human rights, and giving control of the economy to the local level rather than “a handful of leaders [who] misappropriate the political and economic power of the state.” He also called for the election of competent, educated, and moral people into public office rather than candidates who rely on money to win an election, a balanced economy by controlling industry on the local level, redistributing cultivatable land, and putting money into productive ventures such as railroads. Sakar said that science and technology should be guided by Neo- humanistic principles. He wanted the establishment of a welfare system and fair taxation, social and economic justice, women’s rights, and the creation of a world government with a global bill of rights, global constitution, and global justice system. 21

The group’s dislike of narrow-mindedness is very apparent in the philosophy of Neo- Humanism, which is the belief that one should extend humanism to love for animals and plants as well as people. This philosophy of Neo-Humanism is carried over into education through Ananda Marga schools, which are located throughout the world, including the United States. 22

Ananda Marga practices Tantra Yoga, and since it is considered a practical science (intuitional science of the mind). Yoga is an important practice in following Ananda Marga. Tantra yoga was founded by Lord Sadashiva who was also the interpretor of the Tantra which is a mystical tradition of Eastern India. Tantra means “liberation through expansion” and so the practice of Tantra yoga is to free one’s mind. Tantra yoga the universe is a part of Brahma which is the Supreme Conscious Being. It is said that Brahma is split up into two parts, the Eternal Consciousness (Shiva) and creative power (Shakti). All living things apparently identify with material and mental goods made by Shakti and are not fully connected with Shiva. When one becomes human they can increase their identification with Shiva, the Eternal Consciousness through meditation. By reestablishing equilibrium between Shakti and Shiva, a person can return to a state of Eternal Bliss or the state of Brahma. Brahma can be experienced through Tantra Yoga by exploring and mastering the mind to the point where it realizes its connection with Brahma. Tantra Yoga uses two ways to connect with Brahma. One way is by releasing a person from addictive activities and the other is to practice yoga. Yoga helps a person overcome their addictions and also deepen a person’s feeling of connection with Brahma. The end product is the experience of the Eternal Bliss. The correct ways of meditating are taught by Acharyas who give initiation and lessons on yoga as representatives of the Guru (God). 23

Ananda Marga uses the Sixteen Points 24 , created by P.R. Sarkar, which is an important system of spiritual practices, to help guide its followers to maximize their own personal growth. Although few people can actually follow the Sixteen Points perfectly, these practices can help balance the physical, mental, and spiritual parts of human life. Members of Ananda Marga are encouraged to try and follow these points as strictly as possible. Below is a basic outline of the Sixteen Points, provided by “Ananda Marga: Social and Spiritual Practices” edited by Tarak, but it is suggested that they should be learned from a person who has experienced them. The Sixteen Points are split up into two sections and are as follows:

Jaeva Dharma (Maintenance of Existence)

Use of Water
Water should be poured over the genital area after passing urine. Pouring cool water over this area counteracts this heat build-up and causes the muscles to contract, thereby entirely emptying the urinary bladder. The reason for this practice is because any residual urine in the bladder can cause a glandular imbalance and result in disease, excessive sexual stimulation, and general wastage of physical and mental energy. 25

Skin
If possible, males should be circumcised. This prevents many diseases and maintains all-round cleanliness. If not circumcised, males should clean and pull back the foreskin regularly, so as to prevent the accumulation of urine sediments. 26

Joint Hair
Hair under the arms, on the legs and in the pubic area should not be shaved. It grows naturally to provide a balance in body heat and is important for good health. Joint hair (armpits and genitals) should be cleaned with soap daily and oiled with coconut oil. 27

Underwear
Males should wear a laungota to protect the genital area, prevent excessive sexual stimulation and divert the seminal flow. Women should wear bra and underwear to protect the genital area, prevent excessive sexual stimulation and prevent infections. 28

Vya’Paka Shaoca (Half Bath)
This practice is done before meditation, meals, and sleep. To take a half-bath one systematically cleans certain areas of the body with cool water, the genital area, knees, calves, feet, elbows, lower arms, mouth, eyes, nose, back of the mouth, throat, tongue, ears, and back of neck. This is done to prevent build-up of body heat; it also helps relax the body creating an ideal calm state for meditation. 29

Bath
A full bath should be taken at least once a day. Cool water (all water used should be no higher than body temperature) should be used unless one has a cold. If one does have a cold, lukewarm water should be used in a closed area. Baths should be taken four times a day at very specific times, the morning, noon, evening, and midnight. The wet skin should be dried either by sunlight or light from a white light bulb. 30

Food
“It is preferable to eat sentient food rather than mutative food, while static food should be avoided.” The reason for this is that mutative foods contain stimulants and static foods requires one to kill an animal and is unhealthy for the body. Meals should be eaten at regular times throughout the day and no more than four meals should be eaten. Other meal etiquette should be followed such as not eating when one is not hungry, drinking plenty of water throughout the day, and eating with others rather than alone. 31

Bha’Gavad Dharma (The Path to Salvation)

Upavasa
Members of Ananda Marga should fast the eleventh day after the full or new moon (Ekadshii), and should not eat food or drink water during this time. A person that is pregnant or suffers from medical ailments does not need to fast. “Fasting generates willpower” and “generates empathy with the sufferings of the poor and also of animals and plants.” 32

Sa’Dhana’
This word defines the conscious effort that a person takes to achieve the goal of enlightenment. “An aspirant enters the realm of Sadhana by receiving initiation into the process of meditation.” This initiation is important to the life of a spiritual seeker as he/she learns about meditation, which is made up of a system of six lessons. Meditation is taught by an Acarya, or teacher and it should be done twice a day. As well as meditation, Sadhana is also made up of other spiritual practices. 33

Madhuvidya (also called Guru mautra) – It is the second lesson in Ananda Marga’s system of meditation. It should be performed before sleeping, eating, meditating, and bathing. 34

Sarva’tmaka Shaoca – Meaning “all round cleanliness.” A person’s body, clothes, and environment should be kept clean. A person should keep their mind clear. 35

Tapah – Meaning service. Sarkar outlines four services and one should try and perform all four types of service every day. 36

Bhuta Yajina – “Service to the created world.” One should be kind to animals, plants, and inanimate objects. 37

Pitr Yajina – “Service to ancestors.” 38

Nr Yajina – “Service to humanity.” There are four different ways to perform this: physical labor, giving financial support, physical strength and courage, and using one’s intellectual strength. Paincaseva (five services) should be done daily and can be accomplished by distributing free food, selling cheap vegetarian food, distributing clothing, medical supplies, or books and educational supplies. 39

Adhya’tma Yajina – “Spiritual Service.” An internal form of service throughout the day and during meditation. 40

Sva’dhya’ya – To understand spiritual materials fully. By reading Sarkar’s books, one is able to clearly understand what the goal to reach for is. By reading, one is also able to understand one’s own spiritual experiences. 41

Asanas (or Innercises) – These yoga postures should be done in the presence of an Acarya and done twice a day (morning and evening). 42

Pashas and Ripus – Individuals acquire eight pa’shas (bondages) as they interact with the world around them. These bondages are shame, fear, doubt, hatred, pride of decent, pride of culture, egoistic feeling, and hypocrisy. There are also six internal bondages, which are physical desire, anger, greed, attachment, pride, and envy. To control the internal bondages, Sadhana is used and Yama and Niyama are used to control the societal bondages. 43

Kiirtan – A spiritual dance that should be done before Sadhana. This dance loosens the body to help the ease of movement and also helps create a calm state of mind. 44

Pa’incajanya – Every morning at 5 a.m. one should follow the yoga routine of kiirtan and sadhana. This is the time when spiritual elevation can be optimized. 45

Guru Saka’sha – This means to be near the Guru. At dawn, when one rises, one should think of Guru and do internal service to him. 46

Is’ta – This term defines “the chosen ideal.” It is the goal of the Absolute, which is personalized for us. “No negative remarks against the Guru should be tolerated and duties given by the Guru should be followed.” 47

A’darsha – The term means ideology. “The path by which [a person] move[s] towards [their] chosen goal. [A person] should not compromise [their] ideology nor allow others to ridicule it without making an effort to explain [their] position properly and logically. One should read Baba’s books and become competent in the spiritual and social philosophy of Ananda Marga.” 48

Conduct Rules – One should strictly follow the Conduct Rules. These rules help during Sadhana by helping keep one’s ideation. Understanding and following of Yama, Hiyama, the 15 Shiilas (Social Conduct rules), the Supreme Command, the One Point Local (one should not compromise the sanctity of Is’ta, A’darsha, the Conduct Rules, and Supreme Command) and the 40 Social Norms will help one maintain mental equilibrium. 49

Supreme Command – This is the “fundamental guidepost for all Margiis to follow.” One should follow the Supreme Command strictly. 50

Dharmacakra – This is the weekly collective meditation sessions. In these sessions, one can be in the company of the Absolute Entity, or the Lord. “If one misses Dharmacakra, one should go to the jagriti (house of spiritual awakening) and perform sadhana that day.” If jagriti is also missed, a meal should be missed and given to a needy person. 51

Oaths – Every morning one should think about the oaths that they have taken and make the conscious effort to put them into practice. 52

C.S.D.K – Each letter stands for a practice that will help increase one’s knowledge of Ananda Marga as well as reinforces their spirituality.

C. Conduct Rules: One should know and follow these rules.

S. Seminar: “One should try to attend all seminars and retreats which are available.”

D. Duty: Any duty that is given by one’s acarya or another superior should be done happily.

K. Kiirtan, Tandava, and Kaoshikii: Kiirtan should be danced every day. Tandava should also be danced by men twice a day and Kaoshikii by women. Tandava should not be done by a woman. 53

Sarkar also called himself the “Leader of the New Renaissance.” In 1958 he established Renaissance Universal (RU). It was created to help raise social awareness of humankind and strives for universal peace. It is believed that art and science should be used for service and self-realization rather than negative uses (i.e. money and creating weapons), that the gap between the rich and the poor should shrink by improving the condition of the lower class, improving education, and promoting unity and cultural diversity. RU accomplishes this by participating in service projects around the world. RU is a global organization and has sectors in about 150 countries around the world. 54

The practices of Ananda Marga are not uncommon to other religions. One such group is the Self-Realization Fellowship. This group is older than Ananda Marga (founded in 1920), but the similarities are apparent. Ananda Marga and the Self-Realization Fellowship both share the philosophy of Self-Realization (that fufillment can be achieved from within) and both also practice yoga and consider it an important practice in their spiritual lives. 55
Bibliography

Ananda Marga. 1981. The Spiritual Philosophy of Shrii Shrii Anandamurti. Denver, CO: Ananda Marga Publications.

Ananda Marga. 1993. Shrii P.R. Sakar and His Mission. Calcutta: Ananda Marga Publications.

Anandamitra, Didi. The Philosophy of Shrii Shrii Anandamurti, A Commentary on Ananda Sutram. Calcutta: Ananda Marga Publications.

Anandamurti, Shrii Shrii. 1973. Baba’s Grace; Discourses of Shrii Shrii Anandamurti. Los Altos Hills, California: Ananda Marga Publications.

Anandamurti, Shrii Shrii. 1973. The Great Universe: Discourses on Society. Los Altos Hills, California: Ananda Marga Publications.

Anandamurti, Shrii Shrii. 1993. Discourses on Tanrta. Calcutta: Ananda Marga Publications.

Avadhuta, Ácárya Vijayánanda. 1994. The Life and Teachings of Shrii Shrii Ánandamúrti. Calcutta: Ananda Marga Publications.

Avadhuta, Shraddhananda. 1991. My Spiritual Life with Baba. Calcutta: Ananda Marga Publications.

Avt., Tadbhavananda. 1990. Shraddhainjali. New Delhi: PROUT Research Center.

Bowler, John. 1997. Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Devadatta and Nandita. 1971. Paths of Bliss, Ananda Marga Yoga. Wichita, KS: Ananda Marga Publications.

Dhruvananda. 1991. The Supreme Friend: My Days with Baba. Calcutta: Ananda Marga Publications.

Kamaleshvahananda, Dada Acarya. 1999. Yogic Treatment and Natural Remedies. Chiang Mai, Thailand: (transcript of his presentation at the 33rd World Vegetarian Congress).

Melton, J. Gordon. 1978 .The Encyclopedia of American Religions. Wilmington, N.C.: Mcgrath Publishing Co.

Sarkar, P.R [translated by Vijayananda Avadhuta and Jayanta Kumar]. 1990. Yoga Psychology. Calcutta: Ananda Marga Publications.

Tarak, ed. 1990. Anada Marga, Social and Spiritual Practices. Calcutta: Ananda Marga Publications.
References

1. Vijayananda, Acarya. The Life and Teachings of Shrii Shrii Anandamurti . Calcutta: Ananda Marga Publications., p78.

2. Vijayananda, Acarya. The Life and Teachings of Shrii Shrii Anandamurti . Calcutta: Ananda Marga Publications., p7.

3. Vijayananda, Acarya. The Life and Teachings of Shrii Shrii Anandamurti . Calcutta: Ananda Marga Publications., p7.

4. Vijayananda, Acarya. The Life and Teachings of Shrii Shrii Anandamurti . Calcutta: Ananda Marga Publications., p77.

5. http://www.anandamarga.org/books/index.html

6. Bowler, John. Oxford Dictionary of World Religions . Oxford, Oxford University Press, p.62.

7. http://www.anandamarga.org/- click on “BRIEF STORY” paragraph five.

8. Vijayananda, Acarya. The Life and Teachings of Shrii Shrii Anandamurti . Calcutta: Ananda Marga Publications., p6&10.

9. Vijayananda, Acarya. The Life and Teachings of Shrii Shrii Anandamurti . Calcutta: Ananda Marga Publications., p31&35-36.

10. Vijayananda, Acarya. The Life and Teachings of Shrii Shrii Anandamurti . Calcutta: Ananda Marga Publications., p40.

11. Vijayananda, Acarya. The Life and Teachings of Shrii Shrii Anandamurti . Calcutta: Ananda Marga Publications., p77.

12. Vijayananda, Acarya. The Life and Teachings of Shrii Shrii Anandamurti . Calcutta: Ananda Marga Publications., p81-83.

13. http://www.anandamarga.org/- click on “BRIEF STORY” paragraph two.

14. Ananda Marga Shrii P.R. Sarkar and His Mission. Calcutta: Ananda Marga Publications., p2.

15. Ananda Marga Shrii P.R. Sarkar and His Mission. Calcutta: Ananda Marga Publications., p4-5.

16. Bowler, John. Oxford Dictionary of World Religions . Oxford, Oxford University Press, p.62 and Melton, J. Gordon. The Encyclopedia of American Religions . Wilmington, N.C.: McGrath Publishing Co., p381.

17. Ananda Marga Shrii P.R. Sarkar and His Mission. Calcutta: Ananda Marga Publications., p7.

18. Ananda Marga Shrii P.R. Sarkar and His Mission. Calcutta: Ananda Marga Publications., p3 and http://www.amurt.org/About.html, http://www.amurt.org/development.html, and http://www.amurt.org/disaster.html.

19. http://www.amurt.org/Women.html, http://home1.pacific.net.sg/~rucira/amurtel/relief.html, http://home1.pacific.net.sg/~rucira/amurtel/children.html, and http://home1.pacific.net.sg/~rucira/amurtel/women.html.

20. http://www.anandamarga.org/- click on “BRIEF STORY”

21. Ananda Marga Shrii P.R. Sarkar and His Mission. Calcutta: Ananda Marga Publications., p4-5 and http://www.prout.org/Summary.html.

22. Ananda Marga Shrii P.R. Sarkar and His Mission. Calcutta: Ananda Marga Publications., p7.

23. http://www.abhidhyan.org/Teachings/Tantra_Yoga_Tradition.htm.

24. Edited by Tarak. Ananda Marga: Social and Spiritual Pracices . Calcutta: Ananda Marga Publications., p3-4.

25. Edited by Tarak. Ananda Marga: Social and Spiritual Pracices . Calcutta: Ananda Marga Publications., p5.

26. Edited by Tarak. Ananda Marga: Social and Spiritual Pracices . Calcutta: Ananda Marga Publications., p5.

27. Edited by Tarak. Ananda Marga: Social and Spiritual Pracices . Calcutta: Ananda Marga Publications., p5.

28. Edited by Tarak. Ananda Marga: Social and Spiritual Pracices . Calcutta: Ananda Marga Publications., p6.

29. Edited by Tarak. Ananda Marga: Social and Spiritual Pracices . Calcutta: Ananda Marga Publications., p6-7.

30. Edited by Tarak. Ananda Marga: Social and Spiritual Pracices . Calcutta: Ananda Marga Publications., p7-8.

31. Edited by Tarak. Ananda Marga: Social and Spiritual Pracices . Calcutta: Ananda Marga Publications., p8-9.

32. Edited by Tarak. Ananda Marga: Social and Spiritual Pracices . Calcutta: Ananda Marga Publications., p10-11.

33. Edited by Tarak. Ananda Marga: Social and Spiritual Pracices . Calcutta: Ananda Marga Publications., p11-12.

34. Edited by Tarak. Ananda Marga: Social and Spiritual Pracices . Calcutta: Ananda Marga Publications., p12-13.

35. Edited by Tarak. Ananda Marga: Social and Spiritual Pracices . Calcutta: Ananda Marga Publications., p13.

36. Edited by Tarak. Ananda Marga: Social and Spiritual Pracices . Calcutta: Ananda Marga Publications., p13.

37. Edited by Tarak. Ananda Marga: Social and Spiritual Pracices . Calcutta: Ananda Marga Publications., p13.

38. Edited by Tarak. Ananda Marga: Social and Spiritual Pracices . Calcutta: Ananda Marga Publications., p13.

39. Edited by Tarak. Ananda Marga: Social and Spiritual Pracices . Calcutta: Ananda Marga Publications., p13-14.

40. Edited by Tarak. Ananda Marga: Social and Spiritual Pracices . Calcutta: Ananda Marga Publications., p14.

41. Edited by Tarak. Ananda Marga: Social and Spiritual Pracices . Calcutta: Ananda Marga Publications., p14.

42. Edited by Tarak. Ananda Marga: Social and Spiritual Pracices . Calcutta: Ananda Marga Publications., p14.

43. Edited by Tarak. Ananda Marga: Social and Spiritual Pracices . Calcutta: Ananda Marga Publications., p15.

44. Edited by Tarak. Ananda Marga: Social and Spiritual Pracices . Calcutta: Ananda Marga Publications., p15.

45. Edited by Tarak. Ananda Marga: Social and Spiritual Pracices . Calcutta: Ananda Marga Publications., p15.

46. Edited by Tarak. Ananda Marga: Social and Spiritual Pracices . Calcutta: Ananda Marga Publications., p.15-16.

47. Edited by Tarak. Ananda Marga: Social and Spiritual Pracices . Calcutta: Ananda Marga Publications., p16.

48. Edited by Tarak. Ananda Marga: Social and Spiritual Pracices . Calcutta: Ananda Marga Publications., p17.

49. Edited by Tarak. Ananda Marga: Social and Spiritual Pracices . Calcutta: Ananda Marga

Publications., p17-18.

50. Edited by Tarak. Ananda Marga: Social and Spiritual Pracices . Calcutta: Ananda Marga Publications., p18.

51. Edited by Tarak. Ananda Marga: Social and Spiritual Pracices . Calcutta: Ananda Marga Publications., p18-19.

52. Edited by Tarak. Ananda Marga: Social and Spiritual Pracices . Calcutta: Ananda Marga Publications., p19.

53. Edited by Tarak. Ananda Marga: Social and Spiritual Pracices . Calcutta: Ananda Marga Publications., p19-20.

54. Ananda Marga Shrii P.R. Sarkar and His Mission. Calcutta: Ananda Marga Publications., p2 and http://www.ru.org/ru.html under “Principles of Renaissance Universal.”

55. http://religiousmovements.lib.virginia.edu/nrms/SelfReal.html under “Beliefs.”
Created by Angela An
For Soc 257, New Religious Movements
University of Virginia
Spring Term, 2000
Last modified: 07/17/01

ANUSARA TIMELINE

1959 John Friend, founder of Anusara yoga, was born.

1987 Friend left the profession of financial consulting to become a fulltime yoga instructor.

1989 Friend received shaktipat (spiritual awakening) from Gurumayi while traveling in India.

1997 Anusara, Inc. was established.

2010 Property was leased and plans began for “The Center,” a yoga and performing arts complex, in Encinitas, California.

2012 (February) A scandal erupted concerning personal and business choices made by John Friend.

2012 Anusara, Inc. restructured after the scandal and mass exodus of Anusara teachers.

2012 (October) Friend resumed teaching as an independent Hatha Yoga instructor.

2012 (November) The Anusara School of Hatha Yoga, a global teacher-led school, incorporated.

FOUNDER/GROUP HISTORY

Anusara® yoga developed under the inspiration and leadership of John Friend. In the early stages of developing the brand, Friend asked his guru, Gurumayi, about a name (Williamson 2012). She referred him to Douglas Brooks, a scholar of Tantra who teaches at Rochester University. Brooks was, at that time, translating the Kularnava Tantra while residing at Shree Muktananda Ashram, a major center for Siddha Yoga – a type of meditation-based yoga brought to the United States in the 1970s by Muktananda and now led by Gurumayi. Friend consulted with Brooks just as he was translating a sentence from the scripture as, “By stepping into the current of grace, the student becomes capable of holding what is of value from the guru.” The word anusara comes from saras, which means flowing. The literature of Anusara yoga translates anusara as “flowing with grace,” drawing on the larger context of the sentence. Friend continued to consult scholars of Tantra whom he had befriended during his stays at this ashram as he developed Anusara yoga, but Friend is the ultimate architect.

As Friend trained teachers in Anusara yoga, some rose to the top as stars, beloved by many students. However, John Friend was undeniably the virtuoso of Anusara, with his classes attracting thousands of devoted followers. In fact, he was adulated to such a degree that some considered him a guru. Friend, however, denies any status of enlightenment beyond the divine nature he believes everyone possesses (Author interview of Friend, 2010). In spite of this, a power differential developed over time between Friend and others – even those who worked closely with him in the organization. Some Anusara yoga teachers and leaders would later accuse Friend of abusing his power.

The road to Friend’s ascent as a hatha yoga guru began at a young age. His mother introduced him to stories of yogis, and he determined that he would someday acquire the powers these yogis had. He began the study of Hatha Yoga at the age of thirteen in his hometown of Youngstown, Ohio. His yoga teacher, a woman he simply refers to as Margaret, together with his mother, exposed Friend to an eclectic group of Eastern and Western esoteric teachings. Through his teen and young adult years, Friend studied the philosophies and practices of the Theosophical Society, Wicca, Sufism, New Thought, and Buddhism. His inspiration to deeply pursue the practice of yoga and meditation came, in large part, from reading the autobiography of Paramahansa Yogananda (1893-1952) in the late 1970s. For a period, he pursued the meditation techniques taught by Self-Realization Fellowship, the organization founded by Yogananda. From his teen years to the present day, Friend has been interested in the connection between physical movement and spiritual ecstasy. This was witnessed in his practice of Sufi dancing, but even more so in his embrace of physical yoga. T.K.V. Desikachar (Viniyoga style), Patabbhi Jois (Ashtanga Yoga style), and Indra Devi are among the yoga teachers under whom Friend studied. Of these, he worked most consistently with B. K. S. Iyengar, eventually becoming an instructor of Iyenagar Yoga and serving on the board of directors for the Iyengar organization.

Friend attended Texas A&M University, where he received degrees in Finance and Accounting, and upon graduating, he worked as a financial consultant. In 1987, he left this profession to teach yoga fulltime. While a student of Iyengar, he traveled throughout India in 1989. In Ganeshpuri, near Mumbai, he met Gurumayi, the head of a guru lineage known as Siddha Yoga. He received shaktipat (spiritual awakening) from her and shortly thereafter began teaching yoga courses for her devotees, primarily at an ashram in South Fallsburg, New York. There, Friend was exposed to different Hindu philosophies, including the philosophy of Tantra, which was to play a large part in his formulation of Anusara yoga.

In creating his own brand of postural yoga, Friend developed a positive teaching vocabulary. Phrases such as “lead from the heart” became emblematic of Anusara yoga classes and inspired students to view their yoga practice as a melding of the physical and psycho-spiritual realms. Friend encouraged students to perform their postures from an internal space of joy and peace. In training teachers, he instructed them to, “Communicate to the students on a personal or heart level, not to their outer bodies on an impersonal level” (Friend 1998:101). He also integrated the physical and pycho-spiritual by developing a theoretical framework that connects the muscles and bones of the body to circular energy systems, or “loops and spirals.” By developing a set of principles which “bring the body into alignment with the Optimal Blueprint” (Friend 1998:39), his approach stands in contrast to that of Iyengar, who worked more from the purely physical level. Friend fine-tuned and formalized Anusara yoga as he trained instructors and wrote a manual for the extensive teacher training process.

Friend organized large gatherings of Anusara yoga practitioners from 2008 to 2012 and also participated in the Yoga Journal conferences where his classes drew such a crowd that his image needed to be projected onto screens throughout the room. Anusara yoga’s presence also became well known at music festivals, such as Wanderlust. At workshops, conferences, and festivals, Friend tightened the association of Anusara yoga with Tantra by arranging for some former swamis of Siddha Yoga (Sally Kempton and Carlos Pomeda) and scholars of Hinduism and Tantra (Douglas Brooks, Paul Muller-Ortega, and William Mahony) to speak and offer classes. Later a younger scholar, also formerly associated with Siddha Yoga, Christopher “Hareesh” Wallis, joined the group and became a popular teacher among Anusara yoga practitioners. Those seeking Anusara yoga teacher certification have been strongly encouraged to study with any one or all of these teachers. Friend also began to incorporate Hindu chants into workshops, and several kirtana (chanting) groups regularly traveled with Friend, including Krishna Das, Benjy and Heather Wertheimer (known as Shantala), and MC Yogi. Friend included performing arts in these various gatherings through talent shows that featured music, dance, and drama. Some of the performances enacted hula hooping and light or fire twirling, which were prevalent at large festivals such as Burning Man.

Anusara, Inc. grew by leaps and bounds throughout the first fifteen years of its existence. At its apex, Anusara had approximately 1,500 instructors and 500,000 practitioners in seventy countries. All of this came to a grinding halt in 2012 – just at the start of Friend’s “Igniting the Center 2012 World Tour” that was to add yantras (sacred geometry) and pyramid power to the mixture of practices. In February, a website posted incriminating evidence against Friend, which is detailed in the Issues/Challenges section below. Currently, after a brief hiatus for self-reflection and therapy, Friend is back on a touring schedule, acting outside of the Anusara yoga organization as an independent hatha yoga instructor – albeit “one of the most knowledgeable and experienced hatha yoga teachers in the world,” according to Friend’s website (“About John Friend” n.d.).

As Anusara yoga restructured, new faces have come to the fore. However, with the lesson of the corrupting influence of power still fresh, no one person is viewed as having authority. Decisions are made through committees. Three licensed Anusara yoga teachers are now the owners and managers of the newly formed Anusara School of Hatha Yoga (ASHY) ®: BJ Galvan, William Savage, and Jane Norton.

Galvan has traveled extensively in the United States, Australia, South America, and Europe, apprenticing under Friend and assisting him with classes. She has been teaching globally since 2007 and played an integral part in introducing Anusara yoga in South America. Currently, Galvan leads bi-lingual Anusara yoga events and trainings around the world. Passionate about her yoga practice, she is also a Reiki Master, Hypnobirthing® practitioner, former commercial real estate developer, volunteer for local civic organizations, and a mother and grandmother.

William “Doc” Savage specializes in one-on-one yoga therapy sessions. He has been teaching yoga for five years after studying under many teachers, including John Friend, Adam Ballenger, BJ Galvan, and Martin and Jordan Kirk. Savage also traveled to India with Douglas Brooks in order to deepen his understanding of Tantra. Prior to teaching yoga, he spent twenty-two years in the U.S. Air Force. He and his wife, Donna, teach yoga in the Black Hills of South Dakota as well as regionally under the moniker Dakota Yogi.

Jane Norton, the third manager of ASHY, became hooked on Anusara yoga when a nagging wrist pain was cleared up after attending her first class in 2003. Like Savage, Norton specializes in using Anusara yoga’s alighment principles to help people recover from injury and chronic pain conditions. From 2005-2007,she toured the United States as Anusara yoga’s boutique manager. Norton lives on the island of Martha’s Vineyard and enjoys cooking, beachcombing, and gardening.

DOCTRINES/BELIEFS

Anusara yoga, as a form of physical yoga – also known as asana, hatha yoga, and postural yoga – is similar to other contemporary, global brands of physical yoga, but also has characteristics that set it apart. The practice centers around postures that are held with focused attention, accompanied by breath control. Types of physical yoga might be dotted along a line stretching from secular at one end to spiritual at the other. Anusara yoga’s placement falls toward the spiritual end because of its emphasis on developing “heart” qualities and, for Anusara yoga teachers, upon studying sacred texts from the yoga tradition of India. Required reading includes the Bhagavad-Gita, Yoga Sutras, Shiva Sutras, and Hatha Yoga Pradipika.

The philosophy section of the organization’s website states: “It is through the revelatory power of Grace that we awaken to the truth that this Divine flow is our essential nature. This higher knowledge naturally fuels our deepest desire to lovingly serve the creative flow of life through each breath and posture in our yoga practice. On our yoga mat we artistically offer our individual light and our unique music with the heartfelt prayer of adding more beauty, love, and goodness to the world” (“Philosophy” n.d.).

Friend developed his own philosophy of yoga when he realized that his views did not align with those of his teacher, B.K.S. Iyengar, who embraced the philosophy of samkhya found in the Yoga Sutras (Author interview of Friend, 2010). Samkhya is a dualistic system that divides the world into purusha and prakriti: the unchanging yet conscious spirit and the changing yet non-conscious matter. Because samkhya privileges purusha and thus tends to devalue the physical world, Friend favors the non-dual Tantric approach.

Tantra is multi-faceted system of philosophy and practice that developed in India during the Middle Ages. André Padoux provides a simple definition when he writes of Tantra as “an attempt to place kama, desire, in every sense of the word, in the service of liberation . . . not to sacrifice this world for liberation’s sake, but to reinstate it, in varying ways, within the perspective of salvation” (2004:15). The ultimate goal behind the philosophy of Anusara yoga is to leave behind ego-driven desire and align oneself instead with divine desire, or divine will, known as iccha. The specific form of Tantra that Friend learned during his time with Siddha Yoga is Kashmir Shaivism. Scholars from the Siddha Yoga tradition who have been associated with Anusara yoga align themselves with different sects of Tantra. Douglas Brooks proffers Shrividya Tantra, which focuses on Shakti, or feminine creative energy, and which Brooks teaches under the auspices of his newly coined Rajanaka Yoga. Paul Muller-Ortega aligns with Trika Tantra, which focuses on Shiva, considered to be an all-pervasive supreme reality inseparable from the creative power of Shakti. Muller-Ortega teaches his system under the moniker, Blue Throat Yoga.

Some confusion ensued for those Anusara yoga students who studied with both of these scholars. Thus, Friend coined the term Shiva-Shakti Tantra as a way to incorporate aspects of both sects, as well as his own larger worldview. Tantric scholar Christopher Wallis (2012) stated in an article for Bay Shakti that the terminology is “too broad and too vague.” The philosophy is indeed broad as it brings together Buddhist and Hindu Tantra, philosophies of China and Japan, Celtic and Wicca philosophies, and even aboriginal Australian views. The bottom line in all of these, for Friend, is that reality is orderly and good, and that all levels of life and the cosmos are interconnected (Coy interview of Friend, Bay Shakti 2010). Douglas Brooks and those Anusara yoga practitioners who followed his teachings objected to the newly articulated philosophy, eventually forming one faction that left Anusara yoga following the scandal disclosure. However, Shiva-Shakti suits the eclectic and loosely-defined Tantra that Anusara yoga represents. Former Anusara teacher Christina Sell expressed this potpourri when she stated in her blog: “Rajanaka Tantra lives within the world of Shiva-Shakti Tantra with no conflict although it has its own worldview, operating paradigm and points of difference. As do the profound teachings of Kashmir Shaivism that Paul [Muller Ortega] is bringing to life in his courses. As do the heart-ful teachings of Jesus, Budhha, Wicca and anything else that brings us closer to the direct experience of our intrinsic beauty, delight, and creative expansion” (2011).

Another aspect of Anusara yoga’s philosophy has to do with linking the physical body to the foundational principles of attitude, alignment, and action. Attitude comes into place before any movement begins as an Anusara practitioner “opens to Grace.” Grace is understood to be the revelatory power of spirit that animates the postures; it is a life force that opens one’s body, mind, and spirit. The second foundational principle, alignment, requires integrating the different parts of one’s being. The third principle, action, applies to “the natural flow of energy in the body” (Friend 1998:25). The concept of “shri” (beauty and abundance) also plays a large role in Anusara yoga’s philosophy and is said to unite spiritual and worldly aspirations.

It is the philosophy of Anusara yoga that unites its followers according to the organization’s website: “Anusara yoga is held together by everyone’s implicit alliance to the spiritual principles of Anusara yoga philosophy, such as celebrating beauty in all its diversity, truthfulness, and honoring the creative freedom of the Divine in all beings. Everyone is aligned with the truth that Grace plays the key role in the successful flow of their practice, classes, and the community itself” (“Philosophy” n.d.).

RITUALS/PRACTICES

Anusara yoga is built on rituals of the body that create a sense of community and connect practitioners to a larger cosmic reality. Words are used to link the body to the heart and to instill virtue. The body becomes the axis mundi toward which all levels of reality coalesce and which elevates the physical toward the spiritual. Each Anusara yoga class begins with an invocation that Friend had learned from his mother at an early age and which he encountered again during his time with Siddha Yoga. He asked Krishna Das to write a melody for the verses, which serve to unite Anusara yoga students from around the world. The Sanskrit words are rendered on the back of Anusara yoga invocation cards as, “I honor the essence of Being, the Auspicious One, the luminous teacher within and without, who assumes the forms of Truth, Consciousness, and Bliss, is never absent, full of peace. Who is ultimately free and sparkles with a divine luster.” (This is more of an interpretation than direct translation; the first words, for example, namah shivaya gurave translate more directly as, “I bow to the Guru, who is Shiva.”) If the class is being taught in a more secular setting such as a gym, the opening mantra may be omitted or replaced with a simple chant of om three times.

Following chanting and bowing to each others’ and one’s own deepest self with the word, namaste, the instructor relates a spiritual story or theme she or he has contemplated. This theme sets the tone for the class and is referred to throughout the session so that students perform the postures as much from inner inspiration as from outer willpower. The organization’s website states under Methodology, “Each theme gives a direction for the attitudinal energy that infuses every action and breath in the poses. Effectively, all the poses in Anusara yoga are expressed from the ‘inside out.’” The Teacher Training Manual offers suggestions to teachers as they create an intention for each class. Among these are: “Experiencing our innate goodness, joy, love, worthiness, or divine power through the poses,” and “Doing the poses as artistic expressions of celebrations of one’s spirit” (Friend 1998:93). Classes end with the corpse pose, or “final relaxation,” followed by a final namaste.

The class ritual is the face of Anusara yoga that has inspired people around the world. While mostly focused on the physical body,“opening the heart” is an integral part of the class experience. Following class, community is built in some Anusara yoga studios through chatting over tea. Some Anusara yoga kulas (communities) organize social outings and support each other in times of need by preparing food or offering transportation. Some groups also hold benefits to provide donations to non-profit service organizations.

ORGANIZATION/LEADERSHIP

The purpose of Anusara yoga’s organization – formerly Anusara, Inc. and currently Anusara School of Hatha Yoga – is to offer instruction and to certify teachers. In addition, the organization has profited from selling clothing, yoga props, and print and electronic media. Some of the books, CDs, and videos they sell were produced by their own publishing company. Two scholars have recently had their work published by Anusara Press: Christopher Wallis, who wrote Tantra Illuminated (2011) and William Mahony, who wrote Exquisite Love: Heart-Centered Reflections on the Narada Bhakti Sutra (2011). But primarily, the organization sells Anusara yoga itself. Andrea Jain calls Friend a “a second-generation yoga entrepreneur,” who “selected from Iyengar Yoga and Siddha Yoga and subsequently introduced, elaborated, and fortified the Anusara yoga brand” (2012:13-14).

Under Friend’s leadership, the organization reached its financial apex in 2010 when it took in $2.8 million, according to a memorandum prepared for investors in 2011 (Roig-Franzia 2012). At that time, Anusara, Inc. was attempting to equip an educational and performing arts center in Encinitas, California, which was to focus on practices and precepts of the yoga and Tantra traditions. Friend envisioned a community growing up around The Center in Encinitas (Author interview of Friend, 2010). According to The Coast News, Anusara, Inc. had signed a 73-year lease for the 8,269-square-foot building for $1.86 million in October 2010 (Cagala 2012). The scandal, in part, involves allegations surrounding the funding for this project, but an investigation did not reveal intentional illegal activity. The plans and the lease were dissolved in 2012.

At the time the scandal erupted, there were 1,200 “Anusara-Inspired” yoga teachers (having completed at least 200 hours of training) and over 300 fully certified teachers (having completed at least 500 hours of training, among other rigorous requirements) for a total of over 1,500 teachers. The number of practitioners was about 500,000. According to Wendy Willtrout, operations manager for Anusara Inc., this number was estimated based on the number of students John taught in a year, plus all of the licensed teachers’ students. Currently, Willtrout states, there are 177 certified Anusara yoga teachers and 656 Anusara-Inspired licensed teachers. Thus, the number of instructors was reduced in the months following February, 2012, by about 700. Some of these, including John Friend, have gone on to become independent hatha yoga instructors. A good number have joined a break-off non-profit organization called Kula Evolution. The rest are currently re-organizing to continue under the trademarked name of Anusara yoga.

All Anusara application paperwork, videos, and trademarks have been passed on to the newly formed school called Anusara School of Hatha Yoga (ASHY), a for-profit teacher-owned school, which will license teachers in Anusara yoga in the future. The school is run by licensed Anusara yoga teachers representing five regions: the United States, Canada, Central and South America, Europe and the Middle East, and Asia and the Pacific. ASHY’s European and Middle East region encompasses all of the countries in the European Union, Israel, and Turkey. Its Asia/Pacific region is comprised of Australia, New Zealand, China, Singapore, Japan, Taiwan, Korea, Malaysia, and Thailand. The Anusara School of Hatha Yoga will be the sole licensee of the Anusara yoga trademarks and will be the central global body to administrate curriculum and certification in these five regions.

Kula Evolution is the other main entity that has replaced Anusara, Inc. According to their website, they are not associated with Anusara yoga in any way. In their words, “By forming Kula Evolution we are pursuing a new path with a new organization that has grown from our experiences in this past time period. Phase One of our organization includes a simple network that any current or former Anusara teachers and supporting students are free to join. In Phase Two, we will be re-writing curriculum and teacher training materials” (Kula Evolution n.d.).

ISSUES/CHALLENGES

Criticism of Anusara yoga began long before the scandal of 2012. Some complained that its practitioners maintain a myopic focus on the positive that obscures a balanced view of the human condition. Tantric scholar Christopher Wallis, for example, referred to Anusara yoga philosophy as “Pollyanna” rather than Tantra (Author interview of Wallis, 2010). In an article for the New York Times, Mimi Swartz compared John Friend to Christian evangelist Joel Osteen (2010).

Anusara yoga has also been criticized for its consumer orientation, an assessment common to the yoga phenomenon more generally. Jeremy Carrette and Richard King, authors of Selling Spirituality: The Silent Takeover of Religion, argue that contemporary groups, including those promoting eastern practices, exploit people’s desire for spiritual experience for capitalistic gain. Furthermore, the authors indict “private spirituality” for its disregard of issues of social justice. Mimi Swartz stated that Anusara, Inc. was bringing in revenue of two million dollars a year, and that Friend paid himself a salary of just under $100,000 a year. This is not viewed as problematic by Friend who stated, “There’s no differentiation between yoga philosophy and business philosophy. We honor spirit, based on our vision that life is good” (Swartz 2010). In 2010, Anusara teamed up with a well-established vendor of yoga accessories to the benefit of each. A statement of endorsement appears on John Friend’s Blog: “With Manduka, I was able to ask, ‘What is important to me in a yoga mat?’ Wider. Light, to fold and fit easily into a day bag or suitcase. Produced in greater harmony with the earth.’ – John Friend” (November 8, 2011). Just as Friend has been accused of using his savvy business sense to form partnerships that might help him sell his products, he also has been criticized for teaming up with scholars and swamis for his own advantage in order to sell Anusara yoga.

The emergence of incriminating evidence against John Friend with the publication of a website, www.jfexposed.com, which appeared for a day and a half in February of 2012, was the final straw needed for some who had been questioning the direction of Anusara yoga to make a clean break. For others who were distant from the inner workings of the organization and who had little contact with Friend, the news came as a heart-breaking revelation. The allegations included Friend’s involvement in questionable financial practices, in sexual relations with several female employees, some of whom were married, in a Wiccan coven that used sexual rituals, and in using marijuana and placing employees in legal jeopardy by having them accept packages of marijuana on his behalf. More recently, Friend stated that, “Someone sent a box with marijuana to the office without my knowledge and it was opened unknowingly by an employee” (Personal correspondence with author, December 11, 2012). He also stated that “the coven never used sex acts as rituals!” (December 11, 2012). However, earlier he had a written a letter to one of the coven members with the statement, “As part of our rituals you and I both agreed that we would use sexual/sensual energy in a positive and sacred way to help build the efficacy of our practices, which is a common element of most Wiccan circles, as you know” (YogaDork 2012).

In February of 2012, the yoga conglomerate began to crumble. A group of senior Anusara yoga teachers attempted to meet the crisis by demanding Friend step down as CEO of Anusara, Inc. and immediately cease teaching. Friend was due to teach at a conference in Miami, and he continued with the plan, garnering yet more criticism from increasingly disenfranchised followers. On March 20, 2012, Friend wrote a letter of apology to the community of Anusara yoga practitioners in which he stated that he took full responsibility for “being out of integrity” by engaging in intimate relationships with married women. The allegation regarding financial indiscretion was dismissed as untrue, and the allegations regarding marijuana were not addressed.

Roig-Franzia stated in an article for the Washington Post that several teachers had reported that Friend had changed the ethical guidelines for the organization in 2009, essentially allowing sexual relationships between Anusara teachers and their students. Friend had formed a small Wiccan coven around that time with some of his students called the Blazing Solar Flames in which he was the only male. The “high priestess” of this former coven revealed in an interview for The Daily Beast that the rituals involving Friend and several women were sexual in nature. When she told Friend that she wanted to leave the coven, he implored her to stay, saying that the coven was the “battery” for Anusara yoga (Crocker 2012). It may be that Friend considered sexual energy the foundation of his charisma, an idea found in “left-handed” Tantra.

Amy Ippoliti, a former Anusara yoga teacher stated for The Daily Beast, “The model of working for a monarch can’t function in 2012. If there’s one good thing emerging from all of this, it’s people feel like they can teach without being connected to a brand. They know now that the collective is stronger than any one person’s view” (2012). John Friend still owns Anusara, Inc., which now functions as a holding company for ownership of the trademarks, all of which have been licensed to the Anusara School of Hatha Yoga. So the brand, Anusara yoga, continues even without its founder’s direction. BJ Galvan stated, “I believe on a global level, people are still practicing Anusara because the scandal was almost entirely an American phenomenon” (Personal correspondence with author, December 7, 2012). Andrea Jain attributes the brand’s popularity to its principles, stating, “What made Friend’s yoga brand stand out most was that it signified the idea that goodness is present in everyone in a life-affirming way” (2012:12). Whatever might be said of John Friend’s personal behavior, aspects of the spiritual practices and teaching style he developed continue to spread – both through those teachers who have left the specific Anusara brand and through those who continue to promote it through the Anusara School of Hatha Yoga.

REFERENCES

“About John Friend.” n.d. Accessed from http://www.johnfriend.com/about-john-friend/ on 10 December 2012.

Anusara Homepage. n. d. “Philosophy” and “Methodology.” Accessed from http://www.anusara.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=frontpage&Itemid=73 on 8 December 2012.

Cagala, Tony, 2012. “The ‘Center’ for Anusara Yoga no longer holds lease.” The Coast News, April 26. Accessed from http://thecoastnews.com/2012/04/the-center-for-anusara-yoga-no-longer-holds-lease/ on 6 December 2012.

Carette, Jeremy R. and Richard King. 2005. Selling Spirituality: The Silent Takeover of Religion. New York, NY: Routledge.

Crocker, Lizzie. 2012. “John Friend Anusara Scandal: Inside the Wiccan ‘Sex’ Coven.” The Daily Beast, April 15. Accessed from http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/04/15/john-friend-anusara-scandal-inside-the-wiccan-sex-coven.html on 3 December 2012.

Friend, John. 2011. “Part 2: Interview with John Friend-Dancing with the Divine, 2011 World Tour.” Bay Shakti, March 1. Accessed from http://bayshakti.com/part-2-interview-with-john-friend-dancing-with-the-divine-2011-world-tour on 8 December 2012.

Friend, John. 2011. John Friend’s Blog. November 8. Accessed at http://www.anusara.com/index.php?option=com_wpmu&blog_id=2&Itemid=250 on 11 December 2012.

Friend, John. 1998. Teacher Training Manual, 12 th ed. The Woodlands, TX: Anusara Press, 2009.

Jain, Andrea R. 2012. “Branding Yoga: The Cases of Iyengar Yoga, Siddha Yoga, and Anusara yoga.” Approaching Religion 2:3-17.

John Friend Homepage. n.d. “About John Friend.” Accessed from http://www.johnfriend.com/about-john-friend/ on 8 December 2012.

KulaEvolution. n.d. Accessed at http://kulaevolution.wordpress.com/ on 11 December 2012.

Padoux, Andre. 2004. “Tantrism.” Encyclopedia of Religions, ed. M. Eliade, Macmillan, 14: 273; cited in D. G. White. 2006. Kiss of the Yogini: “Tantric Sex” in its South Asian Contexts. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

Roig-Franzia, Manuel. 2012. “Scandal contorts future of John Friend, Anusara yoga.” The Washington Post, March 2. Accessed from http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2012-03-28/lifestyle/35450478_1_anusara-yoga-mats-web-site on 2 December 2012.

Sell, Christina. 2011. Blog, April 20. http://christinasell.blogspot.com/2011/04/few-reflections-on-shiiva-shakti-tantra.html accessed on 3 December 2012.

Schwartz, Mimi. July 21, 2010. “Yoga Mogul.” New York Times. Accessed from http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/25/magazine/25Yoga-t.html?pagewanted=all on 7 April 2012.

Wallis, Christopher (Hareesh). Feb. 28, 2012. “What is Shiva-Shakti Tantra? Did John Friend make it up?” Bay Shakti. Accessed from http://bayshakti.com/what-is-shiva-shakti-tantra-did-john-friend-make-it-up on 2 December 2012.

Williamson, Lola. 2013 (forthcoming). “Stretching toward the Sacred: John Friend and Anusara yoga.” In Gurus of Modern Yoga, edited by Ellen Goldberg and Mark Singleton. New York: Oxford University Press.

Williamson, Lola. 2012. “Methodological Issues.” Anusara is considered a “brand” rather than a system of yoga because of its trademarked status. Due the fact that over a thousand people worldwide have put in many hours of training as well as significant financial outlay toward becoming an Anusara yoga instructor, and many of them have recently left to teach on their own or to join a break off group, the registered trademark symbol signifies that it is the system that John Friend developed and that continues today under the Anusara School of Hatha Yoga, also a registered trademark.

YogaDork. 2012. “John Friend, Head of Anusara: The Accusations.” Feb. 3. Accessed from http://yogadork.com/news/john-friend-head-of-anusara-wiccan-leader-sexual-deviant-pension-withholding-homewrecker-the-accusations/ on 16 December 2012.

Post Date:
3 January 2013

APATHETIC AGNOSTIC (UCTAA) TIMELINE

1965:  While attending the Royal Military College of Canada, John Tyrrell first used the phrases “I don’t know and I don’t care” and ‘Apathetic Agnosticism’ to describe his religious beliefs.

1996:  John Tyrrell founded The Universal Church Triumphant of the Apathetic Agnostic (UCTAA) with the creation of a single, sparse page on his personal site. At the time, the webpage included only the three Articles of Faith and a disclaimer.

1996:  Later this year, the page expanded to include a Meditations section and a commentary on the Articles of Faith. The page was also placed on its own website.

1997:  A church membership option was made available.

1998:  A clerical hierarchy was established, with degrees and ordination being offered from the International University of Nescience.

2000:  There was an increase in interest in the Apathetic Agnosticism movement, with members wishing to become more active. This led to a number of new initiatives, including a Clergy Resource site, private message boards for members, and an outcropping of regional sites. Tyrrell purchased the domain names uctaa.org and ApatheticAgnostic.com.

2003 (January):  The Church was legally incorporated in the United States. The incorporation subsequently lapsed.

FOUNDER/GROUP HISTORY

Little is known about the life of John Tyrrell, the founder of the Apathetic Agnosticism movement. He was raised in an Anglican family in Ontario. He matriculated at The Royal Military College of Canada where he received his BA in Economics and Politics and later obtained his MBA from Queen’s College. From 1963-1994, Tyrrell served as a Logistics Officer in the Canadian Armed Forces (Tyrell 2012).

It took Tyrrell several years to arrive at the concept of apathetic agnosticism. After thoroughly considering several religions, he came to the realization that none of them successfully addressed the issue of any god’s existence. He felt strongly that “without being able to address that issue realistically, the whole belief structure collapses – regardless of which religion” (“History” n.d.).

When John Tyrrell first created the UCTAA page, it was simply a humorous exposition of his personal beliefs
and he had no  aspirations of it taking off. Today, it is estimated that UCTAA has over 10,000 members in over 40 countries, but no accurate membership records exist (“History” n.d.). Tyrrell is responsible for the bulk of the website’s maintenance. He personally responds to questions from the public, which he then posts on the site in a section called “Ask the Patriarch.”

DOCTRINES/BELIEFS

The term Apatheism (a portmanteau of Apathy and Theism or Apathy and Atheism) was coined by American author and activist, Jonathon Rauch. He defines it is “a disinclination to care all that much about one’s own religion and an even stronger disinclination to care about other people’s” (Rauch 2003). Rauch sees the rise in apatheism in America as a major civilizational advance and applauds the relaxed attitude that many Americans have adopted towards religion. In contrast with Apathetic Agnosticism, many apatheists do in fact believe in a god and do attend religious services. Although most agnostics are apatheists, not all apatheists are necessarily agnostic (Rauch 2003).

The key difference between agnosticism and apathetic agnosticism is that while both claim to not know if a god exists, agnostics may find the question to be quite important. Apathetic agnosticism stresses that agnosticism is an adequate end point in the search for religious belief. By understanding that the ultimate truth is inexplicable, “we can free ourselves from a fruitless search and indeed, no longer care about answering the question” (Tyrrell n.d.).

The Universal Church Triumphant of the Apathetic Agnostic (UCTAA) holds three fundamental “Articles of Faith:”

1. The existence of a Supreme Being is unknown and unknowable.
2. If there is a Supreme Being, then that being appears to act as if apathetic to events in our universe.
3. We are apathetic to the existence or nonexistence of a Supreme Being (“Faith” 2006).

The organization’s website states that “If you understand and accept these Articles of Faith… then you are an Apathetic Agnostic, whether or not you can be bothered to actually join the Church” (“Faith” 2006).

Agreement with the Articles of Faith is the only requirement for affiliation with the Church, and even that is a
loose rule. There is commentary on the website, but disciples are encouraged to interpret the articles as they see fit. According to the founder, the first article is based on the belief that faith is not the same as empirical knowledge, and thus there is no evidence for or against the existence of a Supreme Being. The only certain position on the matter is that we do not know. The second article proposes that if there is a Supreme Being, it is indifferent to our existence. This is contingent on the understanding that all events in our Universe are explainable regardless of the existence or nonexistence of a Supreme Being. The final article maintains that, based on the first two, there is no reason to trouble oneself with pondering the existence of a Supreme Being.

The aims of the church are as follows:

1. “We could be bigger than Scientology… if only we weren’t so darned apathetic.”
2. “To disseminate the concept of Apathetic Agnosticism as widely as possible. Being apathetic on the question of a Supreme Being’s existence does not imply being apathetic about the concept.”

These aims reflect that the church, while maintaining tangible beliefs and goals, does not take itself too seriously (“Aim” n.d.).

RITUALS/PRACTICES

There is very little ritual associated with the UCTAA. The Apathetic Agnostic Tabernacle Choir practices on Thursdays in showers across the world. Otherwise, the main action associated with the church is the dissemination of knowledge relating to apathetic agnosticism.

ORGANIZATION/LEADERSHIP

Preceding the creation of the website in 1996, John Tyrrell was the single member of the Universal Church Triumphant of the Apathetic Agnostic. In 1997, a membership option was made available, and in 1998 a clerical hierarchy was established. This is a very informal hierarchy as it is not mandatory that lower clergy take command from their superiors (“Organization” n.d.).

Presently, the Patriarch of the Church is John Tyrrell, the founder. There are several membership options offered, including:

• Basic affiliation: simply accepting the Articles of Faith, whether or not you apply to be a member of the congregation.
• Choir membership: an application is offered to join the Apathetic Agnostic Tabernacle Choir which takes place every Thursday evening in the shower.
• Congregation membership: provides a Bachelor’s Degree from the International University of Nescience and access to the website’s message boards. Degrees can be obtained in several disciplines including Apathy, Ignorance, Nescience, Agnostic Studies, and Spiritual Re-Engineering.
• Ordination: receive a Masters Degree and ordination as Minister, Pastor, Rabbi, Priest, or Priestess.

The role of the ordained clergy is to “help make information about the church and its teachings available to interested individuals” (“Ordination” n.d.). This can range from including a link to the UCTAA site on one’s personal webpage, creating a mirror website, or conducting an outreach program. Ministers are able to ordain clergy and conduct appropriate ceremonies, including legal marriage ceremonies in areas where their ordination is recognized by law. Ordained clergy are also allowed access to the Church’s Clergy Resource Site (Ordination n.d.).

ISSUES/CHALLENGES

As the Church is unincorporated, there have been concerns about legal liability. The potential for liability falls solely on John Tyrrell, the founder. While the organization strongly discourages monetary donations, the website does accept pro bono advice and representation from willing lawyers. This advice is accepted primarily in order to secure official recognition as a religion so that ordained clergy are able to perform legally binding marriages.

The UCTAA does not solicit or accept donations as a general rule. The founder of the website maintains the organization primarily out of pocket. This structure, along with the apathy of the adherents, has allowed the Church to remain predominately non-controversial (“Needs” n.d.)

REFERENCES

“Aim.” n.d. The Church of the Apathetic Agnostic. Accessed from http://uctaa.net/ourchurch/aims.html on 12 April 2013.

“Faith.” 1996. The Church of the Apathetic Agnostic. Accessed from http://uctaa.net/ourchurch/faith.html on 9 April 2013.

“History.” n.d. The Church of the Apathetic Agnostic. Accessed from http://uctaa.net/ourchurch/history.html on 12 April 2013.

“Needs.” n.d. The Church of the Apathetic Agnostic. Accessed from http://uctaa.net/ourchurch/needs.html on 12 April 2013.

“Ordination” n.d. The Church of the Apathetic Agnostic. Accessed from http://uctaa.net/join/ordain.html on 14 April 2013

“Organization.” n.d. The Church of the Apathetic Agnostic. Accessed from http://uctaa.net/ourchurch/organization.html on 14 April 2013.

Rauch, Jonathon. 2003. “Let it Be: Three Cheers for Apatheism.” The Atlantic. Accessed from http://www.jonathanrauch.com/jrauch_articles/apatheism_beyond_religion/ on 13 April 2013.

Tyrrell, John. 2012. “2012 Edition of the John Tyrrell Web Site.” Accessed from http://www.johntyrrell.com/about.html on 13 April 2013.

Post Date:
15 April 2013

ART OF LIVING FOUNDATION TIMELINE

1956 (May 13):  Ravi Shankar was born in Papanasam, Tamil Nadu, India.

1975:  Ravi Shankar gained a Bachelor of Science degree from Bangalore University.

1982:  Ravi Shankar discovered Sudarshan Kriya (the movement’s cornerstone breathing practice) during a silent retreat in Shimoga, Karnataka, India. He formulated the first Art of Living course, and founded The Art of Living Foundation in Bangalore, India.

1983:  Ravi Shankar held the first Art of Living course in Switzerland.

1986:  Ravi Shankar held the first Art of Living course in North America.

1993:  Ravi Shankar was excommunicated from Transcendental Meditation

1997:  Ravi Shankar established the International Association for Human Values (IAHV) In Geneva, Switzerland.

2006:  Art of Living’s twenty-fifth anniversary celebration was held at the Bangalore ashram, and attended by 2,500,000 million people

2012:  The campaign Volunteers for a Better India (VFABI) was launched, encouraging citizens to partake in nation-building efforts.

2013:  NONVIO campaign was launched by Shankar’s movement, to promote acts of non-violence through social media, and implementing non-violent principles in governance, health care and mass media.

2016:  A three-day World Culture Festival was held at the banks of the Indian river Yamuna, attracting visitors from 155 countries, among them 35.000 musicians.

FOUNDER/GROUP HISTORY

AoL’s guru/ leader/ founder Ravi Shankar (often referred to using the double honorifics Sri Sri, and his devotees often call him Guruji or Gurudev) was born on May 13, 1956, in Papanasam, Tamil Nadu, South India to parents Vishalakshi and Venkat Ratnam. The family moved to Jayanagar in Bangalore when Shankar was a small child. In India, Ravi is a fairly common name meaning “sun.” The name Shankar, however, is derived from the Hindu saint Adi Shankara, with whom Ravi Shankar shares a birthday.

The hagiographic accounts of Shankar’s childhood describe him in terms of the guru he would become, and in that sense, according to Stephen Jacobs (2015), they follow a very predictable storyline. These devotee accounts suggest that spiritual interests were evident in Ravi Shankar’s life from an early age. A well-known legend among devotees is that as an infant Shankar’s traditional Indian hanging cradle, supported by metal chains, fell to the ground. Instead of crushing Shankar in the cradle, the chains fell outward as if by a miracle of physics. The four year-old Shankar is said to have recited passages from the Bhagavad Gita, one of the holy texts of Hinduism. Likewise stories are frequently told about his young-age rebellion against the practice of untouchability and other forms of injustice, and his unwavering devotion to religious practice through daily pujas and Sanskrit studies. According to the hagiographies, Shankar was a studious and intelligent child. He preferred to write and study more than play, and he is said to have written poems and plays at an early age. Science was also an interest for the young Ravi Shankar; he graduated from St. Joseph’s College in Bangalore with a Bachelor’s degree in physics. However, for Shankar, [Image at right] this scientific interests and an ordinary life as a bank employee were not enough; he also became a scholar in Sanskrit literature, and ultimately chose to follow a spiritual path.

Art of Living literature tends to emphasize the favorable time of Shankar’s birth, his name, and his Brahmin heritage, thus orchestrating a hagiography to put him “under favorable skies in the eyes of Hindu believers. Furthermore, like many hagiographies, [the biography] puts emphasis on the predispositions and rare capacities shown by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar during his childhood” (Avdeeff 2004:2). The idea that Ravi Shankar was on a path to sainthood since he was a child, the “known fact” that he has attained enlightenment, and the numerous other stories that build up under his holiness, are all important within the organization. Alexis Avdeeff estimates that the majority of devotees believes in Shankar’s enlightenment, and believes that he became enlightened during a period of a ten-day silence in which he claims to have received the technique of Sudarshan Kriya, the cornerstone breathing technique taught in AoL. Ravi Shankar himself neither confirms nor denies the “rumors” of his enlightenment and divine inspiration. He rather maintains an ambiguous stance on the subject, through mystical utterances like “Many can cross with the help of the One who has crossed” (Avdeeff 2004:3). Shankar himself seems to extend this ambiguity and mysticism to his own biography. He favors the current moment and who he is right now, emphasizing how he has kept true to the child he once was, and, in good Peter Pan style, that he has never really grown up.

Ravi Shankar was introduced to Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and his Transcendental Meditation movement at a meeting in Bangalore when he was a young man (Gautier 2008). Shankar followed the Maharishi to his ashram in Rishikesh, spent some time there, and gradually gained the trust of the TM guru/ leader/founder. After “learning the ropes,” Shankar was gradually given more responsibility within the organization. “Although Sri Sri was very young, Maharishi recognized his abilities and put him to work. He was thus sent to various places to give talks on the Vedas and science” (Gautier 2008: 36). Ravi Shankar was also sent to various countries in Europe to continue his teaching and to set up centers for learning. He furthered his organizational talent through event management within Transcendental Meditation. Gautier states that even though very little is known about the time Shankar spent in the TM organization, he believes this to have been a formative period for Shankar as a young man. Through his stint in TM, Shankar seems to have learnt the necessary skills to start his own spiritual venture, which he named The Art of Living Foundation (Humes 2009: 295-96). It is also more than likely that Ravi Shankar based the name of his movement on one of Maharishi’s best-known publications, The Science of Being and the Art of Living (1963).

Throughout the years, both Shankar’s parents became deeply involved in Shankar’s trust, in the Ved Vignan Maha Vidya Peeth (VVMVP), and in running the Art of Living Ashram in Bangalore, India. Pitaji is one of his son’s most ardent followers, and the enormous meditation hall in the Bangalore ashram is named Vishalakshi Mantap for Shankar’s mother. Ravi Shankar’s father seems, among the family and personal friends, to be the most vocal about his son’s spiritual maturity, asserting that “He is both my son and my master.”

DOCTRINES/BELIEFS

Art of Living can be understood as a world-affirming religion, which, according to Eileen Barke, “embrace the world’s secular values and goals while using unconventional means to achieve these” (1998: 21). Through its many humanitarian initiatives, such as rural education and health initiatives, the NGO parts of the organization work hard to make the world a better place. The importance of humanitarian values within the AoL organization align with many other Asian NRMs, which often focus on socially engaged spirituality (Clarke 2006; Warrier 2005). This reinforces positive public relations, and reinforces the organization’s world-affirming ideas.

Personal and spiritual development goes hand in hand with social and humanitarian work in AoL. However, the Art of Living Foundation is primarily a religious/ spiritual organization, and aligns itself with a modern Hindu framework. The guru regularly performs Hindu rituals (pujas), and many Hindu religious festivals are celebrated in Art of Living’s Bangalore ashram. Gautier (2009) and Humes (2009) note that Ravi Shankar grew up in the Hindu faith, and that Shankar himself takes a devotional stance toward the supernatural. The Hindu practice of bhakti (devotion) is important in Shankar’s teachings of Divine Love. Ideally, love is ego-less, and this selfless love should be given to one’s fellow people, to the guru and to God.

Cynthia Humes notes that guru worship is important in AoL:

Shankar […] allows others to fawn over him as Hindus characteristically do to their masters – thereby locating his teachings within a Hindu mode of legitimacy, making him a popular choice in guru for Indians. Expressions of love and attachment to the guru is common in weekly Satsangs, “gatherings of holy people,” devoted to Sri Sri […] (2009: 384).

Fred Clothey (2006) states that in India a tradition of religious seeking and guru worship can be traced back to the times of the Upanishads (a collection of texts that contain some of the central philosophical concepts of Hinduism, written in Sanskrit ca. 800-200 BCE). This tradition is common even today. In the Bangalore ashram, when Ravi Shankar attends, there are large gatherings where the devotees meet the guru. These are interchangeably called darshan (where one sees and is seen by the guru), or satsang. Steven Jacobs (2015) translates satsang as “good company,” a time where devotees can spend time with their beloved Sri Sri. These events are immensely popular, and the large prayer/meditation hall is filled to the brim every night. Devotion to the guru is highly emotional, and is expressed through bhajans (devotional songs), as well as individual songs, poetry recital, and testimonials in open-mike sessions. Devotion to the guru is also expressed in the innumerable acts of seva (selfless service/ divine work) performed every day at ashrams, centers, and humanitarian projects around the world, by devotees and volunteers.

Teaching traditional knowledge and “ancient Indian wisdom” is an important part of AoL activity. This knowledge is a hybrid of traditional Hindu wisdom (for example through commentaries on Hindu philosophical texts) self-help rhetoric, and plain common sense. Milda Ališauskienė (2009) notes that

In this teaching, which takes the form of daily messages to followers that are later published, Shankar quotes various Hindu-origin concepts and Hindu writings such as the Bhagavad Gita and Ashtavakra Gita, which raises questions about the origin of his ideas. For example, in his messages about the laws of the nature he explains:

“There are three powers in nature: Brahma shakti, Vishnu shakti and Shiva shakti. Usually one of these powers dominates. Brahma shakti is a power that creates something new. Vishnu shakti is the power that sustains existence while Shiva shakti is the power that transforms, gives the life or destroys. (Šankaras 2001: 208)”

But at the same time, in his messages to his followers Ravi Shankar also uses concepts and metaphors from Christianity, thus making his teaching more accessible to a Western audience. (Ališauskienė 2009: 343)

One of the most important “learning strategies” in AoL is the guru’s daily messages to his followers, which are published online, and collected in books. These are called Wisdom Quotes, and in them Shankar states things like “Finding security in inner space is spirituality.”

Ravi Shankar finds legitimacy in historical religious traditions such as Hinduism, and to some extent Christianity. However, the guru himself is the main source of power and wisdom in AoL. Shankar is a charismatic guru, and devotees experience his person, his teachings and the movement’s practices as true and authentic. Also, by learning the practices and learning how to be a guru devotee, participation in AoL often entails some form of personal transformation. The idea is that people become happier, healthier, and better through associating with the organization, and in AoL personal transformation is closely related to notions of learning, healing, and religious experience. These ideas are not only important in Hinduism, but also in the modern, global spiritual culture, of which Art of Living is a part. Guru worship and philosophy is important in AoL, but courses (in breathing practices, yoga, and meditation), that is, practical learning, is how participants are taught and socialized.

RITUALS/PRACTICES

Art of Living beliefs, rituals, and practices are primarily drawn from a Hindu-inspired worldview, and so yoga, meditation, and pranayama (breathing techniques) are the core practices in the movement. The courses and techniques taught by the organization are more or less the same everywhere, and all teachers receive similar training. Usually two teachers, one male and one female, teach each course on offer.

Art of Living has much in common with its parental organization Transcendental Meditation. In addition to being guru-centric movements, “[…] both teach techniques which help to reduce stress, both have Hindu origins and both claim they are not religious but NGOs” (Ališauskienė 2009:3-4).

Both organizations teach a simple mantra -style form of meditation. [Image at right] The form of meditation taught in TM is based on mantras from Indian tantric traditions (Lowe 2011). A certified teacher gives the mantra to the meditator, and the TM style of meditation is said to be natural, modest and uncomplicated. The meditation technique taught in AoL is quite similar: Sahaj Samadhi Meditation (or Art of Meditation) is what the organization calls a “graceful, natural and effortless” meditation technique.

Both TM and AoL teach a set of simplified hatha yoga postures. Yoga is an important part of AoL teachings, but in relatively “mild” forms that are suitable for everyone. Yoga is taught in both introductory courses and in special yoga courses, is said to warm up and relax the body, and make it ready to learn and practice the movement’s cornerstone practice, the Sudarshan Kriya breathing technique. The most common yoga practices in AoL are Surya Namaskara (sun salutations) and a few other asanas (yoga postures) that are said to offer physical, mental and spiritual benefits. In addition, AoL has introduced their own playful take on yoga, called “village yoga.” This short program mimics the everyday work done by women in Indian villages, such as “sweeping with a broomstick,” “grinding wheat on a stone flourmill,” “washing clothes with hands” and “pulling a bucket of water from the well.” The rationale behind the village yoga is, most of all, physical benefit. Physical labor is strenuous and will exercise the body, even if it is done only as yoga exercises. However, village yoga can also be interpreted as a way of bestowing worth to the work that is done in Indian villages on an everyday basis. Perhaps it is also a critique of an urban lifestyle seen as unnatural compared to the “romantic simplicity” of village life. These techniques are taught to (mainly) urban, middle-class participants, with the explanation that “people in the village naturally perform yoga postures as part of their daily work [which] stretches their arms and waist as they breathe accordingly in rhythm. In the village people lead a far more healthy and happy life.”

The cornerstone of Art of Living practices is the breathing technique called Sudarshan Kriya (SKY), which loosely translated means “healing breath.” Shankar himself says that “During a period of silence, the Sudarshan Kriya came like an inspiration. Nature knows what to give and when to give. After I came out of the silence, I started teaching whatever I knew and people had great experiences.” Teaching the Sudarshan Kriya was the very reason Shankar founded the Art of Living Foundation, and to this day, the technique is taught in every Art of Living beginner’s course.

The world-affirming quality of AoL is found also in its techniques. “Salvation” is not found after death, but in this life. The “[…] ultimate aim [of SKY] is to change the world and people, to make people happier and enable them to live without stress […]. The elimination of stress is associated with a greater quality of life in society as it currently exists, but ultimately it also brings people to a qualitatively different existence.” (Ališauskienė 2009:343).

According to Ravi Shankar, the rhythm of breath is very specific. It corresponds to one’s emotions and body, and to the rhythms of earth and nature. For various reasons, these rhythms are often out of tune with each other, and it is the mission of Sudarshan Kriya to bring them back into harmony. The technique itself is a cycle of rhythmical breath, where the practitioner sits on his/ her knees, in the yoga position known as vajrasana. The body is relaxed, and the practitioner breathes through the nose. After the Kriya , the practitioner relaxes, and ideally enters a state of meditation where the mind and body is aware but deeply rested. The technique is taught in two varieties. The long Kriya is guided, often by a tape with Ravi Shankar’s recorded instructions, and is meant to be practiced once a week in a group setting. There is also the short, “everyday” Kriya, which ideally should be practiced every day. By controlling the rhythms of breath, the Art of Living teachings say that people can also control their emotions, their bodies and their minds. The organization provides an example: when one is sad, the breathing comes in a long and deep fashion. Likewise, when one is angry, the breath becomes short and quick. Because the breath corresponds to emotions, the organization teaches that one can use the breath to change emotions too. “It ( Sudarshan Kriya ) flushes our anger, anxiety and worry; leaving the mind completely relaxed and energized.”

One of the main characteristics of the many educational courses offered by the Art of Living Foundation is the aim to provide participants with a set of techniques, skills and knowledge through which they can achieve a better quality of life. Stephen Jacobs (2015) sees the AoL techniques as consistent with what he calls the “therapeutic turn,” concerned with individual health and well-being. Practitioners are taught ways of coping with mental and physical stress, and how to react to the stressful situations that arise around different tasks and demands in daily life. The techniques, which consist of breathing techniques, meditation and yoga exercises promise to improve health and well-being.

ORGANIZATION/LEADERSHIP

In the years since Ravi Shankar founded Art of Living, it has grown into a vast global religious/spiritual organization, with ashram headquarters in Bangalore, India [Image at right] and Bad Antogast, Germany. Creating a new religion can be a smart business strategy, and, in many ways, AoL functions like any multi-national company. The organization has centers and groups all over the world. Its participants are also customers, who pay for courses, retreats, and brand associated products (like books, DVDs, or Ayurvedic health supplements). AoL brand management is rather successful, which is reflected in the organization’s significant online and social media presence. Business-wise, it makes sense for a movement like AoL to use different “elements of successful branding [which] include fashioning visually striking material artifacts, instituting communally celebrated festivities, creating easily identifiable symbols that designate affiliation, and using iconography and public discourse in order to elevate the […] leader to near-mythic status” (Hammer 2009: 197). The guru can now travel comfortably around the world enjoying the fruits of his labor as a religious entrepreneur (Bainbridge and Stark 1985). While AoL does not attack competing movements, as many devotees have or have had connections to other gurus and movements, Shankar has been known to criticize other religious or secular leaders when the opportunity arises (Tøllefsen 2012).

As a guru organization, Art of Living is centralized and quite bureaucratic (Finke and Scheitle 2009) Local centers or groups have some autonomy, but the central organization provides worship- and course materials, a brand name and a common “history” to the local AoL branches. Local centers and groups throughout the world do provide some resource feedback to the central organization, but the power balance is clearly in favor of the head offices. This organizational structure also means that the movement is less likely to experience schism.

The leadership of the AoL organization is inextricably linked with the biography of the guru/ leader/ founder, who holds authority on many levels in the organization. One way of understanding Ravi Shankar is not only as a guru but also as a highly accomplished businessperson who has created a religious movement that in many ways is comparable to any multi-national company.

ISSUES/CHALLENGES

Like most New Religious Movements, AoL has faced some issues, challenges and controversies in its time. Among the most important are the break between Art of Living and Transcendental Meditation, at mass media and public relations, and politics.

An early issue was the public schism between AoL and Transcendental Meditation. In the early 1990s, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi excommunicated several young, charismatic, and high-ranking members of TM. Ravi Shankar and his ‘colleagues, Deepak Chopra and Robin Carlsen, had learnt how to run a spiritual organization from their guru, and had started their own competing spiritual ventures (Tøllefsen 2014; Humes 2009). From the time that Ravi Shankar founded the Art of Living in 1982, AoL and Transcendental Meditation co-existed and catered to a similar audience. Ravi Shankar was a teacher in TM, and considered Maharishi Mahesh Yogi his guru. Humes (2009) notes that Ravi Shankar recommended devotees in the U.S. continue their involvement with Maharishi’s organization, and he encouraged them to use the Sudarshan Kriya technique as complimentary to their TM meditation. Maharishi even supported Shankar’s teachings, as “TM practitioners were initially allowed to take his [Ravi Shankar’s] techniques and attend his courses” (Humes 2009:296). Ravi Shankar continued to work within the TM movement while setting up his own ashram in Bangalore and conducting his own courses on his newfound breathing technique. However, the conflict between the two guru-led movements peaked in the early 1990s, as TM began to adopt a hostile attitude toward Shankar’s organization. “[N]o overt action was taken by the TM movement hierarchy in the United States against Shankar’s programs until 1993” (Humes 2009:296). At this point, the devotees who practiced Sudarshan Kriya along with TM started facing sanctions, and when AoL workshops started to outrank TM in popularity in the U.S., “[b]rand loyalty to Maharishi was insisted upon” (Humes 2009: 302). Maharishi now faced the very real risk that devotees would leave his movement and spend money on the more affordable programs run by Ravi Shankar and Deepak Chopra (another ex-TM devotee and “rival Indian leader” who became a religious entrepreneur in his own right). Shankar and Chopra became obvious threats to the TM organization, and their excommunications represented an organizational defense based on competition for adherents and the need for maintaining organizational uniqueness.

Deepak Chopra was literally thrown out of the TM organization. However, the break between Maharishi and Ravi Shankar was less unexpected and less dramatic. Ravi Shankar seems to have kept his respect for his old teacher. Humes (2009) notes that:

The strong emphasis on guru veneration in the Hindu tradition has ensured that Shankar never openly criticizes or speaks out against his master Maharishi. But the affection seems to have been mutual: only when the Art of Living workshops threatened to become more popular than standard TM fare did Maharishi take action against Sri Sri in North America.

A contested point for New Religious Movements is often public relations, both in relation to mass media and to mainstream society. However, AoL is not a very controversial movement. Its philosophy and practices are quite “soft,” and geared towards the urban, middle-class. Although Art of Living is not mentioned very often in online or printed news, many of the headlines are quite positive. The most comprehensive source for positive AoL PR is actually the organization’s own webpages, where their press report archives go back a few years. The headlines build up under Ravi Shankar’s image as an ambassador for peace: “Global Humanitarian and Spiritual Leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Embarks on a Peace Mission to Pakistan” and “Karnataka lawyers boycott courts; spiritual guru Sri Sri offers to mediate.” AoL press coverage does not generally report that the organization is in conflict with the wider society. Rather, news reports have until recently covered AoL and Shankar entering areas of conflict in society (both nationally and internationally) in an attempt to spread a message of peace, and facilitate public discourse and communication. In more recent years, however, the public image of AoL has changed, and less positive reports have been published. The organization has faced criticism from bloggers and the conventional press both.

The advent of the Internet has yielded mixed results for AoL and groups like it. On the one hand, the public can easily find information on AoL and easily communicate with it and its devotees. An online media also allows organizations to exert control over their (self) presentation. This is very important for an organization like AoL, which aims to create a global spiritual and humanitarian community (Jacobs 2015). However, AoL also faces the problem of critique on the internet. In AoL’s case, the bulk of critique has come from online blogs run by disgruntled ex-devotees. The blogs accuse AoL of cultism (in the negative sense), and brainwashing. In 2010, AoL sued two of the most influential bloggers (“Klim” and “Skywalker”) for publicizing trade secrets, defamation, trade libel and copyright infringement. Only the trade secret issue could have been used in a trial. However, formal litigation was avoided, and in 2012 AoL and the bloggers reached a settlement through which AoL dropped the lawsuit, paid the bloggers’ lawyer fees, and agreed to initiate legal action against the bloggers again. The bloggers were allowed to remain anonymous, froze their existing blogs, but were not restricted from starting new blogs on the same theme.

The lawsuit against the bloggers was not a major issue in the “conventional” press. However, Art of Living Foundation has been criticized for other issues, such as land encroachment on a tank area in Mysore, Karnataka. The local authorities allegedly wished to fine the organization and dismantle the meditation center at the locale. However, Ravi Shankar’s political connections seem to have helped to prevent that outcome. A news report from Oneindia (2011) states that “Though a timely intervention by the then Chief Minister of the state, BS Yeddyurappa reportedly had saved Sri Sri and his Art of Living foundation from facing any legal trouble.”

More recently, AoL has been heavily criticized by environmentalists and concerned citizens regarding the environmental damage done to the Yamuna floodplain during the organizations’ World Culture Festival in March 2016. [Image at right] The Huffington Post reported extensive damage to water bodies and vegetation at the 1,000-acre festival venue, and a National Green Tribunal committee suggested a fine of 120 crore rupees (about $28,000,000). The fine was subsequently reduced to 50,000,000 rupees (a little over $750,000). A news report in The Diplomat reports “Sri Sri declaring defiantly ‘We’ll go to jail but not pay the fine. We have done nothing wrong’. The matter was ultimately settled after much hullabaloo with AOL coughing up a tiny fraction of the imposed fine.” The World Culture Festival and AoL’s political connections can, however, open the door to further analyses of the organization in a Hindutva context.

Hindutva (Hindu-ness) is a form of contemporary religious [right-wing] nationalism, where India is touted as the Hindu motherland, and where other religions (particularly Islam, but also Christianity) are referred to as foreign, and therefore, unwanted. Hindutva politics define Indian culture through a particular set of ”Hindu” values, and is strongly anti-secular. Hindutva politics has been adopted as the core ideology of the ruling right-wing nationalist party Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the party to which India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi belongs. The prime minister was a guest of honor at Art of Living’s World Culture Festival, and his party offered military services during festival preparations. Although Ravi Shankar is careful about how his political leanings come across to the public (often opting for PR on peace and religious dialogue), his organization seems to, as noted above, directly benefit from his right-wing political connections.

Ravi Shankar’s nationalist politics are in some contexts highly visible. For example, regarding the Ayodhya dispute over the Ram temple/Babri Masjid, Meera Nanda (2011) notes that Sri Sri

hides a Hindu nationalist passion behind the carefully cultivated image of playfulness, love, and joy. He has repeatedly displayed his Hindutva colours on matters of the Ram mandir and minorities. The British magazine The Economist described his politics quite accurately: ‘Art of Living is open to people of all faiths. But, in fact, discussing the Ram temple, its guru starts to sound less like a spiritual leader and more like a politician, talking about the long history of “appeasement of the minority community”’ […] (2011:100).

IMAGES

Image #1: Photograph of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, founder of the Art of Living Foundation.

Image #2: Image of an Art of Living Foundation devotee in a meditation position.

Image #3: Photograph of the central Art of Foundation ashram in Bangalore, India.

Image #4: Photograph of land in the Yamuna floodplain where the Art of Living Foundation’s World Culture Festival caused environmental damage in 2016.

REFERENCES

Ališauskienė, Milda. 2009. “Spirituality and Religiosity in the Art of Living Foundation in Lithuania and Denmark: Meanings, Contexts and Relationships.” Pp. 339-64 in Subcultures and New Religious Movements in Russia and East-Central Europe, edited by George M cKay and Christopher Williams. Oxford: Peter Lang.

Avdeeff, Alexis. 2004. “Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and the Art of Spreading Awareness over the World.” Journal of Dharma XXIX:321-35.

Bainbridge, William Sims and Stark, Rodney.1985. “Cult Formation: Three Compatible Models.” Pp. 171-88 in The Future of Religion . Berkeley: University of California Press.

Barker, Eileen. 1998. “New Religions and New Religiosity.” Pp. 10-27 in New Religions and New Religiosity, edited by Eileen Barker and Margit Warburg. RENNER Studies on New Religions. Aarhus: Aarhus University Press.

Clarke, Peter. 2006. Encyclopedia of New Religious Movements. London and New York: Routledge.

Clothey, Fred W. 2006. Religion in India, A Historical Introduction. London and New York: Routledge.

Finkle, Roger and Christopher P. Scheitle. 2009. “Understanding Schisms: Theoretical Explanations for their Origins.” Pp. 11-34 in Sacred Schisms, How Religions Divide, edited by James Lewis and Sarah Lewis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Gautier, François. 2008. The Guru of Joy: Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and the Art of Living. Carlsbad, CA: Hay House.

Hammer, Olav. 2009. “Schism and Consolidation: the Case of the Theosophical Movement.” Pp. 196-217 in Sacred Schisms, How Religions Divide, edited by James Lewis and Sarah Lewis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

Humes, Cynthia Ann. 2009. “Schisms within Hindu Guru Groups: the Transcendental Meditation Movement in North America.” Pp. 372-96, in Sacred Schisms, How Religions Divide, edited by James Lewis and Sarah Lewis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Jacobs, Stephen. 2015. The Art of Living Foundation: Spirituality and Wellbeing in the Global Context. Ashgate New Religions series. Oxford and New York: Routledge

Nanda, Meera. 2011. The God Market. How Globalization Is Making India More Hindu. New York: Monthly Review Press.

Tøllefsen, Inga Bårdsen. 2014.  “Transcendental Meditation, the Art of Living Foundation, and Public Relations: From Psychedelic Romanticism to Science and Schism.” Pp. 145-59 in Controversial New Religions, edited by James Lewis and Jesper Petersen. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Tøllefsen, Inga Bårdsen. 2012.  “Notes on the Demographical Profiles of Art of Living Practitioners in Norway and Abroad.” Alternative Spirituality and Religion Review 3:74-101.

Warrier, Maya. 2005. Hindu Selves in a Modern World: Guru Faith in the Mata Amritanandamayi Mission. London and New York: RoutledgeCurzon.

Post Date:
10 June 2016

ASSEMBLIES OF GOD (AOG) TIMELINE

1885-1900 Healing and Holiness revivals swept through the U.S., laying a foundation for the emergence of Pentecostalism.

1901 Agnes Ozman spoke in tongues in a prayer meeting led by Charles Fox Parham (1873-1929) in Topeka, Kansas.

1906-1909 The Azusa Street Revival in Los Angeles was launched by William Joseph Seymour (1870-1922), African American son of former slaves. The revival is commonly regarded as the birthplace of the Pentecostal movement.

1913 Eudorus N. Bell, Howard Goss, Daniel C.O. Opperman, Archibald P. Collins, and Mack M. Pinson initiated a call to a general council.

1914 The First General Council of the Assemblies of God was held in Hot Spring, Arkansas.

1916 The Fourth General Council of the Assemblies of God that was held in St. Louis adopted the Statement of Fundamental Truths.

1920 Women were granted permission to vote at General Councils.

1935 Women were granted full ordination by the AG, permitting them to administer the ordinances of baptism and communion “when such acts are necessary.”

1942 The Assemblies of God joined the newly founded National Association of Evangelicals.

1948 The all-white Pentecostal Fellowship in North America (PFNA) was established.

Late 1940s The New Order of the Latter Rain (‘Latter Rain Revival’) sought to revitalize Pentecostalism.

1960s The Charismatic Movement in Mainline Protestant and Catholic Churches experienced significant growth.

1962 David du Plessis (“Mr. Pentecost”) was stripped of AG ministerial credentials

1989 The World Pentecostal Assemblies of God Fellowship, representing national Pentecostal churches that were historically connected to the AG, was founded.

1993 The World Pentecostal Assemblies of God Fellowship became the World Assemblies of God Fellowship.

1994 The “Memphis Miracle” and racial reconciliation; the all-white Pentecostal Fellowship of North American (PFNA) was replaced with the integrated Pentecostal Charismatic Churches of North America (PCCNA).

2006 The AG established the Office of Hispanic Relations; the Spanish version of the Pentecostal Evangel (Evangelio Pentecostal) began publication.

FOUNDER/GROUP HISTORY

The seeds for the General Council of the Assemblies of God (AG) were planted by the affective experiences common to the religious revivals that swept through the American heartland in the twilight of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries (Poloma 1989; Poloma and Green 2010). Revivalists claimed not only personal spiritual transformation but divine empowerment for Christian service. This empowerment was frequently marked by strange physical manifestations, reported miracles, new theologies, and a burning desire to spread the gospel before Jesus returns. Many would separate from their old denominations (or were kicked out) as they embraced the “‘four-fold’ gospel of personal salvation, Holy Ghost baptism, divine healing, and the Lord’s soon return.” It became the theological base for scores of small sects, including the AG (Wacker 2001:1).

The fourfold gospel demanded more than an intellectual assent. Reports of salvation, repenting and accepting Jesus as the divine reconciler, were filled with stories of unusual encounters with the divine. Baptism in the Holy Spirit, an intense experience available to all who had experienced salvation, was marked by the peculiar “evidence” of speaking in tongues (glossolalia). Thus, at the heart of this fourfold gospel were paranormal experiences (divine healing, prophecy, miracles, speaking in tongues and other signs and wonders) biblically reported by the early Christian church. Such experiences were believed to empower the believer for the mission of spreading the gospel throughout the world in the “last days” before the righteous were raptured into heavens and Jesus would come to judge the unrighteous.

America has always had its revivals accompanied by the turbid emotionalism of heart-felt religion, accounts of which seemed to intensify as the nineteenth century came to a close (McClymond 2007). To the countless emotional stories of personal salvation that marked the first four decades of the nineteenth century were added testimonies of miraculous healings in the latter half. Healing evangelists were modeling divine healing in revivals and teaching that Jesus had given his followers the commission and power to “heal the sick.” Many of these nineteenth-century healing revivalists and their followers would come to identify with Pentecostalism, a twentieth century religious movement that now accounts for more than one half billion Christians worldwide.

Although historians agree that pentecostal revivals occurred in parts of the world other than the United States, most also concede that the U.S. was one of, if not the major player in the birth of global Pentecostalism. They further concede that Charles Fox Parham provided a critical theological plank that differentiated Pentecostalism from other Protestant revivals and from the fundamentalist movement. Clearly the healing movement of the late nineteenth century paved the way for Pentecostal experiences, but not all who embraced divine healing would become Pentecostal. It was Parham’s theological linking of the “baptism in the Holy Ghost” to the “evidence” of speaking in tongues (glossolalia) that separated Pentecostals from critics who did not accept the validity of equating what they pejoratively labeled “gibberish” with biblical accounts of “speaking in tongues.” In 1901 Agnes Ozman, a student at Parham’s College of Bethel, a Bible school for adults, added credence to Parham’s theology when she was heard to speak in tongues, an event that many contend launched the Pentecostal movement (Seymour, 2012; Hollenweger 1997; Robeck 2006).

It is fair to say, however, that Charles Parham might not have had a major place in the history of Pentecostalism without William Joseph Seymour, the African American pastor of the Azusa Street Mission in Los Angeles. Seymour, the son of former slaves (born in 1870 in southern Louisiana) was involved in nineteenth century revivals emanating

from the Wesleyan Holiness Movement between 1895 and 1905. During a visit to Houston in 1905, Seymour came into contact with Parham, and in January, 1906 Seymour would return to Houston where he enrolled in a six week course at Parham’s Bible school. [Because of segregation laws, the black Seymour sat in the hallway while white students were enjoying the lectures in an adjoining classroom.] Seymour went to Los Angeles in February, 1906 in response to a request by a leader of a small Baptist storefront mission that had embraced the teachings of the holiness movement. After Seymour presented Parham’s controversial teachings on Spirit baptism and tongues, he found himself locked out of the church. For several weeks Seymour was forced to limit his teachings to a house where he was staying on Bonnie Brae Street. There a seedling revival erupted when people began experiencing the baptism and tongues (Seymour 2012; Blumhofer and Armstrong 2002). To accommodate the greater numbers coming to the meeting, the group relocated at a former Methodist church on Azusa Street in April, 2006 (Seymour 2012; Bartleman 2012). The meeting on Bonnie Brae Street would soon morph into the Azusa Street Revival, arguably the most important event in the early development of the global Pentecostal movement. Although the secular press did not take kindly to the revival, it did take note. Church historian Cecil M. Robeck (2006:1) opens his excellent book on the Azusa Street Revival with the following colorful, if pejorative, news report from the Los Angeles Herald that depicts the Revival through the eyes of the reporter:

All classes gathered in the temple last night. There were big Negroes looking for a fight, there were little fairies dressed in dainty chiffon who stood on the benches and looked on with questioning wonder in their baby-blue eyes. There were cappers from North Alameda Street, and sedate dames from West Adams Street. There were all ages, sexes, colors, nationalities and previous conditions of servitude. The rambling old barn was filled and the rafters were so low that it was necessary to stick one’s nose under the benches to get a breath of air.

It was evident that nine out of every ten persons present was there for the purpose of new thrills. This was a new kind of show in which the admission was free—they don’t even pass the hat at the Holy Rollers’ meeting—and they wanted to see every act to the drop of the curtain. They stood on benches to do it. When a bench wasn’t handy, they stood on each other’s feet.

From 1906 through1909 Seymour’s Azusa Street Mission would become a focus of religious news not only for the faithful in Los Angeles, but for countless people across the globe. Accounts and myths about the revival spread long after the revival fires on Azusa Street were reduced to a flickering flame. Many who were touched by the revival would carry the Parham’s theology and Seymour’s revival throughout the United States and beyond. Upon visiting Azusa Street, however, Parham, rejected the revival because of what he considered to be the “extremes” in the revival that he credited to “Negro” religion (Bartleman 2012).

Although the revival fires waned by 1909, Seymour continued to pastor the Mission until his death in 1922. But as we have suggested, this was hardly the end of the story. Revival fires carried by Azusa Street pilgrims to myriads of congregations and scores of small sects both nationally and internationally (Bartleman 2012; Seymour 2012). Its paranormal religious experiences also pentecostalized some existing denominations. Most noteworthy was the pentecostalization of the Church of God in Christ (COGIC), still predominantly African American and now the fifth largest American denomination.

But many white revivalists were turned off to what they regarded as the extremes of the Azusa Street Mission remained affiliated with Charles Parham’s Apostolic Faith Movement (AFM). By 1913, however, some affiliates of the AFM became concerned about whether the network had become too organized under Parham’s leadership to allow for the vitality of an “end-times revival.” As AG historian Edith Blumhoffer (1993:116) described it: “Troubled by excess yet committed to life ‘in the Spirit,’ they decided to explore the advantage of cooperating as a loosely structured network that would preserve their autonomy but also provide a forum for consideration of mutual concerns.” [An interesting lived-account of this period can be found in Ethel Goss’s (1958) book penned by her husband Howard Goss about his involvement in the revival and the founding of the Assemblies of God.]

In 1913, five ministers (Eudorus N. Bell, Howard Goss, Daniel C.O. Opperman, Archibald P. Collins, and Mack M. Pinson, men who were affiliated with the loosely organized white Churches of God in Christ) initiated a call to a “general council” through various Pentecostal publications. Within the next three months the names of twenty nine other leaders representing different parts of the country and pentecostal perspectives were added to this original list. On April 6, 1914, the first meeting of the General Council, hosted by Howard Goss and his congregation, opened at the Grand Old Opera House in Hot Springs, Arkansas, where Goss and his wife settled and began an Assembly in 1912. E. N. Bell [who, according to Goss’ (1958) account collaborated closely with him] and J. R. Flower were appointed as chairman and secretary (Blumhoffer 1989). Although still wary of formal organization and decreed doctrine, those gathered sought a greater degree of cooperation in missionary activities, better business practices in their use of existing resources, and the establishment of a Bible training center. Of this endeavor to bring some order and accountability to the newly emerging Pentecostal movement, Goss (1958; chapter 27) would write:

As our numbers increased, the influx brought with it leaders who did not believe in organization at all; some even preached that anything of that nature (when committed to paper) was of the devil. Opposing this viewpoint was the definite system existing in the New Testament church under the Apostles. As we were all inexperienced, we were carefully testing every step, lest we somehow lose our precious fellowship with God.

As he continued his account Goss (1958; chapter 28) commented, “The smile of God seemed ot be on this union of many segments.” He went on to explain:

Whatever adjustments were needed were quickly, easily, and sweetly settled to everyone’s satisfaction. When those among us, who had doubted that the Conference would work out satisfactorily, saw how easily God had carried us past the shoals and hidden snags, they felt a mounting confidence in God and decided to co-operate. I think that what we Pentecostal people want to know, anyway, is that God is in any undertaking, and if He is, we are satisfied.

But despite perceptions of divine approval not all was well in this emergent network that eschewed both doctrine and structure. By 1916 the AG would lose an approximated quarter of its supporters due to an unacceptable “heresy” known as the “New Issue” that questioned the doctrine of the divine trinity. Although the initial two General Councils had been reluctant to deal with potentially divisive doctrine, the leaders were now forced to rethink the need for a basic statement of belief. Contributing more fuel to the doctrinal fire was the growing controversy over whether speaking in tongues was in fact “evidence” of Spirit baptism, as Parham and Seymour had taught (Blumhoffer and Armstrong 2002). The fourth General Council of the Assemblies of God held in St. Louis in 1916 would affirm Trinitarian theology within a doctrinal statement that adopted a list of sixteen “fundamentals.” The identity it espoused was “fundamentalism with a difference.” The two named points of “difference,” divine healing by the atonement and speaking in tongues as evidence of Spirit baptism, paradoxically would make the AG not only distinct from but also anathema to the twentieth century fundamentalist movement. Pentecostals, including members of the AG, became the target of the World’s Christian Fundamentals Association (WCFA), as illustrated by its resolution stating the WCFA was “unreservedly opposed to Modern Pentecostalism, including the speaking in unknown tongues, and the fanatical healing known as general healing in the atonement” (Blumhoffer 1993:159-60).

By 1920, a basic foundation had been laid by congregational leaders that proved to serve well the U.S. Assemblies of God as well as an emerging global network of AG congregations, which in 1993 would become known as the World Assemblies of God Fellowship. [The AG in the U.S. is but one of more than 150 national fellowships in the world’s largest Pentecostal network with over 65 million adherents .] Although originally rejected by fundamentalist congregations and isolated from other conservative denominations and sects (including other Pentecostal groups), the AG quietly continued on a path of steady growth. In 1942, the AG accepted an invitation to join the newly formed National Association for Evangelicals (NAE), a conservative umbrella organization that was able to overlook the doctrinal “differences” of glossolalia and healing. Despite some internal opposition within the AG to joining the NAE, leaders of the AG “embraced the vision of strength through unity” promised by this new evangelical organization that had tempered Fundamentalism’s antipathy toward Pentecostalism (Blumhofer 1993:184).

DOCTRINES/BELIEFS

Despite their initial resistance to a doctrinal statement, early leaders felt forced to adopt a common statement of faith in order toconfront what they regarded as major heresy. The Statement of Fundamental Truths (SFT) adopted in 1918 is a description of sixteen doctrinal statements that drew heavily on early fundamentalist confessions of faith. The AG founders added “healing by the atonement” and tongues as “initial evidence” providing a pentecostal twist to fundamentalist beliefs. The following is a summary of the 16 Fundamental Truths as presented by the denomination, as “nonnegotiable tenets of faith that all Assemblies of God churches adhere to” (Assemblies of God n.d.).

1. WE BELIEVE… The Scriptures are Inspired by God and declare His design and plan for mankind.
2. WE BELIEVE… There is only One True God–revealed in three persons…Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (commonly known as the Trinity).
3. WE BELIEVE… In the Deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. As God’s son Jesus was both human and divine.
4. WE BELIEVE…though originally good, Man Willingly Fell to Sin–ushering evil and death, both physical and spiritual, into the world.
5. WE BELIEVE… Every Person Can Have Restored Fellowship with God Through ‘Salvation’ (trusting Christ, through faith and repentance, to be our personal Savior). [1 of 4 cardinal doctrines of the AG]
6. WE BELIEVE…and practice two ordinances—(1) Water Baptism by Immersion after repenting of one’s sins and receiving Christ’s gift of salvation, and (2) Holy Communion (the Lord’s Supper) as a symbolic remembrance of Christ’s suffering and death for our salvation.
7. WE BELIEVE… the Baptism in the Holy Spirit is a Special Experience Following Salvation that empowers believers for witnessing and effective service, just as it did in New Testament times. [1 of 4 cardinal doctrines of the AG]
8. WE BELIEVE… The Initial Physical Evidence of the Baptism in the5 Holy Spirit is ‘Speaking in Tongues,’ as experienced on the Day of Pentecost and referenced throughout Acts and the Epistles.
9. WE BELIEVE… Sanctification Initially Occurs at Salvation and is not only a declaration that a believer is holy, but also a progressive lifelong process of separating from evil as believers continually draw closer to God and become more Christlike.
10. WE BELIEVE… The Church has a Mission to seek and save all who are lost in sin. We believe ‘the Church’ is the Body of Christ and consists of the people who, throughout time, have accepted God’s offer of redemption (regardless of religious denomination) through the sacrificial death of His son Jesus Christ.
11. WE BELIEVE… A Divinely Called and Scripturally Ordained Leadership Ministry Serves the Church. The Bible teaches that each of us under leadership must commit ourselves to reach others for Christ, to worship Him with other believers, to build up or edify the body of believers–the Church and to Meet human need with ministries of love and compassion.
12. WE BELIEVE… Divine Healing of the Sick is a Privilege for Christians Today and is provided for in Christ’s atonement (His sacrificial death on the cross for our sins). [1 of 4 cardinal doctrines of the AG]
13. WE BELIEVE…in The Blessed Hope—When Jesus Raptures His Church Prior to His Return to Earth (the second coming). At this future moment in time all believers who have died will rise from their graves and will meet the Lord in the air, and Christians who are alive will be caught up with them, to be with the Lord forever. [1 of 4 cardinal doctrines of the AG]
14. WE BELIEVE…in The Millennial Reign of Christ when Jesus returns with His saints at His second coming and begins His benevolent rule over earth for 1,000 years. This millennial reign will bring the salvation of national Israel and the establishment of universal peace.
15. WE BELIEVE… A Final Judgment Will Take Place for those who have rejected Christ. They will be judged for their sin and consigned to eternal punishment in a punishing lake of fire.
16. WE BELIEVE…and look forward to the perfect New Heavens and a New Earth that Christ is preparing for all people, of all time, who have accepted Him. We will live and dwell with Him there forever following His millennial reign on Earth. ‘And so shall we forever be with the Lord!’

The Assemblies of God also periodically releases statements on various issues not addressed in the SFT. Position papers cover a wide range of topics dealing with “biblical, theological and social concerns.” They include discussing proscribed behaviors (e.g., abstinence from alcohol; assisted suicide and abortion; divorce and remarriage; gambling; homosexuality); advise on questionable neo-pentecostal teachings (e.g., position of “prophets and apostles” in church organizations; demon possession and demonology; and “positive confession” (presuming to know the will of the divine and verbally professing the prayer need met by persistent positive professions rather than prayer). Position papers also have been written clarify other theological issues as they arise (e.g., creationism; inerrancy of scripture; and the rapture of the church). Position papers are not generally considered official positions of the AG, unless formal approval is requested by the Executive Presbytery and approved by the General Council.

The journey of AG doctrine from its original 1914 stance that tolerated doctrinal ambiguities to adopting the doctrinal SFT in 1918 is illustrated by its stance on baptism in the Holy Spirit. As succinctly summarized by AG historian C. M. Robeck (2003:170): “until late 1918, the Assembles of God was willing to tolerate ambiguity on the subject … with the adoption of the Statement of Fundamental Truths, however, the Assemblies of God had begun to close the door on differences of opinion.” AG has continued to closely align with Evangelical issues and doctrine while perhaps inadvertently distancing itself from “the vibrancy of an encounter with the living God” that has fueled the fires of the ongoing Pentecostal movement (Rybarczyk 2007: 8). This journey from primitivism to pragmatism (Wacker 2001) is reflected in AG rituals and practices.

RITUALS/PRACTICES

The worldview of the early Pentecostals accorded ideological legitimacy to the paranormal experiences reported in biblical times and restored them to a normative position in the twentieth-century Christianity. Although glossolalia and divine healing became the pivotal experiential doctrines in the AG, prophecy, miracles and demonic exorcisms were also part and parcel of the Pentecostal package. More controversial were the strange physical manifestations that generated the pejorative label “Holy Rollers” ascribed by outsiders to Pentecostal believers who sometimes fell in a faint to the floor, jumped pews, violently jerked and shook, laughed, barked or rolled in the aisles under the alleged influence of the Holy Spirit (Seymour 2012; see also Poloma 2005). Early Pentecostal ritual tended to be free-form and embraced the paranormal experiences reported throughout the Bible as being the work of the Holy Spirit. Ritual, as O’Dea and O’Dea (1983:58) have defined it, is “the cultic re-presentation of the religious experience [that] is central to the life of the religious group.” Experiences of the divine that are believed to empower evangelism remain the spiritual heartbeat for AG adherents, which find expression in the fluidity of AG rituals.

Some basic components for AG ritual can be gleaned from its doctrinal statement (SFT), especially the two biblical “ordinances” of baptism and Holy Communion (#6) and fundamental statements regarding personal salvation (#5), baptism in the Holy Spirit (#7 and #8), and divine healing of the sick (#12). Adult (anyone who has reached the age of reason) baptism by immersion is held periodically, generally during a Sunday service, and commonly in a baptistery found at the rear of the front platform of the church. The baptismal ritual is not deemed to be the essence of conversion or necessary for salvation, but rather a celebration of salvation, defined in the SFT as “trusting Christ, through faith and repentance, to be our personal Savior” (#5). Holy Communion, the second “ordinance” or Biblical mandate, is generally observed once a month during either the morning church service or less frequently in the Sunday evening evangelistic service. As with many other Protestant denominations, communion is marked with an appropriate reading from the Bible (generally from the accounts of Jesus’ last supper with his apostles or the Apostle Paul’s account) and the distribution of the “elements” of a wafer and grape juice to congregants in the pews. The focus of the communion ritual is the death of Jesus on the cross and its power to save and heal.

While some form of baptism and communion are celebrated by most Christians, the baptism in the Holy Spirit is an important Pentecostal marker that transcends AG belief and rituals. Spirit Baptism is an encounter with the divine believed to empower believers for ministry through the preternatural “gifts of the Spirit,” especially the “physical evidence” of speaking in tongues, but also prophecy, healing, and miracles. At one time much was made of “tarrying” for hours and even days actively seeking Spirit baptism at special meetings, revivals and church services. Rituals for praying for the baptism in the Spirit have become much less frequent and more subdued than in earlier days. Although there is no prescribed congregational ritual for baptism in the Holy Spirit, AG doctrine professes that it is available to all believers and must be accompanied by the “physical evidence” of speaking in tongues.

Poloma and Green (2010) found that the clear majority of the AG survey respondents (71%) claimed to have experienced Spirit baptism, with nearly all of these congregational respondents (70%) saying they prayed in tongues at least on occasion. As with prior generations, tongues is still used in private prayer, but, unlike the present generation, it appears that glossolaliac speech may no longer be heard in most AG church services. Only 29 percent of Poloma and Green’s respondents ever spoke in tongues at a corporate worship service and 16 percent ever provided an interpretation for glossolaliac speech. Pastors, who are required to have experienced Spirit baptism, with the “initial physical evidence” of speaking in tongues before being granted ordination, were more likely than congregants to pray privately in tongues. Poloma’s (2005:61)) survey of AG pastors found that a significant majority (82%) use tongues in their private prayer “weekly or more.” Like their congregants, pastors too are unlikely to speak in tongues during a congregational service. The once-common voice of glossolalia (a non-intelligible language) that could be heard during corporate worship and that required a vernacular response in the form of a prophetic interpretation (giving a message believed to be from God in intelligible speech) has become an infrequent practice, if found at all, in AG ritual.

Because of the congregational nature of the Assemblies of God, there is no one “typical” Sunday service or Wednesday evening gathering. There is no formal liturgy, and most church bulletins do not include details about the order of service as found in many other Christian congregations. Most Sunday services, however, do follow a familiar routine that begins with a congregational hymn that ushers in a time of worship in song, commonly interrupted at some point with a prayer and welcome from the pastor. During the time of “praise and worship” that follows, believers commonly stand with some raising their hands in prayer and swaying gently to the music as singing is led by the music director/pastor. The lone piano of AG services of old has been replaced in many churches with a full drum set, a guitar, keyboard, a piano, and/or other instruments. Old hymnals have been largely discarded and replaced with more contemporary Christian music, with words presented on an overhead. Congregational singing normally lasts from approximately twenty minutes to a half hour, with a welcome of visitors following as the pastor takes the podium. The service then shifts from prayerful music to comments from the pastor, a possible baby dedication, church announcements, or a congregant’s testimony. Following a short extemporaneous prayer, an offering is taken by the ushers, usually accompanied by a solo or special song by the choir. As with most evangelical churches, the sermon or “preaching of the Word” is the heart of the service, and the sermon is likely to last from thirty to forty-five minutes. (If communion is celebrated, it commonly occurs after the sermon.) Most churches have modified the once ubiquitous altar call for salvation that marked the end of a service into more general invitation to come forward for special prayer, including salvation, Spirit baptism, and physical healing.

Having sketched a general routine for AG services does not imply uniformity among congregations nor a predictable program on a given Sunday. AG congregational services differ considerably, reflecting the size and age of a congregation as well the social class, ethnicity and age of its members. For example, in 2011 there was a reported total of 12,457 AG congregations, 68 percent of which are primarily white; 20 percent, Hispanic; 4 percent, Asian and Pacific Islander; and 2.7 percent, black (primarily African). Churches ranged is size from less than fifty to thousands of adherents. The largest AG church in 2011 was New Life Covenant in Chicago with a reported attendance of 13,124. Both ethnicity and size can affect ritual styles, particularly when exploring the role of Spirit baptism and the use of the attendant “gifts.” Yet most congregants would acknowledge that the Spirit moves as the Spirit will, and some congregations are more intent in creating the space for the disruption of the normal by the paranormal than are others.

AG churches were once known for corporate affective and expressive worship that led their detractors to call them “Holy Rollers.” As the AG developed from loosely knit small fellowships into a top-ten denomination, many leaders and their congregations tried to distance themselves from their history to make their churches comfortable and acceptable to visitors. The primary weekly service is held on Sunday morning and typically lasts about an hour and a half. The once-common practice of having a second Sunday service, a less programmed evangelistic one on Sunday evening, seems to have become a thing of the past in many congregations. And Wednesday evenings are commonly devoted to adult Bible education and children/youth programs rather than tarrying in prayer.

Although this trend away from the expression of Pentecostal experiences during worship continues, the congregational nature of the AG assures that each congregation is free to pursue its own style. Poloma and Green (2010) have developed a four-fold typology – traditional, evangelical, renewalist, and alternative — based on the twenty-two AG congregations that they studied through observation and congregational surveys. Traditional congregations are the most likely to uphold their affiliation with the AG and the denomination’s well-established norms, beliefs and values and an affective worship style that allows space for the unexpected in ritual. Poloma and Green (2010:26) describe traditional ritual as follows: “These rituals have a unique acoustical feel, with occasional messages in tongues (glossolalia) followed by a prophetic interpretation; persistent calls (often with “tarrying” or waiting expectantly for God’s presence); loud, fervent prayer for special needs; shouts of praise that can be heard from the parking lot; and opportunities for testimonies that model experiences and expectations.”

While many Euro-American AG congregations have drifted away from the traditional model, ethnic churches (comprising over 30 percent of AG churches) are commonly found in this cell of the typology. Renewalist churches, like traditional AG congregations, tend to enjoy highly affective rituals, but they are more likely to identify with neo-pentecostal revivals outside the AG than with traditional AG norms and practices (see Poloma 2003). Renewalists may be the least stable of the four ritual types, with renewalists likely either drift toward neo-pentecostal networks outside the denomination or into the evangelical AG model. Evangelical AG congregations tend to score high on AG identity but low in affective ritual, as they model their services after the rituals of established evangelical Protestant churches. Alternative AG congregations, on the other hand, tend to be low on both AG identity and pentecostal experience. They contend that too much effervescence makes churches less “seeker sensitive” and therefore opt for less exuberant rituals. In both evangelical and alternative AG congregations one is less likely to find affective practices like speaking in tongues, physical manifestations, prophecy, and testimonies of divine healing.

A dilemma facing AG believers from the earliest days of the Azusa Street Street revival through today is how to allow the Spirit free movement during its rituals while controlling excesses judged to be fanatical. It is worth noting that the embodied worship of Azusa Street (including blacks hugging whites) was decried by Charles Parham and many followers of the Apostolic Faith Movement, including men who summoned the first “General Council” leading to the founding of the AG. For example, Howard Goss (1978:chapter 8), at whose church the first council convened, described how leaders of the Azusa revival permitted “ various kinds of fleshly manifestations to creep in under the impression that they were of God” and how Parham himself went to Los Angeles “hoping to help the workers to steady the work. But, as is often the case, they felt that they had received a greater power in Los Angeles than had been known before, so Brother Parham’s saving advice and counsel went unheeded and rejected.” In the AG glossolalia and healing soon became doctrine while many other alleged expressions of the Spirit’s presence were gradually relegated to the realms of fanaticism and heresy. Although what is perceived to be “extreme” and “fanatical” has fluctuated in AG history, its ritual has commonly been more than simply “remembering the past, but rather a forum for ongoing religious experiences” (Poloma 2005:60).

ORGANIZATION/LEADERSHIP

In describing the events that led up to the First General Council, Howard Goss believed that none “ever really wanted us to set up a separate organization, unless it became imperative. But . . . we soon knew that such a course was now imperative. Perhaps, it is also inevitable that our Movement will crystallize as it grows older and larger, and that it will not escape the vices which vast machinery and power have unwittingly fostered in older denominations. But may the dear Lord come before this materializes!” (Goss 1978:chapter 27). The “End Times” and the return of Jesus did not occur as expected by the early Pentecostals, leaving the AG to develop an impressive umbrella organization for its congregations and ministers. The once fluid relational fellowship of its founders would slowly evolve into what Goss and others might have considered a “vast machinery and power,” as it now serves over 12,000 U.S. churches and 35,000 credentialed ministers. It is an organization that for the most part has functioned well, and its workings appear to have the support of the vast majority of contemporary AG pastors (see Poloma 2005).

In keeping with the original intent of the formative first four General Councils (1914-16) the AG continues to self-identify as a “cooperative fellowship” rather than a denomination. Its formal designation as “The General Council of the Assemblies of God” reflects this value. The national headquarters is said to operate “primarily as a service organization – providing educational curriculum, organizing missions programs, credentialing ministers, overseeing the church’s colleges and seminary, producing communication channels for the churched and non-churched publics, and providing leadership for many national programs and ministries of the Assemblies of God” (“Our Form of Government”). Yet, there is no denying that the AG has developed a vast national organization that provides institutional covering for over three million adherents and thousands of churches and credentialed ministers who are served by its agencies and bureaus.

Permeating AG organization is a blend of congregational and presbyterian church polity. Churches elect their own pastors who, in turn, are responsible to church boards. Ministers are also directly responsible to their local District Council as well as to the Executive General Council. Churches are classified as either being affiliated with the General Council or affiliated with one of over sixty local or ethnic districts. Council affiliated churches enjoy full autonomy; district affiliated churches “have not yet developed to the point where they qualify for full autonomy.” While churches are autonomous congregational entities, the polity governing of ministers and district affiliated churches takes on a presbyterian mode of accountability through the General and Districts Councils and their executive staff.

Administering the General Council are six executive leaders and fourteen non-resident members of the AG Presbytery. Until relatively recently, executive leadership has been all white and all male, but that is slowly changing. In 2007, an African American (Zollie L. Smith Junior) was elected to serve on the executive team as “director of Assemblies of God U.S. Missions.” Over the years, fourteen non-resident members of the Executive Presbytery have been added to represent different factions, nine of which are white male, two Hispanic (elected in 2009 and 1995), one Korean (1999), and one Native American (2007). In 2009, an ordained female minister and missionary to India (Beth Grant) was selected to serve as “Executive Presbyter, representing Ordained Female Ministers,” a non-resident position on the Executive Council. The expanded General Council has created some space for persons of color and non-Euro ethnicity to serve as non-resident members. [In 2011, 68 percent of adherents were reported as being white (a proportion that continues to decrease) and 20 percent Hispanic (and growing in proportion)]. Opportunities for women, despite its long history of ordaining women, remain scarce. Poloma (2005) found in a survey of AG pastors that there was a greater openness to non-white men serving as church leaders than women (regardless of race or ethnicity). Although women have been ordained throughout AG history (with the exception of two years in the 1930s), women were not traditionally granted positions of leadership in the larger organization.

The AG seeks to maintain a loosely knit cooperative network that is increasingly more sensitive to cultural and regional differences. This once Euro-American denomination is making the transition to a culturally diverse body with a wide representation of a growing number of ethnic congregations. At the same time the AG still struggles to ensure a General Council with a leadership structure and polity permeable enough to reflect the charismatic play of the Spirit at work in these diverse congregations. The pragmatism of modern organizations and the primitive qualities of spiritual experiences continue to present dilemmas calling for resolution. The National Office of the Assemblies of God, which includes an administration building, the Gospel Publishing House, and the International Distribution Center, is located in Springfield, Missouri.

ISSUES/CHALLENGES

The Assemblies of God was born out of religious revival, a charismatic moment when powerful prophetic experiences breathed new life into old religion. God seemed to be speaking to humans, and humans sought to respond with words of prophecy and the works of love. In its charismatic moment on Azusa Street old racial taboos were broken and feminine voices could be heard along with the masculine. Baptism in the Spirit was more than a new doctrine that involved glossolalia; it was a fresh experience of divine power and love. Contemporary AG theologians have reminded us that at the heart of the baptism was an empowering love for service (c.f. Macchia 2006) and that this baptism was “poured out on all flesh,” women and men, young and old, white and black people (c.f.Yong 2004). But as in all religious revivals, cultural weeds would soon spring up along side the prophetic wheat.

The Assemblies of God succinctly captures its core spiritual identity through a scriptural passage from the book of Zechariah 4:6, in which the Lord says, “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit.” It provides a key for identifying the complex dilemma the AG has faced since its inception, namely how to balance modern rationality, its culture and organization, with primitive affective charismatic spirituality (Wacker 2001). Is it possible for Pentecostal experiences like tongues, healing, prophecy and miracles to continue to be passed down through the generations as more than doctrine or religious history? Put another way, how successful has AG been in maintaining its self-description as “Fundamentalism (Evangelicalism) with a difference?” Or has it pragmatically morphed into an Evangelicalism that is more doctrine than personal experience? It is with this important question in mind that we will consider three significant dilemmas that challenge the AG as the denomination approaches its centennial anniversary.

The first generation of AG adherents has been described as a loosely-knit congregational network that separated Pentecostals from secular society, other religious groups and often from each other. Convinced that the time was short before Jesus would return to earth, they had their work cut out for them with end-time prophecies proclaiming that the the end was fast approaching. In describing the path from “pilgrims to citizens,” historian Edith Blumhoffer (1993:142) writes: “Like other Pentecostals, early Assemblies of God members professed little interest in contemporary society; they had either not yet glimpsed a broader world or had consciously turned from it. Major political, social and intellectual transitions had significance primarily because they were interpreted through end-time prophetic lens to which Pentecostals subscribed.” These “pilgrims and strangers” on earth eschewed the mundane world in favor of ushering in the coming kingdom of God. This prophectic edge and separatist stance would be tempered by the passage of time during which the Lord seemed to “tarry.” Up until the last decades of the twentieth century, it was common for older “saints” to punctuate any talk of the future with “if Jesus tarries,” as a seeming reminder that they still believed Jesus would be coming soon.

Within a generation after its founding, however, the AG showed signs of pursuing a path antithetical to the expressed
“differences” found in its Pentecostal vision. It joined the newly formed National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) in 1942. Although the early AG, like their Fundamentalist forefathers and mothers, was wed to a literalist interpretation of the Bible and to separation from the larger culture, the AG was never accepted by Fundamentalists precisely because of the “differences,” namely teachings on Spirit baptism, tongue speaking, and divine healing. When more moderate fundamentalists established the NAE, the AG, differences and all, was welcomed into its fold. This union would strengthen the evangelical plank of the Statement of Fundamental Truths, arguably at the expense of the “differences” that marked unique Pentecostal beliefs and practices. In a process that has been called the “routinization of charisma,” more dissonance would develop between Pentecostal doctrine and experience (Poloma 1989; Ziefle 2013).

The seeds of dissonance between religious experience and organizational doctrine can be gleaned from the 1914 gathering when the loosely knit small group of Pentecostals first came together, desiring a fellowship to curb what they regarded as excesses in the new movement. Within the next two years, doctrinal schism caused by the “New Issue” would strengthen the organization and its doctrine, laying the foundation for the AG to grow into one of America’s top-ten denominations by the early twenty-first century. But aligning with the pragmatic necessity of Pentecostal doctrine and organization, it can be argued, resulted in a muting of the dynamic primal prophetic dimension. Thus emphasis placed on the doctrine by one group of Pentecostals undermined prophetic experiences that briefly united them despite their differences. Three significant issues will be briefly discussed to illustrate the tension between particularistic AG beliefs and practices and the diversity seeded by Pentecostal experiences, including (1) AG organization and revivals; (2) tensions in race/ethnic relations; and (3) the role of women.

AG has faced the continuing issue of revitalizing the spirit of Pentecost. As evident in the presentation of the history of the AG, the denomination was birthed in revival. Even as its early founders insisted on the AG’s not becoming another “dead denomination,” they were fearful of what they regarded as “wildfire” that was much a part of the Azusa Street Revival. They seemed to intuit that whatever else religious experience may be, it can be dangerous to religious institutions. Some of the doctrinal differences, as we have seen, were settled with the adoption of the FST in 1916 and the expulsion of Oneness Pentecostals (as many as one-fourth of the early group) who had a different understanding of the Godhead than the Trinitarian founders. As the decades wore on, the AG would slowly morph from a “fellowship” into a denomination that would seek to protect the organization from the potentially disruptive revivalistic movements, including the New Order of the Latter Rain (the late 1940s), the Charismatic Movement (“Second Wave”) of the 1960s/1970s, and the so-called “Third Wave” revivals of the 1990s extending through the present time. Even when a major revival broke out in one of its own churches in Pensacola, Florida at Brownsville Assembly of God in 1995, denominational reaction was decidedly mixed (see Poloma 1998:2005). More recently Bill Johnson [former AG who pastors the former AG Bethel Church in Redding, California and is the leader of a growing network of revival churches] would amicably resign from the AG. In withdrawing from the AG, Johnson would note: “Our call feels unique enough theologically and practically from the call on the Assemblies of God that this change is appropriate” (Poloma and Green 2010:102).

One particularly significant account of the “struggle for the soul of a [AG) movement” involves the story of David du Plessis, an
evangelist from South Africa who joined the AG when he moved to the United States in the middle of the twentieth century (see Ziefle 2013). Known as “Mr. Pentecost” by those in the “second wave” of Pentecostal revival known as the Charismatic Movement, du Plessis believed that church unity was a primary marker of the move of the Holy Spirit, the same unity of spirit that he believed characterized the earliest years of the Azusa Street Revival. Having the ear of many leaders of the Charismatic Movement, du Plessis spread the Pentecostal gospel of Spirit baptism and involved himself in ecumenism, a movement that was anathema to evangelicals and to the AG. His involvement in the World Council of Churches resulted in his being defrocked by his adopted denomination in 1962; his ministerial credentials  would not be restored until 1980. Forced to leave the AG because of his ongoing work with Second Wave leaders (including Roman Catholics) left du Plessis on the margins even when he was reinstated as an AG minister toward the end of his life.

The pragmatic evangelicalization of the AG at the expense of its primitive spirituality has long been noted (c.f. Poloma 1989; Poloma and Green 2010; Ziefle 2013), but this observation is only part of the story. The AG in the United States combines its Presbyterian polity with Congregational government allowing for the congregational diversity as reflected in the different types of congregations and rituals discussed in an earlier section. Although the Evangelical AG congregations arguably may be the predominant type, it is important to assess the growing number of Hispanic and other ethnic churches that are commonly categorized as Traditional AG in beliefs and rituals (Poloma and Green 2010). Rooted in its history a cultural dynamic is at work that is transforming the formerly predominantly Euro-American denomination with strong rural southern roots into an increasingly multicultural one with a diverse urban presence.

AG has also faced racial/ethnic tensions through its history. “The evidence is clear:,” says Don Meyer, AG leader and president of one of its universities, “The Assembles of God has not had a good track record on race. Whether one looks at this issue ecclesiastically, theologically, sociologically, or biologicallty, we have been ‘weighed in the balances and found wanting’” (Newman 2007:1). From its beginning days, the AG saw itself as a “white denomination,” as it disengaged from the Church of God in Christ (COGIC), the fifth largest denomination in the U.S. African Americans who sought ordination within the AG were officially referred to the “colored organization” (COGIC).

It was not until 1994 in what was known as the “Memphis Miracle” that the AG officially disavowed its racist past. In what was described as a “historic gesture,” General Superintendant Thomas Trask (the highest-ranking official in the AG) participated in a ceremonial footwashing (Newman 2007) at a conference of black and white Pentecostal leaders in Memphis. Prophecies were given about black and white unity, as a white AG pastor (Donald Evans) came forward and explained that “the Lord had called him to wash the feet of a black leader (Bishop Clemmons) as a sign of repentance” (Synan 2010). It was also at the Memphis gathering that the all-white Pentecostal Fellowship of North American (PFNA) was disbanded to be replaced with the integrated Pentecostal Charismatic Churches of North America (PCCNA).

The Memphis Miracle has done little to bring African Americans into the AG fold, but it can be regarded as a marker for the AG losing the questionable distinction of being an “all-white” American denomination. Its once nearly lily white constituency is now a multi-cultural one that reflects recent immigration patterns, especially the growth of the Hispanic population in the U.S. As of January, 2012, there were more than 2,400 officially recognized Hispanic organizations in the General Council of the Assemblies of God, USA, with 12 Hispanic districts that include more than 3,300 ministries (“Office of Hispanic Relations” n.d.). The figures for Hispanics represent some 20 percent of AG adherents, while only 2.7% of adherents are black (mostly Caribbean or recent African immigrants), 4 percent are Asian or Pacific Islanders, and 1.5% are of Native American heritage (“Statistics of the Assemblies of God” 2007)

Despite these demographic changes, the leadership of the General Assembly has tended to be disproportionately white, althoughmoves have been made within the past decade to establish closer relations with the Hispanic churches. In 2006, the Office of Hispanic Relations was established as part of the National Leadership and Resource Center, with a Spanish version of the AG publication of Pentecostal Evangel and a Spanish website. It should be noted that ethnic churches enjoy the autonomy inherent in the AG’s congregational polity. Furthermore, these congregations are often founded and led by indigenous ministers involved in what can be termed “reverse missiology.” Early in its history of an aggressive missions program, the AG departed from the colonial model of other denominations, “establishing mission stations as beachheads in other nations, led by missionaries, and with national pastors on their payroll” (Molenaar, n.d.:1). Instead, the AG sent out its missionaries and trained indigenous leaders who have developed autonomous AG churches throughout the world. As immigrants have come from South and Central America, Africa, Asia, and other places to the U.S., they have been increasingly served by their indigenous clergy.

The congregational polity that has promoted indigenous leadership, however, has not yet been translated into leadership within the AG Executive Council and its headquarters in Springfield, Missouri. The history of the World Assemblies of God Fellowship may be a predictor of things to come if the growing ethnic constituency is not more fully acknowledged on the national level. The roots of the World Assemblies of God Fellowship (with over 65 million adherents within over 150 national fellowships), as we have noted earlier, was American and guided by the US church. This would change as the twentieth century came to a close; the AG USA is but one equal member of this global organization. It is conceivable that without increased recognition and representation on the national level, ethnic districts may seek a more autonomy and equality with the largely Euro-American leadership in the denomination.

Finally, the history of women in Pentecostalism has been aptly characterized as “complex and contradictory” ( Griffith and Roebuck 2002:1203). On one hand, a case can be made for gender equality, citing the fact that the AG ordained women decades before women were ordained in mainline denominations. On the other hand, there have always been limitations, at times formally defined but primarily culturally and structurally proscribed. Dr. George O. Wood (2001), who as a district leader in California and more recently as the AG’s General Superintendent has been highly supportive of AG ordination of women, succinctly describes the early history as follows:

At the organizational meeting of the Assemblies of God in 1914, women were granted the right of ordination as evangelists and missionaries, but not as elders. Ordained women were at first not permitted to vote in the General Council since such was regarded as an eldership function. However, women were accorded voting rights beginning with the 1920 General Council, the same year the 19 th Amendment was adopted which granted women in the United States the right to vote.

The ban on eldership meant that ordained women should not serve as pastors, marry people, and administer the ordinances of water baptism and the Lord’s supper. However, the Assemblies of God had ordained women fulfilling all these functions anyway. In 1922, then general superintendent E.N. Bell, writing on behalf of the Executive Presbytery to ordain women, wrote: “It has nevertheless been understood all along that they could do these things when some circumstance made it necessary for them to so do. . . . The Executive Presbytery authorized the Credential Committee to issue new credentials to all our ordained women who are actually preaching the Word just the same as ordained men do, and that these credentials should state these women are authorized to do these things when necessary.” So sensitive and potentially divisive was that decision that Brother Bell requested at the end of his letter to ordained women: “TAKE NOTICE: This letter is not to go out of your personal possession.”

Aimee Semple McPherson had been ordained in the AG as an “evangelist” and was one of many women functioning as a fully
ordained minister despite the proscriptions cited above. She was highly popular in Pentecostal circles and would withdraw from the AG in 1922, the same year as Bell’s letter, as she founded the International Church of the Four Square Gospel. The ordination issue continued to simmer until it came to a head in 1933 when the General Council formally limited the ordination of women to “evangelist.” Although the right of ordained women to officiate the ordinances “when such acts are necessary” would be reinstated in 1935, “the patterns of limitation continued to be generally accepted” (Griffith and Roebuck 2002:1205).

With the rise of feminism in the United States in the 1970s, the AG was intent on distancing itself from advocating equal rights for women. With this antipathy toward feminist issues, the percent of women ministers in the AG slowly but steadily decreased in the AG during the 1970s and 1980s (Pulliam 2009). The new millennium has seen an increase of the number and percent of women ministers, with the percent of women ministers increasing from 14 percent to nearly 21 percent in 2010. The vast majority of the 7,000 plus ordained women, however, serve the denomination on staffs of churches or as world missionaries. Women serving as lead pastors of congregations continue to be few and far between. Beth Grant, a missionary to India, was elected in 2009 to serve on the Executive Presbytery as “Executive Presbyter, representing Ordained Female Ministers.”

General Superintendent George Wood has been a leading voice in promoting equality for women in the AG. Growing up with a mother who was ordained in 1924, Wood has reminded adherents that “the credentialing of women in our Fellowship is not some late popular cultural fad.” Wood (n.d.) explains: “Our early pioneers were convinced that Scripture meant what it said when the promise of Pentecost was realized: In the last days, God says, ‘I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. . .Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy’ (Acts 2:17,28).”

The Spirit may have been poured out on all, but women have always been on a short leash. In its charismatic moment, women played a major role in revivals as did people of color. But as the denomination aligned with Evangelicalism, arguably the AG it took on its pragmatic culture and modern issues at the cost of Pentecostalism’s prophetic thrust. Whether or not the AG can continue to effectively balance its primitive spirituality with its pragmatic orientation can be monitored through its openness to new waves of pentecostal revival, to its ability to learn from the charismatic spirituality found in immigrant churches, and to granting equality to its prophetic women.

REFERENCES

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Bartleman, Frank. (2012; 1925). Azusa Street. How Pentecost Came to Los Angeles. Kindle Edition: Jawbone Digital. Accessed from http://www.JawboneDigital.com on 20 April 2013.

Blumhofer, Edith L. 1993. Restoring the Faith. The Assemblies of God, Pentecostalism, and American Culture. Chicago: University of Illinois Press.

Blumhofer, Edith L. 1989. The Assemblies of God: A Chapter in the Story of American Pentecostalism, Volume 1. Springfield, MO: Gospel Publishing House.

Blumhoffer, E. L. and C. R. Armstrong. 2002. “Assemblies of God.” Pp. 333-41 in International Dictionary of Pentecostal Charismatic Movements, edited by Stanley M. Burgess and Eduard M. Van Der Mass. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

Goss, Ethel E. 1958. The Winds of God. The Story of the Early Pentecostal Days (1901-1914) in the Life of Howard A Goss. A Christian Reality Books Pentecostal History Classic Reprint. Kindle Version.

Griffith, R.M. and D. Roebuck. 2002. “Role of Women.” Pp. 1203-09 in The New International Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements, edited by Stanley M. Burgess and Eduard M. Van Der Maas. Grant Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

Hollenweger, Walter J. 1997. Origins and Developments Worldwide. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers.

Macchia, Frank D. 2006. Baptized in the Spirit. A Global Pentecostal Theology. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

McClymond, Michael, ed. 2007. Encyclopedia of Religious Revivals in America. Volume 2. Primary Documents. Westport CT: Greenwood Press.

Molenaar, William. n.d. “The World Assemblies of God Fellowship. United in the Missionary Spirit.” Accessed from www.worldagfellowship.org on 29 January 2013).

Newman, Joe. 2007. Race and the Assemblies of God Church. The Journey from Azusa Street to the “Miracle of Memphis” Amherst, NY: Cambria Press.

O’Dea, Thomas F. and Janet Aviad O’Dea. 1983. The Sociology of Religion. Second Edition. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

“Office of Hispanic Relations.” n.d. Assemblies of God. Accessed from http://ag.org/top/Office_of_Hispanic_Relations/index.cfm on 20 April 2013.

Poloma, Margaret M. 2005. “Charisma and Structure in the Assemblies of God: Revisiting O’Dea’s Five Dilemmas.” Pp. 45-96 in Church, Identity, and Change: Theology and Denominational Structures In Unsettled Times, edited by David A. Roozen and James R.; Nieman. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.

Poloma, Margaret M. 2003. Main Street Mystics: The Toronto Blessing and Reviving Pentecostalism. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press.

Poloma, Margaret M. 1998. “The Spirit Movement in North America at the Millennium: From Azusa Street to Toronto, Pensacola and Beyond.” Journal of Pentecostal Theology 12:83-107.

Poloma, Margaret M. 1989. The Assemblies of God at the Crossroads: Charisma and Institutional Dilemmas. Knoxville, TN: The University of Tennessee Press.

“Our Form of Government.” n.d. Assemblies of God. Accessed from http://ag.org/top/about/structure.cfm on 20 April 2013.

Poloma, Margaret M. and John C. Green. 2010. The Assemblies of God. Godly Love and the Revitalization of American Pentecostalism. New York: New York University Press.

Pulliam, Sarah. 2009. “Women Pastors Remain Scarce.” Christianity Today. Accessed from http://www.christianitytoday.com/women/2009/august/women-pastors-remain-scarce.html on 20 April 2013.

Robeck, Cecil M., Jr. 2006. Azusa Street. Mission and Revival. The Birth of the Pentecostal Movement. Nelson Reference & Electronic.

Robeck, Cecil M. Jr. 2003.“An Emerging Magisterium? The Case of the Assemblies of God.” Pneuma 25:165-215.

Rybarczyk, Edmund. 2007. “American Pentecostalism: Challenges and Temptations.” Pp. 1-13 in The Future of Pentecostalism in the United States, edited by E. Patterson and E. Rybarczyk. New York: Lexington Books.

Seymour, William. 2012. 1906-1908. The Azusa Papers (written from September 1906-May, 1908). Jawbone Digital. Accessed from http://www.JawboneDigital.com on 20 April 2013.

“Statistics of the Assemblies of God.” 2007. Assemblies of God. Accessed from http://ag.org/top/about/statistics/Statistical_Report_Summary.pdf on 20 April 2013.

Synan, Vinson. 2010. “ Memphis 1994: Miracle and Mandate.” Accessed from www.pcna.org/about_history.htm on 18 April 2013.

Wacker, Grant . 2001. Heaven Below. Early Pentecostals and American Culture. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Wood, George O. 2001. “Exploring Why We Think The Way We Do About Women In Ministry.” Enrichment Journal. Accessed from http://enrichmentjournal.ag.org/200102/008_exploring.cfm on 20 April 2013.

Wood, George O. n.d. “Why Credentials Are Important for Women Ministers.” The Nework. A Called Community of Women. Accessed from http://ag.org/wim/0509/0509_credentials.cfm on 20 April 2013.

Yong, Amos. 2004. The Spirit Poured Out on All Flesh. Pentecostalism and the Possibility of Global Theology. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic.

Ziefle, Joshua R. 2013. David du Plessis and the Assemblies of God. The Struggle for the Soul of a Movement. Boston: Brill.

Post Date:
20 April 2013

ASSEMBLIES OF GOD VIDEO CONNECTIONS

ASSOCIATION FOR RESEARCH AND ENLIGHTENMENT TIMELINE

Year founded: 1931

Where founded: Virginia Beach , Virginia

Size of Group: Unknown; however, the organization has regional offices throughout the United States and Canada. In addition, there are Edgar Cayce Centers operating in many international communities.

FOUNDER/GROUP HISTORY

Edgar Cayce (1877-1945). Cayce was born on a farm near Hopkinsville, Kentucky. It is claimed that he showed evidence of his psychic intuition at a very early age, as he mastered his school lessons through “osmosis” by sleeping on his books. Melton describes Cayce as “the last major exponent” of a psychic ability called “travling clairvoyance: the ability to ‘tune in’ to another, even at some distance, and diagnose his condition and prescribe for it” (Melton, 668). This capacity was quite popular in the ninetheen century.

For most of his adult life, Cayce was able to provide intuitive thoughts into almost any question imaginable. He did this by placing himself in a deep, trance-like sleep, during which he would respond accurately to virtually any question asked. His responses came to be called “readings.” Eventually Cayce would give over 14,000 readings on over 10,000 different topics.

In 1930 he founded Atlantic University in Virginia Beach, Virginia, which was designed to allow individuals to gain insight into the creative and intuitive mind so that they may achieve personal growth. The Association for Research and Enlightenement emerged out of this learning center.

The organization was founded to preserve,research, and make available insights from Cayce’s information, dealing mainly with medical problems. During Cayce’s lifetime, it expanded to include such topics as meditation, dreams, reincarnation, and prophecy. Today, this non-profit organization explores an even wider variety of subjects, such as health and healing, ancient civilizations, earth changes, ESP, and life after death. The A.R.E. considers themselves to be a network of people who actively study and apply Cayce’s wisdom and practical suggestions in order to experience a better life. They offer periodic conferences, workshops, lectures, home research projects, and informative mailings to those interested. These are offered in many national and international communities and are designed to allow for open discussions of the of the material contained in Cayce’s readings, as well as providing for contact with some of A.R.E.’s best resource people.

DOCTRINES/BELIEFS

Cayce’s extensive readings are considered the primary “sacred texts.” The A.R.E. Visitor Center in Virginia Beach, VA houses a library that holds Cayce’s 14,000+ readings and a parapsychology collection of nearly 60,000 volumes.
The A.R.E. believes that by following the wisdom and practical suggestions of Cayce’s readings, one can achieve a better and more fulfilling life.

REFERENCES

Bro, Harmon. 1970.Edgar Cayce on Religion and Psychic Experience. New York, Coronet Communications.

Bro, Harmon. 1971.Begin a New Life; The Approach of Edgar Cayce. New York, Harper & Row.

Bro, Harmon. 1989.A Seer Out of Season. New York, NAL Books.

Cayce, Hugh. 1985.Venture Inward. San Francisco, Harper & Row.

Johnson, K. Paul. 1998. Edgar Cayce in Context: The Readings. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.

Lucus, Phillip. 1995. “The Association for Research and Enlightenment: Saved by the New Age,” in Timothy Miller, Ed., America‘s Alternative Religions. Albany, NY: SUNY Press. 353-361.

Melton, J. Gordon. 1994. “Edgar Cayce and Reincarnation: Past Life Readings as Religious Symbology” Syzygy: Journal of Alternative Religion and Culture. 3 (1-2): Reprinted on-line in Journal of Cayce Studies

Melton, J. Gordon. 1996.The Encyclopedia of American Religions. Fifth Edition. Detroit: Gale Research Inc. pp. 690-691.

Sechrist, Elsie. 1971. Meditation, Gateway to Light: Self Discipline. Virginia Beach, A.R.E. Press.

Stearn, Jess. 1968. Edgar Cayce: The Sleeping Prophet. New York: Bantam Books.

Sugrue, Thomas. 1968. The Story of Edgar Cayce: There is a River. Virginia Beach, VA: A.R.E. Press. 1997. Revised edition. Originally published 1942.

Thurston, Mark. 1997. Edgar Cayce’s Millennium Prophecies: Predictions for the Coming Century from Edgar Cayce. New York: Barnes and Nobel Books.

A.R.E. in the News

Colton , Michael, 1997.” Prophet Center: In Virginia Beach, Edgar Cayce’s Followers Meet to Meditate With One Eye on the Calendar,” Washington Post, December 31.

Audio and Videotape Resources

The Edgar Cayce Legacy, 1994.
Videotape produced by the Edgar Cayce Foundation. A good introduction to the man and the movement he inspired. 30 minutes. Available through A.R.E. Bookstore.

An extensive collection of writings by and about Cayce, audiotapes, and videotapes are available through out the A.R.E. Bookstore A catalogue of A.R.E. publications is available by calling 1-800-723-1112 .

Developed by Hilary S. Ritter
New Religious Movement Student, Fall 1996
Last modified: 04/19/01

ASSOCIATION FOR RESEARCH AND ENLIGHTENMENT VIDEO CONNECTIONS

AUM SHINRIKYŌ TIMELINE

1955:  Matsumoto Chizuo (birth name of Asahara Shōkō) was born with a serious sight disability, in Kumamoto, Japan, the sixth son of poor family.

1977:  Matsumoto moved to Tokyo.

1978:  Matsumoto married Matsumoto Tomoko and started an herbal business.

1981:  Matsumoto joined Agonshū and began practicing yoga and meditation.

1984:  Matsumoto quit Agonshū and established his own yoga and meditation group (initially called Aum Shinsen no Kai) with fifteen followers in Tokyo. The group changed its name to Asahara Shōkō and started performing ritual initiations for devotees.

1985:  Asahara appeared in Twilight Zone (a magazine focused on alternative religious views) claiming he could levitate.

1985:  Asahara claimed spiritual encounters with deities, including the Hindu deity Shiva, who informed him that he was destined to carry out sacred missions of world salvation. Shiva became a figure of veneration in Aum.

1986:  Aum established a publishing company and Asahara published his first book, Chōnōryoku no kaihatsuhō, suggesting a way to develop new supernatural spiritual powers.

1987:  Aum Shinsen no Kai was renamed as Aum Shinrikyō and emphasized world renunciation. The first Aum disciples became renunciates (shukkesha), monastic practitioners who have left their families.

1987:  Asahara began talking of possible end of world due to growing environmental and spiritual crisis and because of bad karma enveloping the world. He prophesied that Aum could avert this catastrophe and bring about world salvation by getting 3,0000 people enlightened.

1988 (August):  Aum opened a commune at Kamikuishiki, Yamanashi prefecture (to be the model for future ideal communities). Asahara expressed an optimistic belief that Aum could save the world.

1988 (c. September):  Asahara became frustrated at lack of progress by some disciples. He began beatings reluctant members (including his wife). He developed the doctrine of poa (the notion that an advanced practitioner/teacher could perform rituals to enable the spirit of a dead person to advance to higher realms in the next life).

1988 (September or October):  Majima Terayuki (or Teruyuki) died suddenly during ascetic practices ordered by Asahara; the death was covered up.

1989 (February?):  Taguchi Shūji (a participant in the cover-up of Majima Terayuki’s death) decided to leave movement and denounce Aum. Asahara ordered Taguchi’s murder; the killing was declared as poa (see below, under Doctrines/Beliefs).

1989:  Metsubō no hi books (prophesying apocalyptic destruction and citing the Book of Revelation) were published, and Aum teachings became focused on apocalypse and the impossibility of universal salvation.

1989:  Aum’s application to gain registration as a legally affiliated religious organization was turned down but later reinstated after an appeal to higher courts.

1989 (October):  Hostile media articles about Aum denounced Asahara and alleged malpractice in Aum. The association of Aum victims (Aum Higaisha no Kai) was established. It engaged the lawyer Sakamoto Tsutsumi to represent them in meetings with Aum. Sakamoto claimed to have found evidence of Aum malpractice.

1989 (early November):  Sakamoto and his family disappeared from their home in Yokohama. Aum denied any involvement. Later, in the summer of 1995, Aum devotees confessed to having killed the family on Asahara’s orders, and the bodies of Sakamoto, his wife and infant son were recovered.

1989 (later months):  Aum formed a political party, the Truth Party (the Shinritō), to raise its profile by taking part in the spring, 1990 parliamentary elections. Aum used the campaign to warn of impending millennial catastrophe unless Japan embraced Aum’s teachings.

1990 (February):  Aum’s election campaign was derided in the mass media, and Aum candidates all failed miserably. Asahara claimed a conspiracy against Aum wrecked the campaign and (March 1990) that there was a world conspiracy working against Aum.

1990 (April):  The Ishigaki Seminar was held on an island in Okinawa. Asahara declared that Aum was now on the Vajrayāna path of Buddhism. It henceforth regarded salvation as selective rather than universal and asserted that mass destruction was needed to purify the world and punish wrongdoers.

1990 (March-April):  Aum established laboratories for making biological weapons. Devotees released botulism in Tokyo to punish electors for rejecting Aum, but the attack failed.

1991:  Asahara’s teachings became increasingly pessimistic, and he talked of the inevitability of Armageddon as necessary to purify the world. His teachings focused increasingly on poa and on severing links with society at large. Increasing conflicts arose between Aum and its neighbours, and with other religions especially in Tokyo, such as Kōfuku no Kagaku.

1991: (onwards):  Aum became increasingly involved in building secret laboratories and trying to get or make biological and chemical weapons, including in October, 1992, a vist by Aum members to Congo seeking to acquire the Ebola virus.

1993:  Aum devotees (Tsuchiya Masami and Endō Seiichi) made sarin secretly; Asahara mentioned sarin in sermons and Aum developed songs valorizing it as a sacred object.

1993 (June):  The accidental death of Ochi Naoki during austerities was covered up by Aum leaders).

1993:  Throughout the year there were further attempts to release botulism spores in Tokyo (all fail) to punish Japanese society for failing to acknowledge Aum’s truth and sacred mission.

1994:  Asahara claimed that Aum was being attacked by conspirators (Japanese and U.S. governments and others) and that sarin has been sprayed on the Kamikuishiki commune. Killings of Aum dissidents and kidnappings of members who tried to flee the movement continued.

1994 (June 27):  Sarin gas was released in Matsumoto, central Japan, killing seven people and injuring over 500. At the same time Aum announces the formation of its own government, with Asahara as its “sacred ruler” (shinsei hōō).

1994-1995:  Japanese newspapers reported that sarin has been released/found at or near Aum’s commune in Kamikuishiki and linked Aum to the Matsumoto attack. Aum issued denials

1995 (February 28):  Aum devotees abducted estate agent Kariya Kiyoshi, whose sister was in Aum, to extract money from him to help Aum finances. Later investigations indicated that Kariya was killed shortly after the abduction.

1995 (March):  The police and media became aware of Aum involvement in the Kariya abduction and Aum involvement with chemical weapons. Police prepared raids on Aum premises.

1995 (March 18):  Asahara became aware of the likely raid and ordered devotees to prepare sarin for an attack on Tokyo (probably to cause chaos and avert a raid).

1995 (March 20):  Aum conducted a sarin attack on Kasumigaseki station/trains at rush hour (striking the area around government ministries including the National Police Agency), killing thirteen people and injuring thousands.

1995 (March 22):  Police raids were conducted on Aum buildings and communes, with hundreds of arrests and confiscation of equipment and materials.

1995 (March-May):  The police discovered evidence of numerous crimes and continued to arrest senior figures, including Asahara, on May 16.

1995 (April 23):  Murai Hideo (one of Aum’s leaders, central to its weapons program) was stabbed to death in public in Tokyo.

1995 (May and after):  Senior Aum figures (notably Hayashi Ikuo, one of the subway attackers) began confessing to participation in Aum crimes. There was a mass exodus of Aum members, between eighty and ninety percent.

1995 (October-December):  Aum’s status as religious organization was revoked and subsequently the revocation was upheld by the Tokyo High Court.

1996 (April 24):  Asahara’s trial began. He claimed that disciples committed the crimes and that he was therefore not responsible.

1996 (and later):  Trials began to be held of various Aum figures who were accused of murders, making illegal weapons, and involvement in various lethal conspiracies. Over 100 devotees were convicted and sentenced. Thirteen (including Asahara) were sentenced to death for murder.

1996 (and later):  There were debates in Japan about proscribing Aum under the Anti-Subversive Activities Law, and about how to deal with those who wished to remain in Aum. There were also debates about the formation of various support groups for ex-members and cases for financial retribution to compensate Aum’s victims. Aum properties were liquidated to this end.

1996 (and later):  Remaining Aum devotees sought to keep the movement going and to draw a line with the past by distancing themselves from Asahara and by renouncing violence and doctrines such as poa.

1997 (January 31):  The government announced that Aum would not be formally proscribed but discussed introducing new laws to monitor the movement.

1999 (September):  Aum announced that it was ceasing all religious activities.

1999 (December):  Aum made an official apology for its crimes in a televised press conference and on its website.

2000 (January-February):  Aum changed name to Aleph and made plans to transfer its remaining properties to a fund to compensate Aum victims.

2000 (and later):  Aleph continued on with a small number of devotees and was heavily monitored by the state and subject to various legal restraints. Aleph members (including members of Asahara’s family) faced continued discrimination in Japanese society.

2004:  Asahara was sentenced to death for murder and conspiracy to murder.

2007:  Aleph split into factions, including Hikari no Wa (see separate entry).

2018 (July):  Thirteen members of Aum, including Asahara, executed for conspiracy to commit murder and for other Aum crimes;  Asaahra and six others on July 6 and the remaining six on July 26.

FOUNDER/GROUP HISTORY

Asahara Shōkō, was born in 1955 as Matsumoto Chizuo to an impoverished family in Kumamoto, southern Japan. The sixth of seven children, he was partially sighted, a disability coupled with family poverty that led to him being sent away to a boarding school for the blind. This caused him to become alienated from his family and to later reject his birth name and take on a new name when he began his religious career. Interested in medicine and healing, he sought entry to universities to study medicine but was turned down (in one case because of his disability). In 1977, he moved to Tokyo, set up a business as a practitioner of acupuncture and vendor of herbal remedies and married Matsumoto Tomoko (who also held a high position in Aum), with whom he had six children. Their third daughter became a highly revered religious practitioner in Aum.

In 1982, Asahara was fined for selling herbal remedies without a license, an incident that caused him great mental distress. He also became a member of the new religion Agonshū, but, dissatisfied with its lack of ascetic practice, he left to set up a yoga and meditation centre in Tokyo, where he gathered disciples attracted by his reputation as an insightful teacher. The group, which began in 1984, included many who were at the center of Aum’s later nefarious activities. It initially called itself “Aum Hermit’s Society” (Aum Shinsen no Kai); the word Aum was drawn from the Hindu and Buddhist term meaning creation, destruction and preservation. Initially, Asahara was seen as a teacher (sensei) but soon came to be referred to as Aum’s “guru” and as an absolute spiritual master and epitome of the truth, to whom disciples owed total obedience. According to disciples, he was highly compassionate and kind, and strove to help them, but they also noted that he was very strict and was harsh on anyone who failed to perform the austerities he deemed necessary for their salvation (Reader 2000:39-44; Takahashi 1996:154-56).

He drew attention to the movement through public talks and various publicity activities, including a claimed ability to levitate, which was
publicized in a 1995 edition of Twilight Zone, a spiritually-oriented Tokyo magazine. In 1986, he visited India, performed ascetic practices there and claimed to have reached enlightenment. He had a succession of religious experiences and claimed that various spirits (including the Indian deity Shiva) had spoken to him and entrusted him with a mission of world salvation and renewal. These reinforced his conviction that he had a special mission to save the world, and that his devotees formed a cadre of sacred warriors who would help him in this task. In 1986, the group followed a common pattern among Japanese new religions by establishing its own publishing firm to allow it to more easily distribute its teachings.

The movement attracted a very small but ardent group of young, well-educated followers, particularly in the Tokyo area. Many were attracted by the promise of attaining enlightenment and personal salvation and by being part of a movement that would bring about world salvation and transformation (Shimazono 1995a, 1995b). Asahara changed the group’s name to Aum Shinrikyō in 1987. Around this time, while continuing to stress the importance of personal spiritual practice and asceticism in the search for enlightenment, he began to express millennial teachings, warning of a crisis engulfing the world that could only be overcome by a rejection of materialism and a turn to spiritual practices. To do this required a growing spiritual army of devotees who would renounce the world and become enlightened (Reader 2000:88-93). This message of world transformation to avert a crisis (caused by factors such as materialism, environmental disasters and the manipulations, according to Asahara, of a conspiratorial group of power-hungry interests including the U.S. government) gradually changed as Aum became beset by difficulties in spreading its message, and as crises gripped the movement.

Asahara was clearly charismatic, and many of those who followed him have testified that it was his charisma, his ability to explain and articulate teachings that presented solutions to their worries, and his compassionate nature that drew them to him and his movement. Devotees sought to align themselves with his charismatic powers by undergoing initiations at his hands, in which he took on their negative karma and thus, according to Aum beliefs, freed them to heighten their spiritual status (Asahara 1992; Reader 2000:12-16).

Asahara was a skilled practitioner of asceticism, and his teachings reflected this. Devotees were expected to fast and perform harsh austerities to purify their bodies and attain higher spiritual states. They renounced the world to live in rural communes, where harsh physical disciplines, including the beating of members to make them engage in more ascetic practices, cultivated a culture of violence within the group. This culture of violence emerged in autumn, 1988 as Asahara became frustrated that his “salvation mission” was running into difficulties because it was not producing enough enlightened beings to bring about the spiritual transformation necessary to avert cosmic catastrophe. As a result, Aum became more hostile towards the world beyond its borders, while Asahara pressed his disciples harder to make them undergo austerities that would bring about their salvation (Reader 2000).

However, the death of a devotee (Majima Terayuki) during such ascetic training in autumn of 1988 caused a fatal blow. Aum’s leaders covered the death up to avoid public scandal and damage to the movement, but this meant breaking the law. One disciple, Taguchi Shūji, lost faith in Asahara as a result and decided to go public on this death, provoking a new crisis. In February, 1989, Taguchi was killed by a group of devotees to stop him bringing the movement into disrepute and to protect “the truth.” Asahara argued that by killing Taguchi, he was saving him from committing the heinous crime of undermining the spiritual truth of Aum (Reader 2000:144-45). In so doing, Asahara began to formulate the doctrine of poa, which became central to Aum teaching and to its escalating violence (see below, under doctrines and teachings).

In this same period, Aum began to become embroiled in disputes with its neighbors where it built its communes, and with the families of devotees who had joined Aum’s communes and severed all familial ties. Hostile stories began to spread in the mass media about Aum, and the Society of Aum Victims (Aum Higaisha no Kai, consisting of ex-members and the families of devotees, was formed. Throughout 1989 Aum thus became enveloped in violence and conflicts, culminating in the murder by devotees of a lawyer, Sakamoto Tsutsumi and his family, in November, 1989. Sakamoto represented the Aum Higaisha no Kai and began investigating the movement, subsequently claiming to have uncovered evidence of fraud (Hardacre 2007:186). As with the killing of Taguchi (above), the reason given for killing Sakamoto was to stop him destroying Aum’s mission, with Asahara using the concept of poa to justify giving the order to kill the lawyer. Evidence of how Aum’s senior devotees agreed with this teaching and with the belief that they had a special mission that should be protected at all costs (even including the killing of others) is shown by the words of Nakagawa Tomomasa, a qualified doctor and Aum devotee. He was asked to carry out the killing and, rather than being shocked at being asked to breach his Hippocratic oath, he said he felt elated to have been chosen for this “salvation mission.” (Pye 1996:265). He felt Asahara had thereby recognized his spiritual prowess and that he had therefore attained a state where he had gone beyond the world of normative morality and acquired a spiritual status that entitled him and other Aum devotees to kill in the service of their guru (Reader 2000:150-51).

Although Aum developed a doctrinal structure that made its senior figures convinced of the righteousness of their violent deeds against “enemies of the truth,” this criminality, combined with external conflicts with hostile family groups and local communities, plus negative media attention, created an aura of paranoia within the movement. This was compounded by Aum’s failure to attract enough practitioners to enable it to achieve the number of spiritually advanced beings Asahara believed were necessary to bring about a peaceful world transformation before the catastrophic events he foresaw at the end twentieth century would otherwise occur. This failure was due in part to Aum’s harsh austerities and requirements that devotees abandon their families and swear absolute devotion to the guru. While this appealed to a small zealous minority it proved unattractive to most young Japanese. The growing controversial reputation of Aum also was a barrier to recruitment (Reader 2000:126-61).

Thus, Aum became beleaguered, and Asahara, shaken by the criminality his mission had produced, became increasingly paranoid, claiming that his salvation mission was being threatened by hostile conspiratorial forces. These views were compounded when, trying to make the Japanese public more aware of Aum’s millennial messages, he established a political party, the Party of Truth (Shinritō) to participate in the February, 1990 elections. The total failure of this party (all Aum candidates including Asahara lost badly) was compounded by public ridicule in the media for Aum’s campaign, and it served to further widen the growing gulf between Aum and Japanese society (Young 1995).

Aum acquired land and built communes in rural Japan, initially at Kamikuishiki in Yamanashi prefecture, not far from Tokyo, and later at Namino in Kyushu. These were perceived as blueprints for its utopian visions of the future (Shimazono 1995). Soon, however, its communes became areas of conflict with local communities and civic authorities as Aum refused to obey local planning laws and faced hostility from rural neighbors suspicious of Aum’s motives (Kumamoto Nichinichi Shinbun 1995; Takeuchi 1995). In late 1990, Aum abandoned the Namino commune (after the local authorities there paid it reparations to get the movement to leave) and made Kamikuishiki its main center. Such conflicts intensified the feelings inside Aum that the movement was being threatened by hostile forces out to stop it from bringing about world transformation. This produced a progressive shift in Aum’s millennialism. Between 1989 and 1991, Asahara turned away from an initial optimism that Aum could save the world, to an increasingly pessimistic view that universal salvation was impossible and that cosmic war, in which the “truth of Aum would confront the evils of the world, was inevitable and necessary. Aum’s growing apocalypticism was reinforced by external teachings encountered by Asahara and his devotees, such as the apocalyptic imagery of the biblical Book of Revelation. Its prophetic messages of a final war between good and evil resonated with Asahara so forcefully that he began to use the term harumageddon (the Japanese phonetic rendition of Armageddon) in his talks and prophecies (Reader 2000:126-95; Shimazono 1997).

In March, 1990, after its electoral humiliation of February 1990, the movement held a seminar on the island of Ishigaki in the Okinawan archipelago. There Asahara announced that a global apocalypse was now inevitable in which only very few (those who followed his teachings) would survive and that humanity had lost any chance of universal salvation. The world had rejected Aum, and Aum was in effect turning its back on the world and saying that in the future it was only interested in saving its own devotees while fighting against anyone who rejected its teachings and who therefore deserved to be punished. Henceforth, Aum had to prepare for a real cosmic confrontation between good and evil when it would fight its enemies, whose purpose was to destroy Aum and subjugate the world. Thus Aum was placed on a war footing, and devoted its energies to acquiring the means to fight. This was a process aided by its activities in Russia, where it briefly established centers and, through contacts there, was able to acquire various forms of weaponry. From the spring of 1990 onwards, a group of Aum devotees who had some scientific training began to make biological and chemical weapons in clandestine laboratories at its Kamikuishiki commune, and a number of unsuccessful attempts were made to use these on the general public. Asahara, from 1993 onwards, began to publicly talk of making sarin in order to protect Aum and fight its enemies (Asahara n.d.:231; Reader 2007:68-69).

Convinced that evil forces were out to destroy his movement, Asahara spoke of the inevitability of a final war, whose date he progressively brought closer to hand. He initially said that it would be in 1999 but later moved the date to 1997 and then to 1995, while emphasizing the spiritual legitimacy of killing anyone who opposed Aum or who refused to acknowledge its supreme spiritual nature (Reader 2000:179-80). The movement thus became increasingly geared towards violence and progressively more hostile to anyone who expressed any dissent towards it. In the years leading up to March, 1995, dissidents within the movement and opponents outside it were attacked (Reader 2000:198-206). The tensions inside the movement led to various defections and to attempts by Aum’s senior figures to recapture those who left. They did this in the belief that the world beyond its borders was consumed by evil and that simply living in that world meant acquiring negative karma that would lead to numerous aeons spent in the Buddhist hells after death. The only way to avoid such post-death horrors was to remain in Aum and perform its austerities under the guidance of Asahara so as to accumulate good karma that would enable one to achieve a better rebirth. As a result, members who tried to leave were often forcibly stopped from so doing or were kidnapped and brought back to Kamikuishiki in order to “save” them (Reader 2000:10-16).

This growing culture of violence was also reflected in Asahara’s apocalyptic visions, which became increasingly stark as the expected date of the end-times came closer. Aum publications became suffused with graphic images of a final war, while members chanted songs in praise of sarin, and the movement moved onto a war footing while devoting increasing resources to its attempts at weapons’ acquisition. In June, 1994, Aum declared its secession from the Japan state and announced the formation of a “sacred government” headed by Asahara as its sacred leader. At the same time, it carried out a sarin gas attack in Matsumoto, central Japan, to strike at a group of judges administering a court case involving Aum (Reader 2000:200, 208-11; Hardacre 2007:191). The attack killed seven people, although Aum’s involvement in the attack was not recognized at the time. However, evidence began to accumulate and be reported in the press connecting Aum with the attack. Other criminal acts by members of the movement, such as the kidnapping of the brother of a devotee (in order, it is believed, to acquire funds to help finance Aum’s costly weapons-making activities), threw further suspicion on the movement. During this period, too, Asahara’s pronouncements were suffused with paranoid images, to the extent that he may well have been undergoing some form of mental collapse. In March, 1995, it became clear that the police were about to take action. On March 20, 1995, Aum devotees, under Asahara’s direction, carried out a sarin attack at Kasumigaseki station, the subway station at the heart of the government district in Tokyo, killing thirteen people and injuring thousands. It was considered to be either the first act in the cosmic war mentioned above or, more likely, an attempt to disrupt the police, whose headquarters were adjacent to the subway station attacked (Reader 2000:211-26).

Two days after the attack, on March 22 1995, the police mounted mass raids on Aum’s main commune at Kamikuishiki and on its centers throughout Japan. Over the months that followed, hundreds of members were arrested, including the movement’s entire hierarchy. On May 16, 1995, Asahara was arrested. By that time, some senior figures, such as Hayashi Ikuo, who had been one of the subway attackers, had made full confessions and had alerted the police to earlier crimes committed by the movement, such as the killing of the lawyer Sakamoto and his family. A succession of trials ensued, in which Asahara (who largely refused to cooperate with the court and with his lawyers, and who appears to have undergone a general mental collapse) and twelve other key figures who had been involved in Aum’s killings and in the manufacture of its sarin were sentenced to death. During July 2018 Asahara and twelve senior figures in Aum, having been convicted of murder and conspiracy to murder, were executed. Over one hundred others received prison sentences, and some remain incarcerated (Ramzy 2018).

After the events of 1995, most of Aum’s members left the movement, and it was later stripped of its legal status as a religious organization. Initially, too, the government discussed whether to proscribe it completely, but this step was not taken due to concerns about the civil liberties of members who, under Japanese constitutional law, are guaranteed freedom of religious worship. A small group of devotees, including members of Asahara’s family and some devotees who were released from prison after serving their sentences, have maintained the faith, while renouncing Aum’s teachings that legitimated violence and distancing themselves from Asahara himself. They changed the
movement’s name to Aleph in 2000 as a way of further breaking from their past, while liquidating all Aum’s remaining assets to provide compensation for its victims. Subsequently Aleph has itself undergone further changes, including secessions. On outcomes of these secessions was the formation of Hikari no Wa in 2007 by Jōyū Fumihiro, perhaps the most senior figure in Aum who had not been directly involved in Aum’s violence (although he was incarcerated for a while on charges of perjury).

DOCTRINES/BELIEFS

The above narrative of Aum’s leader and the group’s history indicates many of the key doctrinal issues surrounding the movement, and they cannot be separated from the visions of its leader or the ways in which the movement developed over its brief period of activity. Aum’s teachings were a product of its leader’s visions, but they drew also on aspects of Buddhist teaching, coupled with millennial thinking, concepts about the existence of hells and of negative karma that could threaten humanity, and beliefs in the importance of performing ascetic practices to purify the body and mind and guard against bad karma. Critically, too, the teachings increasingly focused on the notion that Aum alone was true, that it possessed absolute truth, and that its guru’s position was as a supreme spiritual master, which gave him and his devotees the right to punish those who opposed them.

Over the period between 1984 and 1995, Aum’s teachings were outlined by Asahara in numerous sermons and books, which, taken as a set of historical documents, also serve as an indicator of how experiences in Aum impacted on the movement and influenced its doctrinal development. In particular, the increasing pessimism of its teachings and the turn to violent confrontation with the world at large were underpinned by doctrinal changes that were themselves in part responses to the problems the movement faced. The key document in this context is the Vajrayana kōsu. Kyōgaku shisutemu kyōhon, a photocopied document consisting of fifty-seven lectures given by Asahara between the late 1980s and 1994 (Asahara, n.d.). Never published officially as a single entity, it contained sections from many of his published works over the period and was used as a training manual for senior disciples. The text contains the basis of Asahara’s teachings, including his millennial visions, beliefs in an imminent cosmic war of good against evil, and the belief that Aum could justifiably kill enemies because they stood in the way of truth. The text also outlined Asahara’s interpretations of Vajrayāna Buddhism (the form of Buddhism Aum claimed to adhere to) in which he argued that his teachings took Aum out of the realms of normative morality and into a higher spiritual realm where anything is permitted as a means of advancing the truth and bringing spiritual salvation (Shimazono 1997; Reader 2000). A critical aspect of Aum’s doctrinal structure was that it, and its leader Asahara (who was referred to in Aum as a sacred master sonshi and as guru (with Aum using this Indian term as a Japanese loanword), possessed absolute truth and that all other religions (and, indeed, anyone who rejected Aum’s and Asahara’s teachings) were false.

Aum was millennial in nature and had a polarized view of the world, which was divided into the forces of good and evil, and it saw itself as fighting a spiritual war against evil. It taught that the world was mired in materialism and dominated by corrupt influences (amongst which it included the U.S. and Japanese governments and many groups that are often included in millennialist conspiracy theories, such as the Freemasons, Illuminati and Jews). Aum, like many other Japanese new religions at the time, considered that the world was enveloped in a crisis that might lead to cataclysm and apocalypse by the end of the twentieth century, due to global war, environmental destruction and natural disasters (Reader 2000:47-52). The roots of this destruction were grounded in humanity’s nature; the world had become too materialistic, people had lost sight of their true spiritual nature and the bad karma that had been created was leading to disaster. The materialism of the world was such that it tainted all who lived in it, and only by following a path of truth and righteousness (in essence by becoming an Aum devotee and following the on true guru) and by engaging in strict ascetic practices to purify the body and eradicate bad karma, could one be saved and avoid falling into the lower realms at death. The concept of hells was important, and Asahara’s sermons in the Vajrayāna kōsu. Kyōgaku shisutemu kyōhon make repeated references to their horrors and to the fates of those who fail to perform spiritual austerities. This fear of the hells was a factor in the emphasis Aum placed on austerities, which were seen as necessary to continually purify the body and save it from the negative karma that surrounded everyone living in the everyday world. The material world in which everyone (apart from Aum in its communes) lived, was seen as a “den of evil” (akugō no sōkotsu), and it was only through leaving this world and following the guidance of a true guru that one could achieve enlightenment, purify the body and be saved from such negative karma. Anyone who failed to do this was an enemy of truth, unworthy of salvation and, ultimately, worthy of punishment (Asahara, nd, passim; Reader 2000:10-16).

The most critical doctrine in Aum, in terms of its violent activities, was that of poa. This term, derived initially from a Tibetan term, refers to the notion that the spirits of the deceased can advance towards salvation and better rebirths in the next life with the guidance of advanced spiritual practitioners who will perform rituals for them to this end. This reflects a standard East Asian Buddhist activity in which ritual services are performed by Buddhist priests when someone dies in order to purify the deceased of their bad karma in this world and help them attain a better rebirth. In Aum, Asahara performed poa rituals for members who died, and he did them at the behest of members, for their relatives as well. Taguchi’s planned revelation of Majima’s accidental death, which would have jeopardized the viability of the movement, caused a drastic modification of the concept. If Taguchi had gone public and undermined the “truth” and upset Aum’s mission of world salvation, he would, Asahara believed, acquire terrible negative karma and would thus have to spend aeons in various hells after death. To stop this (and to protect Aum’s mission), Taguchi was killed, thereby “saving” him from acquiring endless bad karma and allowing him a favorable rebirth. The term used to describe the killing was poa  It had become modified from being a ritual performance aimed at improving the karmic merit of someone who had died, to a process of “saving” someone by intervening in their lives (i.e. killing them) to stop them committing grave karmic sins. Being killed, which Aum referred to as carrying out an act of poa on someone (poa suru), was to be blessed with the karmic intervention of a spiritually superior being, who would thus bestow merit on the person killed and enable that person to achieve a better rebirth (Asaahara nd, passim, but especially p. 286). Since Aum regarded all who did not support its message as “enemies of the truth” (shinri no teki) and saw everyone who lived in the material world as being subject to negative karma that would necessarily take them into the hells at death, this interpretation meant that anyone who lived in the material world and did not belong to Aum, was liable to incur grave karmic consequences. Killing them was, in Aum’s eyes, a beneficial act that would bring them merit in the hereafter. This doctrine was one of the foundations on which Aum’s acts, real and attempted, of mass murder was founded, along with its millennial views that a final and real war between good and evil was inevitable and necessary, and that anything was permitted to Aum in its mission of bringing about world transformation (Shimazono 1997; Reader 2000:18-19, 145-46).

ORGANIZATION/LEADERSHIP

Aum was never a major mass movement. At its peak it may have had 10,000 members in Japan, but its core centered on a smaller number of people who renounced the world and lived as monastics in Aum’s communes (shukkesha). There were around 1,100 of these by 1995. Overseas, it only gained some success in Russia, although attempts were made to develop centers in Germany, the U.S. and Sri Lanka as well. The failure to acquire a significant membership was a factor in Aum’s turn against the world and in convincing Asahara that most people were not capable or ready to accept the truth. Yet, while its membership was relatively small by the standards of Japanese new religions, it was highly motivated, articulate and educated, with many of its senior figures graduates of elite universities and/or with professional qualifications. They included qualified doctors, such as Nakagawa Tomomasa and Hayashi Ikuo, the latter of whom was a senior heart surgeon; lawyers, such as Aoyama Yoshinobu; and science graduates, such as Endō Seiichi and Tsuchiya Masami (who were at the heart of its chemical weapons’ program). All were all involved in Aum’s criminal activities.

Aum was centered on Asahara’s charismatic leadership and teachings, and asserted that he was the epitome of truth (Reader 2000:32-33). It was both communal (in that members who renounced the world, lived together in Aum centers and communes) and hierarchical in nature, with different levels of shukkesha. Ascent through the hierarchy was linked to devotion to Asahara and readiness to engage in Aum’s initiation practices and to perform extreme ascetic practices (Reader 2000:84-88). While this emphasis on extreme austerities and devotion proved a barrier to mass recruitment, and thus contributed to Aum’s gradual estrangement from society at large, it facilitated the emergence of a very loyal and zealous core of disciples. They were driven by an absolute dedication to Asahara and a belief in their own spiritual powers and in their special mission to bring about world salvation. They shared a disdain for and an indifference to those who did not follow their path. They readily acquiesced in the hierarchic structures of Aum, which gave them a degree of power and authority and confirmed, in their eyes, their spiritual prowess (Reader 2000:101-25).

Such hierarchic structures also isolated Asahara from the rank and file. A cohort of senior figures, such as Murai Hideo and Hayakawa Yoshihide (both of whom oversaw aspects of Aum’s weapons acquisition programmes), along with Asahara’s wife and others, gathered around the leader and became conduits for his orders. The hierarchic structure that developed also shielded the activities of different parts of the organisation from each other; many people, even in the upper echelons of the movement, appear to have been unaware of the extent of Aum’s secretive weapons’ making program at Kamikuishiki. There was also rivalry between senior disciples, which made them more zealous and ready to commit atrocities or to suggest potential targets for poa activities so as to curry favor with Asahara.

In June, 1994, Aum revised its organizational structures in a way that mimicked the structures of the Japanese government. Aum declared it had established an alternative government so as to prepare for Armageddon. This “government” consisted of twenty-two ministries; each was headed by a senior devotee who thus had major control of different areas of Aum activity, under the ultimate supervision of Asahara, who was declared the “ sacred ruler” (shinsei hōō) (Hardacre 2007:191; Reader 2000:200). The title implied being a theocratic ruler incorporating the (former) spiritual/mystical role of the Japanese Emperor, along with the temporal one of Japan’s former military leaders (shogun). This organizational structure remained in existence until the subway attack and the subsequent police raids on Aum. The leaders in charge of the various “ministries” were prominent among those arrested and charged with Aum’s crimes.

ISSUES/CHALLENGES

Aum’s turn to criminality, outlined above, has had massive repercussions in Japan and beyond. It provides a clear example of a new religious movement that, driven by extreme religious beliefs coupled with a series of internal disasters, became violent externally and internally primarily due to endogenous issues that arose within the movement. While Aum had numerous conflicts with those outside the movement, and had problems with the law in Japan well before March, 1995, these conflicts were greatly spurred by its own intransigence, while its initial violence (the beatings of members, from around 1998, and the unforeseen death of a member as a result of enforced austerities) occurred prior to any serious external pressure (Reader 1999). Aum also provides a salient example of how a millennial movement can become increasingly catastrophic in its orientations, how a charismatic leader can become increasingly paranoid, and how a movement can develop doctrines that it believes are essential for saving people, but that in reality justify killing them. It thus raises major questions about how religious beliefs and practices can lead to, or be associated with, violence and mass murder.

In legal and political terms, too, the “Aum Affair” (Oumu jiken) raises many challenging issues. In Japan, the affair has raised major questions about definitions of “religion” in the public sphere. The Japanese Constitution guarantees freedom of religious association and worship, while other laws grant tax concessions to religious groups, based in the notion that their activities are a force for the public good. Aum’s use of tax-exempt resources to finance its weapons program has led to calls for major reforms to these laws, while there have been continuing debates about whether there should be state-imposed limits on religious freedom. There have been proposals about redefining religion to differentiate between “orthodox” religions (i.e. those that adhere to and are associated with long-established traditions) and “cults” (i.e. new movements that deviate from Japanese norms). While such changes have not occurred legally, this notion of a differentiation between “religions” and “cults” has become quite prevalent in the media and in public perceptions. The laws governing religious organisations in general have, however, been modified in the wake of the affair, and they have made it harder for any religious group to acquire registered religious status and the protections and tax concessions that go with it (Mullins 2001; Baffelli and Reader 2012).

Questions were raised about proscribing Aum completely and about whether that would thereby infringe the constitutionally guaranteed religious freedoms of members who wished, even after March, 1995, to remain faithful to the movement. Eventually it was decided that Aum could not be formally proscribed as such, but its status as a registered religious organization and its tax-exemptions were withdrawn. New laws enabling the authorities to closely monitor it, and the groups that emerged from it, have been instituted. A number of people (estimated to be around 1,000) remain linked to Aum’s offshoots and retain aspects of their faith. They have renounced violence, and two groups have emerged out of the ashes of Aum: Aleph and Hikari no Wa (Baffelli 2012).

There has also been increased public hostility to religious organizations in general in the aftermath of the affair. Surveys indicate that many Japanese now consider “religion” to be dangerous and fear that joining a religious organization will leave them open to manipulation and to becoming involved in illegal activities. There is also considerable public support for increased surveillance of religions and for proscribing public religious proselytization, even as many religious organizations, notably new religions, have experienced declining memberships. There is a general notion that Aum might not have been unique but simply an example of the wider dangers of religion, and for many years the media engaged in searches for the “next Aum,” with numerous groups (none of which exhibited any violent tendencies) being labeled in such ways and subjected to public opprobrium. While in recent years this aspect of Aum’s aftermath has died down, the media continues to affix the label “cult” (karuto), which in Japanese has highly pejorative implications, to various religious groups that appear to not conform with mainstream social views (Reader 2004).

Outside of Japan, too, Aum has had a major impact both strategically and politically. It was the first case of the lethal use of chemical weapons by a non-government agency, and this has led to intensive study of Aum by various civil and law enforcement agencies worldwide, as well as having an influence on the policies of such agencies and governments. In the period prior to September, 2001 in particular, some in law enforcement circles considered that threats from small millennial groups armed with such weapons, would be the future of terrorism, and considerable resources were devoted to the issue and to gathering data on Aum and other groups that were feared to have similar millennial orientations (Feakes 2007; Reader 2012). It was focused on in various reports by intelligence agencies in the run-up to the year 2000, which looked at whether millennial movements might pose threats to public order at that time (Kaplan 2000). A number of public exercises designed to test public service responses to terror attacks on mass transport systems have been carried out on subway systems in cities such as London, invariably based in the assumption that such attacks will use sarin. The Aum case has also been used for political ends by governments in other parts of the world as an example of the “dangers” of religious freedom. The Chinese government has cited the case of Aum in this context when seeking to legitimate its crackdown on Falun Gong, for example. The Russian government has also cited Aum in this context when developing new laws aimed at overseeing religious movements in its country.

REFERENCES

Asahara Shōkō. 1992. Haiesuto danma (Oumu Shuppan).

Asahara Shōkō. (n.d. but probably 1994). Vajrayana kōsu. Kyōgaku shisutemu kyōhon.

Baffelli, Erica. 2012. “Hikari no Wa: A New Religion Recovering from Disaster.” Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 39:29-50.

Baffelli, Erica and Ian Reader. 2012. “ Impact and Ramifications: The Aftermath of the Aum Affair in the Japanese Religious Context.” Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 39:1-28.

Feakes, Duncan. 2007. “The Chemical Weapons Convention and the Biological Weapons Convention: Confronting the Threat of International Terrorism.” Pp. 116-57 in Terrorism and Weapons of Mass Destruction: Responding to the Challenge, edited by Ian Bellany. London: Routledge.

Hardacre, Helen. 2007. “Aum Shinrikyō and the Japanese Media: The Pied Piper Meets the Lamb of God.” History of Religions 47:171-204.

Kaplan, Jeffrey, ed. 2002. Millennial Violence: Past, Present and Future. London: Frank Cass.

Kumamoto Nichinichi Shinbun. 1995. Oumu Shinrikyō to mura no ronri. Fukuoka, Japan: Ashi Shobō.

Mullins, Mark R. 2001. “The Legal and Political Fallout of the “Aum Affair.” Pp. 71-86 in Religion and Social Crisis in Japan Understanding Japanese Society Through the Aum Affair, edited by Robert Kisala and Mark R. Mullins. Basingstoke, U.K.: Palgrave.

Pye, Michael. 1996. “Aum Shinrikyō: Can Religious Studies Cope?” Religion 26:261-70.

Ramzy, Austin. 2018. “Japan Executes Cult Leader Behind 1995 Sarin Gas Subway Attack.” New York Times, July 5. Accessed from https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/05/world/asia/japan-cult-execute-sarin.html on 5 July 2018.

Reader, Ian. 2012. “Globally Aum: The Aum Affair, Counterterrorism and Religion.” Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 39:177-96.

Reader, Ian. 2007. “Manufacturing the Means of Apocalypse: Aum Shinrikyo and the Acquisition of Weapons of Mass Destruction.” Pp. 53-80 in Terrorism and Weapons of Mass Destruction: Responding to the Challenge, edited by Ian Bellany. New York: Routledge.

Reader, Ian. 2004. “Consensus Shattered: Japanese Paradigm Shifts and Moral Panic in the Post-Aum Era.” Pp. 191-201 in New Religious Movements in the 21st Century: Legal, Political and Social Challenges in Global Perspective, edited by Philip Charles Lucas and Thomas Robbins. New York: Routledge.

Reader, Ian. 2000. Religious Violence in Contemporary Japan: The Case of Aum Shinrikyō. Richmond, U.K.: Curzon Press.

Reader, Ian. 1999. “Imagined Persecution: Aum Shinrikyō, Millennialism and the Legitimation of Violence.” Pp. 138-52 in Millennialism, Persecution and Violence: Historical Cases, edited by Catherine Wessinger. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press.

Shimazono Susumu. 1997. Gendai shūkyō no kanōsei: Oumu Shinrikyō to bōryoku. Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten.

Shimazono Susumu. 1995a. Aum Shinrikyō no kiseki. Tokyo: Iwanami Booklets, No. 379.

Shimazono Susumu. 1995b. “In the Wake of Aum: The Formation and Transformation of a Universe of Belief.” Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 22:343-80.

Takahashi Hidetoshi. 1996. Oumu kara no kikan. Tokyo: Sōshisha.

Takeuchi Seiichi. 1995. Fujisan fumoto no tatakai: Oumu 2000 nichi sensō. Tokyo: KK Besuto Serazu.

Young, Richard Fox. 1995. “Lethal Achievement: Fragments of a Response to the Aum Shinrikyō Affair.” Japanese Religions 20:230-45.

SUPPLEMENTARY RESOURCES

The above references include accounts of Aum’s interactions with local communities, written from the perspective of those communities (Kumamoto Nichinichi Shinbun 1995 and Takeuchi 1995) plus an account by a former believer (Takahashi 1996) of life inside Aum. For further accounts of life inside Aum, the following two books by senior Aum disciples convicted of involvement in murder and other of Aum’s crimes are:

Hayakawa Kiyohide. 2005. Watashi ni totte Oumu to wa nan datta noka Popurasha.

Hayashi Ikuo. 1998. Oumu to watashi. Tokyo, Bungeishunjū.

For Asahara’s teaching, the main source is the above-cited Asahara Shōkō (n.d. but probably 1994) Vajrayana kōsu. Kyōgaku shisutemu kyōhon. An extensive extensive bibliography of Asahara’s and Aum’s publications is provided in Reader 2000:283-86 (cited above). While Aum books have, since the sarin attack, become difficult to find, the following two volumes published just before and around the time of the subway attack, illustrative of Asahara’s increasingly pessimistic apocalyptic visions:

Asahara Shōkō. 1995. Hiizuru kuni wazawaichikashi. Tokyo: Oumu Shuppan.

Asahara Shōkō 1995 Bōkoku Nihon no kanashimi. Tokyo: Oumu Shuppan. The former was published in an English version as
Asahara Shōkō. 1995. Disaster Approaches the Land of the Rising Sun. Tokyo: Aum Publishing.

For further discussions of the Aum Affair and Aum’s activities and teachings, see:

Lifton Robert Jay. 1999. Destroying the World to Save It: Aum Shinrikyo, Apocalyptic Violence, and the New Global Terrorism. (New York: Holt. This book takes a largely psychological approach to the affair.

Reader, Ian. 1996. A Poisonous Cocktail? Aum Shinrikyō’s Path to Violence. Copenhagen: NIAS Books). This is the first academic book on the affair, which is based largely on media reports and analyses.

Reader, Ian 2002. “Spectres and Shadows: Aum Shinrikyo and the Road to Megiddo.” Terrorism and Political Violence 14:147-86. This article examines Aum in the context of various security agency reports on the dangers of millennial movements.

Serizawa Shunsuke. 1997. Oumu genshō no kaidoku. Tokyo: Byakujunsha. This is one of many Japanese volumes produced in the immediate aftermath of the sarin attack, looking at Aum’s history, teachings and activities.

Shimada Hiromi. 2000. Oumu: naze shūkyō ga terorisumu o unda noka 2001. Tokyo: Transview. This book is written by a scholar whose earlier positive writings about Aum caused controversy and led to his dismissal from a Japanese university after the sarin attack (an issue covered in Reader 2004, cited above) and who in this volume sought to answer why a movement he had earlier examined as an idealistic Buddhist organization, turned to terrorism.

On the issues and challenges produced by Aum and its aftermath, the following two volumes are valuable:

Kisala, Robert J. and Mark R. Mullins, eds. 2001 Religion and Social Crisis in Japan: Understanding Japanese Society through the Aum Affair. Basingstoke, U.K.: Palgrave. This book draws on early academic analyses of the affair and looks at its legal, political and security ramifications.

Japanese Journal of Religious Studies, 2012, Vol. 39/2, “Aftermath: Impact and Ramifications of the Aum Affair” is guest edited by Erica Baffelli and Ian Reader, and covers the ways in which the Aum Affair has affected Japan and had impacts beyond its shores. It covers general public and media responses and hostility to religion, the formation of post-Aum offshoots of Aum, the impact on other new religions, politics, nationalist movements and popular culture, and Aum’s impact on global terrorist policies. The articles in it are as follows:

Baffelli, Erica and Ian Reader. “Introduction: Impact and Ramifications: The Aftermath of the Aum Affair in the Japanese Religious Context.” Pp. 1-28.

Baffelli, Erica. “Hikari no Wa: A New Religion Recovering from Disaster.” Pp. 29-50.

McLaughlin, Levi. “Did Aum Change Everything? What Soka Gakkai Before, During, and After the Aum Shinrikyo Affair Tells Us About the Persistent “Otherness” of New Religions in Japan.” Pp. 51-76.

Klein, Axel. “Twice Bitten, Once Shy: Religious Organizations and Politics after the Aum Attack.” Pp. 77-98.

Mullins, Mark R., “The Neo-Nationalist Response to the Aum Crisis: A Return of Civil Religion and Coercion in the Public Sphere?” Pp. 99-126.

Thomas, Jolyon Baraka. “Horrific “Cults” and Comic Religion Manga after Aum.” Pp. 127-52.

Dorman, Benjamin. “Scholarly Reactions to the Aum and Waco Incidents.” Pp. 153-78.

Reader, Ian. “ Globally Aum: The Aum Affair, Counterterrorism, and Religion.” Pp. 179-98.

Post Date:
24 December 2013

AUM SHINRIKYO VIDEO CONNECTIONS

INTEGRAL YOGA TIMELINE

1872 (August 15):  Aurobindo Ghose was born in Calcutta, India.

1878 (February 21):  Mirra Alfassa was born in Paris.

1879:  Aurobindo was taken to England along with his brothers; he lived in Manchester with an English family for five years.

1884:  Aurobindo was enrolled in St. Paul’s School, London.

1889 (December):  Aurobindo won a Classics scholarship to attend Kings College, Cambridge; in June 1890 he passed the Indian Civil Service (ICS) entrance examination; he attended Cambridge as an ICS probationer until 1892.

1892:  Aurobindo passed his final Classics and ICS examinations but was rejected from the ICS because he failed to attend the riding examination.

1893-1906:  Aurobindo worked in the Indian princely state of Baroda as administrative trainee, professor at Baroda College, secretary to the Maharaja of Baroda, and vice-principal of the college.

1902-1910:  Aurobindo was active in the Indian freedom movement; he was charged twice with sedition and once with waging war against the government, but was acquitted in all three cases.

1903-1905:  Mirra Alfassa (then Mirra Morisset) exhibited paintings at salons in Paris.

1903-1908:  Mirra Alfassa was active in the Mouvement Cosmique, a neo-Kabbalah group based in Tlemcen, Algeria, and Paris; during this period she contributed articles to the Revue Cosmique.

1910 (April):  Aurobindo sailed to Pondicherry (then part of the French Settlements in India), where he remained for the rest of his life; between 1910 and 1926 an informal group of disciples gathered around him.

1912-1913:  Mirra Alfassa (then Mirra Richard) met Sufi leader Hazrat Inayat Khan and Baha’i leader ‘Abdu’l-Baha in Paris.

1914 (March 29):  Mirra Alfassa met Aurobindo in Pondicherry; they, along with Mirra’s then husband Paul Richard, launched a monthly journal, Arya, in August.

1915 (February):  Mirra and Paul Richard returned to France; Aurobindo brought out the Arya singlehandedly between 1915 and 1921, publishing in it all his major prose works.

1916-1920:  Mirra and Paul Richard lived in Japan; in April 1920 they came to Pondicherry; Paul later returned to France.

1916-1950:  Aurobindo worked on Savitri , an epic poem in English based on a legend in the Mahabharata.

1926 (November 24):  After a major spiritual experience, Aurobindo retired to his rooms, leaving the community of disciples in Mirra’s hands. Viewed retrospectively, this is regarded as the founding date of Sri Aurobindo Ashram.

1927-1938:  The ashram grew under the guidance of Mirra (now known as the Mother); Aurobindo (now known as Sri Aurobindo) stayed in touch with his disciples by means of letters.

1938 (November 24):  Sri Aurobindo broke his leg while walking in his room; from this point on a group of disciples looked after him.

1942 (December 2):  The Mother opened a school for children of disciples.

1947 (August 15):  India attained independence on Sri Aurobindo’s seventy-fifth birthday.

1950 (December 5):  Sri Aurobindo died.

1950-1958:  The Mother gave regular talks to children and members of the ashram, which later were published as Entretiens (Conversations).

1952 (January 6):  The Mother inaugurated the Sri Aurobindo University Centre, later renamed Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education.

1955:  Sri Aurobindo Ashram organized legally as Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust.

1956 (February 29):  The Mother announced that the “supermind” (see below) had manifested in the “earth atmosphere.”

1957-1973:  The Mother had regular conversations with a disciple concerning her practice of yoga; these talks later were published as L’Agenda de Mère (Mother’s Agenda).

1962 (August 16):  Pondicherry became part of the Republic of India.

1968 (February 28):  The Mother inaugurated Auroville, an international township situated outside Pondicherry.

1973 (November 17):  The Mother died.

1980 (December):  The Indian Parliament passed the Auroville (Emergency Provisions) Act, 1980.

1988 (September):  The Indian Parliament passed the Auroville Foundation Act, 1988.

FOUNDER/GROUP HISTORY

Aurobindo [Image at right] worked in Baroda from 1893 to 1906. During this period he studied classical and modern Indian literature, wrote a great deal of poetic and prose literature in English, and began to organize physical-culture clubs that he hoped would become the basis of an anti-British revolutionary movement. He took no interest in the Indian National Congress, then a powerless advocacy group, until 1905, when there was a wave of agitation against the government’s proposed partition of the province of Bengal. Going to Calcutta in 1906, he became a leader of the extremist faction of the Indian National Congress and the inspiration of a revolutionary group led by his brother Barindrakumar, which took part in some unsuccessful attempts to assassinate British officials. Arrested in 1908 along with Barindrakumar and other members of the revolutionary group, Aurobindo was charged with conspiring to wage war against the government. After a year-long trial he was acquitted for lack of evidence in May 1909.

Aurobindo had begun to practice yoga in 1905, initially to get power to help him in his revolutionary work. Before his arrest and during his imprisonment, he had several transformative spiritual experiences. After a brief return to political action following his release from jail, he withdrew from politics to devote himself fulltime to yoga. Sailing under an assumed name to avoid detainment by the British, he reached Pondicherry, a port in southern India that was then under French control, in April 1910. During the next four years he remained out of sight, absorbed in the practice of yoga, in study, and in writing (Aurobindo 2006; Heehs 2008).

Mirra Alfassa’s parents were non-practicing Sephardic Jews who emigrated to Paris from Alexandria, Egypt, in 1877, a year before Mirra was born. Privately educated, she studied art at the Académie Julian and married a painter, Henri Morisset, in 1897. The couple moved in creative circles, getting to know Auguste Rodin, Anatole France, and other artists and writers. They also frequented groups connected with the French occult revival, particularly the Mouvement Cosmique, which was founded by Max Théon (born apparently Eliezer Mordechai Bimstein in Poland around 1850), and his wife (born Mary Ware in England in 1839) in Tlemcen, Algeria, around 1900 (Huss 2015; Heehs 2011). In contrast with the Theosophical Society and other groups that looked for inspiration to a romanticized East, the Mouvement Cosmique held up “the standard of the occidental Tradition.” The basis of its teachings was Lurianic Kabbalah, augmented by the inspirations and occult experiences of Madame Théon. The Mouvement Cosmique had a branch in Paris, and Mirra took part in its activities between 1903 and 1908. During the same period she twice visited Théon and his wife in Tlemcen. In Paris she hosted her own discussion group, called Idéa. At one of its meetings she met the lawyer and writer Paul Richard, who later became her second husband. In 1910, Paul Richard went to Pondicherry to contest the French Indian seat in the Chamber of Deputies. He lost the election, but before returning to Paris met Aurobindo Ghose, with whom he remained in contact. Between 1910 and 1913 he and Mirra met Eastern spiritual teachers, such as Sufi leader Hazrat Inayat Khan and Baha’i leader ‘Abdu’l-Baha, in Paris (Heehs 2008).

In 1914, Paul Richard went to Pondicherry again, this time accompanied by Mirra. After failing in his second bid to be elected to the Chamber, Paul proposed that he and Aurobindo publish a philosophical journal in English and French. Aurobindo accepted, and the journal, Arya, was launched in August 1914, the month that World War I broke out. Five months later Paul was mobilized, and he and Mirra returned to France. Paul managed to obtain a post in Japan, and he and Mirra [Image at right] spent the war years there. In the meantime, Aurobindo brought out Arya on his own. In April 1920, Paul and Mirra returned to India. Paul left for France soon afterward; Mirra remained in Pondicherry as a disciple of Aurobindo.

There were at this time around a dozen men and women living in Pondicherry as Aurobindo’s disciples. He met them in the evening and spoke with them about various topics, most of them not overtly spiritual. If they showed an interest in spiritual philosophy, he suggested that they read his writings in the Arya. If they said they wanted to practice yoga, he encouraged them to meditate but imposed no fixed routine. Mirra emerged as his foremost disciple, and some of the others began to go to her for guidance. Aurobindo eventually announced that she was his spiritual equal, and when he retired after an important spiritual experience on November 24, 1926, Mirra took over as the active leader of the community, which soon became known as Sri Aurobindo Ashram. (Aurobindo had no love for formal institutions and accepted the name ashram “for want of a better” (Aurobindo 2006)). Around this time Mirra became known as the Mother, while Aurobindo became known as Sri Aurobindo.

Between 1927 and 1938 Sri Aurobindo wrote thousands of letters to his disciples, which eventually filled seven large volumes. Mirra meanwhile was overseeing the development of the ashram into a multifaceted spiritual community. Members were expected to work several hours a day in one of ashram’s services (kitchen, laundry, construction and maintenance, etc.). Apart from this there were no mandatory activities. Most disciples practiced meditation and studied the writings and talks of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. Many also took part in cultural activities, such as writing, painting, and singing. The gurus encouraged each individual to find his or her own path and to establish a personal relationship with the Divine. Most of the disciples’ devotion was directed toward Sri Aurobindo and the Mother themselves. The two gave darshan or public viewing three (later four) times a year, and the Mother presided over collective meditations and other group activities. The ashram grew from around twenty-five members in 1926 to around 150 in 1933. After 1934, people who applied for membership were encouraged to practice where they lived. Some of them formed communities on the model of the ashram, but Sri Aurobindo and the Mother did not assume responsibility for such groups and they made no effort to expand their activities outside Pondicherry. They viewed the ashram as a “laboratory” for the development of a new sort of humanity and felt that mere quantitative growth would not facilitate this process (Aurobindo 2011).

After the outbreak of World War II, Sri Aurobindo and the Mother allowed a number of outside disciples who felt threatened by the approach of the Japanese army to settle in Pondicherry. Some of them brought their children. The Mother opened a school in 1942 and established an innovative program of mental and physical education. She and Sri Aurobindo had never encouraged their disciples to practice hathayoga (postures and breathing exercises). She felt that modern Indians had more need of active forms of exercise, such as athletics, sports and swimming, and she arranged for the construction of a track, tennis courts, basketball courts, and so forth. Soon adult members, and the Mother as well, were taking part in the ashram’s [Image at right] physical education program.

Sri Aurobindo had long been in the habit of walking in his room, sometimes for hours at a time. In 1938, he tripped and broke his leg and was confined to his bed for several weeks. At this time a group of disciples was chosen to look after him. For a couple of years he had daily conversations with them: this was the first direct contact he had had with any of his followers since 1926. Around this time, he began to revise and republish the works he had written for the Arya between 1914 and 1921. He also gave attention to Savitri , an epic poem in English that he had begun in 1916. It was published in two volumes in 1950 and 1951.

Sri Aurobindo passed away on December 5, 1950 as a result of a kidney infection brought on by enlargement of the prostate. He refused any invasive medical treatment. After his death, the Mother remained in charge of the ashram. In January 1952 she inaugurated the Sri Aurobindo University Centre, later renamed the Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education, which currently offers classes from kindergarten to college levels. During the 1950s the Mother gave regular talks to students and members of the ashram, sometimes speaking of her own spiritual realizations, which she saw as a continuation of Sri Aurobindo’s efforts to open the way for an evolutionary transformation of life on earth. In the years that followed, she reported progress in her own practice of the yoga of transformation in conversations with a disciple, which later were published as Mother’s Agenda (Mother 1979-1982). In 1968, the Mother inaugurated Auroville, an international community meant to “realize human unity” (Mother 2004).

The Mother died on November 17, 1973, at the age of 95. She appointed no successor. A trust that had been set up in 1955 took over the administration of the ashram, which has continued to grow and expand. As of 2016 it consists of around 1,500 fulltime members. Thousands of “devotees” live in the surrounding community and in other Indian and foreign cities. Many frequently visit the ashram and take part in its activities. Devotees and others have organized independent study circles and other Sri Aurobindo- and Mother-related groups in India and abroad. These have no direct relationship with the ashram, which has no branches or any national or international organization. The community of Auroville, which has no legal or administrative relationship with the ashram, was taken over by the Government of India in 1988 to guarantee proper management. (For details see below under Leadership/Organization). The community has continued to develop under the inspiration of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. At present it has around 2,500 fulltime members, representing more than forty countries (Census – Auroville Population 2016).

DOCTRINES/BELIEFS

Broadly speaking, the philosophy of Sri Aurobindo is a combination of the ancient Indian philosophical system of Vedanta with certain ideas usually associated with Western modernity, such as evolution, progress and individuality. Classical Vedanta, one of the six orthodox systems of Indian philosophy, is based on the teachings of the Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita, and other Sanskrit texts. Among the central ideas of Vedanta are (1) that the universe is an expression of a single Reality, called brahman ; (2) that each individual being is fundamentally atman or self; and (3) that atman is identical with brahman, which means that each individual being can achieve a state of union with the ultimate Reality, sometimes conceived of as ishwara or the Lord of the Universe. (The Indian term ishwara is roughly equivalent to the Western “God.” Sri Aurobindo and the Mother often used the term “the Divine” when referring to God or the Lord.)

The Sanskrit word for union is yoga. In philosophy, yoga came to mean a set of teachings and practices found in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra. More broadly, yoga refers to all practices by which an individual can achieve union with brahman or move in that direction. Conventionally, the methods of yoga are placed in three categories: (1) those that rely on work conceived of as selfless service to the Divine ( karma-yoga or the yoga of action), (2) those that rely on mental exercises such as meditation (jnana-yoga or the yoga of knowledge), (3) those that rely on devotion to ishwara conceived of as a personal god (bhakti-yoga or the yoga of devotion). Some authorities also recognize a fourth category of practices relying on occult forces to bring about personal transformation. In the system known as raja-yoga , this transformation is associated with extraordinary powers or siddhis, as described in the Yoga Sutra. In Sri Aurobindo’s yoga, the transformation comes about through the action of the divine force or shakti, as described in the Tantras.

Sri Aurobindo called his system Integral Yoga because it synthesized or integrated the methods of the four traditional paths of yoga, which he called the yoga of divine works, the yoga of integral knowledge, the yoga of divine love, and the yoga of self-perfection. He first used the term “Integral Yoga” in The Synthesis of Yoga in September 1914. (In 1913 he used the Sanskrit equivalent, purna yoga, in an essay.) (Aurobindo 1999; Aurobindo 1997a). In The Synthesis of Yoga he explained that the fundamental principle of yoga was “the turning of one or of all powers of our human consciousness into a means of reaching divine Being.” In the three traditional paths, “one main power of being or one group of its powers is made the means,” while in a synthetic or integral yoga “all powers will be combined and included in the transmuting instrumentation.” The yoga of works, with its main power of will; the yoga of knowledge, with its main power of intellect; and the yoga of devotion, with its main power of love, will be elevated from “the mental into the full spiritual and supramental nature,” paving the way for a “spiritual and gnostic self-perfection” (Aurobindo 1999).

Supermind and the supramental are terms that Sri Aurobindo introduced to describe levels of consciousness above the ordinary mind. In his cosmology the “lower hemisphere” is made up of matter, life and mind, while the “higher hemisphere” is made up of being, consciousness and bliss (which are known to Vedanta as sat-chit-ananda ). Between the two hemispheres is supermind, referred to in certain Upanishads as vijnana. Supermind is the dynamic link between the spiritual levels of being-consciousness-bliss and the lower levels of matter-life-mind. Sri Aurobindo viewed the manifestation of the cosmos as a dual process of involution and evolution. Life and mind, which are “involved” in matter, evolve out of it through the intermediary of plant, animal and human life. The supermind, also involved but still latent in matter, is destined to evolve through the intermediary of supramental or gnostic beings. The full emergence of supermind will bring about a transformation of matter, life and mind and inaugurate a divine life in which “gnostic individuals” will interact harmoniously with one another “in a gnostic community or communities.” (Aurobindo 2005). In a yoga diary that he kept between 1912 and 1920 and again in 1927 Sri Aurobindo wrote that he was ascending into various intermediary levels of consciousness between ordinary mind and supermind (Aurobindo 2001). Years later he wrote that the highest of these levels, which he called overmind, had descended into his body in 1926. Thereafter he applied himself to ascending into supermind and to bringing it down into matter. After his death in 1950, the Mother continued this supramental yoga. In 1956, she announced that the supermind had descended into the earth’s atmosphere (Mother 2004). Later she told her disciples that the supermind force was at work in her body to transform it.

Sri Aurobindo and the Mother did not encourage their followers to speculate about the descent of the supermind, the physical transformation, and so forth. It was important for them to know that the ultimate goal of yoga was the transformation of individual and collective life and not, as in traditional Vedanta, an escape from samsara , the karma -driven round of birth-and-death. But before individuals could think about rising to the supermind or bringing down its power into their bodies, they had to go through a long and difficult preparation. First comes a preliminary physical and mental purification such as is recommended by virtually all religious and spiritual traditions. There follows the practice of yoga properly speaking, beginning with the triple path of works, knowledge and devotion. In practical terms, the path of works means performing all actions without desire, as described by the Bhagavad Gita. The path of knowledge entails gaining control of the activities of the mind by means of concentration or meditation, while the way of devotion depends on establishing a personal relationship with the Divine or the guru. Many followers of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother look on them as avatars or divine incarnations and direct their devotion to them. While not insisting that they embrace belief in avatarhood, Sri Aurobindo asked his disciples surrender themselves to the Mother and to allow her to guide them from within.

Sri Aurobindo took one important term of his philosophy not from the Indian tradition but from the Western esoteric tradition that the Mother had studied before she came to India. This term was the être psychique or “psychic being,” which corresponds roughly to the “divine spark” of the school of Kabbalah developed by Isaac Luria in sixteenth-century Palestine. (The idea of the divine spark also occurs in other spiritual traditions. It is similar to the caitya purusha of medieval Hinduism.) (Heehs 2011). According to Sri Aurobindo, the psychic being preserves the impressions of each individual’s experiences as it passes from one life to another. The embodied human being comprises inner or subtle and outer or gross components. The psychic being is the inmost being, and it is in direct contact with the Divine. An important constituent of the practice of Sri Aurobindo’s yoga is for the individual to establish contact with the psychic being and respond to its inner promptings.

In his letters to disciples, Sri Aurobindo specified a number of inner states and attitudes that those who wished to follow his yoga should cultivate. These are the foundations of his sadhana or practice of yoga. Most important is inner peace (shanti) along with a state of freedom from disturbance ( samata ) leading to a positive state of inner cheerfulness (sukham). The sadhaka or practitioner must learn to have faith in the Divine. This is not mental belief, but what is called in Sanskrit shraddha, the soul’s “dynamic entire belief and acceptance” of “the Divine’s existence, wisdom, power, love and grace.” Sadhakas must learn to surrender themselves to the will and guidance of the Divine without insisting on their own preferences and ideas. They should aspire for the Divine’s grace and support, rejecting movements that lead away from the path, such as egoism, desire and anger. Finally, they should be patient, not expecting major results in a few days or even a few decades (Aurobindo 2013).

According to Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, the practice of yoga is an individual affair. Each sadhaka ‘s progress is of interest only to him or her, the guru and the Divine. They did not encourage congregational activities, but they did ask sadhakas to work together in harmony, learning how to keep their egos under control. This was the main reason, apart from the maintenance of the ashram’s outward life, that the Mother and assigned work to everyone. On a wider scale, she and Sri Aurobindo looked forward to the establishment of spiritual and, eventually, supramental communities that would be expressions of the Divine in life. They hoped that the ashram would serve as a model for such communities and they viewed the disharmonies of community life as indications of problems that had to be worked out before spiritual and supramental communities could be founded. When the Mother established Auroville in 1968 she intended it to become “a site of material and spiritual researches for a living embodiment of an actual human unity” (Mother 2004).

RITUALS/PRACTICES

Sri Aurobindo and the Mother did not belong to any religion and therefore did not encourage religious rituals, such as the pujas of popular Hinduism. On the other hand, they accepted that many individuals had a need to give outward expression to their religious or spiritual feelings. Most of their disciples were from Hindu backgrounds, and they allowed them to express their devotion in the traditional Hindu way, for example through pranam or prostration and by attending darshans or public viewings. After Sri Aurobindo’s retirement, the three (later four) yearly darshans were the only occasions when his disciples, and a few selected outsiders, could see him. They passed quietly before him and the Mother, taking a few seconds to make pranam before them. For many years the Mother gave darshan [Image at right] every morning; later only on special occasions. The observance of darshan continued even after the passing of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. On four special days [the Mother’s birthday (February 21), the day of her final return to Pondicherry (April 24), Sri Aurobindo’s birthday (August 15) and the day of the descent of the overmind in 1926 (November 24)] disciples and visitors pass through the rooms of one or both of them. There is a special darshan every four years to mark the descent of the supermind, which took place on February 29, 1956. During the early years of the ashram, the Mother presided over ceremonial activities that were meant to help the disciples consecrate their lives to the Divine. For a while she used to distribute soup over which she had concentrated in a solemn ceremony. She also led group meditations and presided over group pranam ceremonies. Sri Aurobindo distinguished between such homegrown activities, which had “a living value,” from “old forms which persist although they have no longer any value,” such as the Hindu ceremony of sraddh (offerings to the dead). In a similar way, Christians or Muslims who practiced his yoga might find the forms of prayer they grew up with “either falling off or else [becoming] an obstacle to the free development of their sadhana” (Aurobindo 2011).

Sri Aurobindo’s books on yoga, such as The Synthesis of Yoga and Letters on Yoga, are filled with practices that he recommended to followers of his yoga; but he never prescribed a particular technique or set of techniques that everyone must follow. In the Synthesis and in letters he laid down the principles of his path and sketched general lines of practice that each individual could adapt to the circumstances of his or her sadhana under the direction of the outer or inner guru. He accepted, as a basis, the principles of Vedanta (among them brahman, atman, and ishwara) and the practices of the three traditional paths of yoga (karma-yoga, jnana-yoga and bhakti-yoga). To these he added some of the principles and practices of Tantric philosophy and yoga, in particular shakti or the power of the Divine, which is regarded as a creative energy active in the cosmos and the individual. The Integral Yoga, he wrote, “starts from the method of Vedanta to arrive at the aim of the Tantra.” The divine shakti is “the key to the finding of spirit,” and therefore the “initial stress is upon the action of the awakened Shakti in the nervous system of the body and its centres.” This process required a surrender to the Divine and the divine Shakti, whom members of the ashram conceived of in the form of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. By means of this surrender, “the Divine himself … shall by the light of his presence and guidance perfect the human being in all the forces of the Nature for a divine living.” (1999).

Sri Aurobindo in his letters and the Mother in letters and conversations suggested practices that might be helpful to a particular individual: this one should concentrate more on work, that one should do more meditation, and so forth. But the actual course of each individual’s sadhana was left to the direction of the Divine and the Shakti. Through aspiration to them and by contact with the psychic being, the individual would develop the ability to make the right choices in yoga and in life.

Since the deaths of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, members of the ashram and outside disciples have continued to practice yoga along the lines that the two established during their lifetimes. There is a general belief that Sri Aurobindo and the Mother are present to those who aspire to them and that their guidance is available to all who open themselves to it. In addition, their books are available for all who care to read them. In recent years many people in the ashram and Auroville have turned to Sri Aurobindo’s poetic epic Savitri as a source of inspiration and guidance (Aurobindo 1997b). A group based in Auroville disseminates the Mother’s Agenda, which they regard as the key to the yoga of physical transformation. Neither in Auroville nor the ashram are there any mandatory practices or ceremonies, but many ashram members and visitors attend twice-weekly meditations in the ashram playground (where the Mother herself used to give readings and talks) as well as meditations in the ashram’s main building on other days. The four yearly darshans attract thousands of visitors. In Auroville the main focus of yoga is the Matrimandir (literally, temple of the Mother), an innovative meditation hall that was designed according to the Mother’s directions. [Image at right] Special days such as Auroville’s foundation day (February 28) are marked by public observances.

ORGANIZATION/LEADERSHIP

During the lifetime of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, the two of them were accepted by the members of the ashram as spiritual guides and also as directors of the outward life of the community. Asked to write about the legal status of the ashram in 1934, Sri Aurobindo replied that an ashram was simply “the house or houses of a Teacher or Master of spiritual philosophy in which he receives and lodges those who come to him for the teaching and practice.” His ashram could not be considered “a religious association” because its members came “from all religions and some are of no religion.” There was “no creed or set of dogmas, no governing religious body.” The guiding principles were his and the Mother’s teachings, which included “certain psychological practices of concentration and meditation, etc., for the enlarging of the consciousness” (Aurobindo 2006). He regarded the Mother as his spiritual equal and asked members of the ashram to approach him through her. Thus, when disciples wrote letters to Sri Aurobindo they addressed them to the Mother. Unlike Sri Aurobindo, who remained out of sight in his rooms, the Mother interacted with each disciple (particularly when the ashram was relatively small) and oversaw every detail of the ashram’s outward life. She delegated responsibility to heads of departments (gardens, kitchen, construction service, library, printing press, embroidery unit, etc.), who reported directly to her.

Apart from publishing books and journals, Sri Aurobindo and the Mother made no effort to publicize the ashram, did not engage in any sort of proselytism, and turned down the majority of those who wrote asking if they could become members. Neither of them thought that numerical expansion was important. “Nothing depends on the numbers,” Sri Aurobindo wrote in 1934 to a disciple who thought that the numbers attracted to Sri Aurobindo’s yoga would never rival those of the world religions. “The numbers of Buddhism and Christianity were so great because the majority professed it as a creed without its making the least difference to their external life. If the new consciousness were satisfied with that, it could also and much more easily command homage and acceptance by the whole earth. It is because it is a greater consciousness, the Truth-consciousness, that it will insist on a real change” (Aurobindo 2011). They did not establish branch ashrams or assume responsibility over groups that devotees outside the ashram started on their own initiative.

When Sri Aurobindo died in 1950, the spiritual and material leadership of the ashram passed seamlessly to the Mother. She continued to run it on established lines, but she did inaugurate a few new organizations, such as the Sri Aurobindo University Centre (later renamed Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education). In 1955, she reorganized the ashram as a trust in order to guarantee its legal continuity. The first board of Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust consisted of her and four disciples of her choice. Since her death, replacement members of the board have been chosen by sitting members. As a public charitable trust, the ashram enjoys tax-exempt status in accordance with the terms of Indian law. Most of its funds come through voluntary donations by devotees. The trust oversees several productive departments (cottage industries, publications section, and so forth) that allocate their profits to the ashram.

When the Mother conceived of the community that would became Auroville, she entrusted its development to the Sri Aurobindo Society (SAS), a fundraising group founded in Calcutta in 1960, while retaining overall control. A few years after her death, the residents of Auroville came into conflict with the management of the SAS. In 1988, after a period of unrest during which the residents asked the Government of India to intervene, the Indian Parliament passed the Auroville Foundation Act, under which the Government of India assumed administrative control over Auroville (Auroville Foundation Act 1988). Four years later the government vested the assets of Auroville in the Auroville Foundation, which consists of an International Advisory Council, a Governing Board and a Resident’s Assembly. A government-appointed secretary oversees the functioning of the community. The residents are represented by a Working Committee (Auroville Foundation n.d.). Foreign friends of Auroville have organized themselves into Auroville International, a worldwide network that helps fund the community’s projects (Auroville International n.d.). These include a vast reforestation program, attempts to solve the region’s water problems, and joint initiatives with neighboring villages.

ISSUES/CHALLENGES

During the early years of the community that became the ashram, it faced financial and other challenges that stemmed from Sri Aurobindo’s coming to French India as a political refugee. Between 1910 and 1936 British police spied upon him and his companions as a result of his former activities as a revolutionary politician. This unfriendly attention made it difficult for them to move around freely or to receive financial support from friends. The French government tolerated their presence but put limits on the number of houses they could acquire. Pondicherry became part of the Republic of India in 1962. This did not immediately ease the ashram’s financial problems, but by the 1990s it had acquired sufficient resources to provide adequate housing for all its members. Auroville experienced a lean period from 1975 to 1988, when the community was engaged in conflict with the SAS. Since then it has been able to support its members and fund its projects thanks to donations from friends and limited financial assistance from the Government of India.

Despite a widespread belief among members of the ashram and Auroville that they and the communities benefit from the spiritual guidance of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, the lack of explicit directions from embodied gurus has left both communities open to various sorts of disturbance. After the Mother’s death in 1973 the life of the ashram continued in accordance with her and Sri Aurobindo’s teachings and the established customs of the community. Individuals looked within themselves for guidance. Senior sadhakas provided inspiration and advice. Department heads reported to the trustees, who also were obliged to adjudicate conflicts between individuals and to deal with cases of indiscipline. They did their best to make their decisions according to the teachings and the example of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother but did not claim to be acting under their direct guidance. From the mid-1990s, disgruntled ashram members who refused to accept the trustee’s decisions began to form pressure groups and to institute legal cases against the trustees and other members. Many of the cases had to do with practical matters, such as allocation of resources, disciplinary matters, and so forth. Others had to do with questions of belief or sentiment. One cause of dissension was a new edition of Sri Aurobindo’s poem Savitri . Based on a thorough examination of the manuscripts, the new edition (1997) eliminated errors that had crept into the text during the long process of writing, transcription and publication. Some sadhakas were concerned that these corrections constituted changes of an inviolable text, and began to agitate against the editors and the trustees and eventually to institute legal proceedings against them. The case ultimately went before the Supreme Court of India, which decided in favor of the trustees. Another case involved a biography of Sri Aurobindo written by a member of the ashram and published by an American university press. This book was deemed sacrilegious by certain people inside and outside the ashram, who lodged several cases against the book, its author, and the trustees, who were accused of harboring an “unbeliever.” The case against the trustees was dismissed by the Supreme Court in 2016 after five and a half years of hearings. During this period, dissident members formed informal groups to advance their interests, while individuals loyal to the trustees founded groups to support them. The situation led to an unprecedented polarization of the ashram’s community life (Heehs 2015). Though higher courts have always ruled in favor of the ashram, the leaders of dissident groups found that it was relatively easy to institute legal cases, thus undercutting the authority of the trust.

Auroville also had to pass through the crucible of legal disputes. In 1975, a group of Auroville residents, troubled by apparent mismanagement by the SAS, registered a new body called the Auroville Residents Association. The SAS filed for a permanent injunction against this group. After several years of inconclusive legal maneuvering, the Government of India intervened. In December 1980 the Indian Parliament passed the Auroville (Emergency Provisions) Act, which authorized a temporary takeover of Auroville by the government. The SAS challenged the act in the courts, saying that Auroville was a religious body and therefore the government had no right to interfere. Two years later the Supreme Court ruled on the matter, saying that Sri Aurobindo and the Mother explicitly denied that their work was religious, and therefore the Auroville Act could stand (Minor 1999; Heehs 2013). Since the passage of the Auroville Foundation Act of 1988, the government has been in direct control of Auroville. This has prevented the sort of legal challenges that have troubled the ashram after 1997, but has led to fears that the government might treat Auroville as an ordinary government project rather than a spiritual experiment. In fact, government officials have shown a remarkable willingness to let the community develop in its own way.

Despite its success in surviving its first forty-eight years relatively unscathed and launching many projects that have enriched the community and the surrounding villages and ecosystem, Auroville has come nowhere near the projected population of 50,000 that the Mother spoke of during the 1960s. It proved impossible for the community to acquire all the land the Mother envisaged as forming the city area and surrounding greenbelt, and speculators have driven land prices up to dizzy levels. The villages around the township have become glitzy tourist traps that stand in sharp contrast to the well-designed, ecologically sound Auroville settlements [Image at right]. Nevertheless both Auroville and the ashram remain dynamic communities that attract visitors from around the world.

IMAGES

Image #1: Photograph of Aurobindo Ghose (sitting center) with his parents and siblings in London, 1879.
Image #2: Photograph of Aurobindo Ghose as editor of Bande Mataram, a influential nationalist newspaper published in English from Calcutta, 1907.
Image #3: Photograph of the Mother in Japan, circa 1916.
Image #4: Current photograph of the main building of Sri Aurobindo Ashram.
Image #5: Photograph of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother giving darshan, April 1950.
Image #6: Photograph of the Matrimandir, a meditation hall that the Mother called “the soul of Auroville.”
Image #7: Photograph of a house in Auroville.

REFERENCES

Aurobindo, Sri. 2013. Letters on Yoga II. Pondicherry, India: Sri Aurobindo Ashram Publication Department. Auroville Foundation Act. 1988. Accessed from http://www.auroville.org/contents/540 on 20 May 2015

Aurobindo, Sri. 2011. Letters on Himself and the Ashram. Pondicherry, India: Sri Aurobindo Ashram Publication Department.

Aurobindo, Sri. 2006. Autobiographical Notes and Other Writings of Historical Interest. Pondicherry, India: Sri Aurobindo Ashram Publication Department.

Aurobindo, Sri. 2005. The Life Divine. Pondicherry, India: Sri Aurobindo Ashram Publication Department.

Aurobindo, Sri. 2001. Record of Yoga . Pondicherry, India: Sri Aurobindo Ashram Publication Department.

Aurobindo, Sri. 1999. The Synthesis of Yoga. Pondicherry, India: Sri Aurobindo Ashram Publication Department.

Aurobindo, Sri. 1997a. Essays Divine and Human: Writings from Manuscripts 1910-1950. Pondicherry, India: Sri Aurobindo Ashram Publication Department.

Aurobindo, Sri. 1997. Savitri: A Legend and a Symbol. Pondicherry, India: Sri Aurobindo Ashram Publication Department.

Auroville Foundation n.d. Accessed from http://www.auroville.org/contents/572 on 20 May 2016.

Auroville International n.d. Accessed from http://www.auroville-international.org/ on 20 May 2016.

Census – Auroville Population, January 2016. Accessed from http://www.auroville.org/contents/3329 on 20 May 2016.

Heehs, Peter. 2015. The Sri Aurobindo Ashram 1910-2010: An Unfinished History. Nova Religio 19:65-86.

Heehs, Peter. 2013. “Not a Question of Theology”? Religions, Religious Institutions and the Courts in India. Comparative Legal History 1:243-61.

Heehs, Peter. 2011. “The Kabbalah, the Philosophie Cosmique, and the Integral Yoga: A Study in Cross-Cultural Influence.” Aries 11:219-47.

Heehs, Peter. 2008. The Lives of Sri Aurobindo. New York: Columbia University Press.

Huss, Boaz. 2015. “Madame Théon, Alta Una, Mother Superior: The Life and Personas of Mary Ware (1839-1908).” Aries 15:210-46.

Minor, Robert N. 1999. The Religious, the Spiritual and the Secular: Auroville and Secular India. Albany, NY: SUNY Press.

Mother, the (Mirra Alfassa). 2004. Words of the Mother – I. Pondicherry, India: Sri Aurobindo Ashram Publication Department.

Mother, the (Mirra Alfassa). 1979-1982. Mother’s Agenda. Thirteen volumes. New York: Institute for Evolutionary Research.

SUPPLEMENTARY RESOURCES

Johnson, W.J, trans. 1994. The Bhagavad Gita, Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

Miller, Barbara Stoller, trans. 1998. Yoga: Discipline of Freedom: The Yoga Sutra Attributed to Patanjali. New York: Bantam Books.

Roebuck, Valerie J., trans. 2003. The Upanishads. London: Penguin Books.

Post Date:
25 May 2016