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Eckankar emerged during the Cultural Revolution of the 1960's during a time in which
the youth counter-culture promoted ideals of ancient eastern wisdom.
As a result of variant accounts from friends, family and admirers as well as from what
seems to be Twitchell's deliberate attempt to obscure the details of his personal life,
details of Paul Twitchell's life prove to be a mystery to Eckankar followers and
scholars alike. Even the present leader of Eckankar, Harold Klemp, acknowledges
Twitchell's attempt to mislead those who studied his life in saying, "Paul loved his
privacy. Early in his youth he was involved in a variety of activities but he made it a
point to obscure any facts associated with his life. In so doing he left a trail so
clouded that it's going to take our historians years to piece it together."
In 1942, Twitchell enlisted in the navy and married Camille Ballowe. During his time
in the navy, Twitchell began his prolific career as a journalist, writing for numerous
periodicals under various pen names. It was at this time that Twitchell began exploring
different religious groups. In 1950 he and his wife joined the Self-Revelation Church
of Absolute Monism in Washington, D.C. (a subgroup of the
Self-Realization
Fellowship
).
While maintaining his discipleship of Kirpal Singh, Twitchell also became influenced by L. Ron Hubbard, joined Scientology movement and achieved the status of "clear." Subsequently, Twitchell severed ties with Kirpal Singh's Ruhani Satsang order as a result of a dispute over Twitchell's manuscripts for his book The Tiger's Fang .
Shortly after breaking ties with Kirpal Singh, Twitchell began giving seminars in San
Diego, California on the art of bilocation or what he would later call Soul Travel.
Through his writings in a variety of periodicals, and his letters to people such as his
second wife, Gail Atkinson, Twitchell introduced Eckankar to the world and declared
himself to be the 971
st
Eckmaster. He claimed to have received teachings from the Vairagi ECK
masters including a mysterious Tibetan monk named Rebazar Tarz.
In 1971 Paul Twitchell died and was succeeded by Darwin Gross, the 972
nd
Eckmaster. Before his death, Twitchell had authored over sixty books and
recruited many people into the following of Eckankar.
Although Gross was selected by the board of Eckankar as well as Twitchell's widow, he
brought controversy to Eckankar because many followers felt he was an unworthy successor
to the former Eckmaster. Ultimately, Gross lost all of the powers and responsibilities
associated with the title of Living Eckmaster and was succeeded by Harold Klemp, the 973
rd
and present living Eckmaster. Gross and Eckankar became involved with a
number of lawsuits disputing Gross's use of copyrighted Eckankar terminology.
Harold Klemp has brought many changes to Eckankar by emphasizing Western ideology rather than the eastern Radhasoami tradition. This change has allowed for a bridge between Eckist and American culture. He has called for followers of Eckankar to perform community service in order to become good co-workers with God.
Basic Beliefs
According to Eckists or chelas, Eckankar means co-worker with God or Sugmand who is
neither male nor female.
The major goal of the chela is to achieve Self-Realization and ultimately God-
Realization.
Soul Travel
Both Self-Realization and God-Realization can be achieved through bilocation or what is
now referred to by Eckist's as Soul Travel. In his book,
Eckankar: The Key to Secret Worlds
, Twitchell describes soul travel as "the separation of the spirit from the body." Soul Travel is distinguished from
astral projection
which merely involves spiritual exploration of the astral plane. Soul Travel
involves the exploration of any one of the God Worlds.
A Living Religion
Eckankar is considered to be a living religion that changes constantly. These
constant changes require Eckists to rely heavily on their religious leader. This leader
is known as the Eckmaster or the Living Mahanta. There is always a living Eckmaster who
comes from a long line of other Eckmasters collectively known as the Vairagi Order.
Members of the Vairagi Order reside in the Temples of Golden Wisdom which are located on
the various planes. The objective of the Mahanta is to guide the souls of chelas back
to God. The Mahanta often serves as a dream master appearing as a blue point of light.
In this role, the Mahanta is both omnipresent and omniscient. The living Eckmaster is
highly revered but not worshipped
Karma
Similar to Buddhists and Hindus, Eckists believe in karma or the idea of past
spiritual debt. The goal of each individual is to work off the debt of karma from past
lives and become one with God. Once you have achieved Self-Realization through good
behavior, you have worked off the debt of past lives but you must continue to live out
the rest of this life without accuring more debt. If this is achieved when you leave
this life, you will not have to return to this world.
Practice
There are more than one hundred different spiritual exercises in Eckankar which may
include singing "HU" which is believed to be an ancient name of God. Other exercises
consist in focusing on light and sound or what is known as the spiritual form of the
Mahanta. Harold Klemp lists many different spiritual exercises regarding dreams in his
book,
The Art of Spiritual Dreaming.
Dreams have become increasingly important in Eckankar practice under Harold Klemp.
The serious chela is also expected to go through initiation which currently consists of
fourteen stages.
Darwin Gross, the 972
nd
Eckmaster
The controversy continued following Twitchell's death in 1971 with the new Living
Eckmaster Darwin Gross. After an intense struggle for power within Eckankar between
1981 and 1983, Gross was stripped of all his authority and succeeded by Harold Klemp.
Gross began his group, The Ancient Teachings of the Masters (ATOM) and claimed he was
not starting a new teaching but was merely continuing to spread the teachings of Paul
Twitchell. Eckankar banned his use of any trademarked Eckankar terminology
MSIA
Meanwhile, John-Roger Hinkins, a former Eckankar member had begun his efforts to form
the Church of the
Movement of Spiritual
Awareness (MSIA)
in 1971. A group that heavily resembled Eckankar in terms of organization beliefs as
well as practice.
David C. Lane
The controversy reached its peak when David C. Lane, a religious studies professor,
accused Paul Twitchell of plagarizing his former teachers and fabricating the entire
religious history of Eckankar. He essentially devoted his life to proving that Eckankar
and MSIA are nothing more than a mere theft of the Radhasoami tradition. Much of Lane's
efforts can be viewed on his page,
The Neural
Surfer
. Other comparisons between the three religions can be viewed on the page entitled
The Genealogical
Connection
.
The Genealogical Connection (Site off-line.)
This particular paper discusses the similarities between Eckankar beliefs and the
Radhasoami tradition. It also gives some biographical information on Paul Twitchell.
http://www.crl.com/~ozark/eck/rsch3.htm
Anti-Eckankar Websites
The Unauthorized Eckankar Page
This site contains a copy of David C. Lane's book,
The Making of a Spiritual Movement: The Untold Story of Paul Twitchell & Eckankar
, as well as writings from former Eckankar members who discuss their experience with
the group, and links to other anti-Eckankar sites.
http://www.iguild.com/homes/eckcult
The Neural Surfer
This site is operated by David C. Lane. It contains correspondance between Lane and
other Eckankar leaders as well as a variety of information about the life of Paul
Twitchell.
http://vclass.mtsac.edu:940/dlane/ekdebates.htm
Eckankar Oasis
Although this page is no longer maintained, it contains some anti-cult information
concerning Eckankar.
http://members.aol.com/areoasis/Oasis/titlepage.html
Christian Apologetics & Research Ministry
This is a counter-cult page that lists information on various new religious movements.
It gives a brief anti-Eckankar information.
http://www.carm.org/cults/eckankar.htm
MSIA Pages
"The Origins of the Movement of
Spiritual Inner Awareness (MSIA)"
This site provides information surrounding the controversy between MSIA and Eckankar,
listing the similarities between the two religious groups.
http://www.cesnur.org/testi/msia.htm
The court case of MSIA v Lane
This site lists the opinions and judgement of the case between MSIA and David C. Lane.
http://www.cesnur.org/testi/msia_lane.htm
Created by
Nicole Bacon
For Soc 257: New Religious Movements
University of Virginia
Spring Term, 2000
Last modified: 08/30/01