AoL East and West
A Study of the Art of Living Foundation
Inga Bårdsen Tøllefsen [+–]
University of Tromsø.
Inga Bårdsen Tøllefsen is currently a PhD candidate in Religious Studies at the University of Tromsø. Her research interests include new religious movements (especially Indian-oriented movements) and the New Age, religion and gender, and religion and nature. She has published a number of articles (including on Art of Living) and book reviews in international academic journals, and has several articles forthcoming. Additionally she is co-editor of the forthcoming Nordic New Religions (Brill),
Milda Ališauskienė [+–]
Vytautas Magnus University
Dr Milda Ališauskienė is a professor at the Department of Sociology at Vytautas Magnus University, Kaunas, Lithuania. She has published more than thirty social scientific research articles on religion in contemporary Lithuania and the Baltic States and contributed to collective monographs and studies on the social exclusion of minority religions and Lithuania’s secularization process.
James R. Lewis [+–]
Wuhan University
James R. Lewis is Professor of Philosophy in the School of Philosophy at Wuhan University. He is well-published in the field of new religious movements. His publications and edited volumes include The Oxford Handbook of New Religious Movements, Controversial New Religions (with Jesper Petersen), Scientology, Children of Jesus and Mary (with Nicholas Levine), and, most recently, Violence and New Religious Movements.
The goal of this monograph is to provide an overview of the Art of Living Foundation (AoL), a large global movement currently established in over 150 countries that has, as yet, attracted very little scholarly attention. AoL originated as a splinter group from Transcendental Meditation (TM) that has already eclipsed TM in terms of numbers of practitioners. The organization spreads its founderâs message of a âviolence-free, stress-free societyâ through the mediums of meditation, yoga and breathing techniques, as well as numerous initiatives in education, development and peace work. Next to some of the Japanese New Religious Movements, Art of Living is probably the largest New Religion in the world â depending, of course, on where one draws the line between the groups identified as NRMs and groups that are not.
Over the course of this book the authors will examine AoL through a variety of different interpretive frameworks. The larger analysis, however, will discuss the movement in terms of the contrast between the ways in which the organization presents itself in different countries â in India, its nation of birth, in Norway, Denmark and Lithuania, where AoL has adapted itself to the alternative spiritual culture found in Scandinavian (and other Western) and post-communist societies.
This movement â especially Art of Livingâs founder/leader, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar â is well-known as a consequence of regular mass media coverage, but has been little-studied in terms of social scientific and religious studies modes of analysis. This monograph thus fills a recognizable gap in the literature on Indian new religions, and at the same time will complement other books in this general field of study.
Table of Contents
1
University of Tromsø.
Inga Bårdsen Tøllefsen is currently a PhD candidate in Religious Studies at the University of Tromsø. Her research interests include new religious movements (especially Indian-oriented movements) and the New Age, religion and gender, and religion and nature. She has published a number of articles (including on Art of Living) and book reviews in international academic journals, and has several articles forthcoming. Additionally she is co-editor of the forthcoming Nordic New Religions (Brill),
Vytautas Magnus University
Dr Milda Ališauskienė is a professor at the Department of Sociology at Vytautas Magnus University, Kaunas, Lithuania. She has published more than thirty social scientific research articles on religion in contemporary Lithuania and the Baltic States and contributed to collective monographs and studies on the social exclusion of minority religions and Lithuania’s secularization process.
Wuhan University
James R. Lewis is Professor of Philosophy in the School of Philosophy at Wuhan University. He is well-published in the field of new religious movements. His publications and edited volumes include The Oxford Handbook of New Religious Movements, Controversial New Religions (with Jesper Petersen), Scientology, Children of Jesus and Mary (with Nicholas Levine), and, most recently, Violence and New Religious Movements.
The first chapter is mainly be theoretical in scope, but with references to AoL throughout that place the organization within broader analytical categories that have been developed within religious studies. It surveys contrasting definitions of religion and new religious movements, as well as current discussions of secularism/secularization and of the ‘New Age’ category – both in India and in the West. It further examines the broader influence of Hinduism on Western NRMs and the Western New Age. It is interesting to note that in the Indian context, Hindu or neo-Hindu ‘guru movements’ are not technically what would be called new religious movements in Western countries.
2
History [+–]
University of Tromsø.
Inga Bårdsen Tøllefsen is currently a PhD candidate in Religious Studies at the University of Tromsø. Her research interests include new religious movements (especially Indian-oriented movements) and the New Age, religion and gender, and religion and nature. She has published a number of articles (including on Art of Living) and book reviews in international academic journals, and has several articles forthcoming. Additionally she is co-editor of the forthcoming Nordic New Religions (Brill),
Vytautas Magnus University
Dr Milda Ališauskienė is a professor at the Department of Sociology at Vytautas Magnus University, Kaunas, Lithuania. She has published more than thirty social scientific research articles on religion in contemporary Lithuania and the Baltic States and contributed to collective monographs and studies on the social exclusion of minority religions and Lithuania’s secularization process.
Wuhan University
James R. Lewis is Professor of Philosophy in the School of Philosophy at Wuhan University. He is well-published in the field of new religious movements. His publications and edited volumes include The Oxford Handbook of New Religious Movements, Controversial New Religions (with Jesper Petersen), Scientology, Children of Jesus and Mary (with Nicholas Levine), and, most recently, Violence and New Religious Movements.
The second chapter hasseveral focal points. It traces the movement’s history from a number of different points of view, including: the guru/leader/founder’s biography and hagiography; and an analysis of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar as a religious entrepreneur, as discussing in Stark and Bainbridge’s model of ‘cult’ formation.
3
University of Tromsø.
Inga Bårdsen Tøllefsen is currently a PhD candidate in Religious Studies at the University of Tromsø. Her research interests include new religious movements (especially Indian-oriented movements) and the New Age, religion and gender, and religion and nature. She has published a number of articles (including on Art of Living) and book reviews in international academic journals, and has several articles forthcoming. Additionally she is co-editor of the forthcoming Nordic New Religions (Brill),
Vytautas Magnus University
Dr Milda Ališauskienė is a professor at the Department of Sociology at Vytautas Magnus University, Kaunas, Lithuania. She has published more than thirty social scientific research articles on religion in contemporary Lithuania and the Baltic States and contributed to collective monographs and studies on the social exclusion of minority religions and Lithuania’s secularization process.
Wuhan University
James R. Lewis is Professor of Philosophy in the School of Philosophy at Wuhan University. He is well-published in the field of new religious movements. His publications and edited volumes include The Oxford Handbook of New Religious Movements, Controversial New Religions (with Jesper Petersen), Scientology, Children of Jesus and Mary (with Nicholas Levine), and, most recently, Violence and New Religious Movements.
This chapter summarizes the history of Transcendental Meditation (TM) and its history in the West (and especially in North America), chronicling periods of less or more mainstreaming on TM’s part – moving from world peace and psychedelics in the Beatles era to science as a way of attracting the ‘Average Joanna’ practitioner in later years. The chapter also examines schisms from TM, including the Robin Carlsen case and, notably, that of the Art of Living Foundation (AoL). AoL became a global movement in a relative short period of time. In addition to exploring the likelihood of schisms from AoL, the chapter also assesses controversial (and non-controversial) interactions between AoL, TM and the mass media.
4
Role of the Guru [+–]
University of Tromsø.
Inga Bårdsen Tøllefsen is currently a PhD candidate in Religious Studies at the University of Tromsø. Her research interests include new religious movements (especially Indian-oriented movements) and the New Age, religion and gender, and religion and nature. She has published a number of articles (including on Art of Living) and book reviews in international academic journals, and has several articles forthcoming. Additionally she is co-editor of the forthcoming Nordic New Religions (Brill),
Vytautas Magnus University
Dr Milda Ališauskienė is a professor at the Department of Sociology at Vytautas Magnus University, Kaunas, Lithuania. She has published more than thirty social scientific research articles on religion in contemporary Lithuania and the Baltic States and contributed to collective monographs and studies on the social exclusion of minority religions and Lithuania’s secularization process.
Wuhan University
James R. Lewis is Professor of Philosophy in the School of Philosophy at Wuhan University. He is well-published in the field of new religious movements. His publications and edited volumes include The Oxford Handbook of New Religious Movements, Controversial New Religions (with Jesper Petersen), Scientology, Children of Jesus and Mary (with Nicholas Levine), and, most recently, Violence and New Religious Movements.
Chapter Three analyzes the role and place of Ravi Shankar, the process of his charismatization, as well as the attitudes of members toward the leader and his legitimization from the perspective of the sociology of religion. The analysis reveals that individuals express special attitudes toward the leader of the group: that, on the one hand, modern individuals sought liberation from institutionalized religion but at the same time they were searching for spiritual authority. Interviews with members of the AoL reveal diverse concepts of the spiritual leader. Contrary to the traditionally accepted understanding of a spiritual leader as the head of authority, the narratives revealed an understanding of the spiritual leader as both an advisor and a service provider.
5
Practices [+–]
University of Tromsø.
Inga Bårdsen Tøllefsen is currently a PhD candidate in Religious Studies at the University of Tromsø. Her research interests include new religious movements (especially Indian-oriented movements) and the New Age, religion and gender, and religion and nature. She has published a number of articles (including on Art of Living) and book reviews in international academic journals, and has several articles forthcoming. Additionally she is co-editor of the forthcoming Nordic New Religions (Brill),
Vytautas Magnus University
Dr Milda Ališauskienė is a professor at the Department of Sociology at Vytautas Magnus University, Kaunas, Lithuania. She has published more than thirty social scientific research articles on religion in contemporary Lithuania and the Baltic States and contributed to collective monographs and studies on the social exclusion of minority religions and Lithuania’s secularization process.
Wuhan University
James R. Lewis is Professor of Philosophy in the School of Philosophy at Wuhan University. He is well-published in the field of new religious movements. His publications and edited volumes include The Oxford Handbook of New Religious Movements, Controversial New Religions (with Jesper Petersen), Scientology, Children of Jesus and Mary (with Nicholas Levine), and, most recently, Violence and New Religious Movements.
This substantial chapter links with earlier chapters both in terms of the categories that have been developed in the NRM field and in terms of the history of AoL. Art of Living beliefs and practices are closely related to TM‟s beliefs and practices, as well as contemporary Hinduism more generally. In this chapter we will also trace the most important practices within Art of Living, and bring some perspectives to bear on how Art of Living beliefs and practices are differently/similarly ‘lived’ in different countries. Further, the chapter will present a short overview of AoL courses and some perspectives on yoga in Art of Living. Then we will move on to the movement’s signature practice, Sudarshan Kriya. In this section we will for example examine the frequency of SKY practice and level of involvement in different countries.
6
University of Tromsø.
Inga Bårdsen Tøllefsen is currently a PhD candidate in Religious Studies at the University of Tromsø. Her research interests include new religious movements (especially Indian-oriented movements) and the New Age, religion and gender, and religion and nature. She has published a number of articles (including on Art of Living) and book reviews in international academic journals, and has several articles forthcoming. Additionally she is co-editor of the forthcoming Nordic New Religions (Brill),
Vytautas Magnus University
Dr Milda Ališauskienė is a professor at the Department of Sociology at Vytautas Magnus University, Kaunas, Lithuania. She has published more than thirty social scientific research articles on religion in contemporary Lithuania and the Baltic States and contributed to collective monographs and studies on the social exclusion of minority religions and Lithuania’s secularization process.
Wuhan University
James R. Lewis is Professor of Philosophy in the School of Philosophy at Wuhan University. He is well-published in the field of new religious movements. His publications and edited volumes include The Oxford Handbook of New Religious Movements, Controversial New Religions (with Jesper Petersen), Scientology, Children of Jesus and Mary (with Nicholas Levine), and, most recently, Violence and New Religious Movements.
In her field research on the Art of Living Foundation in Lithuania and in Denmark, Ališauskienė found similarities in both organizations, in their teachings, their structure, their practices, etc. There were, however differences in the degree of ‘scientism’ articulated by Lithuanian and Danish informants. Lithuanians placed significantly greater emphasis on the scientific nature of the doctrine and practices of the Art of Living Foundation. The emphasis on science seems to reflect an understanding of science related to scientific atheism, which was the only criterion of legitimacy during the Soviet period. The majority of Lithuanian informants emphasized that there was no actual membership in the Art of Living Foundation, which according to them indicated the non-religious character of the group. Meanwhile, the majority of informants from Denmark did not avoid talking about religious aspects of AoL, predicting that in the future this organization might become a more widespread religious community. The research also revealed different societal responses to Art of Living. Whereas in Lithuania informants were experiencing negative societal reactions to their group, in Denmark informants encountered a positive response from society, in part because Denmark has a strong tradition of religious pluralism.
7
Indigenization [+–]
University of Tromsø.
Inga Bårdsen Tøllefsen is currently a PhD candidate in Religious Studies at the University of Tromsø. Her research interests include new religious movements (especially Indian-oriented movements) and the New Age, religion and gender, and religion and nature. She has published a number of articles (including on Art of Living) and book reviews in international academic journals, and has several articles forthcoming. Additionally she is co-editor of the forthcoming Nordic New Religions (Brill),
Vytautas Magnus University
Dr Milda Ališauskienė is a professor at the Department of Sociology at Vytautas Magnus University, Kaunas, Lithuania. She has published more than thirty social scientific research articles on religion in contemporary Lithuania and the Baltic States and contributed to collective monographs and studies on the social exclusion of minority religions and Lithuania’s secularization process.
Wuhan University
James R. Lewis is Professor of Philosophy in the School of Philosophy at Wuhan University. He is well-published in the field of new religious movements. His publications and edited volumes include The Oxford Handbook of New Religious Movements, Controversial New Religions (with Jesper Petersen), Scientology, Children of Jesus and Mary (with Nicholas Levine), and, most recently, Violence and New Religious Movements.
The question of how imported religions adapt to Western culture is a question of ‘indigenization,’ an area of study traditionally focused on Christianity’s adaptation to the cultures of missionized societies. In her fieldwork, Tøllefsen observed that strong guru devotion (guru puja: literally, guru ‘worship’) – which is an important component of AoL in India – is quite muted in Norway, and is not a part of most Norwegian adherents’ practice. AoL has successfully presented Sudarshan Kriya as a ‘scientific’ technique (Tøllefsen 2011), stripped clean of most of its original Hindu religious associations. With respect to gender issues in particular, we will seek to understand how AoL has adapted to Western – and more specifically Nordic – norms of gender equality. Have women been able to rise to positions of leadership in the Art of Living Foundation or have they been expected to assume traditional roles? The top leadership of AoL India appears to be all male while the leadership in Norway is more balanced. Does this pattern carry over to other European countries?
8
Who Joins? [+–]
University of Tromsø.
Inga Bårdsen Tøllefsen is currently a PhD candidate in Religious Studies at the University of Tromsø. Her research interests include new religious movements (especially Indian-oriented movements) and the New Age, religion and gender, and religion and nature. She has published a number of articles (including on Art of Living) and book reviews in international academic journals, and has several articles forthcoming. Additionally she is co-editor of the forthcoming Nordic New Religions (Brill),
Vytautas Magnus University
Dr Milda Ališauskienė is a professor at the Department of Sociology at Vytautas Magnus University, Kaunas, Lithuania. She has published more than thirty social scientific research articles on religion in contemporary Lithuania and the Baltic States and contributed to collective monographs and studies on the social exclusion of minority religions and Lithuania’s secularization process.
Wuhan University
James R. Lewis is Professor of Philosophy in the School of Philosophy at Wuhan University. He is well-published in the field of new religious movements. His publications and edited volumes include The Oxford Handbook of New Religious Movements, Controversial New Religions (with Jesper Petersen), Scientology, Children of Jesus and Mary (with Nicholas Levine), and, most recently, Violence and New Religious Movements.
This chapter discusses the characteristics of members of AOL that participated in the qualitative research in Denmark, Norway, Lithuania and India. The age, sex, sexual orientation, family life, education, income, occupation, political preferences of the AoL members will be discussed. Special attention will be paid to the spiritual journeys of the followers of AoL members. Finally the chapter will provide types of members of AOL that are applicable for all countries.
9
Science [+–]
University of Tromsø.
Inga Bårdsen Tøllefsen is currently a PhD candidate in Religious Studies at the University of Tromsø. Her research interests include new religious movements (especially Indian-oriented movements) and the New Age, religion and gender, and religion and nature. She has published a number of articles (including on Art of Living) and book reviews in international academic journals, and has several articles forthcoming. Additionally she is co-editor of the forthcoming Nordic New Religions (Brill),
Vytautas Magnus University
Dr Milda Ališauskienė is a professor at the Department of Sociology at Vytautas Magnus University, Kaunas, Lithuania. She has published more than thirty social scientific research articles on religion in contemporary Lithuania and the Baltic States and contributed to collective monographs and studies on the social exclusion of minority religions and Lithuania’s secularization process.
Wuhan University
James R. Lewis is Professor of Philosophy in the School of Philosophy at Wuhan University. He is well-published in the field of new religious movements. His publications and edited volumes include The Oxford Handbook of New Religious Movements, Controversial New Religions (with Jesper Petersen), Scientology, Children of Jesus and Mary (with Nicholas Levine), and, most recently, Violence and New Religious Movements.
This chapter deals with several views of the conflation of science and religion, both in research literature and in AoL. We will first address the concepts of Vedic science and the Knowledge Sutras in AoL, and then go on to present some of the Art of Living practitioners’ perspectives on SKY. We will include a short note on science and legitimation, and then analyze scientific, physical/ psychological or spiritual type of support as well as scientific support at point of ‘conversion’ for AoL respondents.
10
The Body [+–]
University of Tromsø.
Inga Bårdsen Tøllefsen is currently a PhD candidate in Religious Studies at the University of Tromsø. Her research interests include new religious movements (especially Indian-oriented movements) and the New Age, religion and gender, and religion and nature. She has published a number of articles (including on Art of Living) and book reviews in international academic journals, and has several articles forthcoming. Additionally she is co-editor of the forthcoming Nordic New Religions (Brill),
Vytautas Magnus University
Dr Milda Ališauskienė is a professor at the Department of Sociology at Vytautas Magnus University, Kaunas, Lithuania. She has published more than thirty social scientific research articles on religion in contemporary Lithuania and the Baltic States and contributed to collective monographs and studies on the social exclusion of minority religions and Lithuania’s secularization process.
Wuhan University
James R. Lewis is Professor of Philosophy in the School of Philosophy at Wuhan University. He is well-published in the field of new religious movements. His publications and edited volumes include The Oxford Handbook of New Religious Movements, Controversial New Religions (with Jesper Petersen), Scientology, Children of Jesus and Mary (with Nicholas Levine), and, most recently, Violence and New Religious Movements.
Here the main focus is on examining the connection between body, health and self-development and AoL/SKY practice. Respondents’ answers have highlighted this connection, and we deem it an important focus point for the rationale of SKY practice. Further, as the practitioners in AoL (especially in Norway) seem to be overwhelmingly female, we will focus on various perspectives on gender in NRMs, and in Art of Living more particularly. The authors will examine the teachings/ethos/practice of the organization for that might explain the attraction for women. The same pattern of gender distribution characterizes many other NRMs/New Age practices. Based on available material (both literature, observational and survey data) we will pay some attention to matters of power, body and sexuality, and how these are performed within this particular NRM.
11
The Future [+–]
University of Tromsø.
Inga Bårdsen Tøllefsen is currently a PhD candidate in Religious Studies at the University of Tromsø. Her research interests include new religious movements (especially Indian-oriented movements) and the New Age, religion and gender, and religion and nature. She has published a number of articles (including on Art of Living) and book reviews in international academic journals, and has several articles forthcoming. Additionally she is co-editor of the forthcoming Nordic New Religions (Brill),
Vytautas Magnus University
Dr Milda Ališauskienė is a professor at the Department of Sociology at Vytautas Magnus University, Kaunas, Lithuania. She has published more than thirty social scientific research articles on religion in contemporary Lithuania and the Baltic States and contributed to collective monographs and studies on the social exclusion of minority religions and Lithuania’s secularization process.
Wuhan University
James R. Lewis is Professor of Philosophy in the School of Philosophy at Wuhan University. He is well-published in the field of new religious movements. His publications and edited volumes include The Oxford Handbook of New Religious Movements, Controversial New Religions (with Jesper Petersen), Scientology, Children of Jesus and Mary (with Nicholas Levine), and, most recently, Violence and New Religious Movements.
In the conclusion, we speculate on the future of AoL. We also discuss conclusions and possibilities for further research into AoL and similar movements.
