Exact date of birth for Paul Twitchell is unknown. It has been cited as 1908, 1912, and 1922. He died in 1971.
Eckankar claims historical connections that go back to historical times
After getting involved with such groups as The Self Revelation Church , Paul Twitchell later became a devout student of Kirpal Singh , the founder of Ruhani Satsang. Shortly there after he broke off from Kirpal Singh and began teaching Bi-Location techniques.
In 1965 Twitchell then declared himself the living Eck master of the Vairagi order and the 971st Mahanta. He studied Eckankar under Eck master Rebazar Tarzs in the Himalayas, and Sudar Singh in India. With his self-proclamation as Eck master he was considered God incarnate and the sole authority of Eckankar doctrine. Paul Twitchell died in 1971 and was succeed by Darwin Gross as living Eck master. The position was then passed on to Sri Harold Klemp in 1981. Gross is still associated with ECANKAR, but no longer considers himself to be an Eck master.
The official scripture is Shariyal-Ki-Sugmad, but primary writings concerning Eckankar doctrine where authored by the current Eck master Harold Klemp ( The Spiritual Exercises of Eck and The Dream Master ) Other important books include those authored by founder Paul Twitchell, such as The Key to Secret Worlds of Eckankar and An Introduction to Eckankar .
Eckankar represents a radical departure from established religious traditions in the host culture where Twitchell formulated (invented) the faith. It is thus appropriately classified as a cult.
According to The Encyclopedia of American Religions 5th edition, as of 1996 there were 164 Eckankar centers in the United States and 367 worldwide, with members in more than 130 countries. The Center for Religious Tolerance cites that there are 50,000 members.
Eckankar, meaning "co-worker" with God, believes in a "God" named Sugmand who is perceived as neither male or female. All the chelas, or students, are connected to the heart of Sugmad through an Eck current, which is always flowing in constant motion down to the lower levels and then back up again to the creator. This current expresses itself in one of two ways, "Inner Light" or "Inner Sound". Thus the alternative name of the group is The Religion of Light and Sound.
ECKists believe that the body is separate from the more sacred and immortal inner soul, which is eternally cyclical with no beginning or end. Through a process called "Soul Travel", a person can explore other planes of existence. This process is not limited to just the astral plane, but allows you to explore any of the Gods worlds as well. There are Twelve planes in which the soul must travel through in order to get to the Sugmad. The first four planes are that of the psychic world and the higher eight planes are of the spiritual world. They are:
Each of these worlds has a regular name, a classical name, and an associated sound and light. It is impossible for a chela to enter a spiritual level without first discarding their mind and continuing into their soul or Tuza. This is accomplished through a series of over one hundred spiritual exercises which assist the chelas in their spiritual journey to one of the two levels of consciousness, which are self-realization, and God-realization. There is also a great deal of importance put on dreams and ECKists are taught to be aware that the Eck master may join them in their dreams to help lead them on their inner journey.
Somewhat based on the Hindu tradition, Eckankar also has a similar idea of karma. It is through attachment to any of the five passions (anger, greed, lust, undue attachment to the physical world, and vanity) that one develops bad karma. Their whole idea of reincarnation is based on this "debt" of karma which accumulates in your current life but can only be paid off in your next life. Once all the accumulated karma is paid off the chelas can reach Self-realization in their present life, thus breaking the cycle of reincarnation.
Eckankar is seen by its followers as the best, but not the only path to salvation or God-enlightenment. Because Christianity is simply alternative path, Christians and others can join Eckankar without renouncing their own beliefs.
Though Eckankar is based on more eastern religions such as Hinduism and The Ruhaui Statsang movement, it is considered to be a "living" religion, thereby putting a higher emphasis on the current Eck master, than the written teaching. Because of this more modern belief system it does not hold a stance on issues such as divorce or abortion, it does however discourage the use of alcohol, tobacco and drugs.
For almost two decades now, Eckankar has been plagued with a controversy involving the plagiarism by Twitchell of significant portions of sacred texts. This matter came to light when David Lane was investigating Eckankar for a paper. His research is published in his book called The Making of a Spiritual Movement. Lane is now a professor at the University of California San Diego. His perspective on Eckankar can be accessed from his class page .
The controversy is succinctly summerized in the following from Melton's Encyclopedia of American Religions :
Created by Augusta Brown
Grateful acknowledgement to:
Soc 257, Spring 1997.
Susan Givens, Soc 257, Spring, 1996.