Véronique Altglas

The spreading of neo-Oriental religious movements in France. Two case-studies: Sri Chinmoy Centre and Sahaja Yoga (1995-1997). Scholarship, Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes.

Hindu movements and Hindu-related practices in France (1997-1998). Studentship, Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes.

Globalisation of religion: diffusion and reception of Hindu-based practices and values. Study of Siddha Yoga and the Sivananda Centres in France and England (1998-2004). Research and Teaching Assistant, Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes.

The end of the 1960s and the beginning of the 1970s witnessed the expansion of Asian religious movements and practices such as martial arts, meditation and yoga throughout the West. According to several sociological analyses, this diffusion indicated a compatibility between modernity and Eastern mysticism. Colin Campbell (1999) and Steve Bruce (2002) argued that this could be understood as the ‘easternization of the West’. My thesis addressed these claims critically. I chose two neo-Hindu movements, The Sivananda Centers and Siddha Yoga, as the primary focus for my study of the diffusion of Hindu-based practices and values in western societies. Based on two years of participant observation in England and in France and a set of nearly 80 interviews, I studied (a) the diffusion patterns of the Sivananda Centres and Siddha Yoga in France and England and (b) the appropriation of neo-Hindu practices and values by their disciples in these two countries.

The thesis begins with an analysis of the historical context in which neo-Hinduism emerged. My analysis showed that neo-Hinduism, from its beginning, had been entangled with western influences. It emerged in the 19th century in the Indian colonial context; its prevailing features were a revitalisation of the Hindu tradition and an inclusive ideology, leading “modern gurus” to incorporate Western values. Using primary sources (group literature and interviews with early disciples) I outlined the history of the Sivananda Centres and Siddha Yoga, paying attention to their transationalisation strategies and missionary activities. I was able to show that they necessarily adapted to national contexts and sought legitimacy by various strategies in the two very different national contexts of France and England. A major contribution of my thesis was to document in detail the differences between England and France in terms of their respective legal and political frameworks within which new religious movements are organised and controlled. It also analysed the response of neo-Hindu movements to these different social environments. My argument was that forms of organisational responses are not, however, the only aspect in which neo-Hindu movements adapted and became westernised. In addition, gurus responded by creating new activities such as “intensives”, “yoga camps” and various “workshops” and “courses”. They endeavoured to supply “spiritual services” in order to satisfy individualistic, even consumerist, disciples who neither belonged nor believed. To meet the urge for self-development that characterises large sections of Western societies, the teachings and practices of Siddha Yoga and Sivananda Centres were presented as rational and efficient techniques for self-fulfilment that led adepts to perceive doctrines and rituals, by contrast, as useless.

The second part of my thesis dealt more specifically with the reception of neo-Hindu movements by the host cultures. My aim was, first, to understand how and why westerners used Hindu-based practices and values, and, second, to make sociological sense of this appropriation. The analysis of semi-structured interviews with French and English disicples led me to claim that it is not so much a passive and total reception, but a selective, interpretative and free appropriation which occurs when followers explored a wide range of heterogeneous religions and therapies. The thesis grouped the ways in which westerners adopted Hindu practices and values in three categories: (a) a monistic view and a craving for outer and inner harmony, (b) an inward and intimate religion intertwined with the rejection of any collective and outward codification of religious expression (rituals and doctrines), and (c) a very pragmatic quest for a practical and technical spiritual path leading towards self-development. In fact, patterns of participation in neo-Hindu movements shed light on specific attitudes towards religion in modern western societies: they are highly revealing about our contemporary concerns and aspirations.

The thesis concluded that the process of westernisation in two neo-Hindu religious movements was closely associated with their strategies for transnational diffusion and that the way in which Western disciples appropriated neo-Hindu practices and values tended to reinforce this process.