Eckankar: Former Member Revisits

Dodie Bellamy; a journalist and former member of Eckankar narrates his San Diego rendezvous with David Lane. A free spirited philosophy professor that preys himself on exposing the truth behind the mass religious groups and spiritual cults of the world. Dodie recalls the apprehension he felt prior to them meeting. For it was David Lane’s unveiling of Eckankar’s fraudulent ways that persuade him into leaving the group. It seemed fitting to interview the professor. Mr. Lane had made a gruesome discovery while investigating the religious movement Eckankar. The founder Paul Twitchell had been plagiarizing the beliefs and writings of Radhasoami (a 19th Century form of yoga, founded in India) and accrediting them as his own. He went so far as to rename various religious masters of the past to justify the validity of his movement. Lane thought it his duty to disclose the information he had fallen upon in a term paper, which led to much hatred and harassment towards him that he decided to publish a second paper. The Making of a Spiritual Movement: The Untold Story of Paul Twitchell and Eckankar later becomes a book of much controversy.

In the end of the article, Lane is questioned about the simplicity of founding a religious cult and if he has ever considered doing so. His description of the group he would organize seems so absurd and ridiculous; however, it seems to me as though he is only being descriptive of his observations over the years. David Lane is like the Steve McGarrett (Hawaii Five-O for those youngsters) of the philosophy world. The thick skinned, laid back detective out to protect the gullible from being victimized by religious deities.