Customer Reviews

Making of a Spiritual Movement: The Untold Story of Paul Twitchell and Eckankar

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This book contains some enigmatic information about Eckankar and Paul Twitchell, the founder of this modern day religion.

Being that he is a Professor at a small California college, this book is generally considered to be a credible scholarly work.

In actuality it is his term paper written twenty years ago, as a twenty year old student.

On 12/28/2000 in postings to the alt.religion.eckankar newsgroup David Lane has finally admitted the truth about this paper.

Writing about his "own biases" he said:

"I agree that there are some slants and some
interpretations of mine that cannot be so
universally duplicated and those can become
arguable points of contention."

"First, THE MAKING was written NOT as a
sociological treatise but as a 'critical expose'."

"Second, I wrote the paper when I was an undergraduate
in religious studies."

"Third, I am NOT a member of ANY sociological
association."

"Fourth, I NEVER claimed that the MAKING was a
sociological treatise."

"I wrote the paper AS AN EXPOSE!"

By intention this book may be shocking to those that do not see that the conclusions he draws and assumptions he makes are just the beginning of his twenty year campaign to defame all religious teachings.

From Catholicism to small innocuous teachings like Eckankar, Professor Lane believes that all religious experience has no reality beyond the neural synaptic firings within the brain.

So this is not a serious work of research but a paper intended to provoke negative opinion about Eckankar. At that it was a compelling success.

*Update to the original review:

A new book, The whole Truth by Doug Marman (google it) is now available. It debunks point by point most everything contained in Lane's expose'.

Beyond that it shows how belief based in personal study and direct experience can be relied upon, while exposes, if we are not careful, can lead us farther from the truth they claim to expose.

More importantly it provide a fresh look and new information about Paul Twitchell's point of view.

Ah yes. This book has been a painful thorn in Eckankar's side since it first came out in the early 1980's. Though interpretations vary among critics and Eckankar's faithful about what the book ultimately reveals, the basic facts David Lane's book uncovers about Twitchell and Eckankar have yet to be disproved or explained away by anyone. And what are those facts? Simply that Eckankar's founder Paul Twitchell was a plagiarist and a tale-teller, and that Eckankar is a religion that was created by Twitchell, rather than a teaching that was revealed to Twitchell by mysterious "eck masters of the vairagi order."

The reader may read Lane's book for the details of Twitchell's deceptions about his past, his former gurus, his claims of receiving dictation from eck masters and his claims of extremely high spiritual unfoldment (a free online edition of The Making of a Spiritual Movement can be found with a web search for "unauthorized eckankar"). All of Lane's points about Twitchell and Eckankar are backed-up with thorough documentation.

I understand that people will come to different conclusions about Twitchell and the Eckankar religion from carefully reading Lane's book, particularly if they're believers in Eckankar (by far the most likely folks to read the book, though I think it's a fascinating book for anyone interested in religion or sociology). However, from what I've seen, very few Eckankar believers can read Lane's book and not come away feeling disturbed by what it reveals about Twitchell and Eckankar. And I think that reveals something positive about such readers, as they do well to feel disturbed when they discover their spiritual leaders freely lying to them, even if the lying is supposedly done for a greater spiritual good.

I have of course read David Christopher Lane's book on Eckankar, but find it disappointing because although it may be true as far as it goes it seems so polemical, so lacking in a kind of religious empathy or sense of balance and complexity, as though he were just out to find only the negative aspects of Twitchell or the movement.

Although there are good passages in the book which appear to be well-researched, I wonder how anyone -- including Mr. Lane himself -- can believe that this work is thoroughly unbiased and scholarly.

Parts regarding the sources of books such as "The Far Country," comparisons with other spiritual paths, and Paul Twitchell's break with his previous teachers are supported by documentary evidence. But, there are other sections in which Lane presents heresay and personal opinion as fact (e.g. his speculations on Paul Twitchell's reasons for founding Eckankar). Lane even lapses into namecalling and mudslinging (e.g. "ignorant," "lazy") which offer nothing toward the understanding of Paul Twitchell or the religion he founded. Rather, they expose a vein of hostile bias and diminish the value of the book as a whole.

I can not and do not dispute the parts of the book that present documentary evidence of plagiarism. But I can and do take issue with the conclusions that are drawn regarding the meaning and significance of that evidence, and with the validity of other "evidence" offered by David Lane. He does not simply let the facts established by good and valid research stand as they are. He goes on (and on) scraping together less and less credible material, not disinterestedy so as to determine the truth, but in a biased way, so as to build a case against the existence of Eckankar. In the process, Mr. Lane creates straw versions of Paul Twitchell and Eckankar which he then delights in knocking down.

From a consumer's viewpoint, I would take Mr. Lane to task for his excessive quoting of textual passages, and for repeating himself a great deal. His book has a "padded" feeling, as if he were trying to make a parachute out of a teabag. If a lawyer who represents himself has a fool for a client, then perhaps the same can be said of a writer that acts as his own editor. Buyer beware.

I thought I was getting the whole book with the kindle edition but it didn't download the whole thing. I like to have the actual book, but I'm not going to pay over two-hundred bucks for it LoL.

Research on David Lane reveals that he will attack any religion that comes close to the teachings of his beloved Charan Singh. Lane wrote this one 25 years ago as a college term paper, just after becoming a devotee of Singh. Naturally, since he believes his way to be the only way, anything coming close *must* be stolen from his precious master. His attacks on Eckankar are mild compared to his attacks on the various Indian branches of Sant Mat. This book does a grave disservice to anyone interested in seeking spiritual truth.

Little more than innuendo and rumor designed to attack an easy target. Mr. Lane has been on a 25 year warpath against any religion which remotely resembles his own. Eckankar falls into that category and thus is fodder for his grist mill. Some of his other works are even worse.

Although there are good passages in the book which appear to be well-researched, I wonder how anyone -- including Mr. Lane himself -- can believe that this work is thoroughly unbiased and scholarly.

Parts regarding the sources of books such as "The Far Country," comparisons with other spiritual paths, and Paul Twitchell's break with his previous teachers are supported by documentary evidence. But, there are other sections in which Lane presents heresay and personal opinion as fact (e.g. his speculations on Paul Twitchell's reasons for founding Eckankar). Lane even lapses into namecalling and mudslinging (e.g. "ignorant," "lazy") which offer nothing toward the understanding of Paul Twitchell or the religion he founded. Rather, they expose a vein of hostile bias and diminish the value of the book as a whole.

I can not and do not dispute the parts of the book that present documentary evidence of plagiarism. But I can and do take issue with the conclusions that are drawn regarding the meaning and significance of that evidence, and with the validity of other "evidence" offered by David Lane. He does not simply let the facts established by good and valid research stand as they are. He goes on (and on) scraping together less and less credible material, not disinterestedy so as to determine the truth, but in a biased way, so as to build a case against the existence of Eckankar. In the process, Mr. Lane creates straw versions of Paul Twitchell and Eckankar which he then delights in knocking down.

From a consumer's viewpoint, I would take the author to task for his excessive quoting of textual passages, and for repeating himself a great deal. The book has a "padded" feeling, as if the he were trying to make a parachute out of a teabag. If a lawyer who represents himself has a fool for a client, then perhaps the same can be said of a writer who acts as his own editor. Buyer beware.

While some of his comparisons seem accurate, this 'thesis' written by a 19 year old surfer, falls no where near the actual truth about this religious organization. Large assumptions coupled with negative innuendo are used in a fairly convincing attempt to create a false expose'.

Unless you are a believer of the National Inquirer, a closed minded fundamentalist in your own religious belief, or relish seeking out the negative nature of all mankind, go somewhere else to find out about the teachings of Eckankar.

This book shows the true origins of Eckankar or should I say Ek-Onkar. It also lets you know that Paul Twitchell's "Mahanta" was the great mystical adept and Godman, the Sat Guru Kirpal Singh Ji Maharaj from India. The author did a very thorough and intense investigation both here and in India to learn of Paul's connection with Kirpal Singh. He shows that it was a much more significant connection than Eckankar portrays it to be. He tells of how Kirpal Singh taught Paul and his wife Gail the Ancient Science of Soul Travel and that "Sudar Singh" may have really been a reference to Kirpal Singh. The author also compares word by word and sentence by sentence between Paul Twitchell's books and earlier written Sant Mat books from India. They are almost identical. I read several of Kirpal Singh's books and Julian Johnson's books and I have come to the same conclusion. Path of the Masters by Julian Johnson is one of these books. David Lane was very ! good in noting that "Shariyat Ki Sugmad" is "Path of the Masters" in the Persian language. He explains how Eckankar wants people to think that Kirpal's Sant Mat teachings are only a small part of the vast collection of Eckankar's teachings but how in reality, Eckankar IS the Sant Mat teachings with just a few little changes added to them. This book is for people who want to learn the genuine history of Eckankar and how it came to be. "BARAKA BASHAD and GURU SHABDA ANAMI", "May the blessings be and may God manifest in you."