What the ECK?: Exploring Eckankar

I've often thought of starting my own religion. Not because I have vast spiritual knowledge or possess great leadership skills, but just for fun. The Divine Order of Sarah? Sarahtology? Sarahism? Wine and Friends?  So many possibilities.

I can see it now...

We could gather on Friday nights. Instead of pews we would all sit in vintage clawfoot bathtubs filled with warm lavender bubbles and take the holy sacrament of wine and rosemary chicken. We would prepare ourselves for spiritual enlightenment by chanting the word "POOP". Then we would sing the designated Broadway show tunes for the day - with gusto and in harmony. After brief contemplative passages from various religious materials/books/films/music were shared we could have quiet bathtub meditations while Native American flutes play in the background. To close we would all put on plush white robes and sit around painting our nails, doing facials, eating ice cream and talking about feelings. All people with a kind heart and an open mind would be welcome. Membership in the religion would be dependant upon your ability to tell a good joke or pull a really great prank - like trick or treating. Children wouldn't be allowed, because children are horrible.


How would I make this happen? What does one do when they want to start a new religion? Go abroad? Be fairly weird? Hang with other established religious peeps? Write a series of books? That's basically what Paul Twitchell did in 1965 when he founded Eckankar: The Religion of Light and Sound.

What? You've never heard of Eckankar? That's strange, because they have centers EVERYWHERE. There are five in the state of Missouri. Virginia you have four. Washington, DC you're covered. My family in Austria you've got some. Germany - check. Nigeria, India, Tennessee, Toronto - there are ECK centers EVERYWHERE.

The symbol of the Ekankar faith - so 60's right?

When I was searching for an interesting non-Christian church to attend on Sunday I encountered several roadblocks. Zoroastrians don't have formal meeting times. Satanists won't let me come without signing a $200 membership contract. Sikh's were meeting too freaking early (8:00 am). It was then I stumbled upon Eckankar and was immediately fascinated. I saw "new religion" "cult" "soul travel" and a 10:00 meeting time and I was sold.

Kon and Rebecca lookin' fierce at the grocery store.

I was enjoying some weekend birthday fun with my gal pals who live in KCMO. We gallivanted around town in the bizarre thrift shop outfits we created for each other and gorged ourselves on Thai food, laughter, everclear apple cider, friendship and fists full of Lacey's mouthwatering homemade carrot cake. Then on Sunday morning with chai tea lattes and pumpkin bread in hand Lacey, Rebecca and I headed out to learn more about Eckankar.

Lacey picked the ugliest outfit for me. I took it in stride.   

In a tiny little strip mall on Main Street in Kansas City, MO we found the small meeting center. We opened the heavy metal door without hesitation and were immediately greeted by a lady quietly opening another door into a windowless beige room where a dozen people sat in navy blue office chairs listening to a man in a gray suit talk. There is almost no room decoration except the large gold letters on the wall that say "EK" and a picture wall of the various EckMasters. We took our seats at the front of the room and settled in for the experience.

 

The vibrations from Janis Joplin illuminated the blue light of God's gifts of expensive car maintenance and deepened her commitment to not eating hydrogenated oils.

Did that sentence make sense to you? Then you will love Eckankar. Eckankar is clearly the right path to take on your spiritual journey. If that sentence seemed like complete and utter nonsense to you then I would say you and I should probably go get a drink some time.

The service was...in a word....strange. We spent about five minutes quietly singing the word "HU" (pronounced "hue") over and over. As the group started singing "hue" I'll admit it was difficult to hold back my laughter. I knew if I looked at Rebecca or Lacey I would burst into an uncontrollable bout of giggles. Instead, I closed my eyes, pursed my lips and sang my HU. The vibrations ringing through my chest were peaceful and calming. This was my favorite part of the service. Rebecca and Lacey sat in silence trying to stifle their laughter.

Apparently the vibrations did Rebecca in, because shortly after our HUing ended Rebecca developed a terrible migraine and had to leave the building missing out on all the insanity that followed.

After our HU Song, which is supposed to be our love song to God, we watched a video lesson from the Spiritual Leader of Eckankar - Sri Harold Kemp. Kemp is an odd duck with his slow strange speech patterns and creepy molester glasses. In some ways he reminded me of Mr. Burns from The Simpsons with subtle hints of Truman Capote as well as Philip Seymour Hoffman in The Master. He records all kinds of video lectures from the Eckankar World Headquarters in Minnesota which are then played during worship services in centers across the nation. Take a minute to watch one of his videos and you'll understand why he kind of freaked me out. Sri Harold Kemp

His video this Sunday was about....The dangers of hydrogenated oil? Helping people? Creepy children? Planes of existence? Getting herbs? God is a blue light? Spiritual gifts? God being God? I have no idea. I couldn't follow anything he said. It was the most globidiglooky sermon I've ever heard - and that's saying something. He kept repeating the phrase "If God is God then who am I?" but he never actually answered the question. I don't really understand the question. He talked about how Eckankar is on a higher astroplane than Christianity or other "emotional" based religions.

We then broke into two discussion groups. The room was roughly the size of my cramped college dorm room - so trying to have two separate group conversations was almost impossible. Almost. Despite all the noise in the room the discussion groups illuminated some very interesting Eckankar beliefs. We discussed Spiritual Gifts. Lacey and I opted not to share, but instead just listened and took in all that was around us...

One woman talked about traveling to the temple, the Eckankar headquarters in Minnesota. Each October Eckankar celebrates it's new year with a massive gathering at the temple. She and her family piled in the car and just before reaching their destination had serious car trouble resulting in expenses the family was unable to pay and having to leave the car in Minnesota. She viewed this as a spiritual gift. She explained that getting to hear Kemp speak was truly a gift and her car expenses were just the price she had to pay. To me, it sounded like something REALLY didn't want her to attend the seminar.

The leader of our discussion group was a jovial lady clad in leopard print. She also went to the temple in October. She explained that the temple in Minnesota touches a part of Heaven and is filled with healing vibrations. She talked about a blue light that she saw once and how it took her time to realize that it was the Holy Spirit (ECK) and that she wasn't crazy because lots of other people saw it too and they couldn't possibly all be crazy. Well...if you've ever been to Baptist Bible Camp you know first hand that religious craziness is indeed quite infectious.

There were a few more words said and then service was over. It only lasted an hour which is the perfect amount of time for any service in my opinion  - bizarre or otherwise. Lacey and I collected our belongings and I tried to snap a few pictures - though onlookers clearly were displeased with this action. We were asked to come back and invited to stay for snacks, but declined and made our way back to the car and to our sick friend Rebecca.

Lacey and I didn't know how to explain what happened after Rebecca left the service. "It was pretty weird" was all we could come up with. We didn't really discuss it much after that.

My experience with the Eckists reminded me a lot of my time with the Scientologists. So, I didn't find it surprising that Twitchell was heavily involved with Scientology before founding Eckankar. There were several similarities - watching messages on a TV screen, strong hierarchy rules, a reputation for being a cult, dismissal of non-believers, the need to buy books/materials/study guides to achieve spiritual enlightenment, etc.

I have to admit I find Eckankar fascinating and I spent the past few days Internet stalking the faith. This is what I've learned.

 

Things that May or May Not Be True About Eckankar Based on Internet Readings:

1. Soul Travel - Um. This is kind of confusing since I don't really understand science. But soul travel is the idea that one's soul can travel through space and time accessing different planes. Eckists believe this is not only possible but is an important process for spiritual growth and closeness with God. Their website details exercises souls can do to increase their travel chances. Soul Travel Tips

 

2. Controversy - I came across many websites of former Eckankar followers who described the religion as a hoax or cult. Posts were anonymous and stressed that they were hiding their identity due to fear of harassment from the religion. Though I didn't find anything super scandalous - just mostly that the religious leaders of Eckankar are full of shit and maybe the religion isn't all it's built up to be. Shocking!

 

3. Social issues - Eckankar doesn't take a stance on social issues but encourages believers to make up their own minds. I dig this.

 

4. Initiations - Eckankar is kind of like the boyscouts - you have to earn your spiritual badges to advance in the religion. They have a series of initiations for when members achieve a new "level" after many years of study. From what I've read these initiations are at the discretion of the higher ups. Several Internet forums claim initiations are just a means of getting more money from members.  

 

 

 

Any religion that tries to sell me materials to get closer to God makes me suspicious. Especially when you have to buy materials from a so-called "expert" or "religious master". Eckankar has suspicious written all over it. It cost $5 just to buy a picture of Harold Kemp. $5?!?! Ludicrous! Ludicrous I say!

 

I think God is accessible without spending a dime or joining a group or paying monthly membership fees or journeying far to hear lectures. That's why God invented the Internet, right?

 

 

Anyone else know of any other obscure BUT SAFE religions I could visit? I'm hungry for more!