Syracuse University SURFACE Religion - Dissertations College of Arts and Sciences 5-2012 "She's an All-in-One Guru": Devotion to a 21st century Mystic Angela Carol Rudert Syracuse University Follow this and additional works at: https://surface.syr.edu/rel_etd Part of the Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons, and the Religion Commons Recommended Citation Rudert, Angela Carol, ""She's an All-in-One Guru": Devotion to a 21st century Mystic" (2012). Religion - Dissertations. 84. https://surface.syr.edu/rel_etd/84 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the College of Arts and Sciences at SURFACE. It has been accepted for inclusion in Religion - Dissertations by an authorized administrator of SURFACE. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ABSTRACT “She’s an All-in-One Guru”: Devotion to a 21st century Mystic Anandmurti Gurumaa is a multi-lingual teacher of meditation and “spirituality” situated at the intersection of Hindu, Buddhist, Sufi and Sikh mystical traditions. This dissertation, employing inter-disciplinary methodology, provides an in-depth study of Gurumaa and her rapidly developing, disciple-driven transnational spiritual movement. I introduce Gurumaa and her circle of devotees within the cultural context of globetrotting Indian gurus and examine issues of tradition and innovation in her mission. Through ethnographic writing, I specifically turn to examples of Gurumaa’s pluralism, gender activism and embrace of new media to discuss continuity and change within the tradition of guru-bhakti (devotion to the guru). Because Gurumaa embraces rhetoric of “female empowerment,” and points to her own “enlightened” female body as evidence that women can and do reach the highest spiritual states, her leadership offers an ideal context in which to consider emerging gendered re-interpretations of “tradition” in the new global religious milieu. “She’s an All-in-One Guru”: Devotion to a 21st century Mystic by Angela C. Rudert B.A., Davidson College, 1989 M. A., Cornell University, 2004 Dissertation Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Religion. Syracuse University May 2012 © 2012 Angela C. Rudert All Rights Reserved ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This dissertation could not have come into existence without support from an array of people and institutions, here and in India. First and foremost, I want to thank the people who generously participated as informants in my research in India and in the United States. Anandmurti Gurumaa not only gave me permission to conduct research in her ashram and stay there long-term on multiple occasions, but also she gave generously of her time to me. My deep gratitude goes to her efforts to help me understand for myself the spiritual path she teaches. I spent most of my time in the research field with Gurumaa’s devotees. Though absolutely integral to this study and deserving of my gratitude, they cannot be named here because many appear in this dissertation. Devotees in India and in the US welcomed me into their homes and even into their hearts as they shared with me their stories of the guru-disciple relationship. In the ashram, where there was less time for talk, many full-time ashram residents helped me with practical aspects of this research, especially in welcoming my children and making them feel at home: introducing them to the newborn calves; cleaning wounds when accidents happened; offering something non-spicy to eat; sharing Gurumaa’s chocolate birthday cake; teasing in a grandfatherly way; and teaching the delights of sugar cane grown in the ashram fields, to name only a few. There was no shortage of love offered in all settings of this research, whether it was expressed by a devotee taking my child under his wing and training him to be a saint (also allowing me to get some work done), by providing assistance with song lyric translations, in chanting the Mahāmṛtyuṃjaya (great death conquering) Mantra with iv me while riding a scooter through dangerous streets at night, by introducing me to different saints, in helping me with shopping errands, or in singing a devotional song directly in front of my face with eyes penetrating my being. My appreciation for the love, research material and hospitality offered by devotees is greater than I can express in words. I am grateful to many institutions and the people behind them for the financial support that made this project possible. A Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) fellowship and a Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Award (DDRA) funded my fieldwork in India. The American Institute of Indian Studies (AIIS) provided institutional support, especially during my first research trip in which individual personnel offered much assistance as I navigated the process of foreign scholar registration and dealt with a child’s expired visa. During my second two trips, I received kind support from staff at the United States-India Educational Foundation and Fulbright House along with continued support from AIIS. My affiliation with the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) in Delhi proved to be a great boon as conversations with Shail Mayaram, my Indian academic advisor, helped me think through many of this study’s themes. Other scholars in India influenced this study as well. Dominique-Sila Khan identified my coming and going from the research site over time as an advantage – at a time when I felt it might be the opposite – and offered other insights as well. At the end of my research, Bharat Gupt in Delhi engaged me in fascinating conversation about TV gurus. A number of friends in Delhi and Jaipur separate from research contexts provided welcomed interludes from fieldwork. The Sood family in Chattarpur opened v their home on multiple occasions, sharing food, conversation, US Presidential Inauguration television coverage, and best of all, English speaking toddlers who played with my four year old son when he desperately missed his father. The Seth family in Noida shared time and meals in their home along with stimulating conversations about gurus, religion and social activism while their daughters took mine on neighborhood adventures. Lloyd and Susanne Rudolph welcomed me into their Jaipur home for social visits that were nonetheless always instructive. Kalyan Singh Rathore and his family always invited my clan into his home in Jaipur for food and family fun as did Ikram Mohammad, upon whose roof we flew kites and played with goats. Lisa Bjorkman hosted me during some of my fieldwork in Jaipur, and then later in Mumbai where she conducted hers. Her company and her conversation are always much appreciated. In the US, many important teachers have guided my interests and love of learning about religion. My academic advisors at Syracuse University, Ann Grodzins Gold and Joanne Punzo Waghorne, encouraged me through all stages and nurtured this project from nascent ideas, though the proposal stages and changes, to reading outlines and drafts. I feel particularly honored to have worked closely with these two great scholars, also great teachers. Ann Gold, a true lover of stories, spent much time listening to mine from the field during our Ithaca walks as I tried to articulate their significance in the overall project. Her own poetic ethnographic writing has been an inspiration to me, as have her instructive comments on many drafts. Joanne Waghorne’s ability to draw out my barely formed theories was indispensable in the early stages of this project. Throughout my graduate studies I appreciated her insistence that graduate students learn to speak across boundaries of discipline and vi rank to include undergraduates in the conversation, and for her encouraging me to write for an audience broader than my committee and beyond the academy. Suggestions my advisors and others have made have often been incorporated into my writing without further acknowledgement. Also at Syracuse, Susan Wadley served on my dissertation committee and in addition to asking stimulating questions for discussion at the work’s final stage offered suggestions on an early draft of the chapter entitled, “Shakti’s New Voice.” Philip Arnold, Vincent Lloyd and Himika Bhattacharya also served on my dissertation committee. All of their comments and questions are much appreciated. Jishnu Shankar examined my song translations and provided clarifications, after he left his Syracuse appointment. Gurnek Singh, after his retirement as South Asia Librarian, pointed me to valuable scriptural resources of the Sikh tradition on the Internet. Jackie Borowve and Debbie Pratt in the Department of Religion provided the best possible administrative assistance one could ever imagine, from my first to my last day as a student. My undergraduate advisor Bill Mahony sparked my interest in the academic study of religion, encouraged me to take my first journey to India in 1987 and guided me as a Religion major at Davidson College. His continued guidance, friendship and interest in my work have provided immeasurable inspiration. Our discussions have greatly informed this study. Elizabeth Mills, English Professor at Davidson College and trusted mentor, encouraged me to ask Gurumaa for advice about my headaches, and later talked me through a serious writing block, the immediate results of which began Chapter 5. Daniel Gold, my MA advisor at Cornell University, introduced me to Indian devotional poetry. Early in this project he provided key guidance. I later found myself vii fully engaged with his published work on the north Indian sants, and I very much appreciated his presence at two of my conference presentations. I have shared portions of this research at the American Academy of Religion National Meeting in Chicago; the Asia Research Institute (ARI) at Singapore University; the Annual Conference on South Asia in Madison; the Fulbright Scholars’ Conference in Kolkata; and the South Asia Center at Syracuse University’s Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs.