Shakti's New Voice (eBook)

Angela Rudert is lecturer in the Department of Philosophy and Religion at Ithaca College.

Methods in a “Buddhafield:” Interchanges Between a Scholar and a SantWhat’s New about New Age Gurus? Gurus and Disciples: Situating Gurumaa in TraditionDeath at Darshan and Other Narratives of Guru-BhaktiA Sufi, Sikh, Hindu, Buddhist, TV GuruShakti, in Word, Activism and Hagiography: “Listen to My Voice!”New Media, Same Old Magic: “This is the Siddhi”Conclusion. Conversations with a “Twenty-First Century Mystic”

Shakti's New Voice is a rich addition to studies on gurus, women’s leadership in religion, and the tension of continuity and change in religious traditions. Rudert nimbly situates the ‘modern’ and 'New Age’ eclecticism and cultural challenge of Gurumaa into broader historical patterns found in longstanding North Indian sant traditions while illuminating the innovations facilitated by twenty-first century technology. Creative, empathetic, and self-aware, Rudert’s book makes a worthy contribution to on-going scholarly analyses of ‘gurudom’ while also offering noteworthy and fascinating insights on method. Written with scholarly expertise along with a personal and approachable style, Shakti's New Voice should appeal both to professional academics and anyone intrigued by the magnetic pull of gurus and wisdom figures.

Angela Rudert’s fascinating book introduces the contemporary transnational female guru Anandmurti Gurumaa, ‘a fresh, fiercely independent, feminine manifestation of Master who is poet, sant and activist.’ Central to the study is the theme of conversation across multiple registers. The author’s special access to the guru enabled discussions that animate her ethnography and theorizing. Gurumaa’s emphasis on pluralism rejects labels in favor of listening to historical voices from a multiplicity of religions that are relevant to spirituality today. Through socially-informed activism, she empowers girls by her educational Shakti NGO, and by encouraging global communication through social media the guru engages her devotional community in discussion about her teachings. This fine study demonstrates that Gurumaa and gurus of today transform the received idea of the New Age to bring spirituality into potent contemporary dialogue with self and service.

Rudert’s remarkably rich and insightful ethnographic study of the contemporary Indian ‘revolutionary mystic’ Swamiji Anandmurti Gurumaa reveals how the call of the Divine Beloved is played out in the lives of disciples in a globalized and transnational context, whether through her songs, or through digital, electronic or face-to-face encounters. Framed as an interplay between tradition and innovation, the book is essential reading for understanding how Gurumaa’s pluralism and gender activism are embodied within Indic spirituality even as they reformulate traditional understandings of the boundaries between religious faiths and the role of women.