Spiritual Abuse and Sexualised Violence in Modern Transnational Yoga: Crossing the Boundaries of Knowing and Believing

This paper addresses the endemic yet under-researched prevalence of spiritual abuse in modern transnational yoga settings. When allegations of spiritual abuse arise, responses from various stakeholders—yoga practitioners, teachers, scholars, journalists, and authorities—are often organised along epistemological tensions between 'believing' such as in yoga philosophies or a yoga teacher, and 'knowing' based on empirical evidence. Further tensions emerge as these conflicts frequently intersect with issues of authority both from within and outside of yoga communities. For instance, academic exploration, journalistic investigation, or legal inquiry may influence both 'knowing' and 'believing,' but may also stand in contrast to hagiographical narratives or personal forms of 'knowing.'

On the other hand, 'believing' encompasses at least two components, often presented as dichotomous: belief in an authority figure (a guru) versus belief in a survivor's testimony. Stakeholders engaged in discussing allegations often apply distinct forms of knowledge production. Each of them adhere to their respective thresholds of 'knowing'—whether evidence-based, corroborative, spiritual, or otherwise. The resultant conflicts between these different approaches can have significant personal, spiritual, institutional, and legal implications, and often determine whether allegations are addressed or overlooked.

Drawing on systems theory, this paper examines how different social systems operate through their own functional codes and communication patterns when addressing spiritual abuse. The analysis encompasses perspectives from religious studies, survivor activism, social work, feminist perspectives, journalism, psychotherapy, and law to identify collaborative opportunities, limitations, and potential conflicts in the crossing of traditional epistemic and disciplinary boundaries. Ultimately, this paper questions whether the current academic system is fit for discussing abuse at all, and how academic inquiry must be conducted to remain committed to both social justice and academic rigour.