‘Connecting Dots: From A Search in Secret India, through Sheilaism to Saint Culture'

Recent years have seen yoga milieus increasing implicated in ‘conspirituality' – signifying an overlap between health and wellness culture and promoting conspiratorial. Soon after this term was applied by Ward and Voas (2011), Asprem and Dyrendal (2015) argued that there was nothing new about the confluence of esoterism and conspiracy theories. Using Paul Brunton as a case study, this paper will explore his historical narratives in order to better elucidate the ‘cultural dynamics at the intersection of religion, politics, and knowledge'. Brunton's A Search in Secret India (1934) has been consistently in print since its publication (currently distributed by Penguin). It is credited for bringing the Ramana Maharshi to the attention of spiritual seekers globally and in 1971 the British Wheel of Yoga considered that Brunton's writings had ‘probably turned more people onto the path of Yoga than any other books'. Although a mercurial figure, Brunton's influence on modern yoga has been profound. Read more carefully, Brunton's writings reveal that he was teaching (through correspondence) a mystical episteme grounded in a logic of bricolage/assemblage, augmented (for the lucky few) with acumen drawn from prophetic channelled sources. Although predominately promoting a progressive millennialism vision of positive evolution towards the ‘Kingdom of God' both internally and externally, Brunton's milieu also encompassed a darker side. It was also included aspects of spiritual warfare and narrowly averted World War III during the 1960s. This paper will aim to demonstrate that Brunton's influential writings can be seen as a precursor and possible influence to both ‘Sheilaism' – the New Age individualistic ‘private faith' of Sheila Larson as described by Robert Bellah in 1985 – as well as the more sinister logic found in contemporary online ‘Saint Culture' which glorifies figures like Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold (Columbine High School perpetrators), Anders Breivik and Ted Kaczynski (‘the Unibomber').