Radhasoami

Since it was established in the 19th century, the Radhasoami religious tradition has spread from India around the world, creating a global religious movement. It has more than 1 million adherents worldwide, especially in North India, but it also has significant numbers of followers in the United States, United Kingdom, South Africa, and elsewhere. It is based on a lineage of spiritual masters (gurus) that has branched off from the founding movement in Agra, North India. The main centers are at Dayalbagh, near Agra; Beas, in the Indian state of the Punjab; and Kirpal Ashram in New Delhi.

The movement was founded in 1861 by Swami Shiv Dayal Singh, who taught a new form of spiritual practice, Surat Sabd Yoga (“the discipline of the sound current”). This yoga is a form of meditation that can be practiced by all, including the modern businesspersons, householders, and administrators, who make up much of the movement's followers. The term Radhasoami is a Vaishnava phrase for God (lit. “the Lord [swami, or soami] of Radha, the consort of Krishna”). The movement does not believe in an anthropomorphic God, however, so the term Radhasoami is construed to mean the master of spiritual energy. The movement is known as the Radhasoami Satsang (The Fellowship of the Lord). It advocates social service as well as personal meditation, and the movement is organized in communal quarters—some of which have become sizable towns. New branches of the community emerge when the death of a guru produces more than one successor and the community breaks apart as some adherents follow one successor and others follow another.

By the beginning of the 21st century, there were more than 20 branches of the movement. The largest, the Beas branch, has constructed a small city on the banks of the Beas River near Amritsar, where it has established a large hospital as well as quarters for the followers to stay during large fellowship events. In Agra, at the location of the founding master's meditation grounds, Soamibagh, the community is involved in constructing a large cathedral-like memorial to the original master. Across the street, the Dayalbagh branch has supported various industries in the 20th century, including textile factories, model farms, and dairies; in the 21st century, it promotes computer-based information technology. It houses the Dayalbagh Educational Institute, which is a federally approved “deemed university” in India's educational system.

Radhasoami is primarily based in India's cities, appealing to urban businesspeople and administrators. The Beas branch has a sizable outreach to lower-caste villagers, but the leadership is largely urban and middle class. The movement has often encouraged initiates from Europe, the United Kingdom, and the United States, and the spiritual masters frequently travel abroad to appear before large rallies. During the 1960s and 1970s, Radhasoami became a part of the explosion of interest in Hindu-based guru movements in the West, and movements such as the Divine Light and Eckankar are based on its teachings. Increasingly, the followers abroad have included a substantial number of expatriate Indian immigrants, who find in the Radhasoami fellowship a more accessible and modern form of spirituality than is provided by traditional Hindu rituals and customs.

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