Virtual Tour of the Temple of Eck (3/3)

The Temple of Eck is located in Chanhassen, Minnesota. The Temple of Eck is the headquarters, so to speak, of Eckankar. The thing that first drew me to this religion is the fact that this Temple is located less than an hour from my parents house. The Temple of Eck is called the "heart of the Eckankar Spiritual Campus." It is seen by Eckists as a very comforting place where people can spiritually study their past lives, examine their dreams or explore their beliefs in soul travel. Here is the webpage where the virtual tour is. Harold Klemp is quoted, which regards to the Temple of Eck, as saying

Any of you who visit the Temple of Eck will find it has a special character, a presence of its own. That presence is the love of God. Later, if you are ever in need of spiritual help, at bedtime imagine yourself back at the Temple. Ask the question that you need help with, and then just go to sleep. Often you'll awake in the morning with an entirely different view of the situation. 

This quote shows an emphasis on dreaming that is present throughout all of Eckankar. The Eck Masters speak to people in their dreams, and here Harold Klemp is encouraging people to come to the temple, reflect on their spiritual concerns and the Temple as well as the Eck Masters will help them. The Temple of Eck is used for a spiritual purpose, but it is not just for Eckists. The Temple is open for all religions, and even for people who do not have a religion at all. They believe that all can benefit from visiting the Temple.

The Temple of Eck has hours listed on their website as well. Something interesting is that the Temple is not open during any religiously celebrated holidays. This shows that they really are not aligning themselves with any other religion. They also have tours available during the week and the weekends for any person to take.

View of a sign at the beginning of the Contemplation Trails

Though the temple is located in a suburb of Minneapolis, they put an emphasis on making this Temple a picturesque space. It is located on over 100 acres of woods and prairies, and they also have seasonally open Contemplation trails that, combined, are over two miles long. These Contemplation Trails were made for people to walk on and reflect on all of the wonderful things in their lives. They are meant as a place for people to contemplate all of the reasons they have to be grateful. On the left is a map of the Contemplation Trails. There are signs located throughout the trails, and on those signs there are some writings of Harold Klemp that explain many Eckist beliefs as well as writings meant to inspire one to contemplate one's life, the spirit and God. These trails show that there is an emphasis on the balance one achieves through contemplation in nature. Though these trails are mainly covered in snow for 7 months a year, they are still very important in the Eckankar faith.



Now, let's start the virtual tour! You are encouraged to take the tour yourself, it was linked above. But there are screen shots from the virtual tour of the Temple of Eck.

 

This is the entrance into the Temple of Eck.

Stage in front of the Chairs in Sanctuary

 The sanctuary in the Temple of Eck is very minimalistic in nature. The sanctuary is located under the large golden pyramid. Because of the inherent shape of the pyramid, the sanctuary has very high, vaulted ceilings and is square. There are none of the typical symbols in this sanctuary. No crosses or stained glass windows, there are actually no windows at all. Instead, the color scheme is mainly beige, with less of an alter and more of just a stage at the front of the sanctuary. There is not even a pulpit for someone to preach at. The lighting in the sanctuary is extremely beautiful though.

Blue Star on ceiling of the Sanctuary

There is only one symbol located in the entirety of this sanctuary, and it is a blue six-pointed star at the very top of the ceiling, which would be the highest point of the pyramid. As stated earlier, the Blue Star is a sign that the Spirit of God is always with you. It makes sense that the Blue Star would be at the top of the pyramid. It is the highest point and is reigning over the heads of all in the sanctuary, like God is above the physical world.

The sanctuary actually looks more like a very nice recital hall more than a sanctuary. The seats in the sanctuary are just like seats you would find in a movie theater or recital hall, they are individual and even have arm rests. You can see on the left here, that this looks more like a concert hall than anything else. It is very beautiful, but there is almost nothing that would indicate it is a place for religious gathering. There are no holders for bibles or hymn books behind the seats.  The system of symbols the Eckists follow are based more in the spiritual world and deal more with terms and ideas instead of tangible objects, so it makes sense that the sanctuary would not have explicit symbols scattered throughout it.

Eck Masters on the front wall of the Chapel

The chapel in the Temple of Eck is where more symbols are present. The seats are set up the same as the sanctuary, but they are in a row and all facing this wall with the pictures of all the Eck Masters. The Eckankar spiritual text is also displayed here. The chapel seems more of a place where one reflects on the protecting and helping Eck Masters. To me, it seems that chapel is where people reflect on the specific teaching of Eckankar, as opposed to the sanctuary where people focus on achieving self and god-realization and reflect upon their Soul.

The fellowship hall is where receptions take place, as well as other group gatherings. It is a very large hall, and again is characterized by the distinct lighting, the beige color scheme. The front of the fellowship hall, has some symbols, but still very little. The EK logo is front and center, and a picture depicting a white bird is displayed to the
 left of it.



From what I have seen of the Temple of Eck, is that it is very beautiful. It's simplistic and none of the rooms are rectangular. There rooms are always more rhombus or circular shaped. I couldn't help but notice the ceiling of the fellowship hall. To me, it seemed to be inspired by more mission style architecture. Frank Lloyd Wright designed many houses in a mission style, and the ceiling reminds me of that. He designed many mission style stained glass windows, and though there are no stained glass windows in this temple, this ceiling seems inspired by those mission style windows. This is interesting, because the work of Frank Lloyd Wright has very strong ties to the Midwest. So many of his houses are in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Illinois. Look at the stained glass window below, it looks a lot like the blue six-pointed star on the ceiling of the sanctuary, and it is also similar to the ceiling of the fellowship hall. Also, just the angles of the walls and the orientations of the rooms in the temple remind me of this stained glass window. It would make sense for a religion that is based out of the Midwest would have a temple whose architecture is inspired by the work of such a Midwesternly based architect. 

Frank Lloyd Wright Designed Stained Glass

Eckankar's System of Symbols (2/3)

This religion does not push a lot of ideals onto their followers. This religion seems incredibly open with beliefs because the emphasis is on the Soul. They explicitly state on their website that they support gay marriage and they believe opinions on abortion are up to the individual.  There are some beliefs the Eckists have regarding ways to live one's life, but the moral code established is MUCH less than other religions.  What this religion may lack when it comes to a set of rules and morals, they make up for in very rich symbols. I have not encountered a religion that has so many different terms for all the Eckist ideas. There is a great emphasis on proper names of people and ideas.  Pictured below is a book that illustrates how many actual terms they use in Eckankar. If you can see, the cover of the book states that it is a guide to the 1900 spiritual terms and concepts related to Eckankar! That is an incredible amount of terms!

Many of the typical symbols associated with God and religion are not present in this language. God is never depicted because they believe God is completely transcendent of representation.  The "typical" typical religious symbols are not here, instead they have a vast vocabulary of terms and concepts that are unique to Eckankar. There are three systems of symbols I will focus on here. The first being an explanation of some of the key terms in Eckankar, the Soul Planes and Spiritual Worlds, and the Eck Masters.

Key Terms in Eckankar

As explained above, there are around 1900 terms and concepts in Eckankar, but the website has a glossary of the most important concepts in Eckankar. I will summarize some of these terms.

Arahata- A teacher of Eckankar Classes

Chela- A member, or spiritual student, of Eckankar

God-Realization- Complete, conscious awareness of God

Initiation- A private ceremony where a person is linked to the Light and Sound of God

Mahanta- Highest state of God-consciousness on earth which is represented in the Living Eck Master.

Blue Star- A sign that the Spirit of God is always with you

Satsang- A monthly class where Eckist students study a Eckankar lesson

Self-Realization- When one recognized their Soul. The Soul enters the Soul Plane.

Shariya-Ki-Sugmad- The scripture of Eckankar. They were transcribed from the inner Soul Planes by Paul Twitchell.

Soul Travel- The Soul being about to transcend the physical world and travel to the spiritual world of God.

Sound and light of Eck- The Holy Spirit. The ways in which God appears in the physical world.

Sri- A spiritual title like that of a pastor. It is only used to represent the Living Eck Master.

Sugmad- The sacred name for God.

Wah Z- Spiritual name for Harold Klemp. It is his name in the other spiritual planes. 

Just from these few terms, you really get a sense that this religion really emphasizes certain terms. And there are also multiple terms for the same things. The Living Eck Master, for example is also called the Mahanta, Sri and Wah Z. There seem to be a lot of arbitrary names for things. Though they do represent an important idea in Eckankar, it seems as though these name are quite random. It seems as though Eckists have these terms to set themselves apart, much like the Rastafari did in Jamaica. The Eckists could just have teachers and students, but instead they call them Arhata and Cheta to add a richness and complexity to the system of symbols as well to set themselves apart from other religions.

Soul Planes and Spiritual Worlds

To me, the most interesting aspect of Eckankar are the conceptual soul planes and spiritual worlds. Here are their diagrams:

On the second diagram seems to be imposed on the bottom left hand side of the first diagram. These are extremely interesting to me because of how elaborate they are. I have only had a small amount of exposure to philosophical writings, but this looks like a philosophical diagram. This is how the Eckist view the structure of their world. But to be honest, I do not really know what much of it means. The soul must pass through all the Soul planes before coming to realize God. But the worlds of Eck seems extremely complicated. They believe that God reveals himself to the physical world through light and sound, so I think the sounds on the right side of the diagram represent the different ways God reveals himself, but this is only speculation. Though I may not get it, this is indeed the way the Eckists view their place in the universe. The Rastafari viewed themselves as in Babylon and needed to travel back to the promised, sacred land of Ethiopia. That is how the Rastafari explained their place in the world. The Eckists use these extremely complicated conceptual diagrams to explain their physical place, and spiritual place in the universe.

The ECK Masters, or Spiritual Travelers

A large part of the system of symbols in the Eckankar religion deal with Eck Masters. Eckists believe that there are nine Spiritual Travelers, or Eck Masters. These travelers are seen as agents of God who work with the Living Eck Master, Harold Klemp, to awaken the Souls of people and to help the Soul find its true purpose and destiny. Something that is interesting about these Eck Masters, is that there are testimonies of people who had experiences meeting these Eck Masters long before they had ever even been exposed to the teachings of Eckankar. Many experiences with Eck Masters leads people to the teaching of Eckankar. Eckists believe that if someone's Soul is asking for direction, a spiritual traveler will make contact with them. Often times people have encounters with Eck Masters while they are sleeping or if they are extremely ill. All the testimonies online about people encountering these Eck Masters reminds me of Mormonism a little. In Mormonism, there are really no sermons given. Instead, a lot of a Mormon service consists of people giving testimonies that reinforce the fact that they believe the Mormon scripture is true. Eckankar is the same, because for every spiritual traveler, there are several personal testimonies that are about when a person had contact with that spiritual traveler.  I do take these testimonies with a grain of salt though, no full names are given, and the legitimacy of these stories can be questioned. There are no pictures, audio recordings, and it almost seems as though people may be latching onto these spiritual leaders and changing the memories of their encounters. There are several testimonies where the person is never told the name of the spirit they encountered, or they are told the name and forgot it. Many people say that they didn't know who the person was until they saw pictures of the Eck Masters as felt as though they recognized them. There is really no way to know if these testimonies are legitimate because so many encounters are through dreams. They could have actually been visited by these spiritual travelers, or they could have adapted their memory of a dream to something that had a religious basis. These Eck Masters are not prayed to, or worshiped. Instead, they are seen as protective and helpful spirits that help the Soul come to a greater understanding and have a deeper connection to God. Here is a little bit about the Eck Masters...

 

 Fubbi Quantz-- He was The Mahanta around 500 BC, which was during the time of Buddha. He is said to be the guardian of the Shariya-Ki-Sugmad. Eckists believe that he was Columbus' spiritual guide and encourage him to travel to America. 

Gopal Das-- He was The Mahanta around 3000 BC, and is from Egypt. He is thought to exist on what Eckists call the Astral Plane, which is the first metaphysical plane, and he teaches at the Temple of Golden Wisdom on this plane.

A little Background of Eckankar (1/3)

Eckankar Symbol

Eckankar is an extremely interesting religion that mainly focuses on the Soul of a person. Eckists claim that the teachings of Eckankar have been around since the beginning of human existence, but the actual religion was not founded until 1965 by Paul Twitchell. Eckankar has similarities with Sufism, which is a small religious group in India, who also call themselves "The Parent Faith." The leader of the Eckankar religion, or Living Eck Master, is Harold Klemp. Harold Klemp grew up in Wisconsin, and started heavily studying and learning the teachings of Eckankar in the 1960s, and became the Living Eck Master in 1981. There have been some claims that Eckankar is in fact a cult, but they explicitly address these claims. Eckankar claims to not be a cult because Harold Klemp, as a person, is not worshiped or prayed to. Instead, he is seen as a leader and an aide in reaching the most meaningful relationship with God.

The term Eckankar means co-worker with God. Eckists believe in Eck, which is another word for the Holy Spirit, or Life Force. Eckists believe that God is completely transcendent. They believe there is no way to describe God because God is so far beyond our mental understanding. They also believe that because God is so transcendent, God is ungendered as well. Eckists believe that Eck can only be experienced in the physical world through Light and Sound. Much like their view of God, Eckists also believe that the true self, the Soul, is also ungendered. Because the true self is the Soul, Eckists believe in reincarnation.  Eckists believe that there are three separate ways to discover God, and those are through dreams, exploring past lives and Soul travel. 

Eckists believe that dreams are "windows into the worlds beyond the ordinary." They believe that dreams are where questions are answered and they are where one can gain spiritual insight. Eckists are encouraged to keep dream journals to remember their dreams. Then these dreams can be worked through and interpreted with the aid of the journals. Eckists believe that in order to get spiritual guidance in your dreams, you must contemplate a question before bed. Then you must softly sing HU, which is an ancient name for God. This act connects one with Eck. Eckists believe that upon waking, one has gained spiritual guidance about the problem in question.

Now I mentioned HU in the above paragraph. Hu is a love song to God, and singing HU is a spiritual exercise performed very often by Eckists. Here is a video of Harold Klemp demonstrating the singing of HU:

The second way to discover God is through the examination of past lives. Eckists believe in the concept of reincarnation, and they believe that by examining the things you are attracted to and interested in are clues to your past life. For example, a child who is fascinated with airplanes may have been a pilot in a past life. Eckists believe that whenever a strong love or hate appears with no apparent cause, it is a window into the past lives a person has lived.

Eckists also believe in Soul travel, and this is one of their primary teachings. Eckists believe that the Soul can leave the body and explore different planes of reality. The Soul can leave the physical world and travel to different soul planes that exist on different conceptual levels. Soul travel is a way for the true inner self to make its journey back home to God. And it is through this Soul travel that one achieve self-consciousness and God-consciousness.

The basic principles of Eckankar are as follows:

The Book of Abraham

It was discussed in class last week that Joseph Smith had a sort of fascination with trinkets. There was a compass-like trinket discussed in the book of Mormon that lead Nephi's family in the right direction. And in the Book of Abraham, the trinkets (for lack of a better word) were known as Urim and Thummim. Abraham learned about the creation of the earth through Urim and Thummim. After doing a little research about Urim and Thummim, I found that Joseph Smith actually claimed that Urim and Thummim were two stones fastened to a breastplate and used like large pair of glasses. It is interesting that Joseph Smith consciously made that connection. He wanted to align himself with Abraham and show that he had too gained knowledge and understanding of God and the world through the same lens that Abraham gained knowledge. The idea of trinkets through which God is revealed to you is something that has not been present in any of the other texts we have read in this class. I was also doing a little research and the Industrial Revolution was taking place before and during Joseph Smith's life. He was living in a time where there was a greater emphasis on assembly lines and basically more and more "things" were being invented and mass produced for all to buy and use. So Joseph Smith talking about Urim and Thummim in that way is him drawing on the current state of America and the world and transforming it to fit into something different. He is taking something modern and of great importance in his society and changing it into something ancient and also putting much religious significance with it as well. It would be like someone today is saying that 4000 years ago, prophets had special stones that they could hold up to their ears and talk to God or talk to each other.

I think that the research and explanation given above for Urim and Thummim is an example of the historical critical method we have been using throughout this entire term. We look at something distinct and novel about a reading or belief, and we see how it functioned during the TIME it was written. We are not really concerned with finding fact or truth to the claims or beliefs, instead we are trying to find the motivations behind why the writer chose to put those belief in his or her writing. Joseph Smith, and most of the world, had been immersed in the Industrial Revolution for a while and it influenced his "translation" of the book of Abraham. 

Book of Mormon

Nephites vs Lamanites

When reading Book of Mormon, in the Book of Mormon, the first three chapters seemed to be all about Native Americans. It was stated earlier that the Lamanites were the Native Americans. They lost God and turned dark, then came back to God as were turned white again, and at this point, they have gone back to dark and are trying their hardest to attack and kill all of the Nephites. I got the sense that the Lamanites were the bad guys and the Nephites were the good guys for a time, but even they turned bad. Mormon that had to distance himself from both of these groups because of the terrible things they were doing. And at the beginning of the fourth chapter in this section, the Nephites were exterminated by the Lamanites. Based on what I have read earlier, that means that around 400 AD, all the people that were left in America were the Native Americans. Displaying the Lamanites in this way as brutal and ruthless could have been a way to justify all of the terrible things the white men were doing to the Native Americans during the 19th century.

Also, I found an interesting section that can relate to Manifest Destiny. On page 530, Mormon was explaining how the Nephites (him included) were trying to defend themselves against the Lamanites and in constant retreat from them that "we marched forth and came to the land of Joshua, which was in the borders west, by the seashore." Again, in the way I was reading this, I believe that the Mormons reading this would identify with the Nephites. Nephi was a predominant character and writer in this book, and was a good man, so I think the mormons would believe that their Mormon ancestors were the Nephites. Also, the fact that all the Nephites were killed off, as seemingly martyrs, they would even connect with them more possibly. So, the fact that the Nephites traveled all the way to the West Coast could reaffirm the idea that America, or Mormons, needed to gain their land back from the Native Americans because they drove the Nephites away.

Also, I found some similarities with Baha'u'llah at the beginning of this book as well. Mormon writes,

But wickedness did prevail upon the face of the whole land, insomuch that the Lord did take away his beloved disciples, and the work of miracles and of healing did cease, because of the iniquity of the people.... And I did endeavor to preach unto this people, but my mouth was shut, and I was forbidden that I should preach unto them; for behold they had willfully rebelled against their God, and the blessed disciples were taken away out of the land, because of their iniquity (529).

This quote reminds me of Baha'u'llah, because it makes it seem as though these Americans were in a dark period with respects to religion, which is something that Baha'u'llah believes. The Baha'i believe that religion is ever changing; there are waves of heavy presence of God and a thriving following of a prophet, and there are also dark times when God is not as present and the world is in more of a transitional time. The Nephites and Lamanites were in a transitional time here. Also, it seems as though Mormon himself wanted to become a prophet and preach to the people, but he was shut down and ignored. The Baha'i believe that one of the worst things to do is to deny a new prophet. This could relate to the state of America at the time Joseph Smith was writing. He could have viewed America as in a transition phase. He was witnessing many different religions believing different things and he was seeing many people attack Native Americans too. He could have written this story as a reflection of their present state all the way back into 400AD. Also, maybe he was aligning himself with Mormon as well. Mormon was denied as a prophet at this time, and maybe Joseph Smith was being denied as a prophet himself.

Hey, i've heard that before

While reading the Third Book of Nephi, I noticed that when Jesus was speaking, he used certain terms and phrases that are very commonly used and were used in the King James bible as well. Many phrases struck me as familiar when I was reading it, because I have heard many people say these phrases in everyday life. I asked around and chatted with them about the phrases, and we came to a conclusion that these were indeed biblical phrases. So I assume that these phrases were commonly known (maybe even more than they are now, because people seemed to be more religious in the past) in the 19th and 20th centuries. Jesus says

Yea, blessed are the poor in spirit who come onto me, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. And again, blessed are all they that mourn, for they shall be comforted; and blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth (488).

The most striking language here is when he says that the meek shall inherit the earth. This is a common phrase and a biblical phrase. Also, on the next page, Jesus is quoted as saying

And behold, it is written, an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth. But I say unto you, that ye shall not resist evil, but whosoever shall smite thee on they right cheek, turn to him the other also (489).

Nephi

Both of these quotes are very recognizable and from the bible. There could be several reasons for Joseph Smith including these quotes in the Third Book of Nephi. First of all, making direct references to the bible would first legitimize the Book of Mormon. If these were indeed true stories from when Jesus went to New World and spoke to Nephi, doesn't it make sense that he would say some of his most known ideas and lessons to these people. These are the things that Jesus believed, and because the phrases are so recognizable, society has shown that they are some of the most poignant and most helpful things that Jesus has said. By including these phrases, the book of Mormon is legitimized because it directly reference the bible, which at that point was definitely a legitimate document. Also, it shows that Joseph Smith really liked these things that Jesus said, and thought it important to include in his "translations." Also, these quotes do just provide a part of the moral compass people needed in the 19th and 20th century. 

Baha'u'llah and his Writings

As mentioned in my earlier blog post, in this biography, I was craving for the author to get into the actual beliefs and writings of Baha'u'llah. And in chapter 7, that is exactly what the author did. And I have to say, I found the things that Baha'u'llah believed to be extremely interesting.

First of all, I have always had a problem with prophets or religious writers claiming that the scripture they write are the actual words of god. I think this is a common belief in many religions. I do not know much about the bible, but Augustine firmly believed that the scripture were the actual words of God, and Baha'u'llah and his followers also believed that he was writing the actual words of God. I still do not think that the scripture we read are the exact words of God, but the testimony given by 'Azizu'llah Varqua, who was only 9 years old when he made a pilgrimage with his father to visit Baha'u'llah, gives a very compelling and convincing argument that Baha'u'llah's writings were indeed the words of God.

Varqua explains that when Baha'u'llah would get inspiration or have a revelation about something, he would order everyone in the room to leave while the words were being revealed to him. Varqua, being a curious boy, longed to see the revelation proccess Baha'u'llah did not allow others to see. Varqua accidentally went to see Baha'u'llah during one of these revelations, and his experience was extremely profound. He recalls

I stood near the door which I had entered, and was only a few moments in the room when I began trembling in my whole body. I felt I could not stand any more on my feet. His Holiness Baha'u'llah turning to me said 'Goodbye'. As I lifted the curtain to go out, I fell on the threshold and was unconscious... Then I understood why Baha'u'llah in haste dismissed everybody. It is because the people cannot endure it, there is such a Power in the room (139).

 This testimony was also powerful for me to read, and it caused me to slightly question my view that scripture cannot really be the exact words of God. This is a first hand witness account of something that seems too great to handle. I would say I am still up in the air about my thoughts regarding scripture as actually being written by God, which is nothing new. I seem to be up in the air about everything relating to religion, but this first hand account caused me to question my view, which I like. Being challenged to think about something different can be intellectually stimulating and fun to do.