the East. Krishnamurti, a poor BRAHMIN boy from
South India, had been selected by the Theoso-
phists to be groomed for acceptance of a higher
consciousness that the world would need in the
current era. He lectured throughout the 1920s as
the anointed messiah but became disillusioned
with the Theosophical enterprise and, in 1929,
renounced the organization founded in his name.
Upon leaving the Theosophical fold, he began his
own career as an independent teacher, founding
educational institutions in England, the United
States, and India and lecturing until his death in
- Although Krishnamurti rejected any claim
to represent Hinduism (or any organized religion),
he nevertheless taught a form of self-analysis and
self-observation that was congruent with Hindu
and Buddhist disciplines. And, in his later years,
after having shunned the study of sacred texts
throughout his life, he became enamored of the
VEDAS and the UPANISHADS. Americans who became
familiar with Krishnamurti’s teaching were drawn
closer to Hindu thought and practice, although
they did not identify themselves as “Hindu.”
Later, in 1951, a Bengali philosopher, Haridas
CHAUDHURI, founded the Cultural Integration Fel-
lowship in San Francisco, which represented the
first American influence of the famous philoso-
pher and mystic Sri AUROBINDO. Chaudhuri was
a charismatic proponent of Aurobindo’s approach
to integralism in philosophy and yoga, adding his
own insights to his teacher’s message through col-
laboration with other scholars of the East. In the
1960s Chaudhuri founded the California Institute
of Asian Studies, an educational organization that
exists today under the name California Institute of
Integral Studies.
In the fall of 1965, the Asian Exclusion Act
was repealed and immigration quotas for Asia
became comparable to the quotas for Europe. The
number of Indian immigrants rose dramatically.
Between 1871 and 1965, only 16,013 Indians
had been admitted to the United States. Between
1965 and 1975, over 96,000 were admitted, and
the 1980 Census reported 387,223 Indians in the
United States (Melton, 1985). By 1965, most large
American cities had at least one Hindu center
where lectures could be heard, texts purchased
or read, and courses taught in Hindu philosophy.
Although relatively small, these groups were sig-
nificant in their stability and in their attempts to
make Hindu literature available. Popular figures
such as Edgar Cayce (1877–1945) made tradi-
tional Hindu concepts, such as reincarnation and
karma, almost standard fare for spiritual seek-
ers not bound to traditional denominations. But
popularization has been accompanied by charges
of violence, fraud, drug misuse, and emotional
abuse leveled against some Indian and American
promoters and leaders of Hindu and related New
Age groups. Hinduism, in its various guises in the
United States, has provided inspiration to spiritual
seekers, an entry into countercultural pursuits,
and groups who have experienced backlash from
conservative quarters.
Most immigrants from India have not been
teachers of Hinduism, but rather Hindu lay people
seeking traditional venues and methods of prac-
ticing their religion. Unable to fund conventional
structures, such as temples and shrines appropri-
ate to their respective sects, they have joined other
Hindus to create temples that serve several modes
of Hindu worship—SHAIVITE, Vaishnavite, and
SHAKTA—within one structure. Groups of Hindus
have cooperated to recruit traditionally trained
priests to the United States to preside over ritual
activities at these temples.
Since the 1960s, elements of Hinduism have
entered popular culture as components of various
forms of spirituality, health practices, cosmetics,
bumper stickers, and medical and psychological
therapies. Somewhat independent of its source
in Hinduism is the popular practice of HATHA
YOGA, almost pervasive throughout the country
in a variety of forms. Romain Rolland, French
student of Vedanta, spoke in 1931 of the “strange
moral and religious mentality of the modern
United States” that was both cause and effect of
the appropriation of Hindu thought in the 19thUnited States 469 J