In search of enlightenment in America (video)

DW Documentary, 2/14/21; Pat Macpherson, Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

America's new gurus: In search of enlightenment

According to the U.S. Constitution, anyone can be the founder of a new religion and spread its message. Many Americans are doing just that. The range of religious communities is diverse and stretches from sea to slimy sea.

The Dharma is growing in America.

For some years now, the U.S. has been in the midst of a second "New Age" wave. Shamans, life coaches, and spiritualists are doing profitable business thanks to people’s search for meaning.

One current trend is self-healing using kambo, a highly toxic secretion of the American giant macaque frog, which is administered in group ceremonies. It leads to vomiting (purging), palpitations, and dizziness, which adherents regard as a cleansing of the body.

If used incorrectly, the substance can lead to cardiac arrest. One guru’s career is continuing, despite the deaths of his followers. Life Coach James Arthur Ray was sentenced to two years in prison in 2011, after three participants in one of his workshops died in a home made sauna.

Do YOGA that has these eight parts (audio)

In 2019, he celebrated his comeback in Las Vegas and now sells self-realization seminars for thousands of dollars.

For his followers it’s proof that Ray’s strategy works. The U.S. has given birth to huge sects that survive thanks to the utter financial dedication of their members.

In 2019, cult founder Keith Raniere was convicted in a sensational trial, having exploited and at times abused 15,000 women.

One former member shares the barbaric methods that were used to keep women in the cult. This documentary takes a journey through America’s quest for spiritual fulfillment (the opposite of dukkha or "disappointment"), shedding light on the questionable practices of self-appointed gurus.

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