The American soul rush : Esalen and the rise of spiritual privilege / Marion Goldman.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Goldman, Marion S.

Series:

Qualitative studies in religion.

Qualitative studies in religion

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Esalen Institute--History.

Esalen Institute.

Religion and sociology--United States--History--20th century.

Religion and sociology.

Religion and sociology--United States--History--21st century.

United States--Religion--1960-.

United States.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (220 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

New York : New York University Press, c2012.

New York, NY : New York University Press, [2012]

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Yoga. Humanistic Psychology. Meditation. Holistic Healing. These practices are commonplace today. Yet before the early 1960's they were atypical options for most people outside of the upper class or small groups of educated spiritual seekers. Esalen Institute, a retreat for spiritual and personal growth in Big Sur, California, played a pioneering role in popularizing quests for self-transformation and personalized spirituality. This “soul rush” spread quickly throughout the United States as the Institute made ordinary people aware of hundreds of ways to select, combine, and revise their beliefs about the sacred and to explore diverse mystical experiences. Millions of Americans now identify themselves as spiritual, not religious, because Esalen paved the way for them to explore spirituality without affiliating with established denominations. The American Soul Rush explores the concept of spiritual privilege and Esalen’s foundational influence on the growth and spread of diverse spiritual practices that affirm individuals’ self-worth and possibilities for positive personal change. The book also describes the people, narratives, and relationships at the Institute that produced persistent, almost accidental inequalities in order to illuminate the ways that gender is central to religion and spirituality in most contexts.

Contents:

Esalen's wellspring: foundational doctrines

Esalen's reach: a brief history

Spiritual privilege and personal transformation

Living privilege: four Esalen men

Gender questions at Esalen

Esalen's legacy.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

This eBook is made available Open Access under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 06. Mrz 2024)

ISBN:

9780814733387

0814733387

OCLC:

773879116