David C. Lane
Overview
Burbank, California
Burbank is a city in Los Angeles County in Southern California, United States, north of downtown Los Angeles. The estimated population in 2010 was 103,340....
) is a professor of philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
and sociology
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
at Mt. San Antonio College
Mt. San Antonio College
Mt. San Antonio College is a community college located in the Los Angeles suburb of Walnut, California, 2.12 miles west of California State Polytechnic University, Pomona ....
, in Walnut, California. He is most notable for exposing Eckankar
Eckankar
Eckankar is a new religious movement founded in the United States in 1965, though practiced around the world long before with a solid following in China. It focuses on spiritual exercises enabling practitioners to experience what its followers call "the Light and Sound of God." The personal...
as a cult and its founder, Paul Twitchell
Paul Twitchell
Paul Twitchell was an American spiritual writer, author and founder of the group known as Eckankar. He is accepted by the members of that group as the Mahanta, or Living ECK Master of his time. He directed the development of the group through to the time of his death...
, as a plagiarist in his book The Making of a Spiritual Movement: The Untold Story of Paul Twitchell and Eckankar. He is also notable for spotting the most radical and controversial Sage of India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, Baba Faqir Chand
Baba Faqir Chand
Baba Faqir Chand, was an Indian master of Surat Shabd Yoga, or consciously controlled near death experience. He was the first Sant Mat guru to speak of overwhelming experience of certainty and the subjective projection of sacred forms without the conscious knowledge of the person at the center of...
, a great exponent of Surat Shabd Yoga
Surat Shabd Yoga
Surat Shabd Yoga or Surat Shabda Yoga is a form of spiritual practice that is followed in the Sant Mat and many other related spiritual traditions...
.