When someone claims to be capable of transferring inner happiness and a connection to the universal oneness by just touching your head, a flood of skeptical questions may arise. Employing a technique they learned in India, practitioners of the Oneness Center in Taipei offered "deekshas," or positive energy transfers through touch, to promote inner joy in 30 people at the Cosmos Hotel yesterday.
New to Taiwan, the Oneness movement is established in more than 150 countries around the world, with a network of millions of practitioners. According to experts, factors contributing to the global success of spiritual movements include a new message that avoids any strict adherence to one religious doctrine and a community ready to receive it.
The Center's use of traditional practices such as yoga and meditation, together with simplified elements of Hindu philosophy, make it a suitable candidate for Taiwan's growing and tolerant religious marketplace. But while the new movement may be welcomed by open and curious minds, how far it develops here depends on its ability to overcome language and cultural barriers.
Sri Bhagavan, also referred to as the Sri Kalki (the 10th incarnation of Lord Vishnu of the Hindu pantheon of deities), established the Oneness movement in southern India in 1990. Deekshas were not officially offered to foreign nationals until January last year when the Oneness University was founded.
This event coincided with the transit of the planet Venus over the sun in June last year. The potential to receive positive energy through deeksha is said by Bhagavan to be at its most powerful for the next eight years -- due to this auspicious timing -- and courses on how to awaken inner joy in oneself and others are being offered in the hope of spreading global enlightenment.
Taiwan's religious environment is described as polytheistic, dominated by a combination of ancestor worship, Taoism, and elements of Buddhism, and it is common for deities of both major denominations to be worshiped at the same temple. Since the end of martial law in 1987, Taiwan has adopted an open-door policy on new religions.
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"After the lifting of martial law the religion market opened up and suddenly people searched for religious answers to their psychological questions. Questions that resulted from a period of major societal change," he said.
After the initial surge of interest in new religious movements began to die off in the late 1990s, the next 10 years saw a shift in what people were looking for in a religion. No longer did they want long and complicated answers to their psychological questions -- now it was instant spirituality they required.
"Now people look for simple ways to get rid of their anxieties. It's like instant coffee or fast food, they want a quick fix. Even repackaged old traditions, if they're simplified with a few new elements, will be attractive to people," Chiu said.
"To be successful [in Taiwan] a group must have a charismatic leader with Mandarin ability and teachings that have some affiliation with local traditions. They need to offer something new but not too different from the local culture," he said.
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