Paper short abstract:

This paper studies the conceptualization of the divine in Radhasoami and seeks to explore divinization in this tradition, as represented by the notion of guru-bhakti and by elements of Radhasoami religiosity.

Paper long abstract:

This paper studies the conceptualization of the divine in Radhasoami and seeks to explore divinization in this tradition, as represented by the notion of guru-bhakti and by elements of Radhasoami religiosity which invite the devotee to long for the sacred sight of the guru and encourage followers to mediate on him.

The Radhasoami is a reform movement that originates in India at the end of the nineteenth-century. It challenges and transcends orthodox Hinduism by rejecting the caste system and endorsing women's education. The Radhasoamis see their tradition as the perfect manifestation of Sant mat (the teachings of the Sants) and consider themselves a part of the Sant parampara, the nirguna bhakti tradition of Sant poets such as Kabir and Nanak. They believe in one non-manifest formless God, in the supremacy of the guru and in the spiritual community of the sants, the satsang. Similar to the other sants, the Radhasoamis see external forms of ritual and murti (image) worship as irrelevant. However, their teachings require that a guru be alive and present for the devotee, and they regard the living guru as an incarnate form of the Absolute. The devotees long for the darshana of their guru and they believe that it has healing powers. Moreover, the disciples are encouraged to direct their loving devotion to the guru. Thus, Radhasoami can be seen as guru-bhakti. Thus, we may state that the 'saguna' form of the divinized human guru seems to compensate for the 'nirguna' form of the divine.