Light and Shadow in the Transmission of Indigenous Indian Spirituality to the West

Abstract: Having survived hundreds of years of colonial domination, India’s indigenous spiritual traditions have, remarkably, come to exert a powerful influence on the colonizing West. While the overall impact has been to deepen and broaden Western spirituality, the phenomenon also carries issues around coloniality and appropriation that threaten to discredit, dilute, and distort traditional precepts and practices. This presentation provides a balanced overview of the light and dark sides of the East-to-West transmission, highlights the means of transmission and the key players (Indian and Western), and proposes several issues of crucial importance for study and discussion.

Presenter bio: Philip Goldberg is an interfaith minister, public speaker, and author whose numerous books include American Veda: From Emerson and the Beatles to Yoga and Meditation, How Indian Spirituality Changed the West and The Life of Yogananda. He hosts the Spirit Matters podcast and serves with the Association for Spiritual Integrity.

Affiliation: Association for Spiritual Integrity, Spirit Matters podcast