Paul Twitchell
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Paul Twitchell (d. 1971) was an American and the founder (or modern founder) of the religion Eckankar. As the Mahanta (the Living ECK Master) of his time, from 1965 until his death in 1971, he uncovered the allegedly ancient science of Eckankar through several books and lectures; some have charged that he invented the religion himself. His spiritual name was believed to be Peddar Zaskq.
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Biography
Birth and early life
Much of Twitchell's life is shrouded in controversy and uncertainty. His birth date has been disputed; his widow Gail believed he was born in 1922, as evident by his death certificate, but Twitchell himself once claimed his birth year was 1912, and Twitchell's successors, Darwin Gross and Harold Klemp, later estimated that Twitchell was probably born in 1812 (Gross' estimate, implying Twitchell lived for more than a century), or in 1908 or 1910 (Klemp's estimates). Author Ford Johnson, on the other hand, has sided with 1909, based on census information.Template:Ref The young Paul was probably born in Paducah, Kentucky, although this, too, has been disputed.
In his later life, Twitchell attended Murray State College and Western Kentucky University in the 1930s but never graduated from either;Template:Ref he married for the first time in 1942.Template:Ref During the 1960s he lived in California, with his second wife, Gail. He pursued a spiritual education under the inspiration of Kirpal Singh, but after a hostile correspondance by mail, during which Kirpal Singh critiqued Twitchell's work, Twitchell rejected his teachings.Template:Ref
Role in Eckankar
Some people believe it was actually Gail's idea that Twitchell adapt some of his spiritual education into a new religion, Eckankar.Template:Ref (Gail broke from the Church in the early 1980s, publicly denouncing Eckankar as an invention, although Twitchell had claimed the religion was ancient).Template:Ref While at first Twitchell claimed his teachings were new, he soon reversed that position and called them an ancient science, and even claimed they were older than all other religions, and had spawned all other religions.Template:Ref Indeed, in his book Eckankar: The Key to Secret Worlds, Twitchell claimed he received aid in uncovering Eckankar from the spirit of a predecessor ECK master, Rebazar Tarzs. After the religion was founded or uncovered, Twitchell then turned to writing for magazines, and in that position gave out spiritual advise, claiming to communicate with God about the problems of those who wrote to him. He also attempted prophesy, predicting that the Vietnam War would end in 1968 and that Lyndon Johnson would be elected US President for a second time. Many of his answers were concluded with the words "I HAVE SPOKEN!"Template:Ref
Death
Twitchell died of a heart attack in 1971. His death, like his life, was not free of controversy. Some Eckists, including the prominent member Louis Bluth, believed his death was just, well-deserved or necessary; it was claimed Twitchell had defied the ECK masters of the past. Another Eckist later claimed the death was a punishment for adding falsehoods to the sacred Eckankar teachings. Additionally, many Eckists came to question Twitchell's honesty after his death, since he had predicted that he would continue to lead the faith for another decade and a half. The death was also problematic because Twitchell did not have a chance to name his successor. His widow, Gail, eventually selected Darwin Gross, whom she later married. According to Gail, Gross was indeed Paul Twitchell's choice, as he had visited her in a dream to give his endorsement.Template:Ref
As a writer
Twitchell had tried, earlier in life, to be a poet and a novelist, but made insufficient income. However he eventually had several works published by his Church. Additionally, the mail he had sent to Kirpal Singh was published as the book The Tiger's Fang.Template:Ref Twitchell told his biographer Brad Steiger that he expected The Tiger's Fang to be controversial, having announced that it "would shake the foundation of the teachings of orthodox religions, philosophies, and metaphysical concepts." Twitchell even claimed that to have been informed that the Pope saw the book and "was greatly disturbed by it, perhaps to the point of condemning it." Template:Ref
The scholar David C. Lane demonstrated that Twitchell plagiarized much of his work from the writings of Julian Johnson, Kirpal Singh, and others in his M.A. thesis; his findings, and his long debates with Eckists and Eckankar officials, are available at his webpage, The Neural Surfer. Plagiarism has been endemic in American religious and mystical movements. Peter Lamborn Wilson gives one example of this in his study of early Sufism in America, Sacred Drift.
Footnotes
- Template:NoteJohnson, Ford. Confessions of a God Seeker: A Journey to Higher Consciousness. "One" Publishing, Inc., 2003, pp. 97, 101-102.
- Template:Note Johnson, 98.
- Template:Note Johnson, 100.
- Template:Note Johnson, 91-92
- Template:Note Johnson, 94.
- Template:Note Johnson, 226.
- Template:Note Johnson, 93-94.
- Template:Note Johnson, 180-181.
- Template:Note Johnson, 221-223.
- Template:Note Johnson, 207, 91.
- Template:Note Steiger, Brad. In My Soul I Am Free. Eckankar: 1968, p. 60, ISBN 0-914766-11-2.
Books
- The Tiger's Fang, Illuminated Way Press, 1967, ISBN 0-914766-17-1
- Eckankar: The Key to Secret Worlds. With a forward by Brad Steiger. San Diego: Illuminated Way Press, 1969, ISBN 157043154X