Geeta Temple façade. Elmhurst, Queens. March 26, 2005.

Introduction

 

            The presence of Hindu religious, or spiritual, leaders in the United States is a crucial link between the ways in which Hindus treat religion in terms of ritual and at the personal level.  An essential part of that religious identity formation and the establishment of Hindu temples throughout New York are the immigrants who form the spiritual and ritual leadership of those temples, and whose personal experiences add depth to the meanings created by the Hindu community and its places of worship.  The Geeta Temple Ashram in Elmhurst, Queens is a case in point.  It owes its existence to the experiences of people whose lives have been touched by Swami Jagdishwarananda, the temple’s founder and spiritual leader.

          The presence of Swami Jagdishwarananda—or Swamiji, as he is popularly known—has been crucial to the establishment of the Geeta Temple, distinguishing it from other temples in the New York area.  Yet it is not so much Swamiji’s life history as Swamiji’s narration of his experiences that provides a unique lens for seeing how the complex forces of identity formation, memory, and personal narrative come together in new ways as individuals place their lives within a spiritual framework.  In my conversations with Swamiji, his oral history became less a detailed account of his various experiences than a story within which specific individuals and circumstances became characters and events driven by divine force.  The story he told was practiced but not invariable:  depending especially upon his choice of language (English or Hindi), it could change in various ways.  This made it hard to determine whether his sense of self is autonomous and transcendent, or rather contingent and provisional, being dependent on others for its very existence (Eakin 1985, 181).   Swamiji is usually credited as being the founder of both temples, but he himself attributes their establishment and his own survival in the United States to other individuals. From his point of view, these persons’ motivations and desires were actually more instrumental than his own in founding the Geeta Temple and Divya Dham. 

 

Background

The motivation for this research stems from a visit to the Geeta Temple during February 2004, during which I first met Swamiji.  I initially visited the temple to begin research into the worship of Santoshi Ma, as this temple is one of only a very few in the area that houses a statue of the goddess.  Although I initially began speaking to Swamiji so that I might explain my presence there and receive his permission to conduct research at the temple, I found myself engaged in a very warm conversation with him instead.  While our exchange revolved around talk about a shared social circle, there was a warmth and understanding in the words he chose, the manner with which he spoke, and his general attitude that not only intrigued me, but also made me feel closely bound to him as a spiritual leader. 

From my perspective as a second-generation Indian-American Hindu, this exchange was a very pleasant surprise.  Many second-generation Hindu youth have not had the opportunity to develop personal relationships with spiritual leaders in a way that extends beyond the ritualistic role many of them fulfill in temples.  This was certainly true for me, and it made my interaction with Swamiji seem worthy of examination for this project. 

 

Methodology

            Interviews for this project were conducted at the Geeta Temple and were compiled in the form of six sets field notes.  One session was audio-recorded.  Swamiji remained the primary interviewee for all of these, as temple members and staff were often unavailable to speak.     

            Due to my background as a young Indian-American and Hindu from the New York area, I initially found it difficult to overcome my familiarity with the setting of the Geeta Temple and the ease of my exchange with Swamiji.  It created a rather informal atmosphere in which Swamiji was not as specific and detailed in his account as was desirable for my purposes.   My background was for the most part an immense advantage in communicating with Swamiji, but there was the difficulty that it was often hard to establish the formal, structured interviews for which I had hoped.  I ended up looking for useful information in much more informal exchanges, as well.

 

The Temple

Located on Corona Avenue in Elmhurst, Queens, the Geeta Temple Ashram is a visually prominent temple serving the Hindu community in New York.  The temple hosts a variety of programs, rituals, and festivals on a regular basis, and was established by Swamiji in 1979 with the help of a small group of his yoga students and followers, both Hindu and non-Hindu.  Swamiji is also the founder of the Sri Divya Dham temple, also in Queens, and has thus played a major role in the development and leadership of the Hindu community there. 

The Geeta Temple is located in a converted building that was once an A&P supermarket.  Corona Avenue is a long stretch of road dotted with residential townhouses as well as commercial buildings, towards the east end of which stands the temple.  The temple’s aesthetic qualities make it contrast boldly with the buildings that surround it.  The main altar at the temple accommodates the following deities, beginning from the extreme left of the center platform: Ram, Lakshman, Sita, Durga, Hanuman, Shiva, Parvati, Lakshmi, Krishna, and Radha.  Other prominent statues located throughout the room include Vishnu and Ganesh.  In addition, there are several deities not commonly found in other New York Hindu temples, most notably Santoshi Ma.  Much attention has been paid to the aesthetic details of the temple interior, which includes ornately carved pillars, walls, and doors.  Aartis take place every morning at 5:30 and at 6:30 every evening. 

The temple has a largely north Indian constituency, including immigrants from Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, and Punjab. One can infer this from the names that appear on plaques commemorating major donors of the temple at its entrance, but it also becomes plain in Swamiji’s references to some of the regional groups who frequent the temple and with whom he is well acquainted.  Swamiji himself hails from Gujarat and initially established connections with Indians who had also emigrated from there and other neighboring states in India.  Because Hindi is spoken across the broad range of north India, it is not surprising that the temple’s informational materials are printed not only in English but in Hindi.  These materials include advertisements for upcoming festivals or holidays, as well as hymns and epic narratives.

 

 

Swamiji

Swami Jagdishwarananda.  Geeta Temple, Elmhurst, Queens.  March 26, 2005.

In his Metaphors of Self, James Olney proposes an interesting perspective on the rhetorical representation of the self in autobiographical accounts (Eakin 1985:187).  According to this perspective, one would expect the presence of an ethnographer to be an important conditioning feature in the process by which Swamiji creates meaning and imposes it upon his experience. 

Swamiji usually speaks of the history of the temple as it relates to his own life journey in the United States in a rather straightforward way.  Certain details matter greatly for him, while others do not—or at least, not to the extent that I sometimes thought they should.  For instance, Swamiji rarely identifies the race, ethnicity, or religion of the people who initially took his classes and became followers.  Often he only did so when I asked him to repeat his story with these questions in mind.  It often seemed I was the one asking him to frame his life with respect to “facts” and strict chronologies.  His own perception and representation of himself was rooted, rather, in notions of the divine and destiny.  Memory and narrative often became significant only in relation to his work, not so much in relation to his own sense of self, which he clearly attributed to a higher force that allowed him to appreciate the goodness of those who have helped him in his life journey and who now look to him for spiritual and religious guidance. 

Having been orphaned at an early age in India, Swamiji immigrated to the United States from Ahmedebad, a city in the state of Gujarat.  He had been a swami at the Geeta Mandir there (so called due to its dedication to the Bhagavad-Geeta).  Shortly after his arrival in the New York area, Swamiji began teaching yoga classes.  Initially these were comprised of a small group of non-Hindus, but that group grew to include a number of Indian professionals eager to establish a place of worship and community center under Swamiji’s guidance.  Thus the temple was established out of the need and demand for a larger space on the part of Swamiji’s yoga students and followers during the late 1970’s. 

Swamiji’s first group of disciples—yoga students—met in the garage of a friend in Queens, but before long the size of the group dictated a move—to a former beer house!  That move, still in Queens, was funded through Swamiji’s personal earnings as a yoga instructor and by donations he received from his students and their friends.  By chance, Swamiji also came into contact with a Jewish attorney who later became a good friend and follower.  This man credits Swamiji with playing a crucial role in enabling his sick daughter to recover her health.  With the help of this friend and the Jewish community of which he was a part, funds were raised to establish the Geeta Mandir in 1979.  The history of the temple thus follows Swamiji’s own journey from immigrant yogi to spiritual leader. 

Whenever Swamiji recalls the events preceding the establishment of the Temple, he begins with the following scene.  He is meditating in the Bryant Square Park near the New York Public Library on Fifth Avenue when a young woman approaches him.[1]  She asks whether Swamiji teaches yoga and meditation, and when he states that he does not take money in exchange for lessons, this young woman, whom he never names, begins to meet him regularly in the park to meditate, eventually bringing friends along with her.  Soon, this woman offers to house Swamiji in her home in Queens, where she proposes that he teach and live.  When Swamiji recounts these events, he emphasizes his initial reluctance to move to Queens and receive money in exchange for lessons.  When asked why he finally conceded to this friend’s plan, Swamiji states that he did not wish to continue to be a burden upon the Gujarati businessman with whom he was staying and thought that it might be a good idea to try something new. 

Swamiji is very particular about contextualizing the entry of these individuals into his life.  He typically explains how more and more Indians had become doctors, professors, and businessmen during his later years here.  In choosing to detail the professional background of these Indians, it seems that Swamiji is unintentionally referring to the new resources that had begun to make their way into his classes and stimulate a desire for a more suitable place where both his devotees (Hindu and non-Hindu) and the Hindu community at large could meet.  At the same time, his narration becomes story-like.  Swamiji hesitates to mention names, exact places, and the terms and conditions of many of the agreements he came to in establishing the Queens temples. 

The most interesting things about Swamiji’s life history are not the actual details, but the way in which he chooses to relay certain information about himself, particularly his eagerness to identify his presence and purpose in the United States in spiritual terms.  Swamiji is rather vague about his time in India.  He summarizes his experiences there by saying that he lived his early life as an orphan and travelled around India spending much time with swamis and pundits in various locations across the country.[2]  On this topic, the preface to his work Hindu Deities (1986) reads: “I lived on different occasions with great spiritual masters who were very kind in explaining a wide range of issues.”  Yet as he spoke to me, his narrative often began with his experiences as a yoga/meditation teacher in Queens.  In beginning his “story” this way, Swamiji does establish some important things about himself:  first, that he did not intend to become a religious leader in any way upon his arrival in the United States, and second, that his affiliation with the Hindu community has its origins in strong relationships with non-Hindus via his teaching of yoga and meditation.[3]  Swamiji typically sidesteps any further questions about his intentions or purpose as a leader for the Hindu community because Swamiji does not perceive himself in this way.  He simply considers himself to be “lucky”—to have achieved his current status by the grace of God.

Some differences in Swamiji’s own approach to his life do, however, emerge when he switches from Hindi to English, as he did during one visit when I was accompanied by a non-South Asian student who did not speak Hindi.  Although I had initially planned to translate her questions for Swamiji into Hindi and his answers back into English, Swamiji was so excited to meet a new young face that he immediately initiated his own conversation with her in English.  It was interesting to see that,  perhaps because his command of English is rather broken, the life-account he provided was somewhat different from the Hindi version.  Swamiji included minor details that were missing from his Hindi account.  For instance, he supplied the ethnicity of the girl he had met in the Fifth Avenue park and the names of some Gujarati businessmen who had initially financed the temple.  Due to his inability to express certain sentiments in English, this account was also rather dry compared to our conversations in Hindi, but by the same token it in certain ways richer.  Clearly the sense of “story” had changed.

Accounts of the life histories of other spiritual leaders reflect a similar tendency to contextualize facts and figures according to various frames of reference—often their relevance to the development of a spiritual sense of self.  Biographies of Amritanandamayi Mata (Ammachi) provide considerably more details about her birth and childhood than someone like Swamiji was able or willing to give, but they are  similarly strewn with references to an innate spiritual knowledge and mission.  One sentence reads: “Amma never had a spiritual mentor or guru, nor was she exposed to philosophical books. Her unmistakable self-realization and wisdom seemed to spark from a constant remembrance of God.”  Swamiji is different—perhaps in part because of the modesty incumbent upon him as he tells his story himself.  Or maybe that modesty is real.  He acknowledges the guidance he received from leaders in India and from an unnamed “my guru” to whom he refers in his preface to Hindu Deities.  And it is especially striking that he places these early formative influences within a spiritual trajectory that he traces right down to the love and appreciation he has received from the Hindu community here in the United States. 

On the other hand, however, Swamiji sees his life as having been shaped by a divine meaning that cannot be reduced to the effects of gurus, teachers, and friends.  He speaks about the roles he has assumed in a way that goes beyond either self-construction or the motivations of others.  What he is, is what he was meant to become.  In this regard, one can see a parallel to the sort of thing that is reported about a figure like Sathya Sai Baba.  One of his biographies reads:

 

 As a child, he demonstrated exemplary qualities of compassion, generosity, and wisdom, which clearly distinguished him from the other children of his village. On October 29, 1940, at the age of 14, he declared to his family and to the people of his village that he would henceforth by known as Sai Baba and that his mission was to bring about the spiritual regeneration of humanity by demonstrating and teaching the highest principles of truth, righteous conduct, peace, and divine love.

(International Sai Organization, 2005)

Swamiji is hardly so grandiose in what he claims for himself, but he shares with such an account a conviction about the almost fictive nature of selfhood, projecting it as biographical fact (Eakin 1985: 182).  In recounting his life, Swamiji links his sense of self with the spiritual and the religious endeavors that have brought him fame and a devoted following, mainly his yoga/meditation teachings and the subsequent establishment of the Geeta Temple in Queens.  That linkage, which other spiritual leaders seem to form, is the crucial focal point that makes it possible to acquire the strength, and more importantly, resources to form religious communities such as the one we see at the Geeta Temple in Queens.  In acknowledging the importance of such ties, however, Swamiji does not neglect to place them in a providential frame.  Some might call such a sense of socially constructed selfhood fictive, but for Swamiji it is God’s grace.

 

Works Cited

Eakin, Paul J. How Our Lives Become Stories: Making Selves.  Ithaca:  Cornell University Press, 1999.

 

-----.  Fictions in Autobiography.  Princeton:  Princeton University Press, 1985. 

 

International Sai Organization.  http://www.sathyasai.org. 2005. 

 

Mata Amritanandamayi Center. http://www.ammachi.org.  2005.