From Yoga to Kabbalah

The popularization of Buddhism, yoga and meditation, public curiosity about shamanism and Sufism, and the recent craze for Kabbalah all demonstrate the appeal of foreign religious traditions to a wide audience in advanced industrial societies. Strange and enticing, their perceived otherness seems to lend them authenticity and to nourish hopes for the discovery of mysteries and hidden truths. Why are individuals attracted to “foreign” religious traditions especially? Why are some of them appropriated and not others? Does their popularization entail their transformation and, if so, which ones? How do people engage with religious beliefs and practices that are initially foreign to them? What roles do these appropriated religious teachings play in people’s lives? Finally, what does this religious exoticism tell us about contemporary societies? These are the questions that this book addresses through cross-national research on three case studies: the neo-Hindu movements Siddha Yoga and Sivananda Centres in France and Britain, and the Kabbalah Centre in France, Britain, Brazil, and Israel. This exoticism in the religious sphere, as such, has never been sociologically investigated. Rather, sociologists of religion considered this fascination was evidence of the fact that individuals increasingly craft their religious life and identity by picking and mixing from a wide range of religious traditions. It will be shown that this understanding of bricolage with foreign religions overestimates its eclecticism, takes for granted the availability of religious resources, and misunderstands religious individualism. Ultimately, this book uncovers the historical and sociocultural logics that organize practices of bricolage.