Eckankar
Overview
 
Eckankar is a new religious movement
New religious movement
A new religious movement is a religious community or ethical, spiritual, or philosophical group of modern origin, which has a peripheral place within the dominant religious culture. NRMs may be novel in origin or they may be part of a wider religion, such as Christianity, Hinduism or Buddhism, in...

 founded in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 in 1965, though practiced around the world long before with a solid following in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

. It focuses on spiritual exercises enabling practitioners to experience what its followers call "the Light and Sound of God." The personal experience of this spiritual Light and Sound is a primary goal of the teaching. It claims to provide a personal, unique and individual spiritual inner path
Inner path
Inner path, in its generic meaning, is any sort of path that is "turned inward" or is contrasted with an "outer path".- Spiritual or religious :Inner path, as a spiritual or religious concept, is referred to in:* Spiritual paths...

 to understanding of self as soul
Soul
A soul in certain spiritual, philosophical, and psychological traditions is the incorporeal essence of a person or living thing or object. Many philosophical and spiritual systems teach that humans have souls, and others teach that all living things and even inanimate objects have souls. The...

, and development of higher awareness "consciousness" and God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....

.

According to the Eckankar glossary
Glossary
A glossary, also known as an idioticon, vocabulary, or clavis, is an alphabetical list of terms in a particular domain of knowledge with the definitions for those terms...

, the term Eckankar means "Co-Worker with God".
 
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