12 SECTS AND CULTS

Rajula Shah

Introduction

Religious sects and cults are becoming more and more prominent thereby gathering interest from sociologists in recent past. The decades post World War II and particularly the late 1960s and early 1970s, enormous variety of sects, cults and movements emerged that the Western world witnessed, thereby attracting media as well as academic attention. For Hamilton (2001), sects are in many ways religious experiments, as it offers the sociologists opportunities to study religiosity in its purest forms, without the complexities of motive, organization and doctrine that characterizes the long established churches and denominations.

There are many misconceptions as well, as in common parlance, sects are usually associated with the Christian tradition. One of the reasons for this generalization could be the initial research done on the topic from a very Western perspective, in an overwhelmingly Christian context. However, this is not an entire, correct picture. Sects within the Christian tradition is but one of the cases. Sects are known to have emerged and grown in countries with one or more great religious traditions.

It is popularly understood that since sects are separated groups, they tend to exist within or at the fringe of all the major religions. However, the concept of the sect should be understood in the context of the organizational structure of different parent religions. For instance, in a diffused, uncentralized and pluralist religious tradition liked Hinduism, sectarianism exists only in a much more limited sense than in Christendom. Within Hinduism, there have been diverse traditions of worship as well as many divergent philosophical schools that have existed side by side for centuries. What sects connote for Christian movements, may not be relevant for those outside the Christian tradition (Wilson, 1970) and particularly when one talks about sects within Hinduism. Christianity no doubt has a degree of centralization, specifically the Roman Catholicism. This centralization and coherence influences the structure and organizational character of the sects emerging out of it. Nevertheless, sects are largely separated and voluntary minority religious movements, of course within the context of larger religions.

Although many scholars consider deprivation, of various kinds, as an important factor for sectarian proliferation, religious sects and movements are often much more than mere such responses. Besides mere transcendental solutions to problems, they provide real concrete benefits in the world and life. They successfully provide a sense of identity, community, self-respect and essentially social support for meaningfully interpreting their situation (Hamilton, 2001). Thus, the benefits received are not just in terms of material, but non-material ones as well. This feature makes sects and cults even more appealing.

It is truly acknowledged that sects and cults are extremely diverse, complex and resulting from differential cultural conditions. It is therefore not possible to present an account of all the unique features of innumerable sects and cults in a global context. However, an attempt is made to understand the nature of these sects and cults, why and how they emerge, the amount of influence they exert, functions they perform, changes, if at all, they might undergo and so on. It is also intended to have an overview of some individual sects and cults in the present scenario. This module also highlights certain sects and cults within Hinduism particularly to understand the sectarian diversity in the Indian context.

Historical Context of Sociology of Sectariansim

When we look at the Christian tradition from certain historical period, Ernst Troeltsch can be seen as a pioneer in the sociological study of sectarianism. He followed his teacher-cum-friend Max Weber in his characterization of the nature of the sect in relation to the Church. Weber characterized the Church as a religious institution as well as political association that holds power in order to maintain order. The sect, whereas, is a voluntary association, not making any claims to regulate the religious lives and behaviour of its members. According to Weber, sects usually tend to develop into churches. Troeltsch, although accepted this general analysis of Weber, however developed this typology further to its fullest early conceptualization. According to the theologian Troeltsch’s understanding of the distinctions between Church and sect, the former is considered highly conservative institution, which largely accepts the secular order and seeks to dominate the masses. The sect, however, is a small grouping which aspires to an inward perfection and aims at direct personal fellowship between its members. As it renounces any idea of dominating the world, interestingly, sects spring from the lower classes or the oppressed (Hamilton, 2001). From the point of view of the Church, these sects are seen as departures or rather deviations from true Christianity. But from the point of view of the sects, they tend to challenge the Church’s claim as a sole dispenser of sacramental grace. Therefore, for Troeltsch, the sects were largely protest movements (Johnstone, 2011).

H. Richard Niebuhr, in 1929, posits that the sect is an unstable type of religious organization which, through time, tends to be transformed into a church.According to him, there is an endless cycle of birth, transformation, schism, and rebirth of religious movements (Stark and Bainbridge, 1979). He also added denomination as a further category for classifying types of religious organization to the typology. A denomination can be seen as a mediating position between the church and the sect (Johnstone, 2011). He saw sectarianism as a product of increased division and differentiation in society. In his view, the sect was not capable to survive for long. The sect, according to him, would eventually become a denomination, or even a Church. His views have been debated by theorists like Wilson (1990) who pointed out the uniqueness of the American context that was allegedly overlooked by Niebuhr(Hamilton, 2001).Niebuhr’s theory exclusively concerns schismatic religious movements, whichhe identifies as sects (Stark and Bainbridge, 1979).J. Milton Yinger gives an interesting discussion on the differing relationship of sect and Church to the world. Yinger has distinguished two subtypes within the category of “church”. At one extreme there is the Universal Church – all-embracing with zero tolerance for religious competition. At the other extreme, the subtype of church was given the designation ecclesia (Greek, church) by Leopold von Wiese and Howard Becker (Johnstone, 2011). Further, Yinger calls for an ‘established sect’ (others refer to it as institutionalized sect), where a sect takes on less sectarian and more Church-like character in order to win a substantial following. Bryan Wilson (1970) further contributes by characterizing the sect as a voluntary association with a strong sense of self-identity. The sect is exclusive, whose membership depends upon merit or some kind of qualification (Hamilton, 2001).

Typology of Sects

Sects are very varied and diverse in character. The pattern of sect development may vary according to type of sect. In order to understand such relationships and processes, a typology of sects is required. The best typology to date, however within a very western context(Christian) and somewhat rudimentary, is that of Bryan Wilson (1970). According to him, in general, sects tend to arise as a result of ‘stresses and tensions differentially experienced within the total society’ (p. 31). Wilson’s typology is based on the ‘kind of response to the world’ that the sect adopts – a world is seen as less than satisfactory and which it is hoped to transcend in some way. As a matter of response to the world, it covers doctrine, style of organization, way of life, etc. What follows is a brief understanding of his types.

At the beginning we see Conversionist sects that emphasise evangelism and conversion of individuals to the ideals of the sect by inducing a religious awakening in them. The process of experiencing conversion, rather than rituals and ceremonies, is often considered essential for salvation. Examples include the Salvation Army and the various Pentecostal movements. Next in his list are the Revolutionist or Adventist sects that believe in the imminent (approaching) transformation of the present world as well as social order. And therefore, the Adventist sects associate this upheaval with the second coming of Christ – the Advent. These look upon the established Church with great hostility and antagonism. The examples in case include the Seventh Day Adventists, Christadelphians and the Jehovah’s Witnesses. Introversionist sects tend to focus upon the community of believers as the essential locus for the achievement of salvation. By withdrawal and isolating from the wider society, they set up segregated communities, with often no spiritual leadership or specialists. Examples include the Hutterites and the Amish. Then there are Manipulationist or Gnostic sects, avoid evangelism or emotional meetings, and rather emphasise production and dissemination of knowledge which allegedly enables its members to attain material as well as spiritual goals in this life. Usually there are no communities or congregations of a permanent kind. Examples include Christian Science and Scientology. Thaumaturgical sects believe in miracles to cure sickness, solve problems, etc. As it centres around the magician, faith healer, or miracle worker, its membership may include clientele of such persons. Spiritualism can be considered as an example here. Reformist sects are ones who are completely devoted to reforms and upliftment from social problems. These sects emphasise conscience and an apt example would be the Quakers. Utopian sects consist of communities that are designed to set an example for social reconstruction. Examples include the Oneida community and the early Bruderhof groups. Furthermore, there are also a number of sects that do not fit neatly into any of above types. Some are highly flexible and cut across categories. For instance, the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints – the Mormons (Wilson, 1970; Hamilton, 2001).

Sectarianism & Cult Movements

Sects are movements of religious protest (Wilson, 1970). Although, sects remain an important social phenomenon in its own right, no one has been able to successfully know as to how many sects and cults are there in the world today. It is interesting to see how the sectarian schisms occur and cult movements arise, the complex process of conversion to sects and cults and the patterns of their internal evolution and development (Hamilton, 2001). A sect is a comparatively small group, aspiring for personal inward perfection and aims at a direct personal fellowship between its members.A lot of such studies have been undertaken to understand these diverse aspects of sects and cults. Some of these studies include works of rational choice theorists such as Stark and Bainbridge. In general, the rational choice theorists argue for a supply-side economic model, rather than the demand side. In fact, Hamilton (2001) uses Stark and Bainbridge’s theorizing for understanding the dynamics of sects and cults.As mentioned by him, they define the concept of sect using the criteria of deviance and breakaway from an established religious organization. Cults, in contrast, while also deviant, are entirely new movements which are not breakaways from established religious organizations. However, both result due to tension with the surrounding sociocultural environment. Both these definitions are not categorical, although it may refer to a continuum.

Interestingly, these theorists also analyse cults, that are quite different form the sects in their process of development. They have outlined three mutually compactible models (although controversial) of the process of cult emergence: first, the psychopathology model which holds that mentally ill persons, due to their capacity for creating novel patterns of actions and ideas, invent novel compensators and accept them as rewards. Second, entrepreneurial model which recognizes cults as businesses. Individuals with good entrepreneurship foresee profit from such creations. Third, subculture-evolution model of cult emergence draws upon the sociological understanding on deviant subcultures, including delinquent subcultures (Hamilton 2001).

Stark and Bainbridge (1979), while focussing on a theory of religious movements, attempt to understand the church-sect axis. They oppose the application of ‘ideal types’ used in theorizing religion like that of Weber and Niebuhr. A theory to explain sect formation can be applied to cults to explain their schismatic tendencies as within the context of cult movements too, schismatic movements can form. But it is important to acknowledge that a theory of sect formation simply will not serve as a theory of cult formation. The geneses of the two are very different.

There has been a common recurring error regarding the understanding of sects that particularly existed in pre-industrial societies: to assume that all sects arise around a charismatic leader, someone claiming divinity or with strong divine inspiration. Whereas in the advanced industrial societies, there tends to be disbelief of the special powers of any individual (Wilson, 1970).

Cults

For Howard Becker, a cult is a kind of quasi-groupembodying an individualistic search forecstatic experience. Deviance, individualism and mysticism are the three criteria usually employed, sometimes individually, sometimes in combination, to distinguish cultic beliefs. (Campbell, 1977). A cult is another type of religious organization. Like any sect, a cult similarly rejects the religious patterns and formulations of denominations or the dominant religious traditions of the society. The cult members are either not attracted to dominant religious groups in the first place or, like the sectarians, become disenchanted with commonly-accepted religious forms. There are some striking differences between the cult and the sect as well. The cult does not call for a return to the original, pure religion, but instead emphasizes the new – a new revelation or insight provided by a supernatural power or a rediscovery of an old revelation lost for many years and therefore new to this age. In this way, cults tend to be out of the mainstream of the dominant religious system of a society. In order to deliberately contrast themselves with the dominant traditional religious groups, cults often employ new terminology and symbols and thereby surpass the overlapping of the same. Often these are highly unintelligible, mystical and esoteric. Besides, a charismatic leader is more likely to be driving the cult than any other religious group. Cults strongly emphasize the individual, focussing on the peace of mind and getting the individual in tune with the supernatural. Further, certain individual cults have the feature of being extremely transitory as they flower today and wither tomorrow. A cult is also seen as a complex of religious activity directed towards a common object of reverence (be it a deity, saint, animal, spirit, natural feature, or a living human being) (Sharma, 2004).

According to Eister (1972), the deviant but non-schismatic bodies are often referred to as cults. And therefore, they are not sects per se. However, sects have a prior tie with another religious organization. In order to be a sect, a religious movement must have been founded by persons who left another religious body for the purpose of founding the sect. The term sect, therefore, applies only to schismatic movements. It is not required in this definition that a sect necessarily break off from a church, as Niebuhr argued. To do so would land us back in the wilderness of typologies. For sects sometimes break off from other sects as well. Because sects are schismatic groups they present themselves to the world as something old. They left the parent body not to form a new faith but to re-establish the old one, from which the parent body had “drifted”. Sects claim to be the authentic, purged, refurbished version of the faith from which they split. Luther, for example, did not claim to be leading a new church but the true church cleansed of worldly encrustations. Cults do not have a prior tie with another established religious body in the society in question. The cult may represent an alien (external) religion, or it may have originated in the host society-but through innovation, not fission.Irrespective of whether it is domestic or imported, the cult is something new vis-à-vis the other religious bodies of the society in question. If domestic-regardless of how much of the common religious culture it retains-the cult adds to that culture a new revelation or insight justifying the claim that it is different, new, more advanced. Imported cults often have little common culture with existing faiths; while they may be old in some other society, they are new and different in the importing society.Cults, therefore, represent an independent religious tradition in a society.(Stark and Bainbridge, 1979).

In fact, Stark and Bainbridge (1979) go one step further in outlining the characteristics of cults based on the degree of organization (or lack of it). The first is the audience cult, which is the most diffuse and least organized kind of cult. Here there are virtually no aspects of formal organization to activities such as attending a lecture. Indeed, cult audiences often do not gather physically but consume cult doctrines entirely through magazines, books, newspapers, radio and television. The second are client cults which are slightly more organized than the audience cults. Here the relationship between those who are dispensing the cult doctrine and those who are receiving it, is like that of between therapist and patient, or between consultant and client. Considerable organization may be found among those offering the cult service, but clients remain little organized. Furthermore, no successful effort is made to weld the clients into a social movement. Third and the final are cult movements.

According to them, three “types” of cult can be distinguished in terms of the qualities of the compensators they provide. Audience cults offer very vague and weak compensators, often little more than a mild vicarious thrill or social entertainment, and therefore are more magical than being religious. Client cults offer valued but relatively specific compensators, for instance, Psychoanalysis and Dianetics’ claim to cure neurosis, but failing to ensure everlasting life. Cult movements present a much larger package of compensators, including the most general compensators offered by full-fledged sects and churches. Therefore, cult movements are genuinely religious in the fullest sense, although some of them may not accept the label of “religion.” Furthermore, among cult movements, one must also remember that the more a cult mobilizes its membership, the greater is the opposition which it engenders. Cults whose members remain in the society to pursue normal lives and occupations attract much less opposition than do cults whose members drop everything and become full-time converts. In part, this is probably because cults that function as total institutions rupture converts’ ties to conventional institutions. This generates personal grievances against the movement. Thus giving rise to a growing disregard and opposition directed towards the cult. The cult movements, since being more ‘religious’, operate more as total institutions than the other two cults.

Sectarian and Cultic Movements Within Hinduism

It is easier to say what is not Hindu than to define what is. This is true as Hinduism is much less unified than almost any other great religious traditions of the world. A structure, as rigid as Church, has never been present in India. Further, Hinduism has an “encompassing” nature. In contrast to Western sects, Indian sects have always had a dichotomy between the virtuosi and the laity. The virtuosi have followed a pattern of life that is close to the ideals. The laity are forgiven lapses in belief or conduct. The two well-known heretical sects in India, the Jains and the Buddhists (especially those belonging to the Theravada sect) follow this pattern. The monks are celibates, live in hermitages or monasteries, and have no worldly ties. They place supreme emphasis on renunciation and salvation. The laity, on the contrary, are mostly householders, and they are more or less committed to worldly pursuits. Not equality or brotherhood, but, charisma is the keystone of Indian sectarianism (Venugopal, 1990).

In India, there are at least thousands of local gods and goddesses, who are ritually worshipped at their own shrines. These local cults are more or less integrated into greater devotional cults, mostly to Vishnu or Shiva, but even they have many groups, as we will see, with differing particular interpretations of belief and cultic practices (Ward, 2000). The religious and sectarian movements, in the Indian context, have by and large predominated amongst all the types of movements. Religious ideas have always been the language of protest, innovation and expression of individuality and separate identity. Such movements can provide vast scope for reinterpretation in order to legitimize the aspirations of various sections of the population and to justify changes in the existing order of social relationships (Rao, 1979).

One cannot ignore tremendous confusion existing over designating cults and sects within Hinduism.The multiplicity of cults and sects also reflects a multiplicity of beliefs. In the case of Hinduism, it should be remembered that there is no linear progression from a founder through an organizational system with sects branching off. Hinduism is in fact a mosaic of distinct cults, sects, deities, and ideas; a conglomeration of all of these(Thapar, 1989). A lot of competing and contradicting views exist about the sects and cults in Hinduism. Besides, using the Western-Christian oriented perspective to understand concepts like sects and cults, may not result in giving a correct picture of the Indian society, particularly about Hinduism, which is pantheon of many gods and goddesses. In this context, Bali (1979) analyses the organization of the Virasaiva movement – a protest against Brahmanical Hinduism and the Caste system – from a historical perspective, in a sect-church framework. He studies how the movement gradually loses its innovative character, thereby becoming highly routinized and assuming the form of a caste or church with elaborate organizational framework. According to Bali, it is misleading to borrow the sect-church framework (developed in Western social context) in its entirety, as it obscures the nexus between meanings and the functional problems of social organization.

Jash (1997), while attempting to understand specific Hindu cults, emphasizes the role of Bhakti in the Indian religious system tremendously. It is admitted that from the religious point of view the most significant and essential aspect about a cult is its mode of worship. Also as sectarianism started emerging in Hinduism, Visnu and Śiva became the supreme gods. And since the eighth century C.E. onwards, a series of Bhakti (pietistic) sects emerged on the Indian scene. The rise of Bhaktism almost coincided with the influx of Islamic groups into India. Further, Indian reformist sects, such as Kabirpanthis (north India), Chaitanyites (Bengal), and Dadupanthis (western India), were inclusive rather than exclusive. In general, the Indian Bhakti (devotional) sects were populist and provided a forum for the economically and socially disadvantaged(Venugopal, 1990).

THE ŚIVACULT: The worship of the most popular and universally adored deity Lord Śiva(also popularly known as Mahādeva and Maheśvara)also written as Shaivism and Saivism, has always been an important cult claiming a large number of adherents right from ancient India. Śaivism as an important cult has given rise to a number of iconographical representations of Rudra-Śiva. The origin of this cult is of hoary antiquity. The archaeological remains unearthed at the Indus Valley explain the conception of Śiva as a Yogin or Paśupati. Interestingly, the Anusasana Parva of the Mahabharata and some of the Puranas mention a thousand and eight names of Śiva. The inclusion of these various names of Śiva in the successive ages clearly indicates the popularity of this cult. The early centuries of the Christian era witnessed the attributive epithet Maheśvara in the coin legend of the Kusāna king, Wema Kadphesis. This designation of Śiva became so popular that it is an indispensable coin legend of the Saiva kings of the different dynasties in ancient India. Likewise, Paśupatiis yet another equally popular and well circulated epithet of Rudra-Śiva to his devotees since early medieval period and this is evident from the discovery of a large number of inscriptions and coins containing the word ‘Paśupati’. Some temples are also dedicated to Śiva in the name of Paśupati like the great Paśupatinātha temple in Nepal.Other fascinating appellations of Śiva include Nilakantha, Girisa or Giritra, Kapardin, Sambu, Tryambaka, Somesvara and so on. The Kāpālikas who mainly worshipped the Kāpālin form of Śiva, are an obscure sub-sect of the Pāśupata system of the Śaivas. This sub-sect is believed to have attained some popularity in Punjab and North-Western India in the sixth-seventh centuries A.D. It should be noted here that the Kāpālikas are broadly divided into two distinct groups – Brahmanic and non-Brahmanic. One cannot end a discussion on Śaivism without having spoken about theVīra- Śaivism, particularly in Karnataka and the Telugu regions. Vīra- Śaivas are popularly designated as ‘Lingayat’ (as the followers carry a ‘linga’on their bodies) (Jash, 1997). The Lingayat movement, which started in the twelfth century, explicitly rejected the ritual pollution deeply engrained in Hindu ideology. However, sixteenth century onwards, there was a gradual development of many sub-sects within the Lingayat fold, often showing more resemblance to becoming sub-castes (Venugopal, 2004).

THE ŚAKTISM: Saktism or the Devi worshipping sect is the exclusive worship of the female principle. Further, the teachings of the Sankhya system also contributed to notion of Sakti by believing in the separate existence of two principles Purush and Prakrati. Later on this female principle was conceived of as Maha Maya thus worshipped under various designations, spread through Puranas (Pai, 1928). Therefore, the worship of the female aspect of the Divine probably dated back to the Vedic times. Sacred texts called Tantras instruct worshippers about Shakti worship.

THE GANAPATI CULT: Ganapati is the most popular deity worshiped next to Vishnu, Shiva and their consorts. This makes the Ganapati cult highly relevant in the Indian religious and philosophical setup. Michael (1983) analyses the remarkable research and literature existing concerning the various hypotheses about origin of this cult, for instance tracing the origin of the Ganapati cult to the harvest season, Ganapati as a non-aryan god, belonging to an animal cult and so on. However, it has not been possible to ascertain precisely when and how his worship began. Equally uncertain and obscure are the meaning and significance of the term Ganeśa or Ganapati – literally meaning being the leader of the ganas(Jash, 1997).

VAISNAVISM: The worship of Lord Visnu, also known as Vaisnavism (also Caitanyaism in Bengal), the principle of preservation and permanence, is one of the three popular and well accepted religious sects in Hinduism. In fact, worshipping Visnu’s various incarnatory forms (avatāra) becomes an important feature of Vaisnavism. Since the beginning of the Christian era, it is believed that the doctrine of incarnation seems to have evolved with the identification of Nārāyana – Visnu with its human incarnation Vāsudeva-Krsna (Jash, 1997). A devotee of Vishnu is called a Vaisnava.Vaisnavites especially revere the Bhagavad Gita, the Bhagavata Purana, the Vishnu Samhita and the Gita Govinda, among others. These texts focus especially on Vishnu or his incarnations Krishna and Rama.Vaisnavism comprises many sects and groups that differ in their interpretation of the relationship between the individual and God.

One of the unmistakable examples of a cult of Vaisnavism, almost present in different parts of India, and particularly popular in Rajasthan, is the Gopāla-Krsna cult. The child-Krsna undoubtedly becomes the object of worship in this cult. This popular Vaisnavite imagery seems to have emerged during the Gupta period. However, irrespective of Rādhā’s stray references in early literature, the inclusion of Rādhā into the cult of Krsna is believed to be of later origin. Thereby associating it with the introduction of the doctrinal elements into the Krsna cult. The particularly medieval sects of Vallabhacaris and Nimbarkas appear to recognize Rādhā as an incarnation of Krsna’s energic power and his spouse. The sub-sect of the Nimbarkas, known as Radhavallabhis, give more importance to Radha. Likewise, in Manipur, there are staunch Vaishnavites, known as Meiteis. With over 200 years of existence, Chaitanyaite Vaishnavism in Manipur is also known to have received a local touch (Singh, 2004).

Sects and Cults Outside Hinduism

The tendency of proliferation of the sects and cults from a larger religious tradition is also to be seen in religious philosophies, that are themselves often result of tension with Hinduism. However, those sects in opposition to Brahmanism which sought to transcend caste and differentiated social observances, insisting that every worshipper was equal in the eyes of the deity, often ended up as castes, thus once again coinciding sect with caste (Thapar, 1989). One must also remember that there can always be competition and conflicting interests between religious movements. India has been a witness to such cases as well. One such study, was by Jones (1979), who attempted to highlight that a religious movement must always be understood with reference to other relevant religious and sectarian movements and also the wider political context. He examined the interplay of forces which created competition and conflict between the religious movements in the nineteenth century Punjab. The social and religious movements that arose in the second half of the nineteenth century included the Arya Samaj, the Singh Sabha and the Ahmadiyas. In the context of such examples, it then becomes important to see how the conflicts and tensions within religious community expand into and shape the conflicts between different religious communities.

In this section, we will just glance through the major sects that emerged from greatreligious traditions. However, this overview is not enough to understand the complexities within and between these sects and cults.

SIKHISM: This was a reformist sect that originated within Hinduism. Nanak, the founder of Sikhism in the sixteenth century, was a pious reformer who combined Hindu immanentism with Islamic transcendentalism in his religious preaching. The word ‘Sikh’ is derived from the word ‘Sewak’ meaning a follower or disciple and this is true of Nanakpanthis, who are the followers of the first Guru Nanak. Their ascetic orders are divided into: Udasees, Nirmalees, Akalees and Suthreh-Sahis (Pai, 1928).

BUDDHISM: Siddhartha was the founder of Buddhism, who was born circa 567 BC. Philosophically, the early Buddhists were divided into different schools of thought, but there was no clear cut distinct division or schism. However, from the second century A.D., due to new transformations, Buddhism split into two parts – the new or reformed Buddhist faith began to called as Mahayana Buddhism while the old original Buddhist faith was known as the Hinayana or Theravada Buddhism.

JAINISM: The history of the Jains is a narrative of the many schisms that took place under the leadership of different leaders till about the year 82 AD., when the split which had already taken place in Mahavir’s time became more pronounced and the Jains have since been divided into two main divisions – Svetambaras and Digambaras.

Both the sects, Jainism and Buddhism, protested against the ritualism of the Hindu and the hegemony of the priestly class. Both of them are rationalistic and atheistic sects: there is no god presiding over the destiny of people. The monasticism of these two sects was later incorporated into Hinduism by Shankara in eighth century C.E. (Venugopal, 1990).

ISLAM: This is the second largest religion in the world after Christianity. Although, it is a monotheistic faith, today Islam has many interpretations – sects – within its fold, particularly in India. The Shia, Sunni (majority), Wahabi, Ahmadiyyas, Dawoodi Bohras, Ismaili Khojas, Memons, Sufis, Morplahs, etc. are not castes but sects which follow different schools of thought and theology. Sheikh, Saiyyad (Arabic), Beg, Khan (Turki-Tartar) and Malik were originally respectful honorifics in Arabic, Turki and Persian. Later they were denoted as racial groups of the countries concerned. Saiyyads, the descendants of Mohammad, are both Sunnis and Shais. They have caste names like Zaidi, Jafri, Sadiq, Musa Kasmi, Reza and Naqi, etc. Mirza and Beg were Mughal titles as Khans were Pathans of Afghans. Some Rajput Muslims also retain their original names. Almost all neo-Muslims in India are called Sheikhs. After their en masse conversion, North Indian weavers came to known as Ansaris and Momins, also the Arab clan names such as Qureshis are common (Chopra, 1982).

Conclusion

To conclude, it can be said that sects and cults, being socio-religious phenomena, are highly diverse and complexprocesses. Although it was the Western-Christian mind that got engrossed with the study of sects and cults in the beginning, today, studies concerning sects and cults are gaining prominence across the world due to their increasing influence. However, the definitions and yardstick used to understand sects in a Western context, cannot be used and applied in the Indian context. This is because India is largely a conglomeration of innumerable religious sects and cults, together known as Hinduism, and still many other, outside the Hindu fold, but influenced by Hinduism in some way or the other. Therefore, any study pertaining to a sect or cult, will throw more light on the religiosity and religious experiences of the group concerned.

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Weblink: http://www.letusreason.org/Cult11.htm

INTERESTING FACTS

Within Christianity, ‘doctrine’ remains the central criterion of orthodoxy. The sectaries voluntarily professed beliefs different from that of the church. Therefore, the defining characteristics of Christian sects included divergent beliefs, separation and rejection of church authority. From the perspective of the Christian church, sectarianism essentially consisted of heresy and schism, along with denial of priestly claims.
Beckford’s (1985) theoretical framework for the understanding of the relationship between sect and society, particularly the notion concerning the sect’s ‘mode of insertion into society’. It focuses the complex relationships between the sect and its members, on one hand, between sect and the external society on the other, and as well as interrelationship between these dimensions.
Christianity itself was only a Jewish sect at the beginning.
When a sect breaks away from a church, it takes with it the label “religious,” but cults are not born with the religious label attached.
A distinctive aspect of Vaisnavism is the admiration of numerous Vaisnava saints. One important group of such saints is the 12 Alvars who lived in South India in the 8th and 9th centuries. They wrote hymns that expressed the strongest love and passion for Vishnu and longing for His presence. Likewise, Mira Bai (1498-1546), a Rajput princess. Her ecstatic songs of love to Krishna are still sung throughout India. She is said to have merged into a statue of Krishna at Dwarka.

POINTS TO PONDER

Vaisnavas are further distinguished into Sampradayas. The most ancient Vaisnava sect is the Sri Sampradaya, founded by Ramanuja Acharya.The Vallabhacharins form a very important sect in Bombay, Gujarat and the Central India. The Chaitanyas sect is prominent in Bengal and Orissa.
The founder of the sect of Nimbarkas is Nimbarka or Nimbaditya. He was originally named Bhaskara Acharya. He is regarded as an incarnation of the Sun-God (Surya). The followers worship Krishna and Radha conjointly.
Further, Charana Dasis, Dadu Panthis, Hari Chandis, Kabir Panthis, Khakis, Maluk Dasis, Mira Bais, Madhavis, Rayi Dasis, Senais, Sakhi Bhavas, Sadma Panthis, are all Vaishnava sects.
In the Indian context, the devotional sects do not generally regard other sects as rivals, and each sect freely borrows beliefs and practices from others.
In addition to the four theistic sects, there are six schools of Vedantic philosophy within Hinduism. These schools tend to emphasize Ultimate Reality as Brahman, the great “Self” who must be realized to attain liberation.The six Astika (orthodox; accepting the authority of the Vedas) schools of Hindu philosophy are Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Samkhya, Yoga, Purva Mimamsa (also called just ‘Mimamsa’), and Uttara Mimamsa (also called ‘Vedanta’). Of these six, three continue to be influential in Hinduism: Purva Mimamsa, Yoga, and Vedanta.