Sacred Journeys (book)

Infobox Book
name = Sacred Journeys
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption = Book cover
author = James V. Downton, Jr.
illustrator =
cover_artist =
country = USA
language = English
series =
subject = Divine Light Mission,
Guru Maharaj Ji
genre = Sociology, Religious conversion
publisher = Columbia University Press
release_date = July 1979
english_release_date =
media_type = Hardcover
pages = 245
isbn = ISBN 978-0-231-04198-0
oclc = 4638881
preceded_by =
followed_by =

"Sacred Journeys: The Conversion of Young Americans to Divine Light Mission" is a sociological book about the adherents of the Divine Light Mission in the 1970s.cite journal
author=Garrison, E. Charles
title= Sacred Journeys, Book Review
quote=The basic information was gathered in 1972 with follow-up information gathered in 1976.
publisher=Review of Religious Research
volume= 21
issue= 3.
date =Summer, 1980] In the work, author James V. Downton, Jr. analyzes a sample group of young Americans, and their conversion process to the ideals of the Divine Light Mission and their relationship with Guru Maharaj Ji, currently known as Prem Rawat.

Downton, a sociologist and professor emeritus of Sociology at the College of Arts and Sciences of the University of Colorado at Boulder, [cite web |url=http://www.colorado.edu/catalog/catalog08-09/arts_sciences/facultycollegeofartsandsciences.html|title= Catalog |publisher=University of Colorado at Boulder|date=2007] spent one month in an ashram and relied on interviews with eighteen followers, presenting a "vivid picture of the social and psychologically dynamics which led to their spiritual awakening". He followed the mission for a period of five years chronicling the followers' personal changes and the evolution of the movement itself. [cite book
last = Downton, Jr.
first = James V.
authorlink = James V. Downton
coauthors =
title = Sacred Journeys: The Conversion of Young Americans to Divine Light Mission
publisher = Columbia University Press
date = July 1979
location =
pages = Inner flap
url =
doi =
id = ISBN 978-0-231-04198-0] Downton himself later wrote an article in "Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion", which explored these issues further. [cite journal
last = Downton, Jr.
first = James V.
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = An Evolutionary Theory of Spiritual Conversion and Commitment: The Case of Divine Light Mission
journal = Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion
volume = 19
issue = 4
pages = 381–396
publisher =
date = December 1980
url =
doi = 10.2307/1386132
id =
accessdate = ] Downton also cited the work again, with co-author Wehr, in an article in "Journal of Peace Research" analyzing social activism and its relationship to pacifism. [cite journal
last = Downton, Jr.
first = James V.
authorlink =
coauthors = Paul Wehr
title = Persistent Pacifism: How Activist Commitment Is Developed and Sustained
journal = Journal of Peace Research
volume = 35
issue = 5
pages = 531–550
publisher =
date = September 1998
url =
doi =
id =
accessdate = ]

The work is cited in other books and academic journal articles in various contexts including religious conversion and de-conversion in religions, cults and new religious movements, spirituality among descendants of Spanish Jews, participation in religion and others.

Reviews

;Review of Religious Research

"Sacred Journeys" is a study of conversion into the Divine Light Mission. It includes follow-up information on persons who remained and those who left the movement. [...] The book represents the work of a well-intentioned, compassionate sociologist living in a town where many important events of the Divine Light Mission were occurring. [...] The book has no great insights, no definitive findings and no challenging hypotheses. [...] He [Downton] skillfully intersperses quotations from the guru with his comments. In doing these things, he achieves more than sometimes in the making of books. "Review of Religious Research, Vol. 21, No. 3. (Summer, 1980)." [cite journal
author=Garrison, E. Charles
title= Sacred Journeys, Book Review
publisher=Review of Religious Research
volume= 21
issue= 3
pages=pp.373–4
date =Summer, 1980]

"Sacred Journeys" was also reviewed in "The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science". [cite journal
last = Wallace, Jr.
first = Dewey D.
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = James V. Downton, Jr. Sacred Journeys : The Conversion of Young Americans to Divine Light Mission
journal = The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science
volume = 447
issue = 1
pages = 133–134
publisher =
date = 1980
url =
doi = 10.1177/000271628044700146
id =
accessdate = ]

See also

* Religious conversion

References

External links

* [http://religiousmovements.lib.virginia.edu/nrms/elanvital.html "Elan Vital aka Divine Light Mission"] , The Religious Movements Homepage at the University of Virginia, Originally edited by Jeffrey K. Hadden. (No longer updated)