MISA: Spiritual Explorations and Experiences in the Practice of Esoteric Yoga

By Raffaella Di Marzio - Center for Studies on Freedom of Religion Belief and Conscience (LIREC).

Paper from the Journal of CESNUR

Link to the full paper here

ABSTRACT: This paper analyzes the experiences of ten practitioners from different yoga centers, all members of the International Federation of Yoga and Meditation ATMAN. The objective is to detect the meanings that the interviewed members attribute to their experience based on their autobiographical reconstructions. They are examined in the light of a multidisciplinary model developed within the framework of the psychology of religion for the study of the conversion/affiliation process. This model will be complemented by the perspectives of humanistic and transpersonal psychology. Based on the data collected, an evaluation of the psychological consequences of attending schools following the teachings of Gregorian Bivolaru on the personality of the informants will be proposed. This project is also aimed at verifying whether, in the experiences of the informants interviewed, factors and elements of the above‑mentioned multidisciplinary model are detected, which I already identified in previous surveys carried out with twenty-three members of five other religious and spiritual movements— and, if yes, to what extent. KEYWORDS: Religious Movements: Affiliation, Yoga, Sacred Eroticism, Gregorian Bivolaru, Tantra, Erotic Continence, MISA, Movement for Spiritual Integration into the Absolute, International Federation of Yoga and Meditation ATMAN.