Question about the Himalayan Academy

[horrormike]

I recently finished Dancing with Shiva and have spent the week reading various articles on the himalayan academy website (www.himalayanacademy.com) Can anyone tell me their thoughts on this group, cutting ties to previous religion seems to be very important to them. Are they the most popular Western Saivite orginization?

[ScottMalaysia]

I was subscribed to their Master Course for quite a while, quitting only recently when I decided to return to being a Krishna devotee (I was Shaiva for a while). Yes, they are very keen on cutting ties with your previous religion - they require a 'letter of severance' from your former religious body, and they require you to use your new Hindu name on all official documents - in other words, a complete name change is required. I know of five religions or religious organizations that require or may require a religious name change: Judaism, Eastern Orthodox Christianity, Islam, some strict Roman Catholic traditionalists, and ISKCON. Eastern Orthodox Christianity generally allows a person to keep their old name (it doesn't usually require a name change if your old name is Christian). I know of Islamic converts who still use their old names, and I don't think that ISKCON devotees legally change their names after initiation (I could be wrong about this, though).

I personally don't see anything wrong with their site.