Divine mothers: The Religious Transnationalization of Adi Shakti and the Virgin of Guadalupe in Sikh Dharma

Abstract

This article discusses the religious relocation of Sikhs in America, based on the teachings of Kundalini Yoga by Yogi Bhajan, a teacher who arrived from India to North America around 1970. He founded the organization 3HO (Healthy, Happy, and Holy Organization). The formation of the New Religious Movement will also be presented: Sikh Dharma in New Mexico, USA. Through a multi-situated methodology, it will be interpreted how the social and religious values of Indian Sikhs have been reformulated to adapt to the local culture, in this case, in the Mexican culture. With the purpose of exemplifying religious transnationalization, I will focus on the study of the image and attributes of the Virgin of Guadalupe, an icon of devotion for Mexicans who profess the Catholic religion, and the Adi Shakti, the feminine force emanating from Hindu goddesses, which has been associated with the Marian figure. We will learn how Sikh converts or Kundalini yoga practitioners recite mantras and organize meditations in which they have integrated the Virgin of Guadalupe as another representation of the Hindu goddesses in the spiritual repertoire of the Sikhs.