Akademik

(est. 1970s)

   Grace Essence Fellowship of Taos, New Mexico, owes its development to Larry C. Short, an Ameri-can with training in psychological counseling, bodywork, martial arts, MEDITATION, and YOGA. He has synthesized a path between yoga and Tibetan ideas, which he calls the Way of Radiance, a mod-ern esoteric work school.

   The fellowship was established in the late 1970s after Short discovered Swami RUDRANANDA (1928–73), the founder of the Nityananda Insti-tute. Rudrananda was one of the first Hindu teachers to introduce KUNDALINI training to the United States. Short studied kundalini yoga with him until his death in 1973, then decided to study with his Holiness Dilgo Khyentse, a Tibetan master. He also synthesized aspects of Zen and Taoism. Rudrananda had predicted that an inte-gration of these paths would be a universal system of spiritual work.

   The synthesis, called the Way of Radiance, teaches that life is a gift and that struggling is not necessary to achieve a full and harmonious life. The goals of these teachings are to live in each moment, to dedicate one’s self to growth and free-dom beyond rules and regulations that squelch growth, and to transcend the struggles with our-selves, the culture, and the environment. Short has woven together strands of mindfulness practice with TANTRA to produce a novel path.

   Students of the Way of Radiance have the opportunity to grow and choose their way of relat-ing. Some become teachers, seminarians, or prac-titioners. Study groups for the Way are found in the United States, Venezuela, and Canada. Their headquarters are in Newton, Massachusetts.

   Further reading: Martin Lowenthal, “Grace Essence Fellowship: Supporting Growth and Freedom,” Tantra 9 (1994): 64–65; Martin Lowenthal, Lars Short, and Eli Goodwin, Opening the Heart of Compassion: Transform Suffering through Buddhist Psychology and Practice (Bos-ton: Charles E. Tuttle, 1993).