David Christopher Lane (born April 29, 1956 in

Burbank, California Burbank is a city in the southeastern end of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located northwest of downtown Los Angeles, Burbank had a Census-estimated population of 102,755 as of 2023. The city was ...

) is a professor of

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

and

sociology Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...

at Mt. San Antonio College, in Walnut, California. He is notable for his book ''The Making of a Spiritual Movement: The Untold Story of Paul Twitchell and Eckankar'' which exposed the origins of Eckankar and demonstrated the plagiarism of its founder, Paul Twitchell. He is also notable for introducing to a wider audience the teachings of Baba Faqir Chand, the

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

n exponent of Surat Shabd Yoga from Hoshiapur in the book, ''The Unknowing Sage: The Life and Work of Baba Faqir Chand''. Lane founded the journal, ''Understanding Cults and Spiritual Movements'' in the 1980s which featured critical studies of John-Roger Hinkins and Movement of Spiritual Inner Awareness, Adi Da, and Sathya Sai Baba. His most recent book, ''The Sound Current Tradition'' (2022) was on Nada Yoga and Surat Shabd Yoga in new religions and was published by

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press was the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted a letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it was the oldest university press in the world. Cambridge University Press merged with Cambridge Assessme ...

. He also co-authored an annotated bibliography on the Radhasoami Tradition with Mark Juergensmeyer for

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

(2018).

Education

Lane has a PhD and an MA in the

sociology of knowledge The sociology of knowledge is the study of the relationship between human thought, the social context within which it arises, and the effects that prevailing ideas have on societies. It is not a specialized area of sociology. Instead, it deals w ...

from the University of California at San Diego, where he was also a recipient of a Regents Fellowship. Additionally, he has an MA in

History History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

and Phenomenology of

Religion Religion is a range of social system, social-cultural systems, including designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics in religion, ethics, or ...

from the

Graduate Theological Union The Graduate Theological Union (GTU) is a consortium of eight private independent American Seminary, theological schools and eleven centers and affiliates. Seven of the theological schools are located in Berkeley, California. The GTU was founded ...

in Berkeley, California and a BA from California State University, Northridge. Lane received his A.A. from Los Angeles Valley College and attended Notre Dame High School in his youth. Lane received an Honorary Doctorate (Honoris Causa) from the Dayalbagh Educational Institute, Agra, India (2021) for his work on the interface between neuroscience and consciousness.

Career

Lane was a lecturer in religious studies at California State University from 2001 to 2013 who specialized in the study of

new religious movement A new religious movement (NRM), also known as a new religion, is a religious or Spirituality, spiritual group that has modern origins and is peripheral to its society's dominant religious culture. NRMs can be novel in origin, or they can be part ...

s including cults and the interface between science and religion. Raised

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, Lane went on to be initiated in 1978 by Charan Singh (guru) of Radha Soami Satsang Beas. He later has become critical of some but not all of the teachings of Radha Soami Sant Mat. Lane has been a strict vegetarian since the age of 16 and in a recent interview on Skeptiko mentions that he meditates from 2 to 3 hours daily. He previously taught at the

University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego in communications material, formerly and colloquially UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California, United States. Es ...

, The California School of Professional Psychology, the University of Humanistic Studies, Palomar College, Mira Costa College, and the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

and other academic institutions. He has given invited lectures at the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

, California State University, Fullerton. In 2010 was a keynote speaker at the SPIRCON conference at the Dayalbagh Educational Institute in Agra, India, featured in the book ''Spiritual Consciousness''. In November 2014 Lane gave a plenary talk at QANSAS (Quantum and Nano Computing Systems and Applications) International Conference in Agra. The talk was entitled "The Oceanic Metaphor : Meaning Equivalence (M.E.), Probability Theory, and The Virtual Simulation Hypothesis of Consciousness." This talk was published as the book, ''The Oceanic Metaphor''. On October 12, 2015, Lane was the keynote speaker at California State University, Fullerton, sponsored by the Sociology Department, on the topic of the illusory nature behind religious visions and the Chandian Effect which was published as a book. Lane, along with Mark Juergensmeyer was the plenary speaker on August 24, 2018, at the Dayalbagh Educational Institute for the 200th birth anniversary of Shiv Dayal Singh, the founder of Radhasoami. In an interview in the '' San Diego Reader'' published on June 22, 1995, Lane complained about receiving death threats from defenders of several new religious movements or cults. He has also been involved in a number of lawsuits due to his critical stance of these groups.Eckankar: A Former Member Revisits the Movement, Dodie Bellamy, ''San Diego Reader'', June 22, 1995,

Personal

David Lane is married to Andrea Diem (b. 1965), who is also a Professor of Philosophy at Mt. San Antonio. They have two sons, Shaun (b. 2000) and Kelly (b. 2006). Lane won the World

Bodysurfing Bodysurfing is the sport of riding a wave without the assistance of any buoyant device such as a surfboard or bodyboard. Bodysurfers often equip themselves with a pair of swimfins that aid propulsion and help the bodysurfer catch, ride, and kick ...

Contest in 1999 and the International Bodysurfing Contest eight times (1997, 1998, 2000, 2004, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2016). Lane is a strict

vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal products and the consumption of animal source foods, and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. A person who practices veganism is known as a ve ...

Bibliography

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References

External links