Ananda Marga Yoga Society

Modern Hindu organization founded
by Shri Anandamurti. The Society
emphasizes yoga and meditation, which
are intended to set its practitioners on
the path (marga) to bliss (ananda). The
movement is the strongest in the state of
West Bengal, and has been dogged by
controversy in India, particularly after
Anandamurti was indicted for the murder of two of his disciples. In the end he
was acquitted of all charges, but the
organization’s legal troubles made its
members withdraw from society. Many
Indians view them with suspicion, if not
outright hostility, and the movement is
associated with ritual murder and black
magic. In recent times, it has even been
suspected of terrorism, after a large
shipment of black-market arms was
mysteriously parachuted into a nearby
region in early 1995. Although it has
never been proved that the arms were
for the Society, this incident is one more
element in the surrounding cloud of
secrecy and suspicion.