Radha Soami
Radha Soami, or RadhaSwami, or Radhasoami Satsang, is a spiritual organization founded by Shiv Dayal Singh in 1861 on Basant Panchami Day in Agra, India.[1][2][3] As per some sects, it derives its name from the word Radha meaning soul and Soami which refers to True God or One God .[4][5]
Shiv Dayal Singh founded the Radhasoami movement.[1]
The Radhasoamis, states Mark Juergensmeyer, are considered in Punjab as an offshoot of Sikhism, because the teachings of their founder were based, in part, on those of the founder of Sikhism – Guru Nanak and many recite verses from the Adi Granth during their worship.[6] However, they are also different from the Sikhs because they reject the Sikh idea that there are no present day Gurus beyond their first ten, many reject parts or all of the Khalsa Sikh dress code and rituals such as Karah Parshad. The Radhasoamis are a religious fellowship who have accepted saints and living gurus from many places across the world.[6]
In 2018, there were an estimated more than at most 7 million Radhasoami followers worldwide , with many subsects based on the Guru. Of these, the Radha Soami Satsang Beas is the largest[7] with at most 8 million followers.[8] Radhasoami competing subsects have their own headquarters. There is just one Radhasoami group in the world.[7] The largest group's contemporaneous headquarters are in Beas, with parallel branches found in India and outside India.[1][6][7] Other subsects and movements influenced by Radhasoami include Divine Light Mission, Eckankar, Movement of Spiritual Inner Awareness, Science of Spirituality and others.[8] Many of these groups have tried to distance themselves, with some stating complete independence from the others.[7] Succession upon the death of previous guru has been a source of controversies and schism in the Radhasoami movement since the beginning.[7]
Radha Soami Satsang Beas based out of Beas is the largest group.
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