Helen Crovetto
Independent Scholar
Contact Information
P.O. Box 130
Paulden, AZ 86334-0130
E-mail: mystic@tantricmysticism.com
Biography
Helen Crovetto is an independent scholar of new religious movements within Hindu Tantrism.
She studied tantra yoga and related disciplines in Kolkata, Varanasi, and Sweden in the late 1970s. Her
research and social service work in education brought her in contact with students of these disciplines
in many countries; including Germany, the Netherlands, England, Scotland, France, Spain, Portugal,
Italy, Greece, Austria, the former Yugoslavia, the former USSR, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark,
Iceland, Cyprus, Turkey, Jordan, Israel, and Iran as well as in India. Helen currently resides in Paulden,
Arizona with her husband Alex.
Education
• M.A., 1999, University of South Florida, Religious Studies
Thesis: “The Changing Face of Saivite Tantrism”
• M.S.T., 1973, Rochester Institute of Technology, Art Education
• B.F.A., 1972, Carnegie-Mellon University, Fine Arts
Publications and Presentations
Publications
• “Building Tantric Infrastructure in America: Rudi’s Western Kashmir Shaivism,” Chapter 2 in
Homegrown Gurus: From Hinduism in America to American Hinduism. Edited by Ann Gleig
and Lola Williamson. New York: State University of New York Press, 2013.
• “Channeling a Tantric Guru: The Ananda Seva Reformation.” Nova Religio: The Journal of
Alternative and Emergent Religions 15, no. 2 (November 2011): 70-92.
• “Ananda Marga, PROUT and the Use of Force.” Chapter 12 in Violence and New Religious
Movements. Edited by James R. Lewis. New York: Oxford University Press, 2011.
• “Ananda Marga and the Use of Force,” Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent
Religions 12, no. 1 (August 2008): 26-56. A translation of this article into German is available
in PDF format here.
• “Bhairavi Cakra: Goddess Mandalas/ Rituals in Contemporary Tantra’s NonDualism,” Pacific
World: Journal of the Institute of Buddhist Studies 3, no. 8 (Fall 2006): 237-268. Volume in
honor of James H. Sanford.
• “Embodied Knowledge and Divinity: The Hohm Community as Western-style Bauls,” Nova
Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions 10, no. 1 (August 2006): 69-95. A
translation of this article into German is available in PDF format here.
• “Ananda Marga’s Tantric Neo-Humanism.” In The Encyclopedia of Religion and Nature.
Edited by Bron Taylor and Jeffrey Kaplan. London: Thoemmes Continuum, 2005.
Scholarly Presentations
• “The Unknown Traveler with his Magic Mirror appears as the Beggar King and his True Heart-
Son: Metaphors, Literary Images, and Leitmotifs of Contemporary Hindu Tantric Poetry.”
Society for Tantric Studies. Flagstaff, Arizona. September 26, 2010. Available here.
• “Building Tantric Mystical Infrastructure in North America: Rudi’s Kashmir Saivism.” North
American Hinduism Consultation, American Academy of Religion. Montreal, Canada.
November 8, 2009.
• “Pancavati and Microvita: Science and Spirituality Re-Enchant Nature in contemporary Tantra
Yoga.” International Society for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture. Second
International Conference. Morelia, Michoacan, Mexico. January 18, 2008. An abbreviated
version of this presentation is available here.
• Ananda Seva Mission: Schism as a Response to the Egalitarian Social and Political Urges of
Modernity.” Western Regional Meeting, American Academy of Religion. Claremont Graduate
University. Claremont, California. March 12, 2006.
• “Bhairavi Cakra: The Role of Yantra and Mandala in Two Contemporary Tantric Rites.”
Society for Tantric Studies. Flagstaff, Arizona. September 30, 2005.
“From Tiruvannamalai to Prescott and Bozeman: The Western Baul Lineage.” Tantric Studies
Consultaion, American Academy of Religion. San Antonio, Texas. November 21, 2004.
• “Embodied Knowledge and Embodied Divinity: Yogic spiritual practices, the Four Moons, and
the role of Sexual Rites among the Western Bauls.” Western Regional Meeting, American
Academy of Religion. Whittier College. Whittier, California. March 21, 2003.
• “The Nexus between Trifarious Development and Cosmic War: A Hindu Tantric Sect’s View.”
North American Hindu Association of Dharma Studies, American Academy of Religion.
Atlanta, Georgia. November 23, 2003.
• “White Peace, Goats and Tigers: Ananda Marga’s post-colonial Tantric Doctrine of Cosmic
War.” Society for Tantric Studies. Flagstaff, Arizona. October 13, 2002.
Professional Organizations
• “Member, American Academy of Religion.
• Member, Society for Tantric Studies.
The Helen Crovetto Award for Excellence in the Study of New Religious
Movements with Ties to South Asia
The Helen Crovetto Award for Excellence in the Study of New Religious Movements with Ties to
South Asia was announced in the November 2010 issue of Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative
and Emergent Religions.
The First Helen Crovetto Award went to Scott Lowe for his article titled “Transcendental Meditation,
Vedic Science and Science” in Nova Religio 14, no. 4 (May 2011).
The Second Helen Crovetto Award went to Andrea R. Jain for her article titled “The Dual-Ideal of the
Ascetic and Healthy Body: The Jain Terapanth and Modern Yoga in the Context of Late Capitalism” in
Nova Religio 15, no. 3 (February 2012).
The Third Helen Crovetto Award went to Phillip Charles Luca for his article titled “Non-Traditional
Modern Advaita Gurus in the West and Their Traditional Modern Advaita Critics” in Nova Religio 17,
no. 3 (February 2014).
The Fourth Helen Crovetto Award went to Peter Heehs for his article titled “Sri Aurobindo and his
Ashram 1910-2010: An Unfinished History” in Nova Religio 19, no. 1 (August 2015).
The Fifth Helen Crovetto Award went to Nicole Karapanagiotis for her article titled “Of Digital
Images and Digital Media: Approaches to Marketing in American ISKCON” in Nova Religio 21, no. 3
(February 2018).
The Sixth Helen Crovetto Award went to Jeff Wilson for his article titled “Blasphemy as Bhāvana:
Anti-Christianity in a New Buddhist Movement” in Nova Religio 22, no. 3 (February 2019).
The Seventh Helen Crovetto Award went to Irina Sadovina for her article titled “Legitimating New
Religiosity in Contemporary Russia: ‘Vedic Wisdom’ Under Fire” in Nova Religio 24, no. 3 (February
2021).
The Eighth Helen Crovetto Award went to Emily McKendry-Smith for her article titled “Public
Household, Private Congregation: The Brahma Kumaris as a ‘Public Private’ Space for Nepali
Women” in Nova Religio 25, no. 3 (February 2022).
The Ninth Helen Crovetto Award went to Brianne Donaldson for her article titled “Unifying,
Globalizing, and Reinterpreting ‘Practical Nonviolence’ through the COVID-19 Pandemic Response
of North American Jains” in Nova Religio 26, no. 3 (February 2023).
For further information please see:
Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions
Association for the Academic Study of New Religions (AASNR)
Last updated January 9, 2025