Helen Crovetto — Independent Scholar

About

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.

Academic Background

Education

1999
M.A. — Religious Studies University of South Florida · Thesis: "The Changing Face of Saivite Tantrism"
1973
M.S.T. — Art Education Rochester Institute of Technology
1972
B.F.A. — Fine Arts Carnegie-Mellon University

Scholarly Work

Publications & 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.
German Translation (PDF) →
"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.
German Translation (PDF) →
"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

2010
"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. PDF →
2009
"Building Tantric Mystical Infrastructure in North America: Rudi's Kashmir Saivism." North American Hinduism Consultation, American Academy of Religion. Montreal, Canada. November 8, 2009.
2008
"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, Michoacán, Mexico. January 18, 2008. Abbreviated PDF →
2006
"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.
2005
"Bhairavi Cakra: The Role of Yantra and Mandala in Two Contemporary Tantric Rites." Society for Tantric Studies. Flagstaff, Arizona. September 30, 2005.
2004
"From Tiruvannamalai to Prescott and Bozeman: The Western Baul Lineage." Tantric Studies Consultation, American Academy of Religion. San Antonio, Texas. November 21, 2004.
2003
"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.
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.
2002
"White Peace, Goats and Tigers: Ananda Marga's Post-Colonial Tantric Doctrine of Cosmic War." Society for Tantric Studies. Flagstaff, Arizona. October 13, 2002.

Affiliations

Professional Organizations

Member, American Academy of Religion
Member, Society for Tantric Studies

Recognition

The Helen Crovetto Award

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.

1st	Scott Lowe — "Transcendental Meditation, Vedic Science and Science." Nova Religio 14, no. 4 (May 2011).
2nd	Andrea R. Jain — "The Dual-Ideal of the Ascetic and Healthy Body: The Jain Terapanth and Modern Yoga in the Context of Late Capitalism." Nova Religio 15, no. 3 (February 2012).
3rd	Phillip Charles Lucas — "Non-Traditional Modern Advaita Gurus in the West and Their Traditional Modern Advaita Critics." Nova Religio 17, no. 3 (February 2014).
4th	Peter Heehs — "Sri Aurobindo and his Ashram 1910–2010: An Unfinished History." Nova Religio 19, no. 1 (August 2015).
5th	Nicole Karapanagiotis — "Of Digital Images and Digital Media: Approaches to Marketing in American ISKCON." Nova Religio 21, no. 3 (February 2018).
6th	Jeff Wilson — "Blasphemy as Bhāvana: Anti-Christianity in a New Buddhist Movement." Nova Religio 22, no. 3 (February 2019).
7th	Irina Sadovina — "Legitimating New Religiosity in Contemporary Russia: 'Vedic Wisdom' Under Fire." Nova Religio 24, no. 3 (February 2021).
8th	Emily McKendry-Smith — “Public Household, Private Congregation: The Brahma Kumaris as a ‘Public Private’ Space for Nepali Women” Nova Religio 25, no. 3 (February 2022).
9th	Brianne Donaldson — “Unifying, Globalizing, and Reinterpreting ‘Practical Nonviolence’ through the COVID-19 Pandemic Response of North American Jains” Nova Religio 26, no. 3 (February 2023).
10th	Tuhina Ganguly — “Christian Yoga, New Thought, and ‘The First Hindu American’: The Life and Thought of Akhoy Kumar Mozumdar” Nova Religio 27, no. 3 (February 2024).

Nova Religio Journal → Association for the Academic Study of New Religions (AASNR) →