scholars among its six authors, essentially legitimizes, systematizes, and canonizes Chidvilasanda's Siddha Yoga lineage. They state that this would be unexceptionable if presented as from devotees, but is problematic given their presentation of themselves as scholarly historians of religion. The scholar of religion Catherine Wessinger comments that while devotees are varied, many are "upwardly mobile", and that the path seems to attract people from Jewish and Roman Catholic backgrounds. She writes that Catholics will find many familiar features, such as venerated images of saints; the use of the rosary or mala to count repetitions of mantras; celibate "ministers" in distinctive robes; "uplifting congregational singing; elaborate and beautiful worship and places of worship; and finally, a strong authority figure ... who[m] devotees believe is able to perform miracles in response to needs". Notes References Sources Primary 1st edition (in English) , Second edition. (in Tamil, translated to English by Dr. B. Natarajan) First English edition. First published the early 1900s in Bengali and Hindi. First English edition. First published the early 1900s in Bengali and Hindi. Paul Zweig writes of his experience of receiving Shaktipat from Swami Muktananda in this anthology. Secondary External links Kashmir Shaivism Yoga organizations Modern Denominational Yoga