| David Christopher Lane (born April 29, 1956 in Burbank, California) is a professor of philosophy and sociology at Mount San Antonio College, USA and lecturer
in religious studies at California State University, Long Beach, California. He specializes in the study of new religious movements including cults.
He has been very critical about several groups such as Eckankar, Radhasoami gurus and the Indian guru Sathya Sai Baba. Due to Lane's investigations of new religious movements, he has been the target of several
lawsuits, death threats, and general harassment.
Books and other media
Professor Lane has published a number of books, including the controversial Making of a Spiritual Movement (1978) which
was translated into German, The Radhasoami Tradition (1992),
The Unknowing Sage (1993), Exposing Cults (1994), DA: The Strange Case of Franklin Jones (1995), The
Enchanted Land (1995). He has also contributed original articles to the Journal of Humanistic Psychology, the Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, and a number of major encyclopedias.
During the 1980s, Lane wrote over 50 popular articles and book reviews for such magazines as FATE, Laughing Man, and the Movement Newspaper.
His review of Francis Crick's life and work was featured in the
University of California's science and mathematics magazine.
His biography is featured in the encyclopedia of parapsychology and
other learned reference books. He has appeared on numerous radio and television broadcasts dealing with the subject of cults. His
life and work was featured in a cover story in the San Diego Reader in 1995.
Lane was instrumental in helping the now deceased Peter
McWilliams write his famous book, LIFE
102, which caused a world-wide uproar in Movement of Spiritual Inner Awareness and which was partially responsible for
changing the outcome of the senatorial campaign of Michael
Huffington in California.
Dr. Lane's booklet, Why I Don't Eat Faces: A Neuroethical Argument for Vegetarianism, was published in 1993 and is featured worldwide on a number of vegan
and vegetarian websites and is widely cited and referenced. Lane has been
a lacto vegetarian
for over 32 years. Lane was raised Roman Catholic and eventually
became deeply associated with the late Charan Singh of Radhasoami Satsang Beas. Lane is generally regarded as a
radical agnostic in philosophical circles. His favorite philosophers are
Nicholas of Cusa, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Patricia
and Paul Churchland.
Unlike many other scholars of religion, he frequently joins discussions among (ex-)members of (new) religious movements on the
internet, especially on yahoo! groups.
Dr. Lane has also produced a number of short films, including Vertical Geometry, Moving Water, Liquid
Air, and Digital Baba.
Teaching background and education
Lane has previously taught at the University of California, San Diego, The California School of Professional Psychology, the University of Humanistic Studies, Palomar College, Mira Costa College, and the
University of London (semester abroad program). He has
given invited lectures at the London School of
Economics, California State University,
Fullerton, and other academic institutions. He has a Ph.D. and an M.A. in the
sociology of knowledge from the University of
California at San Diego. Additionally, Lane has another M.A. in the history and
phenomenology of religion
from the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California, and a B.A. from California State
University, Northridge. Lane received his A.A.
from Los Angeles Valley Community College.
Lane is listed in Marquis' Who's Who in the
World (1997), Who's
Who in the United States (1998), and Who's Who in the West
(1990). Lane received a Regents Fellowship to attend the University of California, San Diego, for his Ph.D. He
has also received an OGSR
Travel Grant in 1987 to collect rare books and manuscripts in India. Lane was a recipient of an NEH grant in 1993 at the University of Hawaii.
Dr. Lane's M.A. thesis, Radhasoami Mat, was passed with highest honors at GTU. He has received numerous teaching awards during his twenty-five year teaching career. Professor
Lane has also presented talks to the American
Academy of Religion, including paper presentations at Stanford University, Fuller Theological Seminary, and the University of California, Berkeley. Lane served as a
Research Assistant to Professor Mark Juergensmeyer, U.C. Berkeley, in late 1970s and 1980s. His genealogical work was featured in
Radhasoami Reality (Princeton University Press, 1991).
Hobbies and personal information
Athletics and bodysurfing
David Lane has also had a successful athletic and bodysurfing career. He won the World
Bodysurfing championships in Oceanside, California,
in 1999. He has won the International Bodysurfing Contest held in Manhattan Beach, California four times: 1997, 1998, 2000 and 2004. Lane came in fourth at
the Point Panic World Bodysurfing Contest held in 1998 in Oahu, Hawaii and came in second twice at the Carlsbad International
Bodysurfing Contest held in California in 1997 and 1998. Most recently Lane came in fourth at the World Bodysurfing contest in
Oceanside in 2003, fifth at the United States Cold Water Bodysurfing championships, and first at the International Bodysurfing
Contest in Manhattan Beach in 2004.
David Lane is listed in the French Encyclopedia on Bodysurfing.
Personal
David Lane has one child named Shaun-Michael who was born on August 22, 2000. His father, Warren James Lane, was an attorney
before he died unexpectedly on December 6, 1973. His mother, Louise S. Lane, was born on June 7, 1921, and worked as a Talent
Coordinator for the television show, General Hospital, for some fourteen years after her husband died.
External links
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