 Like most cults, Eckankar has its fingers in many pies. Certainly, the dues from the discourses bring in millions of dollars a year. Add to that the profits from the many books, audio cassettes, video cassettes, jewelry, bumper stickers, kickbacks from local satsangs, profits from seminars, T-shirt sales, gifts from members' wills, donations, real estate transactions in the 70s, etc, that students are encouraged to buy, and the yearly revenue stream is reasonably quite large. It's a secretive organization, though, and no figures have ever been released to the membership. The money flow for this outfit goes one way - in. And nobody asks questions.
Individual Eck centers are entirely self sustaining, as they receive no financial help from the main organization. They even have to purchase the glossy brochures and free books they hand out to the public.
Gross backed away from giving Eck Vidya readings, claiming there wasn't enough time and there were no high initiates qualified to do it. An expected cop out, but the lost revenues were more than made up for by other means. Klemp does not give Vidya readings at all. It's an odd thing, the Eck Vidya - nobody in Eckankar can do one. |