America's First Guru

America's First Guru chronicles the extraordinary life of Pierre A. Bernard, a trailblazing yet controversial figure who was the first to teach yoga in the United States. Bernard's story is a riveting blend of self-reinvention, ambition, scandal, and redemption, capturing the essence of an American archetype while revealing the shadowy origins of yoga's transformation into a multibillion-dollar industry in the West. This is not merely a biography; the book explores the complex interplay between spiritual pursuits and human flaws, illuminating how one man's contradictions--guru versus con artist, visionary versus opportunist--helped shape modern America's cultural scene. This book uncovers the layers of a man who rose from obscurity to prominence, bringing a once esoteric practice into the mainstream despite his tarnished reputation and personal failings.

The narrative follows Bernard's early tutelage under Tantric missionary Sylvais Hamati and his appointment of Bernard to lead the Tantric Order in America. However, Bernard's misuse of Tantrism's sacred sexual rites to benefit his own carnal pleasure transformed the movement into a sex cult, leading to widespread press coverage, scandal, and a four-month prison term. Upon his release, Bernard tamed his libido, distanced himself from Tantrism, established a Hatha yoga school in Manhattan, and founded America's first Hatha yoga ashram, which flourished for two decades, from 1920 to 1930, and boasted a membership of over four hundred.

-- Grace M. Gordon