The Entry of Indian Spiritual Movements into the Cultural Space of Soviet Latvia in the 1970s-1980s

The chapter discusses the adaptation of Indian spiritual ideas and practices to “Soviet spirituality”, that is, their interaction with the politics realised by the Soviet regime in Latvia during the 1960s-1980s for the development and strengthening of Soviet values, rituals, way of life, and the formation of the New Soviet man. The chapter focuses on three cases: the renewal of the yoga movement, the development of the first group of Sai Baba’s followers, and the beginning of the Krishna consciousness movement. The author shows how these spiritual movements appeared in Soviet Latvia, how their followers coped with the restrictions imposed by the Soviet regime, and how they developed a model of parallel life.