Please HELP!!!!

A friend is now involved in a group called Master Path the leader is Gary Olsen, I see a few old posts but nothing within the last few years. I need info on how the group works and why Master path seems to hook people. It is very disturbing to me the number of Gary Olsen pictures she has displayed and she receives monthly cassette tapes from this group. I have not been able to convince her that is a group that distorts the truth and talks in circles. Any thoughts or web sites that explain what the group does or how it operates and recommendations going forward would be appreciated.

Thanks

The Master Path has remained essentially the same for years and continues to be run in a manneer many consider "cult like."

See [www.culteducation.com]

Recently Olsen moved to California.

is a spin off of Eckankar. Both of these appropriated material from an authentic Indian system of yoga. The person who has done most to research all this is David Christopher Lane, a philosophy professor in San Diego. (One word of caution: his fascinating website is full of infuriating pop-ups, and on a couple of occasions, has crashed my system. Just keep zapping them and read what's there.)

These groups, despite their sometimes odd names, can have a convincing effect on people because we seem to be 'wired for meaning' and require very little prompting to have amazing, seemingly mystical experiences. We tend to give the credit to charismatic leaders, and assume that anyone who 'gives' such experiences has to be an exalted being of superior spiritual status.

Here is where Lane descrbies where he found this out:

'What is, in fact, transpiring is something a bit more simple and a bit more mundane:

Lane writes: [i:74e29ae585]'It turns out that almost everybody has the inherent ability to see inner light and hear inner sound. Moreover, almost everybody has the capacity to have an out-of-body experience and behold wondrous inner visions. You don't need to go to an Indian guru to have such experiences; indeed, you don't need to go anywhere at all. [/i:74e29ae585]

'But that's not what Kirpal Singh and his successors told their vast following. Instead, unsuspecting seekers (who number in the thousands) were taught to believe that it was the guru himself, not the disciple, who was orchestrating the elevation of the soul into higher regions. But Kirpal and crew were not being completely forthcoming about the mechanism which governs access to such amazing sights and sounds. That mechanism is the brain and that three pounds of glorious tissue is the lot of all humans.'

Lane had no pretensions to special spiritual knowledge, and was shocked to discover that HE could prompt many of his philosophy students to have such experiences. Luckily for us, Lane was ethical and remained content to be a philosophy instructor; had he wished, he could have started a personality cult. You can read all this here:

[vm.mtsac.edu]

David Christopher Lane has researched the background of Ekankar, so see if his stuff applies. Lanes library of material on E can be read here

[vclass.mtsac.edu]

One summary of Eckankar can read here--see if this also applies to Masterpath)

[members.tripod.com]

Its hard to leave a group when one has amazing experiences, one is encouraged to attribute the amazing experiences solely to the group, and you're warned of bad consequences should you dare have doubts or leave.

Material from Lanes' website relating to Gary Olsen(quote)

[66.102.7.104]

and as part of a long article written by Ms. Dodie Bellamy, there's this:

'Another former Eckist named Gary Olsen started the MasterPath. He's touring the southwest, as we speak.'

Eckankar:A Former Member Revisits the Movement
by Dodie Bellamy

[www.geocities.com]

In reference to the statement made about the master path.. I have afriend who is also a member.. At first I didn't give it much thought,but I started to ask questions about it's history and she was very vague.

Basically, Gary Olsen manifested out of nowhere,because you can't ask anything about him,cuz it's a secret.. He has said."He is the living Master,because Jesus can't help you He's dead". I know because I heard him.. She (my friend) is so involved with him she has even vowed to folow him into another lifetime. He makes no sense and charges you money to get closer to God. I know people that have gone with her to these seminars he has and they couldn't get away fast enough.

His ego is unbelieveable and he's never had an individual thought of his own.[/b]

I am bumping this thread in my continued effort to bring light to the evidence that MasterPath is a scam. Gary Olsen, aided by his wife Joy, are using people that are truly searching for spiritual enlightenment to enrich himself, not to share a legitimate concept.

MP charges for virtually all the material and sessions that they offer. This includes $24.00 for an 8x10 photo of Gary.

Search the web, you will find a plethora of evidence that MP is not legitimate.

Here are a couple:
[www.angelfire.com]
[www.globalserve.net]

and, while we are at it:
[www.city-data.com]

A sincere thanks to Mr Rick Ross for the courage to openly post information about Master Path and other destructive cults. Mr Ross was the first person to formally recognize Master Path as a cult in 1990. Since that time, it has become a well known fact... Even the Urban Dictionary's definition of Master Path is clear:
In sum, Master Path is a cult that feeds on troubled souls. It kills self-identity and the ability to think for yourself. Its group structure is authoritarian, its methods are insidious, and its net effect is truly toxic. If you have loved ones who are involved, seek help before it is too late.

There is an on-going forum where former Master Path members continue to reveal their negative experiences and the general hypocrisy surrounding it's leader Gary Olsen at City-Data [www.city-data.com]

Thank you again to Mr Ross for all his efforts to expose the fraud and deception being perpetrated by Gary Olsen through his "spiritual awareness" cult known as Master Path.

Here are results from a search of the RR.com message board.

[forum.culteducation.com]

This discussion venue has been open for nearly 8 years (thank you Rick and thank you to the fine attorneys who have donated their expertise to keep this all alive)

This means the message board is large enough to be searchable. You can go to the search button in the upper right hand corner of the window. Make sure to type 'all dates'
when you do it, to ensure all the activity of this now vast message board, with its thousands of posts, will be searched.

Here is the hoot--according to this google search and its many citations, the Masterpath teachings are a spin off of something called Eckankar whose founder Twitchell in turn
appropriated material from still other sources!

[www.cultnews.com]

This entire article is worth reading. But here on page 5, the interviewed author discusses motivations and also discusses offshoots of Eckankar, including the one being discussed on this thread.

Quote

They say, the message works for me, the contemplation works for me. Paul Twitchell's the past-we've evolved out of that. They say you can never damage the Eck spirit because it's life. So, I may be damaging the organization, but the real essence of Eckankar is not the organization, it's the Eck, that inner spirit."

"How did you meet these people?"

"They read my book. One interesting guy I met was Jerry Mulvin. He was a pro-bowler as well as a higher initiate in Eckankar. In 1979 he called me from Northridge, where he was living at his girlfriend's aunt's house. He'd read the book and wanted me to visit him. After I'd talked to him for a couple of hours, Jerry said, 'Dave, why don't you start your own religion? With all this information you have, you could start your own thing.' I go, 'Jerry, I can't do that-third eye patch, turban, the flowing robe-I can't do it.' Two years later I got a letter from a guy in Canada saying he'd discovered a genuine guru. So I asked, 'Who is this enlightened being?' It was Jerry Mulvin! He off-shooted from Eckankar and founded this religion called the Divine Science of Light and Sound. He's now in Scottsdale, Arizona. For a hundred bucks per year he gives you the divine connection. If he can't take your soul back to God, he improves your bowling game, money back guarantee." We both laugh so loudly the couple at the next table who have been covertly eyeing the tape recorder, stare at us openly. "I wrote to Jerry, I go, Jerry! Two years ago you were living at your girlfriend's aunt's house, not making much money on the pro-bowling scene, and now you're God."

"And what was Jerry's response?"

Lane rolls his eyes. "Classic. He said, 'Some of us live the spiritual life, others intellectualize it. Signed, The Master.' Another former Eckist named Gary Olsen started the MasterPath. He's touring the southwest, as we speak. Another man named 'Sri' Michael Turner, in Tucson, claims to be the 974th Living Master of the Midnight Sun. I keep discovering more and more offshoots, in India as well as here-it's like an ebolo virus, it keeps reproducing itself."

"You know the ins and outs of how religions are organized, and you're a charismatic person. Jerry Mulvin's suggestion that you start your own cult must have been intriguing on some level. I bet you've fantasized about it. Do you think it would be an easy thing to do?"

Lane gives me a big grin. "Well, yes … I've always thought that as a sociological experiment it would be a lot of fun to create your own religion. I wouldn't do it myself because I have too many skeletons in my closet. The skeletons would just keep coming out and coming out. Some old girlfriend would come over, 'Hey wait a minute. ' I don't need a Paul Twitchell scenario. Also I wouldn't do it because it plays too much on people's ultimate vulnerability."

From 'A Former Member of Eckankar Revisits Eck' (the entire article is about 6
pages on this cited URL and it is worth reading in full-Corboy)
[www.culthelp.info]

Two notes from David C Lanes old website

[dlane5.tripod.com]

[dlane5.tripod.com]

[www.google.com]