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Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Are they a cult?
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Robert shubow, aka shunyamurti, has named himself as the prophet, to his SAT yoga institute followers, he is their teacher and their father. He has manipulated them to separate themselves from their families, extorted millions of dollars from them, hypnotized them with additional use of illegal drugs, such As LSD, mushrooms, and ketamine. He is involved in illegal immigration-having passports c
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

I know nothing about Brahma Kumaris, but I know a great deal about Indian ashrams, whose bramhamacharya's with little exception, are encouraged to have as little to do with their birth family as possible to separate them from their psychological and emotional ties that would limit their spiritual progress. Better not to jump to conclusions, just state the facts.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Quoteindia The doomsday apocalyptic scenario aligns with just about every religion at its inception through mystic visions of their saints, so also no issue there, its really only a question as to when, how it will unfold, and whether the timeline of it has been sped up. i tend to believe him when he says there is no time to waste, humanity is in peril, the planet is going through a mass extincti
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Quoteindia its also standard for guru's to cut ties with family members in India I doubt that. It's certainly not true for the few Indians I know who have gurus. Maybe you're referring to how it goes in Brahma Kumaris, is that your background? BK is Shunyamurti's background. Cutting family ties may be standard practice in cults like BK, but it isn't standard in Hinduis
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

> enamelled image of Lakshmi and Narayan, the > perfect woman and the perfect man, which is their > aim at becoming. This always stood out to me, since there is nothing wrong with people to begin with this idea of becoming perfect is put in place which really belongs in the bin. > > In BKism, it is believed that the now deceased and > allegedly perfected founder, Lek
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

zizlz Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > facet Wrote: > ------------------------------------------------------- > > It’s a theme, I’ll have find examples so that I > > can share more clearly, though even in this new > > Christmas one again Shunya mentions in it that > the > > more people are a certain way, others will > fo
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

> I don't see where the "intelligent" quote comes > from except Corboy's > QuoteWhen we are in crisis, we are in disarray. > No matter how street smart and intelligent we are, > depression, bereavement, leaving home, will leave > us painfully confused. > which I think is fair. I think general consensus > is a certain degree of intelligence is requ
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

My position is, for criticisms to be powerful, they must be highly valid, accurate, and supportable in some way with witness statements or evidence. It's not helpful just to spout nonsense, or make up stuff, just to make the cult look "bad" or "evil". It's actually counter-productive and discrediting of critics. In a way, the excesses of the media, and the ear
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Funny enough, I did one read of a porno fantasy involving Brahma Kumaris in India so perhaps they have reach "kinky nun" fantasy level for Indians, I don't know but I thought that post was ridiculous. I'd say most people who leave BKism maintain some kind of interest in "spiritual" matters after they leave and regain their center. Many retain elements of the fait
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

“On what basis does the author substantiate their claims about ex-BKs underwear drawers?” It seems to be an assumption based on the idea that those in self discipline or restraint will go wild with abandon after a while, perhaps an eager fantasy of the writer. Agreed, the comments are completely pointless aside from giving me the full belly laughs on reading. “Are you intelligent? Prov
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Sure, but remember the Brahma Kumaris were very small, very insular and from a very cloistered community in the first place during their founding 20 years, so you'd have to view the world from their perspective for influences, not a global one. As far as the badges go, I actually have no idea if other Hindu sects, or Indian groups, use them; nor when they evolved but I do know over the la
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Hi Ex-, Yes you are right, perhaps off topic with the channeling however for me channeling, mediumship, the suggestion of absolutely anything else flowing through the being other than the person in themselves .. this is all the same thing to me and is apparent in Roberts teachings that he gives the impression of an ‘other’ working through him, to include what you say about dhristi though I onl
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

I have not seen or read the other topic on channeling. Have you ever known or been in the presence of a channeler or mediums? It's slightly off topic for a discussion on Robert Shubow because I don't believe he is acting directly, or presenting himself, as a spiritualistic medium. It's really only relevant as far as his involvement within Brahma Kumarism and their claims and pr
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

If anyone wants to ask any specific questions about BKism, I am happy to answer them as time allows. One development that I would like to raise about their evolution that I have not read in academia about either them or similar cults, is a recent tendency of their to usurp academia and academic process/journals, in order to publish flattering, non-critical, widely factually erroneous, and
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Hi. I agree that much of the first post is silly exaggerated nonsense that is not helpful in accurate criticism of the group, however, the basic facts of their beliefs are fair enough. For example, the BKs really do teach that all of history, actually time and space, is a 5,000 year loop that repeats identically for eternity; and they have taught for decades that they will be responsible fo
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

A discussion of a breakaway sect created by a former Brahma Kumaris practitioner Some material about Sat Yoga by a former Brahma Kumaris member "ex-" can be found here:
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

In most of the belief systems around various uses of colour (as frequency) are used and we as humans give them different meaning. Frequently in the spiritual circles, black is seen as the abhorrent, negative shade ( in science, black is the frequency that is lacking in light - not absent if it entirely), and white is seen as pure, ( in science, white is a colour that visits of all colours, bri
Forum: Recovery from Destructive Cults and Groups

Thanks for sharing, Amoo! You're obviously not open to becoming a mind controlled devotee, so a long term stay probably would have been neither in your nor in their best interest. In that respect, they did you a favor by asking you to leave. QuoteAmoo truth is amorphoric and cannot be captured by anyone in anyway, as such any teaching rooted in any nature of 'agenda' is dead
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

> It's a shame that he abuses his skillset for > psychological manipulation. Come to think of it, > his skillset is an ideal one for a cult leader: > years of first-hand experience of Brahma Kumaris's > mind control tactics, a doctorate in psychology, > and a training in hypnosis. Zizlz, it is such a shame agreed. According to the link which states that he help
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Quotegaruna He is using : fear, guilt and shame. These are the main tools of Shunyamurti to play with the threads of his puppet followers using his very deep psychological understanding. It's a shame that he abuses his skillset for psychological manipulation. Come to think of it, his skillset is an ideal one for a cult leader: years of first-hand experience of Brahma Kumaris's mind c
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

His students are discouraged from talking among themselves at all, or only for practical day to day things. Their life should be about their meditation, their function in the community and the guru that's it. They are conditioned to believe that their own criticism or questions are intrinsically invalid because they are under the influence of their ego. Some people are aware he was in th
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Thanks a lot, Garuna, for letting us know what goes on behind the scenes at the Sat Yoga ashram. It's much worse than I thought! Kudos for sharing your experience; this is what people need to know if they consider joining Shunya. Many of the things you mention, like the far-reaching control over students' lives and the pressure to cut family ties, I've also heard about Brahma
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

facet Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > The BKWSU largely claims that its philosophy is > derived from mediumistic channelled messages they > believe are God speaking directly to them. During > its history, especially in the early years, it > used a number of different mediums some of which, > such as the "Golden Circle", left the
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

> I rewatched a bit of the Batgap interview. When > Shunya talks about joining an ashram at Mount Abu > (from 20:03 on, > ), he must be > talking about the Brahma Kumaris ashram at Mount > Abu. He probably avoids mentioning the BK name due > to their notorious reputation. Se says nothing > negative about them, other than that they couldn't > help some peopl
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Thanks for that link. I rewatched a bit of the Batgap interview. When Shunya talks about joining an ashram at Mount Abu (from 20:03 on, ), he must be talking about the Brahma Kumaris ashram at Mount Abu. He probably avoids mentioning the BK name due to their notorious reputation. Se says nothing negative about them, other than that they couldn't help some people who needed psychotherapy,
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

facet Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I watched the video you shared and almost straight > away Shunya mentions the field of egoless people > or something like that, it is unfortunately regime > like to me. Why it is that everyone should be > ‘awake’ is beyond me, this is something I never > got in all of the spiritual fields. You mean
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Hello, It’s my first proper post, and would like to ask if others have come across Shunyamurti? He has an ashram ‘sat yoga institute’ and has been a familiar ‘guru’ face on YouTube now for many years. Across the YouTube uploads he gives some really wonderful insight and value, however I couldn’t help but notice and become disappointed with his obvious and more frequent references to the ‘en
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Inside the ‘spiritual’ university where sex is seva Himanshi Dhawan | Jan 14, 2018, 01:00 IST QuoteSunday Times unravels the insidious power 'godman' Virender Dev Dixit wielded over his followers — to the extent they gifted away their money, land and even daughters in his 'seva'. "I don't know where my daughter has been kept, in what condition, I have not
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"