Gurus or masters who giggle all the time, wiggle and waggle and tilt their heads in peculiar ways. Maharishi and Rajneesh did this. So, I am sorry to report, does the Dalai Lama. Wiggling and giggling. These can be part of an overall distraction technique. Another strategy is to tell long complicated stories that go on and on and tire and confuse you, or make you feel high in a way you
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Here is an essay that might be interesting to readers. Pseudo-profundity - from "Believing Bullshit" by Stephen Law Corboy note: Law has a book either in press or already published, entitled "Believing Bullshit". If you like the quotations here, go look for the book and show the man your appreciation by purchasing it full price. This blow is a must read for th
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

From a discussion site for ex members of Prem Rawat (formerly Guru Maharaj - Ji) QuoteI think Nigel hit the nail right on the head with his assertion that the most toxic belief of premies is that they have an experience which is not dependent on belief. Every experience is run through our belief system to see what meaning can be associated with it. There's no other route to meanin
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

The Usage of Silence QuoteJoosse believes de Ruiter's silence allows his followers to project their own "highly personalized" meaning into the answers they receive from him. Joosse noted that de Ruiter's followers often have a history of participation in various alternative religious movements before they settle into the de Ruiter group and are therefore more likely tha
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

And messing around with "grammar" is pretty much lesson #1 in advanced conversational hypnotherapy. Its a huge subject. But the first thing you learn is to shift tenses (past-present), and nouns, verbs, and to scramble it up. Some of it is to confuse the conscious mind, and trigger a transderivational search. They also use Transformational Grammar, Artfully Vague language patterns,
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

whoops, actually it looks like she gained about 150 new Twitter Followers in one day! BKI must be having some type of viral twitter referral campaign going. They get it.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

also, Byron Katie has gained about 30 more Twitter Followers in one day? 4764 Followers - 4,902 Followers so its a real goldmine for her. Its as if she has her Twit-Followers "wired-up" 24/7. The real followers would be very excited to get a Tweet from BK, and would try and figure them out, and be influenced by them. Its far better than blogging, or anything like that. She can
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Meadow: thanks again for the very valuable info. 3 cheers for Meadow. Its important to not get too distracted with various tempests in a teapot, and focus on the real issues. BK is using Twitter as self-marketing, but also more. It seems at the beginning it was more marketing, and then later its more about putting out her little mind-screwing phrases. you are 100% correct about that phr
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

From the Wikipedia article as mentioned by Anticult: "Any habitual pattern which is interrupted unexpectedly will cause sudden and light trance. "The handshake is a particularly good pattern to interrupt because the formality of a handshake is a widely understood set of social rules. "Since everyone knows that it would be impolite to comment on the quality of a handshake
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"