I'm not attacking Guruphiliac personally...I think its terrific he criticizes all of these Sri Sri Rama-lama Ding-Dong fraud Gurus. That's good.
And its good he criticizes Eckhart Tolle, as the media has given Eckhart Tolle a free pass. But Byron Katie actually appears to be far worse than Eckhart Tolle, in terms of her methods and organization.
Why is he so harsh on Tolle and so confused on Katie?
A few people mentioned Guruphiliac made some recent comments in his thread about Byron Katie, so I glanced at it. The guy is either out to lunch in this area, or is trying to play mind-games due to his friendships. I say its the latter.
When it comes to Byron Katie, people who make erroneous comments like Guruphiliac did about "God" are VERY harmful. They are NOT helpful. Its very dangerous, that is why it needs to be pointed out.
Guruphiliac said he would go after BK if she said she was a God, or that her Work is the way to God, etc.
Well, she HAS done that, many many times, only just in powerful indirect and permissive ways, which is much more powerful, and much more effective.
So the comments made by Guruphiliac are VERY DANGEROUS to vulnerable people, which is why they need to be pointed out.
Its a free country and he can say what he likes. He might be terrific criticizing the Old-School Gurus, but he is either missing the boat on the New & Improved post-modern Guru's, or he is tainted on this issue due to friendships and interests.
For example, many DECADES ago, the New Guru's learned that its better to NOT actually say you are a God, Christ, Saint, etc.
They have techniques like...
They put you in a DEEP and PROFOUND waking Trance which is just a state of focussed attention, just by normal speaking over hours and days. They then might give you an exercise like IMAGINING the attributes of Christ, or Buddha, or Mother Theresa. They get you to imagine those people in a chair for maybe 30 minutes in a live seminar, doing various psycho-exercises.
Then they casually SIT DOWN in that same chair,while doing a type of hand-movement or Voice-Cue from NLP that they have Pre-Anchored and Pre-framed into the audience. You can actually WATCH and SEE the unconscious awe sweep through the crowd, and their unconscious associates the modern Guru with Christ, Buddha, Saints and everyone else.
So then guess what? Even when the Guru DENIES they are like a God, the audience automatically starts to BELIEVE they ARE a God, and they don't even know why! They think it must be true as they FEEL it, and the more they deny it, the stronger it gets.
They have dozens of indirect techniques like this, which are probably 100x more powerful than the old-school Guru stuff they used to do in the late 1960's. That was 50 years ago.
Byron Katie does this type of thing all the time. That's basically ALL she does.
She also says...OTHERS say she is a Saint or Master, which is the same thing. Her husband Stephen Mitchell also says she is a Saint, Savant and Master, so does Carol Skolnick, and many others.
Katie's entire system is organized around making her followers believe she is some type of Enlightened Divine Being. So all Katie does 24/7 is make others think she is a type of God-Being, using very sophisticated techniques. Even on YouTube some woman was on her knees crying before Katie in a parking lot!!
So Guruphiliac SHOULD be all over Byron Katie like a pig in shit.
So Guruphiliac might be ok for Old-School Gurus, but if someone knows him personally, and he is legit, then take the guy out for a beer, and have a talk with him, and educate him about all these post-modern methods which started in the 1980's, (when Katie started) which are 100x more powerful than people who claim they are a God directly, like an old-fashioned Rama Lama Ding-Dong from 1965.
Its far more powerful to claim you are NOT a guru, and NOT a divine being, which make them believe you are. Its not even that hard to do, once you know the Tech.
The people today, like Byron Katie are 100x more dangerous and subtle than the Old-School Guru's.
Why?
Because they have erased the restraints from classical religion, that some of the old-school guru's still had. There is no morality left in it.
Byron Katie is a master indirect hypnotist. I did some research this week, and there is evidence that hypnosis does not work well going against your Values. This is why Byron Katie tries to CHANGE YOUR VALUES right from her first CD. She knows if she can change them, then the Suggestions will work much better.
Also, the lack of sleep, and low-calories also makes people more suggestible...they learned that in the 1950's experiments. It just goes on and on.
Byron Katie tells stories about her children, and those stories are not just about her "children fighting". They are about YOUR INTERNAL STRUGGLE whether or not to surrender to Katie LIKE AN ADULT CHILD, and she gives you the answer, which is YES.
In a book about Dr. Milton Erickson, called "My Voice Will Go With You" by Sidney Rosen from 1982...
[
www.amazon.com]
(much of this stuff is available on the Torrent networks as well)
on page 91, there is a story about a woman named Kathy who has a phobia about vomiting. Its a very complex INDIRECT hypnotic story, using SEEDING, LONG-TERM POST-HYPNOTIC SUGGESTION, REFRAMING, and many other techniques, all of which Byron Katie uses!
And its very interesting, as Erickson modfies this woman's name to KATHLEEN and deals with VOMITING. People who know about Byron Katie (Kathleen) also know her seminars have a vomiting component to them! This book is from 1982, which is the exact same time period.
So there is a deep (warped and perverted) connection to Ericksonian Hypnotherapy and Byron Katie.
Did Byron Katie get treated by Erickson in the late 1970's? Or did she just learn it second hand from books by others? Basically everything she does is based on it. That is what all of her "Stories" are about and how they operate.
Regardless, she learned it, copied it, and she uses it in the most unethical and abusive way one can imagine. Its the worst abuse of Ericksonian style indirect hypnosis I have personally studied.
Part of the outrage here, is Ericksonian Hypnotherapy is so powerful and beautiful, and useful in the correct hands. Erickson's "Stories" are about nature and plants, and healing...its incredible stuff. To see something so beautiful turned upside down and inside out, and used to do the opposite of its original intent...unspeakable...one can draw many metaphors....
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/06/2008 02:29AM by The Anticult.