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greg ham
Did Byron Katie have a legitimate spiritual awakening or was her "stroke of insight" simply a business strategy?


30000$ to spend time with her......katie is a con

(...It is actually $ 4985.)


That is the big question. According to her followers, there is no doubt about that. According to those who are starting to have second thoughts about BK and the work, there is still no doubt about that. So the funny thing is, that her awakening seems to be the one thing that everyone is sure of. Even though there is no evidence whatsoever, apart from a Cry in the desert and BK’s own stories.

Some people who have known her for a long time have said that the cockroach story as well as the 4 questions didn’t surface until 8 years after her alleged experience.

Let’s picture it: if the stories about her (mental) illness prior to her experience can be believed, than she was pretty messed up and hadn’t left her bed or her house for several years. So she is admitted to a halfway house. This halfway house used to be called ‘Hope House’. She really liked the man that she talked to on the phone, she felt that it was the first time she could trust someone. At the halfway house, they are doing stuff like the Course in Miracles and they meditate. (This can all be found in a Cry in the desert).

So Miss Katie is in an entirely different environment. She is probably not getting her painkillers the way she did at home, she is talking to people who are into New Age stuff, perhaps she is getting food that is more healthy than at her house, probably not getting any alcohol. So she was bound to experience some kind of relief and/or relaxation.

Judging from her character, she is a very powerful, determent and pushy person. The kind of person that will achieve whatever it is they decided they want to achieve.

She could very well have been reading all kinds of stuff at the halfway house. She could have realized there is money to be made in the New Age business. She could have been reading about ‘walk-ins’. In a Cry in the desert it says that people were telling BK that she was a walk-in. I have no idea what that is, but it seems that the word itself is self-explanatory.

How convenient. A walk-in would suggest an entirely different entity, it also suggests a highly spiritual being from a different realm. (Somewhere in a Cry BK talks about visiting other galaxies and universes and coming back as if she had been to school). BK herself says that she died there in that attic room. So if ‘something’ else walked in, of course that would explain the total amnesia she talks about in her biography. An amnesia to such an extent, that she doesn’t remember that she was married and had children. An amnesia that has never been heard of in other stories about a spiritual awakening. And naturally this only makes her more special than anyone else that preceded her.

Later on in the book she says that she has realized that it was her all along, including the walk-in, and it kind of suggests that she doesn’t believe in such a thing as a walk-in. But she would have to do that, if only to make the story more credible and alluring. The seed about the walk-in has been successfully planted as well as her status as a very high, spiritual being

Someone said that they actually believe that she was a walk-in, but they also believe that the walk-in has walked-out and the real Byron Katie has come back.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/12/2009 08:04PM by Meadow.

And this is extremely dangerous.

People really, really want to believe in something good, in something holy. So they are presented with something that is holy, accesible, close to them (BK addresses everyone as 'family'), something that has integrity, something that promotes peace and promises them the end of suffering, something they can belong to, something they can give their heart to, something that will protect them.

So people's investment is not just money. Money is just a small part. The real investment is they way in which they believe in Byron Katie.

Perhaps that is why it was so important to BK to take such a long time establishing herself as the greatest saint that ever lived, doing all those donation programs so people thought it was being offered for free, without realizing the real price they are paying.

Like the Anticult said:

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Who would Byron Katie be without her (marketing) story?

It is so true. People are being asked to drop their stories, and they do so willingly. They drop their stories about their attachment to their wedding rings and their money. They drop their stories about incest and war and any kind of distaster you could imagine.

There is just this one tiny little story that is being overlooked, and that is the story of Byron Katie. They willingly question every kind of story and concept they can come up with, accept for the one that matters most and that is costing them the most...

Fully taking for granted that she would never tell a lie.

With all the convoluted and ever changing BK stories of walk-in's and walk-out's, divine cockroaches etc, it struck me that there is a very close parallel here to another very ambitious 'material girl.'

Just like Madonna, BK has constantly re-invented herself, presenting each time a new persona to fit in with changing trends in the market-place, hooking up with the latest hot celebrity to add credibility to her product, always on the look-out for the latest tech to snare the next generation of consumers.

Two very savvy female marketers--but at least with Madonna you get a physical product for your money, not unrealisable promises of a magical escape from life's difficulties, 'spirituality' as a consumer product and the inevitable betrayal of trust.

This comment was posted on Janaki's weblog on the contact page:

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I have done the workshop in Amsterdam in 2003 and the School in LA in 2005. While the experience in Amsterdam was serious, straight forward and simple while deep and truthful, the one in LA was confusing more than setting free: For one I was revolted by the obvious deliberate emotional work up to the point where people lost any sense of borders, dignity or independent thinking. Several hundred people were competing who will cry louder as if that will gain BK’s approval and love. Then I was encountered more than once a BK that was not kind, not loving and not tolerant despite the multiple “honey” “dearest” and “sweetheart”. At times she was short and snappy, at other times she was simply ignoring people who begged to be noticed. She had her favorites. One of the staff members who did the Work with me was trembling with fear of what BK will say…
As the atmosphere got charged with intense emotions and people got exhausted by there own crying, soul searching and confessions or by having to manifest Love and physical closeness to each other – total strangers – then came the big game which shocked me: the exercise of Giving. We had to chose something dear to give away, knowing that we will never see it back. People, competing for BK’s love, gave their computers, homes, wedding rings…. BK played it legally safe: she warned everybody once again that if they want to have anything back they can have it now but after that they will not… I was standing on the side disbelieving my eyes and ears: She hooked them just like any of those mad gurus. She was able to ask anything and they would give it to her.
At the final party, after the staff gave its show, one of them called BK to the stage. She came from the back which forced everyone to turn to her. She walked through the crowed who retreated in awe like a vain queen. I felt a strong sense of danger and fallacy. She marveled, bathed in the admiration like a rock star. There was no truth, no simplicity, no humility, no true wisdom. Only one big show and a great deal of emotional pyrotechnic.
Since then I saw BK twice more. She knows her lines by heart. That is all.
It is said that the reason the place of Moses burial was left unknown is that the man who brought down to earth the greatest of all gifts – the 10 commandments – should not be worshipped.

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People, competing for BK’s love, gave their computers, homes, wedding rings….

It has been said before on this forum, but I don’t think it can be said enough, just so that people are warned before attending one of BK’s programmes.

This video shows how Derren Brown robs someone of their possessions by just asking, while using the conversational hypnosis technique. [www.youtube.com]

That is exactly what Byron Katie does. She robs people just by asking. She is clever enough to warn them by announcing that if they want their possessions back, then now is the time to come and get them, because after this they won’t get them back. After this they belong to HER. It has been told before on this thread, BKI's offices are stacked with laptops that came to them through this 'Giving' exercise.

First people have been worn out emotionally through all the crying and screaming sessions. They are on a full ‘workshop high’ by the last day of the school, they have been detoxing and are going through withdrawal through enforced fasting. They are completely infused with the ‘love bombing’ atmosphere. They feel very intimate with complete strangers. They think they are part of a peace movement that is going to end war on this planet. So naturally they will give her anything she asks for. The criminal part is that this whole thing is being presented under the pretence of 'voluntary'.

But Byron Katie is very aware of the fact that, in a crowd of 300 people, it is very hard for a lot of people to ask for their possessions back. They think they will be seen as Indian givers. They feel ashamed and weak if they did so. They don’t want to feel they failed this last precious exercise. They don’t want to lose face in front of the crowd.

The correct term for this is STEALING, and Byron Katie is nothing short of a common THIEF.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/16/2009 07:18PM by Meadow.

So people actually pay for being robbed of their most valuable possessions...

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Meadow
This comment was posted on Janaki's weblog on the contact page:

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<SNIP>
We had to chose something dear to give away, knowing that we will never see it back. People, competing for BK’s love, gave their computers, homes, wedding rings….
<SNIP>

HOMES??? People give this crazy fraud-woman and her phony-translator husband their HOMES?

The wedding rings and computers are bad enough. This is absolutely appalling.

I assume, for no good reason, that the homes being given away to Stephen and Katie are vacation homes and not primary residences, but even so...

If there are convicted burglars accessing this forum from prison, they must be green with envy. If Bernie Madoff ever sees this, he'll hang himself!

Its very important that more people are starting to realize what is going on with the Byron Katie sect.

To those who have training in the advanced techniques being used, the first time you see what is being done, you almost cannot pick your jaw off the floor, when you see the outrageous tactics they are using.
When people are using these advanced persuasion techniques to get people to Transfer their psychological associations they hold for their wedding rings, to the Guru, that shows you what they are doing. And that is just the beginning, not the ending.

Houses?
Of course. And not just vacation homes of the wealthy.
As a matter of fact, there are people who will become so indoctrinated by these powerful techniques, they will literally hand over "everything", when asked. That means their one and only house, and everything that was in it.

Its all there in the text.

Right in the public books, there is much-talk of "death-bed" visits, and one can just see the Estates being handed over. Again, a very very common tactic, widely practiced in these sects.
Even just a few large Estates a year, is more that worth it.

All those seeds are even planted in the public books and CD's, just the SEEDS, not the full program. Right from first-contact, they are talking about giving everything, and that is not just a metaphor.
There are people who are literally handing over EVERY-THING.

That has a double-benefit. Not only does it work to get the goods transfered, it also then makes that same person totally dependant on the Guru, not just psychologically and emotionally, but also for their livelihood, if they are "certified".
If a person spends every cent they have on earth, then becomes "certified", then the Guru has a leash around your neck, she can PULL ANYTIME SHE WANTS. She can revoke your so-called "certification" at any time, for any reason.

Another CHECKMATE.

When people get to that point, they would be LITERALLY honored to PAY to pick the scuzz out of the Guru's toenails. No exaggeration.

Its beneficial more and more people are starting to see what is REALLY going on, and the utterly ruthless and abusive use of these advanced tactics of group persuasion.
This is why they Target people with no experience in the field, that is called picking Soft-Targets.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/19/2009 10:38AM by The Anticult.

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Meadow
Like the Anticult said:

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Who would Byron Katie be without her (marketing) story?

It is so true. People are being asked to drop their stories, and they do so willingly. They drop their stories about their attachment to their wedding rings and their money. They drop their stories about incest and war and any kind of distaster you could imagine.

There is just this one tiny little story that is being overlooked, and that is the story of Byron Katie. They willingly question every kind of story and concept they can come up with, accept for the one that matters most and that is costing them the most...

Fully taking for granted that she would never tell a lie.

It's the very thing that makes the whole scam so clever. It’s been done before and it’s applied again here. Questioning Byron Katie or parts of her story such as her self-proclaimed and alleged awakening, with a 'cockroach'-story suddenly making its debut after eight whole years of non-existence, is the one place where people won't go. Questioning BK would simply make any justification of whatever investment, be it financial or emotional, impossible: the conclusion would be that you’re acting irresponsibly. Or what may be more important, any hope for even getting close to some kind of ‘enlightenment’, personally or by association, would vanish into thin air in one go. Stuff you’d rather not think about. So the preferred motto becomes: “let's question everything but Katie and play ostrich”.