Be aware of this cult and don’t feel bad if the program didn’t work for you or if you didn’t make it as a seva/volunteer or employee.

Tree of Life regularly employs these cult-like tactics:

1 Attempt to suppress opinions
Any type of criticism is met with defence and attack, rather than concern or attempts to change. Any negative comments are removed from their Facebook page and the poster is blocked.

2 Fake names
Many people working there go by spiritual-sounding names of their own choosing. In some cases, they have undergone the spiritual/priesthood program and have been renamed.

3 Bait and switch
Guests are baited with claims of natural healing through raw food and juice fasting only to be sold expensive supplements. Another draw is the quiet, spiritual (presumably non-denominational) oasis, yet New Age Judaism/Esseneism/Hinduism/Native American is practiced with weekly Shabats and other rituals (shaktipat, sweat lodge) around this faith. They claim to accept all faiths, but really only the aforementioned faiths are accepted. To not participate in them is to be outcast or asked to leave, at least for seva. Workers are prohibited from discussing their own spiritual beliefs.

4 Questionable teachings
Teachings such as a “man’s sperm balances out a woman’s body” is unfounded and promotes unsafe sex in this commune of mostly 20 year olds.
Teachings of poverty are in conflict with the expensive programs, services, and supplements that they sale. The rabbi/doctor/owner collects thousands of dollars in private consultations but encourages poverty. Workers and volunteers are not held against their will but if they want to leave (or are let go), they may not have the resources to leave this secluded area due to no to low pay.

5 Lack of accountability
One person died at the center. If programs/supplements don’t work for the person, the person is always blamed for not doing it “right”. Since this incident, the owner defers the running of this place to managers. Management deletes and/or attacks negative feedback.
[tucsoncitizen.com]

[www.phoenixnewtimes.com]



Whole Person Healing [info.treeoflifecenterus.com]
“Price Estimates
* Food, Accomodations & Retreat Facilities (paid up front): $99.50/night Sale Price (normally $199 per night)
* Expect to stay at least four nights,although you may need to stay longer - $398 or more)
* Testing (standard tests paid for while at the Tree of Life): Approximately $800 for the standard tests. Often, additional tests at additional costs may be necessary per your condition.
* Consultation (typically around 2.5 hours in length - may be longer/shorter, deposit of $1250 necessary to book your appointment): $500 an hour with Dr. Cousens ($1250 total estimate - may be more).
* Supplements (paid for while at the Tree of Life): Supplements prescription varies widely for each individual. Typically, it is wise to budget $2,000 - $2,500 for your initial 1-month supply of supplements. In special and extreme cases patients may be prescribed nearly double the amount of these estimates. Routine prescribed supplement regimen is for 3 months ($6,000 - $7,500 with higher rates in special cases).** We are consistently encouraged by the success of those individuals who follow Dr. Cousens' medical advice. Dr. Cousens' complete holistic approach works with all the body's systems simultaneously to uplift all systems in as short a time as possible through synergy. Dr. Cousens' approach is whole person focused as opposed to an allopathic approach, which treats only symptoms.
Total Estimate: For a WPH with Dr. Cousens, between $8500 - $10,000 or more. This represents the average costs for a total of three months of supplements plus the initial appointments.

Owner Bio [treeoflifecenterus.com]
He’s been part of the yoga world since 1973, and received much of his training and experience as a spiritual master and kundalini expert (he organized the first “Kundalini Crisis Clinic” in the world with Dr. Lee Sannella in 1976) during his seven-year sadhana with Swami Muktananda and his eleven-year sadhana with Swami Prakashananda. In 1981, Swami Prakashananda, Muktananda’s first liberated disciple, publicly recognized him as a “yogi of real spiritual attainment” who has “realized the innate perfection.” He was also acknowledged by Swami Muktananda just prior to his death in 1982.

Dr. Cousens is internationally celebrated as a spiritual master, a rabbi (ordained by Rabbi Gerson Winkler in 2008), founder of the Modern Essene Order of Light in 1993 and a Kabbalah student of since 1970. He is also a 4-year Native American Sundancer, Eagle Dancer, and Spirit Dance clan chief in the High Horse Lakota clan into which he has been adopted. 



[www.yelp.com]

[www.tripadvisor.com]

[treeoflifecenterus.com]

[treeoflifecenterus.com]

[treeoflifecenterus.com]

[www.cousensschoolofholisticwellness.org]

[www.flickr.com]

The URL

[www.tripadvisor.com]

for the reviews of Tree of Life on Tripadvisor generated a
"This page is on vacation" message.

Copy and paste the URL into Google and you can find and read the various Tripadvisor reviews.

Quote

3 results (0.64 seconds)
Search Results
AWFUL! Total scam! - Review of Tree of Life Center US ... - TripAdvisor
[www.tripadvisor.com] › ... › Patagonia Hotels › Tree of Life Center US
Rating: 1 - ?Review by a TripAdvisor user
Jun 19, 2017 - Tree of Life Center US: AWFUL! Total scam! - See 35 traveler reviews, 25 candid photos, and great deals for Tree of Life Center US at ...
AWFUL! Total scam! - Review of Tree of Life Center US ... - TripAdvisor
[www.tripadvisor.com.au] › ... › Patagonia Hotels › Tree of Life Center US
AWFUL! Total scam!: Tree of Life Center US - See 36 traveller reviews, 25 photos, and cheap deals for Tree of Life Center US at TripAdvisor.
AWFUL! Total scam! - Review of Tree of Life Center US ... - TripAdvisor
[www.tripadvisor.in] › ... › Patagonia › Patagonia Hotels › Tree of Life Center US
Tree of Life Center US: AWFUL! Total scam! - See 36 traveler reviews, 25 candid photos, and great deals for Tree of Life Center US at TripAdvisor.

Google cache text only copy of Tripadvisor reviews.

[webcache.googleusercontent.com]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/15/2017 06:00AM by corboy.

Thank you corboy

Dear orangeskies:

Inactive URLs are a drag.

Viva Google cache!

This cult is also known as "Essene Order of Light."

[webcache.googleusercontent.com]

Quote

Essene Order of Light
C/o The Tree of Life Rejuvenation Center, PO Box 1080, Patagonia, AZ 85624

As a child, Gabriel Cousens, the founder of the Essene Order of Light, experienced visions of what he came to regard as the White Brotherhood, also known as the Essene Elders or Order of Melchizedek. As a young man, he began teaching meditation, adopted a vegetarian diet, and began a study of the Essene Way that included a focus on Kabbalah, yoga, and kundalini (the energy believed by Tantric Hindus to reside at the base of the spine and to bring enlightenment when awakened). In 1975, in a meeting with Swami Muktananda, he experienced a profound kundalini awakening. During his seven years with Muktananda in India, Cousens sought a vegetarian diet that would support the awakening of the kundalini. He concluded that a live-food diet (the Rainbow diet) most nurtures spiritual growth. He also worked with Dr. Lee Sannella to assist people who had become unbalanced as a result of their kundalini experience.

In 1981 Cousens returned to the United States and revived his interest in the Essene Way. He studied Essene teachings and was ordained in 1988. He also became a Reiki master. Cousens founded the Essene Order of Light in 1992. In 1994, during a lengthy fast, he had an experience of the Tetragammaton, the holy name of God (in Hebrew). During this experience, four principles of the Living Essene Way were given to him and he in turn offered these to the other Essene groups to serve as a common understanding between them.

Through dissemination of the Essene teachings, meditation, and the imparting of shaktipat (spiritual power or methods) for achieving kundalini awakening, the Essene Order of Light seeks to serve as a force for the healing and transformation of the planet. Its Tree of Life Rejuvenation Center, located in Patagonia, Arizona, and directed by Cousens, attempts to guide people into the joy of sacred existence through the study of various traditions, including Kabbalah, Shamanic Judaism, the Essene Way, Yoga, and the Native American Way. The center introduces people to a spectrum of spiritual practices, including Shaktipat/Ruah Ha Kodesh meditation, Shamanic Shabbat celebrations, daily sunset meditations, Yoga, pranayama, Yogic chanting, spiritual fasts, sweat lodges, spiritual discussions, Kosher live-food nutrition, and a variety of self-healing workshops.

The order offers a course that leads to ordination as an Essene minister. This course includes a reading program and participation in various workshops and events held at the Tree of Life Rejuvenation Center. Ministers work in various service projects that bring humanitarian assistance (natural healing, vegetarian food, clothing for the poor) to the needy. The order sponsors quarterly peace meditation events at the United Nations headquarters in New York.

Membership
Not reported.

Sources
Tree of Life Rejuvenation Center. www.treeoflife.nu/

[webcache.googleusercontent.com]

Quote

About the philosophy

• The nonprofit Tree of Life Rejuvenation Foundation, which has federal tax-exempt status, is a religious organization in Patagonia that promotes a spirituality it calls the Essene Way, which aims to train the “new world planetary citizen” – citizens who are part of an evolving world soul that honors the divine presence in all humans, animals and plants.

This website is owned by Native Americans who are concerned
about appropriation of their traditions.

This discussion began back in 2007. Some URLs cited may now
be dead links.

[www.newagefraud.org]

(google cache)

[webcache.googleusercontent.com]

(Google search done 6:13 AM 07/16/2017 search terms"gabriel cousens" "lakota")

[www.google.com]

Quote

GABRIEL COUSENS, M.D. | - Tree of Life Center Us
treeoflifecenterus.com/gabriel-cousens-m-d/
Rabbi Gabriel Cousens M.D., M.D.(H.), N.D.(h.c.), D.D., Diplomate Ayurveda, ... Eagle Dancer, and Spirit Dance clan chief in the High Horse Lakota clan into ...
Cousens' School of Holistic Wellness | The Founder
www.cousensschoolofholisticwellness.org/the-founder/

About Rabbi Gabriel Cousens, M.D., M.D.(H), D.D. ... American Sun Dancer, Rabbi Cousens has been adopted into the Lakota tribe, where he currently serves ...

Cousens' School of Holistic Wellness | On-Campus Experience
www.cousensschoolofholisticwellness.org/on-campus-experience/
The Tree of Life was founded by Gabriel Cousens, MD. ... of Bhagavan Nityananda of Ganeshpuri, and as a Lakota Clan Leader in the Native American tradition.

Gabriel Cousens??? - New Age Frauds & Plastic Shamans
www.newagefraud.org › NAFPS Forum › General › Research Needed
May 22, 2007 - 5 posts - ?4 authors
His claim to be a Sundance chief and adopted Lakota? Actually he ... It is facilitated by Yellow Horse (Rebbe Gabriel Cousens, M.D.). Yellow ...
You've visited this page 2 times. Last visit: 7/15/17

Gabriel Cousens, MD - Facebook
[www.facebook.com]
Gabriel Cousens is a holistic physician, homeopath, psychiatrist, family therapist ... Dancer, and Spirit Dance clan chief adopted into the High Horse Lakota Clan.

Rebbe Gabriel Cousens MD, MD(H), DD Bio - Marc Gafni
www.marcgafni.com/rebbe-gabriel-cousens-md-mdh-dd-bio/
To the process of awakening and healing, Rebbe Gabriel Cousens, M.D., ... into the Lakota Tribe; he presently runs Spirit Dances for peace in Patagonia, AZ, ...

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/16/2017 09:16PM by corboy.

Google search terms "gabriel cousens" "marc gafni" - 07/16/2017 6:17 AM PST

Quote

Search Results

Rebbe Gabriel Cousens MD, MD(H), DD Bio - Marc Gafni
www.marcgafni.com/rebbe-gabriel-cousens-md-mdh-dd-bio/
[www.treeoflife.nu] Rebbe Gabriel Cousens, M.D., M.D.(H), D.D. (Doctor of Divinity), Diplomate American Board of Holistic Medicine, Diplomate.
"The International Jewish Liberation School" - with Marc Gafni, Gabriel ...

www.marcgafni.com/the-international-jewish-liberation-school/
Dr. Marc Gafni, Visionary Philosopher, Author, and Social Innovator, is the ... Jewish Liberation School" - with Marc Gafni, Gabriel Cousens and Gershon Winkler.

Marc Gafni | Tree of Life Center US
treeoflifecenterus.com/tag/marc-gafni/
Click here to reserve your place. [uniqueself.com] Many of you will greatly appreciate reading this book, which will ...

Dr. Marc Gafni | The Translucent View
[arjunaardagh.wordpress.com]
Posts about Dr. Marc Gafni written by Arjuna Ardagh. ... Sally Kempton, Marilyn Schlitz, Brother David Steindl-Rast, Gabriel Cousens, Cynthia Bourgeault, Tami ...

Some items on Marc Gafni

The Awareness Center

[theawarenesscenter.blogspot.com]

Google "marc gafni" "jewish daily forward"

[www.google.com]

Google "marc gafni" "timesofisrael"

[www.google.com]

Former Gafni Students Speak Out Against Him‘Open letter’ from ‘maggid’ program attendees disavows ex-rabbi; ‘incredible sense of betrayal.’BY GARY ROSENBLATT January 13 2016, 1:55 pm

[jewishweek.timesofisrael.com]

"marc gafni" "jewschool"

[www.google.com]

Integral Options Blog

unday, January 17, 2016
Why So Few of Marc Gafni's Survivors Have Come Forward

[integral-options.blogspot.com]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/16/2017 09:35PM by corboy.

Arizona corporation research can be done here: [ecorp.azcc.gov]

Cousens had an earlier corporation Old Tolrc, PLLC. That was merged in 2012 with Tree of Life Rejuvenation Center, PLLC to become Tree of Life Center US Corporation.

Gabriel and Shanti Cousens are listed as officers and directors of Tree of Life Center US Corporation.

They did not keep up with their paperwork and the Tree of Life Center US Corporation was dissolved, it was reinstated in April 2016.