New book out- link here

[www.amazon.co.uk]

Can't find any reviews online really. Does anyone know if it's good? Janja Lalich is sharing it on her Facebook page. It's too easy to click 'buy' on the kindle store so I'm making sure it's worth it first these days.

Thank you, happytown for getting the word out.

I just now ordered a copy. the price does not seem high for a 500 page book.

Readers, pay attention to the Amazon reviews for this item. It is gonna
stir up a discussion.

A capsule summary of Christina Chandler, author of Enthralled: The Guru Cult of Tibetan Buddhism.

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Christine A. Chandler,....

Chandler spent nearly thirty years studying and practicing the most esoteric teachings of the Tibetan Lamas, before realizing she was involved in an authoritarian cult that had purposely targeted the ‘educated’ class, in order to infiltrate into academia, psychology, and other ‘soft sciences,’ to weaken our institutions from within.

She also spent many years taking care of the son of a high-ranking Tibetan Lama, Chogyam Trungpa, giving her a bird’s eye view of the more hidden aspects of Tibetan Buddhism that most people, especially the fringe fans of the Dalai Lama, never see.

M.A., C.A.G.S. trained as a social worker and psychologist, who specialized in the areas of sexual abuse and dysfunctional systems. She earned postgraduate degrees in psychology, counseling and family systems therapy, as well as in school psychology. She has worked as a LICSW social worker, family therapist, and licensed school psychologist in the public school systems of Massachusetts, Vermont, and Colorado and as a licensed protective social worker in Massachusetts.

Friends, Tibetan Buddhism in the West is more than belief.

It combines politics, millions, even billions of tax exempt monies, and influences both the advertising and entertainment industry.

At least since Vatican II, the Roman Catholic church is now becoming accountable to the laypeople who support it. Unlike Himalayan Vajrayana,
Western Catholicism never had exoteric teaching for the laity and esoteric doctrine for the elite.

All, whether layperson or ordained had full access to the sacraments. The Catholic Church never taught or approved of sexual tantra.

Despite this, look at the extent of the clergy abuse that has
come to light --and still coming to light - and only because the Church
is at last under consistent, constant media and citizen scrutiny.

Himalayan Vajrayana gets a free pass from the media and press. Media coverage
of the Dalai Lama and other Vajrayana clergy is almost uniformly obsequious.

This stuff is tax exempt. You, the unenlightened taxpayers are indirectly subsidizing all this. The lamas, both Tibetan and Western, scold us for Western ego and Western materialism, but they love our Western hard currencies -- and do not disdain sexual congress with cute Western booty.

(If these tantrists actually saw Buddha in every being, they'd not be doing
sexual tantra only with young and attractive persons. Unless Buddha is more
present in only the young and beautiful.)

Enthralled: The Guru Cult of Tibetan Buddhism

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When author, Christine Chandler, signed up for a simple meditation retreat, she had no idea she would be severing emotional ties with her ordinary life, in order to obey the intense practices of Tibetan Lamas; becoming one of their many western devotees and 'change agents' to help the lamas overwhelm western values and ethics in order to replace them with a Buddhist-disguised Tantric spirituality.

After nearly thirty years as a Tibetan 'Buddhist,' Chandler finally realized that she had been part of a thousand-year old, guru-worshiping cult that uses mindfulness and other contemplative practices, along with ancient and sophisticated techniques, to recruit, commit and entrap westerners into the Tibetan Lama's medieval, misogynistic world. A world where the Tibetan lamas can secretly keep harems of young women, cuckold the men, and financially, physically and spiritually exploit their students.

Chandler had a front row seat to the Tibetan Lama hierarchy and how it operates, having taken care of the son of Chogyam Trungpa, the notorious 'crazy wisdom guru.' This gave Chandler exposure to not only Trungpa's Vajradhatu/Shambhala inner workings, but also to the dozens of celebrity Tibetan lamas, who have been infiltrating our western institutions with their occult Tantra and their western devotees, for the last forty years.

Deep inside this Tantric net, Chandler found that all Tibetan Lamas teach from the same guru-worshiping, thought-controling plan; whether they call it Shambhala, Mahamudra, Dzogchen or Mahayana Buddhism. It is all Tantra: a cult of mass manipulation and coercive persuasion, designed to undermine the reasoning abilities of educated populations; changing their values and behaviors; turning them into obedient devotees; no longer able to think and act for themselves. If someone does leave Tibetan Buddhism and dares to be publicly critical, that person is labelled 'too angry,' 'crazy' or a 'liar'; their articles or books discredited; until their message is drowned out. Inside the group they are to be shunned as a "heretic.'

Chandler takes the reader through her own experiences, from her first mindfulness meditation weekend, at a Boston Shambhala meditation center

(custodians of Chogyam Trungpa's sect), through her next decades, studying with the celebrity Tibetan Lamas and their western inner circles, drawn deeper and deeper into their Tantric net, until she finally breaks free; realizing that being well-educated was no protection but, instead makes westerners more susceptible to the lamas' double-binding techniques; believing they are studying the most esoteric of Buddhist philosophies, while becoming infantilized members of a Tantric cult.

Enthralled: The Guru Cult of Tibetan Buddhism exposes the many levels of deception, used by Tibetan Lamas, and their western inner circles. They collect billions of tax-exempt dollars in donations, recruit wealthy sponsors to their mission, and ensnare new student-recruits into a web of free labor, unquestioning devotion, and for some, sexual exploitation by these Tibetan lamas.

Chandler deconstructs Tibetan Tantric Lamaism according to the criteria of anti-cult experts, Lifton and Margaret Singer, demonstrating how these lamas radically alter a person's perceptions, to create a 'change agent' to further the lamas' globalist ambitions.

Two of the critical reviews (As of September 30th, 2017) write Chandler off as paranoid.

One critical review makes a very interesting concession.

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Top critical review
See all 3 critical reviews›
3.0 out of 5 starswell researched but a bit over the top
Byatcon September 16, 2017
It is understandable that someone who feels that they wasted years of their life in a cult of Tibetan Buddhism should feel annoyed.
What is difficult to credit, is that the writer, who already had a degree in psychology before joining the cult, did not do a little research on the religion she was joining.
The book is over 500 pages long, and is on the whole well researched. It could be a useful source of reference for people with an interest in cults.
Chandler makes some very good points, i.e .that those westerners who listen to Lamas giving teachings in Tibetan only really know what the translators say and this may differ in substance from what the lama says. It is not unknown for translators to 'tidy up' the translation as they work. or to slant the emphasis away from anything that might upset a target audience.

Now, here are highlights from the 5 star reviews. Readers are invited to follow this discussion on Amazon are more read the book and come forward, pro and con.

(excerpt)

5 star review

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Chris and I met years ago when she kindly took me for a photographic tour of Buddhist monasteries in the Crestone, Colo. area. A witness to much of what happened to her in the Crestone section of the book and in Crestone itself, I can vouch for everything said there.

I am no stranger to cults; I simply cover them from a different religious perspective. I have suffered many of the same types of things Chris herself experiences, but on a different level. The most powerful thing about Chris’s book is that she explains so well how the mind-think she exposes permeates our entire society today, to an extent never suspected by the average American — or citizens of other countries, for that matter. And she explains it in great detail, carefully documenting her journey, and leaving nothing to the imagination......

And likewise, all the abuses are the same. The use of members to make the leaders look good and promote the cause, while leaders are enjoying the high life and often are doing nothing; the predatory mindset, selecting the choicest lambs of the flock to be singled out for favors or persecutions; the sexual abuse, usually denied, ignored, hidden or disguised as “divine love”; the sly and insidious pitting of members and different factions, one against the other; turning members against their families and siphoning money from even the poorest members — these are the most well-recognized forms of abuse, although there are others. What Chandler explains for her own group and her own experience is a lesson for all.

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author's decades long stay in Lamaism will not be wasted if her personal experiences can be made widely known
ByAmazon Kundeon August 21, 2017

The author's decades long stay in Lamaism will not be wasted if her personal experiences can be made widely known. Anyone with a decent heart will truly appreciate Christine's efforts and admire her bravery in recollecting such excruciating memories. I am deeply touched by the statement, "This book is dedicated to all the abuse victims of Tantric Lamaism, whose voices have been silenced for centuries.”

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Tibetan Buddhism is neither a good idea, good for Tibet nor has anything to do with Buddhism. It is pure Lamaism.

ByMikeon August 15, 2017

When Chris Candler first came onto our blog and told the tale of what I thought was Tibetan Buddhism I thought she was off the wall. She was claiming that it had nothing to do with Buddhism, and a lot to do with Tibet. However, it was not pretty with connections to Hitler, the CIA and the new glue to keep the Communist party of China in power.

I had now for 20 years being dealing with tales of sex abuse, but by a skilful side steps those involved with the Dalai Lama were able to act as if this particular lama was an exception. The problem we were being briefed by Buddhists from Taiwan that these Tibetan Lamaists were trying to mind control with mindlessness training their programme of unreformed Tantric couple sex. This was not just an aberration but the recipe was in fact on the tin. Of course we were told we were under the influence of the Communist Chinese which was a little difficult as we were connecting to the heretics and splitists from Taiwan. The Dalai Lama was himself up to his eyes with this stuff and has forty years covered up this cult of mindfulness and sexual depravity from his western disciples.

As an expert in cultism, I always obtained advice from formidable experts in Buddhism who were trying to expose this but they always said this or that Lama was the exception rather than the rule.

What Chris Chandler has demonstrated is that the exception is the and the norm and the exception idea is the diversionary tactic to get you off the scent. She used to come onto our blog and she fought hand to hand comment warfare with the trolls and the General of the exception Tenpel the master of diversion.

Here is how you can see this working out by following her battles like Arjuna in the chariot. Then I realised I had to go it alone, as Chris wisely realised if she was on social media much longer she might as well take refuge in a place for the overwhelmed.

She went into retreat, healing herself by the logos therapy of recovering the western mind, and removing those hidden mindfulness programmes and by writing the book. It is a statement of liberation, it is also a charter for a truly Free Tibet, not one of letting these Slave masters Lamas near the place. Does it involve the continued Han take over of the country? Obviously not but in order for Tibet to be freed it needs to freed from these Lamas on their Feudal thrones

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/30/2017 09:19PM by corboy.

"I just now ordered a copy. the price does not seem high for a 500 page book."

I agree- I just bought five books already this month and haven't finished one yet. Still got the Guru Papers to start!

More here.

[dialogueireland.wordpress.com]

i have read the book now. it is very good. her description of the cult behavior of the trungpa students was a perfect match to what i experienced in the dzongsar khyentse group, which is full of trungpa students. they are stuck in a delusion of enlightenment while acting without compassion, equanimity or basic manners. super cool people. and if you ask any hard questions they use ridicule and humiliation tactics. there were several alarming things i didn't know. they have established a lineage for thomas rich, the regent who was lucky to get out of nova scotia before anyone investigated his sex crimes. their continued cover up of the extent of the abuses under rich. the fact that the millionaire sakyong has left his autistic brother to be cared for at public expense by the state of vermont, and the lack of any education for the sakyong.

after dealing with much racism, nastiness cliqueishness and rudeness form trungpa students i would never get involved with a trungpa people again.

she criticizes a teacher of mine dzongsar khyentse for his support for sogyal and trungpa.(and i am probably finished with his people as well) his recent missive on the topic was pure desembling and rationalization. he especially acted impressed that trungpa could attract these upper caste americans, and got hippies to dress formally. whoop de doo!! dumb hippies, who were mostly upper middle class were shallow and class and ethnicly bigoted people and they always want to be the coolest people. an easy sell for an unscrupulous teacher like trungpa.they were going back to their origons. moreover he says students know what they are in for. NO NO NO. these tibetans including dsongsar khyentse hide their beliefs, backgrounds and activities . he gave us an instructor who was a landmark instructor. four or five years in that was revealed. i would never go to a landmark instructor. and that instructor was abusive, even racist, when i asked if he was concerned about the support for trungpa. his brother instructor said he would never talk to me again for questioning the support for sogyal and trungpa. so they are using the same abusive apporaoches as the trungpas people. no questions allowed. i have never had any contact with trungpa or sogyal their goups or people so why do i have to obey a samaya i do not have?

i think she goes too far blaming the dalai lama for his failure to act, but it's not an unreasonable position to take. he should be more active in controlling abuse in his own system, however i doubt he can change the medieval tibetans quickly. so he is partly responsible. if he denounced abuse more he could leave his position and he would be fine as a monk.(he would probably be forced out) he would still have lots of followers and supporters. this points out the major issue with a lot of tibetan buddhist leaders. they are not even pretending to be renunciates. they are wealth and power holders. this is inconsistent with the teachings of buddha. they have excellent teachings burried under the dross of abuse, wealth, greed and ignorance, but so do other groups, so why do we need these power and wealth hungry lamas?

her criticism of the world view of kalachakra is worth contmplating. are these people seriously taking the world conquest parts literally? well some are, and that's nuts. shambala seems to take this literally and that is inconsistent with buddhism.

she also provides some eye openers about maurice strong and his new age contacts. strong was important in the canadian liberal party. it is disturbing what he got up to after canadian politics.

so all and all it's an excellent book that i hope will open a few eyes and maybe even help push reforms.it gives excellent first hand views of how people lose their identity and become unconscious in such a cult atmosphere. i encourage every one to read john ralston saul's book:"unconscious civilization" and if you are brave his book:"voltaire's bastards." a critical analysis of how people in anglo culture are seriously unconscious , and i think trungpa and other gurus have learned how to harness that lack of consciousness to their own ends, for power and wealth. chandler's book shows unconsciousness in action. people who think they are super conscious being to opposite. that's a buddhist achievement!!

Which brother is the autistic one, among Diana and Trungpa's children?

The Dzongsar Khentse letter is deserving of its own thread, for discussion and deconstruction. It's unnerving, how many highly realized teachers praise Trungpa.

For me, that would be a big red flag. Mostly, of course, it's Kagyu lamas. And it's always been part of the code among teachers to not criticize each other, or denounce each other publicly, so they're sticking with their old boys' network training. But what does this say about Buddhism, then? Brush people's suffering, and the source of it, under the rug? If we ignore suffering, how can we cultivate compassion?

Dzongsar Khentse published a book fairly recently, on the student-teacher relationship. I bought it, but didn't read it, because it was clear from the start that he was talking only in the context of Higher Yoga Tantra, tantric vows. That simply isn't relevant to 99% of students, and most of the abuse cases that occur. He closes his eyes to this.

Well, I should save further comment on DKR for the DKR thread I hope you'll start, OP.

the autistic brother is from diana and trungpa i think. dkr's recent book had a lot of things that are disillusioning. a list of what teachers should do--which his violate, and a list of what they shouldn't do, and trungpa violates them all and some of his teachers violate . and open support for sogyal and trungpa, and stupid thoughts about how amazing it was that educated americans would follow trungpa to nova scotia. shallow middle class americans with little or no experience in the real world being easily fooled isn't surprising, and most of those people i met were class and ethnic bigots, and had all the arrogant privledge of middle class americans--what a dharma achievement. trungpa told them what they were already must be enlightenement--the oldest charlatans trick in the book;""you're special, because you are here with the great guru".

their tolerance for rampant ses abuse including minors and alcohol and drug abuse shows an absence of ethics and morality. moreover to anyone who says "nothing happens" i say nothing can happen while you behave ethically and with compassion for others just as much as while your act like monsters.

I have ALARMING news!! There's an article circulating; I'm hoping the person who found it will join us here and post it, on this theme, of sexual abuse in TB. It gives Trungpa's Shambala movement, which is still very much alive and kicking, as an example of the kind of damage cults like this can do. Among the cases discussed, is a little-known one, about a WESTERN teacher in the Shambhala organization, who had sex with the TEN-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER of one of the followers!

This proves that Vajrayana is conducive to pedophelia. The tantric literature recommends sex with 9-year-old girls (Hevajra Tantra), 12-year-olds (Kalachakra Tantra) and other children and teens of specific ages that are considered numerologically "auspicious". Those passages from the tantras are considered archaic today (the Dalai Lama teaches it as a relic of the past), but here is a WESTERN teacher of TB, dragged into court for having sex with the pre-teen child of one of his own followers!

An excerpt from the article:

Several years later a sixty-year old Western teacher of this same Vajradhatu/Shambhala group has sex with the ten- year old daughter of another community member. The case is quietly settled out of court and the teacher of tantra is given a slap on the hand by a group that takes “nothing happens” to heart. This slogan is soon on their car bumper stickers , from San Francisco to Boulder to Boston, reminding each other and the world that “all is an illusion” anyway. Besides, the vajrayana tantric teachings, including the Dalai Lama’s Kalachakra secret teachings, recommends a ten or eleven- year- old girl from a outcast class as an ‘ideal consort’ for the Lamas and their couple bliss practices. Sixteen and twenty year old females were also ideal. These lamas believe that their “occult guru powers” will be absorbed if they have sex with women over twenty years old.


Cult brainwashing and groupthink in action: a little girl wasn't traumatized for life, oh, no! Doesn't she know the material world is just an illusion? Why should anyone be responsible for child rape, when everything's an illusion?

Why aren't the courts and police investigating this group? This is horrifying!

In a lot of tantric meditation one is instructed to visualize one's root guru
(aka one's tantric guru) and then internalize the guru inside oneself.

Ancient.

Well, some years ago, there was a CEI message board discussion about various
trance induction techniques. We were fortunate to have a member named The Anticult who understood trance induction methods and was able to identify when they were used.

Here is The Anticult's analysis of a set up in which disciples of a guru (Gurumayi of SYDA Yoga) were instructed to internalize her image.

[forum.culteducation.com]

Another trick is for the guru to be 'crazy like a fox'.

[forum.culteducation.com]

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I see no evidence that Byron Katie is actually nuts. Quite the opposite. She may ACT weird and strange, but that seems to be Marketing, carving out a unique identity in the glutted New Age marketplace. You gotta be different to get some attention these days.

But they are running a large, international multimillionaire dollar money-making racket. Totally blatant.
Once they go "international" then money can be moved around for tax reasons, bank accounts in various countries, protection from liability, etc.

Its pretty clear that the "crazy-weird" is their schtick, their pitch, their uniqueness. It draws a certain type of person in, the type of person they want.

But it is mainly designed/evolved to destabilize people's sense of Self and even REALITY, so they can take over your life and mind. It flat out Thought Reform, in a highly systematic fashion.
Once they lose contact with reality, these folks can literally sell their house to get money to give to Byron Katie. Vulnerable people "lose it" and end up working for the culty LGAT for free, even worse, being charged money to work for the LGAT...this "crazy" stuff is clearly designed to take away people's sense of reality.