Hi Mariah,

The guy who wrote the Four Agreements is Don Miguel Ruiz who is a Toltec. His mother was a healer and his grandfather was a Shaman.

I bought the book and the four agreements in themselves are good to try and abide by for living:

Be impeccable with your word
Don't take anything personally
Don't make assumptions
Always do your best

However, the book itself is a hard read- it is verbose and repetitive.

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Mariah
Vaidya, I appreciate your balanced views. Like you, I've never been personally hurt by him, nor have I witnessed anyone hurt by him in a workshop. However, I do know of personal behaviour that was not acceptable at all to me in any teacher (or friend): people who have been hurt by his lying and sexual inappropriatenes (though it is always up to the person on the recieving end to cut off contact - or not. These are adults and not children.)

Personally, my guess is that he has a deflected Kundalini rising - one that leads not to enlightenment, but to a power based development of siddhi's. This can lead to dangerous people with supernormal powers and influence (Rasputin comes to mind; I have also personally heard scary stories about the shaman who wrote the Four Agreements - his name escapes me.)

A woman in Tennessee, a devout follower of a Hindu master in India has written an excellent and clear book on the science of Kundalini and spiritual development. It explains all about deflected risings. I know of many people following these teachings and their legitimacy. On the web site you will find any information you might want and you can order the book from there.
Here is the web site:
[www.kundalinicare.com] if anyone is interested.

dear mariah

thank you for this - your post answers one of my questions and i will research the issue of a deflected kundalini rising

metta...

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pema
I suspect that *Zig* is in fact CH in person. Note that the Moderator edited out flaming comments. Our Kiwi pal is a bit miffed perhaps? On the subject of Bon lamas/teachers. There are very few genuine Bon lamas/teachers. They all know each other. I spoke to two of them during my initial research. They were both adamant that no Bon lama was in NZ at the time that CH claims to have been under instruction. I also checked out the Bon lama in Canada with whom CH was photographed several years ago. The lama's organisation say they were naive at the time, but later checked and discovered that CH's *lineage* was not the same as their's. They asked for the photo and accompanying text to be taken down from the internet. This request has obviously been ignored.
Pema

hi Pema

noting that his lineage is not the same as theirs isn't an indictment per se - did you get any impression of how the bon monk regards CH's legitimacy, his grasp of tibetan and knowledge of bon?

thanks

In answer to Vaidya -- I was circumspect in the way I presented the information I received from the Bon organisation in Canada. They were much more direct about their distaste for CH. I think you are clutching at straws.
Pema

Hi Pema - regarding Zig being CH...I don't agree. You have to know that this man - CH - can be very gentle and kind with people too. I have never been scared of him. He may have psychopathic behaviours - but not all the time; he may be money oriented and outrageous - all of that I have seen. But I think it's important to simply find the facts and not get into guessing or witch hunts.

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pema
In answer to Vaidya -- I was circumspect in the way I presented the information I received from the Bon organisation in Canada. They were much more direct about their distaste for CH. I think you are clutching at straws.
Pema

pema, what kind of comment is "you are clutching at straws" supposed to mean? you don't know anything about me or my life

and sorry but i won't thank you for being circumspect in your communication - in the spirit of objectivity don't you think we should have no more filtering of the truth?

i think that if you have something to say, say it, and if the bon people told you not to say anything specific then say that - i think so far very few people in this discussion have been open, honest and truthful about their experience

and with regard to the tibetan community, if CH is a charlatan, why don't they come forward and accuse him? aren't they curious or concerned about this fellow who may be misrepresenting their tradition?

my guess, is that because the entire system of tantra and lamaism is highly subjective, and moreover, absolutely chock-a-block with some pretty unbelievable stuff, that tibetans are reluctant to come to judgment too quickly - similar to my earlier reference to the aghoris and their awkward place in indian culture

come to think of it, most religions are based on some pretty unverifiable stuff - approaching 50% of the world's pop'n believes that mohammed is the messenger of god, with no evidence other than his word - i know bin laden is listed as a cult in RR, but are all the major religions?? is this a discussion about belief or experience?

regardless of his lineage or the truth of his education, his capacity to facilitate healing was amply demonstrated in a workshop i attended on vancouver island

this was a group of first nations peoples (indians, if you will) and western (white) people that were interested in the subject CH professed to teach

CH wasn't the only teacher, but he was the lead teacher, the one who pulled it all together and taught most of it

i know that from talking to participants, that this was a unique and healing exerience for many, specifically, between family members and between the first nations peoples and the western community

and when i say this, i don't mean that people were miraculously cured, but that these profound experiences deepened an awareness of their own lives and personal issues

it was during this workshop that i actually did receive a small injury from christopher - before lunch CH was having individuals come up in front of the crowd of 150 or so and share specific details of their lives, facilitating a process whereby they would access and share the pain of this experience, and come to some resolution - even if this pain was hidden or masked - this part of it was very confronting, because of course some people had no desire to share their experiences, but when essentially coerced into doing so by CH, ended up going through a kind of catharsis that seemed to have a healing effect (at the time, at least, i haven't kept up with individual participants)

after lunch we settled down for the afternoon session - we were watching two people, sharing their pain, holding each other, crying

i was watching intently, but because it was all day of people doing this, and also because i had a brownie at lunch, at one point i became a little indifferent to it, my mind felt a little dull and quite frankly bored, even thought i contnued to watch

CH was watching as well, and then as this process was happening he quietly sauntered up to me and became to tap me, rather hard, with the butt of a tibetan ceremonial dagger on the top of my head

of course i was taken back, but with the 2nd-3rd tap i felt a tingling in my lower spine/buttocks and a wave of energy building and rising into my heart, and i began to feel the pain of what these two people were sharing

as soon as i fully connected to what was happening, about 6-7 taps, CH stopped w/o mentioning a word to me, and i was left with renewed compassion for what i was watching

however, my head felt a little bruised

out of a crowd of 150, how was he aware of my mental state? perhaps i looked sleepy, but actually, i was conscious that he might be looking my way and was trying to look intent... how did he see i was pretending? and when called on it, what was the result of his intervention? a wave of compassion?

the experiences that were shared in that particular workshop, recounted by participants while it was happening, were intense and apparently significant for many, and with the first nations people present, it was a unique cross-cultural experience that seemed to achieve a synergy with this clearly arrogant trickster white-skinned bon fellow...

if CH had just been hired as workshop facilitator it would have remained a pretty amazing experience for many - in between these participant exercises and his discourses, his capacity to chant and perform what appear to be highly ritualized movements while drumming, even if it was gibberish (which some of it wasn't, b/c i cold pick up on tibetan-sanskrit words like agni, etc), it was an amazing performance if nothing else

all in all, the only significant teaching that remains with me after my involvement with him is the importance of staying in the heart - something that many may find a hackneyed sentiment, but for me is a very specific teaching that addresses my tendency for over-intellectualization, and even if CH was ronald mcdonald, will remain profound and significant

i disclose all this, knowing that with each post it may become easier to identify me, but i only do it in the spirit of openess - i have no fear

regardless, i retain my claim of anonymity and unless CH sends a hired assassin i won't be shut up, but nor will i maintain a sense of entitlement that allows me to make claims against someone without backing it up with evidence

if you can demonstrate that he is a fraud i will bring this into my heart too

metta

Dorje and the group -

Dorje, if you know people in NZ who have been hurt by him, do you also know what school he attended and during what years? If none of his classmates knew of his supposed teacher, then the story falls apart because he says that his school buddies knew of his extra teachings outside of school. I can't figure out why in all this time, someone hasn't found some hard core evidence. Why was he sacked from Philips? Has anyone contacted them?

He has said that his parents are in London - not that anyone would want to upset older and likely innocent people. His former Brazilian wife is likely there too, since he has a young daughter. People know who she is. Surely, she knows his parents and some answers to all this, as she was around in his scathing days - according to you, Dorje! Surely his parents have to know know if he has invented all this? Or do they suffer from dementia? Why not ask CH himself who in NZ could verify his story? Why all the tip toeing around?

Pema and Cranial,

One thing I think I can say for sure, is that CH is a mirror. In a sense, all people mirror one another...but if you go to him full of ego and a sense of aggression, that is what you'll get back. If you go to him with a sense of genuine inquiry and compassion, I very much doubt you'll have trouble. You may not get answers but you won't have a "terrifying" experience or even a mildly scary one. As others have said, people have had genuine and very profound experiences in his workshops, myself included.

So he's a complex and talented mixture - but then, so was Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, Guru Dev and other teachers. The Sanga around Trungpa still defends him to the death and he was equally outrageous in other ways - sleeping with all his students, teaching drunk, pulling the rug out from under people publicly...the whole gamut. And yet, friends of mine swore up and down about the value of the teaching: "crazy wisdom" they call it. High Lamas from Tibet turned up at his funeral. Guru Dev (founder of Kripalu Yoga centre in Mass., hurt many people profoundly and it took years to flush him out...but people are now going back to him. It's all too much for me - so I find quieter, less edgy teachers.

Thanks Cranial - i thought that was his name but wasn't sure. I've read the book and it's good. I just happen to know a man who studied with him - a good and ordinary man. The mother had to intervene to stop Ruiz from a psychic attack on this man. Now that WAS terrifying. I've never heard any such thing about CH.

I am not sure why this didn't get posted before. I am a natural health therapist who over the past 10 years have refered various clients to Mr Hansard. The feedback from all these cases has been consistently positive especially in palliative care cases where other allopathic or alternative therapies had a limited scope. I will continue to be refering people if the necessity arises.

This site is full of misinformation and incorrect contexts and quotes. there is one I would like to clarify to avoid any further confusion. Zig has used a misquote from Dr Asshauer. The dalai lama did not ever endorse Mr Hansard. I understand this was an unfortunate mistranslation from german into english. I believe this misunderstanding has already been resolved However I do not see the relevance of this .

Dorje

How do you know that CH cannot perform acupuncture, I went to see CH in September and he done it to me then!

Most worried as what he said it would do, didn't do anything and does anyone know if he can perform acupuncture? If a unskilled person does perform it can it bring any harm to the patient? Also Does the needles go into the blood because one of my conerns are that he might of used dirty needles?