"THE NEW PSYCHO-CULTS"

[excerpts translated from Stern Magazine--October 17, 2002]

Yesterday, it was Scientology. Today the groups are called Avatar or MOL [Miracle of Love]. They bait their victims with esoterica and rake in millions around the world with their false promises. In Germany, hundreds of thousands have already fallen into their traps. The new PSYCHO-CULTS have no scruples: they are aggressive, totalitarian, inhuman. In Stern magazine, former members tell of their breakdowns in the clutches of sinister cults.

The new supermen are among us. They promise immortality, overcoming instability, and at the very least, solutions for all of life's challenges. The self-proclaimed gods, gurus and spiritual healers come right from our midst; they are med school drop-outs or theologians, mutated psychologists or accountants who are a few beads short of an abacus. Their prophesies are slick, and their clientele is educated: professors, entrepreneurs, doctors, local politicians, business leaders, actors.

Up until recently, one name stood for cult power: Scientology. But these days, hundreds of smaller psycho-groups have flourished in the shadow of that money-hungry organization, unnoticed by the public. While they bear magical sounding names such as Avatar, Jasmuheen, or Miracle of Love, their leaders are quite mundane in nature. They discreetly recruit their followers in community college courses, health food stores or the alternative medicine scene.

Meanwhile, over 600 psycho-groups have popped up in Germany, and the market is bullish. They are the new danger, warn reputable experts on sects, because they hide a new form of extremism: aggressive, totalitarian and DANGEROUS. Accordingly, they present just as much of a threat as Scientology.

These self-proclaimed saviors turn their devout disciples into slaves, often practice brainwashing techniques and psychological terror, and rip off their followers without compunction. Victims are compelled to break contact to their families and relinquish all their assets as part of their pact with their pseudo-gods. The numbers of people who even temporarily get mixed up with these high power psycho-cults is in the hundreds of thousands.

Some of the groups are not even publicly known yet. Many of their former members hesitate to tell their stories, fearing reprisals from the gurus, and are usually ashamed of being bamboozled in such a perfidious way. This vicious circle of silence and shame is well known from the early days of Scientology, when that religious corporation was still able to loot without restrictions.

Cloaked as an aid to self-discovery or consciousness expansion, involvement often ends in social isolation, slavery and self-abandonment.

A mystical patchwork that is lifestyle-compatible and high-tech: there is hardly any other psycho-group that represents the new designer gurus better than Avatar. "Create the reality you prefer," states the central concept of the teachings: life is a hard drive, hit F6 on the keyboard and start over. According to Avatar literature, 60,000 people worldwide use the methods of this psycho-organization that is active in 66 countries. Flooding esoteric journals with their advertising, thousands of licensed Avatar instructors have helped to build a psycho-empire. The guru is ex-Scientologist Harry Palmer, who founded the Avatar course in 1987. His wholehearted message: Imagine that everything is possible. The promise of the Avatar Master's Course is very fitting for our self-involved day and age: Take Control.

DIVINITY IN SEVEN DAYS? No problem for Avatar. The organization swaggers confidently: In the past, you could count the enlightened people on the planet on one hand. Today they're in the thousands. In Hinduism, the term refers to a deity that has assumed a physical form in order to take part in creation. And for every new avatar, Palmer cashes in grandly. The so-called Master's Course with its promising name "Awakening," costs ¨$3,000; the Wizard Course as much as $7,500. For your money, you get (according to the advertising) EXTRASENCORY capabilities as well as leadership and co-creation of civilization. And if that isn't enough, also the ability to transform society. Palmer also holds the commercial reins and acts as president of Star's Edge International. The profit-oriented enterprise markets Avatar courses complete with the requisite materials.

Still, not all of the Avatar disciples work aboveboard, as Gabriele H. experienced after booking a trip to Bali with an esoteric travel agency, Lotus Travel Service in Munich. In Bali she met Regine R., who had enrolled directly with an Avatar vendor without knowing what or who was behind it.

The lively forty-somethings encountered a die-hard Avatar course group at the vacation camp. From that point on, the centerpiece of the trip was the basics of Avatar, not R&R: "Everything was controlled, you couldn't even make an unsupervised phone call." The two residents of Baden-Wuerttemberg flew home. Regine R. got her 3500 Marks back after threatening to sue.

Even family members, friends and coworkers have to submit to Avatar's pushy attempts to embrace them. Ruined friendships and broken relationships are the result. Twenty-three-year-old Aline M. from Saarland complains: "My boyfriend's family is totally wrapped up in it. His mother follows the tenets of Avatar fanatically." Her relationship is suffering, too: "My boyfriend is pretty much helpless, and is unable to answer questions. He can't get his life together any more. He is completely dependent in terms of his personality, which he denies, of course. Eventually, I couldn't even get near him."

The portrayals resemble the now familiar experiences of cult victims on the order of Scientology or the Moonies: inviolable leaders. Followers lose their sense of self, eventually falling under the spell of malicious mind control.

The Avatar courses are reminiscent of Scientology.

"We've heard that there have been nervous breakdowns and that people have not been looked after appropriately," says Hamburg cult expert Ursula Caberta.

I had never heard of this Avatar course and group so I googled it and sure enough it's everywhere. It is truely sad the the real benifits of positive psychology and various kinds of emotional healing get warped by these groups for their own profit. Like we really need more egotistical people in the world trying to gain more power and wealth purely for their own self aggrandizement. :evil:

Interesting. I notice that the group that got my husband, The Release Technique, marketed by Larry Crane, primarily does seminars in the US, but is doing one in Germany this summer.

I've got to hand it to the guy - he is a marketing master.

Money is also related to power. These folks work very hard to get your dollars (euros, yen, etc.). Anyone who has seen Esther and Jerry Hicks 1.4 million dollar motor home would understand. Rhonda Byrnes, the producer of The Secret, a lot of sound and fury signifying nothing, has it figured out.

What happened to critical thinking? Where are the professional organizations and mainstream churches on these issues? Silent. Do they fear criticism themselves? Are we so frightened that we refuse to challenge what seems patently untrue or deceptive?

As you said, Vigilant, money is the key. The mainstream orgs. and churches know what side their bread is buttered on, they will largely stay silent and hold on to their share of the pie, hoping not to draw criticism themselves and consequently lose tithe-paying members.

sametanner

I wonder what impact (if any) James Cameron's program about Jesus' potential tomb will have.

Personally, it will be an exciting confirmation of the physical existence of a man who has been deified (like Buddha, Mohammed, etc.). :?:

If there is really anything to it (and I hope there is), the discovery of this tomb and authentication of who may be interred there could create a huge stir and considerable upset in the Christian world. It would be as important as the discovery of the Nag Hammadi (Dead Sea) scrolls on what has been considered the "truth" about Jesus and the early Christian church. Even now, the authorities (both Catholic and Hebrew) try hard to restrict information and wholesale translation of these scrolls for fear of the impact that information might have on the members of their faith.

Remember the furor stirred up by the release of the movie "The DaVinci Code"? Although made from a fictional story, a good portion of the book is based on some fact, like the Council of Nicea. It was at the council of Nicea that the church officially decided on Jesus Christ's divinity, which until then was a topic of debate, but not a certainty.

The Catholic Church gets very nervous when real forensic research is done on it's past.

Sametanner

It's an interesting idea to consider. If, in fact, Jesus was indeed simply a mortal teacher, then the divinity of all masters must fall into question - rightly so. I have never understood humanity's overwhelming humility and unwillingness to take responsibility for their own actions. And yet our desire for a "higher power" is at times second nature.

*sigh*

I am not in favor of overturning the core teachings of Jesus - which are pretty much on the money - do unto others, etc. But the overwhelming dogma behind all of it is mind numbing. It also leaves us much easier prey for these "new religion" movements.

I am not interested in overturning the core teachings of Jesus either, however, I am interested in the discovery of physical evidence which either confirms the existence of people (such as Jesus and Mary Magdalene) and sheds light on their true lives and relationships. If they serve to confirm long-standing religious belief or legend (such as the existence of Troy and the Trojan War) or cast doubt on same (the Mormon Church's assertion that natives of the Americas and Pacific Islands are of a Semitic origin), so be it. I'll go with the physical evidence. What I am deeply opposed to and would like to see discredited is the concept of following "Faith" over physical evidence to support religious or cultic beliefs, such as "creationism" or "intelligent design" theories as opposed to evolution.

It is my belief that the human race has been conditioned since time immemorial to believe in a higher power greater than humanity and to seek guidance by same. This has led to organized religions and cults both taking advantage of human ignorance and superstition to control and manipulate humanity for the benefit of those in power in those organizations. I believe many humans adhere unconsciously to a herd mentality seeking to be led or guided by another rather than finding the wherewithal within themselves to do the job.

It is my belief that religious beliefs have done as much or more than political entities over the millenia to foster an us vs. them mentality leading to considerable strife and misery for the entire human race over it's history. I believe humanity has a built-in bias from millenia of superstition to seek spiritual guidance from others or a higher power rather than to look within the self and find what is needed within. Religions over the millenia have fostered this built in bias for their own purposes, keeping the human race in their thrall and making many of us "naturally" susceptible to cults when we become disillusioned with the "old standards".

Sametanner

I don't know whether Jesus died on the cross, lived out his life in the South of France or was resurrected. For me, it is the principles he taught that are important.

Love one another. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

That is solid. Jesus's divinity or humanity doesn't change the beauty of the principles. What an incredible world it would be if we all did our utmost to live those principles consistently.

My motto is: Follow principles, not people.