Just-Googling - I am LOL as well. Well done! What a riot!

I was thinking the other day - you know what I used to find funny - the outfits that JG used to where in those old lecture videos. Remember - the nerdy shirts and pullover sweaters.

Who dressed him like that? Surely he didn't dress like that when "off camera". He looked like the president of the rocketry club at some community college. I think the image "they" were trying to portray was one of an "All American" preppy. What a tangled web of phoniness.

And then there were all his devotees in the crowd, sitting there like zombies on prozac. Asking canned questions and appearing so inspired and impressed at the answers. OMG - I'm chuckling just thinking about it.

Then there was the video series shot on the beach in California and JG up there on the vyasasan wearing a thick ski jacket that I always thought may be suitable for an Eskimo at the North Pole in January but a beach in CA? And he had a nerdy pseudo ball cap on with an uneven brim that used to drive me nuts in the same way that the baseball caps worn sideways by the hip-hop kids. I mean I love caps, but you gotta wear 'em right.

One last item - one video he had Patrick Bishop (Purushottam das - God rest his soul) dressed in drag and JG talking to him about his mistaken identity and he/she is not the body. And this was way before Jerry Springer - what a pioneer of real TV.

This stuff is cracking me up. What about the sunglasses while sitting on the vyasasana? Yea right, thats the ticket, fearless leader is some kind of groovy cool guru who wears sunglasses indoors. Hes so cool he doesn’t care what the audience thinks. I mean shoot the lights he has shone on himself are so blinding he has to wear sunglasses!!! Were we really part of that? Gosh this is embarrassing. What about the Christian series of lectures. You know the true gospel of Jesus Christ. Is fearless leader like every other Chrstian nut job, does he really think he has the ONE and ONLY TRUE version of the Jesus myth? Fearless leader at the end goes into this riff about prayer being confidential between the soul and God, a very confidential thing you know, and how Jesus is teaching we should not make public displays of prayer, then Fearless Leader does this really corny prayer in front of the camera for one and all to see. What a corn ball that was!!! Talk about doublespeak!!!! Talk about preying on the sentiment of fools.!!! Are those videos still available, some one should put them on Utube. How could we have not caught all the contradictions and hypocrisy???? I think fearless leader might have done well had he double up with Tammy Faye Baker, God rest her soul!!

Old Daoist proverbs..

The taller the bamboo grows the lower it bends...

The proud man can learn humility, but he will be proud of it....


New Daoist proverb:

Man who shine light on self too bright, must wear sunglasses....

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hoax108
One last item - one video he had Patrick Bishop (Purushottam das - God rest his soul) dressed in drag and JG talking to him about his mistaken identity and he/she is not the body. And this was way before Jerry Springer - what a pioneer of real TV.

Yeh, I saw Purushottam das dressed like a woman ... that guy loved to act! He was once in the gossip column of the Honolulu Daily, saying that he had landed a big part in an upcoming TV series ... don't know if the show flopped or not (probably did). He was a good-looking and cool dude ... I think he dumped his beautiful wife and shacked up with a beautiful young blonde.

I heard he got cancer or a tumor or something. Apparently he had fallen into disfavor with Sid, who said his "heart was as hard as stone." I'm sure the disciples will use this as an example: "Look what happens to one who is not pleasing to our Fearless Leader... an early death!"

Regarding the phoniness of the audience who asked questions during "JG Speaks" videos, yes, this was obvious... I remember showing these lectures to people and they immediately picked up that these questions were rehearsed... did not look spontaneous at all.

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quotesman
This stuff is cracking me up. What about the sunglasses while sitting on the vyasasana? Yea right, thats the ticket, fearless leader is some kind of groovy cool guru who wears sunglasses indoors. Hes so cool he doesn’t care what the audience thinks. I mean shoot the lights he has shone on himself are so blinding he has to wear sunglasses!!! Were we really part of that? Gosh this is embarrassing. What about the Christian series of lectures. You know the true gospel of Jesus Christ. Is fearless leader like every other Chrstian nut job, does he really think he has the ONE and ONLY TRUE version of the Jesus myth? Fearless leader at the end goes into this riff about prayer being confidential between the soul and God, a very confidential thing you know, and how Jesus is teaching we should not make public displays of prayer, then Fearless Leader does this really corny prayer in front of the camera for one and all to see. What a corn ball that was!!! Talk about doublespeak!!!! Talk about preying on the sentiment of fools.!!! Are those videos still available, some one should put them on Utube. How could we have not caught all the contradictions and hypocrisy???? I think fearless leader might have done well had he double up with Tammy Faye Baker, God rest her soul!!

8) Actually, I think I do have that video with the corny prayer at the end of the lecture ... boy, was that corny! More corny than a cornfield in Iowa!

Unfortunately I am not high tech enough to be able to transfer it to U-tube (no camera!?!)... maybe one day!

Yeh, it was the typical, "Just love him..." at one time when talking about the "so-called Christians" - he said that he was the only one who knew God, he had the name of God's girlfriend, and even had God's phone number!!!

No wonder the Christians despised the Jagged Guru!

And then at one time, (when the politics became more important than the religion!) he said that they should join forces with the Pope in order to battle homosexuality together!

Doublespeak, indeed!

8) 8) 8)

I have been reading this entire board for a while now. Yes, it takes a long time to get through it. FYI I am still a devotee, been 7 years now. Many red flags raised but I am being patient and looking for answers still. I appreciate the information that has been presented here, and can verify that many of the things that have been said are true enough.

I have also noticed the tendency to simply engage in sneering and gossiping, which i dont believe is useful to the stated cause, of exposing this as a cult and warning others. It would be good if people present more factual evidence, and a little less conjecture and gossip, which only serves to dilute the actual facts. the quote below will illustrate what I am saying:

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Yeh, I saw Purushottam das dressed like a woman ... that guy loved to act! He was once in the gossip column of the Honolulu Daily, saying that he had landed a big part in an upcoming TV series ... don't know if the show flopped or not (probably did). He was a good-looking and cool dude ... I think he dumped his beautiful wife and shacked up with a beautiful young blonde.

I heard he got cancer or a tumor or something. Apparently he had fallen into disfavor with Sid, who said his "heart was as hard as stone." I'm sure the disciples will use this as an example: "Look what happens to one who is not pleasing to our Fearless Leader... an early death!" "

Purushottam das was a good man, very well known, and most people will know the above is not true. By saying these things, it puts all your other 'facts' in jeopardy also.

I also noticed that CultReporter has disappeared. I saw her on another thread where she apologised to the group which had harmed her and it seemed she was returning to them. This is disturbing, anybody know where that is currently at? It was a little confusing, as she also said that cultreporter was a group of people trying to find the truth.

anyway, dont get me wrong. I think that facts should come out. The only way to make important decisions is to have all facts on the table. Real issues have been raised, and I am trying to put them together in some order so that I can formulate some clear questions. thanks to everyone for their input

terre

Welcome to the thread terrenaut. There are certain rules here. However refraining from gossip is not one of them. All kinds of people show up on this thread and it is impossible to know who is telling the actual truth and who is not unless like yourself you were there. But even then because every individual may see things differently there will be room for misunderstanding and disagreement. They way you perceive things may be different than the way I or googling or Jules or others may see it.

Concerning Magnums bar tender. The fact is he was severely chastised and criticized by fearless leader. I know because I was privy to the private tapes etc. where fearless leader is tearing him and his guru Katyayani to threads. One day Katyayani was a pure devotee and perfect disciple, the next day she was 'taking people to hell.' And Magnums bartender was her main trumpet blower as Tusta was Fearless Leaders main trumpet blower. Now I never specifically heard fearless leader say that Magnums bartender has a heart of stone, but I would not think it an unreasonable thing for him to say considering fearless leader thought his guru Katyayani was taking people to hell. Again whether he said Magnums bartender died early due to offenses, I did not hear that either. However it is not too far to conjecture that may have been said in close circles around fearless leader.

Anyway don't take this as me bashing you. I am just trying to help you see other perspectives. Again welcome to the thread.

Was Purusottama a good man? I think so. But I do believe he was also deluded and illusion about many things including seeing Krishna in the park which he claimed to have seen and was chastised by fearless leader for saying it.

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terrenaut
I appreciate the information that has been presented here, and can verify that many of the things that have been said are true enough.

I have also noticed the tendency to simply engage in sneering and gossiping, which i dont believe is useful to the stated cause, of exposing this as a cult and warning others. It would be good if people present more factual evidence, and a little less conjecture and gossip, which only serves to dilute the actual facts. ..., dont get me wrong. I think that facts should come out. The only way to make important decisions is to have all facts on the table. Real issues have been raised, and I am trying to put them together in some order so that I can formulate some clear questions. thanks to everyone for their input

terre

Realize that everyone has had different experiences in the cult.
Different perceptions too.
Some people --- even whole families
have been very hurt and traumatized by this cult.
No one testimony is the same.
If you don't like the gossipy parts,
don't read them.
This is a forum of many opinions and points of view.
No one really has control over what is said on this forum.
You have to sift through and make up your own mind.
But there is a running theme.
It is a cult.
You don’t have to agree.

Maybe we don’t all define what a “cult” is in the same way.
Maybe we don’t agree on how dangerous it is.

We all deal with our past in different ways.
Some like to vent with humor.
Some vent with anger.
Others like to vent with more serious essays.
The focus on one vent is theological, another political, another ethical…
But venting is the operative word.
The main thing is that we are using our critical thinking skills.
Something not allowed in the cult.

A lot of stuff can't be proven - that does not make it less valid.
Some of us do fear retaliation from the cult.
You know we are considered blasphemers and demons.
We have a problem with this idea.
We have a problem with a lot of Siddha’s ideas.

The important point in the Purushotam comments
was the fact that Siddha had him dress up as a transvestite to STAGE the video.
P. was an actor.
All of Siddha's videos were staged and contrived.
It was not reality T.V. at all! It was scripted.
It was phony baloney.
The whole audience was made to dress in certain ways
and asked scripted questions written by Siddha.
Siddha was not this inspirational person.
He was a manipulator and a fake.
A charismatic narcissist.

Why did we comply?
We grapple with this question in different ways.

But all these stories have a common theme running through.
[b:70ebd7b568]The Emperor Has No Clothes[/b:70ebd7b568].

*note- I knew Purushotam fairly well. He was a good man, but like the rest of us, also had his flaws. He left behind some great kids and at least one ex-wife. He was loved. I was sad to hear of his passing. Last I saw him – he was close to Katyayani, (once said to be a “pure devotee”).

Perhaps you can shed some light on the rift between Katyayani, Sudama, and Siddha?
Just know the policy of this forum prohibits anyone from flaming others or preaching.

Great movie titles Goog!
You made me laugh.
thanks.

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quotesman
Seems to me fearless leader and his followers put a lot of emphasis on avoiding demons and offenses. They seem to have similar ideas that many Christians do about things being black or white. If you disagree with Fearless Leader you must be a demon and offender. If you don't recognize Fearless Leaders greatness and pre-eminence you must have NO spiritual vision. I remember at one point I was told to get rid of my japa bag because people would make offenses and it would hurt them. It all seemed a little bizarre considering most Vaishnavas are very open about who they are and what they do, especially the chanting. Am I the only one who perceived this type of fanatic puritanical consciousness within the group?

No, you were not the only one to recognize this.
It's the CATCH-22 we had to break out of!
It's the age old technique to enslave the masses.
It was the opiate of opiates.