MEGALOMANIA - unreasonable conviction of one's own extreme greatness, goodness, or power.[/size:8cdee40aa4]

just-googling writes:
Although Eastern block countries are now officially "free", it seems as though the freedom of religion has not really caught on there yet.


This website claims that the court case was related to fears about the welfare of children.
[www.vrindavan.org]
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The mother of a new devotee girl was very upset, as is often the case when someone's child changes their religious belief and life style due to association with the Vaisnavas.

Their accusations were numerous. Some of them were as follows:
2. They transgress the customs of our country and manipulate our children.

... gone were the carefree days of playing drums in the jungles of Kauai and Maui with a chorus of rare bird-song and surrounded by beautiful trees! THE WAREHOUSE was now our reality! The "warehouse" was a large concrete building with no daylight and very high ceilings that was somehow cold and had a somewhat spooky feeling...


Yes I remember the warehouse, it was a cold and sterile place with no real view of the outside world. It had that dungeon kind of feeling with a hint of medieval castle ambiance. It really was a spooky haunted kind of place. The extension of one mans MEGALOMANIA and messianic delusions.
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Thanks, DD, for the info on Siddha's adventures in California (with the Queen Bee, hilarious!)... yea, sounds like a real humble kind of fellah!

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yoursister
When something reeks of $$$$$$$, deceptions, politics and condemnation there is no reflection of spiritual truth. Likewise, when a group or system infringes on your free-will it points to enslavement and spiritual vampirism.
..........
Who thinks "god" wants his boot licked?
Sounds more like Nazi protocol to me.

:wink:

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just-googling
From what I could glean over the internet, Tusta went to Poland to defend their religion in some sort of court case... Apparently they got off any charges. However, it appears as there was some fanatical Catholic element in Poland who were harrassing the devotees over there and there was some violence. They were tearing down their posters, stoning their homes (not sure if fire bombs were used). Although Eastern block countries are now officially "free", it seems as though the freedom of religion has not really caught on there yet.

This is also another example of how religion seems to be a breeding ground for conflict, hatred, and ultimately even war!

Not much has changed in Poland since the days of the holocaust. Poland has never been famous for religious tolerance. Maybe technically free, but not mentally free of a history of pogroms and severe prejudices, especially against the Jews. It's one thing to prove genuine civil rights abuses and another thing to trump up rediculous accusations. It's one thing to educate people about the dangers of cults and problems associated with membership and quite another to repeat "Crystal Nacht" against innocent people.

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just-googling
From what I could glean over the internet, Tusta went to Poland to defend their religion in some sort of court case... Apparently they got off any charges. However, it appears as there was some fanatical Catholic element in Poland who were harrassing the devotees over there and there was some violence. They were tearing down their posters, stoning their homes (not sure if fire bombs were used). Although Eastern block countries are now officially "free", it seems as though the freedom of religion has not really caught on there yet.

This is also another example of how religion seems to be a breeding ground for conflict, hatred, and ultimately even war!

Not much has changed in Poland since the days of the holocaust. Poland has never been famous for religious tolerance. Maybe technically free, but not mentally free of a history of pogroms and severe prejudices, especially against the Jews. It's one thing to prove genuine civil rights abuses and another thing to trump up rediculous accusations. It's one thing to educate people about the dangers of cults and problems associated with membership and quite another to repeat "Crystal Nacht" against innocent people.

In America we have the liberty to believe as we wish as long as we don't violate the rights of others. We also are inborn with the freedom to be stupid or wise, to use our intelligence or allow ourselves to be deluded.

"Siddhas" and cult leaders will always be around to exploit our tendencies to no longer take responsibility for ourselves and desires for easy answers. To validate and convince ourselves that our guru is true, we prosletize others and find criticism of our guru unbearable. I marvel at our capacity to overlook B.S. and submit ourselves to detrimental and humiliating situations.

We can waste years of our lives - even a lifetime - ignoring our G*d-given inner voice and authority, because we believe the lies that we are less than the guru. We allow ourselves to be manipulated into believing that we can never reach the exalted spiritual levels of our guru. To listen to this voice we are told that we are offensive and spiritually doomed. So we shut down what we know to be true. We become dependent, envious and ultimately cynical. If we don't free ourselves, then we become part of the [b:e0e9902ac7][i:e0e9902ac7]CON[/i:e0e9902ac7][/b:e0e9902ac7]. Like moths, we are drawn to and suck the energy of the artificial lights of the guru instead of generating our own authentic lights with genuine understanding and good deeds. Out of our laziness and lack of faith in ourselves we seek "luciferic"* experiences of divine ecstacy through drugs or gurus, blinding us to real spiritual experiences. If we wake up, we have to face the embarassment and waste of time that we had become one of Siddha's many b*tches.

In my posts about the Krishna group in Hawaii I have laid out some history and the M.O. of Siddha so people can make informed decisions about getting involved in this group or not. It is my opinion that unless you want to be an energy vampire and guru "ho", then carefully examine these stories. Devadasi, just a googling, and my posts are all acurate and true to the best of our recollections. I wish more people would come out and add to these posts. We are like the little boy in the story, "The Emperor's New Clothes" who gets ostracised for pointing out that the Emperor is naked. Siddha has been stripped naked of any real spiritual enlightenment and been conned himself by the tailors of delusions.

I personally don't have a problem with Siddha for marrying, making money, starting businesses, living in mansions, or of being a teacher and leader. I also don't have a problem with him wanting privacy and secluding himself. If he wants to live a pathological life, that's his business. I do have a problem with the lies, deceit, and [b:e0e9902ac7]fraud[/b:e0e9902ac7] that he perpetuates on everyone, mostly to himself.

[*luciferic - the light bearer that blinds]

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"Siddhas" and cult leaders will always be around to exploit our tendencies to no longer take responsibility for ourselves and desires for easy answers.

We allow ourselves to be manipulated into believing that we can never reach the exalted spiritual levels of our guru.

If he wants to live a pathological life, that's his business.

Fraud and deceit designed to strip minors and naive adults of their freedom, will, and money is never acceptable.

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initiate

In America we have the liberty to believe as we wish as long as we don't violate the rights of others.

The above statement includes the rights of children who cannot defend themselves.

In my experience, I did not see any underage children targeted by this group at all, as Barbara keeps claiming. The harm I saw was due to a series of [b:588f5d03b7][i:588f5d03b7]broken marriages[/i:588f5d03b7][/b:588f5d03b7] due to stress and poverty. The percentage of broken marriages was not significantly higher than in the general population.

The stories are damning enough without manufacturing claims of child abuse in the Chris Butler group in Hawaii. If this is happening now, I have not seen it verified or know of any legal action taken against the group or individuals in Hawaii.

I have no knowledge about any school in the Phillipines associated with Siddha. There are, however several convictions and court records of child abuse within the ISKCON organization.

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barabara
Fraud and deceit designed to strip minors and naive adults of their freedom, will, and money is never acceptable in my book.

It is never acceptable in anyone's book. That is why we need to be ever vigilant and take responsibility for our own lives.