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Sandman
Daryll, presumably you have joined this forum in order to try and reassure people that Desteni is not a cult.
I have already shown in this thread from the beginning how it is that Desteni has the hallmarks of a fledgling cult. Others agree with me, evidence can be found in various places on the web. Although you might not realise it, mostly everything you and Andrea have written here only confirms that Desteni may very well be a cult in the making.
This is just an opinion of yours and others that share it. An opinion is not a fact nor is it an accurate account of an experience. As an opinion, it holds as much validity as a beLIEf, which is after all, just an acceptance of a statement one would like to "believe is true." I have no reason to misrepresent our points, which are specific and based on common sense. As we continue this dialogue, others may see a little of what we stand for.
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Cultic aspects of Judaism and Christianity are documented at this forum. It is also common knowledge, but I was referring to the ideas you have described, not anyone else's.
Would you not allow me to make the point that what can be 'considered cultic' is meaningless in the context of any comparable praxis, especially that of the Judeo-Christian tradition? Of course, we do not offer 'beliefs,' but common sense application that needs to be lived to be considered valid. That is where we stand. Not on 'beliefs.'
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Then you regard humanity as evil. Maybe you don't like to call it that, but that is how you speak of it.
That sounds awfully like what mainstream Christians 'believe,' doesn't it? I do have a working knowledge of the Christian Bible, and well aware of Paul's doctrine of Original Sin. The 'sinful nature' of human beings is peculiarly a Christian theological point. I haven't gone through every single thread here, and forgive the opinion if I am wrong, but I assume that this is a 'Christian'-based program here. Our point is this: the true nature of humanity is reflective as the state of humanity in its totality: slavery, poverty, exploitation, war, the abuse of children and animals and so on. We can engage in word games or agree that we see the same thing in front of our eyes: that the human being's true nature is self-interest, abuse, murder and total disregard of everything and everyone except themselves. It's common sense to realize that who you are is what you do, accept and allow, isn't it?
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You believe in Sunette's role as portal, which might be more of a joke than fraudulent, if it wasn't for the fact that some naive or gullible people are fooled by it. You believe it's real when it is an act. How it has developed as an act and how it is carried out exactly, I don't know, but it has been suggested by some commentators that she is speaking on behalf of Bernard Poolman and repeating information and ideas he has given her.
I have you at a disadvantage, Sandman. As I type this reply, Sunette is in the next room. I see her every day, I listen to what she experiences in the dimensions and I talk to the dimensional beings through the portal. I have an experience to refer to while you have only an opinion. If you were here with us and were able to test the portal for yourself, well, you might consider the possibility of changing your perspective. But we both know that's highly unlikely. The fact remains that what is real is a young woman of 23 years old with no religious background or training of any kind who can write hundreds of articles on the site and has appeared in nearly 1000 videos covering an impossibly wide range of topics and perspectives. You may believe that the simplest explanation is fraud, but the simplest explanation is that this is a real phenomena, and also indicative of the true nature of humanity in regards to the equal and one principle.
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There's common sense and there's Desteni-speak "common sense", as I already pointed out. It's jargon. Desteni defies all common sense.
Turning up the rhetoric, eh? Okay, I'll bite. Please explain how the practice of self-honesty and self-forgiveness "defies common sense."
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It is quite clear from reading or viewing the Desteni material that it is founded on beliefs that are by any measure, bizarre, if not delusional. The most obvious one being the idea that Sunette is an "interdimensional portal" which would strain the credulity of even the most dedicated follower of New Age channeling.
Yes, the "Lightworkers" are just as distressed at the message as you seem to be. Hey, lightworkers are some the most selfish creatures on this planet. They would experience an "ascension" to escape the hell of this world while leaving others behind to fend for themselves. Talk about 'delusional.' Tim LaHaye has nothing on these guys.
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You also believe that humankind was created by a "race of beings" called the Annunaki, a notion which has been lifted from the ancient astronaut pulp literature of hack scholar Zachariah Sitchen and from Amitakh Stanford of Xee-A Twelve ... [
www.xeeatwelve.net]
Stanford comes close for the wrong reasons, but she hasn't realized that her information is just a corrupted remix of Zoroastrianism and Eastern Mysticism. Sitchen is more interesting. But he hasn't an inkling what the Annunaki were really all about.
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But I don't need to list all your strange beliefs. You know what they are and anyone else can find out by following links in this thread. Call them something other than "beliefs", it makes no difference.
Most of what you refer to is information, which is useless. The practice of self-honesty and self-forgiveness and upholding the principle of equal and one is what we DO. We don't play word games. We purify ourselves with the practical application thereof, which makes what we write and say real. I notice that you have been conspicuously silent on your perspective on our practice of self-honesty and self-forgiveness. Fascinating.
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Can you tell us why Bernard Poolman seems to keep such a low profile as re: the public face of Desteni? Why aren't there any videos where we can see him talking when there are so many of Sunette and others? I mean, considering he is your main man.
You know what is so typical of human nature? Making the messenger more important than the message. Bernard is far too charismatic for his own good and would have people fall all over him and make him some pop star guru like Tolle and Chopra. No thanks.
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"Equal and one" is another Desteni key phrase.
Yes. It's the cornerstone that the builders refused, lol.
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Previously, you said you venerated nothing. I fail to see how you can venerate Life and at the same time think the "true nature of humanity is played out in every moment as self-interested, abusive destruction of each other and every living form on this planet". I suppose you think the nature of humanity is not part of Life.
No, it is not. And you fail to see the common sense with my statement. If you abuse life HOW CAN YOU BE EQUAL TO IT? Assign this to any aspect in your life and prove it to yourself if it is true. You are equal to what you accept in yourself and in your world. What are you equal to if you abuse and rape a child? Life or abuse? I mean, I'm talking common sense here, not jargon. You cannot be equal and one with life if you abuse it. You can only be equal to the abuse. If you are a woman and you accept and allow yourself to be beaten by your boyfriend or husband, are you equal and one with 'love,' or the abuse of love? And that is how we have existed, within the acceptance and the allowance of abuse and self-interest. It is time to wake up and see what you are really doing by not standing up for life. Humanity has made a mockery of "Life" and "Love" by holding onto opinions that bring no honor to either instead of acting to bring Heaven on Earth. Call it jargon, but you can plainly see this is the true condition that we find ourselves.
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A lot of people regard it as important that they should be honest with themselves. You will also find that there is a very large sector of the populace who "venerate" life and others as equals. It's not a big deal.
"A lot of people" could mean any number. 100? 2000? A million? "Should be honest with themselves" is not the same as BEING it, of course. And how can one take seriously your statement that "a very large sector of the populace who venerate life?" These points are invalid because you're just making statements that sound good but can't possibly prove.
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It's not something that only happens at the Desteni Cult Farm, as you call it. But once again, "self-honesty" is just another Desteni catch-phrase, so talking about having "self-honesty" in Desteni is not the same as self-honesty as it would normally be understood in common sense terms.
You seem to be running out of steam. Exactly how is the Desteni way of "talking about self-honesty" not "the same" as what it is normally accepted and understood by the man in the street? Are we talking in code or what?