dsm, I appreciate all you have said abt meditation, etc. I am also Catholic but leaning towards Buddhism (I feel they can exist together). Have been meditating for some years now and find it to be useful in many ways.
Which brings up another question....while browsing the Gaia Souls site I realized that many of the members were also "Lightworkers" as they called themselves, so I went to the site "Lightworkers.org" and found that this site is advising members to download and listen to something called Hemi-Sync mediation.
I watched a couple of videos by the founder who I felt to be rather odd....expressionless, and monotone delivery. Anyway, they advise to listen to this mediation with ear phones but I played it without b/c of my caution re anythg which would screw around with my brain. It sounds to me very much like hypnosis rather than meditation as I know it..just amazes me that people jump into these kinds of mind altering activities without any kind of caution.
I will take what you've said to heart altho' I believe myself to be past the stage of being drawn in to cult like groups....that said, I find I am watching the sky and using binoculars to inspect the stars much more than I used to LOL!!

I used to hang out in the old "spiritweb" group and there was a cluster of "lightworkers" there. They are big on hypnosis and they are pretty good at getting people to co-operate in teamwork. Most of them are fully conscious that they are running a con, IMHO.

Are you familiar with Thomas Merton, the Buddhist/Trappist monk who once wrote for the Village Voice? (I think it was, or maybe it was the New Yorker) I am reading his "Asian Journal" now. Great writer.

dsm, I have heard of Merton but haven't read anythg by him. Just had a look at his bio on goggle tho' and it looks interesting so I might look into it. There is a book called "The Zen of Catholicism" which was apparently a big influence on his thinking. I think I might try to get a copy. Thanks for the lead on yet another internet adventure.

Hi again dsm,
sent a msg earlier but b/c I am in a "developing country" the internet is sporadic and I don't think is went thru. Anyway, what I said was that I had heard of Thomas Merton but know nothing about him.
Looked up bio via gopgle and find that he is an intriquing character. Haven't read anything abt written by him but certainly will investigate. I did notice however that there is a book called "The Zen of Catholicisim" which he says left an important impression on him. I think I might try this one first.
Thanks for yet another reason to stay connected to our new technology. I always thought, by the way, that being indoctrinated into the Catholic religion early in life was like an innoculation against cults later b/c Catholicism is so imbued with mysterys, regimens, etc., that it is the ultimate cult onto itself, and best of all, it is the truth of course.
I'd be intereste in hearing your take on this.

Its interesting that virtually every single cultish sect, is trying to cash in on the 2012 mania and delusions.
They started a couple years ago.

The 2012 delusion is ideal for cultish sects, as its far enough away to bilk people of money and unpaid labor for a ferw years, yet close enough to motivate their followers.

Then when the "end of the world" scam fails again, like it has a hundred times before, they will just pick a new date, 2020 probably.

The bottom line is that any sect, group, or cult who is trying to use "2012" is exposing their own scam, or penchant for uncritical and delusional thinking.

The Bernard Poolman Desteni sect is using 2012 [forum.culteducation.com]

Ching Hai 2012 propaganda [forum.culteducation.com]

A NASA Scientist Answers the Top 20 Questions About 2012 [www.skeptic.com]

Thank you for that article, Anticult. Here is question & answer #19, and it is exactly what makes me hoppin' mad about the media:

19. What about the scary ads for the new film 2012? They tell us to look at these Internet sites to verify the doomsday threat.

The pseudoscientific claims about Nibiru and a doomsday in 2012, together with distrust of the government, are being amplified by publicity for the new film from Columbia Pictures titled 2012, to be released in November 2009. The film’s trailer, appearing in theaters and on their website, shows a tidal wave breaking over the Himalayas, with the following words: “How would the governments of our planet prepare 6 billion people for the end of the world? [long pause] They wouldn’t. [long pause] Find out the Truth. Google search 2012.”

The film publicity includes a faux scientific website for “The Institute for Human Continuity”, which is entirely fictitious. According to this website, the IHC is dedicated to scientific research and public preparedness. Its mission is the survival of humanity. The website explains that the Institute was founded in 1978 by international leaders of government, business, and science. They say that in 2004, IHC scientists confirmed with 94% certainty that the world would be destroyed in 2012. This website encourages people to register for a lottery to select those who will be saved; a colleague submitted the name of her cat, which was accepted. According to Wikipedia, creating this sort of fake website is a new advertising technique called “Viral Marketing,” by analogy with computer viruses.

Quote
new2this
...... Thanks for yet another reason to stay connected to our new technology. I always thought, by the way, that being indoctrinated into the Catholic religion early in life was like an innoculation against cults later b/c Catholicism is so imbued with mysterys, regimens, etc., that it is the ultimate cult onto itself, and best of all, it is the truth of course.
I'd be intereste in hearing your take on this.

I did start a thread intending to open a discussion of Catholics and cults because indeed we do have both a special historical relationship to them as well as a vulnerability in some cases to certain kinds of cults. There are also groups that imitate the official Catholic churches and some of them are very cultic. Here is the link: [forum.culteducation.com]

It would be off-topic for this thread but you might want to pick it up in that thread or start a new one.

Great Skeptic article: 'there will always be a need for a mysterious Planet X'

"And on December 22, 2012 there will be a new pseudoscientific cock-and-bull story making the rounds and the whole circus will start all over again, because no matter how many new celestial bodies are found in our solar system, there will always be a need for a mysterious Planet X."



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/13/2010 07:35AM by Stoic.

I think the worst impact of this 2012 crap is on young people trying to make plans for their graduations. There are too many adults in the community colleges and places like that who are exploiting their gullibility just to keep them attentive in classes.

[www.sbc.edu]

That is just one link following my rigoruous research/debate method of asserting something in a post and then googling for about three seconds.