I'm sorry for cursing so much but I'm just so enraged by all of this. I was so naive and easily manipulated into his scam which (temporarily I hope) drained me of my social identity, personality, goals/dreams and thoughts. I wish there was more media coverage of how much of a scam this is. I watched an interview of his where he was asked "do you ever feel sad or angry?" he replied saying something along the lines of "I never feel sad or angry, I just am. I am always in an intense state of joy because I am present." We are humans and humans have lots of emotions...not just stillness. In order to interact with other people we need to have a diverse range of emotions. People need to be informed about this. I did not fully realize that I was brainwashed until I came upon this site. People need to see through this before they all are lost with the trees and the flowers and ET.

Its very common to feel a healthy anger after one realizes they have been duped and manipulated and exploited.
Sects and cults try to make people feel guilty for that too!
Cursing and doing what one is not "supposed" to do, one would think is very healthy, to break out of the system.

Unfortunately the mass media has no interest in this, they seem to just have corporate interests to market books and products. The only exception seem to be the occassional investigative reporter.

Those who get hurt, are the ones who actually try to APPLY the nonsense from the books and DVD's.
Its easy for Tolle to pretend he has no emotions anymore, he can hide behind an internet camera, and in limos and on his estate, and play-act on TV.

Its a sham.

Does anyone know of any recovery plans/ideas for someone who brainwashed themselves with this stuff. Is it just a matter of time for someone to snap back into their old selves and for their mind to fully function again? I'm not trying to make this a self-help topic for myself because that's not what this forum is about. I'm just wondering if anyone has gone through a similar event and has gotten out of it? I feel like my mind is literally numb from all of this stuff. I also looked into BK. She is preaching the same nutty ideas as ET. This woman would make her followers give up their most valued possessions and then "discard" of it. Highly doubt that.

Quote I read: On another exercise, they were instructed to gift wrap (or something like that, but it was "wrapped") something of perceived value to them that they felt that they couldn't live without and give it to 'the work'. My retarded, gullible, insanely stupid, mentally ill family members (there was my blood relative and their spouse at this place) handed over near $100,000 worth of jewelry..... When I heard this, I almost punched my family member square on the kisser.... I still can't get over the stupidity.....

The kind of therapist who would most likely be able to help you would be practicing "cognitive therapy", but you should learn enough about it so that you can question a therapist to make sure they really do it and are not just using the term as a buzz-word.

Your first session with any therapist should not be "therapy" at all, but should be a frank discussion of the parameters of the therapy, what is your goal and how the therapist expects to help you reach that goal. Include questions about privacy policies, here. Especially if there may have to be some family involvment at any point. You have the right to decide whether or not and how your relatives and associates might be informed or included in your therapy.

The thing to do is research, research, research! I just googled and found pages of "therapists" who actually use Tolle as their guru.

Before you go to see any particular therapist, google that person with the word "tolle" or any other tolle buzz-word.

Have at least part of your initial contacts in written form, via email or letter, so that you can have clear evidence of what your request was at the beginning of the therapeutic relationship and what the therapist said they would provide.

You can do this after a conversation by sending an email saying "Just to summariaze what we talked about, bla bla bla" and that way you will have a continuous record of your own path with a therapist. Most therapists use contracts but they may not cover your actual expectations since they are mainly legal & financial stuff.

This is not only for your self-protection in the initial stages of seeking out a good therapist but it can also help you in the future by giving you a history of your own recovery.

Unfortunately, most cult damage does include relapse at a future time, but fortunately, you can be better prepared to keep the relapse brief and minimize the harm if you have a written record in journal or letter form that can remind you of the path you already have trodden.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/19/2010 01:22AM by dsm.

A possible recovery technique:

Find a picture of whoever has loused up your head. Put it in a place where you can have a pee.

Or, if you or a buddy owns a shredder, place picture of X in shredder. Or visualize doing so. Shred away. Use material as compost---or as loo paper.

Urinal targets with pictures of despised persons are available so use some inspiration here. (google "urinal target" and "satirical" or "political" and see what comes up. That alone may give you a much needed laugh.

Quote

The Anticult wrote:

By the way, the swearing and anger would be a healthy thing coming out of a sham-scam like Eckhart Tolle. That is probably about reinstalling healthy, natural boundaries, which were violated by Eckhart Tolle's techniques.

Brainwashed 90 wrote "I'm sorry for cursing so much but I'm just so enraged by all of this"

The Anticult wrote

Quote

Its very common to feel a healthy anger after one realizes they have been duped and manipulated and exploited.

Sects and cults try to make people feel guilty for that too!

BW...

I'd like to add something to what The Anticult has mentioned. It isnt only Sects and cults
which socialize us to feel guilty for having healthy and appropriate feelings of rage after discovering we have sold a bill of goods.

There is something that sociologists have termed 'cultic milieu'. This is not a cult or sect. Its a large and wide social network in which one is likely to hear about a wide range of human potential products and commerical gurus. It is a setting in which we are socialized, informally, but no less powerfully, to avoid negative thinking and to feel ashamed of anger.

This cultic milieu is the place where one is frowned on or given disapproving looks if one expresses skepticism, suggests the application of critical thinking, or advises that one run a fact check/background check on a guru or group.

The cultic milieu is the place where one is forbidden to be 'judgemental' and told to avoid victim mentatlity if one dares report being betrayed.

And where the rule is pity the perpetrator and blame the victim.

In cultic milieu someone can ride into town and say they experienced spontaneous enlightenment and no one will wonder whether its factually true.

The story will be swallowed whole.

A common theme of cultic milieu is some version of:

Turn off your mind and open your heart

An example:

Quote

Listen to Your Heart, Not Your Head - Oprah.comJun 11, 2010 ... Find out why listening to your heart is much more valuable than always making
decisions with just your head. ... While the mind is the content of who you are,
your heart is your essence. Your true heart is not ... How Hot Is Your Anger?
Cool Yourself Off! ... Turn Your Workplace into a Caring Place ...
[www.oprah.com] - 48k - Cached - Similar pages

(Note: Oprah has not lost her mind. She's head of a media nexus and businesswoman)

Here are two more examples:

Lose your Mind Find Your Heart

Quote

Lose Your Mind, Find Your Heart Jan 3, 2008 ... Lose your mind, find your heart is a 4-week teleclass beginning Tuesday January
8th at 9am MST. This class is led by Leila (CK) Reyes and ...
[divinepurposeunleashed.com] - 32k - Cached - Similar pages


Amazon.com: Jesus Drives Me Crazy! (0025986232245): Leonard Sweet ...Jesus Drives Me Crazy! shows how, by losing your mind, you can find your soul.
.... is something that every Christian needs to hear and take to heart. ...
[www.amazon.com] - 246k - Cached - Similar pages

By contrast, these commerical gurus have phone numbers for PR firms, IT techs,
accountants and investment advisors available at a fingers flick.

Commerical gurus get to use their minds whenever they want, while telling us to stop our minds, drop our egos.

Double standard.

For more about cultic milieu read here:

[forum.culteducation.com]

Finally--why does it have to be a choice between mind and heart?

Why not both?

In fact, I'd say we think and feel in at least three domains

Head, Heart and Gut

And all need to work in unity.

Here's a thread on that subject.


IDEAS on how to KICK-OUT byron katie from your Mind-Soul-Life forever [forum.culteducation.com]

Honestly...if it weren't for you guys I would still be listening to Eckhart and reading his book wasting my life away. Thank you for all the great advice on how to rid this guy from my mind and all his ideas. I thank god there are people like you all who see through these types of people and are bringing awareness to the public. Not only that, but also your helping other people escape from the mental trauma and transformation these money hungry gurus create. Thanks

Quote
dsm
Unfortunately, most cult damage does include relapse at a future time, but fortunately, you can be better prepared to keep the relapse brief and minimize the harm if you have a written record in journal or letter form that can remind you of the path you already have trodden.

Do you have evidence to support the statement above? I haven't seen any, and I can't think of any reason why it would necessarily be true.

People relapse (or cult-hop), especially those who don't get effective counseling or who don't have access to the resources on this site. But it doesn't have to happen.

You are right, Christa, it doesn't have to happen, but it often does. It is part of human nature, after all, that we are vulnerable to cults and the recovery from one cult experience does not include a cure of our human nature.

But as I said, getting good therapy can leave you with the tools so that the next time your "cult buttons" get pushed, you don't fall as hard or as far.

I really hope I don't relapse into what I've been going through. The disconnection from myself, my family, my friends and my mind has been so extreme that I honestly don't know if I could go through it again. I was in a constant state of disorientation, loneliness and social isolation for a whole year. All I would think about is "there is no time" "you are just being" "memories are not real" "your thoughts are not real". I feel like my mind has completely changed because of this idiot. I hope over time this will vanish and I will be able to reconnect with my old life. I truly lost myself and this guy really made me believe all of this stuff. It's still ingrained in my head but at least now I am more aware of it thanks to this site. I realized that he is just a man like any of us. He is not some higher being that he portrays himself to be.