Byron Katie does tons of her fake Love-Bombing.
Her seminars are literally Love-Bombing incarnate, from all of the BK followers.
Many people are love-starved, and that is the best way to hook them in.

Your definitions of psychological tactics and other resources are helping. I recognize what love-bombing is now! Thanks for all your continuing help, it's really assisting me. Especially Anti Cult and Corboy.

Anti Cult, you seem to know New Thought so well it's scary, and you could define my own experiences better than I, and articulate the definition of New Thought, which I didn't even know was a movement. I thought it was the truth, and that ascension was actually going to happen. And when you paralleled it with other religions, and when someone else applied it to cult signs when I couldn't see that, it really is helping.
Anti Cult, when I was reading your posts on various threads, especially the LOA and Oprah one, it was like you could read my mind... And here I was struggling with trying to explain everything so people could understand. How nice and refreshingly validating it is to see there are other people who criticize Oprah and her endorsement of Rhonda Byrne and all things new wage (I really do love that term), her egotistical personality, and her fanatic over-enthusiasm. As virtually nobody speaks out against her, I thought my feelings were wrong, or I was missing something. If you're the only one who feels a certain way, or you're the minority on something, it makes you feel out of the loop and like there's something you're not getting you know? So it helps to find a group of people like yourselves who validate someone's feelings, and who can spot flaws in a flawed way of thinking, because it teaches me how to do it on my own later.

Rhonda Byrne's theme song should be "All You Need is Love" by the Beatles. Come to think of it, that should be the song for the whole movement...


You all are so nice. Thank you for your continued support and assistance. I wish I could meet some of you.

Warmest regards,
Brynhild, USA

Those who actually believed in New Thought, so much that they tried to prove it was correct, and had the personal integrity to research it honestly, find out that its a destructive self-delusion.

The book The Demon Haunted World by Carl Sagan is brilliant for all of this. [en.wikipedia.org]

I think people don't speak out against Oprah's bullshit, as they fear her, in the sense of getting banned from her show. One appearance on her show can make you a millionaire.

Its funny, the few who REALLY believe in The Secret, in many cases get quite chubby. Why? They think they can think themselves thin! Doesn't work.


This is a good start point for New Thought.
New Thought (aka Mind Cure or Mind Science) movement [www.skepdic.com]


The internet is an excellent resource for people to access information about cultish groups, one could NEVER have accessed a decade ago, anywhere.

This chart is interesting about New Thought history. [websyte.com]

Hi Brynhild,

Thanks for responding.

I suspect a lot of us were primed as targets for cults, but the good thing is we can learn from our experiences, become stronger and share what we've learned with others.

Unfortunately, our society is becoming increasingly narcissistic and people who desire more power, money, love or better health can easily fall for this nonsense. Living in a disposable society with a fast food mindset we want shortcuts. No wonder so many people turn to Oprah, Dr. Phil or Anthony Robbins for answers.

Good parents raise their children so that by the time the kids are ready to leave home they will have the tools they need to make better choices and therefore create successful lives. In other words, good parents raise their kids so they can leave the nest and lead sane, independent lives. If self-help, New Wage or diet books worked, then one book or one seminar is all we would need to help us on our way. Instead, people become dependent on more and more hits to boost their temporary feel-good-I-can-conquer-the-world high. And the New Wage gurus wouldn't have it any other way because they have expensive lifestyles to maintain.

How can a person be successful at work or in their relationships if they're spending all their spare time sitting on their butts reading the latest instruction manual from Rhonda Byrne or Byron Katie? Life is to be lived; it's about action.

The world needs more leaders (NOT gurus). We need people who look for answers and then act upon them to make it a better place for all. Cults encourage us to become mindless followers. Instead of becoming stronger and more empowered as these cult leaders promise, followers become victims to the brainwashing, resulting in more power and more money for these liars.

Imagine if the founders of Mothers Against Drunk Drivers or the Humane Society didn't create these groups to help make a positive difference. What if these people instead sat around parroting mindless feel good affirmations, whilst lovingly gazing at their visionboards?

Cult leaders are narcissists. They don't care about us because it's all about their need for money and power. At the same time they encourage us to become needy, side tracked, passive narcissists believing that there is a magical Santa out there whose sole purpose is to grant our every wish as we sit on a couch thinking the right thoughts. These people that we empty our minds and bank accounts for are like drug dealers who benefit from our addiction to what they are all too happy to sell.

The emperor is so naked! Pretending otherwise is self-destructive. If we stopped buying into their lies, they would be forced to get real jobs like the rest of us. Imagine Anthony Robbins asking if you would like fries with your order or Byron Katie having to clean public wash rooms.

Thank you Stoic and The Anticult!! "Love bombing" is exactly right.

Re. New Thought, thank you for the links. I'm embarrassed to admit I have five books by Emmet Fox. No matter how much I tried, this stuff didn't work for me. If I could have back all the time and money I've wasted over the years on these books and seminars!!!

Here's an excerpt from Fox's book The Mental Equivalent. It's twisted, superstitious thinking and as usual people are blamed for what happens to them.

Quote
A man said: "I entered a town in eastern Europe during a typhoid epidemic. I did not know there was typhoid. I never thought about it. I didn't know the language and couldn't read the papers. They were printed in Greek. Yet I got typhoid. How do you account for that?"

Quote
The explanation is that he believed in typhoid fever. He believed that one could catch it from others, and therefore he had a subconscious fear of it. He subconsciously knew there was typhoid around, and as it always does, the subconscious enacted his real beliefs and fears and presented him with a case of typhoid.

Quote
If he really had believed that he was a child of God who could not be hurt by anything, he would not have contracted typhoid. page 26.

I used to live near a Unity church. I'm not Christian, but for some reason I was curious. I found the sermons were cotton candy, feel good fluff. All about making our lives abundantly better, but nothing about reaching out and helping others. Very superficial, I can't see how any of this would help people grow spiritually. I noticed their classes highlighted prosperity and their book store was filled with New Thought and assorted New Wage materials. The church also hosted a movie premiere of Conversations with God. Meanwhile, the minister's wife has diabetes. I would like to hear the minister's or Emmet Fox's explanation for that.

Here's an example of New Thought and how it's supposed to work from The Golden Key by Emmet Fox

Quote
Scientific prayer will enable you to get yourself or anyone else, out of any difficulty. It is the golden key to harmony and happiness.

...

Quote
Beginners often get startling results the first time, for all that is essential is to have an open mind and sufficient faith to try the experiment. Apart from that, you may hold any views on religion, or none.

Quote
As for the actual method of working, like all fundamental things, it is simplicity itself. All you have to do is this: Stop thinking about the difficulty, whatever it is, and think about God instead. This is the complete rule, and if only you will do this, the trouble, whatever it is, will disappear. It makes no difference what kind of trouble it is. It may be a big thing or a little thing: it may concern health, finance, a lawsuit, a quarrel, an accident, or anything else conceivable: but whatever it is, stop thinking about it and think of God instead -- that is all you have to do.

Quote
It could not be simpler, could it? God could scarcely have made it simpler, and yet it never fails to work when given a fair trial.

...

If I was in the midst of drowning, rather than applying scientific prayer, I would prefer someone do something to help me!

Yes, if you "really" believed in New Thought, then they do say you would not get Typhoid, or any other disease.

If you get it, its because you believed you would get it, due to "race mind" unconscious programming, or whatever.
If a meteorite hits you on the head, you attracted that.

The delusion is that they say you control your entire external "reality" by your Consciousness.
Its a terrible trap. And its just simply wrong.
Inner thoughts, do not "directly" control exterior reality.

If they really believed that, and could Demonstrate it, why doesn't one of them go on TV, and move a toothpick 1 inch with their mind? That should be easy.
Why don't they prove it? It would be easy to set up experiments, that can be tested.

Because is a self-delusion, based on vague platitudes, like, I got rid of my cold by New Thought, in only took me 5 days.

The bottom line is they tell people they can achieve Ascension, and have the supernatural miracle powers of Jesus Christ, like in the bible. Ok great, then lets see some loaves and fishies people!

Its the Confirmation Bias. [www.skepdic.com]

Yup, this New Wage stuff sounds more than familiar...

But Anticult, you are forgetting one tiny thing. See, the ascension people say you can be like Jesus, but if you challenge them to make loves and fishies appear, they'll come back with:
"it takes time for humanity to ascend and achieve that level. It's not easy. We're not there yet."
Or:
"you're interpreting it physically, and this interpretation is incorrect. It must be interpreted metaphorically/spiritually/on the inside." Be interpreted in an intangible way that noone can prove.

See, I think I'm on to these people/groups, finally. They always have a justification, an answer for everything. So you can't win, because if you try to discredit them by pointing out their extravagant lifestyle, or their flaws in their logic, they'll weasel out of it by finding something you say that they can partially agree with so it'd look like you have it partly right but not quite, and they have the majority right. Or they'll totally disagree with you and justify their lifestyle and logic by staying you misinterpreted everything they said. So either way, they're credible, you're not. They're always right and you're always wrong, whether partly or wholly. And they're the ones who preach nonjudgment, looking within, you have all the answers, unconditional love, blah blah blah.

See, the thing of trying to point out errors to someone and then they get all flustered and don't have a comeback answer is how I generally discredit people or figure out the holes in their logic. Because if they get flustered and can't answer challenges, it sends up a red flag to me. But these New Wage people don't do that. Their answers are ready-made and they never get flustered at all, or if they do, they cover it up so I don't notice it, and I cannot see facial expressions anyway, and people's voices can be highly desceiving. So I thought their methods must work and I must be out of the loop because no matter what I thought, they always had an answer for. That is why it was so hard and took me so long to admit I was part of a cult, if even an unconventional one. I saw cults on TV so I thought I knew the clues. But you must admit, in a sick, twisted way, you gotta hand it to these people. They are so slick, if they weren't doing what they were doing now, they could've used their talents to help an untold enormous amount of people, and the world would not be in the state it was in. They could downsize their extravagant lifestyles and say, "I don't need that." and give money from book sales and seminar talks to people on the street.

I did not know people like Rhonda Byrne, Dr. Phil, Oprah and other gurus (they don't call themselves that, preach humility and say they're just like us) have private jets and medical personnel. They do not mention this. Their behavior, actions and words don't match, yet they tell us to always be in aleignment. I thought since they said that, they practiced what they preached. Why else would they teach it, I thought. Aren't they hypocrites then? If you know you are a hypocrite, why bother teaching things? I mean, how can you live with yourself when you know you're not living what you say?

That's like a voice teacher making students perform even though he/she doesn't sing anymore and claims to sing all the time when they don't. I did a lot of performing and then decided I wanted to do exclusively teaching. I still sing informally, and would like to get back into choral music if the right group for me came along, but I'm honest about that with my students if I'm asked. It's like the coach who doesn't play sports anymore, or gets injured while his/her athletes remain healthy, and when called on it, she blames circumstances out of her control for her myriad physical ailments brought on by her own training. Claims to be doing everything right and is never wrong. I know someone like that.

How can you live with yourself if you're a hypocrite? And if Rhonda Byrne knows The Secret, why did she have to write another book? I mean, it looks like a rehash of the Secret to me. All these New Wage gurus, whoever they are, say the more they repeat things the more people they can reach, but I wonder.

I'm generally finding that when asked a question, whether it's a challenge or a request to explain things, make them easy to understand, whatever the question is: I find that people's responses to questions are very telling. A lot of narcicistic, self-centered people become defensive and put the blame on the questioner. Those qre red flags for me now.

When I was a teenager, I remember Oprah saying, if people get defensive or have a negative reaction of any kind, it's usually due to something in themselves, and it's never about the other person. If you remember nothing else, remember that, she said. And I did. But I did not realize the implications of that till I read an article someone postered on another thread here, about how society apologizes with "I'm sorry *you* got offended, or *you* feel that way, but I have nothing to do with your interpretation of things or response to them. You have your own issues with yourself if you respond negatively and I have nothing to do with that." Nobody ever says, "I'm sorry if I said anything to hurt you. I did not mean to." anymore.

Cause people do or say things to hurt others. The New Wage movement says, noone can hurt you unless you allow them. You are invincible. You are a child of God, Abundance/ happiness, the good stuff is your birthright. Prosperity conciousness, they call it. Sal Rachele and Rhonda Byrne say that. If you don't have money, you feel subconciously like you don't deserve it.

It's never the economy, or people really not feeling like they have to have a huge lifestyle to be happy. I'm actually quite content with a minimalist lifestyle. I hate consumerism. Always have. Rhonda Byrne and the Hicks people wouldn't like me very much. They would say I have issues. Poverty conciousness, they call it. And thats why many people are poor, according to them.

Byron Katie said in an article she loves everyone on this planet and is grateful for everything in her life. I tried this view and felt that something was wrong with me because I could never do it. The Silva Mind Control people say the whole love thing too. I'm grateful for the good stuff in my life, not the bad. I make the best I can with the crap I have to deal with, but I'm not going to do the gratitude dance for it. And I can't love people unless I like them, and that's after getting to know them after a long time.

Sorry for my ramblings. I just can't figure out why Rhonda Byrne felt the need to write another book, or why these gurus can live with themselves for being so dishonest and mean, a bunch of hypocrites, when they preach and teach exactly the opposite, and exhort their followers to "deal with your issues, heal yourself" which seems a never-ending process, even though they say that once you ascend, your problems will be over. Or else they bait and switch, and make ascension sound so much better than the world we got now, and then when you're deep in it and you think you made progress they spring it on you. "what, did you think it was going to be easy? It's hard work. After you ascend you'll still have problems, you'll just deal with them differently." Why did you make it sound all pretty then??? Then they say, "it's your response, I had nothing to do with it."

Doesn't Rhonda Byrne know about the law of cause and effect? What does she say about that? No, good thoughts causing good things to happen doesn't count. I'm talking about, people bully you, you kill yourself type thing.

New Wage is based on trickery... I wouldn't make a very good saleswoman.

That is true about the loaves and fishes.

First they say that humanity is not ready yet.
The "race mind" is holding everyone back.
Its a metaphor for abundance.
If you try to do it, it doesn't happen, you have to not try, harder. Believe harder, or you are believing too hard.

So come to our seminars, to learn how to do it better. Donate more money. Detach harder.


But no matter which way it goes, it comes down to boiling it down to a simple, testable experiment. There is no proof, real proof, that anyone has done any of these things. Anecdotes and Stories are not proof.


As far as Rhonda Byrne.
She was going bankrupt, and was desperate for money, and concocted The Secret, using her advertising skills. She probably sorta believes it, but also is a good saleswoman. She got lucky.

Her second book is terrible. But she learned, and stayed away from saying things like..."don't look at fat people to stay thin" and "people choose to be victims of genocide" and that "you caused your cancer by your thoughts".

Many people will say anything for millions of dollars. What would ANYONE say for 5 million dollars?