Abraham-Hicks is not a cult- nor is it an MLM in any way. Jerry Hicks has always been upfront about his Think and Grow Rich and MLM sales, and even his circus past. Sheila Gilette, whom Esther learned to channel from,is not a millionaire by any means, and has been doing her work for decades. She does a FREE radio show you can call into any Tuesday and talk directly to them....there's never any obligation to buy ANYTHING. Esther and Jerry were very put off by The Secret and the Jack Canfield types involved BECAUSE they were an MLM, and she felt very used by them. She felt The Secret was a super-commercialized version of the LOA message, and most LOA followers agree. The Secret was just a super hype-based movie that really was very shoddy in describing the LOA.

A-H NEVER tells anyone to shut people out for their life and only associate with other LOA types...they certainly never advocated leaving your wife and kids...and if someone does that its not because of A-H....whether they attribute their action to them or not. But many LOA followers, after learning the principals, find it difficult to be around people who complain, are negative, are fearful or neurotic...so they stop asociating with them...and it sounds like some of those are on here.

People interpret A-H just like they interpret their religion...ask two people what it means you'll get two different answers. ALL THEY DO is offer a different way of looking at life- you can take it or leave it. They don't pursue anyone, or twist anyone's arm to join, to stay, or to leave- ever.

I have seen them twice and have listened to their cds, and its helped me immensely...but they never come to me looking for participation, money, or anything else. You can listen to them every day on Facebook for free- and never pay one cent for anything EVER.

If you think its "Wacky" for people to keep their thoughts positive, seek a joyful life, and follow their dreams...well that's your problem. They never promise you riches...they just say don't cut yourself off from prosperity by feeling like you don't deserve money. A lot of people do that. I used to and now I don't- and I am better off. Its not greedy or selfish to feel that you deserve everything you want in life. I am not greedy, I give to charity, I share what I have whenever I can- but I don't feel guilty about having the prosperity I work for.

I think many churches are cults- like the ones who teach that YOU SHOULD BEAT YOUR CHILDREN from the time they are babies in order to "break their will", and who rape young girls and blame them for being promiscuos, and kick them out of the church. which happened right here in my state. And that church is still full of people. NO THANKS. They also teach you that its bad to have money- unless you are GIVING IT TO THEM.

Don't like A-H? Don't participate...but don't call them CULTs or MLM when that is not true.

Jerry and Esther themselves don't claim to be perfect by any means- in fact Jerry Hicks died this week and Esther was very upfront about the fact that she was having a terrible time accepting his death, even tho Abraham teaches that there is no death and that its just a transition. Abraham teaches that you don't have to be fat, but Esther is...she is very upfront about the fact that she has not been able to manage food the way she wants....they consider themselves students of LOA just like the rest of us who participate.

I've been posting on another thread about Abraham/Hicks not realizing this one already exists, so if anyone is interested, here's more info about Jerry's illness and death:

[forum.culteducation.com]

Hi I'm Mel and I've been fallowing Abraham for a while now and I know it's not a cult, HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. That'slike saying Christianity, Islam, ext is a cult as well. ppl often have the right ideal just the wrong acceptation's, we all have the ability to be or do or have anything that our minds can create, the key is to be a match to what you want, in other words feel the feeling of prosperity appriciateion and love. I would suggest going on you tube and making your own judgment, they have lots of good and in trading post I have never been to a seminar every thing I have Lenard has been thought you tube, just 3 months ago I bought my first boos and I'm so exited for the wonderful life I'm creating for myself and future generations... There is gerat love here for you

Quote
Brad69
"The Secret" - which I haven't seen yet - talks about the Law of Attraction. Esther and Jerry Hicks were involved in the movie which, much like "What the Bleep?" has attracted a bit of a cult following.

I've got an early copy of The Secret on an old hard drive. It's basically Chaos Magick 101, although I wouldn't expect most people here to know about this. I've tended to refer to New Ageism as, "magick for muggles," in general terms; a lot of things either have their roots in, or run parallel to occultism if you go back far enough. Google Peter Carroll, Phil Hine, and Austin Osman Spare, if you're interested.

"What the Bleep?" on the other hand, was a very long infomercial for JZ Knight/Ramtha and her cult, although it was very well disguised, not to appear like that. The movie, like The Secret, starts off with a number of other people (in the latter case, mostly physicists) talking about mind numbing elements of quantum physics theory, and then JZ Knight herself is gradually introduced more and more, and starts talking almost exclusively.

I actually considered The Secret to be fairly worthwhile, but then again, I should also stress that I believe in several things myself, which most people here are unlikely to. I am not entirely opposed to the idea of the Law of Attraction, but at the same time, I don't for one moment believe that it works in the same way that a lot of the contemporary New Age crowd do. A big part of the problem with charlatans, is that they create a psychological environment where people start thinking that outright atheism is literally the only sane choice available; and it ain't necessarily so.

Hi All,

I've been reading the posts on here regarding Abraham Hicks and it's very interesting. I have heard quite a bit of their material and read a few books and now I am questioning the whole thing. It seems like powerful psychology, possibly NLP?
I do wonder if there is any truth in the Law of Attraction. I'd like to think there is!
I am really unsure about the whole channelling thing. Watching the seminars on line, Esther sometimes looks uneasy and sounds quite strange.

Alyb45 mentioned in one seminar when Esther is said to be channelling Abraham that she said "I ..." when usually she speaks in the third person "We ..." meaning the non-physical Abraham. I watched this on line a few days ago but now I cannot find it. It was on You Tube and I think it was an authorised post by "AbrahamHicks". Has anyone seen/heard this particular seminar? I'm fairly sure it was one with Esther being filmed. There are about 60-70 clips by "AbrahamHicks" but I've yet to find which clip contains this error. It would be very good to find it! (Perhaps the LOA will help me in this! LOL!)
Seriously though, does anyone know the particualr clip that contains this mistake by Esther?
If it can be found it would be very good to post it here for scrutiny.

Regards,

Deano

Quote

I have experienced some pretty high ‘highs’ in my life, and to my
understanding of the Vortex – you have to be somewhat euphoric to enter.

Quote

I felt that immersing myself in the teachings would help me dispel any remaining resistance, and help me with my ‘processes’ which served to get me into that euphoric state Abraham calls ‘Joy’ that is a sure sign you are IN THE VORTEX!

Quote

The only people that got rich at AMWAY got rich
selling the IDEA OF HOW TO GET RICH by way of tapes and
seminars!

Sound Familiar???

Folks, friends and neighbors…..Jerry Hicks found a way to work an Amway style
business without the bother of the pesky products!!!!!!! ...It’s
perfect.

There are no products to sell. No physical action (or ‘efforting’) is
necessary. I

n fact, you are encouraged NOT to work and toil towards wealth and success. No sir. Your job is to raise your vibrations, get into, and stay in, the Vortex, and all your ‘stuff’ will literally ‘drop into your lap’.

Heck…this is way more attractive than having to sell vitamines and appliances at home parties!!!

Best of all…it’s not quantifiable.

No one can complain to Jerry that they’ve done their ’100 cold calls and 10 in home presentations per week’ and aren’t having success. No sir..no complaints can be
lodged.

If you don’t have your stuff, it’s because of a flaw in your
vibration…Abraham is working hard to give you every ‘process’ they can think
of..but it’s your resistance you see…..it’s you insisting on looking at, and beating the drum of what IS….you see…..

Key words

"efforting"

"Joy"

"emotional guidance system"


Posted on October 7, 2011 by luvyourplanet

[luvyourplanet.wordpress.com]

I am writing this blog, in all sincerity, to help people make their own, informed,
decision on whether to follow the teachings of Abraham Hicks. If you have come
across my blog, chances are, you are having tiny stirrings of doubt about
‘their’ message. If so, I invite you to read on, take what you want, and throw
away the rest.

I want you to know that when I first came across the Abraham
Hicks teachings, I fell in all the way. I felt I was ‘home’. The teachings
resonated deeply with me and I thought my whole life was about to change in
front of my eyes.

...

Now, I want to convey to you, that, as much as I’m making light, I absolutely believed that these things were going to happen to me because I really believed the Abraham Teachings.

.....

After reading ‘The Astonishing Power of Emotions’ by Abraham, and being a highly emotional person to begin with, I felt I had a very good chance of getting into, and staying in, the Vortex. ....... I remember thinking how much more likely
I was to access my Vortex than some less fortunate people who
were fighting a disease; or who had been laid off and lost their homes etc. I
felt that they may have some trouble accessing their Vortexes
because they had to ignore some pretty prevalent and nasty things in
order to get into the euphoria of ‘all that they really were’.

So, wanting to get ‘my stuff’ sooner, (why wait?) I started buying up CD sets from Amazon, watching Abe on Youtube, and jumping onto Abe Forum and Abe Chat on Facebook.I didn’t even think about the cost of the books, CD’s and DVD’s because,
what the hey?! I was about to win the lottery! Seriously, I don’t say this
flippantly, I really thought I was getting all that was in my vortex, so what
was a couple of hundred dollars spent on ‘study’ material.

I felt that immersing myself in the teachings would help me dispel any remaining resistance, and help me with my ‘processes’ which served to get me into that euphoric state Abraham calls ‘Joy’ that is a sure sign you are IN THE VORTEX!

OK….so here’s what happened next. I started voraciously watching the DVD’s and
listening to the CD’s….working my processes, and avoiding all negative thought.

But, instead of getting closer to my Vortex, I felt the sand starting to shift beneath my feet.

My heart started sinking as, time and again, I watched desperate people get on the ‘hotseat’ in front of Abraham/Esther, pleading for help only to be dismissed, cut off, interrupted,overtly and ingenuously misunderstood, and/or be given a ‘process’ that had
nothing to do with what they had asked.

....

So the next logical thought was ‘well if they’re up on the teachings and following the simple guidance for getting into their vortexes…..why on earth do they look so desperate? Why aren’t they enjoying their ‘stuff’ yet?

..As I felt my ‘emotional guidance system’ start ringing and buzzing about what I was seeing - my first instinct was to rationalize it all away. ‘Abraham must be
right’, ‘I must just not be enlightened enough to see the big picture’.

Heck, I was new at this and should just close my mouth and open my ears, get
happy, and get into the flow. Of course, I had a vested interest in
‘keeping the faith’ – it’s called ‘health, wealth and beauty’, it was all there
waiting in my vortex for me, and I wasn’t ready to give up on any of that just
yet.

So on I trudged..still happy…did anyone see me looking unhappy…nope..happy here happy here…gonna get my stuff….happy
happy…

Now for the next and very important part of this tale…

It was as I watched the DVD ‘Ask and It is Given’, that I keyed in on something Jerry Hicks said about his past business success.

Even though he was evasive about what the business was, he did mention giving in-home presentations. It didn’t take much ‘research’ to find out that Jerry Hicks had been big into Amway.

The idea that Jerry used to be heavily involved in Amway didn’t sit well with me. And it
didn’t sit well for the following reason:

I suddenly realized that the only time I had experienced the type of nervous ‘high’ I was
experiencing since being introduced into the Abraham Hicks material, was when I
had been introduced into a certain MLM that had promised to make me rich beyond
my wildest dreams!!!

Yes…it all started flooding back to me now…the promise
of millions….the sudden ‘knowledge’ that all I had to do was follow a simple
formula and it could all be mine…ahhhh yes…the wealth and success I could
have.....
…
The MLM that I was involved with was ‘Arbonne’ cosmetics…but I have come to realize that whether it be Arbonne,Amway..Quixtar..Goji…it’s all the same pyramid style gig..money rollsuphill and the recruits are told to ‘have faith’ and they too can get stinking rich!

When my ‘friend’ Arbonne recruiter told me she was making $80,000.00 a year with
only one year with the company (lies btw), and that her ‘upline’ was making
$30,000.00 a month…man I was in full on..sign me up!!

I remember the euphoria, the realization that I would finally be rich! (Fast
forward to Abraham…same euphoric – Finally, I have the answer…type feeling).

To make a long story short (not that it mattters I guess) but the end result of my Arbonne experience was being in the hole roughly $8,000.00, minus several friends, and avoided by family.

But none of that hurt as much as the dawning knowledge
that I was going to have to keep my J.O.B. and continue living like a
normal working chump, not a millionaire.

So, now that I realize that Jerry comes from an MLM past, I’m really tweeked, and I do the unthinkable. I start surfing around the net looking for more scoop on Jerry Hicks and Amway…( I say unthinkable, because to question the teachings in any way..I felt I was losing a grip on what was in my vortex…and I had become quite attached to it thankyouverymuch).

So what do I stumble upon next?…And this is what I’ve been coming to all along…Hold
on to your hat, it’s big…I come to a Dateline expose on Quixtar.

Quixtar, it turns out is actually Amway – but Amway had to change their name because they had been caught making fraudulent claims as to revenues etc..but I don’t really
want to go into that part of the Amway scam.

The fascinating part, as it relates to this story, is this: The head honchos of Amway, the Amway Millionaires, (Jerry Hicks et al), did NOT, I repeat, did NOT make their money
selling Amway products and recruiting others to sell Amway products. No sir they did NOT.

The Amway millionaires, made their money selling motivational tapes and selling tickets to motivational seminars on how to use Law Of Attraction and other mind tricks to be successful selling Amway Products (which, as it turns out, is the impossible).

So, hang on a second, Jerry Hicks’ past includes getting rich by selling people on how to use the ‘Law of Attraction’ to get rich, using a flawed business plan – in which no one got rich (the expose followed people trying to get rich actually selling the Amway
Products – it didn’t happen).

The only people that got rich at AMWAY got rich
selling the IDEA OF HOW TO GET RICH by way of tapes and
seminars!

Sound Familiar???

Folks, friends and neighbors…..Jerry Hicks found a way to work an Amway style
business without the bother of the pesky products!!!!!!! ...It’s
perfect.

There are no products to sell. No physical action (or ‘efforting’) is
necessary. I

n fact, you are encouraged NOT to work and toil towards wealth and success. No sir. Your job is to raise your vibrations, get into, and stay in, the Vortex, and all your ‘stuff’ will literally ‘drop into your lap’.

Heck…this is way more attractive than having to sell vitamines and appliances at home parties!!!

Best of all…it’s not quantifiable.

No one can complain to Jerry that they’ve done their ’100 cold calls and 10 in home presentations per week’ and aren’t having success. No sir..no complaints can be
lodged.

If you don’t have your stuff, it’s because of a flaw in your
vibration…Abraham is working hard to give you every ‘process’ they can think
of..but it’s your resistance you see…..it’s you insisting on looking at, and beating the drum of what IS….you see…..

Oh Jerry….I take my hat off to you….you had me…you really did…hook line and sinker….I feel like such a fool…I wanted to believe so badly…I mean, man, you shoulda seen what was in my Vortex!!!

So now…I guess all that’s left for me is to go back to being a normal person (again), living a normal, ho hum, life, with my age appropriate (Abraham says we only age because we think we have to…sigh), slightly overweight body, annoying, somewhat mind numbing J.O.B., bi-weeklymortgage payments…and a somewhat predictable, if not all bad, future…

But there’s always a silver lining…right? At least I can get well
and truly pissed off at something or someone now, and rant around a little (or alot) without having to worry that my negative vibrations are ultimately delaying my rendezvous with my impossibly gorgeous Barbie Doll figure and winning Lotto Ticket……..happy here…happy over here…….End

Another phrase in Abraham Hicks jargon

"blended persective"

[www.google.com]

I also have a history of being conned into cults, and a friend introduced me to the LOA and all this stuff. I was at first appualled that he would blame the crazy crap in my life on my negitive thinking...then I decided to have an open mind and look into this. I watched the Secret on Netflix and experienced an emotional high and had this amazing emotional experience where I believed that there are truely answers for the craziness in my life. I got 3 books from them and each one basicly said the same stuff just reworded. I watched some youtube clips...and I was on cloud nine except it was hard to push out all the negitive thoughts and my mom was really concerened with how I was acting. The more I tried to push out the negitive thoughts, and fake being happy, the more fragile my mental state became.
After a few days of trying to get into the vortex, the oppisite happened, I nutted up like a fruitcake and had an autstic meltdown of epic proportions. I am autistic, btw.
So after that, I was afraid to try it again...I still tried but with moderation. But I found that everytime that I tried to force myself to be happy, the opposite happened and I became a nervous wreck. I am, by nature, an emotionally honest person...what you see is what you get, and I find that any time I try to make myself feel anyway that I do not feel...it is a disaster.

I did not know about Hicks amway past untill I kinda stumbled accross it while looking at the Skeptics Dictionary website article on him
[www.skepdic.com]

Then it all made sense because the nutting up I did when I tried to force myself to be happy was the same but larger scale nutting up I did while I was in a cult I was nearly raped but managed to escape. I was told by the leader of said cult to just forgive him and let it go. Well I did that and nutted up and nearly killed myself. I only lived because of my love for my mother and I did not want to break her heart...she did rescue me from this cult.

However all the methods are the same as the cult I was in.

You have people letting go of their true selves to adopt this cult self
They convince people to deny their insticts( by feeling only good and ignoring all that is not good no matter how important or urgent it is.)
They tell people what to think (thought control) how to feel (emotion control) while telling people to not control anything just flow with it which leads to people giving up their entire lives for other's to control
Hicks advice for people to vilify medical care is common with cult leaders...I wonder how many people died due to this dangerous advice that he himself did not even take when he had leukemia. As the captain of his ship, he should have gone down with his ship, so to speak, rather than jump ship when Abe's advice was sinking.
Something not discussed yet about them, but should indeed be discussed is they employ a common mind control tactic which is talk a bunch of incoherant babble for majority of the sesson, with clarity in only the points they really want the listener to hone in on. The way this works the mind is that the mind is trying sooo hard to understand all this babble, then when a moment of clarity comes, a feeling of ephora results as the mind finally understood something which comes from the reward center of the brain which By-PASSESS the rational thinking part of the brain and goes straight to the emotive reward center of the brain.
This is an old tried and true mind control technique.

Could anybody tell me if they have heard of a Law of Attraction Group starting up in Brisbane,
Australia?
They use all the Abraham Hicks jargon and promotion cons.
It appears to be a husband and wife team.
She is proclaiming to be a 'Healer' with no other history of 'Healing', before making her husband better after major surgery and medical intervention.
I think this is dangerous and very sus!
Would be glad to hear any information.

See [www.cultnews.com]

The Rick A. Ross Institute for the Study of Destructive Cults, Controversial Groups, and Movements has officially changed its name to The Cult Education Institute for the Study of Destructive Cults, Controversial Groups and Movements.

The new domain name entry point and gateway to the Internet archives of the institute will soon be culteducation.com.

The Cult Education Institute archives is a library of information about destructive cults, controversial groups and movements, which was initially launched in 1996 and has continued to be under construction and expansion for the past 17 years.

The public message board attached to the The Cult Education Institute will soon only be accessible through the domain name culteducation.com. More than 100,000 entries from the former members of destructive cults, controversial groups and movements and others concerned has accumulated at the board over the past decade. The message board content continues to grow daily and it serves as a free speech zone for those who wish to share their insights and concerns about the topics listed.