Old discussion thread on SIF from 2007, from Freethought Pedia -- The Science of Identity? A place where I comment on various issues; you're welcome to respond. Post a reply5 posts • Page 1 of 1 The Science of Identity? by pile » Wed Apr 23, 2008 10:48 am So I'm approached by someone who wants me to promote this web site.. get this: What? Maybe it's early i
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Starting on this page is one persons description of life on the noni farm.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

I would appreciate some help with evidence of the Gabbards association with Down to Earth and any other health-related businesses including local farms, Noni Connection, etc. The purpose is to determine if Tulsi Gabbard had a conflict of interest. The conflict would exist if she, or any of her family, benefit from these businesses directly or indirectly. I doubt that Mike Gabbard "lost"
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

My personal, citizen's definition of a cult is are these features: Continually having to rely on promises (Or put another way, constantly having to take someone's word for it. ) Continually having to take someone's word for it while ignoring, rationalizing or normalizing their actions Unreciprocated loyalty. Many cruddy relationships and messed up families operate this
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Dam I'm going to need some help or a lot of spare time to reply to all these questions. I thank you all for your queries. And Corboy especially, you have a stylish way of getting down to business. I will begin with what I know about UM with your questionnaire. First we need to understand Serge's premise that we came from light and chose to descend into physical form. As it go
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Quoteatheist She would have more time to show us that the changes in her political direction are sincere. She could also work to build up her base. I agree that she would be preferable to Mufi Hannemann. But can we really trust her?? Good question. Is it worth the risk? If people and families affected adversely by this cult organized and approached her as a political force, it might do somethin
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

On pages 316, 317 318 and 319 there is a discussion of conditions at the farm where noni plants were raised. Labor issues galore. A visitor described how she arrived jet lagged after flying through a lot of time zones -- and was put to work immediately. Now..how well can an elected official understand issues of workplace justice and safety if these kinds of conditions are where some of Chr
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

I have copied the names of contributors and supporters of Tulsi Gabbard and Mike Gabbard from the blog mentioned above. If these people are not aware of the Cult connection and their delusional leader, Chris Butler, they should withdraw their support immediately. from the blog Harry Acuna Anya Anthony Tim Anthony Janet Bishop John Bishop Eileen Cervantes Devin Bull Kunti Bu
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

More batty stuff about Merkaba and the earths ionosphere here in these citations Evidently people into this stuff are schooled in fear--fear of government, fear of mainstream 'self serving' religions, fear of losing their merkaba energy through anger.... Fear, fear, fear. Always something to do so one doenst lose one's energies. And an aversion for cilantro, fer crying
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

QuoteThanks, Kailua-no more SIF, for updating this forum on the state of the cult ... It's unbelievable that about 200 people have been sucked into his crazy reality ... and his insane hierarchical system of A's, B's and C's ... Friends, its easy to see what happened. Go and re read the material on Philip Zimbardo's famous/infamous Stanford Prison Experiment.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

This item mentions the Down to Earth health food chain. As noted above, the Butler Krishna group mentioned here has the Dharma Farms which is the noni plantation. Again, friends, freedom isnt free. Fact check so that your volunteer efforts are for \ those in need, not those in greed QuoteSeptember 27, 2011 09:03AMKailua_no more SIF Date Added: 09/15/2009 Posts: 1 Re: Chris Butler
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

A discussion here that erupted when another guru led concern in Hawaii was about to get an idealistic new volunteer worker for its Dharma Farms (its noni plantation) in Hawaii, and the young person's parent wrote to us in concern. Anyone who wants to get involved in a farming project has to do plenty of background checking. The discussion begins here: Fancy, a concerned parent
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

QuotefancyMy son is interested in going to Hawaii to work on Dharma Farm. Should I be concerned for his safety? I have heard about cult type activities. I would appreciate any information. You should be very concerned about your son going to Hawaii to work on Dharma Farms. Alan Yoza is a long time devotee of Chris Butler that goes back to his "Sai" days. Historically, there is li
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Note, to get a menu of earlier posts about the commerical projects linked to Butler, put noni into the key words slot and select "all dates' and punch the button. Someone already posted Mindy's online journal as a resource. Others report having been on dharma farms and glad to be out. When you see the word picture of an idealistic young person grateful for a slab of foa
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Noni Glut--2004 Note the hot climate. We can only hope that the people are taught the precautions needed to prevent dehydration and watch each other for signs of heat related illness. QuoteHere at the house baby nonis are raised to be planted elsewhere. I overheard Gopal, Shankar's business partner, talking on the phone in the office and it turns out there has been an overproduction o
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Here is another issue: workplace safety. Tired jet lagged people are more at risk of getting hurt or harming others when doing heavy labor. And a responsible manager of a farm or outdoor project has to be aware of the dangers of dehydration and heat related illnesses. The rule is eat before you are hungry, drink before you are thirst, and what you drink should be water with some balanced e
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

This person started out at Dharma Farms thinking well of it. adjusting to surroundings... 08.19.04 I realize that my initial impression of everything was definitely clouded by my extreme lack of sleep and by my sheer frustration that I was expected to work the second I got here. Some have suggested that it might have been a test to let me know that I came here for work and that they do
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

I have lived on Dharma Farms previously for several months. Attended the Krishna gatherings, been around the people, worked the noni farm, and read books written by Chris Butler on reincarnation. Any questions for me? I have an insider's perspective. Aloha Farms seems more dangerous than Dharma. Many, many young girls pressured into chanting to fit in. Working for Krishna.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

On initiation Chris Butler bestows a 'spiritual name' which his disciples become known by, typically a Vedic word which corressponds alphabetically to their original name. He also chants a mantra on their japa beads and returns them in exchange for the promise that they will chant a set number, usually sixteen, of 'rounds' a day for the rest of their lives. A 'round&#
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Here's Shankarananda's website - indeed he's in real estate. Also, an interesting fact about Noni juice: Quote"•Analgesic: The Noni tree is also knows as the ‘Painkiller and Headache tree’. Noni has been found to be 75% as effective as morphine sulphate in relieving pain without the toxic side effects." Maybe the combo of chanting and Noni juice creates a great na
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

QuoteGUDANSLOSHEDakaBALLHOLDERhttp://www.dharmafarmshawaii.org/ You'll notice that the main website is "roses and daffodils" but then you click on rules which takes you to another page you have to click on, anyway 3 clicks later you get the harsh reality. Very stern tones "we are in charge and you are here to learn not to teach." A couple years back there was a link to
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Are you talking about the noni fram run by my old buddy, Alan Yoza?
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

After researching further I found that Gabbard set up a campaign fund in the 70's for three up and comers amongst them was Wayne Nishiki who ran for Council and has since held many other offices. Oddly enough when the Lahaina, Maui Down to Earth (owned by Allan and Robyn Ranson) shut down some 7-10 years back a new Health Food Store open up just 15 mins north in Honokawai and who is the owne
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

From the above link: author unknown, but probably from the Chiskon website. It offers an excellent synopsis of the cult. Some minor details are questionable, but the over all facts are verified by testimony of former followers and documents posted on this site. Features of a Destructive Cult The Science of Identity Foundation, founded in Hawaii in 1977, is centre to a network of busin
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Ingredients of the cultic milieu--and I have probably not covered them all. Note--none of these by itself is necessarily a cult. But these form boundary markers for a social scene in which recruiters can fish and media types can advertise any product, whether its a food or a vitamin, body care product or a guru. First, magazines serving the Buddhist and yogista communities. Look at the ad
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Yasmin, No - you're "two cents" isn't that unpopular. There is a lot of gray area between Oprah-style thinking and science. I've worked in the medical field since 1986 and know many doctors who will not get their kids vaccinated. There is also a lot more scientific research that just isn't published by the big journals for political reasons. That is changing a
Forum: Celebrities associated with "cult-like" groups

I really don't think that a warning by Queensland state health authorities could be viewed as sensationalism. The media went quite wide with the story in Australia, it was on the TV news and picked up by Associated Press in the newspapers, which means that it was syndicated far and wide. Not much else to say really except that they have cyanide in them. Ironically The Vege Chip Compan
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

I heard about a lawsuit going to happen here in Oz by a kid that was raised in SoI and got the hell out. The situation was that he would have to sue his parents for the way that they raised him, and I think that you would find that is how it goes. The parents made the choice to deprive their kids based on their beliefs. The law says that the parents have a right to their beliefs and they have a r
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

QuoteterrenautIf that is not so, then why hide? Why? I dare the ASM to state openly, proudly and without fear, who they are, what they believe in and from where/whom they get their spiritual guidance. Until they do that, they are just NONSENSE. The delusion that Chris Butler's followers live in qualifies as a mental illness. If they are chasing around after CR who are they actually fo
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

QuotecultreporterAs far as I can tell all of the individuals central in SoI are older, around mid-50s with the minor exception of a few of the golden oldies kids such as Michael Harvey running Noni (son of Linda Harvey, board member of SIF and operator/owner of the Sacrememnto Meditation Centre). Can anyone tell me how Linda Harvey, aka Udava, treats the young people that she has at her cente
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"