Quoted from: Children of Scientology: Life After Growing Up in an Alleged Cult For many raised in the church, escape presents a singular problem. “They have an identity to go back to,” says one former Scientologist. “We’re trying to discover our identity in a vacuum.” Rolling Stone Ash Sanders QuoteAbigail’s fall from Scientology was long and difficult. When she got a job a
Forum: Recovery from Destructive Cults and Groups

Children of Scientology: Life After Growing Up in an Alleged Cult For many raised in the church, escape presents a singular problem. “They have an identity to go back to,” says one former Scientologist. “We’re trying to discover our identity in a vacuum.” Rolling Stone Ash Sanders
Forum: Recovery from Destructive Cults and Groups

Dahn Tao Institute Visitor Comments Quote"First I was a member for a few months in 2001, but then quit. I left with a pretty good impression and felt like it was just a good yoga class. When I returned later in 2003 though, it was much different. After receiving my 'energy check up' a master there said that I had blockages in my chest and arms and that she could help me. My
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Experience: my yoga class turned out to be a cult After a few months, I realised I wasn’t seeing my friends and family as much as I used to. The organisation didn’t like it
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Beyond the Pain Matrix nside the Social Media Cult That Convinces Young People to Give Up Everything The DayLife Army always seemed like a troll. Then it became a nightmare. Emilie Friedlander and Joy Crane Jun 24 (Small quotation from longer article) QuoteMatthew moved back home in late 2018 and eventually entered treatment with therapists specialized in recovery from cultic gro
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Pearl Divun The DayLife Military True Pleasure POP Offensive #POPOffensive PleasureMatrix Pain Matrix Tume Currency Beyond the Pain Matrix Inside the magic sex cult recruiting from Facebook meme pages Welcome to Tumple. Apr 17, 2020, 11:15 am* (French language -- English translation available) Bienvenue chez Tumple, l'étrange secte qui recrute sur Facebook Pour
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

A Hippie in Bhairava’s Clothing: the dangers of cultural appropriation by Christopher Wallis March, 2016 Small quotation from a rich and thought provoking article: QuoteExperts in philosophy have long since shown that relativism is either incoherent and nonsensical or else masks a kind of nihilism (since all views can be equally valid only if they are all equally false, leading us
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Former gay man is leading “Catholic alt-right” movement The website Church Militant, and its founder Michael Voris is growing in popularity in ultra-conservative circles of American Catholic culture. Voris and his followers are now targeting Father James Martin, for writing a book urging compassion for...
Forum: Destructive Churches

QuoteSara Hart, a 38-year-old former Mormon who lost her faith seven years ago, brought along cupcakes decorated with fondant Prozac pills as a reference to the high rate of antidepressant use in Utah, the state with the highest percentage of Mormons. "I was like super depressed, too, when my marriage was falling apart because I got married way too young, for the wrong reasons," she exp
Forum: Recovery from Destructive Cults and Groups

Does Moo reportedly commanding a heron be shot - a mother heron - because the bird is feeding on expensive koi fish in a decorative pond - does that sound like a lesson in love? Discussions of the heron situation can be read here:
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Quoted material in brackets is Rob Juliano's Youtube material as quoted by Sahara71. QuoteBhakti requires an object of devotion, the leader serves that role. Different paths don't have this type of dynamic. Besides, he is allowed to enjoy being loved, as long as he's using his power wisely Corboy comment: Seems to me the only ones who respond wisely and well to bhakti devotion
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Quote A more likely explanation is that narcissists are expert manipulators of the signals associated with self-esteem. Self-esteem is a socially valuable trait, and other studies have also found that people are viewed more positively when they are perceived as having higher levels of self-esteem. It's likely that those scoring high in narcissism are very aware of this fact, and strategicall
Forum: Abusive and Controlling Relationships

QuoteIf you find an abusive person in a community, you will find them gaslighting somebody and involving the whole community. It can get so bad that the victim themself doesn’t believe what’s happening. They start to believe they’ve gone crazy. And they do begin to have symptoms of mental illness because being abused and then gaslit is so traumatic– and then the community just takes that as evide
Forum: Abusive and Controlling Relationships

When you are ready, I strongly advise making a detailed report to the agency that licenses mental health professionals in your state. If enough people send in complaints, a case can be made. You are fortunate that you were in that group for just four years! Recruitment through word of mouth via friendship networks is very effective method of recruitment. Was this a friend you'd
Forum: Coercive Persuasion and Undue Influence

'facet' who participates in discussions here at the CEI message board wrote this: QuoteIf you’ve been involved in mystery schools, freemasonry, a healing modality, and / or other related groups and subjects (chakras, hell and heaven, angels, ascended masters, caste system) you will no doubt have been exposed to the many “levels” that must be traversed in order to be respected wit
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

The Black Feminists Who Saw the Alt-Right Threat Coming Before Gamergate, before the 2016 election, they launched a campaign against Twitter trolls masquerading as women of color. If only more people had paid attention. Rachelle Hampton Slat Corboy comment: Hate is not the difficult relative ranting at the holiday table. Hate is not the un-medicated lunatic on the bus. Rea
Forum: Hate Groups

Is Our Satsang Teacher A Good Listener? Find Out! Here is what good listeners actually do. For the full story, read the article. What Great Listeners Actually Do Good listening is much more than being silent while the other person talks. Harvard Business Review Jack ZengerJoseph Folkman What Great Listeners Actually Do Excerpts from the article. How does your satsang t
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

From Timothy Conway's website. The description of Karl Renz, a Pooja spin-off may ring a bell. Am posting this not to distract into discussions of the complexities of advaita, but for a close examination of the tricks utilized by too many satsang teachers -- a project that our message board is well equipped to tangle with. Do these people all go to the same training camp? To g
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Years back a message board participant named The Anticult taught us how to examine use of "weird stories". Hypnotic eyes, false intimacy The Anticult also identified use of Scarcity Marketing as a recruitment technique. Today many gurus are in isolation due to covid virus with no access to long time or new disciples. THey can easily use this technique. Here is A
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Hmm about fish and fishing. Lots of cultural associations here. We speak of "fishing for praise" and "fishing for compliments." Fish are eaten. Fish get caught. Fish are hunted. Fish are sold. In the old days, fisherfolk put their captured fish in a *basket* known as a creel. In the old days, fish were carried in baskets and sold in the market, carried home from the
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

She Was Lured into Sex Slavery Through Facebook. Now She Wants to Stop Mark Zuckerberg From Making Victims ‘Invisible.’ A shareholder activist group wants Facebook to take steps to protect children from sexual abuse before implementing end-to-end encryption. by David Gilbert 27 May 2020, 3:10pm au/article/qj483b/she-was-lured-into-sex-slavery-through-facebook-now-she-wants-to-stop-mark-
Forum: Abusive and Controlling Relationships

If you are vulnerable to abuse via your Twitter account, study up on a new moderation feature that has been added to Twitter. Twitter now lets you disable replies. It could be its best change yet. Twitter’s new reply moderation tool could be a game changer for victims of harassment.
Forum: Abusive and Controlling Relationships

bump
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

In areas where weather gets hot, guests must be warned about dehydration, how often to drink water and when. On AIDS Lifecycle events participants and road crew members are taught how to prevent dehydration and how to identify whether someone may be dehydrated. This is no time to be bashful about bodily functions. We were told that if our pee smelled strong and/or looked dark, that we nee
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

This person had no trouble leaving the ashram by taxi. Still, its an interesting description of conditions at Monte Sahaja Quote After spending almost a month back on my island, I traveled to Portugal (mid-June) to attend an advanced spiritual retreat with Zen Master Mooji.... ... Even from the train, I could feel the temperatures climbing. Added to that, it was a very sunny day. Bu
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Self-styled ‘godman’ Daati Maharaj booked for holding religious event in south Delhi temple The event was attended by over 30 people, most of whom were not even wearing masks. Daati Maharaj is also an accused in a case of rape and unnatural sex. Ananya Bhardwaj 23 May, 2020 7:34 pm IST Additional: Daati Maharaj Rape
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

QuoteIn 2008, as economic crisis swept across Europe, Peter knew his moment had arrived. Since before German reunification, he’d been a Trottel, a Depp, a Versager: a loser. Born in East Germany in 1965, he was a friendless introvert with an alcoholic father and an overbearing mother who made him clean his plate to the point of vomiting. Peter wanted to become a teacher, but his grades were too p
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Dear escapedtofrance, welcome to Cult Education Institute message board community! Please feel welcome. Everything should be fine. If, however, you get any private messages that seem odd, inappropriate or wrong, send a copy of that message at once to Mr. Rick Ross, owner of the the CEI website and moderator of the message board. He wants this to stay a safe and welcoming place for everyo
Forum: Destructive Churches

A discussion of a breakaway sect created by a former Brahma Kumaris practitioner Some material about Sat Yoga by a former Brahma Kumaris member "ex-" can be found here:
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Why Doing Good Makes It Easier to Be Bad
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"