Will tell you that if someone internalizes powerful introjected material, and if that has become co mingled with ones sense of self (especially if your own sense of self and agency has been compromised by an early history of trauma)...if you extrude those introjects, it can feel lonely, having only your under-exercised true self for company. It can be all too easy to go from one guru to anothe
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Recruitment Yesterday, at 6:15, Anticult wrote referring to Janakis description of meeting BK Anticult wrote: QuoteFor example, in the Janaki blog, she had a chapter talking about how she first met BK. First, she was contacted for recruitment by a BK insider from connections with Muktananda, who strongly pushed her to go to a BK Workshop, and Janaki said she did NOT want to go.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Here's the link to the other thread, which will take you to the report of the 1999-2000 Cleanse. As Helpme noted, it is meaninful that it took close to a decade before the informant felt able to bear witness. In the posts that follow there are reflections on how it may have taken a decade or more before a variety of sanctuaries became available for persons who had misgivings about BK.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

It may not just that the person felt massively burned and needed that much time (a decade!) before bearing witness. Until now, no safe venues (sanctuaries) have been available for people who felt harmed. Until now, people may have feared (and with reason) that they would be shamed, invalidated, and rejected by their friendship networks in the seekers scene if they dared to say anything nega
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Google 'Zen and Moon' and see what you get in the way of books. Go to the first hand reports section. I posted a story from the Guruphiliac thread describing a 1999-2000 New Years Cleanse. As for moon in the title of Zen books and poems... A cherished and often used anthology of Dogen Zenji's writings (he was founder of the Soto Zen school in which Suzuki Roshi taught--as
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

This report from Guruphiliac's forum is of the utmost interest because it purportedly describes an incident from 1999-2000 (just 1 to 2 years following publication of the first edition of Losing the Moon). QuoteI went to the 1999-2000 Byron Katie New Year's Cleanse. 'The turning of the millenium did make my experience a bit more intense, but I certainly did not expect what
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

My rule of thumb is, the more a group talks about love, love, love, the more nasty they become when dysfunctional. Ive run into Amma people at one of the local Indian themed events, several years in a row. They always felt sticky, as if desperate, too desperate for converts. If you have total satisfaction from your spiritual practice, it should eliminate that kind of craving driven proslyti
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

(groups listed in this section, simply because its the closest to Political Cult catagory in RR.com message board) NATLFED Eastern Service Workers Association in Boston And...did you ever participate in peace marches and see folks from the Socialist Workers Party handing out newspapers and stuff? A guy whose parents was in that organization has published a memoir, entitled When
Forum: Terrorist and Extremist Groups

Go to Chapter 23 --Ken Keyes on the link given by Meadow
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

I am not saying she read anything by Bubba Da Free John, but believe it or not, in the 1970s, Bubba (who later took the name, Da Free John, and then yet laterwards took the name Adi Da Samiraj...) He authored a book entitled The Four Fundamental Questions. So people have had similar names and titles of stuff floating around in the ether. Gurdjieff called his stuff 'The Work'
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Many many people become interested in Zen after reading Zen Mind, Beginners Mind by Suzuki Roshi. One could consider this a 'gateway text' . This essay from the Dark Zen website kicks ASS. For it was news to me that through this essay, I discovered that from one persons perspective, there is a subtle indoctrination could form the subtext of the Zen Mind Beginners Mind-- and t
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Folks, J Krishnamurti went around claiming he was not a guru. I invite people to go and get a copy of Lawrence Shainberg's book, Ambivalent Zen. Shainberg's father was interested in JK and took his teenaged son to Ojai to attend a J Krishnamurti lecture. Shainberg described how K appeared on stage, seated himself upon a chair and then sat, silently for a long, long long long t
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

For starters: Do an author search (all dates) of the Rickross.com message board for all input from 'JJ52' Helpme2times said that reading JJ's information led H'2t not to attend the 9 day program. Two, do the author search only this time, look for 'Garden of Even' who kindly supplied copies of the release form. Three, read the newly supplied information from
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

"Realize your real mind and drugs will have no power over you." This BS may have originated with a famous encounter between Ram Dass and Neem Karoli Baba. At the time, Dass was not yet Ram Dass. He was a drug addled research psychologist and disciple of Timothy Leary who was in India exploring the Spiritual Option. So the story went, the young American visitor, gave his guru s
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

If both WL and BK were in the Beach Cities during the same time spread, they or at least their students could have easily co-mingled. Go to mapquest. See where Hermosa Beach (Liquorman) is situated in relation to Mahattan Beach( BK in the late 1990s.) Other material, here:
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

I would recommend reading some of what C G Jung wrote about the issues that can come up for Westerners who try to go to India, either by travel, or by doing Indian spiritual practices. Jung went to India in the 1930s. Jung suspected that Westerners faced a real risk of disintegration if they jumped in too quickly. Jung had opportunities to meet Indian holy men, including Sri Maharshi, but he d
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Here is something to look at. Note how 'A' stated in her report on Jodys forum that BK actually seemed to WELCOME persons who arrived showing signs of mental instablity. QuoteI'd have thought Katie would have screened more carefully to reduce her liability in these cases, but she actually seemed to welcome the more severely disturbed. I was aware that no deliberate or caref
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Years back, I read a biography of young James Boswell, by Frederick Pottle. Pottle tells us that its become myth, a broadly held assumption that the first real book Boswell published was the classic Life of (Samuel) Johnson, which came out when Boswell was middle aged. Pottle tells us that Boswell was actually an old hand at both writing and at publishing, and that he had been publishing artic
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

You dont have to read books if you hang out with people who have both read books and have written them. So...even if BK hasnt read books, or at least has not read many books(as hubby Mitchell claimed in his interview with Scott London...she had the good taste to associate with people who have read the books. BTW Mitchell in that interview sounds like Archie Bunker, from All in the Family.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Note this article, originally cited by Jay-C, making it seem that Josh Baran started his Sorting It Out services in 1977 was not a report from someone who had left a Muktananda community. (Though JB is referred to as providing such services to former Muktananda people on a discussion thread on AOL). This report was from a former member of the Da Free John community. One area where this per
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Josh Baran's 'Sorting It Out' apprently started in 1979, rather than 1977, as I'd thought ealier. And this article claims that SIO had offices in both Berkeley (northern California) and in Los Angeles. QuoteNew Age Defectors Look for Help Getting Back to Ground The Mill Valley Record, April 3, 1985 ~ author: Molly Colin ~ Rothbaum, an East Bay social worker,
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

In the 1988 first edition of Mitchell's Tao Te Ching, he refers to Michael Katz as ' prince among agents'. And in the notes at the back of the book, he does refer to Sueng Sahn. In one of the notes, Mitchell quotes FDR's famous 'we have nothing to fear but fear itself'... and then Mitchell makes the remark 'and not even that.' So...even back in 19
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Susan Rothbaum was a social worker. She worked alongside Josh Baran in the 1980s. Unlike Baran, Susan Rothbaum has a consistent and long term career at a scholar of cult psychology. But their earlier collaboration --and respective roles and backgrounds, are described, with more precision and IMO, more perceptively, in the Mill Valley Journal. [209.85.173.132] (quote) from N
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

" For too long, we have accepted all eastern teaching with childlike reverence, placing our thinking faculties on hold. " Josh Baran's review of Brian Victorias book, Zen at War is here: Excerpt from a longer article (quote)In Zen, there is the ancient image of a red-hot iron ball stuck in your throat that you cannot spit out or swallow. For Japanese Zen, the war is th
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Again, note that in 1985, Josh Baran was a resource person, quoteable by no less a person than a reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle. Josh Baran could have become a colleague of Margarent Singer. He could have become another Rick Ross. THis was desperately needed work. And Baran, as noted above, was sought out by people as early as 1977, prior to Jonestown. . "Josh Baran, the
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Anticult wrote: QuoteWhat's wonderful is that Janaki does not appear to know what "hypnosis" is, but her description could be in a textbook! Put it this way, if you are getting "tunnel vision", and things are moving in "slow motion"...that's a clue! Another way this can feel is that one's peripheral vision is narrowing and that one's visio
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Bateson, Esalen, and a long list of names. [74.125.95.132] Quote MIND AND NATURE:A Necessary Unity Gregory Bateson ACKNOWLEDGMENTS (from Gregory Bateson) The work and thought leading to this book have spread over many years, and my debts go back to include all that were acknowledged in the preface to my previous book, Steps to an Ecology of Mind. But I have tried to write to be
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Hi friends. A little refresher course, courtesy of this lovely NLP blog. Anticult will probably find far more treasures there than I can detect. We can probably assume this description is given of a context in which ME's model is being used by a therapist and client, and the client KNOWS he or she is working with a hypnotherapist. This is a client--not an uninformed target. Or..d
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

See if Esalen could also have been a point of contact. I think Michael Murphy was deeply involved with that. Gestalt was taught there by Perls. People from Zen Center were there--including quite honorable teachers, such as Kobun Chino. A lot of people networked with each other via Esalen in the 1970s. I think Bateson was on faculty or in residence at UC-Santa Cruz. And he died fro
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Regarding Jay Cruises info..this is very jolly interesting. Recall that Janaki reported formerly having been involved with Muk and claims a friend of hers involved with Muk later told her about BK. Given the number of former Siddha YogaGurumayi--successor of Muktananda/SYDA yoga (Muktananda) devotees who apparently have gone on to become involved with BK..and seem to have referred one anot
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"