its a classic--you can use it to excuse anything. If you want to understand how charismatic leaders 'tick' get and read 'Prophetic Charisma' by Len Oakes. He studied 20 charismatic cult leaders, after having spent time as a disciple of one. Oakes described how one of these leaders handled a health department inspector--he dazzled the guy with BS, knocked him off balan
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

People Farm is probably the closest way an outsider can stand aside at a very safe distance, and experience the desperation and vulnerability persons who are seduced into a psychotherapy cult and how they can be trained to function as extensions of the leader, even to the point of degrading each other and committing crimes. The book also describes the endless hustling and scheming that went on
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

It doesnt matter what your own state of mind is. There is plenty of evidence about the harm done by certain unsafe LGATs. Meanwhile, give your sister the URL for this thread on how controversialLGATs produce their effects by manipulating the room environment. Your sister will have to come to her own conclusions. At least she'll know information is out there, even if she does not r
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

If you want to see what your friend was up against, read the material on this thread which is entitled 'Manipulating the Room's Environment.' Lots of info from persons who used to work forLGATs and who set up the rooms, plus from participants who reported how very tightly scripted social interactions were inside those rooms.
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

It sounds as though you were in a discreet, under-the-radar group. These can be hard to identify, and you're often recruited through a trusted friend or relative. And if you're a member of a travelling group with a hectic schedule structured around frequent rituals/art performances, you're kept busy, tired, and all the constant travelling keeps you dependant on both the group and l
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Exactly. That point is covered in several posts on this thread. One of the posts contains a URL for a statement issued by a council of Native American Elders who spoke against the commercialization of shamanism. So much has already been stolen from indigenous peoples. The very least we can do is honor their traditions by respecting their sacred places and keeping our distance so that the
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Selective Recruitment, Gaslighting and Strategic Rejection as Mental Manipulation A discussion of this subject developed on this thread entitled 'Do Not Expect Gratitude and several correspondants began describing their experiences of this form of abuse. Access the thread here scroll down to the post by 'Leopardgirl'spost dated 7-12-04. Starting with that post and the o
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

It may be that Selective Recruitment (when child molesters do it, its called 'grooming the victim') and Strategic Rejection are often perpetrated in tandem. In certain cultic relationships and groups, they fit together, like a pair of clam shells. And form an airtight seal when they snap shut. Strategic rejection can range from amateurish to fiendish. Amateurish strategic rej
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Professor Janja Lalich She was in a political cult, left it, did her graduate studies with Dr. Margaret Singer. Her past experience led her to study high-demand groups and belief systems. Good luck in your studies.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Hi LG: I was reading some material on a thread dedicated to faux Gurdjieff groups and began to suspect that certain small group leaders enhance their power just as much by knowing whom to kick out from the group, as whom to recruit into the group. First, an adroit spiritual counterfeiter may operate in a manner similar to serial pedophiles. THere are people who are very skillful at identif
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

The topic of this thread:Examining and debating the possible role of LGAT room environment and scripting the social interactions to covertly disorient and disempower the subjects while empowering the leader: This bundle of information may perhaps turn out to be the most compelling and useful body of information on LGATs that has been assembled on RR.com's message board. Contributors to
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

This thread is a discussion of issues and concerns relating to Large Group Awareness Trainings and Human Potential Seminars. We are not set up to discuss situations like the one you've described. A health-care related website would be more appropriate.
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

The most radical thing you can do is outside research on RR.com and other websites, so you can identify the box at a very safe distance and stay out of it. But if an LGAT graduate insists that you can only benefit by not being told beforehand how the process will work--thats what makes it hard to stay out of these boxes. ((A personal hunch/reflection: And it means that if you're ever thi
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

If you read Drew Kopp's paper, he gives plenty of information about his time in Landmark and all the courses he took--that is he does indeed tell us what his 'educational background is.' And his paper was published on a website related to an institute of higher education--the URL has 'u.arizona.edu' in it. Thats the University of Arizona--an institute of higher educ
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

You dont have to go through a car crash to know that being in a car crash is a bad experience, best avoided when at all possible. This URL will take you to a long, long list of articles on mind control/aka thought reform otherwise known as ‘brainwashing’ In the article entitled Thought Reform Programs and the Production of Psychiatric Casualties, Singer and O
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

From Dr. Lane's excellent website, The Neural Surfer What makes this account so very remarkable is that Dr. Lane, who is no guru, found that HE could easily create conditions in which high school students had special experiences that resembled those created by Indian gurus. Fortunately, Dr. Lane is an ethical man and did not start his own cult. This essay is a must-read, especially fo
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

paranormal phenomena. This is the 'Neural Surfer' website created by Dr. David Christopher Lane. In an interview, he commented, 'We need to shave more with Occam's Razor.'--that is when something strange happens, consider and eliminate the most common place, simplest reasons for its occurance instead of jumping to conclusions that something paranormal has happened.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Years ago, I read a memoir by a physician named Axel Munthe, entitled The Story of San Michele. I dont have the book in front of me so I have to paraphrase. Dr. Munthe was a Swede, studied medicine in France and was licensed to practice in France. In the late 19th century, he was a specialist in internal medicine, and practiced in Paris. A lot medical quacks and frauds flocked to Paris,
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

The Doctor's Plot In the world of professional wrestling, fans fall into two categories, known as the Smarts and the Marks. The Marks believe that they are watching spontaneous contests of strength and skill. The Smarts know that they are watching a fascinating, highly plotted, roughly scripted form of dramatic entertainment--a sort of sweaty soap opera. The Smarts and the Marks have
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

The author's findings may perhaps apply to: Some psychotherapists with legitimate credentials who shift gears and eventually become charismatic gurus who commit boundary violations and other acts of malfeasance, (Timothy Leary who started out as a professor of psychology and ended up being an apostle of psychedlic drug use) as well as leaders in authentic spiritual traditions who go in eg
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

A legitimate Life Coach should resemble a gas station: You get fuel for the journey, get your car fixed, and can check a road map in case you think you've got lost. But the people at the gas station are there to help you reach YOUR chosen destination. They should not trick you into abandoning your plan to follow their plan, nor should they trick you into pitching your tent in the gas s
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

I see lots of ads and adverts for various 'Life Coaching' events. Is 'Life Coaching' itself a copywrited term--something that is franchised? Or is it just a grab-bag term for services anyone can offer--whether legitimate, or fronting for an LGAT?
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

who wrote an autobiography entitled 'Living With Kundalini'. Krishna was a Brahmin from Kashmir, worked in India as a civil servant, had a family and practiced a form of kundalini or kriya yoga at home. His practice included visualizing the chakra centres in his spine. In the midst of doing this exercise, Krishna had a surge of energy up his spine and it affected his health, thought
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

The Esalen Institute contributed in very important ways to the New Age movement. Geoffrey Hill gave several lectures at Esalen and in this long but worthwhile article, he gives his take on how the Human Potential Movement fell short of its early promise. (Hill quotes) THE FAILURE OF THE HUMAN POTENTIAL MOVEMENT: FROM SELF-ACTUALIZATION TO EXPERIENTIALISM 'Like all other socia
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

'As i think about it, i think basic New Agey beliefs are ok, just as long as they don't go too far. Then real harm can set in.' If Karla McLaren (the former New Age teacher) is right, and if rejection of critical thought is an essential part of New Age culture, then right away, you've jettisoned the one thing that can help you determine whether your commitment to New Age be
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

you can go visit the www.sustainedaction.com website--it covers the very troubled legacy of Carlos Castaneda, whose work has been revealed as fraudulent, and who has, since last year, been unmasked as leader of a very cruel, secretive cultic group. Castaneda's fantasy books were a major contribution to New Age thought, which has its earlier sources in Gnosticism, Blavatsky/Theosophy and G
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

who abandoned a formerly lucrative career in the New Age world and is preparing to return to school to become a social scientist and researcher. Many thanks to Mr. Brian Steel of Australia, who alerted me to this article. (For those unfamiliar with his work, Brian Steel is a Spanish language specialist. For a few years, Mr Steel was a disciple of an Indian guru named Satya Sai Baba and
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

There is a huge thread of material on ISA available on Fact net. **Some rather strange correspondance happened on the thread, too. People started getting quite mean to each other, which was a shame.
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

This is an interesting scenario: a charismatic leader sent his followers to an existing LGAT (in this case, a group called Harmony) whose methodology broke down boundaries and conventional ethics. The followers were 'processed' by the LGAT, and rendered yet more malleable for the leader's purposes. [66.102.7.104] The leader exploited the malleability created by the Harmon
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"