I must confess that I'm a bit confused by this message: [*] You, crazymonkey, have only been a member here for less than 48 hours with only the two posts in this thread. Would you be willing to introduce yourself and your credentials for speaking on this matter? [*] The articles you link to, although critical of Wikipedia, don't seem to back up your claim that Wikipedia is a cult. N
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

This is interesting. I've noticed that this is one of the most significant personality changes on my side that I've experienced as a result of the group I was in (led by Rama/Frederick Lenz). Lenz used laughter and humor in his talks a lot. Although he could definitely be extraordinarily funny, I also have come to recognize that he was using humor as a way to control people too. As such
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

There is a new podcast available about Rama/Lenz that can be found here: Smoke Screen: I Am Rama, The Mystery of New Age Spiritual Teacher: Frederick Lenz | Starting 6/22 The podcast is in a series of 10 episodes, of which only 3 have been seen so far, so it remains to be seen what it will look like when it is all done. However I listened to the first 3 episodes, and I liked what I heard. M
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

I think the place you were in psychologically for many years--up until a year ago--is a very common situation to be in psychologically as one goes through the process of leaving a cult. It is the same place I was in myself for many years and to some extent still am. It is quite common to say, as you did and as I also did for many years, that one still has faith in the guru but one doesn't
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

I think this very closely mirrors my experience in my own group. Some people are definitely treated as more equal than others. Long term members who manage to remain on the guru's good side are able to get away with much more--including themselves being abusive to others--than the less favored members.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Truth wins Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Dharmalion2003, there are many different gurus and many different philosophies. True but my experience has been that they are all more similar than different. That is why resources like CEI exist. Each group is a bit different and has its own unique characteristics, but the different groups tend to have a lot in c
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Truth wins Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > It is a lost cause to try and wake followers up. > The hypnotic spell must break naturally. In understanding why some followers stay (and others leave) I think it is very important to understand that there are at least two aspects to the dynamic between guru and follower that are usually in play. The guru u
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

corboy Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Dharma Lion, this is super valuable info. Could > you add this same post to a CEI thread you wrote > about your observations of Lenz and his group? Yes, I have just done so. > They target areas where people with high future > earning potential attend school. I also commented a bit on this in the o
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

In a different thread, not moses introduced readers to the Pair a Docks blog and wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > https://pairadocks.blogspot.com/2021/04/leaving-cult-may-not-go-well-if-one-is.html Thanks for these postings. I notice that there are quite a number of relevant blog posts at the "Pair A Docks" blog which I'm very glad to have be
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

not moses Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > https://pairadocks.blogspot.com/2021/04/leaving-cult-may-not-go-well-if-one-is.html Thanks for these postings. I notice that there are quite a number of relevant blog posts at the "Pair A Docks" blog which I'm very glad to have been introduced to via your posts here. Another interesting "Pair a
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

It looks like police divers finally solved the case of the disappearance of Frederick Lenz disciple Brenda Kerber, who disappeared back in 1989. There is already a news article on this site about it, see: Remains of Brenda Kerber found Brenda's remains were found, 31 years after her death, in a car underwater in a New York State reservoir. Her disappearance, as noted only recently solv
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Just to give a bit more information about what I recall from the group between about 1992 - 1998--since the press coverage doesn't tend to focus too much on that period. I suspect that any new recruiting drive will/is being modeled closely on what happened back in that era so it might be good for people to know what happened in that earlier era so they know what to avoid if they see a simil
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

corboy Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > A former student of Lenz described how Lenz > encouraged male students to subscribe to this > exploitation website. > > > > > > > > Female empowerment - har. > > All it empowered was Lenz ego and his wealth. As the person who originally posted those messages ye
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Quotejjjbarryi went to some of his group meetings...where fred found his groupies he was a liar and worse....... see atheists ? ed tabash....he was there and is a lawyer No I don't know who Ed Tabash is--is he a lawyer who worked for Rama/Lenz? Yes, Rama lied a lot. Due to a combination of excellent social skills and telling the truth on a selective basis, he was able to get away with
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

QuoteJupiterI've had real problems with sexuality in a cultive environment but I've not found ANY resources which has dealt with this. Basically, instead of being forced to express ourselves sexually it was more of the opposite - that sexuality was rigidly repressed, except under marriage. However fidelity rates were extremely low, with the leader having several wives, and the level of
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

QuoteToniJust a thought : does sexual exploitation really NOT occur to the extent that we think? Or is it perhaps better hidden, or more consensual, when taking place in other areas of life, e.g. not-the-spiritual-sector? Maybe, someone who acts out their power plays in a godhead position is already a special category of narcisist or psychopath, so their antics of sexual exploitation would be
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

QuoteprozakQuoteDharmaLion2003Towards the end of his life, Dr. Lenz asked a number of his female students to bare their tits on an Internet web site said to be devoted to 'Tantric sex'. Something does not feel right to me about that. It's a gut feeling. Can't put words to it. 'TantraTech'--representing Dr. Lenz' obsession with tantra and the technology indus
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

But propensity for widespread sexual abuse seems more dependent on whether someone is a spiritual teacher or not, not whether they are legit or not. There seems to be widespread sexual abuse going on in the Roman Catholic Church, for example. I am convinced it is something to do with spirituality--not with the relative legitimacy or the organization. It happens in upstart cults and venerable
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

It was embarrassing for me because for a long time I had not wanted to believe that such things were happening. I had heard the stories but I believed that Dr. Lenz only occasionally dated women because my connection with him did not involve any discussion of sexuality, and none of the women talked about it. I had thought that we striving towards something higher than sexuality. And yet, when
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Thanks for the reply...I guess the question that I would have is...what is it about the role of being a spiritual teacher that seems to cause such demands to be placed on followers? It is true that power is in the air, but there are other situations in life where power also is present but that don't seem to go to the same extremes. You don't usually see a professor sleeping with all t
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

I was wondering if anyone had any knowledge of sexual ritual or similar activities in cultic groups. I am a former student of Rama/Dr. Frederick Lenz, a controversial American Buddhist teacher who committed suicide in 1998. Dr. Lenz was known for being a proponent of what he called 'Tantric sex' as described in books such as Snowboarding to Nirvana. Towards the end of his life, Dr. Lenz
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"