corboy Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > The scene also attracts opportunists drawn to the > power, the prestige and the aching trustfulness of > the students who congregate around the guru. This will sound like baloney to a lot of people, but some of these gurus have a very strong shakti field or however you want to call it. I've experienced th
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

I think I watched this same docu some years ago. Very interesting, IIRC the cult leader gained some level of insight towards the end, realizing that he may not actually be God, after all. But that insight was too painful for him to continue living, apparently. Oneclickwonder, you can watch it at the youtube link above if you're in the US or if you connect through a US-located VPN.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

I'm reading some more of the testimonials at There are many shocking things in there, but not surprising at all, to people who have first-hand experience with cults. The specifics differ from cult to cult, but the basic principles are always the same. When I was in a cult, the leader tried to manipulate me into hating my parents, much like the person describes in the first quote in my
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Here's some more interesting testimony from someone who's been there: From About being pressured to cut family ties: QuoteSo lastly the topic of family and friends. Oh man that's a biggie. You better believe that Shunyamurti and his wife Radha Ma manipulate the shit out of your family situation. Some people living there haven't talked to their families in years but m
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Thanks India. I have no experience with Indian ashrams, so I'll take your word for it until I have more information. Would you say the amount of ex-students who have come to the conclusion that Shunyamurti is narcissistic and manipulative is out of the ordinary, compared to Indian gurus, or is this just par for the course?
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Quoteindia The doomsday apocalyptic scenario aligns with just about every religion at its inception through mystic visions of their saints, so also no issue there, its really only a question as to when, how it will unfold, and whether the timeline of it has been sped up. i tend to believe him when he says there is no time to waste, humanity is in peril, the planet is going through a mass extincti
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Quoteindia its also standard for guru's to cut ties with family members in India I doubt that. It's certainly not true for the few Indians I know who have gurus. Maybe you're referring to how it goes in Brahma Kumaris, is that your background? BK is Shunyamurti's background. Cutting family ties may be standard practice in cults like BK, but it isn't standard in Hinduis
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Hi India, there's a lot of testimony here from people who have been there and who describe the fear mongering and mind control in the ashram. Like you, I've never been there, which is why I won't dismiss the testimony of people who have been there. But if Shunyamurti is right none of it matters anyway because there'll be a nuclear apocalypse any moment now.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Quoteearthquake D.I. I am so glad you have asked this. So, when I went back there now to check, I can see that the James & Isabella Swartz have now greatly changed aspects of that satsang! They have took out the above quote, and much more. I can tell that it is in response to this initial post/article. No the quote is still in there. Scary stuff. It's in this paragraph: Quote Th
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Edit: Earthquake beat me to it. Can't delete this post so I'll leave it as it was. Dis-illusioned Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Seriously!!?? > > WTF…!!! > > Could you please cite where you accessed that > quote from (I find this forum too difficult to > navigate, but it may have been a quote from a > previous post
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

QuoteIsabella Swartz E-Satang Shiningworld: Most important, it is clear you do not understand nor respect Ramji’s authority as Isvara in protecting the teachings. Ramji is the Self, a true Mahatma, and he truly can claim that ‘Isvara made me do it. Whatever he does is correct, there is no fine print to it because he is Dharma with a big D. Wow, these people are crazy. Must be great for Isab
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

QuoteIanKoviak I think ya'll might like this book – "Advaitaholics Anonymous: Sobering Insights for Spiritual Addicts" Thanks for that book recommendation! I'm reading the introduction now and I find myself agreeing 100%, but the author words it much better than I ever could. Excerpt: QuoteSpirituality is a highly personal business. It is a person’s unique relationshi
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

I can't help you out unfortunately, DrBBennett. In the Jonestown mass suicide, not every cult member was willing to poison themselves. Those that refused were murdered. I wonder if this is the case with more of these cult mass suicides. In that case, the psychological mechanisms behind those combined homocide-suicide cases might be no different from those behind family homocide-suicide
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Thanks for sharing that review, Earthquake. People like me who owe their vedanta knowledge (in part) to reading JS's books need breakdowns like this one to help weed out JS's distortions. Last year I threw away all my JS books. I didn't sell them or give them away because I didn't want to pollute anyone else's mind with distorted vedanta. Looking forward to visiting your
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

It seems to me that the more you know yourself, the more you know that you don't know anything. When someone's strongly identified with their opinions, to the point of going into tantrums about them, I think this is all the proof you need that this person is dominated by ego. On a related note, here's a quote from David Godman's article about Ramana Maharshi's attitude
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

The Whirlwind Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Exactly. Thank you. All facet wants to do > (pretty much) is preach atheism, apparently. Yeah looks like it. If someone's post history shows a very predictable, unchangeable and dismissive opinion, maybe there's no point in engaging them.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

The Whirlwind Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > All I am trying to really say, facet, is that I am > not willing to throw the baby away with the > bathwater. It's like I got hurt in an abusive > church, but I still consider myself a Christian. > Same thing. I think you have the right attitude. Throw out the bathwater but keep the baby :
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

> Feel free to visit > satyoga.exposed > where we'll be gathering a maximum of perspectives > and experiences. I love the look and tone of the site! I didn't even know the .exposed domain extension exists but it fits perfectly. I'm reading Govinda's testimonial and what he describes is identical to my experience with other cult leaders. At the beginning of th
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

That's great, Amoo. Seems like the best case scenario to me: picking up whatever insight/impetus someone has to offer you without surrendering your authority or critical thinking to them.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

I think you're right that it's more like a religion than a cult, in a way. Similarities with Christianity occurred to me too, Trump being their messiah and Q being their prophet. Maybe this is the first large scale religion that has been grown by Artificial Intelligence. The AI algorithms deployed by Facebook, YouTube and others have learned that exposing people to ever more radical con
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

QuoteSahara71 The thing with Q-anon is that it's already widely accepted as being a conspiracy theory. I can see that it shares some similarities with a cult, but there doesn't seem to be any kind of 'leader' that benefits form Q-anon - as in, is there anyone who is amassing power and influence and money as a result of Q-anon? Is there some kind of centralized organization
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Thanks Shamrock, that video is really fascinating. Here are the pages BobbiJean referred to on 8kun: [8kun.top] [8kun.top] [8kun.top] I haven't been able to find any of the specifics BobbiJean mentioned on those pages, like the name and rules of the game, so I don't know if that information is evidence-based, hearsay, or speculation. BobbiJean, maybe the ConspiracyPsychology
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Thanks, Earthquake! I'll probably have to reread your posts a few times to let it all sink in, as information-dense as they are.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

QuoteDis-Illusioned I’m grateful for that link and reference to other useful resources ziziz I'm glad it's useful to you! Quoteearthquake Swami Dayananda came back and studied Shankaracharyas works and the Bhagavad gita. And in a short time, that was that, he attained moksha. Inquiry was missing. Swami Dayananda said that he was expected to sit at the feet of his Guru, and just
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

I'm watching Rick Archer's latest interview with Swami Sarvapriyananda. They talk about ethical foundations of nondual spirituality. At 55:00 there's a question about the problem with abuse and such among modern advaita teachers. Swami S. says that discipline is often under-emphasized (as opposed to knowledge). Knowledge is only for the intellect, which is like the rider on an elep
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Quoteearthquake Earlier in the year, I was posting some sociological stuff on my timeline. Another teacher in our lineage ( a friend) asked me why would I bother with these things, since it doesn't affect I. I pointed out lovingly that the world does still matter. Even if one is free. I'm glad you're pointing this out because I think Swartz's dismissal of the world as unimp
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Thanks for the links, BobbiJean. I looked at the pages you linked to but I can't make any sense of them, unfortunately. I hope someone can make a more easily digestible text/video with the information, for the less informed/intelligent like me. In the Netherlands a popular satirical show recently did an item about Qanon which seems to have had some effect. It helped spread understandi
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

My reply may have been a bit snarky, sorry for that. But really, if you have evidence please share it.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

BobbiJeanMcQueen Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > My Question to You: > > How do we help Q followers once they break free > and/or the reality of the Q cult is unmasked? A good start would be leading by example: not spreading claims without evidence to back them up and expecting others to believe them. Qanon originating as an ARG sounds like an
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Quoteshamrock I was thinking of Sudhir Kakar, The Inner World, and V. S. Naipaul, An Area of Darkness. Thanks, Shamrock! I saw the Naipaul book is banned in India; that makes me extra interested in reading it!
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"