I'll add a brief note of dissent, as it could (hypothetically) help someone (and some people do haunt these forums looking for help) --and I'm aware that very few people have the experience with the languages (or the fieldwork) to even offer a casual comment on the subject. QUOTE Vipassana is mistakenly taught as just a mere method. It arises straight from the world view of Therv[&
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

On the same subject as the message that I just posted, by the way, the New York Times article is worth seeing for the photograph alone: www.nytimes.com/2012/06/06/us/mysterious-yoga-retreat-ends-in-a-grisly-death.html "The monk who ran the retreat, Michael Roach, had previously run a diamond business worth tens of millions of dollars and was now promoting Buddhist principles as a path
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

A short article on the topic of this forum: ---------- …it still seems that a thick air of unaddressed issues hangs in the air around Diamond Mountain University. You wouldn’t get this sense if you went to DMU’s website, though, where Michael Roach has written a cheerful and upbeat 3-year retreat update. There he mentions the death of Ian Thorson indirectly 3 times, calling it and the prob
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

(1) I have not yet read all of the information on Dawson (Ananda Bodhi / Karma Namgyal) scattered around this website, but I noticed that several of his former-followers offered to provide interviews on the issue. In general, I would like to take them up on this offer (and I could extend whatever degree of anonymity they prefer in the ensuing article). Similarly, I have not yet read any signi
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"