Oh, yeah, the 'volunteer' thing, don't get me started on how insidiously my group used that one! We would all fall over ourselves to 'volunteer' to work seminars. We would all write these cloying, sickly sweet letters to the Guru, telling him that as lowly, worthless students we didn't really deserve to work for him but we would do the very best we could to serve
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Sweetface, - I just finished reading 'Enlightenment Blues' by Andre Van der Braak about his years as a disciple of Andrew Cohen. At one point Andre was ordered by Andrew Cohen to do 100 Re-birthing sessions over (I'm not sure how long,) maybe about six months! He described it as 'hyperventilating' for 45 minutes at a time and that the increased oxygen causes all kinds
Forum: Recovery from Destructive Cults and Groups

But my guess, based on Kings own educational background, which was of a high level, was that he intended heart to balance intellect, not displace it, as Ophrah seems to imply. This is very nicely put, corboy. The problem in so many of these groups is that they totally encourage people to 'listen to their hearts' at the expense of critical thinking. Thereby the notion of 'sel
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Oh and by the way it says in the interview that her new book is targeted towards children: Byron Katie: "Yea. Parenting and children. I'm considering calling it Child's Play." [ ooh!s ] Doing 'turnarounds' on children at a crucial time in their development when their identities are still fluid, being formed. This is quite a scary thought.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

QuoteHope I don't think they really know the depth of the manipulation and deception these authors and LGAT people are pulling. Hope, I agree that sometimes even reputable counselors don't know enough about these groups and the serious implications of promoting them. At other times as we have seen on this thread they are in fact participants and may even be looking for ways to in
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Yes, (going back to the discussion of Gurumayi's disappearance) and what about when the Guru unexpectedly and suddenly dies? There was no instruction left regarding who should be the successor or any other instructions indicating how the Group should proceed in the event of our Guru's death. I now know of at least two people who took their lives in the wake of his passing. Some
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Good post vera. Worth printing out for reference, I think.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

How does calling it 'THE' teaching override or contradict the point that Sweetface is making here? "THE' teaching actually makes it sound more as though Tolle is positing his theories as absolute Universal Truths. Just like 'THE' Work of Byron Katie. You have to listen to THE teachings and do THE Work. That way, as sweetface points out they don't have to
Forum: Recovery from Destructive Cults and Groups

We should invite 'Disengaged' over here where people are actually encouraged to think properly and critically and those with an agenda are called out on their bs :)
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Hahaha. Great post as always. Yes, keep your 'Swiss-thinking knife' Anticulti-ji (Hahaha. I'm kidding, just kidding!) My own knife is around here somewhere, a bit rusty but still usable nontheless. On a serious note, the point about seeking proper treatment for phobias is well taken. Thanks for the about.com link and the authentic happiness one also. I will check that out thi
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Anticult - I bought David Burn's book 'The Feeling Good Handbook' from Amazon and was able to order a copy of 'When Panic attacks' from the library. I'm still waiting for them both and I hope that they will help. I am beginning to come around to the fact that this whole concept of 'overcoming the ego' is just an antiquated belief that originated I don�
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

I thought people might like to talk about the books that they are reading or have read in the past that helped them in the process of cult recovery. Not everyone lives in a place where there are 'exit counselors' available who really understand the process of coming out of a cult. At least that has been true in my case. I think possibly many people, like myself have had to sort th
Forum: Recovery from Destructive Cults and Groups

QuoteShaking My Head Everything appears like a kiss, but down deep, it's a germ that's being given. Wow. That's pretty deep! There is some discussion on 'memes' and 'thought-viruses' in this thread; ideas that appear 'spiritual' and helpful on the surface but that end up 'corrupting' a person's mind in a similar way that a computer vir
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

To me, looking back, a lot of my cult expeirience was a lesson in insane thinking. Surrendering one's individual power to another human being is sheer madness. In this modern age there are people who accept to live live a life of slavish devotion to an individual or group ... as though they are feudal serfs instead of dignified, thinking, autonomous human beings. One of the ways that
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

" ... if byron katie said she "healed" someone, she was simply wrong." Simply wrong about healing someone? Making claims of the ability to heal someone is a decidedly complicated business. I know because I have worked in the field of 'complementary medicine' in the cult group I have been in for many years. We have to be extremely careful in the way we word our
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Daphne wrote: "NO one can 'make you believe' anything without your permission. Get a grip" "You would be too busy taking complete responsibility for yourselfwhich of course would leave you without your lame excuses for your behavior. Of course, your excuses guarantee your continued suffering, that is a choice you can make" In fact, Daphne, people CAN make you
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Yes, question lady, that is a beautifully written passage. Maybe the first thing I should say is that after re-reading portions of the thread and external links I may own a small apology to Steve Sashen? I'm not sure. The portions of his blog I read were really not so bad, although I didn't get to the stuff about 'The Work'. Maybe I shouldn't have used his name until I
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Anticult ... Babyji must be the devotees. Hahaha. I have a few comments about some previous issues that were raised. - The 'lying' thing - Anticult is correct. In the mind of a cult member it is okay to lie because yes, the ends do justify the means as follows: "It's okay because we lie with intention to help not hurt people." (I am not a scientologist but I thi
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

So that story is used a lot. Thanks Anticult! And I just saw your other post about Anxiety with the link. I ordered the Feeling Good Handbook from Amazon too. I appreciate any sensible approach that will encourage me to think and feel for myself and not force me to worship someone anyone as a living God. Even if they are a Living God. Hahaha. How blasphemous. There should be a warning label, l
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

I don't know where that story originates from, it's not referenced in my literature here. If anyone here has heard that story being used elsewhere or knows its origin, I'd like to hear from you. It seems like it might be a Hindu or Buddhist story that was used to teach disicples. The possibility of transference is there, isn't it? ... promoting dependency on the Guru. That
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

There is so much information on this thread. I am still thinking about Ericksonian Hypnosis and 'Teaching Stories'. My guru used Teaching Stories to a certain extent. We all listened to, read and studied these stories to understand as much as possible about our teachings. I am wondering to what extent these teaching stories may have had embedded messages as described with Byron Kati
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Quotequestion lady solea, I would be very interested to hear more about the mindset that led you to leave your partner. It might be helpful to have that topic, and corboy's meme info in a thread of their own since the information is likely applicable to ,many 'teachers', not just Byron Katie. Hi, questionlady, I think that it was helpme2times who said that s/he(?) had left a pa
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Thank you Keir :) tsukimoto - (I'm sorry for the delay in answering I didn't see your post sooner.) Thank you so much for describing your experiences in Soka Gakkai. Although you were in a different organization, what you describe sounds so similar to what I went through ... Being at a low point in life, enjoying the camaraderie and the feeling of having a purpose when starting in th
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

There is a thread from a guy who posted on the Oprah message board entitled "My wife is leaving me" There's also another thread for women who are thinking about leaving their husbands, as though reading 'Eat, Pray, Love' was going to give them the 'strength' or 'courage' to be 'free to find their true selves' and do so. When I heard
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Wow. The amount of information on this thread just in the past two days is absolutely amazing ... and overwhelming. As I try to abosrb all the information, I think of how my guru told us "be happy ... don't think". It is a phrase that current cult members parrot at me every time I ask a difficult or unusual question. But with all the possibility to be led on a deceptive path
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Quote from RandomStu: "All scams are dependent on our own wants. If we want something, then we can be trapped by whoever promises to sell it to us. It's much much much more effective to look into how our own wants trap us, rather than to try and control the salespeople. As long as there are people who want beer, there will be beer salespeople. As long as there are people who want en
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

I like this list of rules on how not to be a cult very much! You've covered a lot. There are a few people in my organization who should see this. Thanks John. If I think of anything to add I will let you know. :)
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Yes, thanks corboy, I read the Marta Szabo blog from beginning to end in two consecutive nights barely catching a breath. It's beautifully written. Still the question remains, "Me too? Was I really duped by my Guru(s) ... or were they both genuine mystics with some human flaws?" I am having a tough time answering that question and the process is waaay more painful than I could h
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Hi Keir, Wow. Thanks for taking the time to respond to my post. Yeah. I feel totally guilty and totally obligated to this group. I had absolutely NO idea that other groups instill their members with these same kinds of fears. It's not that long ago that I first 'allowed' myself to read 'Releasing the Bonds' on the pretext of proving to myself that the group is not a cu
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

From the story of Byron Katie's response to her friend dying of cancer: QuoteThe tears in her eyes were tears of gratitude, she said. How sad and twisted is this? Perhaps the tears were shed because even on the sick patient's deathbed, her friend Byron Katie had to 'play guru' to her, could not accept a simple, clear expression of human love. Grrr. Surely anyone w
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"