Wangdrang, So you feel that following Ole is perhaps a bad idea but freeing the teachings from him is not? I don't understand this. As long as these practices are kept under control of Ole and his appointees people are in fact being disempowered; they must toady up to the system in order to get what they want. And that includes taking refuge with Ole, patently a bad idea. Free the teac
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

I have been a spiritual practitioner of various kinds for nearly forty years ago. I used to think secrecy and the need for prerequisites was the way to go. Now I don't. Why? Two reasons. One: I have read history. Two: Hierachial, patriarchal systems do not work. It is not the number of recitations or the cumulation of mandala offerings that produces the result. It is the presence and engagem
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Hysteria? I didn't know I was sounding hysterical. Perhaps it is a profound difference of opinion, based on experience. Did that ever occur to you? Just because a Lama completes a retreat or has gone through the religious training, he is not necessarily capable of of judging other people's readiness. That is a fallacy. Some are, some aren't. Religious title certainly is not a crite
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

The purity of a practice is protected when it is clearly explained in writing, openly for everyone to access. Not when it is kept secret amongst an elite few deciding who is worthy and who is not. The sincere practitioner will drop the practice if it is not a good fit and will seek further consultation from the seasoned practitioner if he runs into trouble or wants more teaching on the subject. T
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

One of the ways groups like diamond way control people is by restricting and controlling information. In the early days all their meditation formats were easily accessible. Now they are not. You have to go to a centre and get 'instruction.' I would like to publish all the instructions on a web-site so people can see for themselves and choose for themselves. The only instructions I am mi
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Yogi Bhajan, who founded 3H0, has been dead for several years. As a group 3HO is now pretty small. There are lots of non-3HO kundalini yoga treachers around and only a few of the old 3ho mafia types. Businesses like Akal Security and KRI will probably continue, as will Sikh Dharma, the religious side of Yogi Bhajan's creation, but there is no real cult to fall into anymore, only culty thinki
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

A look at history does reveal conflicts between muslims and buddhists during the 10-12th century Islamic sweep through Asia, and there is still a lot of animosites in Kashmir and other mountainous areas apparently. However, I think Ole's grievances have more to do with the growth of Muslim ghettos and the kind of crime that has brought; that of course is due to botched immigration policy and
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Here is Ole's recent comments about Islam: He says, “… I protect Christianity every day, especially because I see a big attack from Islam, a great, great danger from Islam… Nobody has ruined as much for us as the Muslims. They destroyed the Silk Road, they destroyed the whole of northern India, and historically they have cost us millions and millions and millions of people. Simply because t
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

What is "FB?"
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Villager, the article linked to gives the date it was written and when Ole was there giving a lecture there: November 14, 15 2009.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

That's the first time I have ever heard of cyber-stalking being common enough that people are pursueing therapy for it. Can anyone confirm that such therapeutic endeavours do exist, or is this Hansard putting on the spin? After all, nowadays, people can block e-mails, and most discussion groups are moderated.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Hi Villager, Great post. I am appalled to hear what they have done in your village. Diamond Way started out as a grassroots kind of lay Buddhism that looked pretty good when contrasted with the overly monastic traditions of Tibetan. Something bad happened along the way however. I think it was a little while before Hannah died when the whole thing started to morph into a right wing authoritaria
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

I agree with you 100 per cent on the money thing. I didn't practice as long as you but I noticed fairly quickly that it had no effect on my bottom line and that the people reporting financial gains were indeed already in that position. It also seems to me that Larry has become some kind of strange robotic individual and that really is not what I aspire to become. I'm really glad he didn
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

I think that was the original mahamudra text. The current one has extensive Ole commentary which, unfortunately, makes it more about him, if you know what I mean. The original text was simple and pure enough that it could be used for transmission of the mahamudra concept. The current version has lost that, in my opinion. Though I suppose if you ignore the commentary and stick to the text itself t
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

I'm wondering if anyone is familiar with this product and the people who promote it. They make quite a few claims and it is a fairly expensive self-help product.
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

What happened at Chabad that you are referring to? They are quite active in my city and always advertising programs, getting press, and sending e-mails out.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

I agree. Firmly but politely explaining to her that it is not something you are interested in, but thanks for thinking of me, would be the way to go. You have to keep good relations with your neighbours but not get caught up in their trips. The neighbour is probably looking for a cult buddy but that will pass as the emotional shine wears off.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Not teaching the unprepared is one thing. Not teaching non-natives is rascism.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

QuoterettingIt's always good to ask questions. Even the Buddha taught to that to question is good. There are many Buddhist Groups. FPMT I feel is a good one. I've taken many teachings with HH the Dalai Lama and he is an excellent teacher. You appear to be correct. I see, for instance, that FPMT has an extensive and authentic looking home study program. That would be good for peopl
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Over on another site discussing Hansard it is stated that two women filed complaints against him and escaped scrutiny by going to Vancouver where he was then accused of assaulting a woman there and then he moved back to London where the current abuses took place. This is clearly a pattern of abuse over a long period of time that no, I repeat no professional association would be willing to overloo
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Quotesuenamthat would certainly explain the heavy guilt trips from other DW members, eg. if you start to think for yourself It's ironic isn't it. The cited aims of DW were to create something free of the instutionalized religious trapping of Tibetan Bhuddism and in the end it became its own trap. In the same vein, Ole cites his right to speak his mind freely but in the end that h
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Hi Suenam, I wonder where Ole picked up this idea of "act like a buddha until you become a buddha." Because it certainly seemed to conscuiously or unconsciously be intepreted by many others to mean "model me." Perhaps in ways Ole didn't intend......I don't know. But I knew another spiritual teacher type who said "fake it untill you make it" and it didn&#
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Back to the issue at hand......I think that one of the biggest problems in DW in respect to Ole is that he either has no advisors or doesn't take their counsel (as somebody pointed out). This is common in organizations where the cult of personality has become too predominant. For instance, if Ole had a real advisor, he would probably be telling him to stop dissing Islam, instead, diss radica
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Actually, in my opinion it is the most important question. The claim to enlightenment is what sets up the authoritarian relationship in the first place and is often an excuse for bad behaviour or for manipulation of others. As far as I can tell, Bhudda never spoke about enlightenment. He spoke about being awake. Enlightenment seems like a gimmick and it is often used to sexually abuse people and
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

I have a couple of questions here. Firstly, how is "enlightenment" defined? Secondly, how would anyone be expected to know if someone else was enlightened?
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Ole will run out of steam sooner or later at which time perhaps he will be replaced by 'dharma teachers' and regularly appointed lamas. They will have to flush out the prejudices Ole has avertantly or inadvertantly fostered in many of his followers however and that will probably lead to a significant decline in the size of the group. It will also be interesting to observe how many peopl
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Yes, Jeff Bowe did an excellent job of flushing out the imnaginary 'Dr. Hansard.' I'm wondering if anyone has contacted the EFT group and this new Behavioural Psychology group to determine if they have criteria for determining who they certify to practice, and what they take into consideration when determining whether someone is fit to practice.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Good luck with your fight "Gita." It is unfortunate you won't take input from others, since I am not your enemy and I do not wish to see Hansard cotinuing to practice.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Indeed at what point will Hansard be held accountable. And at what time will his enablers - press, local authorities, and yes, former girlfriend - take responsibility and be held accountable.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

It is not a tactic Gita. Just an opinion. And I'm not blaming a victim. What I am saying is that lots of other people were "enablers" and they need to take responsiblility for that. Not everybody was a victim.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"