Thank you for contributing to the discussion, LightWave. I am sorry to hear that you feel deceived and disappointed by your involvement with Mooji. I was the same as you- I was very disappointed to discover I almost joined a cult - I could hardly believe something like that could ever happen to me! As Valma has posted above- it can happen to the nicest people. You don't have to be espe
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Just perusing Tony Moo's slick website where now there is an 'appreciation' page for the Moo sycophants to give their glowing testimonials... Most of the contributors have been screened and then edited so as to make them appear as normal as possible, although one named "Pablo" has slipped through the screening process: Poor Old Pablo refers to himself as a bi
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

I've just watched part of the Lisa Cairns video that was shared by Horowitz above. Wow. From 57.00 to 1.06.00 she talks about Mooji and then about cult mentality in general and cultic abuse. I think the way Lisa portrays Moo's sexual relationships with his followers from an insightful psychological perspective is worthwhile considering. To paraphrase what Lisa is saying- you have
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Just in response to the 'denial of allegations' statement by Old Jimmy posted by Valma, I wanted to reproduce sections of the unofficial forensic psychologist's report included in the e-book "The Story of Heather". This is very interesting: "In conclusion, my unofficial summary of : * He has delusions of grandeur. He knows that he is beloved by many, all of
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Hello Earthquake, I am in the same situation as you- writing on this forum when I should be working, but luckily I can shuffle things and multitask! I like your point about having compassion for humanity. This is what I believe in too, and have always believed in having a compassionate outlook, without without an interest in Advaita Vedanta. I was very disappointed to find a community o
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

earthquake Wrote: -- > > Part of purna ananda is the desire to help others. > With humilty. A teacher is not special. They just > have a responsiblity > > So if he saw ot as some big hardship. That is > strange. Yes, absolutely Earthquake!! If you have been called on a genuine spiritual path, or indeed you do realize enlightenment (excuse my use of words- I
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Hi Traveler99, All the main problems with Mooji are summarized in this recent article by Be Scofield: • Former members accuse spiritual teacher Mooji of running an abusive cult at his isolated ashram three hours from Lisbon, Portugal. • They allege sleeping with students, abuse such as screaming, shouting, shaming and humiliating, controlling behavior, pairing and breaking up cou
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Zizlz, Holy Mother Mary! I just read the quotes that you have posted for us from Old James' autobiography. How he threw his first wife (?) out of the house like she was a piece of trash. He writes about the incident like he is some kind of hero! It made be want to puke, actually. I'm no psychologist, but I would say that for sure the guy is a sociopath of some kind. Who else wo
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

zizlz Wrote: (quoting J.S.) > QuoteI came out of my absorption for a > minute and noticed that the Swami was looking at > me in an unkind way, as if I had consciously done > something to mess with the classroom energy, about > which he was very possessive. At the same time I > had the sense that he was drawn to me, perhaps > momentarily envious? Whatever it was, I
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Thank you for joining the discussion, Earthquake. It is very important that we hear from people with firsthand knowledge of these things, like yourself. I hope you will feel free to share more with us here. This is a moderated forum, and if at any time you see a comment posted here that is suspicious for any reason, you are welcome to report it. If you receive something in your inbox that
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Zizlz, I agree with you! Plenty of intelligent, beautiful, compassionate women have ended up marrying exploitative men.... It is very unfortunate and in no way does it vindicate those men's behavior. I just found a critical review of one of Old James' books which I think relates to what you are saying in you post above: "That does not mean the author (James Swartz) doesn&
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

I did find this anonymous comment from back in 2008: "I am so glad to be able to tell you about James Swartz, aka Sunny Jim, or as we all knew him—Rama. I lived in a communal situation, (ashram?) with this man for two years and knew him for two years prior to this. Let’s be clear, like other false gurus, Jim is very charming and charismatic. He has a good Vedantic rap and I believe he has
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Zizlz, that is very interesting. I did find this website, which you might have already seen. If you scroll down and read the last 5 or so paragraphs, it does say that Old James learnt Advaita from Swami Chinmayananda. The guy who runs this website is an Advaita teacher himself and lo and behold - the guy is someone who has had a bit of cult involvement, himself! He especially mention
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Thanks Snapping-out, I hadn't had a chance to look at the next Moo-Moo intensive until now. It's a slick piece of advertising, I'll give them that! Most importantly: The Moo-Moos say: "Occasionally, being in such an environment can adversely affect pre-existing mental health conditions. It may bring up latent traumatic imprints or deep-rooted tendencies in the body-mi
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Thanks for starting this discussion Traveler99. That is all very interesting, Clearvision. Rick Archer himself has actually posted in the 'Mooji a cult?' discussion here on Cult Ed and may well like to comment on this discussion, as well. I did find this reference to Rick Archer taking down Old James' interview from BATGAP - it's actually from the James Swartz newsletter
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

The Leaving Mooji facebook page seems to be down. Anyone have any info??? I can't seem to find it.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Annette, I will say this- the fact that Jame Swartz referred to sex and violence in an email exchange that was nothing do with either of those things in the first place is a huge red flag. This is very inappropriate. If I received an email like that, I would be shocked, actually. It's not like you even know him, why would he think he could refer to sex and violence for no apparent reas
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Valma, that is all so interesting. I wish I knew more about these things or was able to shed more light on the matter. I can tel you this: A woman I once knew was the victim of a physically and verbally abusive husband, who repeatedly abused her over a number of years. Through an interesting turn of events (which I wont go into), he was basically forced to attend counseling as part of an a
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Hi Zizlz, I read pretty much the entire book "Guru- The Story of Heather" from www.reallyguru.com The claims made in this book are shocking, indeed they are far worse that what Moo has ever been accused of. It is extremely disturbing and it made me feel sick in the stomach to read it. On the reallyguru.com page, there is a email address where you can ask questions of the administ
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Annette, I think it's a great idea to write a book (as you already know!) I hope people will get on board with this and share their experiences with you (anonymously if they wish). Writing a book could be very rewarding on a personal level, quite apart from what it might reveal about M. And I believe that it doesn't really matter if such a book serves to warn people away from M or
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Good on you, Annette. While we are in the business of exposing questionable spiritual teachers, we may as well take a good look at Old James, who seems to delight in sharing private emails for personal gain.... Strange how James compared Moo to Donald Trump, and claimed they are both victims of their own- what was it? Urges? No.... subconscious leanings? I don't know. James sounds like
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Just re-posting the link to the book "Enlightenment- The Path through the Jungle" by Dennis Waite. Here you can read a few excepts from the book at no cost, including: The neo-advaitin argument is that: since there is no one to become enlightened and the Self is already free, it follows that the scriptures cannot serve any useful function. According to this argument, it mu
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

I've just been doing a quick bit of research- it seems the spiritual teacher James Swartz was accused anonymously of the sexual assault of a minor. The article was published on Medium.com, then retracted. I can't find a copy of the article, but apparently the anonymous person who accused him never revealed their identity. Are the accusations valid? I have no idea. But it's enoug
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Thank you for all your wise words Annette Chappelle, your words are very articulate and expressive. I know many people reading this have found a great deal of comfort in reading about your experiences. I wonder if you would like to write a book about your experiences in order to help others? Just to tell your story in your own words? I believe a publisher would be very interested in some
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Thanks Abdias824, for your recommendation of the book "Enlightenment- The Path through the Jungle" by Dennis Waite. Here is a website where you can read some extracts from this book if anyone is interested: This is what the James Swartz (who is also quite critical of Moo) has to say of the book: "When in the Nineties the Neo-Advaita satsang movement burst on the spirit
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

AnnetteChappelle Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > > It’s all word salad but also funny was his > reference to how people are writing lies and > making things up because they are in pain, because > they can’t open their hearts to love, not evolved > enough yet. What a joke! Jim Jones Tony Moo accuses his detractors of making up lies
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

snapping-out Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Shree to me is like a faithful dog waiting for > this bone that will never come her way. Neither > being young nor having the favoured features. > Heard Moo say once in a recorded satsang she was > so reliable. The coldness in his tone while he > said that word send shivers down my spine. It
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Yes, I agree with Ananas, Annette - what you wrote about your friend and her conscious state and what I think you are inferring is very disturbing. I hope you feel comfortable to expand upon this a little more. Please be reassured that if you are not comfortable giving further information, then that is very understandable and there is no pressure to do so. The main thing is to look afte
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Thank you Annette Chappelle, for coming forward. You are very brave! I realized straight away that you were the same Annette who posted on the Questioning Mooji Facebook page, and the very same person who was approached by Henri Jolicoeur to 'star' in one of his videos exposing Tony Moo for who he really is. Thank you for sharing your experience here with us. I know there are
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

If Tony reads this forum and adjusts his behavior accordingly, then I suggest it's time for a new stylist, Tony. The beard and the dreadlocks are unfashionable and aging. Also the long robes are looking dated. What about a nice understated suit with a tie? Something in light-weight linen would look good on you. Oprah might come calling! And ditch the rambling, repetitive mumbo-jum
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"