Star, Tolle is another con-artist/charlatan. He is indeed in the same category as Swaggart, Jimmy Baker and Byron Katie. Most people don't even stop and think they are taking advice from a glum and morose man who was destitute and suicidal for some years telling us how to live and even meditate when he himself has zero education in psychology and meditation. Who was a veritable nobody unt
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

QuotecorboyTo repeat, the real emphasis is the use of story telling and to a vulnerable and exhausted group of people. It is Never 'Just a Story' Yasmin, please read the link Corboy provided, it will give you a look into the sort of manipulation that Katie and McCarthy do. IMO McCarthy is a snake and fraud who has jumped into the seminar bandwagon to make easy $$$. Anything sh
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

If you stick around this site long enough you'll come across the term NLP - this is the stuff a lot of bad people learn to use manipulate people. Byron Katie uses a lot of it and Tony Robbins is the grand master of using it. Worse, most politicians, lawyers and salesmen use it as well. Listen to guys like Frank Luntz and Rove and you're listening to people coached in NLP. Even tele-p
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

QuotecorboyIn India power is not seen 'as' divine, power is experienced AS divine, period. There is no way to imagine corrupt power or legitimate power. Power just IS. One has to have had a thorough education along Western and humanistic lines tobe able to remove oneself from such conditioning. IMO, anyone lucky enough to be born into a functional participatory democracy risk
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

The short answer: Anyone can become a cult leader provided they have the right sort of stimulus - adoring fans and yes men in a isolated environment. Over time you'd start to think you're infallible, great, etc. It slowly eats and corrupts people, most won't even notice it. And it's found in the secular world as well.(See "The Wrong Way Home" by Arthur Deikman)
Forum: Coercive Persuasion and Undue Influence

Uggh, what a massive and toxic induction. It sets off all sorts of alarm bells as well. T The person wrote it, IMO should be avoided like a case of the Black Plague. The post is indicative of a crass manipulator who is going to pick your pocket and leave you mentally messed up. Doing a quick google on "Rob Moulder" shows the supposed poster to be just another NLP manipulator with
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Sparky wrote: Interesting. I think some of the experienced posters here may verify this, but isn't this classic cult/LGAT philosophy, that is to weaken the people mentally with a low-protein diet and sleep-deprivation so they can't think straight so you can control them easier with hyponosis and suggestions? Yes, they are. Weakness and confusion on the part of the participants ma
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

Anticult wrote: "Where did these LGAT Gurus get the idea to use unpaid "Staff"? From groups like Scientology." And NLP, from it's inception NLP used "helpers", "assistant coaches", "guardian angels", who were NLP students who paid full seminar price to "help" newbies. At $2k-$5k a seminar plus room and board, it is a very e
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Mysticism has always been part and parcel of Christianity up until Protestantism. Simply put it's prayer work and contemplative practices. It's still part of Catholic and Eastern Orthodox in monastic settings. It is AFAIK not part of Protestant denominations save perhaps for Anglicanism.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Stay away from "life coaches"!! These people are cranks and some are just con-men. In terms of training, at best they attended a weekend or 1 week coarse and got a certificate. That's it. You do not want people like that messing with your mind or planting toxic ideas into it. Fire the coach. "counselor in training"? No such animal. Besides you don't want a be
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

According to Brad's description, Genpo's Big Mind process reads like a hypnotically induced high besides it's eerie similarity to a evil version of the Parts Party. I've had plenty of them via NLP trainers. And yeah you get a high and this feeling of oneness like you won't believe, but then comes the downside. All that bad stuff Brad had, I had and more. In short Genpo
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Interesting, Genpo's 'Big Mind' Method is a variation of a old NLP method called a "Parts Party" and it's newer cousin "Core Transformation" but with a real sick twist, Genpo is actually creating another sub personality and have them halluncinate satori in the process. Normally this doesn't work well, but when you have a big name like Wilber and cr
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Hi Ziggy I looked at their websites - both old version and current. The old one reeked of being a cult recruitment site replete with students all wearing black clothes. The current site is so vague a person would have no idea what they are really about. Just a lot of vague new age nostrums and platitudes that any prospective will read in the meaning they want. Two other warning signs: &q
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Gregory Bateson soon after endorsing B&G repudiated both of them and NLP when later asked about NLP stated: 'If someone says they know NLP, run don't walk away from them.' Bateson was ticked off at them because he saw the toxic direction NLP had took and that a lot of it's leading adherents went power mad. Milton Erickson never had a good thing to say about either since
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Even short(weekend or week long) but intense workshops can negatively affect a person's mental health. I attended some years back a week long NLP course, at first I enjoyed it but about a month later I started having all sorts of nasty inter personal issues and bouts of helplessness, confusion, that persisted for a year, etc. Mind you the trainer was using all sorts of covert hypnosis dur
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Yes it does compromise your capacity to think clearly and logically and it's on purpose. The last thing authors/cult leaders like Tolle want is people to be able to think rationally about what they are engaging in. The want you to be dependent on them for "the answer" and the last thing they want are their followers to formulate their own answers and lose their dependence on the gu
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

First off, look for licensed therapists that have a background in Ericksonian Hypnosis. At least then you have a established and screened therapist who isn't some well meaning but ultimately foolish person who took a 1 week course and got a diploma in hypnotherapy/NLP and thinks it qualifies them to be a therapist. Never, ever take therapy from a unlicensed, non-state accredited "the
Forum: Coercive Persuasion and Undue Influence

Is there anyone out there, who is really teaching influence? No, why would they. They can make millions DOING it, not giving away their "secrets". One has to patch together what they are doing from various sources. Hogan is a two-bit poseur, I remember when he was trying to make a name for himself back in the mid nineties on alt.psychology-nlp. IIRC he was originally a carpet instal
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

JayJoseph Anticult pretty much nailed how Byron K. is doing the pain technique. As for protecting yourself from these con jobs...avoid their books, DVD's and especially their seminars. Seminars are the worse, because these are artificial and controlled environements where the LGAT leader is in charge and you will end up manipulated. Run, don't walk away from anyone peddling t
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

JayJoseph Check the postings by the user Anticult in the James Arthur Ray thread, heed his/her warnings as well in regards to the material. A fair amount of the books and online material are actually useless and full of hypnotic langauge designed to convince people to take expensive workshops and buy more videos and DVD's etc. Most of it is designed to con greedy and desperate sales types
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Avoid all hypnotic seminars and therapists. Most are have done nothing more than take a one or two week course on hypnosis and that's it. Others may have taken NLP seminars as well. But neither qualifies these so-called therapists to go about mucking in your head or planting suggestions you know nothing about. See most of these so-called therapists were nothing but guys and gals working i
Forum: Coercive Persuasion and Undue Influence