I'd say beware of any group or teacher fostering a sense of elitism, of specialness, secrecy, of being set apart. See about re establishing just fellowship and connection with people. This advaita material can be very disorienting, especially if we lack community ties and a daily routine with the basics: work, comrades, exercise, basic pleasures in life. Philosophy groups must
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Executive Success Programs, NXIVM Here is a feature length article describing how someone's brother was recruited into Keith Raniere's NXIVM. Raniere set it up to target high powered people. "At This Point We Are In Despair": One Woman's Quest To Bring Her Brother Home From NXIVM AMELIA HARNISH JUNE 29, 2018, 11:55 AM A few extracts from this ver
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

"...for all that Peterson claims to have had politics thrust upon him, he has certainly borne his cross with eagerness." The Fundamental Errors of Jordan Peterson A critical reading of the controversial Psychology professor's book, '12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos'. Scott Oliver Jun 4 2018, 5:24am Jordan Peterson & Fascist Mysticism Pankaj
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In Molyeux jargon to DeFOO is to leave your family of origin (DeFoo) -- as in run away from home to join Molyneux's group. He reportedly teaches that all families are abusive -- except his own. Note: This is the Cult Education Institute message board. Discussions here center on the behavior of leaders and followers. The Truth About Stefan Molyneux, from Two People Who Were in His In
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Note: Cult Education Institute has archived information about various groups. Groups The CEI message board has been active since 2002. To search these discussions select the "all dates" option. Controversial Groups Associated With Technology Personnel "Free Meditation" Zen Master Rama Frederick Lenz CEI archive information on Zen Master Rama/Frederick Len
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Your perspective is quite interesting. I think that applies to so many. Publish a book and get an award and then you have the start of something big.
Forum: Celebrities associated with "cult-like" groups

How Ayn Rand’s ‘elitism’ lives on in the Trump administration
Forum: Celebrities associated with "cult-like" groups

QuoteKalanick appears to be a true believer in smashing the state. Years ago, he used the cover image of Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead as his Twitter avatar and told the Washington Post’s Mike DeBonis that his company’s regulatory issues bore an “uncanny resemblance” to the plot of Atlas Shrugged. Still, in a practical sense, Uber operates overwhelmingly in big, dense liberal cities and n
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Rand did collect Social Security and Medicare, though. ;*
Forum: Celebrities associated with "cult-like" groups

Clarence Thomas is His Own Man Quote Clarence Thomas is his own man After 20 years on the high court, the justice is known for standing alone in dissent. July 03, 2011|David G. Savage WASHINGTON — Each summer, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas invites his four new law clerks to his home to watch a movie. Not just any movie, but the 1949 film version of the classic of libertari
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QuoteAnd how can Uber win back customers when it can’t seem to shake its reputation that it cultivated from the very beginning? No matter how many times Kalanick apologizes and cries and promises to change his ways, it’s going to be hard to make people forget about all the other times he’s acted like an utter buffoon. (See: “Boob-er.”) He’s the face of the company, and while h
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corboy, I think you hit the nail on the head with language being key. By redefining every word, they can seemingly make certain concepts less offensive to their adherents than they would be to the general population. I have a somewhat different take on Ayn Rand. She certainly lacked empathy but, from what I remember reading, she was a rugged individualist. LE is full of group think, which
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

Corboy dares wonder whether one author that could have given Jack Rosenberg (aka Werner Erhard) some inspiration was Ayn Rand (Objectivism, The Fountainhead, Atlas Shrugged.) Ayn Rand gave a lot of moral support to ambitious entrepreneurs who regarded themselves as superior beings and were impatient of moral and social restraints. This is merely a hunch. Corboy makes another guess that Ros
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How To Spot A Spiritual Sexual Predator BY CHAYA KURTZ • JANUARY 4, 2016 • ESSAY Corboy note: Marc Gafni has associated with Ken Wilber for a long time. Ken W has also endorsed Andrew Cohen KW also endorsed Adi Da Wilber also likes Ayn Rand's objectivism Randianism is much loved by those who fetishize power, money, and regard those deemed inferior to
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Elites –Brahmins--take care of each other. Whether they're Brahmins via the Hindu caste system, Harvard "Masters of the Universe" Brahmins, entertainment industry "Brahmins", Silicon Valley "Brahmins" or media "Brahmins." Thing is - are these elites using their good luck and power to exploit and lie to the rest of us? Get by with paying no tax
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(By a former high ranking disciple of Ayn Rand, chosen as her intellectual heir, then rejected by her when he broke off a long affair, instigated by Rand years before.) The Benefits and Hazards of the Philosophy of Ayn Rand: A Personal Statement by Nathaniel Branden, Ph.D. (NathanielBranden@compuserve.com) Copyright (C) 1984, Nathaniel Branden, All Rights Reserved Copyright (C) 1984,
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QuoteIn the America of the 1970s we are all too familiar with the religious cult, which has been proliferating in the last decade. Characteristic of the cult (from Hare Krishna to the "Moonies" to EST to Scientology to the Manson Family) is the dominance of the guru, or Maximum Leader, who is also the creator and ultimate interpreter of a given creed to which the acolyte must be unswerv
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Lululemon Diaries: My Life in an Exploitative Libertarian Happiness Cult .7/15/15 12:10pm QuoteAnd again, this practice of mindfulness could be good in theory. But when it’s warped by who is in charge, it’s full-on positive psychology meets Tea Party. Ayn Rand’s books are in our “core library,” and you can’t escape that pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps mindset. When a customer come
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Why I left yoga (and why I think a helluva lot of people are being duped) Yoga and the Shadow of Ayn Rand
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Why I left yoga (and why I think a helluva lot of people are being duped) Yoga and the Shadow of Ayn Rand
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

One possible reason for the appeal of Ayn Rand and the Lululemon model? There are plenty of ass flattering yoga clothes available. Hardtail. Prana. What may distinguish Lululemon from the former isnt merely aesthetics and enthusiasm. Perhaps the tingle is L might provide a tacit promise that one wears L products and especially one who lives the L lifestyle is an ontologically superior b
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Quotemamalicious 3 days ago @Amity I despise going to stores where I am a "guest." No, I'm not. I'm a customer and I'm in your store to buy things. If I was a guest, I'd expect you to buy me those yoga pants, take me out to dinner, and maybe do my laundry for me. QuoteSerai1 2 days ago @Amity Yeah, I thought that. After all, Disneyland calls its workers
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

This item was written in the 1970s. Some of us may not even have been born. The author was describing similarities between political cults, one right wing and one left wing. But despite these groups being political, not for healing, the process of recruitment, enchantment and disenchantment* resemble what has been described here. The author of this article, writing in the 1970s, was making
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Rudolf Steiner's Three Fold Commonwealth- QuoteSteiner’s threefold commonwealth model frequently denounced grass-roots alternative economic approaches, whether in the form of economic democracy, non-statist socialism, councilist tendencies, worker self-management, or other radical efforts to counter capitalism. Many early anthroposophists viewed such efforts as dangerous versions of ‘
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Quotenewfuture@ellenaaa - thank you for letting me know that. The problem was that my past was already firmly in the past, to use landmark language. I have never been someone to dwell on things and one of my mottos in life is 'no use crying over spilled milk'. So to have all of this stuff - some of it traumatic and sad stuff that I'd dealt with by just moving on and not thinkin
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

QuoteCOncerned PartnerHi TF, Yes, I have witness those ideas in many of the students about their children and it is of grave concern to me. They dont seem to understand that we have to be the adults and to parent our children. Serge teaches them two very dangerous ideas. First is that children are adults in childs bodies. This explains why children are at events and exposed to things t
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QuotetreefernQuoteCOncerned PartnerMy apologies to Caroline as the author of the blog. I only just googled and found the blog. The defense was written by someone else who also needs to check their credentials. One by Brendan Mooney, Registered Psychologist BPsySci (Hons) AmusA Oh Dear, what can you say about this nonsense and lack of self awareness? It is certainly not an advertisement
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What disappears in this total availability of the past to its subsequent retroactive rewriting is not the hard facts, but the Real of the traumatic encounter whose structuring role in the subject's psychic economy forever resists its symbolic rewriting. The author of this essay critiqued John Gray. And the author makes it clear he is a Marxist/materialist and disagrees with the Pope
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A movie review of Zeitgeist 3 Quote Zeitgeist 3: Moving Forward, or Treading Water? Filmmaker Peter Joseph has released his third film, Zeitgeist 3: Moving Forward, sequel to Zeitgeist 2: Addendum and Zeitgeist 1: The Movie. I have always been extremely impressed by the Zeitgeist films, despite the unfortunate emphasis of the first two films on dubious conspiracy-theory-type interpreta
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Nathaniel Branden who knew Rand for a long time and was viciously rejected by her, has a prospectus for a taped interview. It is interesting that he mentioned how AR's material seems, especially, to appeal to young persons. QuoteThe Benefits and Hazards of the Philosophy of Ayn Rand (MP3) The Benefits and Hazards of the Philosophy of Ayn Rand (MP3) Abstract: For eighteen years
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"