It seems that David Kulko runs the following business in New York: 7th Avenue Wine and Liquor Company David Kulko and Anthony Correra are the owners of 7th Avenue Wine and Liquor Company (88 7th Ave between Union and Berkeley, (718) 399-3300), the newest addition to Park Slope’s wine shops. They offer a wide range of wines, liquors and liqueurs and a friendly, helpful staff to help you with
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Abusive Secretive Groups--Recurring Problems/Pitfalls There are legions of small groups. Some last for decades. The leader may have a shady past. He or she may pretend to teach from one tradition (eg present themselves as a Hindu guru) while actually using material from a completely different source (Gurdjieff, or commercial trance methods such as NLP). If a teacher pretends to teach fr
Forum: Clergy and Therapy Abuse

I would PM you, but I do not yet qualify as per the terms of this site. As so as I do, I will PM you. David Kulko. Hm. Do you know if he left New York after his split with his mother, Sharon Gans? Also, why does David have a different surname than his mother? Does his father have the surname Kulko and he uses that? Did David Kulko ever participate in any Gurdjieff groups in California?
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

In the sixties I wandered through many cults. Scientology, Gurdjieff, Arica, later EST. I did the est training just to make a girl happy though, but the one that fascinated me the most was Sidda Yoga. It was the mid 80s and my marriage was going to Hell, and my wife and I did counseling with psychologist. Well mine was into meditation, and from there she got me into her books... sidda yoga.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

I am an escapee from Gans & minions. I knew her son very well and did renovations on 2 of his homes. David, unlike his mother, paid me and others for this work. Check my other posts @ Gans. His name is David Kulko & is refered to in RR material on "the work" Contact me for more details. I am in touch with a number of shunned former "students"
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

It was 1969 when I was age 16 months. No, I do not remember Alex Horn specifically, nor do I know if I was ever actually in his presence. I do remember seeing a whole a lot of naked hippies though, and learning to use the "F word" before I was 2 years old. As a result, I was repulsed by hippies and hippie kids all through my childhood without knowing why until recently. You can re
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

What years were you in Alex Horn's group? Do you know if he is still leading groups? Do you have any actual memories of him? Blue
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

I was exposed to the Horn/Haas group at age 16 months just before the group moved to Red Mountain and Horn's split from Haas (maiden name Burridge) and his subsequent marriage to Sharon Gans. At that young age I was exposed to 3 and 4 year olds who were encouraged to copulate with one another, according to my mother who left me there anyway. The adults also copulated in front of the children
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

I am trying to contact other people who have been hurt by Alex Horn. Names can be kept anonymous. I am remembering things from my chilhood in his cult. 1963-1966. In Mexico and US. These memories are very disturbing, any replies would be appreciated.
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Despite being called 'The Work' Byron Katie's material apparently has no tie to Fourth Way/Gurdjieff work. Only way to tell if a group or teacher is helpful or not is to look at long term effects reported by former participants and friends, relatives and family members of participants. A group or teacher that are helpful will foster autonomy and students will not feel pressured
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

i know a whole host of people who fell victim to alex horn. my parents and all their friends. allmy friend and childhood companions parents. they all left and went to horn's ex wife, anne haas, who didnt turn out much better. our parents paid hundreds a month to benefit from her psychological abuse. we didnt pay anythign to recieve it but we got it anyway. not to mention physical abuse.
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

The link to the Gurdjieff/Fourth Way genealogy informatin is broken.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Hmm- my comments are missing - probably a cut-and-paste malfunction. I was surprised to see this article and I'm waiting for a response as to whether it was an example of the ignorance regarding methods of mind control or if PhD Benjamin is going to be on the panel of the upcoming conference. I can't find anything on Benjamin, either. This just in.... Elliot Benjamin, Ph.D.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

We have found and posted two articles from the psychological/psychiatric literature on the dynamics of psychotherapy cults. Persons who wish to evaluate the health of their groups, (whether Fourth Way or some other tradition) or who want to keep their group in a good place may find the articles a helpful resource. (Note, some links had to be cut in half to keep the page readable and within ma
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Hi LG: I was reading some material on a thread dedicated to faux Gurdjieff groups and began to suspect that certain small group leaders enhance their power just as much by knowing whom to kick out from the group, as whom to recruit into the group. First, an adroit spiritual counterfeiter may operate in a manner similar to serial pedophiles. THere are people who are very skillful at identif
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

you can go visit the www.sustainedaction.com website--it covers the very troubled legacy of Carlos Castaneda, whose work has been revealed as fraudulent, and who has, since last year, been unmasked as leader of a very cruel, secretive cultic group. Castaneda's fantasy books were a major contribution to New Age thought, which has its earlier sources in Gnosticism, Blavatsky/Theosophy and G
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Brad Warner, author of Hardcore Zen, puts it something like this: If you hand your power over to a real teacher, he or she gives your power right back to you. Only a fake teacher will allow you to surrender your inner voice/authority to her. I am certain that your leader must have spent time with other groups and gurus, and learned her own bag of tricks. Many of these charismatic types
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

(Note: I am not a mental health professional. This advice is meant to supplement any work you do with a counselor and is not a substitute for professional guidance.) 1) Start writing this down. Examine the entire social context of this group and its leader. This will take some time, and you may have to update this as you gain new insights. Get a ring binder so you can insert pages, if you pref
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Corboy, you make good points. no way did I mean to sound or come across as an LEC apologist. of course I did not need to use the Zen analogy, my argument had to do that other spiritual ways have demanded obedience. such as the school set up by Gurdjieff within his lifetime. Gurdjieff called his students idiots, berated, teased them and challenged them all the time and used intimidation
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

Fixed gaze trance work is apparently practiced in some Western esoteric groups. The problem with the way certain groups are set up is that beginning students are not told the complete story about what will be studied and the actual nature of the group doctrine. The alibi is often that the new students are at too low a level of consciousness to understand the information. So they may not be tol
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

years ago, a woman who had been in Elizabeth Clare Prophet's cult (Church Universal and Triumphant--they were the ones building underground shelters near Yellowstone Park so they could survive armageddon)--she told us how her family had assisted her in waking up. Her account follows the lines of Harriet's advise. Her family shared their concern, but not to the point of making her fee
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

An interesting collection of articles (pro and con) about Gurdjieff work can be found here: Before anyone gets involved with Gurdjieff work, I recommend the articles 'Gurdjieff and Work' written by Arvan Harvat. He points out logical inconsistencies in Gurdjieff work and says, among many other things: 'If exercised radically and isolatedly, without other "uni
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Arica is now virtually defunct. Its guru, Oscar Ichazo, is now quite old and lives in Hawaii. Ichazo keeps promising to publish a book, but never gets around to it. He was the propagator of the 'enneagon' which was later adapted to become the 'enneagram' a New Age fad. Ichazo was a freelance teacher who at times claimed to be a Sufi, or a Gurdjieffian/Fourth Way te
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Yes, this would likely be the infamous Alex Horn, and he probably needs money! Alex will "empower" your friend, for a price. There's nothing legitimate about this man or his ex-wife. I experienced this demonic duo in the mid-seventies, and their lust for power and wealth is truly demonic. They will likely play this game to their dying days. Alex would be in his seventies o
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Korman is extremely intelligent and charming. However, once you become friendly with him you will see that he has a way of influencing you. I met someone recently who didn't know anything about his past and ended up working with him. She told me "this guy really seems to be an expert about everything... But without me asking him, he started to advise me about xxx (a personal matter)
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

There is additonal contextual data on a thread that started with a question from someone concerned about the welfare of a good friend who had been recruited into Sharon Gans/Alex Horn group. The title of the thread is 'Try to identify a group named "The Work"' It traces the 'geneology' of various Fourth Way derivatives using information
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

The published material on the URLs cited earlier indicate that the Fourth Way scene may contains some potentially rough neighborhoods. Perons interested in Fourth Way work need to have street smarts so they pick up that they've entered a 'bad neighborhood'--even if its in a mansion at a prestige address. The secrecy of many work groups can be a problem. Fourth Way students con
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

According to many sources, Oregon House/FOF is not a legitimate Gurdjieff group. I advise that you NOT sign any documents relating to money and that you get out of there just as soon as you can. If you have signed any documents relating to finances, get out, and consult an attorney--you dont want to be the scapegoat for any iffy financial transactions. Just pack your bags and leave. You d
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Unfortunately, I stayed in the Korman "Gurdjieff" group for 10 years. I also went to "therapy" with Korman's wife, an unlicensed therapist. When it was over I was kicked out for insufficient devotion; my 'therapist' denounced me to the rest of the members as having no integrity. She had graduated me from therapy 'with honors' a week prior to this. I
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Sorry, but I have no knowledge of Korman. I hope that your experience with him was rewarding, and, if not, that you departed quickly. Sadly, when I experienced this Gurdieff phenomemon in the early to mid-seventies, there wasn't an objective standard available for measuring authenticity, so the default was good old-fashioned "faith," in most cases a very dangerous path. Th
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families