Gnosticism often emerges within mainstream religious communities. It sees a matter and the body as either impediment or something to be controlled and disciplined in the name of spiritual development, toward becoming a New Man or Super Man or whatever term is favored. Western Gnosticism claimed Pythagoras as a precursor. Pythagoras taught a theory of reincarnation. When European
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Lozowick went about with dreadlocks, claimed he was a Baul, led a music group called Beggars and Saints. I heard some of his music and it sounded like sleazy night club stuff. Thanks to the internet, unavailable in Lozowick's day, we can now listen to Baul music and learn from Bauls themselves. Much scholarly work has been done to give voice back to the Bauls. They led and still lead
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Joe Szimhart has background in studying gnostic groups. His entire essay on the ACIM can be read here. QuoteAt this point, we can look into the characters that developed ACIM. Helen Schucman, the channel or "scribe" for the ‘voice,’ grew up as an only child to Jewish parents in New York City. Her father was aloof to religious beliefs while her mother was an early “new ager” wh
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Part Three Quote ``You apparently have very little knowledge of the world’s wisdom traditions. Okay, that is not necessary to have a good personal relation from Andrew and to benefit from him and his teachings, but again, this is a public forum, where, if arguments are going to be made, there ought to be some meaningful reference to acknowledged authorities. You don’t have that knowledge and
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Note: it is misleading for some Sufis to claim 'Oh we are apolitical.' If you own tax exempt property you are still involved in politics. You are being indirectly supported by the infrastructure paid for by secular tax payers. Any expansion of or noise coming from your center could annoy neighbors unless you include your neighbors in your planning and have real respect for them.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Additional reflections at Naked Monk -- Fantastic website. Get and read Schettini's book, The Novice. (Quote)Even when sexual propriety is maintained, the asymmetry of the guru-disciple power arrangement sets up loyalties that favor personal fealty over truth and integrity. It is undemocratic. It is illiberal and misguided. This feudal power relationship has been dragged into the mo
Forum: Clergy and Therapy Abuse

Meh wrote: "It wouldn't surprise me if there's a subconscious association that someone who is a little ditzy and helpless can't possibly be that dangerous." Acting stupid and ditzy can be a brilliant move. Read an anecdote by someone in the fashion industry. I cant find the book, so here is a paraphrase. Elizabeth Hawes, an American designer, was put of
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Before this sneaky weasel got famous with the Beatles, he had spent years, many years beforehand in London, peddling his trance tech. This guy did not start out ministering to the emigre Hindu community in London. From the beginning, he targeted non Hindus. The ones who didnt have the background to see that he was a jive artist. Joyce Colin -Smith, in her book, Call No Man Master, describ
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Let this be a restored record (that first existed on RRForums, pre-purge) of the many abuses a man named James (Jimmy,Jim) Parkinson perpetuated and continues with via the internet and his home-base. His trademarks, a lying mixture of Gurdjieff/Esoteric Christianity. His preferred mediums for mental manipulation is via audio, podcasts and essays he slaps together for his online social med
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

From a devotional document describing the prophet of Ilm i Khushnoom- and the state of the Parsee community. Note that everything Behramshah Shroff said is, in this document, accepted as fact. WHat is Ilm e Khusnoom and Why? (quote)But to go back to the gloomy story of our degeneration, when and how did it set in ? The germs were firstgenerated at the end of the last century. Two factor
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

There has been a lot of misunderstandings and partial truths and total misinformation on Gurdjieff the man and his message. I am not talking about any of his followers, although I experienced the JG Bennett's interpretation at Claymont. Here are some quotes of Gurdjieff's. These can stand on their own.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Here is page 119 of the pages that were lost from this thread since the domain name was changed. Some links might be out of date but links to this forum have been updated. ............................................................................................................................................................................................... December 08, 2011 03:15PM
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Here is page 118 of the pages that were lost from this thread since the domain name was changed. Some links might be out of date but links to this forum have been updated. ............................................................................................................................................................................................... December 08, 2011 01:50AM
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

The author of the book To Live Within, published in 1971 studied with a Baul guru and then later became a teacher of Gurdjieff/aka fourth way teachings. Lozowick presented himself as a Baul, but his real interest remained Fourth Way material. His guru, Ramsuratkumar, from Rajasthan, had not ever been Baul, but had studied with an non Baul guru, Papaji--aka Ramdas The Bauls are based in Be
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Thanks so much for posting this information. Much information on Rajneesh (now known today as Osho) is archived here Those who want to research the Rajneesh/Osho legacy further are advised to read My Life in Orange by Tim Guest, who grew up as a minor child in Medina and Rajneeshpuram and another Rajneesh project in Germany. Some children could not adjust after having spent childho
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

Again, Fellowship of Friends book marks are appearing in books and on bulletin boards. They're out there recruiting. As noted, the bookmark has two old fashioned cameo portraits in color, of Gurdjieff on the left, and Ouspensky on the right. The words Self Remembering are on the front, and between the portraits there is a (currently) a Yin/Yang symbol in black and white. In som
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

"If people are not told up front that the plums are being distributed nepotistically then they are being defrauded" For those who want to pursue esoteric or lodge work, some advice. Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2000 02:39:26 -080 From: Kevin Langdon QuoteWhen I was talking with the man who was my first contact with the Gurdjieff Work, I remember asking him whether there were objectiv
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Fellowship of Friends (aka people of the bookmark) have also gone by various names 'Ark' 'Oregon House', Renaissance' 'Apollo'. This website, apparently set up by persons who do follow Gurdjieff work lists problems that students can fall into. And in passing, mentions Fellowship of Friends. QuoteLiving Presence/Renaissance Ark/Apollo Error (subset of
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Update August 2013 Fellowship of Friends appears to be recruiting. Numerous bookmarks advertising the FOF are showing up on billboards and I have stumbled upon many of them placed in books at stores that I frequent. Here is an earlier post with information. The style of the bookmark has old fashioned cameo portraits of Gurdjieff and Ouspensky. Nothing is said about Robert Burton.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Found this elsewhere and thought it worth preserving here. Before reading.. Quote(Corboy: Today, heretic means one who is outside standard custom, opinion or orthodox doctrine. However, the term originally was descriptive and neutral wordinfo.info/unit/3344/s:a%20taking - 15k - Cached - Similar pages Etymology of the words heresy and heretic In ancient Greek, the verb hairein, mea
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Strategic Rejection Strategic Selection I was reading some material on a thread dedicated to faux Gurdjieff groups and began to suspect that some 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 I am speaking of persons skillful at identifying people who are in adult bodies, who are intellectually
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

For fun and purposes of comparison, here is an account by Joe Szimhart, who once was a member of Church Universal and Triumphant. He noted in an earlier section that they used to chant for 2 hours a day. These are just a few excerpts. The full article is well worth reading. After leaving (he had become troubled by seeing the multitude of security guards required by the guru): QuoteBut w
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Quote: A discernment guide Quote: A GUIDE TO AUTHENTIC SUFI GROUPS The following points are designed to assist sincere seekers in their quest for authentic Sufi representatives. These days there are many Sufi organisations. Some are genuine and some are not. It is too common to hear reports of negative experiences of people who have been "burned" by dubious groups. The po
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Quote For full article read here. --Excerpts) Speculations On How What Was Originally Advice For Humility Became a Rationalization for Guru Abuse On his website Dr Shepherd has this article from which a few quotations are taken in my attempt to offer a possible way in which malamatia, a practice of privacy, was in some cases, taken to admirable extremes, but later reframed as crazy w
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Quote For full article read here. --Excerpts) Speculations On How What Was Originally Advice For Humility Became a Rationalization for Guru Abuse On his website Dr Shepherd has this article from which a few quotations are taken in my attempt to offer a possible way in which malamatia, a practice of privacy, was in some cases, taken to admirable extremes, but later reframed as crazy w
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

The Emin managed to keep below the radar, most likely because they lived in the large shadow that Gurdjieff cast. Their founder Leo appropriated a bunch of Gurdjieff's teachings and attitudes. He also had a very high opinion of himself and played a double game. Members were invited to check some harmless things out for themselves, and on the strength of that bought into a totally unverifiabl
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

It cannot be stressed often enough that the very persons who seemed to give Westerners our first glimpse of yoga or Hinduism were already themselves products of Western educations. Vivekananda--first addressed the Congress of World Religions. He made Ramakrishna's maverick tantrism acceptable to polite Western audiences. Vivkekananda had no training in Sanskrit scholarship and he was a me
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

To the group: I sent a message to Marie27 (in response to Mosishe3rd) a private message but it wasn't to exclude this group... I will post it here. I find this thread interesting because of my own "Teaching" and "Studies", etc. as well as a book I am writing. It goes as follows: I realize that the discussion you were involved in took place in 2005 and now, of course
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Hello there - I am new to this forum, and found it through a general search regarding the 85 St. Elmo house in SF. My parents were a part of the the Work during the late 60's and into the 70's with that group. At first they commuted from the Santa Cruz area, two or sometimes three times a week, to attend meetings in SF. Eventually, we moved to the SF Bay Area in 1969 - in part so the
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

James is a sexual offender. If any of his followers get a chance you should check out his sexmovie collection he has hidden on his External hard drive. He accidentally loaded it onto my computer once and was really really pissed when he was found out! Like a small boy that had been caught wanking... Anyway, Curtis, what's the harm in looking? It shouldn't be too hard to break into his
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"