So basically, this "calibration" nonsense is Hawkins' way of trying to lend some objective credibility to his own personal opinions? Reading about his so-called "work" reveals that he passes personal judgment on everything from movies to churches to philosophies, disclaiming all responsibility for his choices and judgments, using a clearly disproven pseudoscience as h
Forum: Celebrities associated with "cult-like" groups

Bottom line, you don't "create" a subjective reality, you *perceive* objective reality in your own subjective way. "Reality creation" is bullshit, as is Landmark Education.
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

Would you appreciate the quote more from another source? "You are supposed to take Wikipedia with a a grain of salt, just like you're supposed to take everything with a grain of salt." --Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia, on NPR
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

QuotePhoenixPotter...Hawkins did "calibrate" Hubbard and Scientology as being "negative." A prime example of the pot calling the kettle black? ;)
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

I've been through a lot of the same. Once I was full of enthusiasm for the various groups, teachings and leaders in Sedona and elsewhere, but one by one I saw their feet of clay, and walked away from it all. The upside is the ability to break free of the spell of others and see them for who and what they really are. Today, I embrace certain philosophies, free of leaders, teachings or metaphy
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

More than just selling books, he has workshops, seminars, ongoing study groups, you name it...mostly in Unity and New Thought churches (where anything goes).
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Sedona is indeed a beautiful place to visit, but its spiritual underbelly is not a pretty thing. The place is full of bizarre new age communes, cults, and conmen. Hawkins is one more screwball crackpot to add to the mix. He uses his phony "testing" techniques to convey his support to any group, church or teaching which in return supports him and his own "work". His connect
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

I've heard of him, and he seems pretty flaky. He's very popular in many Unity churches, particularly ones that preach from A Course in Miracles and related material. Why people fall for this crap is beyond me.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Information found on Wikipedia (like the rest of the internet) is to be taken with a grain of salt.
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

Interesting post, bonnie. I think a lot of religious and "self help" groups have both exoteric and esoteric teachings. AA does seem to have a way of hooking people in for life, instead of simply helping them dry up, heal and move on. That alone makes it a negative cult.
Forum: Clergy and Therapy Abuse

QuoteAcid ReindeerQuoteVicarionThe book has been described as part pulp sci-fi adventure. more anti-adventure. or anti-literature. most accurate summary there, though, Vicarion. Thanks. Actually the "pulp sci-fi" description came from some skeptical source. Can't recall where exactly, but it seemed to fit, what with the book's detailed descriptions of alien races, planets
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

The Urantia movement by itself is pretty loose-knit, with no organization over all, it's just that a few individual, independent Urantia-related groups (such as the commune run by "Gabriel of Sedona" in Northern Arizona) are little more than personality cults, and have little to do with the book. Urantia book readers and their home-based, leaderless, non-money-taking reader cir
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Having known a couple of rabid Randians, I found them among the most insufferable, arrogant, loud-mouthed blowhards I've ever met! They make the Landmark folk seem like pussycats by comparison.
Forum: Celebrities associated with "cult-like" groups

For my money, Emerson said it best: "The mind does not create what it perceives, any more than the eye creates the rose." Happy Holidays to all. ~V
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

QuoteQ: Anxious, guilty, depressed, sick, beaten, robbed, stuck in a death camp, lost an appendage, dying...? A: Well... you created that! It's YOUR responsibility, and YOU'RE the one who should apologize for it. I get to feel smug because I'm not like you, so I get to berate you. My obersvation: Alrighty then, so lets blame the victim for not being perfect, omniscient and
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

I have about as much respect for the field of psychology as I do for organized religion (in other words zilch), but CBT is a sane approach in the midst of a lot of nuttiness. Too much psychology seems to have more in common with "alternative (hocus-pocus) healing" than with science. We do spend entirely too much time "performing" for others in our lives, don't we? See
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

I'm glad I never took it, despite some pressure from friends to go, when it was all the rage in our church and social circle, about 10 or 11 years ago. All I had to do to help me decide to stay home was to observe the bizarre and radical changes in their behavior, especially toward their own family and friends. The Forum fallout I observed was broken families, discarded relationships, and ex
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

I found it rather curious that Tom Cruise attended a seminary when only a young teenager... In 1976, if you had told 14 year old Franciscan seminary student Thomas Cruise Mapother IV that one day in the not too distant future he would be considered one of the top 100 movie stars of all time, he would have probably grinned and told you that his ambition was to become a priest. Nonetheless, thi
Forum: Celebrities associated with "cult-like" groups

Great observations, Bonnie! I'd have to say those descriptions pretty well fit church-goers by and large, also.
Forum: Clergy and Therapy Abuse

It's out there, but at the moment I can't pin it down. Might have been in The Guru Papers or another book which looked into ACIM, or perhaps on the "Skepdic" website. Obviously the theology of ACIM reveals that she was not new to CS and metaphysical literature. Now, I did just read a couple days ago that the original ACIM "urtext" gives specific kudos to Mary Baker E
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

And the beat goes on: Wikipedia's credibility (if they ever had any) is sinking fast...
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

I think you're forgetting the part about Helen growing up in a Christian Science environment, and a house full of metaphysical texts. She had plenty of years of exposure to this kind of material. Let's face it: "channeling" is either a delusion or deliberate deception, so we have to conclude either way that Helen wrote the book. Call it what you will, she wrote it, scribed
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

Having had plenty of experience with ACIM devotees in several venues (and having listened to ACIM teachers and ministers on a number of occasions), I can firmly state that if the book itself cannot be classified as a cult text, then it is at the very least a tailor-made tool for those who wish to exert mind control upon others. Thus I would consider ACIM cultic, absolutely. I have met and kno
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

My only thought is that the family expressing concerns during the holidays could feel to her like she's being "ganged up on" and could backfire. I would tread gently, but it sounds like she may be thinking, at least.
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

No experience with them per se, but definitely with their following and followers...they have been all the rage in a lot of Unity and Religious Science churches for the past few years. Especially Tolle. I remember when his "Power of Now" book first came out, he did a seminar in another part of in our state, and everyone was rushing to buy tickets, make motel reservations, and carpool ou
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

I have extensive experience within Religious Science, as I do with Unity. Both are part of the century-old "New Thought" movement, and as such teach very similar theologies. From my experience, RS is somewhat less "devious" and more transparent than Unity as an overall organization. RS people do tend to be more cold and clinical in their approach to spirituality. However, I do
Forum: Destructive Churches

Just found out about this website:
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

I believe they were actually called the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. They have changed their name to the Community of Christ.
Forum: Destructive Churches

Quotemidonov123I want to add that this is another blantant example where landmark's philosophy breaks up relationships. I'm not as "invested" as others here because the friends I lost to Landmark were not terribly close to begin with, however virtually without exception, they all left their spouses or significant others within weeks or months of their Forum involvement. Often
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

:lol:
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"