If its of any consolation, I faced that I'd never get any straight answers from my own family, either--as in 'Why did you guys lie, lie lie?' They couldnt have answered--or they would have flown into a rage. As for the experiences, the thoughtful ex-Siddha people reached a conclusion that the experiences were in and of themselves amazing, but the error was 1) That SY as a
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Part Five (Same source as above) SYDA & Mind Control Technology V The Fifth part of a Five Part Note. ----------------------------------------------------------------- I am not what you could call a profound, deep, or even long-time scholar of Hindu Mysticism, but all the texts that I've read, WARN IN BIG CAPITAL LETTERS that in order to progress and develope spiritually to t
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Part Four--all four parts quoted from the old AOL ex SY discussion--therefore what was discussed covers the history of this organization (linked in other discussions to the book 'Eat Pray and Love')--up to C.E 1995/96. C) : SYDA & Mind Control Tech. IV Date: 95-08-22 17:50:39 EDT From: TGPARKER ----------------------------------------------------------------- SYDA &
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Part Three - from the old AOL ex SY discussion Subj: SYDA & Mind Control Tech. III Date: 95-08-22 17:43:21 EDT From: TGPARKER ----------------------------------------------------------------- SYDA & Mind Control Technology III The Third part of a Four Part Note. ----------------------------------------------------------------- My limited understanding of the general traditi
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Part Two (quoted from the same source as above) Subj: SYDA & MIND CONTROL TECH. II Date: 95-08-22 17:35:01 EDT From: TGPARKER ----------------------------------------------------------------- SYDA & Mind Control Technology II Second Part of a 3 Part Note ----------------------------------------------------------------- The spiritual Mastery, & Mystical Powers necessary
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Dear Solea, those experiences were indeed reported/experienced by many in Siddha Yoga. This came up again and yet again on these two blogs, and on the many ex-SY discussion venues. and It was precisely the overwhelming nature of these experiences, something for which mainstream culture could give no assistance, that led so many people to put thier trust in Siddha Yoga. It has add
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Reality Check--TodayMay be the Day Oprah Interviews Cockroach Lady 'One morning Gregor Samsa awoke to find he had been turned into a gigantic cockroach'. Metamorphosis, Franz Kafka. Helpme mentioned earlier "Byron Katie is to appear on Oprah Winfrey's "Soul Series" radio show on Monday, July 28th, August 4th, and August 11th at 4am, 10am, 4pm and 10pm (al
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

In answer to Anticult's question: in the 1950s there was a fake guru named Lobsang Rampa. He got away with it because back then there was little information about Tibet or Tibetan Buddhism. His material looks very quaint today. Rampa was actually the pen name of a British author, who wrote a wildly popular book, 'Opening The Third Eye'. "The Third Eye, published in 1956 and
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Cultic Milieu--further pondering Another author refers to 'oppositional subcultures' as part of the cultic milieu. Cultic Milieu: Oppositional Subcultures in an Age of Globalization (Paperback) by Jeffrey Kaplan (Author In 1972--a period of social upheaval much like today--sociologist Colin Campbell posited a cultic milieu: An underground region where true seekers test hid
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Final note on Jung and his autobiography: For all his attempts to give an honest inventory of his life, Jung did not mention a long term affair he had with one of his student/analysands, Toni Wolff. Today this kind of thing is much better understood and is considered unacceptable behavior on the a part of a therapist, whether you are a client, a student therapist in clinical supervision, o
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

I think Ive seen photos relating to this group in a lot of free yoga magazines. If so, the group has the money for PR, so they should not be vague about whether they have the ability to support their employees--or their employees 401(k) plans. Ditto for health coverage. You could leave your pal out of this and check with the Department of Labor in the state where this ashram is.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Solea, thanks for fact checking that emotionalzen blog. I thought that 'theohumanity' name sounded familiar but didnt check it. Damn, its so easy to see how one quite good article or blog post that bats 1000 can be tied to something else that is iffy. Hazards for Intuitively Gifted Persons Solea wrote: these were people, myself included, who were not able to fit into the do
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

If you want information on AC, read this blog which was started by a former editor (Hal Blacker) of AC's What Is Enlightenment? magazine. The EnlightenNixt articles are good start because they give an orientation to the entire collection of articles, plus comments. The blog ran for 3 years. And WIE magazine is still published to this day, and each issue includes an interview bet
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

TAC wrote: "Its always those who do the victimizing of others who don't believe in victims, until they get caught, and then they see themselves as the victim." This double standard is readily seen when a powerholder's suffering elicits endless compassion from followers but if underlings report incurring harm at the hands of the leader, or by following the leader's
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Dear S13: I didnt write it, just found it elsewhere. As The Anticult has reminded us that the social structure/LGAT infra structure of these seemingly different groups is, under the surface, quite similar, well--the inner structure of a charismatic leader's psyche is also pretty similar, no matter what the group or belief system. There's the difference between public persona
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

This letter was written by a former follower of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. But some of what is in that letter may apply here: What are quoted are some excerpts. The URL will give you the whole thing. "Transcending real feelings that live inside me is not the path to anything but denial. These feelings don’t go away or get healed by transcending. You described it as a bore to drill thro
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Getting Out the Raid Anticult wrote: also, just want to drop into this a reminder...that virtually all of this research can be applied to almost ANY of these New Agey type antiguru Gurus who are out there today. They use very similar methods, as they all learn from a similar playbook. They're CONTENT may be different, it may even be aliens, Christ Consciousness, Hinduism, alleged
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Cult City's questions are best answered by his or her hiring an attorney--not by us. William Butler Yeats wrote a poem that ends, 'I am poor and have only my dreams I will spread my dreams under your feet. Tread softly for you tread on my dreams.' In this modern world of cost and profit, there may be a compensatory and yearning for magic, for instant transformation,
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

"Corboy - I have taken in everything you have offered and see your approach with me as helpful and instructive." Again, if you did not enjoy what I wrote, I can guarantee it is a lot worse in a court room. Just make sure BK is as loyal to you as you are to her.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Anticult wrote this about PTSD: "Katie also says The Work can be used PTSD. Do people have any idea of how dangerous that is? Triggering PTSD trauma flashbacks in people?" Years ago, I met a veteran who had been a Recon Marine in Vietnam. Recons are Marines who have been further trained to function as commandos. This man had a veteran's love for his comrades and yet he
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

I'm just telling you what I saw as a result of showing up and doing jury duty on two civil suits. Too many people dont do their jury duty, BTW. They miss one of the greatest educational opportunities available. A suggestion for those who have to stay in town this summer and save gas money: go watch a trial, and sit through the whole thing including jury selection, and all the time
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Meta Question--Do I Want to be a Legal Test Case? Additional Questions--Six, Seven and Eight If you think we play rough on Rick Ross's message board, it is actually worse, much worse in court. Reading our stuff might perhaps save you from that fate. I served twice as a juror in civil suits and it hurt me like hell watching people put through the wringer on the witness stand. Th
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Following up what The Anticult has written, if you wanna help people as a BK facilitator you had better add a Fifth Question to BK's Four Questions: Here is the Fifth Question--which contains two sub questions: If I am sued as a result of being a Work facilitator, will The Work Foundation, and by extension BK, reciprocate my loyalty by supporting ME in my hour of need? Or to put it
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

For the record, we have had the following as trolls in relation to BK: Daphne, Anticultist, ralpher, Randomstu, prsp (or something like that) and..Ex Scientology Kid. Six and I may well have missed the ones who showed up earlier. So, just to assist in sorting out persons genuinely interested in an adult discussion from those only willing to discuss BK from within her own system, here
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

I cant claim credit for 'slavya'. I found it on one of the early AOL discussion threads relating to Siddha/Syda yoga. It was a pun on 'slavya' (slave labor) for 'seva' (selfless service). Just so I dont act like a fairy tale dragon and hoard treasure all to myself, I invite all interested persons to read the vast amount of material on those AOL threads. Sol
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Scott wrote: "Gathering my own personal resources up to the point where I could confidently confront the cult leader in each case, anticipating his or her various ploys to keep me in the cult, so that I could be sure that I could counter these with my own legitimate answers. " If you can do that, its great. Problem is some of us zone out and dissociate when having face to face
Forum: Recovery from Destructive Cults and Groups

A Wee Question: Oprah promotes Eckhart Tolle. But...promoting someone is different from hiring someone. But...would Oprah HIRE an administrative assistant with the unverifiable life background that Tolle gives? Or, for that matter, BK? ------------------------------------------------ A correspondant who responded to misgivings about Oprahs' speech to the 2008 graduating clas
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Another gentle reminder from Professor Dutch: Freedom of Speech 'The Constitution gives you the right to free speech. It gives your critics the right to rebut your claims or ignore you. 'As the late Hubert Humphrey once observed during the Sixties: "The right to free speech does not imply the right to be taken seriously. That depends on what is said." 'N
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

It is easy, very easy to start a thread on a new topic. Just look for the 'new topic button' -- and use it. If that new topic button is not visible, you may need to update to a new browser. And..here is a test to see whether a logical discussion is even possible between two parties. It is from Professor Steve Dutch's website. "A Note to Visitors: I will resp
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

Here's the story. The comments are interesting. Comments: Comments I went to the graduation, it was a lot of fun. The most boring part was Oprah's speech. I was all about her and Tolle. She even gave all the students the book he wrote. They were expecting a car... hahaha!!!. I wonder what the faculty thought about her attack on science and physics in particular.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"