Be Scofield has announced that in November 2019 she will release a book titled Toxic Spirituality: Abuse, Denial and Delusion in New Age Culture. The chapter list is at QuoteByron Katie & The Work Mooji Abraham Hicks & The Law of Attraction Teal Swan Marianne Williamson & A Course In Miracles Eckhart Tolle John of God Agama Yoga & Tantric Abuse Scandals Mindfulness
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Hello, Cherry, I think there are no quick answers. Is your husband at all open to the possibility that he might be in a cult? Some of the following materials might help both you and him: Combatting Cult Mind Control by Steven Hassan Cults Inside Out: How People Get In and Can Get Out by Rick Alan Ross Cults in Our Midst: The Continuing Fight Against Their Hidden Menace by Margaret Tha
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Yeah, when the hypnotist instructs someone, "You just have to believe it yourself," he's teaching the student how to become a cult leader. What I most remember from Wier's first book is the phrase "impoverished reality." Wier repeatedly points out that people who are deeply entranced tend to end up with an "impoverished reality." The "impoverish
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

I am about halfway through Dennis Wier’s second book, The Way of Trance. It adds some practical examples to the theoretical material in the first. Here are some relevant quotes from what I’ve read so far: “If you are a hypnotist, you will want to disable critical judg­ment as soon and as rapidly as possible so that your client or target will not be able to critically think about the nonsense y
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Yes, and shocking, too, to realize that as far back as 1983, at least some people realized this whole guru business was a matter of hypnosis. In fact, it was well enough known for someone to make a documentary about it. The book I mentioned at the bottom of page 2, Dennis R. Wier's Trance: From Magic to Technology, is another take on the same thing. There is one unsatisfactory (for me) ch
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

“Captive Minds: Hypnosis and Beyond.” National Film Board of Canada, 1983. “Discusses hypnosis and similarly effective means of mind control used by such diverse groups as religious orders and the military. Points out the common denominators of isolated environment, stressful conditions, and a dominant authority figure that exist in these groups.”
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

corboy Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > For the master system itself cannot be > questioned--without the questioner being accused > of having ego problems! Right. This institutionalizes the master's hold over the followers. Dennis R. Wier, who specializes in the study of trances, identifies an underlying psychological mechanism at work.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

“Keith Raniere, a self-help guru accused of leading a sex cult that enslaved women, has been found guilty of all charges against him.”
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

QuoteSteve I have always thought that the guru syndrome is poisonous, both for gurus and followers, particularly outside the traditional context of India. The guru syndrome leads to unthinking wholesale devotion. It's rooted in a psychological regression to the pre-egoic devotion of a young child to their parents, with a desire to abdicate responsibility and hand it all over to the guru.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Nxivm: 'Why I joined a cult - and how I left'
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

That is indeed intriguing. The official accounts make the house church that Tony Moo was involved in sound so wholesome. “Nigel” makes it sound more like a mini-cult. I have also read that John de Ruiter, as a young man, belonged to a mini-cult:
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

zizlz Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Wow Swissalyst, that's a very insightful take on > U.G.! I hope you realize the insightfulness comes from the quoted source, not me! It could be relevant to our discussion of Tony Moo since, as I understand it, he too stops at the dissolution of the person. He does not go on to the required rebuilding and
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

QuoteU.G. Krishnamurti went too far into the dissolution/negation/darknight and the general breakdown of the self-system during his awakening, and he didn't have the strength of character to do the rebuilding, creative, positive side of things to balance the dissolution. This is because he was probably not given self-building skills in childhood, was probably not "loved" and was of
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Actress Allison Mack pleads guilty in Nxivm 'sex cult' case
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

See also the previous threads, e.g. “Eckhart Tolle -- Comments From Someone who Knows Him”:
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Rick Archer presents the "few bad apples" theory. I'd like to offer an alternative point of view: that the entire endeavor of gurus and satsangs and neoadvaita and the like is flawed from the very outset. If you view your moral principles simply as temporary formations within awareness, then you end up ignoring them. All that's left is the acting out of the damaged id
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

corboy Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Oakes tells us that his 20 leaders tended to have > been in five occupations prior to finding their > calling - all these require mastery of > communication and persuasion, that skill set one > can sum up as "working the room". > > > * Teaching > > * Clergy work > &g
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Sahara71 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > thanks for your insightful comments, Swissalyst. Thank you, but I think the insightful thoughts on compensation for maternal abandonment were actually from 2cents. :)
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Good find, corboy. It's interesting that Dr. John Antonakis concludes charisma and hence cult leadership need not be innate. They can be learned. Two passages struck me as especially relevant to our study of cults: QuoteIn fact, beyond shutting down our ability to reason, some scientists have found that under the right circumstances, charismatics -- especially if that charisma stems from
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Valma, thank you for your testimony. You confirm what I had begun to suspect, that these gurus are exploiting the transference relationship, to their advantage, and to their students’ disadvantage. I wish you every success in healing from the incidents you report.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Haven’t read anything along those lines, but I guess it’s possible. Meanwhile, more and more horror stories emerge. “Last year, a group of India's Catholic nuns accused an influential bishop of raping a colleague multiple times. DW spoke with the group's leader about how the church has stonewalled their attempts at getting justice.”
Forum: Destructive Churches

Pope acknowledges the problem of sexual abuse of nuns by priests:
Forum: Destructive Churches

Harm report: “Abuse of Faith” 20 years, 700 victims: Southern Baptist sexual abuse spreads as leaders resist reforms. 220 people, since 1998, worked or volunteered in Southern Baptist churches and were convicted of or pleaded guilty to sex crimes.
Forum: Destructive Churches

Be Scofield investigates Alex Vartman here:
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Whtm Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Corboy could you please explain trance and > dissociation? I’m not corboy, but I’ll add a few references for you. “Mind control involves little or no overt physical abuse. Instead, hypnotic processes are combined with group dynamics to create a potent indoctrination effect.” — Steven Hassan, Combating Cult Mind
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Has this been mentioned yet? Sorry but I have not followed this entire 37-page thread. “mooji cult suicide | why i dont have a spiritual guru” It is a long and rambling 28-minute analysis of Mooji, though in among its content, it does contain a few real points.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

An explanation of why so many nonduality gurus turn out to be psychopaths: QuoteBut this total acceptance of own nature also has a dark side: all becomes permissible. Absolutely nothing is out-of-bounds, which is why many self-realised humans are perceived as assholes. And some – are. Why? Because their specific true nature has always been that of a human without scruples. Source:
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Sahara71 Wrote: > There > should be some kind of law in place... Like, the > UN should get involved in this. It’s possible that the problem will take care of itself, like an epidemic that has run its course. Monasticism is a form of spiritual life that has passed its numerical peak and is now in decline. Perhaps the institution of the “guru” will also decline in due course.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

The psychopath possibility is certainly the suggestion of Bill Hamilton's Saints and Psychopaths:
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Sahara71 Wrote: > could you become even more of > a stinker, on being realised, than you already > were? Some of these practices that dissolve the conditioned personality will, in the course of time. also dissolve the superego (i.e., your introjected social values). When this happens, there is then nothing to prevent the id from acting out its sexual, hostile, and aggressive ur
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"