I can vaguely remember reading Arthur Koestler’s The Lotus and the Robot. As I remember it, his conclusion was that the real goal of the practices in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras was to gain powers of various sorts. Needless to say, these powers would enable one to benefit at other people’s expense. All this stuff about yoga being noble or “spiritual” was just part of the smokescreen. Caveat emptor.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Yes, there is a link to the source article underneath the quote. Interesting that, in the article you found, the author puts Mooji in the “nice guy” category, whereas the comments tell quite a different story.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

I am new here, so I do not know if threads have to be about individual "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements", or if you welcome discussion about widespread general problems. Assuming you do welcome general discussion, the recent post about Mooji by Sahara71 -- "people aren't becoming enlightened through this teaching" -- reminded me of some similar o
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

According to this, Bentinho Massaro learned his cult-craft from a person named Candice O'Denver: This Candice O'Denver in turn learned the tricks of the trade from the Tibetan Buddhists, who are masters of the art, as revealed in Christine Chandler's Enthralled: The Guru Cult of Tibetan Buddhism:
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

"Rod Slack Edmonton-based follower of John de Ruiter suicided last week." If this report is true, it would be the third suicide in the John de Ruiter group, the first two being Bryan Beard in 1999 and Anina Hundsdoerfer in 2014.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Cultic studies is a young field, and inevitably evaluations will be largely subjective rather than quantititative. As a starting point, though, here is the Lalich and Langone checklist from the (now the International Cultic Studies Association) website. To what extent are the following statements true? QuoteThe group displays excessively zealous and unquestioning commitment to its leader and
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

corboy Wrote: > So in fair exchange, let the Moo supporters trust > that their Truth shall prevail and NOT come over > here to distract. > > Persons engaged in this discussion request that > the Moo people NOT come here to distract. They > have their protected venue over on Reddit and > other sites celebratory of Mooji. I agree that it is in the public interest
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"