I grew up in LA. On the bus that went up Fairfax Ave, I would see old people with KZ camp numbers on their arms. My dad was a violinist.The man guy who maintained his violin had a brother who was in the service during WWII and liberated a concentration camp. Mr Kovanda's brother went insane--he never recovered from what he saw. The man who was my neighbor's gardener was a veteran
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

at least do not expect gratitude right away. If you warn people that a cult recruiter is operating in their area, do not expect straightforward gratitude. People are complex. Make certain you're clear you are doing the right thing and provide information that can be fact checked. Because your efforts to educate the public will cause a surprising number of people to get mad at you.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

It all sounds like classic thought reform set up. And that stuff about getting the guys to build up, then release all that emotion (what shrinks call 'catharisis' and what folks in the street would call 'puking your emotions') ...all that is based on out dated 1960s encounter group technique. These days (and after working with many casulties of the 60s and 70s human poten
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

This is only a guess--stop me if I am mistaken: It sounds as though your brother has been in school much of his life. His intelligence is undeniable--that's obvious. But when you at last finish your schooling, defend your final dissertation are awarded your Ph.D, and run out of post-doctoral projects, you can find it terrifying to leave the structure and built-in social networks prov
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

I suggest periodically checking Craiglist.org and if you catch these groups recruiting there, do some counter-posts on CL and warn people that this is a set up that has generated casualties. Provide information and URLs! You can search the community discussion listings and the 'group activities' listing to see if any of these groups are placing ads. However, ads expire in 10 days fro
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

very lucky. Sounds like she lucked out two fold--the deprogramming worked successfully and she had excellent long term aftercare and exit counseling. And, to cap it all, she loves her son, despite the circumstances in which she became a mom. Humans are just so powerfully affected by social setting and context. Thats what makes us human--we want to connect and can connect. It is a tragedy
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

laws to protect you from workplace tampering? Its lousy to keep mum at work about one's personal sorrows for fear that any display of tenderness or concern could target one for recruitment. We spend so much of our waking time at work, that being forced to keep quiet at work represents an oppression of one's spirit. You did not need this load of bollocks your first week at work.
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

laws to protect you from workplace tampering? Its lousy to have to keep mum at work, since we spend so much of our waking time while there. You are not alone. 20 years ago I was in graduate school and the department chairman was an enthusiastic graduate of EST (forerunner of Landmark). He tried to get me to do it, and our department secretary suspected she was fired because she refused his
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

asked whether there is such a thing as 'Guru U'. This book answers that question. There isnt an offical Guru U/Hogwart Academy but it appears that many gurus follow a rather typical developmental trajectory. Here is a copy of a review I wrote for someone else Prophetic Charisma by Len Oakes.* He traces how charismatic leaders develop, their special narcissistic mindset, and how the
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Recruiters for certain authoritarian groups/leaders may practice what I would call 'manipulative intimacy' (a contradiction in terms--which is why it is so crazy-making). In my opinion: They do not see people as human beings whose inner privacy entitles them to respect; they see us as objects to be manipulated, trophies to be captured in thier Great Game. The ends justify the m
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

It is written by Leo Booth, an Anglican priest who was himself addicted to the use of religiosity as a way to control and avoid his true emotions. And he behaved abusively toward others after he became a priest. To make amends, he has dedicated himself to counseling people who have been affected by spiritual abuse. He structures information using a 12 step approach. And he deals with the impac
Forum: Destructive Churches

Lexisnexis I have not used it but someone else on this board has. X used it to research actions taken against a crooked individual.
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

Burton's group does operate a renowned winery. They have an estate in Yuba, California, and have become famous among wine experts because they have successfully created excellent wines in an area where weather conditions are unfavorable for wine grapes. So, yes, they would have the expertise to make palm wine. Their grape wine is good enough that it was served at a state dinner at the Whi
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

It is entitled 'Degenerate Players in the Work' They dont mention groups by name, but if former members read the descriptions, they will very likely recognize thier groups! William Patterson, a scholar of Gurdjieff work has written a book describing the genesis of 3 counterfeits, and has a chapter on Burton. Burton's teacher, Alex Francis Horn and Sharon Gans created a
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

with this group. Burton collects expensive art and gives complicated reasons that this creates an environment that accelerates spiritual development. His rules and regulations change constantly. To give him credit, he has an excellent collector's eye for fine art and has done very well. So somewhere along the line, Burton probably convinced himself that Chilean wine palm trees have
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

some new names: Renaissance, Apollo The leader is Robert Burton. There is a huge amount of information on this group in Rick Ross's archives. Burton claims to be a Fourth Way (Gurdjieff) teacher, but he is bogus. Legitimate Gurdjieff study groups all disavow him. Go to 'Groups' in the Rick Ross site, go to 'R' and go to 'Renaissance'--you'll find h
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Bowles gave up his license to practice psychology revoked by the State of Wisconsin for improper dual relationships which subverted professionalism and the boundaries needed to practice ethical and effective psychotherapy. You can read the text of the decision here. The URL will take you to the text of the disciplinary action. Peter Bowles was formerly involved with a gnostic/New A
Forum: Destructive Churches

a situation that has been a problem in the church from the very beginning. Read some of Paul's early letters, especially Corinthians I and II, Colossians, Romans and Galatians. These letters were memos that Paul wrote in response to crisis situations that boiled up. The early house churches were getting out of control due to the behavior you are describing. Or opportunists were sowing discor
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

if you find you're becoming interested in this whole subject, here is someone who may be a good resource person for you. She is a protege of Dr. Margaret Singer and Rick Ross has great respect for her expertise. She is on faculty at Cal State Chico and is due to publish a new book in 2004, through the University of California Press. One thing you will discover as you go further in sc
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

and especially read about the routine they use for the puja ritual. I think trancenet.org lists some websites that give info on hypnotic induction. Recruiting can happen quite rapidly, but it is just one step in the process. Its one thing to recruit people. The key thing is, 1) once you've recruited people, finding a way to 2) indoctrinate them and then 3) retain them (keep the indo
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

also be fact-checked. Many spirtual guides claim to be disciples of celebrated spiritual teachers or saints, but their claims turn out to be bogus. Or the guide will make claims that cannot be verified--Gurdjieff did this constantly. Or the guide will win your trust very quickly and to such a degree that you feel ashamed to fact-check the claims. Yet another trick is to find an accommod
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

of how a dangerous, destructive person can write an excellent book, but run an absolutely disastrous group. Lots of us assume that if a book is good, the author is just as good. Sometimes, this is true. But not always. A former boss told me about a man who was a dangerous psychopath. He has terrorized women, committed murder and is serving a life sentence in Florida. He conned several peopl
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

but the sense of separation from reality that comes from dissociation, may be the same as a condition known as 'Zen sickness'. It has been known in Japanese Zen for at least 200 years, and the great Rinzai master Hakuin suffered from it. He felt trapped in emtiness and alientated from reality after years of intense meditation. However, as a true Buddhist, Hakuin knew that his path was
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

at the medical school nearest to you. Tell them who you are, what you are doing and ask who you can get advice from on how to research trance induction and NLP. If possible, ask the person to tell you how to distinguish between high quality stuff and shoddy stuff. Magic words are, look for 'peer-reviewed' journals. These journals have high standards. They dont accept papers unless t
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

entitled 'Looking for Sterling Wives.' . But on page 2 or 3 you will find a very important collection of material submitted by Elena. She found it on Google alt.fan.landmark. The except quoted by Elena originally posted by a former trainer/recruiter who left his LGAT after he discovered that he was using powerful methods of trance induction and was hypnotizing people. He describes th
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

discreet. This article from Rick's archive charts the course of one such group. The problem with discreet personality centered esoteric type groups is that this work tends to foster a disastrous combination of social isolation, elitism, intellectual sophistication, combined with a perennial yearning for a Magic Daddy/Magic Mommy. This vests tremendous power in the teacher---exactly
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Dan Shaw is a clinical social worker/psychoanalyst who was involved with Siddha yoga, an outfit started by Muktananda (very problematic history) He has written a couple of articles on the psychology of cult/guru relationships. His perspective is psychoanalytic/object relations, rather than social psychological, but you might find some tidbits for your paper. The thing that makes these cha
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Not everyone uses these methods. As I mentioned in the other article, recruitment methods used by ambitious 'export guru' are going to be different from those used by an entity such as Human Potential training program or a commerical indoctrinational group Human Potential Groups and Large Group Awareness Trainings They often use material from pre-existing groups--either they purch
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Another case study is Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. His lineage claims are debatable (go to trancenet.org for more info) MMY marketed his material and marketed it to Western seekers who were already hungry for esoteric eastern wisdom. His first point of recruitment were persons in societies dedicated to the study of Gurdjieff and Ouspensky. And in the late 50s early 60s, nobody knew how to fact check
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

that a family or a group is diseased. The first thing to go in a messed up family or a cult is play instinct--for both children and adults. Play is an essential nutrient for mind, emotions, body and soul. Even young animals play. Ive seen whales tumbling with each other in the Pacific Ocean the way puppies and kittens wrestle with each other. When I was still in a church, it attracted som
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"