Its probably too early yet to make such a statement around people feeling let down by the system, but this case--if the judgement and sentence stand- has set a bit of a precedent with regard to the law recognising the influence at work in these white collar 'spiritual' scammers. DeathRay is in the slammer for his slimy work, and that is something. I think Darrow did his best job of
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

He is supposed to serve a minimum of 85% of his sentence, so with time served in custody ( those few weeks after his arrest) should be in poky for about 600 days, by my reckoning. I don't know whether his freedom on bail prior to trial gets deducted ??
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Bob Ortega, live tweeting from the courtroom:
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

'In her closing statement to the court, Polk reiterated her stance that only prison will prevent Ray from putting more people in danger, calling him "a dangerous man without internal boundaries who needs to be locked up for the next nine years." She reminded Darrow that, because of his lack of knowledge and qualifications, Ray "focused on creating the hottest sweat
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Sentencing tomorrow, 9am--12, which may be televised.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

'Mitigating James Ray’s Conduct: What Can We Expect' Twinkie Wrangler takes a close look at the pre-sentence defence strategies in this post, and highlights some confusion over whether or not James Ray has lost his house, as claimed, when he still appears to be running a business from it. Well worth reading in its entirety, here are some snippets: 'The defense is tryin
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

From Bonnie, linked to on the Droid site, the court document detailing the civil suit for wrongful death, false advertising etc in the case of Colleen:
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

From La Vaughn's blog, a good, comprehensive round-up article on the prosecution testimony for the pre-sentencing:
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

'A settled civil case means 1) there either was no criminal case, or if there was, Sogyal Rinpoche was found not guilty and 2) the complainant felt satisfied with the results of the civil case.' There was no criminal case, Sogyal paid up rather than have his questionable behaviour exposed and judged in court. That the complainant felt satisfied is pure conjecture on your part.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

'New Topic' button in top left hand corner?
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Azuria, I believe that you can re-title any page of any existing thread by changing the 'Subject' title above the white message form where you make your main posts. I have never done this so am having a go with this one. Anticult frequently changes titles in existing threads and I understand it is good for SEO purposes.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

I doubt that the 'high incarnations' are all psychopaths although a fair few might be. They are all, however, products of their medieval culture who have hardly begun adapting to the western culture where they now tend to live, teach and travel. Nydahl, the subject of the thread, is a product of western culture who has found a very powerful and lucrative niche for himself in promotin
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

I disagree with you, Karam Mudra, that it is essential for me to understand why people are attracted to this 'magic, brutal' system. Having struggled, with great difficulty, out of the magic brutal belief system that I was born into, I am keen to stay out of any other magic brutal systems. Understanding the dynamic of one magic brutal system has that effect. Staying out of magic br
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

'there is no doubt that in the context of tantric Buddhism every behavier of an enlightened person is pure.' --a bit like the divine right of kings then, or the infallibility of popes, a context and belief system that we westerners have already (with much turmoil and bloodshed by our forefathers) rejected in favour of our own collective progress through the Age of Reason and Enlighte
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

'For the enlightenend every behavier is pure, wether they kill or lie or misabuse women, that is their ethical standard.' Then we probably need to define how the 'E' word is to be used in this context, for what you are describing here is closer to a behavioural state of psychopathology, sociopathy or malignant narcissism than what is usually meant by the common usage of &#
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

My understanding is that it is usual practice to file civil suits but delay serving the papers until the criminal trial has finished its deliberations. The criminal judgement against Ray will lend weight to the civil suit--which mercifully requires less prolonged and stringent testimony to establish responsibility.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

An interesting development, from Yakaru writing on the Salty Droid blog: 'Incidentally this was just on twitter from @TomMcFeeley: Just an FYI for #jamesray watchers: Thursday in the courthouse he was served w/ a wrongful death lawsuit by Colleen Conaway’s family' (Tom McFeeley is the cousin of Kirby Brown, one of the sweat tent victims of James Ray) Quite a lot of new in
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

'I have yet to see any proof of Sogyal Rinpoche's alleged settlement.' And you are unlikely to ever see proof because of the confidentiality clause, expensive but worth it to Sogyal. They do, however, confirm that a settlement was made: 'The case was settled privately and no details were made public. A spokesman for the Rigpa organisation said it was precluded fro
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

11/10/2011 9:54:00 PM SWEAT LODGE TRIAL Victim statements carry weight in Ray pre-sentence proceedings Mark Duncan Enterprise Reporter PRESCOTT - In the protracted pre-sentence hearing for James Arthur Ray, the state has presented eight witnesses over the past three days in its effort to prove additional aggravating factors that would convince Judge Warren Darrow to sentence the
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

You are not very good at this rational reasoning lark, Sile. The oncologist is using his professional skill and knowledge in a professional capacity while treating a cancer patient. If he then abuses the patient's trust and vulnerability while in his care to procure sexual favours from the dying patient--then yes, he is a corrupt and cynical exploiter who does not have the patient
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

'If you are not ranting in good faith, I intend to find out why.' Good luck with that, Sile. I am sure that you will be able to find a lame rationalisation or two for all the many testimonies on record (which you label ranting) from many who have had first hand experience with this 'enlightened' chap and his 'enlightened' behaviour. In the end you will beli
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Court doc pleading for leniency, poor JAR has some troubles: More press:
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

First press reports from observers on the sentencing coming in:
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

The fact that Sogyal Rinpoche preferred to pay his accuser an undisclosed sum of money rather than face his accuser and defend his honour and reputation in court is also a meaningful evasion from a supposedly 'spiritual' person. What exactly was this 'spiritual' person, whose claim to prominence is an ability to lead others to truth, trying to avoid by buying his way out of
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

'I used to know one Maori guy who would pretend to be a Tibetan Lama to get chicks at nightclubs!' So what is your end-game here, Thomas Kent? So far, you have spammed the forum with transparent apologies for acknowledged abusers and made spurious appeals to authority all the while claiming to have little knowledge except that the one sure sign of a cult is that it turns people
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

'Julian Assange loses appeal against extradition' 'Who's afraid of Julian Assange of WikiLeaks? Everyone' Interesting comment on why the story has been dropped from mainstream news reporting, from the Times of India, economic section:
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

I think that Wilber has to maintain his championing of these 'Rude Boy' gurus such as Cohen, as that position is all that props up his own claims to super-evolutionary development. It is an ego-defence that if dropped will render him just another joe making his way in the world any way he can--and Wilbur is heavily invested in being special and exalted, not in being that ordinary joe.
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What came out clearly in the evidence testimony is that JAR instructed, prior to construction, that the building be modified to lower the roof because he wanted a hotter environment than previous years. The Hamiltons both testified to that and to other modifications JAR insisted on. They complied because he was a big spender at Angel Valley but had decided to not host him again-- he was looking a
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Treacherous Dave uses an interesting and telling choice of words when he says in that piece 'the Jesus Christians imploded'. He also indicates that contact with the graduates is no longer under his control, it their choice, when he mentions somewhat wistfully about future possibilities of them ever getting in touch with him. It seems that he and Cherry are touting themselves around
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