Thank you very much for posting this information. I would not have known about this fascinating development. I was able to share it with my social network. It's great to see this man speaking out against the "church" he's courageous.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

For further information, this is the guru's official website: Ramesh Balkesar Official Website This is a really nice website. It looks like it might take quite a few ‘donations’ or (more likely) lots of unpaid devotee time to maintain. From corboy’s link: Balkesar_Controvery Ramesh's flawed teachings compared with the teachings of our teacher, authentic sage Sri Nisargadatta Ma
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Stoic, I've read the original post over several times to see if I missed something in its tone or intention: "While researching how to destroy my own cult beliefs, I came across this article and thought you might want to watch out for this guy. Maybe there's another thread about him somewhere, but just in case, I thought I'd post this." It may have been rash for Bry
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

QuoteStoicFor me the issue is the mindless stupidity of labelling anyone as dangerous and New Wage simply because they hold a different belief system or express a different point of view. Even then, people are free to be mindless and stupid, should that be what floats their boat. quote] A polite explanation and respectful request for the poster to make future inquiries in the appropriate manne
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Well, Brynhild. It certainly sounds as though you have a lot going on in your mind! You have lots of questions and not enough answers. When I say that I've been out of my group for three years, my point was just that it can take a long time to sort those things out ... that I'm STILL sorting things out! I hope that’s not discouraging, I don’t mean it that way. In fact, I hope to encoura
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Brynhild, it's okay. Sometimes posters are not so gentle. Don't take it personally, I think it might be in reaction to all that lovey-dovey New Age stuff. For personal support the other forum that you posted on is better. I made a reply to you there. I didn't realize that you are visually impaired and read braille. I'm not sure how many texts are available to you in this speci
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Hi Brynhild, I understand what you're talking about. It sounds in your case that you weren't exactly in a 'cult' per se, but that you picked up a mixture of New Age beliefs over the years that have become an integral part of your own belief system. I think what you're experiencing is called 'cognitive dissonance'. In this belief system you're not suppose
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Wow Stoic. I'm surprised that stuff is public. Somehow reading the transcripts of interviews made it all so much more real to me. The descriptions of that chaotic night are truly horrible. It makes Oprahs's whole 'John of God' thing truly beyond shocking ... more like disgusting. The events at Ray's sweat lodge should have been a wake-up call for Oprah. Instead she took
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Hi Sarah, it takes a lot of courage to post your story on-line, but it does feel good to speak the truth, doesn't it? It sounds like you've been through a great deal in your life ... more that I can imagine as I was not born into a cult life. There are lots of good resources on-line, such as internet and real world supprt groups or coounselors for people born into cult life as you were.
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Yes yasmin, you're absolutely right to point that out. Autism, both diagnosed and (probably) undiagnosed is present some of in the children I work with. There are other conditions that may cause the behaviors I describe also. Most of the parents we work with do a terrific job with their kids, despite the many challenges involved. In any case, as teachers, we do often need to show them how to
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Corboy's mother was in a relationship with a 'love pirate'. This is a funny term but such a sad thing in reality, to be so utterly devoted to an abusive person. Dr. Nancy Kalish has done research on Lost Love relationships. She describes how when people fall in love with someone in their formative years, the love relationship becomes such an integral part of their personal narrativ
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Corboy - Thanks for the ideas! In fact, I hadn't consciously thought about teaching my daughter about bad groups or relationships yet. In some ways, I'm still sorting through everything within myself. So thanks for reminding me to be more attentive to the opportunities that will come up as she gets older. I suppose when she starts school this will come up in the form of bullying - i
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

*Sigh* Anything I can say after corboy is probably redundant. However, I commend you for picking up on the red flags in this relationship. Many people would not be so smart. As someone who was a member of a high-demand group (ie: cult) for ten years, I can only tell you that if someone is deeply involved with a philiosophy such as ACIM, they're probably hoping that you'll become
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Hallo everyone! I haven't made a comment on the board for a long time ... been busy with my own base material life. Which turns out to be pretty good, even though I'm on the 'outside' *gasp*. It turns out that having a baby isn't just 'heavy karma'. It's also a lovely experience. Lol :D I'm a casual member of an on-line group that helps people ge
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Quoteskepticalrepublican But if she were a cult, in the abusive, manipulative, violent sense, like Jim Jones and Aum that is another matter entirely. Would you guys say that is an accurate assessment, like Byron Katie is a potentially dangerous terrorist? Well skepticalrepublican, cults and high-demand groups come in many different flavors. It's not about whether Byron Katie is a 'p
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

QuotecorboySome insights from a person who was in an entirely different group-- Sahaja Marg But this persons observations, based on over a decade in Sahaja Marg may ring a few familar bells. Thank you very much for this link, Corboy; there is a lot of new, helpful stuff to research on that blog (not to mention the many links, articles and ideas that people here continue to contribute al
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Some other disturbing aspects from the blog linked by helpme above: The writer talks about a blog post titled 'Grateful for Incest'. This title disturbed so many readers that she had to change it. In fact, she describes herself very bluntly as an incest survivor. Being 'grateful for incest' is something that Byron Katie encourages in incest victims by the process of 't
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Helpme - I just read that blog you linked to above (Kabbalistic Marriage). The whole thing actually seems to be a pretty good example of all the things these 'turnarounds' do to people as has been described on this thread. The writer describes the intense & painful thought process she went through when the man she felt 'so married to' suddenly stops comunicating with he
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Byron Katie quoted by helpme - "A week or so later, as I lay on the floor of my attic room (I felt too unworthy to sleep in a bed)" Really? Byron Katie was so clinically depressed that she felt unworthy to sleep in a bed? And that long-seated, deeply felt emotion of self-disgust completely changed in an instant as soon as the cockroach crawled over her foot? Now she feels comforta
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

(Just as a side note:) AC: It looks like the 'fuck yoga' guy is still in business on the Net. If I had $35.00 to spend on a t-shirt it would be a lot of fun to buy and wear that around. It would be one way to make a stand and I would rather enjoy the look of horror on my friend's faces - especially those still involved with my old group. QUOTE FROM CORBOY’S NOTES ON ROSENMAN
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Katie is scary-looking to me at the beginning of the youtube video posted above. So prisoners are free to make the 'choice' between doing what they are told or being executed. This sounds like a 'bounded choice' to me to say the least. It's the way I used to feel in my cult when I was told that I could 'do or die' ... to live and work for God according to th
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Exploring Janaki's Katie story & blog further, I see that she is strongly influenced by Tony Parsons, another non-dualism teacher. She quotes a large portion of 'The Open Secret' written by him and also links to his website of the same name. Tony Parsons presents himself as one of the 'non-guru' gurus that we've discussed before on the thread. Non-threatening,
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Thanks to Pilot for finding and linking to Janaki's Byron Katie Story. It was a fascinating read. Here's a couple of quick links to Ken Keyes info. for those who don't have time to go looking for it: Ken Keyes Wiki Info Ken Keyes Science of Happiness The links are just for reference and a general overview! ... Be careful with the Wiki stuff as always - it doesn't
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

From the Byron Katie blog: Katieism: "The Work doesn't help anyone..." The Work doesn’t help anyone; it’s your answers that help you She said it herself. The Work doesn't help anyone. If it's your own answers that help then you don't need the Work. For more on Katie's 'glittering' eyes, people can read the 'Valentine's story' b
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Yes corboy. At first it is all about healing and friendship when people first enter this group. People feel that they have finally met a group of like-minded souls - kind of like a group of collective 'soul mates' who are going to work together for the benefit of mankind. There are instant friendships that are not based on anything other than belonging to the group; an instant fe
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Corboy – Thanks for providing some further insights into the dynamics of failed prophecies within such groups. I haven’t had as much time as I’d hoped to follow up on this thread, but I wish to present some further information as below: As I mentioned before, the man known to his disciples as ‘Master’ Luong Minh Dang taught a method of healing by using ‘Universal Energy’. The Master made c
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Nice work helpme :) She ran but couldn't hide.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Wow. I searched everywhere. Someone has scrubbed that essay clean off the Internet. Incredible. I was going to contact Noumenon Journal to ask for the full copy but they have no e-mail contact address and are based in South Africa! We could contact Carol Skolnick directly :D That would take some serious chutzpah. Hope someone else has better luck ...
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Sparky - No my friend has never mentioned Gentle Wind. I have looked at the information on RR before, it does seem outlandish. He really seems to be more into Fundametalist/'End-time' preachers. Maybe those guys have not reached our area of the country yet ...
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Sorry, I did get kind of distracted within this thread. I can no longer edit or remove the last post I made. Conspiracy theories are indeed not the focus of this thread. I don't endorse those theories in any way. I was just making a connection about the way they seem to intersect with New Age mumbo jumbo at a certain point. AC - Well, we know the same kind of people I guess! I'm
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"