Hi, thank You George so much for your post. I can relate so much. Some gurus and teachers see us as ego and they send this critical, hate perspective, and we tend to identify with their perspective. So we start this insane drive toward nothingness, being nothing and even niglecting our being human. I was there, I abused myself, I didn't care for myself, I was frustated, I felt not loved, w
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Hi again. After a whole year+ i got a notification from rick ross (it didn t feel good seeing it but anyways) so with the opportunity i am here to state that i feel A LOT better. and people that got through similar staff like i did know this : THERE IS A WAY OUT. It s painful. But there is. The most important is to set sail away FROM ALL THIS NEW AGE GURUS BULLSHIT. Have the intention, set sail
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Brainwashed90 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I was going through a rough patch in my life when > I picked up the almighty Power of Now... > ...Does anyone have any advice for someone > who is trying to get out of this state? I feel > like my mind is not functioning. I can't believe I > bought all his bull shit! that I am just like
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

About social connections... I red few spiritual books, and I'm being fascinated with life of Ramana Maharishi. I wish I could find what Maharishi found, or Krishnamurti(who was extremly independent), or Eckhart Tolle who for years after his shift in consciousness was with no close relationships in his life, but he was so happy, and immersed in inner bliss. What about Maharishi, who
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

QuotezizlzIt leads to the realization that form is no different and no less real than formlessness. That’s a great way of articulating it.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

> But I have to say, that since I respect myself, I avoid company of people who make me feel not well. If I can remove myself from situation that doesn't feel well, then why not. That seems wise! The thought-made pain you refer to is only a part of a more generalized "field of pain" that seems to apply to every living creature, even plant life. I think it comes with being
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

came back to you zizlz, because I was contemplating now, compassion. In the past I believed love is pity. When I saw someone sad, closed down, not liked by most, isolated, I was thinking how to come closer, and how to save such a one. For most of my life I had huge pain body. I was feeling everyone around me, and I was very unhappy within, and pretending all is well outside, really I could
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

QuoteGaja You know what, I do not even like thoughts. I love reality, being in the moment. I will go for a walk in the forest. I feel like - thinking is not so much fun. Have a nice day, much of noticing the moment and miracle of life, and love yourself people. You have a nice day too! I probably don't need to tell you this but just as a public service announcement: be careful with negati
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

zizlz Wrote: > > I hope Tolle is right that our present way of > relating to thought is a transient phase in our > evolution, and that we evolve into a post-thought > state. That doesn't mean we no longer think but > that we're no longer deluded by thought _________________________________ I I agree with you. Maybe E Tolle is not thinking, is peace itsel
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

I'm glad that Eckhart Tolle has a positive effect on you. Some people, like Andy (who wrote the opening post), seem to get ego-phobia or mind-phobia from listening to Tolle, which IMO is linked to shortcomings in his teachings. But of course there are more aspects to his teachings, some of which may be helpful for some people. I guess just like a vest, a teacher can fit one person and not an
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

That's fine, it's interesting topic. It might be true what you said about shame and guilt. In my family (in those times, I can observe it) little children are being taught shame if they cannot do poo on their own, or eat by themselves, or do something properly in the opinion of "adults" - it is like, their ability to function is build on shame and of course fear - do not g
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

...just wanted to add: of course a post-thought humanity could only function if (a large part of) humanity has transcended egotism, as I think would be the case if they collectively achieve awakening stage 2 (embodiment), a state in which people are naturally compassionate (see one of my earlier posts in this thread). After all, a society of uncontrollable people could only function if they don&#
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

>How is it possible, that when thought is believed is causing people pain, or so much trouble ? When thought is believed, that means the conceptual content of the thought is experienced as reality itself, to a large extent. It's like looking at a map and believing the map to be the territory, forgetting almost completely that there's a greater reality outside of the map. It makes
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Activity can happen in the now, in the present moment. I can slice tomatoes, banana, I can eat, ride a bike, dance, or clean house, I wanted to say also, to have sex, but sex is not approved by enlightened beings. You may eat, dance, clean, go to work, but sex is not required(a little irony) and be very present. In fact realization would be, this is not "me" who is active, activity is h
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

QuoteSahara71 A friend of mine once tried to 'live in the now' for a period of several weeks and everyone quickly became frustrated with her because nothing was done and everyone else had to pick up the slack and it was as annoying as hell. That's interesting. The mindlessness E.T. advocates is like the condition of an infant. It makes sense that all the adults around such a per
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Sahara71 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > A friend of mine once tried to 'live in the > now' for a period of several weeks and > everyone quickly became frustrated with her > because nothing was done and everyone else had to > pick up the slack and it was as annoying as hell. > I suppose Tolle would say "let other > peopl
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Hi Everyone, I read one of Tolle's books years ago - but I can't remember which one it was. I thought it was quite interesting, but right towards the end of the book, I was left asking myself "What is the practical application for all this stuff?" How do you apply these 'teachings' to everyday life? There was a question and answer section at the end of the book
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

A quick search takes you to the Cult Education Institute thread "Eckhart Tolle -- Comments From Someone who Knows Him." The original post was by Wanderer77, who apparently knew him 25 or 30 years ago, before he became famous. She characterizes him from her point of view as: QuoteWanderer77 An extremely, and I want to say, dangerously isolated individual, who has become worse,
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Hey Andy, I, like you, have come to the conclusion that Eckhart’s “teachings” are not for me. I will try to put my experiences into a nutshell- I read the Power of Now for the first time when I was 21. I was going through a very messy breakup with a girl that I thought was the “one”. Dealing with loss of my best friend, and grandfather, Eckhart’s book definitely helped me look at the though
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

This Guardian article is interesting for understanding Mooji's psychological wounds that made him take such an escapist approach of spirituality: In two posts in a thread about Eckhart Tolle, I've expanded on the mechanism behind this escapist approach of spirituality, which I've suffered from myself (first post, second post). Writing about it here over the last few years has b
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Following up on my previous post about why especially narcissistic and psychologically troubled people become problematic spiritual teachers after an awakening experience: I think it's important to add that if deep psychological wounds play a role in triggering the awakening experience, this opens up a tempting opportunity for escapism. During the awakening, you see that you never were th
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

@Andy.Mo18: ego-phobic is a great way to put it. I do think Tolle has had the awakening experience he described, but he drew the wrong conclusions from it. That awakening experience (sometimes called 'the initial awakening') has to do with a sudden change in brain functioning. The process of habitual thought patterns that involve and maintain the self-concept is suddenly drastically red
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Great, thank you. I'll be sure to check it out.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Hi Andy.Mo18, I'm sorry to hear about your illness. There is a lot of information about Eckhart Tolle on this forum and the destructive effect his teachings can have on people's lives. Someone who called himself The Anticult was posting here years ago about Tolle and other similar teachers, and it is worthwhile doing a forum search under this name, 'The Anticult' and re
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Does anybody else have any thoughts concerning this guy?
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

So I was in psychiatry for a drug induced psychosis when I was 20, and while I was there my mother gave me two of Eckhart Tolle's books, The Power of Now and A New Earth. The way he wrote made it seem like enlightenment was the only way to sanity, and I'd read Bhante Gunaratana's book Mindfulness in Plain English before, in which he proclaimed an enlightened person becomes complete
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Right so, in terms of recovering a sense of self, a big thing for me was learning to assert my ego. Yes, that's right, ASSERT my EGO - in contravention of the New Age nostrum that ego must be eliminated. In practice, this meant getting back in touch with the things I like and enjoy. No longer feeling guilty about saying, I like this, I want that. It also meant, perhaps most importantly of
Forum: Recovery from Destructive Cults and Groups

As mentioned earlier I’m glad you are doing well and will get better man it’s tough and similarly I got into This new age spirituality and meditation due to excess anxiety I have struggled with all my life. It led to me to seek meditation as a tool to help my anxiety go away or calm myself because of these are how they are promoted as they never tell you all the mind bending grueling idiotic phil
Forum: Recovery from Destructive Cults and Groups

Not really.If I was ok, I wouldn't end up, being traumatized by sect. I just remember when mooji with his whole sect were singing/screaming to me "inside the Heart we are never apart"or "we love you, we love you !!!"- as response to my (in their imagination)need to be in relationship with mooji. They thought I want to be as special as Krishnabai, and live with mooji o
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Tone1997, the first step, really, was finding this place. Having immersed myself in the Eckhart Tolle philosophy for so long those ideas had become unquestionable truths in my mind; the discussions on here were the first thing to give voice to some of my growing doubts, and open me to some fresh perspectives. But the terror of having my sense of reality suddenly torn away without anything obvi
Forum: Recovery from Destructive Cults and Groups