1 - When Swami G has referred to the guru who "commissioned" her a guru, she speaks in what I've considered to be very veiled and hazy terms, not identifying the guru, claiming that he wants to remain anonymous, etc. I've always found that a bit fishy. Do you know some of the details? How did Swami G become a guru? Was it after a long period of discernment and training? Or is
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Holly -- Your posts are interesting, enlightening and thought-provoking. I'd meant to say in my earlier reply that I thought it unfair for another commenter here to criticize you for the detail and length in your posts. For heaven's sake. You went through a very difficult 7 years and were an eloquent and very public defender for this teacher. That you are now being so open and trans
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Women freed from captivity as sex slaves "for people victimized by monstrous criminals, guilt is a common reaction." A BK 'Turnaround' is TOXIC when used by or on persons who have been molested. QuoteAnother step toward normalcy for the three women will be accepting something that seems obvious to the rest of the world: They have no reason to feel guilty. &quo
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

The after affects of being involved in aggressive positivity-like cults, has left me numb and lacking motivation for growth. I am turning to therapy for help in some areas, which books can not help with. However, I was wondering if there were any legit self-help books. I read some anthony robbins, eckhart tolle, and some other spiritual self-helpy stuff, but it lead to many problems, and create a
Forum: Coercive Persuasion and Undue Influence

Just go here and dive in. Old posts are often worth re-reading.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Secrets They Don't Want Us To Know The Anticult Wrote April 27, 2009 04:22PM, Italics and footnotes to other references added in by Corboy. Quote (The Anticult)Yes, the BK system is related to a Yes-Set*, in terms of Leading Questions with embedded presuppositions, and convincing people to follow the BK questions. The YES is in agreeing to follow the questions. *(Google 'Yes
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Victor Baranco's Flash to Perfection May 1966 Vic, realizing he was the perceiver and judge of his experiences and thereby the creator, concluded that he was perfect, and everybody and everyone else was too. Further that perfection includes the potential for change. Note that this is a twist on language. The commonly accepted definitions of 'perfect' imply completion,
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

I'm sick of these people. These sellers of shoddy goods. No amount of thinking can free you from pain and fear. People just need to wise up to this shit. Instead they are being messed with by these pariahs.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Quoteluckychrm “You have unfinished business sweetheart. The Nine-Day School for the Work would really help you resolve that unfinished business, and I would like to help you make that happen,” Katie said. I didn’t immediately register that Katie was offering me a scholarship... I'm surprised to find that these blog posts no longer seem to have a trace on the internet. Nor does Molly H
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Hey everyone, I haven't posted in a really long time but I am glad to see this message board is alive and well. @tsukimoto, as always I agree with you completely. You wrote that about leaving SGI you had some initial fear/discomfort, "But as time went by, I began to feel a sense of relief and freedom... I didn't have to sit through meetings where everyone was talking about how grea
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

John Smith: There you go again posting the same rant over and over again, like a troll for Tolle. If you do this again your post will not pass through and instead be deleted. Your analogy comparing Tolle to "Jesus" and "Buddha" transparently demonstrates that becoming a believer in Tolle's teachings is much the same as accepting a religious belief system. Anyone
Forum: Recovery from Destructive Cults and Groups

billy 77: The onus is squarely on you to provide evidence that Eckhart Tolle said that ´´he decided to become a teacher´´. If you make an accusation or a claim, it is incumbent upon you to provide the supporting evidence. As in a court of law, there are ethical and logical reasons why someone is innocent by default until proven guilty. I agree that, for people who totally mis-understand
Forum: Recovery from Destructive Cults and Groups

Listen to the audio version. You will hear him say it. My point is though that this stuff, whatever it contains; truisms, conjecture, opinions, always turns into a bunch of beliefs and a bunch of followers. He knows what he is doing in that regard.
Forum: Recovery from Destructive Cults and Groups

John Smith: You are reciting the same rant or mantra over and over again. But repeating the same verbiage redundantly doesn't make it any less ridiculous or prove anything. Other than it provides rather compelling evidence that you are a devout disciple of Tolle and his teachings. BTW -- It is ridiculous to suppose that Tolle is not well aware of how his works are titled and displa
Forum: Recovery from Destructive Cults and Groups

billy77: I might be wrong, but I am very sure Eckhart Tolle has never said that he ´decided´ to become a spiritual teacher. His website does indeeed have ´Eckhart Teachings´ as a title but Eckhart himself definitely did not set up the website; - he has said many times that he is very computer-illiterate. Yes, he has said that he became a spiritual teacher ´´in the eyes of the world´´ (quote).
Forum: Recovery from Destructive Cults and Groups

John Smith, He does actually say that he decided to become a spiritual teacher if you listen to him on the audio version. His website has "Eckhart Teachings" all over it aswell. So I think that he is describing himself as a teacher. Of course it turns into a belief system for his followers. What else would these truisms turn into? Nobody can do anything with truisms. At some point
Forum: Recovery from Destructive Cults and Groups

John Smith: Your post is redundant. "Overwhelmingly obvious"? That's a fairly ridiculous claim. No overwhelming basis to demonstrate that Tolle's teachings are obvious. They actually seem a bit mad. "Can't have faith"? Get serious. Tolle is preaching a belief system that requires faith in his teachings and you are foolish to argue this point. He
Forum: Recovery from Destructive Cults and Groups

Thank You for taking the time to reply. It is, however, overwhelmingly obvious that you simply do not understand the central tenet of the argument - i.e. the difference between a belief and a fact. With the exception of an exploration into metaphysics and philosophy, you can´t have faith in the existence of the present moment in the same way that you can´t have faith in the law of gravity or the
Forum: Recovery from Destructive Cults and Groups

John Smith: When people disagree with you it doesn't mean that they don't "understand the topic". It simply means that theyt think you and/or your assumptions are wrong. You apparently are a Tolle "true believer". That is, you believe in Tolle's claims and wish to assume that they are facts. But what you offer is really merely a postulation based upon assu
Forum: Recovery from Destructive Cults and Groups

attn: rr moderator I was delighted to stumble upon a forum space that is discussing Eckhart Tolle. It is important to be skeptical and objective. However, I was disappointed to discover that you, RRMODERATOR, among others that have conbtributed to this discussion, have made a fundamental category or ontological error. This is highlighted by your use of the word ´believe´in the context
Forum: Recovery from Destructive Cults and Groups

I've been reading this forum for several years, and this is my first post. I left SGI two years ago-- I was a district leader for 13 years and a member for 17 years. Reading this forum has been a tremendous help to me in leaving the SGI, but so many factors contributed, and I'd like to mention them in case my experience could help anyone else. Several years before I left, I began to
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

What happened to me is that I suffered a lot after becoming involved in one of these LGATs. All the usual stuff... massively depressed, anxiety, confused, negative or broken sense of self, etc etc. Dreadful suffering after living a decent life for many years. So I went looking and reading for anything that could help me. I'd never felt the need to seek out this kind of thing before and as I
Forum: Recovery from Destructive Cults and Groups

Yes I see what you mean. I was thinking more about whether people who are suffering have been transformed by these people and their teachings. I think what Tolle is teaching is actually quite naive and dangerous. Regular depression is bad enough but it doesn't necessarily mean that you should try and dump the ego in order to get over it. What would this do, this attempt to disidentify and
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

QuoteVery few people have anything happen to them as a result of these "teachings". It's not that kind of thing and once you grasp that then you don't seek anymore words from these people. Sometimes something does happen. By going to Tolle events, one becomes part of the entire social scene that pursues these kinds of gurus and experiences. And in some cases, Tolle not being
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

The intrinsic issue with all this is that there are no teachings and there is no teacher. They all know this, people like Tolle, but still they are spinning the next book or whatever. I guess he feels like he can make a difference to middle class America. It just ends up being more information though for you to take in and then another set of illusions that some of the followers are living by.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

For a compare and contrast on how someone can change from a shy and talented young person into someone who runs a personality driven inner circle, get and read Secret Germany:Stefan George and His Circle by Norton (the surname is pronounced “gay-org-uh”) " This book can feel painful to read. George discovered early that he had homosexual longings, and lived in a place and time wher
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Tolle gave an interview to The Guardianthat was published in April 2009 and mentions he did have means of support in the early days. Do note that Wanderer77 first posted in February 2009 giving a description of ET's early career & family background that was quite different from the Tolle publicity that had been on offer (the epiphany on the park bench, no info on how he survived duri
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Quotepetrus4I'm a narcissist myself; I know what the craving for narcissistic supply feels like. If I didn't care about hurting people, I'd probably be tempted to become someone like Tolle or some of the others myself. Then again, however, perhaps I wouldn't; because I like to at least hope that I've already seen, that money and external success are not the real cure fo
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Steve Salerno has started a series on Byron Katie:
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Mere experiences that get mislabeled as Illumination or Dropping QuoteSomeone was discussing Tolle on an older Google listserve and mentioned something. There is a discussion on the Google listserve that raise intersting points []'A cessation of mentation as a result of intense concentration _may_ be a precursor to Awakening in some "accidental" enlightenment exp
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"