Tsukimoto wrote: Quote--"In the guru and in the community at Kripalu, thousands of seekers sought the perfect Dad and Mom." --"Orphans bring a tremendous amount of idealization and projection into their relationships with their teachers. We fall in love with our teachers and with our communities, and as a result, we do not see them at all clearly." --"With our
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

A Note on Sergei Eisenstein's Film Alexander Nevsky This film is perhaps one of the best examples of Eisenstein's use of montage. He worked closely with the composer Prokofiev and Prokofiev was able to match specific bars of his music with precise frames of the film. Nevsky purports to describe a battle in which a small Russian volunteer army full of warmly empathic people, defe
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Yesterday I committed a typo. That friends, is what lack of a good nights sleep can do to someone) I wrote: QuoteSo perhaps we can suggest that archetypes do* merely adorn our lives, as gilded paint or stucco embelllishments do when placed on the surface of a house. I actually meant to write: '...archetypes do not merely adorn our lives, as do gilt or stucco decorations on the surf
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

For what it is worth: For years I used to see adverts for a group that might have been this one. THe leader was western born, had a professional degree and I think this was the leader. Sidi Muhammad Sa'id al-Jamal – Shadhilli, Jerusalem At least they refered to their leader as 'Sidi' I had an interest in warm woolen clothing and on a google search some years ago, landed
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Y'know, that sounds like a transferable skill. The ability to keep a large community of people healthy, especially during winter is something that would be valuable to other long term projects where people live in. I used to work at a homeless shelter and volunteered at a free clinic, and the rate of upper respiratory infections, especially in wintertime, was phenomenal. For my first si
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

What the Culture Had to Offer--The Feminist 1980s When looking at an entirely different question, elsewhere on this thread, I found references to a book from the 1980s, same period as the WomanChrist movement. This was a book that started as a sleeper and became well received and by word of mouth-The Hero Within by Carol S Pearson. She identifies six archetypes as being especially poten
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Carol S Pearson tells a story of how the first edition of her book, The Hero Within was received. It was not publicly marketed, and its success was based on word of mouth. Many people liked it. Some did not. Pearson tells a most interesting story of the latter: QuoteOf course, I do not mean to suggest that every reader of The Hero Within was empowered, or even liked the book. One
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

SIX ARCHETYPES WE LIVE BY CAROL S. PEARSON The author begins by thanking some authors who assisted her to see that to some extent, our viewpoints and even our archetypes do not merely add to our view of the world, to some extent, create what kind of world we are in. QuoteIn writing this book, I realized that each of the archetypes carries with it a way of seeing the world.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Must mention I was at a bookstore and saw many Samuel Aeon Weor books that were currently available. However, the clerk mentioned there were other ASW titles that were apparently scarce and expensive. These were kept in a locked store room, out of view, but interested persons could take a look if they wished. I was not in this group and have no interest. But it may be interesting to se
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

What happened when you guys got sick? Under conditions like that, people's health must have suffered. If you bunched together in apartments, and without suffient sleep, you'd be getting colds and flu all winter. What did they do for health care or for conditions requiring hospitalization?
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

And by offering one of the few spaces in which one can bear witness, the RR.com message board resembles a witness protection program. Note: I am not saying RR.com's message board is an official witness protection program. But it does have some of the functions. Must say, protection is needed. As in protection from shaming, and vigilent oversight from a modertor to prevent this site
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

I was once a very involved Roman Catholic. I have had conversations with current and former members of Benedictine, Franciscan orders and also the Jesuits. The three official vows, are poverty, chastity and obedience to religious superiors. But there is no comparable 'vow of secrecy' if one is a nun. The closest would be the vow taken by a priest to never divulge what someon
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Researching Luthman Google Shakti Gawain and Shirley Luthman. Gawain refers to being in a group lead by Luthman for 5 years. This article tells more about the content of what Luthman taught. At some time her books had a receptive audience and were influential. The author began with this introduction: QuoteMy work differs from that of many theorists of gender difference in that
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Another person who commented gave this advice--excerpt from a longer comment. QuoteThey are most likely trying to recruit you, but that doesn't mean there isn't also a human connection there. What we see looking in now as manipulation, didn't seem like that when I was there. In the very narrow closed logic that I got caught in*, it seemed the right thing to do so people
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

"..become a Viable Volunteer...Leave Before They Suck You In" An article about NATLFED can be read here and the following comments are of the utmost interest. The commenter who is partially quoted below advised staying in NATLFED just long enough to learn fieldwork skills and then get out and take those skills to a project that is less self serving. "If you have 2 yea
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Common and Repetitive Teaching Stories Used by Gurus and Western Imitators of Such If someone has been on the ashram circuit for awhile, they will have most likely heard these stories and quite often. If they heard these stories during times when trance inducing chants and meditations were used, hearing or reading those stories in another context might possibly be a trigger. Each of the
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Why Moderators are Needed or...Strategic Image Management via Blog Comments Sections This, dear readers, is from a blog by and for persons who have served time and spent money and the best years of their lives in another organization. But, but, like the link I posted to the story given by 'formerreleaser' this item may also be of interest. The entire article must be read
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Flowers and flowers in Vase--Yet Another Common Hindu Guru/Ashram Teaching Story Flowers are often given and received as offerings to gurus and by gurus and vases of flowers are often brought to a guru. So this will be a seed on which many metaphors can crystallize. A flower is often seen as a symbol of enlightenment--eg the lotus flower. The flower, and flowers in a vase (or image of a
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Another Cliche Analogy Met With on the Ashram Circuit--The Clay Pot Note: One of the best purchases I ever made was an outlay of 10 US dollars for a hard cover, second hand copy of the second, 1980 edition of Agehananda Bharati's memoir, The Ochre Robe. He went to India in 1949, 20 years before the Hippie Trail began. And Bharati takes you behind the scenes. His book is worth reading sim
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

A Use of Snake and Rope Analogy to Invalidate Reports of Power Abuse by a Guru This is a hypothetical scenario. Maybe something like this can happen. I dont know, Ive not been there. This is just my guess. Different ways to use Snake and Rope story--courtship, discarding trust in own boundaries. perceptions, invalidation when one later tries to reclaim boundaries. *Courtship Phase--
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

The Snake and the Rope is part of an ancient repertoire. For fun, go to google. Put a guru or New Wage teacher's name into the exact phrase slot. Then, put the two words, 'rope' 'snake' into the all words slot. Punch the button then see what you get. I ran searches using Muktananda, Ramana Maharshi, Aurobindo, and MK Gandhi. Interestingly, Gandhi used the snake a
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

The Need to Examine Cultural Cliches The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is a highly complex poem. It is a shame that in the minds of most, it has been reduced to the cliche phrase 'albatross around the neck'. Most of us have a hazy idea that the Ancient Mariner mariner forces everyone to listen to his story. And most assume that the Mariner is cursed to go wandering forever, c
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

An Emancipatory Turnaround of the 'Ancient Mariner' To this reader, The Ancient Mariner does not at all resemble Janaki. QuoteIt is an ancient Mariner, And he stoppeth one of three. (one of the three guests arriving at the wedding) Guest: `By thy long beard and glittering eye, Now wherefore stopp'st thou me ? The Bridegroom's doors are opened wide, And I am n
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

An analysis of the current teen trauma vampire movie. It has some relevance to this thread. "Not Having Time For Games is Itself a Game" Quote I know you weren't talking to me, but I have something to tell you" Anyone other than me ever been 15? You only do that when you want to start being friends. It's a move. He has no ambivalence at all. Here'
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

To the Anticult: Your mailbox is full, homie.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

FYI: 'Makepeace' was also the middle name of the English novelist, William Makepeace Thackeray. He's the author of the novel, Vanity Fair. The English Protestant reformers often took names such as 'Makepeace', so perhaps Thackeray had a Puritan ancestor. There were close ties between the English Puritans and the Dutch Calvinists in the 17th Centuries. P
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Who Ya Gonna Call....? Archetype Busters!!! We are about to face a torrent, a deluge of archetypes. Call in the response squad from the local Jungian Institute. The Coleridge poem reads as a waking nightmare, of hallucinatory intensity. The horror is held, contained and carried through to the reader via the disciplined forms of English classical poetry. It is not a poem I would r
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is a Poem that Reads as a Terrifying Curse It was written by a poet, Coleridge, from early 19th century, a period where other authors pioneered the genere of horror fiction. During this same period Mary Shelly wrote Frankenstein, Beckford wrote Vathek, and a bit earlier, Horace Walpole, had written The Castle of Otronto. Byron wrote early versions of stories of
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Heh, if anyone looks ancient and old as the hills, its BK. And when she gets old enough, she will not be able to control her business. That means persons filmed or recorded during Work School or at Turnaround House have every right to demand information on who is gonna OWN their confidential material after BK cannot run the show. Unless we die younger, we are all going to get old and
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Who Owns Your Intellectual and Soulful Property after Youve been To an LGAT?? QuoteSo it would be like taking private therapy video recordings, and then the therapist owns them, and can sell them, using your picture, voice, and everything else. Its very similar to Scientology, who record and save all of their "auditing" they do of people, where people confess all of their sins. T
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"