Archive for Brainwashing
03.10.06
Posted in Deprogramming, Brainwashing at 10:25 am by Rick Ross
Indonesia has been “deprogramming” terrorists successfully, and such efforts have yielded meaningful results, as formerly “brainwashed” fanatics provide helpful inside information about their organizations.
Some “civil libertarians” insist upon labeling this process “torture.”
However, deprogramming typically consists of discussion between the designated “deprogrammer” and the “brainwashed” member of a “cult” or as reported within Indonesia a radical Islamic group linked to terrorist attacks.
Indonesia has used a former member to do its deprogramming of convicted terrorists. The man is also a Moslem cleric and has effectively turned extremists to a more moderate faith. Subsequently, those turned have reportedly provided information on terrorist operations to authorities.
The same deprogramming process has been used in Singapore, the United Kingdom, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. And the Australian government is currently considering using deprogramming tactics too reports The Age.
“In many parts of the world, in Europe, in the Middle East and certainly in Indonesia, those governments have made an attempt to persuade extremists and terrorists who’ve been held in prison to change their point of view and to understand that it’s not the Islamic way to kill, it’s not the Islamic way to murder. And in some cases that process has been successful. It’s something that we will give thought to,” said Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer.
The word “deprogramming” was demonized by groups called “cults” in the United Stated beginning in the 1970s as part of an ongoing propaganda campaign to end the practice. Groups called “cults” such as the Unification Church led by Rev. Sun Myung Moon lost many members through such interventions.
Cults despised deprogramming because it worked.
Seemingly in response to the cult propaganda campaign new terms and descriptions were coined to describe essentially the same practice such as “exit-counseling,” “thought reform consultation,” ”strategic intervention therapy” and “cult intervention.”
Psychologist Margaret Singer, the preeminent cult expert of the 20th Century, defined “deprogramming” as simply “providing members with information about the cult and showing them how their own decision-making power had been taken away from them.”
Noted psychiatrist and author Robert Jay Lifton defined the process often used to compromise “decision-making power” as “thought reform.” His lauded book Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism became a seminal classic and the guide used by deprogrammers to define and determine “cult brainwashing” techniques.
The first cult deprogrammer was Ted Patrick, often called “Black Lightening” by the cults he opposed.
Some of those deprogrammed during the 1970s and later subsequently became deprogrammers themselves.Â
Now the families of terrorists, such as the followers Osama bin Laden, say their loved ones are also the victims of “brainwashing” and thus became terrorist pawns. An article recounting such stories and reviewing the parallels that can be seen between terrorist training and thought reform has been archived for some time at Cult Education.com.
It is interesting to observe that Islamic countries are now largely leading the way in an effort to effectively adapt deprogramming as a response to terrorist indoctrination.Â
Waleed Kadous, spokesman for the Australian Muslim Civil Rights Advocacy Network, does not oppose deprogramming if it’s voluntary.
“It’s important to highlight that already many respected scholars in the Muslim community are informally deconstructing terrorism and condemning terrorism to their congregations” reported Al Jazeera.
Understanding the process of thought reform and how to unravel its effects is an important step in the fight against global terrorism. Rather than simply blaming culture, religion or politics for the increase of terrorist attacks this response recognizes the reality that almost every nation or region around the world has been affected by “cult brainwashing” and related tragedies.
As deprogrammers have proven in the past and as they are proving within Islamic nations like Indonesia today, those programmed by radical and extremist groups can be helped and that destructive mindset unraveled
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12.07.05
Posted in Sri Chinmoy, Brainwashing at 3:48 pm by Rick Ross
According to an obscure guru some call a “cult leader” living in Jamaica Queens, New York, saying his name can get you to a “very good higher world.” This sage advice and other supposed gems can be found in the book titled “The Wisdom of Sri Chinmoy” reports the Queens Chronicle.
Here is another example of the guru’s so-called “wisdom.”
Guru Sri Chinmoy writes, “A young wife was terribly afraid of staying alone at night, so the Master said to the husband…I shall take care of her. That night she saw the Master in a corner of the room, not the Master’s physical body but his luminous subtle body.”
Hmmm.
Chinmoy claims to be celibate, but persistent allegations have arisen that his “physical body” has wandered about a bit and it’s not so “subtle.” The guru apparently has a penchant for pursuing sexual favors from his female followers.
The New York Post once named him “‘Sleazy’ Sri.”
The now 74-year-old guru still has about 2,000 seriously committed followers. A core group composed of some of his most devoted believers has clustered around his house in Queens. They are known for frequently working long and hard hours at the guru’s businesses, at times for little more than subsistence wages.
New York businesses associated with Sri Chinmoy include the Smile of the Beyond luncheonette in Jamaica Queens and the Oneness-Fountain-Heart restaurant in Flushing.
Chinmoy has a long history of staging self-serving publicity stunts, which include everything from “Peace Runs” to his followers performing feats in their guru’s name to get him into the Guinness Book of World Records.
One devotee Ashrita Furman has held more than 86 Guinness records for such feats as pogo stick jumping, juggling while running 50 miles and playing the most games of hopscotch.
Last year Chinmoy had his faithful gather more than 1,000 roses to commemorate his 73rd birthday, no doubt hoping to set another record.
The guru teaches that overcoming ego is a spiritual goal, but apparently this doesn’t include his own, which requires constant feeding.
Such staged theater took a dark turn when one of his disciples died apparently practicing a trick to please the guru.
In his latest book of “wisdom” Sri Chinmoy holds forth on the topics of “belief,” “doubt” and “worry.”
But Chinmoy doesn’t have much to “worry” about with all his followers taking such good care of him. He lives a life of relative ease often leaving New York in the winter for balmy weather elsewhere.
Beyond “belief” though are Chinmoy’s persistent claims that he can reportedly lift 7,064 pounds with his right arm and 7,040 with his left.
More amazing than this claim is that his followers don’t seem to “doubt” such preposterous nonsense.
Anyone interested enough to scrutinize the guru’s weightlifting will find out that he relies more upon machines to do the job for him rather than his muscles. But like so many devices used by this guru it seemingly serves to pumps up his ego.
“If one enters secret domains where the inherent powers of the cosmic realities exist, one can get the capacity to do anything,” says Sri Chinmoy.
But it’s hard to understand how the followers of this bizarre man continue to devote their lives to his various schemes and scams—is there some “cosmic” reason they seem willing “to do anything”?
Some say that Chinmoy’s “inherent powers” are a form of “brainwashing.” And that this is accomplished in part through a form of self-hypnosis, which renders them more suggestible and compliant, achieved through what the guru calls “meditation.” Then there is also the so-called “cult” lifestyle, largely dependent upon living within what can be seen as a controlled environment dominated and defined by Chinmoy.
Maybe his disciples have bought into the proposition that their rewards from the guru won’t be realized in this world, but rather in the next one?
In his book Chinmoy appears to cultivates this notion telling readers that as a teenager he followed his sister’s soul “for about three hours in the world of death.”
The guru also says he was once busy “fighting with three death forces that wanted to snatch away three of my close disciples…”
Hmmm.
Would those “forces” be families, old friends or maybe actually an attack of doubt and/or critical thinking?
Chinmoy wants readers to know that his “teaching is not a kind of miracle-mongering.” Instead, his “business is to help the aspirant to reach God.”
Perhaps it is a “business.”
Famed musician Carlos Santana followed Sri Chinmoy for almost a decade and then left that “business” behind him.
“This shit is not for me–I don’t care how enlightening it is,” he told Rolling Stone.
Maybe that’s a mantra that might help Sri Chinmoy’s disciples “reach God.” According to Deborah Santana, it didn’t hurt her life, or her husband’s life to get away from “Chinmoy’s controlling ways.”
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02.25.05
Posted in Brainwashing at 12:25 pm by Rick Ross
The “Battered Woman Syndrome” often cited in court and by helping professionals assisting those victimized within abusive and controlling relationships parallels many of the same features identified within destructive cults.
In this sense abusive and controlling relationships, though seemingly romantic, can be seen as a type of “cult” with a dictatorial leader, usually a man, dominating a single follower as his victim.
This has been called the “cultic relationship” and/or a “one-on-one cult.”
Over the years cult intervention professionals have been called upon to apply the same expertise developed to free cult victims as an approach to free those caught within the web of abusive controlling relationships.
The Ross Institute of New Jersey has recently released an educational DVD/video titled In the Name of Love: Abusive Controlling Relationships, which shares the body of knowledge developed around this subject in an easy to follow format.
This educational tool makes an otherwise often confusing situation more easily understood.
The DVD/video offers a synthesis of what is known about brainwashing and how this process directly applies to both the Battered Woman Syndrome and most specifically to the dynamics and personalities most often involved in abusive controlling relationships.
In the Name of Love also recounts personal stories, such as the experience of singer Tina Turner and the tragic circumstances that led up to the death of Nicole Brown Simpson. Such compelling examples are helpful to better understand the personal cost, internal turmoil and dangers of such relationships.
What are the warning signs?
What can someone concerned do?
What type of individual fits the profile of an abuser?
Why don’t those abused leave a bad relationship?
These and other important questions are answered within the DVD.
Darla Boughton the manager for a popular forum related to this subject says, “This DVD is a magnificent breakthrough–a must-have for every classroom, women’s shelter, and abuse Web sites everywhere.”
Much too often society blames the victim rather than attempting to understand the disturbing dynamics within abusive controlling relationships.
One third of American women reportedly have been abused under such circumstances, and millions more are potentially at risk.
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01.05.05
Posted in Scientology, Sri Chinmoy, Westboro Baptist Church, Sai Baba, Kabbalah Centre, Aum Sect, Brainwashing, Ching Hai, Amma at 6:26 pm by Rick Ross
The old adage “Beware of Greeks bearing gifts” may be useful to Tsunami survivors receiving attention from some specious sects and groups called “cults.”
Just like in the movie Troy something sinister and/or self-serving can be concealed in a “gift horse,” and it’s probably not Brad Pitt.
In recent days a growing array of controversial religious organizations, gurus and self-styled healers have launched efforts for Tsunami relief, but who are they really focused upon helping?
Do their programs reflect a genuine desire to assist the victims of the most horrific catastrophe of the 21st Century, or are they just there to play the disaster for publicity and possibly some new recruits?
South African Scientologists are using church branches as drop-off points for clothes and other goods targeted for relief reports IOL.
And Scientologists flying in from all over.
Scientology has sent volunteers from Australia to identify bodies reported the AAP.
English Scientologists and even a voluteer from Utah funded by an anonymous businessman are being flown in to somehow help reports Surrey On Line and the and the Salt Lake Tribune.
Scientology volunteers are known for their bright yellow jackets emblazoned with “Scientology Volunteer Ministers” worn when doing their charitable chores.
Scientology says that over 200 “volunteer ministers” are helping in tsunami-hit countries.
In a strange twist Scientology has trained Tibetan monks to help tsunami survivors through so-called “touch assists,” which seems to be Scientology’s version of the popular Pentecostal practice known as “laying on of hands” for healing. Scientology volunteers and the Buddhist monks using their method will touch survivors to help heal their trauma reports the AFP.
Another controversial group concerned about the trauma of tsunami survivors is the “Gentle Wind Project.” This organization is sending its so-called “trauma cards” to Sumatra, which supposedly have “the ability to forgive and [help users] move forward in life” according to one testimonial featured on the group’s Web site. But critics have dismissed the cards as “quackery” and a doctor warned that groups pushing such products often find “people who are desperate…and then take advantage of them.”
Madonna’s much-hyped “Kabbalah Centre” is shipping 10,000 bottles of its touted “Kabbalah Water,” which the pop diva seems to believe has spiritual properties reported MSNBC.
Wouldn’t regular bottled tap water be just as effective and much cheaper? But then that couldn’t afford a photo op with glitzy “Kabbalah Centre” labeling would it?
And then there is the so-called “Art of Living” organization led by a former associate of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi “Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.” He has dispatched his disciples to teach tsunami victims “yoga” and “meditation.”
Hey Sri Sri how about funding some conventional classrooms for children rather than pushing your “yoga”?
Another pitch comes from Guru Sri Chinmoy of New York. His followers are collecting for something called “The Oneness-Heart-Tears and Smiles” organization and say they are now “engaged in an urgent global effort to bring desperately needed relief to the survivors.”
But Chinmoy, who has been embroiled in sex scandals and called a “sleazy swami,” doesn’t seem to fit the “world harmony leader” title claimed at the group’s fund-raising Web site.
“Mata” the hugging mama guru has reportedly laid down some hard cash reported one news service.
But will she want a photo op hugging her check like “Summa Ching Hai” when she dropped some dough on the Red Cross for September 11th victims?
Meanwhile hate preacher Fred Phelps from Kansas wants everyone to know that he is “thankful” God killed Swedish citizens through this particular disaster, something about their collective sexual sins reported Raw Print.
Is that Fred smiling over there for the cameras with his “God Hates Fags” sign?
Who will land next with the next wave of volunteers?
Maybe some Falun Gongers will show up to teach exercise classes and pass out flyers, or will it be Sai baba the guru philanthropist and alleged pedophile?
Nothing new about such activities by specious groups after a disaster except the size and depth of this terrible tragedy.
Scientology volunteers were seen at Ground Zero not long after the Twin Towers collapsed. And John Travolta seemed anxious for his photo-op when he visited the site.
Then Tom Cruise launched the Scientology-linked “Downtown Medical,” located in lower Manhattan, which provided the so-called “purification rundown” for the detoxification of FDNY firemen and others that worked at Ground Zero.
People are the most vulnerable to undue influence and recruitment efforts by groups called “cults” when experiencing a personal crisis, loss and/or going through a difficult transition. When people are isolated from family, friends, their community and familiar support systems they are likely to be weakened and more susceptible.
Sound like Tsunami victims?
Meanwhile mainstream religious and relief organizations and government agencies are focused upon providing practical help to the massive numbers of survivors such as potable not magical water, medical care and the restoration of basic services through the rebuilding of infrastructure.
CNN reports that this is the largest humanitarian effort in recorded history.
Let’s hope that that these practical efforts reach the tsunami victims before any so-called “cults” exploit their vulnerabilities or use them as backdrops for some photo-op.
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11.01.04
Posted in Landmark Education, Brainwashing at 10:17 am by Rick Ross
On December 12, 2001 Jason Weed murdered Oklahoma mailman Robert Jenkins. He shot Jenkins in the back while the mailman was performing his job as a postal carrier.
Mr. Jenkins wife and a stepdaughter survive the 30-year-old US Postal Service employee.
The court found that Weed was “legally insane.”
However, according to the court claim made against Landmark (Been v. Weed), “Weed was free of abnormal psychological manifestations(s) and/or disorder(s) prior to his attending the Defendant Landmark’s classes.”
Moreover, the plaintiff claims that through Landmark Education classes Weed “was subjected to extreme emotional and psychological stress which caused his mental disorders, and which resulted in the death of” Robert Jenkins.
The lawsuit further states that “Landmark knew, because of their prior experiences, that this type of disorder…was a likely and foreseeable result of attendance of their classes.”
The plaintiff’s attorneys specifically cite a “screening process and tests” used by Landmark “to eliminate person[s] who were likely to develop mental disorders as a result of their seminars.”
Mark Kamin, a Landmark spokesman explained to Pioneer Press in Minnesota more than two years ago that Landmark participants must pass a screening process devised by a board of psychiatrists, including a series of questions aimed at assessing mental stability.
Kamin said, “We have a requirement that people must be emotionally stable at that time to participate in our programs.”
At the time the Landmark spokesman was responding to the horrific murder of a 13-year-old boy stabbed to death by his mother, an obstetrician who had also attended Landmark courses.
Dr. Donna Anderson was later found “not guilty” by reason of insanity under California State Law, but received a 36-year prison sentence.
Anderson was allegedly kicked out of the Forum for acting psychotic.
But in the current litigation filed against Landmark the for-profit privately held company is accused of “grossly negligent, willful, wanton, and intentional and/or…reckless disregard and/or indifference” regarding the safety of the man murdered by the former Forum participant.
The large group awareness training (LGAT) seminar known as the Forum, derives from one first offered by Erhard Seminar Training (EST).
Werner Erhard (AKA “Jack” Rosenberg), a used car and encyclopedia salesman with a high school education, created the “technology” now used in the Forum. But after repeated bad press and lawsuits Erhard sold the company in 1991.
EST then became Landmark Education, which is run by Erhard’s brother Harry Rosenberg.
LGATs also known as mass marathon trainings that focus upon “human potential” have a troubled history and at times have been the focus of personal injury lawsuits.
An article that appeared within the New York Times (1977) reported serious psychiatric disturbances associated with the programs presented by EST.
Three psychiatrists wrote on this subject for the American Journal of Psychiatry (see abstracts). One told the Times, “There’s enough possibility of a real connection between EST and psychotic breaks to cause us to want to alert psychiatrists and psychologists.”
Lawyers for the plaintiff in Been v. Weed were far more explicit about the connection between Landmark and the death of Robert Jenkins.
The plaintiff’s attorneys claim, “Landmark, its agents and employees, by engaging in the practice of psychology without a license or adequate training …focus extreme emotional distress and psychological distress on persons who attend the seminar…engaging in ultrahazadous activity and [therefore] are…a direct cause of harm.”
“Even though the percent of those that attend, who develop mental disorders resulting in homicide, is small…Landmark has failed to eliminate the risk even by the exercise of what they claim to be reasonable care,” the lawyers added in their court filing.
The conclusion of the plaintiff’s legal summary is chilling, “Due to the risk involved to attendees and the general public, the Defendant Landmark’s inability to eliminate the risk or moderate the degree of harm to attendees, it is not appropriate to conduct the seminars in any location where the attendees have an opportunity to harm other human beings.”
The scope of Landmark’s reach has far surpassed the range obtained during the days of Erhard’s EST Empire.
Landmark Education has 58 offices in 26 countries and 125,000 people reportedly participate in its programs annually, according to the organization’s website. Programs are offered in more than 140 cities and businesses such as Microsoft and Reebok have paid and/or reimbursed employees to take its courses.
Note: Landmark Education is currently suing the Ross Institute of New Jersey (RI) specifically alleging “product disparagement,” through the information made available at the RI database.
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09.28.04
Posted in Propaganda, Forum, Landmark Education, Immortal Consciousness, Executive Success Programs (ESP), Brainwashing at 10:35 am by Rick Ross
Landmark Education, a privately owned for-profit company that sells controversial large group awareness training programs to the public, has sued the Rick A. Ross Institute (RRI) for more than one million dollars.
The lawsuit was filed in New Jersey and is currently moving forward within the court of federal Judge John Lifland (Civil Action No. 04-3022 (JCL)).
RRI is a non-profit tax-exempted charity devoted to providing educational information to the public about destructive cults, controversial groups and movements through the Internet.
RRI is one of the largest single resources regarding this subject area on the worldwide web today. More than 15,000 individual unique users visit its database daily. And the RRI Open Forum message board has more than 1,300 registered members.
The lawsuit recently filed by Landmark Education claims that information posted through the RRI archives about the private for-profit company constitutes “product disparagement” and represents “interference with [its] ongoing business relations.”
Landmark Education is certainly a big business; it has 58 offices in 26 countries. And boasts that “more than 125,000″ people participate in its programs annually, which represents millions of dollars in profits for its owners each year.
This litigation appears to be an effort by Landmark to purge critical information about the company from the Internet.
RRI has archived articles, documents and personal testimonies about Landmark, which features a course called “The Forum,” that was earlier offered by a previous incarnation of this business enterprise known as Erhard Seminar Training or “EST.”
The titular head of Landmark Education today is Harry Rosenberg, but it was his brother “Werner Erhard” previously known as Jack Rosenberg, a high school graduate and former used car and encyclopedia salesman, who created the seminar “technology” touted by the company.
EST, something of a craze in the 1970s, drew endorsements from celebrities such as sitcom star Valerie Harper (”Rhoda”) and singer John Denver.
Forbes Magazine dubbed Werner Erhard a “millionaire guru.”
But the programs Mr. Erhard devised were soon associated with and/or linked to “psychiatric disturbances” and “psychosis.” Amidst extensive and unfavorable media coverage he sold EST in 1991 to employees, who then formed the current company Landmark Education.
Landmark then agreed to pay substantial annual licensing fees to Werner Erhard for his so-called “technology.”
No peer reviewed scientific study has ever been published by an objective scientific or professional journal to substantiate that the programs offered by Landmark Education produce any meaningful measured results, though what can be seen as its “mass marathon training” remains controversial.
New Jersey attorney Peter L. Skolnik of the law firm Lowenstien Sandler located in Roseland, New Jersey has agreed to represent RRI pro-bono.
An answer to the Landmark lawsuit was filed on September 20, 2004.
Other lawsuits involving RRI include litigation filed by another seminar selling company in New York named NXIVM (not to be confused with the “purple pill” Nexium used to quell acid reflux).
NXIVM, also known as “Executive Success Programs” (ESP), after two losses in court hopes to appeal before the US Supreme Court. Like Landmark, NXIVM seeks to purge critical information about its business from the Internet.
RRI is represented pro-bono regarding the NXIVM case by Massachusetts attorney Douglas Brooks of the law firm Gilman & Pastor and Tom Gleason of the law firm Gleason, Dunn, Walsh & O’Shea, in Albany, New York.
Public Citizen, a nonprofit, advocacy organization with 160,000 members nationwide, is assisting Mr. Brooks and Mr. Gleason regarding the possible NXIVM appeal pending before the US Supreme Court.
In another interesting case a group called “The Gentle Wind Project” located in Kittery, Maine, which hawks “healing cards” for “suggested donations” allegedly based upon plans from outer space, sued RRI for stating it is a “rather odd group” and for providing a link to a website critical of the organization.
RRI is also represented pro-bono concerning this action by attorney Douglas Brooks and local counsel William Leete of the law firm Leete & Lemieux in Portland, Maine.
Despite legal threats and later lawsuits filed by Landmark, NXIVM and The Gentle Wind Project, RRI has refused to be intimidated and continues to provide historical, analytical and/or critical information about these groups and other controversial organizations to the general public through its Internet database.
I have previously personally withstood frivolous litigation regarding my professional comments and/or providing website information in other notable lawsuits.
The “Church of Immortal Consciousness” founded by Steven and Trina Kemp sued me in 1995.
Judy Hammond of “Pure Bride Ministries” sued me for $15 million dollars in 2001.
The Kemp lawsuit ended after an appeal to the US Supreme Court failed and I was awarded costs. Arizona attorneys Paul Eckstein and Daniel Barr of the law firm Brown & Bain represented me pro-bono in that case.
The Hammond lawsuit likewise ended in a dismissal only months after its filing. Florida attorney Robert Rivas represented me pro-bono.
RRI is listed immediately after Landmark’s own commercial website on Google and has prominent positions regarding searches for information abut NXIVM and The Gentle Wind Project.
In this “Information Age” the pubic increasingly has turned to the Internet for background about people, companies, organizations and movements.
The word “Google” has become a verb and is synonymous with this process—as Internet users frequently say, you can “Google” someone or something as a quick way to obtain whatever information is readily available.
Landmark Education, despite its name, seems intent upon making sure that essentially only self-serving promotional advertising and/or propaganda largely appears on the Internet about the company and its courses.
Landmark apparently hopes that it can somehow control its published history, either through legal threats and/or what can be seen as frivolous litigation.
However, instead the Landmark Education lawsuit is likely to become another landmark for freedom of information on the Internet.
Note: Cult expert Steven Hassan was also sued by the Gentle Wind Project. However, he was dropped from the suit after a negotiated settlement, which included him deleting all material and references to the group from his website.
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07.01.04
Posted in Sri Chinmoy, Brainwashing, Amma at 7:19 am by Rick Ross
Chinmoy Kumar Ghose, called “Sri Chinmoy” by his devoted followers, has made something of a career through publicity stunts. His favorite appears to be phony power lifting that he uses to attract attention and feed his seemingly insatiable ego.
The latest newspaper to be sucked in by the guru’s antics is the New York Times.
In a long piece today titled “They’re Not Heavy; They’re His People,” NY Times reporter Cory Kilgannon gave the guru enough space to make him blush, perhaps for the sake of humor.
However, though the NY Times correctly reported that the guru’s group has been called a “brainwashing cult,” it gave much more attention to his self-serving public relations ploy than the people he hurt.
Readers were regaled with a long list of celebrities that Chinmoy has lifted in the past, which reportedly includes Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu, Muhammad Ali, Jesse Jackson, Eddie Murphy, Susan Sarandon, Roberta Flack, Yoko Ono, Sting, Richard Gere, Sid Caeser, 20 assorted Nobel laureates, sumo wrestlers and a headhunter from Borneo.
Actor Jeff Goldblum was the latest celeb slated for the 70-something guru to hold up for a photo op.
It all sounds like fodder for a good laugh. That is, unless you know the details of sexual abuse allegations that have spun around “Sleazy Sri” as reported by the New York Post.
Nothing was mentioned in the NY Times article about this.
According to former Chinmoy devotees the guru is not only posing as a celibate, he’s also is a bit kinky.
Chinmoy apparently likes to watch but not always weightlifting events.
He also reportedly has paid for at least one of his female follower/sex partners to have an abortion.
This is hardly the stuff of humor.
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04.01.04
Posted in Executive Success Programs (ESP), Brainwashing at 9:48 am by Rick Ross
CultNews recently exposed a misleading brochure produced by “NXIVM” (pronounced nexium, like the acid relief medication), a group that has been called a “cult.”
NXIVM is the brainchild of Keith Raniere, but its titular head is his devoted disciple Nancy Salzman.
The NXIVM brochure stated, “Nancy Salzman (highlighted in this year’s O magazine), one of the world’s top trainers in the field of human potential.”
Readers might conclude that Salzman was “highlighted” in O Oprah Magazine for her touted training expertise.
However, O magazine’s spokesperson set the record straight regarding the carefully crafted blurb within NXIVM’s promotional literature.
The O Oprah Magazine Spokesperson clarified, “Nancy Salzman appeared in a June 2003 O, The Oprah Magazine ‘real woman’ fashion story. The story simply listed Ms. Salzman’s title and occupation along with her style preferences. It did not elaborate on her business any further.”
Oprah Winfrey is well known for her interest in self-improvement, but neither the talk-show host nor her magazine in any way endorsed or specifically promoted NXIVM, Salzman’s claimed expertise or Executive Success Programs.
As reported by CultNews an apparent effort to mislead was far worse regarding the Forbes article titled “Cult of Personality“.
Nancy Salzman quoted herself gushing about her mentor within the brochure, but apparently tried to pass it off as a positive review about Raniere from Forbes. The quote is attributed within the NXIVM literature as simply, “As mentioned in Forbes magazine.”
This would be like a motion picture studio taking out an ad to promote a film that says, “New York Times: ‘sensational’ ‘genius.’”
But placed in proper context the quotes actually read, “The movie’s producer called the film ‘sensational’ and said the director’s work was ‘genius.’”
Raniere and Salzman seem to have a penchant for grandiose self-promotion.
Salzman according to her brochure bio has logged “over 20 years of intensive study and practice in the fields of healthcare, human potential, and human empowerment.”
However, Nancy is simply a nurse that has attended many mass marathon training seminars similar to those offered by NXIVM and she has studied various communication and persuasion techniques.
Salzman is not a licensed mental health professional.
Raniere’s brochure bio reads “scientist, mathematician, philosopher and entrepreneur” with the “highest IQ” recorded in 1989.
But despite such titles Raniere like Salzman has no degree in psychology, is not a licensed mental health professional and in fact does not posses a post-graduate diploma.
Medical Doctor and psychiatrist Carlos Rueda is a licensed mental health professional and he has treated three former NXIVM students.
Rueda told the Albany Times-Union, “NXIVM leaders weren’t prepared or certified to deal with the potential psychological problems that can surface during the training.”
It has been reported that one breakdown linked to NXIVM ended at a hospital, while another lead to a tragic suicide.
No doubt amongst NXIVM’s devoted disciples and within its rather insular world of classes and programs Raniere (known as “Vanguard”) and Salzman (known as “Prefect”) are legendary.
But in the real world the controversial duo appears to have garnered attention as little more than “cult” leaders, with perhaps some fashion sense.
Note: Forbes was contacted for comment, but has not responded officially.
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02.17.04
Posted in Kabbalah Centre, Heaven's Gate, Brainwashing at 11:26 am by Rick Ross
Madonna’s production company Maverick Films is prepping a feature based upon a “prison experiment” conducted by a Stanford University professor in 1971 reports Reuters.
Professor Philip Zimbardo, past president of the American Psychological Association (APA), conducted “The Prison Experiment” to demonstrate the dynamics of social influence between guards and prisoners.
However, that behavioral research project was shut down in less than a week due to its unsettling and potentially dangerous results.
Two years ago when German filmmakers released “Das Experiment,” based upon the same Stanford project as an allegory for the rise of Nazism, Zimbardo was not pleased. He reportedly had a credit removed from the film acknowledging his work.
Can it be that the doctor has found a more suitable match in Madonna?
Zimbardo has compared the dynamics of influence demonstrated by his experiment to the sort of control techniques utilized by cults.
Ironically, the 1980s pop diva is perhaps the most ardent devotee of a group called the “Kaballah Centre,” led by religious guru Philip Berg, which has often been called a “cult.”
After the tragic “Heaven’s Gate” suicide in 1997 the Stanford professor wrote:
“A remarkable thing about cult mind control is that it’s so ordinary in the tactics and strategies of social influence employed. They are variants of well-known social psychological principles of compliance, conformity, persuasion, dissonance, reactance, framing, emotional manipulation, and others that are used on all of us daily to entice us: to buy, to try, to donate, to vote, to join, to change, to believe, to love, to hate the enemy…Cult mind control is not different in kind from these everyday varieties, but in its greater intensity, persistence, duration, and scope.”
Is it possible that by producing this feature about Zimbardo’s work Madonna might have an epiphany about the undue influence at times alleged regarding the group that she considers the source of her “spiritual awakening”?
Could exposure to information about the prison experiment offer the pop icon a vehicle to “deprogram” her from “cult mind control”?
Probably not.
The former “Material Girl’s” latest foray into feature films, like her recent children’s books, may be just another extension of the seemingly slavish devotion she displays to her mentor and his teachings.
And wouldn’t it be a supreme irony if Zimbardo’s historic work, as an acknowledged cult expert, was somehow used by a purported “cult” to convey its message?
Note: Maverick Films, owned by Madonna, may simply have a producing arrangement on this project. But let’s hope the diva at least watches the film and gets its message. Wake up Madonna!
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02.05.04
Posted in Jonestown, Japanese Sects, Al Qaeda, Solar Temple, Word of Faith Fellowship, Heaven's Gate, Elizabeth Smart Abduction, Brainwashing, Aum Sect, Charles Manson, Cult Apologist?, Deprogramming, Attleboro at 12:41 pm by Rick Ross
Karen Robidoux was found not guilty of second-degree murder, in the 1999 death of her infant child this week, reported the Taunton Gazette.
The Massachusetts mother was accused of starving her baby son Samuel to death.
Robidoux’s husband Jacques was convicted for Samuel’s murder in 2002 and is now serving a life sentence.
But the mother’s attorney, Joseph Krowski, offered the defense that cult “brainwashing” coerced Karen Robidoux’s behavior
The attorney argued that his client was victimized, abused and ultimately controlled by an obscure religious sect led by her father-in-law Roland Robidoux called “The Body.”
“There were two victims here, Karen and Samuel,” Robidoux’s older sister told the press.
And after seven hours of deliberation the jury agreed with the defense and its witnesses, acquitting the “cult” mom of murder, but finding her guilty of misdemeanor assault and battery.
“Because a child died, it may be an unpopular verdict, but we felt Karen Robidoux’s intent was not to kill her baby,” the jury foreman told the Boston Herald.
He later added, “I do believe she was psychologically held prisoner,” and concluded “she has suffered enough” reported NBC News.
Private journals kept by a “cult” member were made public after the verdict and they offered further proof of Roland Robidoux’s total control over his followers reported the Boston Herald.
“Dad [Roland Robidoux] feels that the end is coming soon…Our prayers should not be for Samuel to be healed but for God’s purposes to be fulfilled…What can we do for Samuel? Nothing…God is the master. We are his servants,” wrote the “cult” member.
The mother of four was sentenced to time served and walked out of the Bristol courthouse a free woman reported the Boston Globe.
“I’m just glad the nightmare door is shut,” she told reporters on the courthouse steps.
“It was a trail-blazing case that will affect all cult cases nationally. It’s now been proven what can happen when someone is brainwashed,” said nationally known forensic pathologist Dr. Millard Bass.
In Virginia late last year another jury came to a similar conclusion regarding the sentencing of “D.C. sniper” Lee Malvo. His lawyers also claimed their client was “brainwashed.”
The teenager’s defense team contended that he was dominated and controlled by his mentor John Mohammed.
Mohammed was sentenced to death, but Malvo was sent to prison for life.
In a noteworthy child custody case in North Carolina this fall a judge ruled that the Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF) exerted “complete control over the mind, body and spirit of its members, both adults and children.”
WOFF led by Jane Whaley has been called a “cult.”
The Carolina judge concluded, “The environment created at WOFF has an adverse effect on the health, safety and welfare of children,” and he subsequently ordered them to be removed from the group.
In a tacit acknowledgement of cult “brainwashing” another judge in California granted the release last year of a woman charged with the death of her small child to receive “deprogramming.”
Later that same judge sentenced the cult leader to 16 years in prison, while charges were dismissed against two of his followers.
The mother charged received an eleven-year sentence and told the court, “Mind control is a reality.”
CultNews reported that professional cult apologist Dick Anthony was involved in both the California and Carolina cases. Anthony is a psychologist and well paid for his work, but he failed his clients abysmally.
Judging from the prosecution’s arguments in the Robidoux case, they apparently were receiving input from someone like Anthony.
But the Robidoux verdict may be the most colossal setback for cults and their apologists to date. And will likely be cited in the future as proof of “brainwashing.”
Overall, 2003 was possibly the worst year ever for cults and their apologists.
They even attempted fruitlessly to dismiss the “brainwashing” of kidnap victim Elizabeth Smart.
But brainwashing has become understandable to the public after Jonestown, Waco and the “Heaven’s Gate” suicides. It is no longer the mystery it once was when Charles Manson and his followers entered the California judicial system.
Europeans likewise came to acutely understand the cult brainwashing phenomenon through the Solar Temple suicides in Switzerland. And the Japanese were forced to confront this reality by the cult Aum, when it attacked Tokyo’s subways.
Joseph Kibwetere sent shockwaves through Africa when he led hundreds of his followers to death in Uganda shortly after the Millenium, once again demonstrating the power of cult mind control.
And isn’t “brainwashing” something Osama bin Laden has used to transform his followers into tools of terror?
Cults and their apologists will have increasing difficulty convincing anyone that “brainwashing” is only a “theory.”
The Robidoux verdict is evidence of that.
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