Yeah, the trick is not throwing the baby out with the bathwater. There are tons of "teachers" out there, with the credence of infomercial hucksters. There is some value, IMO, in reflecting back on any spiritual context we are exposed to, and seeing it for what it is, or simply questioning everything that went on.
After a while, though, it is the individuals, you and me, each of us, undertaking the spiritual journey, who are the central characters in it. So, if the objective in questioning a spiritual organization is a means to move forward in the journey, by all means, go for it. However, if the purpose of questioning a spiritual organization goes on long after one has left, perhaps the focus on such an organization, is no longer moving the person forward. Perhaps what was once a legitimate criticism of a past association, has now become a fixation, triggered emotionally - a screen preventing forward momentum on the spiritual journey. --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "salyavin808" wrote: > > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, turquoiseb wrote: > > > > This time about Andrew Cohen: > > > > Making Sense of Post-Cult Trauma & the Relational System of > > the Traumatizing Narcissist > > > > My Thirteen Years at EnlightenNext > > by William Yenner > > > > http://americanguru.net/news-and-reviews/making-sense-of-post-cult-trauma-the-relational-system-of-the-traumatizing-narcissist/ > > > > Amazing story, I wonder just how many groups like this there are > at any one time? There ought to be a govt department keeping > tabs on them all. If you include all the christian fundy cults > there must be a significant shift of the nations money into the > pockets of maniacs. > > Read a good book called "Spying in guru land" by William Shaw, > he's a journalist who spent a year joining as many cults and > secret religious/spiritual groups as he could find. Fascinating > stuff, they range from multi-million pound organisations > formed by early defectors from the TMO to a plumber and his > girlfriend waffling shallow new age garbage in their council > flat in Peckham. All of them have devoted members who will > do pretty much anything to be near their teachers (and spend > any amount of money). > > The cunning thing is the way they hide behind a screen of > offering acceptable sounding relaxation techniques or just > philosophy discussion classes and then they slowly reel you > in to the belief system and the hidden Truth and before you > know it you're standing on a hill at midnight waiting for > UFO's, speaking in tongues with the master of the galaxy, or > even hopping around on bits of foam thinking you are creating > world peace! Nowt so queer as folk.... >
