I was chatting with a guy I have known for a while, and I noticed his belief systems were a little New Agey.
So I asked him what sort of religion he practiced.

He told me Eckankar, and then explained a bit of what he felt it was about to me.
He just accepts the "teachings" at face value, and believes in the cosmology and metaphysics put forward. Even though some of it gets pretty weird, when they start talking about inaudible Cosmic Sounds of the Universe. (o...kay.....).
They also have some strange ideas about seeming to want to ignore unpleasant facts of the world. (they don't exist if we don't believe in them?).
You also chant the prefix HU, from Human. Its some type of mindf*ck thing about not being an "animal" and being the Hu part of Human, as opposed the Man part of Human. (???!!!!)

It seems people are just looking for a way to think about Reality, and their place in it.
Also, they are looking for a way to feel "empowered" in a scary world.

Its was obvious he has no idea that this thing could be "cultish", and since i work with him, i didn't get into it.

I think his position is like that of many True Believers.
Just uncritical acceptance of the entire theology WHOLE HOG.

These cultish groups are literally everywhere.

Here is some stuff to read about Eckankar:

[www.geocities.com]

I especially recommend the essay by Dodie Bellamy, who formerly believed in Eckankar. .

[www.geocities.com]


Eckankar (and lots of other groups) value inner experiences of light and sound. But Lane reproted that with minimal prompting most people can be set up to have inner experiences. Lane has no pretensions to being a guru, and he found he could assist many of his students to have amazing visionary experiences. Lane could've used this to become a guru in his own right. Instead, he chose to educate us. These two essays are essential reading:

'The Kirpal Statistic/using inner experiences to your social advantage'

[vm.mtsac.edu]

and 'further comments on the Kirpal Statistic

[members.tripod.com]

(
A former 'Eckist' who read Lane's material wrote this:

[members.tripod.com]


A collection of articles can be read here

[vclass.mtsac.edu]

I busted this cult back in 1983 when their living eck master was a con artist drug sex addict named darwin gross. and let me tell you he was GROSS. Their Manhattan office was filled with darwin look a like wanna be's they all dressed like him.

this cult is one of the most dangerous that I have encountered. they do act VERY normal and you would think that they were born again christians as they are so friendly but if you look in their eyes they are totally BRAINWASHED.

their founder paul twitchell invented the religion he was a sex addict and held orgies and after he died darwin gross was even worse and ruled with an iron fist. most of the eckists do not know what goes on in the inner circle.

I might add that I sucessfully deprogramed two ( the third that I tried to get to exit went back he was fried no rational mind left and he likely is still chanttng huuu and paying money to the cult) badly brainwashed kids whose parents had given up on them. I got them out and this was before darwin went nuts and was pushed out by harold klempt ( who is known for his taste for boys and married female eckists who he cons into getting them to massage his feet with eck reflexology)

In 92 I visited their world headquarters in minneapolis which they moved to from california to try to change their cult image. I got forcfully removed by their thugs for disrupting their hu service . bunch of bunk they have a blue glass thing on the ceiling which is above where they do their hu chant they think that it is god

they are not nonviolent as sometimes they may seem they are very very dangerous and anyone who infilerates them must be prepared for this as they are very forceful and are known to have hurt former members who dared protest against their present leader klempt. they are worse than the moonies or alamo people as far as I am concerned

Are the Ecksters into total Raw Food?

If so, then this guy was telling me how he was going to set up a raw food restaurant with some other people.
I am not sure, but i wonder if this is related to the cult?
Sounds like another slave labor restaurant franchise to me.

Coz

I don't know where my post went regarding eckankar. I'll try again (hope I'm not redundant!)

I was involved in eckankar in my 20's, back in the 1970's and rapidly became a "7th initiate" due to all of my involvement. At the time, I fully believed that I was acting as a "co-worker with the Sugmad," (eckankar's name for God) and "spreading the word" (eckankar's name for recruitment, I now realize). Eckankar has a leader who professes that he's an intermediary between God and all the "spiritual" and "lower" worlds; an initiation hierarchy which designates "fifth initiates" and beyond as having a consciousness greater than the Buddha and Christ, with control at the top; prescribed daily chanting and focusing on the "master" with whom one's relationship should be the most important of all; a "chosen one's", "right"/"wrong" mentality; threats of "spiritual decay" and even death should one leave; "doublespeak/doublethink" throughout the writings. As an "insider" I did not perceive eckankar as "supermonkey" did -- but I just might not have known the whole story and I don't know if your accounts are factual, "supermonkey". I do believe that eckankar does harm because of its well-documented deception and mind control. Former eckankar "higher initiates" include John-Rogers Hinkins and his Movement of Spiritual Inner Awareness (MSIA); Gary Olsen and his Master Path; Jerry Mulvin and his now closed down "teaching"; and, most recently, Ford Johnson and his "Higher Consciousness Society." Be careful, though, of critizing Johnson. As a Harvard law grad, he knows how to intimidate!

the eckists really are into eating anything although some are into health food. i don't know about raw food per say, but it would fit into their flaky world view. Father Twitchell the soul traveling con artist ate meat and smoked he was not into fady health food but wanted to seem so normal that people would believe his lies. his books were mainly writtten by ghost writers..

they are a cult and dangerous some individual members may be very innocent and not into force but when I antagonized them by calling them on twitchells lies and deceptive record they were only to quick to assault me. the police report is there to prove it of course I was only a crazy cult buster but after hearing the stories that parents told me about their children lost because of darwin gross and the eck fantasy it was worth the effort i have been to their meetings in many many cities and even went to their creative arts festival near disney land in 1985 this is when klemp had taken over. I sat right in front of patti simpson who was the simp secretary for the guru of the cult.

dangerous they are worse than the peoples temple as far as I am concerned IT IS THE NORMAL ACTING GROUPS WHICH ARE THE WEIRDEST AND THE ONES THAT MOST NEED TO BE CLOSED DOWN !