Hollywood's Buddhafield Cult from Holy Hell Doc

Since the premiere of the documentary, Holy Hell, at the Sundance Film Festival I have received a number of emails from people that recognized that the "Buddhafield" cult from the documentary might be the same as the Buddhafield cult on this site.

Some inquiries have been curious, most have been sweet expressions of compassion but a number of them are asking for clarity on matching the names used on this site to their real-life counterparts as well as other "fact-checking" questions... so, despite not paying much attention to this site in the last 8 years, I thought I needed to address this...

That's not going to be happening.

For a refresher on WHY this blog was originated and why I want it to remain anonymous, please read the FAQ.

But that's just my own personal choice for this blog... to provide a safe environment for people that wanted to share their own first hand accounts.

You see, there was a real problem in the group with "spin" and "suppression" of other people's experiences so this blog served as a safe place for them to share their experience without having it judged and twisted later.

 In that same spirit, when I DO see the film, I won't be commenting on the experiences in the documentary. Because whether or not what they share is similar to what I went through, I fully support letting everyone have (and express) their own experiences... even if they are very different than my own.

As you can see on this site, there are no easy answers and as many different experiences of the group as there were members.

But I fully support (and am proud of) the people involved in that film that have found an outlet for sharing their own experiences -- and I want to show them the same respect that I showed those that did interviews for this blog... allowing their experience to be their own... and stand on their own... as they experienced it... and as they choose to share it.

Ho'oponopono: The Best Way to Help

Many feelings come up when people read the stories on this site. Or on the news for that matter. It's only human to wonder what you can do to help. The most useful thing I've come across is something that I've started applying in my own life. It's based on a Hawaiian therapy for healing called Ho'oponopono. In the 80's, Morrnah Simeona "streamlined" Ho'oponopono from a therapy for healing interpersonal relationships, into something that an individual can practice for themselves. Her students (including Ramsay Taum, and Ihaleakala Hew Len, Ph.D) continue to teach and practice this version of Ho'oponopono. Hew Len's name may be familiar from Joe Vitale's book, Zero Limits. Hew Len asserts:

The healing process of Ho'oponopono is based on the principles of total responsibility, taking responsibility for everything that shows up in your life. He says if one takes complete responsibility for one's life, then everything one sees, hears, tastes, touches, or in any way experiences is one's responsibility -- because it is in one's life. Total Responsibility advocates that everything exists as a projection from inside the human being. The problem isn't with our external reality, it is with ourselves and to change our reality, we would have to change ourselves.

The simple truths are the strongest and there is much more to the practice than I can present in this post. However, the basis of Ho'oponopono is to accept responsibility for everything that has shown up in your consciousness. And anything that provokes feelings of anger, sadness, pity - or really, anything that sends you out of joy - is something that is crying out for your help. The good news is that offering that help is quite simple. Not easy perhaps. But simple.

In the moment you recognize that a person or situation in front of you may need healing - even if you are simply reading about it - address the Divinity within yourself and all around you in the following way (the words you use are not as important as your intention and feelings):

I am healed. All is healed. - Heal my limiting beliefs, both conscious and unconscious, which have helped to create this pain and disharmony. In finding healing within myself, I am releasing these negative and mistaken beliefs and programming so that myself and others in this shared reality may be transformed and healed. I offer love, joy and healing into this and every situation. In this too, I am healed. All is healed.

Thank You. - Thank you for my life. Thank you for this outer reflection of something within myself that cries out for healing. Thank you for shining a light on whatever I can surrender for healing - and, in so doing, create a more positive, joyful reality for myself and everyone. Thank you for allowing me the power to choose to experience love and gratitude. Thank you for the simplicity of Divine Healing - where healing is possible without knowing all of the details of what exactly needs to be healed or how it can happen. Thank you for the empowering knowledge that the healing power of Love knows no bounds. Thank You.

I Love You. - I am filled with love for you, for this life, for the Dinivinity of Creation and for Love itself. I allow Love to fill me and radiate from me, transmuting and transforming whatever allows its touch. If I have ever offered anything to this person or situation that was outside of Love, I take this moment to erase that offering and instead, offer Love in its place. I Love You.

I am healed. All is healed. Thank You. I Love You.

Something so simple and yet more profound help (I believe) than anything else you could offer.

Energetic Contagion in Synchronization Video

I stumbled across the video below and it seemed to be the physical equivalent of the energetic or emotional contagion phenomenon that groups experience. I'm sure you've heard of "mob mentality" (also called herd behavior.) Well, this video is a great aid in visualizing what happens.

Five out-of-sync metronomes are put on a board and the board is placed on two soda cans laying on their sides. After an adjustment period, the metronomes become synchronized.



I've often been in an audience where the applause at the end starts out random and then turns into a synchronized beat. I always figured it was just a subconscious adjustment in each person in the audience. And maybe it is. But here, something else is going on because the metronomes have no "psychology." Perhaps the non-fixed, free-form framework of this setup allows us to hear what happens when the energies/vibrations become in sync.

Darth Vader Falls at Jedi Church

Perhaps this is just what happens when you try to make a religion.

At the site of a Jedi Church, two acolytes were dueling with light sabres and filming a documentary when over the wall lept Darth Vader who proceeded to pummel them with his light saber.

Well, not so much a light saber as a crutch.

And not so much Darth Vader as Arwel Hughes, a 27 year old who evidently drank a 10 litre box of wine (as you do), put on a black garbage bag as a cape and thought he would pull a surprise attack on two Jedi fanatics, Barney Jones and his cousin Michael, "worshiping " at the church.

Well, not so much worshiping as engaging in a light saber duel.

Arwel reportedly jumped over the wall and started hollering "Darth Vader" as he swung his crutch around, hitting Barney in the head and Michael in the thigh.

The two victims were actually Master Jonba Hehol and Master Mormi Hehol, the founders of the Church of Jediism, Anglesey Order. The group has about 30 members although in the 2001 UK census, 390,000 people listed Jedi as their religion. From the church's website:

Is the Jedi religion fiction? Many religions claim to be the one and only true religion, thus necessitating that all other religions are fictitious. In addition, although many religions claim to speak the word of God, but the truth is they are only the written word of prophets or followers of the religion. There is no way to prove or deny that what was written was the word of God. Several other religions openly admit that their text is not the word of God, and that it is only a prescribed behavior or a philosophy of life (e.g. Buddhism, Scientology). Most non fiction is a discussion of science and life, of things that can be observed, quantified and readily challenged for its truth and authenticity. But not religion. Any religion put to scrutiny is merely words on paper, with no ability to confirm its authenticity. The Jedi church makes no denial that its name and terminology originates from a fictitious past, but the concepts and ideals that are identified by Jedi followers are known for their innate truth. The sun existed before it was given a name, and it could be revered as a God, however, when the sun finally had a human name, it could be written about and communicated with others. The Jedi religion is just like the Sun, it existed before a popular movie gave it a name, and now that it has a name, people all over the world can share their experiences of the Jedi religion, here in the Jedi Church.

How do your church elders measure up? :D

District Judge Andrew Shaw just sentenced Hughes to two months in jail but suspended the sentence for one year. He also ordered Hughes to pay $195 to each of his victims and $117 in court costs.

Actually, his attack brought back memories of swatting people with pillows and yelling "El Kabong!" I was about seven at the time. I think I got it off of a Quick Draw McGraw cartoon.

Dr. Weiss and Past Life Regression on Oprah

Dr. Brian Weiss, was on Oprah today (seemingly promoting his new book, Many Lives, Many Masters) and the whole hour was filled with the doctor doing past life regression therapy.

He says it takes about 20 minutes for someone to be regressed (on average.) He talks about this type of therapy being good for many aspects of the healing process and also what it indicates about life beyond this life. It was fascinating. Not just because of the content, but also because Oprah is pretty brave to address this with America at large, considering she is already being labeled as a cult leader by some.

At the end of the show, Oprah mentions that there was more content and referenced a "part two" of the show. So keep your eyes open if you are interested. Also, there is a lot of content on her website if you follow the link above.

For those that follow the stories on this site, past life regression is what Angelo called "cleansing" only he said we were also using it to clean our karma. And I don't know about anyone else, but he usually "guided" me for about 45 seconds before I was "under." So I don't presume that I actually KNOW what a true past life regression is. Although I did see for myself that this can be an effective tool if used responsibly.

(Update: Oprah's website lists June 24th as the date that part two will air.)

Bonewits' Cult Danger Scale

After my last post about Identifying a Cult, Ivan pointed me to a scale that you can use to evaluate the danger of a suspected cult. From looking it over, it seems to provide, not only a good way to recognize a group as a cult, but it also gives you a way to assign the group a "danger score." Basically, Isaac Bonewits lists a number of factors you can rate (using a 10 point scale -1 being low and 10 being high) to evaluate a suspected group against certain known cultic dynamics. Use the link to his site for his most up-to-date list, but at the time of this post, it looked like this:

THE BONEWITS CULT DANGER SCALE

1. Internal Control: Amount of internal political and social power exercised by leader(s) over members; lack of clearly defined organizational rights for members.
2. External Control: Amount of external political and social influence desired or obtained; emphasis on directing members’ external political and social behavior.
3. Wisdom/Knowledge Claimed by leader(s); amount of infallibility declared or implied about decisions or doctrinal/scriptural interpretations; number and degree of unverified and/or unverifiable credentials claimed.
4. Wisdom/Knowledge Credited to leader(s) by members; amount of trust in decisions or doctrinal/scriptural interpretations made by leader(s); amount of hostility by members towards internal or external critics and/or towards verification efforts.
5. Dogma: Rigidity of reality concepts taught; amount of doctrinal inflexibility or “fundamentalism;” hostility towards relativism and situationalism.
6. Recruiting: Emphasis put on attracting new members; amount of proselytizing; requirement for all members to bring in new ones.
7. Front Groups: Number of subsidiary groups using different names from that of main group, especially when connections are hidden.
8. Wealth: Amount of money and/or property desired or obtained by group; emphasis on members’ donations; economic lifestyle of leader(s) compared to ordinary members.
9. Sexual Manipulation of members by leader(s) of non-tantric groups; amount of control exercised over sexuality of members in terms of sexual orientation, behavior, and/or choice of partners.
10. Sexual Favoritism: Advancement or preferential treatment dependent upon sexual activity with the leader(s) of non-tantric groups.
11. Censorship: Amount of control over members’ access to outside opinions on group, its doctrines or leader(s).
12. Isolation: Amount of effort to keep members from communicating with non-members, including family, friends and lovers.
13. Dropout Control: Intensity of efforts directed at preventing or returning dropouts.
14. Violence: Amount of approval when used by or for the group, its doctrines or leader(s).
15. Paranoia: Amount of fear concerning real or imagined enemies; exaggeration of perceived power of opponents; prevalence of conspiracy theories.
16. Grimness: Amount of disapproval concerning jokes about the group, its doctrines or its leader(s).
17. Surrender of Will: Amount of emphasis on members not having to be responsible for personal decisions; degree of individual disempowerment created by the group, its doctrines or its leader(s).
18. Hypocrisy: amount of approval for actions which the group officially considers immoral or unethical, when done by or for the group, its doctrines or leader(s); willingness to violate the group’s declared principles for political, psychological, social, economic, military, or other gain.

Score each item on a scale of 1 to 10 and then divide by 18 (since there are currently 18 items on his list) for the overall score.

How does your group score?

How to Identify a Cult

Invariably, when a cult is in the news, this site gets hits from people Googling "How to Identify a Cult." Unfortunately, they end up on the Top 10 Ways to Identify a Cult page which was created as an inside joke (sort of), and an incomplete one, based my own cultic experiences within the Buddha Field.

But for the people who land here and are truly concerned with identifying a real cult, the issue is more serious. The word cult brings to mind the things we have been exposed to in regards to the cults we've seen on the news: brainwashing, suicide, sexual improprieties, etc. However, it's hard to come up with a checklist because there are SO MANY cults in our society. A cult is specifically any social group which is devoted to a belief system considered outside the norm. That's very broad. Let's focus just on religious cults (groups with theological ideas outside the norm.)

The only real difference in the beliefs of a religion and the beliefs of a cult is that usually the religion has been marginalized by its popularity. Sometimes a religion is a cult that has been allowed time and popularity to become more palatable. Many people consider Scientology a cult today, but in 1000 years, who knows? It wasn't that long ago that Joseph Smith's Church of Latter Day Saints was considered a cult and "fringe" but today it is generally accepted as a valid religion and accorded the rights that the state accords any other religion. How soon will it be before The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster follows suit?

But again, let's narrow our focus to smaller, less popular groups that have not had the time to become a religion. A group that focuses on religious ideas that are (for the moment) outside the norm. Within these narrow parameters, there are some things you can look for:

• Cults usually center around a charismatic leader who claims to have the answers from a higher spiritual authority and may claim to have special spiritual powers. There will usually be warnings against listening to other teachers because none of them have that "divine authority."
  
• Cults have a hierarchical power structure with the leader at the top of the ladder. His way or the highway is usually the reality although they may phrase it more politely ("If you don't like the way things are, there is the door.")
  
• The group itself will adopt the same chosen/special/select attitude that the leader exemplifies. Perhaps there will be a sub-group at the top of the hierarchy that is "more special" than the typical member, although never as divine as the leader.
  
• You will generally notice double-speak around ethics. One set of rules for others and a different set for the leader. And within the group, society's ethics hold no real value (ie. "Lying is OK if it's for the good of the group or if you are following the direction of the leader.")
• There is generally a system in place to subtly persuade you to believe as the group believes (and as the leader believes.) Questioning the leader and having different opinions are usually frowned upon.
  
• Isolation is a key element in cults. Give up your petty life/desires for the group and the leader. Other people will not understand. Avoid non-believers. You are not strong enough yet to handle that. There is generally a paranoia with those outside the group. And you will be dissuaded from having any interests (outside the group) that might take your focus away from fulfilling the needs of the leader or the group.
  
• Pay attention to whether anyone ever "graduates" from the group. Are there those who have "attained" and moved on? In a cult, members tend to remain dependent forever (or until they choose to leave and are then "in disgrace.")
• Pay attention to the secrets. When a cult maintains a cloak of secrecy (usually regarding money and sex) that means there is probably something that would not be regarded in a favorable light.
• Some groups will employ actual brainwashing techniques to make you more open to new ideas. These include changing eating/sleeping patterns and encouraging leaving your old identify and belief system behind with a new name (usually chosen for you by the leader.)
• The charisma and draw of the leader, and the expansiveness of the ideology may be in conflict with the confining feeling you get from the group. This is pretty typical because there can be a real experience that you are allowing yourself to have (using the group as an excuse) that is at war with the confining dependency that you feel the group is provoking within you.

If you take these things into consideration, you should be able to identify a cult. That being said, it remains your option about whether or not to participate. Perhaps the cultic experience would be better than your current life situation. Only you can decide that. Whatever your choice, try to do it with your eyes open.

Update: Here is a more recent post with a way you can rate how highly a group scores on the Dangerous Cult Scale.

Watch the Love Guru Movie and Go To Hell

Why am I still surprised by this stuff?

Now that the trailer for Mike Myer's The Love Guru movie has been released, the protests have begun. Some people are quite serious about it. Jangagruti Samiti finds the film offensive to Hindus (OK, I get that) because it mocks the sanctity of the Guru-Disciple relationship. In addition to letters of protest to the MPAA and press releases, Janjagruti has also decreed what the karmic debts associated with the film are:

Act	Demerit	Means
Making the movie, ‘The Love Guru’	30 units	2nd region of Hell for 1000 years
Watching it for entertainment without knowing the spiritual science/significance	2 units	Nether region of Hell for 100 yrs
Watching it for entertainment even after knowing the spiritual science/ significance	5 units	1st region of Hell for 100 yrs
Being a seeker of God/on the spiritual path, knowing about the Movie, but doing nothing to stop it	5 units	1st region of Hell for 100 yrs

Now I kind of HAVE to go see it.

Austin's Buddafield Cult & Strong City Cult Just 2 out of 3000

I just watched National Geographic's "Inside a Cult" program that I posted about previously. I have such a deep compassion. For those in the Strong City cult. For those in the (evidently) 3000 other cults in America. Both for those still inside the groups and those that have escaped.

I found the program itself interesting. Several of the facts/insights presented did remind me of my own cult experience. The Buddha Field was a completely different cult. The Strong City cult was more of a Christian cult with roots in Seventh Day Adventists (like the David Koresh cult in Waco.) The Buddha Field was more Hindu/Buddhist/New Age/Psychological.

The documentary focused quite a bit on the leader (Wayne, or "Michael"... he evidently liked to change names also) having sex with its members (and how sex can be used as a means of control in groups) and the "end of the world" belief of group members. But really, what else are they going to focus on?

The sex card is often played by the media to show how a select group is "immoral" and deviant. So I understand most people in our society being distracted by that issue. The fact that one of the girls was 14 is a matter of legality to be sure... but other societies around the world mark "adulthood" and the beginning of sexual availability at a much younger age than America. It's a sensational aspect -- a way of showing "how devoted" people are. But when the normal morality of a cult member is superseded by the words of God Incarnate - that is indicative of a much larger problem than the fact that people are having sex.

The Doomsday/Armageddon belief is typical in some cults. The Buddha Field encouraged an immediacy to devotion by saying that this life was going to end and you didn't want to die in your mind... you wanted to be free... to free yourself from the wheel of karma so you didn't have to be reincarnated again. Feeling things for this world were futile... like re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic... a useless and wasted effort for something transient. It was said a number of times that "your house is on fire." It is burning down around you (meaning your death is fast approaching) and you need to take care of business quickly. But really, is that all that different from the fear tactics used in regular Christianity? Accept God and be forgiven for your sins before you die or you will burn in hell forever?

I think the program missed talking about the allure of such a group. It touched on it, by identifying the people that are susceptible as "seeking something more" but it neglected to show what such people find in a group like this. Love, acceptance, a kinder picture of the world than they have been shown previously in life. In the interviews on this site, you can hopefully see what each person was carrying with them that made them open, at a specific moment in their lives to what they may not have been open to at any other time.

I see myself.
In the slant of the program, I see myself before getting involved with the Buddha Field.
In the members in the group, I see myself in my longing for a "meaning of life" and for "something higher" and the lengths to which I was willing to go to gain that.
In exchanging emails with an ex-member of the group, I see myself.

I truly wish for the best possible resolution for all those involved. As usual, I see the best thing I can do in response, is to continue forsaking false prophets and those who would prey on the innocence and open hearts of others and to stand up for truth and love in my own life every chance I am given.

View all posts mentioning Strong City.

Sometimes a Spinning Dancer is Just That

In a previous post, I introduced an image of a spinning dancer and included the theory behind why some see her spinning to the right and some to the left (right brain versus left brain.)

An article today in the NY Post refutes that theory. They say it is something that happens entirely in the visual system (I thought the brain was part of the visual system??)

At the time, I remember being wary of how they could KNOW that it was a right/left brain phenomenon because a number of friends that are very "right brain" could not see it the way they were supposed to be able to see it. And vice versa. But, I went with the theory presented without digging deeper because I thought it was neat. And harmless.

Now I wonder.

I wonder how much of that happens? Recently on the Ellen Degeneres talk show, Dr. Wayne Dyer was talking about how research has shown that serotonin levels (a chemical that makes us happy) are increased when someone receives a gift of kindness. He cited that same research as stating that not only the receiver benefits from those happy feelings (serotonin increases) but the giver as well. Not only that but all of those witnessing the exchange had a similar increase in serotonin. Of course, I could infer so much from this. THIS is why people get addicted to doing service and get so high off of it. It made something make sense in my head. Only after talking about it with someone else did I go... wait a minute. Let me search for that research.

I'm pretty good at finding things on the internet and I couldn't find any indication of that research that he mentioned. I found many people asking where he got that fact from (it appears that the first time it was mentioned was in one of his books) but no one else is familiar with that study... including one psychiatry site I visited. Did he make it up and now other people are passing it around as fact? (including myself this weekend) If so, is that a bad thing? I mean, it's a nice, beautiful image.. what's the harm? That's the logic behind the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus after all.

Interesting, isn't it? Just for ourselves. What else are we accepting as truth because someone cites an authority in order to bypass our own system of questioning.

Question everything. Even me saying to question everything. Why not? What is there to lose?