Pseudo History & Pseudo religion

[Etznab]

Pseudo History

"... In practice, a pseudohistory presents a big lie—sensational claims—about historical fact that would require the revision (re-writing) of the historical record. [... .."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudohistory

Pseudo history fabrications by Paul Twitchell are something other than copying and plagiarism. It is something more.

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Pseudo Religion

"[...] Belief systems such as Theosophy,[3] corporate Kabbalism,[4] Christian Science,[5] Scientology and the Nation of Islam[6] have all been referred to as pseudoreligions, as have various New Age religions, as well as political ideologies such as Nazism.[7] Within the academic debate, political ideologies that resemble religion are sometimes referred to as political religions. [... .]"

https://groups.google.com/forum/#!newtopic/alt.religion.eckankar

Commentary

And when pseudo historical and religious texts are copied, paraphrased and also plagiarized they are still pseudo historical and pseudo religious in nature. Making up a pseudonym, or using a literary device to cover the source is, IMHO, far worse than crediting the source because it simply compounds the fictions.

In the earlier pre-Eckankar writings such as Letters to Gail Paul Twitchell had written about pseudo history and religion. It was later sold in book form. So it is clear that Paul was aware about the dangers of fiction and the negative side of imagination.

***

Now consider what pseudo history and religion does to people who believe in it literally. Not always good, IMO. Take a look at J.R. and Kinpa. The words they use and their habits of being puppets for pseudo history and religion to act out against dissenters. Has either one of them researched and found new unknown plagiarisms and fictions in an effort to better understand the scope of what Paul and Eckankar have contributed to along the lines of pseudo history and religion? Do they even care to clarify fact from fiction in a more mature and respectful manner of dialogue? If so, here is a question for them. Why did Paul Twitchell plagiarize from other authors and say that the material came from Eck Masters?

IMO that is pseudo man-made history and religion at work and it can be looked at on account of a profuse amount of copied material.

Why did Paul and Eckankar appear to sell the creations of others as products of Eck Masters if the writings were not composed by Eck Masters? Is it not a form of theft and deception?

[Kinpa]

You are getting quite hilarious with your double standards....no one cares enough about dissenters to question them at all. That is a fine example of yourself being in denial at your own "death of an ideal." I notice you have no problem accusing others that do not agree with you of that but you deny ever doing it yourself, that point being based on your own self-created pseudo-history based on your unproven assumptions about Twitchell's reasons for doing anything.

And no it is not theft or deception. But why the big deal? You are deceptive yourself. By claiming your assumptions are factual when they have literally NO direct evidence to support them. That alone makes them fall flat. End of story. De Nile aint just a river in Egypt! Who do you all protest so heavily when a person simply doesn't agree with you? Is that threatening to you in some way?? I allow you to believe your theories and never try to make you change what you believe, and yet you are completely unable to do the same, even going so far as to accuse me of a thing I simply haven't done!

Your constant claims of being a current ECKist (not to mention sean's) PROVE beyond the shadow of a doubt that you also have another double standard regarding pseudo-religion! Are you a member of a pseudo-religion??? I'd swear you just called Eckankar one! Then you claim that your unproven beliefs are factual. That is the moment that you create your own personal pseudo-religion!

Why do you feel so threatened?? Do you imagine that this makes you look competent??? You can certainly have your own opinion, but how long can you insist that unproven things that you merely believe to be the case are actual facts???

[Henosis Sage]

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Hi Etznab,

Here's the URL for Pseudo Religion
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudoreligion

eg "In 1963 Paul Tillich distinguished pseudo-religions (intentionally
similar to acknowledged religions) from quasi-religions (entities
with unintended similarities to religions)."

Don't worry about JR & Kinpa ... they are as disconnected from reality and
as gullible and mentally disorientated as any ISIS Terrorist / Martyr
expecting not only tons of hot sex but also a Palace provided for their
enjoyment by Allah in the afterlife. Sure Eckankar does feed the extreme
egos of these types of seriously disordered unstable individuals much
more so than the normal 'initiate' who isn't like them in any way.

The old-timers here were not much different, though with more self-control.
Runsfeld, Alexander, Cher, Marman, Wallace, Smith, Zafran and co who argued
bs endlessly with ex-eckists and Lane.

To your questions.
1) Why did Paul and Eckankar appear to sell the creations of others as
products of Eck Masters if the writings were not composed [or spoken to him]
by Eck Masters?

It was in order to make himself appear as a very special and unique Authority
Figure who 'possessed' the Knowledge & Power and the God Ordained 'Right' to
proclaim what he said and was doing was true, necessary and kind.

Under these kinds of false pretenses he established himself and being beyond
criticism and essentially infallible to those who were originally attracted
to his attention seeking outreach.

eg the LFN today is a microcosm instance of the type of content and the
readership attracted to Twitchell's early promotional activities in those
"left field/new age/UFO" magazines of the 1960s such as Fate, Orion,
Understanding, Psychic Observer, The Aberree, Search, New Cosmic Star,
Lancer Books, Brad Steiger's readers, Spiritualist churches, and the
likes of Scientology and Indian guru groupies of the day.

Paul Twitchell intentionally did not seek followers from Academia,
Scientists, Business people, professionals nor the mainstream religious
society of his day.

Twitchell was very much the Square Peg looking for the Square Holes.

The people he sought would accept and not question once the imagery did it's thing firing new kinds of dreams, coincidences, visions, and even some vivid
OOBEs.

iow those kinds of experiences being triggered persist across all humanity and
he knew that ... he had studied it and knew that "religion" had nothing to do
with it ... dreams, coincidences, visions, spiritual experiences, psychic
insights, intuitions and and even some vivid OOBEs belonged to all people.
Twitchell simply collected a bunch of them and re-labeled them as his own.

Saying so would only ever trigger such things in people looking for better
answers than 'religion' had been providing in the past. Oh, gosh, "there's the
proof" of what Twitchell said .... so EVERYTHING he has said must also be True.

And he had them trapped and doing his bidding. A success rate of only 10% or
less was enough to keep building the membership, especially when it was the
membership that then drove the ongoing recruitment.

Klemp was right when he used the term "psychic-bondage" - he merely only
focused upon Kirpal Singh et al and not Paul's intentions and actions.
Plus his own since 1983 of course!

Once Paul, due to Steiger, reached a critical mass those old new age magazines
and that kind of promotion was no longer necessary. He graduated to newspapers
putting out hyperbolic press releases and local event adverts for Eckankar
meetings and discussion groups.

So it is at this stage you will notice a major shift in Twitchell's writing
activity. No longer the short articles but compilations into the books, the
ones that would "bed down" the ideology cosmology and the philosophy and the
Laws and Doctrines.

BY 1970 it was fully fledged not for profit religious teaching accepted by
the US Govt and others around the world. Not much was an accident imho.

Do have a look at the info about how easy it is to start a religion. Whereas
look back at Klemp's talks and what Marman has said and they make it out to
be some gigantic achievement by Twitchell, and against all odds. That bit of
history is Eckankar bullshit mythology too.



2) Is it not a form of theft and deception?

Absolutely yes. As well as false-pretenses and fraud.


Now this needs to be included in your comments and wiki examples above:

Syncretism (/ˈsɪŋkrətɪzəm/) is the combining of different beliefs, while
blending practices of various schools of thought. Syncretism involves the
merger and analogizing of several originally discrete traditions, especially
in the theology and mythology of religion, thus asserting an underlying
unity and allowing for an inclusive approach to other faiths.

Syncretism also occurs commonly in expressions of arts and culture (known as
eclecticism) as well as politics (syncretic politics).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syncretism

eg and note the CAPS my emphasis

Religious syncretism

Religious syncretism exhibits blending of two or more religious belief systems into a new system, or the incorporation into a religious tradition of beliefs from UNRELATED traditions. This can occur for many reasons, and the latter scenario happens quite commonly in areas where multiple religious traditions exist in proximity and function actively in the culture, or when a culture is conquered, and the conquerors bring their religious beliefs with them, but do not succeed in entirely eradicating the old beliefs or, especially, practices.

Religions may have syncretic elements to their beliefs or history, but ADHERENTS of so-labeled systems often frown on applying the label, especially adherents who belong to "REVEALED" religious systems, such as the Abrahamic religions, or any system that exhibits an EXCLUSIVIST approach.

Such adherents sometimes see syncretism as a betrayal of their pure truth. By this reasoning, adding an incompatible belief CORRUPTS the original religion, rendering it no longer true. Indeed, critics of a specific syncretistic trend may sometimes use the word "syncretism" as a disparaging epithet, as a charge implying that those who seek to incorporate a new view, belief, or practice into a religious system actually DISTORT the ORIGINAL faith.

Non-exclusivist systems of belief, on the other hand, may feel quite free to incorporate other traditions into their own. Others state that the term syncretism is an elusive one,[1] and can be applied to refer to substitution or modification of the central elements of a dominant religion by beliefs or practices introduced from somewhere else. The consequence under this definition, according to Keith Ferdinando, is a FATAL COMPROMISE of the dominant religion's integrity.

In modern secular society, religious INNOVATORS [AKA MASTER COMPILERS] sometimes create new religions syncretically as a mechanism to reduce inter-religious tension and enmity, often with the effect of OFFENDING the original religions in question.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syncretism#Religious_syncretism

While Klmep and Marman and the rest in Eckankar today STILL cannot work out
why it is that RSSB, Kirpal Singh, Hubbard and many others were deeply
offended by one Paul Twitchell who copied their DOCTRINES and THEIR HISTORY
at times VERBATIM into his new "teachings" and labelled him a fraud and a
thief and a conman not a Godman.

Frankly it's bleeding obvious now. They got away with it earlier because so
much was hidden from plain view and subsequently covered up by the POWER
BROKERS inside Eckankar and the many gullible fools involved such as Gail
Twitchell ... clueless when 21 years old and still clueless now I suspect.

She's certainly dishonest and stuck fast inside her own knot of cognitive
dissonance.

But aren't they all?

imo these posts should be published in the NYT and the Star Tribune :-)

https://groups.google.com/d/msg/alt.religion.eckankar/ABGNDWbdlDo/OaZ-GIBYAgAJ

https://groups.google.com/d/msg/alt.religion.eckankar/3T5f-B72b1E/Mthx-luuBAAJ


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Don't tell the Jews though - they still think they are THE ORIGINAL :-)

Judaism
In Moses and Monotheism, Sigmund Freud made a case for Judaism arising out of the pre-existing monotheism that was briefly imposed upon Egypt during the rule of Akhenaten.[citation needed] The Code of Hammurabi is also cited as a likely starting point for the Jewish Ten Commandments. Some scholars hold that Judaism refined its concept of monotheism and adopted features such as its eschatology, angelology and demonology through contacts with Zoroastrianism.[31][32][33]

In spite of the Jewish halakhic prohibitions on polytheism, idolatry, and associated practices (Avodah Zarah), several combinations of Judaism with other religions have sprung up: Messianic Judaism, Jewish Buddhism, Nazarenism and Judeo-Paganism. Several Jewish Messiah claimants (such as Jacob Frank) and the Sabbateans came to mix Kabbalistic Judaism with Christianity and Islam. Until relatively recently, China had a Jewish community which had adopted some Confucian practices.


PLUS Other modern syncretic religions

Thelema is a mixture of many different schools of belief and practice, including Hermeticism, Eastern Mysticism, Yoga, 19th century libertarian philosophies (i.e. Nietzsche), occultism, and the Kabbalah, as well as ancient Egyptian and Greek religion.


In China, most of the population follows syncretist religions combining Mahayana Buddhism, Taoism and elements of Confucianism. Out of all Chinese believers, approximately 85.7% adhere to Chinese traditional religion, as many profess to be both Mahayana Buddhist and Taoist at the same time. Many of the pagodas in China are dedicated to both Buddhist and Taoist deities.


The Theosophical Society, as opposed to Theosophy, professes to go beyond being a syncretic movement that combines deities into an elaborate Spiritual Hierarchy, and assembles evidence that points to an underlying (or occult) reality of Being that is universal and interconnected, common to all spirit-matter dualities. It is maintained that this is the source of religious belief, each religion simply casting that one reality through the prism of that particular time and in a way that is meaningful to their circumstances.


Universal Sufism seeks the unity of all people and religions. Universal Sufis strive to "realize and spread the knowledge of Unity, the religion of Love, and Wisdom, so that the biases and prejudices of faiths and beliefs may, of themselves, fall away, the human heart overflow with love, and all hatred caused by distinctions and differences be rooted out."[35]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syncretism#Other_modern_syncretic_religions


I should EDIT that and add in ECKANKAR and all the spin-offs of it. :-)

[Etznab]

http://tinyurl.com/jgcxu6x

Two words with a common prefix. Syncretism and Synarchy. Here are some quotes about the latter.

"There is another aspect of Synarchy. The concept of nine legendary leaders plays a large part in its philosophy. They derived this from a fusing of two legends. One was a tale brought from India and popularised by a French diplomat and travel writer, Louis Jacolliot (1837-90), which told of the Nine Unknown Men, a secret group said to have been formed by Asoka, the third-century BCE Buddhist emperor of India, to secretly rule the world. The other tradition was that of the Knights Templar, founded by nine French knights shortly after the First Crusade. The Templars were believed by Saint-Yves d'Alveydre to have represented the supreme expression of Synarchy in the medieval world, because they had almost total political, religious and financial control during the two centuries of their existence yet remained at heart a secret, heretical order whose real agenda was known only to its membership." [The Stargate Conspiracy, Lynn Picknett & Clive Prince, p. 264-265]

"We were amazed to discover that links between the modern phenomenon of the Council of Nine and various occult organizations and esotericists such as Synarchy, Aleister Crowley and Alice Bailey had already been brought together with a 'Council of Nine' as far back as the 1930s. Under the bizarre pseudonym of 'inquire within'', research by Christina Stoddard, former head of a schismatic Golden Dawn order called the Stella Matutina, appeared in two books, Light-Bearers of Darkness (1935) and The Trail of the Serpent (1936). They sounded a warning about the creation of new religious belief systems by apparently independent - but in fact connected - groups. Stoddard herself, like Schwaller de Lubicz and Alice Bailey, held extreme right-wing views, but even she was disturbed by what she saw as the increasing iron grip of Synarchy on the esoteric world.
"Stoddard discussed Saint-Yves's Synarchist objectives, specifically the control of the three pillars of society, political, religious and economic institutions. She pointed out that this seemed to be happening in the religious sphere. Unlike the days when Christianity was the only sanctioned religion in the West, there were many different belief systems, making this area harder to control. To reverse this trend, the religions must first be unified, not by trying to supplant them, but by absorbing their main elements and effectively creating a new global religion. The best way of achieving this goal would be for some authoratative and charismatic leader to take control by explaining that God or the gods have, over the course of history, revealed certain truths to different people, which manifested as apparently disparate religions. But they all emanated from the same God. All that was needed was an understanding of the fundamental principles and the higher levels of spirituality to which mankind may now aspire. Tellingly, Stoddard gave as the prime example of this Synarchist synthesis the doctrines of Alice A. Bailey.
"The Trail of the Serpent describes a secret rivalry between Reuben Swinburne Clymer and H. Spencer Lewis, who both claimed to be the legitimate head of American Rosicrucianism. Clymer (a 32nd degree Mason), claimed that he had been given his authority by no less a person than the social reformer Paschal Beverly Randolph (1825-75) - a friend of Abraham Lincoln - whom the European Rosicrucians had authorised to take the Order to America in 1852, many years before H. Spencer Lewis founded AMORC. The resulting dispute led to Clymer taking the matter to court, which found in his favor and accepted his registration of the title 'Rosicrucian' in 1935.
"Clymer claimed that the doctrines of his society, the Fraternitas Rosae Crucis, were endorsed by a secret order that directed it from France - called the Council of Nine. He published a letter from them in 1932, which proclaimed:

This is the new Dispensation, and the work of the Spiritual and Mystical Fraternities must be re-established throughout the world, so that all peoples may be taught the Law and thereby enabled to apply it towards universal improvement as the only means of saving mankind... We, the Council of Nine, have selected your organization, as one of the oldest in America, to help do this work.

"The letter was signed by the excessively immodest 'Comte M. de St. Vincent, Premier Plenipotentiary of the Council of Nine of the Confraternities of the World'. As with the Synarchist ideal, Clymer's group - as Stoddard points out - professed to embrace the esoteric side of all religions'. Another title of the Council of Nine, according to Clymer, was the 'Secret School', which will prove to have extraordinary significance. The important point here is that the term 'Council of Nine' was in use in the 1930s, specifically linked to the same politico-esoteric milieu in France that spawned Schwaller de Lubicz." [The Stargate Conspiracy, Lynn Picknett & Clive Prince, pp. 287-289]

"The change of direction in the Nine's communications at the beginning of the 1970s, and the development of more distinct overtones in their message, occured once they had established themselves and could start to spread their propoganda. But just what are the Council of Nine and their message being used for? Why are so many prominent leaders in so many fields keen to promote them, with greater or lesser degrees of openness, as in the case of Richard Hoagland and his message of Cydonia?
"There is, in our view, an over-riding need for caution here. Alarm bells may be heard clear and strong, for true or false, now the Nine have become the property of the intelligence agencies, it is wise to be vigilant - and perhaps even afraid." [The Stargate Conspiracy, Lynn Picknett & Clive Prince, pp. 287-289]

***

Does this look familiar?

"[...] To reverse this trend, the religions must first be unified, not by trying to supplant them, but by absorbing their main elements and effectively creating a new global religion. The best way of achieving this goal would be for some authoratative and charismatic leader to take control by explaining that God or the gods have, over the course of history, revealed certain truths to different people, which manifested as apparently disparate religions. But they all emanated from the same God. [... .]"

[Etznab]

Remember Graham Forsyth and the "book" that "Mary" was reading that mentioned "Tom"?

"[....] After a cup of tea and collecting myself, I took this question back into contemplation and found myself once more with the Silent Ones. I addressed the One I knew as Chungchok, though they all looked alike, and asked him if he was Tom from the book that Mary has which mentions the Council of Nine. [... .]"

https://groups.google.com/d/msg/alt.religion.eckankar/-P2_iDs7uPk/xJE6z-lqELMJ

A quote about "Tom".

"One of the most useful and colorful characters with whom Puharich [Dr. Andrija Puharich] surrounded himself at Ossining [NY] was Phyllis Schlemmer.... She founded the Psychic Center of Florida in Orlando, a school for developing psychics, in 1969. Her main spirit guide was an entity called 'Dr. Fiske', but in 1970 a new control simply named 'Tom' 'came through'. She assumed it must be her grandfather Thomas, who died when she was just five.... Turning back on her origins as a 'traditional' spiritualist medium communicating with the spirits of the dead, Schlemmer had begun to channel only extraterrestrials since the spring of 1974, when Puharich took her to meet a friend of his, an adventurer and explorer named Count Pino Turolla. At his Florida house Schlemmer went into a trance and again channelled Tom, to be told that he was not, as she had believed, her deceased grandfather, but an extraterrestrial. Tom was to become the main communicator of the Nine later, when Schlemmer assumed Horne's [Bobby Horne's] role." [The Stargate Conspiracy, Lynn Picknett & Clive Prince, pp. 173-175] - [Brackets data added for clarity, E.M.]

So evidently there is a "Tom" character and "Council of Nine" circulating around in other books. Let's take a look at what Tom has to say, Shall we?

"Also rather disturbing is the Nine's attitude of the Holocaust. They uphold the Jews as the Chosen People, but remonstrate with them for not accepting Jesus - 'the last one of us' - as Messiah. Tom speaks of the Holocaust, in which 6 million Jews were exterminated by Hitler, with huge sorrow, yet claims it was an act of self-sacrifice and salvation:

The greatest portion of these six million came at that time to sacrifice self, to make your planet earth aware that there were those who would attempt to rule and control humanity.

"Tom also explained that the atrocity of the Holocaust was necessary for the creation of the state of Israel, an important part of the plan for Earth. Essentially the victims chose to be incarnated at this time and place and to be victims of the Holocaust as a selfless act of sacrifice to make us all aware that evil people existed... At this point the thought occurs that Tom may represent the gods of our solar system but in this case surely our own morality has the edge? Aren't we already aware of the existence of evil? Did we really need the horrible deaths of 6 million people to bring it home to us? (And Tom shares with many the misconception that the Holocaust only involved Jews. Of course, many thousands of others were killed by the Nazis, including members of specific groups such as gypsies, homosexuals and Jehovah's Witnesses.) In any case, are we alone in finding Tom's sweeping pronouncement about the Holocaust deeply offensive?" [The Stargate Conspiracy, Lynn Picknett & Clive Prince, pp. 193-195]

You can pick out the pseudo history and religion and ask the question why? What is this pseudo history and religion being used for? Is it a method for social control?