Aha, as usual, a significant lack of knowledge typically leads to incorrect conclusions. I have better things to do with my life, and so I have zero interest in wasting that by providing "evidence or refs" about what I say below. However if you would really like confirmation that what I know is correct and 100% true, then by all means ask, and I will POINT YOU in the right direction to find out by yourself for yourself and through your own direct personal experience! :-)
Let's have a look at this and consider the actual facts of the matter.
1) I don't see anyone calling those cartoon Hindu God's "made up".
Then you are not looking nor listening. What you said is so obviously patently not true I cannot see the need to provide a ref to prove it.
Your claim and your belief is 100% wrong
2) Maybe the worshippers of Ganesha need to be out in a mental institution for such nonsense?
Maybe they should be, if mental institutions were not so dysfunctional. Makes more rational sense that the worshipers could gain from a knowledge of social sciences, psychology and cognitive science and a decent knowledge of History about their own Faith. That would certainly assist yourself personally regarding the Vardankar and it's History.
Your rhetorical question which includes a specific type of claim and your belief is 100% wrong.
3) Paul Twitchell provided spiritual seekers with the satsang experience they wouldn't get otherwise.
They could have become Buddhists, joined Ruhani Satsang, Joined a BEAS Satsang, gone to a Sikh Temple, become a Sanyasin, joined Kriya Yoga in CA, signed up for Discourses from multiple providers at that time, including Bahghat Singh Thind who was doing what Twitchell did long long before inside the USA or they could have done what Twitchell did and CRACKED A BOOK. (SMILE)
They could also have become a Scientologist or a Mormon or gone back to their Jewish teachings if "satsang" was what they were after.
Your claim and your belief is 100% wrong. So are
http://vardankar.com beliefs and rhetoric and myths.
4) He took a few pages from a few books ....
My rough count from memory is over 100 books. More than 90% of all Twitchell's Eckankar writings and 99% of his "ideas/concepts" are COPIED from those Books.
Your claim and your belief is 100% wrong.
5) He took a few pages from a few books that no one in the United States would have ever heard of 1964.
Ignorance is bliss. Julian Johnson was given a BEAS book in the USA in the early 1930s. That's why he travelled to India. The BOOK was there already in the USA when Twitchell was a little boy. By 1964 there were many more books from Radhasoami teachings, and the Sikhs, and Buddhists, and Hinduism, and more.
Patti Simpson and Klemp could have visited a Library anytime they chose to. Many others besides Twitchell did that very same thing.
Your claim and your belief is 100% wrong.
6) He said that others have written it better than he could,
So what? Reports suggest that he said that once to one person. Why do you believe that is in fact true? Where for example is there a credible record of Paul himself saying that he said that or thought that?
I'll tell you the answer: No where! ;-)
Besides, if others had written it better than he could, why not simply add PotM to the Eckists "book reading list"? And Hubbard, and everyone else's books?
Your claim and your belief is 100% wrong.
That's not an opinion, that's a known fact.
You're entitled to your own opinion and beliefs, but not to your own FACTS.
Vardankar Akatha Dhunami is nothing more than a warmed over copied version of Twitchell's Eckankar.
At least Michael Turner's SFS
http://spiritualfreedomsatsang.org is honest and accurate despite a few errors and oversights along the way. (That's my opinion not needing evidence, it's juts my personal take on MT whom I do respect greatly - and no I am not a 'member of SFS'.)
7) .... and Eckankars website has always acknowledged the master compiler and writings of Julian Johnson (for over 19 years).
= SPIN and Bullshit and intentional Manipulation of all who read such crap.
8) It's old irrelevant news AND ECKISTS ALREADY KNOW THAT AND DO NOT CARE
Totally false. All Eckists DO NOT KNOW THAT, nor do they know the actual facts of the matter of what Twitchell actually did and HOW he did it. All Eckists DO NOT EVEN KNOW that Twitchell was a Scientologist and a senior STAFF MEMBER for years!!!
Your claim and your belief is 100% wrong
9) ... and doesn't take away from the essence of what he was doing.
True. But what WAS he doing? That, 'in essence' is the only critical question worth asking. Whether he meant well or did not is irrelevant here today.
Your current beliefs about what he was doing are 100% wrong!
10) Julian died in 1939. No one was reading his books.
Yes they were. That's a fact! Paul Twitchell was only ONE of them.
Your claim and your belief is 100% wrong
11) No one is going to India to be a devoted Sikh follower ...
Some did and some still do! That's a fact and is what 'truth' looks like when you see it. :-)
Your claim and your belief is 100% wrong
These simple refs may help
http://www.uncommon-knowledge.co.uk/articles/stop-lying.html
http://psycnet.apa.org/psycinfo/1999-15054-002
https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/
12) ... and so he brings that idea into the astral travel worlds.
Huh? makes no sense, please explain that.
13) All the ancient Greek philosophers just copied each other too.
Yes they did, but they did not LIE about it and say Rebazar Tarzs said it instead. BIG DIFFERENCE.
And they did MORE than simply copy each other, they also added in KNEW ideas as well. Besides it's 2018 today, and not 600BC. If humans are supposed to UNFOLD and IMPROVE then maybe the truth is that nothing has changed for the better, yet.
Especially given that the great Vardankar Master of the day is just more of the same. He has COPIED OTHERS without any checks or balances or truth in his mythical stories. Big deal, not!
Your claim and your belief is 100% wrong
14) Aristotle and Plato is all the same so let's accuse them of plagiarizing too.
Do what you wish, I will not follow you. Aristotle and Plato is NOT the subject of this conversation.
Your claim and your belief is 100% wrong
15) The Beach Boys ripped of Chuck Berry without giving credit for three decades lol.
Everyone who plays a 12 bar blues is "ripping off" Chuck Berry and those who came before him. But NONE OF THEM ARE lYING ABOUT THAT WELL KNOWN FACT.
See logical fallacies again, to see which one you are relying upon.
Your claim and your belief is 100% wrong
16) Paul Twitchell made no real money printing off newsletters for the first three ladies who joined him.
True! Check those logical fallacies again, ok?
BECAUSE he made real money to pay for his house and his food and his clothes and his travels. Gail Twitchell made $500,000 just for selling Eckankar the rights to Twitchell's writings ... writings he copied and LIED ABOUT until the day he died. That's a fact.
See DOBTLEM proof positive in a published book by Eckankar in Twitchell's own words.
Your claims and your beliefs are 100% wrong
17) Harold Klemp is just a fake Master who has changed the subject entirely.
True. As was Paul Twitchell just a fake Master who has changed the subject entirely.
As is Allen Feldman just another fake Master who has changed the subject entirely!!!
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OK so fwiw, there are things Twitchell wrote and taught that are true and very useful. He shared many "truisms" and useful concepts and ideas. He made people THINK about life and whatever. That's good, and definitely useful to some people, including myself at the time.
There is REAL VALUE in "sitting at the foot of the master" --- however there is also great danger in doing so. And the majority of followers belong in the latter group outcome not the former.
Paul Twitchell is, unfortunately, a proven meticulous liar. About himself, about his family, about his life, about Eckankar, about Rebazar Tarzs and everything that goes with that.
Just because Allen Feldman and Klemp and Doug Marman and Patti Simpson believes he wasn't, is no valid reason for you to follow them or Vardankar.
There are real valid reasons WHY joining Eckankar or Vardankar can feel so fantastic and it;s true that doing so actually can and DOES help people compared to where they were beforehand.
But that is NOT proof that continuing to do so is not dangerous to yourself (and those you love and care about) and your long term well-being nor your genuine desire to "find the truth" about life and yourself and who you are!
However, human beings come to believe all manner of things and do all kinds of things that are in fact dangerous to themselves and others. Eckankar and Vardankar are simply two of the options available.
You have the inherent right to believe and do whatever you want to do. But that will never change the fact that no matter what there will be consequences.
Not my problem, not my responsibility. It's 100% your own. Do as you wilt.