Endeavor academy?
lasse.
Does anyone of you readers on this newsgroup, read or now something about
the endevaor academy?
They shall study from the course in miracles.
please tell me ....
a cuorios swede :)
Mike Down Under
"lasse." <la...@bredband.net> wrote
> Does anyone of you readers on this newsgroup, read or now something about
> the endevaor academy?
Try this and following:
From: holysmoke (exi...@anonymous.to)
Subject: Holy Smoke 15
Newsgroups: talk.religion.course-miracle
View: Complete Thread (8 articles) | Original Format
Date: 2001-01-29 05:01:47 PST
Greetings from the heart of a cold, wet Australian Winter.
This is the fifteenth Holy Smoke newsletter.
Holy Smoke is put together by defectors from the Endeavor Academy, an
abusive cult headquartered in Wisconsin, USA, with a branch here in
Byron Bay, eastern Australia. The Academy derives its dubious
credentials from its unique interpretation of the text known as 'A
Course in Miracles' (ACIM).
The reality of Academy members is defined by its founder, Charles Buell
Anderson - a.k.a. 'Master Teacher' - and his number 2, Theodore Hector
Poppe (known as 'Hector'). (Though, like every fact of the Endeavor
Academy, the foregoing is strenuously denied by leaders and students
alike.)
I'll start this week with some concrete news of a rather unfortunate
setback the Academy has received in Byron - then will progress to an
excellent analysis of cult behavior (based on Steve Hassan's writings) -
which was put together in stages by our many supporters, so Endeavor
Academy can be understood in light of well-established patterns of cult
behaviour. (The latter, especially, makes excellent, eye-opening
reading.)
Serious legal and financial setback for Byron Academy:
Byron Council has now sent a letter to the Academy requesting it to
return the illegally constructed apartments at Dryden St to the use for
which they are approved - garages.
If the Academy does not do the restoration within 28 days, they will be
issued with a 'Notice of Proposed Order'. If nothing happens within 28
days of that, they will be issued with an Order.
If that is not obeyed within 28 days, a prosecution will be launched.
The prosecution will almost certainly succeed, because the illegal
apartments exist, and there is no evidence of them being approved by
Council. Retrospective Development Applications are not countenanced in
these circumstances.
The Academy will therefore be up for the cost of restoration, the legal
costs which are usually awarded against the loser in a prosecution - as
well as the possibility of a fine of up to $110,000.
There is also the small matter of lost rent - which will be a permanent
cost, of course.
We are now seeing the tip of the iceberg looming into view. The iceberg
is the legal and financial calamity the Endeavor Academy has been
steaming towards for some time.
Deliberately, I should add - for all of it is self-inflicted.
Please note the metaphor: what we have seen in the last week or so is
the TIP of the iceberg - not the iceberg per se.
The iceberg itself contains many, many more unpleasant surprises for the
Academy, and its contributors and directors.
It also contains unpleasant surprises for one Theodore Hector Poppe - as
statutory declarations (written by ex-members) have been sent to all the
relevant government agencies, tying him to many of the illegalities. Is
this unfair?
We think not. Whilst a guest in this country, Hector personally ordered
the installation of the illegal cabins at Border St (we have several
stat decs attesting to this), and was well aware of the other broadscale
illegalities pursued by the Academy in Byron. Indeed our statutory
declarations pin organisational control of the Academy in Byron squarely
on him.
Another foretaste of the trouble around the corner was experienced last
week, when EA members were visited by a certain federal agency,
enquiring about illegality in yet another area. This investigation is
likely to lead to VERY serious trouble a little down the track - but we
can't say much more about it at this stage.
And that is not the end of it, believe me.
Holy Smoke has been drawing attention to this iceberg for some months.
Few have taken the warnings seriously. This is a shame, as the ice is
now starting to grind against the hull, and leaks are being sprung in
uncomfortable and expensive places.
You won't have long to wait for more news on all this. Indeed local EA
members will probably know it before I do.
Before we start on Steve Hassan, here's an email excerpt we thought
deserved a spot:
Thanks for sending Holy Smoke to me - it has helped me to decide to,
again , place all the endeavor materials I had received - videos, audios
and pamplets and booklets - into boxes where they remain now - my take
on many of the teachings of Mr Anderson - there is much truth in them,
which makes sense because of their ACIM content, however as you say
their actions and behavior and abusive words and such I find not in line
with any true spirituality including ACIM.
Now let's look at the elegant analysis of Steve Hassan's cult writings
(with special reference to EA).
You can see more on this subject at www.freedomofmind.com. And those of
you who want to see just how SIMILAR the Academy is to all those other
cults which claim to be the only way, may care to look at Rick Ross's
excellent website at http://www.rickross.com/cv.html. (You'll even find
a section on EA.)
Anyway, I'm sure you'll agree that Steve Hassan covers the waterfront in
his exacting analysis of what a hothouse cult situation does to the
individual (below). Many brothers simply do not see this stuff happening
in EA. 'There is no control.' 'There is no fear used.' 'I am free to
do what I like.'
Most of this may be true according to the strict legal definition. It's
no longer the Middle Ages, after all - with a Church tyrannising
everyone with the force of the state behind it. So subtler methods must
be used. We've provided our comments on these methods in [square
brackets]. Many EA graduates have contributed to these comments - and we
wish to thank them now.
Secondly, we are not saying that most of what follows is consciously
implemeneted by the Academy's 'teachers'. For the most part it is
entirely unconscious, and the leaders see themselves as pure, holy
people. (And in Chuck Anderson's case, 'the savior of humanity'.)
Finally, statements by brothers such as 'I see no abuse here' are also
true, strictly speaking. Brothers don't SEE this stuff at all. However
all of us out here in the sane world can see it extremely clearly now.
The comments in square brackets may help you to see it too. That's our
hope, anyway.
Steve Hassan's BITE Model:
I. Behavior Control. (Regulation of the individual's physical reality.)
. Where, how and with whom the member lives and associates.
[Brothers are encouraged to confine their association to other brothers.
As we saw last week, this sort of thing is always denied. However there
are endless examples of it - the most recent being at the Academy's
Dryden St flats just recently - where Michelle was pressured not to
'associate with' non-Academy people.]
. What food the person eats, drinks, adopts, and rejects.
[The famous EA diet (e.g. Coke), to break any 'health superstitions' one
may harbour.]
. Financial dependence.
[By encouraging the member to hand over his funds to a point where the
master deems him cleansed of dependence on money, the new recruit is
automatically forced to become dependent on the group.]
. Little or no time spent on leisure, entertainment, vacations.
[As with most things in EA, there are no written rules forbidding this.
It's just 'frowned upon'. (Vacations are only for Master Hector!)
Brothers are told that the world depends on how soon they give up their
dependence on the world, including worldly desires. This, however, seems
to not apply to any real depth, as most brothers spend a great deal of
their time watching television and videos, or attending movies - all
worldly pursuits - indicating the superficiality of the world rejection,
or conversely, the true reason for the preaching of world rejection: the
acquisition of members' assets.]
. Major time commitment required for indoctrination sessions and group
rituals.
[Session takes up an awful lot of members' time. Other time is filled
with service to the organization (unpaid) or additional teachings or
readings intended to purge the mind of worldliness. This works to create
a surrogate community, and family, for the new recruit - who has
listened to the extremely intimidating admonitions of Master Hector, who
has said that if he leaves he will face damnation in Hell and the like.]
. Need to ask permission for major decisions.
[Decisions, in general, are discouraged. All decisions, it is taught,
are made by God - by just allowing, or releasing, or stepping back, or
just saying yes. Of course if the decision still persists, Master Hector
(if he's in town) is the final decisionalizer. This fosters a way of
life where dissociation becomes the norm.]
. Need to report thoughts, feelings and activities to superiors.
[Feelings, thoughts and activities that do not agree with the EA
philosophy of unbroken attendance and agreement with Master Hector need
to be reported, and are always attacked by Master Hector in session -
where he has most effect due to the group model of subservience.]
. Rewards and punishments (behaviour modification techniques - positive
and negative).
[Stroking and criticism in all forms occurs all the time, primarily by
Master Hector - but also hierarchically by older members on newer
members, under the guise of training for the role of Teacher of God -
but most often as a way to release the suppressed rage generated by
continual dissociative behaviour.]
. Individualism discouraged; group-think prevails.
[Individual ideas are not permitted. Only those concepts in line with EA
versions of ACIM are permitted. This creates massive fraudulence and the
generation of spiritual egos, as the mind attempts to reassociate at a
group-acceptable level.]
. Rigid rules and regulations.
[People who leave are told by Master Hector that they are the cause of
all of the pain and suffering of the world, or that they will die within
six months.]
. Need for obedience and dependency.
[Dependency comes through the enforcement of a group ethic based on
spiritual specialness. By active discouragement of members going out in
the world again, the member desiring acceptance must break ties with
family, community and friends. This dependency, like all dependencies,
is clothed in acceptable jargon and group-think, but is identical in
nature to a heroin addiction, as demonstrated by the returnees who
'cannot stand it out there' after leaving. This also closely resembles
the addictive or codependent behaviour of abused wives. They return to
the scene of abuse because they have nowhere else to go - because they
have severed all ties with the world and given all their assets to
Master Hector. Like all addicts, it takes a crisis of sufficient scale
fro them to recognize their dependence, but it takes great courage for
them to overcome it. (People finding such courage are in a fast-growing
minority at present.)]
II. Information Control
1. Use of deception.
. Deliberately holding back information.
[All information is dispersed via Master Hector, when he is in town. In
this way he maintains 'version control' of reality, and slants it his
way, maintains control and support, and feeds the addiction/dependence
of his flock. We have seen several examples recently, where Hector has
reinvented EA history re the suicides and suicide attempts of members.
(See the last two HS.)]
. Outright lying.
[Continuous. Usually justified or evaded with 'It's not real' or 'I did
it because you asked me' or 'Don't you trust me?' Also our current
favourite: 'The Holy Spirit made me do it.']
. Re-jigging of critical information.
[Critical information such as letters to Master Hector are held up to
ridicule by him in session, where active debate on the contents is
impossible. We are proud to report that Holy Smoke has been attacked in
this way on numerous occasions.]
. De-validating former members.
[Those who leave are dying, dead or 'warts'.]
. Keep members so busy they don't have time to think.
[Session, service and group activities means the member never has time
to pursue a comparative inquiry. This is the main reason Hector had to
get rid of Ian Hamilton, who was a Master Teacher in the Byron Academy.
Ian wanted the Academy to be open-doored. Hector knew that this would
mean that he could not carry out his indoctrination. Intensives and
'forty days' are both ways of getting new recruits deeply enough in so
that they will give up their attachments (i.e. possessions).]
. Compartmentalization of information. Outsider vs. Insider doctrines.
[Outside doctrine is not just discouraged. It is actively attacked as
(for example) 'New Age Bullshit' or 'Indian shit'.]
. Information is not freely accessible.
[Although an audited company (in theory), the Academy's accounts are not
freely available to anyone outside of the Board and Master Hector, who
controls the Board. The news about (for example) the suicides, suicide
attempts, psychiatric breakdowns, sexual misbehaviour, embezzlement of
funds by Hector Poppe, breaches of Australian law, and so on, has often
been revealed for the first time to surprised members by Holy Smoke.]
. Information varies at different levels and missions within the
'pyramid'.
[Only that which is safe for members is told to them, because if it were
seen how much Master Hector has to do with forcing donations, choosing
investments and setting up businesses, it may also be seen that he is
very much in the world and not "not from here" - as he claims to new
entrants.]
. Spying on other members.
[Hector takes an active role in seeking personal information about the
financial resources of new recruits and, if they have funds, targets
them in session where group approval works to support his attack.]
. Pairing up with a "buddy" system to monitor and control.
[The guide system is a thinly veiled way of maintaining clear lines of
communication re individual's funds etc. to Master Hector by already
trusty members.]
. Reporting deviant thoughts, feelings, and actions to the leadership.
[See above. Guides are encouraged to seek help from Hector when their
charges are difficult.]
. Extensive use of cult-generated information and propaganda.
[Newsletters, magazines, journals, audio tapes, videotapes, etc. The
massive output of (immensely boring!) videos is a way of keeping the
message in the consciousness of the member.]
. Misquotations, statements taken out of context from non-cult sources.
[The EA has always misquoted ACIM, especially in relation to the
specific direction to refuse an outside teacher. In fact EA's very
existence relies on this intentional turning away from the ACIM
teaching.]
. Unethical use of confession.
[See above.]
. Information about 'sins' used to abolish identity boundaries.
[Loop statements such as 'It's only your mind' are specifically against
the teachings of A Course in Miracles (ACIM), because they cause
spiritual guilt. However such 'loop statements' are integral to EA's way
of breaking down ego boundaries, and are a factor in the many cases of
mental breakdown in members.]
. Past "sins" used to manipulate and control; no forgiveness or
absolution.
[Although it is taught that the world is not real and the past does not
exist, Hector Poppe and other teachers are willing to accuse past
members and present of actions seen as wrong, or unwhole, or
antithetical to the EA version of ACIM.]
III. Thought Control
[Thought control, as specified by the expert on the subject, Robert J.
Lifton, is practised at all levels of EA.]
. Need to internalize the group's doctrine as "Truth".
[The teaching 'Truth is true and nothing else is true' is abused to
cover up a multitude of worldly acts, establishment, aggression to ex
members and present ones. Members who return home invariably believe,
like all cult members, that they are casting pearls before swine, when
their attempts to proselytise to their parents and friends are rejected
(as they invariably are by mentally balanced people). They inevitably
return to the safety of the group because they believe that the world is
'bad' and 'in denial' - or worse, is 'addicted to death.']
. Adopt "loaded" language - characterized by "thought-terminating
clichés". Words are the tools we use to think with. But these "special"
words constrict rather than expand understanding. They function to
reduce complexities of experience into trite, platitudinous "buzz
words".
[Master Teacher and Hector use spiritual obfuscation and loop statements
to confuse and bewilder newcomers into the feeling that they 'haven't
got it'. Hector discourages one-on-one dialogue because he knows that
the group support is critical to the acceptance of his endless
monologues by the newcomer. It is mission-critical that the newcomer be
confused. When Master Teacher's spoken statements are written down and
read carefully, they rarely make sense.]
. Only "good" and "proper" thoughts are encouraged.
[Worldly thoughts, compassionate thoughts, thoughts of sick friends,
attendance at funerals, tending sick relatives, accepting blame, taking
responsibility - are all discouraged until the addiction is established.
Then they are brought back in the form of an assignment from God,
inevitably in the form of recruitment, expansion, free labour, etc.]
. Thought-stopping techniques. Stopping "negative" thoughts, and
allowing only "good" thoughts; which leads to a breakdown in the
member's ability to test reality. Rejection of rational analysis,
critical thinking, constructive criticism.
[Hector will pursue any measure to stop thought - including verbal
attack, physical attack, psychic attack, psychological attack.]
. Denial, rationalization, justification, wishful thinking is not
allowed.
[Under the admonition 'Just be in the now', the new student is forced to
give up his rational and critical thinking ability. This explains the
acceptance of what outsiders see as entirely unreal and often insane
ideas by EA 'brothers'.]
. No critical questions about leader, doctrine, or policy seen as
legitimate.
[Although Hector and Master Teacher seem to teach against idolatry, they
actively encourage dependency, and crush debate in any form. This
results in extreme idolatry - though EA members are notoriously unable
to see this till stepping out of the 'hothouse'.]
. No alternative belief systems viewed as legitimate, good, or useful
[Say no more!]
IV. Emotional Control.
[Expression of feelings is regarded as 'worldly' or 'New Age Shit'. All
feelings are dealt with by 'taking it to light'. This results in
autonomic dissociation. In extreme cases - and there have been many - a
complete psychiatric breakdown has occurred.]
. Manipulate and narrow the range of a person's feelings.
['There is only Love and fear does not exist.' In the case of EA, this
is used to narrow the experience of the member to a need for a daily
endorphin rush of 'light'. Only 'light' is a valid or permissible
experience. NB: There are simple neurological explanations for the
'light' experience - which EA brothers rarely want to hear about.]
. Make the person feel like if there are ever any problems it is always
their fault, never the leader's or the group's.
[The selective use of the concept of 'singularity' is used as a tool of
repression in EA. Anything a person brings up is pushed down by saying
it is 'only your mind'. A statement of singularity is a conversional
tool used on oneself and a powerful weapon used on others.]
. Excessive use of guilt.
[What can we say? Spiritual guilt is the basis of the EA teaching
method.]
. Identity guilt.
[1. Members are told by that because they have not given up their human
identity they are causing all the death and suffering in the world.
2. Your affiliations are 'attachments', and must be broken. This usually
frees up money, especially when divorce occurs.
3. Social guilt: You are taught that you cause AIDS, you cause cancer
and you are the eternal pederast.
4. Historical guilt: You are told that by relating to the past you are
maintaining it and preventing God's reality.]
. Excessive use of fear.
1. Fear of thinking independently [It is taught that to think
independently is to hold onto grievance, and that this causes death and
suffering. (Holy Smoke is in real trouble then.)]
2. Fear of the "outside" world. [Which is is full of 'humans' and 'dead
ones', and if you return to it you will die.]
3. Fear of enemies. [Your enemies are created and maintained by your
'old mind'.]
4. Fear of losing one's "salvation". [If you leave, you have committed a
mortal sin, for you have been offered the Truth and rejected it.]
5. Fear of leaving the group or being shunned by group. [Once the member
is accepted in his new peer group he cannot return to his old life,
because entrance to the group depended upon breaking all prior bonds;
family, friends, support, politics, civic responsibility. So to leave is
now a huge and apparently retrograde step, even though in truth the
member has created its difficulty by submitting to demands for
dissociation from the world.]
6. Fear of disapproval. [The 'Session' group model survives due to fear
of disapproval. All members are always in fear of Hector's attacks, but
have a perverted sense of excitement when anyone else is attacked by
him. They actually enjoy seeing others attacked.]
7. Extremes of emotional highs and lows. [Lows (the natural bodily
response to the unnatural endorphin addiction of 'going to light') are
seen as proof that the member needs to submit further, and has not
surrendered sufficiently to the teacher.]
8. Phobia indoctrination: programming of irrational fears of ever
leaving the group, or questioning the leader's authority. [The person
under mind control cannot visualize a positive, fulfilled future without
being in the group. Exited members are 'dead ones', and to be pitied for
the terrible fate that awaits them. They are often portrayed as having
cancer.]
("It's Hell in the world." Terrible consequences will take place if you
leave: "hell"; "demon possession"; "incurable diseases"; "accidents";
"suicide"; "insanity"; "10,000 reincarnations"; etc. All standard EA
tactics, as refined by Hector Poppe.)]
9. Never a legitimate reason to leave. [From the group's perspective,
people who leave are: "weak"; "undisciplined"; "unspiritual"; "worldly";
"brainwashed by family, counselors"; seduced by money, sex, rock and
roll.]
That's the end of Steve Hassan's BITE model of cult behaviour. We reckon
it's the kind of thing you could read again and again. What amazes us is
how it could have been written by just about anyone (with insight) who
had come out of Endeavor Academy. But then, most cults use the same
repertoire of tricks. That's what makes them cults.
Lots of people have left Endeavor Academy this year: Sammi, Tuesday,
Cindee, Vedika, Grant, the two Annas, Mark, Darren, Claire, Christi,
John, and many more. Even Clark attends Session rarely now, and has
expressed doubts about Master Teacher and Hector.
Holy Smoke has received quite a few emails from defectors, old and new.
I have quoted from many (above), but many others have a depressing
similarity.
Without doubt the most frequent refrain is abuse. People are
(retrospectively) appalled by the level of abuse they endured, and
witnessed being levelled at their friends.
Do Holy Smoke a favour: stop and think about this for a moment.
Could you ever (in your previous life) have imagined being in a group
which thrived on personal abuse? Would you willingly have submitted
yourself to such abuse? Would you have watched whilst it was heaped on
your friends?
The answer is hopefully no.
Of course if this abuse (by some perverted logic) led to God, then there
may have been some slender excuse for it. But has it?
The answer from everyone who has left - and a surprising number who are
still 'in' - is that it has not.
Session has an addictive 'high' - yes. The bewildering language, and
logical loops, used by MT and Hector have a certain allure.
But no-one has written to us claiming that their experience of
transformation has arrived. Well, only Morgan - but I think his sad
story speaks for itself.
This tells me that the fundamental claim of Master Teacher is flawed.
The 'experience' does not work to make you a better person, by any
definition you care to use. (See above!) And it does not work in the
inner realm either - to deliver the much-vaunted 'transformation'. The
Endeavor Academy's teachers simply have not come up with the goods - and
a growing number of brothers are acknowledging it.
This is core stuff. Some of you do not want to face up to it just yet. A
lot has been invested: you don't want to concede that it was all a
waste.
Well, we're not saying that it was. Many valuable experiences have come
out of this time, we have no doubt. 'Graduates' all talk about becoming
stronger, 'solider', happier, free-er - and above all that they will
never again let someone else define their reality.
But none of it happened till they had taken the step of admitting that
they were in the wrong environment.
Several have talked about their spirit failing them at first. They
stayed in the Academy - kept coming to Session - when their heart was
telling them to get out. This (they say) is where the worst damage was
done. Living a lie does not sit well with the real holiness within us.
Most people who remain in the Academy are now having doubts about
remaining there. The Academy's Border St HQ is being compared by some to
a 'quarantine camp', for its ugliness. Hector was being confronted in
Session for the first time before he left for the US, and will be
confronted even more if he returns. Mal even dropped his pants in
Session not so long ago: that was a first.
We can only say: Don't string it out too long. Not for our sake, but for
your own.
On a more practical level: The Academy here in Byron is in decline. When
we started saying that several months ago, most people thought we were
exaggerating, trying to create a self-fulfilling prophecy, or just being
mean.
Things have changed a lot since then.
Membership is in serious decline - and this decline will gather speed.
The feeling within the place is unsettled. Many are privately expressing
anger at Hector's teaching style - and (at last) at the way he reflexly
opposes relationships. A huge motel development is planned for the
Epicentre site (using Church money) - and the membership knows little
about it. Even the supposed Administrator, Suzanne, has been told almost
nothing.
The law is closing in on the many illegalities the Academy has
perpetrated. (Bad news for the Administrator and directors, who will
bear legal liability.) The motel DA will be fought tooth and nail by
several environmental groups, including BEACON. This will drag on for
months, or years - and will be extremely expensive for EA (and chief
donor Robert Bruce), in terms of both money and reputation.
Finances are dropping. Press coverage is disastrous - and will get
worse. Directors and teachers are leaving - just quietly slipping away,
and back into a sane life.
You don't hear any of this stuff in Session. Believe me, we hear a lot
of it in the private emails we get.
As we have said before, all this will continue. I hope this doesn't
sound like over-confidence, or cleverness: for you don't need to be very
clever to see that the Endeavor Academy in Byron Bay has entered its
final phase.
Remember:
. Today (June 28) is the LAST DAY you can lodge an objection to the
Academy's environmentally irresponsible motel development at Belongil. A
simple email to Byron Council at kylie...@byron.nsw.gov.au will do the
trick (and is a legally acceptable means of objecting). Grounds for
objection include increased traffic into Belongil and Byron Bay, the
proposed site is adjacant to an unremediated dip site, negative impact
on the social amenity of the Belongil community, the site is adjacent to
a sandills section which has been identified as likely to be damaged by
a serious storm event, the development has close proximity to the
immediate erosion impact zone, and that the Endeavor Academy (given its
appalling record of illegal development) could not be trusted to abide
by Council's planning and building regulations in future. Brief and
simple is fine - and every objection will help. A motel will give the
Endeavor Academy a revenue stream in Byron which will allow them to stay
here for years, or even decades. Do you want your children (or the next
generation in general) to be exposed to the Endeavor Academy ten or
twenty years down the track?
. Send us the email address of anyone you think would benefit from
receiving Holy Smoke.
. Send us Academy stories or news - old or recent.
. Back issues available from our archives on request.
. Email in is always responded to, and always kept confidential unless
the writer explicitly wishes his/her identity to be published.
. Holy Smoke waives copyright to all material in these mailouts.
Re-publish at will.
Best Wishes to all,
Holy Smoke
Mike Down Under
> > Does anyone of you readers on this newsgroup, read or now something
about
> > the endevaor academy?
>
Try this and following:
Message 1 in thread
From: holysmoke (exi...@anonymous.to)
Subject: Holy Smoke 21
Newsgroups: talk.religion.course-miracle
View this article only
Date: 2000-11-20 21:27:11 PST
A short, sad special issue to mark the suicide of April Hamilton last
week.
April experienced no mental instability till she joined the Endeavor
Academy: so we can be grateful that she enjoyed many happy and
productive years.
April was a founder of the Academy in Byron. After falling under the
influence of Hector Poppe in particular, she entered the slow decline
which ended in her death last week.
Good-bye April: you were a sweet girl.
"And oftentimes, to win us to our harm,
The instruments of darkness tell us truths."
Shakespeare
Mike Down Under
> Does anyone of you readers on this newsgroup, read or now something
> about the endevaor academy?
>
Try this and following:
From: holysmoke (exi...@anonymous.to)
Subject: Holy Smoke 14
Newsgroups: talk.religion.course-miracle
View: Complete Thread (2 articles) | Original Format
Date: 2000-11-03 03:21:43 PST
Dear Readers,
This is the fourteenth Holy Smoke.
For the benefit of this week's 20 new subscribers: Holy Smoke is a
regular mail-out on the unethical and frequently illegal activities of
the Endeavor Academy and its teachers, Charles Buell Anderson and
Theodore Hector Poppe.
The legal name of the Academy is The New Christian Church of the Full
Endeavor. The Academy is also sometimes known as 'Miracle Sessions' or
the 'Miracle Center'.
The Endeavor Academy is a cult based in Wisconsin, USA - with a branch
in Byron Bay, on Australia's east coast.
The Academy was started by Charles (Chuck) Anderson several years ago.
Anderson is generally known within the Academy as 'Dear One' - the same
title as that assumed by the leader of North Korea. Anderson appears to
have a roughly similar opinion of himself to Kim Il-Sung's.
We have pasted a few of Mr Anderson's more comprehensible quotes a page
or two below - so you can plumb the depths of his 'Christhood', and
genius. (He seems to be regarded as both: some kind of first, we feel.)
Endeavor Academy is constructed along classical cult lines, and its
internal dynamics and personal experiences will be recognisable to
anyone who has studied the psychological workings of the post-War cults.
Naturally the Academy's teachers have tended to suggest that these
experiences are mainly/better/only attainable by Academy 'brothers', and
a lexicon has been developed to underline their supposed 'uniqueness'.
Language has also been subtly deployed to validate the cult's view of
reality. (This is the case with all cults of course.) Particularly
popular with the teachers in the Endeavor Academy is the corruption of
scientific terms - which seems to especially impress the membership.
The core 'transformation' of Academy members is a cathartic internal
experience. Essentially this is serotonin-enhancement, catalysed by
intensive group 'Sessions'. Because the experience is a strong one, it
becomes addictive to many - with classical addictive symptoms sometimes
appearing when a member is deprived of 'Sessions'.
It's notable that a proportion of the Academy's members (including the
two principals Anderson and Poppe) are former addicts: and appear to
have exchanged one addictive mode for another.
The teachings are akin in many ways to those of the early twentieth
century Nihilists: "The world does not exist." "Nothing is real." "God
knows nothing of this place." "All that I see is a dream."
The internal experiences are framed by these teachings, thus forging a
strong worldview (whilst denying that this is happening) coupled with an
addictive pattern: a powerful mix.
The typical EA member is drawn into this 'mix' for a period, before such
dissonances as the abusive behavior of the teachers, world-hating, (and
many more), take their toll - resulting in the member leaving the group.
Unfortunately, Holy Smoke knows of few 'exiters' who have not sustained
at least short-term psychological damage. Many are damaged long-term -
with the typical bottom line perhaps being a failure to psychologically
mature whilst in the group. (Cf. drug or alcohol addiction.)
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Most people who have been in the Academy have left it. (An estimated
80%+.) Some of these people have now banded together to contribute to
the Holy Smoke mailouts, with the aim of telling the truth about the
Academy to those who remain, and to others who are interested.
If you are 'out', or on the way out, or are an interested party with a
story to tell, you too may contribute to Holy Smoke. All reasonable
contributions are published (always anonymously, unless you request
otherwise).
We also respond to all mail - the only exception being abusive mail. So
if you want to ask us specific questions, you can write in and we'll try
to find the answers for you.
(We received quite a bit of general correspondence this week. This was
handled by myself, and also my able and irascible - but thoroughly
lovable - correspondence secretaries, Smithers and Clematine.)
We also send out back issues from our archives, on request.
Finally, if you want Holy Smoke sent to someone, send us their email
address. Several EA 'graduates' have sent us lists of addresses they
have gathered from their address books, and old emails, recently.
We're interested in the email addresses of defectors, waverers, and
relatives and friends of inmates.
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Probably the most gratifying feature of our recent work has been the
mail - quite a lot of it - from those still 'in', seeking further detail
on the financial, sexual, emotional and physical abuse inflicted on EA
members by Chuck Anderson and Hector Poppe.
Many of you insiders have agreed with our statement last week, that a
good tree does not bear rotten fruit.
You have taken the very courageous step, under the circumstances, to
step 'outside your box', and examine these realities, free from the
cult-think which seeks to excuse them. ('Everything means nothing.' 'He
only did it for our good.' Etc.)
Some of you have packed up and left in the last month or so. Many more
are quietly considering that step. We honor you in your process. We know
that you will make the jump when the time is right for you.
To summarise a lot of this week's feedback: Many of you imagined you
were jumping into the bold unknown when you committed to the 'miracle'
process. Instead (as many testified) you were merely stepping into a
womb situation: no need to think about anything; no need to face any
responsibilities; no need to grow - or even grow up.
"In many ways," as a recent 'graduate' put it, "it was the ultimate
escapist fantasy. It wasn't real life - it was a break from real life.
But beautifully packaged. Brilliantly packaged! Packaged as reality! One
of the cleverest tricks I have seen in our crazy western society in
years."
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Because so many new readers have joined us recently, it may be good to
pause and sum up some of what we've looked at over the last three
months.
So, for the record, I'll recap the recent highlights of the Endeavor
Academy. All of the below have been documented and evidenced (names,
places, times) in previous Holy Smokes:
. Two suicides (that we know of).
. Two suicide attempts (that we know of).
. Systematic emotional and sometimes physical abuse.
. Sexual advantage taken of female members by Charles Anderson.
. Numerous admissions to psychiatric institutions after exposure to
Academy teachers and Sessions.
. The vast majority of members ('brothers') have left for good.
. Many Master Teachers have left for good.
. The vast majority of those who learnt what goes on in the inner
circles of Chuck Anderson and Hector Poppe have left for good.
. Endemic financial corruption.
. Psychological manipulation of members - e.g. teaching "I have no
teacher", to disguise the primacy of the teachers' "reality".
. Cultivation of dependency on the cult environment (whilst announcing
the opposite to be true).
. Marriages and long-term relationships opposed or forcibly ended;
children neglected or abandoned. (Again, whilst announcing that "such
irresponsibility is not a part of our teaching".)
. Stigmatisation of "the world" (i.e. everything outside the cult) as
"hell". (Thus creating a breeding ground for escapism.)
. Suppression of individual thought: no disagreements with teachers
tolerated. Dissenters marginalised.
. Cultivation by teachers of a "separation mentality" from the rest of
humanity. ("Go away and die, human.")
. The (unsuccessful) use of legal action to stifle criticism from the
media.
. The use of guards and Rottweiller guard dogs to secure disputed
property.
. Emailed threats, by a "teacher", of physical violence and rape to
stifle dissent from defectors.
. Chinese Cultural Revolution-style group denunciations of waverers and
independent thinkers.
. Scientology-style campaigns of vilification of defectors and outside
critics (e.g. authors of books on cult psychology).
. Threats of cancer, heart attacks and the like to critics and skeptics.
. Systematic lies from teachers to cover their failings - e.g. that
those who were put in mental institutions or died by their own hands
"had a long history of mental illness before joining the Academy".
. Promises of heaven, resurrection, transformation, a 'fast awakening',
etc, which never materialise.
. By gradual degrees, complete disempowerment of the individual.
. Torturous, circular, self-serving and illogical rationalisations to
excuse all the above.
Here are some examples of these rationalisations:
. Hector Poppe is 'saving' people by verbally attacking, strangling or
hitting them.
. The legal attacks on detractors were "inspired by the Holy Spirit."
. "Whole Mind" Morgan Shearn's emails threatening rape and violence "do
not detract from his purity as a teacher".
. Critics are merely expressing "grievances": thus no criticisms can be
valid.
. "There is no world", therefore all the abuses have no relevance - and
lies are not lies.
. All critics are "dead ones" who cannot see reality.
. And above all, the failure of Academy students to have a lasting
transformation is the fault of the individual - not the teaching, or the
teachers.
As we said, all the above abuses have been carefully documented in
previous Holy Smokes.
For example, we don't just say that members have been subjected to
violent personal abuse by Hector Poppe because we feel like it: we gave
you the names of people to whom this had happened.
In this instance it was Adam Blanch, Tuesday (told she will die in 6
months if she didn't keep coming to Session), Lachlan Thomson (whom
Hector attempted to strangle in New Zealand), April Hamilton (told she'd
die in 6 months if she didn't keep coming to Session), Ian Hamilton, Col
(repeated daily attacks), Victor, Sammi (told that she caused all the
suffering in the world), Luke, John Thorssen, Kieran.
And of course there are many more.
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The other 'Dear One' (the leader of North Korea) once wrote a pop song
entitled, 'My Happiness Knows No Bounds Now I am Living in My New
Government Flat'. Naturally it became a huge hit - in North Korea at
least - because no-one could afford the consequences if it didn't.
Something similar is the case with Wisconsin's 'Dear One'. Charles
Anderson talks the most awful nonsense - borrowing concepts from physics
which he doesn't understand, for instance - and yet no-one says
anything. We figure the same 'Emperor's new clothes' dynamic is
operating: people are not yet ready to face the consequences of stating
the obvious.
For those of you who do not yet know of his glory, Charles Anderson
describes himself this way, in a piece modestly entitled "The Dilemma of
a Savior of the World":
"My awakening to Christhood or Mastership is in its very occurrence a
verification that God is. And in His verification of me do I verify and
proclaim His reality. As a Savior I am beset with the divine obligation
to save the world. The absolute responsibility is mine to lift the
burden of death from man...
"The wholeness of [an awakened master's] thinking inevitably makes the
objective rationale of limited consciousness seem absurd... He must now
deal with his absolute, unqualified certainty that the objectively
constructed world is totally meaningless, except to the necessity of
bringing about the revelation that established his own transcending
consciousness..."
[We told you he was modest.]
"Strange as it may seem, it is necessary that I make my message
complicated in some regards, or the fractured imagery you call self in
your dream could not hear me at all. Since you are devious by your own
conception we must lead you to the light of Truth by your own devious
route..."
[Not quite how Jesus did it - but I guess times have changed.]
"The notion of spiritual communication, that is, mutual self-recognition
occurring in conceptual duality, must involve the possibility of
non-specific deferential self-expression..."
[Doesn't quite have the ring of the Sermon on the Mount, does it? The
contributor who sent this one in thought it had all the poetry of a
brochure on how to assemble a vacuum cleaner.]
"Has it ever occurred to you that the only way you finally escape
disease is through becoming completed diseased?"
[Well that one makes a lot of sense.]
"Time is the notion of "event". Space is the "event" manifested. Space
is congruent Time or event. Self-identity in space/Time is the
continuity of congruent events. The closer the cause to the effect the
less linearly sequential the continuity of time."
[Such eruditon. Such flawless logic.]
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Last week we invited new subscriber James Corona - former Chairman of
the Academy Board in Wisconsin - to explain in his own words why he
wrote to CBS libelling a high-profile Academy defector who had appeared
on the CBS program '48 hours'. (This program was an expose of the
Academy - and contained the unedifying sight of the modern Christ, Chuck
Anderson, losing control of his temper on camera.)
James's libel specifically called this defector mentally unbalanced, and
a wife-beater, and named him as responsible for his first wife's suicide
attempt. It was very nasty stuff indeed. Every claim has been checked
with primary sources, and found to be without foundation. (See previous
Holy Smokes.)
James has so far failed to respond to our invitation to explain his
action. However we are still hopeful. Indeed we are still waiting.
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Whilst we're in a "Greatest Hits" kind of mood, we might reproduce here,
from an earlier HS, Dr Margaret Singer's "Six Hallmarks of a Cult". We
do this to show that the Academy pattern is a universal one:
. Keep the person unaware of what is going on, and how she or he is
being changed a step at a time.
. Control the person's social and/or physical environment; especially
control the person's time.
. Systematically create a sense of powerlessness in the person.
. Manipulate a system of rewards, punishments and experiences in such a
way as to inhibit behavior that reflects the person's former social
identity.
. Manipulate a system of rewards, punishments and experiences in order
to promote learning the group's ideology or belief system, and
group-approved behaviors.
. Create a closed system of logic and an authoritarian structure that
permits no feedback and refuses to be modified, except by leadership
approval or executive order.
Dr Singer added that typically:
1. The group has a top-down, pyramid structure. The leaders must have
verbal ways of never losing.
2. Members are not allowed to question, criticize or complain -- if
they do, the leaders allege that the member is defective -- not the
organization or the beliefs.
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Holy Smoke recently received an email from one of the Academy's many
departed "Master Teachers". This was published in full in The Echo (a
weekly newspaper in the Byron region) last week. So we will just quote
an excerpt here:
"I'm no champion of causes, which are obviously divisive. this is why I
left the academy. I've no intention of taking up the struggle against
the established disorder; it will inevitably collapse under its own
weight.
"The failure of EA is the failure of all self-sustaining ministries. in
the end, they simply run out of juice. (on the other hand, a quiet
ministry leaves the greatest impression, as it is the least beholden to
the bloated whims of self-satisfaction.) I suggest that all EA graduates
look forward to the tranquillity of non-assertion, and the security of
the acknowledgement of a job well and truly done..."
the deadone (formerly known as josh)
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By the way:
See this week's Echo for more news on the cult. For those living remote
from Byron, The Echo's website is at http://www.echo.net.au/
Most of the last 12 issues of The Echo contain stories or letters
relating to the Academy - the unethical antics of which are a major
ongoing news story in this part of the world.
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For those living in or near Byron, there's not much time left if you
want to object to the Academy's proposed 44-room motel redevelopment at
the Epicentre.
The way we see it, the Academy is starting to disintegrate now - and is
on track to disappear within maybe 6-12 months. (Leaving a trail of
personal damage in its wake.)
If this motel development goes ahead, it will give the Academy a toehold
in the community, and a revenue stream, for the indefinite future: they
could be here forever.
If you wish to object, all it will take is a simple letter (a paragraph
or two will do) to:
Byron Shire Council
Station St
Mullumbimby 2482
Refer to Development Application 00/0322 by Epi Management.
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Holy Smoke often closes on a humorous note - just to lift the somber
mood a little.
Here is one of the funnier emails in this week - from a recent
"graduate" who has had a shot at Chuck Anderson-speak:
"This academy is dedicated to the certain truth that the mind of man and
the destiny of Mankind, by its very nature, transcends the temporal
observational situation of objectively self-constructed reality in and
by which it delineates and defines itself and that the conceptual mind
of a human being is a [deep breath] transitional point in space/time in
an inevitable evolutionary conversion of noncreative thought that brings
about a total reassociation and recognition of Identity that is [we
suggest a coffee break here: white two sugars please] an open forum of
continuing unlimited revisional transformative possibilities [deep
breath] this inevitable evolutionary realization that there really is an
alternative to this insane place entirely outside and beyond your own
capabilities [ad break: Are your teeth white enough? Brush with
Pepsodent!], which are unrecognizable in the conceptual continuity of
preexistent thought form [Three-quarter time: coach says: "Hang in there
for the final quarter. We can do it team!"] that constitutes your human
condition and has persisted as an illusionary appearance predetermined
in the totality of instantaneous recovery that occurs at the moment of
your apparent separation from eternal reality."
Who needs Einstein, with genius like this?
Back soon.
Holy Smoke
PS: By the way, Holy Smoke waives copyright to all material published in
these mailouts. Circulate or republish at will.
Mike Down Under
> Does anyone of you readers on this newsgroup, read or now something
> about the endevaor academy?
Try this and following:
From: holysmoke (exi...@anonymous.to)
Subject: Holy Smoke 13
Newsgroups: talk.religion.course-miracle
View: (This is the only article in this thread) | Original Format
Date: 2000-09-14 04:03:25 PST
Endeavor Academy: It's Over!
(Well, on the way)
For our 36 (!) new subscribers since last week, this is the thirteenth
issue of Holy Smoke, a regular bulletin on the unethical and frequently
illegal doings of the Endeavor Academy and its leaders. EA is a
quasi-Christian cult headquartered in Wisconsin, and with a branch in
Byron Bay (on Australia's east coast).
This week, welcome to the Northern Star - a major regional newspaper on
Australia's east coast.
Holy Smoke is published from Australia, though it draws its information
from the United States and to a lesser extent Europe as well. Most of
this information comes from those who have 'snapped' and left the
Academy, and in time shaken themselves free of its hypnotic dream.
In the previous 12 issues, Holy Smoke has documented instances of abuse
by Academy leaders Charles ('Chuck') Anderson and Theodore ('Hector')
Poppe which include:
. misuse of Academy funds
. extreme psychological pressure to extract money from wealthier members
. severe psychological abuse
. multiple physical assaults
. sexual misconduct
. authorising/writing vicious, Scientology-style libels of defectors
. breaches of a wide range of US and Australian law
. systematic (and often ingenious) lying by Anderson and Poppe to hide
details of these misdemeanours from Academy members - which is of course
ongoing.
(We list some fresh scandal at the end of this issue.)
Incredibly, a few Academy members have written to Holy Smoke denying
that these well-proven violations have any relevance to their
experiences.
Others have confessed that they are frightened of 'the world', and feel
like they have nowhere else to go (which is why they don't leave).
But fortunately, many have realised that enough is enough - and are
quietly considering leaving, or have left.
Indeed - as we go to press - defections, squabbles, doubts, legal
problems and ongoing bad media are conspiring to bring the Endeavor
Academy (if possible) lower in public standing, and to further weaken it
from within.
Number 2 teacher Hector Poppe (the more physically violent of the two
teachers) is being openly challenged for the first time.
A few long-term members who are close to him are questioning whether
Chuck Anderson is not a little affected by his age.
Here in Australia, chief donor Robert Bruce is gaining some inkling of
the legal trouble which is brewing, and probably does not want to be
involved in it when the walls come tumbling down. He is believed to be
re-considering his options - especially in light of the damage that
national publicity will do his consulting business.
Psychobabble:
Thanks to a couple of Wisconsin readers for some excellent examples of
psychobabble from EA publications:
. "We have been revolutionized to a spontaneously creative
self-identity through the power of singular Universal Reality."
. "The basic requirement of entrance to Endeavor Academy is an initial
application of the ultimate discipline of immeasurable unqualified
determination for the relinquishment of temporal perceptual
self-identity."
Whoah!
One reader also drew attention to one of the funnier pages on the EA
website - in which an (unnamed) EA member 'demolishes' Albert Einstein's
theories. Our reader likened it to a flea shouting insults at an
elephant. We're not surprised that the author of this page kept his or
her identity pretty quiet.
News:
A visit by a Byron Shire Council officer last week to the Academy's
flats at 42-44 Byron St (cnr Dryden St), Byron Bay, resulted in the
discovery that the flats' garages had been illegally converted into
apartments.
There had not even been so much as a Development Application lodged for
this major building work.
Council's policy in this instance is very simple: it issues an order to
restore the buildings to their original state. Fines may also be levied.
There are no appeals.
When this order is issued against the Academy, it will cost it tens of
thousands of dollars in lost rents, building costs and maybe fines.
There is a possibility of directors' liability.
This may set back the cult's plans to redevelop the Epicentre into 44
motel units - though there will be plenty of other things setting this
back. (Details in coming issues.) The motel development, which is being
designed by Brisbane architect Kevin Haines, is an environmental blot on
the local landscape which will be widely opposed in the local community.
Particularly - as one Byron Councillor put it - 'when people realise
it's being sponsored by a world-hating cult'.
If you want to object to the motel development, write to:
Byron Shire Council
Station St
Mullumbimby 2482
Refer to Development Application no. 00/0322 by EPI Management.
Prognosis:
Overall, our feeling is that the Australian Academy will die with a
whimper rather than a bang: people will drift away in ones and twos for
a few months, the bills will no longer be able to be covered, the place
will shut down and will be Session adjourned to someone's house - then,
within maybe a year, the whole nonsense will disappear from Byron Bay.
The 'graduates' of the last month, and those regularly joining the Holy
Smoke mailing list, indicate that things are pretty much on track for
this outcome.
Phoning Chuck
One of Holy's growing army gave Chuck Anderson a ring a week or two ago
- and had quite a long chat. He wanted to find out if the guy was as
incoherent as he seems on his tapes.
Yup!
To be entirely fair, whilst he goes on with all kinds of pseudo-science,
and incomprehensible tosh, on his tapes (presumably to impress the
easily impressed), on the phone he was merely rambling and forgetful.
Holy's ally did not want to hear any spiritual baloney, so the
conversation was merely long and very boring.
That word. BORING. We are hearing it time and again from graduates.
Chuck, Hector, Sessions: all are uniformly described as B-O-R-I-N-G.
Many people don't seem to realise how boring till they get away from it.
A note to graduates
Now you're not in the Academy - where 'the world is not real' and you
'don't have to do anything' - you are hopefully not dissociated from
reality any more.
You now have to face something which the whole Academy philosophy was
engineered to have you avoid: responsibility for your actions.
Can I be a bit more specific? The Academy will collapse: however there
are still people stuck in there - in this institution which you played
some part (however small) in creating. People I love, and maybe people
you love too.
My personal goal is to demolish the Academy as quickly as possible: to
get people out of that crazy hothouse of spiritual addiction and group
delusion, and into a healthy real-world existence. As fast as it can be
done.
The quicker we can bring this about, the less pain for everyone.
YOU CAN PLAY YOUR PART. If you know of concrete wrong-doing by the
Academy or its leaders, please either report it to the appropriate
authorities, or let me know - and I will do so.
The more detail - names, months, places - the better. This is not easy
for some - unpleasantness like this is much easier to avoid and forget.
But think how grateful you would have been if someone had done it before
you had a chance to get hooked in.
The first stage of 'graduation' from EA - like the first stage of
grieving - is denial. Many graduates - especially recent ones - seem to
be in denial to some degree: 'I was always in control, and still am.'
'There is nothing I can do: it all unfolds according to plans I cannot
affect.'
This is just the old EA 'magical thinking'. Better to get rid of it now
by an act of will, than wait for it to hit you in some unexpected way
down the track.
Also: Helping finish off EA is an excellent way to break out of the
feelings of powerlessness that most graduates continue to experience -
usually in the guise of 'spirituality'. (See ex-Master Josh's letter in
The Echo recently.)
It will also get rid of some of the anger you will certainly be feeling,
at some level, for being duped for weeks, months or (in some cases)
years.
But most of all it will help to save other innocent seekers of truth
from throwing away an awful lot of their lives on the addled, and
ultimately destructive, philosophy of Charles Anderson and Hector Poppe.
You have my email address.
Holy Smoke now has 126 subscribers: quite a big jump in only a week.
Three months ago we started with about about a third of that.
I'd like all readers to think whether there are graduates - or indeed
those still under the EA spell - whom you'd like to receive Holy Smoke.
Just send me their email addresses and it shall be done.
We'd also be grateful of stories from graduates or waverers: anything
you think worthwhile or interesting. Recent news of EA activities is
always welcome. So are old stories that have present-day relevance.
Dissociation:
We got a couple of rather critical replies from 'Ike Skywalker' and
Bodhi. Both were long and tangential. Indeed so tangential they were
impossible to read right through: one loop after another. Both were
excellent examples of the 'dissociative' thinking of long-term cult
inmates: no reference points; no fixed experiences.
Just vague, poorly expressed abstractions.
Reading them was like trying to pin down a jellyfish. This is (according
to the experiences of countless cult defectors) exactly what cults do to
you. Counsellors often complain that long-term cult inmates talk in such
vague, general terms that they are near-impossible to engage with.
Is this how you want your mind to end up?
By following the philosophy of EA - and it is very much a philosophy, by
the way - you end up standing for nothing and believing in nothing. Your
conception of yourself dissolves to a dangerous degree: and the real
world that everyone else inhabits becomes strange and incomprehensible.
Ring any bells?
It is little surprise that an alarmingly high number of Academy inmates
have ended up in mental institutions, have tried to kill themselves - or
have succeeded in killing themselves.
Welcome to James Corona
One correspondent mentioned the story I included a couple of issues back
about US EA Board Chairman James Corona writing to the Chairman of CBS.
In his letter, James rather unsubtly described high-profile Australian
defector Ian Hamilton (interviewee in an excellent CBS expose of EA) as
a wife-beater, violent, erratic and quite a few other things.
I hope I have demonstrated to my readers by now that none of these
claims had any truth.
No-one has disputed this. All who know the situation first-hand also
know that James's letter was fiction.
James is now a Holy Smoke subscriber. I have a question for him - and
would be grateful for a reply:
The letter to CBS was a very unpleasant libel: right up there with
Scientology tactics. You (James) must also have known that it was all
untrue.
Why, then, did you send it?
I'm sure readers will be most interested in your explanation - which
I'll publish here.
Revised odds:
Several of you were amused by the odds being placed on who would leave
the Australian Academy last: who gets to turn out the light and shut the
door.
One person thought that Adelle was a better bet than Alice. A couple
thought Alice was the perfect choice: the feeling is that is she has
found somewhere comfortable to hide, and will be hard to budge.
Robert Bruce's remaining with the cult for another six months, given the
looming legal and financial trouble, is now placed at 4-1. David Pascoe
is 10-1 and fading.
Mail in:
Here are a couple of pastes from our mailbox this week:
. "OK, an older couple, Adele and her husband whose name I don't recall,
stayed with us and talked of 'Dear One' often putting his hand down
people's pants or on women's breasts to 'shock them out of their
un-consciousness' so to speak."
This would seem to substantiate a report from an older sister who had
spent some time at Dells, and at the time I wondered how widely this was
observed."
. "I recall being highly 'amused' whilst at the Byronian with Hector,
'Eve'
and other brothers at H offering to fly Eve to Wisconsin without batting
an eyelid. We were sitting each side of him and at the time he had Eve's
leg across his lap and was massaging it...my thought was "Hey, what am
I, chopped liver?"
I would have loved to have been offered a free airfare myself...wrong
gender obviously. This is when I first began to see strong
delineations/specialness existing, plus becoming aware of H's access to
large sums of money."
We will close this week by reminding our gentle readers that a good tree
does not bear rotten fruit.
Holy Smoke
Daniel
wrote:
The New Christian Church of Full Endeavor and its associated Endeavor
Academy comprise a bizarre cult. They have tried to steal the course
and use it for their own nefarious purposes. Stay away from them and
all of their doings. Stay far away.
For more info go to:
http://www.freedomofmind.com/groups/endeavor/endeavor.asp
http://www.rickross.com/groups/eacademy.html
Yours in Christ,
Daniel
Mike Down Under
> Does anyone of you readers on this newsgroup, read or now something
> about the endevaor academy?
Try this and following:
From: holysmoke (exi...@anonymous.to)
Subject: Holy Smoke 12
Newsgroups: talk.religion.course-miracle
View: Complete Thread (6 articles) | Original Format
Date: 2000-09-04 02:41:51 PST
Dear Sisters and Brothers,
To those who have joined this week, this is Holy Smoke - a newsletter
which regularly exposes the damage - financial, bodily and occasionally
sexual: but mainly emotional - done to those who belong to the Endeavor
Academy. About half our ~90 subscribers are 'in' the Academy, and the
other half are either defectors or interested parties.
This is our twelfth mailout. Back issues are available from our archives
on request.
Several members of the media join us this week: welcome to Josh Yager of
CBS, cult-buster extraordinaire Rick Ross, The Echo in Byron (actually
they joined last week), and the staff of the Wisconsin State Journal.
Just a simple mail-out today. No nasty shocks - just copies of some of
the letters sent to The Echo in recent weeks on the subject of you, in
case some of you have missed them.
There have been several requests for these, notably from new subscribers
and recent defectors. (In the words of one: 'I had my head in the sand
at the time.')
For those of you who don't know, Endeavor Academy is a cult based in
Wisconsin, USA, founded by a retired property developer named Charles
Buell Anderson.
You remember the guy: Mr Anderson famously lost his temper on the CBS
program '48 Hours' last year. Fortunately only 30 million people were
watching. (Well, it could have been Superbowl.)
His followers have tried hard to rationalise it away ever since - but
it's uphill work defending the 'Savior' when he loses control so badly,
over so little. We understand this put something of a dent in his
divinity thereafter. Until that time he was 'greater than Christ': we're
not sure where he stands now - maybe Apostle status - though my money is
on a major comeback before the end of the year. I just don't think you
can keep a good divinity down.
Mr Anderson also claims that he can leave for Heaven whenever he wants
to - however he has notably failed to do this when the media pressure
was on last year, and now too, in the midst of all the legal and
financial trouble his small empire is courting. Nevertheless, several
hundred ex-followers are awaiting his departure with some anticipation.
Heaven can wait: even the back of Philadelphia would do us.
The Endeavor Academy is static in the US (~300 members). It's in steady
decline in Australia (70 and falling) - with a disastrous media profile,
major contributors and directors becoming edgy, and the flock expressing
doubts (to Holy Smoke, anyway), and even sometimes publicly in
'Sessions.
This is hardly surprising, given what members are taught - which is the
closest thing to sheer nonsense that I have heard since my last visit to
the Nunawading Home for the Criminally Obtuse, to visit my tragically
demented cousin, Elmer Smoke, late of the Snakebite County Receptacle
for Lunatics.
People don't fall for this stuff long-term: *everybody* leaves the
Endeavor Academy: Byron has probably seen 500 come through the front
door in the last 5 years: most of them have also gone out the back door.
For some it's taken an hour, for others five years.
Holy Smoke is deeply religious, and sees it as a duty to shine a light
on that back door so you can see it: think of me as an usherette of the
soul.
Anyway, that's enough from me: here are the letters to The Echo - which
is (for newcomers) the local paper in the town (Byron Bay) which has the
dubious pleasure of hosting the Endeavor Academy's Australian branch.
I'll start with the article which began it all about three months ago:
Out from under the cult trip
by Michael McDonald
Longtime local resident Ian Blair Hamilton has written a book
about his journey to hell and back (with only one tea break). A
novel called Awake Among The Sleeping, the book aims to tell Ian's own
story
and expose what he says is the 'addictive' nature of dangerous cults.
While the use of the middle name 'Blair' helps distinguish him from the
other notable Ian Hamiltons in the Shire, many would better remember Ian
as
one of the founders, with Bill Wheatley, of Earth 'N' Sea Pizza. They
were
more comical days then, with Ian playing Basil Fawlty to Bill's Manuel
in a
series of publicity campaigns.
More recently, others would recall Ian as a driving force behind the A
Course In Miracles Centre at the Epicentre at Belongil. He claims the
current organisation at Belongil has no association with the original A
Course In Miracles movement in America, though it is listed on an
American
links website.
His book is in part a thinly disguised memoir of those days. He said he
wrote it as a novel because the current leader of the organisation would
sue
him for millions if it were a straight account. His chances of getting
sued
remain strong anyhow.
On the internet the Belongil group Miracle Sessions, as it is now known,
is
at www.suresite.com/wa/n/nccfe/. Its homepage informed me, 'You have
stumbled across the portal to the end of time.' It was a search through
yahoo.com actually, but what the heck.
'No world'
What little other information that is there includes, 'We help those of
you
who still think they have to do something in this world. We offer
everything
for nothing. Why? Because we know that "To have All, give all to all"!
There
is no death. There is no sickness. There is no world. You CAN change
your
mind.' According to Ian, the giving all to all includes large donations
to
the movement.
Ian says his purpose in writing the book was 'to help people, and to
have
people look at the nature of spiritual addiction, because it's a real
thing.
It's probably the final addiction and it's much more sinister than
substance
addiction because it's clothed in righteous clothes, in raiments of
shining
light. But it's really only another re-formulation of the ego, and
there's
no compassion in it, and there's no love.
'There's a need which requires fulfilment. Then there's a journey and a
goal
that's never met.'
Signs of a destructive cult, according to Ian, and which he ascribes to
the
group he was involved in, include the use of group enforcement of
behaviour
and the use of repetitive discourses. 'They taunt the newcomer to expose
himself and then cut him off.
'It's like the battered wife syndrome. They take away your home and then
give you a home.
'There's the idea of an awakening and in unscrupulous hands that's a
dangerous tool. You're told everybody's asleep or everybody's dead. A
classic loop was to be told the world is shit and yet "I have come back
from
beyond the veil to tell you the world is illusion. I'm going to ask for
full
commitment and you will come back with me beyond the veil."
'It's always displaced back to your guilt. You've been in the cult for a
year and the world hasn't changed yet, then it's your mind.'
Positive feedback
Ian says the feedback to his story has been 'incredibly positive'. He
got an
audience of 30 million on the CBS program 48 Hours but locally the
situation
is a little more modest. He scraped together enough money to
self-publish 50
copies of his book.
He describes his experience as 'selective blindness. Only through a dark
night of the soul was I forced to look at it.'
Ian agrees with social commentator Hugh McKay that an increasing sense
of
separation and isolation in western society will lead to a proliferation
of
cults, and he wants to warn people of the dangers. He also sees the
danger
in him becoming a 'guru' on the dangers.
There's probably also a danger in decrying cultish phenomena in a very
cultish district. And we won't get started on the cult of economic
rationalism.
Ian is contactable at lightso...@hotmail.com. Awake Among The
Sleeping
is selling for $25 at the Abraxas Bookshop and Linley Jones Bookstore.
© Copyright 1998. Echo Publications Pty Ltd.
Published in The Byron Shire Echo on Tuesday, 7 March 2000
www : http://www.echo.net.au/
MARCH 21:
A cult is a cult is a cult...
In response to last week's letters attempting to vindicate the Endeavor
Academy from its cult status.
Upon arriving in Byron I spent a couple of weeks at the Miracle Farm and
I
have no hesitation in calling it a cult (having run into several of them
in
my own search for truth over the years).
I was summarily ejected from Endeavor for expressing my anger and
disagreement with some of the teachings and practices. So much for this
ridiculous claim of democracy. Equally laughable is to refer to the
environment of fear, repression and codependence that has been
established
there as a 'bona-fide academic and spiritual institution'.
It is nothing more than a cult driven by a handful of dominant
personalities
declaring themselves to be 'awakened minds'. Its adherence to the
teachings
of 'a course of miracles' ranges between nominal and non-existent.
It has all the hallmarks of a true cult. Encouraging its members to
surrender all their wealth and isolate themselves from the world -
thereby
creating financial and emotional dependence. Ruthlessly crushing all
philosophical debate, objection and individual dissension. I was in
fact,
present to see one of last week's letter writers viciously ridiculed and
shamed by Hector for participating in an 'unsanctioned' spiritual
activity.
I personally know two people, and know of several others, who have had
to be
hospitalised in mental institutions as a direct result of their
participation. I also know many other Byron locals who, like me, will
cross the street to avoid being preached at and verbally attacked by
these people.
To seek others to agree with our world view and support us in our
beliefs
would appear to be part of the human condition. However, to use the
given
words of God to use other people's fears, insecurities and guilt to get
them
to comply with our doctrine seems to me vicious and reprehensible.
Last week's letter writers tried to disguise their grievance with Ian
Hamilton as some form of pity or tolerance. Let me express mine more
directly. As with the recently famous Golden Phoenix scheme - I consider
every participant in this fraudulent 'academy' completely responsible
and
accountable for its actions.
I consider your continued efforts to involve others in your codependent
cult, supposedly acting as 'teachers of God' and 'saviours of the
world',
completely vicious and unloving.
To my community I say beware. In Hector you have a prodigious
intelligence,
reputedly trained in the American legal system, and well versed in many
theologies, philosophies and doctrines. He is an expert at group
control,
individual manipulation, and inducing altered states of consciousness.
He is
also a megalomaniac who's benevolence is, in my opinion, highly
questionable.
Adam
Blanch
Byron
Bay
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Just another institution
I am one of the owners of the Epicentre in Belongil where Miracle Centre
is
located and a former participant in the Miracle Sessions both here and
in
Wisconsin, USA. A Course In Miracles is an incredible text that has
enriched
my understanding of myself. However nowhere in the Course or in the
other
teachings of Jesus are the following condoned or even hinted at:
1. The establishment of an institution.
2. The use of confrontation or humiliation.
3. The idolisation of a teacher.
Unfortunately, all of the above abound in the form adopted by Endeavour
Academy's Miracle Centres worldwide.
The main teacher at the Belongil facility, Hector (Ted Poppe), can give
an
experience which is mistaken by many students to be a state of
wholeness.
Unfortunately, because of his own lack of integration such an experience
will ultimately, at best, amount to nothing; at worst, lead to a
heightened
sense of self-righteousness, separation, and/or confusion. Any teacher
that
refers to individuals as 'humans who are never going to hear this', or
'dead', is teaching separation. Unfortunately, the use of A Course In
Miracles in the Centre's format has degenerated into a mental assertion
that
has often been at variance with feeling.
My interacting with students of the Centre both as a participant and
owner
of the Epicentre has been largely characterised by their great personal
integrity and dedication. However, as a 'graduate', I now know that each
individual must exhibit personal certainty or maturity of mind totally
independent of an institution, teacher or teaching. This will not happen
however while any of the above-mentioned behaviour is tolerated. ('If
you
want peace you must abandon the teacher of attack.' A Course In
Miracles,
Ch. 14.) The end never justifies the means.
I am personally grateful to the Master Teacher of Wisconsin, USA, for
all
that he has given me. A man of great power, enthusiasm and insight into
the
human condition, he has to accept ultimate responsibility for creating
an
institution that relies, once again, like all well-meaning religious
organisations, upon compliance and fear.
Campbell
McKellar
St
Helena
MARCH 28:
It takes a miracle to get out
Thank you for the article on my book Awake Among The Sleeping, and for
publishing the letters referring to it. The Echo really does work. I
have had emails from Germany, Poland and the USA, and many phone calls
about the article, from people whose loved ones are in the miracles
cult.
It is quite eye-opening to see the common symptoms of spiritual
addiction from the point of view of loved ones. In every case the same
symptoms: increasing alienation, disinterest in family, absence of
responsibility for children, lack of any system of ethics, and a great
proclivity to hitting on everyone for money.
I was especially moved by one lady who said that since her husband had
joined the cult she had had four years of great anger, but the article
in The Echo allowed her to view her husband with compassion; an emotion
she has not yet seen her husband display towards her two children who
cry when he calls once every three months from America, still chasing
God after all this time.
Spiritual addiction is a real thing and we certainly have a large scale
creator of it right here in our own town, inviting all comers to enter
in, give up the world and hand over their cheque account, not to Freedom
From Hunger, not to East Timor, but to the man sitting up front telling
you that you will rot in hell if you don't.
Thank you again.
Ian Blair Hamilton
Byron Bay
There is a limit
Last year we travelled together to stay with our fathers at the Miracles
academy in Wisconsin USA. We would like to give our opinion on this
matter.
The original readings or lessons of the course are logical and genuine.
But at the academy they are twisted and used in selfish ways, for
manipulation or gaining self-gratification. They use it as an escape
from reality and responsibility.
We personally have no set beliefs yet and are open-minded. People should
and can believe what they want. But when it's hurting not only
themselves but their children and family, we think there is a limit.
They say they have no leader or master. Yet there is a man in the USA
who they call Dear One or Master teacher. If you have read previous
letters then you know it affects mentally unstable people in a bad way.
There is not only verbal abuse but physical abuse has taken place during
their sessions.
Everyone is a good person, some have just been misled. Everyone has
problems whether it be emotional or physical and everyone has different
ways of dealing with, hiding or running from their problems.
It only took one person to deny their life. The rest just followed.
Sona Evans and Mirabai
McKellar (both aged 15)
Byron Bay
APRIL 11:
Course in Miracles is not a Christian teaching
The recent coverage and correspondence regarding the Endeavour
Academy and A Course in Miracles (ACIM) is a sad reflection on the
potential for abuse in spiritual and religious organisations.
Although I have no personal knowledge of this particular situation,
or the individuals involved, and therefore cannot comment upon it,
we in the Christian church have had to learn from experiences of
abuse of power by those in leadership positions - from prominent
televangelists to pastors in congregations.
What we have learned was best expressed by M. Scott Peck: that evil,
being deceptive, tends to hide under the cover of what is good and
sacred; and being manipulative, develops powerlessness and
dependence in those who are vulnerable.
Cult leaders from both Christian and other spiritual backgrounds
tend to have similar characteristics: grandiose codependency
bordering on sociopathy, which encourages religious/spiritual
addiction in their followers.
Control by such leaders is usually all pervasive, and devotees are
discouraged from intellectual questioning of their teachings. Should
followers escape from such cults, they are often so scarred that they
reject any spiritual path.
I have friends who have done ACIM elsewhere. Some have found it
helpful, others have not. To suggest that it is a 'Christian' teaching,
however, is highly suspect, as many of its principles are completely
at odds with the teachings of the first century Jesus, and, as has been
written elsewhere, seem to draw heavily on teachings based on
Hinduism.
Kenneth Wapnick, who I understand is a significant spokesperson for
ACIM, admits that he only uses those Biblical references consistent
with the course, and ignores those which contradict it.
There is a great deal of spiritual diversity within the Byron Shire -
something I personally find stimulating. The Christian and Hebrew
scriptures, though often misrepresented, recognise that God
communicates and relates to humanity through cultures other than
Judaeo-Christian ones (eg. Amos 9:7, Romans 1:20).
Surely, at the very least we can exercise tolerance of the spiritual
experiences of people from different practices and traditions, while
feeling confident enough to maintain our own beliefs?
On the whole I have found people respectful of my Christian
spirituality, even if they do not agree with it. I hope that recent
events surrounding the Endeavour Academy do not undermine this
openness to spiritual searching and dialogue in our area.
However I also hope that people of goodwill will continue to make
known the dangers of 'cultism', which is antithetical to this spirit of
dialogue.
Rev Chris Lockley
Brunswick Heads and Mullumbimby Uniting Churches
Byron miracles not connected
Having studied A Course In Miracles for many years I too attended
several meetings of the Byron Miracles group. The ack ack
preaching of Dear One and the lightly leaping lunacy and orgasmic
eroticism of those 'in the Spirit' did not impress me.
What I saw was a far cry from the dignity and power of the material
I had read in A Course In Miracles. To say the least, on both visits I
left more quickly than I arrived.
Researching this led me to this discovery. The group in Byron Bay is
part of an independent group and not associated with the Foundation
For Inner Peace that publishes A Course In Miracles.
This latter organisation has in fact launched litigation to attempt to
stop the 'charismatic' independent group from masquerading as the
true Course organisation.
History shows that some human beings are drawn to cults like moths
to a light. The problem comes when they believe this is The Light.
Even in Byron Bay human beings haven't changed. It would take a
miracle for that to happen.
James Ward
Byron Bay
APRIL 18:
Long live free speech
I write in support of The Echo maintaining the discussion of
the daily realities of the Miracle Centre in Byron Bay.
Threats of defamation often create a 'chilling' effect in the
media, with journalists not pursuing stories to their limits for
fear of being sued. Thus the rich and powerful can use
defamation as a weapon to silence discussion without ever
having to go to court. The Echo should not allow itself to be
brow-beaten by defamation threats that lack legal justification.
Long live free speech! Long live The Echo!
Brando Tobin
Byron Bay
APRIL 25:
That tiny thing called hope...
I thought it would be enough to have simply added my voice to
those crying 'Beware the cult in our midst' (The Echo, March
21). However, since publication the response has been so
overwhelming as to require follow up.
I have been slandered by Hector himself, who declared in an
interview with a local journalist that he had videotape footage
of me 'threatening to kill him'. He has of course failed to
produce that footage as the incident never occurred.
I, and others, have also received letters from the Endeavor
Academy's lawyers threatening to sue for defamation if I don't
print a full retraction and apology. I'd like to take this
opportunity to refute the letter's claim that I have acted in 'bad
faith' and state for the record that I have acted with the sole
intent of bringing light to the very real problem of spiritual
addiction and the dangers posed to members of my community
by such institutions as the Endeavor Academy.
For those of you who, like me, have trouble reconciling this
litigation with the Academy's professed teachings of
forgiveness, acceptance and love for all, I'm informed that
Hector has declared that the Holy Spirit 'told him' to sue. It
must be very nice to be able to blame God for your every
action. Of course this action by the Academy has rekindled a
previously abated conversation concerning the possibility of a
class action by former participants, seeking compensation for
emotional and psychological trauma, lost income and disability.
It has also increased the motivation for some to lodge
individual actions in regard to alleged incidents of physical
assault and financial fraud. A lawyer I know once described
litigation as a sword with two edges and a very slippery handle.
I've also had some interesting, and distressing, encounters with
various Academy members, and been fascinated by the stories
coming out of the group: instructions to members to 'act
human for a while', witch hunting among themselves for the
source of 'the leak' and all sorts of damage control activity.
However, more important than all this predictable backlash is
the depth of response I and others have received for coming
forward in this matter - people approaching us in the street to
thank us for our willingness and tell us their own stories of loss
and pain. Anguished parents, distraught lovers and partners,
troubled friends and relatives. People who, like us, have had to
stand by powerlessly as people we love recede day by day into
a fog of indoctrination. Growing ever colder and more
removed, ever more zealous in their preaching of 'the word'
according to Hector. Ever more detached from the world
around them. Ever more unable to engage in a reasoned
discourse, ever more afraid of thinking for themselves,
trusting their own feelings, engaging their own capacity for
self inquiry.
Then there's the stories of those who have got out. Nervous
breakdowns, inability to function in their lives, irrational fears
and paranoia, relationship breakdown and even suicide.
So like Ian Hamilton before me, I feel compelled to offer a
little of my story, my insights into the nature of this beast, this
addiction that has afflicted me and still afflicts so many that I
love. To offer a little hope.
The cause, that which made me vulnerable to the predations of
the cult leaders of this world, was really very simple. I
believed that God did not love me (and therefore no one else
could). I mean really believed it. Not just an errant 'thought in
the mind, do a few affirmations and it'll be right' sort of
belief. More of a 'deep in my gut, unspeakably painful feeling
of complete unworthiness, guilt and shame' sort of belief. The
kind of belief that's buried so far down in your subconscious
you don't even know it's there for the first thirty years or so.
A belief so prevalent, so intertwined with your psyche that
your entire life, your every action, is dedicated to trying to
disprove, negate or avoid it. I really believed it. A psychologist
I consulted referred to this as 'Original Sin Syndrome' - a deep
and crippling belief that you are far too evil to be worthy of
love.
Of course, this is not unusual. A great many people really
believe this. A great many, like myself, spend most of their life
looking for someone, or something, that will tell us 'it just ain't
so'. Someone we can believe - someone who will argue the case
for the defence with such power and conviction that our own
case for self-crucifixion must crumble before it. Someone to
trust, and where there's a market, a need to be met, there arise
those who claim to meet it - 'claim' being the important word
here.
Thereby arises the charismatic teacher, for charisma, among
other things, is necessary to establish credibility. Eloquence
and a sophisticated mind are also fairly essential.
Persuasiveness and an air of certainty. The ability to
understand and induce altered states of consciousness. Many
'students' report the ability to perform psychic and energetic
tricks (whether this is true or not doesn't matter, as long as the
student believes it). An appearance of being always further
along the path (if not completely beyond it) is also necessary.
They must get you to believe that you need them. To believe
that any error or failing you perceive in them is some sort of
deliberate activity for your edification and growth (or a flaw
in your perception). Above all else, there must be an
appearance of concerned aloofness, of being above it all. After
all, we don't aspire to be like someone who is just like us, prey
to the fears and insecurities that we suffer from.
At this point I'll add that it is tempting to believe that these
teachers are malicious, playing upon the fears and beliefs of
others for money and power. In some cases this may be true,
but my experience has shown me that most often these teachers
believe that they are doing it for others' benefit. This
relationship is in fact a classic co-dependence. The Teacher gets
to deny and avoid his own fears and insecurities by
constructing a situation where he is worshipped and
empowered by others, while the student gets to deny theirs, by
believing that they are on a pathway to where they too will
inhabit this state of perfection. In both cases, there is a very
serious state of addiction occurring.
It is interesting to note that many who participate in these
activities are victims of childhood abuse - whether sexual,
physical or psychological. It is common for such people to seek
relationships with dominant personalities that they can give
their personal power and responsibility to. They are also prone
to believe that any abuse of this power and of themself is
something they deserve and need to control and discipline their
incipient 'badness'.
Like all addictions it is at its core the attempt to avoid deep and
painful feelings of inadequacy, unworthiness and fear. The
addict's fear of these feelings should not be underestimated,
nor should their loyalty to the things that appear to offer relief
and escape. The classic cult approach is to offer states and
experiences which seem ecstatic and divine, while encouraging
the participant to perceive their previous life (parents,
employment, society, etc, ie 'the world') as the source of their
pain. Cult philosophies are extremely sophisticated forms of
denial. The participants are often encouraged to believe that
what they are experiencing in the world is all an illusion -
'nothing is real, this isn't actually happening to me, I've just
got to believe hard enough and it will all go away'. Common
behaviours associated with it are withdrawal from the world
(reality has a nasty way of getting in your face), contact only
with other members if possible, strong attempts to evangelise if
not (apparently if lots of people believe it will be easier) and
extreme attempts to detach from the emotions and the physical
body. (I would like to add that this is not the teaching of 'A
Course in Miracles'.)
Addicts are usually very reluctant to give all this up in favour
of the certain promise of painful feelings and it is often only
when the addiction itself gets too painful that they will do so.
Sometimes even after the addict has been doing it for a
sufficiently long time to discover that it isn't working, they
will come up with reasons to continue having the ecstatic
experience. Trying to change the cult 'from within' is a very
common stage of their withdrawal.
However, the denial cannot be maintained indefinitely. There is
always a choice point, at which the addiction changes form (ie
another cult or spiritual path) or the addict turns and faces the
deep emotional wound that drives it. I did the former several
times before finally facing the latter, which, though not as
difficult as I feared, required courage and the profound
support of those who loved me. All my idols had to fall (an
idol is after all, someone you hope will do it for you). All my
strategies for avoiding my feelings had to fail, and all my
hopes of rescue had to be dashed.
In the end, there could be only me, facing the black pit of my
own despair. Terror, shame, rage, unworthiness, hopelessness
and self hatred rushing out of the darkness in my own soul;
and, right at the bottom, a little wisp of light, a tiny thing
called hope, that grew and brightened before me - becoming a
gentle radiance in my mind and my heart which filled me with
a deep feeling of peace and love. With less and less frequency
these feelings still raise their voice within me, and each time I
turn to face them I come out the other side more content and
happy, my addictions and depression almost completely fallen
away, my health better than it's ever been, my creativity and
enthusiasm for life constantly increasing.
So, if you have been standing hopelessly by watching those you
love recede into the fog of indoctrination; if all your
arguments, reasoning, criticism and censure have failed to
penetrate the armour of addiction and denial; if you face your
own Pandora's box of pain and despair, try to remember that
underneath it all, there is always hope.
Adam Blanch
Byron Bay
MAY 16:
Released from the weight of seeking perfection
I currently reside in the US and received a link to The Echo's
website from a friend. In past issues of The Echo there are a
number of letters that address the pain, abuse, alienation and
dependency perpetuated by cults. As an ex-member of
Endeavor Academy in the US and Australia I want to express
my views, rather than be a silent witness to further suffering.
It is very difficult and invariably a painful process to free
oneself from addiction. Addiction to an idea of perfection leads
to inevitable failures and empty successes. This need to believe
in a perfect external solution always creates false idols and all
idols fall. The intense and unconditional need to believe finds
expression in an insane defence that the world is wrong and
evil and I am saved and worthy because my teacher says so.
An abusive circle is set up where the teacher feeds his need to
control with the student's need to be controlled. Yet how can
there be a perfect lover or spiritual teacher or place if I battle
the imperfect in myself? Without inner integrity I will look for
a solution out there and will jump from teacher to teacher (or
lover to lover, etc) always believing that this one now is the
answer. And along the way I will reject family, friends,
children and 'the world' all for Truth.
Similarly, I will justify acts of abuse, cruelty and hate and call
them acts of honesty, true compassion and love. At the
Academy I heard claims that all sickness can be healed through
the power of love. Yet I stood by as students, diagnosed with
cancer, were verbally condemned and evicted for not allowing
themselves to be healed. Again and again I experienced and
caused humiliation because of the belief that humans are dumb
and need to evolve. I have seen what I believed were acts of
physical and mental cruelty and manipulation yet found ways to
accept these as the mysterious actions of an enlightened mind.
Release from such addiction comes not through blame or anger
but through the simple willingness to allow this moment to be
okay. What a relief to be unburdened from the weight of
perfection or Truth or enlightenment. What a mystery there is
in naked humanness and what joy in seeing the meaninglessness
of all my ideas.
To old friends I say, thank you for always being there just as
you are!
David Forsyth
Santa Fe, USA
Mike Down Under
> Does anyone of you readers on this newsgroup, read or now something
> about the endevaor academy?
Try this and following:
From: holysmoke (exi...@anonymous.to)
Subject: Holy Smoke 11 (Endeavor Academy)
Newsgroups: talk.religion.course-miracle
View: (This is the only article in this thread) | Original Format
Date: 2000-08-25 02:44:50 PST
Farewell Hector:
'We shall not look upon his like again.'
(And with any luck we shall not look upon him again either.)
Thrice round the Trojan walls Achilles drew
The corpse of Hector, whom in fight he slew.
(The Aenid)
Hello again,
It's been a while since Holy has contacted you, and there have been
several complaints. Sorry!
But the Grievance Club is not the only thing I do with my life, you
know. I have other interests, one of which is travel - which I have just
been doing a bit of. I can recommend sitting in the hot springs at
Katherine (NT) with someone you love to all of you, once the Academy
collapses. (Current estimate: August.)
Now, where were we?
Well, first-up, we've lost Morgan since last time. The official story
was that Ninette's visa was running out. But Morgan was shaken up badly
by the exposure he got from us a few weeks ago. Also, he was seriously
discredited amongst most brothers in Australia. He decided the best
course was to leave town.
As one of his old girlfriends put it, after getting the mailout in
question: 'A sick mind.' Rather succinct, we thought.
Secondly, since we last communicated, the Academy is now restricting
admission to Session. Now to attend you must go through the full
induction process. It seems that the reaction to public outrage is not
to fix the problem (i.e. people being damaged by Hector's aggressive
teaching method), but to hide it.
Thirdly, there have been numerous defections in the last month. For one
'graduate', the list of departed Master Teachers was what did the trick:
Master Josh, Master Lance, Master Barbie Ruth, Master Hermes, Master Ian
and Master Bates, in case you'd forgotten.
For another couple it was the revelations about Chuck's sexually
predatory behaviour with women who are under his power.
Things are getting shaky in Byron Bay - as we have expected they would
for some time. Things will get much shakier in the next 30 days.
How could they not, when all of the serving directors are themselves
having serious problems and doubts? (Not the least surrounding the legal
and financial problems they are gradually incurring: which, I'm sure
they must know, will hit them like an avalanche when the balloon goes
up. Bye-bye professional credibility!)
Indeed we've heard that some brothers have started speculating in their
idle moments who will be the last one out the door. Current favourites
are Adelle (3-1), Stephen ('Hector is my saviour') Calder (also 3-1) -
but Alice (hiding out on a pretty good, cruisey wicket, it is generally
believed) is clear favourite at 2-1.
Robert Bruce and David Pascoe are having serious doubts already - and
would not leave last because they would lose serious money in doing so.
(NB: we don't blame them for this!) They're expected to cut their losses
sooner rather than later. So they're presently way back in the field at
14-1.
We're not sure why the people who are making these speculations have not
left themselves - one of the mysteries of the psyche!
Fourthly, we have 21 new subscribers since the last mail-out - Endeavor
Academy defectors and waverers, as well as some ACIM students. Welcome
aboard all of you!
Fifthly, for those of you who need counselling post-cult, Kieran is
excellent (having been through the whole thing himself), and also the
Byron Community Centre's counsellors have been gearing up for an EA
exodus for a little while now. Don't be shy: in the last few
months/years you have been through more serious assaults to the psyche
(to say nothing of insults to the intelligence) than you may realise.
Now for some news, and feedback, from defectors and "ins" alike:
Firstly, congratulations to Anna on her graduation.
And to Joost, who has reawakened his creative side through study of the
Mary material - and is leaving the cult to join a dance troupe.
Claire and Darren are doing great: 'So happy not to be imprisoned every
day!'
And the gorgeous Tuesday is well and truly gone!
The common thread of all graduates is that they were completely
BORED with Hector's sessions, but believed (guilt!) that they had to
overcome even the boredom.
Many of them had developed sophisticated methods of appearing 'in the
light' so that they could get through the session without being
attacked. When they released themselves from their own spiritual guilt,
they found a whole and beautiful and honest world awaiting them.
. Clematine (who has been doing a great job, BTW- thanks Clemmie!) has
sent several emails my way for response. One or two correspondents seem
to be approximately two microns short of a RAM chip, but the majority
were both polite and intelligent. Let's deal with them one at a time:
. 'Merciful Brothers' ask: 'What exactly are you talking about when you
refer to "Chuck's taking sexual advantage of several women(blugh!)"
Either you have no idea what goes on here, you are deliberately lying,
or what??? Please respond.
Better to clear this one up now before it goes any farther.'
We're happy to do this. We suggest, however, that you ask Rachel: best
to go to the source on delicate matters like this. More 'sources' on
request - but make sure you really want to know about this stuff: it's
fairly yucky, and may cause some unhappiness among other victims.
And whilst we're on the subject of scurrilous accusations, and attack in
general, here is what the Chairman of the EA Board sent to '48 Hours'
after their broadcast last year:
'Dear Mr. Collins,
'Here are the facts concerning the attendance of Ian Hamilton and his
spouses as students at the Academy here in Wisconsin Dells and
Australia.
Hamilton attended Endeavor from 1993 to October 1995 in Australia and
moved to Wisconsin to begin his residency from October 18, 1995 to
October 16, 1996.
'He was asked to leave this institution, in a decision made by the Board
of Directors and the Trustees of this church, because of intense
personal grievances within his personal relationships. This resulted in
extended periods of projected rage against the world and everyone and
everything in it, certainly including the students and Teachers at this
facility.
'While here, his erratic behaviour took on the form of physical abuse
against his spouse, Cas, who was also a student. This finally resulted
in the necessity for his expulsion.
'While in Australia, his unsettling personal difficulties resluted [sic]
in his first spouse, April, attempting suicide well before the opening
of the Academy. The emotional instability was no doubt intensified by
the abandonment of her through divorce, and his immediate liaison with
his new spouse.'
We hardly know where to begin with this one. If you want to check the
truth of it, contact Cas Hamilton - and April Hamilton. Those of you who
don't know them, just ask Adelle or Christopher.
What Adelle or Christopher (who are essentially honest) will be forced
to tell you is that on no occasion did Ian hit Cassie, and that April's
difficulties arose out of her involvement in Session. (Indeed there was
nothing else going on in her life at he time, including a marriage.) Ian
and April's separation pre-dated these difficulties by a considerable
length of time, and was instigated by April.
We note with little pleasure that Hector was the Wisconsin Administrator
at the time these unfortunate (and so easily disprovable) fabrications
were sent to CBS.
These very nasty allegations make Holy's claims of Chuck being sexually
predatory - which is quite provable anyway - seem like fairly small
beer, don't they?
Whilst you're checking these out at the sources, you may want to verify
Hector's recent statement that 'I did everything in my power to help
April at the time.' That was quite a doosie, we thought.
. 'Merciful Brothers' adds: 'I...realize I was free to choose what I
did. I am always free...to choose my relationships and conversations and
good Lord, You are even considering blaming anyone but yourself for
neglecting your children???... No one ever taught you that...I cannot
even imagine how you would misinterpret the teaching to think that.'
We suggest you talk to Hector about this one, MB. He has broken up so
many relationships he should be on a commission from the Bar
Association. I can't believe that you would want a list - but if so, be
prepared for a long, slow download. We can add a list of the children
who have suffered as a result of these break-ups for no extra fee.
Alternately, you could find the issue of The Echo containing letters
from children of current and ex-EA members - writing of what they've had
to put up with with humbling and touching eloquence, we thought.
. Geoff Gritten tells Holy that he had 'no problem with Morgan's
teachings' and that Holy had never read the Course.
Perhaps Geoff would like another small taste of Master Morgan's
teachings:
"You are in for a rude awakening because of the pain that your a causing
[sic] other than that, man to man, go fuck yourself you meaningless
little prick good luck, Morgan"
. One graduate sent in his new 'understanding' of what EA stands for:
'Egoholics Anonymous'. Most unkind. (And we know he was talking about
leaders, not the broad membership.)
. David Forsyth, another of the original Byron Bay to Toowoomba batch,
writes:
'As an ex-member of Endeavor Academy in the US and Australia I want to
express my views, rather than be a silent witness to further suffering.
'It is very difficult and invariably a painful process to free oneself
from addiction. Addiction to an idea of perfection leads to inevitable
failures and empty successes. This need to believe in a perfect external
solution always creates false idols and all idols fall. The intense and
unconditional need to believe finds expression in an insane defense that
the world is wrong and evil and I am saved and worthy because my teacher
says so.
An abusive circle is set up where the teacher feeds his need to control
with the student's need to be controlled.
Yet how can there be a perfect lover or spiritual teacher or place, if I
battle the imperfect in myself? Without inner integrity I will look for
a solution out there, and will jump from teacher to teacher (or lover to
lover etc.) always believing that this one now is the answer. And along
the way I will reject family, friends, children and "the world" all for
Truth.
Similarly, I will justify acts of abuse, cruelty and hate and call them
acts of honesty, true compassion and love.
At the Academy I heard claims that all sickness can be healed through
the power of love. Yet I stood by as students, diagnosed with cancer,
were verbally condemned and evicted for not allowing themselves to be
healed.
Again and again I experienced and caused humiliation because of the
belief that humans are dumb and need to evolve. I have seen what I
believed were acts of physical and mental cruelty and manipulation yet
found ways to accept these as the mysterious actions of an enlightened
mind.
Release from such addiction comes not through blame or anger but through
the simple willingness to allow this moment to be okay. What a relief to
be unburdened from the weight of perfection or Truth or enlightenment.
What a mystery there is in naked humanness and what joy in seeing the
meaninglessness of all my ideas. To old friends I say thank you for
always being there just as you are!
Sincerely
David Forsyth
Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA
Now for some more general feedback:
. One defector sent us this brief description of NPD:
Narcissistic Personality Disorder is defined by the American Psychiatric
Association as:
'A pervasive pattern of grandiosity (in fantasy or behaviour), need for
admiration, and lack of empathy, beginning by early adulthood and
present in a variety of contexts.'
Just thought we'd run that past you. No reason of course - just a whim!
. This treatise on AA (found by another defector) was also of interest:
'Protection against EXPLOITATIVE LEADERSHIP in these self-help groups is
explicitly built into a set of rules called 'the twelve traditions'.
Power is vested in the shared body of group tradition rather than in the
position of the leader, which rotates among volunteers...
'The structural safeguards built into the twelve traditions have held up
well with wide replication. However, some self-help groups remain prone
to EXPOITATIVE LEADERSHIP or an OPPRESSIVE, IDIOSYNCRATIC GROUP AGENDA.
This is particularly true for recently developed groups that lack the
depth of practical experience and the range of choices available in
mature twelve-step programs. Survivors who engage in self-help groups
must be mindful of the instruction to take with them only what is
helpful and to discard the rest.'
Well, a lot of you are doing just that in recent weeks, we're delighted
to say. And more are following soon!
. Here's another - this time a web download:
'The only way to approach ACIM is to read it, do the lessons and then
forget it. Let it do its work. The only thing that wants to remember
the teachings is the ego. And the ego uses the Course the same way it
uses everything else, to get something. The ego wants to understand what
the Course says so it can use it. And what it wants is power...
The Course community is littered with people who do everything they can
to understand and use the Course, everything that is except nothing.
If you feel compelled to activity vis-à-vis the Course then put it down
and speak with those who are living it. Interact with those are finding
that nothing is needed to live a happy life, nothing, not even A Course
in Miracles, and then you may have found the first true miracle.
. On the theme of honesty again, Hector recently broadcast that both
John De Ruiter and Isaac have given up teaching. Untrue! Duncan (EA
graduate) and his partner Basia assure Holy that he has done nothing of
the kind. Uliai and Sam, also EA graduates (plus many other EA'ers) are
with him in Canada. Isaac, unlike Hector's version, has done what he
always does at this time of year and begun his world tour. Sorry Hector!
. Hector attacked John and Chrissie once again when Adele and
Christopher were away for the day. Again and again he attacks when the
only active directors of the Academy are not around. It is obvious to us
that he is addicted to abuse. The pattern has become obvious in two
other ways:
1. He attacks couples. He obviously has a problem with relationships
that begin to work:
Coral and Kieran
Claire and Darren
Ian and Cassy
John and Chrissy
(and even Campbell and Cindee when they were together)
Will Sammi and Clark be next? What is it about a healthy, loving
relationship that threatens this man?
. Whilst on this subject: we noticed a very strange pattern in the
above-mentioned Session: we hadn't picked it up before. Hector attacks -
and then delivers a great session. That day Hector delivered the massive
attack on John and Chrissy - then gave one of those rare sessions that
'turns you around'. (His oratory on that day was the best we'd heard it
for months, maybe years.)
What do you guys think about why this happens?
. Here's a quote from an interesting book, 'Trauma and Recovery' by
Judith Lewis Herman MD. (With our comments in brackets.):
'In order to escape accountability for his crimes, the perpetrator does
everything in his power to promote forgetting ('They just didn't get
it... There is only the moment... They are dead ones... We have to stay
close now... Humans... )
Secrecy and silence are the perpetrator's first line of defence. ('I
don't know anything about these allegations of me causing people to get
sick.')
If secrecy fails, the perpetrator attacks the credibility of the victim
('April was mentally unstable before she joined the Academy'... Ian just
has a grievance and can't let it go... Cindee is just hysterical....
Archie never did get it...Kieran is too much in the mind and always
was... Adam tried to kill me...')
If he cannot silence his victim absolutely, he tries to make sure no-one
listens. (We have to act human awhile until all this is over... You must
come to session every day now... You are either in or you're out...
We're gonna close session to the public'...)
To this end he marshalls an impressive array of arguments, from the most
blatant denial ('I never told her she'd die in six months if she didn't
come to session... I don't even know who Jannette Horner is...') to the
most sophisticated and elegant rationalisation. (Hector's post-attack
sessions.)
After every atrocity one can expect to hear the same predictable
apologies: it never happened; the victim lies; the victim exaggerates;
the victim brought it on herself; and in any case it is time to forget
the past and move on.
The more powerful the perpetrator, the greater is his prerogative to
name and define reality, and the more completely his arguments prevail.'
. Another US import is having to choose between lover and session. Any
bets on which the addict will choose?
When queried about the abuse that occurs at EA through teachers she
said:
"We made an agreement out of time that abuse is OK for the purposes of
transformation'.
Sounds really healthy, love.
. We have all seen Stephen Calder's claim in the Northern Star that he
can come and go as he pleases from the Academy. We're not sure where
that places Hector's threat to Claire and Darren: 'If you leave here
once more, don't bother coming back!'
. American readers who would like to know what is happening in EA Byron
Bay: check the past 10 issues of the local paper at www.ECHO.net.au.
. Long term inmates might remember Vince and Belinda. Two lovely local
people who were here from the start until shortly after Hector arrived,
when they could not bear his attacks on students. Vince was so affected
by H's attacks that he had a nervous breakdown. Belinda was bereft for
a year after leaving.
She reports that at last they are healing and that she has regained the
certainty that she had before she entered into Hector's company.
. Hector leaves for the States today. (Don't miss that plane!) We
believe one of his projects there will be to put his experiences into a
book. Maybe this is inspired by Ian's recent efforts in finding a
national distributor for his book - who knows?
We note that Chris Coles - Hector's official transcriber - left when she
saw the inconsistency between his transcribed word and the Course.
Congratulations, Chris!
Hector offered 'the chair' to Luke and to David before he left (but only
on the condition that David 'drop all that other shit you're doin'').
Both declined.
. Many brothers know and love Helene DeBussy - one of the original
brothers from Toowoomba: the first 'hatchlings' as MT called them.
The good news is that Helen is doing well post-Academy, even after being
ostracised and told to leave the Healing Centre in Wisconsin for
'refusing to heal'. (!)
Only when she left the Academy did she find a tumour on her spine,
accepted surgery - and is recovering her power in more ways than one.
We shall close this week by pointing out that our Number 1 problem in
Byron (apart from the slight problem of a ruling philosophy that is
barking mad, of course) has been the ruination of many lives. (Would you
like us to list them again?)
And that the guy we have called 'teacher' and even 'saviour' is
manifestly responsible for this.
Some brothers point out that Hector is 'getting better' or 'improving'
or 'getting more gentle' - and that their 'assignment is now to
facilitate his homecoming. To those of you who say this we say: Wait a
minute chaps! That means that the Hector that you defended before we got
you to look at his actions was NOT okay.
Hector has also told an extraordinary array of lies. We would encourage
you to check out just a few of our claims about these: use any source
you desire.
Most of the lies are about his own behaviour - e.g. in papering over his
role in causing mental collapses, relationship break-ups, attempted
suicides, suicides and the like. There is also the story - as yet
unconfirmed - of Hector embezzling donations big-time. (We'll have to
check that out with ex-Master Josh.) Anyway, we urge you to check out
the primary facts as well - not just the untruths based on them.
The two girls from Byron Sessions who committed suicide would be a good
start. Their friends and carers are still in the area: they know the
real stories.
Why do we suggest that you do this? Because the real Jesus - the one who
lived in first century Palestine, and whose words were written down by
observers of the time - said: 'By their fruits you shall know them.'
And now Holy shall do a terribly egotistical thing and quote
him/herself: for the benefit of our many new readers - but also because
the relevance of these words is far greater now, as the Academy's
destruction draws near:
As we've said before, we'd like to minimise the suffering which lies
around the corner. It has been painful and difficult enough for most of
us to adjust to reality. It will be doubly hard to do so in the decline
and chaos that will envelop the Academy in the coming months.
Most of us feel we've escaped from some pretty serious spiritual
addiction. (A slight misnomer, because giving our power away to the
likes of Hector wasn't, finally, all that spiritual.)
When we thought we were transforming, and leading a life of service, we
were actually just hiding from life. And getting star-struck by powerful
personalities.
We took a wrong turning, but we did so with great sincerity - sincerity
that will see us right for the rest of our lives. Bring that out with
you.
The hardest part in leaving is acknowledging a terrible paradox: that
what we thought was the path to God has robbed us of our divinity. That
what we thought was divine has separated us from God. And that that
which was meant to end separation was actually its most powerful agent.
Swallow that one, and you're ready to walk out the door.
You can bring the pure essence of your awakening with you, if you have
one: everything good will travel. Leaving the Academy will not make your
world turn to ash, nor your heart. We can vouch for that.
When you do leave, don't be too hard on yourselves. We entered into
Sessions with pure motives - every last one of us. It's our teachers who
have lost their way.
Oh - and could the last person to leave the cult please shut the door
and turn out the light.
Holy Smoke
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
Mike Down Under
> > Does anyone of you readers on this newsgroup, read or now something
> > about the endevaor academy?
Earlier Holy Smokes are easily obtained from Google. The one's I have posted
should give you an appropriate flavour of their operation here in Oz and the
USA.
Mike Down Under
Mike Down Under
"Daniel" <do...@sendspam.com> wrote
> The New Christian Church of Full Endeavor and its associated Endeavor
> Academy comprise a bizarre cult. They have tried to steal the course
> and use it for their own nefarious purposes. Stay away from them and
> all of their doings. Stay far away.
That is putting it mildly!
Mike Down Under
Mike Down Under
"Mike Down Under" <mbys...@bigpond.net.au> wrote
I might add that they (EA) are little different to FACIM or the CIMS other
than FACIM seem to stay mainly within the law but not within the theory that
they espouse. EA and the CIMS don't stay within either the law or the theory
that they espouse.
Mike Down Under
Daniel
I might add that I have seen no evidence to support the idea that
FACIM or CIMS are cults in the sense that Endeavor is. There simply
aren't any reports of the same kind of wide-spread abuse and
exploitation that has been documented going on at Endeavor. For
example, Dr. Wapnick teaches some things that I don't think are very
helpful, but I never heard tell of him hitting anyone
Yours in Christ,
Daniel
Richard A. Thayer
named Ted.
Look for his post and ask him for some info.
The letters MikeDU are posting are some of the
experiences
on the crud that comes out of these kinds of
experiences, too,
but certainly not the whole picture.
There are many who have great experiences of grace
and love.
These are all my personal opinions BTW-- I
represent someone
not attached to the Academy who has experienced
the place
with visits since I live nearby.
The teachings I have observed in services or
classes,
are of great emphasis on Jesus and
the course itself . The format is often lecture,
the atmosphere,
energetic and not particularly silent or overly
formal.
I recommend a careful
personal asking as you investigate whether that is
the place
for you. You'll know. Most people know it pretty
quickly.
You'd experience an extremely charismatic teacher,
a pentocostal type expression of Spirit and
community
attachments.
I've alternately given it thumbs up, thumbs down,
at different stages of my own personal journey.
Hope that helped in some way.
LINDA
Daniel
With all due respect to Linda, many of the same things could be said
of the Jim Jones ministry. Ted Poppe is a charlatan and a notorious
liar. Be very wary of him in particular.
Yours in Christ,
Daniel
Richard A. Thayer
Daniel wrote:
> With all due respect to Linda, many of the same things could be said
> of the Jim Jones ministry.
I know Daniel, what you speak of.
The man will still have to make his own decisions.
I know that there is plenty of evidence against
and I happen to
be near enough to know there is evidence *for*
gain also in the
experience. It is fair to speak of both.
As I wrestle with how I look and evalute this,
The same type of Jim Jones comment could equally
apply for someone selecting to be born in a
ghetto.
it won't keep them from the same community we
share, being
the Sons of God..
Some people want the experience of being
followers.
They too are the Sons of God.
Some people will follow blindly.
Some people need shelter and a place to hide.
They will find it in the darndest places.
Some people gain much even as they endure all
kinds of seeming
shit in life. Some suffer and bring more and more
into
their experience despite being in the best care,
the purest
religious offerings and the best that the human
race has
ever devised.
If God doesn't dump em, I don't know that we are
supposed to.
Ted Poppe is a charlatan and a notorious
> liar. Be very wary of him in particular.
Ted poppe also has shared an experience with Jesus
here.
If it's fake, Jesus can thump him good back.
if it's not, we can thump ourselves for putting
any credence in
that measure. It's up to us.
BTW, if we had to eliminate the charlatans and the
consistent
liars in here, we'd be quite down in numbers. :-)
We can be wary but sometimes we
gotta trust our inner guide to guide us. i've had
some experience
some haven't in here with Endeavor. You've had
one obviously.
In this fellow's case,
he has that opportunity to seek inner guidance.
I urge him to use it.
I appreciate your comments as you stay true to
them all along.
You've had some experiences and should have your
say.
Glad you posted, as I knew you would :-)
LINDA
>
> Yours in Christ,
> Daniel
Mike Down Under
> Ted Poppe is a charlatan and a notorious
> liar. Be very wary of him in particular.
You see just like the Great White Teacher and Pope Pious and that is why I
said EA are the same as FACIM and the CIMS. All three are ego driven
organisations that claim that Jesus is leading them against the others.
Mike Down Under
Gene Ward Smith
>I might add that I have seen no evidence to support the idea that
>FACIM or CIMS are cults in the sense that Endeavor is.
CIMS can hardly qualify as a cult, bizarre or otherwise. FACIM has some of the
stigmata; it certainly has true believers willing to go to great lengths to
ensure only their version of the truth gets taught.
There simply
>aren't any reports of the same kind of wide-spread abuse and
>exploitation that has been documented going on at Endeavor. For
>example, Dr. Wapnick teaches some things that I don't think are very
>helpful, but I never heard tell of him hitting anyone
I've never heard of Robert Perry hitting anyone on the head either; maybe we
should direct this searching soul to Sedona?
Kgrace2
>>> > Academy comprise a bizarre cult. They have tried to steal the course
>>> > and use it for their own nefarious purposes. Stay away from them and
>>> > all of their doings. Stay far away.
>>>
>>> That is putting it mildly!
>>
>>I might add that they (EA) are little different to FACIM or the CIMS other
>>than FACIM seem to stay mainly within the law but not within the theory that
>>they espouse. EA and the CIMS don't stay within either the law or the theory
>>that they espouse.
>>
>>Mike Down Under
>>
>>
>>
>
>I might add that I have seen no evidence to support the idea that
>FACIM or CIMS are cults in the sense that Endeavor is. There simply
>aren't any reports of the same kind of wide-spread abuse and
>exploitation that has been documented going on at Endeavor. For
>example, Dr. Wapnick teaches some things that I don't think are very
>helpful, but I never heard tell of him hitting anyone
>
EA members (before the copywrite issue) were known in the course community as
'disruptive'. For some reason, they would seek out course meetings, groups,
conferences, etc. with the intent to yell, shout down speakers, monopolize
conversations and such. I never much understood all that besides some strange
'darma slap' technique Chuck may have espoused to 'wake up' sleeping course
students. I don't know.
lasse.
my choice-and that will be to stay away from this academy.... and go on
studying the course from the book in original.....
thank you all once again!
"swede"
"lasse." <la...@bredband.net> skrev i meddelandet
news:wUVZ8.1440$V7....@news2.bredband.com...
Daniel
wrote:
Godspeed my friend, Godspeed.