CultNEWS101 Articles: 2/27/2023 (LDS, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi International Agricultural University, India, Multi Level Marketing, Events)

LDS, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi International Agricultural University, India, Multi Level Marketing, Events

RNS: More Jesus, less touching: 14 changes to the Mormon temple endowment ceremony

"On [February 7, 2023] ... the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints instituted a number of revisions to the temple endowment ceremony. Over the last few days, I've been interviewing people off the record about their impressions of the changes."

" ... [This article] is a provisional overview. Latter-day Saints don't go into the temple with a notebook or a recorder — or at least, they shouldn't. Though the people I spoke to tried, to the best of their recollection, to tell me what was new and different, this is not an exhaustive list, and in at least one instance, their memories conflicted with each other.

Out of respect, this preliminary assessment doesn't reveal what the signs and tokens are, as those are the elements of the temple ceremony that participants covenant not to reveal. But there are quite a few changes to other aspects of the temple endowment that merit discussion."

Newsroom Post: Session on 'Decoding National Education Policy 2020' organized on the last day of Global Investors Summit

"Government Minister Ashish Patel, Secondary Education Minister Gulab Devi, Minister of State for Higher Education Rajni Tiwari, Chief Minister's Education Advisor Prof. DP Singh, Vice Chancellor of Lucknow University Prof. Alok Rai, Principal Secretary Lucknow, February 12

The UP government's main priorities are to educate, develop, and assist youths in getting employment through higher education. With the New Education Policy 2020, the government is committed to provide the youth with a bright future by connecting them with education. In view of this, a session on 'Decoding National Education Policy 2020' was held at Bhardwaj Hall-3 on Sunday, the last day of the Global Investors Summit.

During the session, eight investment proposals totaling more than Rs 6680 crore were received on the spot. This will provide employment to about 13000 people in the state.

Yogendra Upadhyay, Minister of Higher Education and Science-Technology, stated that the New Education Policy 2020 was created to link a new culture of education with the nation's progress. It is our goal to make education a medium of knowledge by connecting it to culture.

The Higher Education Minister gave the mantra, "Learning is more important than reading. Although it is possible to forget what was studied, one can never forget what was learnt. The new education policy is created around combining the modernism of today with the specialization of the past."

Education has to be linked with culture, employment, and technology. Education is more than just a degree; it is linked to knowledge—science, research. This should be the core. This education teaches how the family, society and nation are related to the world, he added.

State Government Minister Ashish Patel, Secondary Education Minister Gulab Devi, Minister of State for Higher Education Rajni Tiwari, Chief Minister's Education Advisor Prof. DP Singh, Vice Chancellor of Lucknow University Prof. Alok Rai, Principal Secretary of Higher Education Dr. Sudhir Bobde etc. were also present."

" ... MoU of Rs 680 crores to open Maharishi Mahesh Yogi International Agricultural University in Bilhaur, Kanpur, 1237 jobs"

Multi Level Marketing: The Consumer Protection Challenge 2023

Conference Date: March 13, 2023

" ... This year's virtual conference will be on a single day, Monday, March 13th. As in the previous two years, the speakers include academics, regulators, social media activists, attorneys, and consumer protection advocates. The four session themes are:

* Review of some recent MLM cases

* Social Media Activism

* In their own words: MLM industry documents, statements, and behaviors

*FTC's ANPR re: the Business Opportunity Rule and other recent news

The conference website has the full schedule, a list of presenters, and a link for registration. 

Conference website: https://mlmconf2023.org

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Falling Down The TM Rabbit Hole

Falling Down The TM Rabbit Hole

Joseph W. Kellett

Website: http://www.suggestibility.org/

(Note: Anyone with more than a casual interest in TM will want to view the new film "David Wants To Fly.")

This site is critical of Transcendental Meditation®

My name is Joe Kellett. Although I am a former "Transcendental Meditation"® (often just called "TM"®) teacher I no longer in any way represent the late Maharishi Mahesh Yogi or any or his organizations.

On the contrary, the purpose of this site is to provide information and arguments recommending against involvement with any of his organizations.

If you want the official TM position, go to an official TM organizational source. You also can find links to many additional official TM organizational sources at AllTM.org.

They want to do much more than just teach you how to relax!

However, after researching those sites then come back here. What you will have read is that TM produces very deep relaxation which has been scientifically proven to have both physical and psychological health benefits. (You may have read some outrageous things about "world peace" too but let's skip over that for now.)
What that scientific research does in fact show is that (a) TM produces deep relaxation in some people, and (b) deep relaxation can have physical and psychological health benefits. I have no argument with that. It's true (however do beware though of egregious spin-doctoring performed in TM propaganda regarding scientific research).

What I do have a problem with is that TM teachers use that as a starting point to recruit people into a cult. For one example, many people who start off thinking that they will just learn how to relax end up paying several thousand dollars for classes in developing supernatural powers such as levitation. 

Those people aren't just "learning" how to levitate. They are also "learning", they sincerely believe, how to become invisible. In fact, they are "learning" quite a number of supernatural powers. And that's just the beginning of what they're getting into. How did those people get from just wanting to relax to finding themselves practicing levitation and invisibility?

First, those people were deceived

TM teachers are trained to deceive you. They are good people and they deceive you from good motives because they want to hide from you things that "you aren't ready to understand yet." If you heard those things then your misunderstanding might prevent you from learning TM, and that would be a very tragic thing for you.

These well-intentioned TM teachers will deceive you in two ways. The first way is that they freely employ a technique of deception called "mental reservation." This form of deception involves hiding information from you while letting you believe that you have all of the information that you need. This was the form of deception employed by Bill Clinton when he said "I did not have sex with that woman." He wasn't "lying" (at least not according to his private unstated mental definition of "sex") but he was still deliberately "deceiving." As he famously said "It depends on what the meaning of the word 'is' is". TM advocates are pulling identical deceptions on you!

TMers also quite freely and egregiously employ a form of propaganda called "spin doctoring." This is a form of deception involving deliberate distortion of the facts. In this website I will show you how both of these techniques of deception are used.

Second, those people's psychological vulnerabilities were taken advantage of
As I will discuss in detail this is how TM works: (a) first a person is told that by following a certain procedure he will attain deep relaxation, and (b) then he is then shown how to induce a trance state in himself in which that suggestion is acted out. Of course TM is very elaborate and effective in how it carries this out and I discuss this in great detail at that link.

Continue Reading: http://www.suggestibility.org/

CultNEWS101 Articles: 12/14/2021 (Transcendental Meditation, Jehovah's Witnesses, Podcast, Satanic Panic)

Transcendental Meditation, Jehovah's Witnesses, Podcast, Satanic Panic

What Should I Think About..?: Transcendental Meditation, Cults and Exiting: Fascinating interview with Patrick Ryan from CultNEWS101.

"Patrick Ryan found himself deeply involved in Transcendental Meditation during the 1970s until he started to believe he was part of a harmful group. He is now a cult mediation specialist, otherwise known as exit counseling. He is also the head of TM-EX, an organization of ex-members of Transcendental Meditation and has worked extensively with The International Cultic Studies Association. He is also co-author of "Ethical Standards for Thought Reform Consultants". We talk to Patrick about his life inside and outside and the perspective he has gained in his many years working in this space. 

Evil Sheep Podcast: What should I think about...?

"Dad left a high control religious group, the Jehovah's Witnesses, when he was 30 and since then has been trying to work out what he thinks about a whole bunch of stuff. With new episodes every Sunday and Wednesday, "What should I think about..?" is a daughter - father podcast with the lofty, if overly ambitious goal, to make sense of the complicated, contradictory, confusing but wonderful thing we call the world.

Since leaving, Dad has gained a degree in Psychology and a Masters in Organizational Psychology so brings some of this knowledge and experience to the conversation. Celine is a young filmmaker working on a number of different documentary projects including "The Pink Pound'', a documentary that explores the relationship between the LGBTQ+ community and commerce."

Religion Unplugged: How Today's Conspiracy Theories Echo The Satanic Panic

"In 1983, the owners and employees of the McMartin Preschool in Manhattan Beach, California, were accused of ritual child abuse and molestation, leading to one of the longest running criminal trials in U.S. history. This landmark case marked the beginning of a widespread moral panic that lasted well over a decade, permeating pop culture and upending personal lives.

Today that social phenomenon is infamously known as the "satanic panic."

Why does this matter nearly 40 years later? Well, history may be repeating itself.

A crowd crush at rapper Travis Scott's annual Astroworld Festival in Houston, Texas, led to 10 deaths and hundreds of reported injuries. As news of the mass casualties spread, conspiracy theories sprang up online speculating that satanism was responsible."

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CultNEWS101 Articles: 9/17/2021 (Mindfulness, Meditation, Stress, Research, Collections (mindfulness, meditation, TM))

Mindfulness, Meditation, Stress, Research, Collections (mindfulness, meditation, TM)

Psyche: Meditation is like mountaineering: approach it with care

"Mindfulness meditation is routinely portrayed as a simple, happy, pleasant mind-hack that can help improve almost every aspect of our lives. Just a few minutes of mindfulness, on a few different occasions, is all it takes to reap the benefits of this life-changing practice. If anyone feels hesitant, we're reminded that it's just like fitness for the mind – and who wouldn't benefit from a little mental exercise?

Yet the way mindfulness meditation is commonly branded doesn't reflect the varieties of ways it's practised or its consequences. While it might be simple, at least in principle, it certainly isn't easy – as the so-called 'father of mindfulness', Jon Kabat-Zinn, has said repeatedly in his books and presentations. While it can lead to positive feelings or pleasant experiences, it can also cause discomfort. Sometimes meditation leads to new or worsened anxiety, depression or other mental illness. It's clear then that the answer to the question 'What's the worst that could happen?' is considerably more severe than most pundits would suggest. What's more, the ethics, values and assumptions behind the practice aren't always made clear. Thus, meditation is less like exercise in general than it is like mountain-climbing – something potentially strenuous that, depending on your objectives, you should approach with caution, training and an awareness of the risks."

BBC: How too much mindfulness can spike anxiety

"Stress, anxiety, productivity: mindfulness is often touted as a solution to nearly everything. But research shows that you can actually take meditation too far.

For around 20 years, I've struggled with periods of anxiety, and turned to mindfulness meditation as a means of quelling those feelings. At its best, the benefits would often perfectly match the hype. Focusing my attention on my breath or my body would calm my nagging internal voice, and I'd return to normal life feeling energised and invigorated.

Far too often, however, I'd end the session feeling much worse than when I began. Rather than relaxing, my heart would begin to accelerate, or my inner monologue would take a nasty turn, as unpleasant memories and feelings of failure and hopelessness flooded my mind. These events became so frequent that I now only use mindfulness occasionally.

I had assumed that I was just uniquely bad at taming my thoughts. Yet a growing body of research suggests that such stories may be surprisingly common, with one study from 2019 showing that at least 25% of regular meditators have experienced adverse events, from panic attacks and depression to an unsettling sense of "dissociation".

Given these reports, one researcher has even founded a non-profit organisation, Cheetah House, that offers support to 'meditators in distress'. "We had more that 20,000 people contact us in the year 2020," says Willoughby Britton, who is an assistant professor in psychiatry and human behaviour at Brown University. "This is a big problem."

Berkeley News: Stressed to the max? Deep sleep can rewire the anxious brain

"When it comes to managing anxiety disorders, William Shakespeare's Macbeth had it right when he referred to sleep as the "balm of hurt minds." While a full night of slumber stabilizes emotions, a sleepless night can trigger up to a 30% rise in anxiety levels, according to new research from UC Berkeley.

Researchers have found that the type of sleep most apt to calm and reset the anxious brain is deep sleep, also known as non-rapid eye movement (NREM) slow-wave sleep, a state in which neural oscillations become highly synchronized, and heart rates and blood pressure drop.

"We have identified a new function of deep sleep, one that decreases anxiety overnight by reorganizing connections in the brain," said study senior author Matthew Walker, a UC Berkeley professor of neuroscience and psychology. "Deep sleep seems to be a natural anxiolytic (anxiety inhibitor), so long as we get it each and every night."

The findings, published today, Nov. 4, in the journal Nature Human Behaviour, provide one of the strongest neural links between sleep and anxiety to date. They also point to sleep as a natural, non-pharmaceutical remedy for anxiety disorders, which have been diagnosed in some 40 million American adults and are rising among children and teens.

"Our study strongly suggests that insufficient sleep amplifies levels of anxiety and, conversely, that deep sleep helps reduce such stress," said study lead author Eti Ben Simon, a postdoctoral fellow in the Center for Human Sleep Science at UC Berkeley."

CultNEWS101: Mindfulness Collection  (42 Articles)

CultNEWS101: Meditation Collection (31 Articles)

CultNEWS101: Transcendental Meditation Collection (285 Articles)

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Thanks,

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CultNEWS101 Articles: 12/17/2020

Transcendental Meditation, Prakashanand Saraswati, Video, Jon Atack, Religious Freedom, Legal, Trauma, ParlerApp, Extremism, Hindu Nationalism, India

Jon Atack, Family & Friends: Moving Beyond the Guru, with Joe Kelly

"Joe Kelly spent nine years in Transcendental Meditation and then five more with a rival swami, who convinced his former TM followers to sue for refunds from that group. This led to Joe meeting Margaret Singer, who helped to begin to rethink his involvement. For many years, Joe has worked helping members of authoritarian groups to rethink their involvement."

The Atlantic: The Supreme Court Is Colliding With a Less-Religious America

Justices' drive to promote "religious liberty" may only become more intense.

"The Supreme Court's decision last week overturning New York State's limits on religious gatherings during the COVID-19 outbreak previewed what will likely become one of the coming decades defining collisions between law and demography.

The ruling continued the conservative majority's sustained drive to provide religious organizations more leeway to claim exemptions from civil laws on the grounds of protecting "religious liberty." These cases have become a top priority for conservative religious groups, usually led by white Christians and sometimes joined by other religiously traditional denominations. In this case, Orthodox Jewish synagogues allied with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn to oppose New York's restrictions on religious services.

But this legal offensive to elevate "religious liberty" over other civic goals is coming even as the share of Americans who ascribe to no religious faith is steadily rising, and as white Christians have fallen to a minority share of the population.

That contrast increases the likelihood of a GOP-appointed Court majority sympathetic to the most conservative religious denominations colliding with the priorities of a society growing both more secular and more religiously diverse, especially among younger generations.

While most conservative analysts have cheered the Court's moves in this area, centrist and liberal critics see the ingredients for a political explosion as the Court backs religious-liberty exemptions to laws on employee rights, health care, education, and equal treatment for the LGBTQ community.

"What we are seeing today is this effort to turn religious freedom into religious privilege," Rachel Laser, the president and CEO of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, told me. Religious institutions and individuals are being given "the right to wield religious freedom as a sword to harm others, and frankly to dial back social progress in light of our changing demographics and progress toward greater equality."

Indeed, the succession of recent religious-liberty rulings by the conservative Court majority may represent another manifestation of the fear of cultural and religious displacement that helped Donald Trump amass huge margins among white Christian voters in both of his campaigns. "We are dealing with a majority-conservative Court that suffers from the same Christian-fragility disease as we are seeing in Trump's base—as though Christianity is what's under attack when others are asking for equal treatment," Laser said."

Medical News Today: What is trauma bonding?

" ... A trauma bond is a connection between an abusive person and the individual they abuse. It typically occurs when the abused person begins to develop sympathy or affection for the abuser.

This bond can develop over days, weeks, or months. Not everyone who experiences abuse develops a trauma bond.

Stockholm syndrome is a specific type of trauma bond. While this term typically refers to someone who is captive developing positive feelings for their captors, this dynamic can occur in other situations and relationships.

2018 research investigating abuse in athletics suggests that Stockholm syndrome may begin when a person experiencing abuse begins to rationalize the actions of the perpetrator."

CapRadio: Social Media App Parler's 'Free Speech' Focus Draws Conservatives — And Violent Extremists, Experts Say

"Parler looks a lot like Twitter. It's a microblogging platform where users post short updates, called "Parleys," which can be reshared by others. Just like its well known competitor, it uses hashtags to link content and account handles begin with the at symbol.

But the social media app, which caught fire with supporters of President Donald Trump during the election, isn't based in Silicon Valley. It's headquartered in Henderson, Nevada, a suburb of Las Vegas.

Parler owes its newfound popularity to promotion by right-wing media figures and its promise to never censor users, unless they post illegal content, spam or pornography — a major draw for conservatives who object to recent reforms on Twitter and Facebook designed to limit the spread of misinformation. 

But experts warn the site is becoming a right-wing echo chamber, where average Republican voters are exposed to conspiracy theories and extremist propaganda."

" ... Meanwhile, far-right content is thriving on Parler. 

A review of the platform by CapRadio revealed overt neo-nazi propaganda being shared by users who advocate for violence against the Jewish community. 

The site also includes members of the white supremacist Proud Boys, who have threatened Black Lives Matter supporters in Carson City and fought with counter-protesters in front of California's State Capitol in recent weeks. 

Affiliated accounts on Parler have posted videos of Proud Boys engaging in violence, which is encouraged by the organization.

Counter Extremism Project: Pro-ISIS Group Releases Two Propaganda Videos Responding to Netflix's "Mosul"

"On November 28, a pro-ISIS propaganda channel on Telegram released two videos, titled "The Battle of Mosul" and "Mosul Another Perspective." Both videos were responding to Netflix's release of the movie "Mosul," which is based on the true story of an Iraqi police SWAT team fighting ISIS in 2017. The pro-ISIS propaganda films, approximately 12 minutes and 43 minutes each, contain extensive footage from previously released ISIS propaganda videos shot in Mosul, including propaganda clips including the British hostage John Cantlie. The videos include footage of vehicle suicide bombings and shootings.

In addition to Telegram, the videos were uploaded to Ok.Ru, the Internet Archive, File.Fm, pCloud, Mail.Ru, and Dropbox. The initial uploads on November 28 were no longer available approximately four days later, however on December 3, additional uploads of the second video were still available on MediaFire, File.Fm, DropApk.To, and UsersDrive.Com.

The Guardian: Twitter accused of censoring Indian critic of Hindu nationalism

"Writers including Salman Rushdie express anger after journalist Salil Tripathi has account suspended

"Twitter has been accused of censoring the prominent Indian journalist Salil Tripathi by suspending his account, after he tweeted on subjects including the anniversary of the demolition of the Babri mosque and his work on India's shrinking democratic space.

Writers including Salman Rushdie and Amitav Ghosh expressed anger after Tripathi, who is chair of PEN International's Writers in Prison Committee, had his Twitter account suspended on Sunday without warning.

A rightwing Hindu nationalist group called Deshi Army, which has 26,000 followers on Twitter, claimed victory after the suspension. Deshi Army was recently praised online by Kapil Mishra, a hardline leader from India's ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata party (BJP), who said: "This team is doing amazing work" in targeting critics of the government online."

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Secrets of Transcendental Meditation with Pat Ryan

jon atack, family & friends

November 10, 2020

Cult expert Pat Ryan was just 16 when he became involved with Transcendental Meditation. Soon afterwards, he enrolled at the accredited Maharishi International University, and while there he took the top-secret levitation, or Sidhis, course. Pat talks with Jon about his experience with TM and his work as an intervention counselor.

CultNEWS101 Articles: 9/29/2020

NXIVM, Legal, Australian Right-Wing Extremist, White Utopias, Burning Man, The World Wide Association of Specialty Programs, Heaven on Earth Inn's, Transcendental Meditation

NY Times: Clare Bronfman, Facing Sentencing, Refuses to Disavow 'Sex Cult' Leader

"For more than a decade, Clare Bronfman, an heiress to the Seagram liquor fortune, devoted her life to supporting a self-help group called Nxivm. She quit her equestrian career, moved to Nxivm's headquarters in upstate New York and poured millions of dollars into the group.

The organization has since unraveled over accusations that it was a pyramid scheme and a sex-trafficking cult, estranging Ms. Bronfman from her father and turning her into a felon.

And yet, as she awaits sentencing by a federal judge, Ms. Bronfman, 41, has not wavered in her loyalty to Nxivm's leader, Keith Raniere.

"Many people, including most of my own family, believe I should disavow Keith and Nxivm, and that I have not is hard for them to understand and accept," Ms. Bronfman wrote in a letter last month to the judge. "However, for me, Nxivm and Keith greatly changed my life for the better."

On Wednesday, Ms. Bronfman will be the first defendant to be sentenced in the Nxivm case, which led to criminal charges against six of the organization's leaders and prominent members. After Ms. Bronfman and four others pleaded guilty, Mr. Raniere was the only defendant who went to trial, resulting in his conviction in June 2019 for racketeering, sex trafficking and other crimes.

The United States attorney's office in Brooklyn, which investigated Nxivm (pronounced NEX-ee-um), has asked the judge to sentence Ms. Bronfman to five years in prison, saying Mr. Raniere could not have committed his crimes without powerful allies like her."

ABC Australia: Right-wing extremists using Islamic State tactics to recruit, ASIO warns, amid spike in surveillance

"Australia's domestic spy agency has revealed a dramatic rise in the number of violent right-wing extremists under surveillance, while warning some groups are now employing Islamic State-style radicalisation tactics.

Key points:

• Up to 40 per cent of ASIO's counterterrorism case load is linked to right-wing extremism

• Some groups have been compared to Islamic State due to their propaganda outreach online

• ASIO says the COVID-19 pandemic has provided an opportunity for extremists to radicalise more people

The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) has told Parliament's Joint Intelligence and Security Committee that far-right movements are also taking advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic to bolster recruitment.

ASIO deputy director-general Heather Cook said up to 40 per cent of the agency's counterterrorism efforts are now focussed on thwarting violent plots by right-wing groups or individuals.

"Extreme right-wing violent extremism occupies approximately between 30 and 40 percent of ASIO's current caseload in our counterterrorism work — and that is an increase from approximately 10 and 15 percent prior to 2016," she said.

Ms Cook has also revealed that ASIO is concerned that right-wing extremists are now using the same strategies as Islamic extremists to bolster their ranks."

High Country News: Is spiritual growth possible without confronting whiteness?

In 'White Utopias,' cultural appropriation at festivals like Burning Man goes under the microscope.

"In a geodesic dome in Joshua Tree, California, hundreds of festival-goers assemble for a workshop on prānāyāma, an ancient Hindu breathing practice. Amid an acoustic blend of drumming, chanting and birdsong, a workshop leader, flanked by "guardians" dressed in white, instructs participants to drop into their heart centers and prepare to be "introduced to the place inside (themselves) that is pure love." Many of the participants take these Hinduism-derived activities seriously. But most, if not all, identify as "spiritual but not religious" (SBNR) — a phrase-turned-demographic category that describes the growing number of Americans who are critical of organized religion but believe in something greater than themselves. And these festival-goers have something else in common: Nearly everyone at Bhakti Fest, a multi-day annual celebration of spiritual transformation through Indian cultural practices, is white.

To research her insightful new book White Utopias: The Religious Exoticism of Transformational Festivals, Amanda Lucia, a California-based scholar of religion who specializes in global Hinduism, immersed herself in SBNR communities in California, Hawaii, Australia, Nevada and elsewhere, attending 23 different "transformational festivals" — large-scale gatherings of people attempting to create enlightened selves within imagined utopian worlds. The festivals emphasize certain qualities — kindness, inclusion, mindfulness and the rejection of conventional understandings of the self — though they vary in the details of their utopic visions (and in their acceptance of corporate sponsorships). But Lucia, who attends without hiding her role as a researcher, is struck by their overwhelming whiteness. What makes them, as Lucia writes, such "safe spaces of white ethnic homogeneity"? The festivals are intended to facilitate spiritual transformation. But do the participants ever confront their own investment in whiteness? If not, how profound could their transformations be?"

Website: WWASP Survivors

"WWASP(S) – The World Wide Association of Specialty Programs (and Schools), or as it was known later, Youth Foundation Inc, was an umbrella corporation of associated teen behavior modification programs, boot camps and therapeutic boarding schools. Created by Robert Lichfield in the early 1990s, WWASP quickly became one of the largest troubled teen industry corporations, with dozens of facilities located in both the US and abroad in countries such as Mexico, Costa Rica, Jamaica and Samoa. Following investigations into a number of allegations of child abuse and unhealthy conditions at WWASP's various facilities since 2002, over 20 WWASP affiliated programs were eventually shuttered, and the organization itself was eventually dissolved. Multiple lawsuits have been filed against the company alleging abuse and fraud, the most notable being a joint action lawsuit on behalf of over 350 plaintiffs alleging physical and sexual child abuse as well as various acts of fraud and racketeering."

The Rice Thresher: Visit Houston's Hidden Secrets: Oddities in the Bayou City!

" ... What once was the continental United States' largest Holiday Innnow sits derelict and abandoned, towering over the southern edge of downtown. The formerly space-themed Days Inn got passed around between owners like a hot potato before finally settling into the hands of followers of the Beatles-aligned spiritual guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. They rechristened the building as "Heaven on Earth Inn," planning to generate income and house members. Unfortunately for them, cults aren't known for having great bookkeepers and they were promptly evicted."

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CultNEWS101 Articles: 3/2/2020

Shincheonji Church of Jesus, Sun Myung Moon, Unification Church, Lawrence Ray, Sexual Abuse, NXIVM, Transcendental Meditation, Beatles

CultNEWS101: Shincheonji Church of Jesus (collection)

SCMP: Coronavirus: South Korean church cluster in Daegu brings total number of cases to 46

"The number of coronavirus cases in South Korea rose to 46 on Wednesday, after 15 new cases were reported, including a cluster seen in a church in the southeastern city of Daegu.

Of the new cases, 13 were in Daegu and the neighbouring North Gyeongsang province, said the Korea Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC), and eleven were believed to be linked to a single patient, a 61-year-old woman.

Ten of them attend the same church as the woman, who was the 31st case, the KCDC said.

The 61-year-old woman had first developed a fever on February 10 but reportedly refused to be tested for the coronavirus on the grounds that she had not recently travelled abroad.

She was not put into quarantine until a week later and was confirmed as South Korea's 31st case on [February 18, 2020].

The woman and the 10 others attend the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, which has issued a notice to followers across the country to stop gathering and attend prayer sessions online."

SCMP: Coronavirus: as 15 cases linked to Daegu church cluster, South Korea warns of mass gatherings

"South Korea confirmed five more worshippers of an evangelical church had tested positive for the new coronavirus on Wednesday, bringing the number of infections from the Daegu church cluster to 15 as the country's total number of cases rose to 51.

The 15 patients include a 61-year-old woman who was diagnosed as the country's 31st case on Tuesday and 14 others who came in close contact with her at the Daegu branch of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, a controversial religious movement known for its aggressive evangelical methods. Another person she later met in hospital also tested positive."

" ... Pastor Shin Hyun-uk, an anti-cult campaigner, noted that religious events at the Daegu branch of Shincheonji were usually well attended, with at least 8,000 followers attending weekend prayer sessions.

"The place is so crowded and church-goers squeeze into halls," he said.

It boasts more than 200,000 followers across the country. Members attend traditional churches to convert new followers. Consequently, many entrances of churches in South Korea have stickers stating that Shincheonji members are not allowed inside.

"The church is shrouded in secrets and many followers conceal the fact, even from their own family members, that they go to the controversial church. In light of this fact, many people who might have come in contact with the 31st patient at the church would hesitate to come forward," the pastor said.

The 31st patient and a few others who have been found since Sunday had neither travelled abroad nor been in contact with other confirmed patients, sparking concerns of human-to-human transmission in South Korea.

"We keep the possibility open that the virus has passed through the quarantine nets to start community transmissions," said Noh Hong-in, a senior government official in charge of fighting the virus."

The woman attended four prayer sessions at the church in Daegu City, 300km southeast of Seoul.

Mother Jones: EXCLUSIVE: Meet the Love Child Rev. Sun Myung Moon Desperately Tried to Hide

How the family values crusader made the publisher of the Washington Times raise his secret son."

"When the Washington Times threw its 20th anniversary gala in 2002, conservative luminaries lined up to pay tribute, including Ronald Reagan, who addressed the packed ballroom via video. Afterward, the paper's enigmatic founder, the Reverend Sun Myung Moon, took the podium. "Even before the term 'family value' became a popular phrase, every day of the week the Times was publishing articles highlighting the breakdown in values and what must be done to return to a good, moral society," he said, through a translator. "Today, family values have become an essential piece of the social fabric in America, even becoming part of the political landscape. We can be proud of the Washington Times' contribution that promoted and elevated family values to an essential part of society in America and the world!"

Moon, the founder of the South Korea-based Unification Church, which had hundreds of thousands of adherents at its peak, claimed to be on a divine mission to salvage humanity by rebuilding the traditional family. Before his death last year at age 92, the self-proclaimed messiah—who was known for marrying off his followers in mass weddings—presided over a multibillion-dollar business empire. And he plowed huge sums of money into politics, launching a vast network of media outlets and front groups that promoted conservative family values and left a lasting mark on the modern-day GOP.

Sam Park with his mother, Annie Choi, and a portrait of the Reverend Sun Myung Moon, whom he would later learn was his father. Courtesy of Samuel Park
But this family values crusader harbored a secret. While he was promoting marriage as the solution to society's woes and inveighing against "free sex," his personal life was full of philandering—including at least one adulterous relationship that produced a son. To hide the boy's identify from his followers, Moon instructed his right-hand man, who was also the founding president and publisher of the Washington Times, to raise the child. Moon's illegitimate son, Sam Park, who is now 47 years old and lives in Arizona, also helped guard his father's secret, by staying silent. Until now.

Park, who has shaggy salt-and-pepper hair and a mellow demeanor, resides in Phoenix with his 77-year-old mother, Annie Choi. Their story, which I touched on in a recent article about the unraveling of Moon's empire in The New Republic, casts a spotlight on the hidden history of Moon's church, a strange but influential institution that has maintained close ties to the Republican Party since the Reagan era.

Choi says the initiation rites for early female disciples involved having sex with Moon three times. She also alleges that Moon kept a stable of a half-dozen concubines, known as the Six Marys.
Choi joined Moon's church along with her mother and sister in the early 1950s. At the time, the family lived in the southern Korean city of Pusan. Moon had fled there after escaping a communist labor camp in North Korea, where he was imprisoned, reportedly on bigamy charges. Initially, he had only a few dozen followers, who met in a two-room house on the outskirts of town and were expected to sacrifice everything for the church. For young female members, this included their virginity. Choi says the initiation rites for early female disciples involved having sex with Moon three times. She also alleges that Moon kept a stable of a half-dozen concubines, known as the Six Marys, and inducted her into the group when she was 17. Sometimes, she adds, he would assemble them all in a circle and take turns mounting them. Choi's account is consistent with those of other early followers, who claim that Moon's church began as an erotic cult, with Moon "purifying" female followers through sexual rites. (One former acolyte published a book on the topic in Japan.)"

NY Post: Neighbors saw 'half-dressed' woman landscaping at accused sex cult leader's home

" ... Neighbors of the Piscataway home where Ray lived with a pal and at least two young women say the constant construction and saucily dressed workforce raised red flags.
"One girl used to work outside half-dressed," said a neighbor, who would only identify himself as Mike, noting that the woman wore "short shorts hiked up and a half shirt" and was seen "gardening" and "grading soil" several times a week.
"They would tear it up, fix it, then tear it up again," Mike said of the yard. "Lots of people complained to the town about it. None of the neighbors know what the hell they're doing."
And the weird work wasn't limited to daylight hours, according to neighbor Quinn Bolivar, who said he suspected something shady was happening.
"They're out working in the yard to 3, 4 o'clock in the morning," he said, adding that "They've plowed" the yard "and redone it like 12 times."
"The projects they do around the house are very odd," he said."

New Book: "Master, would you brand me? It would be an honor.

" ... Memoir of a 12-year-NXIVM-member-turned-whistleblower, and her inspiring true story of abuse, escape, and redemption. A portion of the profits will be devoted to starting a foundation for victims of NXIVM—to support their healing and recovery."

Out of Town Blog: Rishikesh Travel Guide: The Yoga Capital Of The World

" ... Visit the Beatles Ashram Rishikesh first came to the consciousness of the rest of the world when the Beatles came here during the winter of 1968. They stayed at the then Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's Ashram to study yoga, meditation and search for spirituality. During their transcendental meditation sessions with the Maharishi, the band reached creative high writing astounding 48 songs, most of which were included on their double album "White Album".
Today, a riot of arresting mural art now plasters the peeled-off walls of the Ashram's ruins. These wonderful mural essays were created by street artists forming the 'Beatles Ashram Mural Project'—founded in 2012. Apart from the mural paintings, lyrical lines such as "with every mistake, we must surely be learning" from a George Harrison-penned song, can be read scrawled on random walls.
Entry fee: 600 Indian Rupees for foreigners"

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