CultNEWS101 Articles: 6/5/2025 (Legal, Charles Manson, Meditation, Mindfulness, OneTaste)

Legal, Charles Manson, Meditation, Mindfulness, OneTaste

ABC News: Former 'Manson family' member Patricia Krenwinkel, 77, recommended for parole over 1969 Tate-LaBianca murders

"Patricia Krenwinkel, a former follower of cult leader Charles Manson who was convicted for her role in the murders of seven people during a two-day killing spree across Los Angeles in 1969, has been recommended for parole.

It's the 16th time Krenwinkel has appeared before the parole board panel, and the second time parole has been recommended — the first being in 2022, before the decision was overturned by California Governor Gavin Newsom.

Krenwinkel, 77, is California's longest-serving female prisoner, having originally been sentenced to death in 1971 for her role in the brutal "Helter Skelter" killings, which shocked America and shone a light on the dark side of 1960s hippie counterculture.

Her sentence was commuted to life with the possibility of parole in 1972, when the state's Supreme Court ruled the death penalty was unconstitutional."

Science Alert: Meditation And Mindfulness Have a Dark Side We Often Overlook

" ... In the past eight years there has been a surge of scientific research in this area. These studies show that adverse effects are not rare.

A 2022 study, using a sample of 953 people in the US who meditated regularly, showed that over 10 percent of participants experienced adverse effects which had a significant negative impact on their everyday life and lasted for at least one month.

According to a review of over 40 years of research that was published in 2020, the most common adverse effects are anxiety and depression. These are followed by psychotic or delusional symptoms, dissociation or depersonalisation, and fear or terror."

Courthouse News Service: Government wraps 'sex cult' case in Brooklyn

"After four weeks of testimony, federal prosecutors rested their case Monday against two former leaders of OneTaste, a Bay Area company that marketed sex acts as meditation. Jurors must now decide whether the group's tactics crossed the line into forced labor conspiracy.

The company's founder, Nicole Daedone, 57, and former head of sales, Rachel Cherwitz, 44, each face one count that carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

OneTaste's core product was "orgasmic meditation" or OM, pronounced like the sacred sound and spiritual symbol commonly invoked in yoga and meditation. Despite its branding, "OMing" is a far cry from those ancient practices; instead, it's a 15-minute partnered practice that involves stroking a woman's genitals — or in the case of "male OMing," giving a man a hand job.

Trial witnesses described an environment of high control with cruel and abusive managers who preached women's empowerment. Still, they ordered them to sexually serve men, via the "OM" practice and otherwise, particularly potential investors and high-paying clients.

Founded in San Francisco in 2004, the company established branches in New York City, London, Austin, Texas, and Boulder, Colorado, and later sold the city branches to franchisees. Daedone sold her shares in the business for $12 million in 2017. Her co-founder, Rob Kandell, an unindicted conspirator who testified under subpoena with government immunity, was bought out for $1.5 million three years earlier."

News, Education, Intervention, Recovery

CultMediation.com   

Intervention101.com to help families and friends understand and effectively respond to the complexity of a loved one's cult involvement.

CultRecovery101.com assists group members and their families make the sometimes difficult transition from coercion to renewed individual choice.

CultNEWS101.com news, links, resources about: cults, cultic groups, abusive relationships, movements, religions, political organizations, and related topics.

Facebook

Flipboard

Twitter

Instagram

The selection of articles for CultNEWS101 does not mean that Patrick Ryan or Joseph Kelly agree with the content. We provide information from many points of view to promote dialogue.

Please forward articles that you think we should add to cultintervention@gmail.com.

CultNEWS101 Articles: 3/28/2025 (Mindfulness, Event, Meditation, Research)

Mindfulness, Event, Meditation, Research

BDG: Metta's Gardening Leave

" ... I kept asking myself why information on the adverse effects of meditation was little known or discussed in meditation circles. With each new interview I listened to, it dawned on me that such transparency would probably be bad for the mindfulness "brand." It was oddly comforting to discover that the "fight to the death" manner in which I was interrogated and then abruptly asked to leave the center practically had a playbook. It also gave me new compassion that what had appeared as service-to-self indifference in those around me was possibly due to dissociation or even addiction to meditation.

Dr. Willoughby Britton's name came up again and again in these interviews, as well as that of Cheetah House, the non-profit organization she had founded to support people struggling with the adverse effects of meditation. Far from being anti-meditation, her work and interviews emphasize informed consent, and that the right meditation technique is a tool for the individual rather than a cure-all to be overused and even weaponized. It is a given that any medication can have side effects, yet somehow this is often ignored in the case of meditation. One person's medicine can be another's poison. These ancient practices were not designed with the modern-day aim of relaxation in mind.

These findings confirmed and challenged my thinking and understanding of my own meditation practice and experiences, and it was hardly surprising to hear Dr. Britton share some of the vicious backlash that she's endured as a consequence—to the point of building herself an off-grid cabin in the woods of Vermont to retreat to as needed.

The biggest "aha!" was hearing Dr. Britton liken choosing a meditation practice to choosing a life partner, and the importance of being aware that you both will change with time. Many people that Cheetah House supports had entered a meditation tradition for specific reasons, only to find that these traditions had slowly morphed over time to fit the agenda of a teacher, center, or sangha. Anyone who struggled with their practice or questioned this drift was either told to meditate more or flat-out dismissed."

Cheetah House: Does mindfulness suit all kinds of minds?

"An exploration of neurodiversity and the evidence on mindfulness for autistic adults.

Speaker Bio: Dr. Kelly Birtwell is a counsellor and mindfulness teacher, and currently works as a Research Fellow in the Centre for Primary Care & Health Services Research at the University of Manchester, UK. Her research focuses on two main areas: mindfulness for underserved groups, and the health and wellbeing of autistic adults.

Learning objectives:

• Participants will gain a general understanding of neurodiversity, and the evidence on mindfulness-based interventions for autistic adults.

• Participants will acquire principles and concepts that can be applied to their professional practice.

• Participants will gain critical thinking and appraisal skills by learning to assess the strengths and limitations of the research on mindfulness for autistic adults.

Abstract: Neurodiversity refers to the natural variation in the way that human minds work. However, we live in a world that is more often than not designed to suit the average or 'neurotypical' mind. Those of us who diverge from this culturally constructed norm are 'neurodivergent'. This includes people who are dyslexic, ADHD, autistic, and have synaesthesia, among many other types of neurodivergence. Mindfulness is widely used across the general population, yet does it suit those of us with different kinds of minds, and autistic individuals in particular? This talk will explore neurodiversity, the impact of language and terminology on mindfulness course participants, and what it means to be autistic, including masking and the double empathy problem. Dr. Birtwell will present a critical overview of the research on mindfulness for autistic adults, and adaptations that can be made to mindfulness-based interventions to improve their accessibility for autistic individuals."

Psyche: In therapy or meditation, is it normal to feel worse at first?

" ... In a recent analysis of nearly 900 meditators, my colleagues and I found that 58 per cent had experienced an unexpected, negative event that they attributed to the practice. Among the most common of these adverse effects were the recurrence of distressing thoughts or images, anxiety, bodily tension or pressure, exhaustion or fatigue, and feeling socially disconnected. Estimates of adverse effects in psychotherapy are similar in type and occurrence. The recurrence of unpleasant memories is the most common. Sleep problems and feeling more stressed, worried or generally unpleasant are also relatively frequent. Together, these findings underscore that many people experience at least temporary negative effects from undertakings that are fundamentally intended to provide help."

The Guardian: Dining across the divide: 'She casts meditation as a cult. I don't think retreats mean harm'

They bonded over studying languages and becoming teachers. Would they see eye to eye on meditating?

" ... Lizzie  [said] I was encouraged to get into meditation at university, which provided mindfulness programmes. Through those, I went on a retreat, which prompted some significant problems. I've had harrowing experiences, with very negative, long-lasting impacts. I'd say they were some of the worst experiences that can be had with meditation. I was involved with it for about four years; it was another two before I felt normal again. A certain percentage of people are wired in a certain way, and will not respond well – how do we safeguard young people from that possibility? Data suggests we should have increased concerns about mindfulness interventions, whether they're with adults or children. Obviously the risks are greater with intensive retreats, but courses are still a cause for concern."

News, Education, Intervention, Recovery

CultMediation.com   

Intervention101.com to help families and friends understand and effectively respond to the complexity of a loved one's cult involvement.

CultRecovery101.com assists group members and their families make the sometimes difficult transition from coercion to renewed individual choice.

CultNEWS101.com news, links, resources about: cults, cultic groups, abusive relationships, movements, religions, political organizations, and related topics.

Facebook

Flipboard

Twitter

Instagram

The selection of articles for CultNEWS101 does not mean that Patrick Ryan or Joseph Kelly agree with the content. We provide information from many points of view to promote dialogue.

Please forward articles that you think we should add to cultintervention@gmail.com.

Thanks,

Ashlen Hilliard (ashlen.hilliard.wordpress@gmail.com)

Joe Kelly (joekelly411@gmail.com)

Patrick Ryan (pryan19147@gmail.com)

CultNEWS101 Articles 2/24/2025 (Research, Women, Coercive Control, Zizian, Legal, Mindfulness )

Research, Women, Coercive Control, Zizian, Legal, Mindfulness 

Research to explore women's lived experiences of coercive and controlling behaviour in an intimate relationship and beyond.

Claire Carey is a PhD Candidate at the University of Salford she is conducting research to explore women's lived experiences of coercive and controlling behaviour in an intimate relationship and beyond.

Eligible participants will be women over the age of 18 who have lived experience of coercive and controlling behaviour in an intimate relationship and may be experiencing post-separation abuse.

If you think you would be interested in participating, more information about this project can be found by following this link: https://forms.office.com/e/BCqE1TcTv7

Please share this with anyone who may be interested.

Participation in this study is fully anonymous and as such all results will be anonymised.

AP: Police arrest apparent leader of cultlike 'Zizian' group linked to multiple killings in the US

"The apparent leader of a cultlike group known as the Zizians has been arrested in Maryland along with another member of the group, Maryland State Police said Monday.

Jack Lasota, 34, was arrested Sunday along with Michelle Zajko, 33, of Media, Pennsylvania. They face multiple charges including trespassing, obstructing and hindering and possession of a handgun in the vehicle.

A bail hearing for the two is scheduled for 11 a.m. Tuesday [2/25/2020] at Allegany District Court.

The Zizians have been tied to the killing of U.S. Border Patrol Agent David Maland near the Canadian border in January and five other homicides in Vermont, Pennsylvania and California.

Maland, 44, was killed in a Jan. 20 shootout following a traffic stop in Coventry, Vermont, a small town about 20 miles (32 kilometers) from the Canadian border.

Officials have offered few details of the cross-country investigation, which broke open after the Jan. 20 shooting death of Maland. Associated Press interviews and a review of court records and online postings tell the story of how a group of young, highly intelligent computer scientists, most of them in their 20s and 30s, met online, shared anarchist beliefs, and became increasingly violent."

AP: Vermont border agent's death exposed latest violence linked to cultlike group

"In the wooded outskirts of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, a perplexed landlord noticed odd sights at two of his rental properties.

Tenants wore long black coats and parked box trucks outside the duplexes. They ran an electrical cord from one box truck into one of the condos and kept a stretcher inside another.

A neighbor remembers similarly dressed figures walking around at night holding hands. They never spoke a word.

By the time the FBI searched the property last week, one of the most recent tenants had been killed in a shootout with U.S. Border Patrol agents in Vermont, and a second was under arrest. A third, a shadowy figure known online as "Ziz," remains missing after authorities linked their cultlike group to six deaths in three states.

Officials have offered few details of the cross-country investigation, which broke open after the Jan. 20 shooting death of a Border Patrol trooper in Vermont during a traffic stop. Associated Press interviews and a review of court records and online postings tell the story of how a group of young, highly intelligent computer scientists, most of them in their 20s and 30s, met online, shared anarchist beliefs, and became increasingly violent.

Their goals aren't clear, but online writings span topics from radical veganism and gender identity to artificial intelligence.

At the middle of it all is "Ziz," who appears to be the leader of the strange group, who called themselves "Zizians." She has been seen near multiple crime scenes and has connections to various suspects.

She was even declared dead for a time, before reappearing amid more violence.

Who is Ziz?

Jack LaSota moved to the San Francisco Bay area after earning a computer science degree from the University of Alaska Fairbanks in 2013 and interning at NASA, according to a profile on a hiring site for programmers, coders and other freelance workers. NASA officials did not respond to a request to confirm LaSota's internship, but a Jack LaSota is listed on a website about past interns."

Science Alert: Meditation And Mindfulness Can Have a Dark Side That We Don't Talk About

" ... Since mindfulness is something you can practice at home for free, it often sounds like the perfect tonic for stress and mental health issues.

Mindfulness is a type of Buddhist-based meditation in which you focus on being aware of what you're sensing, thinking, and feeling in the present moment.

The first recorded evidence for this, found in India, is over 1,500 years old. The Dharmatrāta Meditation Scripture, written by a community of Buddhists, describes various practices and includes reports of symptoms of depression and anxiety that can occur after meditation.

It also details cognitive anomalies associated with episodes of psychosis, dissociation, and depersonalisation (when people feel the world is "unreal").

In the past eight years there has been a surge of scientific research in this area. These studies show that adverse effects are not rare.

A 2022 study, using a sample of 953 people in the US who meditated regularly, showed that over 10 percent of participants experienced adverse effects which had a significant negative impact on their everyday life and lasted for at least one month.

According to a review of over 40 years of research that was published in 2020, the most common adverse effects are anxiety and depression. These are followed by psychotic or delusional symptoms, dissociation or depersonalisation, and fear or terror."

News, Education, Intervention, Recovery

CultMediation.com   

Intervention101.com to help families and friends understand and effectively respond to the complexity of a loved one's cult involvement.

CultRecovery101.com assists group members and their families make the sometimes difficult transition from coercion to renewed individual choice.

CultNEWS101.com news, links, resources about: cults, cultic groups, abusive relationships, movements, religions, political organizations, and related topics.

Facebook

Flipboard

Twitter

Instagram

The selection of articles for CultNEWS101 does not mean that Patrick Ryan or Joseph Kelly agree with the content. We provide information from many points of view to promote dialogue.

Please forward articles that you think we should add to cultintervention@gmail.com.

Thanks,

Ashlen Hilliard (ashlen.hilliard.wordpress@gmail.com)

Joe Kelly (joekelly411@gmail.com)

Patrick Ryan (pryan19147@gmail.com)

Meditation And Mindfulness Can Have a Dark Side That We Don't Talk About

Miguel Farias

The Conversation

February 16, 2025

Since mindfulness is something you can practice at home for free, it often sounds like the perfect tonic for stress and mental health issues.

Mindfulness is a type of Buddhist-based meditation in which you focus on being aware of what you're sensing, thinking, and feeling in the present moment.

The first recorded evidence for this, found in India, is over 1,500 years old. The Dharmatrāta Meditation Scripture, written by a community of Buddhists, describes various practices and includes reports of symptoms of depression and anxiety that can occur after meditation.

It also details cognitive anomalies associated with episodes of psychosis, dissociation, and depersonalisation (when people feel the world is "unreal").

In the past eight years there has been a surge of scientific research in this area. These studies show that adverse effects are not rare.

A 2022 study, using a sample of 953 people in the US who meditated regularly, showed that over 10 percent of participants experienced adverse effects which had a significant negative impact on their everyday life and lasted for at least one month.

According to a review of over 40 years of research that was published in 2020, the most common adverse effects are anxiety and depression. These are followed by psychotic or delusional symptoms, dissociation or depersonalisation, and fear or terror.

Research also found that adverse effects can happen to people without previous mental health problems, to those who have only had a moderate exposure to meditation and they can lead to long-lasting symptoms.

The western world has also had evidence about these adverse effects for a long time.

In 1976, Arnold Lazarus, a key figure in the cognitive-behavioural science movement, said that meditation, when used indiscriminately, could induce "serious psychiatric problems such as depression, agitation, and even schizophrenic decompensation".

There is evidence that mindfulness can benefit people's wellbeing. The problem is that mindfulness coaches, videos, apps and books rarely warn people about the potential adverse effects.

Professor of management and ordained Buddhist teacher Ronald Purser wrote in his 2023 book McMindfulness that mindfulness has become a kind of "capitalist spirituality".

In the US alone, meditation is worth US$2.2 billion (£1.7 billion). And the senior figures in the mindfulness industry should be aware of the problems with meditation.

Jon Kabat-Zinn, a key figure behind the mindfulness movement, admitted in a 2017 interview with the Guardian that "90 percent of the research [into the positive impacts] is subpar".

In his foreword to the 2015 UK Mindfulness All-Party Parliamentary Report, Jon Kabat-Zinn suggests that mindfulness meditation can eventually transform "who we are as human beings and individual citizens, as communities and societies, as nations, and as a species".

This religious-like enthusiasm for the power of mindfulness to change not only individual people but the course of humanity is common among advocates. Even many atheists and agnostics who practice mindfulness believe that this practice has the power to increase peace and compassion in the world.

Media discussion of mindfulness has also been somewhat imbalanced.

In 2015, my book with clinical psychologist Catherine Wikholm, Buddha Pill, included a chapter summarising the research on meditation adverse effects. It was widely disseminated by the media, including a New Scientist article, and a BBC Radio 4 documentary.

But there was little media coverage in 2022 of the most expensive study in the history of meditation science (over US$8 million funded by research charity the Wellcome Trust).

The study tested more than 8,000 children (aged 11-14) across 84 schools in the UK from 2016 to 2018. Its results showed that mindfulness failed to improve the mental wellbeing of children compared to a control group, and may even have had detrimental effects on those who were at risk of mental health problems.

Ethical implications

Is it ethical to sell mindfulness apps, teach people meditation classes, or even use mindfulness in clinical practice without mentioning its adverse effects? Given the evidence of how varied and common these effects are, the answer should be no.

However, many meditation and mindfulness instructors believe that these practices can only do good and don't know about the potential for adverse effects.

The most common account I hear from people who have suffered adverse meditation effects is that the teachers don't believe them. They're usually told to just keep meditating and it will go away.

Research about how to safely practice meditation has only recently begun, which means there isn't yet clear advice to give people. There is a wider problem in that meditation deals with unusual states of consciousness and we don't have psychological theories of mind to help us understand these states.

But there are resources people can use to learn about these adverse effects. These include websites produced by meditators who experienced serious adverse effects and academic handbooks with dedicated sections to this topic.

In the US there is a clinical service dedicated to people who have experienced acute and long term problems, led by a mindfulness researcher.

For now, if meditation is to be used as a wellbeing or therapeutic tool, the public needs to be informed about its potential for harm.The Conversation

Miguel Farias, Associate Professor in Experimental Psychology, Coventry University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

An earlier version of this article was published in July 2024.

https://www.sciencealert.com/meditation-and-mindfulness-can-have-a-dark-side-that-we-dont-talk-about

Work wellness programs have zero mental health benefits, study says

People who participate in work-led mindfulness trainings, apps and more see no benefit, according to Oxford University.

Victoria Wells
Financial Post
January 23, 2024

Employers sinking money into workplace wellness programs such as mindfulness training, on-site massages and meditation apps might want to think again because new research suggests the programs do absolutely nothing to buoy mental health.

People who take part in well-being programs aimed at teaching them how to firm up their mental health get zero benefits when compared to employees who don’t participate, according to an Oxford University study of more than 46,000 British employees at over 200 companies. The research, released Jan. 10, examined how workers’ well-being fared after participating — or not — in programs ranging from volunteering and charity work to mindfulness classes to apps promoting well-being and healthy sleep habits.

Oxford researcher William Fleming then compiled data from employees across a wide range of industries and positions who had anonymously answered survey questions about their stress levels, job satisfaction and sense of belonging, among other indicators. “Across multiple subjective well-being indicators, participants appear no better off,” Fleming said in the report. “Results show that those who participate in individual-level interventions have the same levels of mental well-being as those who do not.”

The findings are the exact opposite of a narrative that has helped fuel the adoption of workplace wellness initiatives in the United Kingdom, Canada and beyond. “It’s a fairly controversial finding, that these very popular programs were not effective,” Fleming said in the New York Times.
Only one program appeared to boost mental health: volunteering. That could be because charity work helps give people a greater sense of purpose, which increases feelings of belonging, Fleming said. But even then, he sounded a note of caution. “The estimated effects are small, probably selection-biased and these initiatives would not engage with the job demands and resources central to theoretical and empirical understandings of work well-being.”

The findings will no doubt concern some business leaders who’ve sunk large amounts of money and effort into wellness programs to stem increased mental health complaints among workers. Canada is in the midst of a mental health crisis, the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) said, with more than one in two people experiencing a mental illness by the time they’re 40. Indeed, diagnoses have “significantly” grown over the past 10 years, with the pandemic exacerbating depression and anxiety, according to a recent Statistics Canada report.
The economic toll is also enormous. Poor mental well-being costs the country an estimated $51 billion a year in extra health-care costs, lost productivity and quality of life, CAMH estimates. The rising cost of living also hasn’t helped. As inflation increases the cost of food and high interest rates bring heftier mortgage payments, more Canadian workers say they’re under stress. The resulting “financial stress storm” has made people less productive and more prone to absences at work, according to the National Payroll Institute. That’s also expensive since the time people waste at work worrying about money adds up to around $45 billion a year in lost productivity.

At the same time, employees have made it clear they expect their employers to help them manage their mental well-being. For example, three-quarters of Canadians believe workplaces should make their mental health a priority, according to a 2022 study by Capterra Inc. That’s left bosses with the difficult task of finding fixes that actually help people, while also stemming some of the balance-sheet bleeding.
But the Oxford study offers a possible solution for employers wondering what to do — and it’s not a companywide volunteering initiative. “There’s growing consensus that organizations have to change the workplace, not just the worker,” Fleming said.

There’s growing consensus that organizations have to change the workplace, not just the worker - WILLIAM FLEMING, OXFORD UNIVERSITY

Changing the workplace could involve improving flexibility, conducting performance reviews and making jobs better overall, Fleming said. For example, employers could ensure staffers aren’t saddled with too much work, allowing them to complete tasks on time while also eliminating useless time-management training. Some companies may also want to consider pay hikes, he said.

Not all employers are able to hand out raises, of course, but allowing flexible schedules could be a cost-effective fix. Plus, research shows it’s a key want of workers seeking to improve their well-being. As just one example, 81 per cent of Canadians cited a flexible schedule as the top mental health benefit their employer could offer, topping days off for self-care, professional counselling and wellness stipends, Capterra’s survey said. Along those same lines, studies show a four-day workweek brings improved employee satisfaction, happiness and productivity.

Despite the Oxford study’s findings, some companies may be keen to hold onto the wellness initiatives they already have in place. That’s fine, Fleming said, but they’ll still need to make changes if they want mental health to improve. “If employees do want access to mindfulness apps and sleep programs and well-being apps, there is not anything wrong with that,” he said in the Times. “But if you’re seriously trying to drive employees’ well-being, then it has to be about working practices.”


https://financialpost.com/fp-work/workplace-wellbeing-programs-dont-help-staff-mental-health

From Buddhist Practice to Malpractice w/Dan Lawton

IndoctriNation Show: In this second half of their two-part conversation, Dan Lawton explains the unique way western Buddhism intermingles with science, academia, and government by presenting mindfulness practices as secular and rational despite its religious claims and dogmatic history. Together Rachel and Dan break down the defensiveness of the mindfulness communities, pointing out the common reactions people have when their faith is questioned. 

Listen to the episode here: https://soundcloud.com/indoctrinationshow/when-buddhism-goes-bad-wdan-lawton

CultNEWS101 Articles: 4/29/2022 (Event, Fernando Karadima, Nature Boy, Legal, Hillsong, Podcast, Mindfulness)

Event, Fernando Karadima, Nature Boy, Legal, Hillsong, Podcast, Mindfulness

ICSA Annual Conference: Life after spiritual abuse, reflecting on my own experience

The present talk reflects on my experience of 30 year being a follower of former Roman Catholic priest Fernando Karadima. I will share a brief journey of my personal experience about being captured and reborn after 30 years of abuse. The presentation combines my actual life experience with the most recent definition of spiritual abuse and the key characteristics of it. I will confront life experience with academic concepts that bring light to both experience and concepts.

11Alive: Police reports offer new details on arrest of alleged DeKalb cult leader 'Nature Boy'

"Eligio Bishop, the alleged cult leader known as "Nature Boy" was arrested after a former member of the cult who identified herself as his girlfriend said he posted revenge porn "because she left him."

That and several other details about the case of Bishop, who has allegedly led more than a dozen followers in the "Carbon Nation" cult as well as spread his influence with a robust social media following in the tens of thousands, are revealed in police reports released to 11Alive on Wednesday.

According to the reports, the woman told police that "she had joined a sex cult in which her boyfriend is the leader" and that "she did live together with Mr. Bishop and he has posted sexually explicit videos of her and him without her consent on Twitter."

She said he had posted four videos "without her consent and wants to press charges."

Bishop, she added, had directed "other women/girlfriends to hit her, which led her to escape."

That contact with police, on March 30, led to an investigation that resulted in Bishop's arrest on April 14."

Medium: Hillsong Founder's Wife Fired by Text Message

Bobbie Houston sacked over the failures of her husband.

"Two weeks after Hillsong co-founder Brian Houston resigned in disgrace, his wife Bobbie had been dismissed by Hillsong.

Brian Houston, who co-founded Hillsong with his wife in 1983, resigned as global senior pastor on March 21, less than a week after the board of Hillsong Church revealed that he had sent inappropriate text messages to a staff member and spent time with another woman in a hotel room during a Hillsong Conference.

However, the status of Houston's wife, Bobbie, who started Hillsong Church along with Brian, has remained a mystery. Brian and Bobbie had acted as joint leaders of Hillsong; however, Bobbie did not resign at the same time as Brian.

And why should she? What has she done wrong? If anything, she is the innocent victim of her own husband's antics."

" ... It certainly appears that Bobbie intended to carry on with her ministry despite her husband's disgrace. However, Hillsong Church, it seems, has decided to 'call time' on her ministry career. On Saturday, the Hillsong board sent a message to church members that referred to the news that Bobbie Houston was leaving the church but failed to mention that it was a forced redundancy rather than a voluntary

IndoctriNation: The Messy World of Mindfulness w/ Dan Lawton

"Dan Lawton is a mindfulness instructor and writer, with a specific interest in the adverse effects of meditation practice. Dan is a certified instructor in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) through Brown University and spent four years teaching meditation in New Orleans.

Dan spent a decade practicing meditation, primarily in the Vipassana and Western Insight traditions and completed roughly 15 silent retreats. He now mentors other meditators struggling with adverse experiences through the organization, Cheetah House. Before teaching meditation, Dan worked as a newspaper reporter in California and Louisiana."

" ... In this first half of their two-part conversation, Dan provides some cultural and historical background on the Vipassana and Western Insight traditions explaining how these practices changed as they reached the west in the 1950s. Dan goes on to share with Rachel the details of experiencing what he calls non-referential terror as a result of intense meditation practice. Together they discuss the findings of Dan's deep examination of the structures that led to his previously inexplicable emotional terror.

Before You Go: Rachel gives insights into the response from the meditation community that Daniel and previous guest Dr. Britton have elicited and explains the relationship between meditation and executive functioning skills in the brain."

News, Education, Intervention, Recovery

CultEducationEvents.com

CultMediation.com   

Intervention101.com to help families and friends understand and effectively respond to the complexity of a loved one's cult involvement.

CultRecovery101.com assists group members and their families make the sometimes difficult transition from coercion to renewed individual choice.

CultNEWS101.com news, links, resources.

Facebook

Flipboard

Twitter

Instagram

Cults101.org resources about cults, cultic groups, abusive relationships, movements, religions, political organizations and related topics.

Selection of articles for CultNEWS101 does not mean that Patrick Ryan or Joseph Kelly agree with the content. We provide information from many points of view in order to promote dialogue.

Please forward articles that you think we should add to cultintervention@gmail.com.

The Messy World of Mindfulness w/ Dan Lawton

IndoctriNation

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/indoctrination/id1373939526

Dan Lawton is a mindfulness instructor and writer, with a specific interest in the adverse effects of meditation practice. Dan is a certified instructor in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) through Brown University and spent four years teaching meditation in New Orleans.

Dan spent a decade practicing meditation, primarily in the Vipassana and Western Insight traditions and completed roughly 15 silent retreats. He now mentors other meditators struggling with adverse experiences through the organization, Cheetah House. Before teaching meditation, Dan worked as a newspaper reporter in California and Louisiana. He has written about his own adverse experiences from meditation at:

https://danlawton.substack.com/p/when-buddhism-goes-bad?s=r

In this first half of their two-part conversation, Dan provides some cultural and historical background on the Vipassana and Western Insight traditions explaining how these practices changed as they reached the west in the 1950s. Dan goes on to share with Rachel the details of experiencing what he calls non-referential terror as a result of intense meditation practice. Together they discuss the findings of Dan's deep examination of the structures that led to his previously inexplicable emotional terror.

Before You Go: Rachel gives insights into the response from the meditation community that Daniel and previous guest Dr. Britton have elicited and explains the relationship between meditation and executive functioning skills in the brain.

More about Dan's work with Cheetah House Here:

https://www.cheetahhouse.org/care-team

Thanks to all of our newest Patreon supporters:

Rhona Stephanidis, Samuel Huff, Miracle Galston, Blair Lyonev, Michele, Renae, Erin Avenant, Jennifer Mosier, Dana Bradley, Mette Kousgaard, Sunrise Sun and Shenandoah (Shan) Ware

To help support the show monthly and get bonus episodes, shirts, and tote bags, please visit: www.patreon.com/indoctrination

Prefer to support the IndoctriNation show with a one-time donation? Use this link: www.paypal.me/indoctriNATION

You can help the show for free by leaving a rating on Spotify or Apple/ iTunes. It really helps the visibility of the show!

Harmful Side Effects of Meditation - Dr. Willoughby Britton

The FitMind Podcast

February 11, 2020

Brown neuroscientist Dr. Willoughby Britton talks about the potential mental health problems and disorders that may result from meditation practice and how to cope with them. 

Dr. Willoughby Britton is currently the Director of Brown's Clinical and Affective Neuroscience Laboratory, studying the neurocognitive effects of mindfulness-based interventions for mood and anxiety disorders. She has research service awards from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

As a clinician, Dr. Britton has been trained as an instructor in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) and has taught mindfulness to both clinical and non-clinical populations, as well as in federally-funded clinical trials. She also runs an organization called Cheetah House, a non-profit that supports meditators in distress.

In this episode, we discuss the potential dark sides of meditation practice. In a western world where meditation has been taken out of eastern traditions and spread widely in a secular context, we need to be pragmatic and aware of the risks. Dr. Britton's research has demonstrated that some meditators experience adverse side effects as a result of their practice, and she helps us understand how to avoid such pitfalls. For example, she talks about the specific meditation techniques one should employ and also avoid if they have a history of trauma.

Dr. Britton's work is important because it challenges dogma and seeks to help a minority group of meditators who are experiencing some life-threatening adverse phenomena. And while she admits that there's much more research to be done, her early findings are both fascinating and essential knowledge for any meditator.

Cheetah House Care Team

Cheetah House​

Cheetah House Care Team

"Members of the Cheetah House Care Team have extensive experience with meditation-related challenges. Each member has attended over 20 support groups and individual consultations with Dr. Britton and completed a 9-month training that was informed and co-developed by individuals with lived experience of meditation-related difficulties and other relevant experts. The training contained modules on meditation-related adverse effects research, trauma-informed best practices, peer support models, group facilitation and safety.

Cheetah House is a community invested in the recovery from, and reduction of, adversities resulting from meditation practices. Most of us have experienced them and know firsthand how difficult it can be to find expertise, community, or basic validation. We are working to change that!

Mission, Vision, and Values

Mission: Cheetah House exists to provide sensitive support to those experiencing meditation-related difficulties and to empower people to make informed decisions about the role of meditation in their lives and organizations.

Vision: We envision an environment where communities and professionals are equipped with the knowledge and skills to prevent and mitigate adverse meditation experiences.

Values: Informed consent: We believe that individuals and organizations need access to the full range of evidence and information in order to make their best decisions.

Trauma-sensitive conduct: We acknowledge the unique experiences of each person and strive to approach our work with empathy, curiosity, and non-assumption.

Peer-Leadership: We believe the ongoing perspectives of those we serve are irreplaceable and that individuals are authorities in making sense of their own experience.

Self-empowerment: We work to maximize the autonomy of individuals in their relationship with Cheetah House and beyond.

Freedom from systems of influence: We strive to critically assess the workings of power within meditation communities, academia, healthcare, and Cheetah House itself.

https://www.cheetahhouse.org/about-us