
By: J.J. Hitt
To: Paul Halyung
Re: ECK ECK ECK (coff coff choke choke)

 From the archives:

From: drogers@csun.edu (David D. Rogers)
Subject: Scientology got me out of Eckankar! (Long)
Date: 18 Oct 1995 08:02:57 GMT

In honor of everyone who's ever left Scientology: :)

Here's my story on how I left Eckankar, another religious cult which was
inspired by Scientology. My decision to leave Eckankar was largely a result
from my willingness to learn more about Scientology, which had a direct
influence in the creation of Eckankar. I posted this to alt.religion.eckankar
and alt.support.ex-cult last July, and it got a few good responses.

Here's a glossary on the movement which will hopefully make it easier to
understand this post:

ECKANKAR (they spell it in block capitals)-- The Ancient Science of Soul
Travel. Alternately, either the most direct path back to God, or one of the
most direct paths. Founded in 1965 on its founder's birthday (which has become
its "Spiritual New Year"), Paul Twitchell became the "Modern-Day Founder" of
the movement when he was commissioned by the 500 year-old Tibetan Master,
Rebezar Tarzs (who really looks more Afganistanian or Armenian in Eckankar
pictures). The Earth's spiritual light was growing very dim before Paul
Twitchell (a former press secretary for L. Ron Hubbard) brought the teachings
of "ECK" to the "spiritually hungry masses." Most likely inspired by
Scientology (Twitchell was reported to have commented that "there's a lot of
money in religion!" while working for Hubbard), most of Eckankar's world view
really comes from Sant Mat, an Indian (subcontinental) philosophy that believes
in abstinence from meat, pre-marital sex, and a rigorous meditation schedule.
(Eckankar doesn't practice the above, save 20-40 minutes a day in higher-level
"contemplation" (their practice is more like "Creative Visualization"), rather
than meditation.) To show its importance, ECKANKAR and other words are always
in block capitals. (PT stressed that Eckankar's "sacred," trademarked words
must be stressed to leave an impression on the reader).

Darwin Gross-- Successor to Paul Twitchell. He chose as a successor (and was
later booted out by...

Harold Klemp-- The single most important man on the world today, although
Eckists won't tell you they believe this. :)

LRH-- L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology. You guys should already know
this. :)

David C. Lane-- An initiate of the late Charan Singh of Radha Soami
Satsang (in Beas, India; strict, but not cultic), Lane researched Eckankar's
writings while taking an undergraduate class on cults at California State
University, Northridge (coincidentally, the university I'm attending), and
found them to be largely plagiarized. Many of them were plagiarized from the
writings of...

Dr. Julian Johnson-- An initiate of the late Sawan Singh of Radha Soami Beas,
Johnson was commissioned to write _The Path of the Masters_ and other books for
English-speaking readers.

Spiritual Counterfeits Project-- A Christian counter-cult group. At times, more
than a bit kooky (they're really big on Joseph Campbell and "satan worship");
but when their research is good, it's damn good. They mailed out their Journal
on Eckankar in 1979 to every Eckankar center they had an address for, and
thousands of people left. The main part of their report was largely based on
Lane's research. (Lane, who is also a practicing Catholic, said he made it
clear before working with them that he does not agree with many of their
positions.)

Tim Kelly-- One of the main kooks in alt.religion.eckankar. Drops in from time
to time, to tell how all of us critics are really working for...

Kal Niranjan-- The leader of the "lower worlds." The Kal's job is to keep us in
the lower worlds, and through the tests that the Kal gives us, we become more
refined so that we can enter the "higher worlds." This idea came from Sant Mat,
but it isn't taken to the extreme that Eckankar takes it to.

Critical information about Eckankar can be found at
http://www.inlink.com/~rife/eck_main.html, including the complete text of
Lane's _The Making of a Spiritual Movement.

: From: drogers@huey.csun.edu (David D. Rogers)
: Newsgroups: alt.religion.eckankar,alt.support.ex-cult
: Subject: My former membership in Eckankar (WAS: Objectivity, : Rebazar's Twin
brother, and
: Date: 15 Jun 1995 18:11:19 GMT
:
: In article <v0211010fac019bc67848@[199.171.21.35]>,
: kent@home.actlab.utexas.edu (Kent Livingston) (by way of : kent@gatezone.com
: (kento)) wrote, in the alt.religion.eckankar newsgroup:
:
: :David D. Rogers says:
: :
: :> Reading that the founder of your religion was a plagiarist isn't
: :> interesting? I'd say maybe you're a bit jaded... :)
: :
: :
: : David, with all due respect you're a newbie in here.  Read it : : once ten
years ago and it's interesting.  Read it over and over : : every week posted by
people who seem to think they're doing : : something special and it gets very
stale.
:
: Which is enough to make anyone jaded. I'm not _quite_ a newbie in
: here, Kent. Or at least I started posting soon before you left. I
: even posted a "good-bye" notice to you (though I don't think I
: saved it).
:
: I also wonder what you mean by "posted by people who seem to think : they're
doing something special." I'm only in here to exchange
: views and do some reality testing (mostly on myself, albeit in a
: public forum).
:
: : Why don't you tell us a little about yourself?  That is something
: : you really do know something about, and it wouldn't just be a
: : repeat of stuff we alrady know.
: :
: : Give us a little introduction, eh?  Or have I missed it.  If so
: : the jokes on me.
:
: Hmmm... I don't think I have made a "formal" introduction. :) OK,
: for those of you who don't know (I guess that's most of you :), I'm
: a 23 : year-old junior Journalism major at California State
: University Northridge. I was born on May 5, 1972 in Santa Monica,
: and I've lived my entire life in the Los Angeles area. I was here
: (in Van Nuys, about 10 miles from Northridge) during the Northridge
: earthquake last year (scariest moment of my life ;(  ), and I've
: been witness to the massive rebuilding that's been taking place
: here ever since. I've been a reporter at both of the student papers
: at CSUN (the Daily Sundial and the Matador Reporter), and I'm
: currently interested in a career in freelance writing,
: but even that may change. My hobbies include writing (of course ;),
: reading, music, traveling (when I get the opportunity),
: debating/exchanging points of view, 'net surfing (I've been online
: since 1990, and on the 'net since last year), and computers (I work
: part time at a computer store), among other things. I generally try
: to keep busy. :)
:
: My interest in Eckankar began when I was introduced to it by my
: mom, in early 1989 (when I was only 16). I had an interest in
: "alternative religions" but had not committed much study. (I had
: attempted to be an athiest for about a year, but had decided that I
: believed in something, not knowing what.) She introduced the
: subject to me in a crowded restaurant (though visably fearfull that
: others would hear what she was saying). When we got home, she
: showed me a videotape of Harold Klemp and "The Journey Home" video,
: which only made me more apprehensive towards the whole subject.
:
: Despite my objections, she took me along to some Eck youth meetings
: where I was formally introduced to the subject. The people seemed
: bright, cheery, and eager to tell me about their religion. Through
: them, I found out about Paul Twitchell and Harold Klemp (Darwin
: Gross would come later <g>), all the books they had written, how
: inspiring they were to them, and how much they had changed their
: lives. There was a definate comradery among them, something which
: I desperately wanted, having lost all hope of any kind of a
: relationship with a young woman that I was trying to court.
: Things were looking pretty dismal at that time in my life, and
: everyone I met in Eck seemed to be happy. Some of the beliefs and
: rituals seemed pretty kooky, but others did not, such as the belief
: in reincarnation (which I had accepted, even as an athiest). The
: need in a living master to show the right road was not obvious to
: me, but not totally incomcompatable with my existing belief system,
: either. I took the Eckists' advice and just went with the things I
: already believed in, with the confidence that I wouldn't always
: have to "rely" on faith. Besides, I figured, how bad could it be?
: If it really was something I shouldn't deal with, I figured I
: could always leave. As time passed, I believed more and more in the
: Eckankar doctrines, and that anything could be solved (or at least
: overcome) by applying them. While I never forgot Holly, my social
: life was mostly spent with other Ecksits. I mostly stayed away from
: devout Christians, becuase I "knew" they were entrapped by the Kal
: (negative) force, as Paul Twitchell had wrote (and as my new peers
: had always repeated).
:
: But while I came up with automatic responses to them, I never quite
: lost my doubts; they were only "below the surface." My reactions to
: criticism were usually along the lines of, "Well this is my belief
: system and you can't prove otherwise," or "I have proven this to
: myself," or "This is my belief system and that's that." When asked
: if it was some "kooky cult," I pointed out that Eckankar had
: "millions" of members. (This was something I never quite accepted,
: but Eckankar literature said (and still says) it,  and I figured
: that millions or billions of people were unconscious Eckists
: anyway. <G>) Often, this was actually enough to keep the discussion : from
going any further. Usually, I just tried to skirt the subject.
:
: My doubts started to come to a head in late April, 1991, when an
: issue of  Time magazine arrived at my door, containing a cover
: story entitled "Scientology: The Cult of Greed and Power." I was
: aware that Twitchell had been involved in Scientology, but I knew
: very little about it, other than the "Dianetics" commercials I saw
: occasionally on TV. ("Scientology" wasn't even a conscious part of
: my lexicon, and I had to be reminded that it was related to
: Dianetics.)  In the article, there were a number of issues
: regarding Scientology that bothered me: how L. Ron Hubbard (LRH)
: changed significant details in his biography to impress
: Scientologists (he said that he was a "war hero," and had died two
: or three times but had come back to life due to his research into
: Scientology, neither of which  were true); how it represents
: itself to different people as different things (as a business
: management system, as a type of psycho-therapy, or as a new-age
: reformed-Buddhist belief system, depending on who you are);
: how they charge tens (or even hundreds of thousands) of dollars for
: courses; and how they harass ex-members and prominent critics who
: speak out against the cult (the elderly mother of a prominent
: critic in alt.religion.scientology was recently harassed by one of
: their private investigators, for example), often by using unethical
: and sometimes illegal means.
:
: While I was bothered by what I read about Scientology for : Scientology's
sake, I was also concerned about what it meant for
: Eckankar. Obviously, Twitchell had been a member (and LRH's press
: agent), and according to Harold Klemp, he had even learned a lot
: from him. While he might have learned some good things from LRH (I
: presumed that it couldn't be all bad, if people actually liked it), : I had
to wonder how much of the destructive side PT had [...]

: While I was bothered by what I read about Scientology for Scientology's
: sake, I was also concerned about what it meant for Eckankar. Obviously,
: Twitchell had been a member (and LRH's press agent), and according to
: Harold Klemp, he had even learned a lot from him. While he might have
: learned some good things from LRH (I presumed that it couldn't be all bad,
: if people actually liked it <g>), I had to wonder how much of the
: destructive side PT had borrowed in creating Eckankar. While this was on
: my mind, it was something I was trying hard to suppress. But even though I
: was told not to criticize another religion while in Eckankar, I figured
: that Scientology could stand an investigation, if it really was as bad as
: it had been alleged.
:
: The first place I went was a bulletin board on one of the major online
: services here in the U.S.A. There were several critics, a few
: Scientologists, and no ex-members (as far as I could tell at the time).
: While some of the Scientologists did seem a little kooky at times, I could
: also recognize similarities between the Scientologists' plight at
: acceptance by the mainstream and plights by Eckists. While I rarely
: expressed it (for fear that I might not have knowledge of what I was
: talking about), I did have a certain empathy towards them.
:
: But some of that empathy had worn away with some of the behavior exhibited
: towards critics by the Scientologists, and by the critics' arguments
: against Scientology. (Most prominent in my mind was the belief in an
: intergalactic tyrant named Xenu who lived 75 million years ago, who is
: introduced in one of the church's top-secret levels.) Eventually, one
: dissatisfied former Scientologist went online, who confirmed the teachings
: about Xenu (among other things), and described how the church manipulated
: him into believing that his membership in Scientology was essential for
: his very survival, and for the survival of the planet. I began to see that
: it was indeed possible for a church to abuse its members, and I began to
: feel outrage. I also read _Bare-Faced Messiah_ by Russell Miller, a
: biography about LRH (and an excellent book, BTW).
:
: But I sometimes tried to avoid thinking about Scienotlogy. Why? Because
: the more I delved into the subject, the more I was unconsiously (and
: sometimes even consciously!) reminded of Eckankar! While I believed that
: my doubts were influenced by the Kal, and deserved no further thought, I
: knew that there were some unresolved issues concerning my membership, and
: I became increasingly aware that they would have to come to a head
: someday. Scientology reminded me of the problems I was having with
: Eckankar. I was introduced to a former Scientologist who became an Eckist
: (I don't know why he left or was kicked out of Scn), who told me that
: LRH's "tech" was "very powerfull. But in the wrong hands (which he felt
: the church is in now), it can be pretty fucking dangerous." Those last
: three words left a distinct impression upon me. But if so much of the
: "tech" was borrowed, plagiarized, or made up for convinence (as the
: critics alleged), then how could it be so "fucking dangerous?"
:
: In early 1993, I decided that my doubts would have to come to a head. I
: decided to withdrawl from all of my Eckankar activities until I had
: resolved them, though I had never formally withdrawln from the
: organization (I simply let my paid membership expire). Since I did not
: know of any other source for outside information on Eckankar, I requested
: a pamphlet from the Cult Awareness Network in Chicago. (Not knowing what
: its slant was, I had earlier tried getting hold of David Lane's _The
: Making of a Spiritual Movement,_ but I was unsuccessfull.) The pamphlet
: arrived over a week later, and it was frankly quite dry, in comparison
: with everything I've read in this newsgroup. There was a copy of a
: newspaper article quoting Lane (from the Seattle Times), in which he
: mentioned plagiarizing. But I somehow missed that until I found it out
: through someone else <G>, a few days later. There was also a photocopy of
: the table of contents from the Spiritual Counterfeits Project report on
: Eckankar, but nothing else from that journal. The only thing that that
: pamphlet had shown me that it is okay to have doubts about Eckankar
: (something that I had always heard, but had never believed (or seen anyone
: else exemplify).) I could almost feel a hole opening up in my head, almost
: wedging through my entire body, aware that my old beliefs were quickly
: disappearing, fearfull of what they were going to be filled in by. I had
: been feeling depressed that entire week, waiting for that pamphlet,
: and not knowing what was going to be inside.
:
: A included story by a former associate of Twitchell's (when they
: both were professional journalists) about how Twitch had passed
: off a fictional story and sold it to a paper as a true event
: destroyed his credibility in my eyes, and made me wonder how I had
: ever trusted his words. I later read how he substituted the names
: of the made-up "Eck Masters" for the names of real-life masters in
: rewrites of his previous works. I knew that I would
: have to be less trusting of people and claims that have not shown
: me their trustworthiness, as I had trusted Eckankar very readily.
:
: People in Eckankar often say that those who expect results from the
: teachings will be dissappointed. But I have seen how Eckankar sets people
: up for this, by not only telling them that they will have experiences, but
: what they will be. I had often heard Eckists make comments along the lines
: of, "So-and-so is not an ECKist, but s/he is a VERY spiritual person!"; as
: though this is a very rare thing for the non-Eckists. Those who practiced
: meditation outside of Eckankar were somehow more likely to be considered
: spiritual than those who did not.
:
: When I first started getting into debates about Eckankar, I often wondered
: why members didn't get upset at the "Eck Masters" when I brought up issues
: that were important to me, but took to attacking me instead (as Tim Kelly
: has been libeling David Lane in a.r.e as of late). Who wouldn't be
: concerned if they found out that the founder of their religion was a
: voluminous plagiarist and had lied about his own background? Who wouldn't
: be concerned if the founder of their religion had called African-Americans
: "darkies," as Twitchell did in a letter to the New York Times during World
: War II? Or if he had said that gays will become straight as they practice
: his self-perscribed techniques (all the while, somehow convinently
: forgetting to say anything about straights)?
:
: I have decided that the only people who wouldn't become concerned are
: those who have already made a tremendous stake in their decision, and
: would find their world crashing down upon them if they decided to turn
: things back. That may sound harsh, but that's the situation I was in when
: I left Eckankar. Spiritual experiences gained while in Eckankar may
: be seen as a reason to stay (and to somehow explain away all the
: other issues), but all of the spiritual experiences in the world
: won't make cold, hard, physical facts disappear.
:
: Speaking from experience, if I was them, I wouldn't want to face up
: to it either.
:
: [BTW: This post is being emailed to a few people whom I've shared
: the experience (who don't regularly read alt.religion.eckankar).
: This message is also being forwarded to alt.support.ex-cult, where
: it may be of interest. Becuase I am using a mail-to-news gateway
: (since my Usenet server is down again), I would appreciate it if
: all responses were directed towards both newsgroups, if it doesn't
: do it automatically.]
:
: Peace,
:
: <> David

