Actually, Eckankar is the one who has kept me going because they keep [after] me every time I try to come out with something. The inner form of the Living Eck Master, known as the Mahanta, works with students in the dreamstate and during their spiritual exercises. . Lane and his friends playfully call one another by the names " of Eck Masters. Much of Grosss current teachings center around the easy-listening jazz he performs on the vibes. He was a pro-bowler as well as a higher initiate in Eckankar. I was never able to penetrate Richardss reassuring politeness until I turned the conversation from Eckankar to Freud, Adler, and lung. Lane places his hand to his face like a phone receiver, Hi, Fubbi, this is Gakko. I choke down the last gulp of my Green Garden vegetable cocktail and ask,. They knew what I had done with Eckankar, and they thought, Well, he can do this with J.R. So there was a secret meeting in a Santa Monica condominium with these defectors. The bed was overturned, drawers were everywhere. Several hundred members of Eckankar live in the San Diego area, but not all of them participate in local events. In 1979 he called me from Northridge, where he was living at his girlfriends aunts house. Lane does arrive, at one oclock Thursday afternoon, on time to the minute. My personality is I want to do, ( not sit ) in a Satsang and discuss. He lives in the San Diego area, but the location is a closely guarded secret. Eckankar is a new religious movement founded by Paul Twitchell in 1965. Youre not going to say, Well, Im a dumbshit. Eckists left and right were smiling at the guy, stopping for long chats, and tossing money into his cup. Its had to be recognized as such in this country to operate as a nonprofit organization. We actually challenge our inner experiences in the name of God, to make sure that theyre not phony, not of the negative world of Kal. Lane leans across the cafe table, excitedly tapping his straw. I keep waiting for Gross to give a speech, but he never does. Moreover, people within John-Rogers group have confirmed that on the day of the robbery he was in San Diego., Lane didnt sue Hinkins, but he did go public with his story. In her Golden-Tongued Wisdom, Rosanne continues to sing, A cold hard rain comes pouring down. Hinkins also wrote to Charan Singh asking him to use his influence to get lane to stop doing research on him. Lane has tears in his eyes. If he cant take your soul back to God, he improves your bowling game, money-back guarantee. We both laugh so loudly at Lanes joke, the couple at the next table, who have been covertly eyeing the tape recorder, stare at us openly. Jerry Mulvins suggestion that you start your own cult must have been intriguing on some level. I never stopped, not even for a minute even though they, pardon my expression, treated me like shit. As I walk away he yells after me, Hang in there!. They were gods to me, and one doesnt question the mating patterns of gods. James Peebles, an Eckist and fellow classmate of Lanes, also wrote a paper on Eckankar. When you look at what we do relative to other religions, it basically is no different, we just have a different doctrine and somewhat different beliefs. Richards flashes me his dimples. The lover has lied to you, but the lover is oh so seductive and satisfying, and submission is so thrilling. I had the following experience, I was taken back to the crucifixion. Now I "work" on the internet trying to help others to get out, or not join to begin with. A few months later Gross and Twitchells widow married, sending more ripples of confusion throughout the fold. The following article hopes to help you make more suitable choices and get more useful information Im surprised to meet a casually dressed middle-aged man with graying hair, who seemed much younger on the phone. Sure! But when we go to the Hillcrest Village parking garage to retrieve Lanes car he cant find it. But the stuff that Lane goes after has nothing to do, for me, with the validity of the teachings., When I was in Eckankar, one of the things that I really liked about it was its respect for other faiths and that there was no pressure to get anybody to join., Richards responds, Sri Harold Klemp has taken a special effort to make it clear that we accept the value and the need for all different paths and religions, because people operate at different states of consciousness. Grosss uplifting music is claimed to have miraculous healing powers. There was a lot going on. She speaks so softly, I move the microphone closer. I just arrived here because the cult Eckankar was mentioned by someone, along with a few other cults. Driving the news: " As the only person to serve as both National Security Advisor and Domestic Policy Advisor, Susan's record of public service makes history," Biden said of the former UN ambassador and national . And I saw into the vast soft interior of the universe which was slowly and gently turning itself inside out. The perplexed beggar was in hog heaven. They were dressed up in suits. Remember, when Twitchell founded Eckankar in 1965, he was living in San Diego, at Point Loma. When I came back to the States, I read a book by Paul Twitchell called The Tigers Fang. In 1977, noting the similarities between Radhasoami and Eckankar, a religious movement founded in San Diego in 1965 by the late Paul Twitchell, Lane wrote a term paper comparing the two for an undergraduate religious studies class at California State University-Northridge. Buying a used car you at least look underneath the hood, hit the tires, maybe take it to a mechanic to check it out. Its membership today is primarily in North America, Europe, Asia and Africa. Be very careful with Eckankar. Geraldo was in New York, and I was on satellite hookup at Universal Studios in the San Fernando Valley. I was on the Holy Grail of research.". According to one brochure, which invites me to experience the miracle of spiritual growth and to climb the stairway to spiritual freedom, Eckankar membership is said to be renewable on a yearly basis. Its difficult not to resent Lane, that temptress, that town gossip, that snake in Eden. Eckankar is not affiliated with any other religious group. Fie has a personal thing against Eckankar, he briskly replies. The Temple of Eck in Chanhassen [Minnesota] is open to people of all faiths to come, to attend the worship services, maybe just to enhance their own beliefs. Experts say there are two main reasons many members of Gen X, roughly defined as people born roughly between 1965 and 1980, aren't ready to leave the workforce. Disillusioned Eckists left the movement in droves. Mother Teresas group. Murdochs obsession with water suddenly makes sense. I urge, Come on, Dave, its starting. I practically have to pull him into the concert. Peebles, says Lane, got so disgruntled when he realized there was some kind of fraud being perpetuated that he wrote Eckankar himself about these findings. Peebles returned to his Baptist roots and sent his paper to Professor Ed Gruss of the Los Angeles Baptist College. Discomfort spreads across his face as I continue, You were the Master most of the time I was in it. Holding my hand, he looks deep into my eyes and says, Im still the Master. Through daily spiritual exercises, one can shift ones awareness from the physical world and soul travel to these higher planes. I dont go into Eck centers and walk around and say, Here, read my book. All Im saying is that Twitchell was lying to his constituency. I think it was a resistance to being in the physical world and being fully embodied, and so I tried to exit a few times. There is, indeed, something ethereal about this frail woman. Finally, as a last resort, Lane suggests we exit the parking garage and then walk down the ramp where we drove in. McMahon generously drives me to my interview with holistic health practitioner Bettina Yelman, whose Del Mar office is just down the hall from Richardss. Why do you make a point of fingering Eckankar?, I do think Christianity has fucked up more people in its history than Eckankar ever has. When I woke up in the morning, I had an opportunity to ask questions. Eckankar Pre Philosophy. I actually kept my phone for years, explains Lane, untilone night when youre asleep and youve got to get up at four in the morning and go to school, you get a phone call saying, Were going to fucking kill you. You know what I mean? In The Life and Many Deaths of Harry Houdini, Ruth Brandon writes, He terribly wanted to be convinced. 2 0 Share Reply More Q He reminds me of the bloated, near-death Elvis, only fatter and older. All that junk you gave Lane to write down came out of your own filthy minds, and mouths and you know filthy mouths must be cleaned out don't you. Two years ago you were living at your girlfriends aunts house, not making much money on the pro-bowling scene, and now youre God., Lane rolls his eyes. Hes sitting on a couch in the small lobby outside the conference room. They fade out clean and quietly. And in my unknowingness, I like to explore how much more I dont know., Talking to these Eckists, the conscious, rational, jaded Dodie faded out, and this other little Dodie inside me was starting to feel an incredible seduction. His disciples told me he would pick a guy every night out of the staff and claim that they needed to have sex with him in order to increase their aura or they needed, pardon my language, a rectal innerphase in order to burn off karma., He has thus thing called aura innerphasing, where you do aura balancing, soul balancing, etheric balancing. With the blink of an eye, he could vanish forever. Dawn is finishing an applied kinesiology demonstration of the power of Grosss music. Initially he refuses to come to the Hillcrest home where Im staying, preferring to meet in a nearby restaurant. You need a guide who knows the city. Darwin Gross. and is being financed by them to do his dirty research. As he fetches me a glass of juice, I sit in his cozy living room, which is decorated with family photos, relics from Thailand, and McMahons own paintings, imaginary landscapes with lots of vivid blue. The story he tells me off-the-record, however, is filled with enough ardor and drama to qualify as an alternate ending to Citizen Kane. Then he took the Ho, and he put the two words together. He also gave full accounts to the San Diego Sheriff s Department and to numerous news agencies. On the negative side, Twitchells teachings were synthesized without really maturely thinking whether these different teachings fit in together. Outsiders would think they had stumbled into a convention of traveling salesmen. But this is not oppressive at all. When I leave Richardss office its dusk. ", The following year Lane wrote a second paper, The Making of a Spiritual Movement: The Untold Story of Paul Twitchell and Eckankar. I was obsessed, Lane admits. Lane imagines himself driving, Let me see, I turned left here, now right, then I drove straight for a bit. Using this gyroscopic homing pigeon technique, he leads me straight to his little white Nissan. My hobbit-like suburban existence was agitated by these chemicals of consciousness, and like any powerful initiatory . answer the question why i left eckankar, which will help you get the most accurate answer. Seriously, what could one say about anybody that left a long held teaching based solely on words in one book? I dont remember that second story. It went through the roof a lot quicker than he expected. The beggar you meet on the street may really be an Eck Master. What about Lanes plagiarism charges? I ask. Lanes no longer an easy man to find. Lane is convinced John-Roger was involved. In Youth Ask A Modern Prophet, Harold Klemp writes, "The deep relationship between man and woman is a sacred token of human love. Lane can be such a card. Hes now in Scottsdale, Arizona. In one article Lane shows me, Twitchell is reported to have piercing blue eyes, to sleep only four hours a night, to read 5000 words a minute, to eat little, and to have the ability to be in all places at the same time.. Theres no calm center to this storm. And it continues to rain. Why is one faith trying to knock somebody traveling the same path to God? As members are leaving in droves, the speaker looks into why. Eckankar took off like wildfire, growing from three students to thousands in less than three years. Spirit can express itself as sound or as bright or even colored lights. Founded in 1965 by Paul Twitchell, one-time disciple of Swami Premananda, Kirpal Singh, and L. Ron Hubbard, Eckankar owes much of its theology to Radhasoami. Del Mar Press agreed to change the cover on future editions. Im an extremely intuitive person, she says, so I feel things long before I understand them in my head. I dont think Twitchell imagined that Eckankar would blossom the way it did. Lane discovered information that led him to believe that Twitchell copied whole chapters from Radhasoami texts, lied about biographical details.. Nine years later she read Paul Twitchells Eckankar: Key to Secret Worlds. Houdini longed to communicate with her beyond the grave. I need it. That i owed it to myself to know for sure that what i. No part of this site may be reproduced without our written permission. Those answers were so far-reaching in their depth and breadth, they still help me today, nine years later. You only here it from those shills promoting the book or on Ford's sites. He probably thought my recipe file was written in code and had secret information, or something like that. In days of old the barrier [sic] of bad news to the King was done away with. Hi, Im Dave." I would just close my eyes and he would be there, and I would be there with him too. During their first six months of membership, new Eckists usually receive what is known as their first initiation in the dreamstate. Clearly he is more comfortable with the fluid topography of waves, of meditation, of philosophical inquiry. If you were going to visit a new city, wouldnt you want a guide, wouldnt you want to stay away from the places where the prostitutes are, from the dark streets and the hoodlums? Eckankar teaches that the soul is eternal, it exists because God loves it, and it is journeying to self-realization and God realization. I looked like a little kid. He totally doesnt know; he doesnt know what the guys talking about. Last April the current Living Eck Master, Harold Klemp, spoke at a three-day major seminar at the San Diego Marriott Hotel & Marina. I turn on the stereo and stare out the window. I think theres some sophomoric techniques, that its naive in terms of its psychology. Home study discourses and musical tapes are also available. I figure Lane knows plenty about this. No, I was excited that somebody would pay attention to my research, Lane exclaims. Theres lots of stuff I know about Eckankar, lots of stuff that is real juicy and real scandalous, but I wanted to limit my book to some major salient features about plagiarism and cover-up. Although the book was already typeset. Another man named Sri Michael Turner, in Tucson, claims to be the 974th Living Master of the Midnight Sun. In the past, we thought that this was our little private esoteric religion. But Im amazed that after all the dirt hes dug up on religions, he could be seriously involved in any spiritual path. Lane then quotes these same passages as they were later reproduced, usually word for word, in Eckankar books, with the names changed to the o Eck Masters Sudar Singh, Fubbi Quantz, Rebazar Tarzs, Lai Tsi, j and Gopal Das. But he refuses to reveal details for publication and will only repeat the facts as listed on the death certificate. Once when I was driving down to Baja on one of my frequent surf trips, he continues, I noticed to my amazement a highway sign that said Rebasar. I dont know exactly what it means No Passing, or something like that. To me, if people want to get into those kinds of discussions, fine, and Ill kick it around with them for a while, too, if they want to talk on that level. Hes unimpressed on both counts. It's. Eckankar got wind of the new edition, and their lawyers began corresponding with Garland. I'd heard rumors about why he left but I wanted to see for myself. The only. Eckankar is still very much open to and supportive of whatever religion a person belongs to. I gave up drugs, and my grades went down. You got it. The next day Channel 8 news came out and did as their lead story Cult Researcher Robbed. They took a copy of my article The J.R. Controversy. But they didnt name John-Roger.. Lane attributes the initial success of Eckankar to Gails organizational abilities. There was music and noise and clamor, and I turned to look at my friend. In order to burn off all their karma in this lifetime and to be released from the cycle of death and reincarnation, Eckists practice detachment from the vagaries of life. People were wearing rich, colorful clothing. Cult Survivors: Victims of the Eckankar cult (The Library of Truth): Sykes, Joe: 9781659942743: Amazon.com: Books Books Religion & Spirituality Other Religions, Practices & Sacred Texts Try Prime and start saving today with Fast, FREE Delivery Buy new: $6.99 Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime FREE Returns According to Lane, members of various cults have threatened lawsuits, written him letters with skeletons on them, broken into his apartment, made death threats, and generally harassed him. My parents raised me not to write in books, and so I didnt. I felt the world has gone by, but these people are still there.*. The ocean was rushingusually I hear a sound that is like electricity, kind of high pitched, but richer, fuller than just electrical buzzing. It has its positive aspects, a sense of community, a sense of focusing on the individual and his or her experiences of the divine. As we shake hands I notice hes wearing a gold ring with an embossed EK logo. He was giving a talk at UCSD, trying to sell his book, preaching against Eckankar and a whole bunch of other religions. In the meantime, Lane graduated from Northridge, visited India, and enrolled at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, where in 1979 he met Brian Walsh. We see that all the time.. When a group of Eckists and I went to see the Bloomington, Indiana, premiere of Star Wars, we were thrilled by the light sabers of the Jedi knights. Let's just say that on a relative scale, Jim Jones and Jonestown is the worst and that Mother Teresa of Calcutta is the best in that range Eckankar is kind of in the middle, and I dont think it should rank with the most dangerous of cults. The walls are covered with Andrea Zuills dramatically lit oil paintings of monstrous chalky-fleshed zombies. Im talking about the very form of that truth being copied. It was like an outpost of spirituality. After Id talked to him for a couple of hours, Jerry said, Dave, why dont you start your own religion? Eckankar is against psychic . Saturday afternoon, when we arrive at the hotel, Lane keeps disappearing into the bathroom. But the woman I remember was mousy, with a broad smile; no Bond girl was she. I told him I didnt plan to write about him, but letters [started going] around the country saying that I was a gay FBI agent in San Diego, that I had researchers working for me that I wasnt paying. Gail, after Twitchells death, married his successor, Darwin Gross, in a. Various Eckists say they witnessed the ceremony. In my copy of The Making of a Spiritual Movement, he signs himself the Kal force, Dave. The Kal force, remember, is the power of negativity. He does that all the time. I did my spiritual exercises daily as much as probably anyone in eckankar. I used to be in Eckankar, I tell him. David Lane lives in the San Diego area, but the location is a closely guarded secret. A line will leap out and inspire you. How wonderful after Eckankar, when I was able to experience the exquisiteness of other musicians and various teachers and realize fully: "This is it. We dont do that in Eckankar. While Lane is in the bathroom, I try, to no avail, to get permission to photograph the event. The skies themselves seem to be weeping with loss. And who knows? He never had much money. I said, 'Where was John-Roger yesterday? The guy turned totally paranoid. I had huge phone bills, because I had called this professor or this person. Many Eckists regard this death with the same mixture of awe and curiosity with which we regard the death of JFK. I hope you all had your seatbelts fastened. Even more moving is Driggss rendition of Somewhere Over the Rainbow. Gross sits this one out on a rattan stool, his arms folded over his huge stomach, lost in thought. Lanes research indicates, however, that Twitchell was born between 1908 and 1912, in Paducah, Kentucky. Very top secret, for they were really scared of upsetting John-Roger. But they kept running it, and he never sued them., In August 1988, the Los Angeles Times published an extensive two-part critique of John-Rogers activities, based on Lanes research. The Courier-Journal magazine, to which he was a regular contributor, reported that he sold 1800 stories and articles in three years. Lane tried in vain to place his controversial book with a major publisher. I got sick a lot when I was a baby. He extends his hand and smiles broadly. Paul Twitchells the past; weve evolved out of that. Some letters contained threats against me and my informants. In October, at a seminar in Las Vegas, Gross was revealed to be the new Living Eck Master when Atkinson walked over to him and handed him a blue carnation. But in buying a religion, youre supposed to wear these narrow blinders, so that if anybody disagrees you can block it out. He wanted to know every dirty piece of laundry on Twitchell and Eckankar. Before founding Eckankar, Twitchell was involved in yoga, self-realization groups, and Scientology. Then he mailed some of the stolen documents anonymously to Eckankar under the assumption that they would use it against me and I would think Eckankar robbed my house. I think it would be wrong of me to say that Eckankar is unique. Not the truth itself. In Eckankar there is a technique called the Golden-Tongued Wisdom, in which you find spiritual guidance through an overheard conversation, a voice on the radio, or the lyrics of a popular song. Eckankar has members in over 120 countries around the world, and its teachings have been translated into more than twenty-five languages. After giving lectures and teaching Eckankar classes for ten years, I already knew them well. No. He wanted to make my research more available. I would raise my head to the stage in rapt silence, devouring every word the Grosses spoke. I dont want to tweak his day. I dont have a real axe to grind., At a Hillcrest cafe, Lane confides, The people who scare me are John-Rogers people, not Eckankars. John-Roger Hinkins, founder of the Church of the Movement of Spiritual Inner Awareness (MSI A, pronounced Messiah), has gotten a lot of bad press lately. April 25, 2023, 1:58 p.m. I imagine we have a wide spectrum. Im greeted by a tall, handsome black man with a mustache and short-cropped hair graying slightly at the temples. Connie Cook Smith (formerly Constance Robertson) How I Quit My Whole Way of Life, Without a Sense of Loss. I stood up and said, You know, Im a member of the community, Im a coach in the Little League, Im involved with the schools. I gave a list of my involvements with the community, and then I said, Im an Eckist and I believe in God. Within two years Klemp fired Gross, accusing him of negativity, spiritual decay, and embezzlement. "Actually, Eckankar is the one who has kept me going because they keep [after] me every time I try to come out with something. Though Eckankar does not try to coerce disillusioned members to remain on the path, Eckists are warned that when they drop out, their spiritual growth stops, and they are at the mercy of the Kal, the negative force of the universe. Xeroxed, self-published book with a weird cover. Within three weeks of its publication, The Making of a Spiritual Movement sold out. Eckankar set up a meeting with Lane at its international headquarters in Menlo Park. Id be very careful where I go and what I do and who I talk to, you wouldn 7 want anyone to get hurt now, would you? (My husband, who had never heard of Atkinson before, sees her as a kind of 60s super-vixen, like Pussy Galore. Charan Singh forwarded it to Lane. I could almost picture the legendary Rod of Power in Darwins hand. I taped them for five hours. The accusations leveled against Hinkins included embezzling money, plagiarizing from the teachings of Paul Twitchell and others, skirting zoning laws, illegally obtaining airfare discounts, setting up tape recorders throughout his house to obtain information that he would later use to appear psychic, and sexual misconduct. People typically define cults, first of all, as based around worshiping a personality. After she finishes, Gross says, She can belt one out, cant she? Recently I have had a spiritual crisis where I stopped believing in the concept of the Abrahamic God.

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