Everybody has an IQ of 80 or loweruuurrrrrrrrrr, lets go, lets start a religion. , Our pizza arrives, and Lane politely allows me to take the first piece. When it came out, I got a 25-page letter from a group called the Coalition for Civil and Spiritual Freedom. All that junk you told him made me sick. Its membership today is primarily in North America, Europe, Asia and Africa. Every thriller these days has a false ending and then a real ending, to the point that when I watch a pre-Carrie film, I am disappointed at how easily chaos is defeated. This must not be true. Clearly he is more comfortable with the fluid topography of waves, of meditation, of philosophical inquiry. I wrote to Jerry, way to go, Jerry! Eckankar threatened a lawsuit for the inappropriate use of their trademark symbol on the books cover. The way to get more income is to have new material, speculates Lane. Now what do you do when your group is charging money and does not follow any of the restrictions of this Indian group it evolved out of, one whose teachings are free? Secondly, we dont have any kind of communal living. The Living Eck Master gives support and guidance for the things that we choose to do. Yelman pauses for emphasis. Grosss fastidious avoidance of the copyrighted term Eckankar is noticeably awkward and circuitous. We were suddenly in a marketplace with lots of bright burgundy-colored carpets. I would raise my head to the stage in rapt silence, devouring every word the Grosses spoke. The mastership of Darwin Gross is a black cloud in Eckankar history, a history that Eckankar wants to erase. Lifes kind of sad. Lane believes, that Twitchell created the unbroken line of Vairagi Eck Masters, dating back some six million years to Gakko, who emigrated from the planet Venus. During the 30s and 40s, Twitchell was a prolific writer. We have a tendency to want to inflate our lives with spiritual meaning, and skepticism is not much fun. David Lanes critiques of Eckankar may be well documented and rational, but religious devotion is not about rationality. I have been an official member of Eckankar for 10 years. In Eckankar, since everyone is Soul, everyone is worthy. One interesting guy I met was Jerry Mulvin. I had heard about this ability to get out of the body, where one can have an internal spiritual experience. Lane and Walsh had put a circle with a slash through it over Eckankars logo, which is EK formed into a circle. The term God no longer had use for me. That same week, Hinkins wrote to Lane assuring him that he wanted to be friends again and that he had nothing to do with the robbery. Remember, when Twitchell founded Eckankar in 1965, he was living in San Diego, at Point Loma. Dont you feel like the Great White Hunter attacking the endangered rhinoceros? Lane responds with animation. Apparently, says Lane, Darwin took $2.5 million and put it into a front corporation in Oregon called Dharma Corporation. I still have those notes. The program Lane and I attend at the Best Western Hanalei is called The Universal Basics of Life Through Music. It costs $35 at the door. I imagine we have a wide spectrum. People were wearing rich, colorful clothing. I dont remember it looking this way, he says pensively. But Lane had the jump on all of them when back in 1984 he wrote The J.R. After leaving the Self-Revelation Church, Twitchell dove into the Radhasoami movement. That he could notJ>e was his tragedy. I wonder if this is not Lanes tragedy too. Ellen Burstyn, maybe.) Lane and his friends playfully call one another by the names " of Eck Masters. The disciples felt used and manipulated for spiritual reasons., After the secret meeting. Hed read the book and wanted me to visit him. Gail Atkinson, who has long since broken with Eckankar, is said to live in wealthy seclusion in Palm Springs. In fact, we find more in common with people of other religious or spiritual beliefs than we have with people who dont have any religious or spiritual beliefs, simply because they have a commitment to spirit on some level., Im curious about how Eckankar has changed since I left it in the early 80s., Well, Richards says slowly and thoughtfully in a charming Southern accent, I think the present Living Eck Master has not changed the essence of the teachings, which is basically about self-realization and god-realization in the most direct way the individual can achieve that. 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. What I find interesting is that his material doesnt shake the belief of most Eckists., This is why, he responds immediately. When she begins her next selection, My Funny Valentine, I lose all objectivity*. Its going to be interesting to see how this information gets back to me. I open the door to a boyish 38-year-old with a full head of healthy brown hair. I was 21. I am afraid my beliefs will cause conflict within the Eckankar community and it may be best that I leave Eckankar. Instead, Twitchell wrote about Kirpal Singh and Swami Premananda. He took to unmasking frauds, but always with the hopes of finding a true medium. A few months later Gross and Twitchells widow married, sending more ripples of confusion throughout the fold. Im surprised to meet a casually dressed middle-aged man with graying hair, who seemed much younger on the phone. Yelmans studies at UCSD brought her to San Diego in 1974. 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. He also does private executive coaching. A line will leap out and inspire you. During their first six months of membership, new Eckists usually receive what is known as their first initiation in the dreamstate. The religion seems to be centered around spiritual experiences, particularly experiencing the "Light and Sound of God." But her email was the exact reason why i left. Eckankar: Reviews, Complaints, Customer Claims | ComplaintsBoard I met David Lane in San Diego. To come up with original material takes time, and time is money. I left eckankar because it simply didn't work for me and I didn't realize that for a very long time. I wrote to him, and he wrote a real nice letter back, saying that we should get together and talk. While Lane is in the bathroom, I try, to no avail, to get permission to photograph the event. At this stage of the game I cant buy the crap that permeates religion, not just new religions, but religion in general. Lane discovered information that led him to believe that Twitchell copied whole chapters from Radhasoami texts, lied about biographical details.. What about Lanes plagiarism charges? I ask. . He had to make it seem like its his own creation, because if he linked the two hed lose his potential clientele., It was to hide these past connections. Eckankar, the Ancient Science of Soul Travel, was officially founded. I think theres some sophomoric techniques, that its naive in terms of its psychology. Friday afternoon I visit 22-year veteran of Eckankar Kevin McMahon in his Cardiff home. So I may Ik damaging the organization, but the real essence of Eckankar is not the organization, its the Eck, that inner spirit., They read my book. For years after I left Eckankar, I was plagued with wrenching spasms of primal fear, emptiness, collapse, and betrayal. A left-handed grip will rotate the left side of the chest, and thus most of the heart, toward an enemy, while a right-handed grip will rotate it away. Eckankar is not affiliated with any other religious group. Im talking about the very form of that truth being copied. If thats his focus in life, then he has a very limited view of life. McMahon explains that plagiarism isnt always what it seems. Quora - A place to share knowledge and better understand the world Lane leans down to better peer through his window. It gets tiresome., For ten years I was a member of Eckankar,one of the groups Lane has written about most extensively. I could almost picture the legendary Rod of Power in Darwins hand. One time he said, I want to take you someplace. I said okay! box that John-Roger had personally paid for. He jokes about his Nevada cold, blaming it on the dust from the Indian burial grounds being dug up to build housing. Three local Eckists agreed to speak with me. If I were any of you. He also gave full accounts to the San Diego Sheriff s Department and to numerous news agencies. The former members of Eckankar make a mistake in here thinking procedure. I was on the Holy Grail of research.". It was a P.O. On the wall to my right is a framed print of the yin-yang symbol with a feather fixed to it. Within two years Klemp fired Gross, accusing him of negativity, spiritual decay, and embezzlement. Sri harold klemp is the 973rd living eck master in an unbroken line of eck masters. The vivid orange-pink horizon stretches on endlessly beneath a nearly full moon. This guys pretty smart, because he knows that if he pays attention to me, thats a good way of buying me off, so he can spin-doctor my research. Then she asks him to think about Grosss music as he again holds out his arm. The two students shared notes. 40 people in a hotel named Hanalei in San Diego for a man who used to draw thousands. If I had a really good arm, I could have thrown a baseball up the hill, without gravity, and maybe hit his house., Did you know this before you moved there?, We drive over and park a few blocks from the beach, in front of a posh, two-story wooden house with a cobblestone drive, surrounded by Torrey pines. Lanes no longer an easy man to find. 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. I kind of [thought he was a fraud, but at the time he was being nice to me so I wasnt in the mood to expose him. David Lane has his own personal agenda. When word got around that I was doing this article, I got an odd phone call from Don Ginn, the California Regional Eck Spiritual Aid. Freeways knocked out Sorrento Rd., getting from the 5 to the 805, fitness fanatics head for Corner House, get those Mira Mesa signs out. . Weve had people who have recognized Harold Klemp prior to his becoming the Living Eck Master; he kept coming to them into their dreams. He was obsessed. Several hundred members of Eckankar live in the San Diego area, but not all of them participate in local events. I vacantly stare at Lanes tanned hairy legs, nostalgic for the boyfriends who played this song for me. Now, Jagat is actually the first name of a Radhasoami guru named Jagat Singh. Im also aware that in at least two previous lifetimes I was killed because of my beliefs, specifically in reference to Eckankar, and so I think some of that karma was still sitting heavily on my chest, so to speak., Im impressed with Yelmans absolute assurance. In January, it rains for 26 days.
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