http://theheartofacult.com/blog Tue, 10 Jun 2008 19:42:18 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en I just learned about a website put together by ex-followers of Ramtha, the supposedly channeled entity of "What the Bleep" fame. There's some good resources there including an active forum and recovery information that would likely be of interest not just to ex-members but anyone who has questioned the ... http://theheartofacult.com/blog/65/enlighten-me-free-website/ Matt Taibbi is an atheist who went undercover to participate in a religious boot camp for new converts of controversial pastor John Hagee. In this excerpt from his new book, posted on alternet.org, Taibbi describes a strange mixture of self-help and religious indoctrination that is chillingly reminiscent of classic ... http://theheartofacult.com/blog/64/excerpt-from-the-great-derangement-by-matt-taibbi/ Diana Mukpo was a rebellious teenager when she first began studying with Chögyam Trungpa, a Buddhist Rinpoche who had escaped Tibet in 1959 and began teaching in England several years later. She was just sixteen when they defied both her family and his community to marry. Dragon Thunder is Diana's ... http://theheartofacult.com/blog/63/book-review-dragon-thunder-my-life-with-chogyam-trungpa-by-diana-mukpo/ This book traces the origins of the modern New Age movement through examining the lives and philosophies of its charismatic founders. Theosophy founder Madame Blavatsky was just the first of many who garnered spiritual street cred by claiming to be in contact with a secret brotherhood of ascended masters. ... http://theheartofacult.com/blog/62/book-review-madame-blavatskys-baboon-by-peter-washington/ This is the most comprehensive book I have read about the current conflict between religion and science. Dawkins provides an excellent overview of the major flash points in one of our most important debates, and he writes with enough lucidity that the complex scientific and ethical questions at the heart ... http://theheartofacult.com/blog/61/book-review-the-god-delusion-by-richard-dawkins/ The above is the title of an essay by Goeff Gilpin, author of The Maharishi Effect. It's an interesting discussion that touches on a number of topics including problems with common spiritual interpretations of quantum physics and also with problems in the Maharishi community's attempts to validate their theories ... http://theheartofacult.com/blog/60/quantum-consciousness-quantum-miracles-quantum-failure/ I’ve come to see this book as a handy little owner’s manual for anyone with a brain. In an entertaining and highly readable style, Cordelia Fine has synthesized a host of cognitive research to show that our minds often give us a much more distorted picture of reality than any ... http://theheartofacult.com/blog/59/book-review-a-mind-of-its-own-how-the-brain-distorts-and-deceives-by-cordelia-fine/ This is a very useful book for anyone who has found themselves wondering how they came to accept as true a belief system that turned out to be detrimental to their well-being. Editor Bryan Farha discovered early on that it was difficult to get his students excited about the ... http://theheartofacult.com/blog/58/book-review-paranormal-claims-by-bryan-farha/ Having believed more than my share of impossible things, I've become very interested in the thinking processes behind matters of belief.  Evolutionary biologist Wolpert tackles this subject from a different angle than many in his field.  Wolpert proposes that our development of tool use created a heavy mental emphasis on ... http://theheartofacult.com/blog/57/book-review-six-impossible-things-before-breakfast-the-evolutionary-origins-of-belief-by-lewis-wolpert/ The Sci Fi Channel has recently begun running episodes of a show called "Mind Control with Derren Brown" that's quite interesting.  Mr. Brown is a British illusionist and skeptic who is very skilled at manipulating human behavior.  In one clip, he effectively demonstrates how astrology works on those who believe ... http://theheartofacult.com/blog/56/derren-brown-clip/ Whenever you start talking about the validity of people's belief systems, it's amazing how fast some folks lose their sense of humor.  That's not a problem for Skeptic Magazine publisher Michael Shermer, who went head-to-head with Stephen Colbert on his Comedy Central show last week.  It's a great clip.  Check ... http://theheartofacult.com/blog/55/michael-shermer-on-the-colbert-report/ Martha Beck was an atheist-inclined grad student when miraculous happenings during her second pregnancy reawakened her interest in spirituality.  After moving back to her hometown of Provo, she embraced her childhood religion in effort to deepen this newfound faith.  She writes with lucidity and humor about how she instead discovered the ... http://theheartofacult.com/blog/54/book-review-leaving-the-saints-how-i-lost-the-mormons-and-found-my-faith-by-martha-beck/ Richard Dawkins recently hosted a 2-part TV series in the UK on the assault to critical thinking posed by New Age philosophies and healing techniques.  The first episode deals more with phenomenon like astrology and dowsing while the second looks at homeopathy and other kinds of unregulated healing.  Dawkins poses ... http://theheartofacult.com/blog/53/richard-dawkins-%e2%80%93-the-enemies-of-reason/ Probably the most common question I get when discussing this book is which real-life spiritual teacher the character of Ma is based on.  I’ve had people tell me that Ma and/or her teachings sound exactly like this Indian guru or that Western teacher.  But I didn’t base my portrayal on ... http://theheartofacult.com/blog/52/which-teacher-is-your-book-based-on/ John Safran Vs. God is imported Aussie show currently running on the Sundance Channel.  The season was originally filmed in 2004, but its very funny and cutting insights into religion are no less relevant today.  It is not, however, a show for either the easily offended or the squeamish: in ... http://theheartofacult.com/blog/51/john-safran-vs-god/ FACTnet recently posted a link to an article about Washington University anthropologist Pascal Boyer, who is researching religious belief across cultures in the quest to discover why it is such a universal phenomenon.  Boyer discusses cognitive processes important to human survival that also make us more open to believing in the supernatural.  ... http://theheartofacult.com/blog/49/research-on-the-origins-of-belief/ This book is a collection of the author’s columns written for both Skeptical Inquirer and several other publications.  Though published nearly 20 years ago, many of the topics Gardner discusses are still highly relevant in current times. His essays range over subjects including televangelism to UFOlogy. I found his discussion ... http://theheartofacult.com/blog/48/book-review-the-new-age-notes-of-a-fringe-watcher-by-martin-gardner/ I've been a fan of the Guruphiliac blog for some time now as I think Jody does a fine job of keeping us all current on the latest guru scandals.  I particularly liked a recent discussion he hosted on how receiving darshan from someone like Ammachi can actually be disempowering ... http://theheartofacult.com/blog/46/guruphiliac-on-ammachi/ Having spent a fair amount of time on my spiritual path believing things that at best had no evidence and at times were quite outrageous, I've become very interested in the question that forms the title of this book.  A former born-again Christian who is now head of the Skeptic society, ... http://theheartofacult.com/blog/45/book-review-why-people-believe-weird-thingspseudoscience-superstition-and-other-confusions-of-our-time-by-michael-shermer-and-stephan-jay-gould/ Just learned that the book won the silver medal in the Independent Publisher Awards Visionary Fiction Category-- IPPY Awards Results  http://theheartofacult.com/blog/44/ippy-awards/ Yesterday I hosted a discussion group for people who wanted to talk about the book a little more in depth.  This is the second of these I have done, and I’ve found that the discussion tends to be less about the book than about the personal struggles people have had ... http://theheartofacult.com/blog/43/book-discussion-group/ The book signing at the Boulder Book Store went really well.  We had a great turnout and there was a lively discussion with a lot of very interesting questions.  To see an excerpt from the talk, go to: Lena's virtual signing http://theheartofacult.com/blog/42/virtual-book-signing/ My husband and I have watched all the fuss surrounding The Secret with a lot of fascination.  For me, it’s been disturbing to see how willing people are to suspend critical thinking in the face of an idea that has such seductive appeal.  I was surprised to notice how trying ... http://theheartofacult.com/blog/41/the-secret/ We're coming up on the 10-year anniversary of the Heaven's Gate mass suicide in southern California.  TLC just aired a documentary about the group, and the LA Weekly has written a very comprehensive article covering the history of the group and recent efforts by its sole surviving member to get ... http://theheartofacult.com/blog/40/heavens-gate/ Clay Evans, from the Boulder Daily Camera, interviewed me this afternoon on KGNU's Metro program about the book, cults and how people can have more discernment in their relationships with spiritual teachers.  You can hear the interview by going to my Reviews and Info page - there's a Flash player on the right ... http://theheartofacult.com/blog/39/radio-interview-on-kgnu/ The book got some nice coverage in the Camera today.  You can read Clay Evans' review of the book here: Camera Review  and the Camera's interview with me here: Camera Interview  If you have trouble with these links, just type my name into the search box and they should come up.   http://theheartofacult.com/blog/38/book-review-in-the-boulder-daily-camera/ The book got a nice write-up from Richard Blake in the January edition of the Midwest Book Review.  You can find it at: Richard's Bookshelf  http://theheartofacult.com/blog/37/midwest-book-review/ Margaret Singer has been studying cults and cult survivors for decades, and this book is a thorough overview of the many aspects of this complex subject.  Written for the mainstream, the book is clearly written and very readable, although her detailed descriptions of the abuse suffered by some cult members ... http://theheartofacult.com/blog/36/book-review-cults-in-our-midst-the-hidden-menace-in-our-everyday-lives-by-margaret-singer/ I got this book hoping that it would provide me with scientific evidence that would help me develop a more informed opinion on the controversial issue of brainwashing.  Unfortunately, Taylor points out that it is ethically impossible to conduct controlled brainwashing studies, so I did not find the specific evidence ... http://theheartofacult.com/blog/35/book-review-brainwashing-the-science-of-thought-control-by-kathleen-taylor/ Harvard psychology professor Dan Gilbert spoke at TED2004 on some of the principles in his book, Stumbling on Happiness.  He discusses a number of very interesting ideas, including the fact that we are generally poor predictors of what truly does make us happy.  Towards the end of the talk, he discusses how people ... http://theheartofacult.com/blog/34/video-author-of-stumbling-on-happiness/