Actor talks about leaving a cultic religion

for concern over cult-related damage, institutional abuse & psychological problems.
  • Message
  • Author
User avatar

ex-l

ex-BK

  • Posts: 10661
  • Joined: 07 Apr 2006

Actor talks about leaving a cultic religion

Post29 Aug 2008

The Jason Beghe interview. An outspoken American actor talks at length about being in and leaving a cultic religion. In his case, Scientology. I spoke at length to a long term Scientologists involved in the organization about his experience and was surprised to discover, language and culture apart, so many similarities existed in the experience.

If you can mentally skip over the specific language and terminology, remembering all the similar BK language and terminology we used, I think you will find it interesting and recognise something in his experience.

One thing that struck me was when he talks about how the Scientologists talk about themselves being "Homo Novus" (new people, a different spiritual species) above the ordinary people who they call "Wogs" (a disparaging word for non-scientologists). Is not that exactly the same as the BKs believing themselves to be Golden Age deities or angels and ordinary people Shudras (a disparaging word for non-BKs)?
Scientology wrote:Scientology's founder L. Ron Hubbard defined Wog as a "common, everyday garden-variety" humanoid ... He 'is' a body. [He] doesn't know he's there, etc. He is not there as a spirit at all. He is not operating as a thetan.
BKWSU wrote:Brahma Kumaris founder Lekhraj Kirpalani defined Shudra as a common, everyday garden-variety human ... He thinks he is a body. [He] doesn't know he's a soul, etc. He is not acting soul-conscious at all.

I mention this because it relates to a recent topic on BKs attitudes towards "Shudras" (non-BKs). What is the difference?

Funnily enough, both the Brahma Kumaris and the Scientologists believe they are saving the world ... have the two organizations ever sat down together and worked out WHICH ONE OF THEM is actually the real path and really saving the world because the two cant exist in the same universe? Or are they just ignoring each other's existence whilst preying on those very same ordinary people, Shudras or Wogs, for money and power?

bkti-pit

Independent, free thinking BK

  • Posts: 509
  • Joined: 14 Jun 2007

Re: Actor talks about leaving a cultic religion

Post29 Aug 2008

BKWSU wrote:Brahma Kumaris founder Lekhraj Kirpalani defined Shudra as a common, everyday garden-variety human ... He thinks he is a body. [He] doesn't know he's a soul, etc. He is not acting soul-conscious at all.

Did you make this up ex-l or did you copy it from a BKWSU document?

So far I watched part 1 and part 2 of Jason's interview. Very interesting! I have to show that to some of my BK friends.
User avatar

ex-l

ex-BK

  • Posts: 10661
  • Joined: 07 Apr 2006

Re: Actor talks about leaving a cultic religion

Post29 Aug 2008

bkti-pit wrote:Did you make this up ex-l or did you copy it from a BKWSU document?

Ah ... no. I did not mean to mislead. I was just paraphrasing BK beliefs.

I warm to this guy too. Apart from the swearing like a trooper, because he is a trooper and from NYC, there is a depth, a warmth and an honesty in there. His experience seems to run parallel with many of ours here. A genuine interest in humanity, a fondness and sympathy for some memories and individuals, clarity about others not so good, some peak experiences he is trying to understand, a very honest coming to terms with the nature of the organization.

He is admirably observant and, I feel, committed to personal growth. What he describes from his own experience, I feel, is very much like ours. Strangely so. It is almost as if whoever is pulling the string of their religion is of the same species as the one who is pulling the strings of ours, only a masculine version in contrast to our feminine version.

I would love to see some BKs doing the same type of video. Although I was hard on Robin because his movie was still a little romantic and hagiographic, perhaps he is the best hope for some genuinely independent, non-evangelistic media from within the BK camp? If you speak to him, tell him I said something nice and respectful of him!

If you cant make it through them all, skip to the end one or two where he looks back and sums it all up.
User avatar

rayoflight

beyond BK

  • Posts: 361
  • Joined: 17 Mar 2009
  • Location: Truth.

Re: Actor talks about leaving a cultic religion

Post22 Jun 2009

How did I escape Scientology and then get sucked into the Brahma Kumaris?

Seven years before I met the BKs, I was being hounded by the Church of Scientology. At one point, I walked out of an office and they slammed the door shut so I couldn't get out. They called me several times a week. They stopped me on the street. Their hard sell got on my nerves and besides, it was a known fact that they were a sect. I had several friends who were basically told flat out that, if they did not join the sect, they could kiss their careers goodbye. They made the right decision not to join but they had to sacrifice their work. But the BKs were "incognito". Eastern spirituality is still more attractive to the westerner mainly because it's got this aura of mystery about it.

I haven't listened to Jason Beghe's full interview yet but it sounds like he shares some interesting insights about his experience. Speaking out and speaking up is so important and yet so difficult in shame-bound foundations where fear turns everyone into a mute.

jann

friends or family of a BK

  • Posts: 1227
  • Joined: 29 Jan 2007
  • Location: europe

Re: Actor talks about leaving a cultic religion

Post23 Jun 2009

I mention this because it relates to a recent topic on BKs attitudes towards "Shudras" (non-BKs). What is the difference?
The term "Brahmin" or "Deities" or "Warriors" is the stage of the soul, and NOT THE NAME OF THE SOUL. When a soul displays Brahmanical or pure acts, then the soul is termed as a Brahmin soul. When a soul displays the characters or virtues of a deity, then the soul is referred to as a deity soul, and likewise we can understand the other stages of a warrior, a merchant or Shudra stage of the soul

So I was told.

dreadi

friends or family of a BK

  • Posts: 15
  • Joined: 26 May 2007

Scientology Defector breaks her silence

Post09 Mar 2010



Must say that it would have been great if some of this could have been substantiated with properly documented facts.

Regards
Dreadi
User avatar

rayoflight

beyond BK

  • Posts: 361
  • Joined: 17 Mar 2009
  • Location: Truth.

Re: Actor talks about leaving a cultic religion

Post10 Mar 2010

I cannot wait for someone to go on the record with the Brahma Kumaris and describe to 'The Today Show' how the BKWSO convinces people that they will be deities and rule the world.

Has there ever been a public interview where the 5000 year cycle has been questioned?
User avatar

ex-l

ex-BK

  • Posts: 10661
  • Joined: 07 Apr 2006

Re: Actor talks about leaving a cultic religion

Post10 Mar 2010

What I have heard recently, from more than one TV company, is that the Brahma Kumaris are extremely reserved when it comes to real TV. They mention straight out refusals to talk or allow filming they are not in control of. In another case involving local politicians, they said BK males were frisking people coming public events looking for cameras.

It is probably fair to say that the Brahma Kumaris are not that interesting as far as real TV goes. Not evil and dangerous enough to fit into the usual cult exposé, not really interesting enough at all to make TV.

jann

friends or family of a BK

  • Posts: 1227
  • Joined: 29 Jan 2007
  • Location: europe

Re: Actor talks about leaving a cultic religion

jann

friends or family of a BK

  • Posts: 1227
  • Joined: 29 Jan 2007
  • Location: europe

Re: Actor talks about leaving a cultic religion


Return to Abuse & Recovery