"Eckankar" religion, Natural or Man-Made?

[Etznab]

Boorstin wrote, "We are haunted, not by reality, but by those images we have put in place of reality."

http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1124-20.htm

"It is the report that gives the event its force in the minds of potential customers. The power to make a reportable event is thus the power to make experience." - Boorstin (1961)

http://tinyurl.com/au24lks

"It is the report that gives the event its force in the minds of potential customers. The power to make a reportable event is thus the power to make experience." - Twitchell (LTG III, 1964)

...

My comments:

It is the report, yea, and Eckankar's evolution of books are full of reports about Rebazar Tarzs, etc.

Isolate the plagiarisms, the paraphrases, etc., and what then becomes of the "reports" about Rebazar Tarzs in Paul Twitchell's writings? Remember that Paul led into the writings by describing Rebazar Tarzs; his appearance, movements, sound of his voice, etc.


"There remains a tantalizing difference between man-made and God-made events."

- A sentence that appears in both books, by Boorstin (1961) and Twitchell (1964 letter & 1990 book.)

[Etznab]

Post by Etznab
Boorstin wrote, "We are haunted, not by reality, but by those images we have put in place of reality."
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1124-20.htm
"It is the report that gives the event its force in the minds of potential customers. The power to make a reportable event is thus the power to make experience." - Boorstin (1961)
http://tinyurl.com/au24lks
"It is the report that gives the event its force in the minds of potential customers. The power to make a reportable event is thus the power to make experience." - Twitchell (LTG III, 1964)
...
It is the report, yea, and Eckankar's evolution of books are full of reports about Rebazar Tarzs, etc.
Isolate the plagiarisms, the paraphrases, etc., and what then becomes of the "reports" about Rebazar Tarzs in Paul Twitchell's writings? Remember that Paul led into the writings by describing Rebazar Tarzs; his appearance, movements, sound of his voice, etc.
"There remains a tantalizing difference between man-made and God-made events."
- A sentence that appears in both books, by Boorstin (1961) and Twitchell (1964 letter & 1990 book.)

Some people default to "spiritual experiences" when confronted with pseudo history, pseudo religion, plagiarism, fictional masters, etc. It's as if the end justifies the means. Yet, What is one person's "spiritual experience" is to another person's "imagined fantasy"!

Who is to say that people's imagined fantasies should be subscribed to by other people, when they substitute fiction for fact?

I think "freedom of religion" also implies liberty for taking charlatans to task and having them tell the truth.

[Henosis Sage]

Post by Etznab

Post by Etznab
Boorstin wrote, "We are haunted, not by reality, but by those images we have put in place of reality."
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1124-20.htm
"It is the report that gives the event its force in the minds of potential customers. The power to make a reportable event is thus the power to make experience." - Boorstin (1961)
http://tinyurl.com/au24lks
"It is the report that gives the event its force in the minds of potential customers. The power to make a reportable event is thus the power to make experience." - Twitchell (LTG III, 1964)
...
It is the report, yea, and Eckankar's evolution of books are full of reports about Rebazar Tarzs, etc.
Isolate the plagiarisms, the paraphrases, etc., and what then becomes of the "reports" about Rebazar Tarzs in Paul Twitchell's writings? Remember that Paul led into the writings by describing Rebazar Tarzs; his appearance, movements, sound of his voice, etc.
"There remains a tantalizing difference between man-made and God-made events."
- A sentence that appears in both books, by Boorstin (1961) and Twitchell (1964 letter & 1990 book.)

Some people default to "spiritual experiences" when confronted with pseudo history, pseudo religion, plagiarism, fictional masters, etc. It's as if the end justifies the means. Yet, What is one person's "spiritual experience" is to another person's "imagined fantasy"!
Who is to say that people's imagined fantasies should be subscribed to by other people, when they substitute fiction for fact?
I think "freedom of religion" also implies liberty for taking charlatans to task and having them tell the truth.

neat. Boorstin (1961) is on the plagiarzed list. :-0

i think it's 64 authors ....
twitchell eckankar history archive
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B-M0yAR0UPhPalFWRzl6YmlmM00

only for the brave and adventurous souls up for the TRUTH

[fife]

Post by Etznab

Post by Etznab
Boorstin wrote, "We are haunted, not by reality, but by those images we have put in place of reality."
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1124-20.htm
"It is the report that gives the event its force in the minds of potential customers. The power to make a reportable event is thus the power to make experience." - Boorstin (1961)
http://tinyurl.com/au24lks
"It is the report that gives the event its force in the minds of potential customers. The power to make a reportable event is thus the power to make experience." - Twitchell (LTG III, 1964)
...
It is the report, yea, and Eckankar's evolution of books are full of reports about Rebazar Tarzs, etc.
Isolate the plagiarisms, the paraphrases, etc., and what then becomes of the "reports" about Rebazar Tarzs in Paul Twitchell's writings? Remember that Paul led into the writings by describing Rebazar Tarzs; his appearance, movements, sound of his voice, etc.
"There remains a tantalizing difference between man-made and God-made events."
- A sentence that appears in both books, by Boorstin (1961) and Twitchell (1964 letter & 1990 book.)

Some people default to "spiritual experiences" when confronted with pseudo history, pseudo religion, plagiarism, fictional masters, etc. It's as if the end justifies the means. Yet, What is one person's "spiritual experience" is to another person's "imagined fantasy"!
Who is to say that people's imagined fantasies should be subscribed to by other people, when they substitute fiction for fact?
I think "freedom of religion" also implies liberty for taking charlatans to task and having them tell the truth.

Of course Eckankar is man-made. The only thing natural is physics with organic and inorganic chemistry mixed up in it. All else (with us) is what we call mind (our energy). And it's all self conscious. All the Gods, planes, all that stuff. It's us playing around with our own energy, describing it, developing and continuing a formidable psyche (mind ) in the process.

Our own instinctive self consciousness developed and overdeveloped for millions of years.

Everyone should (probably) be looking for the best source of mental and physical health they can find these days. If you think that's Eckankar then that's what you think.

Twitchell was wrong for using Boorstin (and hundreds of others) without attribution. So you nail a plagiarist. But the bigger point is, is Boorstin right? "There remains a tantalizing difference between man-made and God-made events" sounds like a Marmanism. It implies Boorstin knows God, all about God, what God creates, and what man creates. First of all you have to accept God and that God creates anything. What's the truth of that? Then you have to accept Boorstin's authority.

Twitchell says what Eckankar is in his cliff hanger statement. His own personal point of view based on his own experience/experiences. And then he goes on to express himself in other people's words without attribution which makes him a plagiarist. But the question of Eckankar goes beyond that. Are these other people's words the truth? Or are they what they are? Just someone's own personal opinion without any more authority than that opinion?

In my opinion there are some good starting points but everyone has to make up their own mind about that and go with/make the best of, what they've decided.