There is no enlightenment offered in false teachings like Eckankar.
Recently a character using the nick "Gopal Das" arrived on Usenet
promoting the new age cult known as Eckankar (a cult founded by Paul
Twitchell in the late 60's). Incidentally, in Twitchell's fictional
writings "Gopal Das" was a "Living ECK Master" in 3000 B.C., in Egypt
near Luxor. It seems that Twitchell, a hack writer and former
Scientologist hired by L. Ron Hubbard personally to be in charge of
selecting articles on Scientology submitted by pari****oners to be
published in either Scientology publications or elsewhere as a
testimony to the worth of Scientology, tried to emulate his mentor L.
Ron Hubbard in creating his own religion to make money. Also Paul
Twitchell has written in his fiction that chanting the name "Gopal"
can actually trans****t one's inner, true self, i.e., Soul - to the
Temple of Golden Wisdom, where one can hear Gopal Das give lectures.
=46rom Apologetics Index, here's a brief background into the Eckankar
cult (http://www.apologeticsindex.org/e13.html):
ECKANKAR
A New Age religion founded by Paul Twitchell, who led the group from
1965-1971. He was followed by Darwin Gross (1971-1981), and Harold
Klemp (1981-present). Leaders of Eckankar are called 'ECK Masters.'
ECKANKAR was "born" (or brought into public view) in 1965. Its founder
and formulator as Paul Twitchell ("Paulji"), who proclaimed himself
the 971st Living Eck Master - the living oracle of God ("Sugmad") -
the "Mahanta" for this age. Twitchell was a dabbler in things mystical
and occult, a former Scientologist, initiate of the Kirpal Singh of
the Ruhani Satsang branch of the Radhoasoami tradition on India, and
excommunicated staffer of Swami Premananda's Self-Revelation Church of
Absolute Monism, an offshoot of the Self-Realization Fellow****p.
Sometime around 1960 Twitchell began to formulate the idea of founding
his own religion.
[...]
Twitchell claimed that he did not borrow ideas from any human source,
but experienced his own "God realization" in 1956 and was initiated by
a group of spiritual masters called the "Order of Vairagi Masters" as
the Living Eck Master in 1965. The exact nature of these extraordinary
beings is left vague in Twitchell's writings, but they seem comparable
to the "Ascended Masters" of Theosophical lore.
[...]
Twitchell claimed that ECKANKAR is the oldest and most original
religion in the world. All other religions are derivative from it and
in some sense inferior to it. Whatever truth is in them belongs to
ECKANKAR. According to some careful scholars of Twitchell and
ECKANKAR, however, the self-proclaimed Mahanta simply borrowed and
reworked the cosmology and spirituality of the venerable Radhosoami
tradition of India as mediated to him by Kirpal Singh and the American
Radhosoami adept and writer, Dr. Julian Johnson. David Lane's expos=E9
of Twitchell's dependence on these men (and others) is convincing.
Source: ECKKANKAR: From Ancient Science of Soul Travel to New Age
Religion, by Roger E. Olson, in America's Alternative Religions
(Edited by Timothy Miller), State Univ of New York Press, July 1995,
p. 363
A member of the new age family of cults, Eckankar teaches a process
which after a series of reincarnation culminates in a god existence,
or Christ Consciousness.
The process itself involves the adherent progressing upward through
twelve astral planes through the attainment of classified levels of
knowledge (gnosticism).
Source: Eckankar by Watchman Fellow****p
Beliefs
Eckankar believes that God exists in two parts, the Light and Sound,
known as ECK. This is held to be the sustaining force of all life and
the equivalent of the Holy Spirit. Eckankar teaches that it is
possible to experience the Light and Sound through the proper use of
spiritual exercises.
Spiritual exercise is im****tant as the initiator of Soul Travel and
for achieving spiritual growth and a deeper appreciation for one's pas
lives. A key spiritual exercise is the singing of the word hu, which
is supposedly the name of God.
Adherents believe in karma and reincarnation and hold that ECK helps
to purify a person of karma. They emphasize a cooperative relation****p
with God. Humans are considered a spark of God sent to earth to gain
spiritual experience and to serve others.
Source: Charts of Cults, Sects, & Religious Movements, H. Wayne House.
Page 105
----------------
Also, here are some URL's with useful information concerning this new
age cult created by a person who basically emulated his mentor L. Ron
Hubbard in creating his own religion in order to make money:
The Center For Twitchellian Plagarism
http://vclass.mtsac.edu:930/phil/center.htm
Although Twitchell claimed to not have borrowed ideas from any human
source, research has discovered that many of his materials were
plagarized. This site do***ents them.
The Unauthorized Eckankar(tm) Page
http://www.geocities.com/eckcult/
This website has useful info.
SURVIVING THE CULT ECKANKAR
http://www.angelfire.com/hi2/eckankarsurvivors/
Website created and maintained by ex-Eckankar victim. Also contains
links to other related site worth checking out.
THE MAKING OF A SPIRITUAL MOVEMENT: THE UNTOLD STORY OF PAUL TWITCHELL
AND ECKANKAR
http://www.geocities.com/eckcult/chapters/preface.html
Online book (hard copies out of print) exposing Eckankar and founder/
creator/plagarizer Paul Twitchell.
On overview of the Eckankar cult
http://www.eaec.org/cults/eckankar.htm
There are many more sources showing the unChristian nature of Eck****ar
and the false, unBiblical teachings of the cult. They believe in a
different god than Jehovah God of the Bible and deny essential
Christian doctrine. Please take the time to educate yourself on this
cult so you may also warn other Christians to avoid it.
May God bless,
Carl
my website -- http://www.nettally.com/saints/
my blog -- http://www.anniemayhem.com/cgi-bin/wordpress/
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