Another Young Vulnerable Woman Being Manipulated and Controlled

A recent e-mail we received:

Name of Cult or Group: Stairway in Tennessee http://www.straitwaytruth.com

 "My best friend is being lost to this extremist cult or faction whatever you want to call them. She has been given to a man who is to become her husband, they have decided everything for her. She is now unable to talk to me under orders or allegiance as she puts it to her husband as he now controls her email, social media and phone calls. Her family are going out of their minds over this, I have had to tell her mother what is going on there as she had been told to keep things secret from them. She needs help, I've lost my best friend to these people, people who believe that she will burn in hell if she defies her husband or the elders, who take everything, who stockpile guns to defend themselves from the unbelievers as they put it.
Neither I nor her family know what to do......."

This is a typical day at the office, answering and supporting families who are going through crisis such as these.

We are not familiar with this particular group Stairway. If you have any personal experiences or information that you would like to share about this group or any group, please do so.
https://www.familiesagainstcultteachings.org/cult-help/contact.html

We are here to help create Awareness so as to Prevent tragedies. We are here to support those who are caught up or dealing with family or friends who are involved in controlling abusive groups and situations.

We can not do it alone and need all the help we can get. If you would like to help us and our mission here at FACT it is extremely appreciated. You can make your tax deductible donation here:
https://www.familiesagainstcultteachings.org/Donations/Donate/

Thank you.

Sincerely,

The FACT Team

Shambhala Sham - Survivor Tells Us a Story

Brave Survivor tells us about some of her experiences as a young woman and as one of Chogynam Trungpa Rinpoche's secret seven wives in the Shambhala community. Chogynam Trungpa Rinpoche was the Founder of Naropa University in Boulder, CO.

"Lots of people have asked me who's interest am I serving by telling my stories? Do i have an ulterior motives? I think my motive right now is for me, and my healing. And honestly, I'm so tired of people who never spent any time alone with Chogynam Trungpa Rinpoche's (CTR) telling me I'm angry, or lying, or I have it out for certain abusers who still have positions in the hierarchy of Shambhala. Or I missed the point. Or what i experienced at his hands wasn't abuse. I am simply tired of being silenced and expected to continue holding on to these horrifying Mukpo Family secrets. So here's a nice feel good story about Chogynam Trungpa Rinpoche's (CTR):

                         Chogynam Trungpa Rinpoche's is the man holding the gun

The Cat Story:

It was summer of 1985. I "married" CTR on June 12th of that year. I met him around May 31st at a wedding in the back yard of someone's home. That year, we had our "wedding" at Rocky Mountain Dharma Center (RMDC), now Sham Mountain Center (SMC) a few days before Assembly, then we had Seminary and Encampment happened during Seminary. That was the year he spoke of limited bloodshed and taking over the city of Halifax and the province of Nova Scotia by force.
 We were in the middle of the Mahayana portion of seminary teachings.

For weeks, CTR had been asking everyone he saw if they had seen a cat. He asked the head cook, the shrine master, and all of his servants if they'd seen one. We returned to Prajna late one night after a talk and there was this beautiful tabby cat sitting on the porch. I said, "here kitty kitty" and he came right over to me, purring and rubbing against my legs. I picked him up and said: "Here sweetie, here's the cat you've been wanting." I can't remember exactly who was on duty but I think it was XXXX and of course XXXX. Someone took the cat from me and Rinpche ordered them to tie him to the table on the porch. He instructed them to make a tight noose out of a rope so the cat didn't get away. He stood over his guards to examine the knots and make sure they were secure. I was curious at this point, wondering what this enlightened master had in mind for the cat-I knew there were serious rodent problems on the land and I assumed he wanted to use the cat for this problem.

Then, he instructed the kasung to bring him some logs from the fire pit that was in front of the porch down a slight slope. We took our seats-CTR was seated to my right and there was a table between us for his drinks. He ordered a sake. The logs were on his right side, so he could use his good arm. Anyway, the cat was still tied by a noose to the table. Rinpoche picked up a log and hurled it at the cat, who jumped off the table and hung from the noose. He was making a terrible gurgling sound-and he finally got some footing on the edge of the deck and made it back onto the porch. Rinpoche hurled another log-making contact and the cat let out a horrible scream as the air was knocked out of him. I said: "Sweetie-stop! What are you doing? Why are you doing this?" He said something about hating cats because they played with their food and didn't cry at the Buddha's funeral. He continued to torture the poor animal and I was crying and begging him to stop. I said: "I gave you the cat, please...stop it!" And I'll never forget his response-he looked at me and said: "You are responsible to for this karma." and he giggled. I got up to try and stop him and he firmly told me to sit down. One of the guards stepped closer to me and stood in a threatening manner to keep me in my place.

The torture went on for what seemed like hours, until finally the poor cat made a run for his life with the patio table bouncing after him. It was clear he had a broken back leg. I'm sure that cat died. I looked for him or the table for the rest of Seminary and never found either. I imagined him fleeing up the mountain and the table catching on something and strangling him. I was completely traumatized by the event, but it was never spoken of again. Rinpoche told me the "karma" from this event was good. I was dumbfounded. A common feeling I had when around CTR was that there were things going on that I simply could not understand, while it seemed other people, with a knowing nod of their heads, understood things on a deeper level than I. I was in fear of exposing my ignorance, so I learned not to question and to go with the crowd around him. They didn't appear to have any problems with what he did-such was the depth of their devotion. I just needed to generate more devotion to Rinpoche and one day I might understand.

I kept this secret for 30 years. I filed it away with the other alarming things I learned from being so blessed as to be welcomed into this very small club of nearly enlightened students. I kept his bulimia a secret. Along with the drinking and womanizing and cocaine use-he made himself throw up until all that came up was blood.

The cognitive dissonance of witnessing his cruelty and suicidal tendencies that I witnessed was stomped on by the devoted students near him who refused to believe he was anything but the most enlightened teacher to ever walk the planet.

This is how one creates a cult and gathers students-they plant nuggets of profundity in our minds, and tell us to blindly trust samaya and devotion as the only way to enlightenment. They silence anyone with questions. They write devotional chants and stories, all about how meeting the guru saved their lives. They write of how he saw into their souls and loved them like no one ever had. The carrot at the end of the long stick is the promise of enlightenment, and thirty years later, as far as I can tell, this community is just as delusional as it was then, perhaps more so. If telling my stories keeps anyone from making the choice to sign up with this dysfunctional and, yes, dangerous community, that's a plus too."

If you have stories and first hand accounts and experiences in the Shambhala Community and would like to share, please do so here https://www.familiesagainstcultteachings.org/cult-help/contact.html 

Thank you to all the brave survivors who are coming forward and sharing their stories, we can not expose the truth with out survivors sharing their truth with us.  We can't do it without you - So Thank you again.

Stay tuned... a lot more to come and be exposed in the coming days and weeks about the Shambhala Community / Naropa University, past and present, from more brave survivors.


The FACT Team

"Those Who Don't Confront Evil Are Empowering it". Tibor Stern 

The Shame of Shambhala

We've been receiving a lot of complaints about the Shambhala Community - present and past.

Here is just one of them and a very small portion of her story and complaint.

"I am one of Trungpa Rinpoche's seven sangyum, or secret wives. I met him in 1985 and he died in 1987. He was sexually, verbally and physically abusive to me. He once killed a cat in front of me while his guards held me down and forced me to watch. When the #metoo movement started, i started a secret facebook group called XXXX and learned this careless attitude and treatment of women Continues today through his son, who has also been accused of rape more than once. His other son, XXXX is severely autistic and is a ward of the state because his mother, the XXXX refuses to support him in any way and hasn't even seen him in 20 years. He lives in a group home.

What are the reasons given why he/she has joined this group: I am trying to get the word out, and have stories to tell. I have a master's from Naropa"

More to come tomorrow about Shambhala !


The FACT Team 

Students Are Empowering Themselves

One of our main objectives here at FACT is to raise awareness and educate students about undue influence, cults, manipulation and the red flags to be aware of. We want to empower students with education so they can protect themselves.

Here are some recent messages from students who've contacted us.

"I went to thank you for all your answers!!!!! It was really helpful and is exactly what I needed for my paper!!! Thank you!!!"

"I didn't join a group on my campus because I found one of your posts on them and researched more and realized they were a cult! Thank You!"

We are happy to hear from students and how they are researching and educating themselves on these topics, we are dedicated to this cause and love hearing their feedback.

Our preventative education materials are available on our website under the education section and can be downloaded and printed.

Sincerely,

The FACT Team

Allison Mack of "Smallville" arrested on Sex Trafficking Charges

Actress Allison Mack, from "Smallville" was charged on Friday with sex trafficking, sex trafficking conspiracy and forced labor conspiracy for her involvement in a woman's "self help" organization called NXIVM, where woman were forced to have sex with leader Keith Raniere.

 
Raniere was also arrested in March by federal officials in Mexico and charged with sex trafficking, sex trafficking conspiracy and forced labor conspiracy.

“As alleged in the indictment, Allison Mack recruited women to join what was purported to be a female mentor-ship group that was, in fact,created and led by Keith Raniere,” stated United States Attorney Donoghue. “The victims were then exploited, both sexually and for their labor, to the defendants’ benefit"

"According to court filings, during the past 20 years, Raniere established a series of purported self-help programs within his umbrella organization “Nxivm” (pronounced NEX-i-um).  Nxivm is based in Albany, New York and has operated centers in the United States, Mexico, Canada and South America.  Nxivm maintains features of a pyramid scheme, as its courses cost thousands of dollars each and participants (“Nxians”) are encouraged to pay for additional classes and to recruit others to take classes in order to rise within the ranks of Nxivm."

"As detailed in court filings, in 2015, Raniere created a secret society within Nxivm called “DOS,” an acronym that stands for a Latin phrase that loosely translates to “Lord/Master of the Obedient Female Companions,” or “The Vow.”  DOS operated with levels of women “slaves” headed by “masters.”  Slaves were expected to recruit slaves of their own (thus becoming masters themselves), who in turn owed service not only to their own masters but also to masters above them in the DOS pyramid.  Raniere stood alone at the top of the pyramid.  Other than Raniere, all members of DOS were women.  Mack is one of the women in the first level of the pyramid immediately below Raniere.
Mack and other DOS masters recruited DOS slaves by telling them that they were joining a women-only organization that would empower them and eradicate purported weaknesses that the Nxivm curriculum taught were common in women. Mack and other DOS masters concealed Raniere’s status at the top of the pyramid from new recruits.

As a precondition to joining DOS, women were required to provide “collateral,” which included highly damaging information about friends and family members, nude photographs and/or rights to the recruit’s assets.  DOS slaves were told that their collateral could be released for any number of reasons, including telling anyone about DOS’s existence or leaving DOS.  Many DOS slaves were branded on their pelvic areas using a cauterizing pen with a symbol which, unbeknownst to them, incorporated Raniere’s initials.  During the branding ceremonies, slaves were required to be fully naked, and a master would order one slave to film the branding while the others restrained the slave being branded.  If convicted of the crimes charged, Raniere and Mack each face mandatory minimum sentences of 15 years’ imprisonment, and up to life imprisonment."

https://www.justice.gov/usao-edny/pr/founder-nxivm-purported-self-help-organization-and-actor-indicted-sex-trafficking-and

There are a lot of "self help" organizations out there, some are legitimate healthy groups while others are not. Predators prey on vulnerable people looking for answers. Protect yourself and those around you by educating yourself about predators, manipulation, undue influence and the red flags to be aware of. We here at FACT are dedicated to raising awareness so that vulnerable people who are seeking answers are not victimized by predators.