i read the article and everyone's comment. i still doubt whether author was in Eckankar anytime in his life.
it's amazing how people help others make up their minds easily,see things their own way and ultimately move them away from the truth or at least from findind the truth.

First, Eckankar has never been a cult, is never a cult and never will be a cult. Simply put, its a religion of the light and sound of God, the two aspects by which God manifests to souls in the lower universe. Overtime, people will always create loop holes and capitalize on them. Some people will never see good in anything and will never meet good even when it glares in their faces.

Secondly, ECKANKAR is not for everyone. I can understand it when people say they went to an Eckankar seminar, came home and practiced some of the things that were thought them but found no results. It all depends on ur level of unfoldment.If u r not ready, u'll never understand the teachings of Eckankar, even if u spend a life time on the path. sometimes, patience brings the expected result cos sometimes its not immediate.

Thirdly and lastly, i would have loved a situation where the author providess sites that talked on the teachings of Eckankar, not just the ones that criticize it. I enjoin u readers to check out all ur questions at www.eckankar.org ask ur questions there and find out for urself. the article is good. i love the enthusiasm but it was on the negative side. A quarter of such enthusiasm on the positive will put us all on the right pedestal.

AMORC IS NOT A CULT!!! WORD!!!
Please visit www.amorc.org and satisfy your curiousity!!!
But if you actually think it is please provide proofs!!!

REMEMBER ONLY ECKANKAR CLAIMS TO BE A RELIGION, AMORC, GRAIL MESSAGE AND CO DOES NOT!!!

@Haywhy,

Whats the difference between a CULT and a RELIGION? The only difference I see is the established Religions like Christianity,Islam,Judaism,Hinduism etc view the much newer GOD ideas with derision and refer to them as CULTS.

All religions no matter how fantastic their claim is,require the believe in a Supernatural Being,must submit to this Being to be regard as a member with the promise of a Great and Fantastic After Life.

Jesus Christ is the Only Way to God Almighty. He Alone died and rose from the grave and resides forever and ever. The rest of the 'founders' of these groups all went the way of mortals and never came back. Read History and ask yourself this question, "Why has the Christian Religion persisted for the last 2 thousand years? Other groups, usually attain popularity but eventually, fade into sunset. Christianity has stood the test of time, Praise be to God in the Highest, Amen.

Firstly to address the person who said all Religions are Cults, i agree 100% with u, in asmuch as u know that Christianity is not a Religion; its a Way of Life (Christians = Christlike).

Now to Topic, Eckankar is d Religion of Light and Sound, Maranantha (a white man) is their god and they call him the living master, cos to them Christ is dead. The religion of a truth (by me), believes and follows the Principles of the Bible but they don't believe/ accept the Person of the Bible, this is to clarify the fact that they are all very Rich (they tithe and all dat). They don't involve in secret things _{(to d extent i know about them)}, cos all their affairs is done in the public and i'v witnessed it and even their meetings. I don't have problems with them cos they neva tell u dat there is salvation in their religion.

But to me and my Belief in Jesus (Christianity), i'ld boldly say; since no other religion offer Salvation and Eternal life (rest) except Christ--------and he even said it boldly and clearly and no other person b4/after countered it, then JESUS is the ONLY Way, the Truth and Life, no one comes to the Father except Through him.

Cheers

[/b]It takes courage to try something new. [b] ECKANKAR, is basically a religion and would remain so even if individuals have variated opinions. Your opinions on another person's religion matteras not. Have you ever proven to your self the existence of the esotheric.
Take a look around you, see life as it offers itself differently. It creates smiles with happy events, and causes you sadness when you cannot achieve some of your dreams.
ECKANKAR is simplified thus: A Way Back Home to God.
The leader is simply a way shower --- not a way pusher or dragger.

If you love God and wish to be Godly in your ways, then do not push others to join your religion.
It is better, you find your own path, finish taking care of yourself first, before you start to extend you arms of help to others.

For thos that must experience God, know that God is truth and that truth is deeply embedded within the hearts of men.
This truth can be found in your heart.

So check out the information on ECKANKAR on www.eckankar.org These are very easy ways of getting first hand knowledge,
There are millions of ECKANKAR members in all countries of the world, seek God in all riteousness and God will reveal itself to you

Best of love to you all

I think What people should ask themselves is that what was my faith when i was in my mum's womb. How did i find my present faith. Is this what I really want? Cos its very easy to believe that ur religion is da best if u're born in it and almost everyone around u is a member of that religion. Look at the muslims. Look at the Hindus. I think its just reasonable to check other religions or at least be a little open to whats out there. Thank U.

There is a point of correction. Eckankar does not practice astral projection. Ours is soul travel. I'm always greatful to be an Eckist.let me take the opportunity to share one funny story.
I was just speaking to me sister on da phone and I told her one of My cousons has just had an accident. she wwent ohhhh!!! and I paused a little bit. I told her of how da guy sitting behind to my couson had his head and other parts of his body torn apart and several others got seriouslly injured. I also told her that da track had actually struck da side where my couson was sitting. U could tell she despirately wanted to know what had happened to my couson. I then told her he was da only one who came out without a scratch. She then began to thank God thinking my couson was a Christian. Mind u that my couson and I are the only Chritians in our entire family after we converted from Christianity to Eckankar. Well, after my sister thank God I told him of how my couson had spiritualy seen that da accident was comming and surrendering da situation to devine spirit(ECK). My sister was very happy that Gos is so great and that he had saved my couson. It all went quiet when I told her that he is also an Eckist. She just couldn't say anything and said she had to attend to something. She never called back. Its like she had been brainwashed(by whom I do not know) into thinking that everything good thing comes from Christianity and so was confused that everyone in the car shat shouted Jesus was seriouslly hurt or in coma and that only My couson who is an Eckist got away without a scratch. He did some scan test but da doctor declared him as perfect.
So how would most Christians explain this since most think That eckankar is evil? we do not think that Christianity is evil only that we know it offers a degree of enlightmentMay the Blessings be.

The funny thing is that most people see Amorc to be similar to Eckanker. Thats not true. If u study da teachings of Eck really well u will realise that its absolutely different from Amorc. Rosecrucians practice Astral projection and Eckist practice Soul travel. If any rosecrucian has doubt he should just try singing da HU. SOUL TRAVEL can take on different forms as its the expansion of awareness and not leaving the body. Soul is everyone so it does not have to travel. Its the awareness that changes. Even this confuses newer members with soul travel its possible to go to a different dimention and spend what might seem like days whereas in actual fact u have not spent more than a micro second in our physical time. People should take advantage of thos forum to try new things for themselves. There are many eckist who in search of truth went through several paths to become Eckist.if u want to argue u will surelly have something wrong to say about it. its I think its up to da individual. The reason why I'm coming out this way is that there are people who come here and are interested in Eckankar but are scared it could be something else. I had da same problem when i was converting from Christianity to Eckankar. One of the things that made me interested in Eckankar is soul travel. Some people think u can go and spy on naked people and things like that. In Eckankar u always have the Mahanta with u and it cannot happen like that. If u want to go somewhere the Inner master will check to to see if its ok before u can go. Its been said in Christianity that by their fruits u shall know. If i want to tell u guys da experiences in Eck some of u might run away. too fantastic to be true. forget healing and stuff like that. Those are common things. They are like infants compared to what I have seen and heard in Eckankar. If anyone is interested in Eckankar he can let me know and I will help him overcome his fears by sharing loads of experiences with him. In Eck its all about Love. My Dad is a rosecrucian but cannot practice it in da house since he needs too many things for his experiments. He has started singing Hu with me since it can besang anywhere. Eckankar can help u do well in ur exams not by soul traveling to spy on da papers buy by understanding what u study. u can never do that in Eckankar. and if u try soo hard u may even stop having experiences for sometime.
May the blessings be.

hi Guys
I"ve read all the posts about Eckankar i think tis good. it means that people are getting more aware of this most beautifull path to GOD.
I been in Eck for a very long time since 1981 and the best thing my father has ever done for me is to register me in Eckankar not the schools he sent me to or the pocket money he normally gives me then. I remain ever greatful to him till this day.
I cant come to terms that somebody who's being in Eck for 15 yrs could say things like what i just read. It only means that he was'nt an Eckist(a member of Eckankar).
I know that I love GOD more than before ( of course i exsit because God Loves Me)
I know that I m happy always.( pls visit [www.eckankar.org]
I now know my purpose in life
I know much more about dreams (waking and sleep state)
I know what soul travel is all about(tis very Simple-even more simple than making a Cup of Tea)
I know so much just by singing HU(hue) always
THANK GOD IM AN ECKIST

love4good:

hi Guys
I"ve read all the posts about Eckankar i think tis good. it means that people are getting more aware of this most beautifull path to GOD.
I been in Eck for a very long time since 1981 and the best thing my father has ever done for me is to register me in Eckankar not the schools he sent me to or the pocket money he normally gives me then. I remain ever greatful to him till this day.
I cant come to terms that somebody who's being in Eck for 15 yrs could say things like what i just read. It only means that he was'nt an Eckist(a member of Eckankar).
I know that I love GOD more than before ( of course i exsit because God Loves Me)
I know that I m happy always.( pls visit [www.eckankar.org]
I now know my purpose in life
I know much more about dreams (waking and sleep state)
I know what soul travel is all about(tis very Simple-even more simple than making a Cup of Tea)
I know so much just by singing HU(hue) always
THANK GOD IM AN ECKIST

Bros go on soun, let them hold on to their own belief systems, it has kept them going from birth and will be with them till death. to each his own.

If you did not achieve purpose in Eckankar and start claiming they are cults with evil intentions, what would you say of a christian who converted to muslim or an occultist who became christian or a muslim who converted to catholicsim

abeg to each his own, just hold ya side. and stop catigating other religions simply because you do not get fulfillment like u expected

In ECK (Holy Spirit) i have found all in one and one in all. From my personal experiences, i proudly say "Thank God Im an Eckist" This is my ECKANKAR, come experince YOURS.

the teachings of ECKANKAR are centred around direct conscious contact with the Holy Spirit, what Eckists call the ECK or sound current. It is taught that the Holy Spirit is pure energy and the most original expression of this energy is Light and Sound which pervades the Universes both here and beyond, creates and sustains every living thing that we see. Hence they have and use several spiritual excercises to open up the consciousness to make and maintain contact with this Light and Sound. Now once contact is made, you will either actually see light or hear sound in different forms. Sometimes contact is said to be made when there is a feeling of love in the heart centre while doing the spiritual excercises. From then on it is believed that the holy spirit (the sound current) begins to work with the individual on a daily basis to help untangle all the aberrations that hold them back spiritually. What is now left for the individual to do is to recognise the workings of the Light and sound in their lives and follow suit by what is termed "surrender". It is also stressed that we do not lose our free will in practicing surrender; rather the individual attempts to align their free-will with that of the Holy Spirit. For example, a person may want a beautiful wife who will be loyal to them and to whom they will be loyal and faithful to. By the ECKANKAR method you can actually dream, during the spiritual excercises, your ideal wife so that you can make your dreams an actuality but at thesame time surrender the outcome of meeting her to the Light and Sound so that divine spirit maps out the most viable circumstances of meeting such a one and also the most appropriate person themselves. This is done with total trust in the workings and guidance of divine spirit. So I come to my question: What is Cultic about that? What is cultic about making conscious efforts to co-work with God. The only thing that has made it a cult is because there is no mention of OZINGO-ZINGO praise thy lord in any of their teachings. Is that what makes a group a cult? Or simply because one self-serving egocentric individual who found that they were no longer cutting it amongst the favourites in the ECKANKAR international office and then leave to pursue other causes that serves that ego well and then comes here to prey on unsuspecting readers. Is that what makes a group a cult?

To know , is not to know.

Knowledge Is Bondage.

with all due respect to the people who have unfairly criticized ECKANKAR: I dont think you have really looked into ECK very much. I have been a member since 1979, and I have the highest respect for the leaders and the members, especially for the inner ECK, which is the same thing as Holy Spirit or the Divine, the Source, etc. While the outer teaching of ECKANKAR may not be perfect (no outer physical path is perfect; they cannot be in an imperfect physical world), the biting criticism on this forum frankly blew me away. Its certainly not a cult. ECK, or Eckists are taught to never push their religion on others. They are the least "pushy" religion you will ever find. ECKANKAR offers itself to people only if they are ready of thier own accord to look into it. Another definition of a cult is an organization that won't let you, or intimidates you, to stay if you want to leave. ECKANKAR is as far from this as it gets. ECK never puts pressure on people to join or to stay, should they want to leave. The groups of ECKists around the country in ECK Centers and so forth are the kindest most forgiving people you would ever want to meet.

It is a religion of hope and beauty, and offers a way for us to have wonderful adventures in the higher planes and visit the heavenly realms before we die, so we have some experience there, which imparts a knowingness of life after death, and the comfort that a higher being will be there to meet us when its our time. I could say so much more, but my time is limited.

Thank you

I see nothing wrong at all with Eckankar, I'm not a member but I can confidently say they are one of the best bunch to be associated with. I have loads of ECKists as friends, even as a highly-placed leader in Christ Embassy, I attend some of their seminars and vahana activities and see nothing contrary to what the bible teaches, expecially about love and giving. Singing "HU", I think is what we do in form of speaking in tongues.

i will like to say a big thank you to all my fellow eckists on this forum who have done a lot to let people know the truth about the teachings of ECKANKAR. in ECKANKAR it is all about love. love for yourself and love for all life. that is why i started a thread with the title "who is on the side of love?". it was in ECKANKAR that i learnt about the true meaning of unconditional love. and now as i wake up each day i declare myself as a channel for God's love and i go through the day looking for opportunities to be of help to my fellow souls despite their religion, race or colour.

How come all the testimonies of how great ECK is are from people with just one (1) post  (janco,some_fun,billabong9,love4good,11_wisemen) and koc(3 posts)

Methinks its just one person playing games. Or somepeople are ashamed of coming our of the ECK closet

dear illusion2,
you have to understand that we Eckists have nothing to hide and we do not play games because we know about the law of karma, anything you do you must face the consequences. moreover we do not convert people in ECKANKAR or try to convince people to come and join us because it is not necessary. when the time is right for you to know the truth, it will be revealed to you by the holy spirit in ways that you can understand and comprehend. Those Eckists you are referring to have done what they came to this forum to do which is to correct the wrong impression someone was creating about ECKANKAR. so there is no need to over flog the issue. if you have any question you can ask me freely.

benodic:

dear illusion2,
you have to understand that we Eckists have nothing to hide and we do not play games because we know about the law of karma, anything you do you must face the consequences. moreover we do not convert people in ECKANKAR or try to convince people to come and join us because it is not necessary. when the time is right for you to know the truth, it will be revealed to you by the holy spirit in ways that you can understand and comprehend. Those Eckists you are referring to have done what they came to this forum to do which is to correct the wrong impression someone was creating about ECKANKAR. so there is no need to over flog the issue. if you have any question you can ask me freely.

[size=28pt]JAZZ MAN !!! [/size]

Say HUUUUUUU !

Why Hu?

dear illusion 2,
thanks for your question. the HU is a holy of God. what makes it special is that it is the only name given to God by God Itself. The HU does not belong to any language, any religion or any race. the sound of the HU can be heard in all sounds. when you sing the HU it has the power to open your heart centre to the flow of God's love and it also opens your spiritual eye and enables you to understand directly life's mysteries. it also enables you to see the light of God and to hear the various sounds of God. you can only prove these things to yourself by trying it and singing the HU with love in your heart. your experience will be your authority

Is it true,you guys can tell the future by touching your spinal cord?

my dear illusion 2
we do not tell the future by touching our spinal cord. the future is actually shown to everybody through the medium of dreams. remember the story of joseph in the bible who was able to see what will come in the future through his dreams. it is a gift that God has given to all souls and not to Eckists alone. the only thing you need to do is to start studying your dreams. singing of the HU helps you to understand your dreams and through it you can see clearly what is going to happen in the future.

Dear Illusion 2,

When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.

Its been a while since I checked on this page, to all you lovers of God who have contributed positively with the unconditional LOVE of GOD to this topic, I say thank you. And to all you critics, I advice you take a bold step towards knowing what ECKANKAR is. You have the right to Know. Feel free, walk into any of the ECK centers around Nigeria or abroad. You visit the official website @ www.eckankar.org
Remember only the Bold and Adventuresome find God , not the Timid. So come out of your shell of Ignorance. ok?

Thank God Im an Eckist.

May the blessing be.

koc

Hi all. All this talk about spirituality is a dead end. Who can prove soul-travel? Who can even prove the existence of God or Jesus on His right-hand side? Even the truth of the Bible, no-one can proof! If some experienced scholar wanted to prove the historical Jesus, he would succeed. If another scholar chose to negate it, he would also succeed.n Now, Echkankar contains the basic truths that you will find in any spiritual tradition: love, existence of soul, existence of lower and higher realm which might just be the structure of your psyche, etc. These in themselves are good thing. The only mistake is to trust another human being as your spiritual guide. Even the Jesus you will ever know as a Christian is only YOUR idea of Christ. This might be shocking to hear, but that is how it is. Eckankar does not negate God's power and existence. Neither does Catholicism, but I would never take a priest as my CONNECTION with God, nor an Eck master. The truth is easy, but difficult at the same time. Has it ever crossed your mind that the protective tactics in Christianity can play against our own Christian religion? For instance, an angel of darkness can disguise as the angel of light. Now, how do you know whether even the bible or Koran was not written through an angel of darkness that REALLY knows how to pretend to be the true God? When this question hits you, you really wake up.

All is one brotgher! I am a Cameroonian, but am I not contributing in Nairta.com? So an Eckist could help a muslim of buddhist, and vice versa. Do not limit yourslves with eckism or Christianity. Be good members of these asssociations, but learn from outside the box and do not condemn others. Soon you will realize the shocking truth, that even sayings like "I love God", or "God loves me" do not even arise anymore once you NATURALLY realize the non-duality of you and God. YOU are THAT, but knowing it does not make you realize it. You must work your way into it, either in a very easy or difficult path. REALIZING is what I talk of, not knowing. Be a good Eckist, catholic, as you chose. Do you know that each time you criticise another person or religion you release loads of toxins into your blood-stream? Has it crossed your mind that being critical of others is a sign of unhappiness? Don't even argue to justify youir belief. If you are on the right path, your soul will know it and you will be peaceful and not full of worries.

@ mrcuteblac

Hi all. All this talk about spirituality is a dead end. Who can prove soul-travel? Who can even prove the existence of God or Jesus on His right-hand side? Even the truth of the Bible, no-one can proof! If some experienced scholar wanted to prove the historical Jesus, he would succeed. If another scholar chose to negate it, he would also succeed.n Now, Echkankar contains the basic truths that you will find in any spiritual tradition: love, existence of soul, existence of lower and higher realm which might just be the structure of your psyche, etc. These in themselves are good thing. The only mistake is to trust another human being as your spiritual guide. Even the Jesus you will ever know as a Christian is only YOUR idea of Christ. This might be shocking to hear, but that is how it is. Eckankar does not negate God's power and existence. Neither does Catholicism, but I would never take a priest as my CONNECTION with God, nor an Eck master. The truth is easy, but difficult at the same time. Has it ever crossed your mind that the protective tactics in Christianity can play against our own Christian religion? For instance, an angel of darkness can disguise as the angel of light. Now, how do you know whether even the bible or Koran was not written through an angel of darkness that REALLY knows how to pretend to be the true God? When this question hits you, you really wake up.

any angel of darkness or any evil spirit will melt away once you call on the holy name of God. in Eckankar we are taught the art of true discrimination. that is, how to challenge any spirit that appears to you. if the spirit is of God it will not vanish on calling on the holy name of God. so for us such is not a problem. the master does not force himself on anyone. he will only offer help if you request for it.

That is exactly what I mean. Here are my points:
1) If the devil is this clever, then by now he has learnt the tricks of not melting or burning when you call your Eck or Jesus Christ.
2) Maybe the Eck is fake and some fake spirits appear as god and do not melt when you "test" them. But then they will send other ones who pretend to melt when you test them. See the scam?
3)This now is the killer of it all: maybe the devil knew that the real thing would come, so the devil created all religions including the Bible and Koran and Eckism, to divert humanity from the real thing. That is why they have so many insecure protective ,mechanism's in these books telling people not to believe other religions. Get what I mean? The Bible's protective techniques work against the bible itself.

Any religion is just a classroom where you can learn. Your freedom is attained when you finally complete it and get out of us, giving others the chance to go to the same school rather than condemning.

you base your Ideas on speculations "IF", in Eck we talk with authority. Authority from our own individual experiences. Nobody need to prove it to you. You proof GOD for yourself. Best of luck

Whether it is in Nigeria or elsewhere in the world, Eckankar is still Eckankar.
I joined Eckankar in1968 on my own when I was 17 and am still a grateful member of Eckankar today. I have met Sri Paul Twitchell and also personally known many individuals like Tom Flamma, Frederick Foos and many many other chelas from the early days of Eck. I have volunteered upon occasion without any pressure at all from Eckankar or local Eck leaders. To this day, I have not found anything that can equal the “sacred” teachings of Eck or the “personal inner guidance” of the various Eck Masters who have proven themselves to be “real and helpful” at every turn. Indeed, I know Eckists who received guidance from these same inner Masters long before encountering the outer teachings of Eck in 1965 or afterwards. As for myself and my immediate family members, our past life memories have not dimmed and the guidance of these Eck Masters in other lives is known personally to us, and not through speculation or mere belief. This includes the physical appearance of Yaubl Sacabi for a couple days to my whole family at a crucial time when my mother was deceased. He quietly gave us love and support and it was only a day afterwards that we realized his true identity after he had gone.
NEVER have I felt fear, guilt, cult tactics, financial manipulation or anything of the like while being an Eckists these past 43 years as an Eckist. Time after time, I have received ONLY benefits with life problems concerning survival, deceased relatives and friends as an act of kindness and concern by these same Eck Masters, right on up to the present Living Eck Master, Sri Harold Klemp. Well do I also remember the grace given to my father by the inner Master Wah Z at his hour of passing from this life.
As for one of the previous comment makers… I remember him, and I also remember the personal problems he had that had nothing to do with Eckankar that made his life unnecessarily challenging. But that was not the fault of Eckankar… since we each must hold personal responsibility for what we do and what we do not do in this life. To the Eck Masters and Eckankar… I can only say thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the blessings showered upon my family all these many years.
Eckists are not God fearing, but God loving and allow others the freedom to believe in whatever religion or spiritual belief system that they choose to believe in.