Nathan's Misconstructions of Eckankar Research

Author: David Christopher Lane
Publisher: Alt.religion.eckankar
Publication date: 1996

E-mail David Christopher Lane directly at dlane@weber.ucsd.edu

I want to go back to the home base now.


Nathan Writes:

"David Lane  ADMITS OPENLY that he is NOT INTERESTED in researching the
COMPLETE TRUTH about Eckankar, only the parts that he finds fault
with.  A well-known physicist, the late Dr. Richard Feynman, once made
some important comments which I believe are relevant and applicable to
Lane’s 20+ year ongoing attempt to prove that Eckankar is fraudulent.
These are his words:
"Details that could throw doubt on your interpretation must be given,
if you know them. You must do the best you can---if you know anything
at all wrong, or possibly wrong---to explain it.  If you make a
theory, for example, and advertise it, or put it out, then you must
also put down all the facts that disagree with it, as well as those
that agree with it."
Unfortunately, Lane DID NOT FOLLOW Feynman’s ADVICE when writing his
books and posts about Eckankar and therefore PEOPLE reading only
Lane’s material  will be UNINFORMED about  OTHER ASPECTS OF ECKANKAR,
and thus will NOT be in a good position to JUDGE the validity of
Lane’s hypothesis.  Lane , by FAILING TO EXPLORE evidence FAVOURING
PAUL's stature as a MASTER, or anectdotal evidence that SUPPORTS the
existence of ECK MASTERS (and Lane’s work is filled with anecdotal
evidence, so obviously he believes very strongly in that), has
therefore FAILED in meeting the STATUS required of all TRUE
RESEARCHERS."

LANE responds:

Better read the book again. On the very FIRST page I give Eckankar's
official view of my research (1993 edition and the latest one).

I also give their views on plagiarism, on astral libraries, on inner
visions, and the like.

You can keep reposting misconstuctions of my work all you want,
but better to be accurate in your appraisements.

I also list 25 Eckankar books, as well, besides listing their
website on my homepage.

Hey, how many anti-Eckankar books does Twitchell or Klemp or Gross
list in their books?

But you are not reading this.          


Lock those doors---negative energy might seep in.


Here's an excerpt. Let's see if I give Eckankar's "other" side:



Chapter Three
 


 
THE TRANSFORMATION
 
 

 

Laying the Foundation

 

 
After Paul Twitchell severed his association with Kirpal
Singh, he began to formulate the basis for his own movement.
From late 1963 to October 1965, Twitchell laid the groundwork
for Eckankar, his own spiritual counterpart to Ruhani
Satsang, Scientology, and several other religious and occult
groups.  He wrote a number of articles on his new movement
for magazines such as  Orion, Search , and  Psychic Observer. 

"Paul Twitchell, Man of Parts," an interview by Jack Jarvis
of the  Seattle Post Intelligencer , appears to be the first
article written about Twitchell and his new group, Eckankar.
The interview was conducted on July 9, 1963.  Twitchell's
later article, "The Square Peg," was written in response
to Jarvis' interview. Twitchell claimed to have been besieged
with telephone calls and mail asking, "what in heaven's
name is a Cliff-Hanger?" In the "Square Peg," Twitchell
responded:

The Cliff-Hanger is a one-man cult.  I am the
original Cliff-Hanger and its sole disciple.  This
zany character is called the vanguard of a new
religion, entitled "Eckankar," a Hindu word meaning
union with God. This unorthodox philosophy received
a wide welcome among the European intellectuals
and college circles following the publishing of my
works in European Magazines.  The Cliff-Hanger seeks
solace in meditation and bi-location experiences
common in the lives of the Old Christian Savants.

"Eckankar, The Bilocation Philosophy," published by  Orion
Magazine  of Lakemont, Georgia, in January 1964, seems to
be Paul Twitchell's  first public article 
entirely devoted to his new movement.  In the "Bilocation Philosophy,"
Twitchell writes:

Eckankar, the philosophy of out of body experience,
is that understanding which I have gained from bi-location
excursions similar to those in the lives
of saints of all faiths.  Eckankar is the study of
bi-location experience.  

Paul Twitchell, "Eckankar: The Bilocation Philosophy,"  Orion
Magazine  (January 1964).


In the same article, Twitchell explains the difference between
Eckankar and the orthodox Eastern philosophies:

The orthodox Eastern Philosophies teach that man
must become one with God, but I cannot hold to this
concept.  The individual self of man becomes a
coworker of God, not a part of the unity of Him,
in the sense of being one with the divine source,
anyways, for we are dwelling in the body of God... 

Ibid.


Although Eckankar, according to Twitchell, was not
"officially" founded until October 22, 1965, it did,
nevertheless, have several years of preparation behind it.
The  Psychic Observer  based in Southern Pines, North Carolina,
published several of Twitchell's articles prior to 1965.
"The Cliff-Hanger," printed in July of 1964, expounds
Twitchell's definition of the "enigmatic one" and of the
Cliff-Hanger's philosophy--Eckankar:

Eckankar, which I formed out of my own experience,
is the term used for the philosophy I have developed
for the Cliff Hanger.  It is based on Shabd-Yoga,
a way out form of yoga. The word is the Hindu
locution for the cosmic sound current which is
known in our vernacular as the cosmic river of God.

In a later article, "The God Eaters," dated November 1964, for
 Psychic Observer , Twitchell elaborates on the impetus behind
Eckankar:

Eckankar is the philosophy of phardar pax
Latehue walae, or what you know as the Cliff Hangers.  This grew
out of my visits to Agam Des, the land of the God Eaters.  The
basic axiom of this philosophy is: Power is the only force generated
by Occult knowledge.

It was thus by a series of articles on the philosophy of
Eckankar and on the eccentric personality of the "Cliff
Hanger" that Twitchell laid down the public groundwork for
Eckankar. Brad Steiger, in his biography of Twitchell,  In
My Soul I Am Free , asked Paul when he really began to settle
down and start to formulate how to spread the message of
Eckankar.  Answered Twitchell, "probably when my sister
Kay Dee died in 1959." In response to Steiger's question
on when he changed from being a "Cliff-Hanger" to a spiritual
adept, Twitchell replied:

The switchover from the Cliff Hanger to Eck began
taking place after I met my present wife, Gail.
She insisted that I do something with my knowledge
and abilities. 

Brad Steiger,  In My Soul I Am Free  (San Diego:
Illuminated Way Press, 1974), page 64.


After securing lecture time from Edna Rice at the California
Parapsychology Foundation in San Diego, Twitchell began a
six-month tenure teaching the art of bilocation.  Although
the auditorium where Twitchell gave his lecture series was
almost always filled to capacity, it was not his speaking
engagements that captured the bulk of his followers.
Rather, it was his correspondence courses on Eckankar which
attracted most of his devotees (or "chelas" as he called
them) to him and his new philosophy.  

Jim Peebles in his paper,  Eckankar: The Ancient Science
of
Soul Travel  (Term paper; California State University,
Northridge, 1977), writes: "Eckankar, though it is
non-profit, is also quite expensive. The texts, which a
devout
Eckist is expected to purchase, range in price from $2.00 to
$10.00, the average price being around $7.00 (remember there
are over twenty texts). . . An Eckist is also required to
take at least one set of discourses each year. By purchasing
these on a time payment plan he will pay $85.00 for each set
(there are seven adult sets now)." Peebles' paper was
written in 1977; the prices have since increased
considerably.


In the July/August 1965 issue of  Orion Magazine , Twitchell
advertised "The Illuminated Way to God."  It was one of his
first such advertisements.  It reads as follows:

Bilocation is the Illuminated Path of the Supreme
Consciousness.  It is the secret way that all
masters use to reach the ultimate of all universes.
One must learn the separation of spirit from body
by his own volition.  It
increases awareness, helps solve problems and gives a spiritual
insight into one's own akashic records and the hidden worlds.  New
techniques.  For information, write: Paul Twitchell, P. O. Box
13052, San Diego, California 92113.

Later, Twitchell took out full page advertisements in  Orion
Magazine  with his photograph and the headline caption,
"ECKANKAR, The Secret Science of Soul Travel." Similar
advertisements were also taken out in other occult magazines,
including the  New Cosmic Star. 

According to Twitchell, Eckankar was not "officially"
founded until October 22, 1965.  On that illustrious night,
Twitchell claims to have received the "Rod of Power" (passing
of the successorship) from Rebazar Tarzs, a Tibetan monk
supposedly over five-hundred years old.  The Tibetan,
according to Twitchell's account, had appeared to him
since the early 1950's in his atma sarup (soul/light body).
Concerning Rebazar Tarzs and the founding of Eckankar,
Twitchell writes:

We were married in 1964 in San Francisco, and
shortly afterwards Rebazar Tarzs began to appear
and give me intensive instructions. He had been
appearing regularly in the latter fifties, but he
said that those sessions had only been designed to
prepare me for the exhaustive drills which now
faced me.  I was told to move south, to choose San
Diego for our home.  My first out-of-town lecture
was at Long Beach, where three gentle ladies, two
widows and a spinster came.  I decided that I could
lecture as well to three as to three hundred. Word
began to get around about Eck, so I agreed to write
the monthly discourses and to offer instructions
by mail.  I went from three chelas to thousands in
less than three years. 

Brad Steiger, op. cit., pages 64-65.

 

 
The Growth of Eckankar

 

There is too much dishonesty among those who try
to get tax shelters because they claim to be
religious groups.  God didn't establish nontaxable
foundations, so why should I try to get under such
claims? If Eck cannot take care of itself, then it
can be of little value to anyone else.

 
--Paul Twitchell, 1967  

Ibid., page 70.



After his first out-of-town lecture and the inception of
his mail correspondence courses, Twitchell began to attract
a large following.  It was with the great influx of seekers
and the money that came with them which prompted Twitchell
to incorporate Eckankar as a business organization under
license in the State of Nevada.  Twitchell had previously
moved his original center of operation from San Diego,
California, to Las Vegas, Nevada, in order to avoid heavy
taxation.  In response to Steiger's question concerning
the business status of Eckankar, Twitchell replied:

I do not run Eckankar as a non-profit organization.
Most people in this line of work do indeed use the
Religious non-profit organization provision as an
escape clause on their taxes.  Eckankar is licensed
in the state of Nevada as a business organization.
I do this because I feel that it is only proper
and fitting that I make my own way instead of trying
to get under a tax shelter. It is hard, of course,
but I manage to do it. 

Ibid., page 69.


Twitchell's hard line against tax exempt religious
organizations, however, did not last long.  Later, under
mounting pressure from Eckankar board members, he had
Eckankar's original status changed to that of a "non-profit"
religious organization. 

The Eckankar Board Members included Dr. Bluth and Dr.
Wiggelsworth.


Outside of the mail correspondence courses (and the assorted
Eckankar advertisements), Twitchell penned a number of
books on Eckankar, and even authored a featured column in
the  New Cosmic Star .  Twitchell's first three books,  The
Tiger's Fang, The Flute of God,  and  An Introduction to
Eckankar , appeared to have all sold well.  However, it was
not until Steiger's chapter on Twitchell in the  Enigma of
Reincarnation  (1967) that Twitchell's name caught hold of
the general reading public.  Steiger claims to have had
tremendous response from his readers to the two chapters
he included on Paul Twitchell. Shortly thereafter, Steiger
wrote Paul's official biography,  In My Soul I Am Free , for
Lancer Books, Inc. 

Later, Twitchell had contractual problems with Lancer Books,
Inc. Evidently, he was given royalty on only 25,000 books,
when in actuality Lancer 
Books had sold over 100,000 of Twitchell's books.
Lancer Books soon went bankrupt and out of business.


Paul Twitchell and Eckankar had become a marketable item.
The biography,  In My Soul I Am Free , and Twitchell's own
work,  Eckankar: The Key to Secret Worlds , became
bestsellers for Lancer Books.  Twitchell and his new group
had, indeed, caught the attention of the public.  Even  Look
Magazine  wrote a brief article on the "World's leading
authority on Eckankar--The Ancient Science of Soul Travel." 

According to Brad Steiger (personal telephone conversation
with the author, op. cit.), Paul Twitchell used quotations
from
 Look  out of context.  Look  was belittling
Twitchell and his 
"Eck" group, and sarcastically termed the group's founder,
"The World's leading authority on Soul Travel."

Jim Peebles in his paper  Eckankar: The Ancient Science of
Soul Travel  remarks on the rapid growth of Eckankar in America:

Since the early days of Eckankar, which began with
Paul personally typing the discourses each month,
the movement has grown rapidly; and so did Paul's
need to express the teachings in writing.  Between
the publication of the  Tiger's Fang  in 1965, and
Paul's death in 1971, he managed to author an
additional twenty texts, seven complete sets of
discourses (not to mention the discourses which he
wrote for children), a monthly letter called a
"wisdom note" to his chelas, a very active series
of lectures each year, and numerous articles which
appeared in various publications by Eckankar. 

Jim Peebles, op. cit., page 11.


The rapid growth of Eckankar had come from three areas: 1)
Paul Twitchell's mail correspondence courses,
which he advertised extensively in occult and religious outlets;
2) Twitchell's indefinable charisma; and 3) the times in which
Eckankar developed.

The single greatest factor to Eckankar's astounding growth, outside
of its spiritual message and Twitchell's personality, was the time
in which Eckankar blossomed.
The late 1960's were a time of considerable discontent in American
society.
Eckankar was born in the very midst of a growing disenchantment
within secular society for "orthodox" religions.
The rebellious youth were turning toward the East; mysticism, yoga,
and Zen were the "in" thing.
Eckankar, however, was different.
It was unique in that it took from the East teachings regarding
karma,
 shabd  yoga, and reincarnation while essentially remaining a
Western-based movement.
To many Eckankar offered the only real solution to life's problems.
The 1960's were finally a time for new avenues of
thought. Eckankar offered one such new exploration--an exploration
into higher consciousness.

-----------------------


Nathan writes:

"I commend you, Daniel, on an excellent article. I don't always agree
with you, but here your use of logic was impeccable.  Nether Lane nor
Johnson can possible get around the points you  made (unless , of
course, they use Lanespeak, which would confuse enough Lane followers
that maybe know what they are talking about)."

LANE replies:

Nathan, you better read more carefully (oops, you are not reading
this; better protect that family, guard the kids, and bolt the
doors--Kal boy is online..... just teasing).

Daniel is not critiquing me in this post; he is talking mostly to
Paul. 

Daniel happens to like my research. He is asking you and Eckists
some pertinent questions.

I don't know what you mean by Lanespeak, but it if means documenting
one's sources, listening carefully to critics (and not saying "wow,
he is too negative, got to protect my space from this bro"), and
trying to reply to various points then I don't mind at all.

I have been as clear as possible about my ideas and sources.

I just wish Twitchell could have done the same.

Naturally, we can disagree over intrepretations and the like.

That's the fun of it.

By the way, Nathan, there is nothing to "get around." 
I have stated my position and have given Eckankar's opposing side
numerous times in the MAKING (read the quotes for yourself).

I just happen to find their reasoning inane.


-----------------------


Nathan Writes:

"Daniel,
Sorry, I can't help you. I don't read Lane any more. I don't even open
up his posts. There is simply too much negative energy coming from
him. I need to protect my space and family. You will have to ask Steve
for that information,
In Eck,
Nathan"

DAVID LANE replies:

Given what you just stated, I don't think you will read this.

I am sorry that you think replying point by point to people's
critiques is negative.

I don't see it that way at all.

For all the name slinging and for all the subtle and not so subtle
rips, I find this forum to be very fun.

Indeed, it is like intellectual aerobics and I think Steve has
really done me a great service.

Even if you don't read my rejoinders, keep ripping.


P.S. I am glad that you protecting your family from my posts......

Geez, you know how dangerous these "Kal" influenced researchers can
be!

E-mail The Neural Surfer directly at dlane@weber.ucsd.edu

I want to go back to the home base now.