Critics have called Chuck Anderson the founder of “Endeavor Academy” a “cult” leader, but his followers prefer the moniker “Master Teacher” (MT).
Now it seems that this strange self-proclaimed Wisconsin “miracle worker,” reportedly a retired real estate broker and rehabilitated alcoholic originally from Chicago, wants to be a regular on the “New Age” lecture circuit.
That is, with a little boost from pop guru Deepak Chopra.
Anderson is featured along with Chopra for the coming “World Wellness Weekend” at the San Jose Civic Center and Convention Center in California next week.
MT is advertised as “a fully illuminated mind” that will “assist and accelerate the experience of resurrection and enlightenment.”
However, in December of 1999 CBS “48 Hours” ran a not so flattering report about Chuck Anderson. “The Academy: Miracle or Cult?” was the blurb that the network used to describe its investigative piece.
“At the Endeavor Academy, almost all decisions are made by Anderson,” one of MT’s students told CBS.
The Endeavor Academy was once known as “God’s Country Place” and according to a 1991 report filed by Kalie Picone MT “promises that he will enlighten everyone that follows him, and he promises that it will happen soon. He says only his followers are on the list to ‘get out of here’ and go home with him. They plan to ‘flash out’ of here together.”
Sounds eerily like the California cult known as “Heaven’s Gate” led by Marshall Applewhite, who offered his students the “Last chance to advance beyond human” and that he would take them to “the true Kingdom of God.” When his followers commited suicide in 1997 the group believed that they would “flash out of here together.”
Endeavor Academy was linked to suicide in Australia.
One former student Ian Hamilton wrote a book about his days with the group titled “Awake among the Sleeping,” which raised serious questions about whether MT is leading his pupils to “enlightenment” or on “a road to nowhere.”
What does it mean to become “enlightened” according to Anderson?
Well, Picone says she found out that “to be enlightened, [students] had to make a commitment to MT and give up everything. And that “they know they are enlightened” when “they recognize who MT really is.”
And who is Chuck Anderson really?
Picone says she was told that MT didn’t like to appear in public, give interviews or talk to anyone on the phone, because “people will try to kill the Christ if they know where He is.”
“The Christ”?
Wasn’t it David Koresh that was supposed to be the “Lamb of God”?
MT teaches from an essentially benign book “A Course in Miracles” (ACIM), but not everyone that believes the book agrees with Anderson.
ACIM is a work supposedly authored by “Christ” as “channeled” by Helen Schucman.
Those that dispute MT’s interpretation of ACIM include Kenneth Wapnick of the Foundation for a Course in Miracles (FACIM), who worked closely with Schucman.
So why would the controversial leader of a group called “an insidious and destructive cult that is responsible for the mental breakdown of some of its members” be featured at a “Wellness Weekend”?
And why would someone as media savvy as Deepak Chopra want to share billing with someone like Anderson?
“Wellness Weekend” star Chopra is being promoted as one of the “top 100 icons of the 20th Century” and he will deliver the keynote address November 3rd at the San Jose Civic Auditorium to launch the event.
Chopra who is both medical doctor and pop culture philosopher has become well known on public television.
Sponsors for the “Wellness Weekend” include KTEH/KCAH Public Broadcasting, KBAY Radio and the San Jose Mercury News.
At the top of the sponsors list is “A Course in Miracles International,” which is an organization controlled by Chuck Anderson and his followers. At its Web site the weekend event is touted as an opportunity to see “Master Teacher and Deepak Chopra.”
“An Invitation to A Great Experiment” features two of Anderson’s devotees explaining how he transmits the truth that there “is no world.” This seems to be accomplished through what the group calls “mind training.”
Apparently Anderson and his followers believe he’s the real star and should get top billing, even though Chopra is the big draw at the coming California event. And they seem to have their own agenda as can be seen through another video “Purpose Of This Gathering.”
It also appears that MT no longer fears facing the public outside of his academy and will talk to anyone, that is if they pay the price of admission to the “World Wellness Weekend.”
CultNews thinks that Deepak Chopra, M.D. might consider giving MT a checkup.
Wow. If this cult doesn’t have “danger” written all over it, I don’t know what does. I am amazed that these creepy potential “death-cults” can still flourish in an era of increasingly savvy internet sites.
For further reading, I suggest clicking Mr. Ross’s link to “Endeaver Academy” highlighted at the top of this article. This is clearly a vile organization that I would suggest even my disagreeble friend “Marc the Spark” would agree on. At least I would hope he/she would at least hope that the Endeaver Academy would never come to France.
Yeah, you know how I LOVE to disagree with you… actually, disagree in general. It’s just part of the training, you think you’re OK, then you run into a shrink who convinces you that something’s wrong, and Wham ! You’re in for ten years of therapy.
OK, OK, I’ll check it… Know what ? You’re real good. Now I HAVE to agree, or I’ll end up looking like I really CAN’T agree, whatever the data presented. Sneaky bastard 😉
Marc
Hi
Please forgive this long winded reply to the whole of the Endeavor Academy thing, which is 8 years in the making. That is if anyone is actually inter3sted in EA, and not promoting what they already think.
I was involved with this group from 98-01. heck, I even have a 4 star flamer in response to Mr. Ross’ shallow and slanted reports on the 48 Hours TV show while I was at the Miracle Centre in Australia. I find Mr Ross’ take on “dangerous” cults to be, for the most part misleading and fear mongering. Much like the current Presidential administration and the war.
While I would say that you’re correct in that EA is creepy and deluded and the Master teacher is egomaniacle, that it is some kind of death-cult is pretty absurd. What they teach is their fundamentalist version of Christian physical ressurection. Their idea of leaving the world is to tranform the dense energy of physical matter into light energy through the practice of the lessons in A Course In Miracles. Granted, that is deluded. Granted their interpretation of Christianity and even ACIM is fringe, to say the least. Granted the “Master Teacher” is an ego maniac with both an inferiority as well as a persecution complex. But a ‘death-cult” is just sensationalism. The fact that they are looking for mainstream avenues like “Wellness Weekend” is an indication that maybe something has shifted. I doubt it, but maybe. Personally I like them better as a radical group.
I had no problem leaving and have faced no ramifications from the active members I have spoken with over the years. While I was there I saw no blatant sexual or finacial misconduct. Abstinence or monogamy was the unwritten rule and most of the people who showed up there were broke to begin with. I did see people defend what they believed (reguardless of the stupidity of those beliefs) and try and raise money to build a way to promote those beliefs.
I don’t know Ms. Piccone, but I do know Mr Hamilton is a very poor source of objective information, since he was the leader of the Miracle Centre in Australia as well as the fact that he has “guru-hopped” ever since that effort failed. His efforts to take down EA were intended to take back control since it’s members sided against him, by his own admission, as well as to promote his book.
My question for those like Ms. Piccone would be what was it that lead her to join a place like this. And if in fact she could be some sort of valid witness without answering that question. Never once in Mr Ross’ reporting does he call into question the fact that maby these guys who he uses to report his viewpoint were in fact creepy to begin with. Which in the case of Mr Hamilton is true.
Also, all the acusations concerning EA that centered around what happened in Australia had very little to do with the Wisconsin center. While they were loosly affiliated, each is autonomous in the fact that the “Master Teacher” had no say over what did or didn’t happen in Australia. As far as the suicides in Australia, the Centre was in Byron Bay, a veritable cesspool of sleazy spiritual aspirants and homless “saviors”. The Centre had an open door policy and a lot of people walked in, and out, and the associations made years later by Mr Hamilton and enflamed by Mr Ross aren’t as solid as it would appear..
I arrived at EA in 98, got to visit 8 different countries, met my wife, taught a little and left in 2001. I have been married to her for five years, am a contributing member of society, pay taxes, have car insurance and everything! I’m sure Mr Ross will use my past to besmearch what I have to say. I was no angel before I went to EA and certainly wasn’t while I was there.
Listen, I’m not supporting or defending these guys, or Mr Anderson, who is in fact creepy. But so is any fundamentalist leader, including Mr Ross in my opinion.I have seen MR Anderson do many kind things, I have seen him do some creepy things. I’ve never seen him question his opinion or god forbid admitt a mistake!
However, I don’t like to see bulls**t portrayed as fact. I have a blog on my thoughts of EA, http://eaisadream.blogspot.com/2005/11/cult.html which is, of course, not well recieved by my freinds at EA. But hey, they have a vision and they’re sticking to it. God bless em. If this group is “dangorous” then Mr Ross will soon be out of business. A business which only seems to be sutained by his ‘expert’ opinion and perspectives that support it by the way.
EJ Shearn
aka Morgan
What blows me Morgan is why you still, after all these years, care what anyone thinks of EA? We all know by now that Charles is a fraud, Hamid is a pedophile, Mitch’s stunted growth makes him violent, Jane is an ego-tripping, power monger and Sue eats waaaay too much…
There is violence, addiction, child molestation and even some questionable deaths going on at Endeavor Academy but the one thing that is not going on there is, any kind of Spiritual Enlightenment. How could there be with everyone vying for power and Chuckie insulting every single person he meets?
I hear they caught on to the TRUTH about Chucky at the World Wellness Week and protected Deepak from him, Chucky wasn’t allowed to go near him the whole time. That must have been excruciating for him, he likes to insult the REAL teachers and then align himself with them to shave off some of their fame for himself.
God, how long has that place been chasing after fame now and all they have to show for it is Chuckey’s infamy… The man is an embarrassment to the Course Community.
You said: “I’ve see Mr. Anderson do many kind things” there isn’t a kind bone in the mans body, I’ll tell you what I’ve seen him do shall I…
I’ve seen Chuckie beating up his people, screaming at them and making absolutely no sense in the process. I’ve seen him raving insanely at other teachers (Not associated with EA) who all out-classed him simply by not defending themselves.
I’ve seen him on the attack in his so called teaching sessions, and I’ve seen otherwise rational people sit, against their wills, and listen to his mad-gabbing for years at a time simply because they couldn’t understand him and thought he knew something they didn’t.
I’ve seen him drive his best friend into a break-down and I’ve seen him molesting woman on so many occasions I cant count them, he is not subtle about it either, he puts his hands down their tops and plays with their breasts in public or he yanks at their hair or goes in for the kill and grabs at their sexual organs¦
I was at EA longer than you Morgan and I saw it all, he is nothing more than a lecherous, dirty old man and those of his followers that are still with him are criminals, power-trippers and addicts. The dregs are all that are left there at the Endeavor Academy now…
Robin