Cult News

Computer programmer Bruce Raisley waged a one-man-war against his perceived enemies on the Internet, but ultimately was forced to surrender to the FBI as reported by the New Jersey Star-Ledger.

“His actions were alarming in that he chose to attack third party websites when he didn’t like their content,” says Assistant U.S. Attorney Erez Liebermann. “It’s one thing for him to be unhappy with a website. It’s another thing for him to attack third parties that have not done anything, which causes damage on the side of the victim companies and on the side of any affected computer” quoted Wired News.

Raisley, whom Liebermann says works for HSBC in Pennsylvania, faces a maximum of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. He was released on a $100,000 unsecured bond and is restricted to using his home computer for work purposes only. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for July 20.

Raisley 47, specifically attacked both Rolling Stone and Radar magazines, Carnegie Mellon University, the Ross Institute of New Jersey (sponsor of CultNews) and reportedly at least six other targets.

The Ross Institute was first attacked during April of 2007 and the attacks continued almost daily for approximately one year. Raisley’s mode of offense was what is called a Distributed Denial of Service (DDOS) attack.

A DDOS attack is an ongoing effort to sabotage a Web site server by saturating it with so many requests for information that it cannot effectively respond to normal traffic. The objective is to either crash the server completely or slow it down to the point of being barely functional.

DDOS attackers rely upon malicious software to construct and control a “botnet,” which is made up of computers infected with a virus that causes them to respond like robots to commands as part of a network.

Raisley controlled just such a botnet that included thousands of infected computers, largely located in Eastern Europe.

Why was Bruce Raisley willing to spend so much of his time and energy to criminally attack Web site servers?

Because each Web site he attacked contained embarrassing information about a sting that caught the computer programmer by surprise.

As reported first by Radar Magazine in an article titled “Strange Bedfellows” by John Cook and later by Rolling Stone in its report “‘To Catch a Predator’: The New American Witch Hunt for Dangerous Pedophiles,” Bruce Raisley was first a supporter and then became an outspoken critic of an Internet vigilante group known as “Perverted Justice” (PJ).

PJ is most known as the catalyst behind the controversial TV show “To Catch A Predator” presented through NBC Dateline.

Phillip John Eide (photo left), who now goes by the name “Xavier Von Erck,” runs PJ.

Raisley threatened to harass and expose PJ members.

But Von Erck decided to get Raisley first.  He then employed essentially the same entrapment methods he has used to expose Internet sexual predators, to go after Bruce Raisley.

Von Erck pretended to be a girl named “Holly.”

Through the Internet Von Erck posing as Holly and Raisley began and continued a romantic relationship, which included having cybersex twice.

Raisley was apparently ready to divorce his wife and break up his family for Holly, expecting his Internet lover to move in with him.

The computer programmer came to an airport ready to finally meet his cyberspace sweetheart in person.

But instead of finding Holly, Raisley was confronted by a Von Erck operative who snapped his picture.

After that every sordid detail was posted online by PJ with this warning:

“[W]hen you attempt to threaten members of Perverted-Justice.com… this can happen to you. Tonight, Bruce Raisley stood around at an airport, flowers in hand, waiting for a woman that turned out to be a man. He’s not in love. He has destroyed his relationship with his wife, he has denigrated her, and he has betrayed all those around him. He has no one. He has no more secrets. We at Perverted-Justice.com will only tolerate so much in the way of threats and attacks upon us.”

Later Von Erck said that the whole “head game that was played with [Raisley] was only done in order to ‘knock him out’ so to speak.”

Bruce Raisley may have been down, but he was not out.

As the news of his humiliation traveled through the Internet and reports were archived and/or cited at various sites including the Ross Institute, Bruce Raisley evolved into his own brand of Internet vigilante. But his crusade would be a selfish one exclusively focused upon protecting his name.

The computer programmer turned his skill to attacking Web sites that included any mention of the PJ sting.

For a time Raisley’s strategy worked.

Radar removed its article from the Web rather than endure the costs incurred through endless DDOS attacks. And some smaller sites were simply shut down by their Internet Service Providers (ISP) that discontinued service rather than deal with the inconvenience and disruption that Raisley caused.

The Ross Institute’s ISP Tera-Byte in Canada abruptly pulled the plug without warning. Subsequently, a more secure location was found for the server at PRQ in Sweden.

PRQ is an ISP that has a history of standing firm against legal threats and/or DDOS attacks from would-be Internet censors.

The Ross Institute also greatly benefited from the expertise and tireless energy of system administrator Zenon Panoussis (photo right).

Panoussis is known for his strong stand against Scientology efforts to censor the Web and stifle Internet free speech.

Panoussis devised a series of carefully constructed and ingenious defenses against Raisley’s DDOS attacks, which effectively neutralized them and successfully protected the Ross Institute Web sites.

Meanwhile, he also notified any ISP that included infected and attacking computers. This led to an ongoing cooperation with the Academic and Research Network of Slovenia, which is the base for Slovenia’s Computer Emergency Response Team.

The Slovenians were able to unravel the software virus used by Raisley, which in turn led to identifying him as the perpetrator.

The Ross Institute reported the DDOS attacks to the FBI in New Jersey and Special Agent Susan Secco was assigned to investigate.

Zenon Panoussis provided Agent Secco with documentation.

The Ross Institute notified Radar; Rolling Stone, Carnegie Mellon and others attacked by Raisley.

Through this ongoing network of cooperation more evidence of the DDOS attacks was made available to the FBI.

The net result was a raid at Raisley’s home in March 2008. The FBI found a memory stick and hard drive, which Raisley allegedly admitted contained the software he wrote to conduct DDOS attacks.

Bruce Raisley arguably was a sad victim of Von Erck’s entrapment.

Ironically, if the computer programmer had approached the Ross Institute with concerns about his name appearing within articles at the database, something probably could have been worked out.

Raisley never did that.

Zenon Panoussis warned the computer programmer of the possible consequences of his actions in a phone call months before the FBI raid.

But Raisley’s response was arrogant, indifferent and his attacks continued.

Whatever grievances Bruce Raisley may have had concerning Von Erck’s behavior, that didn’t give him the right to resort to what Weysan Dun, head of the FBI’s Newark office called “cyber-bullying…as a way to try to silence our media and deny them of their constitutional rights to the freedom of press.”

The on and off and then on again NXIVM-linked Dalai Lama of Tibet (photo right) lecture in Albany, New York finally took place this week, but the sponsors of the event said they lost $142,000, reported the Albany Times-Union.

His Holiness usually sells out at virtually any venue, but this time he failed to fill the relatively humble 2,500 seat downtown Albany Palace Theatre, which had 200 seats left empty.

Why not “standing room only” for a Nobel Prize Winner, who is regularly a huge draw around the world?

Well, this might be because an organization with ties to a purported “cult” was the sponsor of the event, which may have left potential ticket buyers less than enthusiastic.

This same consideration seems to have previously put off three prominent bastions of higher education.

First Skidmore College and then RPI refused to host the Dalai Lama event. Then the University of Albany agreed to rent space, but only if certain preconditions were met, regarding any potential proselytizing by NXIVM of its students.

It seems the schools admired the Dalai Lama, but they had problems with NXIVM, a controversial large group awareness training (LGAT) company, that sells its philosophy, through seminars called “intensives,” which may last as long as two weeks.

Some say NXIVM/Executive Success Programs (ESP) uses “thought reform” (commonly called “brainwashing”) on its customers.

Many students called “Espians” have moved to Albany and become a “community,” closely wound around the company’s founders Keith Raniere and Nancy Salzman.

Raniere is a former failed multi-level marketing guru and Salzman is a nurse who has spent years-studying neuro-linguistic programming.

Raniere, known to his disciples as “Vanguard” is the “conceptual” founder of the so-called “World Ethical Foundation Consortium” (WEFC), which sponsored the Dalai Lama’s pilgrimage to the capital city of New York.

The money to back the event apparently came from NXIVM devotees, which includes Clare and Sara Bronfman, heirs to the Seagram fortune.

But only the Bronfmans, Albany’s Mayor and Catholic bishop managed to get seats on stage with His Holiness, there somehow wasn’t enough room Mr. Raniere or Ms. Salzman.

Raniere did come on stage briefly at the end to receive a khata (Tibetan scarf) from the Dalai Lama.

But only after the mayor got his (photo above) first.

The scarf wasn’t all Mr. Raniere walked away with from the event.

CultNews has learned that as Vanguard entered the venue he was served with papers regarding a lawsuit.

This wasn’t the recognition he wanted, but Raniere has been sued quite a few times and seems to almost enjoy litigation.

This most recent lawsuit is about failed real estate deals in California, which involve the Bronfmans and others.

When the representative of the Dalai Lama to the Americas explained the decision to cancel his cancellation and go ahead with the lecture in Albany he wrote, “A delegation from the [WEFC}…met with His Holiness…” And “they took the opportunity to clarify the background to the allegations that had been made against them…”

CultNews has heard persistent rumors that before the Albany event the Dalai Lama and/or his charities received a very large donation from someone with ties to NXIVM.

If the rumors were true this wouldn’t be the first time that His Holiness took money from a less than holy “cult.”

He reportedly accepted more than a $1 million dollars from convicted murderer Shoko Asahara, the leader of Aum. But of course this was before the Japanese cult leader ordered his followers to gas the Tokyo subway system.

Asahara (photo right) milked his meeting with the Dalai Lama; there was a photo op, claims of a mentoring relationship, etc.

Perhaps many Japanese later joined Aum based upon the appearance of respectability that meeting seemingly conferred.

Photos of Raniere and the Buddhist leader will likely pop up soon at some Web site tied to NXIVM.

The Albany Times-Unions reported that  “a documentary film crew was already on hand to capture the Dalai Lama’s visit,” probably with ties to Raniere and/or NXIVM.

The Dalai Lama’s spokesperson said His Holiness “suggested that if the allegations against [NXIVM] are unfounded, as they claim, they should exert themselves to clear their names. Otherwise, they should admit their mistakes and undertake not to repeat them in future.” And added, “His Holiness emphasized the necessity of acting truthfully and transparently in whatever you do.”

Well, Keith Raniere (photo left) has been repeatedly involved in one controvrsy after another and never publicly acknowledged mistakes, for example concerning the meltdown of his multi-level marketing company Consumer Buyline, despite being investigated by 25 state attorney generals and the focus of a class action lawsuit.

Instead, Vanguard keeps paying lawyers to sue almost anyone that criticizes him.

“Transparency “?

NXIVM/ESP requires its paying participants to sign a confidentiality agreement, precluding that they might tell what goes on within its programs.

And Raniere is now suing over what he calls “trade secret” violations, regarding critiques of ESP programs written by two mental health professionals.

Sara Bronfman appeared defensive when she talked to the press this week. “I know what I am doing is good and the truth will come out in the end,” she said.

But given the history of Keith Raniere over the years this seems doubtful.

It’s official, the Dalai Lama of Tibet (photo left) is coming to Albany, New York for a one-night appearance on May 6th, sponsored by an organization with ties to failed multi-level marketing guru Keith Raniere, a purported “cult” leader.

CultNews previously reported that his Holiness had backed out of a series of commitments made to the so-called “World Ethical Humanitarian Foundations Consortium” (WEHFC), which is the “conceptual” creation of Raniere, known to NXIVM devotees as “Vanguard.”

According to the Albany Times-Union the last communication received from His Holiness stated that all the “negative publicity connected to the sponsoring organization” concerned him, and for that reason he had decided to dump the plans previously made with Mr. Raniere’s followers.

Never mind.

Now, despite all the bad press and controversy surrounding Keith Raniere, the Dalai Lama has changed his mind again. And this time he has officially recognized the sponsoring organization by linking to it from his online official calendar.

Raniere recently gushed in an email that he is “thankful for the support of His Holiness” and added “details [would soon] be available.”

Those details remain a bit sketchy, but it appears that the Dalai Lama event has been moved from the Albany Times-Union Center to the much smaller Albany Palace Theater.

No panel discussions or other related events have been announced, just a one-night solo appearance by the Dalai Lama.

Will Raniere somehow manage to share the stage with the respected religious leader?

Or will His Holiness be introduced by Clare and/or Sara Bronfman, heirs to the Seagram fortune?

Both Bronfmans are event organizing committee members.

Will there be private meetings outside of the lecture with the Dalai Lama, that include photo opportunities?

Lama Tenzin Dhonden, who is both on the event organizing committee and the “Personal Emissary for Peace to His Holiness the Dalai Lama” has reportedly said, “The ethical tools developed by Keith Raniere” are a portion of “the essential ingredients to transform our society.”

Those “tools” are for sale through NXIVM training seminars. No doubt the Dalai Lama’s seeming endorsement will be good for business.

However, Keith Raniere’s (photo right) training techniques have been seriously questioned, as can be seen from the reports done by two well-respected doctors, who have critiqued NXIVM training.

See the following:

“A Forensic Psychiatrist Evaluates ESP”

“A Critical Analysis of Executive Success Programs Inc.”

“Robert Jay Lifton’s eight criteria of thought reform as applied to the Executive Success Programs”

Some former NXIVM students have sought psychiatric treatment, one was hospitalized, another walked out of an “intensive” in Alaska and committed suicide.

Never mind.

According to Clare Bronfman the Dalai Lama already knows about all this.

Ms. Bronfman told the Albany Times-Union that His Holiness and his people had “spent an entire year vetting” those responsible for sponsoring the coming event.

Why would the Dalai Lama of Tibet go along with Keith Raniere, after having done the alleged “research”?

Was the religious leader impressed by Mr. Raniere’s online bio, which states that he is a “scientist, mathematician, philosopher, entrepreneur, educator, inventor and author” who “from early childhood¦demonstrated astounding gifts”?

Raniere’s bio then goes on to boast a long list of supposed accomplishments, from becoming a “judo champion at age of 11³ to somehow managing to be recorded as the “highest IQ.”

Maybe His Holiness believes that Raniere is the reincarnation of Leonardo Da Vinci or Einstein?

Did the Dalai Lama ever take the time to read the editorial run by the Schenectady Gazette? It said, “Keith Raniere has been involved in controversy for the last 20 years. He has been the subject of lawsuits and investigations¦He is hardly a poster boy for humanitarianism, peace and ethics…”

Perhaps His Holiness was impressed when he learned that two of the most well-known schools in upstate New York, Skidmore and RPI, refused to provide space on campus for an event connected to Mr. Raniere? And when a third school, the University of Albany, did agree to rent space out, it was only with certain preconditions regarding any potential NXIVM related recruiting activities.

Not exactly a ringing endorsement from the ranks of higher education for either Keith Raniere, NXIVM or the WEHFC.

Never mind.

Maybe what matters most, per an earlier news report, is that after all the costs of the coming event are paid “anything extra the Dalai Lama can donate to the charity of his choice.”

Tickets were priced at “$52, $82 and $112³ at the Albany Times-Union Center (photo left), and with a maximum seating capacity of 17,500, that could have potentially pulled in more than a million dollars if the venue sold out.

But now the one-night lecture will take place in the much smaller Albany Palace Theater (photo below right), where a full-house only adds up to 2,800.

Is money what the Dalai Lama is meditating about?

Is it possible thats His Holiness actually believes that Keith Raniere is the genuine “vanguard” of some important new movement or revelation?

Is he the reincarnation of an ancient prophet?

Or could it be that the wealthy Bronfmans and/or other rich NXIVM devotees have passed the hat for a big contribution to profit “the charity of his choice”?

If so, it wouldn’t be the first time that the Dalai Lama has received a large gift from a purported “cult.”

Chizuo Matsumoto known to his followers as “Shoko Asahara” founder of Aum, the Japanese cult responsible for gassing the Tokyo subway system in 1995, reportedly donated $1.2 million dollars to His Holiness and subsequently seemed to be rewarded through several high-level meetings and photo opportunities (see photo left) with the Dalai Lama.

And according to a biography of Asahara, after the Japanese guru was arrested for the terrorist attack that sent thousands of Tokyo citizens to hospitals killing 12, the Dalai Lama referred to Asahara as his “friend, albeit an imperfect one.”

Later His Holiness distanced himself from the imprisoned criminal.

Asahara is currently sentenced to death for murder and awaiting execution.

The Schenectady Gazette editorial noted,  “In 2003, Keith Raniere roped actress Goldie Hawn into speaking at Vanguard Week, an annual NXIVM event. When Hawn learned about the controversies surrounding Raniere, NXIVM and ESP, she canceled her appearance…If Goldie Hawn has the sense not to appear at an event sponsored by Keith Raniere, then cancellation by the Dalai Lama¦should be a no-brainer.”

Celebrities like Goldie Hawn routinely receive $25,000, $50,00 or more for such a single paid appearance.

Has the Dalai Lama of Tibet sold out at the Albany Palace Theater?

Postscript: The Albany Times-Union has reported that NXIVM devotees traveled to India, in an effort to convince the exiled Dalai Lama of Tibet that he should change his mind again about coming to Albany as their “honored guest.”  A spokesperson for His Holiness says that because of the Dalai Lama’s commitment “to supporting the expression of worthy ideals….he has agreed to visit Albany on May 6th.” When questioned about any financial incentive connected to the visit the spokesperson said that whatever money was received would be “used for charitable and other purposes as per His Holiness’ guidance.”

Endnote: Tickets on sale for the Dalai Lama lecture cost $55 to $85 per person. If the 2,800 seat theater sells out His Holiness could potentially walk away with more than $100,00 for his one-night appearance.

What a difference a week makes.

NXIVM devotee and would be event planner Clare Bronfman told the Albany Student Press a little more than a week ago that the Dalai Lama of Tibet had “spent an entire year vetting” her organization, the so-called “World Ethical Humanitarian Foundations Consortium” (WEHFC) and given all “the research” he had done was “still coming” to Albany for a series of events sponsored by the group despite growing controversy.

However, only days later it was reported that the Dalai Lama (photo right) had changed his mind and dumped the planned program altogether. A date for the event strangely never appeared on his official online calendar of scheduled appearances.

According to the Albany Times-Union His Holiness didn’t appreciate all the “negative publicity connected to the sponsoring organization.”

The WEHFC seems to be little more than a thinly veiled front group for Keith Raniere; a failed multi-level marketing guru named “Vanguard” by NXIVM devotees.

Raniere is the “conceptual founder” of both WEHFC and NXIVM, which is a for-profit enterprise, largely devoted to selling training seminars called “intensives.”

Critics have called the business a “cult” and noted mental health experts have critiqued its trainings, comparing the underlying methodology to “thought reform,” commonly called “brainwashing.”

A scathing editorial that appeared in the Schenectady Gazette read, “Keith Raniere has been involved in controversy for the last 20 years. He has been the subject of lawsuits and investigations…He is hardly a poster boy for humanitarianism, peace and ethics; and his invitation to the Dalai Lama to speak at the inaugural event of The World Ethical Foundations Consortium, which Raniere recently founded, makes one question the motive of the invitation.”

The same editorial also noted, “In 2003, Keith Raniere roped actress Goldie Hawn into speaking at Vanguard Week, an annual NXIVM event. When Hawn learned about the controversies surrounding Raniere, NXIVM and ESP, she canceled her appearance.”

The Schenectady Gazette editorial then concluded, “If Goldie Hawn has the sense not to appear at an event sponsored by Keith Raniere, then cancellation by the Dalai Lama…should be a no-brainer.”

Well, it may have taken some time for His Holiness to sort through the “research,” but ultimately the Dalai Lama did decide not to appear in Albany with and/or associated tangentially to Keith Raniere.

His Holiness sadly found himself in an increasingly awkward and embarrassing situation.

The Dalai Lama of Tibet, who is frequently featured as an honored speaker at some of the most prestigious universities across the United States and around the world, was not being officially hosted by any school in the Albany area for the WEHFC events.

The Albany Times-Union reported that despite the stature of the religious leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner, no school in the area was willing to put its name on the line as an official host for any event associated with WEHFC/Raniere.

Skidmore College and RPI both rejected bids by WEHFC to provide a venue.

An RPI spokesperson explained, “While we have the highest respect for the Dalai Lama and his teachings, we chose not to accept the invitation based on a variety of considerations.”

“Considerations”?

The University of Albany finally agreed to rent out some space, but only with the explicit understanding and precondition that “NXIVM and the organization [WEHFC] were not going to have any part with dealing with…students, or advertising or recruiting…on campus,” according to UAlbany’s vice president for development.

It seems that Keith Raniere (photo left) hoped that somehow through the Dalai Lama’s visit to Albany he would be able to establish his significance, that is outside of his devotees within NXIVM.

Raniere, who is a physically small man, appears to posses an oversized ego, which includes a penchant for grandiose claims.

Mr. Raniere states through his online bio that he is a “scientist, mathematician, philosopher, entrepreneur, educator, inventor and author” who “from early childhood¦demonstrated astounding gifts.” The bio then boasts a long list of alleged accomplishments, from becoming a “judo champion at age of 11³ to somehow managing to be recorded as the “highest IQ.”

Well, now Keith Raniere can add the dubious distinction of being dumped by the Dalai Lama of Tibet to his list of proclaimed accomplishments.

Some in Albany must be deeply embarrassed by this turn of events, including Albany Mayor Gerald Jennings, who appeared at a news conference with Clare Bronfman to endorse the planned program personally, declaring it a “historic event.”

Maybe the mayor could use some Nexium, not the training provided by the purported “cult” group, but rather the advertised purple antacid pill.

According to the WEHFC Web site there may be more than enough embarrassment to go around. The group touts the support of Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Sir Richard Branson, along with Mayor Jennings.

Most embarrassed must be Lama Tenzin Dhonden, who is the “Personal Emissary for Peace to His Holiness the Dalai Lama.” He apparently was instrumental in setting up the now canceled visit to Albany.

The lama is quoted to have said, “The ethical tools developed by Keith Raniere” are a portion of “the essential ingredients to transform our society.”

Look for this lama to be reassigned soon.

At this juncture it seems that Keith Raniere’s primary remaining and significant claim to fame may just be that he has convinced two heirs to the Seagram fortune, Clare and Sara Bronfman, to support him. And given their substantial resources he can manage to at least soldier on financially, maybe not on the world stage, but as NXIVM’s vaunted “Vanguard” starring in his own self-contained and “conceptualized” productions.

However, if the Bronfmans ever decide to follow the Dalai Lama’s example and dump him, it may be curtain time for Mr. Raniere.

Postscript: Chet Hardin of Metroland recently reported that NXIVM leader Keith Raniere (aka “Vanguard”) now claims that the Dalai Lama will visit Albany on “May 6, 2009.” Raniere also wrote Hardin April 13th in an email that he is “thankful for the support of His Holiness” and concluded, “additional details will be available in the next few days.” However, nothing about an Albany visit appears on the Dalai Lama’s official calendar. His Holiness does have a public talk scheduled in New York City on May 3rd and a teaching on the 4th, but no announcement appears about any trip being planned to Albany.  Is this just another example of Vanguard’s “conceptualizing,” or what some might label wishful thinking?

Endnote: Two days after Keith Raniere’s email to Chet Hardin about a May visit in Albany by the Dalai Lama of Tibet, an addition appeared on His Holiness’ Web site calendar. It reads that he will give “a public talk on The Need for Spirituality in the 21st Century at the Albany Palace Theater.” However, unlike other public events announced on his Web site, no sponsoring organization and/or contact link is offered or even mentioned. The Albany Palace Theater doesn’t have the event listed on its calender yet, but apparently there is an opening May 6th at the venue, between the showings of classic films (“The Sound of Music” and “Shane”) and a performance by the Albany Symphony Orchestra.

Final Note: The Albany Times-Union has also confirmed that the Dalai Lama will visit Albany on May 6th, but reports that an emailed announcement from the Dalai Lama’s representative “did not mention by name the World Ethical Foundations Consortium, which is an initiative of the Ethical Humanitarian Foundation,” the previous sponsoring organization with ties to Keith Raniere. The newspaper also reported that NXIVM devotee Clare Bronfman “asked Times Union Center general manager Bob Belber if the arena was available May 6, without specifying for what…Belber informed her the arena was booked that night (by the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus) and suggested she contact Palace Theatre general manager Chris Gould.”

Update: It’s official, the Dalai Lama of Tibet has openly acknowledged the connection between himself and Keith Raniere’s so-called “World Ethical Foundations Consortium.” At the Dalai Lama’s official Web site there is now a link to the NXIVM leader’s group, for “contact” information regarding his scheduled public speaking event in Albany.

It seems despite his global reputation and a Nobel Peace Prize, His Holiness the Dalai Lama of Tibet is having a hard time finding a school sponsor for an event in upstate New York.

However, apparently it isn’t the Dalai Lama whose unwanted, but rather the company he has been keeping lately.

Specifically, it’s a private for-profit company named NXIVM (pronounced Nexium, like the “purple pill for acid indigestion), that has been touting an Albany area series of events featuring the Dalai Lama as its “honored guest.”

NXIVM is the brainchild of failed multi-level marketing guru Keith Raniere, who has been called a “cult” leader.

According to the Albany Times-Union despite Raniere’s (photo left) undergraduate alumni status at Renselier Polytechnic Institute (RPI), that school was unwilling to sponsor a Dalai Lama event.

Likewise, Skidmore College turned down what appears to be a front group developed by Raniere known as the “World Ethical Foundations Consortium” (WEFC).

Longtime NXIVM supporter and “event organizer” Clare Bronfman, daughter of billionaire Edgar Bronfman Sr., told the Albany Times-Union that she thinks “Skidmore and RPI rebuffed organizers’ attempts to bring the Dalai Lama to their campuses because of negative publicity about NXIVM.”

“I’ve had many doors shut in my face,” Ms. Bronfman said.

Skidmore spokesman Dan Forbush explained that the college had “scheduling difficulties.”

RPI spokesman Jason Gorss advised in a written statement, “While we have the highest respect for the Dalai Lama and his teachings…we chose not to accept the invitation based on a variety of considerations.”

Considerations?

There is consideration being given by the University of Albany to host the Dalai Lama April 20-22, but this is “not finalized,” according to the Albany Times-Union.

What is reportedly at the “heart” of the whole WEFC program “is a unique scientific process, developed by Mr. Raniere and imparted by NXIVM, which is designed to facilitate bringing compassionate ethics to the forefront of humanity.”

It appears that this may also be at the heart of why two prominent schools rebuffed His Holiness as packaged by the WEFC.

It seems that Mr. Raniere may be using both this upcoming event and the Dalai Lama (photo right)  to promote his “process” sold through NXIVM training, which a noted psychologist and leading cult expert compared to “thought reform,” commonly called “brainwashing.”

The Albany Times-Union reported that according to Bronfman “a representative of the Dalai Lama went through NXIVM’s training.”

Perhaps the school administrators rebuffed the WEFC program because they recognize the distinctions between thought reform and education, and education is the process they prefer.

After all, many colleges have historically expressed concerns about allowing “cult-like” groups easy access to their students, and it seems this also includes a group that may have somehow convinced the Dalai Lama to come along.

Update: The Albany Times Union has provided further details regarding the upcoming visit of the Dalai Lama as the “honored guest” of a “consortium” founded by NXIVM leader Keith Raniere.  Sara and Clare Bronfman stated at a press conference that “world leaders, royalty, scientists, academics and dignitaries are expected in Albany for the Dalai Lama’s appearances…” What about NXIVM’s history of bad press and controversy? Clare Bronfman responded, “There are many people who have a great amount of resources to look into NXIVM who want to come and have put a lot of time and resources into doing a lot of factual checking. They’re still coming.” Her sister Sara proclaimed that this event will “change the face of Albany” and “put Albany on the map.”

Endnote: Chet Hardin, a reporter for Metroland an upstate New York weekly, is questioning the way the Albany Times-Union has historically covered NXIVM. Hardin seems to think that the newspaper has largely caved in to pressure from NXIVM, curtailing and tailoring its coverage to avoid threatened litigation.

Final note: In the end according to the Albany Times-Union “The Dalai Lama…canceled his scheduled April appearances in Albany, apparently because of negative publicity connected to the sponsoring organization.”

CultNews has been reporting for some time about a “human potential” large group awareness training (LGAT) company called NXIVM (pronounced Nexium) also known as “Executive Success Programs” (ESP) located in Albany, New York.

NXIVM/ESP devotees often call themselves “Espians.” A failed multi-level marketing guru Keith Raniere (photo left), who goes by the title “Vanguard,” leads them.

NXIVM has been called a “cult” and described as “extremely dangerous” by its critics.

Raniere historically has the dubious distinction of being featured on the cover of Forbes magazine in 2003 as the “world’s strangest executive coach.”

The Forbes article titled “Cult of Personality” reported, “people see a darker and more manipulative side to Keith Raniere. Detractors say he runs a cult-like program aimed at breaking down his subjects psychologically, separating them from their families and inducting them into a bizarre world of messianic pretensions, idiosyncratic language and ritualistic practices.”

One of those families affected by the influence of the self-proclaimed “Vanguard” is the Bronfmans, specifically the two daughters of billionaire Edgar Bronfman Sr., of the Seagrams fortune.

Clare and Sara Bronfman are major backers/supporters of various Raniere enterprises, one, which apparently and surprisingly includes His Holiness the Dalai Lama as the “guest of honor.”

Acting through what seems to be little more than a thinly veiled front group called the “World Ethical Foundations Consortium (WEFC)” founded by Raniere, the Bronfmans have somehow managed to convince the Dalai Lama to become involved in an upcoming group event on April 19th to be held in Albany, New York.

According to the WEFC the “Event Organizing Committee” is comprised of Sara Bronfman as the “Event Chair,” her sister Clare as “Event Organizer,” another active Espian named  Edgar Boone as its “spokesperson” and an official representative of the Dalai Lama.

Both of the Bronfmans are also “co-founders” of WEFC.

The so-called “Inaugural Event” of the WEFC will feature the Dalai Lama who will “participate,” according to the WEFC Web site.

Lama Tenzin Dhonden, “Personal Emissary for Peace to His Holiness the Dalai Lama” gushes,  “With the ethical tools developed by Keith Raniere, and the presence, wisdom and guidance of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, we have the essential ingredients to transform our society.”

But isn’t this an odd tag team for world transformation?

The Dalai Lama is certainly a heavyweight, he is after all an international figure with a Nobel Peace Prize.

But Keith Raniere hardly ranks as even a featherweight on the world stage. His only claim to fame seems to be the notoriety he achieved during the 1990s through his failed multilevel marketing scheme known as Consumers Buyline Inc., which was toppled under the weight of 25 separate investigations by state attorneys general.

Of course Raniere sees himself quite differently as visitors to the WEFC Web site can read. His rather strange bio posted there claims that he is a “scientist, mathematician, philosopher, entrepreneur, educator, inventor and author” who “from early childhood…demonstrated astounding gifts.” The bio also boasts a long list of alleged accomplishments, from becoming  a “judo champion at age of 11” to somehow managing to be recorded as the “highest IQ.”

Modesty, it appears, is not one of Vanguard’s virtues.

Ironically, Edgar Bronfman Sr., who once told Forbes that NXIVM is a “cult” now apparently has allowed his name to be used endorsing Raniere’s latest enterprise. 

Bronfman Sr. is quoted to have more recently said, “Convening this group of leaders in Albany for the World Ethical Foundations Consortium is a noble effort.”

Not to be outdone British tycoon Sir Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group, extols the coming event as “extraordinary and potentially world changing!”

Gerald Jennings, Mayor of Albany says the Dalai Lama’s planned visit is a “historic event.”

Well, a father’s love cannot be discounted, Sir Richard Branson has always been a bit of an eccentric and any mayor is happy when someone important drops by to give his or her city some added recognition.

But what explains the Dalai Lama (photo right) lending his name to this purported “cult” effort?

According to the Albany Times-Union  tickets for the event “will cost $52, $82 and $112” and the “proceeds go to cover the cost of the event. Anything extra the Dalai Lama can donate to the charity of his choice.”

The venue for this is the Times-Union Center, which unless the fee has generously been waived, would be part of “the cost of the event.”

Fund raising can often make strange bedfellows.

But maybe His Holiness or one of his charities also expects to be the happy recipient of a hefty donation from one and/or both of the Bronfman sisters too?

If so, this wouldn’t be the first time the Clare and Sara Bronfman have doled out cash acting as seeming surrogates for Raniere. Previously, their generous contributions appeared to be focused on garnering NXIVM some political clout, as reported by the New York Post. 

Maybe the Bronfmans have shifted gears to get Vanguard some pull within religious circles?

The Dalai Lama should seriously consider the negative consequences that NXIVM programs have reportedly produced.

Past participants in Raniere’s trainings have subsequently sought psychiatric treatment, one was hospitalized and another tragically committed suicide.

CultNews strongly suggests that someone in a position to advise His Holiness read the reports produced by two well-respected doctors that reviewed Keith Raniere’s training programs.

See the following:

“A Forensic Psychiatrist Evaluates ESP”

“A Critical Analysis of Executive Success Programs Inc.”

“Robert Jay Lifton’s eight criteria of thought reform as applied to the Executive Success Programs”

So before the Dalai Lama packs for a trip to Albany perhaps he should meditate upon the last written words of Kristin Marie Snyder, who took her own life after walking out of a NXIVM intensive in Alaska.

“I was brainwashed and my emotional center of the brain was killed/turned off. I still have feeling in my external skin, but my internal organs are rotting. Please contact my parents … if you find me or this note. I am sorry life, I didn’t know I was already dead. May we persist into the future…No need to search for my body.”

Is this what the Dalai Lama really considers the “essential ingredients to transform our society”?

Note: The Ross Institute (sponsor of CultNews) is engaged in litigation with NXIVM.  Keith Raniere has unsuccessfully attempted to use the courts as a means to purge information that he doesn’t like, such as the above cited doctor’s reports, from the Internet.

Final note: In the end according to the Albany Times-Union “The Dalai Lama¦canceled his scheduled April appearances in Albany, apparently because of negative publicity connected to the sponsoring organization.”

What do Paul McCartney, Donavan, Eddie Veder, Sheryl Crow and maybe Moby have in common?

Well, besides being celebrity rockers it seems that they can all be seen as supporters of a “cult” recruitment scheme that targets kids.

That’s right, these recording artists not only hope you listen to their music, they want to promote religious beliefs, or at least help to fund programs that are thinly disguised proselytizing aimed at schoolchildren.

Is this yet another example of stars trading on their celebrity status to preach, not unlike Tom Cruise and his endless ramblings about Scientology?

On April 4th McCartney, Veder, Crow and Moby will “Come Together” at the iconic Radio City Music Hall in New York City, to raise money for the David Lynch Foundation.

David Lynch (photo left), the director of “Blue Velvet” isn’t just a “cult” filmmaker; he is also a “cult” follower.

The director is a longtime devotee of the recently deceased Indian guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, founder of the Transcendental Meditation (TM) movement, which has often been called a “cult.”

Apparently Lynch managed to persuade McCartney and others in the music industry to help him fund pet programs “used to teach Transcendental Meditation to a million kids” reports Examiner.com.

This is nothing new for the eccentric filmmaker, who seems to be more concerned about pitching his old guru’s teachings, than coming up with new movie projects.

And it wasn’t difficult for Lynch to get 1960s singer Donavan on board, since he is also a longtime TM devotee.

Sir Paul reportedly will be joined by his old band mate Ringo Starr at the NYC benefit event, who is the only other remaining Beatle.

There is a certain symmetry to all this since it was the Beatles that launched Maharishi (photo below) and his “meditation” techniques into the mainstream of popular culture during the psychedelic sixties, though John Lennon eventually became disenchanted and denounced the guru.

Lennon later said in interviews that the Beatles song “Sexy Sadie,” which includes the lyrics “Sexy Sadie, what have you done, you made a fool of everyone” was originally called “Maharishi.”

But Maharishi was no fool when it came to making money. The guru amassed a global spiritual empire that included assets valued in the billions.

TMers often make ridiculous claims, such as that their mass meditation somehow helped to bring down Berlin Wall and end of the Cold War.

However, TM critics see the group’s practices as little more than self-hypnosis or trance induction.

The Middle European Journal of Medicine found that out of 700 studies on TM spanning 40 years, only 10 were conducted in the clinical tradition of using strict control groups, randomization and placebos. Of those 10, four of the studies recruited subjects that had already shown an interest in TM.

Peter Canter a researcher from the Peninsula Medical School of the Universities of Exeter and Plymouth in the United Kingdom concluded, “there is a strong placebo effect going on which probably works through the expectations being set up.”

TMers have nevertheless continued to make preposterous claims, for example that their “technologies” can create an “all-powerful field of invincibility” that will “make any nation invincible.”

These claims certainly contradict what happened at Maharishi University in Iowa, where a  student went berserk, viciously attacking and ultimately murdering another pupil.

Whatever supposed mystical benefits occur from TM helped neither of them avoid this tragedy.

In 2004 lawsuits were filed against Maharishi U alleging the school was “negligent” and failed to protect its students properly from the murderer, who was known to be violent reported the Associated Press.

Just this month the University quietly settled one lawsuit for an undisclosed amount.

The one time TMer turned murderer who was found not guilty by reason of insanity.

A former 17-year TMer wrote in an article featured at CultNews, that Maharishi (more recent photo left) was a “diverter of seekers, seducer of minds’ and “stealer of souls.”

Not exactly the kind of person you would expect Sir Paul McCartney to support.

Perhaps this knighted Brit is a bit more gullible than the average chap.

After all he was taken in by an alleged “gold digger” and went through a rather expensive divorce after a brief marriage.

In fairness though it seems the list of those taken in by David Lynch and/or TM is growing.

Ben Harper, Mike Love of the Beach Boys and Erykah Badu may be playing along with McCartney at the NYC fundraiser according to recent reports.

So Sir Paul won’t be the only “Fool on the Hill.”

However, David Lynch didn’t fool concerned parents in California.

When the movie director tried to unload his TM program in Marin County, a bastion of liberalism, it was soundly rejected.

Amidst allegations that TM was nothing more than a “cult,” Lynch’s proposed program was ultimately dumped reported NBC News 11.

The funding source for the program was none other than the David Lynch Foundation, that same entity that Paul McCartney and company seem so anxious to help through the coming New York fundraiser.

And the Lynch failure in California wasn’t the first time that TM devotees have targeted schoolchildren.

According to a report filed by Associated Press TMers have made similar attempts to promote their beliefs at public schools before in “New York, California, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Kentucky and other places.”

Barry Markovsky, a University of South Carolina sociologist labeled such efforts “stealth religion.” And almost 30 years ago in 1977, U.S. District Judge H. Curtis Meanor ruled against TM being taught at public schools.

These efforts were done through something called the “National Committee for Stress-Free Schools.”

Just when you thought that Madonna was the one to watch out for when it came to a music icon peddling religion, along comes a former Beatle and his virtual tag team of celebrity rockers.

Postscript: An interesting comment came in subsequent to this article appearing at CultNews. According to one TMer, “The one thing all the above mentioned outstanding musicians have in common is that they all practice Transcendental Meditation.” Shades of Tom Cruise indeed.

An ordained Scientology minister from Santa Barbara is scheduled to speak to Cal Poly (California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA ) students tonight on campus. His sponsors are enrolled in the school’s religious studies program, but ironically the venue chosen for his presentation is “in the Science building” reports Mustang Daily.

Scientology, which believes as an article of faith that alien spaceships have visited earth and subscribes to an assortment of health remedies concocted by its founder L. Ron Hubbard (photo below conducting an experiment), is hardly “Science.”

Hubbard, neither a scientist nor a doctor, was a pulp-fiction writer turned purported “cult leader.”

His bizarre beliefs about the human mind and health have frequently been derided as “psuedo science.”

This is why Scientology specifically chose to become a “religion,” where in addition to tax-exempt status; it could position its claims outside the realm of serious scientific scrutiny.

For example, Hubbard’s ridiculous claim that human bodies are supposedly capable of storing toxins and/or the residue of drugs indefinitely.

Respected researchers have dismissed this belief repeatedly.

A Scientology program called “Narconon” was ultimately purged from California schools, when it was learned that Scientologists were teaching such Hubbard hokum to schoolchildren.

Another example of Hubbard’s penchant for blurring the boundaries between science and religion is the Scientology ritual known as the “Purification Rundown.”

This regimen closely connected to Hubbard’s claims about toxins includes a regimen of saunas, ingesting large doses of niacin and vegetable oil to allegedly purge poisons from the body.

Tom Cruise once tried to promote this routine in New York in the guise of “detox” clinics, even encouraging city firemen exposed to chemicals at Ground Zero through 9-11 to try it.

However, the New York Fire Department’s chief medical officer told the New York Times that there is no “objective evidence” to support Hubbard’s theory that somehow people can sweat out toxins.

Moreover, an Irish professor that heads a university pharmacology department stated that the purification rundown is “not supported by scientific facts” and “not medically safe” reported the Irish Times.

Never mind.

Scientologists believe whatever Hubbard said and/or wrote, and it is not legitimately subjected to scientific scrutiny, but rather accepted on faith.

As noted believer Isaac Hayes once said Hubbard’s pronouncements remain forever true and therefore “immutable.”

In fact, Scientologists feel so strongly about this that the words of L. Ron Hubbard have been enshrined. The church has spent millions building vaults to serve as perpetual repositories of their founder’s supposed knowledge, in New Mexico and most recently Wyoming.

Hubbard’s writings date back to the 1950s and the man himself died more than 20 years ago in 1986.

Of course since that time science has moved on, well beyond Hubbard’s quaint theories and observations.

Relatively more recent discoveries in science concerning the chemistry and synaptic connections of the brain and the role of genetics in human illness were not known and/or understood by Hubbard. Perhaps this is why so much of what passes for his “holy wisdom” now seems so hopelessly out of date and disconnected from reality.

According to Rolling Stone when Hubbard died the coroner’s report “described the father of Scientology as in a state of decrepitude: unshaven, with long, thinning whitish-red hair and unkempt fingernails and toenails. In Hubbard’s system was the anti-anxiety drug hydroxyzine (Vistaril), which several of his assistants would later attest was only one of many psychiatric and pain medications Hubbard ingested over the years.”

Perhaps Hubbard himself was disconnected from reality?

This might in part explain his claims, which appear to be more fantasy; than anything grounded on scientifically proven facts.

Cal Poly has an excellent academic reputation.

Scientology is known as a fringe “new religion,” often called a “cult.”

Perhaps the best place for a Scientology lecture isn’t in the Cal Poly Science Building, but nearer to the fiction stacks at the university library?

Postscript: Apparently at the Scientology lecture Cal Poly faculty would not allow probing questions, which raised meaningful issues about Scientology’s troubled history. They instead insisted that students submit their questions through attending professors, who then filtered and edited them as they saw fit. One person commenting about this process said, “Questions were offered to the professors who hosted the event regarding the substantive issues… For example, a direct question on the ‘Disconnection’ practice of Scientology was so watered down into a softball that asking it in the re-worded way it was phrased was the functional equivalent of filtering reality…A disservice was done…to the students of Cal Poly…at best failing to fully disclose the nature of the subject matter, and at worst exposing students to one of many deliberate recruiting methodologies of the cult.”

National Heritage Foundation (NHF), a controversial charity with an interesting history run by the Houk family, has gone bankrupt.

In a letter published late last month CEO J.T. “Dock” Houk advised (photo left), “NHF has filed voluntary petitions for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code in Virginia on January 24th. The plan is subject to Bankruptcy Court approval…”

Houk also shared the following tidbits:

1. “We cannot make any new disbursements from our foundation accounts until further notice…”

2. “Many of the donation checks issued but not presented for payment until recently will not be honored by our bank.”

Does this mean that NHF knowingly passed potentially bad checks?

Or, was this simply an example of the general incompetence and mismanagement, which led to bankruptcy?

Houk blames his troubles on “this recession” and insists that he is only “restructuring.”

However, Houk and his charity have a troubled history as reflected by the documents and articles gathered within the Ross Institute Internet Archives about the organization.

NHF has been around since 1968 and Houk claims it has handed out “nearly $1 billion…since its inception.”

But NHF has also been something of a watering hole for the Houks.

“Dock” Houk is CEO, Mom Houk serves as Chief Operating Officer, son “Tick” is President (photo right) and both the Houk’s daughter and daughter-in-law have served as Vice Presidents.

It seems that this “charity” is run like a family business, with the Houks collecting salaries and expenses through its ample cash flow.

Is the Houk clan following in the footsteps of the notorious Baptist Foundation of Arizona, which bilked 11,000, mostly elderly investors out of $600 million?

Former executives of that foundation were ultimately sentenced to prison time and ordered to repay hundreds of millions of dollars for defrauding their fellow Baptists in a botched financial scheme that bankrupted that non-profit organization.

Or are “Dock” Houk and his son “Tick” more like alleged fraudster Bernard Madoff, who fed off those that trusted him in what has been described as an elaborate 50-billion-dollar “Ponzi scheme.”

Whatever questionable financial practices might have passed for “business as usual” within NHF will now hopefully be carefully scrutinized through the federal bankruptcy proceeding.

This story could become quite interesting.

A 22-year-old man affiliated with Neo Nazi groups decided to vandalize what he apparently believed to be a “Jewish” house of worship in Mobile, Alabama.

The man arrested, Thomas Hayward Lewis, was charged with third-degree criminal mischief, criminal possession of explosives and possession of a controlled substance.

The words “Juden raus,” which is German for “Jews get out,” was spray painted on a building occupied by a religious group known as the “Congregation Tree of Life.”

However, the congregation named is really not Jewish at all, but rather composed of self-proclaimed “Messianic Jews” that are essentially fundamentalist Christians who “believe” in “Jesus Christ,” reports the Press Register.

After all, a belief in Jesus is what defines Christians and Christianity, not Jews, who historically are defined by a belief in Judaism.

To put this in context imagine a group of Krishna devotees declaring that they were somehow fulfilled “Krishna Christians.”

And the young Nazi is either too ignorant or just plain stupid to make such distinctions.

It seems that within this idiot’s confused mind pretended “Jews” are as likely as real Jews to become the focus of his wrath.

Ironically, the neo-Nazi and the targeted congregation actually appear to share at least one thing in common.

That is, both would like to see an eventual end to Judaism, as we know it, albeit by different means.

One peacefully through religious conversion and the other through violent extermination.