New Age COINTELPRO and the Optimism Gestapo

[ninakat]

This is a very timely subject for me, since I just had an e-mail exchange with an old friend who appears to have swallowed the new age pill, hook, line and sinker.

I had reconnected with him several months ago by e-mail and phone, and I knew that his wife was heavily into just about all of the new age "spirituality" stuff. Ironically, after giving him a cursory explanation of my thoughts on 9/11, peak oil, the economy, etc., he told me that his wife, not he, was more in tune with that kind of conspiracy thinking. He didn't buy any of it, but I knew all it would take were some articles, web sites, and documentaries.

So I sent him a rather large package of information, including a handful of DVDs, all of which he seemed interested in learning more about. I didn't hear back until just a few days ago, and here's what he wrote (emphasis mine):

I want to thank you again for sending those videos and articles and genuine concern. I haven't as yet viewed any more of the videos. I've actually gone in the opposite direction and have chosen to put my mind toward creating a reality that doesn't involve these things and placing my energies on envisioning a planet where love and kindness prevails. I've been thinking more about what I wish to dwell on and the philosophy that what we focus on actually generates what we experience. In doing so I have found my life to be generally lighter, more joyous, and richer in meaningful and rewarding experiences. This might strike you as just another form of denial. I don't deny that great injustices are occuring all the time. I also recognize that concerted action toward rectifying these horrors, getting the word out there etc, such as what you are doing, is necessary and heroic. I'm finding that with me, at least for now, my time is best spent generating warmth and kindness and love from my being with everyone.

I cringe every time I read his words. It's like he's been body-snatched by the exact new age mindfuck doctrine described in the article at the top of this thread. I'm angered, frustrated, and upset that he has chosen this direction, and it almost leaves me speechless, but I did manage a "friendly" reply:

Thanks for your e-mail. I understand your perspective on wanting to avoid all the truthiness out there. It really is overwhelming, which of course is what it is intended to be. That said, one of my favorite quotes, which I'm trying to live by myself, is: “We must become the change we want to see.” -- Mahatma Gandhi

For me, however, I can't become that change without knowing what the correct choices are, and that means looking at the dark side as well as the light in order to find a deeper understanding. One thing that's a big lesson for me in all of this is that the dark side has successfully infiltrated the light, so even the word "love" isn't always what it appears to be. An obvious example of topsy turvy reality is George W. himself. If we took everything he said at face value, it would sound downright noble, and certainly ethical.

I ended the e-mail there simply because I couldn't figure out anything else to say.

What I really felt like saying was "OH MY FUCKING GOD -- YOU NEED HELP."

[teamdaemon]

American Dream, I couldn't help but notice that this article is very similar to the article you posted about holotropic breathwork. The title makes a dramatic claim and then the article does a poor job of making the point. For example, this article cites only 2 examples:

1. A medium who rationalized the Iraq War in a (single) performance.

2. A massage therapist who is too busy to talk to his wife.

Does that really constitute a "New Age Cointelpro"? I don't think so. I definitely agree with you that the new age thing plays into the elite's plan and I do believe that they do a lot to instigate it. I just wanted to point out that the article is pretty shallow.

I think that if a person is interested in exploring the esoteric aspects of the universe they should take LSD and meditate. Almost all of the so called "new age" movements / gurus are just trying to sell the psychedelic experience as something more palatable for normal people.

About Leary - his research at Harvard was funded by the CIA, I think. I have to be thankful for Tim Leary because he made LSD accessible to people. He wanted it to be available to people outside of Harvard and the Government. It wasn't until after he went to prison that he decided that people should just hang around and get high and wait to migrate to another planet when this one gets fucked up.

"Info Psychology" was written when he was in prison. It says explicitly that people who try to correct the imbalanced distribution of wealth in the world are "larval" or un-evolved human beings. That is the primary text to look at when it comes to Leary's damage assessment. I think it is almost certain that they did something to mind-control him.

[Nordic]

I'd have to agree with the poster above that the article doesn't do a very good job of making its case.

All it says to me is that there are assholes in all walks of life. Something most of us already know.

An awful lot of well-meaning people feel just plain helpless.

In the fact of what has gone on the last several years, if you don't feel helpless, you might be in just as much in denial as those you accuse of being in denial.

I've often struggled with the notion of "just how much can you affect the winds of war?"

I mean, think about it. Say you were an average Roman citizen during the time when Rome was in its downward fall. How much influence could you have possibly had? How about your average American citizen as the Civil War was looming? Or a German as WWII loomed?

Often I think the best course of action is to prepare for what I can see is coming in a way that will best protect me and my family from these landslides of history. In other words, just get the fuck out of the way of the landslide.

I never felt so politically helpless in my life as during the build up to the Iraq invasion. It was almost making me feel insane. I can still remember the feeling in my stomach as every day I realized "my god they're actually going to do this and we can't stop them!"

How many Jews in Germany should have just gotten the hell out while they could?

I see the kind of denial as described by the person above who described their friend who just didn't want to face the reality as something we'll see more of, as things get worse and people just don't want to fact the truth. And why should they face the truth? The truth fucking sucks, and there's almost nothing we can do about it. Why not take "the pill", whatever pill you've got, whatever pill works for you, and nod out?

Me, I don't know what else to do but write. But a lot of people don't write, or can't write. I'm compelled to do it as much as possible, as much as time will allow, with the biggest audience I can find. But if you can't do that? What CAN you do?

[Stephen Morgan]

I think it is almost certain that they did something to mind-control him.

Well, they gave him LSD for starters...

[FourthBase]

An awful lot of well-meaning people feel just plain helpless.

In the fact of what has gone on the last several years, if you don't feel helpless, you might be in just as much in denial as those you accuse of being in denial.

You might as well tell the Red Sox to give up in the 9th of game 4 in 2004.

I'm not in denial of anything.
We're facing very, very long odds.

But if you give up, your odds are 10 billion trillion to zero.
You aren't actually 100% helpless, it only feels that way.

I've often struggled with the notion of "just how much can you affect the winds of war?"

I mean, think about it. Say you were an average Roman citizen during the time when Rome was in its downward fall. How much influence could you have possibly had? How about your average American citizen as the Civil War was looming? Or a German as WWII loomed?

Your problem there is the word "average". I'm not average. Few of us here are average. In fact, if there are any people in the world capable of starting something, it's going to be people who are aware of what's going on, and that necessarily puts us in a very, very, very small percentile. With that awareness and small percentile comes responsibility. If you shrug your shoulders, you might as well be shrugging ten thousand shoulders.

Often I think the best course of action is to prepare for what I can see is coming in a way that will best protect me and my family from these landslides of history. In other words, just get the fuck out of the way of the landslide.

That course of action would do the exact opposite of protecting your family.
Getting the fuck out of the way dooms your family to a miserable death.

I never felt so politically helpless in my life as during the build up to the Iraq invasion. It was almost making me feel insane. I can still remember the feeling in my stomach as every day I realized "my god they're actually going to do this and we can't stop them!"

We could've stopped them.
We just didn't figure out how and/or try.
Why? Because it was "inevitable", and we were "helpless". Haha.
(Thank you Jon Stewart! There's a special place in hell for you!)

How many Jews in Germany should have just gotten the hell out while they could?

How many good Germans just stood by or "got the fuck out the way" even before that? Anyway, what we face won't be a holocaust in which any of us escape, so your Jews-who-should-have-fled analogy does not work. Getting the hell out actually decreases your chances of survival from minimal to non-existent.

I see the kind of denial as described by the person above who described their friend who just didn't want to face the reality as something we'll see more of, as things get worse and people just don't want to fact the truth. And why should they face the truth? The truth fucking sucks, and there's almost nothing we can do about it. Why not take "the pill", whatever pill you've got, whatever pill works for you, and nod out?

Facing the truth is the only hope anyone has of not being annihilated.

Me, I don't know what else to do but write. But a lot of people don't write, or can't write. I'm compelled to do it as much as possible, as much as time will allow, with the biggest audience I can find. But if you can't do that? What CAN you do?

You can probably do a lot more.

As long as it's non-violent, figure something out and do it.

[American Dream]

teamdaemon wrote:

American Dream, I couldn't help but notice that this article is very similar to the article you posted about holotropic breathwork.The title makes a dramatic claim and then the article does a poor job of making the point. For example, this article cites only 2 examples:

1. A medium who rationalized the Iraq War in a (single) performance.

2. A massage therapist who is too busy to talk to his wife.

Does that really constitute a "New Age Cointelpro"? I don't think so. I definitely agree with you that the new age thing plays into the elite's plan and I do believe that they do a lot to instigate it. I just wanted to point out that the article is pretty shallow.

I think that if a person is interested in exploring the esoteric aspects of the universe they should take LSD and meditate. Almost all of the so called "new age" movements / gurus are just trying to sell the psychedelic experience as something more palatable for normal people.

I'm certainly not going to defend Jaye Beldo's writing as if it were my own. Those are his thoughts expressed, NOT mine. My personal belief, as expressed here previously, is that I am endorsing neither a "pro" nor a "con" position toward New Age spirituality. How could I? That label encompasses so many things! I do think that when spirituality promotes self-absorption and/or weakens social consciousness and moral action, we should say something.

teamdaemon wrote:

I think that if a person is interested in exploring the esoteric aspects of the universe they should take LSD and meditate. Almost all of the so called "new age" movements / gurus are just trying to sell the psychedelic experience as something more palatable for normal people.

About Leary - his research at Harvard was funded by the CIA, I think. I have to be thankful for Tim Leary because he made LSD accessible to people. He wanted it to be available to people outside of Harvard and the Government. It wasn't until after he went to prison that he decided that people should just hang around and get high and wait to migrate to another planet when this one gets fucked up.

"Info Psychology" was written when he was in prison. It says explicitly that people who try to correct the imbalanced distribution of wealth in the world are "larval" or un-evolved human beings. That is the primary text to look at when it comes to Leary's damage assessment. I think it is almost certain that they did something to mind-control him.

As with New Age spirituality, I am not trying to say that drugs are either "bad" or "good" per se. As above, I do feel that if drug culture "promotes self-absorption and/or weakens social consciousness and moral action, we should say something." In trying to shine some light on these areas, I'm sure to differ from some people here. Case in point, Tim Leary: Who was he? What was he doing?

I once whole-heartedly agreed with the view of Tim Leary suggested above, ie that whether or not Leary had enjoyed government funding in his early research, that he went wholly independent of the System, and it was only when he got to Vacaville prison that he was manipulated by the CIA. I am no longer certain that this is the whole story...

[American Dream]

Here is a quote from another thread that I think is very relevant here.

The relevant quote is from near the end of Peter Levenda's third book The Manson Secret (pgs. 386-399), from his series Sinister Forces: A Grimoire of American Political Witchcraft.

I do not want to appear as someone who sees a fascist or a satanist hiding in every corner. My intention is somewhat more specific. The political consciousness of those who have been leaders of some of the manifestations we know as the human potential movement has been somewhat shallow, or non-existent. Their writings, speeches and interviews reveal no interest or understanding of political responsibility; indeed, their view of life as “bliss,” and that the world would be a happier place if everyone practiced a more spiritual approach to live ignores the immediate problems of hunger, disease, and genocide. In many ways, the quest for personal fulfillment that is the hallmark of the human potential movement is possible only in a safe, healthy and relatively affluent environment, such as obtains in the United States and in other Western countries.

This ia a dilemma, that has concerned me for much of my life; the desire to pursue a spiritual path and lifestyle against the responsibility to act in a socially accountable way to aid those oppressed by political regimes, epidemics, famine, war. There are those who say that the individual pursuit of one’s spiritual goals can go a long way towards helping rid the world of evil, but to those on the front lines it seems a vain and self-serving fantasy, especially in light of the terrible suffering visited upon the innocent by religious fanatics the world over.

It is probably this basic dichotomy between these two approaches to life that leads to the attraction between fascism and occultism on the one hand, and atheism and communism on the other, each missing a essential element only to be found in its opposite; for it is the fascist who despises humanity in general and the common good, and the communist who despises spirituality and the higher good. Both are interested in the technologies of consciousness, however, if only as weapons to be used in their continuing struggle...with each other. Yet, none of those involved with the human potential movement of the 1960s and 1970s–amid the assassinations, the Vietnam War, the military coup in Chile, Watergate, etc.–seemed to understand the political ramifications of what they were studying and doing, and how this “technology” could be used, and was being used, for political and military purposes both overt and covert by forces on both sides of the great Cold War political divide.

From: http://www.rigorousintuition.ca/board/v ... hp?t=15456

[Nordic]

Hey Fourth Base --

I respect your opinions on this, and what you say represents what a Big Part of me constantly tells me to do.

I will fight, any way I can, until the roof starts crumbling down.

But think about the Jews (and Germans) who DID get out of Germany. In my business (the film business) many of them managed to come here and do quite well and make art that otherwise would not have gotten made. In hindsight, should they have stayed? They certainly didn't get "annihilated" by coming here.

I'm talking about individuals here. There's always the conflict between being an individual and being a member of society. For an example that's pretty mundante but illustrates my point -- I could give up driving a car. In Los Angeles. Think about that. I'd be setting an example, and yes, there would be one less car (out of 8 million) on the roads of Los Angeles .... but what good would that really do anybody? It would be shooting myself in the foot needlessly.

It's like conserving water here in Southern California when there are rice paddies in the desert, irrigated by that same water. Rice paddies! Subsidized rice paddies! And they tell me I should take shorter showers? Why, so corporate farmers can have rice paddies in the desert?

These things always come back the fact that our survival depends on a decent government, one that can make common-sense laws to protect and promote the common good.

I went biodiesel in my car, but do I really think that's making a dent? No. But it makes me feel better. I'm not putting the blood of murdered humans into my gas tank any more. And if it catches on, it could make a dent. But how can it catch on unless people supply biodiesel? And businessmen aren't willing to supply biodiesel unless there's already a demand. But there's no demand until the supply is there. We need government incentives, or regulatins, or whatEVER to nudge things along.

Let me put it this way, which is the jist of the discussion -- if I could leave the U.S. and get to some place that might pass the coming ecological catastrophe relatively safety, why shouldn't I do that? What's happening now is huge and quite likely unstoppable. If it IS stoppable, I can try to stop it from a relatively more safe position rather than in this city which will turn into an anarchistic disaster when the shit hits the fan (I was here for the riots in 92 and have seen that already happen once).

Why not get out?

This country is descending into overt fascism. Why not get out? Fight the batttle from a safer place?

I would if I could. Right now I can't, so it's kind of moot.

[Nordic]

Hey American Dream --

It doesn't have to be "either/or".

Your discussion reminds me of the quote from Jesus, who said you have to remove the stick from your own eye before you could remove the splinter from your neighbor's eye. (I'm paraphrasing of course).

The problem is not the spirituality itself, it's using it as a drug to "tune out" of reality.

Spirituality is something that should make you more able to deal with the problems of the world, not something into which you escape from the world. Although that certainly is tempting.

[American Dream]

Hey Nordic-

Excellent points! I very much agree with what you just said. Although I think that each person's personal choice must be respected in these matters, I hold out great hope in the principle which you just stated:

Spirituality is something that should make you more able to deal with the problems of the world, not something into which you escape from the world.

[LilyPatToo]

What Nordic said. The entire European branch of my Jewish husband's family was exterminated in WWII. IOW, the only ones who lived to tell of the horror of Nazi Germany were the ones who fled. Sometimes fleeing is the bravest and most difficult thing a person can do--inertia, apathy and perceived hopelessness have killed uncounted millions of people.

Just 4 years ago this month, my own awakening from the New Age dream began, so I've followed this thread with great interest. What did it for me was the cognitive dissonance between the escapist crap that was being fed to me on the one hand and the experience of daily living in an urban dystopia on the other. I watched otherwise kind "spiritual" friends look away from the poverty and pain and social injustice and sink into selfish, moronic narcissistic "bliss" until finally I couldn't stand it any longer.

Dream's End's blogs on the corrupt and manipulative underpinnings of the New Age Movement put into historical perspective many of the things I'd witnessed in the Bay Area's thriving New Age community. And what subsequently befell DE confirmed my own growing certainty that there is a thriving COINTELPRO-type op being run online. The upper tier of thinkers/writers who are catching on is targeted with disruptive psy-ops, while "Flypaper" websites attract segments of the New Age followers and--literally--reinforce their specific programming.

What we as individuals can do may not be dramatic (or very satisfying) but we can make a difference simply by waking up and talking about what we've found out. Yeah, there will be opposition from both New Agers AND from the supposedly rational Intellectual Left, but we should expect that and continue to "walk our talk" regardless.

The Lefties that I know are deep in denial of the reality of their own brand of escapism--and they'll fight like hell if anyone disturbs their programming. But many of them can be reached, because they're not Believers at heart. If they can be made to see how they've actually been neutralized as far as real activism goes, there's a good chance that they'll catch on. Eventually. I hope.

The Believers are another kettle of fish. Most are addicted to their trained dissociative response to pain and injustice and they're going to fight waking up to reality like all addicts and they're going to relapse many, many times. The Controllers have had centuries to perfect their shtick this time around--the New Age is superbly designed to rope in people who regard conventional religion with distain. The mass mind control methods and memes are cloaked in shiny new disguises that cater to educated minds. Heck, it worked on me for 40 fucking years

LilyPat

[American Dream]

LilyPatToo wrote:

The Lefties that I know are deep in denial of the reality of their own brand of escapism--and they'll fight like hell if anyone disturbs their programming. But many of them can be reached, because they're not Believers at heart. If they can be made to see how they've actually been neutralized as far as real activism goes, there's a good chance that they'll catch on. Eventually. I hope.

This is intriguing to me- I would like us to expand on this.

Here's a few problems I think vex "Leftists", as a group:

1. Using activism as a vehicle for ego-driven agenda.

2. Inattention to personal health and growth, if not wholesale rejection.

3. "Work-aholism".

4. Domineering behaviors.

5. Being mean to one's allies, and potential allies.

6. Group-think/dogmatism.

7. Single issue-ism and separative behavior.

8. Acting superior to others.

9. Insularity

10. Acting on anger equated with effective political action.


These are a few- of course there are others!


But also missing is the list of positive tendencies within "the Left"...

[theeKultleeder]

I ended the e-mail there simply because I couldn't figure out anything else to say.

What I really felt like saying was "OH MY FUCKING GOD -- YOU NEED HELP."

And what do you do with all the DVDs and so forth that you purchase from these people who, in the end, are making a buck? Besides drive yourself sick and crazy?

Just because some people miss the point about "creating reality" or get sucked into obvious mental palliatives and emotional anesthetics doesn't mean every one has to. HINT: the best place to start is to act ethically.

Not saying you don't, but true morality doesn't come from a list or a law book; it comes from harmony of the brain heart and gut that is the song of the human soul.

[FourthBase]

What Nordic said. The entire European branch of my Jewish husband's family was exterminated in WWII. IOW, the only ones who lived to tell of the horror of Nazi Germany were the ones who fled. Sometimes fleeing is the bravest and most difficult thing a person can do--inertia, apathy and perceived hopelessness have killed uncounted millions of people.

That was then. Now imagine that there's nowhere in the entire world one can flee to that would be out of reach of an elite who will survive extinction-level catastrophes in city-sized bunkers and who will still control an array of reconnaissance satellites and control the most deadly weaponry imaginable and who will not want there to be any threats to their way of life (living off the grid, their grid, being one of those threats). The desire to flee from civilization itself, even if temporarily successful for those who try it, will still doom those who are lucky enough to survive -- and by giving up on trying to stop the elites behind the future catastrophes now, that desire will doom us all if it continues to be validated and spreads among the few fucking people on earth awake enough to even realize something's going on, the few fucking people who would therefore initiate an intellectual uprising.

[LilyPatToo]

I get your point, FourthBase and I share your awareness of the profound differences between then and now, believe me. But my gut tells me that flight may still buy me a few more years--flight, that is, to the right place(s). Also, I fear my own tendency to dither and wait for things to get better will prevent me from being brave enough to leave my home, to be honest. The one time in my life that I literally fled this country, I ended up going from the frying pan directly into the fire, too, so that kind of fuels my tendency to defeatism as well I'm trying to deal with that here--to suss out what's possible/workable/right for me, personally.

And then there's the problem of having espoused political activism for so long. How do I justify jumping ship after it's really hit the fan?

I don't have many answers...just questions. The topic of this thread is very relevant and important to me. It's not just a case of intellectualizing about something I see as an egregious "social engineering" experiment.

LilyPat