______________________________________________

The Dark Side of Eckankar

by Ruth and Noah Samuelson

______________________________________________

IntroductionEckankar, and similar New Age movements, are successful in attracting new members because they cleverly disguise their real intentions. In our previous article, Evidence that Eckankar is a covert occult organization and a front for the Illuminati (October 2008), we showed how this New Age movement, founded by Paul Twitchell in 1965, is really a covert form of Luciferian Freemasonry and that members are unwittingly worshipping Egyptian deities.

These ‘deities’ are actually demons or powerful psychic entities.

In every period of history, there have existed groups and organizations which worshipped these demons. In order to recruit and subvert new members, they often had to present these demons as ‘deities’ or ‘gods,’ otherwise any sensible person would keep well away. Then, once they join and submit to a series of initiations designed to ‘open’ them to ‘spirit,’ they are gradually brought under the control of these malign entities. This process can take years, but demons are patient.

The prophets of Israel warned again and again about the dangers of Baal worship. As messengers of the One True God, they were trying to alert people to the dangers of magic and the real risk of possession. Jesus spent much of his ministry casting out demons. Why? Because so many people had fallen under their control.

That was a long time ago, you may say. But demons are as active today as they were in Biblical times. The spiritual leader of Eckankar, Harold Klemp, confirmed this in his autobiography, Child in the Wilderness (which we will discuss at greater length below).

Demons take care never to reveal their true identity until long after their intended victim has fallen under their spell. Their many seductive guises include ‘masters,’ ‘angels,’ ‘totem animals,’ ‘inner lights’ and extra-terrestrials.

In this article we will present compelling evidence, based largely on the written works of the ‘Eck Masters’ themselves, which show that they are actually operating under a controlling force and that the ‘illumination’ they promise is Luciferian.

Please be patient with us as we present the evidence. We know this is bound to be a shocking discovery for sincere members of Eckankar. If you have not already done so, please read our previous article before proceeding any further. It will help you recognize that Eckankar is definitely not what it seems.

1

Among the members and former members of Eckankar whom we contacted in the course of our research was Robert Marsh, the author of two books on Eckankar (We Are Not Alone and Unfold Your Golden Wings). He was deeply shocked by the evidence set out in our (then) draft article and took several days to recover, at which stage, he said, “the spell was broken.” He realized that the charges made in the article were substantially correct, particularly in light of a “ghastly” experience he himself had just had while on an Eckankar mission to Africa (He later sent us a letter describing this and other events which, with his permission, we reproduce below). Other former members of Eckankar supplied additional relevant information and confirmed certain matters of fact.

We’ll begin by taking a closer look at Paul Twitchell and then see how this cunning individual deceived a shy and lonely young man, a former student in training for the Christian ministry, Harold Klemp.

Darwin GrossHowever, before embarking on our analysis of Twitchell and Klemp, we’d like first to say a few words about Darwin Gross, the ‘Eck Master’ who succeeded Twitchell as leader of Eckankar. Despite the many disturbing facts about him, most new members know little or nothing about his role in Eckankar. This New Age ‘religion’ is being presented to the public as though he had never existed, even though he led the organization for ten years. His bullying, womanizing and arrogant behavior, not to mention his attempted theft of Eckankar funds – seemingly over $1m – was hardly consistent with his role as God’s representative on earth. His conduct alone would convince any objective person that Eckankar is a fraud on every level.

He and Klemp fought a nasty battle for control of the organization, which Klemp won. In the course of their confrontation, Klemp wrote an article which he circulated to all members, entitled ‘Methods of the Black Magician’ (The Mystic World, Winter 1983). This was clearly aimed at Gross. Klemp described the methods of the black magician as follows: “The black magician creeps into his prey’s life, step-by-step. Every emotional trick is used to bind the two ever more closely together.” Please bear this statement in mind as we proceed as you may wish to consider whether, and to what extent, it applies to both Twitchell and Klemp.

Twitchell, Hubbard, Crowley and ParsonsIn our previous article we showed the close association between Paul Twitchell and Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology. We mentioned the Satanic rites which Hubbard conducted with the famous Satanist, Jack Parsons. Parsons studied magic under the most notorious black magician of the 20 th century, Aleister Crowley. During a magical rite, Crowley became possessed by the demon of Horus while on a trip to Egypt in 1904. This demon called itself Aiwaz (For some reason, many demons like names with the letter ‘Z’ in them). Over a period of several years the demon strengthened its grip until it had Crowley under his complete control. Working through Crowley via the occult technique known as channeling, the demon produced a number of major works on black magic, including The Book of the Law and The Book of Lies. These Satanic books have been consulted avidly ever since by students of the occult, most of whom try to raise demons through the rites of ceremonial magic.

2

Given Crowley’s status among the world of black magicians and his association with Parsons, one can be sure that Hubbard was himself possessed. Many attest to his powerful hypnotic powers and the remarkable psychic control he exercised over his associates. Demons who have secured possession of a person continually strive to recruit new victims. Since Twitchell worked closely with Hubbard in the early 1950s, as both Klemp and Marman have confirmed, and had a number of friends in the inner circles of scientology (again confirmed by Klemp and Marman), it is very likely that he came under pressure from Hubbard and others to participate in these or similar rites. Whether or not he did is unproven.

The Tiger’s FangIn any event, according to Klemp, Twitchell had the ‘experience’ recorded in The Tiger’s Fang in late 1956 or early 1957. This book gives a detailed and graphic account of a journey Twitchell took out of his body while (he claims) visiting the occult city of Srinigar in Kashmir, northern India. He was led by a ‘master’ named Rebazar Tarzs who had “shining, coal black eyes.” During this ‘journey’ he met numerous deities on the ‘inner planes’ and experienced colossal demonstrations of power, blinding surges of white light, and disabling waves of celestial energy.

Experts in the esoteric and the dangers posed by prolonged fascination with the occult will recognize Twitchell’s experience as one of severe demonic possession. Twitchell himself described it as ‘God Realization.’ He thought he was becoming the Godman, the supreme occult goal sought by all magicians.

Klemp himself confirmed that this experience really shook Twitchell and that it took him almost ten years to regain some kind of balance in his life. Klemp interpreted these difficult years in Twitchell’s life as one of major change, in preparation for mastership. In reality, they were typical of the dreadful inner struggles that many victims of possession go through before they finally succumb completely to the will of the demon controlling them. Crowley himself is said to have struggled with his demon, Aiwaz, for several years before he finally succumbed.

By 1965, the demon had established complete control over Twitchell. He was then sent on his mission to recruit more victims for his ‘master.’ For this purpose he established a new occult teaching, dressed up in seductive New Age clothing, which he called Eckankar. He plagiarized other authors shamelessly – even Marman concedes this – and used his talent for journalism to promote himself in the public eye and to package Eckankar in an innocent, eye-catching way.

Twitchell tries to break freeThe years between the experience in Srinigar and 1965, where he declared to the world that he was the ‘Godman,’ the true incarnation of God on earth, Twitchell appears to have made at least one attempt to escape the power of the demon that was possessing him. This was around 1961 when, according to Klemp, Twitchell tried to get baptized into the Catholic Church (The Secret Teachings, p.146-147). For someone who was only a few years away from declaring to the whole world that he was the Godman, this was certainly a reckless act, a sign that something was terribly wrong.

It is unclear why he didn’t persist since the power of Jesus would have set him free.

3

Demons attack Twitchell as a boyIn order to promote his movement, Twitchell managed to get Brad Steiger, a popular author on space aliens and the occult, to write a ‘biography.’ This may have been arranged by the Illuminati, who were busy funding the creation of New Age cults at that time (as they still are today). This so-called biography, In My Soul I Am Free, was little more than a mishmash of pseudo facts about his past and a collection of occult essays by Twitchell himself. One of these dealt with his animal familiar, Jadoo, a cat which came in its astral body to protect him in times of danger. As we noted in our previous article, Twitchell revealed that the name Jadoo meant ‘black magic.’

The book also contains a revealing anecdote. When he was a boy, he went alone to explore a hill in the countryside about five miles from his home. Returning on foot at twilight, he had a frightening encounter:

Then something came out of the woods. Its shape was unassuming enough; it appeared to be a small white lamb. It began to trot behind Paul, and that was when he noticed its wild reddish eyes and heard the vicious snarl that it was making deep within its throat. The boy sped in terror through the lengthening shadows of twilight.

When the two reached the summit of the hill, the creature let out a strange call. Instantly there seemed to be hundreds of the small, white entities snarling and snapping at Paul...

“The shape which these entities assumed is certainly unique in the annals of haunting,” Twitchell said recently. “I don’t think I have ever heard of any other case wherein ghostly, snarling lambs haunted an area.”

It is well known among practitioners of the occult that manifestations of this kind during childhood, where demons are drawn to a particular youth for some reason, is grounds for believing that the same occult attraction will carry into adult life. Members of the Freemasons advance more quickly into the higher degrees of initiation if they are known to have had such experiences in childhood.

Twitchell’s paranoiaHis insecurities and strange personality led to considerable restlessness in his professional life. He could never hold a job for more than a year or two, had no steady friendships, and wandered back and forth across the country. It is not surprising, therefore, that, footloose and lonely, he entertained fantasies of becoming someone really special.

Klemp points out that for several decades Twitchell would send material to his hometown library in Paducah, Kentucky, lauding his achievements, however trivial, and even managed to promote so much fabricated material about himself that he got an entry in the Kentucky edition of Who’s Who.

After he appointed himself the Godman – God’s representative on earth – he worked tirelessly to promote Eckankar and win new adherents. At the same time, he began to feel his position was under threat and a distinct paranoia became evident in his later talks and writings, where he imagined that his leading followers were trying to dethrone him.

4

His grandiose plans were such that he envisaged 50 million people around the world giving over their inner lives to him, the Godman. His craving for recognition was insatiable. In the following extract, which is full of New Age propaganda, he calls for the creation of ‘Satsangs’ in every village and hamlet around the world. These are groups of Eckankar members devoted to the study and dissemination of their Master’s message (It should be noted that ‘Satsang,’ an important word in Eckankar, contains the word ‘Satan’):

Therefore the only way the impending world disaster is going to be averted is to build more Satsangs and to increase the number of chelas [members] in ECK. This is for the purpose of having more individual channels for ECK and a greater collective channel for the ECK to have an opportunity to make this world a better place to live and to bring peace to all. There is no other way of doing this. This is also your contribution for helping the MAHANTA to spread truth and its message to all concerned. It is also your contribution to mankind. This is the reason that we want ECK Satsangs in every hamlet, village and city throughout the world. Your contribution, being a vehicle for the ECK Itself, makes you important in the works of ECK. It needs you as you need It. By the year 1985 we should have several million ECKists around the world. I do believe that a figure of 50 million is not impossible.

- Illuminated Way Letter, April 1971

These ‘Illuminated Way Letters’, written by Twitchell between 1966 and 1971, were published by Eckankar in 1975 but withdrawn by Klemp when he came to power. Again Twitchell’s messianic approach was too strong for the more subtle brand of marketing that Klemp had in mind. Deceit, manipulation and the cult of personalityTwitchell continued to promote his mystical, all-powerful persona right up the time of his death. The first chapter of a his so-called official biography was published in segments in several issues of his quarterly magazine, The Mystic World, in the period 1970-1971. It was to be called ‘The Wind from Heaven’ and was allegedly written by a completely unknown individual, James Walker. The writing style of this ‘biographer’ was suspiciously like that of Twitchell himself, bad grammar and all. Not surprisingly, this ‘biography’ never appeared since Twitchell died before he could complete it.

In it he praised himself to the skies. Here are just a few choice excerpts, which crackle with the egotism of a self-publicist in full flight: “Close to fifty million people in practically every country in the world seek spiritual succor for some complaint, regardless of what it may be, from this shy American-born guru. From the looks of things, their petitions are not in vain, for his spiritual help brings a minimum of some twelve to fifteen thousand letters a week...” Incredible stuff, all lies.

5

“Articles both pro and con have brought about a raging controversy as to whether or not he has replaced the eminent figures of religion, Buddha, Christ, Moses, St Paul of Christian fame and Mohammed.” What articles? What controversy? Hardly anyone in the media had ever heard of Twitchell. “He walks the streets of the world capitals with large crowds in his wake...” More lies. If he was virtually unknown in the US, he was totally unknown abroad. “Scientists, doctors, clergymen, psychologists...seek out this extraordinary man hoping he will unravel for them the secrets of the supernatural...” More nonsense.

“The charismaism of Paul Twitchell cannot be described in words.” Yes, he did use the word charismaism. “He always travels incognito for whenever the word is spread that he is visiting a city – whether it is Rome, London, Paris, New York, Istanbul or Tokyo, a vast crowd gathers around the airport or hotel hoping to see him or receive a word from him.” This is all chicanery, without any basis in fact. “Because of his supernatural ability to be in many places simultaneously, he has become one of the most influential spiritual leaders in the history of man.” Nothing less for Twitchell. He consistently observed the dictum that, if you are going to lie, then tell really big lies – there will always be someone foolish and trusting enough to believe them.

All of these excerpts came from just one article (January-March, 1971). There were four others, all deceitful and manipulative in one degree or another. For example, in the issue of The Mystic World for July-September 1971, he says a viceroy of Sat Nam (God) convened with other “ECK Masters” in the early 17th century “to discuss the birth of the coming avatar of the twentieth century, Peddar Zaskq.” This, of course, was Twitchell himself. He then says he was born during the great earthquake that shook the Mississippi valley. For those who know a little history, this event occurred in 1812. Being the Godman, he had a “miraculous birth.” He then says he met the Eck Master, Sudar Singh in Paris while still in his teens and followed him to India. All of which is completely untrue. Sudar Singh was just a cover name for one of the Radha Soami teachers that Twitchell met in later life.

None of these five articles from The Mystic World, 1970-1971, have been made available to today’s members of Eckankar. They reveal too starkly how deceitful and deluded Twitchell was and how little regard he had for the intelligence of his audience. They show the extent he was prepared to go to promote his cult of personality and to lend credence to the fraud he was perpetrating on naive and trusting individuals.

Twitchell’s attacks on ChristianityTwitchell knew that his main enemy was Christianity and, like so many New Age groups, he tried every way he could to belittle the divinity of Jesus and reduce his spiritual stature. His favorite trick, which he repeated many times, was to assert that Jesus was no more than a wise healer who was initiated into Eckankar in Tibet by the so-called Eck Master, Fubbi Quantz (another ‘Z’). He even said that this was only the initiation of the Second level, which anyone could receive after a mere two years in Eckankar.

6

In writings restricted to circulation among members, he was even more disparaging about Jesus and used every opportunity to portray him as a well-meaning but misguided person with a few psychic gifts. For example, in one set of discourses, called Letters to a Chela, he makes the following caustic remarks:

Jesus is dead whether anyone believes this or not. He died some 2000 years ago and has not been with this world since. This is the saddest aspect of Christian religious history...Christianity as a historic religion was not founded by Jesus, but by an educated Jew named Paul...Those priests and clergy who preach the word of Jesus and the God of Christianity [are] thereby only speaking in the terms of institutional religion, that of the educated. They preach from the Christian Bible, as the authority for their case, based upon the words of their God. Therefore we find that this is a false teaching... [p.25-26]

He rants on in this vein for page after page, describing Jesus and Christianity in offensive terms. Thus it is hardly surprising that this alarming tirade has long been withdrawn by Eckankar, even from Eckankar members – it reveals too much about the organization’s real intentions.

Twitchell also liked to undermine the Bible while disparaging Jesus. Patti Simpson, a close disciple of Twitchell, reports the following comments by him in her book, Paulji: A Memoir:

Anyone who is a student of the Bible or any of the sacred writings, but particularly the Bible which we are more familiar with in this country, knows that all the statements attributed to Jesus were not actually statements that Jesus made, but they were made later by good writers in their translations...So you have people rewriting the King James version, rewriting it until they have perfected it to reach all mankind, all states of consciousness. [p.213-214]

This malicious claim is a central element in the New Age agenda, to attack the word of God as it is recorded in the King James Bible – the authorized version in the English language – and make it more and more difficult for people to practice Christianity as God intended. The countless versions or ‘translations’ of the Bible in the bookstores today are testimony to this. The New Age movement keeps pushing for more ‘versions,’ striving all the time to dilute its spiritual force and sow confusion among Christians. Clearly, Twitchell endorsed this subversive strategy. Notice too that he mentions the King James version by name – that’s the one the Luciferians really hate.

Twitchell also had contempt for the prophets of Israel. Here is what he says in The ECK-Vidya: Ancient Science of Prophecy:

7

Prophets as a distinct class within the Israelite society first appeared in the days of Samuel and Saul, about the tenth century B.C. The tradition of these uncontrollable spokesmen for the God of Israel occupied an important position within the community, as much as the ECK-Vidya prophet does today within the world community...Yet none of these [ECK-Vidya prophets] were, as the members of Israelite cultic prophets, uncontrolled in their inspired utterance, visionary experiences and predictions of the future. They were in full control of their senses and spoke with clarity to all concerned. [from Chapter Two]

He describes the prophets of Israel as “uncontrolled” and “uncontrollable.” Since they were speaking the word of God, who exactly was not able to control them? The answer – Lucifer.

It should be noted also that there are no prophets in Eckankar. Twitchell is the only one who ever tried to prophesy and his record was abysmal, a painful embarrassment that the organization never mentions.

Also, in 27 years, Harold Klemp, the self-styled ‘Modern Prophet,’ has never dared to prophesy! He also continues the Twitchell tradition of disparaging Jesus and Christianity, but in a much more subtle way. His 16-volume Mahanta Transcripts are peppered with comments and observations that belittle the Christian faith, the mission of Jesus Christ, the Holy Trinity, the return of the Redeemer, our personal relationship with God through Jesus, the veracity of the Holy Bible, the death and resurrection of Christ, the power of repentance, the cleansing power of Baptism, the miracles of Jesus, the spiritual power and authority of the Apostles, the divinely inspired life of Abraham, and so forth. He rarely misses a chance to trivialize or dismiss Christianity. One of his favorite tricks is to separate Jesus from what he calls the ‘Christ consciousness.’ In this way, he tries to contend that Jesus was simply one of many holymen who possessed the ‘Christ consciousness.’ The clever way he does this throughout his writings is quite relentless.

As we said before, the whole purpose of the New Age campaign, whether through Eckankar or any number of other movements, is to draw Christians away from Christ. The object they hate the most is the Authorized King James Bible. Their ultimate goal is to lure people so far from orthodox Christianity, as stated in the Kings James Bible, that they will accept the New Age initiation which many cults and neo-pagan groups are expecting to accompany the so-called Harmonic Convergence which they believe is scheduled for sometime around 2012. In their foolishness, these followers believe a new era of peace and higher consciousness is about to be inaugurated, when in reality a plague of Satanic forces, with widespread fascist oppression, is set to be unleashed.

8

Twitchell describes the ‘Mahanta’Twitchell made some taped interviews which were published in the Eckankar book, Difficulties of Becoming the Living ECK Master, which has since been withdrawn. The aim of the taped interviews was to capture the way the ‘Mahanta’ worked through Twitchell. Our previous article showed how he tricked followers of Eckankar into chanting the name of three Egyptian deities by combining them into one word, Mahanta, his esoteric term for the all-powerful Godman. These deities were Maa (or Maat), On (the Sun God) and Ptah (the Sun God in his rising aspect). When combined, they become maa-on-ptah or Mahanta.

The Eckankar philosophy has many other cleverly concealed links to the dark magic of Egyptian religion. Key terms – Eck (Spirit), Eckankar, (co-worker with God), Sugmad (Supreme God), and Hu (the word of God) – actually incorporate names of Sun Barque deities from the Old Kingdom of ancient Egypt. The Eckankar two-volume scripture, The Shariyat-Ki-Sugmad, was channeled through Twitchell by two ascended ‘Masters’ in much the same way that Aleister Crowley was used to channel The Book of the Law. Twitchell even admitted that the second volume was based in part on the Egyptian Book of the Dead, a deeply occult tome also known as ‘The Book of Coming Forth by Day’ (See The Illuminated Way Letters, p.182).

He was intrigued by the way his controlling entity, the ‘Mahanta,’ used him and sometimes referred to it as “this thing.” Here is a revealing excerpt from the Eckankar book, Paulji: A Memoir, by one of his leading disciples, Patti Simpson, who conducted the taped interviews:

He realized that he never knew what he was going to say, or when he would suddenly lapse into this greater consciousness and put into motion or record something that was a direct manifestation of the Mahanta Consciousness in operation. He once said, “It will help us to see how this thing works.”... Except in his writings and lectures, in which he used the proper terminology, he referred to the Mahanta Consciousness as “this thing”... [p.280-281]

Simpson also describes a disturbing dream where Twitchell, during a period of illness, drained away her life force without her permission and used it to rejuvenate himself:

The shadowy figure put the syringe into the area of my solar plexus. I didn’t feel it go in, but then he began to withdraw something from me, which I did feel. It felt as if some of my energy, or life force, was sucked out into the syringe; I could feel it clear down to the physical body, which immediately felt a surge of nausea. [p.101-102]

Simpson also noted that Twitchell was greatly interested in the Civil War and would return to it time and again during conversation. Doug Marman, who has researched Twitchell’s life for many years, confirmed this in his book, The Whole Truth. This preoccupation with violent death and bloodshed on an epic scale is never found among spiritual individuals but is often observed in people with disturbed personalities.

9

The Twitchell personalityFor many years Professor David Lane carried out extensive research into Paul Twitchell and bravely weathered repeated rebukes from Eckankar and its members. According to Professor Lane, Twitchell “was a notorious plagiarist and a first rate liar.” Initially we thought this assessment may have been too harsh. Now we have no doubt that it is absolutely correct, and very probably does not go far enough. It is clear from the books by Marman, Steiger and Simpson, and the many stories told by Klemp, that Twitchell was also a social misfit, a fantasist with extravagant delusions about his spiritual stature and an insatiable craving for adulation and attention.

He struggled continuously to retain a hold on his followers and issued many subtle, and some not so subtle, threats to prevent them leaving. He once wrote, “No one can leave the ECK Master and go scot-free. They must pay the penalty.” (Illuminated Ways Letters, p.158)

In the early 1980s, Klemp promised to publish both an authorized biography of Twitchell and an official history of Eckankar. Not surprisingly, after 25 years, neither has appeared. Any historian worth his salt would soon discover the truth.

Child in the WildernessWe shall now examine the ‘illumination’ of Harold Klemp. This experience in ‘God-Realization,’ as he put it, took place on a bridge somewhere in Wisconsin in 1970. He describes the lead up, the experience itself, and the aftermath in his autobio-graphical book, Child in the Wilderness.

This book must have been very perplexing for Eckankar members when it first appeared in 1989. In it, Klemp frankly admits that he was so disturbed by the experience of ‘God-Realization’ that he jumped into a freezing river in the middle of the night, nearly died and had to be hospitalized. Then, releasing himself from hospital, he went to an airport to take a flight to be with his ‘master,’ Paul Twitchell. While in the waiting area, he stood up and began taking off his clothes. At this point the authorities intervened and took him to a secure mental institution for treatment and observation. He was there for several weeks before finally being released.

Demons attack KlempWhile inside the mental institution, Klemp had a frightening encounter with three discarnate entities – low-level demons – which fought viciously to possess him. A demented man in the neighboring room had just died and the three entities that had been living inside him were on the prowl for another victim. Klemp was asleep but says he awoke in his astral body when “three men of ghoulish appearance kicked open the door of my room and burst in. Then I knew: They had plans to possess me before the night was over...then began a vicious thumb-jamming, eye-gouging, hair-pulling fight for my life that I could never have imagined in my wildest dreams. Again and again, they attacked.” Klemp says he called on the Mahanta but no help arrived. He tries to rationalize this in his book by claiming that he had to “surmount the trials of life and evolve into a greater spiritual being.” However, the reality is that no help was forthcoming. He was on his own.

10

Did no one think to ask why Klemp was attacked by demons and yet had to defend himself, without any assistance whatever from his ‘master’? Where was the so-called Mahanta who was meant to provide complete protection against attacks of this kind? Even though he had been in Eckankar for three years or so and had received the Second Initiation in person from Paul Twitchell, Klemp was completely alone and defenseless.

It’s as if the entire membership of Eckankar has gone to sleep. No one seems to see the alarming contradiction in what Klemp describes as his most important book. Why was a loyal disciple subjected to such an ordeal, with no help or protection whatever?

Experience on the BridgeThe experience on the bridge was preceded by an encounter earlier in the evening with two men who, judging by Klemp’s description of their conduct and demeanor, were very nasty individuals indeed. One of them, “the stranger,” had given peculiar esoteric instructions to Klemp in the days leading up to the incident on the bridge and actually guided him into the experience itself.

Here is how Klemp described his ‘God-Realization’ experience in Child in the Wilderness (p.129-131):

The stranger broke in on my thoughts. “Look there!” he said. “The Light of God!” From out of the night, as if from a distant lighthouse, came a searing bolt of blue-white light that pierced my heart...the Light of God poured endlessly into my heart as It swept down from the God planes...Then it came, barely a breath of sound gliding over the water... “O God, no!” I cried. With each tidefall, I reeled. The full Ocean of Love and Mercy was crushing me, cleansing, scouring, blessing. A great pain burst through me: a white-hot fire. I screamed in agony, “O God, let this stop!”...Long cries of anguish rose from my depths, deep and full. My body was ripped, slashed by a thousand claws, and as many hammers pounded from all sides. I then became aware of standing bent over double on the bridge. Ghastly screams rent the night. Was this me?...Slowly I straightened up. My sides burned with a stabbing pain, from the screams that came with Soul’s cleansing.

Now let’s look at the description that Twitchell gave of his own experience of ‘God-Realization’ in The Tiger’s Fang:

A giant shapeless thing seemed to appear from somewhere out of the light and hovered over us, watching, waiting and staring as if ready to pounce upon us at the very moment it decided. There was an awfulness about it, whatever it was, and about the only impression I had of this shapeless being was that it was like an eagle with outstretched claws. A strange power flowed from it, downward into us...A bellowing laughter roared through the light, yet it was not a sound but an electric movement, a power that ripped and tore into me, a motivating motion of light sensation. It thrust into me, with a clash, collision, shock and an impact that was astounding...Something came out of the light, a shapeless thing like a cloud, smothering me with its flowing motion. It attacked me with an impelling force of dynamic onset. It slashed, slit,

11

split, ripped, cleaved, wrenched and dismembered me with its terrible forces.

“Power! Power!” It shot atoms of sound toward me. “Power! That is God! Understand that you fool! Nothing is greater than power. With power you can do anything. Defeat any enemy, construct the good, and be the greatest of all things...Look for yourself. Is not hatred more powerful than love? Can’t you do more for yourself if you have revenge in doing it?...You too can be the Master and have followers who will come and worship at your feet...”

...The Lord Agam Purusha came in, suddenly seized me with sharp talons and pushed, pulled and worked in a massaging manner that was astounding but painful. The sound whistled through me and the hideous laughter rung around me and was like a nauseating pulse of electricity...The light became very strong around me...I was a part of that cloud of light, a flaming robe around me, in the center of this blinding light. Something entered into my heart...Then I was God!

Who can follow a path whose deity proclaims, “Is not hatred more powerful than love? Can’t you do more for yourself if you have revenge in doing it?” It shows the strength of the mind control exercised by Eckankar that otherwise good people can be taken in by all of this.

Now let’s compare the Klemp and Twitchell accounts with the following description of a similar experience by another author:

Before I could move or speak, a pillar of light roared down out of the unseen caverns of the ceiling...Out of the light appeared a huge being, difficult to describe. He, too, was robed in white, and had white hair flowing down to his shoulders. Mighty wings swept out from his shoulders...

The brilliance of the light and the quicksilver changes taking place in the giant being before me made my eyes burn and water...

“You have tasted of the illumination of our Master, the Light-Bearer, and have been found worthy to receive the Light,” my guide told me...

I had to shut my eyes for the light which glared forth. It seemed my eyeballs were turning to molten steel. My forehead was about to explode. I felt a claw tear into my brow, right between but slightly above my eyebrows and insert itself into my brain like a white-hot poker. I tried to scream but could not. My entire body felt like it was going to burst from being filled with roaring, flaming hot light...

I finally managed a scream. But before the scream was finished, I was through the wall and traveling on what seemed to be a lightning bolt crashing through clouds and hurtling toward the earth.

12

There are unmistakable similarities between these three experiences. A notable feature of the last one, however, is that the man who went through it – Bill Schnoebelen – said it took place in a ghoulish temple where strange voices chanted, “Ave Satanas, Rege Satanas” – Hail Satan, Satan rules:

My life was profoundly changed from that time on. If that being was indeed Satan, he had given me a Mark I was to carry with me for many years to come. That Mark was a sign that I was his property, and I could never forget it. It was a nightmare, but one from which I could not awaken. – from Lucifer Dethroned, 1993

Schnoebelen is a self-confessed ex-Satanist, ex-member of the Illuminati, a former 32nd degree Mason, and a former practitioner of demonic black magic. For sixteen years he immersed himself totally in the dark arts, during which time he had the experience described above. He has since turned to Our Lord Jesus Christ and renounced his Luciferian past.

Jesus warned of this false light when he said: “But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!” (Matthew 6:23)

Note that term, if the light that is in thee be darkness. Followers of New Age groups are actually turning to this dark light, the false light of Lucifer. As a result naive and gullible Christians are being drawn cunningly into a deadly trap.

It says something about the spell cast by Eckankar that few of its members appear to have expressed concern over Klemp’s disturbing book, Child in the Wilderness. Klemp cleverly put the most unsettling parts in the middle chapters and used the rest of the book to rationalize his extraordinary conduct. In this way he managed to convince his followers that his behavior was heroic rather than bizarre.

Craving attentionSatan craves attention. He longs to usurp God and rule both heaven and earth. He wants everyone to worship him and bow to his will. Since the beginning of time he and his cohort of demons have ensnared those foolish enough to dabble in magic of any kind. As channels for his power, his principal followers on earth have the same craving for attention. Just about all New Age gurus and self-proclaimed masters want to be the center of attention. Eckankar is no different. While he protests that he does not want to be worshipped, Harold Klemp has ensured that his photo appears in virtually all books, newsletters and other publications produced by Eckankar. Members are encouraged to keep at least one photo of him in their homes and on their person and to use it for their half-hour daily meditations. This strange practice is even given a special name – Tiwaja. They are told to look into his eyes and to invite him to enter into their minds and hearts. They are even instructed to speak to him silently in the course of the day, to share their innermost thoughts with him and to ask him – and only him – for spiritual guidance and protection. If this isn’t worship, what is?

13

In addition, members are asked to place their attention on him as fully as possible every Friday. This exercise is to be practiced all day long, regardless. Members who have difficulty doing this are told to persist since, as Klemp alleges, it is vital for their ‘spiritual growth.’ They are also exhorted, where possible, to continue this exercise, or a milder form of it, on other days of the week.

On top of this, members of two-years standing and above are told to write a report to him every month, which may involve divulging private details about their lives and their innermost thoughts, including any doubts they may have about him and his divine powers.

It is interesting that the three obligatory practices for all Eckankar members – the half hour daily meditation, the Friday ‘mental fast,’ and the monthly report – all have one thing in common – Harold Klemp. Short of living with him in an ashram, it is hard to imagine a more complete form of self-abasement before another human being.

Klemp’s ‘spiritual’ nameAccording to the Eckankar writings, every Eck Master has a ‘spiritual’ name. Apparently no reason is given for this, but it is a common practice in the occult. Members are taught to call on the Mahanta and other Eck Masters by using their ‘spiritual’ name and to repeat these names, which are regarded as ‘charged words,’ during the day and in their daily meditations. (Twitchell’s ‘spiritual’ name was Peddar Zaskq – yet another Z.)

In his book, Soul Travelers of the Far Country, Klemp describes how he got his spiritual name. He was cossetted at the time in a photographic dark room with the Living ECK Master who preceded him, Darwin Gross. According to Klemp, the conversation went as follows:

Later that afternoon, the Living ECK Master dropped by again. In the darkroom he asked, “Do you know your spiritual name?”

“Yes,” I said. “Z!”

“What?”

A noisy ceiling fan was on for circulation, and he did not hear me. So I repeated, “Z!” That is my true identity for all time. Paul [Twitchell] had given it to me in the early 1970s.

“How about Wah Z?” he asked.

The added syllable meant the Inner Master working with initiates in a particular way on the spiritual planes. Z, or Wah Z, means the Secret Doctrine.

We have already seen how Aleister Crowley was possessed by a powerful demon called Aiwaz. Applying the standard occult practice of reversal to achieve a magical outcome, we can reverse the syllables of the demon’s name, so Aiwaz becomes Wazai. Do you see any similarity between this and Klemp’s spiritual name, given to him in a small, dark room?

14

A former high initiate in Eckankar describes a demonic attack As we mentioned earlier, we made contact with Robert Marsh during our research. He was a high initiate in Eckankar for many years and author of two Eckankar publications. He was greatly taken aback by what he learned about its hidden occult agenda. A few weeks later he sent us a short account of a dreadful Satanic attack he endured while fulfilling an engagement for Eckankar in Africa:

Your article came as a bolt from the blue, but it fell on fertile ground (Pardon my metaphors!) As I said, I had already had a ghastly encounter with Satan during my recent trip to an Eckankar seminar in Africa. A coven of witches, masquerading as ‘friends,’ opened the door to the dark force and directed it at me. The attack came during sleep. The demon itself was so evil, so incredibly vicious and wicked, that I cannot even begin to describe it. His hatred of me, and all humans, was astounding. And his power, wow! He raged viciously around me, trying to lure me out of my ‘safe place’. He even sent in two lesser demons, who had no power in my safe place, to deceive me and lure me out. The raging provocation went on for some time. Not once did an ECK Master of any kind appear to protect me. I was on my own. And yet someone did protect me, because I survived.

Afterwards I began to wake up to the full horror of what had happened. I began to realize who had protected me and put me in a safe place. It was Jesus. I know this for certain because my safe place was in the shape of the communion host. Even though I had abandoned Christianity 33 years before, he stepped in to protect a lost Soul. I had been lured into a Satanic ambush.

The coven of witches were amazed that I survived. As far as they were concerned, I should have been either demonically possessed or stone dead.

This awful experience totally broke the spell cast by Eckankar. It is hard to believe I spent years preaching the merits of this deceitful path! I too was deceived. I hope the many people who have read my books will forgive me.

Later, I phoned Eckankar in Minneapolis to tell them what had happened. They phoned back with three prepared questions: (1) how on earth did I survive? (2) what day did the attack take place? and (3) what do you think this all means? I was amazed. Their questions were so cunning. Afterwards, I wondered why they asked about the date of the attack (I was in Africa for 12 days). It actually took place on 1 August – which (as you guys probably know) is a famous date in the occult calendar! The witches call it Lughnasa, a major sabbath when the Devil demands human sacrifice.

Now let me tell you how I came to write my first book, We Are Not Alone. Harold Klemp asked to see me while I was attending the European Seminar in the Hague in August 1988. He said he wanted me to write a book about my experiences in Eckankar. Naturally I was delighted to provide this ‘spiritual’ service. Little did I know that my ‘experiences’ were generated by the Great Deceiver and had no spiritual value whatever.

15

Anyway, as I sat there, Klemp’s eyes went completely black. Not just the iris and pupil, but the entire surface of both eyes. Totally black. This was so eerie, but being a ‘good chela’ I thought it was a positive sign(!) Then they filled with a strange diamond-like, sparkling light. This happened twice – black, sparkles, black, sparkles. Not in perfect succession, but with interruptions as my attention was distracted elsewhere.

This should have been a warning, but I was very naive (like so many ECKists). When I was at the Springtime Seminar in Minneapolis in 2008 a longtime ECKist I knew came up to me and joyfully told me how she had met the Master [Klemp] just a few weeks before. She asked if I had ever met him face to face. I said I had. Then she said something really strange, in a hushed tone: “Did he do that black eye thing with you?”

Another strange encounter took place in 1993, this time in Paris. As a RESA (a big cheese in ECK) I was entitled to attend a special RESA meeting with the Master. There were about nine or ten RESAs in the room, waiting for him to arrive. When he did, I got such a shock. He was not his normal self but a strangely withered spectacle. Just skin and bone. He face was drawn with pain. I remembered his words from the RESA meeting in Paris the previous year – “I don’t much care for this position anymore.” I could see why. I knew he was under severe demonic attack. But in my foolishness I thought he was the great Master fighting off the demons, not a victim struggling to survive. It was a very troubling experience for me. And yet even that didn’t wake me up (Some people never learn).

One last story. I was in Minneapolis in 2002 as guest speaker at their regional seminar. While I was there I happened to meet a guy who worked as night-watchman at the Temple of ECK while it was being built. He said he did this for about a year or so, maybe less. It was the most eerie experience he ever had. Every night the place would crawl with strange entities and beings. He was very frightened but he figured he had been given the great privilege and so made himself stay. You know, not many can claim to have been on site while a ‘Wisdom Temple’ was being built. But he was in bad shape. Even after ten years, he still carried the psycho-logical scars. He said he had to go away and heal for about 4-5 years. He couldn’t work. He could hardly function normally as a human being.

Even this story, a glorious gift from God, didn’t wake me up! I guess I thought I knew it all.

As Jesus warned us, “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.”

I think of all the good people who listened to my talks at ECK seminars and believed the whole thing to be so spiritual. And yet we were all being led like lambs to the slaughter.

16

ConclusionWell, that’s it. We probably won’t research this bizarre path any further. If people don’t see its dark Luciferian core at this stage, it’s possible they never will.

If you are a member of Eckankar and you are troubled by this article, please consider counselling from a trained professional, preferably someone who has experience dealing with mind-control cults and a rock-solid foundation in Christianity. As we said in our previous article, we regret having to make this information available, but the subject matter is simply too serious to ignore.

[December 1, 2008]

Select Bibliography

Gross, D From Heaven to the Prairie, IWP Publishing, 1980 Klemp, H Child in the Wilderness, Eckankar, 1989

The Living Word, Eckankar, 1989The Secret Teachings, Eckankar, 1989Soul Travelers of the Far Country, Eckankar, 1987

Lane, D The Making of a Spiritual Movement: The Untold Story of Paul Twitchell and Eckankar, Del Mar Press, 1993

Marman, D The Whole Truth: The Legacy of Paul Twitchell, Spiritual Dialogues Project, 2007

Schnoebelen, B Lucifer Dethroned, Chick Publications, 1993 Simpson, P Paulji: A Memoir, Illuminated Way Publishing, 1985 Steiger, B In My Soul I Am Free, Lancer, 1968 (co-written by P Twitchell) Twitchell, P The Illuminated Way Letters 1966-1971, IWP Publishing, 1975

Letters to a Chela, Eckankar, 1980The Tiger’s Fang, Lancer, 1967

Copyright 2008. This paper, or appropriate parts thereof, may be reproduced or circulated in any format without permission provided the authors are acknowledged and no changes of any kind are made to the text.

17