Tis the season for recruitment …

Hi Readers –

Recently someone asked me if “school” was still schooling. As it turns out, yes! You, too, can have “new friends”! I know that the invisible world is sending out invisible troops, because a recent recruit visited and commented on the blog.

It amazes, amuses and saddens me that this cult is still trotting out the same sad tactics. Maybe some of you stumbled into this blog because of a strange recent encounter with some “new friends”. You may be wondering, “Is a cult  recruiting me?” If it had these traits, it was cult — i.e. “school”/”the study” — recruitment:

  1. Friendly man/woman ( in this case, “Mike C”) strikes up conversation at a bar in Somerville, typically this chat begins with an unusual question regarding esoteric ideas, or something inspirational.
  2. Discusses life and philosophy.
  3. Another “friend” (in this case, Alan) shows up.
  4. Some coffee meetings follow the initial encounter.
  5. Another “friend” joins (in this case, Lisa).
  6. Last coffee meeting includes another “friend”, Robert, who extends an invitation into a group; btw what used to be simply “school”, then morphed into “the study” no longer has a name. The invitation may, or may not, include a “free experiment” and the warning: ” …it’s very important that you not tell anyone about this. It’s private, just for you!

If your “new friends” are like Mike, Alan, Lisa, and Robert, they are reluctant to share personal details. BIG RED FLAG! They are also lying about the nature of their relationships. What felt like a chance encounter is deliberate recruitment.

The word is that this “youngest class” meets Mondays and Thursdays at the Courtyard Marriott, both in Cambridge and Brookline. Apparently the latest marketing ploy is to nod to a lineage of great men of history, while trotting out Gurdjieff ideas –like the mechanical nature of man, the four “centers”,  self-observation, identification, and the wrong work of centers — but neglecting to mention Gurdjieff, and Sharon Gans and Alex Horn, etc, etc. And, yes, the 5-week aims, are now called the 5-week commitments and the free 5-week “experiment” is still a thing.

 

5 thoughts on “Tis the season for recruitment …

  1. Open Eyes says:

    I wonder if that is Alan from my class. It wouldn’t surprise me he’s out recruiting.

    • The Gentle Souls Revolution says:

      Hi Open Eyes, Thanks for your comment! Do you mind providing more info about your class? And your tenure? I feel the more details I can offer here on the blog, the more likely it is that people seeking information online can be forewarned — cult alert! Run away!

    • The Gentle Souls Revolution says:

      Oh, ha! Never mind 😉 we’ve already chatted 🙂 But thanks, anyway!

  2. Lisa says:

    Is the Billerica group still meeting?
    Does Greg still teach?

    • The Gentle Souls Revolution says:

      Hi Lisa – the truth is I’m not sure … and I never met Gregg. I’m not sure if the pandemic is cramping the cult’s style, either. I haven’t heard from any recent ex-“students” in a long time.

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