Ramtha School of Enlightenment

Identified by a number of different sources as a cult, RSE is the brainchild of spiritualist JZ Knight who founded the school in 1988 near the rural town of Yelm, Washington, USA. JZ Knight claims that the teachings of RSE were channelled through her by the ghost of Ramtha, a 35,000-year old disembodied spirit from Lemuria. Some years ago, JZ Knight retreated from critics who exposed her as a huckster and a fraudster whose teachings were either nothing more than ‘imaginings’, or the influence of a demonic spirit. More recently however, JZ Knight and RSE returned into public view and her school is now celebrating record enrolments from more than 3,000 students that come to her from all over the world, paying $1,350 a year to attend seminars and retreats in which an entranced JZ Knight speaks ‘ancient philosophies’ which she claims “came through her from Ramtha”.

RSE, which shares 49 pastoral acres with JZ Knight’s palatial Hollywood-style home, realises immense profits every year - during 2007, RSE reportedly made a profit of $2.6 million in the sales of clothing, books, tapes, DVDs and other merchandise alone.

Gordon Melton, Director of the Institute for the Study of American Religion in Santa Barbara and a cult expert, recently published a book entitled, Finding Enlightenment: Ramtha School Of Enlightenment which describes JZ Knight as “an American woman shaman who channels the Gnostic teachings of the spirit entity Ramtha”. In his book, Melton somewhat sympathetically recognises that Ramtha may or may not be real, but that the philosophy attributed to him has several counterparts found in Gnostic religious thinkers of the past, all of whom promoted humans as ‘divine’. In spite of these obvious traits, RSE nevertheless insist that what they teach, is “neither a religion nor a philosophy” but rather “the discovery of ancient wisdom supported by neuroscience and quantum physics”. Yeah right!

RSE promises students a “heightened sense of enlightenment to the level of other shamans” or even “real magicians who can alter the world and reality at will”. RSA claims “Ramtha brings close to you with unforgettable teachings your extraordinary hidden potentials, your ability to take charge of your life, and to create the reality you want!” Students are led to believe that, by employing the mystical methods taught by Ramtha, aided by the use of alcohol and nicotine, they are able to command such immense powers that will allow them to predict the future, raise people from the dead, freeze a rocket in mid-air, make gold appear out of thin air, and do a whole lot of other fantastic things… Wow! Where do we all sign up?

RSE As A New Age Cult

RSE has firmly established itself as a New age cult. This notorious distinction was confirmed by a number of former students of RSE who accused RSE of practicing brain-washing and mind control techniques as well as using intimidation and fear tactics to keep students at the school. These charges were confirmed by JZ Knight’s former husband, Jeff Knight as well as JZ Knight’s former personal bodyguard, Glenn Cunningham.

David McCarthy, a student of RSE between 1989 and 1996, calls JZ Knight a “spiritual predator”. He recalls some of RSE’s teachings that assumed what he terms an “intimidative character” that for example threatened students who did not remain faithful to Ramtha, that they would “become prey of the ‘lizard people’”, and that “the ancient figure of Jehovah would return to earth accompanied by lizard people in a spaceship.” A group of former students of RSE have now formed the Life After Ramtha’s School of Enlightenment (LARSE - http://www.enlightenmefree.com/), a community group which aims to “provide support for people who have gone through RSE and now find themselves lost.”

Some of Ramtha’s highly questionable (and very disturbing) teachings concern the so-called ‘end times’ which included the teaching that “your government is an illusion” and encouraging tax evasion. Ramtha’s false prophecies directed students to “build and prepare individual underground shelters to protect themselves against an imminent invasion of Chinese Communist soldiers from Mexico who planned to invade Seattle and the surrounding areas”. Other false prophecies included the prediction of “a holocaust that would take place in 1988”, “the USA’s involvement in a major war in 1985”, “a discovery in Turkey that would reveal a big hidden pyramid that would reach to the centre of the earth”, and that “entire cities would be obliterated by diseases”. Well, so much for promising students that they will be able to predict the future if Ramtha himself got it so horribly wrong!

In 2004, members of the RSE produced a controversial film entitled, What the Bleep Do We Know? The film attempted to advocate the connection between science and spirituality, but fell flat when its basic assumptions were outrightly rejected by the scientific community on the grounds of it’s “misrepresentation of quantum physics and an unnecessary connection to consciousness.” The American Chemical Society’s review of the film debunked it as a “pseudoscientific docudrama”.

A Brief Critique

A brief critique of what RSE teaches, concerns the question of epistemology (the theoretical study of the way we come into possession of knowledge) - Ramtha makes this startling claim:

"Be open to truth regardless of its source. Let your feelings be your guide."
- Ramtha

If it is nothing more than our feelings that decide what is ‘truth’, then what are you going to do if two people experience different (and conflicting) feelings - if two versions of the same truth conflict - how does Ramtha the Wise propose to resolve such obvious difficulties? Right now, my own feelings are that Ramtha is either nothing more than the figment of the imagination of a desperately cruel and rapacious woman who has managed to hold out the promise of false hope to a desperately indiscriminate and undiscerning audience, or he is a demonic entity masquerading as an angel of light (Jhn 8:44 & 2Cor 11:14).

If our feelings determine truth, then my feelings are as valid as JZ Knight’s! Only, I don’t charge $1,350 for you to come and listen to my feelings!

Conclusion

An exhaustive examination of the many absurdities, internal inconsistencies and philosophical self-contradictions that mark this very dangerous movement that has its origins squarely embedded in the occult, is beyond the scope of this brief essay, so I would hope that the proponents of the Ramtha School Of Enlightenment in South Africa would have the courage to engage the community of critical thinkers on this very important and desperately dangerous issue...

Andre L Immelman

[Read full article here.]