Another drive-by (or swim-by, as the case may be) post while I'm dealing with "real work" deadlines and trying to finish my long-promised piece based on interviews with a self-help industry insider...As you probably know if you've been hanging around my Whirled for any length of time, there's an incredibly silly, kinda sex-culty thing going around called ACCESS Consciousness (formerly ACCESS Energy Transformation). My most recent post about ACCESS was in October of 2009, though it made its debut on this Whirled on June 6, 2007, and had an encore appearance on June 12 of the same year. I mentioned it again in May of 2008 (scroll down to the second item, "Warning: ACCESSories on the loose"); and then again the following July (scroll down to second item, "ACCESS: It just gets worse"). I would tell you exactly what ACCESS is, but after nearly three years of blogging till I'm blue in the face about it, I still don't really know. All I can really say for sure is that it seems to make people all silly and giggly, and apparently inspires women of all ages to show their cleavage.
"And that's a bad thing?" you ask. Okay, there's nothing wrong with cleavage, and maybe the silliness and giggling aren't so bad either (blog fodder, after all), but the cultishness is a little disturbing when you think about it. Thinking is frowned on in ACCESS, but not here on my Whirled.
At any rate, the ACCESSories are still doing their thing, and now, apparently, they are spreading the love to the world's oceans, which are choking with plastic. ACCESS is going to save the oceans, or part of one of them, anyway, by magically transforming the plastic into... oh, I don't know. Fish? Fish poop? A new info-product? They don't really say.
An alert reader gave me the heads-up about a new ACCESS-related website, Ocean 300. Although it doesn't seem to be fully functional yet, and doesn't yet mention ACCESS anywhere that either Alert Reader or I could see, the project has been touted in recent interviews given by Gary Douglas, an ex-Realtor and the founder of ACCESS. And the mantra, "How does it get any better than this?" is pure ACCESSspeak.
What the ACCESSories are gonna do, it seems, is utilize a technique that supposedly allows them to "transform matter at the molecular level," as described in the print-on-demand-published work, Magic: You Are It. Be It, by Gary Douglas and his sidekick, Rasputin. Oh, I'm just kidding about Rasputin, whom Gary fired a few years ago. (You can't really trust those dead Russian faux-monks, you know.) These days, Gary's main sidekick – and his co-author on Magic as well as several other books – is Dr. Dain Heer. Both Gary and Dain tout their proprietary brand of alchemy, which was originally "given" to Gary by Rasputin or someone or something from another dimension.
But lest I get too far off course, here is the skinny on Ocean 300, straight from their web site:
Ocean 300's target is to change the continent of plastic that is currently floating in the Pacific Ocean.
This mass of floating plastic has been called the "Great Pacific Garbage Patch," "The Plastic Ocean" and "The World's Biggest Garbage Dump." Ocean 300 asks, How does it get any better than this?
300 people will board a ship in 2011 and sail into the plastic zone. Using an energy called Molecular Demanifestation, they will invite all of that plastic to change and transform into elements that the ocean can handle and dissipate with ease. This has never been done before and may create an awareness in the world of what else is possible, beyond what many have decided is not.
Ocean 300 will be releasing information, videos and testimonials showing you how to change and transform things using Molecular Demanifestation. What if you could change a glass of wine to be the most delicious, refreshing and nutritious treat for you [sic] body?*
Is this going to be one of those luxury cruise-ship deals, such as those hosted by Esther and Jerry Hicks and their imaginary bud(s) Abraham, or "Scientist" Bob Proctor, or any number of other New-Wage gurus? At this point it's not clear, but my correspondent had a few questions about Ocean 300's planned mission:
...The goal is phrased rather vaguely -- transforming plastic into 'something the ocean can handle.' What does that mean, exactly? Convenient that nobody on the boat would be able to observe whether the transformation had occurred at all. And then, of course, they leave and whether what they did made any difference whatsoever would be determined how?
This is touted as a demonstration of their technique that is going to open the world's eyes to what they can do. So why pick something like this, in 2011? Why not go to Haiti now and transform earthquake rubble into down comforters and stacks of pancakes and save some lives? Now that would be a demonstration. (As if I didn't know why.)
The moving graphic of the ocean is a little odd -- a veiled shark and a little Nemo-like fish going in opposite directions. The accompanying photos of divers looking at stuff looks to me like a fishing net clump, not the problem in the ocean they are going to fix. The bits of plastic are tiny, tiny, things.
No price mentioned. I bet it is going to cost a lot.
And I bet they won't have much trouble finding 300 suckers to cough up whatever it's going to cost. After all, our precious oceans are at stake.
According to one of the Ocean300 legal pages, the enterprise is legally based in New Zealand, where, as it happens, ACCESS has a pretty strong presence. (Australia is similarly fortunate to have a significant ACCESS presence.) Here's the legal lowdown, in case any of you U.S. citizens should foolishly decide you want to sue Ocean300:
This Agreement shall all be governed and construed in accordance with the laws of New Zealand applicable to agreements made and to be performed in New Zealand. You agree that any legal action or proceeding between Ocean300 and you for any purpose concerning this Agreement or the parties' obligations hereunder shall be brought exclusively in a federal or state court of competent jurisdiction sitting in New Zealand . Any cause of action or claim you may have with respect to the Service must be commenced within one (1) year after the claim or cause of action arises or such claim or cause of action is barred. Ocean300's failure to insist upon or enforce strict performance of any provision of this Agreement shall not be construed as a waiver of any provision or right. Neither the course of conduct between the parties nor trade practice shall act to modify any provision of this Agreement. Ocean300 may assign its rights and duties under this Agreement to any party at any time without notice to you.
On Bonnie Coleen's Seeing Beyond radio show site, there is a recent (January 27, 2010) interview with Gary Douglas, but I'd be careful downloading that if I were you. When I tried to do it, it locked my computer up. That might have just been my slow satellite Internet connection, but it still might be better to err on the side of caution. If you do want to give it a whirl, here's the page that lists the show's recent Podcasts.
My correspondent, who happened to catch the interview, wrote:
Now I don't expect much science knowledge from a Santa Barbara Realtor, and maybe he was having a really bad day or had a bad night's sleep, but he does seem to be having basic troubles with language in the interview. He uses "evaporate" instead of "condense" when describing an accessory's business that removes water from the air. That could just be technical ignorance, falling in the sub-high school range of knowledge. But then he gets the words "past" and future" mixed up twice, then catches himself. It is almost like he just isn't paying any attention to what he is saying. And I think there is a third one where he gets two basic words reversed (increase and diminish, I think it was near the end of the softball "interview"). He also mentions what he charges for his seminars ($10,000) and I haven't heard that before.
Perhaps Gary was inspired by hearing about the cost of James "Death" Ray's infamous Spiritual Warrior retreat.
All right, maybe juxtaposing ACCESS with The Ray is unfair. As far as I know, ACCESS hasn't killed anyone yet, although arguably it has contributed to the deaths of a few marriages and other close relationships, and possibly a few billion brain cells.
On the other hand, it is apparently allowing people like Dain (they call him the "Body Whisperer") Heer to get laid. He has described himself as being pretty much an unhappy loser before he discovered ACCESS, but just look at him now. Dr. Dain seems to have truly become a sex starlet in the New-Wage industry. And it's not just the young ones like Summer and Rikka who are enchanted; apparently gals of all ages love him and his body workshops.
But now it looks as if Dr. Dain might have some competition in the sex-starlet category. I recently discovered an apparent up-and-Comer, a Dr. Steve, who is delivering three-day ACCESS "Body Workshops." Here's one of his promo vids, complete with candlelight, unwanted background noise, and strategically lowered eyelids. Here's another one, sans the candlelight but still with the strategic eyelids. As I asked on a recent Tweet, would you buy a three-day body workshop from this SNAG?
I'm sure Dr. Dain has nothing to worry about, though. There seems to be an endless supply of cleavage and giggles to go 'round.
Regarding "Dr. Steve's" videos, my correspondent mused, "This new guy, plus Dr. Dain, make me think the great Pacific garbage patch is going to get a treatment with oil, or grease." Not to mention slime...
If phony sexuality doesn't work for you, there's always just plain weird and creepy:
You gotta love those computer-simulated voices.
Yep, ACCESS just keeps growing, and growing, and growing, much like that big wad of plastic in the ocean. The day may come when the rest of the world discovers it, but I am thinking that ACCESS or one of its "leaders" might have to actually kill someone for the rest of the blogosphere, not to mention the mainstream media, to take notice. For now, I will continue to try to keep you updated here on my little Whirled.
.....................
In an oceanic frame of mind? Swim on over here. Or here.* My correspondent said that in the above-mentioned radio interview, Gary Douglas claimed that by using his "molecular manifestation technique," he can wave his hand over a glass of bad wine and turn it into really good tasting wine. "I guess walking on water is next," mused my friend.
* * * * *
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33 comments:
In the late sixties I joined a gathering of hippies one night to try to levitate St Pancras Railway Station in London, so I await news of the de-manifestation of the sea of plastic garbage with bated breath.
(recent pics of St Pancras, firmly anchored to the ground since 1868---http://www.urban75.org/london/st_pancras.html)
Ick! Icky, icky, yuck! I could only stand 5 mins of "Dain". That putz has the nerve to imply (didn't actually say it) that he cured a woman of breast cancer????
I gotta go take a shower. Access not allowed.
The wine trick would actually be pretty easy to pull off. Anybody half way serious about wine has experienced how the passage of even a few minutes after opening some bottles of wine can cause a glass of wine to change dramatically in taste. This is usually for the better. Bitterness, for example, often tones down a lot in just a few minutes. So I'll bet he can pull this off on a glass or bottle that he considers "bad" and it can be perceived as improving. There just isn't any connection between his hand waves and the improvement in taste.
On more recent videos he appears to be suffering from tremors as part of his technique. He holds his hands out in the air and moves his fingers as though taking a vertical typing test on an imaginary keyboard. It looks a bit like what a dowser does when looking for water. (Well, without the sticks or welding rods.) Lately Dain has started showing this symptom too, caught or copied from the boss, so the "condition" is contagious, apparently. Maybe this air typing energy work helps with the wine too. It would be a good way to stall for time.
Douglas claims he can not just transform matter from one thing to another "at the molecular level" he also claims he can make things disappear. It you really wanted to show the world what you can do, forget the cruise ship, make a chair disappear. I'd be impressed. Or to stick to the usual Access self-gratification, stick with the wine angle. Turn a cab into a sauvignon blanc. We'd all be impressed.
Tie those people up and kick them.
Disillusioned,
I guess you are aware of the TM people's great attempt at reducing violence in Washington DC by getting 4000 meditators for peace together. They deemed it successful, despite the fact that the murder rate actually rose during that period.
Ocean 300. Sounds like the umpteenth sequel to that series of Rat Pack-inspired gangster movies: Oceans, 11, 12, 13 etc.
Just another heist!
disillusioned said...
"In the late sixties I joined a gathering of hippies one night to try to levitate St Pancras Railway Station in London, so I await news of the de-manifestation of the sea of plastic garbage with bated breath..."
LOL, Dis. You may have a long wait. But then again, as my correspondent said, how will we know one way or the other?
Dave said...
"Ick! Icky, icky, yuck! I could only stand 5 mins of 'Dain'. That putz has the nerve to imply (didn't actually say it) that he cured a woman of breast cancer????"
Five minutes? You're a stronger person than I. I can only take him in two-minute doses or less. Seriously eye-rolling stuff. (That Steven Comer guy isn't any better.)
Good points about the wine, Anon 9:55. That "air typing" stuff really makes me chuckle. I still find it incredible that people actually seem to be buying into this stuff.
Yakaru, thanks for bringing up the great TM experiment(s). For decades people have been jawing about the so-called Maharishi Effect, which has pretty much been debunked, despite the wild claims and "objective" studies conducted by Maharishi-affiliated people and institutions. And as many of you may know, a little over a year ago, a New-Wage guru introduced his own online membership community, which is a direct ripoff of... I mean, was inspired by... the hype about the Maharishi Effect.
http://cosmicconnie.blogspot.com/2009/03/all-i-need-is-miracle.html
Karl said...
"Ocean 300. Sounds like the umpteenth sequel to that series of Rat Pack-inspired gangster movies: Oceans, 11, 12, 13 etc.
Just another heist!"
:-) That was one of my first thoughts too. Instead of Clooney, though, we get a loony (or maybe 300 of 'em). As I said to Dave: seriously eye-rolling stuff.
EXPLOITATION!
Just a tangent, but sort of relevant---on the basis of those studies the TM researcher was awarded an Ignobel prize for contributions to pseudoscience in the early nineties. Well done, that man!
If they want to clean all that crap up why don't they just pull it out the water with hooks and nets?
Anonymous said...
"EXPLOITATION!"
That's pretty much the size of it, Anon.
disillusioned said...
"Just a tangent, but sort of relevant---on the basis of those studies the TM researcher was awarded an Ignobel prize for contributions to pseudoscience in the early nineties. Well done, that man!"
Thanks, Dis. And that's more than sort of relevant. It's another example of New-Wagers using their mighty minds to try to influence the physical universe around them. Magical thinking and all that.
Anonymous 11:04 AM said...
"If they want to clean all that crap up why don't they just pull it out the water with hooks and nets?"
Because, Anon, that would just be soooo mundane and non-magical. Besides, you don't expect Gary and Dain and their followers to actually do real physical WORK, do you?
"you don't expect Gary and Dain and their followers to actually do real physical WORK, do you?"
No I don't I expect myself to be given that paid work and they can piss off.
All you need is a couple of barges and some nets, attached to floats to keep them near the surface, and drag them like so, see, just onto the junk and pull it like this, see, and all the junk gets scooped up like that, see, like that, see?
No magic needed but I know, it spoils the fun.
Dear Connie,
As the founder of Access I want to thank you for creating a place where people have to question, because questions create more awareness. Your site is designed to create a need for people to question which is everything I'm interested in.
Everything I'm doing is designed to create a question so people will be more empowered with choice. By your website I see that's your target as well.
I appreciate the gift that your point of view creates in others, encouraging them to question what is.
I would like to suggest you look up the book, The True Believer, because at this point it provides the criterion of what a cult is. At this point Acccess does not meet the definition of cult. Please feel free to call it a cult if that works for you. It still creates a question.
Thanks again for supporting consciousness by increasing people's willingness to question and search for greater consciousness.
Yours sincerely,
Gary Douglas
Founder of Access
P.S. Rasputin went away 5 years ago. Very little of Access is based on what he said. Most of it is based on the people that come to Access and the gifts of awareness that they provide.
Hi, Gary, and thank you for your feedback. I'm glad you seem to get what my blog is all about: raising questions rather than providing answers.
I use the word "cult" as loosely as I do "guru," but perhaps I misuse both. Then again, maybe not. Again, interesting questions.
I had been wondering about Rasputin and am glad you cleared that up. I wonder what old Grigori is up to these days.
Thanks again for participating on my Whirled.
So what would it take for Gary Douglas to actually demonstrate that he can rearrange matter at the molecular level in a way that is objectively verifiable?
What would it take for Gary Douglas to stop falsely claiming that the definition of the word "want" was radically changed in dictionaries printed after 1946?
What would it take for Gary Douglas to meaningfully respond to questions instead of offering repetitive, passive-aggressive nonsense?
What would it take for Gary Douglas (who claims he can 'talk to the gold') to demonstrate his investment success in commodities over the last three years?
All good questions, Anon!
How does it get any better than this? :-)
Wow Connie!
The main man yoda himself took the time out from the spaceship to attempt to give this rubbish just a hint of credibility. Pretty much the same way they push the Dr title for his lapdog "Dr" (haha) Dain. Finding it very hard to believe that he actually means thank-you too and here here to the earlier post..."offering repetitive, passive-aggressive nonsense?"....Access broken down is NOTHING, based on NOTHING, consists of NOTHING....scary but moreso sad that people buy into it AND throw hard earned money at it....oops, yoda and lapdog. Why is it that all the testimonials on all their creepy related sites and links are not by real, normal people (not hunamoids..haha) where again it may receive just a hint more credibility, instead its by sucked in full paying members or so-called factilitators(???)?
And this new Plastic Ocean 300 deal....um.....where do i start? Mind boggling, speechless...um...
Very clever boys though, I'll give them that- plenty of suckers out there willing to follow, shag and hand over cash. People "are" thick, but a few more years we wont see much of Access anymore....especially with claims like the new one- I'd like to think people aren't "that" thick!
Each to their own, but please stay away from me and my children.
Thanks, Anon 10:55 PM. I take Gary Douglas' thank you the way I do the thanks from other apologists. At least he didn't call me names or issue death threats like some of the fans of my snargets have done.
I've noticed the same things you mentioned regarding the online "testimonials" about ACCESS. Let's face it: Gary and Dain (who apparently *is* a doctor -- of chiropractic) have found a good shtick and they're going to ride it as long as they can. At this point I'm not even going to try to make any predictions about the future of ACCESS. It will either fade into oblivion, morph into something else, or continue to grow. I too would like to think people aren't that "thick," but I have repeatedly been surprised or disappointed in that regard.
Rasputin "went away" five years ago? How does it get any more disingenuous than that?
The Access tool "the bars" was channeled from Rasputin, per Gary Douglas. The bars is the supposed technique that permitted the rest of it to follow. And Accessories repeat it over and over and over again on themselves and on others. It's the source.
Rasputin was given the cute nickname "Raz" by Accessories. Then Access backed off the association with the dead faux monk. They started vaguely saying only that certain insights had "started coming through," to the Santa Barbara realtor, dropping the reference to Rasputin altogether.
Why was the source of The Bars dropped from Access publicity? The cute web address "accessraz" suddenly fell into disuse as part of this process.
The truth is that the Rasputin-channeled "Bars" remains a key access tool and the often-used introductory "hook" to get people into Access -- just take a look at their website for a list of classes to verify that. It is how they get people in the door, analogous to a certain "religion"'s free personality test, except that it isn't free, of course.
So Gary's "ps" denial rings a bit hollow. I am not sure I follow the proposed definition of "cult" that Gary embraces, and his criticism of Connie for not using his definition. (And yes, I've read the book.)
Let's try "occult" in light of the channeling and all. Yes, that definition fits very well. Maybe when Gary is channeling Rasputin someone can ask him/them if "occult" would be an acceptable label. Would Gary get back to us on that as well?
Well said, Anon 10:51 AM. All I can say is, "Thank you for being part of the conversation." And I mean that sincerely and not passive-aggressively!
I'm still trying to figure out why Gary chose Rasputin as his phony source of wisdom in the first place. Not that Rasputin isn't a fascinating character and all, but still. I guess people were more gullible back in the early 1990s when Gary came to the fork in his road (or suffered his dark night of the soul, or was overcome with divine discontent, or was going through an expensive divorce, or whatever), and was desperately searching for a new shtick.
Wait, what am I saying? People *were* more gullible? What probably happened is that Gary simply got bored with the Raz-matazz, and/or decided he needed to take his shtick more mainstream.
What does seem clear to me is that logic, reason, consistency, and "truth" don't matter much to ACCESSories.
As my Granny would say, "These people are nuttier than one of my fruit cakes!"
LOL, Anon, I totally agree.
as a practitioner of the ancient practice of "using my brain" (for 500 dollars i'll show you how as well connie!) i followed up on the name of a woman i had met recently in the course of my life. i googled her, and up came "access consciousness".
she was an exceptionally sexy/beautiful woman who talked vaguely of her association with something...well, it all starting ringing bells so off to rick ross i went, then to here via the great gazoogle and lo, it's a cult!
on the minus side, it's a cult!
on the plus side, it's a cult that teaches hot women they should put out on the first date!!!
so now here i am on the precipice--could i possibly put up with even one session of this utter and total horseshit in order to get to the sex part?
sigh. no. no i can't. DAMMIT INTERNET I HATE ALL YOUR INFORMATION.
for obvious reasons, i will remain anonymous.
For the sake of your own sanity, I think you did the right thing, Anon 8:07.
Dear Cosmic Connie,
Have you ever had a "bars session"-that is, a private 60-90 minute session? Would you be willing to try it? What judgements are possible, from a scientific perspective, without trial and observation? Access Consciousness is a set of tools only. It is absolutely not a religion of any kind.
I consider the Bars a brain-spa. A detox for your mind- rather than eliminating your true self(which a "cult" would do), it empowers your true self to shine more brilliantly, to make conscious choices from your truth. Reply to this post for a complementary trial session with me
Sincerely
Sandra p.s.-for you:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BopuIzflc3Y&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Anon (aka Sandra) Wednesday, November 09, 2011 1:26:00 PM: I never said Access was a religion. I have sometimes referred to it as a "cult" because of the cultish way members act and speak (e.g., that "boys, shorts etc." bit of superstitious idiocy that is supposed to magically make things better).
You do know that Gary Douglas used to claim that he’d received "The Bars," and many other things on which Access was originally based, from a dead guy -- Rasputin -- don't you? They don't tell that story any more in Access, but you can read all about it in my post titled, "Mad monk makes eyes at riled realtor, and the rest, as they say, is hysteria."
I suspect that any benefits from "The Bars" can be explained by the placebo effect, but if it's working for you, go for it. And while I appreciate your kind offer, I am not interested in The Bars, free or otherwise.
You say Access is a set of tools; I say it's a scam run by a couple of tools -- that would be Gary and Dain -- so they can get money and get laid. I still find it hard to believe that so many supposedly educated, otherwise rational adults would fall for this stuff.
I recently came across Access, and out of curiosity have experimented for about a week with questions - alone, without the help of a practitioner. I find that they generate a sense of anticipation, which I think is both interesting and useful - more useful than worry, for instance.
I looked into the Access "clearing statement"; the explanation is interesting, but whether it works or not is my primary criteria. I don't need to know why something works, as long as it works. After a week, I can confirm that something is working. Therefore, I will continue to experiment on my own.
I received only one Bars session, and found the result to be similar to the results I get from meditation and other spiritual practices - thus I find paying a practitioner for it to be superfluous.
The state itself is useful - there is much evidence about the value of meditative states, so you don't need me to go into that. The session effectively induces that type of state.
Not every experience is good for everyone - each of us is unique. I have witnessed instances of sexual misconduct and mental destabilization in the course of 30+ year in spiritual practice; it happens. It is unfortunate. A person may do things that are not good for them; those same things may be exactly right for someone else. Teachers make bad mistakes; mistakes in judgement and behavior do not suddenly invalidate what they teach.
There was a great line in the movie,"St. Louis Blues", about W.C.Handy. His father had just condemned his music, and his wife/girlfriend replies something like, "It must be very convenient for you to be able to form opinions without the benefit of fact."
The Sufis have said for centuries: "Experience is the best teacher."
It is one thing to have an opinion after having an experience, and another to have one without it.
It is something else entirely to have the intelligence, wisdom and discernment to know what is and is not an appropriate experience for a particular person. Both teachers and followers stumble over this one. It happens. We're human.
It may be that Access is inappropriate for you; if that is true, then your preference not to experience it reflects solid discernment regarding your own needs. It has clearly been inappropriate for those whose painful stories you collect. However, painful stories do not invalidate the work; they do show that it has been applied inappropriately. I would invite practitioners and seekers alike to explore what that means, and strive to be more discerning.
I prefer to be pragmatic - to experiment, to keep what works for me and discard what does not. By this method I form judgements based on my own experience, not that of the Access founders or anyone else, pro or con.
I love how Sandra's link was to a Jamiroquai song. Hey Sandra, try listening to "Virtual Insanity", because that's what your cult is.
P.S.
Rain dances don't make it rain.
-Will
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