34 ICSA TODAY 35 VOLUME 10 |ISSUE 3 |2019
including the cult leader—were arrested and are still sitting in
jail without bail. Four of them were apprehended in Mexico, in a
joint operation between Interpol and the FBI. Police had raided
two out of three Lev Tahor owned properties in the country in
the middle of the night….” (The Yeshiva World, 03/27/19)
Unpleasant meditation-related experiences reported in
regular meditators
“So far, the large and expanding body of research on
meditation has mostly focussed [sic] on the putative benefits
of meditation on health and well-being. However, a growing
number of reports indicate that psychologically unpleasant
experiences can occur in the context of meditation practice.
Very little is known about the prevalence and potential
causes of these experiences. The aim of this study was to
report the prevalence of particularly unpleasant meditation-
related experiences in a large international sample of regular
meditators, and to explore the association of these experiences
with demographic characteristics, meditation practice,
repetitive negative thinking, mindfulness, and self-compassion.
Using a cross-sectional online survey, 1,232 regular meditators
with at least two months of meditation experience (mean age
=44.8 years ± 13.8, 53.6% female) responded to one question
about particularly unpleasant meditation-related experiences.
A total of 315 participants (25.6%, 95% CI: 23.1 to 28.0)
reported having had particularly unpleasant meditation-related
experiences, which they thought may have been caused by
their meditation practice….” (Plos One, 05/09/19)
NXIVM co-founder Nancy Salzman pleads guilty in sex-cult
case
“The president and co-founder of NXIVM pleaded guilty
Wednesday in federal court, admitting to participating in
a widespread criminal enterprise on behalf of the cult-like
organization. Nancy Salzman, who was known to NXIVM
followers as “Prefect,” admitted to one count of racketeering
conspiracy in Brooklyn federal court, according to multiple
reports. She confessed to stealing email addresses and
passwords of others and altering a tape used in a lawsuit
against a critic. NXIVM, led by mastermind Keith Raniere, was
a self-help organization based in the Albany area that was the
subject of international headlines last year when Raniere and
his inner circle were arrested, accused of overseeing a criminal
operation in which some women followers were branded with
Raniere’s initials and groomed for his sexual pleasure….” (USA
Today, 3/13/19)
“Slave” to NXIVM “sex cult” leader pleads guilty to
racketeering
“Lauren Salzman, … accused of recruiting her best friend into
a secret woman-branding “slave” group, has pleaded guilty
to one count of racketeering, and one count of racketeering
conspiracy. Lauren Salzman is a high-ranking member of
NXIVM (pronounced nex-ee-um), a self-help group whose
leader Keith Raniere is facing trial for child exploitation,
sex trafficking, forced labour, racketeering and other crimes.
Salzman is the second person to be convicted in the high-
profile “sex cult” case, which has also charged Smallville actress
Allison Mack with sex trafficking, sex trafficking conspiracy,
and forced labour. Lauren Salzman’s mother Nancy Salzman,
the president and co-founder of NXIVM, pleaded guilty to
racketeering conspiracy earlier this month. ...Lauren Salzman is
the first member of the secret “slave” group to plead guilty, but
the exact criminal acts she’s admitted to were sealed Monday.
A racketeering conviction requires the accused participate in at
least two indictable acts as part of a criminal enterprise, which
in Salzman’s case could be extortion or forced labour and/or
something called ‘document servitude.’ She will be sentenced in
September….” (Vice, 03/29/19)
Seagram’s liquor heiress Clare Bronfman to pay $6 million
forfeiture
“Seagram’s liquor empire heiress Clare Bronfman pleaded
guilty to federal charges Friday for her part in running the
sordid NXIVM sex cult, becoming the latest top-echelon
member to cut a deal rather than face a jury. … Her sentencing
was set for July 25, with Bronfman likely facing a sentence of
21 to 27 months in prison and a $6 million forfeiture payment
in lieu of surrendering the property used in the cult conspiracy
count. She will also pay restitution of $96,605.23 to one of the
cult’s victims…. (Boston Herald, 04/20/19)
From heiress to felon: How Clare Bronfman wound up in
NXIVM
“It’s 4 p.m. on Good Friday and Clare Bronfman stands
before a judge in a federal courtroom in Brooklyn already
knowing her fate. She has copped a deal with prosecutors
and will plead guilty to felony charges related to her role as
an executive board member of N[XIVM], a cult-like group that
federal prosecutors describe as a deeply manipulative pyramid
scheme that forced slave-like conditions onto some members.
Some were allegedly even coerced to have sex with N[XIVM]’s
founder, Keith Raniere. But the rail-thin Bronfman, who turned
40 a few days earlier, frequently appears bewildered during
the proceedings, wearing a white-and-blue scarf as she steals
glances at the journalists and other onlookers who have filed
into the courtroom. It’s as though she has the same question
as most watching the sordid proceedings: How did an heiress
to the multibillion-dollar Seagram’s fortune become central to
what’s been called a notorious sex cult[?]
Bronfman, who has declined to speak to Forbes as she awaits
her sentencing, agreed to forfeit $6 million to the federal
government and to plead guilty to felony charges of harboring
an illegal alien and the fraudulent use of a deceased person’s
identity. If she had gone to trial, she could have faced 25 years
in prison. Now she will likely serve a maximum of 27 months.
Many observers see that as a sweet deal, considering she has
poured approximately $150 million into N[XIVM] (pronounced:
NEX-ee-um) since 2002. As she addresses the judge, her
voice, inflected by a proper English accent, is barely audible.
The gallery of journalists lean in, cupping their ears to hear.
Francisco has ruled that the self-identified Darkspilver can
remain anonymous, except for identification to lawyers for
the religion’s Watchtower publication, which says the posting
violated its copyright. ‘The First Amendment protects the right
to anonymous speech,’ U.S. Magistrate Sallie Kim said Friday.
Although that right is not unlimited, she said, ‘Darkspilver has
demonstrated significant harm if his identity were revealed
publicly or even if it were revealed to Jehovah’s Witnesses
in his congregation.’ She also said the constitutional right of
free speech applies even though Darkspilver does not live in
the United States. The suit seeking Darkspilver’s identity was
filed by a U.S. company in a U.S. court, Kim said, and ‘the First
Amendment protects the audience as well as the speaker….’”
(San Francisco Chronicle, 05/19/19)
Heartbroken father wins wrongful death lawsuit against
daughter’s Japanese guru
“A heartbroken father spent six years and $500,000 in an
international court battle to prove that his daughter’s Japanese
guru, a master of the ‘dance of darkness,’ turned her into a sex
slave, plied her with drugs and was responsible for her suicide.
Tibor Stern filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Katsura Kan,
who was teaching Butoh, a form of dance in which students
were told to ‘wallow in the darkness of their soul,’ at a college
in Boulder, Colorado, according to the lawsuit. Kan, whose
real name is Terugoshi Kotoura and is believed to be aged
71, was found liable last month for the suicide of his student,
Sharon Stern, by a Florida circuit court. A trial will take place
in a few months to determine the damages. Tibor Stern, 70,
of Hollywood, Florida, described his victory as ‘bittersweet. I
thought it would bring much more closure,’ he told DailyMailTV.
‘I had no doubt we were going to win the evidence was
overwhelming. But I didn’t jump for joy. Our daughter is not
coming back. But hopefully our effort will save some lives. That
was the whole idea.’ Katsura Kan did not respond to requests
from DailyMailTV for comment.
Sharon Stern, whom her family affectionately called ‘Sharoni,’
was beautiful and talented, with a lifelong interest in dance
and performance, Tibor said. After graduating from the
University of Miami in 2001, Sharon performed as an actress
and comedienne, taught yoga and was an avid swing and
blues dancer. Sharon married Todd Siegel, a software engineer,
in May 2007. The couple moved to Boulder, Colorado, where
Sharon enrolled in the master of fine arts program at Naropa
University. That’s where Sharon encountered Katsura Kan,
a Japanese citizen and guest artist who taught Butoh, the
‘dance of darkness.’ This avant garde dance style features slow,
controlled movements and is traditionally performed in white
body makeup. Butoh dances often portray grotesque imagery
or absurd environments, and explore taboo themes such as
homosexuality and pedophilia.
‘Under the guise of molding Sharon into a Butoh artist,’ Tibor’s
lawsuit stated, Kan ‘intentionally and/or recklessly inflicted
emotional pain and suffering on Sharon continuously from the
day he met her until the day she died. We sent a totally happy
girl, a pillar of the community, to college,’ Tibor said. ‘When she
went to school, she respected teachers, respected authority.
She wanted to excel in theater, and wanted to be a director. She
was extremely talented. But she went to the wrong university
and got the wrong teacher.’ After graduating in 2009, Sharon
continued to work for Kan, organizing Butoh performances
and festivals all around the world. Kan, who was married and
had a child, ‘systematically stripped away Sharon’s dignity, free
will and self-respect,’ the lawsuit claimed. He ‘seduced Sharon,
abused her physically and mentally, humiliated her, insulted
her, and manipulated her….’“ (Daily Mail, 04/08/19)
Leader of religious group based in Mexico charged with
sex crimes
“The leader of La Luz Del Mundo, an international religious
organization based in Mexico, has been arrested in California
on charges of human trafficking, child rape and other felonies,
authorities said Tuesday. Naason Joaquin Garcia, who heads
the organization that claims one million followers worldwide,
and three co-defendants allegedly committed 26 felonies in
southern California between 2015 and 2018. Garcia and his
co-defendants, all of them women affiliated with La Luz Del
Mundo (The Light of the World), are accused of coercing minor
girls into performing sexual acts by telling them that if they
went against the wishes of ‘the Apostle,’ as Garcia was called,
they would be going against God. Crimes like those alleged in
this complaint have no place in our society. Period,’ California’s
Attorney General Xavier Becerra said in a statement. ‘We must
not turn a blind eye to sexual violence and trafficking in our
state.’ According to the 19-page charge sheet, the minors,
who were members of the church that was founded in 1926,
were encouraged to perform ‘flirty’ dances for Garcia while
scantily clothed, to touch each other sexually and were sexually
assaulted by the guru. Garcia also allegedly boasted about ‘a
king having mistresses and stated that an apostle of god can
never be judged for his actions….’” (Los Angles AFP/France 24,
05/06/19)
Archbishop advises Catholics to stop worshiping La Santa
Muerte
“An archbishop is renewing his call for Catholics to stop
worshiping the skeleton folk saint known as La Santa Muerte,
or “Our Lady of Holy Death,” saying he fears some mistakenly
believe the Grim Reaper-like figure is a Roman Catholic Church-
sanctioned saint. New Mexico Archbishop John Wester recently
told the Associated Press he believes some Catholics may be
fooled into venerating Santa Muerte even though the focus on
death runs counter to the church’s teachings….” (AZ Central,
03/25/19)
Another Lev Tahor cult member arrested
“YWN [Yeshiva World News] has learned that authorities have
made an additional arrest in connection to the Lev Tahor Cult
overnight. Yechezkel Moshe Matisyahu Malka was reportedly
taken into custody by Federal Law Enforcement Personnel. As
YWN reported in December, 5 members of the Lev Tahor Cult—
including the cult leader—were arrested and are still sitting in
jail without bail. Four of them were apprehended in Mexico, in a
joint operation between Interpol and the FBI. Police had raided
two out of three Lev Tahor owned properties in the country in
the middle of the night….” (The Yeshiva World, 03/27/19)
Unpleasant meditation-related experiences reported in
regular meditators
“So far, the large and expanding body of research on
meditation has mostly focussed [sic] on the putative benefits
of meditation on health and well-being. However, a growing
number of reports indicate that psychologically unpleasant
experiences can occur in the context of meditation practice.
Very little is known about the prevalence and potential
causes of these experiences. The aim of this study was to
report the prevalence of particularly unpleasant meditation-
related experiences in a large international sample of regular
meditators, and to explore the association of these experiences
with demographic characteristics, meditation practice,
repetitive negative thinking, mindfulness, and self-compassion.
Using a cross-sectional online survey, 1,232 regular meditators
with at least two months of meditation experience (mean age
=44.8 years ± 13.8, 53.6% female) responded to one question
about particularly unpleasant meditation-related experiences.
A total of 315 participants (25.6%, 95% CI: 23.1 to 28.0)
reported having had particularly unpleasant meditation-related
experiences, which they thought may have been caused by
their meditation practice….” (Plos One, 05/09/19)
NXIVM co-founder Nancy Salzman pleads guilty in sex-cult
case
“The president and co-founder of NXIVM pleaded guilty
Wednesday in federal court, admitting to participating in
a widespread criminal enterprise on behalf of the cult-like
organization. Nancy Salzman, who was known to NXIVM
followers as “Prefect,” admitted to one count of racketeering
conspiracy in Brooklyn federal court, according to multiple
reports. She confessed to stealing email addresses and
passwords of others and altering a tape used in a lawsuit
against a critic. NXIVM, led by mastermind Keith Raniere, was
a self-help organization based in the Albany area that was the
subject of international headlines last year when Raniere and
his inner circle were arrested, accused of overseeing a criminal
operation in which some women followers were branded with
Raniere’s initials and groomed for his sexual pleasure….” (USA
Today, 3/13/19)
“Slave” to NXIVM “sex cult” leader pleads guilty to
racketeering
“Lauren Salzman, … accused of recruiting her best friend into
a secret woman-branding “slave” group, has pleaded guilty
to one count of racketeering, and one count of racketeering
conspiracy. Lauren Salzman is a high-ranking member of
NXIVM (pronounced nex-ee-um), a self-help group whose
leader Keith Raniere is facing trial for child exploitation,
sex trafficking, forced labour, racketeering and other crimes.
Salzman is the second person to be convicted in the high-
profile “sex cult” case, which has also charged Smallville actress
Allison Mack with sex trafficking, sex trafficking conspiracy,
and forced labour. Lauren Salzman’s mother Nancy Salzman,
the president and co-founder of NXIVM, pleaded guilty to
racketeering conspiracy earlier this month. ...Lauren Salzman is
the first member of the secret “slave” group to plead guilty, but
the exact criminal acts she’s admitted to were sealed Monday.
A racketeering conviction requires the accused participate in at
least two indictable acts as part of a criminal enterprise, which
in Salzman’s case could be extortion or forced labour and/or
something called ‘document servitude.’ She will be sentenced in
September….” (Vice, 03/29/19)
Seagram’s liquor heiress Clare Bronfman to pay $6 million
forfeiture
“Seagram’s liquor empire heiress Clare Bronfman pleaded
guilty to federal charges Friday for her part in running the
sordid NXIVM sex cult, becoming the latest top-echelon
member to cut a deal rather than face a jury. … Her sentencing
was set for July 25, with Bronfman likely facing a sentence of
21 to 27 months in prison and a $6 million forfeiture payment
in lieu of surrendering the property used in the cult conspiracy
count. She will also pay restitution of $96,605.23 to one of the
cult’s victims…. (Boston Herald, 04/20/19)
From heiress to felon: How Clare Bronfman wound up in
NXIVM
“It’s 4 p.m. on Good Friday and Clare Bronfman stands
before a judge in a federal courtroom in Brooklyn already
knowing her fate. She has copped a deal with prosecutors
and will plead guilty to felony charges related to her role as
an executive board member of N[XIVM], a cult-like group that
federal prosecutors describe as a deeply manipulative pyramid
scheme that forced slave-like conditions onto some members.
Some were allegedly even coerced to have sex with N[XIVM]’s
founder, Keith Raniere. But the rail-thin Bronfman, who turned
40 a few days earlier, frequently appears bewildered during
the proceedings, wearing a white-and-blue scarf as she steals
glances at the journalists and other onlookers who have filed
into the courtroom. It’s as though she has the same question
as most watching the sordid proceedings: How did an heiress
to the multibillion-dollar Seagram’s fortune become central to
what’s been called a notorious sex cult[?]
Bronfman, who has declined to speak to Forbes as she awaits
her sentencing, agreed to forfeit $6 million to the federal
government and to plead guilty to felony charges of harboring
an illegal alien and the fraudulent use of a deceased person’s
identity. If she had gone to trial, she could have faced 25 years
in prison. Now she will likely serve a maximum of 27 months.
Many observers see that as a sweet deal, considering she has
poured approximately $150 million into N[XIVM] (pronounced:
NEX-ee-um) since 2002. As she addresses the judge, her
voice, inflected by a proper English accent, is barely audible.
The gallery of journalists lean in, cupping their ears to hear.
Francisco has ruled that the self-identified Darkspilver can
remain anonymous, except for identification to lawyers for
the religion’s Watchtower publication, which says the posting
violated its copyright. ‘The First Amendment protects the right
to anonymous speech,’ U.S. Magistrate Sallie Kim said Friday.
Although that right is not unlimited, she said, ‘Darkspilver has
demonstrated significant harm if his identity were revealed
publicly or even if it were revealed to Jehovah’s Witnesses
in his congregation.’ She also said the constitutional right of
free speech applies even though Darkspilver does not live in
the United States. The suit seeking Darkspilver’s identity was
filed by a U.S. company in a U.S. court, Kim said, and ‘the First
Amendment protects the audience as well as the speaker….’”
(San Francisco Chronicle, 05/19/19)
Heartbroken father wins wrongful death lawsuit against
daughter’s Japanese guru
“A heartbroken father spent six years and $500,000 in an
international court battle to prove that his daughter’s Japanese
guru, a master of the ‘dance of darkness,’ turned her into a sex
slave, plied her with drugs and was responsible for her suicide.
Tibor Stern filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Katsura Kan,
who was teaching Butoh, a form of dance in which students
were told to ‘wallow in the darkness of their soul,’ at a college
in Boulder, Colorado, according to the lawsuit. Kan, whose
real name is Terugoshi Kotoura and is believed to be aged
71, was found liable last month for the suicide of his student,
Sharon Stern, by a Florida circuit court. A trial will take place
in a few months to determine the damages. Tibor Stern, 70,
of Hollywood, Florida, described his victory as ‘bittersweet. I
thought it would bring much more closure,’ he told DailyMailTV.
‘I had no doubt we were going to win the evidence was
overwhelming. But I didn’t jump for joy. Our daughter is not
coming back. But hopefully our effort will save some lives. That
was the whole idea.’ Katsura Kan did not respond to requests
from DailyMailTV for comment.
Sharon Stern, whom her family affectionately called ‘Sharoni,’
was beautiful and talented, with a lifelong interest in dance
and performance, Tibor said. After graduating from the
University of Miami in 2001, Sharon performed as an actress
and comedienne, taught yoga and was an avid swing and
blues dancer. Sharon married Todd Siegel, a software engineer,
in May 2007. The couple moved to Boulder, Colorado, where
Sharon enrolled in the master of fine arts program at Naropa
University. That’s where Sharon encountered Katsura Kan,
a Japanese citizen and guest artist who taught Butoh, the
‘dance of darkness.’ This avant garde dance style features slow,
controlled movements and is traditionally performed in white
body makeup. Butoh dances often portray grotesque imagery
or absurd environments, and explore taboo themes such as
homosexuality and pedophilia.
‘Under the guise of molding Sharon into a Butoh artist,’ Tibor’s
lawsuit stated, Kan ‘intentionally and/or recklessly inflicted
emotional pain and suffering on Sharon continuously from the
day he met her until the day she died. We sent a totally happy
girl, a pillar of the community, to college,’ Tibor said. ‘When she
went to school, she respected teachers, respected authority.
She wanted to excel in theater, and wanted to be a director. She
was extremely talented. But she went to the wrong university
and got the wrong teacher.’ After graduating in 2009, Sharon
continued to work for Kan, organizing Butoh performances
and festivals all around the world. Kan, who was married and
had a child, ‘systematically stripped away Sharon’s dignity, free
will and self-respect,’ the lawsuit claimed. He ‘seduced Sharon,
abused her physically and mentally, humiliated her, insulted
her, and manipulated her….’“ (Daily Mail, 04/08/19)
Leader of religious group based in Mexico charged with
sex crimes
“The leader of La Luz Del Mundo, an international religious
organization based in Mexico, has been arrested in California
on charges of human trafficking, child rape and other felonies,
authorities said Tuesday. Naason Joaquin Garcia, who heads
the organization that claims one million followers worldwide,
and three co-defendants allegedly committed 26 felonies in
southern California between 2015 and 2018. Garcia and his
co-defendants, all of them women affiliated with La Luz Del
Mundo (The Light of the World), are accused of coercing minor
girls into performing sexual acts by telling them that if they
went against the wishes of ‘the Apostle,’ as Garcia was called,
they would be going against God. Crimes like those alleged in
this complaint have no place in our society. Period,’ California’s
Attorney General Xavier Becerra said in a statement. ‘We must
not turn a blind eye to sexual violence and trafficking in our
state.’ According to the 19-page charge sheet, the minors,
who were members of the church that was founded in 1926,
were encouraged to perform ‘flirty’ dances for Garcia while
scantily clothed, to touch each other sexually and were sexually
assaulted by the guru. Garcia also allegedly boasted about ‘a
king having mistresses and stated that an apostle of god can
never be judged for his actions….’” (Los Angles AFP/France 24,
05/06/19)
Archbishop advises Catholics to stop worshiping La Santa
Muerte
“An archbishop is renewing his call for Catholics to stop
worshiping the skeleton folk saint known as La Santa Muerte,
or “Our Lady of Holy Death,” saying he fears some mistakenly
believe the Grim Reaper-like figure is a Roman Catholic Church-
sanctioned saint. New Mexico Archbishop John Wester recently
told the Associated Press he believes some Catholics may be
fooled into venerating Santa Muerte even though the focus on
death runs counter to the church’s teachings….” (AZ Central,
03/25/19)
Another Lev Tahor cult member arrested
“YWN [Yeshiva World News] has learned that authorities have
made an additional arrest in connection to the Lev Tahor Cult
overnight. Yechezkel Moshe Matisyahu Malka was reportedly
taken into custody by Federal Law Enforcement Personnel. As
YWN reported in December, 5 members of the Lev Tahor Cult—
