Part one: A look at J.Z. Knight
Hello, this is Dr.Cathleen Mann, and today we are going to talk about a female cult leader, by the name of J.Z. Knight. It's important to understand that not only are female cult leaders rare, but the ones we have had in the past, are all mostly deceased. One of the most popular female leaders still alive is J.Z. Knight. And that is Knight (K N I G H T) and that is her real name. She was born Judith Darlene Hampton in 1946. She recently celebrated her 71st birthday. She is very popular and well known. The name of her group is RSE (also called Ramtha School of Enlightenment). Most people describe her as a channeler. I would describe her as someone who has one attraction, and that is that she claims to channel or speak for "Ramtha."
Ramtha allegedly is a 50,000-year-old warrior from the lost continent of Atlantis. He’s powerful and he only speaks through her (allegedly). Part of the reason for that Is that she has him copyrighted. No one else is allowed to use Ramtha's name or attribute any personality characteristics, to him. She owns him solely. A few years ago. I was involved in a legal case, involving J.Z. Knight and RSE. RSE stands for "Ramtha School of Enlightenment" and the lawsuit was initiated by J.Z. Knight against a former member who had posted videos on the internet, that were "secret videos."
J.Z. Knight requires that if you attend any of her lectures or teachings, you must sign a confidentiality agreement. There are different levels of channeling, depending on your status within the group. What happened in the legal case was that this person had been a former member, and had posted 'insider teachings’ that were not flattering. J.Z. Knight made herself look racist and a little homophobic in thrse tapes, among other things. So, J.Z. Knight sued this former member. I was an expert on this case, providing sworn testimony about the nature of the group and how the group functions. What was interesting though was that J.Z. Knight was very offended by the fact (not that these things have been said) that these things have been disseminated without her consent. There are many scores of videos online, on YouTube, etc.where she has been interviewed many times and she is very careful about her appearance in pursuit of impression management. The power she has over other people in terms of how she wants them to think about her, is a primsry motivator.
It's also important to remember, that Knight has a very large compound where she lives in the very small city of Yelm, WA. which is just south of Seattle. She is very well protected, she travels with bodyguards, they're called the "red guard" and she does not give any free lectures or free teachings to anyone. What I find interesting about all that, is the cost of her lectures are very expensive, and claims to have the unlimited "truth," which is her unique truth. I just find it interesting that the "truth" costs so much money. Never given away for free. Claims to have a copyright on the truth and the truth is secret. It is not allowed to be disseminated openly to those who are not members, or as she calls them "students." So these students are not allowed to tell other people about what the truth is. I find that very cult like for the lack of openness, snd the lack of access to her without paying high amounts of money. She also runs a gift shop, in Yelm WA. It Is filled with paraphernalia and little remnants of her, where you can build an altar, or you can build a shrine to her if you go to this bookshop and buy the right materials.
In terms of the doctrine, of this group, it is very complicated. Recently, she had tried to bring in scientific analysis, to try to make it more objective. She’s very focused on quantum mechanics, quantum theory, trying to prove that "Ramtha" really exists, but that she changes physically as a result of speaking for him. This is met with mixed reactions. There was a movie several years ago, a documentary that spoke to J.Z.'s teachings called "What the Bleep Do We Know?" Its s very difficult documentary to follow, and I don't really think it helps her case. Some of the other aspects of J.Z. Knight sre that she is a very typical cult leader, in that she is intolerant of criticism or dissent. She reacts very strongly to anyone disagreeing with her, or telling her that she's faking it or not really what she appears to be.
Other aspects are that she is very isolated, not easy to get to, or intetacts with the public at all. I think it is important to remember that as far as a lawsuit goes, she was successful in suing this former student, who released materials in defiance of this confidentiality contract. And as a result of that success, she was empowered and was able to speak more openly about how she's being persecuted, and how she feels that she has to control what other people thinks and say about her. Other aspects of her as a cult leader are that she makes an enormous amount of money, she lives very well, very elegantly, in a major compound with walls and guards. She travels frequently to exotic plscrs. In terms of her doctrine, she has done the usual cult leader manuever, where she hired apologists to write about her doctrine and her teachings trying to make it sound like it more than what it is. It's also important to remember with J. Z. that she is just very much out of practice if anyone criticizes her, questioning her and during the legal case, she was asked a lot of questions her business and was extremely defensive. Even now, she recently gave an interview on the occasion of her 71st birthday. Again, she tallked about how persecuted she was, and how undervalued she is by the general public.
Next time, our next series we will talk about other female cult leaders that are not as nearly successful as J.Z. Knight has been. If you have any questions or information feel free to search the "Ramtha School of Enlightenment" web site. A lot of information on J.Z. Knight is at Wikipedia, and some it is even accurate.
Ramtha allegedly is a 50,000-year-old warrior from the lost continent of Atlantis. He’s powerful and he only speaks through her (allegedly). Part of the reason for that Is that she has him copyrighted. No one else is allowed to use Ramtha's name or attribute any personality characteristics, to him. She owns him solely. A few years ago. I was involved in a legal case, involving J.Z. Knight and RSE. RSE stands for "Ramtha School of Enlightenment" and the lawsuit was initiated by J.Z. Knight against a former member who had posted videos on the internet, that were "secret videos."
J.Z. Knight requires that if you attend any of her lectures or teachings, you must sign a confidentiality agreement. There are different levels of channeling, depending on your status within the group. What happened in the legal case was that this person had been a former member, and had posted 'insider teachings’ that were not flattering. J.Z. Knight made herself look racist and a little homophobic in thrse tapes, among other things. So, J.Z. Knight sued this former member. I was an expert on this case, providing sworn testimony about the nature of the group and how the group functions. What was interesting though was that J.Z. Knight was very offended by the fact (not that these things have been said) that these things have been disseminated without her consent. There are many scores of videos online, on YouTube, etc.where she has been interviewed many times and she is very careful about her appearance in pursuit of impression management. The power she has over other people in terms of how she wants them to think about her, is a primsry motivator.
It's also important to remember, that Knight has a very large compound where she lives in the very small city of Yelm, WA. which is just south of Seattle. She is very well protected, she travels with bodyguards, they're called the "red guard" and she does not give any free lectures or free teachings to anyone. What I find interesting about all that, is the cost of her lectures are very expensive, and claims to have the unlimited "truth," which is her unique truth. I just find it interesting that the "truth" costs so much money. Never given away for free. Claims to have a copyright on the truth and the truth is secret. It is not allowed to be disseminated openly to those who are not members, or as she calls them "students." So these students are not allowed to tell other people about what the truth is. I find that very cult like for the lack of openness, snd the lack of access to her without paying high amounts of money. She also runs a gift shop, in Yelm WA. It Is filled with paraphernalia and little remnants of her, where you can build an altar, or you can build a shrine to her if you go to this bookshop and buy the right materials.
In terms of the doctrine, of this group, it is very complicated. Recently, she had tried to bring in scientific analysis, to try to make it more objective. She’s very focused on quantum mechanics, quantum theory, trying to prove that "Ramtha" really exists, but that she changes physically as a result of speaking for him. This is met with mixed reactions. There was a movie several years ago, a documentary that spoke to J.Z.'s teachings called "What the Bleep Do We Know?" Its s very difficult documentary to follow, and I don't really think it helps her case. Some of the other aspects of J.Z. Knight sre that she is a very typical cult leader, in that she is intolerant of criticism or dissent. She reacts very strongly to anyone disagreeing with her, or telling her that she's faking it or not really what she appears to be.
Other aspects are that she is very isolated, not easy to get to, or intetacts with the public at all. I think it is important to remember that as far as a lawsuit goes, she was successful in suing this former student, who released materials in defiance of this confidentiality contract. And as a result of that success, she was empowered and was able to speak more openly about how she's being persecuted, and how she feels that she has to control what other people thinks and say about her. Other aspects of her as a cult leader are that she makes an enormous amount of money, she lives very well, very elegantly, in a major compound with walls and guards. She travels frequently to exotic plscrs. In terms of her doctrine, she has done the usual cult leader manuever, where she hired apologists to write about her doctrine and her teachings trying to make it sound like it more than what it is. It's also important to remember with J. Z. that she is just very much out of practice if anyone criticizes her, questioning her and during the legal case, she was asked a lot of questions her business and was extremely defensive. Even now, she recently gave an interview on the occasion of her 71st birthday. Again, she tallked about how persecuted she was, and how undervalued she is by the general public.
Next time, our next series we will talk about other female cult leaders that are not as nearly successful as J.Z. Knight has been. If you have any questions or information feel free to search the "Ramtha School of Enlightenment" web site. A lot of information on J.Z. Knight is at Wikipedia, and some it is even accurate.