Entrance to the Ramtha School of Enlightenment, Yelm, Washington (Photo courtesy of Wikicommons Images, Richard David Ramsey, CC BY-SA 3.0 DEED)BL asks: "What do you know about a woman named J.Z. Knight who claims to channel a 35,000 year old spiritual entity named Ramtha?"
J. Z. Knight (born Judith Darlene Hampton) claims the spirit of Ramtha first appeared to her and her husband in February, 1977 in the kitchen of their trailer in Tacoma, Washington. Ramtha is supposedly a Lemurian warrior who lived 35,000 years ago (note: there is no evidence that a place known as Lemuria ever existed except in popular legend).
According to Ramtha, he claims to have ascended into heaven much like Jesus, but promised to come back, which he did when he appeared to Knight in 1977.
According to Knight: "And he looked at me and he said: 'Beloved woman, I am Ramtha the Enlightened One, and I have come to help you over the ditch'. And, well, what would you do? I didn't understand because I am a simple person so I looked to see if the floor was still underneath the chair. And he said: 'It is called the ditch of limitation', and he said: "And I am here, and we are going to do a grand work together.'"
Ramtha then began to impart his wisdom to the world through Knight, who eventually opened the Ramtha School of Enlightenment in 1988 which currently teaches about 6,000 students world wide.
The basic philosophy of Ramtha is the typical New Age drivel - we're all divine, just cut off from our god-like natures. By using his special techniques, we can learn how to reprogram our brain chemistry to unlock the connection to our inherent greatness and allow us to realize unlimited creativity.
According to Ramtha.com, the four foundations of this teaching are:
• The statement "You Are God."
• The mandate to make known the unknown.
• The concept that consciousness and energy create the nature of reality.
• The challenge to conquer yourself.
Ramtha also teaches about coming catastrophes on earth such as floods, earthquakes and epidemics and advises students to build underground bunkers and store up to two years' worth of food and water to prepare for these events.
As wacky as it all sounds, Knight was proclaimed "the most celebrated of all channelers" in 1987 by Time magazine.
This has all translated into making Knight a millionaire. She lives in a 12,800 square-foot home on an 80-acre compound in Washington which is located next door to her school. She currently disseminates these bizarre teachings in 22 countries.
One of the greatest dangers in this group is the mind-control tactics it employs, such as daily mental exercises designed to focus the brain and access parts of the brain not normally used in daily life. Many people who have been injured by these cult-like practices started their own group called EnlightenMeFree.com.
Karri Konga, 47, a former Ramtha school staff member and student for many years said she went into shock when she read a website created by former students and realized how brainwashed she had been. Since that time, she has been in treatment for anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder.
For 19 years, she had believed in Ramtha's pronouncements to build underground bunkers to prepare for catastrophes, to keep his teachings secret and to repress her feelings. Now she believes she was under a type of spell, she said.
"No one spoke out before this," Konga said in explaining her reaction. "People's minds get twisted and bent, and it's a really arduous journey back."
Knight was also caught in a vicious anti-Catholic rant in which she threatened to bring down "St. Peter's Temple".
Check out this site for an extensive list of articles detailing all the problems with Ramtha.
Click here to read more about the history of Ramtha.
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