I grew up in the hills outside of Yelm, in definite "Ramster" territory, and the whole controversy over J.Z. Knight makes me distinctly uneasy.

I found the teachings that these folks follow to be pretty goofy, but mostly harmless.  The primary objections I found to the Ramtha teachings are the same objections that I have to most New Age teachings.  They are, for the most part, a gross commodification of Eastern philosophy (think "Zen in Five Minutes!").  I find the commodification of traditional religions and philosophies to be in pretty bad taste.  Secondly, and more seriously, they tend to preach a self-centered philosophy devoid of morality.  The goal of the practitioner of these teachings is to reach "enlightenment" purely through a series of inward oriented meditative practices.  There is little to no discussion on how to relate to one another as human beings.

The funny thing about that is that the "Ramsters" (as they are commonly called in Yelm, unfortunately in a derogatory way) are among the kindest people I've met.  The first family I went to as a homeless teenager were Ramtha students.  They generously put me up on their couch for an entire month, practically making me a part of the family.  There was only one Christian that offered me hospitality when I was homeless, a Roman Catholic woman who kindly let me stay in a spare room for three days.  None of the other Christians that I knew would have had anything to do with me, other than to denounce me.

So we have in one town a group of people who's teachings are selfish in nature, but whose practices are incredibly generous.  And another group who's teachings are extraordinarily generous, but who are inhospitable in practice (some of the churches in Yelm have also gone to extraordinary lengths to denounce the Ramtha school, even picketing J.Z.'s house).  So why is all the criticism aimed at the "Ramsters"?

I'm clear that you are writing out of a concern for potential students, and that you are concerned about the exploitative nature of the school. I share your concern here... I had a number of friends as a kid who were going hungry because their crazy parents were blowing all their money on J.Z.'s classes.

Maybe J.Z. should either charge a little less money, or spend a little less on horses and a little more on assuring adequate food and housing for her followers.  There continue to be a lot of Ramtha students living in tents, trailers, and squats out in the Bald Hills, while J.Z. lives in a mansion.  This strikes me as being patently unfair.

Still, there was quite a lot of anti-"ramster" bigotry in Yelm when I was growing up, and I think it is important for any legitimate criticism of the Ramtha school and its followers to be sensitive to this fact.

I know that you intend to be sensitive, Sarah.  You didn't write anything to trigger my reaction here; I'm just pissed cause I read the Olympian comments.  Barbaric.

JZ Knight is suing another spiritual teacher, check out Jim Anderson's quick take on the matter: enlightenment is copyrighted