- Ramtha's School of Enlightenment
Ramtha's School of Enlightenment or RSE, is a school based in the rural town of Yelm,
Washington , in theUnited States . The school's curriculum is based on the alleged channelings byJZ Knight of the entityRamtha . [cite news |first=Chris |last=Lydgate |title=What The #$*! is Ramtha?: The year's sleeper hit was inspired by a 35,000-year-old warrior spirit from Atlantis. |url=http://wweek.com/story.php?story=5860 |work=Willamette Week |date=Dec. 22 2004 |accessdate=2008-01-25 ] The school has denied being areligion [ [http://www.ramtha.com/html/media/faqs/school/school-religion.stm Ramtha's School of Enlightenment, the School of Ancient Wisdom ] ] or acult . [ [http://www.ramtha.com/html/aboutus/about-jz.stm Ramtha's School of Enlightenment, the School of Ancient Wisdom ] ] It is estimated that the somewhere between 1,000-3,000 people who attend live within a fifty mile radius of the school in the Yelm area. RSE does not hold the status of a non-profit and so pays the required taxes for a US corporation. The organization is run as a business with more than fifty employees. The school offers classes (called "events") which can last for just one evening, a weekend, or more. Specialized events are run twice yearly for students to stay "current" in the school which allows them to be able to attend all other classes. These required retreats are now held worldwide. In addition to organizing these events, the school sells clothing, books, tapes, DVDs, and other merchandise.According to the school's website, Ramtha's School of Enlightenment was founded in
1987 . Before that time, classes (or "dialogues") were arranged nationwide and worldwide. The school was then formed and settled into one location where students travelled to attend events. The school's campus is located on a property owned and managed byJZ Knight . The school falls under the umbrella of JZK, Inc., a corporation formed and operated by JZ Knight that exists as the parent organization to several other business ventures.Ramtha's School of Enlightenment teachings have been described as part of the
New Age movement, and the organization's practices have been criticized by religious and media groups as being similar to establishedcult s. Controversial religious scholarJ. Gordon Melton wrote a book countering this argument, called "Finding Enlightenment: Ramtha's School of Ancient Wisdom". The school has hosted several high-profile speakers since its formation 20 years ago.In 1999, during one of the events at the school, Ramtha elicited a confession from two of the students in the school involving sexual misconduct with a 15 year old girl. Knight claimed that she had no recolection of the confession even though the young girl had sent her a letter detailing the events. JZ Knight claimed she never saw the letter and was only told about it by her publicist. She claimed she did not tell Ramtha (the entity she channels) about it. Since she claimed to have no knowledge of the event which took place in front of 800 people, she said she could not testify to the confession. [ Associated Press report source cited below]
Related Projects
In
2004 , three members of the RSE produced a controversial film that combined documentary interviews and a fictional narrative to posit a connection between science and spirituality, called "What the Bleep Do We Know!? ". The film has created argument somewhat, from some in the scientific community in relation to its "Copenhagen Interpretation Centric" presentation ofquantum physics .References
* [http://www.ramtha.com Ramtha's School of Enlightenment]
* [http://www.nndb.com/people/994/000031901/ nndb Database of People]
* [http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/ram10.shtml Seattlepi.com Associated Press report]External links
* [http://www.ramtha.com/ Home Page]
* [http://www.randi.org/jr/040105capitalizing.html#11 Pigasus Award by James Randi]
* [http://www.randi.org/jr/042905some.html#13 'Ramtha Raves' by James Randi]
* [http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=9124849147412897371 Glen Cunningham Interview (Part 1)] J.Z.Knight/Ramthas Former bodyguard, Glen Cunningham discusses his observations in this video interview part 1
* [http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=732321041698968714&q=source:011929 Glen Cunningham Interview (Part 2)] J.Z.Knight/Ramthas Former bodyguard, Glen Cunningham discusses his observations in this video interview part 2
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