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"The Knowledge Book" Is it a cult?

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Hello all,
I am concerned about an organization that might be a cult and some friends who are in it. I have my suspicions, and I'm wondering if there are any others who want to defect or have any information or experience. My friends are slowly dedicating mor time and giving up work to do the duty of this group. This is the link to their official website and explanation of the book: [www.dkb-mevlana.org.tr]

The organisation is called “The Knowledge Book” or Bulent Corak in Turkish. They are based in Turkey, and their leader is a woman called Mevlana who purports to be the reincarnation of the poet Rumi. The book was “channelled” to her in the 1980s by extraterrestrial beings and contains the knowledge to save humanity. This is “the last book” humanity will need and contains the “sacred energy” of the Torah, Bible, Quran and all Eastern philosophies combined, because they are just from the “religious dimension” and this book is from a higher dimension. They boast to have 6,200 members in Turkey alone and have an expansion in 39 countries.

I know a bit on how they operate from firsthand experience. For example, I am a Knowledge Book virgin. Somebody off the street hands me 3 sheets of paper stapled together – or the first 3 chapters of the book – and tells me that they have a gift for me. I read it. (You can find it in English here: [www.dkb-mevlana.org.tr]) Even though I don't understand it, they tell me there is much more to discover and they invite me to one of their meetings. These meetings are open to the public and held on a specific day of the week and are ongoing; they read and discuss the first chapter that was given out to help make sense of it. At these meetings, when I realise I am not alone in the room and other sane individuals are there, they invite me to a more private group once my interest is peaked. (I am offered to buy the full book for $140 and it is 'worth it' – it's like the Bible x2. I am told to read the book and just keep going, even though I don't understand it because understanding it is not necessary at first as all the revelations reveal themselves to you later once your consciousness assimilates it.) Now, once I have a vague interest in what I'm reading, I'm invited to the smaller, dedicated, group which must consist of 3 people and these people have to study together every Tuesday. We will talk together about what they have read and understood (or not). These people are then invited further to commit themselves to the group and to not only read the book but to write the book, which must be completed within 1 year. Writing the book is very important, as is re-reading it and making sure not a word is missed. I am now fully committed to the “programme” and I must adhere to certain rules and beliefs as stated on their website which can be viewed publicly here:

[www.dkb-mevlana.org.tr]

This is an exact rundown of everything I have just said but explaining what is expected of the members when they're in the program of study. They are obliged to create new members. Please read this text in full, though boring as it may be – it illuminates how manipulative it sounds.

Other things I find baffling:

- Certain practices are outlawed, such as literally reading or writing the book in the same house as another member, because it “messes with the energy”. This sounds like a mind-control tactic. Reiki and certain forms of massage/meditation/yoga are not to be practiced for the same reason.

- Everything the members do is to benefit humanity. They will be the saviours of humans, with all the sacred knowledge (all western and eastern philosophies before, remember?) and they literally obtain special energy by reading and writing the book and it automatically transfers on to others who are near a member. Therefore, they are “special” and benefit both themselves and everyone else just by being a member.

- The writer or medium is of Turkish descent and speaks as heavily influenced by Islam and the Quran. The Torah, Bible, and Quran are mentioned many times in the Knowledge Book (because she is familiar with them) but Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, etc. are referred to as “all the Eastern philosophies and religions” perhaps because she is not familiar with them. How would extraterrestrial beings be so familiar with the western religions in depth but not the eastern?

- The incoherent nature of the words in the book reads like some kind of factual poetry, where certain words are considered important and are capitalized for no good reason. Therefore, they stick in the mind of the reader and are constantly referred to in everyday life. These words and phrases include “Essence”, “Totality”, “Cosmic Influences”, “Kosmos”, “Human Consciousness”, etc. These again, sound like thought-terminating cliches so that every situation, every ill-will, every good thing can be explained by a buzzword that seems like it makes sense in any context. This is why the book is not to be understood at first – because it makes no sense and is filled with buzzwords and jargon so that it is remembered and pops up in the mind in later everyday life.

- The rigidity gets worse as times goes on. It's all about dates, numbers, hours, and years. You must not travel out of your country when you've started a focal point group for more than (something like) 3 months per year, because you are duty-bound to hold your commitment to study the book; this directly puts a limit on travel plans. If you have a romantic relationship with a member, you must get married. You must study on Tuesdays, otherwise it's no good for the cosmic energy. You must have a public group on Saturdays. You must have a “meal of love” on the last Sunday of every month. You must write the book within 1 year. You must sign all the pages and call a special telephone number with all your personal details each time you start a meeting. You must not engage in practices like yoga which interfere with your energy. You must find a new member if one leaves the focal point group within 1 month. You must hand out a packet to a stranger every single week or for punishment, the next week, it's 2 packets. If you fail once you've started, you will not reach the higher Omega dimension... you are doomed to stay in the Salvation dimension (which is for merely religious people). You should come once per year to Turkey to meet with the head person, Mevlana, and have a party with other members. You are invited to translate the book into other languages and to travel to other countries to expand the group. An explanation right from the beginning, without any form of justification or logical thinking, shows the rigidity of entering into the program under the headline How to Proceed: [usa.theknowledgebook.net]

So far, I think that the group is not large enough or well-known enough for members or ex-members to speak out online, since the last time they were mentioned on cult forums online was in 2007. Amongst the billions of people on earth, they are only in the thousands. I am not sure what being dedicated to the book will mean for followers in their futures... 5, 10, or 20 years from now.

If anyone is a member or knows a member, what is your experience?

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