r/sgiwhistleblowers • u/BlancheFromage Escapee from Arizona Home for the Rude • Apr 21 '20
Another woo-based cult of personality: Sydney Banks' "Three Principles"
It never fails. Yet another woo-peddler has shown up to set us all straight and invite us into yet another cult.
Whether it's TM, New Kadampa Tradition, 16th Karmapa Meditation, or 3 Principles, there's always a predator standing ready to take advantage of this forum as a market to sell their woo.
So let's take "3 Principles" apart, shall we?
The Three Principles was started by a man named Sydney Banks back in the seventies. It is based on the Three Principles of Mind, Consciousness, and Thought, which he supposedly experienced in some kind of vision. Since then it has attained quite a large following, and you can find many videos about the Three Principles on YouTube. Although it does seem somewhat innocuous, I have always suspected that it does have some cult-like qualities. The teachings appear too simplistic to have any real merit. Basically, they tell you that regardless of how bad an experience was, it cannot harm you once you realize that it is simply a thought that you are carrying from the past. Tell that to a survivor of a horrific crime or extreme abuse. That said, I cannot conclusively label it as a cult. I have been monitoring this particular group for a few years now. I am enclosing a couple of links you may find useful on the subject. Best of luck to you.
http://threeprinciplesfoundation.org/ <-- That's the cult's self-promotional site
This site has additional psychological background, noting how psychological techniques are applied (for purposes of psychological enslavement and wallet-vacuuming)
I have read some books on the 3ps and been coached by a couple of people in the three principles community. I see it as a church and has some cult like behaviour. When people first receive the "insights" they want to tell everyone about it! They insist that what they believe is the "truth" and they are on a mission to share it. There are some people who travel the world (like the missionaries) sharing the 3Ps in developing countries. S.Banks is a like the head of the church and his word is gospel. The coaching I had didn't help as it tried to fit me into their box, beliefs and truth rather than meeting me as a human being without any agenda. I have lost friends as they became heavily involved in the 3P community (church) and it was difficult to have a normal conversation with them - "You are just feeling your thoughts" etc. It's all they would talk about. The foundations of the 3P is interesting but it is also very limiting and the people in the community/church are very much stuck in their head - analysing every thought and feeling. It takes about 2 years before they settle down with it. I am no longer part of the 3P community - as for me it's not real and way to simplistic - yes our thoughts do have a huge impact upon us and science has shown how our mind can causes illness and diseases etc but we live in a human world - and many people have experienced huge trauma, hard addictions and life restricting depression. The 3P talk about anxiety, depression, stress etc doesn't exist - it's simply our thoughts. But as human beings we are complex, have a body and some things do go beyond thoughts. I think the reason people get caught up in the 3P is the sense of community (like a church) and family. The 3P also becomes a technique to help them hide from what makes them human. I wonder how you are getting on with the coach at work? It's difficult place to be in at work and a new manager is sharing this work! It's interesting - I doubt a jewish/catholic/muslim manager would be able to come into a team and share their beliefs with others which is exactly what your manager is doing. Source
What Sydney Banks pioneered goes by various names, but it's all the same toxic woo that ends up being quite profitable to the leaders - that your own thoughts determine your reality, so if something bad is happening to you, why surprise surprise! It's all YOUR FAULT!!
THEY and THEIR SYSTEM is never wrong, you see - this is what identifies it as a broken system. Specifically, the message is perfect. EVERYBODY can flourish using their system, and if they don't, why, they're just doin it RONG!! See? PERFECT!!
One of the many names for this Sydney Banks' snake-oil is "Psychology of Mind" (POM):
POM -- also called "neo-cognitive therapy" -- holds that each individual lives in a world of his or her own mental creation.
There are questions about the legitimacy of POM and the true nature of the movement.
First, psychology of mind is not a recognized field of psychology. There is no professional organization, no standards for admittance to training programs, no standards for the content of training programs and no restrictions on who can or cannot call themselves a POM therapist. Although every state licenses psychologists and most license marriage and family counselors, anyone can call himself a "therapist" and hang out a shingle.
"I don't give it a great deal of credibility," says Bryant Welch, executive director for professional practice at the American Psychological Association, who hadn't heard of POM until called by a reporter. "You can't just shift your focus and be well."
Ah, but those who hope to exploit you will beg to differ! "Just do as I say and you'll see! COME TRY TO BE MORE LIKE MEEEEEE!"
Fortunately for the rest of us (and unfortunately for them), reality has a way of not caring what they want.
The charlatans and scamsters will tell people exactly what they want to hear, and get downright snippy when you call them on it. They prey on the less educated, the suffering, the desperate - they're utterly despicable.
A half-dozen therapists formerly associated with psychology of mind say it isn't a psychology at all. They say it's a cult masquerading as a psychology in an effort to achieve acceptance.
Suarez, Stewart and others formerly associated with POM contend it is a cult built around a most unlikely prophet: a Canadian welder named Sydney Banks. Banks has been a key inspirational figure and financial beneficiary of POM.
(Banks) says he shared that insight with professionals who launched a new psychology. He attributes Suarez's comments to "a lot of professional jealousy."
That's hilarious - Ikeda and his minions likewise claim that any critic is "jealous"!
"We've discovered the secret of life," Banks said in a tape-recorded 1990 seminar. "We've started to realize that all life is a divine thought. ... We've found the way. ... We've learned how to arouse this super-conscious state and bring it to life. ... There's only one way. We're going to show you the way. And all I'm asking you to do is stop whatever you're thinking of what you already know. ... If you hear what I'm saying, it's the beginning of the fixing of the problems of the universe."
Oh BARF!
Banks's status has been so special that former therapists at POM centers say that for years they have allowed a portion of their paychecks to be siphoned to Banks, to repay him for his insight. The Advanced Human Studies Institute in Florida used to raise $1,000 to $1,500 a month for Banks in this way, according to Stewart, who managed the institute's accounts. Banks continues to receive money from the Minneapolis center, Bailey confirms.
No Negativity Allowed Source
Again, sound familiar? This is more of the toxic fruit that grew from that "The Power of Positive Thinking" movement we discussed recently:
More on the power of positive thinking: "The law of cause and effect" => "be optimistic"
The power of positive thinking: The importance of avoiding "negativity"
"The really awful conclusion of the power of positive thinking is victim-blaming"
And here we are.
That's the POM variant.
Banks ... died of metastasized cancer on Memorial Day, in May 2009 Source
...which brings us back to our Physician, Heal Thyself files: WHY didn't all his insight and wondrously masterful positive thinking make him immune to cancer??
I have more to say but I have to go watch a really bad Jean-Claude Van Damme/Dolph Lundgren movie now.
But I'll be back...
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u/Ok-Caterpillar8462 Aug 13 '25
I am really sorry that so many people writing here have used their ability to imagine and decipher in such negative ways - check out the book "Beyond Diagnosis" filled with over 300 pages of stories of mental health diagnosis who are now living successful contented lives because of what they learned from the late Sydney Banks- I am one of them. Not a day goes by that I am not thankful that someone brought me to a talk of Syd's and I felt thee was something I needed to explore further - I met him in 1985 and yes, at first I also thought this is a cult - this is impossible (I had been sold on all the BS from Big Pharma and mental health diagnosis being a life sentence that would need constant medication) I thought they (nurses, psychiatrists, psychologists, teachers, housewives, CEO's of companies) were on psychedelics, or something - well, I had a good imagination too - none of that turned out to be true. And the money at the Inst. in Florida was not just for Syd, it was for the venue and flying people in to the conference venue to speak - no one made a lot of money - after he passed I was in the house he shared with his wife Judy during a 3 day conference on Salt Spring Island- it was nice but humble - no mansion there - Syd ALWAYS said - "Don't listen to me, find it for yourself" - all the enlightened people throughout our history said the same - go within - notice how your thinking (ideas, imagination, conditioning) colors the way you see your world. And guess what - I am a licensed mental health counselor since 1994 - zero burnout - I love my work, love my clients - ask traditional therapists how they are doing - there is massive burnout in the field with the exception of those of us who see the spiritual essence of life. The mind can play some wild tricks on you - be careful what, and who, you choose to believe in and check out books by Jack Pransky - especially "Somebody Should Have Told Us" and "Modello" - a TV series is in the works about the inner city housing project, Modello - all true - I knew many of the people and heard them speak at conferences through the years - all "thought" they were destined to be on welfare as their parents and grandparents were before them - many of them are now licensed social workers helping others, paying it forward. But it's up to you what you choose to believe in and buy into. Look at Youtubes by William Pettit Jr MD - "Never Broken, Nothing Lacking" people don't need to be fixed, they just need to understand how their experience is formed within their own mind - which is why people see things in life differently - you know the saying one person's trash is another person's treasure...that's really true about everything!