Talk:Movement of Spiritual Inner Awareness

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http://www.msia.org/ Mathiastck 00:19, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

I've restored this previously deleted page at the request of the author to give him the chance of expanding it and proving its notability. JoJan 12:31, 30 May 2006 (UTC)

Well, I think I will fail at that! It's not a subject I know about. As I mentioned, I created it because there were already two other "ghost links" (I don't know the proper name; a link to an as-yet-uncreated page) pointing at it, from quite different pages (a political biography, and an article on the NRM from which the MSIA is a splinter), so I saw a need. If it were up to me, I'd leave the page alone, give it time to show up in the search engines, and eventually let someone genuinely knowledgeable expand on it. Mporter 12:46, 2 June 2006 (UTC)

Contents

[edit] Article not citing its sources

If one is going to say in an article "...founder have been through numerous scandals (documented in People Magazine and the Los Angeles Times among other publications) alleging numerous financial improprieties as well as sexual misconduct by Hinkins" , one should cite that reference.

Especially given that it is an absolute negative in tone and also states that there is a third-party (People Magazine) and then fails to cite that reference.

This needs to be cleaned up and cited or removed asap. —the preceding comment is by 71.202.241.162 - 03:45, 15 October 2006: Please sign your posts!

I agree that a more formal citation would be better, but for now that seems like enough of a citation for it to stay in the article. With a quick search, you can verify that the LA Times indeed had articles like that. William Pietri 14:27, 15 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Removed section

I have removed the following section as it contains many inaccuracies (more innacurate than accurate): " MSIA runs its courses from the University of Santa Monica, a non-accredited 'university', providing "Masters in Spiritual Psychology", where they teach "Soul-Centered education that positively transforms people’s lives". The 'degree' is not recognised by any institution, public or private, in the US, and is widely listed by most educational and state authorities as a diploma mill."

Inaccuracies include: The University of Santa Monica (USM) is state-approved to offer masters post graduate academic degrees in California (see: http://www.cpec.ca.gov/CollegeGuide/institution.asp?id=E0274A for verification); USM is a seperate academic institution and is not affiliated to MSIA (faculty being MSIA members does not make it an MSIA controlled institution); the courses offered at USM are not in any way MSIA courses; the courses have a fixed duration, contain semesters, units, and run for a typical duration with required attendance (2 year Masters, etc.); USM is recognized by The Education Resources Institute as an elligible academic institution for financial aid (see: http://www.gousm.edu/im_ready/downloads/teri2.pdf); USM states that their courses qualify for tuition reimbursement at many employers; the list goes on...

Further: "...is widely listed by most educational and state authorities as a diploma mill." is not only uncited, and full of 'weasel' words, but is also fundamentally incorrect. (An academic institution that is registered and approved to offer post graduate degrees by the State of California cannot, by definition, be a diploma mill.)

[edit] Theology, Etcetera

This article currently reads like a press release or an advertisement, with a lot of unexplained jargon. It would be useful to have something on the basic history and theology, but the main sources I know are David C. Lane and Peter McWilliams. Does someone care to take a stab at explaining this whole "soul transcendence" and "mystical traveler" stuff? Rorybowman 01:59, 11 February 2007 (UTC)

I can edit this section with references as a former member without too much in the way of bias.

MSIA is not an offshoot of Lifespring - Insight Seminars is an offshoot from Lifespring developed for MSIA, which became a recuiting tool within the self-help community in the late 70's and early 80's

If this seems like a reasonable thing, I will be happy to write it. Email me. walt0915 August 2007

[edit] Folding Roger Delano Hinkins material into here as response to notability concern

An editor expressed concern about JR's notability so I am folding biographical material from that article into here, since the two are so closely linked and probably shall be until his death. Rorybowman 02:47, 18 May 2007 (UTC)

Folded Hinkins criticism into MSIA criticism section, since this article is about MSIA.-Cyberscribe 03:56, 6 September 2007 (UTC)