Holy Hell’s Michel and Raniere compared

More than one reader has remarked that Keith Alan “Vanguard” Raniere, leader of Executive Success Programs [AKA NXIVM] of Albany, is the heterosexual version of Michel Andreas “The Teacher” Rostand the leader of Buddhafield [AKA Buddha Tribe] of Hawaii.

Mr. Rostand and his group were featured in the 2016 documentary “Holy Hell” by filmmaker and former cult member Will Allen.

Perhaps Mark Vicente – Keith’s former videographer , who is rumored to have left NXIVM, might get some ideas from “Holy Hell.”

Mr. Allen’s film premiered on January 25, 2016 at the Sundance Film Festival, saw limited theatrical release in May 2016, and was broadcast by CNN on September 1, 2016.

Will Allen was 22 when he joined Buddhafield and became Michel’s documentarian and student. He left the group in 2007, after 22 years with about 35 hours of footage of Buddhafield.

Some similarities are noteworthy: While Mr. Raniere spends most of his time in a tee shirt and jogging pants, Michel donned Speedos and Ray-Bans.

Michel would perform a euphoric physical act on his students that he referred to as Shakti.

Members said it would shake them like an intense LSD trip.

Mr. Raniere performs a euphoric physical act on his female devotees which he refers to as private mentoring. Female members fight with each other for his private mentoring.

In 2007, members of the Michel’s group learned that he was formerly a gay porn star and as a hypnotherapist, had forced younger male members – including heterosexual ones – to have sex with him for years on end. He insisted female members have abortions. He had members spend thousands of dollars on plastic surgery on themselves.

In 2009, members of Mr. Raniere’s group learned that he was having sex with dozens of his female followers. He was formerly the owner of a business called Consumers’ Buyline that, contrary to his bio, actually went out of business after having swindled thousands of customers out of their membership fees. In 2017, they found out that Mr. Raniere was secretly branding female members on their pubic region with his initials to mark them as his slaves, and holding blackmail material against them to ensure they would remain quiet about the practice.

The major difference between Michel and Mr. Raniere is that Michel sported a tight six-pack.  Mr. Raniere is more like a 12-pack – and heading to an 18-pack.  Makes one wonder what his 100-yard dash speed is these days (Assuming he can even run that far, it’s probably in the 20-second range). 

Frank Parlato