Bentinho Massaro | |
|---|---|
| Born | March 13, 1988 Amsterdam, Netherlands |
| Occupation(s) | Spiritual teacher, author, speaker |
| Years active | 2010 - present |
| Website | bentinhomassaro |
Bentinho Massaro (born March 13, 1988) is a Dutch-born spiritual teacher, author and speaker whose teachings include elements of New Age philosophy, self-realization, and non-dualism. He is known for primarily using social media and other online platforms, such as Trinfinity Academy, to spread his message.
Massaro traces his interest in spirituality and human potential to childhood. His parents enrolled him in the Silva Method children's course. As a teen, he studied telekinesis and claims to have mastered the ability to move small objects. He also read The Law of One (The Ra Material) and the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. After high school, he traveled to Rishikesh, India, where he trained in yoga, meditation, and satsang. After about six months, he had what he would later refer to as an "awakening", the experience of the nondual state of consciousness he had been looking for. [1] [2] [3] [4] Massaro returned to his parents' home in Amsterdam and began posting YouTube videos about his experience.
Massaro's videos gained significant viewership. In 2011, he was invited to the United States to speak at the Science and Nonduality Conference. [1] Massaro moved to Boulder, Colorado, and launched Trinfinity Academy, a free online spirituality course, and bentinhomassaro.tv, a subscription-based repository of his talks. In addition, he began offering in-person retreats around the world. [1] [4]
Massaro's stated goal is a fully enlightened society by 2035. [4] [5]
Massaro has been the subject of significant media scrutiny and criticism. [1] [3] [4] [5] [6] In 2017, while participating in Massaro's retreat in Sedona, Arizona, an individual left the retreat grounds and died by suicide. Massaro was informed of the death by the Sedona Police Department and no charges were filed. [7]
In February 2022, three former members of Massaro's team – including a former romantic partner of his – broke their non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) and published a blog accusing him of heading an organization that featured a pattern of "psychological and spiritual warfare" and calling him "a predator, hiding in the mask of a messiah". [6] This included financial exploitation and being coerced into having sex with Massaro in order to be spiritually cleansed of trauma. Massaro denies the claims. "All sexual relations I've ever had were fully consensual, and always will be. No one is or is ever forced to do anything against their will. Not by me and not by my team." [5] Another accused member of Massaro's organization also denies the claims. [8]
I started researching telekinesis because it got me very curious, and I started practicing it myself and experimenting and training and I did have some results with that. Some tin foil that I could spin on a table. At some point I rolled a pen across the table. And that's when I thought: "Okay! this is enough. I don't have to practice this anymore. I have proven it to myself, it is possible".