SpiritualWiki

Hawkins / Kulte

Hawkins-Menu:


Wiki-Menu:  

2·2012


 

Kulte – Sekten
BW 50-160

 

Inhaltsverzeichnis: (verbergen)

 

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Bild

 

Rattenfänger von Hameln
Kopie einer Glasmalerei in der Marktkirche zu Hameln
Reisechronik des Augustin von Moersperg,
Aquarell, 1592

 

༺·❄·༻

 

༺·❄·༻

 


Niemand tritt einer Sekte bei. Menschen schließen sich Interessengruppen an, die versprechen, ihre Bedürfnisse zu erfüllen.
Dr. Philip G. Zimbardo (*1933) US-amerikanischer
Professor Emeritus für Sozialpsychologie,
Stanford Universität, Quelle unbekannt

 

 

KultCult

 


 

Politisch unkorrekter Kampfbegriff Sekte

Das Wort Sekte (lat. secta) bedeutet "Partei" oder "Schule". Es geht wahrscheinlich nicht auf das lateinische Verb "secare" (abschneiden) zurück, sondern auf "sequi" (folgen). Es handelt sich weniger um eine Abspaltung als um eine Gefolgschaft.

 

Die nicht-christliche Antike bezeichnete philosophische oder religiöse Gruppierungen wertfrei und neutral als Sekten. Die ersten Christen wurden in dieser Tradition als "Sekte der Nazarener", eine Richtung des Judentums, bezeichnet.

 

Sekte wird in den meisten Fällen als Kampfbegriff gebraucht. Die begriffliche Nähe zu 'extrem agierenden dissidieren-
den religiösen, ideologischen, psychologischen, medizinisch-therapeutischen oder politischen Gruppierungen' kann im landläufigen Verständnis des Begriffs "Sekte" zu einer einseitigen Diffamierung Andersdenkender führen.

 

In Meyers Enzyklopädisches Lexikon stand 1977 zu lesen:

  • Mit dem Wort "Sekte" wird heute weitgehend die Vorstellung von etwas Abartigem, Gefährlichem, Widersetzlichem signalisiert.

 

Im Münchner Rechtslexikon steht geschrieben:

  • Der Begriff "Sekte" ist in staatsrechtlicher Hinsicht unangemessen, da er eine negative theologische Beurteilung ent-
    hält.

 

Die früher als "Sekten" bezeichneten organisierten Gruppierungen werden heute meist neutraler als "Neue religiöse Bewe-
gungen"
, "dissidierende religiöse Gruppen" oder "Alternativreligionen" bezeichnet. Kleinere, nicht bzw. marginal organisierte spirituelle Gruppierungen und Einzelpersonen nennt man auch "Anbieter auf dem Lebenshilfemarkt". Bei der vom Main-
stream unbemerkten, da nicht organisierten Bewegung der Kulturell Kreativen und Menschen im Milieu der Esoterik, die sich im Rahmen der "freien Spiritualität" bewegen, greift die Zuordnung "Sekte" gar nicht mehr.

Verzicht auf den Begriff Sekte staatlicherseits

Der Kampfbegriff Sekte ist nicht mehr 'politisch korrekt'.
Die 1996 im Auftrag des deutschen Bundestages eingesetzte Enquête-Kommission für 'Sogenannte Sekten und Psychogruppen' verzichtet mit folgender Begründung auf die Benutzung des Begriffs Sekte:

"Wie häufig der Begriff 'Sekte' auch umgangssprachlich verwendet werden mag, ist er doch sachlich unzutreffend und irreführend."

 

Der Begriff "Sekte" kommt von lateinischen sequi → folgen, und ist die Übersetzung von griechischen hairesis → Wahl, Gefolgschaft." Mit ihm wurden in der Antike zunächst diejenigen bezeichnet, die einem bestimmten Philosophen in seinen Anschauungen folgten. In der Ge-
schichte des Christentums wurden damit die Gruppen bezeichnet, die außerhalb der allgemeinen Kirche einem bestimmten Glaubensführer und für abweichend erklärten Glaubenslehren oder Praktiken anhingen. Im Mittelalter (siehe dazu die Konstitution Ad Deus des Kaisers Friedrich II. von 1220) wurde das 'widerspenstige Anhängen' an eine 'Sekte' in Acht getan und mit dem Tode bestraft (siehe dazu die Bam-
berger Halsgerichtsordnung von 1507, Artikel 30).
Dadurch wurde aus einem religiösen Abweichen ein kriminelles Delikt, wie der protestantische Theologe Paul Tillich (BW 480) schrieb:
'Wer gegen das kanonisierte Dogma verstößt, (ist) nicht nur ein Häretiker, der den Grundlehren der Kirche widerspricht, sondern auch ein Verbrecher gegen den Staat.' […]

Mit der Erklärung der Religionsfreiheit in den europäischen Staaten wurden solche Auffassungen und Einrichtungen abgeschafft. Das deutsche Grundgesetz kennt nur Religionen, Religionsgesellschaften, und Religionsgemeinschaften.

Staatsrechtlich gibt es in dieser Beziehung keinen Unterschied zwischen Kirche und anderen religiösen Organisationsformen. Da außerdem der Begriff der 'Sekte' kaum von allem ihm durch die kirchliche Verlästerung angehängtem Beigeschmack, wie Max Weber forderte, gelöst werden kann, ist er äußerst fragwürdig geworden.

 

Quelle und Referenz: de.Wikipedia-Eintrag Sekte [Status ~2007/2008]

Kontinuum der Einflussnahme auf Individuen, Führungskräfte und Organisationen

Beeinflussungskontinuum – Gesunde / ungesunde Eigenschaften und Verhaltensweisen
Grafik von Steven Hassan – BITE-Modell zur Bewertung von Einflussnahme
Bezogen auf Aufbauend und gesund Zerstörerisch und ungesund
Einzel-
menschen
Echtes Selbst
♦ Bedingungslose Liebe
Gewissen als Entscheidungsinstanz
Kreativität und Humor
Freie Willensentscheidung / kritisches Denken
♦ Falsche (kultgeprägte) Identität
♦ Bedingte "Liebe"
♦ Lehre / Doktrin als Verhaltensinstanz
♦ Getragenheit, Angst und Schuldgefühle
Abhängigkeit / Gehorsam
Führungs-
kräfte
♦ Seelisch gesund
♦ Sich der eigenen Begrenztheit bewusst
♦ Befähigt die Einzelnen
Vertrauenswürdig
♦ Rechenschaftspflichtig
Narzisstisch / psychopathisch
♦ Elitär / hochtrabend
♦ Machtgierig
♦ Geheimniskrämerisch / irreführend
Anspruch auf absolute Autorität
Organisationen
(Beziehungs-
muster)
♦ Ausgewogenheit durch gegenseitige Kontrolle
♦ Einwilligung nach Aufklärung
Individualität / Vielfalt
♦ Mittel dienen dem Endergebnis.
♦ Entwicklungsfördernd
♦ Austritt jederzeit möglich
♦ Autoritäre Struktur
♦ Betrügerisch / manipulativ
♦ Menschenklonend
♦ Ziele rechtfertigen die Mittel.
♦ Den eigenen Machtumfang wahrend
♦ Berechtigte Austrittsgründe nicht gewährt
Quelle: ► Artikel von Steven Hassan (*1954) US-amerikanicher Ex-Moonie, Sektenausstiegsberater, psychologischer Berater, Autor,
                  A Response to Academics Who Say There Is No Undue Influence in Destructive Cults
                  [Eine Antwort an Akademiker, die behaupten, es gäbe keine unangemessene Beeinflussung in destruktiven Kulten],
                  präsentiert von Freedom of Mind Resource Center, 28. Juni 2018
See also: ► Influence continuum concerning individuals, leaders and organisations

Zitate zum Thema Kulte und Kultführer / Cults and cult leaders

Zitate von D. Hawkins

⚠ Achtung Siehe Power vs. Truth (engl.) Januar 2013

Quotes by D. Hawkins

⚠ Caveat See Power vs. Truth, January 2013

  • The true [spiritual] teachers can be seen to have no interest in fame or in having followers, prestige or trappings. […] The teachings and not the teacher are what is important. Inasmuch as the teachings do not come from the perso-
    nage of the teacher at all, it does not make sense to idolize or worship the personage. The information is transmitted
    as a gift because it was received as such. The Eye of the I From Which Nothing is Hidden, S. 37, 2001

 

  • Many 'spiritual' teachings which are expressed in form frequently lead to what is best termed as 'astral' realms of cons-
    ciousness which in themselves can be seductive, unending, and pleasurable, but they do no lead to enlightenment.
    Form reinforces the illusion that there is a seeker on some sort of pathway with rungs and signposts and even 'spirit
    guides' positioned along the way. On the spiritual climb to the peak of Enlightenment, there actually are no entities to
    meet you along the way. Eye of the I From Which Nothing is Hidden, chapter 9, S. 129, 2001

 

  • Question: Where does one begin the search for spiritual truth self-realization called enlightenment?
    Answer: It is simple. Being with who and what you are. All truth is found within. Use verified teachings as a guide.
    Eye of the I From Which Nothing is Hidden, S. 175, 2001

 

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About fifty percent of the spiritual teachers are legitimate.

 

  • Question: Cults are traps for the unwary. How can they be differentiated from legitimate, spiritual splinter groups?
    Answer: Cults calibrate below 200. This may be due to the error of their teachings or the teachings may have merit but the organization itself is not in integrity. Sometimes it is the leader who is the source of the error. Cults appeal
    to the innocent, the gullible, and the spiritually naïve or ignorant. With discernment and spiritual maturity, the characte-
    ristics of cults become obvious. Primarily they are exploitive. The leader is typically controlling, money is important; allegiance to the group is emphasized; and the cult insists of proselytizing and eliminating relationships with spou-
    ses, family or friends. There are secrets, a hierarchy, and the use of psychological pressures and persuasions that border on brainwashing.
    The leader, rather than the teachings, becomes the focus of energy, gifts, money, favors and adulation, and the mere mention of their name brings "ohs” and "ahs" rather than simple respect.
    I. Reality and Subjectivity, heading "Teachers and Students", S. 9, 2003

 

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Note: D. Hawkins run a cult himself.

Specialness, ingroup status, jargon, false promises

 

  • Frequently, serious spiritual students become waylaid by attractive, deviant path-
    ways, schools, and teachings and thereby devote time and energy in fruitless pursuit of spiritual illusions. This may
    take up years, decades, or even whole lifetimes that sometimes end up in regret or even bitter disappointment. With
    the current availability of the techniques of calibrating levels truth, such errors can be circumvented.
    Discovery of the Presence of God. Devotional Nonduality, chapter 12, S. 203, 2007

 


 

  • The direct path is through consciousness itself. […] When you sit down to meditate, you notice that the mind is con-
    stantly racing and running around and a lot of teachings try to teach you have to control it. You can't control it. You
    don't have any control over the mind. The mind exists of its own nature and it just runs about and does its own thing, just like the body does. There's no point to try to control it.
    Sedona Seminar Causality: The Ego's Foundation, 3 DVD set, January 2002

 

  • Secrets is the other sign [for controlling cults]. Truth has no secrets. That which claims a secret, avoid! God has
    no secrets.
    […] All is revealed! The only reason for a secret is to have control over you. I'll get something out of you
    in return for the secret, which makes you special. The attraction is one of specialness. […] All these things are OK on
    the way. The only trouble is their power of seduction is quite intense. […] Don't underrate the expertise of that which
    would mislead you. […] It sounds like the convincingly real.
    Sedona Seminar Realization of the Self: Final Moments, DVD 1 of 3, minute 1:39, 14. December 2002

 

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Inner integrity compass

  • Your own commitment to your own spiritual integrity will eventually lead you to leaving that which is non-integrous. You leave that which is non-integrous because you've evolved to that point not because some teacher, guru, leader, master [says so]. Sedona Seminar Realization of the Self: Final Moments, 3 DVD set, 14. December 2002

 

Bild
Seljalandsfoss, Suðurland, Iceland
  • Question: How do you choose a true spiritual practice to follow?
    Answer: Look for these things in a practice:
    • Non-linear. Same throughout the ages.
    • If it sounds weird, it probably is.
    • It seeks nothing for itself.
    • It doesn't want to change, control, enroll.
    • It is not a pyramid system, or a multi level marketing.
    • People are free to come and go.
    • The teacher is only a teacher, not some glamorized master.
    • It avoids spiritual trappings.
    • It does not portray real opinions on outside issues.
    • There is nothing to sign up, no membership.
    • It has no interest in special clothing, food, your family, your sex life.
    • It does not insist on specific spiritual exercises.
    • It does not insist on exercises or breathing patterns to lead to altered states.
    • It has no doctrines.
    • There is no partiality.
    • There is no specialness.
Sedona Seminar Identification and Illusion, 3 DVD set, 14. August 2004

 

 

  • Your spiritual condition doesn't have anything to do with the country. […] Dedicate your love to love itself, instead
    of to any person or teacher. Divinity is love. That is all you need.

    Sedona Satsang Q&A, Sedona Creative Life Center, 2 CD set, 13. September 2006

 

  • If you look at God as Great Father or Great Mother, then S/He would delight in your enlightenment. God experien-
    cing the joy of His own Divinity is both the pathway and the destination, both the traveller and the destination.
    Sedona Satsang Q&A, CD 2 von 2, 10. January 2007

Zitate von anderen Quellen – Kultstrukturen

Wenn du einen Sektierer einmal und ein zweites Mal ermahnt hast, so meide ihn.
Du weißt, ein solcher Mensch ist auf dem verkehrten Weg; er sündigt und
spricht sich selbst das Urteil.
Titus 3, 10-11

 

Persönliche Bekenntnisse

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Weibliche Sexsklaven von "erleuchteten" tibetisch buddhistischen Lamas

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Zusätzliche Hinweise:

Gewalttätige und sexistische Aspekte des tibetisch-buddhistischenen Systems S. 75
Die Frau wird als "spirituelles Hilfsmittel" gesehen, ausgebeutet und spirituell entmündigt und verdrängt.
S. 76

  • Meine Einwilligung, in eine geheime sexuelle Beziehung einzutreten, basierte vor allem auf der Verpflichtung zu Hingabe und Gehorsam, die für alle, die in der nächsten Umgebung des Lamas lebten, von zentraler Bedeutung ist. Außerdem machte die Forderung, den Lama als göttlich anzusehen, es mir praktisch unmög-
    lich, sein Urteilsvermögen bezüglich aller Fragen, die meine eigene spirituelle Ent-
    wicklung betrafen, anzuzweifeln. June Campbell (*1945) schottische Religionswissen-
    schaftlerin, akademische Feministin, ehemalige Kagyu-Nonne, persönliche Übersetzerin des tibetischen Lamas Kalu Rinpoche, Göttinnen, Dakinis und ganz normale Frauen. Weibli-
    che Identität im tibetischen Tantra
    , S. 165, Theseus, 1997

 

(↓)

Anfangs glaubte Campbell, dass eine geheime Beziehung eine Erweiterung der religiösen Praxis sein könne und in den Bereich der geheimen tantrischen Praktiken fallen müsse.

  • Tatsächlich jedoch lief das, was geschah, den ursprünglich eindeutig egalitären tantrischen Vorstellungen völlig zuwider, da ich mit Forderungen konfrontiert wurde, in denen weder Achtung meinem Körper und meiner Person gegenüber zum Aus-
    druck kam, noch Rücksicht auf meine Gefühle genommen wurde [...] irgendwann sah ich mich dann nicht mehr in der Lage, weiterhin eine Beziehung zu einer ange-
    sehenen Autoritätsperson aufrechtzuerhalten, die ständig meine Persönlichkeits-
    grenzen verletzte und von mir bedingungslose Unterwerfung erwartete.
    June Campbell (*1945) schottische Religionswissenschaftlerin, akademische Feministin, ehemalige Kagyu-Nonne, persönliche Übersetzerin des tibetischen Lamas Kalu Rinpoche, Göttinnen, Dakinis und ganz normale Frauen. Weibliche Identität im tibeti-
    schen Tantra
    , S. 166, Theseus, 1997

 

(↓)

Note: Eingeschüchtert und zu absolutem Stillschweigen über ihr Mudra-Dasein verdonnert, war es Campbell zunächst nicht möglich, aus diesem Bannkreis auszubrechen

 

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Nach einer Vergewaltigung beginnt Nonne D. Wagner das Selbstlosigkeitsideal und Schweigen der Opfer zu hinterfragen.

  • Die Vorstellung, für sich selbst gar nichts mehr zu brauchen und nur noch den andern zu dienen, ist irgendwie großartig. Aber es ist überhaupt nicht großartig,
    es ist furchtbar. Ich habe dieses Ideal auch verfolgt, ich dachte, ich komme Gott näher, wenn ich mich ganz aufgebe und verleugne. Das war natürlich eine totale Falle. Ich konnte so vom ersten Tag an nicht mehr sagen: Ich will, ich brauche, ich möchte. Irgendwann hörte ich auf zu existieren. Man denkt und fühlt nicht mehr. Man ist wie ein Zombie. [...] Meine Mimik und Gestik wurden die ganze Zeit über korrigiert und kontrolliert, ich durfte nicht zu laut, aber auch nicht zu lei-
    se sprechen, den Kopf nicht gerade halten, aber auch nicht schräg, die Beine nicht übereinander schlagen, ich wurde
    komplett entpersonalisiert, aber ich dachte weiterhin: Das ist der Weg. [...]
    [Von einem Priester vergewaltigt worden zu sein] war für mich der Anlass, dieses Selbstlosigkeitsideal zu hinterfra-
    gen und Stück für Stück aus dieser Ideologie auszusteigen. Es klingt paradox, aber vielleicht hätte ich niemals die
    Kurve gekriegt, wenn der Übergriff nicht passiert wäre. [...] Lange nach meinem Austritt hab ich noch geglaubt: Ich
    bin die einzige, der sowas passierte. Dann bin ich auf eine amerikanische Studie aus den Neunzigerjahren gestoßen,
    in der stand, dass 30 Prozent aller Ordensfrauen missbraucht werden. Ich habe unzählige Frauen getroffen, die im
    Kloster spirituell und sexuell missbraucht wurden, die jetzt in Trümmern liegen und denen keiner zuhört. [...]
    Das ganze System beruht ja darauf, dass die Opfer nicht reden. Ich will für sie kämpfen.
    Interview mit Doris Wagner (*1983) deutsche Theologin, Philosophin, Aktivistin gegen spirituellen Missbrauch, Autorin, 30 Prozent aller Nonnen werden missbraucht. Doris Wagner war eine davon, sie befreite sich, präsentiert von der Schweizer Tageszeitung Aargauer Zeitung, Simone Meier, 8. November 2018

 

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5% Gurutypen ⇔ 95% Anhängerschaft

Während Bhagwan seinen Jüngern Bescheidenheit predigte, besaß er selbst eine Autokette von Rolls-Royce.

  • Fünf Prozent der Menschen sind intelligent, die restlichen 95 Prozent sind unsere Anhänger. Osho [Bhagwan Sree Rajneesh] [BW 570⇒180⇒90] (1931-1990) indischer Philosophieprofessor, umstrittener Guru, Begründer der NeoSannyas-Bewegung, zitiert in: Artikel Psychopathen. Raubtiere ohne Kette, präsentiert von dem deutschen Nachrichten-
    magazin Der Spiegel, Heiner Thorberg, 25. September 2013

 

Empfehlungen

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Paraphrasierte verkürzte Version:

Nun glaubt nicht, nur weil ich es euch gesagt habe. Erfahrt selbst. Sollte die Wissenschaft eines Tages eine meiner Lehren widerlegen, so glaubt der Wissenschaft.
Glaubt nicht dem Hörensagen und heiligen Überlieferungen, nicht Vermutungen oder eingewurzelten Anschauungen, auch nicht den Worten eines verehrten Meisters; sondern was ihr selbst gründlich geprüft und als euch selbst und anderen zum Wohle dienend erkannt habt, das nehmt an.

  • Glaubt nicht an irgendwelche Überlieferungen, nur weil sie für lange Zeit in vielen Ländern Gültigkeit besessen haben.
    Glaubt nicht an etwas, nur weil es viele andauernd wiederholen.
    Akzeptiert nichts, nur weil es ein anderer gesagt hat, weil es auf der Autorität eines Weisen beruht oder weil es in einer heiligen Schrift steht.
    Glaubt nichts, nur weil es wahrscheinlich ist. Glaubt nicht an Einbildungen oder Visionen, die ihr für gottgegeben haltet.
    Glaubt nichts, nur weil die Autorität eines Priesters oder Lehrers dahintersteht.
    Glaubt an das, was ihr durch lange eigene Prüfung als richtig erkannt habt, was sich mit eurem Wohlergehen und dem anderer vereinbaren lässt.
Gautama Buddha [BW 1000] (563-483 v. Chr.) indischer Avatar, Lehrer der Erleuchtung, Zentralfigur des Buddhismus, Kalama Sutta
  • Glaubt den Büchern nicht, glaubt den Lehrern nicht, glaubt auch mir nicht. Glaubt nur das, was ihr selbst sorgfältig geprüft und als euch selbst und anderen zum Wohle dienend erkannt habt.
    Gautama Buddha [BW 1000] (563-483 v. Chr.) indischer Avatar, Lehrer der Erleuchtung, Zentralfigur des Buddhismus

 

  • Grundsätzlich empfehle ich buddhistischen Praktikern, nicht jede Handlung und Entscheidung ihres spirituellen Lehrers als göttlich und nobel anzusehen. In allen buddhistischen Lehren gibt es klar definierte Vorgaben und einen eindeuti-
    gen Verhaltenskodex, an den sich ein spirituellen Mentor halten muss. Wenn man als spiritueller Lehrer falsche Hand-
    lungen begeht und sich in nicht angemessener Weise ver-
    hält, ist der Student oder Schüler berechtigt, dieses Verhal-
    ten zu hinterfragen und zu kritisieren.
    Wenn man als spiritueller Lehrer falsche Handlungen begeht und sich in nicht angemessener Weise verhält, ist der Stu-
    dent oder Schüler berechtigt, dieses Verhalten zu hinterfra-
    gen und zu kritisieren. Der Guru, der geistige Lehrer, ist für sein oder ihr falsches Benehmen verantwortlich. Es liegt in der Verantwortung des Schülers, sich nicht in die fehlerhaf-
    ten Handlungen, die der Lehrer begeht, mit hineinziehen zu lassen. Denn letztlich werden beide dafür schuldig ge-
    sprochen. In den meisten Fällen ist der Schüler zu obrigkeitshörig und zu gehorsam, weil er sich dem spirituellen
    Lehrer auf unangemessene Weise hingegeben hat. Es ist nicht richtig, die Führung durch eine andere Person blind
    zu akzeptieren. In allen Fällen beschädigt und verdirbt eine solche Haltung die Integrität des Schülers. Teil der Schuld liegt am spirituellen Meister, wenn es ihm selbst an Integrität mangelt, um gegenüber dieser Schwäche des Schülers immun zu sein. Dalai Lama XIV. (Tenzin Gyatso) [Tanchu Dhondup] [BW 570] (*1935) tibetischer Mönch, geistliches Oberhaupt
    des tibetischen Buddhismus, Linienhalter der Gelug-Schule, Friedensnobelpreisträger, 1989, zitiert in: Interview mit Peter Peer Rohr, Seelenrechtler, Realitätsbewusstseinsforscher, Selbstermächtigung, präsentiert von der Webseite srilalita.de, undatiert

 

Schlussfolgerung

  • Unangefochtene religiöse Autorität kann es in der digitalen Welt nicht mehr geben. Das ist gut im Sinne der Aufklä-
    rung, hat aber den Preis kultureller Nivellierung. Wo jede Wiki.Autoritaet|Autorität]] kommentierbar wird, lässt sie sich allzu leicht mit einem Moment des Fraglichen und Zweifelhaften versehen. […]
    Eido Shimano, der skandalumwitterte Zen-Meister, konnte im Zeitalter der zaghaften Protestbriefe und der ängstlich zurückgehaltenen Zeitungsartikel irgendwie durchkommen. Im Netz jedoch – dem Medium des ortlosen, blitzschnell durchsuchbaren Materials – ist er für alle Zeit erledigt.1 Heute gibt es über ihn ein beständig wachsendes Netzarchiv, von freiwilligen Helfern in verschiedene Sprachen übersetzt, mehr als 7.000 Seiten, Videos und Tonaufnahmen um-
    fassend, das Jahrzehnte des Machtmissbrauchs in allen Facetten dokumentiert. […]
    Perfektions- und Unfehlbarkeitsideale scheinen mit einem Mal unwiderruflich dahin oder lassen sich durch dreimi-
    nütige Ad-hoc-Recherchen zertrümmern. […]
    Der Schüler darf nicht zu viel wissen, um Aura und Charisma des Lehrers zu bewahren. Er darf sich den Meister nicht als zu gewöhnlich oder gar fehlerhaft vorstellen, um sich noch mit der nötigen inneren Emphase vor ihm, dem vermeint-
    lich perfekten, höheren Wesen, zu verbeugen. Artikel von Prof. Bernhard Pörksen (*1969) deutscher Professor für Medienwis-
    senschaft, Universität Tübingen, Entzauberte Gurus. Die Macht der religiösen Führer schien unumschränkt – bis sich ihre Kritiker und Opfer im Internet zusammenschlossen. Nun stehen die Idole am Pranger. Gut so?, präsentiert von der überregionalen deutschen Wochenzeitung Die Zeit, Ausgabe Nr. 24/2017, 7. Juni 2017
  • Ein guter Meister mag tatsächlich vollkommen erleuchtet und seines göttlichen Wesens gewahr sein, doch ist er au-
    ßerdem auch menschlich. Selbst von Christus heißt es, er sei ein Mensch (Jesus) mit zwei Naturen gewesen: einer menschlichen und einer göttlichen. Außerdem bedeutet die Tatsache, dass die Seele und der höhere Geist eines Guru einer strengen Schulung unterzogen wurde, nicht, dass auch sein Körper und sein gewöhnlicher Geist vollkommen ausgebildet sind. [...] Der vollkommene Meister kann erst dann Perfektion im weltlichen Sinne manifestieren, wenn die Menschheit als Ganzes, in der er verwurzelt ist – ja, im Grunde, wenn jegliche Manifestation – sich zu ihrem eigenen höchsten und vollkommenen Zustand empor entwickelt hat. Bis zu diesem Zeitpunkt bezieht sich seine Vollkommen-
    heit nur auf das transzendentale Bewusstsein, nicht auf die konkrete Manifestation. Deshalb sollte man sich vor einem im Konkreten "vollkommenen Meister" tunlichst hüten. Ken Wilber [BW 490] (*1949) US-amerikanischer Philosoph, Vorden-
    ker des 3. Jtds., transpersonaler Bewusstseinsforscher, Entwickler der Integralen Theorie, Autor, Meister, Gurus, Menschenfänger. Über die Integrität spiritueller Wege, Frankfurt, Verlag Krüger, 1995

 

(↓)

Autoritär geprägte Hingabe-Unterwerfung in Kultstrukturen

  • Im Zentrum der traditionellen Guru-SchülerIn-Beziehung liegt die Hingabe, die in unterschiedlichem Maße Teil jeder autoritären Struktur ist. Im Idealfall unterwerfen sich die SchülerInnen vollkommen dem Willen des Gurus. Das versetzt Gurus in die Lage, extrem autoritäre Macht über ihre Gefolgschaft auszuüben.
    Joel Kramer (*1937) and Diana Alstad, US-amerikanisches Autorenehepaar, Masken der Macht.Die Guru Papers [Frog / North Atlantic Books, 1993], S. 92, Verlag Zweitausendeins, 1995

 

  • Es gibt viele meisterhafte, ganzheitsorientierte, wunderbare, integere Lehrer [in der Welt] da draußen.
    Und es gibt viele unvollkommene, nicht so gradlinig-ehrliche Scharlatane. Sie lassen lediglich die Weisheit von ande-
    ren Menschen wieder aufleben und verpacken sie auf raffiniertere Weise neu. Sie brauchen dich tatsächlich, um an sie
    zu glauben. Man muss ihnen tatsächlich glauben. Sie brauchen dich, um zu denken, dass ihre sieben Schritte DIE sie-
    ben Schritte seien.
    Einer der Indikatoren für einen echten Lehrer ist, dass er keineswegs darauf aus ist, dass du seine Produkte kaufst,
    weder buchstäblich noch im übertragenen Sinn. Sie sind cool. Du glaubst, was du glauben willst. Sie schreiben nur ihre
    Weisheit nieder, ohne auf deine Kaufwilligkeit angewiesen zu sein. […]
    Der "hervorragende Lehrer" wird dich bis zu einem gewissen Grad retten, er wird dir Heilung bringen und Antworten ge-
    ben. Wir müssen uns unterstützen, wir brauchen einen Stamm. Es gibt viele verschiedene Arten von Antworten, aber
    NIEMAND hat das Heilmittel für dich. Audiointerview with Danielle LaPorte (*1969) kanadische Unternehmerin, inspirierende Sprecherin, Bloggerin, Autorin, Danielle LaPorte – You Are Your Own Guru, präsentiert von ManTalks, Gastgeber Connor Beaton, YouTube Film, Minute 20:04, 51:43 Minuten Dauer, eingestellt 19. Juni 2017

 

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Personenkult

  • Personenkult bezeichnet die übergebührliche Verehrung und Glorifizierung einer in der Regel noch lebenden Person, die eine – behauptete oder tatsächliche – Vor-
    bildfunktion hat. Definition von de.Wikipedia

 

  • [Hintergrundbericht] Mitte der 90er Jahre führte die Universität von St. Louis im Rahmen einer Missbrauchsstudie von amerikanischen Ordensfrauen aus drei verschiedenen geistlichen Einrichtungen durch. Fertiggestellt im Jahr 1996 wurde sie bewusst nie den öffent-
    lichen Presseorganen bekannt gemacht. Sexueller Missbrauch im Kloster erwies sich als "erschreckend normal". Korrekturmaßnah-
    men unterblieben für weitere 20+ Jahre.
    • 39,9% der 578 befragten Schwestern im Durchschnittsalter von 62 Jahren wurden in ihrem Leben sexuell missbraucht.
    • 29,3% wurden während ihrer Zugehörigkeit zur jeweiligen Gemeinschaft sexuell missbraucht.
    • In 39% aller Fälle kam es auch zu genitalem Kontakt (genital sexual contact).
    • Die häufigste Form des Missbrauchs war sexuelle Ausbeutung (sexual exploitation / sexual coercion).
"Sexuelle Ausbeutung lässt sich am besten im Sinne einer Verletzung der Berufsethik definieren. Sie liegt vor,
wenn eine Person in einer professionellen Verantwortungsposition die Abhängigkeit und Verwundbarkeit einer ihr anvertrauten Person ausnutzt. [...] Es ist immer die Aufgabe des Verantwortlichen, sexuelles Verhalten in diesen Beziehungen zu vermeiden, weil:
(a) es eine Verletzung der Professionalität darstellt;
(b) es sich um einen Missbrauch von Autorität und Macht handelt;
(c) Verwundbarkeit und Abhängigkeit einer schwächeren Person ausgenutzt werden; und
(d) eine sinnvolle Zustimmung unmöglich ist, da die Zustimmung zu sexuellen Handlungen nur in einer Atmosphäre der Gegenseitigkeit und Gleichheit erfolgen kann.
Ausbeutung geschieht unabhängig davon, ob der unterlegene Part glaubt, freiwillig eine sexuelle Beziehung mit
dem Professionellen einzugehen oder nicht."
2
Das Missbrauchsmuster [von Klerikern] ist immer dasselbe: Oft sehr junge Ordensfrauen werden von Priestern missbraucht, die ihre Rolle als Gründer, Beichtväter oder geistliche Begleiter ausnutzen, um die Frauen zu – bisweilen spirituell überhöhten und vermeintlich einvernehmlichen, bisweilen aber auch gewaltsam erzwun-
genen – sexuellen Handlungen zu nötigen.

Artikel von Doris Wagner (*1983) deutsche Theologin, Philosophin, Aktivistin gegen spirituellen Missbrauch, Autorin, #NunsToo: Sexueller Missbrauch an Ordensfrauen. Fakten und Fragen, präsentiert von der Publikation Stimmen der Zeit, Heft 143, 2018

 

Referenz: de.Wikiquote-Eintrag Sekte

              Definition von Sekte (Kult)              

 

Der Verhaltensforscher Hansjörg Hemminger definiert eine Sekte folgendermaßen:

  • Von einer Sekte kann man jedoch erst sprechen, wenn eine Gruppe eine geschlossene soziale Struktur auf-
    weist.
    Sektierertum ist ein soziales Phänomen, nicht eine Eigenschaft von Individuen – obwohl es eine sektiereri-
    sche Mentalität bei Einzelpersonen gibt. Ohne soziale Organisationsform wird die sektiererische Mentalität jedoch
    zur Enge, Rechthaberei und Verbissenheit – die es nicht nur bei Sekten gibt. Sozial organisiert und als Gruppen-
    norm führen diese Eigenschaften jedoch zu den sozialwissenschaftlichen "Sektenmerkmalen"
    :
         ☛ Monopolanspruch auf die Wahrheit gegenüber anderen Gemeinschaften der gleichen Tradition
         ☛ Monopolanspruch auf Rettung, Erlösung oder Heil
         ☛ Größenideen, irreale Machbarkeitsvorstellungen und überwertige Ideen
         ☛ Schwarz-Weiß-Struktur des Denkens
         ☛ Starre Geschlossenheit nach außen hin, ungewöhnliche Gruppenkohäsion
         ☛ Unterschied zwischen "innerer Wahrheit" und Außendarstellung (doppelseitige 'Wahrheit')
         ☛ Totalitäre Innenstruktur der Gruppe mit "steiler" Hierarchie
         ☛ Starker Zugriff der Führung auf die Gestaltung des Alltags bei den Anhängern
         ☛ Personenkult um die Zentralgestalt der Gruppe
         ☛ Innere Überwachungs- oder Spitzelsysteme, geheimdienstähnliche Methoden
         ☛ Starkes Elite- und Sendungsbewusstsein der Gruppe
         ☛ Selbstidealisierung und Dämonisierung anderer
         ☛ Finanzielle, berufliche und familiäre Abhängigkeit der Anhänger von der Gruppe bzw. der Führung

 

Gruppen, die mehrere oder viele dieser Merkmale aufweisen, gelten heute umgangssprachlich als Sekten.

 

Quelle: ► Essay von Hansjörg Hemminger (*1948) deutscher Verhaltenswissenschaftler, Spezialist für Sekten und religiöse Sonder-
gruppen, Was ist eine Sekte? Kurzinformation, PDF, präsentiert von der Evangelischen Kirche in Deutschland (EKD), November 2019
Siehe auch: ► Wahre Lehre und ► Bewusstseinskontrolle

Quotes by various other sources – Cult structures

Personal avowals

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Usual pattern of disgraced gurus

  • I have witnessed […] fallen spiritual leaders be publicly exposed, subsequently dis-
    appear, and invariably pop up in a new location several years later only to repeat the same pathological patterns that led to their downfall the first time around. The taste of power often seems to be so inebriating and irresistible that offenders are doomed to repeat their history again and again. Article What Happens When Your Guru Disappears?, presented by Eliezer Sobel (*1956) US American publisher, editor, journalist-blogger, author, 27. March 2015

 

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Traps on the recovery from cultic indoctrination

  • Cult indoctrination takes time. The mind is not manipulated and programmed overnight. The same is true for the recovery process. A newly awakened person may understand that they were being taught lies as truth, but rarely do they recognize how their very thought and emotional processes have been changed and shaped by the cult group. It's very common to come out of a cult with a strict black and white way of thinking. This "us vs. them" mindset, taught by cult leaders, tells
    us that there is only one right answer and one right way of doing things. Added to that, many ex-members exhibit an ob-
    sessive way of focusing. They feel an ingrained sense of urgency to work against the cult and ignore the "normal" world.
    This is especially true for those, who like me, were taught the ideology that Armageddon is to take place at any moment.
    Instead of managing multiple aspects of life, (education, job, family, relationships, hobbies) it is easy for a person to fix-
    ate on their activism to the detriment of themselves and their loved ones. Sadly, these tendencies can be a hindrance
    to true recovery. Blog article Heal Yourself first, then Help Others, presented by Steven Hassan's Blog, Steven Alan Hassan
    (*1954) US American ex-Moonie, cult exit educator, mental health consultant, author, 31. March 2016

 

Recommendation

  • Now, Kalamas, don't go by reports, by legends, by traditions, by scripture, by logical conjecture, by inference, by ana-
    logies, by agreement through pondering views, by probability, or by the thought, 'This contemplative is our teacher.'
    When you know for yourselves that, 'These qualities are skillful; these qualities are blameless; these qualities are prai-
    sed by the wise; these qualities, when adopted and carried out, lead to welfare and to happiness' – then you should
    enter and remain in them. Buddha [LoC 1000] (563-483 BC) Indian Avatar, teacher of enlightenment, central figure of Buddhism, Kalama Sutta, translated from Pali by Thanissaro, "To the Kalamas", 1994

 

Appeal

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Male leaders committing sexual abuse to minors or women of lower ranks

  • It is very important to recognize that men in leadership positions can sexually prey on vulnerable girls and women because the people who honor their leadership, also create the space and give them to power to do so! […]
    We are each responsible for the injustices of the men we place on pedestals! And we are each accountable. Blog article Gandhi to Asaram: Who Empowers the Sex Crimes of 'Gurus?'', presented by Genderbytes, Rita Banerji, Indian philosopher, photographer, gender activist, feminist author, 4. September 2013

 

Conclusions upon thorough research

⚑ No one ever joins a "cult." People join interesting groups that promise to fulfill their pressing needs. They become "cults" when they are seen as deceptive, defective, dangerous, or as opposing basic values of their society.
⚑ Cults represent each society's "default values," filling in its missing functions. The cult epidemic is diagnostic of where and how society is failing its citizens.
⚑ If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything. As basic human values are being strained, distorted and lost in our rapidly evolving culture, illusions and promissory notes are too readily believed and bought – without reality validation or credit checks.
⚑ Whatever any member of a cult has done, you and I could be recruited or seduced into doing – under the right or wrong conditions. The majority of "normal, average, intelligent" individuals can be led to engage in immoral, illegal, irrational, aggressive and self destructive actions that are contrary to their values or personality – when manipulated situational conditions exert their power over individual dispositions.
⚑ Cult methods of recruiting, indoctrinating and influencing their members are not exotic forms of mind control, but only more intensely applied mundane tactics of social influence practiced daily by all compliance professionals and societal agents of influence.
Article by Philip G. Zimbardo, Ph.D. (*1933) US American professor emeritus of social psychology, Stanford University, author, What messages are behind today's cults?, presented by the magazine Monitor on Psychology, published by the US American American Psychological Association (APA), May 1997

 

What is enlightenment?

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What is enlightenment?

The simplistic [blue meme] view of a perfect guru challenged by a Western woman after having recovered from sex slavery

  • Tricycle: Is Kalu Rinpoche less enlightened than we thought he was, or do we have to change our understanding of what an enlightened guru is?
    Campbell: [...] asking a mere woman about the status of a lama's enlightenment. [...]
    I think it's more to do with the problems of squaring up the idea of perfection alongside what is perceived to be dubious behavior.
      ➤ One understanding of the "enlightened guru" is that everything about his behavior,
         no matter how strange or morally wrong, is a manifestation of enlightenment.
    That view may have been sustainable in Tibetan society – even promoted – but I think it's certain that Western society
    will be unable to sustain it. It's my view that if people resist looking at this question, certain groups will become more
    and more insular in Western society, in an attempt to protect themselves from challenge and to avoid change. They'll
      ➤ never go beyond a simplistic view of the guru as perfect,
      ➤ and the gurus themselves will never go beyond wielding
          complete power and being adored.
    To my mind this kind of insularity would either hasten the demise of the whole system, or create closed, cult-like groups that have no influence on society at all. [...]
    [T]he Tibetan system's not unique in there being a link between power, religion, and gender. And it's not the first system in the world to face change or be challenged. [...] [I]n essence we have the same problems in the West to do with abuses of power. Interview with June Campbell (*1945) Scottish religious scholar, academic feminist, Kagyu nun and personal translator of the
    Tibetan Lama Kalu Rinpoche (70ties), The Emperor's Tantric Robes, presented by the US the American quarterly magazine Tricycle. The Buddhist Review, winter issue 1996

 

Insights

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Devotee abuse

  • What's going on is much more than people sleeping around and misusing funds or whatever. It is abuse of a very profound kind. It is child abuse. It is abuse of someone in their most defenseless position, because no one is more defenseless than a devotee rapt in adoration before a master. So what kind of wisdom could they possibly have if they are first indul-
    ging in that kind of abuse and then denying it in sometimes criminal ways? We really do have to face the full extent of
    their failure, and that is very painful, because we then have to face our illusions about them and the ways in which we
    colluded with them in our hope for magical solutions and transformations on the cheap.
    Interview with Andrew Harvey andrewharvey.net (*1952) Indian-British religious scholar, Rumi translator and explicator, teacher of mystic traditions, poet, novelist, author, Teachers and Seekers: An Interview with Andrew Harvey, presented by the US American me-
    dia company Yoga Journal, Catherine Ingram, issue 123, S. 60, July/August 1995
Bild
Stained glass depiction of Joseph Smith's First Vision.
He claimed that a heavenly being told him that all
churches of his day were corrupt and abominable.
  • If one has a teacher who is not qualified, who is engaging in unsuitable or wrong behavior, then it is appropriate for the student to criticize that behavior. H.H. 14th Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso [LoC 570] (*1935) Tibetan monk, leader of the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" branch of Tibetan Buddhism, Peace Nobel Prize laureate, 1989; cited in: article Face to Face. Confronting the Guru-Disciple Relationship, presented by the US American quarterly magazine Gnosis, Ihla F. Nation, spring 1996

 

  • The standard definition for cult3 is, "A system of religious venera-
    tion and devotion directed towards a particular figure or object." In this context, almost anything can be taken as a cult, particularly if we define religion as Paul Tillich has as "anything for which we have ultimate concern."
    My own view is that every religion or ism can be regarded as poten-
    tially cultic
    , if we use the pejorative usage of that term. Even a sport like surfing can have a cult-like following or a charismatic leader in politics can be seen as cultic. It all depends on how we are using the term. Blog article Studying Cults. A Forty-Year Reflection, presented by the online publication integralworld.net, David Christopher Lane, Ph.D. (*1956) US American professor of philosophy and sociology, Mt. San Antonio College, Walnut, California, lecturer in religious studies, author, May 2017

 

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See also article:

Face to Face. Confronting the Guru-Disciple Relationship, presented by the US American quarterly magazine Gnosis, Ihla F. Nation, S. 26, spring 1996

 

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Infantile fascination and dependence on guru personalities

  • Most frequently, however, this fascination leads to an infantile giving up oneself and being so to speak flat on one's belly before the other person worshipping the great leader or the great spiritual guru or whatever the projection is and loosing oneself in an infantile way. Remaining infantile, such people are generally very fanatical in the admiration of that admired person, defending that person against the enemies and basking in the glory of their master, admired person, through identification. That saves these people from making an effort themselves. The great man or the great woman out there is going to do it all for me. And my task is to only applaud and admire the thing. I have to make no effort to become more intelligent or more wise or more independent myself. It can just annihilate the personality and make them infantile instead of making them grow up and develop them. Video documentary / interview
    with Dr. Marie-Louise von Franz (1915-1998) Swiss Jungian psychologist, Jungian scholar, author, The Way of the Dream, presen-
    ted by the Windrose Film, host Fraser Boa, introduction by Marion Woodman (1928-2018), 1983, The Way of the Dream, part 1
    of a series of 4, YouTube film, minute 1:42:28, 3:04:58 hours duration, posted by JP Opperman 24. November 2011

 

(↓)

The new paradigm draws audiences, not followers.

  • The new paradigm no longer has "followers". Only audiences. A member of an audience is, and must remain, FREE to leave whenever he or she wants. Video interview with Inelia Benz [Inelia del Pilar Ahumada Avila] (*1966) Chilean Irish refugee, 10th dimensional human catalyst, vibrational supporter during the paradigm shift, Debt – A Link in the Chain of Enslavement, 15. July 2010

 

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Awakened community is the Second Return of Christ

  • It is possible that the next Buddha will not take the form of an individual. The next Buddha may take the form of a community – a community practicing understanding and loving kindness, a community practicing mindful living. This may be the most important thing we can do for the survival of the earth. Thich Nhat Hanh [LoC 460] (1926-2022) Vietnamese France based Buddhist monk, peace activist, teacher, poet, author, cited in: article The Next Buddha May Be a Sangha, presented by the publi-
    cation Inquiring Mind, volume 10, #2, spring 1993

 

(↓)

Leaving a cult

  • Persons who consider leaving a cult are usually pressured to stay. Some ex-members say that they spent months, even years, trying to garner the strength to walk out. Some felt so intimidated that they departed secretly. […] [M]ost cult members eventually walk out on their own.
    1. First, many, if not most, who leave cults on their own are psychologically harmed, often in ways which they do
      not understand.
    2. Second, some cultists never leave, and some of these are severely harmed.
    3. And third, there is no way to predict who will leave, who won’t leave, or who will be harmed.
Micheal Langone, Ph.D., US American counseling psychologist specialized in research about "cultic" groups and psychological manipulation, executive director of the International Cultic Studies Association (ICSA), editor of the journal Cultic Studies Review, Cults: Questions and Answers, presented by ICSA, American Family Foundation, revised edition 1. Januar 1988

 

 

(↓)

Definition of a cult:

Pyramid structured, authoritarian, unduly influenced group or relationship resulting in a new identity (dissociative dysfunction) of followers who become obedient and dependent to the authority figure

  • I define a cult as a pyramid structured, authoritarian group or relationship where the people at the top have power, and deception is used to recruit and mind control techniques [hypnosis, thought-stopping, and phobia indoctrination] are used to create a new identity which is dependent and obedient to the leadership/ideology. […] What I call the BITE model, control of Behavior, Information, Thought and Emotion, is intended to create a new identity which is obedient and dependent to the authority figure. […]
    [C]ults aren't just religious in nature. They can be
political,
business,
➤ large group awareness training,
➤ psychotherapy/transformation
➤ or even just a controlling individual.
The more intensive and totalist the group is, the greater the need for transparency.
Audio interview with Steven Alan Hassan (*1954) US American former Moonie, cult exit educator, mental health consultant, author, Twilight Moon: The Intertwined Lives of a Poet and a Messiah, presented by the podcast show "Talk To Action", Frederick Clarkson, 30. October 2012

 

(↓)

Beneficial cults

  • Benign cult groups are any group of people who have a set of beliefs and rituals that are non-mainstream. As long as people are freely able to choose to join with full disclosure of the group’s doctrine and practices and can choose to disaffiliate without fear or harassment, then it doesn't fall under the behavioral/psychological destructive cult category.
    Steven Alan Hassan (*1954) US American former Moonie, cult exit educator, mental health consultant, author, cited in: website Freedom of Mind, undated

 

(↓)

Cultic structures are ubiquitous.

  • Cults are not just religious. There are political, therapy, business cults, cults of personality as well. Video presentation by Steven Alan Hassan (*1954) US American former Moonie, cult exit educator, mental health consultant, author, Steve Hassan at FECRIS meeting in Perpignan France Oct 13th 2012, sponsored by FECRIS (European Federation of Centres of Research and Information on Sectarianism), founded in Paris, 30. June 1994, meeting, Perpignan, France, 13. October 2012, Vimeo video,
    19:42 minutes duration, aired ~5. November 2012

 

(↓)

Leaving old style deprogramming behind, Hassan developed the Strategic Interactive Approach on behalf of cult members in transition. It is relationship based and respectful of all persons involved.

  • Love is stronger than mind control ["destructive influence"]. The person's real self still exists. Through love and through knowing how to communicate effectively you can reach that person and empower them to start thinking for themselves. Video presentation by Steven Alan Hassan (*1954) US American former Moonie, cult exit educator, mental health consultant, author, Steve Hassan at FECRIS meeting in Perpig-
    nan France Oct 13th 2012
    , sponsored by FECRIS (European Federation of Centres of Research and Information on Sectarianism), founded in Paris, 30. June 1994, meeting, Perpignan, France, 13. October 2012, Vimeo video, 18:44 minutes duration, aired ~5. November 2012

 

  • Cult leaders are often self-styled prophets who have not studied with great teachers or undergone lengthy training or discipline themselves. [...] Many of the most dangerous cultic figures of our times have no such stabilizing context of tradition, lineage or transmission, but are self-proclaimed gurus who sway their followers through their charismatic talents. John Welwood, Ph.D. (1943-2019) US American clinical and transpersonal psychologist, psychotherapist, teacher, author, On Spiritual Authority. Genuine and Counterfeit, presented by the peer-reviewed academic Journal of Humanistic Psychology, published 1. July 1983

 

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Motivation to become a cult leader

 

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As the worshipped charismatic leader is a fallible human being over time their contradictions are noticed and may become a source of parting from the cult.

Minute 0:27:52

  • Features of a cult
    1. A charismatic leader who becomes increasingly the object of worship, so that decreasingly worshipped are the larger principles.
    2. Thought reform or coercive persuasion
    3. Idealism from below and enormous manipulativeness or deception from above
Video presentation by Robert Jay Lifton, M.D. (*1926) US American psychiatrist, known for his studies of the psychological causes and effects of war and political violence and for his theory of thought reform, Cults: Robert Lifton Speaks at Conference, YouTube film, minute 0:20:29, 1:01:06 duration, posted 1. December 2010

 

  • Gurus differ widely from each other in a variety of ways, but most claim the possession of special spiritual insight ba-
    sed on personal revelation. Gurus promise their followers new ways of self-development, new paths to salvation. Since there are no schools for gurus, and no recognised qualifications for becoming one, they are, like politicians, originally self-selected. Anyone can become a guru if he or she has the hubris to claim special spiritual gifts. […]
    Gurus go through a period of stress, which sometimes equals a psychosis, that ends with the revelation of a new truth that dispels confusion and creates order. This sequence of events is comparable to the creative process in mathematics and science, that also starts with nagging problems, but ends with the formulation of new hypotheses that impose links between hitherto irreconcilable facts or theories. Anthony Storr (1920-2001) English psychiatrist, psychoanalyst, author, Feet of Clay. Saints, Sinners, and Madmen. Study of Gurus, HarperCollins, paperback, new edition 7. April 1997

 

Six most common dynamics in cults – Source: ► Traumatic Narcissism. Relational Systems of Subjugation,
chapter "Traumatic Narcissism in Cults", Routledge, 1st edition 19. September 2013

  1. Purification of the ego.
  2. Only perfection is good enough.
  3. Incessant urgency.
  4. Violation of boundaries as a norm.
  5. Inner deviants must be eradicated.
  6. Defend the leader, no matter what.
Daniel Shaw, LCSW, US American certified psychoanalyst, psychotherapist, cult member of the SYDA movement under Gurumayi (1981-1994), author, cited in: Audio podcast interview Daniel Shaw: What Is Narcissism, Victim Process, How It Develops, Cults, Tea-Party, Clinton..., MP3, presented by the The Rob Kall Bottom Up Radio Show, host Rob Kall, US American radio host, minute 1:34:48, 2:28:54 minutes duration, aired 27. August 2014

 

(↓)

Retirement syndrome – long suppressed doubts emerging

  • People who have advocated nuclearism, nuclear weapons, may spend their lives building them up. And at their moment of retirement where they are no longer in that environment they can say very wise things about nuclear weapons and their danger. They can let lift that suppression of their doubts and then they know better than anyone else what these weapons can do.
    There is something about a person coming out of a cult that is parallel to that retirement syndrome. Once there is let in some further encouragement of possibility for returning to those doubts they can pour out like a geyser because they've been there and they've been suppressed for so long. Video interview/dialog with Robert Jay Lifton, M.D. (*1926) US American psychiatrist, known for his studies of the psychological causes and effects of war and political violence and for his theory of thought reform, Dr. Robert Jay Lifton and Steve Hassan: August 2012, Wellfleet, Cape Cod, 20. August 2012, host Steven Alan Hassan (*1954) US American former Moonie, cult exit educator, mental health consultant, author, Vimeo video, minute 47:11, 53:16 minutes duration, posted ~20. August 2012

 

(↓)

Referring to the form of national exceptionalism exercised by US president George W. Bush in the US American Iraq War II

 

(↓)

Dynamics of dominance and submission, sadism and masochism

  • Theorists such as [Erich] Fromm (1965), Becker (1973) and Berger (1967) have sought to understand the dynamics of dominance and submission, sadism and masochism, that are built into the human character and which are triggered in individuals and societies exposed to certain influences. Fromm, and later Becker, were moved to explore these human traits by the horror of Nazi Germany; Berger's interest was oriented to the history of religion. These ideas about man's vulnerability to certain "pathological" behaviors can be used to sug-
    gest that those who become cult victims are predisposed to submissive, sadomasochistic behavior.
    Essay by Daniel Shaw, LCSW, US American certified psychoanalyst, psychotherapist, cult member of the SYDA movement under Gurumayi (1981-1994), author, Traumatic Abuse in Cults: An Exploration of an Unfamiliar Social Problem, presented by thezensite, archived in: THE ARCANE ARCHIVE, May 1996

 

(↓)

Masochistic attitude

 

(↓)

Study made on the Boston Church of Christ

  • It is true that many new converts look to someone to keep them from error and to guide them into truth. However, where the individual relies altogether on another person to protect him from all error, he will cease searching the Scriptures and fail to develop his own ability to withstand false teaching. [...] Some find the pattern for their new order of discipleship in
    the relationship of Jesus with His disciples, forgetting this was done within Judaism before Jesus began to build His Church. Instead they should seek guidance for church patterns in the Acts and Epistles. [...] Along with this there is a tendency to downgrade democracy in the church in favor of submission to authority. [...] Jesus must be kept central.
    He is the Great Shepherd of the sheep. The only covenant we need is the one sealed in His blood.
    General Presbytery of the Assemblies of God, S. 42, paper issued in 1976, referencing: Flavil R. Yeakley, Jr. (editor), Howard W. Norton, Don E. Vinzant, Gene Vinzant, Discipling Dilemma. A Study of the Discipling Movement Among Churches of Christ, Gospel Advocate Company, Nashville, Tennessee, 1. June 1988

 

(↓)

Signs of spiritual abuse

 

  • Ramakrishna was a homoerotic pedophile.
    His chief disciple, Vivekananda, visited brothels in India.
    Krishnamurti carried on an affair for over twenty years with the wife of a close friend.
    Chogyam Trungpa drank himself into an early grave.
    One of Adi Da's nine "wives" is a former Playboy centerfold.
    Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh sniffed laughing gas to get high.
    Andrew Cohen, guru and publisher of What Is Enlightenment? magazine, by his own reported admission sometimes feels "like a god."
    Geoffrey D. Falk, US American author, Stripping the Gurus. Sex, Violence, Abuse and Enlightenment, PDF, S. 2, Million Monkeys Press, 1. February 2009

 

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Sexual exploitation of women [dakinis] by male dominating Tibetan Lamas

  • As one Western female teacher and devotee of Tibetan Buddhism noted, in attempting to sort through her own feelings on the subject: How could this old lama, a realized master of the supreme Vajrayana practices of Maha Mudra, choose a thirteen- or fourteen-year-old nun from the monastery to become his sexual consort every year? What did the lama's wife think? […]
    I talked to a number of Western women who had slept with their lamas.
    ➤ Some liked it – they felt special.
    ➤ Some felt used and it turned them away from practice.
    ➤ Some said they mothered the lama.
    But no one described it as a teaching; there was nothing tantric about it. The sex was for the lama, not them (in Kornfield, 2000). Geoffrey D. Falk, US American author, Stripping the Gurus. Sex, Violence, Abuse and Enlightenment, chapter XXIX "After the Ordeal", PDF, Million Monkeys Press, 1. February 2009

 

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Teacher's shadow as an essential ingredient of a cult.

NOTE: Masters himself ran 2 community cults over 17 years. Anyone who said no to his wished or questioned him he had bullied and screamed down. As late a 2018 he still evades interviews regarding his cultic past and presence.

  • More and more spiritual teachers are being caught with [their] pants and halos down. [...] I do hold people responsible who get into this trouble [sexual exploitation with their teacher] with teachers by holding the teachers more responsible. And it's very, very common. [...] Even the most immature of us still has a bullshit dedector [...] but we may be a little frightened to say it because that person [the flawed teacher] has more authority. A healthy teacher encouarages students to have access to their own innate autonomy and authority right from the very beginning which means he or she will get questioned more which makes the thing healthier and which makes the possibility that this thing will turn into a cult less likely, but that's uncommon unfortunately. Skype video/audio interview with Robert Augustus Masters, Ph.D. robertmasters.com (*1947) Canadian psychologist, psychotherapist, cult leader of Xanthyros community, author, 081. Robert Augustus Masters, presented by the podcast Buddha at the Gas Tank. Interviews with "ordinary" spiritually awakened people, host and founder of Batgap Rick Archer, US American former TM meditator, aired 1. August 2011, minute 0:37:44, 1:44:47 duration, posted 4. August 2011   Removed upon RAM's request on 12. March 2014, reinstated 2016

 

  • I wanted Bhagwan to be this great holy man, this godlike figure, this fatherlike figure who would guide me through life – enormous self-delusion.  Minute 7:55
  • The issue of brainwashing in cults is a 2-way street.
    He is being the enlightened master who has all the answers and he has all these followers who are going along with that.  Minute 9:03
  • People [gurus] like Bhagwan who set themselves up as enlightened being way above everybody else, they are very, very lonely. They have no friend in the world. And they get depressed, some are using drugs. And I think that over the years Bhagwan definitely deterioted – physically and mentally.  Minute 9:56
  • Because of my friendship with Sheela [Birnstiel, Bhagwan's intstructed outrageous shadow bearer] I got to see I got
    to see what was going on behind the scenes.  Minute 11:05
  • To me it is still frightening to realize how insane I was [to attempt to kill Bhagwan's doctor who was about to help Bhagwan to commit suicide]. Instead of letting Bhagwan letting to commit suicide, no, no, I was going to rescue Bhagwan [who I considered the savior], I was going to save the world. This is madness.  Minute 14:26
    Audio interview with Jane Stork [Ma Shanti Bhadra] (*1945) Australian former devoted disciple of Osho [Bhagwan Sree Rajneesh] (1976-1985), author, MP3, 21:51 minutes duration, aired 29. April 2009

 

  • "Cults" are manipulative, self-serving organizations which harm their hapless recruits.
    Herbert L. Rosedale (?-2004) foremost US American anti-cult activist, director of the AFF (renamed ICSA), source unknown

 

  • Question: How does Jane Stork see Bhagwan today?
    JS: Bhagwan was a catalyst for me in my process of learning about myself, my process of growing up, but I would
    not like to give him any more credit than that. It was I who had to do the hard word.  Minute 37:22

 

  • Question: Was Bhagwan a charlatan?
    JS: If you ask anybody who still hold Bhagwan as their master they would immediately tell you that Sheela mani-
    pulated Bhagwan. This is absolute nonsense. Bhagwan was the master and the master manipulator.  Minute 37:57

 

  • Question: Why are Bhagwan's followers still holding onto him?
    JS: Most sanyassins, I would say 99.99% of sanyassins, were completely innocent of any knowledge of the other Bhagwan. The only Bhagwan they ever knew was the public face – this benign, loving, funny man, full of wisdom,
    full of jokes. That's all they ever knew. They had idea what was going on behind the scenes, and so they have no
    reason to change their view of him.
    Because of my association with Sheela I came to be privy to an other side of Bhagwan that most devotees never
    ever knew.
    I left Bhagwan myself. Most people didn't have the opportunity. Bhagwan left them, he abandoned them.
    So they are left with this image of this great master who was so ill-treated by the American authorities and who
    was driven out. And for them he is a martyr and a master and a sage. So I understand it.  Minute 38:36
    Audio interview with Jane Stork – Bhagwan Blues, MP3, presented by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation ABC Radio National, host Rachael Kohn, 54:27 minutes duration, aired 26. April 2009

 

  • There are lots of masterful, closer to whole, beautiful, in integrity teachers out there.
    And there are lots of imperfect not so straight-up charlatans, people who are just regurgitating other people's wisdom and repackaging it in a slicker way, and they really need you to believe in them. They really need to be believed in. They really need you to think that their seven steps are THE seven steps.
    And one of the indicators of a real teacher is they actually don't need you to buy their stuff, literally or figurative-
    ly. They're cool. You believe what you want to believe. They're just putting down their wisdom and they're not attached
    to your buying into it. […]
    There's a superior teacher and they are going to on some degree rescue you, they're going to have the cure, they're going to have the answer. We need to support, we need tribe. There are lots of varieties of pieces of answers out there, but NOBODY has got the cure for you. Audio interview with Danielle LaPorte (*1969) Canadian entrepreneur, inspirational speaker, blogger, author, Danielle LaPorte – You Are Your Own Guru, presented by ManTalks, host Connor Beaton, YouTube film, minute 20:04, 51:43 minutes duration, posted 19. June 2017

 

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Behavior of a cult leader – features of a cult

  • The "How to Start a Cult" Playbook
    1. Claim divinity and special God like powers
    2. Normalize verbal abuse as part of the spiritual path
    and then claim impunity as a Guru
    3. Have sex with your students
    4. Use disorienting methods to keep your devotees confused, distracted and in trance like states
    5. Attack the family and encourage separation
    6. Convince your devotees to lose themselves, abandon critical thinking and reframe everything as positive
    7. Make dying easier
    8. Claim your teachings are so advanced, others cannot understand them
    9. Promise salvation to your followers
    10. Encourage your members to follow you wherever you live
    11. Promote government conspiracies and talk about aliens
    12. "Guru gaze" at your followers for lengthy periods of time
    13. Take 12 disciples into the desert on retreat as "guinea pigs" to test your methods
    14. Create an enlightened city
    Article by Be Scofield, US American activist, web designer, DJ, producer, blogger for magazine Tikkun, writer, Tech Bro Guru: Inside the Sedona Cult of Bentinho Massaro, first presented by the stories outlet Medium, 1. December 2017, republished by
    the publication The Guru, 26. December 2018

 

  • People freely devote themselves to a guru, master or teacher who is believed to be enlightened. [...] Such spirit­ual commun­ities, often populated by hippies and New Age ideas (or New Thought, or variations of theosophy, or contem-
    porary inter­­­­pretations of East­ern tradi­tions, or mysticism from any religion).
    A striking pattern in these communities is the prevalence of abuses of power – financial or sexual exploitation, physical and emotional violence (some­­times even directed outside of the community), clear uses of brain­washing strategies, con-artist yogi miracle-makers, or at the very least false claims and endless intrigues and lawsuits. Looking at teachers like Sri Auro­bindo, Osho, Adi Da (Da Free John), Andrew Cohen, Amma ("the hugging mother") and Chögyam Trungpa – even Jiddu Krishnamurti, who didn’t even found any organization – their comm­unities have all dev­olved into abusive or at least commercialized and dysfunctional rela­tion­ships.
    Whereas some of these nasty stories may perhaps be expl­ain­ed by deliberate manipulations on behalf of the teachers, the freq­ue­ncy with which these communities show cult-like and deeply oppress­ive tend­encies must have a more gene-
    ral, socio­logical and structural explanation. [...] If you build a comm­un­­ity around the idea that "this guy", let’s say the US guru Adi Da, is "enligh­tened", not only can you never get any proof of it, but you overlook all of the other devel­opmental dimensions. [...]
    Just listen to a person like Eckhart Tolle, the author of the book The Power of Now, who has been featured on Oprah Winfrey and gained great traction. He obviously has high states. But his answers on any social or societal issues, and the theories propounded in his books, are of average complexity (MHC stage 11 Formal, more precisely). He just doesn't have the answers.
    Uncritical praise of people in high subjective states is a recipe for being ruled and fooled, for being abused and for very sudden and disappointing dis­sol­utions of form­erly very tightly knit communities. This is true even if some of the gurus turn out to be nice (which seems to be the case with only a min­or­ity of them, e.g. Eckhart Tolle, Rupert Spira, and perhaps the Jamaican guru Mooji) – indeed, even if they turn out to be intelligent as well (like Shinzen Young). [...]
    Commun­ities and their hierarchies are inter­subjective and relat­ively dur­able structures; inner states are sub­jective and very transient.
    Blog article by Hanzi Freinacht, Danish political philosopher, historian, sociologist, author, Why Spiritual Communities Turn Into Cults, presented by the Danish independent publishing company and think-tank Metamoderna, 13. September 2017

 

 

  • While some faiths may seem unusual, what separates a cult from a legitimate religion is not its set of beliefs, but the abuse of its members, said Rick Alan Ross, executive director of the Cult Education Institute, a U.S. non-profit in New Jersey. "(Modern slavery in cults globally) exists much more than we imagine", Ross said. "It’s bizarre, but it's true." "It's all about isolation and control. If you can control what (people) read, see and hear, you control their mind." […]
    Cult followers who are exploited but do not see themselves as victims are the biggest obstacle that authorities face when building cases, according to labor inspectors and prosecutors. Article Slaves to religion: Brazil raids expose dark side of cults, presented by the international news organization Reuters, Fabio Teixeira, 21. February 2019

 

  • Spiritual organisations are largely patriarchal and hierarchical and there is little or no transparency and ac-
    countability.
    This makes sexual abuse perpetrated by spiritual leaders particularly problematic. […]
    The charisma of the leader makes victims believe they are chosen and given special status. This creates a powerful emotional attachment to the spiritual leader, which can put them
    at risk of manipulation and abuse. […]
    Women who were allegedly abused by John of God reported he told them sexual contact was a way to heal them
    and they would be cursed if they were to reject his requests. […]
    The arrest of John of God, and the discovery of the extent of the abuse among women and children, is a wake-up call
    to further investigate the ways in which spiritual leaders and their groups operate outside the bounds of organisatio-
    nal accountability and transparency. Article #MeToo catches up with spiritual healers: the case of Brazil’s John of God, presen-
    ted by the independent, non-profit, academic Australian media outlet The Conversation, Cristina Rocha, director of Religion and Society Research Cluster, Western Sydney University, Kathleen McPhillips, senior lecturer, School of Humanities and Social Science, University of Newcastle, 22. February 2019

 

  • We must understand that the founder of a cult or new religion has no room for compromise: absolutes are necessary. True believers in mystical psychotherapy will not embrace a gospel with modest claims: it must be all or nothing. Martin A. Larson (1897-1994) US American populist religious freethinker, Christian historian specializing in early theological history, cited in: article by Be Scofield, US American activist, web designer, DJ, producer, blogger for magazine Tikkun, writer, A Critique of Abraham Hicks & the Law of Attraction, presented by the publication The Guru, 11. November 2019

 

  • Over the past thirty years, I have helped former members who alleged sexual and psychological abuse by and under Yogi Bhajan. Dr. Steven Hassan, cult expert
  • I have known about this for a long time and when I tried to raise the subject at Khalsa Council I was called a heretic.
    Sat Santokh Singh Khalsa
  • I just share with you what God channels through me. Do not misunderstand me, I am not the one who is speaking.
    I'm just a humble servant. Rather, it is the God working through me. Yogi Bhajan
    cited in: Article by Be Scofield, US American activist, web designer, DJ, producer, blogger for magazine Tikkun, writer, Master of Deceit: How Yogi Bhajan Used Kundalini Yoga for Money, Sex and Power, presented by the publication The Guru, 5. March 2020

 

References: en.Wikiquote entries Cult and ► Sect

Quotes excerpted from the book The Guru Papers

Book: Joel Kramer (*1937) and Diana Alstad, US American author couple, The Guru Papers. Masks of Authoritarian Power,
Frog / North Atlantic Books, 1st edition 20. May 1993Free PDF
Book: The Guru Papers, offered by Books.Google
Overview: Table of Contents, PDF, Overviews of The Guru Papers, PDF, presented by the website joeldiana.com
Overview: Connections between Our Books, PDF, presented by the website joeldiana.com

 

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The sacrosanct concept of perfection allows "enlightened" structures to draw in authoritarianism.

  • The ideal of enlightenment at first blush seems completely innocent of human corrup-
    tion because it is defined as being totally selfless. Yet it is this sacrosanct concept of perfection that allows authoritarianism to manifest, and indeed flourish.
    US American author couple Joel Kramer (*1937) and Diana Alstad, The Guru Papers. Masks of Authoritarian Power, Frog / North Atlantic Books, 1st edition 20. May 1993

 

  • Actually, the guru becomes the disciple's personal living god, who can ignite even greater emotions than a god whose presence is not physically tangible. S. 34

 

  • Surrender to a guru, though a way of filling a spiritual vacuum, is also one of the most powerful forms of mental and emotional control on the planet today. S. 36

 

  • The need to appear right when presenting oneself as a spiritual knower is greater than in any other arena because knowing is what makes one essentially different from seekers. Admitting any fallibility not only removes one from that exalted place, but makes it difficult to compete with other presumed knowers who do claim infallibility. S. 47

 

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False gurus

The need for images of perfection and omniscience

  • By holding gurus as perfect and thus beyond ordinary explanations, their presumed specialness can be used to justify anything. Some deeper, occult reason can always be ascribed to anything a guru does:
    ➤ The guru is said to take on the karma of others, and that is why his body has
          whatever problems it has.
    ➤ The guru is obese or unhealthy because he is too kind to turn down offerings; besides, he gives so much
          that a little excess is understandable.
    ➤ He punishes those who disobey him not out of anger but out of necessity, as a good father would.
    ➤ He uses sex to teach about energy and detachment.
    ➤ He lives an opulent life to break people’s simplistic preconceptions of what ego-loss should look like;
    ➤➤ it also shows how detached and unconcerned he is about what others think.
For after all, "Once enlightened, one can do anything." Believing this dictum makes any action justifiable. People justify and rationalize in gurus what in others would be considered unacceptable because they have a huge emotional invest-
ment in believing their guru is both pure and right. Why? Why do people need images of perfection
and omniscience? This goes back to the whole guru/disciple relationship being predicated on surrender. Surrender of great magnitude requires correspondingly great images of perfection. It would be difficult to surrender to one whose motives were not thought to be pure, which has come to mean untainted by self-centeredness. How can one surrender to a person who might put his self-interest first? Also it is difficult to surrender to someone who can make mistakes, especi-
ally mistakes that could have significant impact on one's life. Consequently,
➤ the guru can never be wrong, make mistakes, be self-centered, or lose emotional control.
➤ He doesn’t get angry, he "uses" anger to teach. S. 52

 

  • Cults need a continuous stream of recruits and potential converts to reinforce the belief that they're "where it's at" – the vanguard of spirituality on the planet. S. 78

 

(↓)

Gurus do not "hang out" together.

  • Years ago, when we first became interested in gurus and Eastern concepts such as enlightenment, it initially seemed an oddity that all these supposedly enlightened beings did not seek out each other’s company. With each other they presumably could find deep and real understanding, and respite from always having to deal with minds at a lower level. But since disciples view their guru as a vehicle for their own salvation, they must believe that he can do the best for them. Consequently, the meeting of gurus, when it occurs (it rarely does), is always laden with heavy meaning, as the disciples watch very care-
    fully to see who comes out best. Even the simplest acts (who goes to see whom) have implications of dominance. The
    fact is that gurus do not "hang out" together because the structure of the role makes it nigh impossible. S. 110

 

  • The most extreme form of mental control occurs when the authority is trusted completely and becomes the center of
    one's identity. Sadly, society and parents insidiously put out messages from childhood on that others know what's best.
    Many people are deeply conditioned to expect and hope some outside agency, power or person will solve their problems.
    Letting go of expectations or even wanting this is difficult, partially because what one is left with is oneself and all of one's
    limitations. S. 154

 

  • True healing can be accelerated by understanding the deep mechanisms of what happened, and of authoritarian dyna-
    mics in general. Then people can be more confident they won't be taken in again. S. 154

 

  • The Eastern view of enlightenment as beyond reason allows gurus to undermine reason. This precept alone makes the guru dangerously feedback-proof, for he automatically escapes accountability for any behaviour. If pressed, the gu-
    ru can easily reply, "You can’t possibly understand what I'm really doing because you're not enlightened." This stance, if believed, makes acceptable any incongruity between ideas and action. The guru can reverse any challenge or criticism
    by saying "It's your problem; your ego is getting in the way." He, of course, has no ego.
    US American author couple Joel Kramer (*1937) and Diana Alstad, The Guru Papers. Masks of Authoritarian Power, part 1 "The Assault on Reason", Frog / North Atlantic Books, 1st edition 20. May 1993

 

  • When the popularity and power of the group plateaus and then begins to wane [...] the apocalyptic phase enters and the party is over. US American author couple Joel Kramer (*1937) and Diana Alstad, The Guru Papers. Masks of Authoritarian Power, part 1 "The Assault on Reason", Frog / North Atlantic Books, 1st edition 20. May 1993

⚡ Quotes by former (family) members of the Unification Church (S. M. Moon)

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Cult of personality

  • A cult of personality arises when an individual uses mass media, propaganda, or other methods, to create an idealized, heroic, and, at times god-like public image, often through unquestioning flattery and praise. Definition by en.Wikipedia

Personal testimonies of prominent cult dropouts of the Unification Church

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Donna Collins' closeness to the Moon family, allowed her to witness a "frightening, totalitarian" atmosphere with them.
She acknowledged "the tremendous discrepancy between the Moon family and the top hierarchy with money."
Her conclusion: Unificationism is wrong.


Moonies – glassy-eyed mindless robotic fundraisers
In 1981 the UK Daily Mail newspaper described the members of the Unification Church, led by Korean totalitarian cult leader Sun Myung Moon [LoC 515⇒160] (1920-2012) as "robots, glassy-eyed and mindless, programmed as soldiers in this vast fund-raising army with no goals or ideals, except as followers of the half-baked ravings of Moon, who lived in splendor while followers lived in forced penury."
The longest unsuccessful libel suit in British legal history against the newspaper cost the plaintiff Unification Church, then represented by Dennis Orme, more than 1$ million in court costs.4

(↓)

Donna Orme-Collins was the first "Blessed Child" of the Unification Church in the West. Her parents, Doris and Dennis Orme (*1938) founded and directed the Unification Church (UC) in England in the 70ties and helped launch Moon's print media endeavors in the United States in the 80ties.

  • My mother [Doris Waldner married Orme, 1969] had a spiritual conversion, which to her was real. She thought this was the answer. They were going to change the world and save humanity. There was an idealism in the organization then that isn't there today. All races are one. All religions are one. These are noble things. It's not like they were joining the KKK.
    When I [the first "blessed" Western child] was born, my dad was surprised I was crying at all. I was supposed to be perfect – born without sin.
My parents never saw me, and I was always being handed off to other people. They'd take me out of the closet for meetings, or for holidays.
Moon [LoC 515⇒160] said I must learn the language of the fatherland [Korea] and the spirit world, and fulfill my role as the first blessed child [in the West].
I pleaded with my father not to send me back [to Korea a 2nd time], but Moon told him something bad would happen to
me if I didn't go. They took me back to the airport screaming.
(↓)

Cognitive dissonance, elitism and regular swearing among the "True Family".

He [Moon] and his kids didn't live by the teachings. His sons would come in and swear all the time. They were having steaks flown in from America. I'd been eating rice and kimchee for three years and getting serious dysentery. It was a joke. I started asking myself, 'What is godly about all this?'
(↓)

At age 13 rebel child Donna was called in for an humiliation audience with Sun Myung Moon.

He got livid that somebody would have the nerve to question him and screamed at me for 30 minutes. I was bawling and shaking uncontrollably. Then he'd hold my hand, and say, 'I am your parent. One day, you will be a great woman for God.' I calmed down and said, 'Thank you. Thank you.' And then I'd write in my diary about how great it was to be with the True Father.
(↓)

At age 15 Donna Collins went to her first public school, a highschool in Washington D.C..

I started to date and live a double life. I was just being an ordinary person, but I had to make up all these lies when people would ask what my dad did for a living, or why I lived in Korea and was named Young Oon.
(↓)

After leaving the UC at age 22 Donna Collins reaches her parents.

I'd challenge them [my parents], asking, 'Why does he own all these villas and chateaus around the world and there are members of the church who don't have enough to eat, and need medical care?'
(↓)

After separating themselves from Moon, Dennis and Doris Orme, who had worked for over three decades in and on behalf the UC, were impoverished senior citizens.

Assisted by New York lawyer AFF (later ICSA66) president Herbert L. Rosedale the Ormes threatened to sue the US for neglect of availing retirement funds. Moon paid an out of court cash settlement for silence to the Ormes. Since then they moved to Australia into a hideout.

They were left destitute for a while. They were used. A lot of people joined the church because they met people like my parents. Most members never meet Moon. But my parents were very charismatic. They laid the foundation for his church.
My dad now believes Moon is the Son of Perdition – the Antichrist.
My parents still think the nuclear family is weird. To them, it's insignificant. After living on this roller coaster for so long, trying to save the planet every day of their lives, it's not that exciting to just live and be human.
Source:
► Interview with Donna Orme-Collins (*1970) English-American ex-member of the UC, author,
     Life as Moonchild Far From Blessed, presented by the Californian newspaper San Francis-
     co Chronicle
, Phoenix, Don Lattin, 11. February 2001
See also:
► Article Growing Up With The Moonies Good Housekeeping, by Donna Collins, as told to
     William Falk, December 1999
► Article Unification Church: Inside Moon's Unhappy Family Church founder's ex-daughter-in-law pens grim tome about life on
     the inside
, James A. Beverley, New York, 16. November 1998
► Article The True Family's Real Values, presented by the publication Spirit Watch, Rafael Martinez, US American director
     of "Spiritwatch Ministries", undated
(↓)

In 1995, Nansook Hong, the wife of Moon's eldest son and heir-apparent, Hyo Jin Moon, escaped from the Moon family estate in Irvington. Her husband was an adulterer, an alcoholic, a cocaine addict, who regularly abused and beat his wife. The crown prince grew up spoiled and neglected in the dysfunctional Moon family which is divided by intrigue and hypocrisy.

Following her meticulously planned flight from the UC the church launched a hostile ill-advised campaign against Ms. Hong.
After her divorce from Hyo Jin Moon the former "true" daughter-in-law received a settlement of $600.000 and $9,000 per month [possibly $150,000+ a year] as child support for raising her five children from the UC.
In September 1998 Ms. Hong's autobiography In the Shadow of the Moons. My Life in the Reverend Sun Myung Moon's Family was published by Little, Brown & Company.
See also a list of quotes from Nansook Hong's book: The Dysfunctional Messiah?, presented by the Cult Education Institute rickross.com, date unknown

(↓)

Coercive brainwashing ⇔ conditioning

  • Much has been written about the coercion and brainwashing that takes place in the Unification Church. What I experienced was conditioning. You are isolated among like-minded people. You are bombarded with messages elevating obedience above critical thinking. Your belief system is reinforced at every turn. You become invested in those beliefs the longer you are associated with the church. After ten years, after twenty years, who would want to admit, even to herself, that her beliefs were built on sand? Nansook Hong (*1966) Korean-American divorced wife of Hyo Jin Moon (†2008) eldest abusive and addicted son of cult leader Sun Myung Moon, author, autobiography In the Shadow of the Moons. My Life in the Reverend Sun Myung Moon's
    Family
    , Little, Brown & Company, September 1998

 

  • I feel that I was duped. I had certainly the naive idealism that I wanted to work for God. […] I did come to the conclusion that Rev. Moon cannot be the messiah. He is a conman. Nansook Hong (*1966) Korean-American divorced wife of Hyo Jin Moon (†2008) eldest abusive and addicted son of cult leader Sun Myung Moon, Real Reverend Sun Myung Moon and Real Unifi-
    cation church...
    , presented by the US American WBZ-TV News 4, aired ~1998, YouTube film, minute 26:04, 27:15 minutes duration, posted 22. November 2011

 

  • I felt a certain sense of obligation to the members who have no idea what these people are like and they give and dedi-
    cation their lives to these people [the Moons]. In writing this book [In the Shadow of the Moons: My Life in the Reverend
    Sun Myung Moon's Family
    , 1998] I had to reflect from the very beginning what my life was and what my past was. And
    it was therapeutic.5 Nansook Hong (*1966) Korean-American divorced wife of Hyo Jin Moon (†2008) eldest abusive and addic-
    ted son of cult leader Sun Myung Moon, The Shadow of the Moons, presented by the Book TV, produced by the US American cable television network C-SPAN, aired 23. September 1998, 29:05 minutes duration, posted 7. November 1998
(↓)

Various customer reviews on Nansook Hong's inside account posted on Amazon.uk and Amazon.com:

(↓)

Group denial

  • [T]he book makes public many issues which a number of Unification Church members have struggled with in private for a long time. As such, it forces these problems to the surface where there is an opportunity for them to be addressed and resolved. 5 September 1998
(↓)

Blind devotion in a personality cult

  • This is not a typical case of spousal abuse; it is what happens when followers of a religion practice blind devotion and worship a man instead of God. 5 September 1998
(↓)

Passion and courage to reveal the truth

  • Never before has someone so high up in the Moonies had the passion, courage and spirit of generosity to reveal the truth. Perhaps only former members and those familiar with cults will comprehend the magnitude of this achievement. 22 September 1998
(↓)

Civic courage is rarely seen in cults.

  • Some may view her as a greedy, vengeful woman, looking for some means to get back at the Moons for their terrible abuse, but as an insider, I say bravo for her courage, something so many ex-members have not been able to muster. 28 September 1998
(↓)

Former member facing the awful truth

  • I have been a Unification Church member for many years, and reading Nan-
    sook's book has been a devastating experience for me. Through the spiritual pain that I now feel, I believe what Nansook has written. We must always face the truth, if we are ever going to have any kind of a really decent life. By writing her book, Nansook has given a
    gift of much needed truth to everyone.
    Robert Oliver "Rob", Salt Lake City, Utah, 30. August 1999 and UK, 24 September 1999
(↓)

Message of the autobiography 100% confirmed by a witness exposed to the inner circle

  • I've been a victum of Moon's organization for approximately 15 years. Throughout my years in his church I was repeatedly abused, reprimanded, punished and coerced to live the way they wanted. I have been a member here in New York City since the beginning, and have witnessed it all. I've worked with and around the so called sinless "true family". I know first hand how the church spin doctors go around covering up all the sins of the true family. I still have not been able to leave the church officially due to the prospect of losing my family. […] I personally vouch and testify that all of the issues covered in this book are 100% true. NoStrOdoMouS, New York City, New York, 22. July 2001
(↓)

Denial and fear to speak out

  • This is the sort of thing that is kept even from members of the church, the closer you get to Moon, the more things are discovered. I think people are aware of what is said in this book are afraid to speak or there are those who have abso-
    lutely no idea because they 'refuse' to accept it, or call it lies. 5 December 2008
(↓)

Dream guidance to the messiah Moon

  • In a dream, I was told, I would meet the Messiah on October 6, 1981 and was told in the dream to go out and look for it. […] I met the Unification Church mis-
    sionary [...] on October 6, 1981, exactly the very day I was told in the dream!
    3. September 2012
(↓)

"Hardcore" devotist thoroughly disillusioned

  • I myself was very devout and was often called "hardcore" by other children in the church, but as I got older I became disillusioned with what I was seeing in the group. It's a shame that I didn't read this book a decade ago. I would have been spared a lot of grief. 21. September 2011

 

Bild
Moon and Hak Ja Han
  • I needed to read through Moon's speaches again, because I had been in trance while he was lecturing for hours and hours and hours. And as a leader I had these non-edited transcriptions of his speeches. And I nee-
    ded to see how crazy he was. And part of my healing – and partially be-
    cause I was a leader and I did feel guilt and shame over things that I had done, that I had helped this cult leader to get a foothold in the United States – I felt this need to help others to get out. It was something my father was very upset about and begged me, "Leave it go. Move on." And I said, "Dad, these are people I know and I want to help." And I realized my parents were traumatized by my involvement in the group. They wan-
    ted the nightmare to be over. Just knowing that there was danger, becau-
    se I was speaking up against this billion dollar group, this horrible group. But I had to face my authentic self and my conscience. […] It was very therapeutic for me to help others to get out as I was meeting with Moo-
    nies and hearing them parrot the exact same sentences that I had parro-
    ted. […] I naively thought that I could get rid of the Moonies in 2.5 years. Video presentation by Steven Alan Hassan (*1954) US American ex-Moonie, cult exit educator, mental health consultant, author, Steven Hassan's talk on Helping Individuals Born in High-Demand Groups and Cults, sponsored by ICSA Annual Conference, Stockholm, Sweden, 25.-27. June 2015, presented by the Freedom of Mind Resource Center, minute 1:17:43, 1:20:19 duration, posted 11. July 2015

(↓)

Data on cult leader Sun Myung Moon

NOTE: Moon publicly declared himself to be the Messiah at the opening session of the Assembly of World Religions held in San Francisco, CA in 1992.
NOTE: The Reverend Moon's hubris culminated later that year [1985] in a secret ceremony in which he actually crowned himself and Hak Ja Han Moon as Emperor and Empress of the Universe. The Reverend Moon was aware enough of how an act of such monumental egotism would be received by the world that he banned photographs from being taken at the actual ceremony. Since there was no authority higher than the Reverend Moon, the Messiah had to crown himself Emperor of the Universe. Nansook Hong's autobiography In the Shadow of the Moons. My Life in the Reverend Sun Myung Moon's Family, 1998
► NOTE: Moon blamed the apparent dysfunctionality of his "true" and "sinless" family to the lack of "blood, sweat and tears" of his followers who failed to meet the backbreaking daily fundraising quota requested of them by him.
► OBITUARY: The Rev Sun Myung Moon obituary. Korean founder of the Unification church – the Moonies, presented by the British daily newspaper The Guardian, Christopher Reed, 2. September 2012

(↓)

Moon's outrageous claims:

Jesus begged him to complete his mission on Earth. Moon crowned Jesus "Lord of Heaven." Moses, Abraham, Buddha, Lao Tzu, and Mohammed gave him messages. The Founding Fathers of America endorse his ideology.

  • Jesus then begged "Rev." Moon to complete his mission on Earth and Moon accepted. Moon then did Jesus a big favor and married him to some old Korean hag on the astral plane and God finally allowed Jesus into paradise and Moon crowned him "Lord of Heaven."
    Alas, Jesus' new position was to be short lived as soon one of Moon's teenage sons was killed in a car accident so Moon stripped Jesus of his lofty new title and crowned his 17 year old son the new "Lord of Heaven" instead. I'm not sure what Moon has Jesus doing now, sweeping floors? […]
    Moon is that nutty. He claims that many of the Founding Fathers and other past presidents totally support him.
    Now how in the world can we fact check any of his claims? San Diego, California, 5. September 2011
(↓)

95% of the UC members in the United States have left the enslaving corporation.

  • Nansook ought to be viewed as a heroine for the courage she displayed exposing the Moon's for the fraud that they are. It ought to be pointed out that 95% of the individuals who joined the Unification Church in America over the last 30 years are no longer affiliated. Most members leave and persue other avenues in life. No one is joining today and the Church is an empty shell in comparison to days past.
    7 September 1998
(↓)

Apologist missive on behalf of cult leader S.M. Moon and UC members in programmed denial

  • I feel Miss Hong does a disservice to Rev. Moon and to the legions of conscien-
    tious people who at one time or another have found meaning in his words. He is not a fraud or a con-man, and I believe Miss Hong knows this. He may not be the messiah; he may well be deluded and suffering from a messiah com-
    plex.
    But anyone who has witnessed his incredible work ethic, his marathon prayer sessions or his interminable lectures (still going strong at 78) must know he believes in his mission.
    28 September 1998
(↓)

Moon's corporation is taking advantage of idealistic youth.

  • Mr. Moon and his minions took full advantage of the idealism and youthful ener-
    gy of the young people they targeted for their movement – who were fundrai-
    sing fodder for a fake Messiah.
    Hong's book is an excellent expose of this deeply flawed cult and its leaders.
    Harlan Simantel, Portland, Oregon, 14 October 1998

 

In 1993, at age 37, Ye Jin Moon (*1960), the oldest Korean-American daughter of Unification Church leader Sun Myung Moon (1920-2012), split from the "True Family".
In 1996, at age 29, Moon's third daughter Un Jin Moon (*1967) parted from the Moon clan. She married another man, leaving her Moon-assigned abusive husband behind. As a result she had been declared spiritually dead to church members.6
Estranged from her parents, she told the US American television program 60 Minutes that she knew Moon had at least one illegitimate son. When she disclosed to her "true" misogynistic parents that her husband beat her, they responded that she deserved it. The same happened to her sister-in-law Nansook Hong.

 

 

Source: ► Blog article Reverend Moon: Cult leader, CIA asset, and Bush family friend is dead, presented by the blogspot Free Press,
                   Bob Fitrakis, 4. September 2012
"The man accused of being the biggest brainwasher in America has moved into mainstream Republican Americana."
Anson Shupe, Ph.D., professor of sociology, Purdue University, long-time Moon-watcher
See also: ► Mass mind control links

⚡ Critical quotes by former Buddhist nun June Campbell

Personal testimony of a former Tibetan Buddhist nun

(↓)

See Campbell's book:

Traveller in Space. Gender, Identity and Tibetan Buddhism, Continuum International Publishing Group, 1996, revised edition May 2002, rerevised edition 31. May 2018

  • I spent 11 years without talking about it and then, when I had decided to write about it, another seven years researching. […] Once I started unravelling my experiences, I began to question everything. I realised that in order to be myself I had to leave it all – completely and utterly. […]
    I wanted to weave together my personal experience with a more theoretical under-
    standing of the role of women in Tibetan society to help me make sense of what had happened to me.
    [After publishing] I was reviled as a liar or a demon. In that world [of Tibetan Buddhism] he [tulku Kalu Rinpoche] was a saintly figure. It was like claiming that Mother Teresa was involved in making porn movies. June Campbell (*1945) Scottish religious scholar, academic feminist, Kagyu nun and personal translator of the Tibetan Lama Kalu Rinpoche (70ties), public lecture, sponsored by nonsectarian College for Buddhist Studies, Sharpham, Devon, beginning February 1999, cited in: I Was A Tantric Sex Slave, presented by the centre-left British online newspaper The Independent, Paul Vallely, 10. February 1999

Questioning the concept of enlightenment, traumatized former Kagyu nun Campbell waited 18 years before she revealed her
experiences as a tantric sex slave of Kalu Rinpoche within the misogynous Tibetan monasticism.


 

Background data on Campbell's abuse story

  • The psychological pressure is often increased by making the woman (dakini) swear vows of secrecy. In addition, June Campbell was told that "madness, trouble or even death" could follow if she did not keep silent. "I was told that in a pre-
    vious life the lama (Kalu Rinpoche) I was involved with had a mistress who caused him some trouble, and in order to get rid of her he cast a spell which caused her illness, later resulting in her death."

    The quote shows Tibetan tantric lamas use unverifiable lies to threaten their "sex slaves." For fear of being hurt, many of these females have no choice but to submit themselves to the licentious lamas and endure the role of a "sex slave.”
    What happened was that, having become a Buddhist in her native Scotland in the hippie Sixties, she travelled to India where she became a nun. She spent 10 years in a Tibetan monastery and penetrated more deeply than any other Wester-
    ner into the faith's esoteric hierarchy. Eventually she became personal translator to the guru as, during the Seventies, he travelled through Europe and America. It was after that, she said, that "he requested that I become his sexual consort and take part in secret activities with him." Only one other person knew of the relationship – a second monk – with whom she took part in what she described as a polyandrous Tibetan-style relationship. "It was some years before I realised that the extent to which I had been taken advantage of constituted a kind of abuse." Article featuring June Campbell (*1945) I Was A Tantric Sex Slave, presented by the centre-left British online newspaper The Independent, Paul Vallely, 10. February 1999

 

Recommendation

  • Don't agree to a long-term secret relationship; it's a burden you'll have to carry all your life, and in the end you'll have
    to be true to yourself and face up to why you entered into it. If you're afraid of what might happen next, or how you'll deal with the stresses of secrecy, try to take control of your life again. If you're being passive and compliant because he's your tea-
    cher, do as I did eventually:
    think for yourself, take action, and end it.
Never allow part of yourself to be hidden away under threats of "bad karma" or anything else. The truth never made "bad karma." If you need to, look for supportive people to help you. If you've started to feel that in some way you're special,
that maybe you've been chosen to fulfill some kind of destiny, well, think again. These kinds of thoughts won't help you
to become strong in yourself. They may seem to explain things now, but they'll only hold you back in the long run.
Interview with June Campbell (*1945) Scottish religious scholar, academic feminist, Kagyu nun and personal translator of the Tibetan Lama Kalu Rinpoche (70ties), The Emperor's Tantric Robes, presented by the US American quarterly magazine Tricycle. The Budd-
hist Review
, winter issue 1996

Insights gained from a secretive tantric enslavement by high Tibetan lama Kalu Rinpoche

(↓)

June Campbell, the enforced sex consort of celibatary monk Kalu Rinpoche for several years, first risked publishing about her experiences with him after his death.

  • The imposition of secrecy [...] in the Tibetan system, when it occurred solely as a means to protect status, and where it was reinforced by threats, was a powerful weapon in keeping women from achieving any kind of integrity in themselves, for it seems clear that the fundamental and ancient principles of Tantric sex – the mee-
    ting together of two autonomous individuals as partners for sexual relations to promote spirituality – was tainted by the power wielded by one partner over the other. So whilst the lineage system [the gurus' chain of initiation] viewed these [sexual] activities as promoting the enlightenment state of the lineage holders, the fate of one of the two main prota-
    gonists, the female consort, remained unrecognized, unspoken and unnamed. […] [T]his imposed hidden role meant that, within the Tibetan monastic system which dominated the Vajrayana, for other women practitioners, there were no overt role models and no open system of exchange between women.
    June Campbell (*1945) Scottish religious scholar, academic feminist, Kagyu nun and personal translator of the Tibetan Lama Kalu Rinpoche (70ties), Traveller in Space. Gender, Identity and Tibetan Buddhism, chapter 6 "At One with the Secret Other", S. 103, Continuum International Publishing Group, 1996, revised edition May 2002, rerevised edition 31. May 2018

 

(↓)

The concept of the guru's perfection alongside what is perceived to be dubious behavior

  • One understanding of the "enlightened guru" is that everything about his behavior, no matter how strange or morally wrong, is a manifestation of enlightenment.
    That view may have been sustainable in Tibetan society – even promoted – but I think it's certain that Western society will be unable to sustain it. It's my view that if people resist looking at this question, certain groups will become more and more insular in Western society, in an attempt to protect themselves from challenge and to avoid change. They'll
      ➤ never go beyond a simplistic view of the guru as perfect,
      ➤ and the gurus themselves will never go beyond wielding complete power and being adored.
    To my mind this kind of insularity would either hasten the demise of the whole system, or create closed, cult-like groups that have no influence on society at all. [...]
    [T]he Tibetan system's not unique in there being a link between power, religion, and gender. And it's not the first system in the world to face change or be challenged. [...] [I]n essence we have the same problems in the West to do with abuses of power.
Interview with June Campbell (*1945) Scottish religious scholar, academic feminist, Kagyu nun and personal translator of the Tibetan Lama Kalu Rinpoche (70ties), The Emperor's Tantric Robes, presented by the US American quarterly magazine Tricycle. The
Buddhist Review
, winter issue 1996

⚡ Critical quotes on guru systems – Andrew Harvey

Personal avowals

  • I've come to believe that most of the masters and gurus are actually the patriarchy's most brilliant way of keeping these always – revolutionary truths of divine identity and equality under wraps. The last thing the patriarchal societies have
    ever wanted was for women or homosexuals or the untouchables or the poor to get hold of these truths, because then
    all power elites would crumble. And unfortunately the guru systems have nearly always been indirect servants of power [force].
    Interview with Andrew Harvey (*1952) Indian-British religious scholar, Rumi translator and explicator, teacher of mystic tradi-
    tions, founder of the Institute for Sacred Activism, poet, novelist, author, Teachers and Seekers: An Interview with Andrew Harvey, presented by the US American media company Yoga Journal, Catherine Ingram, issue 123, S. 59, July/August 1995

 

Harvey who had promoted his colleague, the controversial serial sexual offender and "spiritual teacher" Marc Gafni (*1960) discovered and made known that he had supported yet another fraud during his career as a teacher.

  • One of these emails [to me] said, "Look, I am challenging you to do your due diligence and really to talk to a group of
    the women who (have claimed to) have experienced abuse of a very serious spiritual and sometimes physical kind
    from Marc Gafni. […]
    I dillidallied for several weeks and then I plucked up my courage and I had a series of conversations with several women who knew Marc and suffered greatly, it seems, at his hands. I have to tell you that those hours of listening were the most painful and devastating of my life, because I heard stories of the most frightening kind of mind control and the most com-
    prehensive kind of occult and physical abuse alleged by these women.
    But so clearly witnessed and testified to by these very brave women who spoke to me that I could no longer hide in my own skepticism and I had to come to a choice and
    I had to make that choice […] from what I heard. […] I am asking all of you to do due diligence and to read what you are able to find on the web, if you look. Why I am lending my voice is for a larger reason than unmasking potentially Marc Gafni. […] There is a pathological inability in the New Age [i.e. Integral movement] to even begin discussing the nature
    of what you could call evil, the vast destructive forces of darkness in a) human nature and b) the cosmos."

    Audio podcast by Andrew Harvey (*1952) Indian-British religious scholar, Rumi translator and explicator, teacher of mystic traditions, founder of the Institute for Sacred Activism, poet, novelist, author, Reflections on the Marc Gafni Situation, minute 2:24, presented by The Shift Network Blog, posted 31. December 2015, reposted by themarcgafniinquiry.com, 25. April 2016
    Note: Original and alternative links deleted

 

Caveat
Harvey was a promoting author for Mother Meera and co-author with Sogyal Rinpoche before he discovered their frauds in 1994.

  • It is my belief that 90 percent of the so-called masters in the modern world are not enlightened at all but are in fact occult magicians. The occult magician will use his or her occult powers to ensnare the devotee in a posture of adoration by feeding them visionary experiences, which may seem to open things up for the devotee but actually keeps one depen-
    dent on the guru. It's a kind of drug pushing as dangerous on the spiritual level as cocaine or heroin is on the physical. Because people don't know the difference between the divine and the occult, nor how accurately the occult can mimic the divine, nor how easily occult powers can be cultivated by the unscrupulous and ambitious. They take these powers and experiences to be unmistakeable signs of divine presence and go on worshipping as divine these people who have, in fact, shown that they are neither good, nor kind, nor humble, nor generous.
    Interview with Andrew Harvey andrewharvey.net (*1952) Indian-British religious scholar, Rumi translator and explicator, teacher of mystic traditions, poet, novelist, author, Teachers and Seekers: An Interview with Andrew Harvey, presented by the US American media company Yoga Journal, Catherine Ingram, issue 123, S. 60, July/August 1995

 

Insights
True spiritual guides welcome constructive criticism.

  • I think that the true spiritual guide admits that he or she is still in process, that they are always aware of their own shadow and of the limitations of their upbringing, their cultural conditioning, their cultural religious views. The true spiri-
    tual guide never claims to be unified with the divine. The human being can merge with God but can never become God.
    […]
    I have come to believe, too, that real spiritual guides welcome disagreement and doubt, for two reasons.
    1. One is because those who are really awake know that they can learn from anyone, and
    2. the other is that doubt is part of the necessary finding out of the secret hiding places of the false self.
Interview with Andrew Harvey andrewharvey.net (*1952) Indian-British religious scholar, Rumi translator and explicator, teacher of mystic traditions, poet, novelist, author, Teachers and Seekers: An Interview with Andrew Harvey, presented by the US American media company Yoga Journal, Catherine Ingram, issue 123, S. 62-63, July/August 1995

 

Harmful addiction to transcendence

  • [M]ost of the ancient traditions in their more obvious forms are addicted to transcendence, are addicted to a privileging
    of the light over the forms that are born out of the light. So [they] are fundamentally concerned with helping us get into radical connection with the light, with the danger of dropping relationships, the world, justice, our relationship with all other creatures, in the process. […] [T]his radical addiction to transcendence is a very great subtle temptation [that] most people on the Path do not avoid. […]
    [A] marrying of the Divine Light consciousness with the mind and the heart and the body […] cannot be done without an immersion in the shadow [of the mystical traditions' addiction to transcendence, the body hatred, sexual shame, the collective defeat triggering denial, disbelief, disillusion] and a profound desire to our own personal shadow, [the traumas, the personal addiction to an addicted society]. So the descent of the light into the mind, the heart, and the body can only be accomplished by a surrender to this very difficult, very grueling process.
    Audio interview with Andrew Harvey andrewharvey.net(*1952) Indian-British religious scholar, Rumi translator and explicator, teacher of mystic traditions, poet, novelist, author, Evolutionary Mysticism, presented by the US American multimedia publishing company Sounds True, Insights at the Edge, host Tami Simon (*1953) US American founder and director of Sounds True, minute 36:18,
    59:24 minutes duration, aired 22. June 2010

 

Future outlook on the guru systems

  • Though there are exceptions despite the system, I think the guru system, as it is now, is flawed at its core. Anyone in that system is going to run extreme dangers, whether they are the guru or the devotee. I think the next five years will see a massive shattering of the idols. What is now a light summer rain of scandal is going to become a blizzard. The guru system in its current state of dangerous corruption will be revealed.
    Interview with Andrew Harvey (*1952) Indian-British religious scholar, Rumi translator and explicator, teacher of mystic traditions, poet, novelist, author, Teachers and Seekers: An Interview with Andrew Harvey, presented by the US American media company Yoga Journal, Catherine Ingram, issue 123, S. 61, July/August 1995

 

Further reference: ► Article Killing the Guru and Finding God: the Andrew Harvey Story,
presented by the blogspot patheos.com, Tom Rapsas, 23. September 2012
See also: ► Quotes on Dalai's Lama's association with ⚡Sogyal Rinpoche

Englische Texte – English section on Cults

Six conditions to create a climate conducive to indoctrination

༺༻ Cultic psychopathologic conditioning
1.Keep the person unaware that there is an agenda to control or change the person.
2.Control time and physical environment (contacts, information).
3.Create a sense of powerlessness, fear, and dependency.
4.Suppress old behavior and attitudes.
5.Instill new behavior and attitudes.
6.Put forth a closed system of logic.
Source:
Margaret Thaler Singer, Ph.D. (1921-2003) US American adjunct professor of clinical psychology, University of California, Berkeley,
    Cults in Our Midst. The Continuing Fight Against Their Hidden Menace, Jossey-Bass, September 1996, revised edition 11. April 2003
Focussing on family therapy, coercive persuasion, schizophrenia, brainwashing
Reference: en.Wikipedia entry Cults in Our Midst

Methods of seduction, manipulation and binding used by cults, cult leaders and psychopaths

༺༻Enslaving operations applied by psychopaths, cult leaders and cultsReference/s
1. Deconstruct existing support and/or dependency systems and replace them with new support and dependency systemsLifton, Singer, Schein, Galanter, Taylor relative to cults
Carver, Rotter, Shaffer/LaPlante, Evans relative to family systems / interpersonal relationships
2. Develop, reinforce, and then appeal to an un-admitted and denied sense of powerlessness, then helplessness, then hopelessnessLifton, Schein, Hoffer, Singer, Taylor, Bandura, Seligman, Bowen, Golomb, Jackson, Branden, Carver, Rotter, Skinner, Watson, Lidz, Henry, Laing
3. Love-bombing in the early stages followed by withdrawal thereof followed by increasing pressure to conform to get "love," followed by threat of abandonment over non-conformanceSinger, Taylor, Beattie, Cermak, Schaef, Rapson/English, Mellody
4. Manipulate and trigger already established – and then enhanced – introjections of guilt, shame, worry, remorse, regret and anxietyLifton, Schein, Singer, Hoffer, Taylor, Tangney/Dearing, Jackson, Lidz, Bowen, Branden, Golomb, Henry, Laing
5. Stimulus deprivation and/or amplification, rapid deep breathing (to induce hyperventilation), repetitive motion exercises, chanting, meditation, guided imagery and/or trance induction to create dissociation, de-realization, depersonalization and/or excitotoxic (nerve-damaging) anxietySinger, DeBellis, Cozolino, Gazzaniga, Heim/Nemeroff, Kaszniak, Panksepp (neurobiology)
6. Sleep deprivation, diet control, restriction of urination and/or defecation ("re-potty training") to stress, break down the ego and infantilizeLifton, Singer, Taylor
7. Compel personal history examination, revision and group sharing to induce painful affects and peer-influenced appraisals thereofLifton, Schein, Singer, Hoffer, Taylor, Ross
8. Group jargon to enhance in-group identification and out-group rejection, as well as to make it increasingly difficult for members to communicate effectively with outsidersSchein, Singer, Hoffer, Taylor, Griffin/Moorhead, Kets de Vries (organizational dynamics)
9. Peer pressure to conform to group norms, including group think and group jargonLifton, Schein, Singer, Galanter, Hoffer, Taylore, Griffin/Moorhead, Kets de Vries, Rokeach, Henry
10. Employing the Karpman Drama Triangle dynamics: covert control as both rescue and subtle – or less subtle – persecution to victimize the lower-level recruits and induce compliance via the discomfort of subtle threatKarpman, Beattie, Weinhold/Weinhold, Whitfield, Garrett
11. Deception, debilitization, dependency and dread to weaken member's egos and increase complianceSchein, Singer, Schore (affect regulation)
12. Authoritarian, dominance and submission ploys, games and exercise to identify "proper" and accepted, sadomasochistic roles for leaders ⇔ followersLifton, Singer, Galanter, Taylor, Altemeyer, Baumrind, Benjamin, Sullivan, Rotter, Berne, Byrne, Bernstein, Carver, Golomb, Lidz, Henry, Laing/Esterson, Lifton, Peterson/Zurbriggen (non-cult interpersonal dynamics)
13. Establishing ambiguities and conflicts to destabilize existing core beliefs, utilizing paradoxical injunctions, threat of harm or abandonment and other means to induce double bindsBateson, Laing, Watzlawick et al.
14. Inducing identity-diffused, ego-dis-integrated, borderline organization via compartmentalization of unconsciously opposing, compelled beliefs ("shoulds," "musts," "oughts," "have-to's") to support the mutually opposing fears of abuse and abandonment that make it impossible to resolve group-induced conflictsKernberg, Meissner, Masterson et al., Garrett
15. Inducing anxious attachment to place member/victim in a state of learned helplessness7Bowlby, Shaver/Mikulincer, Cassidy/Shaver
Seligman, Schore, Mellody, Whitfield, Rapson/English
16. Employing increasing and finally, absolute, control of information and communication among members/victimsLifton, Schein, Singer, Hoffer, Galanter, Taylor
17. Compelling regression on both the Piagetian and Eriksonian scales, from formal operational (dialectical) processing, autonomous identity and elective generativity to concrete operational (black and white, all or nothing, dichotomous/absolutistic) processing, infantile trust and lack of autonomy, respectivelyPiaget, Erikson, Beck, Ellis, Meichenbaum, Schore, Rokeach
18. Employing relentless loading of the sympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system to set up the leader's ability to trigger the fight, flight, freak or freeze response to support learned helplessness whenever desiredSelye, Wolpe, Seligman

Ten most common spiritually transmitted diseases – Mariana Caplan

Listing ten cultic features
༺༻Spiritual
dysfunction
Symptoms – keywords
1.Fast-food spiritualityMix spirituality within a speed-driven culture, quick fix mentality, multitasking, instant gratification, belief that transformation and transcending the human condition can happen quick and easy
2.Faux spiritualityTendency to dress, talk, and act according to the cliché of spirituality, imitation and mimicing spiritual realization
3.Confused motivationsThe desire to grow genuinely and purely is interspersed with lesser motives: spiritual ambition, wish or need to be loved and belong, to be special, to be better than, to be chosen, to fill internal emptiness, to end one's suffering
4.Identifying with spiritual experiencesThe spiritual ego identifying with one's spiritual experiences and claiming one's spiritual path, pseudospirituality, false belief that one is embodying peak insights (lasting for longer periods), that one is enlightened and therefore apt to perform as a spiritual teacher
5.Spiritualized egoThe "bullet-proof" egoic personality becomes deeply embedded with spiritual concepts; invulnerable to help, new learning, other perspectives, constructive feedback; impenetrable humans stunted in their spiritual growth
6.Mass production of spiritual teachersTrendy massproduced, marketeering spiritual traditions led by self-deluded people who deem themselves en-
lightened masters selling and teaching a quick fix method
7.Spiritual prideLongterm practitioners who have attained some wisdom justify their refusal to grow further, spiritual superiority:
"I am better, more wise and above others because I am spiritual."
8.Group mindGroupthink, tribal-mindedness, cultic mentality, ashram disease, insidious virus with elements of co-dependence, subtle unwritten rules how to think, talk, dress, and act correctly, not conforming individuals, attitudes, and circumstances are being rejected
9.Chosen-people complexBelief in having found The One (who fits for All), that
"Our group is more spiritually evolved, powerful, enlightened and better than any other group."
10.Deadly virus
"I Have Arrived"
Belief that one has reached the final goal of the path, ceasing of further spiritual progress
Source: ► Mariana Caplan, Ph.D., US American professor of yogic and transpersonal psychologies, psychotherapist, author, 10 Spiritually Transmitted Diseases, presented by the US American liberal-oriented online newspaper Huffington Post, 15. June 2010, upd. 17. November 2011, paraphrasing the author's book Eyes Wide Open. Cultivating Discernment on the Spiritual Path, Sounds True, 1. October 2009

Cult scoring of self-help group Alcoholics Anonymous (AA)

(↓)

Disclosing Bill W. as a cult leader, womanizer, liar, swindler, and narcissist

Confirmed in article Bill Wilson. Little Known Facts About Bill W., presented by the publication alternatives-for-alcoholism, Cynthia Perkins, M.Ed.]], US American mental health professional, recovering alcoholic, 2007-2012

  • Bill Griffith Wilson [Bill W.] had already failed in business and in life, and he was already far less than perfect – he was an alcoholic, a fraud, a failed Wall Street hustler, a quack healer, a phony holy man, a felonious embezzler, a stock swindler, a madman, an evil cult leader, and a narcissistic pathological liar – so he didn't really need to keep on cheating on his wife Lois just to make the other A.A. members feel comfortable.
    Article by A. Orange, The Other Women, last updated 21. July 2013
Bill Griffith Wilson [Bill W.] and the 12 steps program Alcoholics Anonymous (AA)
 ༺༻Cultic characteristicsScore 10
10-6
RemarkScore 10
5-1
N/A
1.The Guru is always right. 10   
2.You are always wrong. 10   
3.No exit. 10   
4.No graduates 10   
5.Cult-speak 10   
6.Group-think, suppression of dissent, and enforced conformity in thinking 10   
7.Irrationality 10Deserves ~100  
8.Suspension of disbelief 10   
9.Denigration of competing sects, cults, religions, groups, or organizations 10   
10.Personal attacks on critics 10   
11.Insistence that the group is THE ONLY WAY. 10   
12.The group and its members are special. 10   
13.Induction of guilt, and the use of guilt to manipulate group members. 10   
14.Unquestionable dogma, sacred science, and infallible ideology. 10   
15.Indoctrination of members. 8   
16.Appeals to "holy" or "wise" authorities. 7   
17.Instant community   4 
18.Instant intimacy 7    
19.Surrender to the group. 10Deserves ~50  
20.Giggly wonderfulness and starry-eyed faith. 7   
21.Personal testimonies of earlier converts. 10   
22.The group is self-absorbed. 6   
23.Dual purposes, hidden agendas, and ulterior motives. 10   
24.Aggressive recruiting 10   
25.Deceptive recruiting 10   
26.No humor 10   
27.You can't tell the truth. 10   
28.Cloning – You become a clone of the group leader or other elder group members. 10   
29.You must change your beliefs to conform to the group's beliefs. 10   
30.The end justifies the means. 8   
31.Dishonesty, deceit, denial, falsification, and rewriting history 10   
32.Different levels of truth 10   
33.Newcomers can't think right. 10   
34.The group implants phobias. 10   
35.The group is money-grubbing. 10   
36.Confession sessions 10   
37.System of punishments and rewards 10   
38.Impossible superhuman model of perfection 10   
39.Mentoring 10   
40.Intrusiveness 10   
41.Disturbed guru, mentally ill leader 10Deserves 20  
42.Disturbed members, mentally ill followers 10   
43.Create a sense of powerlessness, covert fear, guilt, and dependency 10   
44.Dispensed existence 10   
45.Ideology over experience, observation, and logic 10   
46.Keep them unaware that there is an agenda to change them 10   
47.Thought-stopping language. Thought-terminating clichés and slogans 10   
48.Mystical manipulation 10   
49.The guru or the group demands ultra-loyalty and total commitment. 10   
50.Demands for total faith and total trust. 10   
51.Members get no respect. They get abused. 10   
52.Inconsistency. Contradictory messages 10   
53.Hierarchical, authoritarian power structure, and social castes   5 
54.Front groups, masquerading recruiters, hidden promoters, and disguised propagandists 10   
55.Belief equals truth 10   
56.Use of double-binds 10   
57.The group leader is not held accountable for his actions. 10   
58.Everybody else needs the guru to boss him around, but nobody bosses the guru around. 10   
59.The guru criticizes everybody else, but nobody criticizes the guru. 10   
60.Dispensed truth and social definition of reality 10   
61.The guru is extra-special. 10   
62.Flexible, shifting morality   5 
63.Separatism   5 
64.Inability to tolerate criticism 8   
65.Charismatic leader 7Not any more  
66.Calls to obliterate self. 10Rates more  
67.Don't trust your own mind. 10   
68.Don't feel your own feelings. 10   
69.The group takes over the individual's decision-making process. 8   
70.You owe the group. 10   
71.We have the panacea. 10   
72.Progressive indoctrination and progressive commitments. 10   
73.Magical, mystical, unexplainable workings 10Deserves more  
74.Trance-inducing practices. 10   
75.New identity – Redefinition of self – Revision of personal history. 10   
76.Membership rivalry   ./.
77.True believers 10   
78.Scapegoating and excommunication   28 
79.Promised powers or knowledge 10   
80.It's a con. You don't get the promised goodies. 10   
81.Hypocrisy 10   
82.Lying. Denial of the truth. Reversal of reality. Rationalization and denial. 10   
83.Seeing through tinted lenses. 10   
84.You can't make it without the group. 10   
85.Enemy-making and devaluing the outsider. 10   
86.The group wants to own you. 10   
87.Channelling or other occult, unchallengeable, sources of information. 10   
88.They make you dependent on the group. 10Deserves far more  
89.Demands for compliance with the group. 10   
90.Newcomers need fixing. 10Deserves ~100  
91.Use of the Cognitive Dissonance technique 10   
92.Grandiose existence. Bombastic, grandiose claims. 10   
93.Black And white thinking. 10   
94.The use of heavy-duty mind control and rapid conversion techniques.   ./.
95.Threats of bodily harm or death to someone who leaves the group.   5 
96.Threats of bodily harm or death to someone who criticizes the group   ./.
97.Appropriation of all of the members' worldly wealth   ./.
98.Making cult members work long hours for free   1 
99.Total immersion and total isolation   2 
100.Mass suicide   ./.
Sources: ► Archived article by A. Orange The Other Women, A. Orange, last updated 21. July 2013
Alcoholics Anonymous as a Cult. Scorecards 1 to 100, presented by the defunct orange-papers.org, updated 21. October 2013
References: ► Bill Wilson, compiled by Jan Irvin, US American ethnomycologist, independent researcher, political analyst, blogger, lecturer, author, founder, curator, and host of Logos Media, undated
► Online book The Orange Papers. One Man's Analysis of Alcoholics Anonymous and ► Blog article by jonsleeper, Leaving AA, staying sober: new
     perspectives on recovery
, 30. September 2014
► Article alcoholics anonymous and the new world order, presented by the blog sparklesdelicious, 26. October 2007
► Article Bill Wilson. Little Known Facts About Bill W., presented by the publication alternatives-for-alcoholism, Cynthia Perkins, M.Ed., US American
     mental health professional, recovering alcoholic, 2007-2012
References: en.Wikipedia entry Bill Griffith Wilson [Bill W.] and ► Alcoholics Anonymous (AA)
See also:
Quotes by ⚡ Bill Griffith Wilson
Actual success rate of the 12-step program – Lance Dodes

Setting up a cult – Promotion of spiritual teachers

Techniques for promoting spiritual teachers
༺༻Action···ApproachLegendD. Hawkins'
system
1.Psychological
transfer
Encouraging followers [awakened ones] to psychologically transfer divine qualities and goals onto the teacher [awakened one], thereby locking both into a dynamic system of projection, dismissing any show of spiritual autonomy. Placing the teacher on the top end of the spiritual master spectrum (avatar, etc.), inflating the teacher image, confining clients in the student role.
2.Fashion and
style
Teachers who dress fashionably or perform in a certain style apply the marketing tool of the first impression made by appearance and presentation. 
3.Name change To change the teacher's name to an exotic sounding one is part of presenting oneself as a spiritual master. 
4.Nationality Connections with places like South/Middle America, India, Tibet, Africa, Egypt, the Far East or Pacific Islands, cathedrals may enhance the teacher's marketing campaign.
5.Behaviour Important is that the teacher behaves peacefully and lovingly in public whereby they are building up a huge unexpressed psychological shadow. If abusive behaviour of the teacher becomes public it can be justified by presenting it in the context of "crazy wisdom", presenting imbalance and erratic behaviour as a valuable lesson in non-attachment to expectations regarding the teacher. Sitting and staring at the audience beyond the comfortable degree gives students the opportunity to project their inner spiritual images onto the teacher, catalyzing a strong attachment.-'
6.Vocabulary and
phraseology
Most listeners come from the heart not from the head, willing to accept a casual message. Contradictions are forgiven since they illustrate the paradoxical nature of the spiritual path. Words and phrases (like "oneness", "infinite love", "loving ourselves", "loving what is", "meditation", "quantum ******", "non-duality", "opening the heart", "letting go", "being yourself", "finding what is true", "authenticity", "opening the chakras", "touching the void", "reaching within", "connecting", "opening the heart", "advaita", "it is simple", "everything is inside") keep the audience impressed.
7.Self-confidence
and charisma
Effective teachers bind students in the certainty of conceptual truth. An abundance of self-confidence and charisma and a good sense of humour is very appealing to (potential) customers. A dosis of narcissism in the teacher is also attractive. The teacher may not to express doubt or admit not knowing something. Students with a profound acceptance of their own ignorance can wake up and walk off.
8.Comprehensive
teaching materials
and opportunities
Constant self-marketing via lectures, courses, regular "satsang" meetings, and holiday retreats (along with videos and audio recordings of the complete enlightenment package), books, guided meditations, internet updates allows the teacher a very good living. Up-selling. To keep individuals in the fold it is vital to offer an online presence on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and a monthly newsletter (both paper and online) or even a magazine.
9.Lineage and
direct transmission
Inducing the belief that the teacher predominantly energetically transmits spiritual awakening. To keep one's fold it serves when the teacher comes from a long successful – contrived or genuine – lineage of transmitters.
10.Pseudo-objective
corroboration
Teachers with the creative nous may formulate a pseudo-objective evaluation systems to "calibrate" levels of truth – applied by dowsing or muscle testing. This way the teacher is lifting himself by his own bootstraps. Calibrating critics of the teacher or their system as low on the scale i.e. not worthwhile to further examinate their arguments.
11.Promoting the
rareness of spiritual awakening
The enlightenment lottery is captivating. Getting students and clients to believe that enlightenment is so rare that it may not happen until future lifetimes.
12.Extraordinary powers The guru's physical presence, favorably their hug or touch, is the ultimate powerful placebo effect. Close followers may spread rumours about the teacher's magical and mystical feats.
13.Third-party
endorsements
The New Age (New Consciousness) is a close-knit community with different teachers endorsing each others' books and teachings on a tit-for-tat basis (not stopping short of self-fabricated endorsements by Mother Teresa).
14.Building a hierarchy of followers To separate the teacher from the bulk of their students it is vital to establish hierarchical access to the more successful teacher. If the inner sanctum students witness the teacher's halo slip a bit behind closed doors, they will not disclose it or leave, since they have so much time and money invested. Rankist hierarchies are convenient organisational control structures. Wealthy customers can buy access by making large donations.
15.Educational/
charitable
foundation
The teacher can talk about the need for a better world. Telling one's customer base that the teacher's message can really make a difference. Charitable donations can be used to support oneself as well. These money making exercises can offer substantial tax breaks.
16.Opening an ashram
or spiritual center
Placing an ashram on the map adds credibility to the teacher's organization. It allows to run weekend retreats and workshops more economically. 
17.Website In the 21st century it is vital for masters to have a web presence offering many close-up photos of the teacher (looking very spiritual) and tasters for the different talks given by the master. The domain may be the teacher's name and end with ".org", which will associate the teacher with non-profits or do-good organizations.
18.Multiplying teacher
and retaining control
Once the teacher has grown their organization and/or spiritual teaching it is important to multiply themselves, so that the trusted inner circle of customers can repeat what the teacher is doing on behalf of their center and spiritual message.
19.Donation ⇔
set prices
Donations make the teacher look more authentically spiritual as it distances him from the world of commerce. Chances are that donation will outstrip costs. A "suggested donation" amount make guilty people into giving more. 
20.Supplementary
sales
Not only the teachings but also items [paraphernalia] with the teacher's energetic vibration [pictures, charts, crystals, energized water, pendants, key-rings] can be marketed to help develop whatever.
21.Rewarding
sycophantic
followers
The teacher keeps feeding the spiritual egos of their inner circle of devotees by telling them how well they are doing on the spiritual path. This ego-investment will have them staying loyal to the teacher and turn into effective controllers for other followers thereby putting the possibly tainted guru back on their pedestal.
Summary derived from: ► Blog article by John Smith, US American blogger, Spiritual Marketing Techniques,
presented by the publication Reality Maps formerly known as Energy Grid Magazine, Andrew Paterson, October 2002
See also: ► Salvationism: Problematic Redeemer ◊ Messiah ◊ Savior complex

Setting up a cult – Promotion of spiritual teachings

Techniques for promoting spiritual teachings
༺༻Action···ApproachLegendD. Hawkins'
system
1.Conceptual spiritual path Successful marketing of any spiritual teaching to customers can evolve their minds and their egos on the spiritual journey. In an ego-obsessed society teachings that encourage to develop the spiritual ego are popular, because they do not challenge the ego. Paradoxically, ego-centric systems are being presented as ego-dropping systems. Containing a creation story, giving stu-
dents purpose and a special significance, triggers attachment/dependency to both the teacher and the teachings.
2.Promising immortality Death is a big fear for most people. Any system of spirituality that promotes some kind of immortality is attractive to potential customers. Teachings that promise physical immortality have a short term a lucrative approach. It is more difficult to justify over time. 
3.Focusing on the teacher The teacher is original. Their teachings are a unique product given that they keep pointing to them as a key component in the awakening process.
4.Implying certainty Any belief system that offers certainty with conceptualisation is going to be very popular. Prophecy and prediction can be extended to the future.
5.Promising health and happiness Most like to believe that the final destination of the spiritual path is a state of eternal bliss, perfect health and sublime happiness – enlightenment. This delineates a huge payback (strong motivating factor) for following the spiritual path. Disillusioned and unhappy with normal life, many people turn to the spiritual path. 
6.Special/secret techniques and teachings Offering a special type of teaching or meditation/fantasy technique that is kept secret. Convincing customers/students they will find awakening by applying these particular teachings/techniques will result in strong attachments. As secrets are being disclosed in the age of the internet "direct transmission" along with the teachings/techniques given personally by the teacher or appointed students are the key to "activate" the awakening process. 
7.Promoting emotional expression In society where sexual and loving emotions are restricted communities based on teachings that encourage free emotional expression appear attractive and freeing. See also #11. 
8.Strict codes of conduct In most people the impulse for belonging/bondage is stronger than the impulse to freedom /
accountability. Strict codes of conduct and attire appeal to the first group. They also suit the spiritual ego that wants a formula to do everything right.
 
9.Copyrighting and trademarking Offering the message under a special name which is copyrighted/trademarked. Labeled teachings can be owned and controlled by the teacher. Questions about copyright/trademark can be blamed on the organisation or its lawyers. Explaining legal restrictions on the teachings can be justified as protection from being bastardised by a third party.
10.Material outcomes Advertising and implying to customers' egos that their material needs and wants (including physical health issues) will be met. Spiritual awakening is understood as an addition to human powers, bank balance, potentials, and wholeness. This approach also justifies any opulence of the teacher relative to their customers. 
11.Hijacking feel-good techniques Customers associate a feel-good fix with the teacher and the teachings when feel-good techniques such as meditation, mantras, relaxation, dance, tantra, fasting and breath control are being hijacked. Controlling the feel-good fix sufficiently without allowing customers to awaken i.e. leave the cultic circle. 
12.Testimonials Promoting (marketing) spiritual teachings/teachers requires testimonials and case-studies for the media. In the age of social networking, this often happens spontaneously. Obtaining endorse-
ments for teacher/teachings from celebrities or clients (placed on book covers).
13.Self-validation Offering the teachings plus their sublime value will validate them for heady customers. When the most evolved spiritual master presents the teachings in high-brow terminology he implies that those who do not understand this are "not ready".
14.Sequential presentation Spreading out the teachings in a series of courses spanning from beginner to advanced levels over a few years. "Graduates" are unlikely to quit due to their investment and sense of achieve-
ment.
 
15.Pseudo-scientific justification Linking teachings with modern physics increases credibility with those who is not scientific literate. (Key terms used in the teachings: "quantum", "relativity", "scalar waves", "quantum entanglement", "Bell's Theorem", "photons".)
16.Jargon (exotic/foreign terms) Presenting teachings filled with ancient terminology (containing foreign words like "karma" and "maya") impresses clients/students. Followers who have adopted this vocabulary will feel increasingly spiritual themselves. "Insider" phraseology allows for a stronger communal spirit.
17.Schooling in exotic locations Offering holiday and Mecca-type retreats in exotic places. Customers outside the confines of their everyday lives tend to be more relaxed and focused.
Summary derived from: ► Blog article by John Smith, US American blogger, Spiritual Marketing Techniques,
presented by the publication Reality Maps formerly known as Energy Grid Magazine, Andrew Paterson, October 2002
See also: ► Salvationism: Problematic Redeemer ◊ Messiah ◊ Savior complex

Eight criteria to identify cultic coercion – Robert Lifton

Eight criteria to measure the level of coercion in families, groups, nations
using manipulative techniques to gain (total) control over their members
༺༻Cultic focusAction item
1.Milieu control"We control what you experience, and how you experience it."
2.Loading the language"Our own special language [group jargon] helps you to think the way we want you to think."
3.Mystical manipulation"We'll make sure our system works for you – even if we have to fake it."
4.Sacred science"It's true because we say it's the Truth."
5.Demand for purity"Only those good enough can 'get it.'"
6.Confession"We promise we won't use your past against you … really …"
7.Doctrine over person"When your facts don't match our Truth, your facts are wrong."
8.Dispensing of existence "The Truth is worth more than life, especially an outsider's life."
Sources:
Book: Robert Jay Lifton, M.D. (*1926) US American psychiatrist, researcher of the psychological causes and effects of war and political
     violence, developer of the theory of thought reform, author, Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism, chapter 15 "The Future
     of Immortality", Norton, New York, 1st edition 1961, New York, chapter 22, 2nd edition 1987, Chapel Hill, 1989
Book excerpt: Dr. Robert J. Lifton's Eight Criteria for Thought Reform
Article by Paul Martin, Ph.D., director of the Wellspring Retreat, Robert Jay Lifton's eight criteria of thought reform as applied to the
     Executive Success Programs
, 12. February 2003
See also: ► Power vs. Truth

Acid test for fundamentalist systems

Questions to inquire the fundamentalist mind
༺༻Questions to ask to pin fundamentalist cults
1. Is the system closed to modification?
2. Is there a covert [political] agenda in the system?
3. Does the system deal in absolutisms?
4. Does the system denounce opposing points of view or seem paranoid?
5. Does the system avoid critical thinking?
Source: ► Stephen Larsen, US American psychologist, founder of the Center for Symbolic Studies, author,
The Fundamentalist Mind. How Polarized Thinking Imperils Us All, Quest Books, Wheaton, Illinois, 1. January 2007
References: en.Wikipedia entries : ► FanaticismFundamentalismMoral absolutismRelativism
See also: ► Questions and ► Absolutism and ► Critical thinking and ► Absolutism, relativism, fundamentalism, and fanaticism

Commonly known criteria of cults

Cult features
༺༻Cult featureLegend
1.The leader is the ultimate authority. Members are not permitted to criticize their leader, even if the criticism is true.
2.The leader is above the law. Members are held to a different moral standard, specifically in regard to sex.
3.The group is elitist. The group/cult is the solution for all the world's problems.
4.The·group·is·paranoid·about·the·outside·world. Members believe the end of the world is near.
5.The group uses "Thought reform" methods. Serious questions are answered with cliches.
6.The group suppresses skepticism. Members are only allowed to study their organization through approved sources.
7.The group relies on shame cycles. Members need their group/cult in order to feel worthy, loved, or sufficient.
8.The group delegitimizes former members. Members are prevented to think of legitimate reasons for leaving their group.
9.The group performs secret rites. The group/cult has secret teachings or ceremonies people don't discover until after they joined.
10.The administration defies financial transparency. Members and people are not allowed to know what the group does with their money.

Characteristics associated with cultic groups

Checklist on cult characteristics as defined by J. Lalich and M. Langone
༺༻Cult feature
1. The group displays excessively zealous and unquestioning commitment to its leader and (whether he is alive or dead) regards his belief system, ideology, and practices as the Truth, as law.
2. Questioning, doubt, and dissent are discouraged or even punished.
3. Mind-altering practices (such as meditation, chanting, speaking in tongues, denunciation sessions, and debilitating work routines)
are used in excess and serve to suppress doubts about the group and its leader(s).
4. The leadership dictates, sometimes in great detail, how members should think, act, and feel (for example, members must get permission to date, change jobs, marrying or leaders prescribe what types of clothes to wear, where to live, whether or not to have children, how to discipline children, and so forth).
5. The group is elitist, claiming a special, exalted status for itself, its leader(s) and members (for example, the leader is considered the Messiah, a special being, an avatar or the group and/or the leader is on a special mission to save humanity).
6. The group has a polarized us-versus-them mentality, which may cause conflict with the wider society.
7. The leader is not accountable to any authorities (unlike, for example, teachers, military commanders or ministers, priests, monks, and rabbis of mainstream religious denominations).
8. The group teaches or implies that its supposedly exalted ends justify whatever means it deems necessary. This may result in members' participating in behaviors or activities they would have considered reprehensible or unethical before joining the group (for example, lying to family or friends, or collecting money for bogus charities).
9. The leadership induces feelings of shame and/or guilt iin order to influence and/or control members. Often, this is done through peer pressure and subtle forms of persuasion.
10. Subservience to the leader or group requires members to cut ties with family and friends, and radically alter the personal goals and activities they had before joining the group.
11. The group is preoccupied with bringing in new members.
12. The group is preoccupied with making money.
13.‪‪ Members are expected to devote inordinate amounts of time to the group and group-related activities.
14. Members are encouraged or required to live and/or socialize only with other group members.
15. The most loyal members (the "true believers") feel there can be no life outside the context of the group. They believe there is no other way to be, and often fear reprisals to themselves or others if they leave (or even consider leaving) the group.
Source:
Checklist of Cult Characteristics, undated
► Blog article Characteristics Associated With Cults,
    presented by the publication cult research, Janja Lalich, Ph.D. (*1945) US American professor of sociology, 2006
Janja Lalich, Ph.D. (*1945) US American professor of sociology, California State University, Chico, expert on cult groups, charismatic
    authorities, power relations, coersion and social control, author, Madeleine Tobias, Take Back Your Life. Recovering from Cults and Abusive
    Relationships
, Bay Tree Publishing, Berkeley, 2nd edition 17. August 2006
Above checklist was adapted from the checklist originally developed by Michael Langone, Ph.D., US American counseling psychologist specialized in research about "cultic" groups and psychological manipulation, executive director of the International Cultic Studies Association (ICSA), editor of the journal Cultic Studies Review, author of Captive Hearts, Captive minds. Freedom and Recovery from Cults and Other Abusive Relationships, Hunter House Publishers, 1994 and Recovery from Cults. Help for Victims of Psychological and Spiritual Abuse, W. W. Norton & Company, New York, 1st edition 17. June 1995
See also: ► Quotes by S. Jeffrey – Cultic features

 

Psychological traits that can make one more prone to cult recruitment – Michael Langone
༺༻Psychological traitDescription
1.Dependency Intense desire to belong, stemming from a lack of self-confidence
2.Unassertiveness Reluctance to say no or question authority
3.Gullibility Tendency to believe what someone says without really thinking about it
4.Low tolerance for uncertainty Need to have any question answered immediately in black-and-white terms
5.Disillusionment with the status quo Feeling of marginalization within one's own culture and a desire to see that culture change
6.Naive idealism Blind belief that everyone is good
7.Desire for spiritual meaning Need to believe that life has a "higher purpose"
Source: ► Article How Cults Work, presented by Howstuffworks, Julia Layton, undated

Basic cult danger scale – Isaac Bonewits

Isaac Bonewits' cult danger scale
༺༻Cult operationSpecifics
1.Internal control Amount of internal political power exercised by leader(s) over members
2.Wisdom claimed by leader(s); amount of infallibility declared about decisions
3.Wisdom credited to leaders by members; amount of trust in decisions made by leader(s)
4.Dogma Rigidity of reality concepts taught; of amount of doctrinal inflexibility
5.Recruiting Emphasis put on attracting new members, amount of proselytizing
6.Front groups Number of subsidiary groups using a different name from that of the main group
7.Wealth Amount of money and/or property desired or obtained; emphasis on members' donations
8.Political power Amount of external political influence desired or obtained
9.Sexual manipulation of members by leader(s); amount of control over the lives of members
10.Censorship Amount of control over members' access to outside opinions on group, its doctrines or leader(s)
11.Dropout control Intensity of efforts directed at preventing or returning dropouts
12.Endorsement of violence when used by or for the group or its leader(s)
13.Paranoia Amount of fear concerning real or imagined enemies; perceived power of opponents
14.Grimness Amount of disapproval concerning jokes about the group, its doctrines or leaders(s)
15.Surrender of will Emphasis on members not having to be And here are responsible for personal decisions
Source: ► Isaac Bonewits (1949-2010) US American Druid, neopagan leader, author, The Advanced Bonewits'
Cult Danger Evaluation Frame
, version 2.7, presented by the website neopagan.net, 1979, 2008

List of MKUltra and Aldous Huxley related cults

It appears that most of the bay area and other psychedelic leaders that were involved
directly or "indirectly" with MKULTRA and/or associated with Aldous Huxley,
seem to have gone out and started some form of cult or another.

 

  1. Alan Watts – Zen Buddist double bind cult
  2. Bill Wilson – Alcoholics Anonymous cult 9
  3. L. Ron Hubbard – Church of Scientology cult 10
  4. James Lovelock – Gaia cult
  5. Jim Jones – Jonestown cult (ended in murder)
  6. Michael Murphy – Esalen cult
  7. Dick Price – Esalen cult
  8. Andrija PuharichThe Council of Nine / Uri Geller / Arigo cults
  9. Guy Banister – UFO cult
  10. Steve Jobs – Apple cult
  11. Timothy Leary – IFIF cult / psychedelic revolution / Psychedelic orientalism 11
  12. "Farmer" John Griggs – Brotherhood of Eternal Love cult / mafia
  13. Allen Ginsberg – IFIF / psychedelic revolution / Psychedelic orientalism / NAMBLA
  14. Mircea Eliade – Wicca cult
  15. Huston Smith – IFIF / Eleusinian / psychedelic orientalism
  16. Charles Manson (No Name Madock) – Manson family cult
  17. Albert Hofmann – Bicycle Day cult / LSD cult
  18. Terence McKenna2012 / Mushroom / Stoned Ape / Archaic revival cults
  19. Daniel Pinchbeck2012 / Mushroom / ascendance cults
  20. Aldous Huxley – Psychedelic revolution / Esalen cults 12
  21. Richard Alpert [Ram Dass] – Be Here Now cult / International Foundation for Internal Freedom (IFIF) cults
  22. Ken Kesey – Merry Prankster cult
  23. Gordon Wasson – Mushrooms as finding god cult / Eleusis cult
  24. Carl Ruck – Demeter cult
  25. Al Hubbard – LSD cult
  26. Margaret Mead / Wilhelm Reich – Sexual liberation cult 13
  27. John Paul Rosenberg [Werner Erhard] – Landmark Education cult
  28. Vito Paulekas – Freaks cult
  29. Arthur Kleps – Boohoo cult
  30. Gloria Steinem – Feminism cult 14
  31. Marilyn Ferguson – Aquarian Conspiracy cult
  32. Carlos Castaneda – Neo-shamanism / Don Juan Cult / Tensegrity (ended in suicides) 15
  33. Peter Furst / Barbara Myerhoff – Phony Huichol / neo-shamanism cults
  34. Gregory Bateson – Native Revivalism / Double bind etc, cults 16
  35. Julian Huxley – Transhumanism cult 17
  36. Joseph Campbell – Power of Myth / Star Wars cults / / Hero's Journey cult
  37. Alfred Kinsey – Pedophile / Nambla cults18
  38. Steve Gaskin – Tennessee Farm / Church of Sandy Hook cult (to be verified)
  39. John Perry Barlow – EFF / Grateful Dead cults
  40. Alex Grey – Art temple / NY cults
  41. Grateful Dead – Following / cult
  42. Richard Bandler – NLP cult
  43. John Grinder – NLP cult
  44. Marshall Rosenberg – NVC cult 19
  45. Riane Eisler – NVC cult – Dominator culture cult
  46. Paul Twitchell – Eckankar cult
  47. Kerry Thornley – Discordianism cult
  48. Bob Dobbs (Dean/Neveritt) – Church of the SubGenius cult
  49. James Baker (Father Yod) – Star Wars cult, Vegan cult, Source cult, etc.
  50. Larry Harvey – Burning Man
  51. Finders
  52. Heaven's Gate – UFO religious millenarian cult (mass suicide)
  53. William ThetfordCourse In Miracles cult 20 / 21
  54. NAMBLA – See # 13. above
  55. Urantia – Book (ensuing a movement)
  56. David R. Hawkins – cult   [not listed by Jan Irvin]
Source: ► Chart List of MKUltra cults, compiled by Jan Irvin, US American ethnomycologist, independent researcher,
political analyst, founder, curator, and host of Logos Media, blogger, lecturer, author, founder, undated
See also: ► Mind control and ► Addiction and ► Addiction charts

Influence continuum concerning individuals, leaders and organisations

Influence continuum graphic – from healthy to unhealthy features and behavior22
Steven Hassan's BITE model for evaluating influence
Focus on Constructive and healthy Destructive and unhealthy
Individuals ♦ Authentic self
♦ Unconditional love
Conscience
Creativity and humor
Free will / critical thinking
♦ False (cult) identity
♦ Conditional "love"
♦ Doctrine
♦ Solemnity, fear and guilt
♦ Dependency / obedience
Leaders ♦ Psychologically healthy
♦ Knows own limits
♦ Empowers individuals
Trustworthy
♦ Accountable
Narcissistic / psychopathic
♦ Elitist / grandiose
♦ Power hungry
♦ Secretive / deceptive
♦ Claims absolute authority
Organisations
(Relationships)
♦ Checks and balances
♦ Informed consent
Individuality / diversity
♦ Means create end.
♦ Encourages growth
♦ Free to leave
♦ Authoritarian structure
♦ Deceptive / manipulative
♦ Clones people
♦ Ends justify means.
♦ Preserves own power
♦ No legitimate reasons to leave
Source: ► Article by Steven Alan Hassan (*1954) US American ex-Moonie, cult exit educator, mental health consultant, author,
                  A Response to Academics Who Say There Is No Undue Influence in Destructive Cults, presented by Freedom of Mind
                  Resource Center, 28. June 2018
Siehe auch: ► Kontinuum der Einflussnahme auf Einzelpersonen, Führungskräfte und Organisationen

Stages of deprogramming

Stages of deprogramming
Hurting from lossAt a lossAdjusting to loss
Shock ⇒ Numbness ⇒ Denial
⇒ Emotional outburts ⇒ Anger
Fear ⇒ Searchings
⇒ Disorganization ⇒ Panic
GuiltLoneliness ⇒ IsolationDepression ⇒ "Re-entry" troubles
⇒ New relationships ⇒ New strengths
⇒ New patterns ⇒ Hope
⇒ Affirmation ⇒ Helping others
See also: ► Five strategies when faced with the inevitable – Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

Media recommendations – Discerning shadow aspects and cultic features

(↓)

Myth

(↓)

Learning discernment:

Cultic features and God complex

  • Mariana Caplan, Ph.D., US American professor of yogic and transpersonal psychologies, psychotherapist, author
(↓)

Recommended reading:

Bibliography in Truth vs. Falsehood. How to Tell the Difference, S. 435, 2005

(↓)

Neardeath

(↓)

Shadow

(↓)

Inner Work

Owning Your Own Shadow. Understanding the Dark Side of the Psyche, Harper Collins, San Francisco, 1991, reprint edition 5. March 1993, Harper One, 9. June 2009
(↓)

Philosophy

(↓)

Psychedelics

(↓)

Life skills – compassion

(↓)

Life skills – willpower

(↓)

Life skills – effective performance

  • Tony Schwartz, US American president and CEO of The Energy Project, professional speaker, journalist, business book author, What Really Matters: Searching for Wisdom in America, Bantam, New York, reprint edition 1. March 1996
  • Video presentations by Tony Schwartz, US American president and CEO of The Energy Project, professional speaker, journalist, business book author
    Leading@google: Tony Schwartz, sponsored by the platform Talks at Google, Google Campus, Mountain View, California, 17. April 2008, YouTube film, 61:17 minutes duration, posted 6. May 2008
    Effective longterm performance derives from good sleep and relaxation.
    ☛ Video The Myths of the Overworked Creative, presented by 99U Plus, Behance's 99% Conference 2011, Vimeo video, 26:50 minutes duration, posted October 2012
    Four types of energy: quantity, quality, focus, purpose; pulsing between spending and recovery/renewing energy

 

See also: ► Shadow

Levels of consciousness (LoC): related to cults


  • LoC 195 – Jehovah's Witnesses
  • LoC 195-110Christian Identity Movement25
  • LoC 195 – "Left Behind" (Apocalyptic Ideology)26
  • LoC 190 – The Luciferic
  • LoC 190 – 7th Day Adventists
  • LoC 160 – Heaven's Gate cult27
  • LoC 155 – Solar Temple (ideology)28
  • LoC 135 – Polygamous sects29
  • LoC 130/135 – Religious fundamentalism (like militant Islamic fundamentalism)30
  • LoC 95 – Right Wing fundamentalism (ideology)31
  • LoC 50-160 – Cults32
  • LoC 45 – Satanism
  • LoC 35 – Historical Inquisition of the Roman Catholic Church

 

Links zum Thema Kulte und Kultführer / Cults and cult leaders

Literatur

Ausrottung matrizentrischer Kulturen in Kanaan, welche die Mutter Erde heiligten; Bibelstellen: 1. Könige 18, 22, 40 ✣ 1. Könige 19, 1-18 ✣
5. Mose 17, 2-6 ✣ 2. Mose 22, 17 ✣ 3. Mose 20, 6 und 17
Alttestamentliche Erbsünde Evas als Legitimitimation genutzt, um Frauen zum Schweigen zu bringen; Bibelstelle: Paulus, 1. Korinther 14
und sie aufgrund ihrer sexuellen Attraktivität für Männer zu verteufeln, insbesondere durch Vergewaltigungen zu foltern und hinzurichten, bis hin
zur Absegnung von Kriegen
Alttestamentlicher Unterwerfungsgrundsatz übernimmt die christliche Kirche; Bibelstelle: "Ihr Knechte, seid untertan mit aller Furcht den Herren,
nicht allein den gütigen und gelinden, sondern auch den wunderlichen. Denn das ist Gnade, wenn jemand vor Gott um des Gewissens willen das Übel erträgt und leidet das Unrecht." 1. Brief des Petrus 2, 18, 19

Literature (engl.)

Study made on the Boston Church of Christ

The trial of exiting the cult of Frederick Philip Lenz, III, Ph.D. [Rama] (1950-1998) US American Buddhist spiritual teacher

Free PDF

Focussing on schizophrenia, family therapy, brainwashing, coercive persuasion – Wikipedia entry: ► Cults in Our Midst

Campbell's ultimate aim is to elucidate, through the use of a psychoanalytical perspective, something of the dynamic inter-relationship between the inner lives of individuals, their gender identities in society, and the belief systems which they create in order to provide cohesion, continuity and meaning, whether it be in the east or the west.

Features / commonalities of a guru personality
1. Isolated as a child
2. Remains isolated for the remainder of his life
3. Rarely has a close friendship
4. Indifferent to family ties
5. Introvert
6. Narcissistic
7. Eloquent
8. Charismatic
9. Authoritative
10. Paranoid
12. Does not discuss his ideas, only imposes them. Disapproval leads to hostility
13. Elitist
14. Claims that his life has totally changed after getting a special spiritual insight. Often follows a period of mental suffering or physical illness.
Most often occurs between 30 and 50 years of age.

Cialdini's Six Principles of Influence
1. Reciprocity, 2. Commitment, 3. Social Proof, 4. Liking, 5. Authority, 6. Scarcity, presented by the publication mindtools.com

Book review, presented by the magazine "Intersections. Gender and Sexuality in Asia and the Pacific", issue 22. October 2009
Sexual morality is a facet of living that undergoes periodic upheavals. Four major periods in Indian history when there were significant shifts in the collective social perception of sex and sexuality, and the associated customs and beliefs.

The Unification Church practiced the Korean Pigarum ceremony [‘change of blood lineage’] and yongch'e ceremony [receiving a new spiritual body] (1940s-1962). A male spiritual leader [here Moon] united sexually with his female disciples and a female spiritual leader had ritual sex with her male followers. In 1962 the Holy Wine Ceremony and The Three Day Ceremony replaced this original sexual ritual.

Even among those who do leave cults, a common feeling is shame, at their own blindness, their hunger to believe, and grief at getting it wrong.
Featuring "intergenerational generation of narcissistic personalities" and the relational dynamics that sustain "systems of subjugation"

It took Tredwell 14 years to publish her disclosure. The five years of writing this book contributed immensly to Tredwell's healing process. She took full responsibility as an accomplice and enabler of a cult leader. "Overall, my book has given numerous people their lives back and the ability to lead a happy and healthy spiritual life based on self-empowerment rather than on blind faith and subservient devotion."
☛ Tredwell delivered bags of gold and cash in secret to Amma's family.
Tredwell was told
☛ to lie about "miracles" which Amma is supposed to have performed.
☛ to lie about Amma's bodily functions and cover up the fact that she was a normal woman who menstruated.
     This was one of the core myths connected to her "purity".
Tredwell witnessed
☛ Amma inflicting violence on others.
☛ Amma conducting ceremonies in temples and giving darshan during her menses
     which is totally against Hindu belief systems.
☛ Amma having sex with her most senior Swami Amritasvarupananda (Balu) – her biographer, speech writer and official spokesperson.
     This man had been her lover for years and possibly even before she became famous.
☛ evidence of Amma's sexual relationships with other men in the ashram.
☛ Amma having frequent and uncontrollable temper tantrums when she was "off stage".
Tredwell was
☛ herself sexually abused by Amma's most senior Swami Balu.
☛ was hit, kicked, scratched and had her hair pulled by Amma during these temper tantrums.
☛ Tredwell accompanied Amma to the homes of the leaders of extremist Hindu fundamentalist political organisations connected to
     the paramilitary Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

The board of directors of M.A. Center in North America sent out a national email stating, "We are greatly disappointed and saddened by the false accusations, made by a troubled individual. The allegations are completely untrue and without a basis in fact or reality." Gail Tredwell suffered various retaliative actions.

Stripping the Gurus – Geoffrey Falk

Chapter II "A Bit of a Booby" – Ramakrishna
Chapter III "The Handsome Duckling" – Vivekanada
Chapter IV "Mother Dearest" – Aurobindo
Chapter V "The Krinsh" – Jiddu Krisnamurti
Chapter VII "Sex, Bliss, and Rock 'n' Roll" – Swami Satchidananda
Chapter VII "The Sixth Beatle" – Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
Chapter IX "Been Here, Done That, What Now?" – Ram Dass, Bhagavan Das
Chapter X "Scorpion-Man" – Satya Sai Baba
Chapter XI "Even If It Happened..." – Swami Rama
Chapter XII "Mo' Chin-Ups" – Sri Chinmoy
Chapter XV "Werner's Uncertainty Principle" – Werner Erhard est/Landmark/Forum Training
Chapter XVI "Cockroach Yoga" – Yogi Bhajan
Chapter XVII "A Wild and Crazy Wisdom Guy" – Chögyam Trungpa
Chapter XVIII "Sixty Minutes" – Swami Muktananda
Chapter XIX "The Mango Kid" – Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh
Chapter XX "Da Avatar, Da Bomb, Da Bum" – Adi Da
Chapter XXI "Sometimes I Feel Like a God" – Andrew Cohen
Chapter XXII "Hello, Dalai!" – The Dalai Lama
Chapter XXIII "Up the Asana" – Yogi Amrit Desai
Chapter XIV "Battlefield Teegeeack" – Ron Hubbard Scientology
Chapter XXVI "... To a Nunnery" – Paramahansa Yogananda
Appendix II "On Ken Wilber, Ex-Rabbi Marc Gafni, and Integral Blindness – Ken Wilber, Marc Gafni
__________________________________________________________________________________
Chapter VI "Zen in the Art of Sex and Violence" – Zen Buddhism
Chapter XIII "Thai Surprise" – Thai Buddhism
Chapter XXIV "Sodomy and Gomorrah" – Roman Catholic Church
Chapter XXV "Of Cabbages and Nature Spirits" – Findhorn


Externe Weblinks



Anmerkung: Ratiobestimmtes Papier, mangelndes spirituelles Verständnis


Internationale Klassifikationssysteme von spirituellen Krisen: Zustände beschrieben, welche sich von den klassischen neurotischen bzw. psychotischen Verlaufsformen unterscheiden.

Sexueller Missbrauch von Ordensfrauen ist weltweit verbreitet. In vielen Fällen nutzen die Täter hierfür ihre Rolle als Beichtväter oder geistliche Begleiter der Frauen aus.

"Das ganze Kirchenrecht ist durchzogen von der Zweiteilung in Laien und Kleriker und pflegt damit eine Autoritätslogik, die Unterordnung verlangt."


Linklose Artikel

  • Artikel Gurus, nein danke!, präsentiert von der deutschen Zeitschrift Lichtfokus, Daniel Jacobi, Elraanis Verlag, 1. Januar 1999
  • Dieter Rohmann, deutscher Diplompsychologe, Kult-Ausstiegsberater, Kritik an Ole Nydahls tantrischen Methoden. Darstellung der therapeutischen Arbeit mit Kultmitgliedern bzw. -Aussteigern anhand eines Drei-Stufen-Modells, 27. Oktober 2011
    • Charles Carreon, Marte-Micaela Riepe, Übersetzerin, TANTRA-Induziertes Wahnhaftes Syndrom (TIWS), 25. Oktober 2011
  • Interview mit Gail Tredwell (*1958) australisches ehemaliges Sektenmitglied, Ammas persönliche Assistentin (1979-1999), Autorin des Enthül-
    lungsbuchs Holy Hell (2013), Amma: Schatten einer Heiligen, präsentiert von der Schweizer Zeitschrift Spuren, Ausgabe 111, März 2014

Links zum Thema Kulte – Quora

Beiträge verfasst von Elfriede Ammann, präsentiert auf der kalifornischen Frage-und-Antwort Webseite Quora DE


External web links (engl.)


Global network of people concerned about psychological manipulation and abuse in cultic groups, alternative movements, and other environments



Exposing the worldwide religious movement Siddha Yoga run by the SYDA Foundation, founded by the Indian gurus Swami Muktananda [LoC 655] (1908-1982) and secret practitioner of Tantric sexual yoga Bhagawan Nityananda [LoC 500], succeeded by the current head of the Siddha Yoga path Gurumayi Chidvilasananda (*1955).

Larsson relates how Sathya Sai Baba sexually molested him in a private interview. He eventually discovered that the guru even paid sexually exploited students and devotees.

Keywords to delineate false gurus [Stichwortkatalog zur Ermittlung von "falschen Gurus"]

About 87 percent of residents had a sexually transmitted disease and women who became pregnant were told by the Bhagwan to abort and sterilise. Stork and her teenage daughter Kelly were both sterilised.
Jane Stork: "The Bhagwan had one line: the good disciple follows what the master says, the good disciple doesn't think … but it wouldn't have happened if I didn't want it to happen."
"To come to terms with that much self-delusion is really difficult. It's a long, slow, painful process." "I think I brainwashed myself."
"I'm sure he [Bhagwan] didn't give a stuff about doing good and helping people. He didn't care at all for his people. They were just a nuisance, they were part of the show."

Power dynamics happening on stage when The Work is being applied.

"A concrete reality of oppression is absorbed and neutralized by the technique.
Are sexism and racism values of CBT? No: they're values of patriarchal control."

1. Physical, emotional and psychological abuse of students
2. Sexual abuse of students
3. Lavish, gluttonous, and sybaritic lifestyle
4. Actions which have tainted the appreciation for the practice of the Dharma

Sexual abuse by gurus is perpetuated due to the concomitant logic that views physical nearness to the teacher as an "honor" and a "blessing" (S. 979). Such logic "diminishes guru accountability and creates social relationships that are readied forums for sexual abuse" (S. 956). "Instead of pathologizing each new case of sexual transgression as a guru's individual moral failure," it is more important to address the underlying structures, circles of silence, and logics that perpetuate harm (S. 981). The twisting of logics around dharma, karma, tantra, enlightenment, and emancipation has for too long been used to harm the vulnerable, ignore inequalities, enable injustices, and ultimately blame victims for their abuse.

Signs of an unhealthy spiritual community
1. Questioning the teacher is discouraged.
2. The teacher's helpers are anxious and competitive
3. There are rumors of sexual, financial, or interpersonal misconduct
4. You feel ill-at-ease
5. Your loved ones are not happy with your new practice
6. The leader criticizes other types of practice


Linkless articles

Code of ethics for teachers and students (APST)

Web links on the topics cults and cult leaders – Quora

Q&A contributions issued by Elfriede Ammann, presented on the Californian question-and-answer website Quora EN


Audio- und Videolinks

Audio and video links (engl.)

Minute 4:13: Circular logic of emotional vulnerable cult members is:
1. Moon is of God.
2. God will fix all the problems in the world.
3. All I have to do is to humbly follow.
4. Then God will fix all that I fell overwhelmed by.
The most dangerous problem is that it creates separation: Us ⇔ Them, Right ⇔ Wrong, Good ⇔ Evil.

During Secret Knock 2015, Dr. Jeffrey Fannin performed an ECG scan on a person before and after a 90 minute Bars session. Fannin's findings were greater than anything he has seen in 16 years of neuroscience brain mapping research.

After 9 years close to Bhagwan, it took 21 years for Jane Stork to break her silence and tell her impressive story about her time as a Rajneeshee, how she was drawn to the "savior" cult leader and her long journey to find her peace. The interview has been conducted in German in Germany in 2009 and later dubbed into English.

As a young Catholic religious sister in a modern Vatican-centered bi-gendered monastic community "Geistliche Familie Das Werk" in Bregenz, Austria (2003-2011), Doris Wagner suffered various kinds of sexual abuse, including serial rape (in 2008) by Pater Alois Felder, mental control, spiritual manipulation, exploitation and sexual aggression. Once she had recovered from her massive existential depression at the brink of suicide she became a speaker/writer whistleblower on "Spiritual Abuse" in religious organisations. Pope Benedict XVI, who she knew in person, got furious at her first published exposure book in 2015. Dismissed from his position at the Vatican in Rome, the perpetrator still remained a priest, has neither acknowledged his crime nor suffered any legal consequences. The community stood by the perpetrator, yet denied support to the pennyless victim. Another Austrian priest who had requested to become her confessor, had massively assaulted her in the confessional. Refusing to admit any transgressions, Father Hermann Geissler submitted his resignation to the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith of the Church in January 2019.


Linkless media offering

  • Video interview Amy Biank, US American intuitive, tour guide, whistleblower, A John of God Whistleblower – Is he a Victim of Attack or a Monster, presented and hosted by Laura Eisenhower, YouTube film, 1:11:52 duration, posted 13. February 2019

Audio and video links (engl.) – Steven Hassan


Inherent danger in giving federal charitable funds for faith based organizations tied to cults

Seven warning signs of a pyramid scheme and multi-level marketing group

Masoud Banisadr, author of Masoud. Memoirs of an Iranian Rebel, SAQI Books, 2004, was the longterm representative of MeK to politicians
in the U.S. and Europe.

Destigmatization after having once been in a cult

Former members of Scientology are leaving in record numbers, despite the church's PR efforts.

Thought reform, psychology of totalism, destroying the world to save it, Nazi doctors

Working with people who have been subjected to undue influence



Linkless media offering

  • Audio interview with Steven Alan Hassan (*1954) US American ex-Moonie, cult exit educator, mental health consultant, author, Cult mind control, social categorization theory, and BITE model, presented by the US American Cult Free Radio, #011, host Mad Sweeney and guest host Terry, posted 20./21. November 2011

Documentary and movie links (engl.) – Cults

Deleted article Reverend Sun Myung Moon – Emperor of The Universe, produced by the BBC, 2000, presented by GreatMindsOnGod,
11. June 2012

  • Compare with: Promotion film on the Korean founder of the Unification Church Rev. Sun Myung Moon, presented by the Unification Church, YouTube film, 1:05:09 duration, posted 25. March 2012

 

Interne Links

(↓)

Usual pattern of disgraced gurus

Wiki-Ebene

Englisch Wiki

 

 

1 Siehe Shimano Archive

2 Study by John T. Chibnall, Ann Wolf, Paul N. Duckro, A National Survey of the Sexual Trauma Experiences of Catholic Nuns, presented by the quarterly journal Review of Religious Research, volume 40, No. 2, pp. 142-167, December 1998

3 Oxford Living Dictionaries

4 Article The Story Behind London's Largest Libel Case – Moonies Versus The Daily Mail, presented by the organisation Tparents.org, Mike Marshall, July 1981

5 See also: Entries The UC and Moon, undated

6 Article Sun Myung Moon, presented by the publication NNDB, undated

7 Learned Helplessness (LH) is defined as "the condition in which a person suffers from a sense of powerlessness, arising from a traumatic event or persistent failure to succeed."

8 Shunning/ostracism of people who quit the program, blaming non-A.A. spouses for relapses

9 Cult scoring of self-help group Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) Audio and video links (engl.) – Alcohol addiction – ⚡ Bill Wilson and J.R. (Randy) Richmond

10 Timeline and origins of D. Hawkins' Map of Consciousness

11 Timeline of long-term mass mind control administered by the parallel government / Timeline of CIA/Elite funded LSD experimentation, therapy and counterculture

12 Quotes by ⚡ H.G. Wells and brothers ⚡ Aldous Huxley and ⚡ Julian Huxley / Quotes – LSD intake for healing alcoholism and mind control purposes / Quotes by and on the interbred elitist families Darwin-Galton-Huxley-Wedgewood

13 Timeline of long-term mass mind control administered by the parallel government

14 Quotes by Gloria Steinem

15 Video TV documentary Documental Carlos Castaneda BBC (2006) [ORIGINAL] "Carlos Castaneda and The Shaman – Tales of The Jungle", presented by the British knowledge TV channel BBC Four, originally aired 15. January 2007, YouTube film, 57:57 minutes duration, posted 3. February 2018

16 Timeline of long-term mass mind control administered by the parallel government

17 Posthumeously revealed biographical data of David R. Hawkins' life / Quotes by and on the interbred elitist families Darwin-Galton-Huxley-Wedgewood

18 ⚡ Kinsey's K-bomb unleashed "sexual liberation" brutalization and political control

19 Quotes by Marshall Rosenberg

20 Critique – ⚡ ACIM resulting from CIA mind control

21 Critical external web links (engl.) – ACIM

22 Steven Alan Hassan (*1954) US American ex-Moonie, cult exit educator, mental health consultant, author, Combatting Cult Mind Control. The #1 Best-selling Guide to Protection, Rescue, and Recovery from Destructive Cults, Park Street Press, 1988, Destiny, 31. December 1994, 2015

23 Truth vs. Falsehood. How to Tell the Difference, S. 335, 2005

24 Truth vs. Falsehood. How to Tell the Difference, chapter 17 "Spiritual Truth", S. 398, 2005

25 Truth vs. Falsehood. How to Tell the Difference, S. 359, 2005

26 Truth vs. Falsehood. How to Tell the Difference, S. 359, 2005

27 Truth vs. Falsehood. How to Tell the Difference, S. 359, 2005

28 Truth vs. Falsehood. How to Tell the Difference, S. 359, 2005

29 Truth vs. Falsehood. How to Tell the Difference, S. 359, 2005

30 Sedona Seminar Spiritual Community, 3 DVD set, 28. June 2003

31 Truth vs. Falsehood. How to Tell the Difference, S. 359, 2005

32 Truth vs. Falsehood. How to Tell the Difference, S. 359, 2005

33 Article In Brief: "In the Shadow of the Moons", presented by the publication NYMag, Book Reviews, Vanessa Grigoriadis, 19. October 1998