lots of people , usually in late teens to late 20s , in their desire to find deep meaning, absolute truths. etc turn to all sorts of things. it seems that human construction comes packaged with an acute desire to appoint god figures....people need to worship...to appoint authorities outside themselves, divine or otherwise...season to taste...to take responsibility for all the stuff they cant handle......the burden of responsibility is to great....This desire to worship and be led has been ruthlessly exploited by politicians, rock promoters, cult leaders etc etc etc for a long time. And every new generation we get a new batch of stupid seekers and suckers. Like every decade or so we get the new hybrid-hindu hustler...remember maharishi mahesh yogi?..then we get krishna murti who tried to be a little more mainstraem...then we get bhagwan shree rajneesh with his fleet of rolls royces in oregon....( he became a father figure granting permissions and benedictions to the middle aged neurotics that entered his barrack-compounds...these were the deeply inhibited people that could only use there stunted genitalia if someone told then it was ok....and they only had to give him all their possesions to get his nod) then we get a modern huslter like deepak chopra, same crap in updated wrappers...and the idioits never wake......of course ISKON is for the truly demented...how people swallow this line of crap about a thumbnail sized blue deity with 20 arms ruling the universe...screw the metaphors...certainly sceew the literality....as i type this i have very little sympathy for the wolves or their sheep......anyone stupid enpugh for even a second to fall for any of these ploys deserves everything they get......if there is a god, take your pick , and he designs creatures with IQs so low that they buy these cons.....then I have nothing to say about it.....if some silly punk is lonely and sees a group of brainwashed idiots leaping around in the name of whatever deity it is that week...and decide it's a good way to get laid....and then ends up swallowing some shit he didn't expect...it's because hes a damn moron., and as for the meaning of life, it goes like this: first your force fed shit.....then you start to eat it on your own,,,then you start to like the taste...then you die from shit poisoning.....

Dave 11,

It may appear that they have chosen but most likely, they were in a highly vulnerable state and were "fed" exactly what they wanted/needed to hear for bait, then got hooked, then fleeced: mentally, emotionally and financially.

It works only on the vulnerable, the ones who have their critical - thinking web turned off.

You sound as if you are close to someone who got into deep waters....if so, I can relate....

PAX

It's a myth that coercive persuasion only works on the vulnerable. The predators actually look for a person's strengths as well as vulnerabilities, which we all have. My doctor was heavily involved in an LGAT, and he was very analytical, very well read, but also a major con artist. The LGAT used his charm and access to a huge pool of potential new customers - his patients.

But Hope, he was/is vulnerable thru being a con - artist no?

Possibly, even the more intelligent one is, the more vulnerable/susceptible
one might be?

Irregardless, the point is they have all been IMO, "back-doored" thru having laid out before the deception, exactly what it is they were looking for. My ex-wife, after being involved with another hypno/rip-off group simultaneously along with LEC (they LUV to meet LEC - attendees w/ $$$$$$ & the Multi-mile stare (my words) was asked by there "recruiter/reg'l rep" to submit (good word eh?) a list of 20 people who she thought might gain from attendence at their $5000 for-a-week shit-sling. Then was asked what was going on in their lives....beaucoup work hours, kid probs, marriage/relationships probs, etc....some sort of up-advan-info that he/she could laver on in a conversation later! For Ints...say 1 of your ami's on the fatal-20 list had recently lost her spouse in a motorbike spill...and was trying (vulnerable & intelligently) to deal with it....thru my ex-wife, she "non-chalantly meets Mr S. who, while meeting her for the 1st time (remember he has been "primed" with her background info) during the converse, mentions again non-chalantly "how well Mz Y is doing with our seminars after she lost Dizzy in that motorcar damage event....I'm sure you get the idea of what goes on..it is IMO, easy recruiting if one is good at selling shit shamelessly (shall we talk about Narcissm also?)

Enough rambles for now...

Somehow the twine that binds is in all of our hands, no matter what side of the rope you have been dealt to deal with, whether the aware side or the "used" side. IMO, we somehow still have the ability, experience, to possibly help each other, if we listen to what is being said, instead of reacting toi the words.

PAX

iskon....IS a CON

people aren't merely receptive to messages and hypnotic oration.......they are also like swarms of gnats that orbit streetlights in the summer. first you start with something bright and sparkly, or sweet and sticky.....anything perceived as "attractive" and this can be a speech by Hitler or a candy bar with a garishly colored wrapper. If more then one person is attracted by the lure...even if its by nothing more then wide open blank-eyed curiosity...then another person will notice the first person and now we have 2 slack jawed cow eyed people watching. That is enough to begin the pooling effect...more will come for no other reason then that there are already 2 assembled...it isnt necessary to analyze this feature...it is already irreducible,,,it can be called part of the "genetic architecture" of the species for lack of some more precise term. and i agree that people of "higher intelligence" are often the first in the door. Lets say we have a high IQ person that is also young and /or emotionally inexperienced or volatile and experientially limited. Or like many smart people is frustrated and dissatisfied with the boring mundane options that life offers......hard work.....gradual advancement........shitty jobs etc.....so the person is looking for something "different" and is more inclined to bend the physics of common sense to adapt to his frustration and the probable lonlinesss that comes with it. and now...voila.......he finds a whole new crowd of people...and this offers the possibility of meeting pals or lovers.....and so what if it comes with a thumbnailsized blue deity with 10 arms that rules the universe by playoing a flute........I think the most powerful lure for any organization that wants believers for its own ends (which are usually econmic) is the simple fact of crowd magnetism...and like any growing entity...the larger it becomes..the more powerful the gravitational force...this type of social physics is just as true as the gravitational force found with inorganic objexts...and anyone can see endless examples in history..or just go to a sports arena or concert etc.
One more word on money...the most dangerous cults are led bt people who are "true believers" where money actually isn't the issue...then we get the Jim Jones and Marshall Applewhites.....these are the freaks that lead their flocks right out of this world and then we get the bloated decomposing corpses.......ahh well....lets here it for free will

I don't know Ulta. He went to all the LEC programs so he could learn them to use them. It doesn't seem to me like it was a vulnerability. He had studied various kinds of hypnosis, breath work, various approaches to altered states of consciousness. I'm guessing he wasn't sucked in in the usual way attendees are, unless you are saying his need to control was the vulnerability that made him open his wallet and fork over his money.

I have been studying this mix of vulnerability and intelligence that sometimes seem to co-exist in young victims of sects, cults, incestuous groups. Some subversive and controlling groups seem to violate the individuality of someone, gain access to the youthful human urge to spiritual knowledge and then use the intelligence of the person to their own ends.
When youth culture today is so crammed with garbage and shoddy choices, it makes sense that some of the most intelligent kids with a lot of potential and idealism are looking for something other than video games and fashion icons. Thus, it seems that they are easily targeted for "enslavement" and "conversion" for some of these predators. One of the groups being discussed on the forums seem obsessive about any young person they snare. They focus on detatching young people from their own families of origin and setting up an either/or dynamic that demands complete loyalty to the organization. Attempting to damage bonded families is beneath contempt, designating a young person as no more than an "object."

Quote
Hope
It's a myth that coercive persuasion only works on the vulnerable. [b:4f5bdf670e] The predators actually look for a person's strengths as well as vulnerabilities, which we all have.[/b:4f5bdf670e] My doctor was heavily involved in an LGAT, and he was very analytical, very well read, but also a major con artist. The LGAT used his charm and access to a huge pool of potential new customers - his patients.

Excellent Post!

Hi everyone!

I'm new to the forum and very happy to be here! This is the kind of group therapy I've been looking for.

I am destructive cult survivior still searching for answers as my experiences are leading me into studying for a future career in counseling trauma survivors of mind control groups and methods.

Destructive & Authoritive cults are masters at studying your strengths and weaknesses in order to manipulate and recruit its membership.

Knowlegde is the best prevention and protection.

Thanks again for a powerful exchange of thoughts! :D

Please explain your direct involvement with the cult through personal face-to-face physical contact.

It seems from other posts that you may have never had any direct physical contact with the group, but rather met people on-line without actually attending meetings or events.

Is this true?

Also, what direct action has been taken by authorities regarding any report you may have filed concerning harassment or stalking?

Please answer these questions specifically.

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rrmoderator
Please explain your direct involvement with the cult through personal face-to-face physical contact.

I've shared this in another thread.

The first traumatic experience with my former cultic environment ended 3 years ago. I have recieved thus far no harassment or stalking from this group.

Most of my experiences shared on this website is about a cult group online from another website actions against me.

Quote
rrmoderator
It seems from other posts that you may have never had any direct physical contact with the group, but rather met people on-line without actually attending meetings or events.

Is this true?

Yes, this is true. I never met the parties in person. My contact was via internet (message board), I spoke with a few people via telephone but never attended any of their meetings.

Quote
rrmoderator
Also, what direct action has been taken by authorities regarding any report you may have filed concerning harassment or stalking?

Please answer these questions specifically.

Investigation pending.

If my story regarding stalking concerns you I will move on to sharing other details of my experiences within the former cultic environment.

I initially mentioned stalking in response to another thread where a poster shared a story about experiencing slander and harassment after leaving the Move organization which I identified with some of her experiences.

Thank you