Other ways you can be researched after you join a high control group.

Suppose after you join a group, you go to India, to visit some shrine that is an honored part of its history.

If you update facebook, or use mobile devices and tweet a lot, you may, without realizing it, leave a trail of information about who you chose to associate with.

You may go on to visit Amritsar and discover the Sikh music at the Golden Temple is far more to your liking than the music created by artists favored by your guru or group. Or in India, someone may introduce you to the music of Nusrat Fatah Ali Khan, and you may innocently blog or tweet that his music has greater depth and then make the mistake of commenting that its not facile or sentimental like music you've previously been exposed to.

You may come back to your US ashram and discover people are mad at you because you saw more merit in another musician than in the sugary inspirational stuff that only your ashram musicians know how to write.

By contrast, you may write that when in India, you felt depressed, but all you needed to do was listen to your own ashram music and everything was great. You will come home and be in favor. And not know why. But.. in your tweets or blogs you will have revealed that your default coping mechanism is to go right to the pablum music written in your group. By contrast, if you persistently reveal you prefer the music from Amritsar or from an uninterrupted non commercialized quawwali tradition--that signals you are willing to explore options beyond your ashram and its teachings--and land you on the shit list as not being docile enough.

And no one will tell you that.

Without knowing it, you may when visiting the shrine, tweet or blog that you've had great conversations with person X, and not know that person X is hated by your guru.

You may come home and discover you are in disgrace and not be told why.

Or during that visit, you may associate only with persons already approved of by your guru and they may send back favorable reports.

You will come home, find yourself in favor, and not know why.

Ambitious construction projects can be a problem.

Its easy to run over budget. Members may be under pressure to contribute, if they have businesses, to increase their prices. Or take out loans or mortgages they cannot afford, all the keep the building project on track.

A group may claim it is apolitical. But if it benefits from US tax exemption for spiritual projects, then aquires property and engages in an ambitious building project, thats political.

Urban Dictionary:

Quote

Edifice Complex
(n.)An Edifice Complex is a serious budget-busting illness that typically manifests itself on modern college and university campuses. Soon after their inauguration, an incoming university president will frantically and feverishly fall all over themselves to relentlessly badger wealthy donors and students for the purposes of leaving a mark with their name on it on the campus by constructing a new, over-priced, prime parking lot removing, ten-story structure post-modern eyesore whose purpose is solely to house administration, their support staff, and grace the cover of university brochures and websites. Faculty and students then are given the vacated, broken down, second and third string buildings for use as classes and offices.
Friend 1) Dude, I barely made it to class on time, even though I got on campus forty minutes ago! WTF?!

Friend 2)Well, my friend, out new president's got Edifice Complex so bad he took out all the prime parking to construct another building with is name on it. And then tripled the price of a parking permit to pay for the damn thing.

2. edifice complex
a keen desire of a public or educational administrator to construct a building or buildings(a pun on Oedipus complex)
The principal seems to have an edifice complex.

www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Edifice%20Complex - 30k - Cached - Similar pages


The Edifice Complex: How the Rich and Powerful Shape the World ...Everything is political, especially architecture, Sudjic demonstrates in this
provocative consideration of the world's most notable architectural triumphs and
the ...
www.amazon.com/The-Edifice-Complex-Powerful.../1594200688 - 309k - Cached - Similar pages

It can sometimes be an advantage for a guru or magus or leader to behave in ways that are boring, eccentric or even disgusting.

Why?

Because persons who cannot adjust or find ways to accept such behavior will leave. Those persons are potential dissenters.

Persons who can rationalize and adjust to such behavior remain.

Suppose a guru or alleged spiritual master is scheduled to lecture at 7:30 pm and arrives over 45 minutes late.

Persons who refuse to wait and who leave -- they are the potential dissenters. Or persons who consider their own time valuable enough that they refuse to allow someone to waste it.

Persons who remain and accept the guru's late arrival are more likely to be obedient.

An ability to tolerate a guru's provocative behavior does not mean that a person is lacking in social acuity or intelligence.

Persons in this catagory may be ones who have grown up in families with a high tolerance for eccentricity. Very many persons may have come from settings rife wih addiction or social chaos.

If this is your background, you may have been preformatted to tolerate and rationalize strange, even insulting behavior. And learned to do so before being old enough to think, and at an age when enduring fear and boundary intrusion were your only options.

So one may reach adulthood, become well educated and successful, yet retain difficulty setting limits or feeling appropriate annoyance when somone, especially an authority figure behaves obnoxiously. If you live in an area where one is forbidden to be 'judgmental', this can make it even more difficult to trust one's feelings of fear or disgust when a guru acts out.

Persons who readily adjust to eccentric behavior do not 'choose' to do so. Its a style learned to survive. And many persons who come from such family backgrounds already have a sense of chronic shame internalized from witnessing frightening and ambiguous behavior. This can be readily manipulated by an unscrupulous leader.

(One form of odd behavior that I have seen and read about that is favored by many male gurus is constant, unpredictaable giggling. This can be confusing and yet oddly beguiling.

But beware.

Giggling and wiggling is NOT a substitute for answering questions in a satisfactory and respectful manner. Dont be satisfied by platitudes and giggles. No matter how famous or holy the person.

If some person is an adult and received bows, adultation, and is treated as a monarch/spiritual authority, one is entitled to get more than platitudes and giggles, especially if in addition to bowing, one pays money and gives up time to go to one of these shindigs.

Another example of "name dropping".

From the De-Commissioned discussion forum.

[forum.gcmwarning.com]

This is from a discussion of a campus religious group (The Great Commission) that demands such a heavy commitment that studies and extracurricular activity go by the wayside.

Quote

GCX manipulates kids away from study and subsequently from good grades and graduation, then they call these kids 'the committed ones' or 'the core group.'

At the same time they call those kids who focus more on study than on the hurch 'the peripheral ones' or 'the fringe group.'

Then when caught having to justify their tactics with the kids, they point to 'the fringe group' as evidence that the church does not steer kids away from study, good grades, and graduation.

They get to have their cake and eat it too.

The first contributor wrote

Quote

Topic: To any parents of students attending WCCC (Read 2653 times)
trthskr
Regular (15-99 Posts)
**
Offline Offline

Posts: 40
To any parents of students attending WCCC
« on: March 27, 2011, 12:06:29 pm »

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Re-consider spending your money at an expensive, private institution if your student has become involved with this group. The level of involvement expected does not allow for any extra time to be spent in other extracurricular activities, and a high level of commitment to their education will be discouraged.

I learned this the hard way

A description of a lengthy social commute that monopolizes time and attention.

Quote

Work, school, family, friends are all secondary to evangelism.

If you miss work or classes because of the mission trip that you're on, it's all good.

But if you miss a church event because of work or school, you weren't committed enough. You took the easiest classes you could to get by so you had more time for evangelism.

Woe to anybody that took a job outside Des Moines. They are basically considered selfish, worldly people unless of course you chose a job in a city where there was a sister church.

International students are held on to by any means rather than letting them go home. The church would rather pay for them to continue going to school or give them a job or even get a religious worker visa for them just so they can continue going to church. And everybody that the church helps to stay in town, local or international, is basically indentured to the church.

Quote

This shows how (one group) operate on the fringes, luring in people into fad diets and other "alternative" views or practices (such as drinking Hydrogen Peroxide) by posting seemingly interesting information which is designed purely to promote Desteni....

The post at the blog called "30 Bananas a Day... Sucks!" is the 18 year old author's description of struggling with dieting to get rid of acne, and then finding Desteni where they were apparently put on the straight and narrow as re: their diet.

"The fringes" is a social zone full of concepts and social offerings that have, for various reasons, not been fully accepted into the mainstream. Such as the 30 Bananas a Day diet.

People already utilizing products or strategies offered in this 'alternative/fringe' realm are the target market for Destini.

Because there are two other features of this zone, as described by sociologists.

*Rejection of critical thinking.

*Incompatible ideas or doctrines are treated as interchangeable -- only possible when people are not concerned about logical inconsistencies.

* Many merchants and leaders within this zone claim to be visionaries, cutting edge, revolutionaries. But all too often, they do not provide liberating alternatives to mainstream culture, but are as exploitative as the worst capitalists within mainstream culture.

More here:

Oppositional Subcultures and Cultic Milieu. When one is oppositional to the mainstream, one steps into a frontier zone where protection of the vulnerable (mandated by mainstream society) is no longer taken as a basic human right.

[forum.culteducation.com]

Quote

It may mean that there is a subgroup and a very important one in society where persons will go for precisely those advisors who ARE unlicensed, and because such persons present themselves as offering emancipatory alternatives to a mainstream culture whose healing resources and personnel are deemed inadequate, or as agents of oppression.

Critical thinking and fact checking are deemed part of the oppressive, unloving mainstream culture.

The tragedy is many leaders who claim to offer themselves as frontier heroes and heroines, as liberating us from mainstream culture, are all too often secretly using the worst and most oppressive tools of maintream culture (marketing techniques designed to induce craving and herd mentality, hiring attorneys to craft disclaimer/waiver forms in which subjects sign away their rights as citizens to sue for damages if harmed), and the bandits are bandits because they use their power without any of the best and wisest features of mainstream culture that enable us to think consciously about power itself and identify whether it is being used benevolently and wisely (ethos of care, accountability for the great power one wields in relation to those who trust to your claims as a healer).

Cultic Milieu a Possibly Helpful Concept?

[forum.culteducation.com]

Recruitment zones for Cultic Milieu

[forum.culteducation.com]

Now this is what distinguishes a cult from cultic milieu. An operator savvy enough to manipulate the social context.

When someone who has recruited members from the fringes, then gains respectability in the mainstream, while presenting his or her project as respectable, full of respectable persons (who may not be in on the full secrets) while working for noble social justice projects, or running schools (eg Waldorf) or contributing to the art scene.

Quote

It wasnt just his own members Jones manipulated--he used members of the SF political establishment as chess pieces, and used his social justice projects as flypaper.

Here is a present day example of how this strategy works:

(quote)Former cadre Whitnack believes by maintaining the pretense of the mutual benefit association, NATLFED entities keep their organization alive, retain high profile members and business partners, and appear like a just another service group.

“They have a ton of doctors and lawyers,” says Whitnack. “The bigger fish, they let them have independence. They don’t want to lie to them. It’s all basically flypaper to suck in new members.”

[politicalcults.blogspot.com]

[forum.culteducation.com]

Quote

To repeat--Jones did not just manipulate his immediate followers.

Jones brilliantly manipulated the context--social, political, even journalistic-- in which people made thier choices.

He didnt just put items on the menu--he chose the paper that menue was printed on!

We cant stand to face the extent to which the context of our choice making can be manipulated.

But if we can face this steadily, this awareness is infinitely more liberating than any ideology of false empowerment which claims 'there are no victims' and 'you are free to leave.'

By using his charm and social justice projects, Jones adroitlynot only ran a cult--he also manipulated the paracultic milieu as well--the secular and political social context of the City of San Francisco.

It wasnt just his own members Jones manipulated--he used members of the SF political establishment as chess pieces, and used his social justice projects as flypaper

For more, read here:

[forum.culteducation.com]

This quotation is from a much longer article. The full article is well worth reading, as is the other material on the blog.


This item, from someone's blog, might be helpful.

[pitfallsofspirituality.blogspot.com]

"The question for this post remains:

How can I, personally, just for me, decide whether I am deluding myself (or am being led to delude myself)?

I think part of the answer lies in `unease'.

Accepting some form of unease for a prolonged period of time might well lead me to a serious form of self-delusion. (You might call this the heart-approach)

Another part lies in: `face the facts'. Making a factual list of the important issues, I might be able to pierce through the cognitive dissonance avoidance mechanism. (You might call this the mind-approach)."

------------------------------------------------

Earlier the author writes how many groups (he was in Sahaj Marg/Sri Ramachandra Mission (SRCM) use a partial truth approach, especially when recruiting newcomers.

[pitfallsofspirituality.blogspot.com]

(quote)skip to main | skip to sidebar pitfalls of spirituality
a personal blog about spirituality, spiritual methods and movements.

Dear reader
Why do I write about pitfalls of spirituality?

My purpose with this blog is to crystallize and share my thoughts and experiences, in the hope that you and I may benefit from them. From 1993-2005 I practiced a so-called spiritual method (Sahaj Marg). Ultimately I realized that this method - and especially the organization around it (Shri Ram Chandra Mission or SRCM)- was contrary to some deep spiritual layer in myself. I came to some clear conclusions, and also to some still developing insights.

One still developing insight is that almost everybody is looking for some form of spirituality in their life. Therefore there are many spiritual methods and movements, often with similar pitfalls to the ones I experienced.

Many people follow a well-trodden path which is defined by the group in their immediate vicinity. Others are prompted by their heart and/or head to look for spirituality that makes sense on a personal level. Spirituality gives fulfillment -humanity as one, universal love growing, one with the buddha- as well as direction through life's tough questions.

I write about the pitfalls of spirituality because so many others seem to write mostly about the bliss of their own approach to spirituality. This bliss to me actually seems a pitfall.

Understanding the pitfalls I deem essential to gain more spiritual insight. For me this actually translates into a lighter and more loving heart. I do not believe that understanding is the key issue in spirituality. But I do believe that misunderstanding can block key issues (although to which degree probably varies with each person).

Please bear with my frequent use of I feel, seems to me, in my not so humble opinion and so on. It is to emphasize that I do not consider any of my opinions to be more than that. I cannot bring you universal truth. In my not so humble opinion [imnsho] universal truth is a major pitfall in spirituality.

Dear reader, I hope you find something worthwhile on these pages. Friendly reactions, which may be as critical as you like, are always welcome.

Tips how to read this blog
* Please start with the closing remarks (click on the link), they should provide a balanced perspective on this blog.

* There is a list of 20 pitfalls in the sidebar. Clicking on a pitfall will provide a number of posts in which that pitfall is discussed to some extent.

* If you have time, consider starting with the oldest post, and simply going through to each next post. This probably gives the most faithful ;-) reading...

Showing posts sorted by relevance for query "partial truth". Sort by date Show all posts Showing posts sorted by relevance for query "partial truth". Sort by date Show all posts
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Partial truth, secrets & things unsaid

OK. From my last comment on the previous post, one more pitfall strikes me as occurring commonly enough to mention separately.

In many spiritual movements (religions included), there are things unsaid and unrevealed, especially to `newcomers'. For instance, one may start out innocently in our Spiritual Movement, and slowly notice that all the top executive functions in the Pyramid and even almost all the midlevel executive functions are filled by men. So then one asks: `how come?'. And only then it turns out that in the philosophy of the Movement, the spiritual essence of `woman' is seen as different from the spiritual essence of `man', leading to the conclusion that men and women need to be separate at meditation and that the Guru can never be a woman, and all sorts of other consequences.

Truly Interested Seeker (TIS): `But you said spirituality unites? You said we are all humans, and we should not distinguish between race, age, poor, rich, man, woman,...yet here you are, drawing this thou-shalt-not-cross-line down the middle?'

Orthodox reply (OR): ` As one progresses on the Spiritual Path, insight grows. In the beginning, our Leader kindly takes the hand of the seeker, and slowly reveals the Truth according to the capacity and condition in the practicant. Do not doubt, doubt poisons the heart and weakens the will. Although man and woman are equally important, they are not spiritually equal, it is a given of Nature. As your heart sheds its old beliefs and false western preconceptions of emancipation, you will progress to the next stage.'

#####

Of course such examples of enlightenment-in-degrees set the stage for a glorious role of Partial Truth.

Partial Truth is where one can claim: I never lied to you, I just didn't tell you everything. A nice example of this (I think):

I push your car in the canal at night. You come back the following day, and think it stolen. I say: `One never knows, perhaps someone pushed it into the canal'. Did I lie?

#####

Partial truth is the perfect strategy to avoid confrontation, and yet still maintain a facade of truthfulness. It is an essential ingredient of manipulation. To be continued. (unquote)

and

(quote)I'm talking about the large majority of cases where telling partial truth -leaving important things unsaid, hidden- or even lying is simply an instrument to avoid confrontation, or for personal gains. In a large majority of cases, I think we know what the truth is, or we know so enough, but we choose to tell only a part of it.

All a part of la condition humaine, I suppose. Still, for me it is a spiritual tenet to strive for truth, honesty, transparency / openness. The fact that we're not on that level yet doesn't mean for me that it would not be better if people were more honest with each other.

I believe this tenet to be advocated by most spiritual movements. Be truthful. Don't deceive. Yet many spiritual movements practice a graded truth in their Pyramid. And many spiritual movements keep things hidden, unsaid, unknown but to the Inner Circle. Examples of things kept hidden:


Financial holdings & dealings for instance, to be sure! But also controversies, power struggles, power abuse, sexual indulgence, other not so holy-looking behaviour, well the list of cover-ups is probably endless.
Marketing strategies for new books (what and when to release, what price to ask). Proselytization strategies (where to hold gatherings, which countries to visit, what message to give to newcomers, how to ensure retention of (new) practicants).

Also, and not as infrequently as one would think!, secrets and secret rites, initiations, secret organizational groups, secret meetings.

Parts of the spiritual theory (to be revealed when a practicant is singled out as a trainer or priest-like functionary)

Less-than-shiny details of its History

Criticism of the Movement by serious well-meaning people



#####

Suppose our generic Spiritual Movement consistently shows any or many signs of the above. In all honesty I do not see how one can rhyme this with `be truthful'. Apart from other unwanted effects, it also comes down to separating humanity once again: `Us in the know' and `Them not in the know'.

As I wrote earlier, uniting humanity to me seems a worthy spiritual endeavour although we are surely a far cry from such unification. To me, many of the pitfalls that are discussed on this blog actually hamper us in becoming united.

For me, to respect you and to feel connected, I cannot willingly deceive you. The same, but more difficult perhaps, holds for me deceiving myself as well. If I am honest to myself, only then can I be honest to you. Making mistakes, holding less-than-desirable thoughts, reacting `badly', it's all part of the game. To play the game sportingly, with respect and with others as my equals, this to me means that conscious deception of any form is out of bounds - ball to the other side...;-) so no moral pressure but you get my drift.

(unquote)

The owner of this blog has essays on several topics. Pour yourself a tall beverage and read.
[pitfallsofspirituality.blogspot.com]

20 Pitfalls of spirituality
1: Spiritual guidance
2: Universal truth & absolute truth
3: Bliss & happiness, pain & sorrow
4: Morality & moral pressure
5: Before & after life
6: Wonders & miracles
7: Money
8: Power
9: Belonging & fulfillment
10: Group dynamics
11: Us & them
12: Woman & man (gender, sexuality, homosexuality)
13: Ego & selflessness
14: Mind & heart, logic & feeling
15: Fear & temptation
16: Spiritual energy, holy energy, transformation power
17: Positive thinking & groupthink
18: Obedience
19: Partial truth, secrets & things unsaid
20: Cognitive dissonance avoidance & boundary control
A

Corboy note: Readers should be aware that the author of this perceptive essay is keeping things simple.

He does not list expenses for items that many gurus and leaders reward themselves with in private, such lavish artwork, hefty expenses for interior decoration and furniture, expensive cars, platinum grade plane tickets jewelry, clothes.

Some gurus fancy themselves musicians and may have additional expenses for recording equipment, a private studio or theatre for recording, mixing and production of in-house music. Does the guru need a private gym/swimming pool installed? Thats expensive, too.


If a guru is aging, he or she may opt for plastic surgery. That isnt cheap. (Easty to hide, though. The guru can go on a retreat, slip into a private clinic someplace and return when all healed up and bruises are gone)

The author also does not factor in expenses for a guru's relatives. Some gurus may have relatives who look to them to finance the clan's medical expenses, their children or grandchildren's college educations or weddings--a heavy expense in India and Pakistan, btw.

Money, selfperpetuation, accountability

[pitfallsofspirituality.blogspot.com]

"In the field of spirituality there are actually very little material necessities, so there is in fact very little real spiritual need for money. A small budget goes a long long way if one sticks to the spiritual essence.

But this cannot remain so if one wishes to `secure the Future of the Movement and its Pyramid'. This wish for self-perpetuation brings with it the 5 Goals. And for this Serious Money is necessary. This Serious Money will buy influence, land, places of practice/worship, books and other missionary activities, juridic securities such as trademarking the Movement's name, good lawyers, professional services in every necessary field. It will provide recognizance from governments, banks, local authorities, and any other entity which comes along.

To be really sure of Money, not only now but also in the future, many if not most organizations (such as NGO charities for instance) look to establish a Trust Fund, which invests the available money to yield an optimal interest. Ideally, this interest should at any time suffice to pay for the then-current needs of the Movement.

#####

Assuming that one cannot safely expect such yield to be higher than say 5% per year, this means that the Trust Fund has to be 20 times larger than what the Movement needs in a given year. And if the Movement grows, then to maintain the 5 Goals its financial needs also grow, and so its Trust Fund must grow accordingly.

This is -I think- a very real explanation for the many money schemes that one sees around Spiritual Movements (and to be honest, many other `charitable organizations' as well).

Because people are asked to donate for building churches / meditation halls / hospitals / natural disaster relief / publishing books /... where in fact, most of the money goes into the Trust Fund. They are sold books, audiovisual materials, you name it, all under the cry: we need money to help the needy and stricken...where in fact it is the Trust Fund which needs to grow.

#####

But the very aim of `securing the future of the Movement' to me seems very unspiritual. It shows a rather profound lack of faith in God, if I may be so bold to point this out. God surely doesn't care under what name or form humanity grows spiritually, I would say. A spiritual movement which cannot obtain directly what little it really needs, doesn't seem worthy of a Trust Fund at all. Self-perpetuation of the Movement is contrary to the natural change of things. Change is the only aspect of Nature we can really be sure of. Change to me is a spiritual value.

Not to mention that hoarding money in a Trust Fund has several very unspiritual drawbacks. Firstly: this money is not available to give the direct help which is really necessary NOW in many parts of the world.

Secondly, the investment of the money in the Trust Fund is often left to financial professionals whose expertise is in the increase of money. NOT in whether this increase of money was brought about in an ethical let alone spiritual way.

Just last year, a documentary in the Netherlands revealed that many charitable NGO's had invested large sums of money in the weapon industry, and other enterprises which were often diametrically opposed to what the charities collected money for.

Thirdly, the managing of large amounts of money unfailingly brings with it the pitfalls of greed, mismanagement, cover ups etc. Please read this article in the National Catholic Reporter as an illustration of what I mean.

#####

How to avoid all these complex pitfalls? Strangely, the answer is simple [imnsho]: transparency & accountability.

Transparency of goals and means and organization. This means that we tell everyone, in a simple and clear way, what we really aim for. And how we intend to achieve this materially and organizationally.

Public accountability of assets and liabilities, and all material transactions. This means that we tell everyone, in a simple and clear way, how much money and property we really have. And also what we have done with it, and why."

Techniques used by Gurus to control

In the same vein as the previous post, I repeat a post from Michaels blog. It gives a different perspective on many of the pitfalls discussed here, and may be easier to recognize for some.

######
Seven Techniques Used By Gurus to Control The Masses (by Michael, from his blog Inner Circle of SRCM)

[pitfallsofspirituality.blogspot.com]

(quote)Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Techniques used by Gurus to control

In the same vein as the previous post, I repeat a post from Michaels blog. It gives a different perspective on many of the pitfalls discussed here, and may be easier to recognize for some.

######
Seven Techniques Used By Gurus to Control The Masses (by Michael, from his blog Inner Circle of SRCM)

Establish High Ideals

• Establish noble, high sounding principles, such as selfless service, closeness to God, and brotherly/sisterly love.

• Insist that your teachings are free and the birthright of all.

**• Demonstrate charity in a highly visible manner.

Define and Enforce Exclusivity in the Organization

• Every Guru must have an exclusive hook to differentiate themselves from others.

• The exclusive nature of the system or Guru must be re-emphasized at every opportunity.

• Disciples are trained to also extol the virtues of the system’s exclusivity in every conversation.

Exploit a Higher Authority

• Designate a “Higher Authority” that can be attributed to for literally everything.

• Higher Authority must be easily identifiable by disciples. Abstract higher authorities such as “God” are generally not as effective as a dead person.

• It is critical that the Guru can claim to be in direct communication with this Higher Authority.

• The Guru’s example of love and servitude to this Higher Authority serves as an example to disciples as to how to treat their Guru.

• Miracles, which happen naturally in an emotionally charged environment, can be attributed to this Higher Authority

• Disciples will naturally transfer all things credited to the Higher Authority to their living Guru.

Establish and Maintain an Inner Circle

• Guru creates contentious environment around themselves for people to earn their trust.

• Those who fight the hardest and most effectively for inner circle status are rewarded with positions of authority and grandeur.

• The Guru must treat inner circle members with strictness and humiliation when necessary to maintain their loyalty and subservience.

• The Hierarchy established through the Inner Circle is a critical tool for a Guru to maintain exclusive control as the organization grows.

Foster the Image of Humility

• The Guru will exploit any ailments or physical injuries to get sympathy by silently suffering.

• If no physical ailments exist, the Guru can use exhaustion from serving his disciples as an ailment.

• The Guru does not directly complain about ailments, but uses the Inner Circle to propagate stories of his humble suffering for the cause.

Establish and Maintain Total Control

• Demand total devotion and trust

• Guru uses their own total devotion and trust to their “Higher Authority” as an example

• Blame all disciples failings on not having sufficient faith in the Higher Authority or lack of dedication to the practice.





• Establish an organization to hold and manage wealth collected.

• Exploit that wealth through the organization, not directly

• Enjoy the services of devoted disciples as their expression of devotion to the Higher Authority(unquote)

Message to walter1963--your PM mailbox is full