This letter was written 34 years ago, in response to an article about abuses perpetrated by Baba Muktananda of Siddha yoga and Richard Baker, abbot of San Francisco Zen Center.
Though written such a long time ago, the anonymous author's insights may sound familiar.
CoEvolution Quarterly's editor wrote:
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Regarding the kind of total allegiance to a guru that characterizes SYDA and similar groups, a former follower of Muktananda who requested anonymity had this to say:
'What makes Siddha Yoga so hard to get out of is that it's like a lobster trap of the mind: easy to blunder into if you're not careful but almost impossible to escape from without help.
The guru's greatest crime is not his hypocrisy, not the fact that he impersonates God, but that fact that he impersonates you.
Of course you can differ with God's judgement. But once you accept the the premise that the guru is really you, your own True Self, and that what you think is you is not you but only a vicious imposter (ego), then you cannot differ with your own Self.
All faith-thoughts come from ego your true inner Self, all doubt-thoughts come from ego, all good things that happen to you are Guru's Grace, all bad things that happen to you are your own karma: you're in the lobster trap.