Corboy notes on another forum that research shows how abusers get inside the heads of their victims:

A destructive mode of projective identification is delineated: a predator's catastrophic attack calculated to cause the victim a stress disorder marked by a disarrayed identity. This discomposure enables the perpetrator to aggrandize a manifold inroad upon the victim's identity to imprint, intrude, mingle and/or lodge his representation into it; to ravage, steal from, impoverish, and/or corrupt it; finally to have his representation emerge as an internal regulator of the traumatized prey's functioning. The victim's debased integrity is manifest in the symptoms of his ensuing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

This is an accurate description of Peter Young - to the extent that he actually openly admits he does this to people!
He says he attacks people for their own good (as evidenced by another poster on this forum); and he also openly states that only becoming exactly like him can any student hope to learn anything.
He then, directly and indirectly, makes sure each student believes he has "psychic powers" that allow him to read anyone's mind.
So, Peter Young gets his victims to participate in making Peter Young their internal regulator.
I know, because it happened to me, to my great shame.
That I've seen it happen to so many people is why I started this forum.

The rest of Corboy's post "Could tantric meditation on a guru permit boundary invasion?" also applies to Peter Young.
Peter Young doesn't even bother with the ruse of tantric meditation.

The ensuing PTSD described, linked to debased integrity, linked to a disarrayed identity, is very clearly expressed by another poster on this forum.

From this, I hope all of Peter Young's victims recognise PTSD for what it is.
It's not magic. It's deliberate destructive programming that can be measured - and treated.

And I hope all those thinking about risking being in contact with Peter Young understand the very real dangers of doing so.

A couple of quotes highly relevant to the Pathgate cult from this webpage on The Difficulties of Emerging from a Cult:

[sustainedaction.org]

"If they have to start thinking for themselves they will have to deal not only with the pain they ran away from in the first place, but also the realization that they were being manipulated and abused by Castaneda for years as well."
I had to overcome this difficulty in myself, and I have seen other people PY has brainwashed stop themselves from getting free because of this precise combination of reasons.
PY directly and openly commands his students: "Don't think".


"The exclusion of family and other outside contacts, rigid moral judgments of the unconverted outside world, and restriction of sexual behavior are all geared to increasing followers' commitment to the goals of the group and in some cases to its powerful leader."
This is precisely how Pathgate, PY's organisation, works.
I have witnessed PY, openly and clearly, tell his students that to go home at Christmas actually harms their families.
The warped logic goes like this:
The student is not enlightened, so going home for Christmas will bring unenlightened energy back to their families. Since it is unenlightened, it is cause for suffering.
Therefore, the individual is actively choosing to bring suffering on their loved ones if they want to go home for Christmas.
Instead, PY says, the student will learn to be enlightened if they attend PY's teachings over Christmas, so it is more loving towards one's family to stay away from them and attend further brainwahsing sessions.
Note, PY curses the individual just for wanting to go home for Christmas.
This way, even if the individual wasn't planning to go home, he causes everyone to feel bad.
Actually going home for Christmas is, of course, in PY's judgement far far worse, and results in massive negative reception from group members when the individual returns. Group members actively participate in this negativity because they are jealous of the people brave enough to have gone home.


"Some former cult members were happy during their membership, gratified to submerge their troubled selves into a selfless whole."
This is why PY's students, particularly the senior ones, are extremely dangerous.
They know that PY is a fake.
They prefer to sacrifice other people to PY's predation, than face their own troubled selves.


"... they had felt themselves powerless to carry out their desire to leave because of psychological and social pressures from companions and officials inside. They often speak of a combination of guilt over defecting and fear of the cult's retaliation -- excommunication -- if they tried. In addition, they were uncertain over how they would manage in the outside world that they had for so long held in contempt."
I have witnessed this amongst PY's victims.
They feel that the outside world is another planet.
Other posters on this thread illustrate how deeply and effectively PY programs his victims to fear retaliation for leaving.


"They get you to believing that they alone know how to save the world"
PY says that only he knows how to save the world (gain enlightenment).
He openly states that no other teacher should be listened to, no other books read, even if fully endorsed by Buddhist authorities, because either:
1. PY says it better.
2. Everyone else is wrong (despite being endorsed).
3. The student is so stupid that, even if they miraculously come across a source that is not simply wrong, she/he will misunderstand everything that has not been pre-vetted by PY.
PY constantly and vehemently warns his students against seeking to learn from any other source than him. He staes it will confuse the student, and cause them to lose any wisdom / blessing they gain from PY.
PY says this can happen even after years of studying with him: one wrong book read and the student has to start again from zero!
What PY is actually acknowlegding here is that if anyone compares what PY teaches to what real Buddhists teach, there will be confusion - because what PY teaches is fake.


"Many ex-cult members fear they will never recover their full functioning. Learning from the group that most of those affected eventually come to feel fully competent and independent is most encouraging for them."
I have had this fear, and I can testify that the journey to competence and independence is both possible and hugely rewarding.
It's worth it, and it does get better.
As we advance, we see clearer and clearer that these predators are pathetic individuals who failed at life and making any friends.
That human truth frees us faster and faster.

This is a revealing article excerpted from Prophetic Charisma:
[sustainedaction.org]

From the stories I've heard Peter Young tell about himself, this article about how and why people become "gurus", describes him accurately.
Those who read it will understand, scientifically, precisely why to some people it really looks like PY has metanormal abilities ... and that they are fake.

A few excerpts:

"The leader comprehends his environment 'only as an extension of his own narcissistic universe,' and he understands others 'only insofar--but here with the keenest empathy!--as they can serve as tools toward his narcissistic ends', ... the main point is that the charismatic personality possesses an acute perception of the feelings and behaviors of others. Yet he is unable to truly empathize with them, to feel within himself some resonance with their feelings. He interprets what he observes ... but not with any genuine opening of the heart. ... Lacking empathic responsiveness, he relates his observations to his beliefs rather than to his feelings."

"It is likely that in such persons the capacity for communication with another’s unconscious ... makes them a superspecialist in understanding unconscious states, while at the same time limiting their ability to understand ordinary life. Psychoanalyst Helm Stierlin relates this ability to narcissism."

"... narcissistic leaders are 'superempathic' with themselves ... the leader is recognized as charismatic only by those whose needs he addresses and whose values he shares. ... his superempathy with his self may appear as an extraordinary insight into the world as they know it."

"He learns to focus on their hurts ... and he urges them to identify their needs with his. ... to melt them into his personality, bringing them and their actions under his control. ... As his followers change, he may develop a steadily increasing contempt for them ... ."

"He is sustained by his subjective heroics--he is a legend in his own mind--and he tends to perceive other people as types and clichés rather than as individuals. When they behave differently from how he wills, proving that they are not part of his self, he feels rejected and treats their behavior as a personal affront, a frightening and mysterious disturbance to his solipsistic universe. Thus the prophet suffers when his reality is exposed as fantasy."

"The feeling is of watching a pattern of behavior that is consistent but strained ... too persuasive and reassuring to be real. ... as if, in needing to have an answer for everything in order to appear omniscient, the leaders had organized much of their personalities into bundles of memorized 'response sets' ... At times he may be remote, at other moments powerfully present, and later still, just peculiar."

All of PY's victims ("students") have witnessed for themselves how PY epitomises these last 3 paragraphs.
Even his most fundamentalist followers would agree they describe him.
In fact, if he read this, I think PY himself would absolutely agree this is an accurate description of him, and how he feels when anyone doesn't obey his every command.
To him, that pain he feels when he is not obeyed is proof of his godlike status. The worse he feels about the people around him, the more godlike he is.
He really is a legend in his own mind!
Donald Trump is another good example of this.

The old nursery rhyme: "I'm the king of the castle, and you're the dirty rascal" comes to mind.
Perhaps it resonates with children when they are developing through (natural) infant narcissism into healthy sense of self, what the article summarises as " ... reconcil[ing] the grandiosity of 'Mommy and I are one' with his need to achieve a secure ... identity'.
PY never developed beyond this nursery-rhyme-level of human interaction.
He does not have a secure identity.
That's why he HAS TO constantly show everyone that he is the king of the castle, and why he HAS TO constantly show everyone that they are dirty rascals.
This is a very good example of what the Buddhists identify as karma.
PY literally cannot stop himself from doing this, due to the choices he has made in his life.

One can have compassion for such a stunted, pain-filled, fear-driven person; but also we need to recognise they are extremely dangerous to everyone around them.
PY is a child in permanent tantrum, but with 60+ years of practice in making sure others share the torment of his internal experience.
That sharing is what you really get for your money when you go to one of his teachings.
He truly believes you deserve it.

These examples from "On Cults and Authoritarian control, the Guru Papers", are precisely how Peter Young's cult Pathgate functions:

[sustainedaction.org]

"Surrendering to a guru brings instant intimacy with all who share the same values. ... This opening consequently increases the emotional content of one’s life, bringing purpose, meaning, and hope. ... But this quick, one-dimensional bonding is based solely upon a shared ideology. No matter how intense and secure it feels, should one leave the fold, it evaporates as quickly as it formed.
... Being a disciple offers the closest approximation (outside of mental institutions) to the special configuration of infancy. ... This dependent state satisfies other longings that stem from infancy. ... disciples believe they are loved unconditionally, even though this love is conditional on continued surrender. ... Feeling totally cared for and accepted, at the universe’s center, powerful, and seemingly unafraid of the future are all achieved at the price of giving one’s power to another, thus remaining essentially a child.
... But more, that act of surrender itself can feel like giving up or at least diminishing one’s ego, which is presented as a sign of spiritual progress. ... If confused or in conflict, conforming to programming can make one feel immediately better.
... Repudiation of the guru (or even doubt and questioning) means a return to earlier conflict, confusion, and meaninglessness. ... Disciples will thus put up with a great deal of contradictory and aberrant behavior on the guru’s part, for doubting him literally means having their world fall apart. ... No deviation from the party line is allowed. Anyone who has thoughts or feelings contrary to the accepted perspective is made to feel wrong or bad for having them."

As illustrated by other posters on this thread, "feeling wrong or bad" is a very mild description of the torture-punishment PY programs into his victims for any deviation from his worldview.
The extract then summarises effectively:
"... Surrendering to those who present themselves as ... better ... perverts the true beauty and meaning of surrender. ... surrendering to another as the gateway to salvation keeps people dependent, childish, and living second-handedly.
... Surrender as an adult ... does not involve giving up one’s power or identity."

A very interesting article here: Scientists identify the "dark core" of personalilty.
This "dark core" of personality is perfectly illustrated by Peter Young.

[www.sciencedaily.com]

Egoism, Machiavellianism, narcissism, psychopathy, sadism, spitefulness ... are among the traits that stand for the malevolent dark sides of human personality. ... these traits share a common 'dark core'. So, if you have one of these tendencies, you are also likely to have one or more of the others.
... the common denominator of all dark traits, the D-factor, can be defined as the general tendency to maximize one's individual utility -- disregarding, accepting, or malevolently provoking disutility for others -- , accompanied by beliefs that serve as justifications.

Other posters on this thread state how Peter Young malevolently provoked disutility in them.
"rinpochehelpedme" also shows how buying into Peter Young's perverse beliefs justify those behaviours in a victim's mind.

nine of the most commonly studied dark personality traits:

Egoism: an excessive preoccupation with one's own advantage at the expense of others and the community.

Machiavellianism: a manipulative, callous attitude and a belief that the ends justify the means.

Moral disengagement: cognitive processing style that allow behaving unethically without feeling distress.

Narcissism: excessive self-absorption, a sense of superiority, and an extreme need for attention from others.

Psychological entitlement: a recurring belief that one is better than others and deserves better treatment.

Psychopathy: lack of empathy and self-control, combined with impulsive behaviour.

Sadism: a desire to inflict mental or physical harm on others for one's own pleasure or to benefit oneself.

Self-interest: a desire to further and highlight one's own social and financial status.

Spitefulness: destructiveness and willingness to cause harm to others, even if one harms oneself in the process

Peter Young openly asserts that he is entitled to behave in all of these manners.
Everyone who has ever come into contact with Peter Young will confirm he displays all of these behaviours - even those who believe he is a good person will not deny he engages in all these behaviours 24 hrs a day.

Seeing through Peter Young is simply a case of not buying into the justifications he calls beliefs / Buddhism.

The science is clear: Peter Young's dark core is the entirety of his personality.

To supplement what Anon has discovered, here's something:

[forum.culteducation.com]

thanks Corboy, the info on that link is exactly what I experienced.
Two points hit me particularly hard, and were very good to hear:

1. "People in totalist organisations are pressed so tightly together that their individuality is erased – as are any trusting interactions among them. Everyone is a ‘friend’ but true friendship is suppressed ... followers face a triple isolation: from the outside world, from each other within the closed system, and from their own internal dialogue, where clear thinking about the group might arise."
Peter Young openly directs (forces) his students into this "tight pressing".
In 20 years of observation of Pathgate, I've not seen one time when has this influenced any person in any positive way. It's all been hugely negative.

2. "Mary Main, the renowned attachment researcher at the University of California, Berkeley, called this type of fear-based relationship ‘disorganised attachment’. This has a two-fold result: a confused emotional bonding to the source of fear in a failed attempt to seek comfort, and a cognitive dissociation, that is, the inability to think about one’s feelings."
"Rinpochehelpedme" displays this confused emotional bonding in textbook manner.
(Not meant as a flame remark, I'm super sympathetic to it, as I was caught by it too).

Fallout from an initially trivial event amongst C-list celebrities in UK has brought to public light the set of abusive practices now known as "gaslighting".
This is very useful enlanguaging.
There's a clearly expressed article about it here:
[www.independent.co.uk]

"Ten years ago I’d never heard the term “gaslighting”. But I realised something wasn’t right when I began to believe the person telling me that my mind was betraying me. I hadn’t just been lied to, I’d systematically and consciously been manipulated into questioning my own cognisance, driven into a spiral of self-loathing and constant anxiety by the belief that my perceptions were irrational and wrong."

"Gaslighting ... is breaking down a person’s trust in their own mind – something so damaging it can take years to recover from. It’s a daily form of coercive manipulation designed to make someone so vulnerable and confused that they rely more on their abuser than on themselves. It exists in the same sphere of controlling behaviour as isolating someone from friends and family, making them entirely reliant on their [abuser]. A common form of gaslighting exists in the chillingly common abuser’s refrain: 'You can’t leave me – no one will ever love you like I love you'."

Gaslighting is Peter Young's primary method at Pathgate.

What's truly shocking is that Peter Young very openly forces people to question their own cognisance in this destructive way.
He claims it is the only method that breaks down the "non-elightened mind", and thus open the enlightened mind.
His victims believe this, decimating their own lives as a result.

The straightforward proof that this claim is a lie is: Peter Young uses fear and violence.
Only someone who knows they are in the wrong, and seeks manipulative power over another, uses fear and violence.
There is no need for fear and violence.
That is the big lie.
Objectively, in observable fact, across the world, throughout all recorded history, and today, in every field, fear and violence closes people off, shuts them down and reduces their capacity for development.

Someone who is working from good intent, and seeks another person's liberation, uses positive reinforcement.
This is scientifically true, psychologically true, pedagogically true, and spiritually true.
The Buddha also constantly told his followers to listen to their own minds, and to very beware of those fakers who taught anything else.

That is a very informative article.

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a URL for that article to Cult News.

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[cultnews.net]

From this article: [www.theguardian.com] , more useful enlanguaging (from Chinese): Pengci.

“Pengci ('porcelain bumping') ... refers to the practice of manufacturing drama to obtain a desired outcome. ... the term was coined to describe a technique used by fraudsters who would wait with delicate porcelain vessels outside busy markets and demand payment when these shattered, ostensibly due to the carelessness of others”.

From what I’ve read this scam is common to many cults, and I can vouch that Peter Young at Pathgate uses it extensively to extort his victims.

PY’s porcelain vessel is the fakery he teaches, claiming it is Buddhism.
PY very reguarly, openly (in public) fully blames his victims, both individually and as a group, when his “authentic teaching” produces no real results.
Surprise! The oh so valuble "porcelain vessel" is broken ... and second surprise, the victim is to blame!
PY then goes into big drama about it, thus manipulating his victims into feeling horrible about themselves, and at the same time like they owe him something.

Being ethnically Chinese, PY is notable for applying brainwashing, manipulation and rip off techniques common in the East, in particular those used by the Chinese Communist Party (such as public shaming).
Westerners usually aren’t culturally aware of these precise methods, so are more easily fooled / victimised by them. That there isn’t a word for this specific pengci scam in English is evidence of this.