Yes, and shocking, too, to realize that as far back as 1983, at least some people realized this whole guru business was a matter of hypnosis. In fact, it was well enough known for someone to make a documentary about it.
The book I mentioned at the bottom of page 2, Dennis R. Wier's Trance: From Magic to Technology, is another take on the same thing. There is one unsatisfactory (for me) ch
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"Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"