Jesus said, "the kingdom of heaven is within you." He didn't say, "the kingdom of heaven will be within you if you only... meditate...say this mantra...accept a particular belief system...(fill in your cult's preferred practice here)." Any belief system that tells you to look outside yourself is at best a misguided lie. The blind leading the blind. Unfortunatel
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Thank you for this post, RUN_FOREST_RUN. Succinctly put. My concerns exactly. When I asked my Swami, 'why isn't Radha mentioned in the Gita?' I was told, 'the whole Gita is about Radha!' What??? Although I love many of the verses in the Gita, I wonder if the whole Radha-Krishna thing is ultimately nothing more than an astral distraction that ultimately keeps us from o
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Most likely the malignant, traumatizing narcissists exist on a continuum with the Jim Jones, Charles Mansons, etc., at the extreme end and say, a narcissistic spouse at the low end. In the middle would be the ISKCONS and TMs and the Keith Ranieres between the TMs and the Jim Jones. Would Dahmer really fit anywhere on this continuum? I get what you're saying about manipulation, dominatio
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

I agree that the experience of being lied to, and the effect it has had on us, is worthy of our examination. Our having been lied to is a fundamental part of our experience in cults. Many years ago, travelling on a bus through Connecticut, I saw a pamphlet featured in a window in a bookstore whose title touched my heart. I later made a special trip to purchase it (decades before the internet
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Have you, like me, suffered spiritual abuse? If so, how did you heal? What helped you? And, what is your spiritual practice and/or belief now? I'll start with some definitions of spiritual abuse that I found helpful. This first is from a talk by Ken Garrett for the International Cultic Studies Association (ICSA), "Regaining Your Footing: First Steps of Recovery From Spiritual Ab
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

I was a member of Michael Mamas' cult for nearly 20 years. Unfortunately, I didn't realize it was a cult until after I had left, followed another guru, been shunned by that guru and my friends and, on my road to healing, began to educate myself about cults. (see my post under, "Has anyone been shunned or ghosted?") My sister found Michael Mamas first. I was at a place in
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Beautifully said, Corboy. I, too, grew up not knowing what a "genuine attuned connection was" or how to recognize it in others. It is one of my pet peeves about Christianity (my childhood religion) that they focus on saving but then do not seem to know how to create a lasting, even perpetually evolving, personal connection with the divine. Could it be that they fear one would become
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Thank you, corboy, for this post. It wasn't until I read it that I finally understood what had happened to me. How did it happen? It's a long story so I will try to keep it shorter. I followed my friends and therapist of 20 years out of the Michael Mamas cult during the time of covid. They had been doing a Radha-Krishna chant given to them by a sannyasi they called Swamiji and it
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"