Ananda:
I did not say, "all bad" and I don't think that.
Each group and leader must be evaluated based upon the facts.
Divine Light Mission has frequently been called a destructive "cult."
The Cult Education Institute has a subsection with historical information about the group and its leader Prem Rawat aka Guru Maharaji.
See [culteducation.com]
There are objective criteria to evaluate a group.
See [culteducation.com]
Ten warning signs of a potentially unsafe group/leader.
Absolute authoritarianism without meaningful accountability.
No tolerance for questions or critical inquiry.
No meaningful financial disclosure regarding budget, expenses such as an independently audited financial statement.
Unreasonable fear about the outside world, such as impending catastrophe, evil conspiracies and persecutions.
There is no legitimate reason to leave, former followers are always wrong in leaving, negative or even evil.
Former members often relate the same stories of abuse and reflect a similar pattern of grievances.
There are records, books, news articles, or television programs that document the abuses of the group/leader.
Followers feel they can never be "good enough".
The group/leader is always right.
The group/leader is the exclusive means of knowing "truth" or receiving validation, no other process of discovery is really acceptable or credible.
Not all destructive cults are equally destructive. They vary by degree from group to group. Some destructive cults are much more destructive than others.
See [culteducation.com]
Also see this paper published at Harvard University by psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton.
See [culteducation.com]
There are three core characteristics that form the nucleus for a definition of a destructive cult.
Destructive cults can Cults can be identified by these three primary features:
a charismatic leader who increasingly becomes an object of worship as the general principles that may have originally sustained the group lose their power;
a process I call coercive persuasion or thought reform;
economic, sexual, and other exploitation of group members by the leader and the ruling coterie.
Finally, it's not about what the group believes, but rather about how it behaves that is the central issue. How is the leader accountable? Does the leader exercise undue influence over his or her followers and has the group hurt people?
Lifewave evidently has a troubled history of complaints and problems.
There are safer less risky meditation groups. Finding a meditation group without an authoritarian leader seems like a good idea to avoid problems.
I did not say, "all bad" and I don't think that.
Each group and leader must be evaluated based upon the facts.
Divine Light Mission has frequently been called a destructive "cult."
The Cult Education Institute has a subsection with historical information about the group and its leader Prem Rawat aka Guru Maharaji.
See [culteducation.com]
There are objective criteria to evaluate a group.
See [culteducation.com]
Ten warning signs of a potentially unsafe group/leader.
Absolute authoritarianism without meaningful accountability.
No tolerance for questions or critical inquiry.
No meaningful financial disclosure regarding budget, expenses such as an independently audited financial statement.
Unreasonable fear about the outside world, such as impending catastrophe, evil conspiracies and persecutions.
There is no legitimate reason to leave, former followers are always wrong in leaving, negative or even evil.
Former members often relate the same stories of abuse and reflect a similar pattern of grievances.
There are records, books, news articles, or television programs that document the abuses of the group/leader.
Followers feel they can never be "good enough".
The group/leader is always right.
The group/leader is the exclusive means of knowing "truth" or receiving validation, no other process of discovery is really acceptable or credible.
Not all destructive cults are equally destructive. They vary by degree from group to group. Some destructive cults are much more destructive than others.
See [culteducation.com]
Also see this paper published at Harvard University by psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton.
See [culteducation.com]
There are three core characteristics that form the nucleus for a definition of a destructive cult.
Destructive cults can Cults can be identified by these three primary features:
a charismatic leader who increasingly becomes an object of worship as the general principles that may have originally sustained the group lose their power;
a process I call coercive persuasion or thought reform;
economic, sexual, and other exploitation of group members by the leader and the ruling coterie.
Finally, it's not about what the group believes, but rather about how it behaves that is the central issue. How is the leader accountable? Does the leader exercise undue influence over his or her followers and has the group hurt people?
Lifewave evidently has a troubled history of complaints and problems.
There are safer less risky meditation groups. Finding a meditation group without an authoritarian leader seems like a good idea to avoid problems.