You can get the best out of yourself when you are aware of your lethargy, your laziness, and you get over it The only enemy to talent is laziness, nothing else. -Sri Sri
1. Have a set of group rules they expect the followers to adopt and self impose
2. Be charismatic leaders who self-proclaim enlightenment
3. Have a drive to recruit as many people (especially westerners) into their organization as possible. Recruitment is often labeled as sadhana, or spiritual practice to help the devotee
4. Enjoy tax-exempt status—hidden behind charitable works without any proof where the donations go
5. Insist upon dropping the mind and ego with full surrender to the leader
6. Brag about their devotees spiritual progress, as if in a marketing campaign for more souls
7. Employ chanting to Hindu deities in their meditation practices
8. Employ questionable breathing techniques, usually some form of hyperventilation, inducing mental foginess mistaken as altered level of consciousness
9. Use contracts, or fear, to ensure their meditation techniques are kept secret from the outside world
10. Charge money for programs while insisting they do charity work for the less fortunate. If someone can not afford to pay for the program, they are not allowed in
11. Encourage followers to share their experiences—a form of group control
12. Have their own group lingo or slang terms
13. Perform rituals, chants and devotional songs to not only deities, but to the guru him/herself
14. Questions regarding the group or leader are not allowed
15. Devotees all insist that their master is the true master and has the only path to enlightenment. These devotees use vague personal experiential stories as proof
16. Devotees believe and accept everything the guru says
17. Donations encouraged. A way of giving back to the guru who has given so much to the devotee
18. Guru quite pleasant and jovial with the newcomers. Yet easily angered and volatile in closed quarters or with the inside group
19. Group meditation practices, clothing styles, food choices, music, books, knick-knacks, etc, gives the group cohesion. Establishes an us vs. them dynamic
20. Fictitious anecdotes of the leader to ensure devotees see him as holier than them. Stories are based in myth and beliefs with no way to prove they are true
21. Have crazed devotees that worship them
22. Encourage (or don’t discourage) families to break up to persue spiritual advancement under the guru
23. Instill a form of fear to discourage devotees from abandoning the guru/group. The devotee is basically told that to abandon the group means losing all his/her spiritual progress made under the guru
24. Have some form of meditation on the guru or his photo
25. Start with an affordable entry level form of meditation practice. Benefits of which are usually peace and health
26. Insist on additional meditation levels for spiritual advancement—often with higher costs
27. Volunteerism is considered spiritual practice and often costs money to volunteer
28. Have lots of stories of enlightened devotees, but you never seem to meet one
29. Have ties to politicians, high ranking officials and authorities. Celebrities are a bonus
30. Put followers through intense physical, emotional and mental challenges (i.e., sitting in painful positions for extended time, emotional sharing with strangers, fancy words with quick witted tongue), thereby lowering normal judgment process
Guru’s playbook. The ultimate knowledge sheet:
1. Have a set of group rules they expect the followers to adopt and self impose
2. Be charismatic leaders who self-proclaim enlightenment
3. Have a drive to recruit as many people (especially westerners) into their organization as possible. Recruitment is often labeled as sadhana, or spiritual practice to help the devotee
4. Enjoy tax-exempt status—hidden behind charitable works without any proof where the donations go
5. Insist upon dropping the mind and ego with full surrender to the leader
6. Brag about their devotees spiritual progress, as if in a marketing campaign for more souls
7. Employ chanting to Hindu deities in their meditation practices
8. Employ questionable breathing techniques, usually some form of hyperventilation, inducing mental foginess mistaken as altered level of consciousness
9. Use contracts, or fear, to ensure their meditation techniques are kept secret from the outside world
10. Charge money for programs while insisting they do charity work for the less fortunate. If someone can not afford to pay for the program, they are not allowed in
11. Encourage followers to share their experiences—a form of group control
12. Have their own group lingo or slang terms
13. Perform rituals, chants and devotional songs to not only deities, but to the guru him/herself
14. Questions regarding the group or leader are not allowed
15. Devotees all insist that their master is the true master and has the only path to enlightenment. These devotees use vague personal experiential stories as proof
16. Devotees believe and accept everything the guru says
17. Donations encouraged. A way of giving back to the guru who has given so much to the devotee
18. Guru quite pleasant and jovial with the newcomers. Yet easily angered and volatile in closed quarters or with the inside group
19. Group meditation practices, clothing styles, food choices, music, books, knick-knacks, etc, gives the group cohesion. Establishes an us vs. them dynamic
20. Fictitious anecdotes of the leader to ensure devotees see him as holier than them. Stories are based in myth and beliefs with no way to prove they are true
21. Have crazed devotees that worship them
22. Encourage (or don’t discourage) families to break up to persue spiritual advancement under the guru
23. Instill a form of fear to discourage devotees from abandoning the guru/group. The devotee is basically told that to abandon the group means losing all his/her spiritual progress made under the guru
24. Have some form of meditation on the guru or his photo
25. Start with an affordable entry level form of meditation practice. Benefits of which are usually peace and health
26. Insist on additional meditation levels for spiritual advancement—often with higher costs
27. Volunteerism is considered spiritual practice and often costs money to volunteer
28. Have lots of stories of enlightened devotees, but you never seem to meet one
29. Have ties to politicians, high ranking officials and authorities. Celebrities are a bonus
30. Put followers through intense physical, emotional and mental challenges (i.e., sitting in painful positions for extended time, emotional sharing with strangers, fancy words with quick witted tongue), thereby lowering normal judgment process
Jai Gurudev
I love this site…
But now i find that the activity in this site is going low… why? kindly keep it active…
One more request…
we have a website called http://www.anugrahotsav.co.nr (http://anugrahotsav.blogspot.com) Please add an RSS feed of that site to this blog…
Its guruji’s initiative..
Love
Suresh Nair
Art of Living teacher
Bangalore Ashram