How to avoid a cult leader’s trap and tricks.
by Vic Shayne
author
The Self is a Belief: the idea that causes suffering
A spiritual teacher, or guru, should serve only ONE purpose — to guide the mind back into itself. If he fills you with knowledge, information, rituals, practices, ideas, worship, or anything else, then he is not a guru of benefit. There is no way to realize who you are by way of acquiring information, knowledge, or reverence. The ultimate awareness is about realizing who is the one who is aware; nothing more or less. All else is worthless in you search.
Teachings that inflate and entertain the mind
It helps to know a little bit about how the egoic self has been created in order to know how cult leaders and their cults control people…
The mind is an instrument that helps us navigate this world, remember where we parked our car, knowing how to do things, and figuring out the answers to problems. It’s a good instrument that has brought civilization its finest inventions and solutions, from communications devices to electric cars, and from space travel to the bread slicer. BUT, when the mind is conditioned psychologically, a false sense of self is created. We call this the ego, the egoic mind, the self, the egoic self, the persona (Carl Jung), the mask (Joseph Campbell), the “I,” and the “me.” These are all words we use to describe a mind that has been influenced to believe that it is separate from the world and all others, attached to other people who are special in our lives, identified by possessions and titles and accomplishments and losses, connected to the body, and more.
The sense of self, which is the egoic mind, is only a belief. If you have ever made a sincere and persistent effort in finding out then you will discover that the mind is just an accretion of thoughts; it does not actually exist as a permanent entity.
Going inward to find your Self
Each and every question a seeker poses is an opportunity for the guru to point him or her back to his /her own mind. Personal stories, jokes, and discussions about morality have nothing to do with finding the sense of the true Self behind this egoic mind and all of its trappings. These expressions coming out of the mouth of a self-proclaimed guru are nothing but entertainment at the best, but at worst they are traps for his followers. There are thousands of cults with leaders who have no interest other than taking people’s time, money, and power. Many, if not most, are sociopathic and derive pleasure from the misfortune of others, as well as the power they derive from controlling their followers. It is a behavior that normal-thinking people would not suspect is going on unless they have already had it applied to them in an earlier experience.
Woe is me, trust in me
A cult leader very often regales his followers with a “woe is me” story,” telling them about how he had suffered catastrophes in life. This just his back story, invented to gain the trust and admiration of students. But, coming back to the original point, such stories do NOTHING to bring the egoic mind back onto itself for self-realization. Instead they have everything to do with gaining and retaining a loyal following.
Cult leaders ALWAYS have a story of woe and triumph, it’s part of their game plan for wowing their followers and gaining adherents, but hardly anyone ever checks their facts; they simply believe him with no evidence other than his word. And his word is the word of a liar and a cheat. It takes a group mentality of wishful and devoted blind followers, plus the gift of gab on behalf of the cult leader, to keep from challenging these frauds. Die-hard cult members will defend their leader despite having no idea what kind of person he really is. We are currently seeing this with Donald Trump and his followers who readily overlook and ignore a very, very long list of misdeeds, lies, irrational and harmful behavior, sexual assaults, mockery of others, racism, and so on.
If the bond is strong enough and the cult leader is convincing enough, then cult members are willing to do anything, including murder, assault and suicide. And, an assault on the reputation of the cult leader is deemed to be an assault on the egoic self of the devoted follower.
What are you looking for?
What is it that you want from life? This is a fundamental question, because if you want to know ultimately who, or what, you are at the core, then there are few teachers who have actually had this realization in order to guide you back into your Self. But if you want a social group, then there’s a lot to choose from. If you just want to play at meditation and guided imagery, then this is an example of the mind trying to feel special about, and comfort, itself — not that this is bad, but this is what it is.
If a cult leader tells you that your imaginings are a special gift of insight, as does the cult leader Harold Klemp of Eckankar, to use one of many examples, then he is fooling you into believing that your mind is really superior in its awareness. This inflates the ego and the cult cements its relationship with you even stronger. The egoic mind loves to be special and to be told that it is superior, insightful, spiritual, progressing, and intelligent. The cult leader compliments you with one comment and then pulls in the reigns with another.
Philosophy professor David Lane once said, “We use more discriminating intelligence when we buy a used car than when we buy a religion…Buying a used car you at least look underneath the hood, hit the tires, maybe take it to a mechanic to check it out. But in buying a religion, you’re supposed to wear these narrow blinders, so that if anybody disagrees you can block it out. It’s basically, check your brains at the door when you join a religion.”
Do you want enlightenment?
Many people say they are searching for the meaning of life, or perhaps enlightenment, but this is not what most really want. In order to achieve this it is necessary to disentangle the belief of a self from consciousness. The egoic self must be exposed for what it is and it shall become clear that you are not the mind, body, attachments, possessions, or relationships. This is ultimately frightening to most people, because of the exceptionally strong conviction that they are something that they are not — and therefore, they do not truly want to realize what they are at the core. But if you show them a way to feel special, then they are happy for the moment, because this sates the mind’s sense of self.
I have written extensively about this phenomenon of the egoic mind in my book called The Self is a Belief: The idea that causes suffering. If you’re new to this idea, then it may seem strange or puzzling to you. The sense of self is no more than a belief created out of an accretion of tightly held thoughts. It does not actually exist, but most everyone buys into its existence, and it is fear that keeps them from letting it go of it.
The commonality of cults
Cults are a dime a dozen, and they all have commonalities, including, but not limited to — a leader with a daring or woeful experience as a back story, a leader who says he is divine in some way, a leader who lays claim to a special lineage of spiritually advanced teachers, a special lexicon (words that only insiders know), initiations, subtle or overt denigration and defamation of those outside the group, and so on. The idea is to feed the ego so that it feels superior to others, even when this is couched as a deserved superiority.
Be honest in your searching
So what is it that you want? This is the first thing to honestly answer for yourself. If you only want to be happier or just want some friends who think spiritually like you do, then at least you can read up on the pitfalls of cults and their leaders in order to find this happiness. If you want to know what you are at the core, then the only guru that can help is one who has realized the ultimate Truth behind the mask of the ego and will constantly guide you back to YOU. No one can have a realization on your behalf in the same way that no one can see through your eyeballs except for you. Therefore, initiations, imaginings, mental exercises, special words, and rituals bring you no closer to a realization.
