By George A. Boyd ©2001
If spiritual leaders and others who work with the human psyche are to
avoid creating cults, they must watch what they ask their followers to
do in their prayers and meditations. Certain ways of locking attention
into altered states of consciousness aim to take control of people's lives,
emotions, beliefs, and spirituality. A spiritual seeker is urged to look
for the following manipulations of attention used in cultic groups:
Instillation of fear - the group leader and followers instruct
the aspirants that their spirits will be damned, or their Souls will be
cast into hell if they do not adhere to specified beliefs, follow prescribed
rituals, or keep the attention continually focused on the spirit.
Continual exposure to spiritual discourse and "holy company" -
aspirants are urged to remain with members of the group at all times ("holy
company"), read doctrinal materials and listen to sermons and discourses
daily, and relate to others from the spiritual perspective, e.g., to be
an exemplar of the faith.
Labeling the ego and personality as evil - when the ego and personality
are labeled as evil, sinful, being in "the mind", or being in "illusion"
(Maya), aspirants believe that they must remain in an altered state of
consciousness to transcend these negative states. Aspirants are taught
only to dwell on what is good, e.g., the altered state of consciousness
fostered in the group.
Maintenance of attentional absorption - by continually watching
the breath, repeating a mantra with the attention (japa or simran), "praying
without ceasing", "speaking in an unknown tongue" (glossolalia), singing
spiritual songs or hymns, or chanting, the attention is abstracted from
normal waking awareness into an altered state of consciousness. [What
becomes a problem is not occasional use of these practices, but day-in,
day-out, meditation and prayer during every waking moment.]
Language manipulation - by learning a secretive, symbolic language
and translating all elements of experience into that frame of reference,
aspirants are led to relate to the world from an alternative context.
They view the world from the perspective of the philosophy or belief system
they have embraced, and no longer relate from the standpoint of their
own experience. They may come to look to this doctrine to inform them
what judgments are "correct", and what choices to make in all areas of
life.
Manipulation of beliefs and mystification - by instilling beliefs
that engender shame, guilt, self-abasement, aspirants can be coaxed into
a form of spiritual slavery. All actions, feelings and thoughts become
subject to the scrutiny of the group leader, and sometimes, to the group
members, through confession rituals. This is often coupled with mystification,
where symbolic language such as myths and parables come to replace rational
thinking; sacred rituals and global prescription for behavior supplant
individual decision-making and setting individual goals; and demonic forces
are blamed instead of people taking responsibility for their own lives
and behavior.
Trapping the mind - through powerful hypnotic suggestions, or
keeping the kundalini shakti aroused, aspirants' attention becomes fixed
in an altered state of consciousness. Locked in deep inner absorption,
they are unable to return to normal waking awareness. In this induced
trance state, personality functions are effectively suspended. The aspirant
has now become a zombie.
In the Mudrashram® system of Integral meditation, we specifically
warn against and practice avoiding these types of manipulation. If you
encounter in your spiritual search teachers who are manipulating you in
these ways, asking you to remain in sustained altered states of consciousness,
your spiritual red flag should immediately go up. You may be involved
in religious cult.
If you suspect you have gotten involved in a religious cult, stop what
you are doing, excuse yourself, and leave. Your life is a terrible thing
to waste, lost in the abusive, dream-like world of a religious cult.
Preventing Religious Cults
To avoid these pitfalls, spiritual teachers and those who work intimately
with the psyche of human beings, such as psychotherapists, hypnotherapists,
ministers, healers, and metaphysical counselors, should:
Avoid frightening or intimidating a spiritual seeker. Base nothing
on blind faith. Let aspirants test all claims and theories on the touchstone
of truth and through their own experience.
Avoid group pressure to remain in altered states of consciousness.
Give seekers permission to remain in their normal state of awareness without
a demand for them to enter and remain in an altered state of awareness.
Don't demonize the personality and the ego. The personality is
an aspect of the Soul, and deserves to be developed like the spiritual
essence. The survival drives of the ego are hard-wired to ensure that
the physical body remains safeand that is a good thing. It tries
to prevent you from being injured or dying. It is OK to
be human, to be a person, to be limited, mortal, fallible and less than
Divine.
Practice attentional absorption for brief periods only. Meditate
to accomplish specific and delimited objectives for self-study, communion
with the spirit, unfolding of spiritual potentials. After that objective
is accomplished, aspirants should be led to return to normal waking awareness.
Be sensitive to the filters language imposes on perception. When
giving spiritual teaching or guiding aspirants into alternate perspectives
and higher identity states, lead them back to their grounded frame of
orientation. Don't leave them in a state of "union with their Higher Self";
bring them back to the room. Make sure they are re-oriented to the environment,
in the present time, fully embodied and responsive.
Treat people with courtesy and respect. Don't shame them. Don't
make them feel guilty. Don't belittle or degrade them. If you are not
a priest, a pastoral counselor, or a psychotherapist, don't ask people
to confess their sins to you.
Don't mystify, communicate. If you are going to use symbols and
metaphors, explain them so people can understand what you are trying to
communicate.
Cut out the hocus pocus. You probably don't need elaborate rituals,
special "spiritual" garments, sacred objects or talismans to teach people
about their essential nature. People probably don't need a spiritual name
to commune with the Divine, either.
Encourage personal responsibility. Stop blaming demons and devils
for everything that goes wrong. Encourage people to live sane, healthy,
normal lives and to take responsibility for their own behavior and lives.
Limit the use of hypnosis. Use hypnosis for specific behavioral
or belief changes for therapeutic purposes only.
Bring them back to the grounded state. If you guide others to
awaken their kundalini shakti, bring it back down to its ground state
please? Do not encourage aspirants to remain in trance states. Certainly
do not lock aspirants' minds in a hypnotic trace or in an altered state
of consciousness. We need fully functioning human beings, not tranced-out
zombies in the world.
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