Be alert for this in meta communities. Unfortunately, some would-be leaders, teachers, shop owners, etc. let their position go to their heads, and browbeat their followers, customers, etc. I agree with Magnolia: if anyone tries to tell you that theirs is the *only* right way, or they are the only trustworthy leader, teacher, vendor, etc. and everyone else is lying, selling empty vessels, and so on, run away!

Trypper wrote:Darkwing Dook, I do wonder, why did you create this thread? Anything specific you'd like to mention?

Why? For this of course:

Cult wrote:)':

(Just kidding : P)

Thank you darkwing dook for the information about identifying cult behaviour. After reading this thread had me thinking of what I experienced some time ago.

I thought back to when I attended some business seminars as I wanted to begin a second stream of income. Each and every free seminar contained a lot of hype and glitter to encourage you to follow their program. Of course you could follow their program but it cost money in the form of starting up a business which meant subscriptions and attending more seminars which weren't hosted in my city. Thankfully I didn't spend any money and they did use the techniques mentioned in the op to hook you. In this case, the hook was financial independence. The business they wanted me to follow were real estate and the rest were MLMs. After seeing enough of these free seminars, it slowly dawned on me that their main method of getting money came from books, cds, paid seminars and such. Oh yes, they also had a mentor program which cost money. All of that with no guarantee of success. Another point, you had to register for these seminars so they got your email address and/or your mailing address which meant you got notices for more events.

Stubborn me wanted to keep my money and my non-working days as I could see that their methods required a lot of time to build a business and I wasn't ready to work two jobs. I walked away from the hype and glitter once I realized where they actually built their income. The hype of making tons of money has spread to the internet. I believe it's best to be aware of such tactics to avoid making any kind of mistake that you might regret later in life.

Whyme wrote:I thought back to when I attended some business seminars as I wanted to begin a second stream of income. Each and every free seminar contained a lot of hype and glitter to encourage you to follow their program.

Oo yep, that kind of network marketing also uses this method, as it is a tactic to keep the flow of revenue. If they lead you to certain industries, e.g. real estate, most likely they are sponsored by those industries or players related to them.

You can also see this in corporate trainings that aim to teach employees about corporate values and vision as well (not personal values and vision). Although, it must be noted that not all are done in bad intention : )

Oh yes, corporate values which can be different from personal ones. Not only do companies state their visions and values, there's also a culture that you're expected to participate in. The activities where I used to work were mostly done during office hours, such as fund raising for various charities. Other activities were after work which I never went to as I spent all day with coworkers and saw no reason to see them after hours. Of course it had good intentions but there was an undercurrent of being shunned for not participating. I guess that could be called a 'soft' cult which I suppose can be found in various groups which makes it more prevalent than what I originally thought of cults being limited to 'religious' groups.

One video about how people get recruited:
https://youtu.be/IaUhR-tRkHY?t=1274

I'm glad this is here.

When I was in high school, I was at Warped Tour and there were Hare Krishnas walking around, handing out copies of their version of the Bhagavad Gita. I'd already heard of them so when I realized the guy I was talking to was a member, I didn't fall for it. Later I was at a friend's house and saw she had a copy of the Hare Krishna version of the Bhagavad Gita, and I let her know the guy whose commentary in the book is a cult leader. Looking back on it, I can't help but wonder why the organizers let cult recruiters walk around, since Warped Tour tends to attract young people. It just seems irresponsible.

Mom's cousin joined the Moonies, and after that happened, my grandma didn't let Mom talk to her cousin anymore. From what I've heard, her cousin got married in one of those mass weddings the Moonies are known for.

Thank you @GothKrispies for bumping this thread.

Like @darkwing dook I've been there too.

It almost feels like my specialist subject. This was very much of my era, following the Beatles sojourn with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, which kickstarted the whole hippy/spiritual Thing, which became the New Age movement.

I think we've largely moved on from cult type influences nowadays. The spiritual thing continues though.

I followed a guru in the early 1970s when, at one point, you'd see people from several different cults handing out flyers on nearby street corners - as well as, at one time, me. (Reminds me of that scene in the movie Airport, where Robert Stack elbows & punches various cult flyer-givers out of his way.)

One night in 1973 I came home to find The Children of God had moved into my room (~9 of them!). I once told someone I worked with about meditation - the next time I saw him he was a Radha Krishna monk. In my case I learned my Guru's meditation on the promise that it would make you 'higher than acid' [LSD]. Around 20 friends and acquaintances did the same in a roughly 2 year period.

Once I'd learned it I wanted to take it to the max - as did some of those friends - moved into an ashram and lived a monastic lifestyle. I did have incredible inner experiences. But I felt let down when our Guru started taking steps back from it all. He'd once been treated by his followers as a kind of god on Earth and now he apparently didn't want us to do that sort of thing any longer.

In the 1980s I joined a pyramid selling scheme for a short while. Very nice, pure products; strong recruitment methods. Didn't get rich.

As a result of all of that I feel like I've been heavily innoculated via exposure against what we think of as cult behaviour or techniques, or sales techniques. To the extent that I'm pretty resistant to & scornful of most TV adverts too now. A University course taught me how to critically view film & TV. I'm hypersensitive to any kind of claim - which, if you think about it, means I must really value CH to be so committed to spirit keeping.

I used to be far more trusting than I am now. I tend to be healthily sceptical of everything - even my own inner model of what's going on in the Universe. If I believe in anything it's Robert Anton Wilson's model agnosticism: I don't have any beliefs but I have a lot of suspicions. (There's a joke in there somewhere.)

I always remember a book on ritual archaeology in the Roman empire. There was a final chapter at the end called Eastern Cults, which is where Christianity featured. Made me think.

Maybe it's good to maintain a balanced view. One person's cult is another's religion, after all. I side with what @Magnolia says above. The key thing to be wary of is controlling behaviour. Beliefs are a human right.