Information Control

This falls more under the rubric of cults and totalitarian poilitical states than gurus. Narcissitic gurus love to power and control, but oit ios in a more immediate sense. It is only when an organisation develops around that false guru or teacher that one gets this sort of thing happening. And happen it does, probbaly quite frequently. Scientology, Osho, and Sai Baba are all instances of the formation of a secretive organisation around the personality or teachings of a charismatic leader

The following is a possible tentative rating scheme in this area, from authentic spiritual teacher to extremely abusive false guru, as regards to emotional manipulation:

• authentic spirituality - totally open, transparent, nothing hidden or secretive. However, teaching is adapted to the receptivity of the listener. So to people who needed a dogmatic religion, The Mother would not talk about how harmful religion is, although she did express her concerns to those not bound to religions
• non-abusive - no more secretive than any other honest non-exploitative organisation
• mildly abusive - lack of transparency, deliberately holding back information, but otherwise no real harm done. But it does indicate ego, and hence something not quite right ina supposedly enlightened teacher. - examples: Ken Wilber's Integral Institute is a good example (he has been frequently challenged on this by Frank Visser; see some of the posts at Wilber Watch and on Integral World
• moderately abusive - See Information Control - some of these mildly or moderately; withholding information, using various tactics to prevent people hearing about the guru's shortcomings and sexual or other serious abuses - examples: Muktananda in the later days. Eli Jaxon-Bear and Gangaji in the wake of the Eli sex scandal, following a brief period of transparency they became more secrteive on legal advice. Probably many ambigious gurus, who try to present a facde to the outside world but act very differently in reallife, would go here. An extreme case (extreme only because of the extent of the sexual abuse), is the Sathya Sai Baba Organisation.
• strongly abusive - . See Information Control - some of these strongly, or all of them mildly. Many incidents of deliberate information manipulation and propoganda, there's something very wrong in paradise - examples: Rajneeshpurim, the Hare Krishna slide after Prabhupad's departure
• extremely abusive - See Information Control - most or all of these strongly. The classic cult. example: Scientology

Do you have reports of, or have you been the victim of, an informationally controlling guru? If so, please contact me and I will add your accounts to those listed here. Alternatively, do you feel that my assessment of your guru on this or other pages has been harsh, unfair, biased, or bigoted? If so, contact me also, so that I might correct any errors or, if the guru is ambigiious, presnet both sides of the argument.

Information Control - extremely cases of cultic abuse

The following, from the ex-cult resource center webpage Mind Control - The BITE Model. I would categorise this under extremely abusive in the above scale. This material is from chapter two of Releasing the Bonds: Empowering People to Think for Themselves © 2000 by Steven Hassan - published by Freedom of Mind Press, Somerville MA

1. Use of deception

a. Deliberately holding back information
b. Distorting information to make it acceptable
c. Outright lying

2. Access to non-cult sources of information minimized or discouraged

a. Books, articles, newspapers, magazines, TV, radio
b. Critical information
c. Former members
d. Keep members so busy they don’t have time to think

3. Compartmentalization of information; Outsider vs. Insider doctrines

a. Information is not freely accessible
b. Information varies at different levels and missions within pyramid
c. Leadership decides who "needs to know" what

4. Spying on other members is encouraged

a. Pairing up with "buddy" system to monitor and control
b. Reporting deviant thoughts, feelings, and actions to leadership

5. Extensive use of cult generated information and propaganda

a. Newsletters, magazines, journals, audio tapes, videotapes, etc.
b. Misquotations, statements taken out of context from non-cult sources

6. Unethical use of confession

a. Information about "sins" used to abolish identity boundaries
b. Past "sins" used to manipulate and control; no forgiveness or absolution

It would be worth comparing this list with the experiences of those who have suffered under Adi Da or Andrew Cohen. It may be that some will report exactly all of those experiences; others only some of them, others again none of them. In this respect, the intermediate zone ambigious guru is quite distinct from the false guru. This is because with an ambigious guru some do genuinely benefit (that's the way Intermediate zone works). With the psychotic guru, such as David Koresh or Shoko Asahara, no-one benefits. There isn't even any intermediate or mixed light, it is totally false.