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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:
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.
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 information2. Access to non-cult sources of information minimized or discouraged
b. Distorting information to make it acceptable
c. Outright lying
a. Books, articles, newspapers, magazines, TV, radio3. Compartmentalization of information; Outsider vs. Insider doctrines
b. Critical information
c. Former members
d. Keep members so busy they don’t have time to think
a. Information is not freely accessible4. Spying on other members is encouraged
b. Information varies at different levels and missions within pyramid
c. Leadership decides who "needs to know" what
a. Pairing up with "buddy" system to monitor and control5. Extensive use of cult generated information and propaganda
b. Reporting deviant thoughts, feelings, and actions to leadership
a. Newsletters, magazines, journals, audio tapes, videotapes, etc.6. Unethical use of confession
b. Misquotations, statements taken out of context from non-cult sources
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.