Of course, I cannot deny that I have been stupid and naive and I guess most people here have the same opinion about themselves. Early followers of Maharaji can, in contrast to me, point at their youthful naivety and idealism and the ignorance of Western society as a whole about unreliable gurus. When I became a follower of SSB in 1991 or 1992 there was already a long list of fallen gurus. The other side of the story is that there seemed to be good reasons to believe in SSB, even in hindsight, i.e. charity (one knows a prophet by one's fruits) and miracles stories - that still are difficult to explain rationally.

But I do not accept the excessive self-blaming of a recent poster here; both Maharaji and SSB have engaged in false advertizing, though the deception by SSB is certain and systematic.

Personally I think that one should not forget that faith and belief come spontaneous: one can choose to research but one cannot choose to believe. And as is generally accepted, regardless whether one believes in the theory of mind control, once you are hooked it is difficult to go back for a variety of reasons, including emotional, social, and psychological investements.

Any thoughts?