The people who recruit suicide volunteers and other fighters, sometimes called the "lieutenants," are the key people in the hierarchy. (This sort of military psychology done through survey and interview research is a lot more of what goes on in the terrorist detention camps than torture for information, by the way.) These lieutenants have three important attributes:1. They're adept at noticing, recognizing and manipulating character weaknesses or flaws in individuals that make them vulnerable. After all, this has become the chief "product" of the corporation, and they're the middle management.
2. They're single-minded, willing to do whatever it takes to realize the goal. That almost goes without saying, but outside the cult they had the same attribute.
3. They've moved from an "out" group to an "in" group. This is called the "skateboarder effect." Some were actually members of groups that were marginally pro-western, liked rock music, etc. They were on the fringes of Islamic society. Moving to the most radical Islamist sects by trading their autonomy gives them a huge sense of power and purpose. But they're also savvy enough to avoid becoming suicide bombers themselves.
I've had huge debates with counterterrorism experts about this, because many of them think the key to the whole thing lies with the suicide bombers, and that if we can somehow dry up the supply we can control the phenomenon. Actually only a small percentage of acts involve suicide attacks (around 2%), and the key resource isn't the bombers but the recruiters. This is also the case with the cults (the people like Apter, as well as the "mahatmas"). Without them, Maharaji didn't have didly.
One effect of doing away with the ashram/premie house system, as well the mahatmas or initiators, was to ultimately weaken the ability of the group to get people to commit. Most of the people in the movement now are free-riders. If there were actually a cost to being a member of EV many would simply leave. However, the potential to radicalize still exists.
