When I ponder why we (and of course by we I mean all of you who post here who have shown some of your real selves in your posts plus me) fell for the cult, and the belief that a man could be god, I often come up the answer that perhaps most of us had father stuff. I know I did. I think this is why we were willing to suspend disbelief and give Rawat the benefit of the doubt that he was who he claimed to be, god almighty incarnate. It was, in my case, because I needed to heal from an absent father.

Then I think about the techniques. I do think that practised out of context they are harmful. Why? because they encourage a retreat from the reality into a zone that maybe very peaceful, but in fact is a retreat from life. Did I do myself any favours by dealing with my father stuff by retreating inside myself? Err. Probably not. There is some folk wisdom that says if you have mother stuff, you tend not to do well emotionally in life. With father stuff, it is the practical everyday achievements of life that you are not so good at. True in my case. And I allowed myself to retreat further with the meditation techniques. I hate to think all those hours were wasted. I guess I did learn to be at peace with myself. But what I didn't deal with was my outward place in this world. I am still trying to cure myself from retreating and withdrawing when the going gets tough, instead of dealing with the situation at hand.

Does anybody else have any thoughts on this?

Apologies that my posts always seem to get psychological, however I do feel if I understand all my motivations in joining the cult, then I will root out the last vestiges of psychological damage.