"The fact remains that if it weren't for his followers, other followers wouldn't have got ensnared, so we all should (there's that word again, Lexy! ) accept our share of the responsibility for Rawat getting to where he is."

Well,personally, I was 19 and ignorant about brainwashing and those kinds of traps.They were very Strange Days.Once the fear factor took hold ( to receive K. and follow the Living Lord was the purpose of having a human body...taratataratatar) I was frightened to break away ( although friends did try to rescue me)."Satsang" was my weakness precisely because it wiped out my critical thinking and took me to "la la land"....and coming from a very painful past, there were many things I preferred NOT to think about.This is where my experience differs from Nik's. I am more interested in trying to understand "how" I was, rather than the "effect I had on other people"....the latter being a symptom and not the cause.

As for the media......well,through the rose-tinted specs of brainwashing ,I simply considered they just didn't understand and hadn't heard the call of the LOTU. 

Actually one of my favourite Indian stories that was repeated in "satsang" was the one about the power of satsang......

In India there was a burglar who stole some diamonds from a Princess.He was spotted running away from the Palace and security gave chase.The thief panicked and ran into a house to try to escape.It happened to be a premie house where satsang was happening and he raced through the satsang room and out the other side.During that brief  moment he heard the premie giving satsang say " Gods and Godesses never cast shadows". Anyhow , he was caught by the security guards and,although he lied and protested his innocence,he was banged up in jail ready to be executed the following day.

Meanwhile the Princess ,hearing that he had been caught , started to feel sorry for him and wondered whether he really was innocent.Knowing that a poor Indian would never dare lie to a deity, she disguised herself as some well known Goddess and visited the thief in his cell.She asked him whether or not he was the thief.Just as he was about to confess the moon cast a bright ray through his cell window and he saw the Princess's shadow.He recalled the one line of satsang he had heard " Gods and Goddesses never cast shadows" and lied to the Princess.The Princess ordered him to be set free and thus his life was spared.

The thief immediately became a premie , for if one line of satsang could save his life , then what could a whole lifetime do for him?

So there you have it folks. The power of brainwashing and lies and that's why I don't feel guilty and only minimally ( there's a concession , John!) responsible.