Introductions

by Lama Surya Das and Steven Hassan

Lama Surya Das

As a Westerner who has become a fully ordained Tibetan Buddhist lama, I have devoted over twenty five years of my life in spiritual practice, establishing meditation centers and monasteries, and teaching others how to further their own practice. Helping to bring a rich religious tradition to the West has been exciting, gratifying, and very meaningful for me. However, when a religion makes a transition from one culture to another, there is fertile ground for all sorts of new developments, both positive and negative. Awareness of these issues can become extremely significant.

As a leader, I wish to be aware of my own responsibility in helping people to find themselves and experience that which is wholesome, useful, and beneficial, while sidestepping the rest. Great good has been brought forth by new religious groups in recent decades. Yet, I am disturbed by certain patterns of abuses that routinely occur along the spiritual path, which is why I am writing this article and researching this subject. All groups exhibit certain characteristic problems. If and when they become destructive and damaging, these characteristics are genuine cause for concern.

When I first began teaching Buddhism six years ago, the Dalai Lama himself told me not to be afraid to make mistakes, but to continue to learn from them. He added, "Be creative. Each decision you make ought to be motivated by compassion. Seek to contribute to others, not to convert others." Motivation and intention are determining factors in the result of our actions. Buddha said, "As we think, so we become."

We are all aware of the dangers of placing anyone or anything upon a pedestal and the disillusionment that almost inevitably ensues. Few today are ignorant of the dangers and corrupting influence of dogma, dependence, and the misuse of power. "Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely," Lord Acton wrote. Sectarianism, insularity, and aggressive proselytizing can easily turn into fanaticism, authoritarianism, and even fascism. Yet are we as aware of the more subtle, almost addictive joys of believing, of joining, and the too-often attendant sorrows and disappointments? Are we aware of the seductions of surrendering ourselves to something seemingly greater than us, of the security and comfort of belonging, of conforming, of feeling part of things?

The more deeply we experience and realize our own inalienable connectedness and integral place in the universe, the freer and more consciously aware we can be regarding what we do in life, and whom we choose to associate with, for how long, and why. The less conscious we are, the more the unacknowledged and unknown, dark forces in our psyche drive us - often driving us where we might not wish to go.

We have been through an intense era of social change that has given rise to alternatives and new forms of all kinds. The cover article in the Nov. 28th, 1994, Newsweek was entitled "The Search for the Sacred: America's Quest for Spiritual Meaning." The magazine reported: "Fifty-eight percent of Americans polled feel the need to experience spiritual growth." It seems safe to say that most people are seeking something. The emergence of new groups and intentional communities has doubtless accomplished far more good than harm. But how, where, and with whom we explore our spiritual and personal growth remains, as ever, extraordinarily important. Along with the flourishing spiritual marketplace come abusive gurus, exploitative teachers, messiahs, prophets, therapists, and mind-controlling groups. In fact, most of us routinely participate in some form or other of cultic behavior: repressing dissent; devaluing outsiders; depending too much on leaders and authority figures; seeking totalistic solutions to existential problems; feeling superior and even self-righteous; resisting the wish of leave-takers to depart, etc.

We must learn from the past if we do not want to keep repeating our mistakes. For a sane, healthy, and harmonious future to be possible, I think that we must be very honest with ourselves and each other, and engender leadership (not merely followership) in others, bringing out the best in each and all of us.

In my endeavor to learn more about the mostly unexamined dark side of the spiritual marketplace, I have become aware of Steven Hassan, author of the well-known book Combatting Cult Mind Control. Steve was deceptively recruited into a front group of the Moon organization in the early 1970s and spent more than two years in the cult as one of its American leaders. After a serious car accident and numerous days of counseling, he came to realize that the Moon organization was, in reality, very different from what he wanted to believe it was. He made the decision to leave the organization and expose its illegal and unethical activities. He is now a licensed mental health counselor in Boston and has worked for nearly two decades to help educate the public about the dangers of destructive mind control cults. His work also involves helping individuals and their families heal from abusive involvements. He is also no stranger to spirituality and to alternatives to mainstream religion, being someone who values the spirit and regularly practices meditation and prayer.

Some groups may feel threatened by scientific research on cultic behavior and mind control (thought-reform, brainwashing, hypnosis) techniques. They need not feel that way, if they behave ethically and provide choice without undue, coercive influence. Many scholars and researchers in this field, like ourselves, respect religious beliefs and religious systems and can appreciate diversity, endorse basic human rights, and support individuals and groups following their own way.

As a full time member of a religious order, I personally have found Steve's perspective, work, and experience of immense interest, being both fascinating and beneficial. This sort of diagnostic mental health approach to the actions of groups and individuals - rather than focusing on their purported beliefs - seems quite relevant in understanding what is happening in society and in our own minds today regarding various new movements.

It is difficult, if not impossible, to objectively evaluate a belief system from within it. Yet it can often seem unfair to judge belief systems from the point of view of an outside observer. Most human beings uphold blatant irrational beliefs, for better or for worse. Better that we scrutinize ourselves and our own groups regarding our own weaknesses and learn from them rather than have them blow up in our faces later.

Dr. Herbert Guenther, the foremost contemporary Buddhist scholar, uses the term cultic when describing the behavior of certain early followers of the Buddha, who mistakenly worshipped the man rather than the truth of his message and the enlightenment he embodied and taught. The historical Buddha himself forbade his followers from making images of him.
In the sixth century BC, the historical Buddha said:

Rely not on the teacher/person, but on the teaching.
Rely not on the words of the teaching, but on the spirit of the words.
Rely not on theory, but on experience.
Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it.
Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations.
Do not believe anything because it is spoken and rumored by many.
Do not believe in anything because it is written in your religious books.
Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders.
But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and the benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.
Kalama Sutra (ancient Buddhist text)

Lest we misunderstand each other, we must remember that the words we use each have different associations for each of us. Concepts are not reality, but a mere shadow of it - the map is not the territory. I also want to caution you not to become blinded by the truth and power of words either. I am aware of at least one non-Buddhist destructive group which uses this same quote from Buddha and uses it to recruit people into a state of blind obedience and servitude. In order for Buddha's words to have real meaning, they must be applied behaviorally on a daily basis.

I think that if we can enjoy authentic public discourse and free inquiry into the matters that concern us, we must endeavor in our discussions to explore, to know for ourselves, and to communicate how things actually are - if we are to live a sane, righteous, and even a decent life. While seeking truth, let us not overlook the simple virtues of honesty and ethical behavior. Then even stumbling blocks can become stepping stones along the way.

The Buddha exhorts us "to be a lamp unto ourselves, that one's innate purity of heart is the sole refuge." I hope that the following pages will elucidate some of the spiritual issues that are part of an ongoing discussion about freedom, democracy, and human rights today.

Steven Hassan

Whenever the subject of mind control comes up, an almost inevitable discussion ensues about family systems, advertising, salespeople, the military, and the even the Catholic Church. A great confusion currently exists concerning how to make meaningful distinctions. I have heard people say time and time again that "everything is mind control." Overgeneralizations like this obscure important distinctions. As a person who has spent almost two decades researching and considering this topic, I offer the following thoughts.

All influence processes can be visualized as falling somewhere along a continuum. In one direction of the continuum, mind control techniques can be regarded as positive and constructive, promoting understanding and choice while respecting an individual's integrity. In the other direction, mind control is regarded as destructive and constricts understanding and choice while undermining personal integrity. Since mind control techniques are not inherently good or evil, they can be used ethically and practically to enhance our lives, expand choices, and to cultivate our creativity and individuality.

These techniques can also be used to destroy individuality, stunt personal growth, and create virtual slaves, as exemplified by Jim Jones, David Koresh, and Adolf Hitler. People can be deceptively manipulated and indoctrinated to distrust their ability to feel, to think, and to make mature decisions. Destructive cults want to control people to enable them to expand their temporal power and raise money. They exist to serve totalistic dictators, not to serve the people. They desire to rule through power, not with the power of love. Charismatic leaders often stray into temptation to exploit their power over others in dangerous ways.

The locus of control for the use of mind control techniques should lie within our selves, not with some external authority figure. True spirituality demands personal awareness and responsibility. The right to believe whatever you want should be upheld. However, behaviors must be scrutinized in order to protect human liberty. Behaviorally, all relationships and involvements can be evaluated by objective criteria such as the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (available at any library or through Amnesty International).

The position that religious groups should not be scrutinized is most vigorously promoted by organizations that have notoriously bad histories of abuse. They have spent large amounts of money in public relations campaigns and have even funded publications and conferences to support their positions. They have also expended great effort to do propaganda campaigns to attack former members and critics in an effort to neutralize the dissemination of factual information. I have personally been subjected to incredible harassment, with extraordinary lies manufactured about me that I kidnap and even torture people to renounce their religious beliefs. While I have been subjected to nuisance law suits, systematic attempts to character assassinate me, and efforts to intimidate me to stop my criticisms, I refuse to be silent. I choose to exercise my First Amendment right to speak freely, and I offer proof for what I say. I suppose that I should feel good that destructive cults attack me so blatantly as proof that I am being effective.

On another extreme, I am put down by some people who dislike the fact that I believe in and publicly defend spiritual practices such as prayer and meditation. Some people angrily tell me that all religion is bad and all religious leaders are dishonest. Those people, it seems, have had some really bad experiences and, in my opinion, have "thrown the baby out with the bath water." It is lamentable that so many people have had such bad experiences. It appears that they are afraid to trust anything that can't be analyzed and proven "scientifically." Their capacity to fully develop, take risks, and grow are seriously diminished. I feel sorry for people who have adopted a rigid posture toward life which will only validate an analytic, linear model for understanding. Without imagination, wonder, and trust in non-analytic, intuitive ways of knowing, people can become cynical, defensive and even paranoid.

I know that fasting, silence, solitude, sleep deprivation, and other techniques have long been used by different religious traditions. I believe they can be very useful and liberating in terms of unfreezing one's own habitual conditioning. They become unethical and destructive when they are used in combination with deception and a diminution of personal choice and integrity.

Due to my own cult experience, I have had to do some very intense personal reflection. I have had to sort out the good experiences from the bad while a member of the Moon cult. In retrospect, I can say without a doubt that a good deal of my personal spiritual experience was valid and had a beneficial impact on my development. As a result, I have had to really examine myself thoroughly and consciously evaluate my beliefs and actions. Fortunately, my core spirituality preceded my Moonie indoctrination, and so when I left that group, I had some basic beliefs to return to as a kind of stable base. For example, I believe that love is stronger than fear and that truth is stronger than lies.

My own spiritual path has shown me the importance of balance and the necessity of being in touch with your thoughts and feelings. I believe that true spiritual growth demands awareness and responsibility and not just blind submission to another human being or to the dogma of some unseen deity. I have come to the conclusion that, for me, spiritual traditions that focus on healing the mind/body relationship and on the inseparable relationship between the sacred and the profane, rather than fostering a split of mind/body brings more satisfying results. What I mean by this is acknowledging and accepting feelings, thoughts, and needs rather than denying them or pretending that they do not exist. For me, what makes sense is wholeness, not fragmentation. Love rather than fear and guilt should be the prime motivator. I choose to believe in a basically friendly universe, rather than a hostile universe. Lacking an objective, absolute reference point for "truth," I prefer to believe in the goodness of life because it feels "right" and because the alternative would be too bleak. Of course, I believe that there are many legitimate paths to developing one's spirituality. I believe that it is up to each person to take responsibility for his or her own life.

Therefore, contrary to the disinformation put out against me by destructive cults, I am very liberal and open minded about new religions. However, just because it is new doesn't make it healthy or bone fide. Likewise, the more extreme the claim is by the leader and the doctrine, the more caution I recommend before becoming involved. For example, just because a person claims to be the most spiritually advanced being on earth in the past 25,000 years doesn't make it so. There are so many psychics, mediums, and channelers today who are making claims of special wisdom and spiritual knowledge. People must learn to be more discerning and to not merely accept passively. I believe if an individual is legitimate, he or she will be honest and forthright in all communications and actions. An atmosphere where questions and skepticism are accepted and even encouraged is a good sign of a healthy group. Also, there will be no heavy pressure for quick and full commitments. A spiritual leader will exemplify those qualities that show love, compassion, and respect. I have been impressed by Western spiritual leaders like Lama Surya Das and Jack Kornfield who demonstrate through their actions that their quest for enlightened living and healthy group process is achievable today.

I also strongly recommend that periodically - at least once or twice each year - a "vacation" be taken to step out of your environment and "reality test." Ask yourself: When I started doing "x" what were my goals? What were my expectations? Where did I think I would be in one year? Five years, Ten years? If I knew then (at the beginning of "x") what I know now, would I still do "x"? If not, why not? What would you do differently? If I hadn't done "x," what would I have likely done? Also, if I had a magic wand and I could be doing now what I really would like to do, what would that be?

In the following pages, I have:

• Helped to compile some basic assessment questions that can help people to "reality-test."
• Summarized the four basic components of mind control from my book Combatting Cult Mind Control to help provide a basis for evaluation.
• Summarized the three stages of mind control by Kurt Lewin as described by Edgar Schein in Coercive Persuasion (Norton,1961).
• Summarized Robert Jay Lifton's eight themes of thought reform based on his research of the Communist "re-education" programs of Mao Tse-tung.

These were taken from Chapter 22 of his seminal book Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism.

I hope that reading and thinking about these perspectives will help to shed light on the behaviors of individuals and organizations. (Additionally, you might want to read a copy of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.)

Unless we all acknowledge our questions now, they will remain like skeletons in our psyches until the day they are dealt with and resolved. They will never go away permanently, even if we do years of chanting, praying, affirmations, and other spiritual practices. We must use wisdom, gentleness, self inquiry, and courage to guide us in upholding our integrity.

Unselfishness, kindness, gentleness, and compassion should be a basic living principle, not just an ideal. When individuals claim to be spiritually more developed, and put themselves in the role of guru, swami, master, prophet, these virtues must be consistently demonstrated. We must not allow our desires to know "Absolute Truth" to blind us from observing obvious discrepancies in our teacher's behaviors. We must become sensitive to the tactic that illigitimate leaders use by turning our questions or comments around and using them blame or shame us into obedience. A legitimate question or concern demands a respectful response, not evasion or coersion.

We must also not look at the past and traditions blindly, but with an appreciation for the present and a clear vision for our future on the spaceship Earth we cohabit.