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Is TM a cult? (cont.)

Part 2: How to win friends and influence people

Applying what we have learned

Ok, all of this stuff about inducing dissociation and thus suppressing reality testing is all well and good. But where does it get us as budding cult leaders?

But what we're still missing so far is a comprehensive step-by-step approach for using these methods to recruit and retain members and build a really well-run and growing cult.

Keeping what we have learned in mind, here is a summary of how cults use suppression of reality testing in order to recruit and retain members:

With both TM and Scientology, to continue using our examples, they can (and probably will) spend the rest of their lives in the pursuit of Cosmic Consciousness or trying to reach the most advanced Operating Thetan level.

Why can't people see how reasonable my group's teachings are!

From there on out it's a straight drop for these people. Their reality testing mechanisms have been completely hammered into the ground as far as the cult's doctrine is concerned. These people are now no longer targets, they are cult members.

And their reality testing mechanisms will be hammered over and over again, almost continuously, for the rest of their lives. It will be very very difficult for them to ever exercise reality testing as regards cult doctrine, despite desperate efforts from their friends and relatives to make them "see reason." It will be next to impossible to convince them because these new members know that they themselves are the ones seeing reason! You are the one with a problem.

They may very likely be in the cult for the rest of their lives. We now have a bunch of Cruises. And Lynchs. And Kelletts. Trying, with the noblest intentions, to convince the rest of the world of the Truth which seems so very reasonable to them!

Nobody who is in a cult is in a cult

Nobody who is in a cult is in a cult. Just ask them. They are certain that they aren't.

That's because of the "reasonableness" factor just described. That's because they know that the process of arriving at their current set of beliefs was completely rational! They have been thinking clearly throughout the whole process. They have experienced it as an objective process of intellectual discovery right along with the spiritual aspect!

TMers will tell you that "no faith is required." So will a Scientologist!

What's really wrong, they know, is that the public misunderstands their group's teachings and practices. If the public would only see and experience for themselves, they would understand!

These people can't be very smart!

These people can't be very smart, right?

Well, no matter what you think about Cruise, he doesn't strike me as unintelligent. Nor does Lynch. Nor does the indisputably world-class scientific genius John Hagelin.

Being intelligent and highly creative didn't save Cruise and Lynch. And being a world-famous world-class absolute genius didn't help Hagelin. Why? Because intelligence is absolutely no barrier to cult recruitment. This is because a person's intelligence is totally bypassed during the process of cult recruitment. When reality testing is suspended then one's intelligence is not applied at all in order to ascertain the reasonableness of the cult's teachings.

In fact, intelligence makes things worse. This is because a person will use his intelligence to produce brilliant rationalizations of cult dogma after he is recruited.

And the more intelligent a person is the more valuable he is to the cult. For years now Hagelin has made use of his reputation as a scientist to be the poster child for almost all of TM's publicity campaigns. (Until Lynch came along; now Lynch is pulling ahead in that role.)


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