Over the years I have seen this discussed quite a lot, and despite the premie/Elan Vital lies that ex-premies are just playing the blame game, want to be victims, and are just blaming Rawat for their own problems, by and large ex-premies do accept responsibility for their own actions.  But Rawat has responsibility too, and he takes ZERO.  That's the problem.

For example, after a lot of self-searching, I realize that I was pretty stupid in accepting on faith the stuff Rawat was saying about not having doubts and having faith, before I was allowed to receive knowledge.  Most of the people who got involved in the Rawat cult were smart people, they were also very sincere, but perhaps a bit gullible.  I think I wanted the fairly tale being presented to be true so much, that I repressed my own judgment and values.  I take responsibility for that. 

I also stayed in the cult too long, despite being very unhappy and feeling very stifled and suffocated, because I bought Rawat's sick and dysfunctional Hindi-based belief system that my mind was the enemy and that if I surrendered to him, he and his "grace" would take care of everything.  Accordingly, I spent a lot of energy trying to ignore what my own judgment and values were telling me.  It was, in many ways, a very self-destructive activity.

So, see, I openly admit my grevious fault and I take responsibility for it.

But Prem Rawat has taken no respsonsibility, and what he did was many, many times worse.  He lied, he didn't give a shit about people who believed in him, he took financial and personal advantage of people, he used mind games to keep people dependent on him, apparently just for the money and so he could feel special and be worshipped.  And these days, he compounds more lies on top of it all, by trying to say that events that happened and things he said and did, actually never happened.  I mean, the guy has a lot to answer for. Lots, huge amounts. 

One way that I feel I can take responsibility for what happened to me in the cult, and how I was ripped off, is to talk about it publicly, and to do what little I can to try to hold Rawat responsible for what he did.  It would be irresponsible, in my opinion, to just chalk it up to how "life sucks" and walk away and just forget about it.  In that way, I feel I can make something positive out of a very negative situation.  I can also try to help in telling other people to avoid getting involved with Rawat so they don't end up with the same problems I did.  As an ex-premie, I'm in a unique position to do that, because ex-premies know all the lingo, where a lot of the bodies are buried, and can't be fooled by Elan Vital spin and propaganda.

By the way, that's what is so excellent about the new website at www.prem-rawat-maharaji.info   It just cuts through the propaganda so well.  One wonders if EV will drop all the "hate group" allegations from its websites, considering how idiotic, and how much like a cult, it makes EV look.  I think the website deals with that very well also, just by telling the truth and laying it out.  On the one hand, ex-premies have a lot of criticism and allegations about Rawat, as described on the website.  The response of Elan Vital is that ex-premies are mentally defective and are in a hate group.  The stark contrast is impressive.

But in the end, I also have the responsibility to take care of myself.  So, being an ex-premie isn't a big cause for me, it's more like one of my many interests I have.  I personally feel balance in life is important.  Also, I find this whole cult/ex-cult phenomenon very interesting (at times at least) and often extremely entertaining.

Andries,

I wonder to what extent the guru (in my case SSB) is responsible for joining the cult and to what extent the follower is responsibe.

You asked an important question Andries, thank you.  There other questions that follow it, such as: Who was sincere and who wasn't?  Who came with a "guileless heart?"  Who asked for the guileless heart?  Who offered the "peace, bliss, the universe of love, an avatar" and more?  Who offered constant peace and bliss?  Who offered relief from this world, as if we weren't supposed to even live in the real world?  Who placed themself in that position?  My answer is:  Not the followers. Therefore, the natural conclusion has to be the cult leader bears the responsibility.

I think that everybody is ultimately responsible for themselves and for happens to them in their lives, but when someone is deceived to the extent that a cult leader deceives his followers, such as SSB or Rawat have done, then the fakers bear the brunt of the responsibility.  I didn't get involved with Rawat with the intent to deceive him and I never did.  I would imagine that's how it was for you, too, with SSB.

Whenever someone makes promises to another person and does so with deception, it's always wrong.  That's a terrible abuse of trust.  That's why it can be so difficult for some people to trust again, once they remove themselves from a cult. It's such a large betrayal that it might take longer to learn how to trust anyone again.  It's sad, actually, because no one has a right to do that to anyone.  It's indecent. So much trust was extended to the leader about such important things, such as your spirituality, the purpose of your life, and even your day to day living, that it makes his betrayal of trust so much more insidious and disgusting.  I don't care how much "bliss" someone may have felt, either, because it's an ignorant bliss and one that's based upon something that was always false.  No one has a right to do that because it's immoral.

Decent people just don't go around purposely deceiving others, even about small things in life, so when someone like a cult leader uses the goodness in people, such as the natural desire to trust others (and their desire learn and grow) and he then abuses their trust through deception, then they get the blame and responsibility for involvement, not the other way around. The blame sits right at the doorstep of the cult leader even more because of the grand scale of the deception.  I just don't see it any other way, and believe me, I've looked at this issue from all angles over the years.

The difference is that once a person does get out it is their personal responsibility to get over it, to extent they choose to recover from involvement.  So, while I do place the major responsibility upon the cult leader, when someone snaps out of their involvement and belief-system, it's then their responsibility to figure out what helps them best, so that they can gain or regain their lives for themselves, in order to live a happy and normal life

Cynthia