Hi Inis,

Thanks, and yes, I totally forgot that aspect,
the need for family / tribe / sangha, and how getting suddenly smushed together
in ashrams and such created a sort of family, unified by our common objective
and playing on that basic human requirement.

And yes, dysfunctional family, and at the end of
the day, less committed to each other’s well-being than to the guru and our own
‘spiritual’ neediness.

Also, getting a bunch of earnest people in the
same room, quietly focused on a speaker and agreeing with the message created a palpable
energy, and our concentration amplified our ability to feel it. At least for
me, I would almost always walk out of the nightly satsang problems feeling
really energized and great. This communal amplification helped to reinforce the belief system and perpetuate
the guru myth, particularly the experience of the huge programs.

It also seemed that the closer one got to GMJ's person,
the more neediness and dysfunction would arise, giving rise to the technical
term “clusterfuck”.

Nice to see you on the Forum,

Warm regards, Mike