https://forum.culteducation.com/read.php?12,135612

7. Before becoming a follower of Sai Maa, Michael clearly understood that he had left a cult and acknowledged the misguided role he played in it:

"I am gratified that, by speaking out, I have helped many people exit the cult. It has been a liberating experience and I thank all of the people whose efforts make EPO and this FORUM possible."

"I was a willing accomplice in a conspiracy of lies and hypocrisy for which I have no excuse."

"When I look back at the whole thing with a great deal of disgust, I have to say, of course, I was foolish to have ever been a part of something like that."

8. It is my understanding that when Michael initially spoke out, he was met with a degree of skepticism about his motives and criticism for his complicity in the cult. I would add that his actions negatively affected me and countless others in ways that reverberated for decades beyond his departure.

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Why do I care about any of this? I became a community coordinator in 1975. My role was to loyally execute orders from above and promote Guru Maharaji. That role essentially meant inspiring others to comply with cult edicts, raise funds and do my best to set an example. As Guru Maharaji's right-hand man, it was in part Michael's role to disseminate those orders, cult edicts and fundraising needs, as well as to oversee how that money was spent. Subsequently, we both recognized it to be a "conspiracy of lies and hypocrisy" and that we were complicit in the exploitation of others.

To be fair, and to give Michael the benefit of the doubt, one must believe that Michael's connection to Sai Maa and his involvement in Cassa Mannabliss and PaVima is motivated purely by an overwhelmingly positive inner experience.

(Benefit of the doubt: "to believe something good about someone, rather than something bad, when you have the possibilities of doing either." )

Nevertheless, how is it possible for a person to go from being an accomplice in a conspiracy of lies and hypocrisy and looking back on it with a great deal of disgust in one destructive cult... to becoming Muktananda in what (in the opinion of many people familiar with it) is clearly another destructive cult?

What lessons did Michael learn from being "foolish to have ever been a part of something like that?" Did he ever seriously deconstruct his involvement and examine his own motives, culpabilities and vulnerabilities?

Michael must surely be aware of the easily accessible criticism of Sai Maa; criticism that in many ways mirror the criticism of Prem Rawat f/k/a Guru Maharaji.

On the surface, it appears to me as if Michael merely shopped his skills and experience in one cult in search of a similar opportunity in another cult. On the surface, it appears to me that he did the same thing all over again, this time with what appears to be a willful blind spot.

It now appears to me that the initial skepticism about his motives may have been well founded.

These, of course, are merely my initial/superficial thoughts and observations.