Just learning you were X-rated tells me "you know of that which you speak." (Not that I didn't already know that.)

So much said in so few words. It also reminds me of how much I missed your posts.

As for your initial post, it's all true and certainly helpful to anyone serious about trying to deconstruct their involvement in this or similar cults. Your study of the subject certainly shows! As for your experience, you must have gotten burned pretty badly.

(to hack your sentence) "... perfectly sane people who... submit their free will to a self-proclaimed Guru and divide themselves into... a cult-self and social-self."

I've referred to this as "the double life of a premie." (Or as Joe put it: "Premies are ashamed of being premies." ) It just occurred to me that this has varying degrees, i.e., the more intense the social and devotional life, the greater the internal divide and consequently the more stress it creates. The opposite of peace! 

For me, it was a high-pressure work environmentt in which "the guru" already had a rotten stygma, combined with intense devotion and heavy participation that I was forced to conceal to protect my career. It almost broke me!

 

Thank you for posting again. You obviously have much to contribute and I hope you're making progress with overcoming your rotten NDA.

Wishing you a happy 2024 as well!

Bob