If Michael has fallen for another cult, it is pretty understandable to me. After I left prem's cult, I was cult-free for many years, but then I guess I wanted something that seemed 'real' to me again and so I ended up falling for the good old Catholic Church cult. Once again I was very sincere, and was seriously looking for 'God' so I consciously chose to be brainwashed (I can even remember the day it happened - I gave myself permission to believe) and then ended up becoming a Carmelite nun for about 8-9 years in various convents around the world. A deep sense of dissatisfaction and a slowly growing realisation that I 'had done it again' finally won out, and after 'waking up' again and leaving the last convent, I found myself walking the Camino de Santiago for weeks and weeks, trying to sort myself out, and crying almost every step of the way.
I returned to Australia in 2015 and finally made the break from the church. I stopped attending every week, which was a big deal for me at the time, because not going to Sunday Mass was considered a 'mortal sin' - which means that I am destined for hell. Oh well. I might meet some friends there - lol.
But I can definitely understand why Dettmers wants something that he can hang onto. It is insidiously comforting to think you know the answers to everything and that everything is under control by some invisible power or force, guided by some supreme spiritual leader. It is much harder to accept the reality that we have very little control over anything in our lives (apart from our own responses and reactions) and that there just might not be any supreme power or answer to the secrets of the universe - at least not here on planet earth.
I wish Dettmers all the best in his ongoing search, but a part of me worries that he will be alright because he is building his house on sand and it must be so hard to keep trying to shore up the foundations with conflicting ideas and cognitive dissonance. I know, it was hard for me.
On the other hand, I know people who have already died, believing that prem is the master and that he really loved them. Maybe they died in peace - I don't know. I am grateful not to be in a cult of any kind anymore but I can also understand and appreciate those who simply don't want to challenge their cult reality because their belief system helps them cope with the 'real reality' - which is that we simply don't have all the answers - and that's ok too.
Freedom can seem scary or lonely sometimes. Maybe not everyone can handle it.
