There are several things that will identify a cult :-
- • A cult leader will claim they have the truth, the only truth, and that no other version of the truth is correct.
- • Cult leaders are dogmatic; insisting on blind obedience and belief in their systems with no evidence required.
- • Challenging a cult leader’s or guru’s ideas, values, purpose or beliefs is not tolerated and doing so will likely lead to offence and penalisation in some way. The Guru is never wrong.
- • Cults are hierarchical. The higher you rise in the cult by behaving and performing according to its rules, the closer you get to the Guru.
- • Cults typically require their members to leave their families and often to surrender significant portions of their wealth and any status they may have had in the world outside of the cult.
- • Cults and Gurus require blind obedience without question.
Conversely, organisations that are more academic in nature demonstrate the following criteria :-
- •
They make no claim to know the truth. There will always be a premise that they may be wrong. - • Academic organisations welcome questions and challenges. This either leads to reinforcement of a useful and accurate set of ideas for the creation of a new and more useful and more accurate set of ideas that are seen as good and beneficial.
- • There is always an openness to present the explanation for their beliefs and theories, and why they are useful.
- • They will also show where these theories and beliefs do not apply if they don’t.
- • There is no judgement of others who may have created something not desirable to ourselves.
If we hold the belief that we are creators of our own universe, we accept the notion that we have no real idea if we actually are, but that it is a convenient foundation on which to gain leverage to change what is changeable, and in turn gain greater control and impact on our own outcomes and experience.
Academic organisations are open to reasonable challenges, presented with evidence and logical reasoning.
There is a tendency towards flatter, less hierarchical structures, where access to leaders is more readily available, with a welcome to an audience and discussion.
Offence will not be taken when the ideas of an academic organisation are challenged by reasoning and evidence.
A quick Google search highlights the intrigue, fascination, horror and obsession our society and culture has with cults. The point I’m making, and hope to be making with crystal clarity, is that I share no traits, nothing, nada, zero anything with cults. I believe in personal development from an empowered, spiritual and knowledgeable base.
The purpose of CETfreedom is developing and teaching for emotional empowerment and transformation, to finally lean into joy.
Our vision at CETfreedom is a world set free from emotional suffering and enjoying infinite love.
And our mission at CETfreedom is to revolutionise how people experience their emotions by elevating consciousness.
To put it another way, when we think of Buddha’s well-known teaching about the finger pointing at the moon; a guru will claim to be the moon.
If you would like further reading, I’ve written a white paper on The Four Stages Of Grooming, which you can download here.
Find out more about who we are at CETfreedom, what we do and how we do it on our new website cetfreedom.com.
I am very keen to hear from you with any feedback, and I’d also be very interested in your thoughts and experience concerning cults and/or grooming. Please email me at support@cetfreedom.com.
To your empowerment,
Dr Lisa Turner
