Spiritual Predators and Pathological Gurus

By Bernhard Guenther, December 27, 2018

In light of a recent upsurge in revelations regarding predatory and abusive behavior exhibited by “spiritual” gurus/teachers around the world, I’ve witnessed two different reactions (generally speaking) to these ‘unmasking’ events. On one hand, many people speak out and help to spread the word about these pathological individuals who have abused their power (usually exhibiting a history of abuse that’s been exposed via the many testimonials of brave individuals who chose to come forward). On the other hand, there are people who claim that it is not “spiritual” to “judge” these gurus/teachers, and that the men/women who have accused them are just coming from a place of victim consciousness, projecting their own stuff/wounds/shadow onto the person in question (or they are just engaging in “gossip”), going so far in this approach as to shame/insult the people (victim-blaming) who have stepped forward and shared their stories. Some have even literally stated that they won’t read the testimonials/article in question (motivated reasoning fallacy), and simply defend the guru/teacher in a reflexive manner.

Many of the people who fall into the second category are oftentimes revealed to be very attached followers of said gurus/teachers (or are even part of their “inner circle”) . This behavior is a good example of being caught up in the group-think and cult-programming mentality, which they are obviously not aware of at all. It’s the main reason why abuse (sexual, psychological, emotional, physical) in spiritual circles/communities keeps happing, and has been going on for decades – in the case of some “traditions”, for centuries. These violations of human sovereignty are usually “swept under the rug” through the abuse (no pun intended) of spiritual “truths” and psychology. It’s a form of spiritual bypassing – the worst kind of avoidance – because it not only feeds and fuels more abuse, but justifies it.

In light of this topic and its wider implications, I’d like to address some points about judging, gossip, victim consciousness, shadow projection, making the darkness conscious, pathology, truth and lies, etc.:

1. Gossip

There is a huge difference between engaging in gossip (i.e., “shit talking”, malicious rumours, and jealous innuendo), and exposing obvious abuse via the cult behavior/programming of self-proclaimed (pathological) teachers/gurus (based on many testimonials and data spanning over prolonged periods of time).

Gossip is a dualistic virus of petty small-mindedness, founded upon shadow projections in order to make oneself “feel good” (superior) by talking “bad” about another person based on nothing more than unfounded whispers, assumptions, lies, and accusations. This distraction is what truly “lowers a person’s frequency”; and in fact, it is an activity which feeds those occult forces who relish in the narrow-bandwidth frequency of rumour-spreading, and are actively working through those people engaging in it.

2. Victim/Blame Consciousness

I’ve written about the trap of victim/blame consciousness before: getting stuck in this very disempowering state can result in severe shadow projection, leading to the hatred of another person (to the point of wanting revenge) – it can lead to distortions/exaggerations, and even the leveling of false accusations. This behavior can be clearly seen in the shadow “inversion” expression of the popular #metoo movement; it also shows itself in some articles that, while exposing the pathological traits of gurus, are more interested in focusing upon the sensationalist reinforcement of victim consciousness and “outrage porn” (getting excited about something new to be angry about) group mentalities, without exploring how the victims of cult-abuse found themselves in such a position to begin with.

However, avoiding the trap of victim/blame consciousness does not imply that one should remain silent with regards to suffering abuse at the deeds of a perpetrator/predator. In fact, it is important for the victim to speak out and be heard as part of the healing process, while raising awareness so as to help others. Victim-shaming is a big issue in spiritual circles, most of it based upon very distorted spiritual truths (which the pathological guru uses, in turn, to “save face” and manipulate his/her followers into defending him/her). This is an ancient game of accountability-avoidance, and relates to the distorted religious program of “Whomever is without sin among you, let him be the first to cast stones”. It’s the main reason why pathological “spiritual leaders” have gotten away with abuse – or even justified it amongst their followers – for centuries. It’s also one of the reasons why people are afraid to speak out – there are intense emotional programs of guilt/shame attached to such honest courageous openness.

Another way of justifying abuse is the typical, over-simplified misapplication of “It’s your Karma” (an inversion of the original Sanskrit meaning, which described the process of sincere self-work, not the subsequent Caste-system-reinforcing fable of reincarnation “consequences”), along with other distorted excuses such as (premature) “Forgiveness”, “Law of Attraction”, “Unconditional Love”, “Truth” and “God’s Will”. These deflection/”cosmic justification” strawman arguments also usually result in gaslighting the victim. It also relates to the watered-down/misinterpreted use of Jungian Psychology, based on the (New Age) fallacy “when you spot it, you got it”, along with “it’s just an expression of all of your wound projections”.

Having said that, there are abuse survivors who can indeed get stuck in victim consciousness (and resulting (wound) projections), remaining “locked” into a particular existential playback loop. This state is exacerbated due to a lack of sincere self-examination with regards to how they initially got themselves into this situation, especially with respect to the mindset they had when first joining a cult-like group/community. So, it is also about taking responsibility for past choices in order to truly heal and move out of the victim triangle maze (Victim-Rescuer-Perpetrator).

“Whether we know it, or not, most of us react to life as victims. Whenever we refuse to take responsibility for ourselves, we are unconsciously choosing to react as victim. This inevitably creates feelings of anger, fear, guilt or inadequacy and leaves us feeling betrayed, or taken advantage of by others.

Victim-hood can be defined by the three positions beautifully outlined in a diagram developed by a well respected psychiatrist, and teacher of Transactional Analysis, named Stephen Karpman. He calls it the “drama triangle,” I refer to it as the victim triangle.
I believe that every dysfunctional interaction, in relationship with other or self, takes place on the victim triangle. But until we become conscious of these dynamics, we cannot transform them. And unless we transform them, we cannot move forward on our journey towards re-claiming emotional, mental and spiritual well-being.

The three roles on the victim triangle are Persecutor, Rescuer and Victim. Karpman placed these three roles on an inverted triangle and described them as being the three aspects, or faces of victim. No matter where we may start out on the triangle, victim is where we end up, therefore no matter what role we’re in on the triangle, we’re in victimhood. If we’re on the triangle we’re living as victims, plain and simple!

Each person has a primary or most familiar role — what I call their “starting gate” position. This is the place from which we generally enter, or “get hooked” onto, the triangle. We first learn our starting gate position in our family of origin. Although we each have a role with which we most identify, once we’re on the triangle, we automatically rotate through all the positions, going completely around the triangle, sometimes in a matter of minutes, or even seconds, many times every day.[…]

Starting gate Rescuers (SGR) see themselves as “helpers” and “caretakers.” They need someone to rescue (victim) in order to feel vital and important. It’s difficult for SGR’s to recognize themselves as ever being in a victim position — they’re the ones with the answers after all.

Starting Gate Persecutors (SGP), on the other hand, identify themselves primarily as victims. They are usually in complete denial about their blaming tactics. When it is pointed out to them, they argue that attack is warranted and necessary for self protection. These two — the Rescuer and the Persecutor — are the two opposite extremes of Victim. But again, regardless of where we start out on the triangle, all roles eventually end up in victim. It’s inevitable.[…]

Living on the victim triangle creates misery and suffering no matter what your primary starting gate position may be. The cost is tremendous for all three roles and leads to emotional, mental and even physical pain. Efforts to avoid pain, by blaming or looking for someone to take care of us, only ends up generating greater pain in the end. When we try to shield others from the truth, (rescue) we discount their abilities and this creates more pain. Everyone involved in triangular dynamics ends up hurt and angry at some point; no-one wins.”

– from “The Three Faces of Victim – An Overview of the Victim Triangle” by Lynne Forest

The way out of the Victim-Rescuer-Perpetrator Triangle trap is to transmute these lower three default states into their higher expression of Empowerment Dynamic. This can only happen if there is self-responsibility, self-awareness and sincere psychological/esoteric self-work:

“The Enlightened Victim understands that real power comes from within and is bound up with personal responsibility [Creator]. When you are the Enlightened Victim you cannot blame others because you can see that the loss of power happens from within. It would be useless to look for empowerment where it does not exist. The Enlightened Victim asks “what can I do with the situation that I have been given?” There is this great scene from The Lord of the Rings movie where Frodo, feeling victimized by the fact that the ring of power has come to him, says to Gandalf: “I wish the ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened.” And Gandalf answers him wisely: “So do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us. There are other forces at work in this world Frodo, besides the will of evil. Bilbo was meant to find the Ring. In which case, you were also meant to have it. And that is an encouraging thought.” Here Gandalf shows Frodo where his true power lies. There are some things in life that are not for us to decide but we can decide what to do with what we have been given, or what has happened to us. It is a very encouraging thought.

[…]

The Enlightened Victim is not afraid of weakness and fragility because you maintain vulnerability as a strength. You have learned that power can be found even in the worst victimization. You are no longer afraid of failures, losses, tragedies, suffering and misfortune because none of these outer circumstances has the power to control your life. Vulnerability is the keystone of your strength because it allows you to discover different kinds of power and especially recognize the strength of openness. Vulnerability makes you pliable and willing to be changed by your circumstances without losing your power.”

– from “Understanding the Victim Archetype” by Susanna Barlow

Obviously, none of us are perfect, and we all need to watch out for shadow projections, our tendencies to gossip, or getting caught up in victim/blame mode. But “not being perfect” (i.e. without “sin”) does not imply that one should stay silent/voiceless.

During this Time of Transition, any-and-everything is rising up from the lurking shadows of our collective unconsciousness. All of it needs to be revealed, examined, healed and transmuted. It is all about making the darkness conscious, and part of this process involves exposing lies, corruption and pathology. This is NOT about being “negative”, nor does it “lower” one’s frequency. It’s about accountability, integrity, self-responsibility and giving the lie what it deserves: the truth.

Keep in mind that ALL there is out here (from a soul evolutionary perspective) in the realm of material existence are lessons, and even the pathological guru/teacher predator archetype serves a “teaching function”: it asks a person to reclaim their own power and sovereignty, without giving it away to anyone or any group, and to avoid putting anyone on a pedestal. As I have said before: the time of ‘gurus’ who claim to have special/sacred/ancient knowledge – and have built a school/organization/movement around it, complete with a hierarchy of wisdom-keeping – is over, and so is any group-think mentality that’s centered around one teacher/teaching. It’s all just a breeding ground for cults and cult-mentality, with the usual tunnel vision of group-think psychology (which is usually far-from-obvious to anyone within the group itself, until the damage/abuse is made clear and the disillusionment/shock stage kicks in).

3. Psycho-Pathology

It’s very important to understand that “we” are not all the same. There are pathological individuals (Narcissists, Sociopaths, Psychopaths) who operate very differently than most “normal” human beings, but perform behind a well-crafted “mask of sanity”. They can have very high IQs, exude self-confidence, express themselves eloquently, and can even possess certain “powers” to heal AND manipulate others, while emulating and mimicking “spiritual wisdom”, “empathy” and “love” quite well, without truly meaning, embodying, or feeling any of it. In fact, it is very hard to spot high-functioning psychopaths right away, due to their experience with self-camouflage.

That’s why a basic understanding of Psychopathology is a key resource to possess in this day and age, especially within spiritual circles/communities. One must understand how the wolf in sheep’s clothing operates – to be able to see through their “mask of sanity”.

I’ve noticed that many people get into esoteric/occult topics in a search for “ancient” techniques which offer ‘healing/awakening’, and latch onto those spiritual groups/teachers who claim to have “sacred knowledge”. Many times, these declarations include the boast that said knowledge was given to them (or they “downloaded” it) because they are “special” – that’s the first red flag to take note of, and it’s easy to spot if one has a basic understanding of Narcissism. The lack of understanding surrounding basic psycho-pathology – or even basic psychology and cult-psychology – is a primary reason why so many well-meaning (wounded) people get so easily trapped/abused in cult-like group dynamics, and it’s also why dedicated followers of such predators keep defending him/her, because they are still under his/her “spell”, mimicking/repeating the same distorted “spiritual truths”. It’s the Stockholm Syndrome in action (see below).

Also, keep in mind that a full-blown Narcissist/Sociopaths/Psychopath will never be able to truly own his/her stuff, nor feel any remorse for their abuses, nor take true responsibility for his/her actions. He/she may engage in superficial apologetic behaviors that are not sincere; given that these types are pathological liars and master manipulators, you cannot expect to reason with them nor make them “see” the truth. It’s not that they don’t want to do so – they simply can’t actualize such a process. The only way out, so to speak, is to establish CLEAR boundaries, and disengage from the previous relational situation.

“One phenomenon all ponerogenic groups [people who have normalized pathology] and associations have in common is the fact that their members lose (or have already lost) the capacity to perceive pathological individuals as such, interpreting their behavior in fascinated, heroic, or melodramatic ways. When the habits of subconscious selection and substitution of thought-data spread to the macrosocial level, a society tends to develop contempt for factual criticism and to humiliate anyone sounding an alarm.”
– Andrew M. Lobaczewski

Another vital aspect of this dynamic between controller/controlled (abuser/victim) are the many ways in which the ‘traumatology’ inflicted on the trapped/coerced individual becomes internalized and self-perpetuating….the abused comes to equate their tormentor as the authority figure in need of their compliant good will. This pathology is heightened in the context of a guru/teacher situation due to the pre-existing conformity/subservience pressures placed on those “followers/students” who exist at the bottom rung of the cult hierarchy:

“Carver states that he commonly runs in his practice into women involved with psychopathic partners who say something to the effect of, “I know it’s hard for others to understand, but despite everything he’s done, I still love him.” While cultivating feelings of love for a partner who repeatedly mistreats you may seem irrational, it’s unfortunately quite common. Psychological studies show that molested children, battered women, prisoners of war, cult members and hostages often bond with their abusers. Sometimes they even go so far as to defend them to their families and friends, to the media, to the police and in court when their crimes are brought to justice.

This psychological phenomenon is so common that it acquired its own label: “Stockholm Syndrome,” named after an incident that occurred in Stockholm, Sweden. On August 23rd, 1974, two men carrying machine guns entered a bank. They held three women and one man hostage for several days. By the end of this ordeal, surprisingly, the victims took the side of their captors. They also defended them to the media and to the police. One woman even became engaged to one of the bank robbers. Another spent a lot of money for the legal defense of one of the criminals.

Those who suffer from Stockholm Syndrome develop an unhealthy positive attachment to their abusers. They come to accept the abuser’s lies and rationalizations for his bad behavior. They sometimes also assist the abuser in harming others. This psychological condition makes it difficult, if not impossible, for the victims to engage in behaviors that facilitate detachment from the abuser, such as turning him in, exposing his misconduct or leaving him.[…]

The combination of ‘Stockholm Syndrome’ and ‘cognitive dissonance’ produces a victim who firmly believes the relationship is not only acceptable, but also desperately needed for their survival. The victim feels they would mentally collapse if the relationship ended. In long-term relationships, the victims have invested everything and ‘placed all their eggs in one basket.’ The relationship now decides their level of self-esteem, self-worth, and emotional health.”

– from “When You Love Your Abuser: Stockholm Syndrome and Trauma Bonds” by Claudia Moscovici

4. Critical Thinking

Another issue I have observed is that many people who attach themselves to spiritual/esoteric groups/communities lack the applied basics of critical thinking. This shows itself, for example, when the predator guru engages in strawman arguments (among other logical fallacies), deflecting from the issue at hand whilst manipulating other followers into supporting him/her via NLP techniques.

There is also a hierarchy structure in groups/movements that can result in hive-mind thinking, where the opinions and proclamations of the founders/leaders within these organizations are accepted without question as “the truth”, and the opinions of group members becomes just a parroted version of those who are higher-up on the socio-cultural “ladder”. This also ties into the “bandwagon fallacy“, “appeal to authority“, “Stockholm Syndrome“, and “political correctness/appeal to emotion” logical fallacies that are so prevalent in public discourse these days. The parental image, projected onto “leaders” and authority regimes, is part of this Public Relations programming package, where Government is lauded as the ultimate exemplar of the collectively-perceived Daddy/Mommy nurture-figure.

5. Truth is mixed with Lies

Another big issue I’ve observed is that those followers of pathological gurus/teachers who come to his/her defense oftentimes claim that his/her work/teachings has helped them tremendously in their process and healing journey, and hence, there can’t be anything wrong with them as individuals/mentors. First of all, this is actually a very selfish/narcissistic tactic on the part of the follower, because it’s re-framing the conversation around “their process” and eliminating the voice of the brave individuals who have come forward with their testimonials of abuse. Secondly, it may well be the truth that some aspects of a guru/teacher’s work/teachings have helped them, but this does not automatically imply that all is fine and good with regard to the personal actions of the healer/teacher, and no abuse has happened with other clients/students (it’s actually a ‘red herring’/’No True Scotsman’ logical fallacy, which goes back to the last point about critical thinking).

In Psychological Manipulation programs, truth is often mixed with lies, and powerful/pathological gurus/teachers who claim to have “special knowledge” and “powers” will deploy “truths” in order to lure the seeker into their grip, and then distort said truth enough to keep them entrapped within their game, especially when there’s an established hierarchy (and inside competition between followers who want to get closer to the guru/teacher). It’s also an ancient game which relates to the esoteric saying, “Satan most often appears as an angel of light”.

Good (as in ‘effective’) disinformation is a potent combination of empowerment and deception, most often packaged as a high percentage of truth (or imitation of truth) to lure the seeker in, only for them to then be “undone” by the underlying foundation of lies. The falsehoods are usually designed so as to undermine the ‘window dressing’ truth, vector the undiscerning seeker away from uncovering more truth for themselves, and to make him/her take a detour off of their own path as they get lost in the cult-ish labyrinth (while believing themselves to be on the right track).

“Since the Negative is altogether, in one sense, an inverse reflection of the Positive or True Creative Logos, a parallel configuration borrowing all its components by simple reversal and distortion, it proceeds by the method of imitation. It apes the expression of positive, the more meticulously where it wishes to be mistaken altogether for the positive so as to subvert the message for those who tend to abide by it. Its typical strategy is to adhere so closely to the letter of the positive as to be virtually indistinguishable to all but the initiated awareness, installing itself through the rhythmic lull of entrainment so as to catch the “congregation” totally off guard when it diverges slightly or greatly from pattern and so pulls a portion of the positive track with it.”

– Michael Topper

“There are forces and beings that are interested in maintaining the falsehoods they have created in the world of the Ignorance and in putting them forward as the Truth which men must follow. The word “Appearances” refers to the forms they take in order to rule the world, forms often false and always incarnating falsehood, sometimes pseudo-divine. Often, representing themselves as divine powers, they mislead, give erring suggestions and impulsions and pervert the inner life.

To say that all light is good is as if you said that all water is good – or even that all clear or transparent water is good: it would not be true. One must see what is the nature of the light or where it comes from or what is in it, before one can say that it is the true Light. False lights exist and misleading lustres, lower lights too that belong to the being’s inferior reaches. One must therefore be on one’s guard and distinguish; the true discrimination has to come by growth of the psychic feeling and a purified mind and experience.”

– Sri Aurobindo

6. Not talking negatively about others

This relates to the first point, above, with regards to mistakenly conflating the exposure of pathological behavior/abuse with gossiping or “judgmental” negativity. It is directly tied into the typical New Age fallacy which preaches that we should all “just focus on the positive and ignore the negative”.

Here’s something I wrote 7 years ago:

There is this contrived “niceness” in today’s “conscious movements”, where people don’t want to say anything “negative” (in their subjective understanding of it, of course). In general, some folks hide behind a “social étiquette” mask, without wanting to say anything “bad” or touching on any “taboo subjects”. They speak around issues in order to be spiritually or politically “correct” so as to “not step on anyone’s toes”.

The other day I was at a yoga class and the teacher finished the class with a prayer in which she said: “Let’s be conscious of what we say, and if we don’t have anything nice to say, it’s better to be silent”. That is a good example of the distortion of “being conscious/aware” and relates to the fact why more spiritually-minded people don’t look at the world more objectively, speaking out and standing up against the lies and psychopathic ways of our culture.

Because it’s not “nice” to say that Obama is a pathological liar and that there are no “free elections” in the US. It’s not “nice” to state that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza or that there are some serious issues with the man-made Global Warming “science”. It’s not “nice” to point out that 6% of humanity have no conscience by birth and are mostly found in positions of power. It’s not only “not nice”, it’s also being “negative”, according to some people’s convoluted perception – hence, one should not say anything at all. This attitude of contrived “niceness” essentially creates the conditions for conformity, complacency, ignorance and the atrophy of critical thinking.

“Cowardice asks the question: “Is it safe?”

Expediency asks the question: “Is it politic?”

Vanity asks the question: “Is it popular?”

But conscience asks the question: “Is it right?”

And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe,
nor politic, nor popular but one must take it because one’s conscience tells one what is right.”

– Martin Luther King, Jr.

It also relates to the trap of “blind compassion”:

“Blind compassion is rooted in the belief that we are all doing the best we can. When we are driven by blind compassion, we cut everyone far too much slack, making excuses for others’ behavior and making nice situations that require a forceful “no”, an unmistakable voicing of displeasure, or a firm setting and maintaining of boundaries. These things can, and often should be done out of love, but blind compassion keeps love too meek, sentenced to wearing a kind face.

Blind compassion is kindness rooted in fear, and not just fear of confrontation, but also fear of not coming across as a good or spiritual person.When we are engaged in blind compassion we rarely show anger, for we not only believe that compassion has to be gentle, we are also frightened of upsetting anyone, especially to the point of their confronting us. This is reinforced by our judgment about anger, especially in its more fiery forms, as something less spiritual; something that shouldn’t be there if we were being truly loving. Blind compassion reduces us to harmony junkies, entrapping us in unrelentingly positive expression.

With blind compassion we don’t know how to – or won’t learn how to – say “no” with any real power, avoiding confrontation at all costs and, as a result, enabling unhealthy patterns to continue. Our “yes” is then anemic and impotent, devoid of impact it could have if we were also able to access a clear, strong “no” that emanated from our core.
When we mute our essential voice, our openness is reduced to a permissive gap, an undiscerning embrace, a poorly boundaries receptivity, all of which indicate a lack of compassion for ourselves (in that we don’t adequately protect ourselves).

Blind compassion confuses anger with aggression, forcefulness with violence, judgment with condemnation, caring with exaggerated tolerance, and more tolerance with spiritual correctness.”

– Robert Augustus Masters, Spiritual Bypassing

7. Occult Forces and Metaphysical Considerations

Beyond the psychological understandings mentioned above, this topic is intrinsically-connected to the occult realms, and relates to the “topic of all topics”: the hyperdimensional matrix control system, which sees ‘hidden’ forces working through (and using) humans. From this metaphysical perspective, powerful pathological gurus/teachers (full blown Narcissists/Psychopaths) are possessed/driven by demonic entities who have energetically hijacked their physical vessels, creating “traps of agreement” and feeding off of the worship/admiration and abuse their hosts receive and administer. This emotional “loosh” is what sustains these entities, which is why it’s their primary objective to create this frequency-condition through the actions/thoughts/cravings of the individual they occupy.
It is also important to understand that just because someone is a”powerful healer” (especially when being a medium, i.e. a vessel for entities to come through who can most often disguise themselves as positive/angelic beings), it doesn’t imply that this person is awake/aware or spiritually evolved (The same applies to any psychics/clairvoyants). In fact, the occult esoteric teachings warn of getting tempted by psychic powers given by beings/entities which can result in traps of agreements with occult hostile forces who then use their human vessel for their own feeding. It’s the archetypal pact with the devil.

“I have seen the beautiful churches of Italy, magnificent places; they were full of these vital beings [occult hostile forces] and full of terror. I remember painting in a basilica of Venice, and while I was working, in the confessional a priest was hearing the confession of a poor woman. There was such a dark and sucking power over him, and that poor woman was in such a state of fearful terror that it was truly painful to see it. And all these people believe this is something holy! But it is a web of the hostile vital forces which use all this to feed upon.

Besides, in the invisible world hardly any beings love to be worshipped, except those of the vital [lower nature]. These, as I said, are quite pleased by it. And then, it gives them importance. They are puffed up with pride and feel very happy, and when they can get a herd of people to worship them they are quite satisfied [especially when working through a “host”, i.e. pathological/narcissistic guru-type personality….or politician, celebrity].
But if you take real divine beings, this is not at all something they value. They do not like to be worshipped. No, it does not give them any special pleasure at all! Don’t think they are happy, for they have no pride. It is because of pride that a man likes to be worshipped; if a man has no pride he doesn’t like to be worshipped; and if, for instance, they see a good intention or a fine feeling or a movement of unselfishness or enthusiasm, a joy, a spiritual joy, these things have for them an infinitely greater value than prayers and acts of worship and pujas.

There is an entire domain between the spiritual and the material worlds which belongs to vital [occult hostile] beings, and it is this domain that is full of all these things, because these beings live upon that, are happy with it, and it immediately gives them importance; and the one who has the greatest number of believers, devotees and worshippers is the happiest and the most puffed up.”

– Mirra “The Mother” Alfassa

While there also may indeed be “soul-contract” connections between “victim” and “abuser” – as well as other metaphysical considerations (past lives, spirit-lessons, etc.) – it is very easy to justify abuse (or even “explain it away”) via a very distorted/shaming and superficial application of these concepts, as mentioned before. In fact, the pathological guru/teacher tends to use theses spiritual ideas to manipulate his/her victims and followers alike:

“It is important to be able to identify abusers, liars, predators and psychopaths as people traumatized by terrible pain, soul fragmentation and spiritual disconnection. When people are utterly controlled by negative ego dysfunction and have no impulse control and they live in self-deception. A person who is deceiving themselves has no other alternative but to deceive others because they have little to no clarity.

As we build better and practical ways of discerning trustworthiness and competency, we also gain confidence to build stronger intuition in such matters, where the checklist is not required. As is made clear here in these checklists, the more severe the Negative Ego dysfunction the more potentially disconnected the person is from their heart, intuition, self-awareness and spiritual source. This immediately gives one a gauge to measure what level a person can be trusted, no matter what words they may be speaking.

In the severe stages of Narcissism and Psychopathy, the veneer of seduction, charisma and “mimicry” of empathic reactions that are geared for manipulation to serve one’s egocentric needs, and can be seen much more clearly over time. It is very common for people that base their leadership or authority on controlling behaviours and tyrannical principles, to aggressively manipulate others by creating a façade of charisma from mimicking what they have found people want to hear from their wounded ego parts.
Narcissistic and psychopathic minds can be easily possessed by dark forces, and hence why they are intentionally manufactured in the people on the earth.

Many people do not want to hear or know the truth; they want to be lulled to sleep by fantasy delusions. Megalomaniacs that thrive on taking power and having control over others are master manipulators of telling people lies based on what they want to hear or believe.

This is the tough part. We have to ask if we are able to seek the honest factual truth of behavioural interactions or have people feed us lies that are flattering or comfortable for our wounded ego parts.

Otherwise, we reinforce the delusion in the person/circumstance and we become enablers, allowing them to continue to perpetrate deceptions in the group through their own self-deception. Promoting and enabling delusions leads to pathological thinking and spreads a fabricated reality through “false impressions”. This false impression is the spin on perceptions that are designed to serve the agenda of the ego, narcissistic or psychopath.

Time and consistency will always reveal to you the truth in the matter, if you are willing to patiently seek the truth over remaining in denial, because it may feel more comfortable to avoid the truth. As we learn improved skills to identify these harmful behaviors and stop feeding them, we can also connect the dots to see the direct relationship these behaviors were designed through the Archontic Deception strategies used to weaken and Mind Control human beings.”

– Lisa Renee, from “Stop Trusting Megalomaniacs”

8. Personal Sovereignty

I’d like to close this article with an excerpt from my essay/e-book “Individuality, Embodiment, and the Anchoring of a Higher Frequency”:

We need be become our own personal leaders and internal authorities, learning to trust ourselves and our own power in the process instead of giving it away to anyone else; therein lies the development of true spiritual sovereignty. Many people have the need to follow some “figurehead”, be it a government ‘personality’, medical professional or spiritual guru. Individuals oftentimes get sucked into the ‘celebrity matrix’ and latch onto authors and researchers they admire as well, blindly following what they say without doing their own fact-checking or listening to their bodily intuition. There is a big difference between getting inspired by people who put out work that resonates with us (and from whom we can learn new points of view) and putting those same folks on a pedestal, living only by the content of what they publish without questioning it at all, and projecting absolute authority onto them, whether it’s done consciously or not.

The latter situation is how we wind up getting cut off from our own inner knowing intuition guidance system – the ‘network’ which holds our personal truth that is unique to us, and which lights up our individual path and illuminates our life lessons. When we abdicate personal accountability to sovereign thought and deed, it puts us into a tunnel vision situation which actually disconnects us from our divine nature and innate wisdom. It is about simultaneously recognizing and honoring both our individuality and our inter-connectedness, relating with others and striving for community but not getting lost in self-limiting group/hive mind thinking.

Always think for yourself, never follow anyone blindly, and never fall into an unquestioning mindset, no matter how charismatic or “wise” your heroes may appear to be. Never give in to group and peer pressure if it contradicts your own experience, intuition, and research. Part of the “problem” is also that most of us yearn to “belong”, the instinctual tribal identification. So many of us look for a group/movement/political party/community/religious/spiritual collective to identify with and belong to. We are social creatures, after all, and that desire for bonding is natural and instinctual.

There is also nothing wrong with these kind of groups/movements per se, and obviously we need to connect, network and create community in order to create an alternative to the isolation/distraction/division tactics of the parasitic elements which currently rule human interactions. However, if it’s at the expense of personal sovereign identity, and group-think overwhelms and replaces individual thought, creativity and expression – especially since everyone is very different and unique – then it actually becomes a reflection of the NWO’s globalist agenda, which is to make everyone the “same”, even if it’s more subtle and not by force alone. This is the disease of homogenization – the “cookie cutter” compliant consumerist virus.

Another human trait is the drive to be loved and accepted. Many of us diminish ourselves (mostly unconsciously) in order to belong and be accepted by our chosen “tribe”. This can result in suppression of intuition and one’s own inner knowing, one’s “own personal truth” and voice in terms of what one’s unique soul is here to do and learn. Under the strain of group/peer pressure situations, we can lose (or not trust in) our personal inner guidance, simply because we don’t want to be rejected and abandoned. This is also the basis of the thought processes for authoritarian followers in cult-like circumstances (including political party affiliation), grown adults who still need “Mom” and/or “Dad” to tell them what to do, what to think, etc.

It’s a bit of a paradox, because on one hand we all need to network, build community and connect with each other, but at the same time we need to be our own person and live our lives as individualized expressions of a Unified Conscious Awareness. Sometimes we need guidance and feedback from others (the true role of a teacher), since we all have our blind spots and we can’t do the work alone; but there are times where others project their shadow onto us (including shame and guilt-tripping, even under the disguise of “for the better good of us”) and group/peer pressure circumstances force us to either conform or break free from “the tyranny of the majority”.

Oftentimes, these events also result in a “you are either with us or against us” attitude (prevalent amongst many militant groups and nations), when you are only supported as long as you are a part of the group/movement and fully indoctrinated into their particular ideology.

No one is perfect, and ultimately, it’s about sovereignty and autonomy – becoming fully-realized individuals and seekers of truth while at the same time striving to connect with others. So, having healthy boundaries is an important part of this process, as well as establishing healthy self-love parameters. None of our ego personalities are without fault, and at times we swing between self-diminishment/low self-esteem and over-inflated narcissistic tendencies. It’s a continuing lesson for all of us, and constant vigilance is required.

This is not an easy journey, because, as children, none of us were taught how to tap into our own inner guidance systems and trust our inner knowing/intuition, and as a result of this disconnection we are all are wounded and conditioned to varying degrees. In fact, most wounded people yearn to belong – to be a part of a group, or identify strongly with a nationalistic or spiritual identity. Sometimes, such desires result in outbreaks of unconscious trauma bonding, where belief in government (or other external authoritarian constructs) generates this unhealthy “connection” pathology on a macro level, the ultimate Stockholm Syndrome.

We are all traumatized/wounded/conditioned to varying degrees, and these psychological states serve to cut us off from our own inner knowing and inner guidance, and even disconnect us from basic critical thinking skills – hence why many people look for guidance outside of their own innate gifts, from someone whose perceived ‘authority’ bestows them with the right to tell them what to do and what to think. People also are programmed to feel safer when there are others who “follow” in the same manner that they do – the ‘herd/pack mentality’ that has contributed to a great deal of suffering on the planet.

The way I perceive the “awakening” concept is that it involves becoming a true Individual, connected to one’s higher self/intuition and the Divine; a fully embodied sovereign Being who contributes to humanity (in whatever natural form this takes for each individual, based on his/her talents/lessons) and, at the same time, remains a unique personality who can think for him/herself. It’s not a state of feeling constantly “blissful”, but rather it’s about being grounded in this life, whatever the future may bring – understanding that there is a purpose to every existence, as we are engaged in the cosmic play of awakening within the evolutionary dance of individual and collective consciousness.

——————————————————-

NOTE: The title picture of this article is from the documentary Kumaré. I highly recommend to watch it. It’s quite eye opening, disturbing and funny at the same time.

“Directed by Vikram Gandhi, Kumaré documentary film follows the story of a wise guru from the East who indoctrinated a group of followers in the West. Kumare, however, is not real–he is the alter ego of American filmmaker Vikram Gandhi, who impersonated a spiritual leader for the sake of a social experiment.”

I also recommend listening to this podcast with Lauda Leon and Evie Lorgen on the “New Predator”. It goes deeper into (and beyond) all the issues mentioned above:

Seer, Seeker, Sayer, Sage

Sunday, December 30, 2018