I once went to a Buddhist meditation center and it felt weird in a way. I researched them: totally a cult. Now I am in a different Buddhist meditation group that’s totally not a cult
The first cult is the deepest
Submitted 3 months ago by Clinicallydepressedpoochie@lemmy.world to [deleted]
https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/056160ca-5b52-4f03-9b0c-126c7fa54761.jpeg
Comments
lugal@sopuli.xyz 3 months ago
disgrunty@lemmy.world 3 months ago
NKT? I rented a room from them once. Photos of the leader everywhere in the public areas.
lugal@sopuli.xyz 3 months ago
That’s the second one, the one I’m in now.
Just kidding. Yes, the photo was a big red flag. Also their dharma just didn’t make sense and they were like “it may take a lifetime to understand this one thing”. Later I realized that most Buddhists teach kind of the opposite of that.
Now I’m in a direct democratic zen group that explicitly has no master. The founder has some natural authority because he learned it in Japan but no one cares about his strict rules. Which is the best of both worlds: you have rules for those who seek guidance but you can just ignore them with no consequences.
meyotch@slrpnk.net 3 months ago
Could easily be SGI too, they have some very culty elements to their practices. And they are all over with many convenient locations, like all the best cults.
ocean@lemmy.selfhostcat.com 3 months ago
Since Lemmy should promote fun dialogue I am gonna reply one more time with something fun I learned. My prof from an undergraduate course on religion said we should have a more unbiased definition of cult. An unorthodox group that claims to have a novel, truer interpretation of an already existing tradition with a charismatic central leader. I find it interesting because many religions can fall under this category such as Christianity. Cult is also used to describe certain groups within a religion like the Buddhist cult of Guanyin. This use also has no negative correlation, instead pointing towards the groups focus on Guanyin. Wonder how one would add onto this term to specifically mean negative groups that try to control their members and draw others in? Simply having new teachings doesn’t do it for me. There are many Buddhist dharma doors that have very different teachings but what marks NKT as cult? Is it just what I added or something else as well? They certainly fit both definitions.
JasonDJ@lemmy.zip 3 months ago
Well…yeah. The only difference between a religion and a cult is member count.
lugal@sopuli.xyz 3 months ago
I totally see where this is coming from but I still want a word for this toxic kind of group with a lot of centralized control of the members.
I heard of the BITE model (behavior control, information control, emotional control and I don’t remember what the T stands for). I need a word for this kind of organization and if you offer me a better one, I’ll take it.
Cris_Color@lemmy.world 3 months ago
Who is that?
mEEGal@lemmy.world 3 months ago
I don’t get it…
bjoern_tantau@swg-empire.de 3 months ago
You will.
Gradually_Adjusting@lemmy.world 3 months ago
Well it’s a shitpost. Did you take it at face value or expect intelligent comedy? Have you tried turning it off and on again?
stoy@lemmy.zip 3 months ago
I don’t get it either, to answer your questions, I normally take shitposts at face value, but I do expect some context.
Usually that is provided by the post but not in this case.
peoplebeproblems@midwest.social 3 months ago
Well, unless it’s the Peoples Temple Agricultural Project.
4oreman@lemy.lol 3 months ago
or templeos
cm0002@lemmy.world 3 months ago
“Yeah, cults are really fun, but I have a sixth-sense about when the fun is over. You know, when there’s gonna be a FBI raid or mass soo-ey, or blend up beavers and put it in the town’s water supply.” ~Francine Smith
thermal_shock@lemmy.world 3 months ago
“I’ve been involved in a number of cults, both as a leader and a follower. You have more fun as a follower, but you make more money as a leader.”
~ Creed Bratton
ocean@lemmy.selfhostcat.com 3 months ago
lol