My favourite 'cult'

lobster

I'll believe anything. Especially if it is true.
When I studied Chen Yen (Shingon) Buddhism and Chinese and Japanese Yoga and Kempo etc.
I believed, for many years, I may have been in a cult. Maybe I was. Maybe not.
https://isshinkempo.com/nagaboshi-tomio-the-buddhist-who-refused-to-fight/

Now that I am planning on continuing my Dharmic studies into Hinduism, Jainism. I need some free goodies. Maybe. Maybe not.
https://srividyatantram.com/free-publications/

Or maybe I'll just take up fortune/future telling and start my own cult? Tips welcome...
https://web.archive.org/web/20060622011645/http://pages.britishlibrary.net/lobster/tarot/

federica

You should get out more, Lobby... (says the nearly-70-year-old grey dame, who mostly stays at home with her mother! 😆😆)

Jeroen

There are a lot of free books at
http://www.holybooks.com/

Kotishka

I found an amazing cult called Treeleaf. We are reading Keizan and he is a lot clearer than Dogen.

Zen cvlt rise!

lobster

I found an amazing cult called Treeleaf.

Good for you. I was on their forum for quite a while.
Also attended Treeleafs latest recruit, a robot from Google (Yes really)
called Amie, who took vows of obedience to Roshi Cohen

https://newbuddhist.com/discussion/comment/586254/#Comment_586254

lobster

My Cult development plans are going well:

• I will, as is customary, excommunicate myself as a founding member/pontiff along with any wannabe cult joiners...

• Worshipping Cecil is not compulsory or even advisable
  https://peace.fandom.com/wiki/Cecil

• More info as available, My HolyGeeks Cult and forum for Windows users, is long gone, Gone, Beyonder...
  https://peace.fandom.com/wiki/Empowerments#Tech_Tips_from_HolyGeeks

Shak

Dudeism works for me, The Shak abides...

how

Any cult that doesn't foster a taint of an us versus others mentality.

Shoshin1

My favourite 'cult'

"newbuddhist" ...It does seem to have a strong cult following

lobster

Updates:

1. The Dalai Lama, Head of the Bahai faith, Archbishop of Canterbury etc. have not replied to my letters. Mostly because I have not writen them
2. My dream cult has kept me awake zzz
3. I have become obsessive about issues of no importance. I believe this is a top priority for cultishness
4. To increase brainwashing, I have increased purchase of bleach
5. To counter phone zombies, will be developing smart glasses
6. The world is ours!

lobster

Wondering what cult to Join?
Mastodon? Apple? NewsThump? Wait... NewsThump???
https://newsthump.com/

person

It seems the use of cult style language is on the rise and in lots of places these days.

Jeroen

Interesting video, @person. Some of these things, like loaded language, sound very familiar to me from my sannyas days, although she is right to say it is not very uncommon in any kind of in-group these days.

Not sure if you should be showing this to @lobster, he may deduce some kind of cult manual…

lobster

Tee Hee!
Been making notes.
Have not watched the whole thing. So far just found out, life is a cult we are all addicted to? Tsk, tsk. Who would have thought it.

Who would have joined it then? Now? Tomorrow?
https://peace.fandom.com/wiki/Tmxxine

0=∞=1

lobster

More tips here...
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14577438/

person

A good interview on cults.

Lionduck

My cult rides motorcycles and...no...wait...that's....Hmmm.....
I'll have to get back to you on that one. Maybe, er sometime, uh, perhaps.
Meantime, there's this twisty road......

Peace to all

Jeroen

It’s interesting how many alternative religious movements are now being targeted as cults. I’m not sure if you remember this, but back in the eighties when the word cult was much more niche, there was a very open feel to experimenting with these things.

I think when you are interviewing a ‘cult intervention specialist’ you are automatically going to get a narrative that is slanted a certain way, that person has a vested interest in perpetuating a certain set of ideas around cults on which their livelihood depends.

But in a way monasteries are organisations where people come together to spend time on the spiritual parts of life, and I wonder how long it will be before they are called cults. It seems to be an attack on the spiritual mindset, to convince people not to support these organisations.

person

@Jeroen said:
It’s interesting how many alternative religious movements are now being targeted as cults. I’m not sure if you remember this, but back in the eighties when the word cult was much more niche, there was a very open feel to experimenting with these things.

I think when you are interviewing a ‘cult intervention specialist’ you are automatically going to get a narrative that is slanted a certain way, that person has a vested interest in perpetuating a certain set of ideas around cults on which their livelihood depends.

But in a way monasteries are organisations where people come together to spend time on the spiritual parts of life, and I wonder how long it will be before they are called cults. It seems to be an attack on the spiritual mindset, to convince people not to support these organisations.

There are definitely cults out there, and people organized to help others get out of them. Its all a spectrum though and it can be hard to draw a line on when something is a cult and when it isn't. A lot of cults also start out not culty but then devolve into one. So people on the lookout for cults almost certainly become a bit of a hammer and start seeing nails more often than probably deserves. A simple metric that came up in the interview was how controlling a group was. But again, if a group that controls at 49% isn't a cult but one that controls at 51% is how do we really define these things?

person

A short primer on how to start your very own cult!

lobster

Either look for the B side of records. Whatever they are. Upgrade to cassettes or CD for the modernists or get used to the silence of an empty mind (if available)