Cult Mind Control

these people here are referring to pride being one of the major causes of a life in denial: 9/11 - Cognitive Dissonance.

and we know that is how RasuAllah (sallallahu'alayhiwasallam) defined pride:

'Pride is to look down upon people and reject truth when it is presented to you'.

that explains why so many people keep clinging to deviant aqaid and groups even after truth has been made manifest to them. and only those who look at the evidence not at the presenter i.e they care to follow the truth rather than their preconceptions actually have a change of mind.

For e.x if someone has spent 40 years of his life believing that Thanwi was a saint is told look what he said about RasulAllah(sallallahu'alayhiwasallam) it's expected that he'll feel as if the rug was pulled from under his feet.

Now to save himself from the anxiety and fear and the feeling of having been cheated for so long the first expected reaction is that he'll pounce on the informer himself calling him a lair and slanderer.

But when he is presented with undeniable proofs- he'll either ignore them saying that thanwi was a great man and could never have done that. Implicitly or otherwise he is sure to say, "I refuse to believe that thanwi said that". Which is the easiest way to ignore truth.

The second path that he could take is many times more dangerous: Well, If Thanwi said that, then it must be right. You just don't get it. And he walks away doffing-off is iman by the road-side. Allah be our Refuge!

The third and the most difficult path, that of a mard-e-momin, is to really study the evidence thoroughly and if he can't find anything amiss about it then, Oh boy! its time for a BIG change in beliefs, attitudes and above all your World View. But this is as Allah(The Exalted) says, "This is the fadl of Allah, He grants it to whomever HE wishes, Allah is the granter of fadl-il-'azeem"

O Allah! Show us the truth for what it is and inspire us to follow it
And show us falsehood for what it is and inspire us to abstain from it.

Ameen.
 
When under severe cult mind control people can be totally misguided. In India some people millions of people worship a man by the name of Satya Sai Baba. The following is an interesting BBC documentary on him and his cult:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlL_CDqFCLg

The individual at 44 minutes onwards, Dr Michael Goldstein, is a clear example of a cult member. Generally the whole documentary is an interesting insight.
 
Narcissism and Adulation

Successful gurus, rock stars, charismatic cult leaders of any sort, experience the intensity of adulation amplified beyond most peoples ken.This can make ordinary relationships pale by comparison. Being the recipient of such adulation and devotion is exceedingly addictive.
Here addiction is used in its loose sense to mean mechanically needing an on going fix of adulation to where it becomes the central focus of one s life.
Adulation has powerful emotions for the sender as well, and can be easily mistaken for love. It is likewise addicting for the sender, as it is an easy route to feelings of passion.
Since adulation is totally a function of image, should the images crack,adulation disappears, demonstrating that it is essentially empty of real care.
For a cult leader, adulation and power are intricately connected since the disciples’ surrender is the ultimate source of his power, and adulation is the prerequisite for surrender. It is these basic tools that fake claimants to spirituality use.
A cult leader is made to feel he is the center of the universe by his disciples.
It is difficult to not be in love with that image of oneself.

This is why 'sufis' have their devotees praising them non stop. The central figure is the 'sufi' shaykh. No one ever seems to move from 'fana fil shaykh' to another state. They stay stuck at that basic 'fana' level.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8HU9zG5Yic
 
To maintain mental control it is necessary to undermine self trust. This is insidiously done by removing the ways people can build trust in themselves.
Self trust is built by utilizing one’s own personal, firsthand experience as feedback. It is also built by sharpening mental and perceptual tools and frameworks in order to process, integrate, and evaluate one’s relation to the external world, as well as to inner dramas.

The false 'sufi' view of enlightenment as beyond reason allows cult leaders to
undermine reason.
This precept alone makes the leader dangerously feedback proof, for he automatically escapes accountability for any behavior. If pressed, the leader can easily reply, “You can’t possibly understand what I’m really doing because you’re not enlightened.”

This stance, if believed, makes acceptable any incongruity between ideals and action. If
pressed, the guru can easily reply, “You
can’t possibly understand what I’m
really doing because you’re not
enlightened.”
This stance, if believed, makes acceptable any incongruity between ideals and action. The leader can reverse any challenge or criticism by saying, “It’s your problem; your ego is getting in the way.” He, of course, has no ego. Common phrases used as barriers against anything that questions spiritual authority are: “That’s merely mental” (or analytical, rational, psychological). “Your ego is experiencing resistance.” “You’re coming from the head instead of the heart.” “That’s a low level consideration of the material world.

Once critical faculties are disarmed,followers can accept the most bizarre and inconsistent behaviors.
They preach austerity and live lavishly. They preach equality and demand deference from their followers, who, following the lead of their idol, manage to feel superior to those deemed less spiritual.

But using emotion or intuition without reason is as one sided and limited as using reason alone. For just as the head without the heart is barren, the heart without the head is rigid or chaotic. Living creatively is the art of combining passion with understanding.

Reason does not guarantee wisdom. It is, however, a tool for integrating experience, which is necessary for self trust, without which there can be little wisdom.

Cult leaders undercut reason as a path to understanding. When they do allow discursive inquiry, they often place the highest value on paradox. Paradox easily lends itself to mental manipulation. No matter what position you take, you are always shown to be missing the point; the point being that the guru knows something you do not. Paradox is usually accomplished by shifting levels of abstraction.
 
The Heavens Gate Cult

This is one of the most crazy cults that convinced it followers to kill themselves. @3 minutes 30 seconds Mr Applewhite refutes the notion of cult.

This is typical of cults. They deny they are cults. They are very defensive, even when it is irrational. 'The leader is great super and therefore right.'

BBC documentary:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uinb3FLBqhU
 
An Arfan Shah of 'Sheikhy Notes' writes his conditions for joining a group and giving an oath of allegiance:

The first point you should make sure about is their adherence to the sacred law. If they give great speeches and when it’s done they are off to MacDonald’s then they are to be avoided at all costs.
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Asking for money from their murids is also a clear sign of degradation and corruption. If there is a cause and all the money is going there then do not fear but if it isn’t then do not reach into your pocket. Your sheikh should not ask for money and he should do all he can for free.
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The best scholars are humble and do not need their hands to be kissed or for you to humiliate yourself before them.
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See what the murids are like and what do they involve themselves in? If they are sitting around backbiting then this is a bad sign but they are, as they say, the worst advert for the sheikh. Murids are those people who have taken the oath with the Sheikh. Also note just because someone is a Sheikh in knowledge does not mean they are Sheikh in terms of spiritual master ship.
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There are many pretenders to the throne and one thing that should draw your attention is his ijaza. Is it from his father alone? If it is then this is a worrying point. Most of those whose fathers might be spiritual masters do not have children who are likewise.
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http://sheikhynotes.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/taking-bayah-with-spiritual-master.html
 
keller took hundreds of thousands of dollars of mureed money to dig up his "zawiya" down the hill in Kharabsheh. keller also gets payed by mureed money for daily living matters. Each of keller's suhbas are lofty expensive ones that rip off his mureeds every year by tens of thousands of dollars all around the world. These are facts on the ground. if keller mureeds are reading this, please tell us, how much money do you spend on each suhba in each city around the world, and where did the hundreds of thousands of dollars for the "zawiya" come from. keller doesn't earn, and neither does his crook wife, who pretends to be a scholar.
 
Wadood said:
keller took hundreds of thousands of dollars of mureed money to dig up his "zawiya" down the hill in Kharabsheh. keller also gets payed by mureed money for daily living matters. Each of keller's suhbas are lofty expensive ones that rip off his mureeds every year by tens of thousands of dollars all around the world. These are facts on the ground. if keller mureeds are reading this, please tell us, how much money do you spend on each suhba in each city around the world, and where did the hundreds of thousands of dollars for the "zawiya" come from. keller doesn't earn, and neither does his crook wife, who pretends to be a scholar.
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£250 x 500 = £125,000.00

http://nobleroad.org/events/2013-uk-suhba/

Above does not include accommodation.

He was auctioning his burnt vest, miswak and pants a few years ago
 
Cult followers are wishful thinkers, emotional, want to feel powerful and important, prefer the mystical explanation, never avoid self deception, personal comfort, child like dependency...:

Avoid:

Confirmation Bias.

Conclusion before evidence.

Bad Memory.

Ignorance.

Bad Perception.

Personal Bias.

Physical Emotion.

Testimonial Evidence.

Extraordinary Claims.

Ambiguity.

Assuring Expressions.

Emotive Content.

Fact versus Opinion.

Ego.

Not Suspending Judgement.

Not Testing Independently.

Superstition.

Either or Fallacy.

Ad Hominim Fallacy.

Red Herring.


A video on critical thinking:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OedkyxEqtA
 
The danger here is in making Nursi out to be some variety of sufi, and we know that this is not correct. He tends to be rather suspicious of tasawwuf , although not of some of the main Sufis themselves, since he regards it as positing a restrictive route to the truth, one only accessible to those capable of developing spiritually in rather a grand way. Now, one of the very impressive features of Nursi's approach to Islam is his stress on its materiality. Islam does not see the material world as basically misleading, something to be transcended. On the contrary, Islam balances the material nature of this world with the spirituality of the next world, and the various practices of Islam are designed to remind the believer of this subtle relationship. This in many ways is the basis of Nursi's suspicion of tasawwuf which he sees as hostile to the material world

http://nursistudies.com/teblig.php?tno=388

Does it not seem rather obvious that although we may disagree on a lot with sayyid nursi he's right about over mystifying the din which may well possibly lead to cult minded personalities. Almost all those previous videos demonstrate some form of partial/extreme detatchment from the material world. It's strange when you think about it. Especially living in a 21st century urbane milieu. I guess it makes one feel superior and far more important than others by detatching oneself. Self righteousness is the correct word I guess
 
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Yasser Rashid said:
The danger here is in making Nursi out to be some variety of sufi, and we know that this is not correct. He tends to be rather suspicious of tasawwuf , although not of some of the main Sufis themselves, since he regards it as positing a restrictive route to the truth, one only accessible to those capable of developing spiritually in rather a grand way. Now, one of the very impressive features of Nursi's approach to Islam is his stress on its materiality. Islam does not see the material world as basically misleading, something to be transcended. On the contrary, Islam balances the material nature of this world with the spirituality of the next world, and the various practices of Islam are designed to remind the believer of this subtle relationship. This in many ways is the basis of Nursi's suspicion of tasawwuf which he sees as hostile to the material world

http://nursistudies.com/teblig.php?tno=388

Does it not seem rather obvious that although we may disagree on a lot with sayyid nursi he's right about over mystifying the din which may well possibly lead to cult minded personalities. Almost all those previous videos demonstrate some form of partial/extreme detatchment from the material world. It's strange when you think about it. Especially living in a 21st century urbane milieu. I guess it makes one feel superior and far more important than others by detatching oneself. Self righteousness is the correct word I guess
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assalamu alaikum bro. ma sha Allah very nice post. Where r u from bro?
 
'Sufism is elite of the elite'. While this statement may be true for the likes of Abdul Qadir Jeelani (Allah be well pleased with him) many try using this for their 'tareeqa' in the West:

http://vimeo.com/67165481

He states 'Not all Muslims are Muminin' Listen @ 4 minutes onwards. He states 'The Elite of Muslims are Muminin' ie people who are in their sufi cult.

This individual is from the Dallas cult which has links with freemasons as posted above.
 
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