Is everyone who takes a course a cult member?
Heck, no. First, in the end only an individual can judge whether they personally experienced an abusive, cultic relationship. One person’s nightmare may correspond to another’s “uplifting experience.” For instance, it’s claimed that 4 million people learned Transcendental Meditation. The vast majority of these people got their mantra, meditated for a few months, and have legitimately pleasant memories of their contact with the TM movement. Most cults, however, are structured in layers like an onion. Out of the 4 million TMers, perhaps as many as 1 million went on to take “advanced courses” where they may have gotten a whiff of the cultic in unusual beliefs and demanding rules. Of those a few hundred thousand went on to become TM teachers or work “on staff.” At this level, most if not all survived a cultic relationship. A few thousand worked with the TM movement’s management, with even greater pressures. And literally a few dozen worked closely with the Maharishi himself — and who know
