The Environment of the Cult
(Extracted from:- M Singer & J Lalich 'Cults in our Midst', p68)
"(Cults) put forth a closed system of logic and an authoritarian structure that permits no feedback and refuses to be modified except by leadership approval or executive order. If you criticise or complain, the leader or peers allege that you are defective not the group"
[Jones and Alison etc told all their followers that if they didnt keep on their side they would not be allowed to practice any more]
In this closed system of logic, you are not allowed to question or doubt a tenet or rule or to call attention to factual information that suggests some internal contradiction within the belief system or a contradiction with what you have been told. If you do make such observations, they may be turned around and argued to mean the opposite of what you intended. You are made to feel that you are wrong. In cultic groups, the individual member is always wrong and the system is always right." [Jones, Alison et al treated any questioning as to their judgement or bias with derision and encouraged others to do so]
Milieu Control
"This is total control of communication in the group. In many groups there is a 'no gossip' or 'no nattering' rule that keeps people from expressing their doubts or misgivings about what is going on. This rule is usually rationalised by saying that gossip will tear apart the fabric of the group or destroy unity, when in reality the rule is a mechanism to keep members from communicating anything other than positive endorsements." [This may or may not be sometimes true but it is well known that gossip etc is unproductive and often hate filled. Oxford Members who queried various dubious events or statements made by its local ring leaders were encouraged to leave or treated with scorn and ridicule. This treatment was reported as 'normal' within Jones's Oxford group]
Loading the Language
As members continue to formulate their ideas in the group's jargon, this language serves the purpose of constricting members' thinking and shutting down critical thinking abilities. At first, translating from their native tongue into 'groupspeak' forces members to censor, edit and slow-down spontaneous bursts of criticism or oppositional ideas. That helps them to contain resistive or negative feelings. Eventually speaking in cult-jargon is second nature and it becomes talking with outsiders that is energy-consuming and awkward. Soon enough, members find it most comfortable to talk only amongst themselves in the new vocabulary. One large international group, for example, even has dictionaries for its members to use. [It is quite normal for practitioners of any specialsed discipline. Academic or other studies such as Philosophy, Physics, Medicine, Religion or Computer science always develop specialsed languages or terminology known best amongst fellow experts. Certainly within Mushindo practitioners use quite ordinary every day language].
Demand for Purity
An us-versus-them orientation is promoted by the all-or-nothing belief system of the group; we are right, they (outsiders, non-members) are wrong, evil, unenlightened. In many groups, it is literally taught that the end justifies the means - and because the end (that is, the group) is pure, the means are simply tools to reach purity. [Proper Mushindo students are famous for their acceptance of alternative views and openess in discussions which is one reason they are asked to give lectures at so many outside groups]
Confession
Confession is used to lead members to reveal past and present behaviour seemingly in order to unburden themselves and become free. However, what you reveal is subsequently used to further mould you [...] (or) can be used against you to make you feel more guilty, powerless, fearful and ultimately in need of the cult and the leaders goodness. And it can be used to get you to re-write your personal history making it seem illogical for you to want to return to that former life. [The only form of 'confession' ever used by our people occurs only within those who practice Buddhism, where it is done silently to oneself. It may be that Jones & Alison encouraged a cultish form of practice in their own group but if this was so they would have had to keep such practice secret from other groups. A great deal of the students who have stopped training in Kempo, particularly those who left Jones's entourage, continue to maintain social and other contacts with the mainstream teachers and fellow students often because of the great number of social events and opportunities they present]
Mystical Manipulation
The group manipulates members to think that their new feelings and behaviour have arisen spontaneously in this new atmosphere. The leader implies that this is a chosen, select group with a higher purpose. Members become adept at watching to see what particular behaviour is wanted, learning to be sensitive to all kinds of cues by which they are to judge and alter their own behaviour. Cult leaders tell their followers "You have chosen to be here. No one has told you to come here. No one has influenced you" when in fact the followers are in a situation they can't leave owing to social pressure and their fear. Thus they come to believe that they are actually choosing this life. If outsiders hint that the devotees have been brainwashed or tricked, the members say: "Oh no, I chose voluntarily". Cults thrive on this myth of voluntarism, insisting time and time again that no member is being held against their will.[Although no authorised leader teaches in such a manner within MKA (members are continually warned about being 'influenced' by others) this characteristic as stated is equally true for the Church, the Armed forces and religious communities such as monasteries or Yeshiva.]
Doctrine over Person
As members retrospectively alter their accounts of personal history, having been instructed either to re-write that personal history or simply to ignore it, they are simultaneously taught to interpret reality through the group concepts and to ignore their own experiences and feelings as they occur. In many groups, from the early days of membership on, you will be told to stop paying attention to your own perceptions, since you are 'uninstructed' and simply go along with the 'instructed' view, the party line. [In order to avoid such situation students learning Kempo are shown how this mechanism is set up by others and the 'Dog Syndrome' analogy amongst others is used as part of the process for developing a students awareness of their individual blind habits. In all Buddhist endeavours students are taught to pay great attention to their own personal perceptions at all times as well as relying upon their own judgements of things and situations]
Sacred Science
The leaders' wisdom is given a patina of science, adding a credible layer to his central philosophical, sychological or political notion. He can then profess that the group's philosophy should be applied to all humankind and that anyone who disagrees or has alternative ideas is not only immoral and irreverent but also unscientific. Many leaders, for example, inflate their curricula vitae to make it look as though they are connected to higher powers, respected historical leaders and so forth. [Many Mushindo teachers are very talented persons both academically and otherwise and this is not surprising considering the background of the various renowned teachers from whom they learned. Several present ones hold teaching posts at well known universities]
)
Dispensing of Existence
The cult's totalistic environment clearly emphasises that the members are part of an elitist movement and are the select of the world. Non-members are unworthy, lesser beings. [It is a known fact that in GB as well as many other nations the Mushindo tradition is the only one actively encouraging study and practice of Buddhist spirituality by its members. An important part of such encouragement is of course the development of tolerance towards others]. Most cults teach their members that "we are the best and only one", saying in one way or another: "We are the governors of enlightenment and all outsiders are lower beings". Besides re-inforcing the us-versus-them mentality, this thinking means that your whole existence centres on being in the group. If you leave, you join nothingness [ This was the method used by Jones and Alison to try and keep their students tied in with their ideas]. This is the final step in creating the members' dependence on the group. [Hence Jones & Alison's creation of spurious web pages and deliberately fake or misleading accounts of well known facts attributed to other people as well as pretending that 'Cult Information Centres' agree with their statements]
Extracts from M Singer and J Lalich 'Cults in our Midst' (Jossey-Bass 1995)
[Incidentally it would benefit readers to search for information upon 'Cult Information centres' in GB and elsewhere. Many of these are atheistic in nature and regard even orthodox religious groups, or other anti-cult groups, as as being fanatical cults themselves or as being composed of people suffering from mental illnesses]