Qigong and cults

[Vajra Fist]

I've been involved with, and have since extricated myself from, a group that I now believe to have been a cult. I've been seeing some troubling parallels between my own experience and some popular teachers today. 

 

I just wanted to reflect on the difference between practicing within a tradition, and being a follower of a charismatic teacher. I've developed a mental checklist of warning signs when assessing a teacher, which I feel might be worth sharing.

 

* Does a teacher publicly demean other paths as a way to boost the prestige of their own method?

 

For instance, they might cultivate the impression among their followers that the mainstream way of practicing something is generally wrong, and they're one of the very few that are actually practicing correctly.

 

Followers generally then get a sense of superiority, thinking they're the only ones who truly know what they're doing. This ego trip can be intoxicating. I remember when I was in the cult, and seeing experienced monks from other traditions and pitying them because I genuinely believed that what they were practicing was inferior.

 

* Do other masters teach the exact same thing publicly, and in a very similar if not identical way?

 

If you practice within a major tradition, you can go to multiple different teachers and learn the same syllabus. But if you learn from a charismatic teacher, they are the sole source of the practice.

 

You only have the teacher's word that what they're teaching is legitimate. If they turn out to be fraudulent, then you've wasted years of your life. 

 

For instance, if you practice Thai forest buddhism, you can choose from hundreds if not thousands of teachers around the world who have genuine realisation and are willing to teach you. You have a lineage dating back two thousand years that has produced millions of enlightened masters. 

 

If you learn from a charismatic teacher, you're relying on what they claim about their own realisation, as proof that the practice leads anywhere at all. 

 

You're also relying on their willingness to teach you. Some charismatic masters might offer you incomplete teaching, so you won't get as far as them. You won't ever know though, because you can't go to another master from the same lineage to compare what they're teaching to what you've been taught.

 

This also applies if a teacher says they're from a lineage which is closed to outsiders, or else very difficult to access.

 

* are your opinions your own, or your teacher's?

 

This is perhaps the hardest to detect. My own experience was of reading every day a book from the teacher, as well as other teachings. People were judged on how well they'd practiced by how close their thoughts or behaviour were to the core teachings of the master.

 

I've seen this sort of behaviour among followers of some qigong teachers. They parrot what they've been told as their own opinions. Before stating a position on something, they check what their teacher has said on it before. 

 

When you follow a tradition you'll realise there's healthy disagreement and debate among teachers. This creates the useful feeling that one's own direct experience is the most reliable gauge of truth.

 

If you follow a tradition with a single teacher, what they say becomes gospel. Those who disagree are heretics. 

 

Conclusion

I'm not saying that all qigong masters who are effectively heads of their own spiritual traditions are cult leaders, nor that those who follow them are deluded. 

 

I'm just saying be cautious. Don't blindly follow a teacher because they claim to offer superior results. Don't put all your eggs in one basket. I've wasted years of my life on this, and I've learned my lessons too late. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[awaken]

通常我認知的邪教是不依照經典來教學，或者自稱是神佛轉世，或者以神通來欺騙學生

 

或者以秘法收取高額的學費

 

Usually the cults I know teach not according to the classics, or claim to be the reincarnation of gods and Buddhas, or use supernatural powers to deceive students

Or charge high tuition fees by secret method

 

當一個老師不依據經典教學，而依據自稱的密法教學，就有很大的可能性是邪教了

 

如果一個老師依據經典教學，起碼你可以在他依據的經典來檢視他的教學是否合理

 

不見得所有的人都在教的方法才是對的，起碼在修真界不是這麼一回事

 

當年佛陀的教法也和所有的人教的都不同，你能說佛陀教的是邪教嗎？

 

When a teacher does not teach according to the classics, but teaches according to the self-proclaimed secret method, there is a high possibility that it is a cult.

If a teacher teaches according to the classics, at least you can check whether his teaching is reasonable based on the classics he bases on.

Not everyone is teaching the right method, at least in the realm of self-cultivation.

Back then, the teachings of the Buddha were also different from those taught by all people. Can you say that what the Buddha taught was a cult?

 

不過你講的是氣功，這個我就不太清楚了

 

氣功跟修煉畢竟還是兩回事

 

But what you're talking about is qigong, I don't know that very well.

Qigong and cultivation are two different things after all

 

不過我的想法是，把氣功當成修煉的，就是邪教

 

氣功是氣功，修煉是修煉，是兩種不同的領域

 

 

 

But my thinking is that treating qigong as cultivating is a cult

Qigong is qigong, and cultivation is cultivation, and they are two different fields

 

所以一個學生要如何脫離被低階氣功師欺騙的辦法，就是多看修煉類型的經典

只要你懂得夠多，別人就騙不了你

 

So the way for a student to escape being deceived by low-level qigong masters is to read more of the classics of the type of cultivation

As long as you know enough, no one can lie to you

 

Edited May 16, 2022 by awaken

[Miffymog]

In the past I have found myself being drawn into a cult, and it was only by listening to my deepest instincts that I was able to get out it. Our spiritual nature is a very intimate and sensitive part of ourselves, and is very easily dominated. Not all domination in this regard is due to negative intent. But, just as it is very easy to take advantage of someone sexually, for example having a one night stand with someone when they wanted more, it can also be easy to take advantage of someone spiritually.

 

You have felt an imbalance in the relationship, and you were absolutely right to remove yourself from it. This was not an easy thing for you to do do, and may take a short period of time to get over.

 

Unfortunately, there will be a period of time where you will have to find yourself and create your own identity. This is part of life. When you have done this, you will have learnt some lessons and things will be better and easier. Until then, I wish you good luck.

[Gerard]

1. If you want to heal yourself and become more spiritual take up Martial Arts.

 

2. If you want to fight take up meditation.