Alex Wilding

The exclusivity, where the bubble of insiders are right and the outsiders, who supposedly do not understand, are all wrong. The threat that things will go very badly for anybody who leaves, either in a supernatural way or in a physical way. And so on. If you can use the internet, you can find advice about all this.

The exclusivity, where the bubble of insiders are right and the outsiders, who supposedly do not understand, are all wrong. The threat that things will go very badly for anybody who leaves, either in a supernatural way or in a physical way. And so on. If you can use the internet, you can find advice about all this.

The expectation that followers will have blind devotion to the leader is of course another flag. The article that triggered these comments here quotes a former follower of Trungpa by the name of Fred Coulson.

The expectation that followers will have blind devotion to the leader is of course another flag. The article that triggered these comments here quotes a former follower of Trungpa by the name of Fred Coulson.

He described Pema Chodron who, I now quote, was giving me a teaching on how serious devotion is and that she then told him that, I quote again, if she were shown photos of her guru Chogyam Trungpa molesting children, her devotion would be the same.

He described Pema Chodron who, I now quote, was giving me a teaching on how serious devotion is and that she then told him that, I quote again, if she were shown photos of her guru Chogyam Trungpa molesting children, her devotion would be the same.

Now, if this was a piece of writing rather than audio, at this point I would insert a variety of emojis, exclamation marks, asterisks and other signs of startled or even horrified incomprehension. The people I've mentioned so far, and others, have their different styles of being wicked. But in most cases, an awareness of the dangers and of the red flags can provide at least some protection.

Now, if this was a piece of writing rather than audio, at this point I would insert a variety of emojis, exclamation marks, asterisks and other signs of startled or even horrified incomprehension. The people I've mentioned so far, and others, have their different styles of being wicked. But in most cases, an awareness of the dangers and of the red flags can provide at least some protection.

For beginners, on the other hand, the gurus who simply teach Tosh might be harder to spot.

For beginners, on the other hand, the gurus who simply teach Tosh might be harder to spot.

These teachers may not be cultish at all, but they do tend to claim training, experience and authorisation that they simply don't have, or are just peddling feel-good pablum with perhaps a bit of tranquil meditation, talks on vague themes like Buddhism in everyday life or how to be more resilient in the modern world with the help of Buddhism.

These teachers may not be cultish at all, but they do tend to claim training, experience and authorisation that they simply don't have, or are just peddling feel-good pablum with perhaps a bit of tranquil meditation, talks on vague themes like Buddhism in everyday life or how to be more resilient in the modern world with the help of Buddhism.

These people may even have good hearts, but are either providing milk and water, pap, or, in some cases, worse than that, selling sheer baloney. As an aside, when I was looking for the right words to use there, I looked up nonsense at thesaurus.com. You might get a laugh if you read all the suggestions made out loud in one string. It might cheer you up.

These people may even have good hearts, but are either providing milk and water, pap, or, in some cases, worse than that, selling sheer baloney. As an aside, when I was looking for the right words to use there, I looked up nonsense at thesaurus.com. You might get a laugh if you read all the suggestions made out loud in one string. It might cheer you up.

Here, I will just provide two well-known, very old examples of such people, namely Madame Blavatsky from the late 19th century, founder of Theosophy, and Cyril Hoskin, who wrote under the pseudonym of Lobsang Rampa. Now, both of these, while they are very much in the past, still do have a few adherents, believe it or not. We don't need particularly to get hot under the collar about them.

Here, I will just provide two well-known, very old examples of such people, namely Madame Blavatsky from the late 19th century, founder of Theosophy, and Cyril Hoskin, who wrote under the pseudonym of Lobsang Rampa. Now, both of these, while they are very much in the past, still do have a few adherents, believe it or not. We don't need particularly to get hot under the collar about them.

As far as I know, neither of them did anything much worse than selling fantasy as if it were truth. There are plenty of that kind about these days. But because they are not so bad, the red flags may not be so obvious. You just have to listen carefully, think, take advice, and keep your intelligence switched on.

As far as I know, neither of them did anything much worse than selling fantasy as if it were truth. There are plenty of that kind about these days. But because they are not so bad, the red flags may not be so obvious. You just have to listen carefully, think, take advice, and keep your intelligence switched on.

Frankly, all this talk of the wicked and the stupid does leave a bad taste in my mouth, although I think it must be faced up to. So that's why I now want to turn from the wicked and the stupid to the good. In my experience, that is the great majority of lamas. This, of course, is only my personal snapshot, and you could argue,

Frankly, all this talk of the wicked and the stupid does leave a bad taste in my mouth, although I think it must be faced up to. So that's why I now want to turn from the wicked and the stupid to the good. In my experience, that is the great majority of lamas. This, of course, is only my personal snapshot, and you could argue,