[vishvananda]

Prior to my life in technology I had similar experiences to the author. I was involved with multiple spiritual groups that could be classified as cults. One mistake that I have seen people without first-hand experience make is assuming that the people are in it to deceive or take advantage of others.

On the contrary, I have seen that people in these groups often have the best intentions. For a long time, it was a mystery to me how these groups could end up going so wrong, often devolving into gun battles, suicides, or sexual deviance. A few years ago I found a book called "The Guru Papers"[0] which does a fantastic job of explaining how these things occur, even in well-intentioned groups. If you have been involved in a group like this, or are just curious about the psychology involved, I highly recommend it.

[0]: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007WL0JHE/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?...

[wpietri]

Another resource I like is the ABCDEF framework: http://www.neopagan.net/ABCDEF.html

It's a nice way of scoring some group to see how cult-like it is.