Alright. Now, let’s look at the second tip-off that indicates
conversion tactics are being used. A schedule is maintained that
causes physical and mental fatigue. This is primarily accomplished by
long hours in which the participants are given no opportunity for
relaxation or reflection.
The third tip-off: techniques used to increase the tension in the
room or environment.
Number four: Uncertainty. I could spend hours relating various
techniques to increase tension and generate uncertainty. Basically,
the participants are concerned about being “put on the spot” or
encountered by the trainers, guilt feelings are played upon,
participants are tempted to verbally relate their innermost secrets
to the other participants or forced to take part in activities that
emphasize removing their masks. One of the most successful human-
potential seminars forces the participants to stand on a stage in
front of the entire audience while being verbally attacked by the
trainers. A public opinion poll, conducted a few years ago, showed
that the number one most-fearful situation an individual could
encounter is to speak to an audience. It ranked above window washing
outside the 85th floor of an office building. So you can imagine the
fear and tension this situation generates within the participants.
Many faint, but most cope with the stress by mentally going away.
They literally go into an alpha state, which automatically makes them
many times as suggestible as they normally are. And another loop of
the downward spiral into conversion is successfully effected.
The fifth clue that conversion tactics are being used is the
introduction of jargon-new terms that have meaning only to
the “insiders” who participate. Vicious language is also frequently
used, purposely, to make participants uncomfortable.
The final tip-off is that there is no humor in the communications at
least until the participants are converted. Then, merry-making and
humor are highly desirable as symbols of the new joy the participants
have supposedly “found.”
I’m not saying that good does not result from participation in such
gatherings. It can and does. But I contend it is important for people
to know what has happened and to be aware that continual involvement
may not be in their best interest.
Over the years, I’ve conducted professional seminars to teach people
to be hypnotists, trainers, and counselors. I’ve had many of those
who conduct trainings and rallies come to me and say, “I’m here
because I know that what I’m doing works, but I don’t know why.”
After showing them how and why, many have gotten out of the business
or have decided to approach it differently or in a much more loving
and supportive manner.
Many of these trainers have become personal friends, and it scares us
all to have experienced the power of one person with a microphone and
a room full of people. Add a little charisma and you can count on a
high percentage of conversions. The sad truth is that a high
percentage of people want to give away their power-they are
true “believers”!
Cult gatherings or human-potential trainings are an ideal environment
to observe first-hand what is technically called the “Stockholm
Syndrome.” This is a situation in which those who are intimidated,
controlled, or made to suffer, begin to love, admire, and even
sometimes sexually desire their controllers or captors.
But let me inject a word of warning here: If you think you can attend
such gatherings and not be affected, you are probably wrong. A
perfect example is the case of a woman who went to Haiti on a
Guggenheim Fellowship to study Haitian Voodoo. In her report, she
related how the music eventually induced uncontrollable bodily
movement and an altered state of consciousness. Although she
understood the process and thought herself above it, when she began
to feel herself become vulnerable to the music, she attempted to
fight it and turned away. Anger or resistance almost always assures
conversion. A few moments later she was possessed by the music and
began dancing in a trance around the Voodoo meeting house. A brain
phase had been induced by the music and excitement, and she awoke
feeling reborn. The only hope of attending such gatherings without
being affected is to be a Buddha and allow no positive or negative
emotions to surface. Few people are capable of such detachment.
Before I go on, let’s go back to the six tip-offs to conversion. I
want to mention the United States Government and military boot camp.
The Marine Corps talks about breaking men down before “rebuilding”
them as new men-as marines! Well, that is exactly what they do, the
same way a cult breaks its people down and rebuilds them as happy
flower sellers on your local street corner. Every one of the six
conversion techniques are used in boot camp. Considering the needs of
the military, I’m not making a judgement as to whether that is good
or bad. IT IS A FACT that the men are effectively brainwashed. Those
who won’t submit must be discharged or spend much of their time in
the brig.
Decognition Process
Once the initial conversion is effected, cults, armed services, and
similar groups cannot have cynicism among their members. Members must
respond to commands and do as they are told, otherwise they are
dangerous to the organizational control. This is normally
accomplished as a three-step Decognition Process.
Step One is ALERTNESS REDUCTION: The controllers cause the nervous
system to malfunction, making it difficult to distinguish between
fantasy and reality. This can be accomplished in several ways. POOR
DIET is one; watch out for Brownies and Koolaid. The sugar throws the
nervous system off. More subtle is the “SPIRITUAL DIET” used by many
cults. They eat only vegetables and fruits; without the grounding of
grains, nuts, seeds, dairy products, fish or meat, an individual
becomes mentally “spacey.” INADEQUATE SLEEP is another primary way to
reduce alertness, especially when combined with long hours of work or
intense physical activity. Also, being bombarded with intense and
unique experiences achieves the same result.
Step Two is PROGRAMMED CONFUSION: You are mentally assaulted while
your alertness is being reduced as in Step One. This is accomplished
with a deluge of new information, lectures, discussion groups,
encounters or one-to-one processing, which usually amounts to the
controller bombarding the individual with questions. During this
phase of decognition, reality and illusion often merge and perverted
logic is likely to be accepted.
Step Three is THOUGHT STOPPING: Techniques are used to cause the mind
to go “flat.” These are altered-state-of-consciousness techniques
that initially induce calmness by giving the mind something simple to
deal with and focusing awareness. The continued use brings on a
feeling of elation and eventually hallucination. The result is the
reduction of thought and eventually, if used long enough, the
cessation of all thought and withdrawal from everyone and everything
except that which the controllers direct. The takeover is then
complete. It is important to be aware that when members or
participants are instructed to use “thought-stopping” techniques,
they are told that they will benefit by so doing: they will
become “better soldiers” or “find enlightenment.”
There are three primary techniques used for thought stopping. The
first is MARCHING: the thump, thump, thump beat literally generates
self-hypnosis and thus great susceptibility to suggestion.
The second thought stopping technique is MEDITATION. If you spend an
hour to an hour and a half a day in meditation, after a few weeks,
there is a great probability that you will not return to full beta
consciousness. You will remain in a fixed state of alpha for as long
as you continue to meditate. I’m not saying this is bad-if you do it
yourself. It may be very beneficial. But it is a fact that you are
causing your mind to go flat. I’ve worked with meditators on an EEG
machine and the results are conclusive: the more you meditate, the
flatter your mind becomes until, eventually and especially if used to
excess or in combination with decognition, all thought ceases. Some
spiritual groups see this as nirvana-which is bullshit. It is simply
a predictable physiological result. And if heaven on earth is non-
thinking and non-involvement, I really question why we are here.
The third thought-stopping technique is CHANTING, and often chanting
in meditation. “Speaking in tongues” could also be included in this
category.
All three-stopping techniques produce an altered state of
consciousness. This may be very good if YOU are controlling the
process, for you also control the input. I personally use at least
one self-hypnosis programming session every day and I know how
beneficial it is for me. But you need to know if you use these
techniques to the degree of remaining continually in alpha that,
although you’ll be very mellow, you’ll also be more suggestible.