Cultic Studies Journal, Vol. 14, No. 1, 1997, page 56
With this increased interaction I began to gravitate to the center of the group. Living in this
group atmosphere was enough to keep me happily involved, moving toward the core of this
crowd was an unexpected bonus. As a consequence of my involvement with Louis‟s inner
circle, I gradually came more deeply under the spell of Louis, who was a charismatic and
engaging person. He was seemingly insightful and alarmingly able to be in touch with
whomever he contacted. I was like a lovesick teenager, mesmerized by his very presence.
He gave three lectures a day where he taught the purpose of life, the Away of living based
upon Eternal Truth,” and answered his students‟ personal questions, often advising on
marriage, studies, profession, and relationships. He gave evening classes to a chosen few,
including me. He managed, through his charisma, to affect all who listened to him. I
believed him, I believed his teachings, and I believed his ethics. He presented himself as
God‟s agent, and I believed him to be that.
He was my minister and spiritual teacher, my guide through the “entrapments” of life. He
was my father, and we were his children. I want to stress here that he was also our
minister. He ministered his parishioners. He taught yoga, communication, and spirituality.
He taught “treating people well” and “not lying or stealing.” He taught surrender to God and
Guru --the Guru being him as God‟s agent. The subject matter of what he taught is not
what is important it is the fact he was our teacher. He could have been teaching
Christianity or Buddhism or Taoism instead of his brand of Hinduism. It is the relationship
not the teaching that matters in the case of cultic power abuse.
There were about 30 of us living in the isolated ashram (a number of miles from nearest
civilization), a small universe of Louis-ism. He was our benevolent dictator. This was not a
democracy, for all rules and regulations originated and died in his hands. If people did not
agree, Louis had them leave. People were flat out asked by Louis to leave if they disagreed,
as well as there being group pressure to leave if a person was not happy. The belief was
that each of us had free choice and no one was made to stay at this place. So, if you were
not happy, then go quietly in the middle of the night and leave us to live and worship as we
wanted. There seemed to be no stigma on disagreeing, leaving was only a logical
conclusion--why would someone stay when they didn‟t agree?
It happened that I agreed with the rules. They were not outlandish or dishonest. They were
more like preferences. I had always believed, in the early days, that if my preferences
changed or if Louis began to teach something I didn‟t agree with, then I could and would
simply leave. Later, I realized I did not have that option. But as it was in the beginning, I
liked living there since I agreed with the moral and ethical teachings. The people who chose
to stay were educated, intelligent, and well-intentioned people. It seemed a good life.
The Rules Change
Capable and intelligent, I soon found myself organizing the food as well as the accounts. As
a basically efficient person, soon I was teaching yoga classes in addition to my other duties.
I worked 12 to 15 hours a day (and liked it). I was proving myself to be a leader and
organizer. This innate ability also meant I was drawn closer and closer within the confines of
the inner circle.
Around the time Louis changed his name to “Swami Babaji,” I began to practice the natural
meditation techniques that Louis had brought back from India. These techniques, although
the backbone of Louis‟s teachings, were not in and of themselves abusive. It was the
manner in which Louis used this method to his advantage that began to destroy my life.
There is sometimes, in the anticult movement, a suspicion of any “new age” technique as
the source of abuse. From what I have studied, in many cases this may be true. In my
experience, however, it was not meditation techniques or types of prayer or manner of
eating that was wrong. It was the basic misuse of power. The meditation, in itself, was
With this increased interaction I began to gravitate to the center of the group. Living in this
group atmosphere was enough to keep me happily involved, moving toward the core of this
crowd was an unexpected bonus. As a consequence of my involvement with Louis‟s inner
circle, I gradually came more deeply under the spell of Louis, who was a charismatic and
engaging person. He was seemingly insightful and alarmingly able to be in touch with
whomever he contacted. I was like a lovesick teenager, mesmerized by his very presence.
He gave three lectures a day where he taught the purpose of life, the Away of living based
upon Eternal Truth,” and answered his students‟ personal questions, often advising on
marriage, studies, profession, and relationships. He gave evening classes to a chosen few,
including me. He managed, through his charisma, to affect all who listened to him. I
believed him, I believed his teachings, and I believed his ethics. He presented himself as
God‟s agent, and I believed him to be that.
He was my minister and spiritual teacher, my guide through the “entrapments” of life. He
was my father, and we were his children. I want to stress here that he was also our
minister. He ministered his parishioners. He taught yoga, communication, and spirituality.
He taught “treating people well” and “not lying or stealing.” He taught surrender to God and
Guru --the Guru being him as God‟s agent. The subject matter of what he taught is not
what is important it is the fact he was our teacher. He could have been teaching
Christianity or Buddhism or Taoism instead of his brand of Hinduism. It is the relationship
not the teaching that matters in the case of cultic power abuse.
There were about 30 of us living in the isolated ashram (a number of miles from nearest
civilization), a small universe of Louis-ism. He was our benevolent dictator. This was not a
democracy, for all rules and regulations originated and died in his hands. If people did not
agree, Louis had them leave. People were flat out asked by Louis to leave if they disagreed,
as well as there being group pressure to leave if a person was not happy. The belief was
that each of us had free choice and no one was made to stay at this place. So, if you were
not happy, then go quietly in the middle of the night and leave us to live and worship as we
wanted. There seemed to be no stigma on disagreeing, leaving was only a logical
conclusion--why would someone stay when they didn‟t agree?
It happened that I agreed with the rules. They were not outlandish or dishonest. They were
more like preferences. I had always believed, in the early days, that if my preferences
changed or if Louis began to teach something I didn‟t agree with, then I could and would
simply leave. Later, I realized I did not have that option. But as it was in the beginning, I
liked living there since I agreed with the moral and ethical teachings. The people who chose
to stay were educated, intelligent, and well-intentioned people. It seemed a good life.
The Rules Change
Capable and intelligent, I soon found myself organizing the food as well as the accounts. As
a basically efficient person, soon I was teaching yoga classes in addition to my other duties.
I worked 12 to 15 hours a day (and liked it). I was proving myself to be a leader and
organizer. This innate ability also meant I was drawn closer and closer within the confines of
the inner circle.
Around the time Louis changed his name to “Swami Babaji,” I began to practice the natural
meditation techniques that Louis had brought back from India. These techniques, although
the backbone of Louis‟s teachings, were not in and of themselves abusive. It was the
manner in which Louis used this method to his advantage that began to destroy my life.
There is sometimes, in the anticult movement, a suspicion of any “new age” technique as
the source of abuse. From what I have studied, in many cases this may be true. In my
experience, however, it was not meditation techniques or types of prayer or manner of
eating that was wrong. It was the basic misuse of power. The meditation, in itself, was
