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In striking contrast to Western depiction of God as perfect, Shiva exhibits human traits and
imperfections, including jealousy, unreasoned and violent action and succumbing to
coercion by his wife. Forever more, the images of his son demonstrate Shiva‘s humanity.
This is a fundamentally different basis for religion. For those clients of Western background
who have been involved in USCs from eastern traditions, members may have had very
different assumptions about the perfection of the teachers and even about the characters in
myths and stories. For clients from any USCs, the stories still suggest that it is appropriate
to question the actions of any teacher all the way up to God, since all are fallible. Unlike the
conclusion of the Book of Job, the client may find this story opens the door to questioning
and critical thinking.
Also in the story, it is clear that Parvati is surrounded by people who were dominated by the
presence of the divine aspect of the teacher. While her request was simple and personal,
none would take her needs seriously. When she created Ganesh for protection, Shiva was
infuriated by the resistance to his authority and immediately destroyed Ganesh. As a
member in an USC, an individual may find familiarity in the role of the disciples who would
not support Parvati, in Parvati‘s role in having had an authority figure forcibly destroy any
aspects of their own creativity, or in Ganesh, having been destroyed. Some may also have
occasionally played Shiva‘s role of dominating others. In the myth, the autonomy and
personal health of Parvati was maintained by her power to respond, not directly against
Shiva, but in having the power and in threatening to destroy the world Shiva held dear.
After she expresses her anger but before she acts, Shiva complies and Ganesh become
reborn with aspects of both Shiva and Parvati. Parvati‘s power was generated from her love
for her son, a worldly attachment. Through this power she was able also to affirm a place
for her own individuality and creativity. Although many USCs may devalue human
attachment and anger, in this story a feminine aspect of God maintains herself through the
acceptance and expression of those feelings. By doing so, the subject of her creativity
(Ganesh) was joined with God (Shiva). Similarly, if clients were involved in groups that left
no room for their humanity or creativity, the authority was the only one empowered, and
the result could not lead to the maturation of the client.
Were the roles played by clients in USCs similar to the disciples, Parvati or Shiva from this
story? Each client may have played more than one role. Do they have any residual feelings
about the roles they played? Have the clients‘ roles change with respect to their support for
others in the face of authority or other aspects of the story?
Job
In another classical Biblical tale, Job is described as an upright, God-fearing man (Job, 1:1).
Satan tells God that Job is righteous because he hasn‘t been challenged. Why not be
righteous when you are rich, healthy and have a lovely family? Satan asks God‘s permission
to ruin Job‘s life in order to demonstrate that Job will reveal the limits to his righteousness.
In consecutive attempts, Satan dismantles Job‘s life piece by piece (destroying his assets,
killing his family and covering him with sores) and yet Job never curses God. Instead, Job
questions God, asking why he has been so challenged when he has done no wrong. Job‘s
friends try to persuade him to confess his sins, convinced that he must have sinned since
God was so clearly punishing him. In the end, God answers Job by asking his own
questions, ―Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare, if thou has
the understanding.‖ (Job, 38:4). In so doing, God suggests that Job cannot question or
understand the acts or will of God.
The story of Job is compelling for anyone, perhaps particularly so for ex-members of
authoritarian USCs. The story may be taken at face value in expressing the limited capacity
for any of us to understand why anything happens or does not happen in this world. It can
also be taken to confirm that bad things can happen to good people our misfortune and

Cultic Studies Journal, Vol. 18, 2001, Page 85
lack of success is not an indication of our lack of worth. But the story of Job can also be
taken as a foundational cultural image that supports our inability to question superior
spiritual authorities. It is from this aspect that clients may gain insight from reflection on
their hesitations to use critical thinking while in an USC. They may also reflect upon the
validity of ascribing authority to teachers and leaders in their group.
The role of Satan in the story is also worthy of reflection. Rather than being scorned, he is
influential and has the ear of God. Although the questioning of Job did not induce God to
any reconsideration or change in action, Satan was apparently able to serve as the spark
plug for all the story‘s events. This seems odd, in that God introduced Job for his integrity,
features for which Satan is not generally known in our culture. In Biblical sources, the term,
―Satan‖ refers to a messenger or angel and describes an adversarial role, not a particular
character (Pagels, 1995). The root of the word means, ―one who opposes, obstructs or acts
as adversary‖ (Pagels, 1995). Perhaps God is demonstrating the necessity of true criticism,
from one close enough of an equal to have real doubts and little fear. Perhaps God fails to
answer Job in the same way specifically because Job is God-fearing, because Job is a ―yes-
man.‖ Satan appears to be accepted and influential in the story for doing exactly those
things which Job, being God-fearing, is praised for not doing. Similarly, there may have
been individuals in the USCs who were close enough to the center to question and influence
the authority with impunity. Or, there may be clients who played that role, toying with the
lives of other community members without true compassion for the effects of their
decisions. The role of Satan includes a measure of personal power and willingness to
exercise one‘s own voice, which are possibly healthy qualities in this world. The role in the
story also implies a coldness and lack of heart connection to those actions.
It may be illuminating to encourage clients to consider how they themselves behaved like
various characters in the story. For example, they may consider whether there were times
when they acted as Job‘s friends and questioned fellow community members‘ integrity
because the authority in their group disparaged the individual. Or perhaps they doubted
themselves because of disparagement they received from friends. Alternatively, clients may
find it helpful in personalizing the story to identify individuals or institutions in their USCs
who played roles similar to those in the story. Was their teacher seemingly arbitrary in his
treatment of community members and intolerant of questioning? Do clients now or in the
past react to the critical words of those outside the community, as they do to the words of
Satan to God? Do clients hold anger towards God for his behavior in the story or in their
own lives, or are they able to bow and defer completely as Job did? Would they choose to
bow if they could? Through such questions, clients may find alternate perspectives from
which to view the USCs and their own reactions.
Hyakujo and the Fox
In this Zen story, teacher Hyakujo (Pai-Chang in Chinese) observes an unknown old man
present for his periodic talks. After one talk, the old man stayed and approached Hyakujo.
The man told Hyakujo that he had been a teacher on the mountain long ago. According to
the old man, ―…a monk asked me, ‗Does an enlightened person fall under the law of cause
and effect or not?‘ I replied, ‗Such a person does not fall under the law of cause and effect.‘
‗With this I was reborn five hundred times as a fox. Please say a turning word for me and
release me from the body of a fox.‘…‖ (Aitken, 1990, p. 19). Hyakujo told the man, ‗Such a
person does not evade the law of cause and effect‘…‖ (Aitken, 1990, p. 19). With this, the
old man was enlightened and released from his fox body.
This mythic story awakens questions of the fallibility of teaching, the seriousness of wrong
teaching, and limitations of enlightenment. It is used as a koan in Zen tradition, calling for
the student to express his or her experience of the issue, as opposed to supplying the
correct intellectual answer. In working with ex-members of USCs, the story is intended to