Things are fine now, that happened years ago.
That bit about exorcism and demons -- that has no place in advaita Vedanta.
If personal self is illusion, a demon should be considered just as illusory.
Can tell you this, teaching about exorcism and demons is a great way to instill fear, especially fear of the outside world, fear of one's own critical thinking.
The Exorcist unleashed cultural panic about possession. Imagine how fraught the atmosphere in a closed group whose leader talks of this stuff.
Mass Psychogenic Illness
[www.aafp.org]
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What if someone at the ashram is singled out for stigmatization as demon possessed?
Any of us can develop porous boundaries. This happens in times
of crisis, chronic sleep deprivation, landing in unfamiliar surroundings, etc.
No amount of intelligence or education can prevent this, because crisis affects us as creatures, at the physical emotional level.
Which is why it is empowering to accept that we are social mammals, creaturely
and thus we are and remain influenceable.
What empowers us is recognizing this and then being careful to run background
checks on gurus, satsangs, ashrams and select groups which help us flourish, not
zombify us or addict us.
That bit about exorcism and demons -- that has no place in advaita Vedanta.
If personal self is illusion, a demon should be considered just as illusory.
Can tell you this, teaching about exorcism and demons is a great way to instill fear, especially fear of the outside world, fear of one's own critical thinking.
The Exorcist unleashed cultural panic about possession. Imagine how fraught the atmosphere in a closed group whose leader talks of this stuff.
Mass Psychogenic Illness
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Information from Your Family Doctor
What Is Mass Psychogenic Illness?
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Am Fam Physician. 2000 Dec 15;62(12):2655-2656.
See related article on mass psychogenic illness.
Sometimes people in a group start to think they might have been exposed to something dangerous, like a germ or a toxin (poison). They might get signs of sickness like headache, dizziness, faintness, weakness or a choking feeling. If many people in the group start to feel sick at about the same time, we might think they have mass psychogenic illness. The group might be a class in a school or workers in an office. Mass psychogenic illness is sometimes called mass hysteria or epidemic hysteria.
[www.aafp.org]
[www.google.com]
What if someone at the ashram is singled out for stigmatization as demon possessed?
Any of us can develop porous boundaries. This happens in times
of crisis, chronic sleep deprivation, landing in unfamiliar surroundings, etc.
No amount of intelligence or education can prevent this, because crisis affects us as creatures, at the physical emotional level.
Which is why it is empowering to accept that we are social mammals, creaturely
and thus we are and remain influenceable.
What empowers us is recognizing this and then being careful to run background
checks on gurus, satsangs, ashrams and select groups which help us flourish, not
zombify us or addict us.