This is a revealing article excerpted from Prophetic Charisma:
[sustainedaction.org]
From the stories I've heard Peter Young tell about himself, this article about how and why people become "gurus", describes him accurately.
Those who read it will understand, scientifically, precisely why to some people it really looks like PY has metanormal abilities ... and that they are fake.
A few excerpts:
"The leader comprehends his environment 'only as an extension of his own narcissistic universe,' and he understands others 'only insofar--but here with the keenest empathy!--as they can serve as tools toward his narcissistic ends', ... the main point is that the charismatic personality possesses an acute perception of the feelings and behaviors of others. Yet he is unable to truly empathize with them, to feel within himself some resonance with their feelings. He interprets what he observes ... but not with any genuine opening of the heart. ... Lacking empathic responsiveness, he relates his observations to his beliefs rather than to his feelings."
"It is likely that in such persons the capacity for communication with another’s unconscious ... makes them a superspecialist in understanding unconscious states, while at the same time limiting their ability to understand ordinary life. Psychoanalyst Helm Stierlin relates this ability to narcissism."
"... narcissistic leaders are 'superempathic' with themselves ... the leader is recognized as charismatic only by those whose needs he addresses and whose values he shares. ... his superempathy with his self may appear as an extraordinary insight into the world as they know it."
"He learns to focus on their hurts ... and he urges them to identify their needs with his. ... to melt them into his personality, bringing them and their actions under his control. ... As his followers change, he may develop a steadily increasing contempt for them ... ."
"He is sustained by his subjective heroics--he is a legend in his own mind--and he tends to perceive other people as types and clichés rather than as individuals. When they behave differently from how he wills, proving that they are not part of his self, he feels rejected and treats their behavior as a personal affront, a frightening and mysterious disturbance to his solipsistic universe. Thus the prophet suffers when his reality is exposed as fantasy."
"The feeling is of watching a pattern of behavior that is consistent but strained ... too persuasive and reassuring to be real. ... as if, in needing to have an answer for everything in order to appear omniscient, the leaders had organized much of their personalities into bundles of memorized 'response sets' ... At times he may be remote, at other moments powerfully present, and later still, just peculiar."
All of PY's victims ("students") have witnessed for themselves how PY epitomises these last 3 paragraphs.
Even his most fundamentalist followers would agree they describe him.
In fact, if he read this, I think PY himself would absolutely agree this is an accurate description of him, and how he feels when anyone doesn't obey his every command.
To him, that pain he feels when he is not obeyed is proof of his godlike status. The worse he feels about the people around him, the more godlike he is.
He really is a legend in his own mind!
Donald Trump is another good example of this.
The old nursery rhyme: "I'm the king of the castle, and you're the dirty rascal" comes to mind.
Perhaps it resonates with children when they are developing through (natural) infant narcissism into healthy sense of self, what the article summarises as " ... reconcil[ing] the grandiosity of 'Mommy and I are one' with his need to achieve a secure ... identity'.
PY never developed beyond this nursery-rhyme-level of human interaction.
He does not have a secure identity.
That's why he HAS TO constantly show everyone that he is the king of the castle, and why he HAS TO constantly show everyone that they are dirty rascals.
This is a very good example of what the Buddhists identify as karma.
PY literally cannot stop himself from doing this, due to the choices he has made in his life.
One can have compassion for such a stunted, pain-filled, fear-driven person; but also we need to recognise they are extremely dangerous to everyone around them.
PY is a child in permanent tantrum, but with 60+ years of practice in making sure others share the torment of his internal experience.
That sharing is what you really get for your money when you go to one of his teachings.
He truly believes you deserve it.
[sustainedaction.org]
From the stories I've heard Peter Young tell about himself, this article about how and why people become "gurus", describes him accurately.
Those who read it will understand, scientifically, precisely why to some people it really looks like PY has metanormal abilities ... and that they are fake.
A few excerpts:
"The leader comprehends his environment 'only as an extension of his own narcissistic universe,' and he understands others 'only insofar--but here with the keenest empathy!--as they can serve as tools toward his narcissistic ends', ... the main point is that the charismatic personality possesses an acute perception of the feelings and behaviors of others. Yet he is unable to truly empathize with them, to feel within himself some resonance with their feelings. He interprets what he observes ... but not with any genuine opening of the heart. ... Lacking empathic responsiveness, he relates his observations to his beliefs rather than to his feelings."
"It is likely that in such persons the capacity for communication with another’s unconscious ... makes them a superspecialist in understanding unconscious states, while at the same time limiting their ability to understand ordinary life. Psychoanalyst Helm Stierlin relates this ability to narcissism."
"... narcissistic leaders are 'superempathic' with themselves ... the leader is recognized as charismatic only by those whose needs he addresses and whose values he shares. ... his superempathy with his self may appear as an extraordinary insight into the world as they know it."
"He learns to focus on their hurts ... and he urges them to identify their needs with his. ... to melt them into his personality, bringing them and their actions under his control. ... As his followers change, he may develop a steadily increasing contempt for them ... ."
"He is sustained by his subjective heroics--he is a legend in his own mind--and he tends to perceive other people as types and clichés rather than as individuals. When they behave differently from how he wills, proving that they are not part of his self, he feels rejected and treats their behavior as a personal affront, a frightening and mysterious disturbance to his solipsistic universe. Thus the prophet suffers when his reality is exposed as fantasy."
"The feeling is of watching a pattern of behavior that is consistent but strained ... too persuasive and reassuring to be real. ... as if, in needing to have an answer for everything in order to appear omniscient, the leaders had organized much of their personalities into bundles of memorized 'response sets' ... At times he may be remote, at other moments powerfully present, and later still, just peculiar."
All of PY's victims ("students") have witnessed for themselves how PY epitomises these last 3 paragraphs.
Even his most fundamentalist followers would agree they describe him.
In fact, if he read this, I think PY himself would absolutely agree this is an accurate description of him, and how he feels when anyone doesn't obey his every command.
To him, that pain he feels when he is not obeyed is proof of his godlike status. The worse he feels about the people around him, the more godlike he is.
He really is a legend in his own mind!
Donald Trump is another good example of this.
The old nursery rhyme: "I'm the king of the castle, and you're the dirty rascal" comes to mind.
Perhaps it resonates with children when they are developing through (natural) infant narcissism into healthy sense of self, what the article summarises as " ... reconcil[ing] the grandiosity of 'Mommy and I are one' with his need to achieve a secure ... identity'.
PY never developed beyond this nursery-rhyme-level of human interaction.
He does not have a secure identity.
That's why he HAS TO constantly show everyone that he is the king of the castle, and why he HAS TO constantly show everyone that they are dirty rascals.
This is a very good example of what the Buddhists identify as karma.
PY literally cannot stop himself from doing this, due to the choices he has made in his life.
One can have compassion for such a stunted, pain-filled, fear-driven person; but also we need to recognise they are extremely dangerous to everyone around them.
PY is a child in permanent tantrum, but with 60+ years of practice in making sure others share the torment of his internal experience.
That sharing is what you really get for your money when you go to one of his teachings.
He truly believes you deserve it.