We are not a cult, are we???

31 Dec - Written By JotePrakash Singh Khalsa

When divinely charged with the quest of birthing and raising a conscious community, one can’t help but collide with a deeply rooted societal fear.

A fear fortified by media such as Wild, Wild Country, the Bikram documentary and Premka’s book revealing the shadow behind the Kundalini Yoga community.

The questions arise from the mud of the mind,

Are we a cult?
Do people see us as a cult?
Are they pre-judging us to be a cult before even giving us a chance?

Truth is, if we take cult to mean culture then it’s likely we are all in a cult, the only choice is to choose which one to subscribe to.

If you say you aren’t in a cult, let me ask you…

Do you manage to overcome the pressure to conform to society?
Do you judge others based on your belief systems?
Do you instantly believe what the media and government say?

Or have you been subtly led away from a religious God and instead devote yourself to God of materialism? Out of the frying pan into the fire as they say.

Is your cult one of Netflix worshipping, ice cream rituals and shopping cart ceremonies?

It’s not easy to get out of it considering how addictive these things are.

So hell yes we, at the Rising Dawn, are a cult.

We are a culture of conscious community.

We are seekers of Sanctuary.

We pray for peace and live for love.

We worship ourselves, each other and our planet.

We give thanks for our food and even hug strangers.

All are given space to be their truthful, authentic selves.

Here are a few differences between us and authoritarian groups:

The group coerces you to take on ‘superiority’ beliefs and ideologies.
We invite you to try things but all beliefs are welcomed and celebrated.

The group promotes a polarised us/them mentality which creates conflict with wider society.
We recognise the humanity in all of us and do all we can to bridge the gap between all peoples, ethnicities and genders

Group members display an excessively zealous and unquestioning commitment to their leader.
We welcome any and all questions, thoughts and opinions. We love good discussions and do not claim to have all the answers.

The group uses mind-altering practices in excess which serve to suppress doubts about the group and its leader(s)
We promote grounding, integration and embodiment so that people remain centred in their bodies and individual personalities.

The leadership induces feelings of shame and/or guilt in order to influence and control members.
We are well-versed in shame and offer many tools on how to work through shame as well as the space for people to authentically share how they are feeling.

The group is preoccupied with making money.
As a Community Interest Company, we are committed to devoting 75% of all our profits back into building the community.

The way I see it is, where there is light shone, there will also be shadows cast. The real issue amounts when no one turns around, points humbly and says ‘ooo look, there is my shit, I’ll get that cleaned up.’

In hierarchical groups there exists an unspoken protection for the leadership ie. someone in power could do unethical things and get away with it.

Remind you of any systems running our world at present?

Without all of us holding each other accountable for our actions our inner children are bound to run amok and cause all manner of chaos.

If anyone in the community is placed on a pedestal we open the door for things to get messy.

And dear me, it’s lonely up there on that high chair so let’s all stop claiming to have discovered the One True Way and instead descend into our simply gorgeous, painfully beautiful human experience of relational connection.

When I stepped up as a space-holder in the community I too came face-to-face with a deeply rooted trauma - the desire to be seen and appreciated.

After a lifetime of feeling like an outsider I suddenly found people wanted to hear what I had to say.

That can easily go to the head.

With all these powerful practices, I felt power pulsating through me and, if it hadn’t been contained, I may have done things I would’ve regretted.

So I decided to go celibate.

Best decision I ever made.

It allowed me to make lovely healing connections with women in the community free of all subtle agendas.

The biggest agenda is one that was drilled into me for most of my life - ‘if I’m talking to a woman it means sex might be on the cards.’

I am deeply grateful to my psychotherapist Mother and other elders for grounding me back into the truth of why I am here.

To create deep, meaningful connections with all my brothers, sisters and soul fam on this Earth.

Perhaps if the ‘gurus’ had their Mothers (and Fathers) around to let them know when they were acting like rampant dogs, people might not have got hurt.

You don’t have to look too far underneath misogyny and narcissism to find a scared child crying out desperately to be seen and heard.

That’s just it.

The Divine Mother energy is the solution.

The honouring of the Softness of the Feminine in Divine Union with the Steady Sacred Masculine.

The Feminine is allowed to shine without the Masculine trying to take something.

The Masculine is allowed to rise into power without the Feminine feeling dominated.

Within all of us!

A slowing down.

A regulating of nervous systems.

An awareness of the importance of consent.

We all have a role to play in healing this disconnect.
Abusers can find healing for their traumatised addiction responses. Victims can build their self-worth, say no and hold firm boundaries. Bystanders can make their voices known by standing up against tyranny.

These ideas that empower the individual into sovereignty are not widely promoted in spaces where coercive cult thinking has dug itself into the fabric of society.

If we can breathe an ethos of mutual respect into all communities we are sure to avoid unhealthy, unconscious power dynamics.

Now that’s a revolution.

And it starts on the inside.

Let’s Rise this Dawn.

Together.