Is Yoga a Sex Cult?

By William J. Broad / Source: NY Times

The wholesome image of yoga took a hit in the past few weeks as a rising star of the discipline came tumbling back to earth. After accusations of sexual impropriety with female students, John Friend, the founder of Anusara, one of the world's fastest-growing styles, told followers that he was stepping down for an indefinite period of "self-reflection, therapy and personal retreat."

Mr. Friend preached a gospel of gentle poses mixed with openness aimed at fostering love and happiness. But Elena Brower, a former confidante, has said that insiders knew of his "penchant for women" and his love of "partying and fun."

Few had any idea about his sexual indiscretions, she added. The apparent hypocrisy has upset many followers.

"Those folks are devastated," Ms. Brower wrote in The Huffington Post. "They're understandably disappointed to hear that he cheated on his girlfriends repeatedly" and "lied to so many."

But this is hardly the first time that yoga's enlightened facade has been cracked by sexual scandal. Why does yoga produce so many philanderers? And why do the resulting uproars leave so many people shocked and distraught?

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Jesus of Siberia

By Rocco Castoro / Source: VICE

Ten hours into my first trip to Russia I catch an express train back to the airport. It's August in Moscow so I'm sweating in a particularly gross and unfamiliar way, as I have since my arrival, and I'm running late. If I miss my flight, I probably won't make it to Petropavlovka in time for the Holiday of Good Fruits, or speak with a Siberian man who looks like Jesus and believes his is the Word of God.

I buy a ticket and arrive at the platform with a couple minutes to spare, enough time to find the emptiest car and take a seat in the back. It departs three minutes later. This makes me feel a bit better, but I'm still suppressing a freak-out over the possibility of missing my plane. The flight only happens once a day, and I can't fathom having to deal with whoever answers the phones at Vladivostok Air, Siberia's largest carrier.

If I don't make it in time I'll also have to reschedule my ride. This will involve begging a woman named Tamriko, whom I've only corresponded with via email, to persuade a fellow member of what many consider to be a cult to wake up at 4 AM tomorrow, make the three-hour drive to Abakan International Airport to pick up a nosy American stranger, and take him to a remote and deeply religious community of about 4,000 people living in the middle of the Taiga forest.

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5 Cult Leaders Who Used Sex to Control Their Followers

In the book Raping the Gods, by Brian Whitney, a ghostwriter is hired to ghostwrite the memoirs of Dylan, a deranged, fantastically wealthy sex addict, who lives in Samoa with his female sex slaves. Dylan had a profound spiritual awakening during a vision quest he went on with a local tribe. He thinks he met God. Actually, he thinks he met God and had sex with Him. Raped Him, in fact. Throughout all of Dylan’s insanity and abuse his slaves remain unwavering.

Many people throughout time have used sex to take control of people’s minds. When it comes to keeping someone under your control, banging them while slowly exerting power over their minds and bodies is possibly the best way to do that. It is true that other methods can work. You can threaten someone, beat them, isolate them, financially exploit them, but none of those are as effective as sex.

Here are 5 cult leaders that used sex to get their freak on and control minds at the same time.

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How to Convince People That You Are Jesus

So you want people to believe that you're Jesus Christ.  Or, if you don't want to be tied down to anything so specific as Jesus, then you at least want people to think you are the physical embodiment of God on earth.

Who wouldn't want this?  The list of benefits is as long as my arm.

First off, if you're a man (and generally speaking, it mostly seems to be men who reach for this dream), then you get to have sex with all the women in the congregation.

Which if you think about it, is an incredible privilege for the women.  I mean, you're having sex with some gullible, emotionally fractured woman.  That woman, on the other hand, is having SEX WITH GOD.  Where to even begin?  Let's just call that one a Win/Win.

Read the full story here...