Holy Hell
Download Holy Hell PDF/ePub or read online books in Mobi eBooks. Click Download or Read Online button to get Holy Hell book now. This website allows unlimited access to, at the time of writing, more than 1.5 million titles, including hundreds of thousands of titles in various foreign languages.
Holy Hell
Amma, universally known as "The Hugging Saint," went through a two-decade transformation from a simple fisherman's daughter to an international wonder worshiped by millions. Gail "Gayatri" Tredwell was there every step of the way--from early devotee to head female disciple, ever-present personal attendant, handmaiden, whipping post, and unwilling keeper of some devastating secrets. Because she became fluent in the Malayalam language and had continual intimate proximity to Amma for twenty years, Tredwell is uniquely capable of portraying this famous woman. She tells her tale with straightforward honesty, fairness, and a dash of Aussie snap and wit. Although the guru's flaws are a necessary part of her story and awakening, she strives to be factual throughout, digging deep to eschew victim frameworks and take responsibility for her own role in accepting the abuse and perpetuating the lies. Tredwell takes us vividly through her varying stages, starting with naïveté and innocent devotion, then on to dawning awareness and confusion, finally to emotional breakdown and her shocking "enlightenment"--her realization that the liberation she urgently required was is in fact liberation from her own guru
The Guru Papers
One of “the most comprehensive, erudite, and timely” explorations of power dynamics and authoritarianism in religions, institutions, relationships and even personal struggles (San Francisco Chronicle Book Review) Authoritarian control, which once held societies together, is now at the core of personal, social, and planetary problems, and thus a key factor in social disintegration. Authoritarianism is embedded in the way people think—hiding in culture, values, daily life, and in the very morality people try to live by. In The Guru Papers, authors Joel Kramer and Diana Alstad unmask authoritarianism in areas such as relationships, cults, 12-step groups, religion, and contemporary morality. Chapters on addiction and love show the insidious nature of authoritarian values and ideologies in the most intimate corners of life, offering new frameworks for understanding why people get addicted and why intimacy is laden with conflict. By exposing the inner authoritarian that people use to control themselves and others, the authors show why people give up their power, and how others get and maintain it.
The Followers: Holy Hell and the Disciples of Narcissistic Leaders: How My Years in a Notorious Cult Parallel Today's Cultural Mania
Winner of the 2021 PenCraft Book Award, 1st Place, Non Fiction - Autobiography Radhia's personal story and comprehensive knowledge along with her authentic, and unfiltered humorous style presents a compelling portrayal of both the political and cultural dynamics of group-think and mind control. After twenty-five years of her adult life in a cult, under the influence of a narcissistic sociopath she sought to understand why she made the choices she made in her life, so she could better understand why others make their choices. The Holocaust or any genocide instigated by a narcissistic authority does not happen because of one man. It is the collective consciousness of their followers that supports and enacts those atrocities. Like Moonies under Sun Myung Moon, Germans under the influence of Hitler, or the Branch Davidians under David Koresh, a percentage of America has fallen into a cult of personality. Radhia set out on a journey to explore common traits that every human being possesses. She makes the strong parallels between her devotion to a cult leader-an authority-whose damaging behavior and influence she willfully ignored, and the followers of other authoritarian leaders. This is not about policy or political ideology or even the guru or our political leaders, as much as it is about the followers from the viewpoint of a follower. "Written from the perspective of an insider, this compelling personal story, told with both brutal honesty, and raw humor draws us into the mindset of cult followers. It shines a light on how easily intelligent questing people can find themselves unwittingly following a cult leader. As much a personal story as a probing exploration of the mental and emotional states of cult leaders and followers, this fascinating book is hard to put down." - Lorell Frysh PhD.