MY WIFE JOINED A CULT

My wife thinks that I am insane
she thinks that I am paranoid
I hope she is right
because
my being right in this case would be tragic

I think that she has become involved
with a mind-control cult

she has joined a religion
and refuses to recognize it as such

she understands that Christianity is a cult
she understands that Judaism is a cult
she understands that Islam is a cult
she understands that Buddhism is a cult
she understands that all religion is cultic
she understands that all religion is mind control

but she does not see this as a religion

and yet, it is obvious
they are promoting a religion
Tibetian Buddhism to be specific

to her it is what they portray it to be
a martial arts school

but what kind of martial arts school
includes a bellydancing class on the schedule?

what kind of martial arts instructor
allows his wife to dance seductively for other men
for money?

a year ago
my wife never would have called any man master

but after just one week at this school
she was talking about her sifu
sifu meaning master
her master

a master who claims to see
what others can not see
a master who claims to hear
the voices of past masters
a master who encourages her
to leave her husband
and dedicate herself to the school

she told me
that he told her
that he saw her glow
that he saw her as a strong warrior
that he saw her as a future sifu

what kind of martial arts instructor encourages
this kind of arrogance in his students?
one who is arrogant himself
as evidenced by their newsletter
in which he states that
his ultimate goal
is to be the sifu of all the sifus of the future
which logically would require that his be the only school

certainly he encourages arrogance in his students
simply by the nature of the name of the school
Lohan which means special one

the students are called Lohans
the special ones
special simply for walking in the door
arrogance plain and simple

what kind of martial arts instructor encourages
his students to take bellydancing classes?

bellydancing classes taught by his wife
for a fee of course
more money for the school

and why did he suggest it
other than the obvious profit motive?

he said that bellydancing would bring out
her inner dakini

a dakini is a flesh-eating, blood-drinking demon
and he encourages this in his students

someone at the school gave her a book on dakinis
"Dakini's Warm Breath"
and I read some of it
and it sickened me

she met someone there
his name is Paul Anderson
and she thinks that she loves him
and he says that he loves her

I do not believe it
I do not understand it

we have been together for almost nine years
married for eight
and she has known him for only a four months
and for only one hour a week

and I tried to warn her about this
that the men there would be all over her
and they are

she tells me that
they are jealous of her attentions
but that I can trust her

but that turned out to be a lie
just one of many which she has told me since joining

and her sifu has done nothing to discourage the relationship

I went to speak to him about it
and he gave me no encouragement
other than to say that I should be strong
for myself

in other words
he told me to suck it up
and let her go

he told her that
she and I are on different paths now
and she does not think that is encouraging her to leave me

she spoke to him again
after we had argued some more
and he gave a slight clarification

he told her
that she must be certain that
she is leaving me
because we are on different paths
and not because of some other man
and then he again told her that
she and I are on different paths

this is subtle hypnosis
and she does not see it
she trusts him too much too soon

they are encouraging her to study Buddhism
a religion which has as its ultimate goal
the destruction of the self

and when the self is destroyed
you embrace the group

they are leading her astray
but she says that
they are all such good people

but I say that
no one would ever join a cult
if they were all assholes

they offer her unconditional love
simply because she walked in the door

Buddhism teaches that
what we call reality
what we have to deal with in our daily lives
in order to survive
is just an illusion

unconditional love is an illusion
love always has conditions
love given away freely to all
is worthless

to have compassion for all is great
but to say that you love someone
no matter what
and you don't even know them
is a lie
a trap
a snare for weak minds

cults seek out those who are emotionally unstable
and she is emotionally unstable

now she has become obsessed
with her school
she attends class more than three days a week
more than four hours a day

and she does not want to admit
that she has fallen into a religion

the school is a nonprofit organization
no martial arts school is so designated
it is because they are a religion

sifu is an ordained minister
in zen buddhism

it is a religion
a religion which denies reality
a religion which encourages
the continuance of suffering
a religion which states that
those who suffer choose to suffer
a religion which states that
we are all one being
so it is not important if you hurt others
for you are simply hurting yourself
a religion of nihlism

a creed which is kin to Nazism
the Nazis sent expeditions to Tibet
and were welcomed warmly

concentration camps are just an illusion
slavery is just an illusion

endure these things
and maybe you will advance up the ladder
of the social and spiritual caste system
in another life

and she buys it
it is stunning how naive she can be

certainly she is intelligent
and cults like to snare the intelligent
because the intelligent are the best recruiters of the less intelligent

and perhaps because of her intelligence
she does not believe that she could
fall victim to a cult
which makes it all the easier for them to recruit her

I just hope that she opens her eyes
before it is too late
before years have gone by
and she has wasted her life
dedicating herself to a lie

but right now
she is furious with me
because I told her these things

I insulted her school and her master
and that made her more angry
than anything I have ever done before
this is a typical reaction for a cult member

yet if I came to her
and told her these same things
which she has told me
she would surely recognize it as a cult

but because it is happening to her
she is in denial

I hope that she remembers
all that I have said
I hope she can not get it out of her head

and I hope that her sifu
finally says or does the wrong thing
to make her see him for what he is
a megalomaniac
and a fraud

recently
my friend came to town
and he has fourteen years of martial arts instruction experience

she showed him what she was learning
and he concluded that what they are teaching is not Shaolin as they claim
for he has seen Shaolin demonstrations
and been to Shaolin schools
but he held his tongue so as not to hurt her feelings

I did not need to hear that to know that this is wrong
for any moral ethical traditional martial arts school
would ban a student who seduces another man's wife
but this one will not

- S. Marvin Tuomala, May 6, 2004