Betrayal of The Spirit: Krishna, Cults and Healing with Nori Muster

Cult Conversations: The Influence Continuum with Dr. Steve Hassan

Dr. Steven Hassan

Self-improvement, Society & Culture, Education

4.8 • 684 Ratings

🗓️ 7 April 2025

⏱️ 64 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Cult survivors often have the instinct to want to save as many people as possible from the cult they survived. However, healing from the things they encountered while in the cult is often a first step before a survivor can help others escape. Cult survivors usually seek to heal with some form of therapy and move on. Nori was a member of ISKCON from 1978 to 1988. As a member of the PR office, Nori lived in a bubble with some of the cult’s abuses hidden from her so she could maintain her positive opinion of the cult as part of her work. After leaving the cult, Nori learned about the abuse of women and children in the cult. The University of Illinois Press published Nori’s memoir, Betrayal of the Spirit, in 1997. After that she wrote and self-published Child of the Cult and Cult Survivor’s Handbook For a more detailed look at the atrocities the Hare Krishnas committed, check out the documentary Monkey on a Stick: Murder, Madness, and the Hare Krishnas. Nori Muster and Steve Gelberg are two former members interviewed in this well-done film. Join us for a fascinating discussion that includes art therapy and other expressive therapy approaches to healing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello, I'm Dr. Steven Hassan with another episode of my podcast, Cult Conversations,
0:10.4	The Influence Continuum with Steve Hassan.
0:14.2	And I have an old friend and colleague with me today, Nori Muster.
0:19.6	Nori and I, I think, well, she was just telling me before we started recording that we met
0:25.1	first in 1997, shortly after her first book came out called Betrayal of the Spirit.
0:33.1	This is the hardback, original one.
0:35.8	And here's a picture of Nori when the book came out. And I understand
0:40.5	you have a newer version, a paperback you can hold up. And a very important, good book. Let me
0:48.5	just get into it. You were a member of the International Society of Krishna Consciousness or ISCON for 10 years from
0:56.8	1978 to 1988 and worked in the group's PR office. So we're going to talk about PR and maybe
1:06.4	get into the cult of Trump for some time in here. But let me just say, after you left the group,
1:12.2	you earned a master's of science degree from Western Oregon University, and you work with juvenile
1:18.1	sex offenders. You're a writer, researcher, and let me just say you've also written a bunch of other
1:25.9	good books. Maybe you can hold them up as I mentioned them.
1:29.8	Let's see.
1:30.6	Child of the Cult.
1:34.1	Great.
1:35.1	And then Cult Survivor's Handbook.
1:39.2	Great.
1:40.4	And then you wrote your own E Ching and positive thinking book, Dreaming Peace.
1:48.5	And I've seen you at cult conferences.
1:52.9	You've been really wonderful wanting to help people who are thinking of joining
	...

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