I Became CEO of a Cult & Didn’t Realize it (born & raised in the Ashram)
Cults to Consciousness
Shelise Ann Sola, Jonathan C Rosales
4.8 • 570 Ratings
🗓️ 10 April 2026
⏱️ 86 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Growing up under the sway of a Brooklyn housewife turned guru, Priya Hutner is drawn into a world shaped by bizarre rituals, spiritual promises, and oppressive beliefs. What begins as a quest for enlightenment unravels into a stifling reality as the boundaries between spiritual devotion and control blur. Members were expected to obey the guru completely. Personal decisions—including marriage, celibacy, parenting, and even children’s names—were influenced or dictated by her and private matters were often publicly exposed as a form of “ego destruction.” Despite the manipulation, the community also performed genuine service, such as caring for AIDS patients, the homeless, and people living in poverty. This mix of compassion and control created confusion and loyalty among followers.
In her late twenties, Priya was unexpectedly appointed CEO of the ashram, responsible for running the nonprofit organization, managing finances, and coordinating retreats and visitors. Despite the enormous responsibility, the community operated under vows of poverty—Priya herself earned only about $200 a month while overseeing the organization. Meanwhile, the guru remained the ultimate authority over money, decisions, and disputes within the group. Priya deeply believed she was helping humanity and guiding people spiritually, reinforcing her devotion to the guru.
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Transcript
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| 0:29.8 | This is the way you're going to wake up. This is the way you're going to touch God, find God, |
| 0:36.9 | be source, whatever the words were. |
| 0:39.4 | She was the catalyst, the liaison, so to speak. |
| 0:42.4 | She was somebody whose job was to take us from the darkness to the light as the guru. |
| 0:47.9 | We were always told that my family was born to serve her. |
| 0:53.3 | So we decided to write this letter because they were all supposed to be celibate. |
| 0:58.5 | And we're like, wait a second, you all already got laid. |
| 1:01.7 | You already did your life. |
| 1:03.1 | Give me a break, you know. |
| 1:05.1 | And so we wrote this letter and sent it into Ma. |
| 1:09.4 | And there we are in front of, I must have been 500 people |
| 1:13.4 | that night in this loft. And, you know, Ma gets ready. She, you know, welcomes everybody. And |
| 1:19.4 | there's dead silence. And she said, where are my girls? I knew right away. And she made us stand up. |
| 1:25.9 | And I think we were 15 or 16 at the time. So tell me, |
| 1:30.3 | what are you asking for? Let's recite this letter that you've written to me. As I took on more |
| 1:36.5 | responsibility as the CEO, when things started fracturing you could see behind the curtain a little |
| 1:42.1 | bit, you know, you'd peek through and you go, oh my God. And then you'd put it back, you know, you'd close the curtain again. I was committed |
... |
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