Legends and Myths of "New Acropolis"

Ksenia Kirillova

Yekaterinburg, 2007

Recently public attention has increasingly been drawn to a phenomenon such as the "Classical Philosophical School 'New Acropolis'." Presenting itself as a cultural and educational organization, it has many supporters among fairly educated people, which, broadly speaking, is not surprising. The New Acropolis magazine Man Without Borders is full of photographs of historical and cultural monuments, quotations from well-known thinkers and poets, and during the "philosophy lectures" speeches about mercy, goodness, the ideal and tolerance are abundantly heard from the stage. The organization actively works with orphaned children, organizes seminars on exotic topics and offers searching youth all kinds of ways for creative self-realization. Leaders and members of New Acropolis are extremely friendly and welcoming, which often opens doors for them to some prestigious universities and libraries. New Acropolis proclaims as its goals:

1. Uniting people on the basis of the ideal of universal brotherhood, regardless of their creed, race and social belonging.

2. Awakening in people an integral vision of the world through comparative study of the sciences, various arts, philosophical and religious systems.

3. Helping each person find harmony with Nature by developing their inner potentials and learning the laws of life (the use of a capital letter in the word “Nature” occurs in the official Charter of this organization. – K. K.).

So, what is New Acropolis?

After conversations with the leadership of the organization and study of its publicly available program literature, the following portrait of this organization emerges:

1. New Acropolis does not consider any single system of views to be true. Its task is to acquaint listeners with the full variety of views and opinions, without giving priority to any particular worldview. It unites people not on the basis of fidelity to some religious tenets, but only in matters of charity.

2. New Acropolis is extremely tolerant. It respects all views, opinions and religions, considering them equal. It does not give preference to any one religion. Accordingly, there is no personality whose views would be considered indisputable.

3. Consequently, New Acropolis has no and cannot have any doctrine, that is, a definite set of religious doctrines recognized identically by all its members. As E. S. Elbakyan, Doctor of Philosophical Sciences, notes in her expert opinion dated 06.12.06 produced at the request of the Yekaterinburg branch of New Acropolis, the organization "is engaged in the dissemination of knowledge, not faith" and "includes people of various confessional affiliations or non-believers." All the more, New Acropolis cannot have a secret doctrine.

4. From this it follows that the very process of giving lectures is perceived as a simple transmission of certain information, while different, often mutually exclusive points of view on the same question may be presented in the lecture topics.

5. All facts are presented absolutely truthfully, since the main goal of the lectures is to increase the students' level of education.

6. After listening to a course of lectures, the student can independently choose any system of beliefs. By "independently" is meant a choice on which no pressure is exerted, including psychological pressure. Neither the structure of the lectures nor the behavior of the lecturer exerts any influence on the listener’s consciousness or leads him by manipulations to some predetermined result.

7. The attitude to the surrounding world is absolutely positive, since New Acropolis draws cultural values precisely from it.

8. Thus the term "totalitarian sect" is completely inapplicable to New Acropolis.

If one accepts all the above provisions as true, it indeed seems that the position of cult researchers, who persistently call New Acropolis a destructive cult, is absolutely unfounded. I propose, without engaging in unnecessary polemics, simply to compare the enumerated theses with New Acropolis’s internal materials and verify their correspondence.

1. Is any one system of views considered true? An indirect answer to this is contained in the article by the founder of New Acropolis, Jorge Ángel Livraga, "On Scholasticism" of September 1981 (hereafter — "On Scholasticism"), in paragraph 6 of the section "For Teachers": "The teacher must be clear and understandable in his explanations. It is not enough to know the truth; one must be able to explain it, convey it to consciousness, and if necessary, prove it. Remember that young people coming to the School are often disappointed in life and are seeking new paths to realize their ideals. One should not distort the Teaching merely from fear of hurting particularly touchy feelings, since our students have come to us in search of truths that are crushing and irresistible, not for hazy rhetoric that explains nothing to anyone." In the section "For Students" it is also proclaimed: "Plunge headlong into the Mysteries — in them the Truth is hidden."

Thus, in New Acropolis there clearly exists some system of views regarded as absolute truth; moreover, it is called the Teaching. The statements of the organization's leaders that New Acropolis has no teaching appear, in light of this, as shameless lies. Furthermore, according to the organization's internal directives, lecturers ("instructors") are required not only to believe devoutly in the doctrine offered but also to convey it at public lectures, using them solely to instill the convictions of the organization's leadership in listeners.

As an illustration, let us quote excerpts from the transcript of a session of the head of the Russian New Acropolis, Elena Sikirich, with "instructors" dated 02.02.97, "Manifestation of the 7 Laws in the Instructor's Work" (hereafter — "Manifestation of the 7 Laws..."): "The instructor of the Law of Unity does not transmit anything of his own. He transmits not his own, but the essence. Key point. The idea that he must transmit is not his. And by the principle of emanations, considering the Law of Unity, the instructor should primarily transmit the essence, the idea, the archetype of that organism of which he is a constituent part. The main archetypes, ideas, moments, of what we call the ideology of the Acropolis. This is the first point. Thus our first task at all our meetings, in lectures, in individual conversations, as the Voice of Silence says, 'have you harmonized your soul with ...'. Have you harmonized your assumptions, key moments with the heart, the doctrine and the philosophy of the Acropolis. And here, as regards the law, from the instructor’s point of view there are not ten thousand doctrines. There are not ten thousand different understandings of the doctrine. There are ten thousand different forms within which the same ideas are set forth. And thus in this context, the first and main task not only of the instructor but also of the leader, now speaking in the context of a lecture — is not to deviate from the path, not to stray, not to distort. Not to give your own free interpretations that have no ground already confirmed within the very philosophy of the Acropolis, by certain suppositions, the words of HAL, the classics, Blavatsky, me, etc." (bolding mine. — K.K.). Further: "In order to make it easier for you and for us to transmit what we officially call the ideology of the Acropolis, the first question we will ask is, how would HAL do it?"

Using the conceptual apparatus of cult studies, what we see is a kind of "cult knowledge," that is, a universal method by which adepts can achieve happiness, unity with God, perfection, find the meaning of life, etc. If one compares the statements cited with the first provision of the promotional characterization of New Acropolis, a clear deception in recruitment is evident — the brightest and most typical sign of totalitarian sects. Indeed, listeners come to familiarize themselves with various philosophical concepts, but by no means with the doctrine of the founder of New Acropolis, Jorge Ángel Livraga (HAL), which is sought to be conveyed to them under the guise of lectures.

2. Is there a sacralized personality whose views are considered indisputable? To answer this question, again refer to the "instructors’ meeting" "Manifestation of the 7 Laws...": "And so the first moment you must become aware of is the moment that we carry a particle of HAL. I am not saying mine. Right now we speak, the main and basic link that connects us, so to speak, with the world of Archetypes. We said that actually to read a lecture well, to conduct a meeting well, small or large, means to act as if he were in our place... The ideal model is to imagine as if you give your examples, your coloring to his thoughts... When from the point of view of the Law of Union I prepare a lecture, I ask myself the question, how would HAL explain this... In order to make it easier for you and for us to transmit what we officially call the ideology of the Acropolis, the first question we will ask is, how would HAL do it? And I assure you, for example, especially for formative meetings, always when I sit down to prepare, after I have gathered and read a bunch of material, I always ask myself the first question, what would HAL say? That is for me the core..."

There: "For such situations you need a deeper calm of the soul. A soul that relies on the Teacher. This is the only entity on which a person can rely; the rest he must do himself. I tell you this also from my own twenty-year experience of giving lectures. And every time, I told you this ten thousand times at all instructor meetings, before important events I get nervous, but one and the same thought always calms me — how would HAL act? And if I cannot even think it, if I cannot reach it in a panic, there is such an automatic mechanism — the word, the concept HAL. And that's it. Then I go on. Even not how he would say it, what he would say, how he would explain it, through what examples, it helped or not, but simply: 'HAL!' — and we go. From the point of view of the Law of Will, Union, returning to the origins, this must be a state of soul each instructor must have. Besides HAL you have one more small intermediate link — me, Delia. I have Delia and HAL. But as for HAL — it is something special. And then we will be calm that our doctrine will not be distorted. And then we will be calm that we will not stray from the path, and that we will not allow liberties that are associated, most likely, with moments of our person rather than with the true soul."

In New Acropolis no slightest disagreement with HAL’s articles is permitted, and he himself is recognized as "a great teacher of humanity," ideal and infallible contrary to all evidence. An ideal illustration of this thesis is a phrase from the message "Living Word" of 17.02.96 (hereafter — "Living Word") addressed to leaders: "Here is an example of HAL, great HAL, who never lied, and did not lie even when recounting the fact of Giordano Bruno's arrival in Zagreb, although this never happened." Thus, the phrase itself contains two mutually exclusive assertions that are absolutely incompatible from the point of view of ordinary logic but fully consistent within sectarian logic. HAL is sinless, therefore he did not lie, even when saying something that never happened in the world. Here we see a displaced value system, that is, belief that any means are suitable and justified to achieve the goal. To achieve the desired, one may deceive a person, without even recognizing this fact as a lie. Overall, acropolitans’ attitude to the "great HAL" falls under the concept of guruism — a cult of a charismatic leader (living or dead). A guru is a superhuman whose will must be obeyed quickly and unquestioningly, while dissent is unacceptable. According to sectarian ideology, the guru's command is the unconditional will of God himself. The presence of such a guru (a person or group of persons) is also an inseparable sign of a totalitarian sect.

3. What exactly is the teaching of New Acropolis and how secret is it? The general characterization of New Acropolis’s teaching, reproduced in many reference books on non-traditional religious movements and appearing on most Internet sites, is as follows:

"New Acropolis" can be characterized as a syncretic occult-pagan totalitarian sect that uses pseudo-charitable actions as a cover.

In addition to official lectures and charitable events, New Acropolis has a secret teaching accessible only to the "initiated," who are recruited precisely from listeners and participants of "cultural studies" classes. The sect’s doctrine is based on Livraga’s writings The Golden Axe and Labyrinths of Lapis Lazuli, included in a collection called The Leader’s Handbook. The sect’s doctrine combines elements of theosophy and a number of pagan (predominantly ancient Greek) cults. New Acropolis prescribes to its adepts the comprehension of the laws of the microcosm and macrocosm through the study of occult sciences: astrology, numerology, chiromancy. Special emphasis is placed on the study of pagan mythology, rites and rituals. At the same time, traditional religious and cultural values in people’s consciousness are distorted, and an unhealthy interest in magical and occult practices is developed. Particular importance is attached to establishing connections with parallel worlds. Adepts of New Acropolis believe in reincarnation and in the imminent arrival on Earth of the Age of Aquarius. The main task of the sect is to create from a person a superhuman, a representative of a new "sixth subrace" of people, which, in essence, justifies racial discrimination and an ideology of superiority.

The creator of New Acropolis was the late Argentine professor of Italian origin Jorge Ángel Livraga (1930–1991), who, under the banner of spreading his theosophical-type ideas, created an extensive worldwide network that penetrated Russia from the late 1980s. In Livraga’s The Leader’s Handbook he notes: "Every living being, possessing more or less developed abilities, is greedy for power. Power is as much an instinct of the soul as self-preservation is an instinct of the body… He who feels in himself the strength to be a leader must not love others... A leader who has decided on something once must achieve what was intended, regardless of the costs, in the shortest possible time... One must cross out of consciousness everything that creates complexes in it."

Ultra-right in its views, New Acropolis allegedly has within its structure a secret "security corps" that uses secret rituals and fascist symbolism in its activities. One of the leaders of the "Security Corps," Fernán Schwartz, associated the opening of a new stage in the history of the organization — a stage of active actions. In a bulletin published by Schwartz’s trusted associate Jean-Marc Massé it was explicitly noted: "We know that we represent the embryo of an organization that will grow into a huge army, a huge power."

Let us give several quotations characterizing particular elements of New Acropolis’s doctrine. In particular, below are excerpts from a speech delivered by Elena Sikirich to members of the Living Forces (LF, the internal core of the organization) at the LF "summer internship" in 1999 about the origins, essence and tasks of New Acropolis (hereafter — "LF Summer Internship"):

"HAL clearly says that the task of the Acropolis, actually, is a renewed attempt to give an impulse for the sixth subrace of the fifth race. Our task through all that we do is to give an impulse for the sixth subrace of the fifth race."

"The first thing we need to understand is that the Acropolis is not just a school. That the Acropolis was founded as another impulse. One of millions, hundreds of thousands of impulses that continue since the great White Lodge was founded and since high entities, Lords and Prometheans descended into the world of people. [...] And now, although we do not tell this to the members so as not to appear vain, etc., but in the 20th century the only channel to the Teachers is the Acropolis. Just as in the 19th century there was the Theosophical Society. This is our 'family.' The only channel and the only ones who were given the right to pass the tests to deserve an esoteric school are the Acropolis. And if any of the 4–5 billion people living on Earth wants to enter the mysteries, he must enter the Acropolis. And pass through all the stages, starting from the 'white program', the first cycle, and reach LF. Because in order for someone in the next life to even dream of the mysteries, the first rung he must deserve is LF. And LF is the link in the chain that the Theosophical Society lacked."

"The school of discipleship is a great power. This light, which we must become conduits of, this is it. [...] This gives the strength to the whole mission to endure and not be labeled another failed attempt, as happened with the Theosophical Society immediately after the death of E.P.B. We have HAL already gone, we still hold on. Excuse me, but this is great progress, such has not happened yet in history. Thanks to the fact that there is Delia. And then what? We must further create the chain, otherwise the mission will cuckoo. The impulse of the sixth race will again wait God knows how long. People will again cuckoo in their chaos, confusion, without criteria, without many things..."

Thus, New Acropolis is a religious organization that proclaims itself the only possible channel of communication with "higher forces." As E. Sikirich asserts, every esoteric school of antiquity was sent by the hierarchy of mahatmas to prepare humanity for entering the superior race. The teaching of the "sixth race" goes directly back to the occult teaching of Blavatsky, whom acropolitans consider their predecessor. However, despite all acropolitans’ reverence for Blavatsky (in acropolitan terminology E.P.B.), HAL believed that even her mission failed and the impulse faded with E.P.B.'s death. Therefore the task of NA is to preserve the impulse and thereby accomplish what no organization before has managed in human history. Confirmation of this is also found in the transcript of an audio recording of E. Sikirich’s session with members of the Living Forces about "tests" on the eve of 2000 dated 25 September 1999:

"...We started 'from the occult apex', recalled how HAL received the assignment — to do everything in his power so that the school would contribute to the impulse of the 6th subrace of the 5th race. Do everything in his power. And he received this assignment very concretely... To give his contribution to the birth of the 6th subrace of the 5th race... Recalling this, we remembered that practically all acropolitan schools in this difficult work continued HAL's work. Because each of them, including us, received the task of developing the model of something within the common impulse. Each generates, breaks a path, finds forms for one part of the common mosaic known only to HAL, Delia and God. We cannot understand it."

Moreover, New Acropolis claims to be the reincarnation of all ancient esoteric schools and sects — that is, their members and leaders. Thus, by HAL’s facile hand, all thinkers and philosophers of antiquity become "acropolitans"! Deacon Andrey Kuraev calls this phenomenon "missionary work among the dead": "This strange manner is generally characteristic of theosophists: they rummage through the pages of world history in order to recruit as many notable historical figures as possible into their adepts and supporters. Just as Mormons collect in their archives information about all the deceased in order to later pray for them and thereby transform them into Mormons, so theosophists distribute posthumous 'initiations' to whom they themselves wish, without caring whether the mentioned persons would indeed have wanted to be among the theosophists. But the dead are unanswerable." [1]

Below are examples of such practices (LF Summer Internship):

"One can say that the Acropolis over many thousands of years, in fact, reincarnated with the same high souls, great lords, the same HAL, who was called by another name, Delia, and that this is one of our reincarnations."

"We are from Thebes [...] All our teachings, all our knowledge, all our memories, all our protection and patronage of the great entities HAL and through HAL we brought into this world, in this epoch from Thebes, from Egypt... it was then that teachers and the hierarchy created a plan to attempt to give an impulse for the sixth subrace of the fifth race. In different eras and in different generations, through different spiritual families or flocks, but the basis of which was the so-called fourth ray family, or the Theban family, to which we belong..."

"Europe was to become the cradle of the next sub-subrace of the fifth race. Thus the famous Anax was born, to whom we belong. Those who have a T-shirt with our NA logo know perfectly well that in these letters is embedded the word Anax."

"Our family is chosen as the carrier of the mission. Great lords who will patronize these impulses are chosen; great initiates are chosen next to the great lords; accepted pupils are chosen; and little ants are chosen."

"Does it not surprise you why their teaching is close to us? Why, when we read the Stoics, it seems as if we listen to HAL? When we read Marcus Aurelius, it seems as if we listen to HAL? Or we read Socrates, Plato, ancient Egyptian writings? It all lives in us, we do not read it but remember... One of the strongholds of Anax, the last stronghold, was Alexandria, the Neoplatonic school. And as HAL said when we met long ago, understand, I am not boasting, but in our family there were and are kings, priests, philosophers, teachers, pupils, ladies, knights, martyrs... Marcus Aurelius is our man... The Renaissance, Giordano Bruno — that is us... But this is a man who actually, at the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries (he lived, imagine, in the same period of centuries as we), literally created an Acropolis without calling it Acropolis. In the Acropolis there are rumors, there is an assumption that Giordano Bruno was one of the incarnations of the teacher Shri Rama, the teacher of HAL."

The only ones for whom New Acropolis makes an exception are the Freemasons: "Freemasons — that is not us, and Rosicrucians — not us, but that too was an impulse of the hierarchy. It is a subfamily, it is not us, but ours, their own went off." This is probably explained by the fact that some Masonic lodges have survived to the present and could declare in principle their disagreement with membership in NA.

E. Sikirich also unambiguously formulates the next task of her organization — proselytism, and specifically proselytism among the most intellectually developed part of society: "If we do not attract the attention of the highest minds and we spin around within our four walls, then one can consider that our task is not fulfilled. It is very important that we remember this."

This is precisely what is meant by the term "secret teaching," and not at all belief in reincarnation, as Mrs. Elbakyan tries to convince us in her expert opinion. To be fair, it should be said that listeners of the Classical Philosophical School learn about the theory of reincarnation, the materiality of thought, the laws of karma and dharma and other tenets of occult teaching fairly quickly — within several lectures (that is, this part of the teaching is not secret). But again, it should be noted that this information is presented as objective information within the framework of "comparative study of religions." Listeners are not told that these tenets are a creed transmitted as truth in the last instance and not subject to doubt.

Proof that the items listed are not mere knowledge but religious beliefs being instilled in New Acropolis’s members are, in particular, excerpts from the "instructors’ meeting" Manifestation of the 7 Laws...: "Let us at least try to keep in mind what we have in the law. I remind you of the plans. We begin from the top and go down.

For the plan of Atman (Will, Law) — the Law of Unity.

Next — the Law of Enlightenment or Sanctification (plan Buddhi — intuition).

Plan Manas (higher mind) — the Law of Differentiation.

Next — organization (kama-manas — lower mental).

Next — the Law of Psychicity — Astral, psyche.

Law of activity, action — prana, energy.

And the last, everyone remembers it — the Law of Periodicity, cycles — the physical plane.

How do you think we could apply them for instructor training, on the model of the instructor?

If you recall, the Law of Unity is the guiding principle leading all to one common universal Destiny through the path of evolution. As they said, if he asks how many of you, you say: 'One.' They said that it is associated with the awareness of participation in an organism, small or greater, the awareness that we are part of something greater. And they said that this is related to the awareness of the chain, that is the principle of emanations or the transmission of fire by which the entire Universe was created. There is the original Absolute — the first fire. He transmits his fire to the second, the second begets the third — transmits his fire."

"Living Word" (on the materiality of thought and word): "This is the most successful and so far at present of the development of the 5th race the only form through which the pure principle of will manifests outwardly... To make this clear, I remind you of one moment from the lecture on the 6th race. When Blavatsky explains that there will come times when sexual difference will not be, when people will incarnate as some kind of 'androgynes' and when any form of reproduction, beginning with the physical, will be realized through the interaction thought — word... And when Blavatsky explains that thus children will be born, i.e. it will no longer be necessary to have physical or other work — I want to create — I thought it, I spoke it in the corresponding form and the form is already born under the influence of my word. And this is called the principle of the 'Sacred Word' in the art of oratory. And you should understand that reading a lecture — any — ... sometimes, when we ourselves do not realize it, our word has power of action: said — the process has already started... If you speak incorrectly, then accordingly you call forth and bring into being not that, and accordingly you enter into interaction with the law of Karma, which has its plans for creations, either we agree with them, or if we miss the point, sanctions follow."

As for how secret New Acropolis’s religious teaching is, it is appropriate here to quote from Jorge Ángel Livraga’s article "Why do we not teach esotericism to a greater degree?" (Bastion No. 81): "...A direct exposition of the esoteric part without prior acquaintance with the necessary exoteric knowledge could turn many young people into sectarians and fanatics instead of making them true acropolitan philosophers. Therefore, at the first stage certain filters are simply necessary. Without them beginners would be too detached from the everyday world..."

"So let the notion that anyone who simply manifests an interest in New Acropolis will immediately acquire a practical possibility of immediate contact with the Essence of Things, with the Mystery that is Mysticism in action, remain in the realm of barren utopias. Neither posters, nor booklets, nor even lectures and readings by themselves will open such a possibility to you."

"As for the question why we do not teach esotericism to a greater extent, and not only to those who have recently joined us, but also to those who have been members of our Movement for several years, here we are guided by considerations similar to those stated above... No person is capable, merely by attending once or twice a week for a few years, of acquiring the inner purity sufficient to perceive the Wisdom which over millennia, like drops of morning dew, accumulated in the sacred cup of the White Lotus of Esoteric Knowledge."

Thus Livraga explains his reluctance to disclose to adepts the truth about the real teaching of the organization he created by asserting that it cannot be perceived and, moreover, leads to harmful consequences. Allow me to conclude that this is merely an excuse. The very fact that the organization possesses knowledge capable of "turning many young people into sectarians and fanatics" and of detaching people "from the everyday world" seems to be of no concern to "great HAL." Moreover, young people do become "sectarians and fanatics" and do become detached from everyday life, to which the organization's leadership itself contributes to a considerable extent by arrogating to itself the right to decide what to disclose about the true essence of the organization:

"You are too small, you are a complete child, and therefore we, according to the millennia-old custom, measure out to you drop by drop a potent remedy — Esoteric Knowledge... No improvisations. We know perfectly well what you require, when, how and in what quantities... All specialists and connoisseurs of esotericism (not the intellectuals who pontificate about esotericism, but those who truly engage with it and practice it), from E. P. Blavatsky to Éliphas Lévi, point to the necessity of learning the Secret gradually."

"Mastering the great Mysteries requires time, labor, total self-surrender and disinterestedness. One must devote oneself entirely to service of the Ideal."

The last quotation is especially interesting. Thus an adept of New Acropolis must devote himself entirely to serving the Ideal without even knowing what it consists of! It goes without saying that deliberate choice is out of the question here, since the person has no notion of what he is choosing and on what he is spending his time, energy, and sometimes his entire life. Even learning over time some of the tenets imposed upon him, he cannot verify their truth because he receives knowledge from a deliberately non-objective source — from people fanatically believing in them. Thus we face a typical esoteric gap. Its essence is that upon entering a sect, upon recruitment, a person is never told the true content of the sect’s teaching, what will come later. [2] As a result, a person invited into one organization finds himself in a completely different one. In other words, the organization turns out not to be what it seemed at first glance. The presence of such a gap is also one of the signs of a totalitarian sect. It should be noted that in New Acropolis the esoteric gap manifests itself much more strongly than in a number of other sects.

4. What does the process of giving lectures represent for the organization’s staff? As already noted in paragraph 1, the lectures of the Classical Philosophical School are primarily a means of instilling the acropolitan doctrine, not a mere transmission of information. The goal of such teaching was formulated in the article "On Scholasticism," paragraph 7 of the section "For Teachers": "The acropolitan instructor must always remain at the height of his position and feel himself a channel of History. We came to change the world, not to be yet another school talking about esotericism. Esotericism and similar matters are only part of the acropolitan struggle, intended to inspire students."

Moreover, the very process of teaching, according to New Acropolis’s doctrine, has a mystical and sacral character:

"Living Word": "A person who has the art of working through the word is a magician. And regardless of how small we are, a lecture, a poem, an evening, a small group must be one form of magical or mystical action."

"Manifestation of the 7 Laws...": "Because in this context the instructor truly becomes a priest and a magician, and there cannot be half-wise, nor half-magician, nor half-priest... Then the sacrament of the famous Law of Sanctification is performed from the point of view of instructorship, because when the instructor, reading a lecture, transmits strength, he awakens in people an elementary force that will hold them for a certain period. This is the moment of Love-Intuition, the moment of blessing. If the true Great Ones bless when they transmit the true, real, inner power by touch, then the instructor has as his instrument the sacred word."

"Living Word": "It is the moment of the Mysteries before beginning the lecture, when you figuratively, inwardly summon sacred images, those that inspire you. And as the last time before battle, and every lecture is a new battle, ask for blessing, once more 'at the Teacher's feet.'"

"On Scholasticism," paragraph 4 of the section "For Teachers": "Never forget that Teaching is a sacred act, and the lecture hall is sacred space." Thus, from the acropolitans' own perspective, even giving lectures is not a secular affair but constitutes magical ritual actions.

5. How accurate is the factual information presented in the lectures? To answer this question it is necessary to return to the shifted value system already mentioned in paragraph 2. It is worth quoting an excerpt from "Living Word" in full, as it is very typical for all totalitarian sects:

"And HAL taught us that in this context it is not frightening to invent something — some information that no one will check, even if he says that this did not occur... And what do you think, you would brand HAL for when he, reading the lecture 'Giordano Bruno,' clearly made up in front of the public, so that some members of LF who serviced the lecture could hear, that Giordano Bruno was in Zagreb and founded a school, the nucleus of which was called 'Phoenix' (then LF in Zagreb was called 'Phoenix') and that this was how the first spiritual impulse in Eastern Europe began. But he said it so that those who understood his words did not see Giordano Bruno, they saw him, and even believed — maybe it did happen, although we know it did not. Everything is relative in time and space, and facts that did not occur in reality perhaps occurred on other planes. Therefore there are things that logic cannot accept, but something inside us (these are called moments of sacred inspiration in the lecture) forces us to tell it. Here is an example of HAL, great HAL, who never lied, and did not lie even telling a fact about Giordano Bruno's arrival in Zagreb, although this never happened. Delia later laughed: 'I really wanted him to come, but he did not.'"

Thus, in New Acropolis not only is lying permitted, but instructors are directly encouraged to lie about historical facts, calling it "sacred inspiration." As a result, a listener who wishes to increase his education and learn specific historical events and facts is instead forced to accept Livraga’s fantasies or those of other "teachers" of the Classical Philosophical School on faith — their objective being only his recruitment into an occult sect.

6. Are any methods of mind control applied in work with listeners? This is one of the most important questions that arises when classifying an organization as a totalitarian sect. It should also be remembered that within New Acropolis there are two levels of initiation: the Classical Philosophical School, which includes cycles of theoretical and practical classes, and the organization’s internal core, called Living Forces; the corresponding stage of training is called the School of Discipleship. Accordingly, methods of mind control used at different levels are different.

On the website New Acropolis: Information for Reflection, devoted to exposing New Acropolis and located at no-acropol.info (hereafter — No-acropol.info), the sections "Mind Control" and "Upbringing Acropolis-style" detail the methods of consciousness control and manipulations applied at the Living Forces (LF) level. I will focus on techniques used already at the CPS level. The fact is that lecturers undergo detailed instruction where they are trained in methods of suggestion, mind control and hypnotic techniques.

In New Acropolis emotional control is highly developed and manifests itself in two forms:

1. Elementary winning of trust, when the instructor actively seeks to make the audience fall in love with him so that listeners become dependent on him and cannot imagine life without him. Any methods may be used: from banal "bombardment with love" to other manipulative techniques. As usual in totalitarian sects, the end justifies the means:

"Manifestation of the 7 Laws...": "Provide for certain moments of winning people's favor toward you. Create at the beginning of a lecture the so-called invisible bonds, thanks to which you will later be able to carry your lecture or meeting to the end. Your task in this context is that you must, for people, especially if you work with them for a long time as an instructor, become a close and dear person. Although they may not speak to you at all, because in large lectures your words do not reach them. Although you may have virtually no verbal communication with them or very little. But you must do everything possible to become for them, not even an authority, but a dear, familiar person. And that does not mean only breaking the initial ice, but to build the lecture and especially the first part of the meeting or the first meetings, if you will be leading them continually, so that they love you... And cautiously, achieve people's favor..."

From a moral point of view, this position shows clear amorality: not to win the students’ respect, but to cause their love by any means to create complete dependence of adepts on oneself.

2. Causing certain emotions using techniques traditionally attributed to Ericksonian hypnosis:

"Manifestation of the 7 Laws...": "Through emotions you must arouse devotion to the school, to the dream, to the Teacher, a state of devotion to the Beautiful. And therefore it is said that during a lecture, a session — but this is also a top-class skill — one must, if possible, consciously plan so that during the session there are moments of so-called emotional shocks... There can be very soft, beautiful, touching moments, which we discussed at previous marathons: tears, or tenderness, or despair, or even not despair but the realization of how deeply you have fallen by a certain criterion... Or there can be strong, highly emotional moments. This includes the whole gamut — voice and everything else, but this is a matter of training, usually done by sudden strikes when listeners least expect it. It is a subtle moment, but very important, especially if we speak of the beautiful. The old ones remember Fernán Schwartz. All hi-hi-hi, ha-ha-ha, bravo, yes-yes-yes, and at the end — AVE!!! When you practically do not feel it, voice and force of the word rise, and the silence in the hall, everyone looks at you, and you see that you reach the culmination, you must first calm them. Lull, la-la-la beautifully, and then feel the moment — boom. And then again lull, relax, make them laugh and all. But these emotional moments in a lecture of beautiful and strong plan must be foreseen... One must narrate drawing, embellishing."

"Living Word": "So, there is a climax of perception, we strike at consciousness, we must open their eyes, strike at manas, at revelation, understanding: 'And one can look at this from another side, did I not think of this, etc.' — and lead to oversaturation. Deliberately, we put some complex moments already closer to the break, especially closer to the end of the lecture. And when you feel that oversaturation arrives, fatigue, the limit, people no longer perceive, then you must use the last stage, when logical perception wanes and another begins, in order to strike at emotions and at the heart. At emotions and at the heart. This is mandatory before the break, and mandatory before the end of the lecture. I.e., in that part when they already understand nothing one way or another, you must call forth in them through this or that conclusion, this or that story mystical 'feelings', discharge, catharsis. And you must consciously lead the lecture to this, using exactly that moment when logic, the mind stop working, become oversaturated and other mechanisms are included. And when they ask us why you leave the most interesting for the end of the lecture, now you understand why. The most interesting is not explained but transmitted through such a catharsis. And in this context you can build a lecture such that your entire lecture is simple: one part — introduction, another part — culmination, we strike at consciousness, and the third part — emotions. And the highest art, when you construct a lecture on some large themes, and within each large theme you wish to reveal, do these little cycles: introduction — we strike at consciousness — emotions, then relax, then again, another theme: introduction — we strike at consciousness — emotions — relax. Then the third moment: introduction — we strike at consciousness — emotions — relax. And in the context of the general lecture there is a clear introduction, a clear 'we strike at consciousness' and still at the end emotions — high feelings, high moods, this should be the same as after a concert of a great master. When we reach this, then I can say that you are my instructors."

Thus here the process of controlling consciousness is described extremely candidly: disabling logical thinking, attempting to appeal exclusively to emotional perception, alternating climactic moments and psychological release. At such trainings the desired result is also fixed — specific thoughts and feelings that should remain in listeners after the lecture:

"Manifestation of the 7 Laws...": "And in this context from the lecture point of view you must reach the state... that you live from lecture to lecture, and that your students, your people live from one meeting to another with you. This is called the second logos or principle of sanctification, or higher mastery. Still not clinging to you, not being dependent on you, but they come to you as to a spring from which they can drink and go on living. And when they again feel thirst, they return and live by you. And if you do not achieve this, then there will be no point in instructorship."

To more successfully achieve the desired result, listeners are actively taught so-called sectarian Newspeak. Leading cult scholar Alexander Dvorkin notes: "Among other things Orwell discovered such a law: he who controls the language of a person controls his consciousness. For in any sect the victim begins to speak its language. In our case it can be Russian, but there is a subtle substitution of concepts in it, when key words acquire another meaning, and the adept involuntarily begins to think in the categories of the sect." [3] This is precisely what happens in New Acropolis. NA leadership does not hide that it instills Newspeak terms in listeners in order to form in them a new common system of thinking and perception.

"Manifestation of the 7 Laws...": "The next law — the Law of Psychicity, which, from the instructor’s point of view, speaks of the process of creating collective astral and mental forms. What does this process consist of theoretically? It consists in that if there are ideas and moments that a person must not forget or must have constantly present in his life and become the driver of his awareness and revelations, one must do so that certain words, terms, become part of the lexicon, frequent expressions in everyday life, the subject of jokes, skits, greetings, toasts. This is called a collective astral-mental form... The notion 'dream', remember how many times, or 'city of gold'. Now all members say, wake them up, anyone, from any city center: 'Dream, Don Quixote, city of gold, hope, HAL, patience, hope as form of faith' — winged phrases that are important not because they are used, but as proof, as a sign, as a result that something has already become a collective soul, i.e., a collective form of thinking and perception. And this, of course, is a heavy task on the one hand, but when you read a lecture or conduct a class, you must do so as to return to, to feed these astral-mental forms, but carefully, not provoking protest, not preaching, not delivering sermons. And actually, as HAL said, this is the creation of collective astral-mental forms or, as it is called, banks of charge, which then act by themselves, as a kind of little devas, guardians. It lies at the foundation of working with emotions during a lecture or during a class." Comments are superfluous...

To be fair it should be noted that emotional control is equally applied to the instructors themselves, driving them to fanatical exaltation and complete self-sacrifice:

"Manifestation of the 7 Laws...": "The instructor must be constantly ill... This is called being ill with an idea. To be ill with instructorship itself... And although this phrase has sounded ten thousand times from different angles, that instructorship is a mission, one must live this... And all our instructor meetings and small groups and lectures are only a test to reveal over many years priests, masters of giving... That is the core, the channel, that is what we live for."

Among the listed signs of emotional control is also the induction of phobias, i.e., the suggestion of irrational fears. Traditional phobias are a sense of guilt and the fear of leaving the sect.

It should be noted that these phobias are actively instilled into LF members. The creators of the site No-acropol.info in the "Mind Control" section indicate:

"Even after deciding to leave New Acropolis, a person as a rule cannot completely rid himself of the thought that he is betraying the 'Ideal', the people who trusted him (both leaders and subordinates, and colleagues), and himself (his immortal soul). Within LF a person’s departure is considered (mostly unofficially) as betrayal — and this inevitably influences those who incline to leave the organization but have not yet made a final decision...

The life of a person who has rebuilt his lifestyle and personality around New Acropolis inevitably 'falls to pieces' upon leaving the organization. He faces the necessity to look for a new value system, a new circle of acquaintances, often a new job, to adapt to 'secular' life. Of course, this is not so terrible — but it seems a terrible catastrophe to a person under the constant influence of the organization.

As for the soul, according to New Acropolis’s theory, a person who has refused his 'destiny' and broken the given vow at minimum 'loses this incarnation' (wastes his life), and in the next incarnation it will be incredibly difficult for him to 'again find his flock (brotherhood)' — and without this life is 'meaningless and empty.' Moreover, it is believed that by 'betraying' New Acropolis a person loses the opportunity to undergo 'accelerated evolution' under the guidance of the teachers and is forced to evolve slowly, 'like all ordinary people' — this is already a blow to the feeling of 'electedness', to the vanity cultivated in New Acropolis in a rather artful form."

Indeed, students are steered to the thought that the only possible path of human evolution (dharma) runs through New Acropolis, and therefore regardless of personal choice a person will have to travel this path. Every person, according to New Acropolis ideology, has a svadharma — "his own law", symbolizing his destiny. Therefore, if he leaves the organization he does not thereby change his destiny but only makes the path to its realization incomparably more difficult:

"On Scholasticism," paragraph 1 of the section "For Students": "Accept us as we are or choose another path and go with God. And may He not leave you without support, and by His mercy you will return to Us in one of the next lives." It is interesting that this statement almost verbatim coincides with a thesis of the leader of one of the most dangerous destructive sects — Scientology (Dianetics) R. Hubbard: "Either you will go away, and we will pick you up in the next life, or you will remain with us and will be much happier in this life." [4]

The sense of guilt for the slightest misstep before New Acropolis (not necessarily leaving the organization) is also cultivated quite strongly:

"On Scholasticism," paragraph 6 of the section "For Students": "Do not play with Us, for thereby you play with your Destiny and waste the Love that is given to you here. If in youth you do not learn to treat the Sacred seriously, when grown you will find yourself in spiritual poverty. This is not a threat, but merely a warning about the operation of the Law of Nature, as inexorable as gravity or the Pythagorean theorem."

As for the CPS, here phobias are not as strong and concern mainly the search for the meaning of life. New Acropolis in young people’s consciousness is firmly associated with the beginning of a spiritual search and a certain worldview. Consequently, having left the organization, young men and women will return to emptiness and lack of spirit, having lost the opportunity to join the Ideal.

Of course, under such strong psychological conditioning there can be no question of awareness, let alone freedom of choice.

Other types of mind control are actively used in New Acropolis, in particular thought control. At the CPS level this is expressed, first, in a special construction of the very lecture, when in different, often contradictory philosophical concepts artificially common traits are highlighted that are designed to bring the listener to the thought that all these concepts speak of the same thing, namely, Livraga’s teaching. Thus listeners are imposed a conclusion that is not the result of their own reflections and analysis. To maintain this "commonality" there is also detailed instruction:

"Manifestation of the 7 Laws...": "Each of my lectures, each meeting must have a foundation in the previous one. If I read on the Stoics — I cannot read on the Stoics without at least indirectly referring to the previous lecture, which was about Buddha, even if it was given by someone else. Indirectly. That is, linking into one chain and referring to the one who conducted the session before me... This is so that conducting your meeting you draw conclusions and can already prepare people for the next. Not only by words. Prepare the ground for the next instructor, the next impulse, the next topic. And foresee this in your speech. The point is (I speak now on the horizontal plane) that you and I succeed in creating such a chain of impulses."

In addition to the artificial creation of commonality of ideas sounding across different topics, New Acropolis also artificially creates a commonality of perception of information:

"Manifestation of the 7 Laws...": "To unite a group means to create at a lecture, at a meeting a small collective soul or collective form, a collective bank, if you remember. Or to awaken a collective soul. And to address not individual people, but the collective soul of the group. And the effect of this appeal will be that what you say will be heard by all... And if you achieve this unity of the group, the collective soul of the group, then this collective unconscious will distribute to each that which is relevant to him... That is, not merely try that they understand something, but teach so that the entire group arrives at common approaches in thought and emotion. That is, to work on the so-called psychic plane with them. So that in assimilating information they also learn to reason, feel, discern and accordingly react to all that surrounds them. And here in this context we also talked, and HAL says, especially for instructors, when you read a lecture you simultaneously work with systems of thinking, with imagery or with systems of feeling and try to transform them."

At the LF level thought control is harsher. In particular, as the authors of No-acropol.info indicate in the "Mind Control" section, the organization imposes a direct ban on critical thinking:

"At the root of any doubt" lies... the cunning kama-manas (an occult term denoting the rational human mind), which is a source of illusions and leads the 'disciple' to needless reasoning and delusions. One must not trust it, it is foolish to rely on it; in fact, it is the same 'Satan' living inside a person and tempting him, seeking to throw him off the true path. The mind can only be used as an instrument for solving practical tasks 'dictated by the spirit.'

"If you want to know" the teacher, to become a true disciple, "you must go beyond rationality" — this usually sounds like "listen to your heart," "your inner voice," "intuition," etc. It is believed that, unlike the mind, the "heart", associated with the spirit (the immortal soul) of a person, is the source of the only true "impulses" for progressive development. At the same time the ability to "hear the inner voice", which is often equated with "the voice of the teacher", depends on how 'good a disciple' the person is. That is, leaders deliberately possess this ability to a much greater degree than ordinary LF members. Therefore people are often advised to listen to their heart, but not to rely on it too much, instead placing complete trust only in their leaders.

In general, the word "critique" in New Acropolis is practically a profanity. "Being critical" stands first in the list of qualities unacceptable according to the "acropolitan code of honor." Criticism is a priori regarded as an expression of personal ambition and as a sign that a person is a "bad disciple."

For example, a person criticizing his leader for stupid decisions, authoritarianism, rudeness, etc., will be told that a good disciple, to whom brotherhood, unity and realization of the great Ideal are important, will never descend to criticism."

Let us give one example confirming this. "On Scholasticism," paragraph 1 of the section "For Students": "Do not engage in critiquing and propagating your own views, otherwise you will be ejected through the same doors through which you entered." Thus psychological pressure on any doubting person becomes so strong that he prefers to drop his doubts rather than lose his "sense of life" and his "destiny" — New Acropolis.

As for negative attitude to other teachings, beliefs and religions, it manifests in NA in a rather specific form. No religion is openly called "the propaganda of Satan", yet according to acropolitan ideology no other religion a priori can be true. As New Acropolis asserts, any religion contains "universal human values" and a set of "human" views that are of secondary nature and serve only to divide people. Of course, the mere assertion that the true teaching is contained only in New Acropolis’s ideology (for a religious organization) is not itself destructive. What is alarming is precisely the formation of a negative attitude toward religion as a factor of societal division, a phenomenon distracting people from "true values." Unchanging condition of the coming evolution, members of New Acropolis consider the unification of religions; therefore any traditional religious systems preserving their distinctness automatically become enemies of the organization and obstruct its goals.

Control of behavior — the system of certain duties and prohibitions designed to strictly regulate an adept’s entire life and occupy his time completely, leaving no opportunity for critical reflection on what is happening — also belongs to types of mind control. In New Acropolis behavior control is widely applied at the LF level. On No-acropol.info in the "Mind Control" section this is described as follows:

"The daily load of the average acropolitan from LF exceeds the load of an 'ordinary' person by roughly twice. In addition to employment (or study) he has duties in New Acropolis requiring his systematic presence in the organization.

Officially ordinary LF members are required to work in New Acropolis at least twice a week; however in practice, in the Moscow branch, people who adhere to such a schedule are usually considered passive. They have very little chance of ever becoming leaders; they may be only executors of orders from superiors; besides, they feel 'fallen out of the school's life,' and this feeling is rather painful. Most lower-level leaders usually work in New Acropolis every evening on weekdays and spend all weekends fully there. Middle and higher-level leaders typically spend most of their time in New Acropolis: usually they have no significant duties outside the organization (family couples most often form from acropolitans, ties with relatives are practically not maintained, most leaders work in acropolitan firms or other structures).

Usually every Saturday in New Acropolis prolonged general LF meetings are held, then small-group meetings, and the remainder of the day is devoted to practical work. Thus at least one of the two days off a person must spend in New Acropolis...

Before going to sleep every acropolitan from LF must analyze the past day and make an entry in a diary. For several years he was also obliged to fill in the 'table'; some time ago filling in the 'tables' ceased to be mandatory. Thus even the short period of time that a person spends 'alone with himself' is regulated: he must reflect on topics related to evaluating his conformity to the criteria of a 'disciple' (the concept 'disciple' is simultaneously a designation of LF members and a definition of the Ideal to which they must strive by self-improvement).

In addition, the mentioned 'tables' to a large extent determined the acropolitan's entire day: they regulated time of sleep, meals, required controlling emotions, thoughts and living the day intensively (i.e., every moment should be devoted either to concrete work or to reflection on assigned themes). 'Empty time' (traveling by transport, forced waiting, etc.) is recommended to be filled with reading the 'right' literature and 'raising consciousness' (exercises in 'visualization' of the image of the founder of the organization, Jorge Ángel Livraga, and other 'sacred images' associated with New Acropolis), as well as reflections on topics: 'what kind of disciple am I?', 'what are my shortcomings?', 'what does the teacher expect from me?' and so on."

At the CPS level behavior control is also gradually strengthened depending on length of time in the organization. Initially CPS classes take place only once a week — on a weekday evening for two and a half hours. Then so-called "dialogues" begin — home meetings on Sundays where topics studied at the School are discussed. In essence these "dialogues" are a kind of seminar session to consolidate material and answer questions. Then the student is involved in various pseudo-charitable actions (conducting classes in orphanages, ecological events), the goal of which is to create a positive image of New Acropolis in society. Preparations for these actions are held on Sundays. Then listeners are invited to New Acropolis daily under the pretext of helping the School in preparing the next events. In addition, listeners are invited to various seminars and round tables. Over time New Acropolis becomes the meaning of life for students and its sole content.

Information control is practically not applied at the CPS level, but is used within Living Forces. No-acropol.info in the "Mind Control" section reports:

"Reading 'external' literature (books, newspapers, etc.) and regularly watching television programs in New Acropolis is not forbidden. But it is not particularly encouraged. For example, authoritative leaders can often be heard saying phrases like 'this stupefies,' 'personally I watch only the news on TV,' 'why do you need to read this nonsense?' and so on. A fairly widespread point of view is that reading the works of E.P. Blavatsky and other theosophists, H.A. Livraga, D.S. Guzmán (current head of the international organization New Acropolis), a number of other books and the journal New Acropolis is sufficient for 'comprehensive personal development.' Actually, even reading this literature most acropolitans usually simply lack the time.

Information control within LF itself is quite effective thanks to a rigid hierarchical structure, organization of time and skillfully conducted propaganda. The hierarchical structure practically completely excludes the entry of 'unnecessary' information from top to bottom, and the clear organization of meetings and other events limits the spread of information horizontally...

Another factor limiting the spread of information is the mechanism of informing (let us not use the word 'informing on') built into the system itself. Leaders regularly write reports about their subordinates, and any word spoken can be recorded and evaluated. Often a person's friends tell leaders about his 'doubts' and 'delusions' so that they can 'help' him.

The spread of rumors in New Acropolis is also generally controlled rather elegantly: the required amount of rumors is formed by leaders to the extent necessary to satisfy informational hunger. Information coming from the 'outside world' is regularly commented on and explained at LF meetings. For example, when in 2000–2001 a considerable number of LF members left the organization, those who remained were subtly advised not to communicate with them, and to secure matters through a system of rumors and hints it was declared that the departed ones 'are building intrigues against the Acropolis.'

Thus, in New Acropolis all types of mind control are used, leaving no possibility for members of the organization to make their own free choice.

7. What is NA’s attitude toward the outside world? A person who for the first time enters New Acropolis is convinced that New Acropolis is a secular cultural and educational organization whose purpose is the maximal engagement of people with society’s cultural heritage. It is therefore logical to assume that the task of such an organization is to maximally integrate a person into society, teach him to love the surrounding world and to value its culture. However in practice everything happens the opposite. One of the main signs of totalitarian sects is the creation of a kind of "wall" between the adept and the surrounding world. This is quite understandable, since by establishing control over a person’s consciousness the sect needs to protect him from external influences different from the sectarian ones. The less an adept is oriented outward, the more strongly he is attached to the sect and dependent on it. That is why it is so important for the sect’s leadership to sever all external ties of sectarians that could draw a person out from under the total control of the system. In New Acropolis this manifests as a peculiar cult of friendship and love. True love, according to New Acropolis ideology, is a meeting of people who were already together in a past life. Thus a person who does not believe in reincarnation cannot be that very "other half." Moreover, true love is inextricably linked with "destiny," so any relationships that impede a person’s work for New Acropolis have no right to exist. If to this we add the duty of LF members to often lie to their relatives and ordinary listeners, hiding the existence of symbols, rituals and instruction in handling students, and the huge busyness of the organization’s inner core, it is obvious that acropolitans’ ties with relatives and friends are automatically destroyed.

New Acropolis’s attitude to the world at large is very negative. This is quite natural given that the organization seeks to ensure maximum control over adepts' consciousness and therefore is interested in shielding them from natural influences coming from many sources: both various media and works of art. The surrounding world, according to New Acropolis teaching, is in decline, immersed in materialism and is in general a bearer of evil — in contrast to New Acropolis. Here we see the typical black-and-white doctrine of totalitarian sects — a division between the organization and the surrounding world on the principle we/them.

"On Scholasticism," paragraph 1 of the section "For Students": "To preserve and perpetuate our 'Philosophical Brotherhood' we need young people who do not want to waste their time on the nonsense of a world in decline. We are young and strong — and nothing will make us otherwise."

There too, paragraph 7 of the section "For Teachers": "In the modern world, saturated with politicking, sectarianism, absurd fantasies, irrational fears and specially instilled hatred, youth is subjected to 'brainwashing.'"

LF members’ attitude to the surrounding world extends to their attitude to CPS listeners. "Manifestation of the 7 Laws...": "When you come with your little light, with your little impulse, tuned, you see faces before you, and they in some context become for you subtly, beloved enemies, because when you come with something new, and they still sit in their old, in their immobility, their blindness, their gimmicks and petty foolishness. The first state that arises is to arm yourself with a helmet, shield, like Don Quixote against windmills; this is the Law of Action... Be careful, not a struggle to explain something better or to remember something and throw some information around, but as a battle between light and darkness... This struggle, for masters of a high class, like Delia, HAL, great teachers, who come and immediately know what hovers in the atmosphere and what must be attacked, what must be cut off, and what must be developed, is carried out consciously."

Thus the process of teaching LF perceives the very act of instructing their students as a war against them.

8. Is New Acropolis a totalitarian sect? Considering the above, one can conclude that New Acropolis exhibits all the signs of a totalitarian sect. Moreover, the entire initial characterization of New Acropolis turns out not merely to be untrue but to be refuted with exact opposite facts. Thus a person who comes to the "philosophical school" to acquaint himself with ancient wisdom finds himself in an occult-pagan totalitarian sect. Once again emphasize that the main complaints against New Acropolis are not that it has a teaching different from the teaching of the Orthodox Church or any other church, but that it conceals from novices the very fact of the existence of this teaching and leads adepts to accept it by means of manipulation and methods of mind control, thereby violating the inalienable right of a person to his own choice of worldview.

[1] Deacon A. Kuraev, "Who Sent Blavatsky? (a polemic with Ksenia Myalo and other Roerichians)."
[2] A. Dvorkin, Sect Studies: Totalitarian Sects, 2003, p. 70.
[3] A. Dvorkin, Sect Studies: Totalitarian Sects, 2003, p. 52.
[4] Lecture of 31.12.1961 "Possessing: the quality of the ability to achieve." The quotation is given in the informational letter I HELP CIS № 16 of 01.11.05.