Meditation is hard. Having someone to listen to you and offer gentle encouragement from experience when you run into tough spots can be very helpful. As with everything, there's a balance to it, and falling into a dependent or worshipful relationship should be avoided
You're right - any time someone is guiding you through any sort of spiritual process, there is the possibility of submission / sacrifice of individuality. For better or worse the struggle to maintain your individuality without the resistance becoming a barrier to "progress" is part of the process. On the flipside, having zero guidance would make things extremely difficult
On balance, it's pretty chill. Even the people who totally buy in and devote huge portions of their life to this organization are mostly just really into meditation (as opposed to, say, devotion to the organization or the man behind it). Though some of tactics are kind of strong-arm-y, the emphasis is always on getting you to practice a very simple, effective form of meditation
http://rapgenius.com is a lyrics site with a twist – while you're reading a song's lyrics, you can click interesting or confusing lines to read explanations. anyone can sign up and contribute explanations. good explanations earn you "Rap IQ"
the eventual goal is to expand into other music genres and eventually take over the entire lyrics space. but the big vision goes beyond music and touches ALL OF TEXT.
email [email protected] if you're interested and have chops in any of these areas:
ruby on rails
javascript and jquery
ios / android development