"This article offers some vital "consumer" guidelines and specific questions that should be asked when considering any involvement with a spiritual group. I asked my friend, lama Surya Das, the first officially ordained western Tibetan buddhist lama to give his perspective, and he graciously wrote an introduction for me from a Buddhist perspective. My intention was always to add perspectives from respected people from all the major world religions into the introduction, and hopefully this will be done in the coming ..."