Cat_Island

Many times it’s a blend of yoga and some Hindu ideas. Lots of meditation usually too. There are many yoga cults centered around Gurus, some indian, some not. A major one in my city is Sri Chinmoy, they’re huge (international) and even went out of their way to place members in jobs at the UN to try to convert employees of the UN (and have succeeded with a few). Sri Chinmoy is a bonafide cult down to having headquarters some members live at. They own or rent all of a few residential blocks in Queens, and when their guru was still alive he used to parade around in the back of a fancy car up and down their blocks sometimes and all the members would come outside to pay respects. He also used to do scammy fake feats of strength (like lifting an elephant but really he used a clever lever set up). The cult still owns a few Indian restaurants (staffed by white people in traditional Indian clothing), and holds public meditations to try to convert people. They also hold a crazy long ultra marathon called the Self Transcendence 3100 mile race, in which runners circle the block they’re based on in Queens for 3100 miles. It was intended as a meditative run for members to prove your dedication to the group but now some prominent ultra runners do it too. Their guru loved feats of strength and endurance. Unfortunately he was also a sexual abuser and life in the cult as a member is really hard and shitty in all the usual cult ways. He’s dead now but the cult lives on, I see fliers for their meditation meetings around town a few times a year.

And that’s just one yoga cult in my city! There are at least two other, less intense, yoga cults in nyc as well. I imagine they’re in every big city.

Since OP hasn’t answered- in The Girl with Seven Names, a memoir by another escapee, Lee Hyeon-Seo describes meth as being very common, made in the country, and frequently smuggled into China for sale. She says the average North Korean doesn’t get what a big deal smuggling meth into China is or how illegal it is in China because to North Koreans the only serious crimes are crimes against the state. She says you can generally bribe or use connections to get out of crimes like possession or sale of meth, but for challenging the government, speaking ill of a leader, etc there is no bribing your way out.

Oh man I know the firehouse on Great Jones, that place is beautiful! One of the prettiest firehouses in Manhattan.

In another comment you mentioned that a few of your half siblings went to high school together before knowing they were related- were any of them friends? It would be crazy to find out your good friend was your sibling!

What was the most surprising trait you shared with a half sibling? For instance, was there something you always thought only you did, like a particular way of jiggling your foot when you’re nervous or something, that one of them also does?

Apparently this is a real thing