Ep. 57 - The Guru, The Cult, & The Search for Self with Blair GlaserEp. 57 - The Guru, The Cult, & The Search for Self with Blair Glaser
MINDBEND with Matthew Dunehoo
Blair Glaser reflects on her years in a Siddha Yoga ashram, her encounters with psychedelics, and how power, longing and community shape the search for self. The conversation touches on both the benefits and risks of spiritual and transformational spaces, especially for people drawn to altered states and deep healing.
56:27•30 Sept 2026
Power, Gurus and Altered States: Blair Glaser on the Search for Self
Episode Overview
- Intense spiritual or transformational communities can offer genuine growth while also creating unhealthy, addictive power structures.
- Psychedelics and practices like chanting or meditation may bring relief and euphoria, but they require careful integration afterwards.
- Knowing what you’re hoping to gain from a community or teacher can help prevent losing yourself in group dynamics.
- Peak spiritual or psychedelic experiences don’t remove life’s pain, so building everyday self-reflection and human intelligence is crucial.
- Red flags include leaders who resist questions, isolate followers, or position themselves as the only source of truth.
“Power can actually be an addiction. And when the source runs out, it's very disconcerting.”
What drives someone to seek a life beyond the everyday coffee-work-Netflix routine? This conversation between host Matthew Dunehoo and guest Blair Glaser digs into that question by tracing Blair’s time in a Siddha Yoga ashram and her later work as a psychotherapist and leadership consultant. You’ll hear Blair talk about how ecstatic and altered states – through chanting, meditation, and sometimes psychedelics like ecstasy and mushrooms – can feel like a lifeline when you’re in deep psychic distress.
She describes taking MDMA as a student and thinking, “I wish I could experience this kind of equanimity in real life,” a moment that nudged her towards meditation rather than more drugs. A big thread running through the episode is power: how gurus, leaders and even CEOs can become “the only knower in the room,” and how that authority can turn addictive when nobody pushes back.
Blair breaks down cult-like dynamics in plain language, explaining how secrecy, closed groups and the hunger for transcendence can leave people vulnerable, even in communities that also offer genuine growth and healing. At the same time, she’s clear that spiritual practice gave her something important – a reset from anxiety and depression, daily structure, and a sense of belonging – before she chose to walk away.
That experience now informs her work helping teams and leaders cultivate what she calls human intelligence: self-reflection, curiosity, and the ability to pause and respond rather than react. For anyone in recovery or questioning their relationship with intense communities, peak experiences or charismatic leaders, this episode offers a candid look at how longing for meaning, connection and altered states can both support and complicate the search for self.
It might leave you asking: what are you truly looking for, and who are you handing your power to on the way?
Do you want to link to this podcast?
Get the buttons here!
More From This Show
The latest episodes from the same podcast.