Benevolent cults are still limiting

Some people defer to one master for all knowledge on a topic. This is really common with religion and singing. People have a need to follow a leader, and a hope to keep things simple. Constantly referring to a guru fills the bill.

Once you have looked around, and realized that there is useful and not-useful EVERYWHERE, you probably won’t be inclined to meld with a group of guru-followers. When you have stayed open and realize that there are truths from multiple sources pointing at the same target, you are “connecting the dots”. You can’t connect dots if you don’t have the intention to be open.

Openness taken to extremes can even find something useful from a total jerk who himself may wish to be a guru. It’s sort of like dumpster diving for ideas. You can do this if you have a strong center that you keep owning.