Thinking back, during my university days, personal computer communication was popular, and we used modems to communicate. At a certain BBS (Bulletin Board System), I met someone I called an "esoteric pretender," and it turned out that he was a key member, perhaps even the founder, of the Inner Game Club. This was quite a shocking experience for me. I had been subjected to restrictive control since elementary school, and I wanted to escape the destructive mind control of the Inner Game, so I ended up contacting someone who seemed to be the founder or a key member.

In reality, we initially just exchanged messages on the bulletin board about trendy New Age or instructional topics. But soon things heated up, and those around us couldn't keep up. Eventually, we decided to meet and talk.

In reality, while the man used polite and proper language on the bulletin board, when I actually met him, he was someone who would yell at me in a loud voice. I was quickly disillusioned. It seems that I am deeply connected to this type of controlling and abusive man. He tried to portray himself as a guru, and he pressured me to follow what he said, telling me that what he said was correct and that I shouldn't argue. He relentlessly yelled, raised his voice, and used his expressions to intimidate me. I just felt like I was waiting for the time to pass, wondering why I was talking to this person.

Indeed, considering my mental state at the time, I must have seemed weak and vulnerable. But even so, there was no reason for him to yell at me. Perhaps he thought he could easily manipulate me. His voice was always intimidating and condescending. That's when I understood what kind of people support the Inner Game.

If the founder or key member of the Inner Game Club is like this, then all the Inner Game books, the Inner Game Club, the elementary school teacher who believed in it, and the classmates who read it and tried to control others, were all the same type of people, or perhaps they were all just sheep being controlled. The person who was the organizer or key member of the Inner Game was, of course, the one who controlled others. On the other hand, there are people who benefit from controlling others, and there are also people who are drawn to the club because they are controlled and worship others.

In this case, the elementary school teacher is the one being manipulated, the one being worshipped, like a sheep, while the son of the bicycle shop owner and his classmates are the manipulators, like wolves (or wolves in sheep's clothing).

Both are in a codependent relationship, with one side manipulating and the other being manipulated. Regardless of which side one takes, from a spiritual perspective, it's a story of a low level.

All the stories related to inner games are connected. Whether it's the son of the bicycle shop owner or the teacher who believed in the inner game, or the false awakened person, they are all drawn to, or manipulated and mind-controlled by, the concept of the inner game. This structure may have been a microcosm of this world.

Now I think that without a solid foundation in spirituality, stories about the mind often end up in a codependent relationship of manipulation and being manipulated. Similarly, in spiritual groups or new religions, there are often codependent relationships between the leader and the followers. Once in a codependent relationship, it is very difficult to become independent and break free from the relationship. In reality, the difficulty is only created by oneself, and it disappears if it is broken, but if one has been subjected to spiritual constraints for many years and has come to accept those constraints, the constraints are reinforced by a loop of "consciousness of affirming self-constraints" and "occasional stimulation from others," and it requires considerable determination and willpower to escape from those constraints.

In my case, after finishing the conversation with this false awakened person, I decisively cut off contact. Even just deciding to cut off contact was very unsettling and made it difficult to make that decision, but fortunately, I was able to stick to that decision. In reality, after the conversation ended, I sent only one email, "Thank you," in a curt manner. I thought that would be the last, but that curtness seems to have irritated that false awakened person. However, behind the scenes, something like this was happening. When I was in elementary school, I had an out-of-body experience. During that experience, I transcended time and space, and came to my future self, a college student, from the perspective of that elementary school student. Since this conversation was an important event in my life, at that time, I was in the room of that false awakened person, observing his subsequent behavior. After finishing the conversation, that false awakened person returned home and, slightly indignant at the curt email I sent, he was thinking about how to spiritually control, disciple, and make me obedient, and was about to type on his computer. At that time, I, the elementary school student who was out of body, was watching him, but he didn't notice my out-of-body presence, even though I was watching him from behind. Then, I strongly projected my will, causing my aura to shine and burn intensely, to make him aware of my presence. As expected, he sensed something and realized it. Then, I spoke to him in my mind. I think it was something like, "Hey, you're saying a lot of things, but come out. Let's talk while I'm out of body." He replied, "I can't," and I said, "What, is that all you've got?" He seemed to be discouraged, and he stopped typing his reply. So, there was no reply to the email, and that was the end of it. In reality, according to what I heard from the two guardian spirits who were with that false awakened person, he used to practice diligently and reached a certain level, but he misunderstood that as enlightenment, and he has been neglecting his practice recently, and he has been boasting a lot. The guardian spirits were worried about what to do, and they were grateful that I shocked him. Even though he was a false awakened person, he had some knowledge, but he wasn't enlightened. When one misunderstands that they are enlightened, they become like a pseudo-leader who can make arbitrary statements to others and become a major member of a meaningless group. That's a bad example. What I saw during the out-of-body experience may not always be correct, but it seems highly likely because many things are consistent. Now that I think about it, if you study and practice a little and reach a certain level, you can say those things, but at that time, I was so ignorant that I mistook even that for something amazing. Especially with apparent enlightenment, it is difficult to distinguish between those who are truly enlightened and those who are pretending.

The "fake awakened" person, who was supposedly at a certain level, seemed to be dealing with a hypocritical and fraudulent bicycle shop owner's son who only used techniques. The elementary school teacher, who was a devotee of "inner game," was similar to the bicycle shop owner's son in that they didn't really understand much, but the difference was whether they were the ones being manipulated (the elementary school teacher) or the ones doing the manipulating (the bicycle shop owner's son and the "fake awakened" person). The "fake awakened" person understood the logic to some extent, but ultimately, they were still just a cult leader.

To break free from this bondage, I spent a considerable amount of time during my university years. This mind control is similar to religion, and in reality, the "fake awakened" person's foundation was religious, disguised as a self-improvement organization, but in reality, it was the same structure as a new religious movement with a leader, and the spiritual bondage was quite strong. When I was young, I didn't understand where this spiritual bondage was coming from, but I think I was restricted in my actions by my classmates due to this "inner game" bondage to a certain extent. The classmate who was good at manipulating other people has the potential to be a fraudster. I think there was a lesson included in understanding and distinguishing such people. This is because, ultimately, the way to distinguish them is the same as the tips for identifying suspicious religious organizations. The level of "spiritual" that ends up being just another cult leader is probably at this low level. The "fake awakened" person's seemingly "spiritual" appearance (which was actually suspicious), their confidence, and their intimidation were exactly like a cult leader.

After this conversation, I was able to mostly break free from the bondage of "inner game," but I was almost completely free after graduating from university. In my case, my student life was strongly linked to the bondage of "inner game," and I was freed from the bondage by getting a job. Whether it's the structure of a school, the "fake awakened" person's manipulation of others, or the bicycle shop owner's son's dishonest behavior, these fraudulent behaviors are rooted in the desire to "control others." No matter how beautifully it is covered up with words, it ultimately comes down to that. Controlling others and "achieving results" in the workplace are completely different things. In the workplace, it's essentially about achieving results, and things like manipulating others, intimidation, or dishonesty are not really relevant. While in student life, you might be able to use clever words or, in voluntary organizations or clubs, rhetoric might be considered important, but in the world of work, results are the top priority, especially in technical fields (which may be different for sales or other positions). By getting a job in the IT field, I was freed from the bondage of "inner game." While there may be people in startups or management positions where such skills to control others are useful, if what they are doing is at the level of a cult leader, then it's only at that level, and I don't want to imitate them. Even after getting a job, I have often encountered people who are trying to control others, and in each case, my experiences with these fraudsters have been helpful. In any company, there are people who are nagging, using clever words, intimidating, or trying to manipulate others, which is now called "moral harassment." However, the underlying cause of this is often the same as the prototype of a fraudster or a "fake awakened" person. Tracing back to the root of that prototype, ultimately, the motivation is to control others, which manifests in various forms as cult leaders, fraudsters, or moral harassment. The way it manifests varies depending on the person's intelligence, knowledge, or personality, but the underlying motivation is the desire to control others. This is all rooted in a codependent relationship of "manipulating" and "being manipulated," and people with only that level of mentality tend to attract people of the same level.

In order to escape from codependency and become more free, it requires a firm will to become free, as well as correct knowledge, correct insight, and specific actions.