Netflix’s new film, Chaos: The Manson Murders, directed by the legendary Errol Morris, is more than just another retelling of the infamous crimes that shook America in 1969. It is a profound examination of mind control, cult dynamics, and how Charles Manson weaponized psychological manipulation and psychedelic drugs to create an army of devoted, robotic killers. For those of us who have experienced the coercive techniques of cult-like organizations firsthand, this film is an essential watch.
Manson was not just a criminal mastermind; he was a self-styled religious leader, a messianic figure who controlled his followers at Spahn Ranch with absolute authority. His methods were eerily similar to those used in religious cults: isolation from the outside world, restriction of personal freedoms, sleep deprivation, and the gradual erosion of individual identity. The film masterfully captures how he used LSD not just as a recreational drug but as a tool of mind control, breaking down personalities, rewiring belief systems, and creating a state of dependency where his “Family” looked to him as an enlightened guru.
Based on Tom O’Neill’s 2019 book, Chaos: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties, the film delves into the unsettling possibility that Manson’s ability to command his followers to kill without remorse was not merely a result of his manipulative prowess but also linked to covert government experiments. O’Neill’s two-decade investigation uncovers potential connections between Manson and the CIA’s MKUltra program, which aimed to create mind-controlled assassins through the use of LSD and other techniques. The film explores the chilling implication that Manson may have been a pawn in a larger scheme to discredit the counterculture movement by associating it with violence and chaos.
Watching this film brought back haunting memories of my first experience at a Buddhist retreat center, where similar mind control tactics were at play, albeit under the guise of training for spiritual enlightenment. Like Manson, the lama who led the retreat exerted total control over his followers. We were pressured to become monastics, our personal autonomy slowly stripped away as we were deprived of sleep, cut off from newspapers, magazines, and outside influences, and encouraged to see the lama as an all-knowing, god-like figure. Even our physical identities were erased with shaved heads, identical robes, a collective mindset of obedience.
Over time, much like Manson’s followers, we became conditioned to accept a new reality, one where personal boundaries no longer existed. Women were expected to surrender themselves to the leader, just as Manson’s female followers did. The lama, later exposed as a sexual predator, used his position to exploit those who had come seeking spiritual growth, much like Manson exploited young women under the guise of love and freedom.
This parallel raises unsettling questions about where such leaders acquire their manipulative skills. While it is unlikely that the lama was trained by any governmental mind control program, it is plausible that these coercive techniques are embedded within certain esoteric practices themselves. The precision with which these methods were employed suggests a deep understanding of psychological manipulation, whether learned intentionally or as a byproduct of the power dynamics inherent in such hierarchical structures.
Chaos: The Manson Murders is a powerful and necessary film that exposes the terrifying realities of mind control and cult psychology. It forces us to ask difficult questions: How do seemingly normal people fall under the influence of a charismatic yet manipulative leader? How does ideology, paired with coercive tactics, strip away free will? And most importantly, how do we recognize and resist such psychological enslavement?
For those of us who have lived through similar experiences, the film is not just an investigation into Manson but a chilling reminder of how fragile personal autonomy can be when faced with a skilled manipulator. Whether the control is enforced through psychedelics and orgies in the California desert or through rigid monastic discipline in a secluded Buddhist retreat center, the tactics remain eerily the same.
If you want to understand the depths of Manson’s control and the insidious nature of cult mind control, Chaos: The Manson Murders is essential viewing. And for those who have survived such experiences, it is a stark reminder that coercion, whether labeled as spiritual awakening or revolutionary freedom, is still coercion.
Tantric Deception 