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Fellowship Of Friends/Fourth Way School/Living Presence Discussion – Page 166 January 30, 2019

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Welcome to the newest page of the Fellowship of Friends/Living Presence Discussion.

Here, you can share your thoughts, your stories, your own experiences as a former member of the FOF.  If you are considering becoming a member, you are invited to read the discussion to better know the organization you are considering joining; we welcome your questions. Participants in the discussion may post under their own name, or anonymously.

The first comment of all new participants will be moderated before they can start communicating in real-time.  You will need to register with a valid email address and be able to reply to the welcome/verification email you will receive. If you are new to the discussion, your comment will appear within a day after it has been submitted; any subsequent comments will appear instantaneously.

At the Moderator’s discretion, excessive abuse, such as personal attacks, taking up too much space, as well as deliberate attempts to unmask people taking part in the discussion anonymously will prompt a warning. Continued abuse will result in your removal from the discussion.

To visit the official site of The  Fellowship Of Friends;

http://livingpresence.com/

Comments

1. WhaleRider - January 30, 2019

Golden Veil:
Historically, they leave as a matter of conscience.

“Aren’t you presuming the actions of someone with a wholly presumed, unverifiable state here?”

I experience conscience as an organ of perception which grows (or shrinks) over time and can manefest in any state, reflexively, even the dream state. Psychopaths are known to lack one. What defines us, IMO, are the conscious actions one takes in response.

To be more precise, historically, and by that I meant in the FOF, you know as well as I that the individuals whom have been “tapped” by burton as conscious or soon to be more conscious have, from what I recall, over these past several decades left for ethical reasons, sometimes to pursue their own brand of “teaching” style, like Miles, for example.

So IMO, it’s a fair presumption that these actions were consciously taken by each individual listening to their own conscience instead of burton’s rhino shit about abandoning c influence. It says nothing about the state they were in, I see it as a conscious choice to go in a different direction than burton, based upon what I presume is or was a functioning conscience.

Being booted out for “bad” behavior is another matter.

I do hope Solar type will clarify and elaborate on their status of being a person of advanced consciousness. Did they experience a crystallization event? Maybe they have been hearing voices? I hear burton has been quite generous with his magic wand at dinners these days, claiming all the members of his cult are now conscious, maybe that’s how Solar type got the idea.

2. Solartype - January 30, 2019

106
Only two of the people on that list are awake. None of the obvious actors are awake yet

107
Dualism and non duality coexist until the body-mind drops away, at death, exhausted after a lifetime of clinging

108
There are no lowly worms and there are no doomed beings. There is delusion and there is clarity and there is some tiny measure of choice. Eventually everyone awakens, indeed resistance is futile. Thank you for asking

112
Joining and leaving, highs and lows, corruption, scandals and controversy, – as soon as you awaken you realize it was all a smokescreen designed to thwart your aim and knock you out of the master game. When you are everywhere, there is nowhere to go. Thank you for asking

Awakening is simple: be Present always, everywhere and for long enough – 15 to 30 years of dedication and loyalty to nothing and no one but the Silence inside

3. Cult Survivor - January 30, 2019

Forget Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj — we have a living conscious being, the Awakened One, the Avatar of the Age.

Solartroll is da man, he is him.

4. brucelevy - January 30, 2019

Fucking limp dicked comic relief. The perfect study of psychopathology. It’s pretty clear he can’t stop waving his little pee pee around. I guess he used to having it be his only currency. Sad little weasel.

5. For what it's worth - January 30, 2019

Solartype- Was it the sequence that helped all these people to awaken? Do you think a lot of people who left the FOF departed because they were disillusioned by Robert?

6. John Harmer - January 30, 2019

Solartype, your reply to a question about whether as a conscious being you felt able to continue supporting Burton in his sexual exploitation of young men

84. John Harmer
Presence is nondual

reminded me of the moment in the Walrus and the Carpenter when the oysters protest at the horror of being eaten, and the Walrus replies “The night is fine…do you admire the view”. A moment beautifully captured in Donovan’s quirky rendition of the poem:

7. jess - January 30, 2019

I have a drinking friend, G, who lives in the moment and, at first, I thought he was autistic, since along with other strange and wonderful ABILITIES these DISABLED folk have is that memory of the past and preparation for the future are ‘too distant’ from them…therefore they mostly keep to themselves, in their little universe. G, apparently, had a bad car accident and was given a frontal lobotomy such that he knows simple directions in town, can shop for himself, but only seems to respond to WHAT IS IMMEDIATE. You may find this a terse post in this ‘absolutely thrilling time’ on the blog…but what is normal?…what is peculiar?…what is super-normal.?

I would not touch the FOF again with Donald Trump’s dick!

8. jess - January 30, 2019

Food (chicken Kiev, for Burton) for thought, on OUR subject…
(Medium Daily Digest)

View at Medium.com

9. Ames Gilbert - January 30, 2019

Solartype, thank you for your guidance about how long it takes to ‘wake up’. (…be Present always, everywhere and for long enough – 15 to 30 years of dedication and loyalty to nothing and no one but the Silence inside).
Sorry that Burton didn’t make it with his pathetic (and unverifiable) claims to have done it in less than 18 months. Whatever ‘it’ is.

Obviously, Burton is an incredibly inefficient ‘teacher’. Horn was a hell of a lot better—if we are to believe Burton. Strange, that. Strange it takes so long, that in the meantime he just happens to live in the lap of luxury, and indulges himself in copious quantities of ‘supersex’ with heterosexual men just about every day. Strange there is no graduation from his ‘school’, ever. (You and the rest of the Eleven are examples of that). Strange that his supposed communications with the ’81 angels’ are so… convoluted and just plain wrong.

But I congratulate you on your achievements, you have learned the art of short, self–referential, and ultimately vacuous sentences from the master. See ‘Self–Remembering’ or pretty much any ‘Daily Card’ for further written examples. There are exceptions, of course, such as the claim, “I am a goddess trapped in a man’s body”, which have double the average number of words and double the meaning.

To me, it is clear that whatever your achievements, they are just more mental activity. Your presence here on the blog at all, and certainly your claims, your numerology of consciousness, and your answers to our questions confirm that.

But whatever, you are at least providing some amusement, and that is a positive.

10. Ames Gilbert - January 30, 2019

Oops, I did Burton a disservice. The quote was much longer than that. It is, “I am a 900–million–year–old goddess trapped in a man’s body”. Many more words, much deeper meaning.

Sorry about that.

11. Tim Campion - January 30, 2019

Speaking of smokescreens, I see Solartype’s rambling Fellowship of Friends endorsement as typical Fellowship damage control, in this case precipitated by the compelling Parcast “Fellowship of Friends” podcasts.

12. rich - January 30, 2019

Being caught smoking in FOF and unable to pay the fine,
was the best thing that happened to me, because after
my ’19th nervous breakdown’ or some such, I became sane.

13. crossroads - January 30, 2019

Nice try Council of 11!
I wonder if Robert actually knows about your idea or if you are just in the “proposal” stage, really…I get it… S/he is the 12th!
(just in case -11 not including the teacher haha)

http://eterritorialdispatch.blogspot.com/2014/06/a-time-for-healing.html

http://eterritorialdispatch.blogspot.com/2014/05/view-from-former-fellowship-member.html

http://eterritorialdispatch.blogspot.com/2014/05/fellowship-part-of-community.html

Questions for Greg Holman, President of the Fellowship of Friends, or anyone else who can speak in an official capacity for the Fellowship:

1. Was a Fellowship meeting, led by Robert Burton, held on Friday, October 31, 2014 at a building now (and maybe then) known as the Festival Hall?

2. Was this date, October 31, 2014, just a few days before “Election Day” when Randy Fletcher would be on the ballot for Supervisor, 5th District, Yuba County?

3. Did Robert Burton have displayed on a large monitor at the front on the room, on the left side of the room from the point of view of the audience, a picture of one of Fletcher’s campaign billboards?

4. Did Burton comment how interesting it was that the color scheme of Fletcher’s billboard was similar to the colors of the banners that lined certain roads within Apollo?

5. Did Burton also say that Greg Holman recommends that people in the Fellowship vote for Fletcher?

6. Following the comment in #5 above, was there an outburst of laughter from the audience?

14. Michael Kearney - January 30, 2019

I was a member of FoF for just 6 weeks, in the year 1993. I attended meetings once a week in Sacramento, where I live. At one such meeting there was an honored guest. He was a young, very, very, tall fellow with a British accent. I think he was from San Francisco and he brought with him a pretty young woman who was a professional ballet dancer. (I think) It seemed to me that the other members were in awe of that fellow. I imagine that with my description of him, some of you, who were members for a long time, would know who he was. I am curious who he was and what his role was in the organization. Maybe some one here would have nothing better to do than satisfy my curiosity as to why the super tall British fellow inspired such reverential awe (maybe I’m exaggerating a little) in the members. Thanks.

15. Golden Veil - January 30, 2019

13. crossroads – January 30, 2019

Thanks for posting the links to the posts. I hadn’t seen them. It’s too bad that one of the former members didn’t think to add a link to the below article in their post. It paints a pretty clear picture that the Fellowship of Friends is indeed a cult. Well, let’s see if Solar #5+ was present at that meeting and will respond to your query.

https://www.appeal-democrat.com/a-former-believer-takes-on-the-leader/article_b5e02048-fb50-57f6-a0a8-e1f2d5c8b634.html

16. crossroads - January 31, 2019

Note: Insider generated the questions at the end of previous page.

17. Ames Gilbert - January 31, 2019

My personal history makes it obvious that I am congenitally unable to appreciate the miraculous glory of Burton, Padishaw of Propinquity, God–Emperor of Oregon House, and now it looks like I am flubbing the opportunity to escape becoming ‘food for the moon’ by not giving Solartype and the rest of the Eleven their due.

It occurs to me that the mere existence of the Eleven poses a problem. Either Burton was lying when he claimed it would be Seven, or the Eleven, the rich and rare fruits of decades of Burton’s teaching, are themselves mistaken, or lying.
And, examination of Burton’s predictions shows that he is either lying or mistaken about the weird messages he gets from his buddies, the 81 angels. If he is mistaken, then he is a very slow learner, or incredibly stupid, since he keeps on repeating the same mistakes over and over and expecting different results. Why would these angels choose such a dunce to carry out their supposed mission?

Either way, he keeps getting it wrong. Now, one would suppose that Leonardo and the rest of the 81 would lean over backwards to try to make it clear to him what he is supposed to do. And when you consider how easy it would be to do that, one must conclude that a) they don’t exist, or b) these powerful beings are not even up to the level of producing a few tablets engraved with instructions (easy–peasy, as Moses could no doubt attest). Or at the very least a book (as Mohammed or Joseph Smith would surely vouch). Or in keeping with modern times, surely it would be child’s play to slip in another website amongst the hundreds of millions out there. We’re talking about manipulating just a few electrons here and there, folks, nothing compared to engineering the Fall of California!
One might get the impression that maybe there is no message…

A cynic also cannot help but wonder why the angelic instructions to Burton about getting through Armageddon and organizing a future civilization are apparently so murky and difficult to comprehend, yet the instructions that they supposedly wish the latest young acolyte to unzip his trousers and submit are so very clear—every time—in Burton’s mind.

18. invictus maneo - January 31, 2019

In comment 2 Solartype is trying to justify the sexual, emotional and financial abuse of pupils by a teacher. Solartype writes that it doesn’t matter, because everybody awakens. If so, why abuse them? For fun? Whose? Are we to believe higher beings enjoy making people suffer? This does not seem to have been claimed by the founders of other religions. All of those, including Gurdjieff, at least paid lip service to decreasing suffering on Earth, and most of them took action to do so. They did not act to increase it.

Later in the same comment Solartype claims all the abuse is just a game.

There could be no clearer demonstration that there is no Influence C in the FOF. There is vicious psychopathy, and not limited to the teacher.

19. fofblogmoderator - January 31, 2019

#14 is a new contributor

20. Solartype - January 31, 2019

5.
The sequence is useful to some.
Yes, many of my wonderful friends were disillusioned and left, some have subsequently awakened

6.
Love Lewis Carroll and Donovan

9.
You joined in 1978 and have been obsessed with the Teacher ever since. If you had put your energy into awakening rather than fixating over one man, your work would have been completed years ago

95. Tim Campion
Boil water (4) and it becomes gas (5), boil gas and it becomes plasma (6)
This is what is meant by the numbers are exponential

As hate groups go this one seems to be in line with the hundreds of others infesting the internet. Vilifying an entire community on the alleged actions of a few is a lazy ideology that supports this pathetic little matrix of discrimination and bias. To think that some of you were once students, endowed with an entirely unique, mystical connection to the highest within you is heartbreaking. You can never go back to sleep and at the same time, mired in all this negativity, you thwart your awakening. Ultimately resistance is futile, but crystallizing in negativity makes it all a lot more painful and slow

21. Cult Survivor - January 31, 2019

I spoke today with my friend that is still a FOF student — she not only confirmed the names of the 11 men/women that are conscious but also told me their levels:

MEN No. 6
Dorian M.
Girard H.

MEN/WOMEN No. 5
Alexandr “Shasha” S.
Corinne M.
Cristina G.
Diana K.
Guinevere M.
Hao I H.
Jan A.
Linda K.
Wayne M.

Solartype was probably thinking on Dorian and Girard, both supposedly Men No. 6, when he/she said “only 2 on the list are conscious”, since according to the Fourth Way teaching a person that is a No. 5 can still lose his/her consciousness (higher centers are not crystallized). My friend also confirmed that Rowena T. and Steven D. are still No. 4’s.

If Robert’s prophecy that the FOF will produce 7 conscious beings comes true, and assuming that Robert is one of them, out of the 9 people in the list of men/women No. 5 only 4 will crystallize and become No. 6’s. Should we guess who those 4 conscious beings are going to be? Here is my guess: Sasha, Guinevere, Jan and Linda. Yes, I am usually very conservative with my predictions (Sasha is up there in the Olympus with Dorian, and Guinevere, Jan and Linda have been in the FOF almost 150 years combined)

As Ames rightly said, Solartype brought the fun back to this blog. We needed that.

22. WhaleRider - January 31, 2019

Solar type:
“You can never go back to sleep and at the same time, mired in all this negativity, you thwart your awakening. Ultimately resistance is futile, but crystallizing in negativity makes it all a lot more painful and slow.”

Think of it as intentional suffering for a greater good: spiritual virtuosity instead of slavery and exploitation.

You are right about this: burton would like all his young male followers to believe that resistance to his sexual advances is futile.

But who needs a guru when you can find one within?

I guess you do. To think you were once in control of your own destiny and that you were manipulated by a psychopath into giving up your power, will and agency for a delusion of grandeur and a community that would not hesitate to turn their backs on you if you left the group. That’s heartbreaking to me. What a waste of a life.

The reason you think “you can never go back to sleep” is that you were never asleep in the first place, you were only manipulated into believing so. How sad!

23. ton2u - January 31, 2019

It’s wasted effort to try to reason a person out of their belief.

This might be of interest… a different (high profile) cult but you’ll recognize similar psychology… cults have two basic components – leader and followers… without followers there is no cult…. to paraphrase an old friend, here’s to “draining the victim pool” –

Whalerider @ 1, once upon a time, when I was young and naive, when I was more susceptible to ‘hero worship’ I also put Miles on a pedestal… but things, and perspectives change with time. You want to give him credit for leaving the cult, ok, maybe, but if part of the motive for leaving was to start his own version of a cult?! IMO while Miles was with the FOF he was (de facto) one of Burton’s biggest enablers… for example think about how he used his gifts of intellect, charm and charisma and consider how many gullible fools he helped to sway and recruit on his ‘traveling teacher’ missions… and how many more stayed stuck in the cult because they mistakenly put their faith in him.

24. jess - January 31, 2019

I hope you have noticed that Solartype is not he or she. The whole facade, persona or mask that is Solartype is being fed into by probably a dozen or so ‘bufferino’ types, activated and set up to work counter to the swathe of negative press the FOF is getting. Therefore, if you think Solartype, think “LEGION”. Good fighting!

25. Ames Gilbert - January 31, 2019

Tim (#11), I think you are on to something. Anyway, the Empire has chosen this moment to strike back. Readers will decide for themselves how effective he/she/they are.

Cult Survivor, thanks for the update and taking the trouble to check your sources again.
That’s a good way of putting it, adding up the centuries of unquestioning obedience to the God–Emperor.
I’m glad that some women made it, despite Burton’s proclamation that no women were going to achieve ‘consciousness’ in this lifetime. I myself recall overhearing him explaining this to a woman who was rather more courageous than most, and who waylaid him in the lodge sitting/smoking area to get a direct answer for herself.
Wait—that must mean that Burton was lying then, or lying now! Or is this just another example of what Solartype blithely dismisses as ‘out of date information’? Does that mean that lies, on whatever scale or however egregious, have a past due date in the Fellowship of Friends? Or does ‘intentional insincerity’ cover the case?

Anyway…
Solartype, if you would be so kind:
• How did you discover that you are ‘conscious’ and at what level?
• How did you discover that any of these others on this list (or your alternative list) are ‘conscious’, and at what level?
I am sure you are conscious of the spirit of my question, I’m trying to find out if you needed Burton to tell you/the others that you were ‘conscious’, or did you arrive at this realization yourself. And if you were to include details, such as attendant thunderclaps, earthquakes or such, that would help round out the picture and add versimilitude. Don’t be shy, your mentor has been many things, but no–one could accuse him of being shy.
And talking about being shy, why not use your real name, like I do?

Also, fair warning, I’m going to be asking you about the role of ‘conscience’ within your exclusive group, so you might want to bone up on what for you and anyone on either list, is obviously just a theory.

26. WhaleRider - January 31, 2019

@ton2u:
Thanks for your post. IMO, as long as a delusional person still possesses their sense of humor, there’s hope. With Solar type, that remains to be seen.

I think a parallel is found in the approximately 30% of the American public that will support Cheeto 45 no matter what he says or does due to their religious, military or political mindset that makes them follow any strong authority figure…in other words, “daddy is always right” and “who am I to question God if He wanted a useful idiot in the White House?”

That includes those who were brought up in an authoritative regime like the former USSR, where your very survival depended upon keeping your head down and your mouth shut.

Re: Miles. I can honestly say I admired Miles more for leaving the cult than I did while he was a follower, and although I attended his first meeting, I did not become his pupil. To my knowledge, no one was harmed during the short lifespan of his failed attempt at forming his own cult.

I am eternally grateful to him for introducing two mainstream psychological concepts to me at the crucial juncture of his departure: magical thinking and ideas of reference.

Now, certainly those were not Miles’ concepts, and he never took credit for them. But given the obvious potential of using these concepts to exploit others as he witnessed firsthand in the FOF, he did not deploy them in his group, nor, to the best of my knowledge, did he use his position of power while in the FOF to seduce anyone to provide sexual favors. Please correct me if I’m wrong.

Sure, he was an enabler like we all were while in the group, but he left, and many, including myself, left at about the same time.

27. ton2u - January 31, 2019

Whalerider… you make a good point – while in the cult we were all enablers – but you’ll have to agree that there was a difference in degree between for example the grunts working in the vineyard and the ‘elites’ who were out there actively recruiting for burton’s harem, the ‘traveling teacher’s’ show, those who were organizing and running ‘teaching houses,’ etc. I didn’t know Miles as well as you – for example I didn’t follow him out of the cult, I left some years prior to the exodus he seemed to spawn, so I can’t comment on the cult he tried to create post-FOF, or any question of seduction for sexual favors. Whatever the case, that is not ‘sine qua non’ for a person’s character anyway, obviously there are other factors that go into it. It’s not my intention to drag anyone through the mud here, like everyone else, Miles had flaws and faults… if there is a point to this thread it’s to indicate the tendency for followers to follow, blindly so, in some cases…. I’ll limit comments regarding my personal experience with the man while in the FOF to this – as a ‘neophyte’ in the FOF I went to him as an ‘elder’ for counsel – as it turned out, and with hindsight, I was given some very bad life-altering advice… I was a young fool, I trusted him, that was my fault.

28. WhaleRider - January 31, 2019

ton2u:
I agree, there is a big difference, especially when the FOF elites are engaged in trafficking of human souls to become burton’s sex slaves, with full knowledge of what goes on behind the velvet curtain.

I remember now the bad advice Miles gave you and the FOF party line he was defending at the time. I am so sorry. How inhumane.

29. Ames Gilbert - January 31, 2019

Michael Kearney (#14),
The gentleman you are thinking of might possibly be Ashford Brown, sometimes known as ‘Lala’. If you look at the top right hand of this page, you’ll see, under “Blogroll”, a link to the Greater Fellowship. This is a private website open to all those associated with the Fellowship of Friends, past and present—but you do have to get an invite. In your case, that should be easy. Then search for Ashford Brown. There are probably enough photos on his page to determine if that is who you are looking for. Lala was/is quite a character, and loved to travel widely and put himself in unusual situations and observe what happened. So his contact information could be totally out of date.

P.S. GF is open to any member of the ‘Conscious Eleven’ as well, we’d love to hear from you!

P.P.S., there is quite a discussion about Miles and his complicity on GF, well worth perusing, IMO.

30. invictus maneo - January 31, 2019

“As hate groups go this one seems to be in line with the hundreds of others infesting the internet. Vilifying an entire community on the alleged actions of a few is a lazy ideology that supports this pathetic little matrix of discrimination and bias. To think that some of you were once students, endowed with an entirely unique, mystical connection to the highest within you is heartbreaking. You can never go back to sleep and at the same time, mired in all this negativity, you thwart your awakening. Ultimately resistance is futile, but crystallizing in negativity makes it all a lot more painful and slow”

And so the claws come out. Aims of this discussion include letting the world know the leader of the FOF is a predator. He uses his position to seduce and have sex with heterosexual young male students. He uses his position to take as much money as possible from his followers, even to the point of leaving them destitute and unable to support themselves and their families.

And you are helping us demonstrate current “advanced” members of the FOF will go to great lengths to try and deflect attention from the sordid, vile nature of the FOF. You minimize the enormity of the crime of one holding himself out as a teacher, yet pressuring multiple students into sex. By ignoring the issue I and others raised, while deflecting with stories about magical wondrousness in the organization, you reveal yourself the moral equivalent of drug dealers and pimps. Then you call us a hate group.

We are spending our time here because we care about our fellow beings, and we don’t want them to fall into the vile cesspool that is the FOF, its leaders and its members. You care only about finding more young men for REB to fuck then discard.

31. Insider - January 31, 2019

30. invictus maneo

Well said. A further point I would like to add is that, with few exceptions, contributors to this blog have tried to be truthful about their experiences, observations, and verifications, not to mention a great amount of “soul-searching” and self analysis. There was and is no need for lies or exaggerations. As Miles so clearly came to understand (albeit, a little too late): Robert Burton is truly evil.

Solartypo: Would you like to share what Burton said about the student who passed away a week ago or so, publicly, and broadcast to the entire Fellowship community? If not, I will. And then we can all judge who is crystallized in negativity.

And, Solartypo, as a bonus, you can also repeat what Burton said about the people who perished in the Camp fire a few months ago. A real gem. Thanks.

32. Bryan Reynolds - February 1, 2019

For people new to this blog please take a few minutes and read some of the posts of people who had the courage to tell their stories of being sexually abused by a self proclaimed teacher Robert Burton.

The Fellowship of Friends is a group of people who tacitly approve of sexual abuse by their teacher and are guilty of enabling him and perpetuating more abuse.

Perpetrators of sexual abuse and those who tacitly approve of it do not get to define the experience of their victims.

The only appropriate response to evil is opposition.

33. Solartype - February 1, 2019

21.
Only two on that list are correct. Your ‘friend’ is guessing based on the prominence of their roles. In fact having a prominent role is what is preventing them from awakening, for now

25.
At this point no one needs anyone to tell them anything. What has always been helpful is the loving friendship and the shared higher states of consciousness, which you personally benefited from before forsaking it for the identification and negativity you currently debase yourself with

Awakening is this: When a bubble bursts, the air inside the bubble instantly realizes it’s infinite nature

Conscience is for those who have yet to realize their nondual essence

30.
Invictus maneo: Are you speaking from experience or hearsay?
Have you ever heard of forgiveness?

32.
You enjoy the benefits of living in a society founded on racism and misogyny. Do you tacitly approve?

34. Cult Survivor - February 1, 2019

Solartype is too consistent, persistent and organized to be a single person, so I agree with Jess (see comment No. 24) that we are dealing with a group of FOF members working together. We have a precedent: The “Wikipedia octave” back in 2007, when 4-5 members (one of them full-time) worked for 3 or 4 months “fighting former students in Wikipedia”, to the extent that Wikipedia decided to delete the article because it was taking its administrators too much time to monitor the page with the constant edits (see link below). A few days after the deletion of the FOF Wikipedia page, I was having lunch with Abraham Goldman, the main lawyer of the FOF at the time, and he told me with a smile, “We won the Wikipedia battle, we wore them out”. Sadly, “Abe” Goldman had a tragic end – he committed suicide in 2011 (see link below).

Still on the topic of lawyers, another lawyer of the FOF, a person named David Springfield (originally David Lubbers), sent a letter to the Board of Directors in 2009 announcing that he was not going to represent the FOF legally anymore because of “a combination of crime, gross carelessness and ignorance of almost all Board members” and “serious crimes have likely been committed and are possibly continuing to be committed by current members on the Board”. His letter also mentioned that he would no longer “Investigate/Monitor the Blog/GF/PR (Fellowship of Friends Discussion blog, Greater Fellowship forum), etc.” implying that he or somebody connected to him had infiltrated this blog and the Greater Fellowship site. The FOF was able to have the letter removed from this blog threatening the hosting site (WordPress) with legal action, but a few days later the letter was posted on Wikileaks and it’s still there challenging the bullying tactics of the FOF (see link below). David Springfield/Lubbers was disbarred in 2015 for stealing $100,000 from a client and the last thing I heard is that he is a fugitive in Canada (see link below).

In summary, based on the past history of the FOF, it makes sense that Solartype is not the name of an individual but of an “operation”.

References:

Find The Fellowship of Friends on Wikipedia (or maybe not)
https://robertearlburton.blogspot.com/2007/06/find-fellowship-of-friends-on-wikipedia.html

Abraham Goldman, Fellowship of Friends attorney, commits suicide
https://robertearlburton.blogspot.com/2011/08/abraham-goldman-fellowship-of-friends.html

Censored Fellowship of Friends cult letter from former legal council David Springfield, 2009
https://robertearlburton.blogspot.com/2007/11/lawyer-abandons-ship.html

That Awkward Moment When You Discover a Former “Professor” Is Disbarred
http://sandjack.tv/2017/02/10/1l-awkward-moment-discover-former-professor-disbarred/

35. invictus maneo - February 1, 2019

Solartype asked me
Are you speaking from experience or hearsay?
I was not present at the orgies, but I have spoken directly with people who claim to have been molested by REB. I have also spoken with licensed professionals, then members of the FOF, attempting to clean up the messes.

Have you ever heard of forgiveness?
Religious traditions require people to feel sorry for the wrong they have done in order to be forgiven by Higher Forces. I see no evidence the vicious monsters in the FOF have the least regret for their predation on seekers putting their trust in the FOF and its leader. Maybe you, Solarforce, need to examine your conscience and ask forgiveness for what you are still doing to enable a play of crime.

36. WhaleRider - February 1, 2019

33.
“Awakening is this: When a bubble bursts, the air inside the bubble instantly realizes it’s infinite nature”

…which is an illusion created by a mind unfettered by the gravity of reality, for if this were so and air were consciousness, the Earth would have no atmosphere.

“Conscience is for those who have yet to realize their nondual essence”

Conscience is for those whom have matured beyond the phallic stage of their baby essence and realized the validity of others existing outside their baby bubble.

37. ton2u - February 1, 2019

Insider @ 31

“Solartypo: Would you like to share what Burton said about the student who passed away a week ago or so, publicly, and broadcast to the entire Fellowship community? If not, I will. And then we can all judge who is crystallized in negativity…. etc.”

It looks like solar-troll avoided the prompt – probably for good reason. How about forgoing the troll-baiting for a moment and filling us in, just for the record here… inquiring minds would like to know.

38. jess - February 1, 2019

“Consistency trumps intensity. Small consistent steps lead to big changes, always. And relentless consistency leads to big changes quick.”
– Anon –

Stuff the political twerps in that ‘foo-foo’ facade, FOF!

39. jess - February 1, 2019

Just to stir the Cosmic Do(ugh) and dismantle the hugely-vaunted Blues and Yellows with our Red and Gold…

PROLOGUE

Enter Chorus

Chorus:
Now entertain conjecture of a time
When creeping murmur and the poring dark
Fills the wide vessel of the universe.
From camp to camp through the foul womb of night
The hum of either army stilly sounds,
That the fixed sentinels almost receive
The secret whispers of each other’s watch:
Fire answers fire, and through their paly flames
Each battle sees the other’s umber’d face;
Steed threatens steed, in high and boastful neighs
Piercing the night’s dull ear, and from the tents
The armourers, accomplishing the knights,
With busy hammers closing rivets up,
Give dreadful note of preparation:
The country cocks do crow, the clocks do toll,
And the third hour of drowsy morning name.
Proud of their numbers and secure in soul,
The confident and over-lusty French
Do the low-rated English play at dice;
And chide the cripple tardy-gaited night
Who, like a foul and ugly witch, doth limp
So tediously away. The poor condemned English,
Like sacrifices, by their watchful fires
Sit patiently and inly ruminate
The morning’s danger, and their gesture sad
Investing lank-lean; cheeks and war-worn coats
Presenteth them unto the gazing moon
So many horrid ghosts. O now, who will behold
The royal captain of this ruin’d band
Walking from watch to watch, from tent to tent,
Let him cry ‘Praise and glory on his head!’
For forth he goes and visits all his host.
Bids them good morrow with a modest smile
And calls them brothers, friends and countrymen.
Upon his royal face there is no note
How dread an army hath enrounded him;
Nor doth he dedicate one jot of colour
Unto the weary and all-watched night,
But freshly looks and over-bears attaint
With cheerful semblance and sweet majesty;
That every wretch, pining and pale before,
Beholding him, plucks comfort from his looks:
A largess universal like the sun
His liberal eye doth give to every one,
Thawing cold fear, that mean and gentle all,
Behold, as may unworthiness define,
A little touch of Harry in the night.
And so our scene must to the battle fly;
Where–O for pity!–we shall much disgrace
With four or five most vile and ragged foils,
Right ill-disposed in brawl ridiculous,
The name of Agincourt. Yet sit and see,
Minding true things by what their mockeries be.

(Henry V – William Shakespeare)

40. John Harmer - February 1, 2019

in #33 Solartype says

“Conscience is for those who have yet to realize their nondual essence”

let that sink in for a moment

41. jess - February 1, 2019
42. Ames Gilbert - February 1, 2019

The entity labelled ‘Solartype’ has revealed their spiritual poverty and complete fake ‘consciousness’ in a very important way.
They said, “Conscience is for those who have yet to realize their nondual essence”, thereby placing themselves above such petty consideations, avoiding the questions asked here, and avoiding the consequences of Burton’s proclamation that “Conscience is just a collection of I’s. Anyone accumulating too much should leave the school”.

So we have blithely skipped the stages of realizing some home truths about ourselves, realizing how we have squashed or ignored the quiet voice within, seeing our connectedness to other suffering human beings, recognizing our complicity in that suffering, feeling the sharp pangs of remorse (the beginnings of an operating conscience), asking for forgiveness from those we have wronged (and understanding deeply what real forgiveness is), and working to alleviate the suffering we have caused to others. In other words, atonement.

No, we have just skipped right past all that, and are in the blissful state of non–duality where there are no consequences for everything that went before.

Solartype, nothing can more clearly expose your revolting hypocricy and bullshit, whether you are an individual or a group.

____________________________________

I wonder if there is some kind of civil war going on there in the Fellowship of Friends? We have one list, wherein plenty of the ‘older students’ have earned their due reward, decades of infantile faith–based worship in the God–Emperor of Oregon House finally, finally justified. That certainly keeps the doddering hold–outs happy, and they can continue to be useful, walking around with their humble acts and impressing new followers with their gravitas.

Yet Solartype claims there is another list, with the implication that the names on this one are hidden from public view. ‘Public’ in this case meaning amongst the laity, the majority of those inside the bubble. The ones on this list apparently go around just being their noble selves with their esoteric noses in the air, above the petty strife and criminality. Maybe they read some non–dualistic literature to each other over coffee from time to time, and memorize those passages that justify their history and their choices, and exchange warm glances of mutual recognition and appreciation when their paths cross?

I assume this group is self–selected, since I cannot believe such high beings would be sanctioned by Burton, who recognizes no other gods than Himself (with the exception of the Absolute, who takes a subordinate role and visits at convenient times merely to add lustre and authority to Burton). Of course, he does dangle the promise of ‘future consciousness’ when he anoints future leaders, such as Dorian, but that is very provisional, as Asaf Braverman and his many predecessors know all too well. (Again, that shows that Burton is either lying then or now).
And no, I haven’t forgotten Girard Haven, that useful tool/fool, he is in a category of complicity and utter servility all by himself.

But that route is very slow going, decades after decades have passed, and Solartype and his/her accomplices are getting impatient, so I can understand the need to press ahead. And to skip a few—or many—steps, just like their ‘teacher’ did. After all, if Conscious Bob is so successful just by simply asserting his consciousness over and over, and his flock labors night and day to shield him from the consequences of being a hasnamuss, why can’t they do the same? Why can’t they pick and choose, little bits of the extremely dualistic Fourth Way here, little bits of non–dualistic Advaita there, and make up a bucket of shit as they go along?
And so it goes.

Still, amongst the many questions that remain unanswered, is this: why advertise their supposed wonderfulness on this blog?

43. Cult Survivor - February 1, 2019

42. Ames Gilbert

“Still, amongst the many questions that remain unanswered, is this: why advertise their supposed wonderfulness on this blog?”

To get an ego massage.

44. invictus maneo - February 1, 2019

Gurdjieff’s fictional character Beelzebub repeatedly tells his grandson that humans have destroyed their consciences, thus allowing us to harm their fellow beings. Ouspensky wrote that Gurdjieff told him developing a conscience was of great importance to one wishing to awaken, because it told the person when they were going astray. Socrates, supposedly one of the holy angels supposedly assisting the FOF, described his internal daemon, which told him when some action was wrong, so he could avoid it.

“…why advertise…”
They know there are seekers who would gladly dispense with their conscience, and do any amount of harm, to attain their imaginary picture of consciousness–and the power they imagine that brings.

This blog, and other sources, are probably leading to a decrease in new members. Statements like Solartype’s appeal to budding psychopaths, letting them know they can find a comfortable home in Oregon House, and hone their awareness, the better to take advantage of their fellow humans.

45. Ames Gilbert - February 1, 2019

Thank you, Invictus (#35), for your succinct reply to Solartype’s question, “Have you ever heard of forgiveness?” 
That was a strange question to insert, especially as it had no context—lack of context being a hallmark of apologists for the Fellowship of Friends. Was that a straight–up question, a rhetorical question, or a plea?

However one interprets it, it demonstrated the unbelievable hypocrisy of Solartype. I think that hypocrisy is something that strongly revolts most people because it includes the ongoing crime while diverting attention elsewhere; in this case, appealing for forgiveness while aiding and abetting—not just simply allowing—the ongoing crimes, as you pointed out. Crimes against their fellow men and women, in and out of the Fellowship, financial crimes including ripping of taxpayers, spiritual crimes, moral crimes.

So, IMHO, this demonstrates that for Solartype and his/her/their ilk, ‘forgiveness’ is just another word. Just deliver a one–liner as a palliative, and the job is done. Like ‘conscience’, and of course, ‘consciousness’. In their worldview, theory is equivalent to practice is equivalent to mastery, why bother with the steps in between?

46. Four Days of the Fourth State - February 1, 2019

I remember once when one of Bob’s inner circle boys told me that Burton had told him that he would awaken in this lifetime. I mentioned this to another one of Bob’s longtime inner circle boys I knew and he laughed out loud at the suggestion. I never heard that the fellow who boasted to me that he would awaken in this lifetime had ever been publicly mentioned as one of the promising number fives.

Don’t doubt that Bob tells these fools that they are going to awaken just to get into their pants. I’m betting this boasting Solar Type is in this inevitably disappointing category of sleepwalkers.

47. ton2u - February 1, 2019

Stroller-type writes in part: “Vilifying an entire community on the alleged actions of a few…” ah yes, the tired, old and all too familiar “alleged actions” defense by the apologists who periodically surface here to trot out the party line… another example of “just deliver a one-liner as a palliative” and in this case the whole issue of decades of sexual abuse and ‘spiritual rape’ can be dismissed… it’s just that simple, the job is done, and so sleep comes a little more easily for those wrapped in the cocoon of warped beliefs.

48. Golden Veil - February 1, 2019

Big Fish Teaches Students to Deep Dive in a Small Pond

Apparently a former member of the Gurdjieff Foundation, William Patrick Patterson, is satisfying the thirst of some teacher seekers and monetizing his knowledge of the Fourth Way in a seminar next month in Tucson, Arizona.

Love the photo!

http://www.gurdjiefflegacy.org/20announce/events.php?page=2#seminar1

49. ton2u - February 1, 2019

GV @ 47
Back in the ‘good old days’ when there were still bookstores around – I think it was ’92 – I went to a Patterson lecture given at Barnes and Noble in Emeryville, Ca. Essentially a sales pitch followed by a book signing for “Eating the I” – I did not buy the book, was not impressed by the man or the pedantic presentation… but that’s just me – after the FOF I quit the “teacher seeker” game.

50. brucelevy - February 1, 2019

43. Cult Survivor

You mean obsessive self abuse in public, like the exhibitionists in the NY subways that whip out their dicks whenever a woman
walks by?

51. Insider - February 1, 2019

37. ton2u

The following message was recently emailed to Fellowship members:

MARCH 8, 1950 – JANUARY 11, 2019

Dear Friends,

Douglas Walker, a beloved member of the Fellowship of Friends, completed his task due to complications of the liver; at 4:14 pm, Friday, January 11, 2019. Douglas would have turned sixty-nine years old on March 8, 2019.

Douglas joined the Fellowship in San Francisco, April 25, 1979; living there until he went to support the center in Portland in December 1980. He returned to the Bay Area in 1982 and eventually moved to Apollo, making it his permanent home in 2000. He was active in helping to create and sustain the Hygeia Society – an early version of the Circle of Friends.

On behalf of all who knew you, we thank thee.

The Elysian Society

* * * * * * * * * * * *

For some reason Burton did not care for Douglas. Was he too ill to come to events or to make his scheduled “donations?” Did he reject Burton’s advances sometime in the past? Was the way he looked and walked in his final months contrary to Burton’s idea of “noble alchemy?”

Whatever the reason, at a meeting shortly after Douglas passed away, there was an announcement about his passing, to which Burton added that Douglas would be going to the Moon. (In Fellowship-speak, that means going to Hell for an immeasurably long period of time.)

And just as with Burton’s unspeakably nasty comments about the people who died in the Camp/Paradise fire, no one in the congregation “batted an eye” or found anything remotely bizarre with Burton’s remarks.

It should also be obvious to anyone with at least 81 functioning brain cells that Burton will trash and dump anyone he suddenly does not like. And that really means ANYONE. He might give a little extra rope to people whose leaving might be a slight hardship, or who know too much. But there’s not a single person who is ultimately safe from his revenge if/when he finds out that they do not love, support, and admire him unconditionally, or if he were to find out that someone (cough, cough) tried to take over the Fellowship while Burton was ill or incapacitated.

What kind of a person finds pleasure in surrounding himself with people who fear him? And everyone in the Fellowship does fear Burton to one degree or another, without exception. Because if they stop fearing him, if they manage to look behind the curtain, and see the truth about this pathetic, lonely, insecure, and now demented, human being, they would no longer be in the Fellowship. Blessed be the day.

52. Cult Survivor - February 2, 2019

49. brucelevy

Bruce said, “You mean obsessive self abuse in public, like the exhibitionists in the NY subways that whip out their dicks whenever a woman walks by?”

Either that or an organized operation — I can’t see any other possibility. Since there is a task from Robert for students not to visit this blog because that would be “engaging with the lower self”, Solartype is either an organized operation like the “Wikipedia octave” or a delusional individual with something like a Narcissistic Personality Disorder. My friend that is still a member of the FOF (kind of) told me that last year somebody that identified herself/himself as a FOF member placed letters in all the P. O. Boxes at the Oregon House post office warning people that California was going to fall and asking to start preparing for the cataclysm. We may be dealing with the same person here.

53. brucelevy - February 2, 2019

51. Cult Survivor

Could be a group or one person. It’s not a stretch, with this group, to assume all or almost all of the hierarchy that would make up the group are prime examples of NPD. Narcissists and sociopaths flock, like flies on shit, to groups run on the typical dynamic that makes up the FOF and many other cult/groups. For one reason or another they eventually go off to try to start their own group (“cultism for Dummies”) and fortunately fail pretty quickly. On the other hand, it’s also true that there’s a sucker born every minute.

It probably doesn’t really matter if it’s a group or a single lunatic. Either way it’s a criminal pathology at it’s most obvious. It’s so blatant that if actual self awareness played a part in their psychology they would crawl under their rocks in shame, but we are not dealing with “normal” psychological schema. These are diseased individuals.

54. Insider - February 2, 2019

42. Ames Gilbert

“Still, amongst the many questions that remain unanswered, is this: why advertise their supposed wonderfulness on this blog?”

My guess is this entity, Solartype, is connected with the same circle that created so many additional websites the past 2-3 years, as well as numerous Twitter accounts and Facebook pages.

This group is mightily worried about this blog, and the various media that uses it (and the robertearlburton.blogspot site) for the ever-increasing interest the Fellowship is generating.

There was the SF Chronicle article from last August, the 2 Parcast podcasts from last month, a blog run by a couple of women from Yuba City, and certainly more to come.

They are worried because they see the end. They see Burton’s obvious dementia. They know that Dorian can’t cover it up for much longer. More and more people are (privately) scratching their heads and wondering what in the world Burton is saying or doing.

And now there’s another prediction. Per Burton, the reason the Oct 2018 “fall” did not happen is because “Influence C” decided to wait for the “really big one,” a world-ending nuclear holocaust, this year or next. Despite Dorian’s silent pleas to Burton to just forget about all these predictions, Burton will not be deterred. Preparations are underway once again.

Meanwhile, Burton is putting people on “leaves of absence” at a pace never seen before. Gesticulating while dining. Talking too loud. Having too much sex (other than with Burton). Refusing sex with Burton. Eating while Burton is speaking. It looks like a serious house cleaning. Getting rid of everyone Burton does not like, or who does not completely believe in the Burton religion.

The leadership, including “Solartype,” knows they have their power and influence only because Burton lent it to them, and post-Burton, the Board of Directors will promptly take it away. This “handwriting on the wall” became clear to many when Burton had his heart attack in 2017. Now the Board is even better prepared to take over as soon as it becomes necessary.

Yes, this blog has helped 100s of people see the truth about Burton, his enablers, and the Fellowship as a whole. It is a major threat to the security and lifestyle of quite a few people, especially as it hastens the inevitable deflating of the Burton Bubble.

55. WhaleRider - February 2, 2019

The Clusterfuck of Friends

56. crossroads - February 2, 2019

Just by reading those names I get “the ptsd” –

Nevertheless, how about reviewing some other names,
the official FoF board and the council, the board of the APA -arts- and others that may exist, like the Academy, or the University or whatever and etc, that would be the inner circle right? the “octave leaders” etc –

Then, the other ones, the real “silent ones”? – That’s the other, also in line for succession.

Wouldn’t be obvious how all those who have greatly invested in the fof and consider themselves owners in one way or another, would definitively claim succession? At this point, Robert is just shopping – since maybe, legally, everything has been set up in a way that he has the last word – or signature. He is the king of his kingdom remember?
And he is stubborn…

They could conduct open elections :-/

57. crossroads - February 2, 2019

Either that or R is totally fucked up and they keep him alive for the sake of the business, some sort of a catch 22, but I bet some of his very own loyalty circle snakes would love to see him passed already!

58. Michael Kearney - February 2, 2019

Ames Gilbert (#29)
I appreciate your responding to my question. Thank you.
I tried without success to join the General Fellowship of Friends. I tried several numbers for the trick question until I came up with the correct number of ### (number removed by moderator). I was supposed to receive an e-mail from GF, but I didn’t. Perhaps I am not as popular as you seemed to think I am. Perhaps somebody simply did not wish to invite me to join. Two or three years, or more ago, I left some messages on this site or some similar site. The fellow that owned the site called himself The Sheik something-or-other. I was trying to find out if Burton had some psychic ability. If he did that would explain, from my point of view, how he could impress his followers like he has. I was immediately attacked by several people. I was a “troll” etc. In reality, the fact that I was suggesting that he might have some special talent was not, in any way, a promotion of him or of the FoF. Even Charlie Manson had some special talent, as described in a book by the guy who prosecuted him. Does that mean that Bugliosi (I think that was his name) was a secret member of “the family”? Any way, the way people attacked me was ridiculous.
I guess your p.s. was a little bit of humor. You seemed to be implying that I might be one of the 11 men-fivers and sixers. Anyway, there is nothing wrong with a little bit of humor.
I was very interested in what you said in your reply to my question, thanks again.

59. invictus maneo - February 2, 2019

To Michael Kearney (57)
According to many people, Robert Burton was extremely charismatic. Charismatic psychopaths often are so good at reading the weaknesses of their potential victims that non-psychopaths may think they have special powers. They don’t; they’re just predators looking to make another kill.

60. ton2u - February 2, 2019

50. Insider

“What kind of a person finds pleasure in surrounding himself with people who fear him?”

A malignant narcisist? A sociopath? A range of symptoms and categories labeled “personality disorders” are described in the latest DSM, many of which apply in this case – blowjob bob is somewhere ‘on the spectrum.’

Fear is used to manipulate and control.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear

61. WhaleRider - February 2, 2019

@Micheal Kearney

burton’s long history of failed prophecies are evidence of his “psychic abilities”.

Hey, my prophecy that burton’s last prophecy about the great deluge would not come to pass was 100% correct, yet I don’t claim to have psychic abilities, just common sense.

Followers are impressed by burton because part of the cult indoctrination technique is that usually a follower is a member the Clusterfuck of Friends for at least a year or two, sometimes longer before they meet burton.

By that time, long after severing ties with friends and family, when the glassy eyed follower finally does meet burton, he or she is projecting a great deal of their own imagination and fantasy onto him based upon the accumulation of idealized stories they heard about him prior. Works like a charm!

All burton has to do is act the part, and from what I hear it’s getting increasingly more difficult for him to do given his current dwindling mental status and which is probably why the grandiose traumatizing narcisist is now resorting to the fear tactic of handing out more and more Siberian Vacations for the slightest cause.

62. Just the Facts Ma'am - February 2, 2019

I worked many years around Robert Earl Burton and, to use FoF speak, I observed and recorded his behavior from interactions with me, and others close to him, that lead to formulating a ‘photograph’ that could not ever be delivered to him without dire consequences – he being above photography. (This was some decades ago.) Regardless of what Burton could say about himself, the truth eventually is apparent. Of course, this is just one angle of the picture.

Robert Earl Burton is a Queen-of-Hearts Saturn-Mars (more Mars than Saturn) with the chief feature of fear. He does everything possible to hide this fear feature by evoking fear in others and using other features to hide it. I clearly remember the last time I shared eye contact with his left eye, seeing into his essence, just before my leaving FoF, and what I saw was just a scared little boy who is afraid of his own shadow and what people think of him. (I also saw that there was no love in his heart, or elsewhere in his being.) The Queen-of-Hearts, particularly the negative half, in him has a penchant for revenge in many different ways. Lashing out at others for any reason, or even no good reason, is the way he operates – no one is safe from that – I do not necessarily mean violence. Current FoF membership be forewarned for this is likely to get worse as dementia worsens and he loses more control over himself – if it is not already obvious. (This is besides the Narcissistic Personality Disorder.) Good luck.

63. Ames Gilbert - February 2, 2019

Hello Insider, thank you for keeping us up to date.

You say, “Meanwhile, Burton is putting people on “leaves of absence” at a pace never seen before. Gesticulating while dining. Talking too loud. Having too much sex (other than with Burton). Refusing sex with Burton. Eating while Burton is speaking. It looks like a serious house cleaning. Getting rid of everyone Burton does not like, or who does not completely believe in the Burton religion.”

Any details on how ‘leave of absence’ affects the Fellowship of Friends hierarchy of consciousness? I mean, if everyone who writes a check to Burton automatically gets to acquire some species of ‘conscious’, does the emotional shock of being expelled put them over the top?

Or does whichever one of the ’81 angels’ who is in charge of such things remove their understanding and consciousness simultaneously?

Or are they required to keep on making ‘teaching payments’ while on ‘leave of absence’ and thereby maintain their status? I’m hazy on the details… Maybe Solartype can help out with details here?

Have you heard any feedback from any of those sanctioned, either recently or further in the past? Are they glad, mad, or terrified?

Thank you also for telling us about Burton’s chilling damnation of Douglas Walker. This was obviously with the agreement of the ‘81 angels’, since he portrays himself as a humble servant merely ‘doing their will’. Sounds more like he is in league with 81 devils, to me. I remind readers of Burton’s other words you refer to. From the last page, (paraphrasing Burton’s comments at a Fellowship meeting following the November 2018 fire in Paradise, CA):

Dying by being burnt alive, those people deserved to die like that, because they called their town Paradise, and they have no idea what beauty is.

The Fourth Way luminary, Ouspensky, is said to have opined that there is no objective evil; maybe he was right, how would I know? But I would certainly present the case of Burton as an example to the contrary.

64. Ames Gilbert - February 2, 2019

Insider, you also brought us the news of yet another of Burton’s predictions, though the timeline is rather vague. Has your source shared what brought this on (signs, wonders, T–shirts he has encountered)? Solartype, can you help out here?

So, ‘preparations’ are underway, yet again. Doesn’t Geoffrey Rowland ever get tired of this? Someone should set up a generator/fuel tank/bulk dried food dealership and get a wholesale discount!

Mind you, how exactly does one prepare for a nuclear holocaust that would likely bring on a winter that will last for between three to ten years?

65. Ames Gilbert - February 2, 2019

And of course, there will be fundraising, always fundraising. An item that crossed my desk recently shows this is in full swing—but then, when is it not? No doubt the ‘pace of fundraising will quicken’ right along with Burton’s acceleration of students’ evolution as the predicted time nears.
Here is the schedule for just one week! Bear in mind that each of these events costs $$$, one way or another.

Apollo Schedule of Events: As of January 29, 2019
Wednesday, January 30

6:30 PM Voucher Meeting with Robert @ Apollo Festival Hal
7:44 PM Dinner with Robert @ Galleria Goethe Room
7:30 PM Dinner at Small Tables
Thursday, January 31
6:30 PM Voucher Meeting with Robert @ Da Vinci Grand Salon
Friday February 1, 2019
9:30 AM Voucher Breakfast Tea with Robert @Apollo Festival Hall
6:30 PM Voucher Meeting with Robert @ Galleria Goethe Room
7:44 PM Dinner with Robert @ Galleria Goethe Room
Saturday February 2
10:30 AM Voucher Meeting with Robert @ Da Vinci Grand Salon
6:30 PM Dinner with Robert @ Galleria Goethe Room
Sunday February 3
10:30 AM Non-Voucher Meeting with Robert @ Apollo Festival Hall
12 Noon Benefit Lunch with Robert @ Apollo Festival Hall
4:44 PM Dinner with Robert @ Galleria Goethe Room
Tuesday February 5
6:30 PM Accademia Leonardo Fundraising Dinner hosted by Mary Frazer @ Angela and Geoffrey’s

You have to give Burton credit, he has unbelievable stamina when it comes to grabbing cash or dicks. He is probably in training right now for Valentine’s Day, it’s going to be a hectic schedule, and there are records to be broken.

The list ends with a preview of future opportunities, including:
Tuesday March 5
6:30 PM Fundraising Dinner hosted by James Kowalick @ Angela and Geoffrey’s

66. Insider - February 2, 2019

63. Ames Gilbert

“Insider, you also brought us the news of yet another of Burton’s predictions, though the timeline is rather vague. Has your source shared what brought this on (signs, wonders, T–shirts he has encountered)?”

I heard only 2 things: (1) On the day of the last failed prediction (Oct 21, 2018), “inner circle” people within the Galleria reported that Burton was very upset that nothing happened; and (2) within 2-3 weeks following Oct 21, Burton announced to his “inner circle” that it was now necessary to begin preparing for the nuclear holocaust in 2020.

Signs? Omens? T-shirts?

The Fellowship is a doomsday cult. The next “end of the world” scenario is as integral to the fabric of the Fellowship as is “European-style” dining and pocket squares for the gentlemen.

Of course, once Burton has decided on the next prediction, omens supporting it are endless. That’s the easy part. I gather that most meetings (which are now at 5 per week) include endless repetition of the latest “concrete proofs” that Burton has gotten it right this time.

67. Cult Survivor - February 3, 2019

61. Just the Facts Ma’am

JTFM said,

>”Robert Earl Burton is a Queen-of-Hearts Saturn-Mars (more Mars than Saturn) with the chief feature of fear.”

That sounds very accurate to me after 28 years observing Robert. He tells people that he is centered in the King of Hearts because in the FOF queens are demonized, but an example that he is a Queen is his frequent display of the so-called “Off with her head!” syndrome, like during the expulsion of Asaf Braverman from the FOF when Robert said “Asaf is going from bad to worse” and “Asaf is going to the end of the Ray of Creation” (which is to my knowledge the lowest place somebody can go). So Robert’s Queen of Hearts was mad at Asaf for his “betrayal” and Robert’s chief feature of fear was scared that people would leave the FOF to join Asaf’s “school”. Bingo. I happened to talk to Asaf after his expulsion — I was curious about what happened — and he told me, “I don’t understand why Robert asked Wayne M. to deliver a message to me, I was very close to Robert and he knows that I don’t bark”. In my experience an enraged Queen of Hearts would not talk to a close friend when she is mad at him, she would send a message through somebody to humiliate him. Asaf has a huge vanity feature, so when Robert humiliated him sending the message “Tell Asaf that he has to choose between the FOF and BePeriod” Asaf humiliated Robert back saying, “Tell Robert that it’s imagination to think I have a choice”, which sounds like Christ reply to Pontius Pilate when he was asked “Are you you the King of the Jews?” and he replied, “Thou sayest it”.

What a joke are those two, thinking that they are conscious beings when they are just “sleeping machines” totally controlled by their features like anybody else.

I would like to add the feature of lunatic to Robert’s spectrum. The obsession with French decorative art, then with Ming furniture, then back to French art, then with Egypt, then back to French art, the 5,000 palms that he asked to be planted at Apollo, the camels, the llamas, the alpacas, the sequence (he has been talking about 6’s, 4’s, short/middle/long BE at every event for 12 years non-stop), the predictions (if California doesn’t fall in 1998 it has to fall in 2000, then in 2002, then in 2012, then in 2018…). If that’s not a lunatic feature I don’t know what it is.

It may seem puzzling that Robert is able to have so many followers, some for many years (including me), when his “mechanics” and disorders are so evident, but also Charles Manson and Jim Jones where clearly delusional and managed to have followers for years…

The answer to this apparent enigma is in Invictus Maneo’s Message No. 58:

>”Charismatic psychopaths often are so good at reading the weaknesses of their potential victims that non-psychopaths may think they have special powers. They don’t; they’re just predators looking to make another kill.”

I’ll talk more about that on another post when I’ll tell the story of how Robert tried to seduce me to have sex with him in 1988 when I was 25.

68. crossroads - February 3, 2019

61. Just the Facts Ma’am – You are right.
I should have said “s/he is the queen of her queen-doom”
stubborn and capricious

69. jess - February 3, 2019

I am not sure about you others, but it seems to me that these ‘personal views’ on REB must be piercing the veneer of the emperor at this time on the blog. At the very time when the Solartype Conglomerate Inc is waging a front on all that attack the ‘oh! so sweet and gentle’ FOF and how it upholds neutral values for awakening and spiritual advancement, so many who have disentangled themselves, both physically and emotionally/intellectually, from the Burton Web, have lived to tell the tale of a disgusting, hypnotic pile of shit.

Looking back on several encounters with His Lordship, I remember he was quite afraid of direct, non-FOF answers – i.e. people speaking in their own idiomatic language and being firm about it. He did not reach a ‘fit of peek’ with me, even though I did not have, say, the clout of a Karl Werner. IT IS SO GOOD AND CLEARING FOR THE SOUL TO SPEAK IN YOUR OWN LANGUAGE – YOUR OWN TRUTH.

70. Insider - February 3, 2019

65. Insider

I’ve been corrected by another “insider:”

The end of civilization via a nuclear holocaust is scheduled for this year, not 2020.

I’ll report back when I find out how Fellowshipers are preparing to survive this event.

71. Cult Survivor - February 3, 2019

A Story of Domination and Sexual Abuse

I joined the FOF in February of 1988, when I was 25 years old. In November of 1988 I moved to Apollo (Renaissance at that time) and started working at the winery. I was working 8-10 hours per day, 5-6 days per week, for a salary of $350 per month without a working visa (that’s right, $350 per month — it’s not a typo). After a week or so I was approached by a lady — she told me that I was invited to a “Symposium with the Teacher” that evening. I had no idea what a Symposium was so I asked her and she replied “Oh, it’s an informal dinner just for men. Casual dressing.” After a long day of work at the winery I went home, took a shower and headed to the Goethe Academy (now Galleria Apollo) for my first encounter with my Teacher. When I entered the Academy, Robert came straight to me, kissed me on the lips and said “I was waiting for you dear, I got a fortune cookie recently saying ‘A tall man will enter your life'” (I’m 6’ 2″). He asked me to sit next to him on a sofa in the salon and held my left hand while I was served a strong gin and tonic. After 15 minutes or so we proceeded to the Goethe Room where the Symposium for Robert and another 12 young men was going to happen. I was already a bit tipsy because of the gin and tonic on an empty stomach and the long day of work at the winery, but my state was quite high (no pun intended) because I was meeting my Teacher for the first time and he told me that he was waiting for me (I have a vanity feature). I was asked to sit opposite to Robert — later I discovered that that was an important place — while 2 young men, one a permanent lover and the other a new one, sat on each side of him. During the dinner Robert kept looking at me and spoke several times to me directly and, after with 2 glasses of white wine, a glass of red wine, a glass of dessert wine and finally a glass of cognac (don’t forget the gin and tonic at the beginning) my state was quite high (pun intended). At the end of the dinner I went to the kitchen to have a coffee before going home (I remember walking with difficulty) and was approached by one of Robert’s assistants that told me that Robert wanted to talk to me privately. The assistant said “Follow me” and started walking towards Robert’s bedroom. I followed him without really knowing what I was doing and when I entered the room I saw that Robert was already in bed. He said “Come here, dear. Sat on the bed” and I did as he asked. He placed his hand on my chest and started doing circles with his fingers while saying things like “C Influence sent you to me, remember the fortune cookie”, “Why don’t you remove your clothes and get in the bed”, “Don’t be afraid, it’s just your instinctive center and feminine dominance”, etc. Suddenly he placed his hand on my penis over my pants and started massaging it trying to excite me and get an erection but after 2 or 3 minutes he realized that I was too drunk and that nothing was going to happen in that department, so he said “It’s okay dear, we have plenty of time” and got up, opened the door, and asked one of his assistants to take me home. I remember that I was silent all the way to my place — I felt a mix of shame and embarrassment. I know it seems absurd, but I was not ashamed because a men 20 years older that was supposed to be my “Teacher” tried to seduce me and have sex with me (I’m heterosexual) but because I couldn’t perform my duty with my Teacher — I felt that it was a honor to have been chosen to be his lover and it was my fault that I couldn’t rise to the occasion. I went to sleep feeling guilty and woke up in the morning with the thought “when he calls me again I’m going to do what he asks”. And then… something happened. Two days later a tall guy moved to Apollo and soon after became Robert’s lover. I was friends with him because we are from the same country; one day he told me that Robert had told him that he was waiting for him because he got a fortune cookie saying that a tall guy was going to enter his life… At that moment my feature of vanity said “No! I am the tall guy of the fortune cookie!” and my friend just shrugged his shoulders and said, “Whatever”. I felt humiliated and offended and made the decision to leave Renaissance immediately, but after a couple of days vanity and the queens succeeded and I changed my mind (unfortunately). I hoped that Robert would invite me again to a Symposium or a “Wine Cellar Dinner” (those were diners for 25-30 young men that Robert started to host after he stopped hosting Symposiums — I guess he realized that 25-30 men is better than 12 for hunting purposes) but he never did. After two years I heard a knock on my window in the middle of the night: It was my friend that had “escaped” from the Galleria — he had been living there all that time — because “he couldn’t do that anymore”, he told me. He asked if he could stay with me and I said that it was fine. We talked until the morning (he was in a very disturbed state) and he told me several stories about Robert’s manipulation tactics and deviant sexual habits that I will refrain to mention here because they are second hand and I want to stick to what I experienced myself. In the morning I received a call from Wayne M. asking me if Anthony (not his real name) was at my place (Wayne M. knew we were friends) and when I confirmed that he was there they sent a car to pick him up. After a few days he was sent back to his country because of “psychological problems”. I tried to contact him but his family refused to let me talk to him — I was told that he was undergoing psychiatric treatment and that he was not allowed to talk to anybody, especially from the FOF. After a few months another young man moved to Apollo and became Robert’s lover; at a reception at the Galleria Robert told me “Anthony was payment for him” and kissed his new lover on the forehead.

My aim telling my story was to show the power that a cult leader has over his followers regarding sexual favors (Charles Manson, Jim Jones and Osho, for example, were also extremely manipulative and promiscuous). Fortunately, I was “saved” by some Divine Providence and didn’t become Robert’s sexual slave. I believe that several people that wrote here in this blog about Robert’s sexual abuses have a story similar to mine — the ones that didn’t have the luck to escape and succumbed to Robert’s powers are probably too fucked up to write about their experiences.

72. John Harmer - February 3, 2019

Thank you for sharing your story with us here Cult Survivor. The fact that you don’t embellish or try to make yourself look good gives it power and authority. Glad to know you escaped relatively unscathed, though others were sucked in far deeper to Burton’s lair of lustful lies.

73. Ames Gilbert - February 3, 2019

Cult Survivor, thank you for sharing your experiences with Burton, and so frankly.

Although I talked with some men who had sex with Burton, their experiences were just words to me, however empathic I might be. They could speak of shame, but it would be quite another thing to actually experience such a mixture of self–loathing, regret and anger. I am so glad you escaped Burton’s clutches, and so sorry for your friend. I hope he was able to make a clean break and start real healing.

It shows my extreme naiveté that I did not know about the ‘Symposiums’ and such in 1998. I was in Sacramento then, busy trying to raise a family and stay current with my ‘teaching payments’. I guess I was remote enough, wasn’t in the right gossip loop and also doggedly refused to face up to such evidence that did come my way. However, my extreme naiveté also somehow protected me a decade earlier when I got ‘closer’ to Burton, as I have related elsewhere on the blog.

Yet, by 1998 it was well known by many at Renaissance that Burton regularly had sex with young heterosexual men (I myself had found out when Miles left). At the time, I assumed that the choice was entirely consensual on both sides, and that I bore no responsibility for their choices. I even discussed this with my center directors, and we all agreed—how convenient! That is, we all went back to sleep.

It took half a dozen more years and a hours–long talk with an honest Fellowship of Friends psychiatrist to realize that the extreme imbalance of powers between Burton and someone he lusted for made all supposed agreements invalid. Thus, finally, I came to realize that I was complicit and a contributor to their suffering.

74. Ames Gilbert - February 3, 2019

Fair warning, another long ‘un from Ames, inflicted on you just because it is pouring outside and he’s bored! His idea of fun. Sorry, Crossroads, feel free to skip…
___________________________________________

So, the way I see it, steps towards surviving a nuclear holocaust and subsequent nuclear winter can be done by:
a) relying on the good graces of and trust in the skills of ‘81 angels’. Yes, those who are at a level that apparently cannot even, after 48 years of trying, manage to work out a reliable way of communicating with Robert Earl Burton. Or of finding someone less obtuse to carry out their wishes.

Or,
b) relying on human ingenuity and science.

It would take more than good luck to manage the complexities of saving a bunch of as helpless, unskilled, and unprepared—yet supremely arrogant—goofs that ever walked the earth. Not to mention keeping said sheep fed and warm through three to ten back–to–back year–long winters. Not to mention keeping them occupied and sane, though that wouldn’t apply in this case.

But let’s take a stab.

Round these latitudes, continuous winter for three years or more will yield an average year–round temperature of 90 degrees K, the temperature of liquid oxygen. Assuming the pitiful sheepsicles will huddle together in the basement of the former winery, and assuming each person converts about 2 kcal of energy a day, a quick back of the hand calculation shows that to stay warm would require about 40 feet thick of isocyanoacrylate insulation all round, assuming R=8 per inch.

Then the designers, say, Geoffrey Rowland (in an unlikely burst of genius), plus various helpers, will have to design and construct complicated chambers for intermediate temperature conditioning spaces, wherein liquid oxygen can be converted to gas warm enough for consumption, excess carbon dioxide can be shoveled out, water can be made liquid or recycled, waste can be frozen then shoveled out, and so on and on. Then much space for 1500 x 2 kcal’s worth of food per day for three to ten years. No fresh food, obviously. Rough estimate, half to three quarters of a ton per person per year, a full pallet load—‑and of course, more for the higher ups in the Inner Circle™.

Assume initial load of a few hundred tons of water can be recycled using sophisticated heat exchangers, and any losses mined from the outside (all the gases in the atmosphere will freeze at different temperatures, thus distinct layers).

Oops, no room for humans and their accoutrements and needs and exercise space! Let alone any new faces. Let alone the vast stores needed to restart the new civilization in the style that Burton demands. Oh, and no room for animals of any sort, either.

Another oops! The frost line (above which the ground is frozen) will descend month by month. By year two, the liquid and gaseous components of the atmosphere that will have frozen out will comprise a layer about 150 feet deep. True, that will provide a sort of insulation, but the frost line will be about 100 feet deep by the end of year two, well below the foundations of the winery basement, and thus the cold outside will not be buffered by any insulation. So, better dig a trench about 150 feet deep and forty feet wide round the foundations, to where the frost line will stabilize in equilibrium with the heat from the mantle of the earth. Then fill that with insulation.

All this to be designed and actualized within an unknown time frame, but certainly to be completed and ready during this year!

Also, when any survivors stagger outside after more normal weather and temperature resume, there will still be lethal doses of radiation to contend with and no knowledge or equipment to ameliorate that.

So, no, we’ll have to go back to a), miracles galore.

Still, mere child’s play for those beings of incalculable power, Burton’s Buddies™. Plus, the Absolute ™ as backup. They can just will all that is necessary into existence. Poof! And it’s done.

While they are at it, they could materialize a beautiful white marble city where the fake chateau presently resides in Oregon House, California. Radiation free, of course.
Complete with magic power, water, roads, propane and a gasoline station (obviously, the ‘76’ brand, so significant to Burton). Plus a gold mine and a mercury processing plant so they can get cracking on lots of ormolu to gild everything in sight, à la Burton.

All this effort so a bunch of clueless idiots can inherit the earth and jump–start a ‘new civilization’ where everyone is an aristocrat and dresses up in 18th century clothes.

Hmmm.

75. WhaleRider - February 3, 2019

Cult Survivor:
Thank you for sharing your story.

I regret that I didn’t do more after I left in 1985 that could have prevented burton’s institutionalized rape factory from leaving its scar on your psyche as it did mine.

It wasn’t until I started processing burton’s abuse in my case that I came to understand his actions were tantamount to rape.

You were drugged with alcohol, and he attempted to rape you.

It doesn’t matter if burton is a Cadillac or a Volkswagen, always keep your eyes on what a sociopath or psychopath does, not on what yet say or how they say it.

76. fofblogmoderator - February 3, 2019

Post #46 was just published (it had been hung in moderation)

77. Ames Gilbert - February 3, 2019

Correction to #73 above, 4th paragraph should be, “Yet, by 1988 it was well known…”, not 1998.
Old brain, old eyes…

78. invictus maneo - February 3, 2019

Cult Survivor, thank you for your bravery in dredging this up and reporting it. I hope you have loving family and/or friends around to help you deal with the stress of letting this go forth by day.

63 Ames Gilbert – I recall Ouspensky wrote there is a devil, but people are not evil. What appears to be evil action by people is due to sleep. Gurdjieff gave his students an exercise to try and do crime while remembering themselves. They found they could not; their consciences prevented them.

This understanding, that evil is the result of sleep was, for me, an important verification that Robert Burton is a sleeping being, and is not conscious. Other humans through history who seem to have attained something higher than our normal life all devoted themselves to improving the lot of humanity, not trying to suck cock, wounding and destroying people.

79. Phutatorius - February 4, 2019

I’d like to know, how many of Robert’s boyz, besides me, got uninvited from the Blake Cottage. Anyone?

80. Cult Survivor - February 4, 2019

65. Ames Gilbert

I calculated the funds raised every week at FOF events (assuming the cost and attendance of November 2016 when I left and that the current market value of a voucher is $40 as it was then):

WED Voucher meeting w/RB / 150 x $40 = $6,000
THU Voucher meeting w/RB / 150 x $40 = $6,000
FRI Voucher breakfast w/RB / 50 x $40 = $2,000
FRI Voucher meeting w/RB / 150 x $40 = $6,000
SAT Voucher meeting w/RB / 150 x $40 = $6,000
TOTAL VOUCHER EVENTS = $26,000 / WEEK

WED Dinner w/RB / 18 x $150 = $2,700
WED Dinner at small tables / 125 x $25 = $3,125
FRI Dinner w/RB / 18 x $150 = $2,700
SAT Dinner w/RB / 18 x $150 = $2,700
SUN Non Voucher meeting w/RB / 150 x $55 = $8,250
SUN Lunch w/RB / 75 x $25 = $1,875
SUN Dinner w/RB / 18 x $150 = $2,700
TUE Fundraising dinner / 50 x $25 = $1,250
TOTAL NON VOUCHER EVENTS = $25,300 / WEEK

GRAND TOTAL = $51,300 / WEEK

I remember that when Asaf was still the dean of the FOF, he told me once that 80% of the income of Apollo comes from Robert’s events because the members that live at Apollo are even retired or make minimum donations. Considering that people that are not “on salary” ($350-450 monthly salary depending on the position) only work for vouchers now (nobody does “third line” and donates their time and energy like in the good ol’ days) and that Robert is the sole redeemer of the vouchers, it would be interesting to see what happens with the FOF income when Robert “ends his task” or becomes too crazy or weak to host events.

The logical conclusion would be that the FOF would collapse like a flan in a cupboard, but cults are known to be extremely resilient. The so-called Ananda Village in Nevada City is an example of that: They are still functioning even after being sued by a woman in 1997 that claimed that was sexually abused by Ananda’s founder and leader “Swami” (in quotation marks because that title implies celibacy) Kriyananda (aka J. Donald Waters) and ordered to pay 1.8 million dollars in compensatory and punitive damages (Ananda filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and that allowed the organization to settle the case out of court) and the death of “Swami” in 2013. As a matter of fact, they are organizing a big event to celebrate their 50 years anniversary in July. By the way, their web site only mentions “Swami” en passant:

THE ORGANIZATION
“Ananda is a worldwide movement to help you realize the joy of your own higher Self. It is based on the teachings of Paramhansa Yogananda and was founded by his direct disciple Swami Kriyananda in 1968.”

ANANDA VILLAGE
“For nearly 50 years Ananda Village has exemplified the spiritual ideals of Paramhansa Yogananda’s “World Brotherhood Colonies”. Under the guidance and blessing of Swami Kriyananda (1926-2013) and our great guru Yogananda, we have developed communities, schools, businesses, music and the arts, and retreat centers throughout the world where spiritual friendships, meditation, yoga, and selfless service thrive. It all started at Ananda Village where you can join us to for an inspiring visit, retreat, for internships, family programs, or online. Please explore our site and contact us with your inquiries or to say hello. Many blessings on your journey.

I predict a revamp of the FOF after RB passes away, even changing its name, and a return to Gurdjieff and the Fourth Way:

THE ORGANIZATION
“Apollo is a worldwide movement to help you realize the presence of your own higher Self. It is based on the teachings of Georges I. Gurdjieff and was founded by Robert E. Burton in 1971.”

APOLLO COMMUNITY
“For nearly 50 years Apollo has exemplified the spiritual ideals of George Gurdjieff’s “Fourth Way”. Under the guidance of Robert E. Burton (1939-2019), we have developed communities, schools, businesses, music and the arts, and teaching centers throughout the world where spiritual friendships, presence, and self-remembering thrive. It all started at Apollo where you can join us to for an inspiring visit, retreat, for internships, family programs, or online. Please explore our site and contact us with your inquiries or to say hello. Much presence on your journey.”

You got the idea.

81. brucelevy - February 4, 2019

79. Phutatorius

I wasn’t “uninvited”. I moved back to the lodge when my personal shit came down. C***n L******t was sent to lure me back and it didn’t go well. I cut off RB and C.L. At that point, in my mind I left, but took a couple years to actually leave formally. I felt I needed to complete paying back a loan from the FOF that helped me start my bindery. The day it was paid off I informed the office that I was out of there.

82. brucelevy - February 4, 2019

79. Phutatorius

I don’t recall anyone being uninvited before I left. It could be that we were all keeping quite, walking around in a daze, not revealing anything to each other at that point. It wasn’t common knowledge until I and few others started talking to Miles, etc. And once there was talk there was more denial then acceptance.

83. jess - February 4, 2019

To broach an uneasy subject – to open old wounds – maybe?

Abusive father figures.
Dysfunctional families.

Is it a response to either, or both, of the above that makes us seek a spiritual leader who, in this case, is a ‘false prophet’, turned narcissistic, perverted psychopath? It is an almost natural phenomenom to find replacements. The psychology profession talks of ‘replacing’ – the man wishes to marry a woman like his mother, the woman a man like her father. I suspect that, even in this cult, ‘replacement’ takes the stage.

A far greater risk, and more fruitful because it is challenging, is to delve into life with a certain loneliness that learns from its experiences, is not too eager to ‘plough the procreative furrow’ yet,ultimately, finds one’s true place IN LIFE not billboarded and registered in or by some pathetic semblance of a church (the FOF is far from a chrch).

84. Cult Survivor - February 4, 2019

81. brucelevy

Bruce said, “At that point, in my mind I left, but took a couple years to actually leave formally. I felt I needed to complete paying back a loan from the FOF that helped me start my bindery. The day it was paid off I informed the office that I was out of there.”

Wow, Bruce, you got to be a Martial (that would explain your blunt writing style). Fortunately I didn’t have to pay any debts to the FOF when I decided to leave (I come from a Mercurial country so that would be unthinkable); on the contrary, I left the cult feeling that they owed me money for of the 4.5 years that I was “on salary” being paid $350-400 per month.

They did sent me an email 6 months after I left to tell me that if I wanted to come back they would waive the “reentry fee” ($1,500) and that I could pay only $150 per month for 6 months ($420 was the minimum monthly “donation” at that time). I found that comic.

They must be really desperate for cash, as the absurd number of weekly events with Robert indicates (5 meetings and 6 meals per week, compared with 2 meetings and 3 meals when I left in November of 2016). That’s a meeting with Robert every day of the week except Monday and Tuesday! Since I heard Robert saying several times that when students don’t go to meetings C Influence often gives them a terminal illness “for them to work with it”, it’s not an option for members to attend.

You have to have stomach to pay $55 (or work 4-6 hours for a voucher) and sit quietly for 60 minutes hearing Robert rambling about the Sequence and the predictions 5 times per week, that’s for sure.

85. Cult Survivor - February 4, 2019

I just listened to the Parcast podcast on the FOF for the first time.

Whoever did the research did an impressive job — I only found one mistake: To my knowledge members were never asked to stand on one leg when attending events if they paid with a single voucher, on two legs when paying with two vouchers, and being allowed to sit when they paid with three or more vouchers. This means, of course, that the podcast is 99.9% correct.

It was chilling moment when I listened to the first minute of the podcast, about the intoxicated young boy being seduced by Robert, after the personal experience that I posted here.

On the other hand, it was very gratifying to see the Fellowship of Friends finally listed together with cults such as Charles Manson’s “Family”, Marshal Applewhite’s “Heaven’s Gate”, Shoko Asahara’s “Aum Shinrikyo”, David Koresh’s “Branch Davidians” and Jim Jones’ “People’s Temple”.

And, of course, it was rewarding to notice that this blog was mentioned on the podcast.

86. brucelevy - February 4, 2019

84. Cult Survivor

I joined in 74 and left in 85. The dynamic of exploitation was very different back then. He was still believed to be celibate, except by those he was abusing, and we didn’t speak about it with each other. For awhile we all thought “Am I the only one this is happening to.” Which was very self-deceiving I guess.

87. Cult Survivor - February 4, 2019

86. brucelevy

Makes sense, thanks for the clarification.

88. crossroads - February 4, 2019

73. (now 74) Ames – not too long… Why would I want to skip/scroll?
I want to be informed and your contributions are of great value, but it requires energy and time to focus and energy capture the depth and meaning. Some actually might just see the name and scroll out.

Reminds me about “external consideration”, taking up too much space etc. Makes me wonder if you use “voice recognition” instead of typing… I personally enjoy long posts but not rambling.

I learn that 250 words is more or less what a person can actually digest in a single blog spot – I agree

Of course you have “free will” and can do whatever you please,
“We are doing this together”, “I am the world, the world is me”
J. Krishnamurti

89. crossroads - February 4, 2019

85. Cult Survivor – “I just listened to the Parcast podcasts”

I agree. Good job that production. I also noticed on that about the “standing in one foot” or “two” depending on voucher –
It sounds more like it was about the number of vouchers that could allow for either standing or sitting and in what position in the room, what row etc.

I also noticed that they say that the property in Oregon House was called “Villa del Sol” in the very beginning, but does it not refers to a place in Carmel instead?

Anyways, the little mistake is like looking at “conscious art” and find a mistake, which was set there on purpose… Not sure if this is the case but It almost feels as if someone actually provided them with the script. Good job. Anyways, the 99.9% accuracy is awesome!

90. Ames Gilbert - February 4, 2019

This repost would be timely, IMHO.
If the link to the original does not work, Tim also posted it as part of his amazing work at robertearlburton.blogspot.com. Every reader should be aware of and explore this most valuable site! And if the link does work, the context of this post (input from FoF spokesperson, DC) is also important.
___________________________________________

# 86-240 (December 9, 2009)
https://fofdiscussion.wordpress.com/2009/11/19/fellowship-of-friendspathway-to-presence-discussion-part-86/#comment-1754

I’ve tried to avoid telling other people’s stories, but since this one was told to me and it had a really big effect on me, I’m going to go ahead.

When I started asking people about their sexual experiences with Burton, something unexpected happened. Somehow the word that I was interested got around, and people started approaching me, unbidden and unexpected.

One night, a man called and asked if I would talk with him. I agreed, and expected the conversation to continue over the phone. Instead, he asked if he could come and talk in person, right away. I said okay, and then, just before calling off, he said, “By the way, I want to bring my wife”. I said that was fine, and asked if he minded if my wife was present; I told him that she was completely trustworthy and would provide balance.

Five minutes later, he was there, with his wife. They were pale and distraught and obviously in turmoil.

The next hours were some of the most amazing of my life. This man told me about his relationship with Burton in detail, and it was revolting from every point of view. The relationship had been going on for four years. One of the more surreal aspects of all this is that this was that most of this was new to his wife. She had only learned of the fact of the sexual relationship the previous day, without details. She was processing all this right in front of my eyes, and I could see her reaction to all the details as her husband told them. He was confessing to her and us at the same time, and his grief and shame and agony, and hers, was one of the most powerful experiences I have ever had in my life.

As all this unfolded, I was also conscious that this was a very rare moment, that the unvarnished truth was being told, and I must remember everything.

When the first wave had finished (about twenty minutes), I was aware of the incredible anger building up in his wife. She was boiling with rage and plainly wanted to be elsewhere. I felt I should say something, so I asked him if he minded if I asked him questions. Obviously, I asked how it started. He told me that Burton asked him to stay on after a ‘Symposium’ where everyone had a great deal to drink. Burton took him to a bedroom and told him to get undressed. The man knew enough about Burton to guess what was about to happen, and protested. Burton told him that his reluctance was due to ingrained mechanical morality, and specifically that working against this would aid his evolution. This convinced the man; he for sure agreed that this would be deeply against his nature, so it would indeed be very strong ‘work on his mechanicality’. After oral sex on the man, Burton told him to lie on the floor, naked. Burton then masturbated to climax over him.

This was the pattern of the relationship. Every time the man had doubts, Burton told him that he was advancing, that he was on the fast track of evolution, that the angels approved, that he was privileged, that his spiritual future was assured. It was also the sexual pattern. As this unfolded, I was conscious that I was hearing a description of pure, unmitigated evil.

So we found out that all this time, his wife had no idea. She was not a follower when they met, and only joined because he was already a member. She liked the people, but did not particularly empathize with what the FoF claimed. She had had a strong (but not fundamentalist) religious upbringing. But she did know she loved her husband. She started talking, her words were of disbelief and betrayal. “How could you have done this?” she asked over and over again. My wife and I were just spectators for the next hour, and we might just as well have been invisible for most of the time as they thrashed with the issues.

When the second wave was over, we tried to comfort them. I could see that now a period of doubt and regret had started. Why on earth did they come to two strangers and spill all this out? After a while I asked. Because the people that they knew, the regular Fellowship folks, could not be trusted. They had no one to turn to. They had to express and confess. The wife felt so stupid. The man felt such shame, felt such a fool. He should have known better, he should have told his wife immediately, but the longer he avoided it, the harder it became.

Then we started talking about conscience. I buried mine, the man said, I can see that now. I knew at the time that this was wrong for me, but I thought that Burton knew better, and that sacrificing mechanicality was what was needed for awakening. Burton assured me over and over again that I was on the road to awakening, that my understanding hadn’t caught up yet.

We talked for another hour about what this meant. What is the nature of betrayal? What can be learned from it? What is the nature of forgiveness? Is there such a thing as volitional forgiveness, or is all one can do is prepare the ground as best as one can and invite forgiveness in when it is time?

The last fifteen minutes we spent hugging and caring, and then they went back home, with at least a temporary peace.
And they did stay together.

From this, I deeply understood why a man would submit to Burton. As I’ve said before, I don’t know what would have happened if Burton had pressed me, had not taken ‘no’ for an answer. DC is right in one way, anyone could say ‘no’, and most of us were adults in the technical sense.
But DC is very wrong in the most important way. Burton uses his authority and power to satisfy his desires. The Fourth Way demands that one give up one’s will to a teacher, and Burton certainly demands that. What do you do when it comes to the crunch? Burton either claims outright or by implication (and it’s a damn strong implication, DC, whatever you say) that this is an excellent method to ‘work against mechanicality’. And the idea that once we’ve turned 18 we are all adults, completely competent and able to prevail in the world, is nonsense. In some very important ways, many people attracted to the FoF are children who want and need to be told what to do.

91. crossroads - February 4, 2019

One more thought on this rainy morning:
By now with all the stories written here it would be possible to put together a booklet called: 101 stories of rape and crime by Robert Earl Burton and the Fellowship of Friends in Oregon House CA – oh wait: maybe 1001?

92. WhaleRider - February 4, 2019

II think i’m going to pass on listening to the podcast, I’d probably lose my lunch…heck I can’t even visit Tim’s awesome website because I find photos of burton too disturbing.

As the public becomes more aware of the enormity of burton’s and his sex trafficking-money laundering enterprise’s unpunished crimes against humanity, it ought to be clear why some of us wish to remain anonymous here….and I applaud those willing to go public.

93. Ames Gilbert - February 4, 2019

Invictus (#78), I totally agree with you that Burton is asleep and certainly not ‘conscious’. IMHO, whatever the theories to explain his present being, his actions speak incomparably louder than his words. And as you point out, those actions are the complete opposite of the record of what you call, ‘other humans through history who seem to have attained something higher than our normal life’.

Burton’s ignoble words are a mix of imperious hubris and infinite arrogance, show a complete lack of decency, and a total contempt for the rest of mankind. They are a piss–pot of ignorance, they reflect a narcissist/sociopath’s inability to have any kind of empathy or imagine the value of another’s humanity or experience, and, finally, last but most certainly not least, they are epitomes of crass stupidity. And from what I can tell, and what they have written in their books and on this blog, his followers have adhered closely to his example.

But his actions show everything important about his being. As Whalerider has just reminded us again, using alcohol as a drug to overcome inhibitions makes subsequent sex, rape. This is without taking into account the gross spiritual power imbalance of a seeker conditioned to obey his ‘teacher’ in all regards. RAPE. But also, Burton’s addiction to limitless sex, to various prescription drugs (provided by compliant and complicit Fellowship of Friends doctors), endless shopping—his complete slavery to his lusts, his total lack of self–control in any area whatsoever for the last forty–eight years, all demonstrate he is unconscious.

I don’t know if in the remote past he ever reached some ‘lasting higher state’ due to accident or the result of some species of a Nietzschean ‘will to power’, but that would be just more speculation and of limited use, IMO, though I have indulged in plenty myself!

And whatever his state of consciousness, surely he is responsible for the results of his actions, the harm he has done to thousands of followers, the thousands of males he has raped, the fortune he has dissipated? Of course, all those who condoned and supported him over nearly five decades share this responsibility. As I have written before, Burton would probably have trouble boiling an egg to save himself from starving, were everyone to suddenly disappear and leave him alone in the Galleria/Academy/whatever. He would be nothing without his enablers, and his enablers would be nothing without him.

94. crossroads - February 4, 2019

Thanks Ames for the recommended jump to Page 86 –
A post that Golden Veil brought up:
“Dear Friends,
What is to be said can only be heard through your heart. Please try to listen from that part. For a long time we have been part of a criminal process which has hurt many individuals. Some of these individuals have been sacrificed because we have chosen not to listen to our conscience.
Robert has over the years pursued and sodomized young men. He has used his position to seduce these young men with the promise of immortality. His actions are simply that of a degenerate being no matter how refined. We in our blindness have allowed some dear individuals to be defiled and damaged by his appetites. Our ommission, and it is one in the strictest sense, is allowing it to continue.
Some of these young men have become seriously psychologically impaired through this process. Yet we go on minimizing it because it is safer not to know. These acts are a violation of Robert’s position. If we excuse this by saying that it is his priviledge or his private weakness we are both accomplice and victim. If it is allowed to continue, the karma which we attract will bring down our school and leave very heavy stains on our being. It is simply not worth the contamination wrought.
There may be much discomfort which comes from these words. But please try to think of the anguish some of these young men have been subject to in the name of evolution; and ask yourself whether you would knowingly, as a higher being, conduct your life in this way.
Can you truly accept that one can enter higher worlds by such actions? Would you wish to enter these worlds by such acts? This reasoning leads to one final not-so-profound conclusion; the Emperor is indeed very naked and we sadly provide his mantle.
Robert is a victim also. The highest that one can extend him is compassion and help. If one becomes angered at him or oneself or me the cycle continues. He is and will be confused and hurt by these actions. Yet firmness and equanimity are what is needed. We do great harm to our school and our being should we choose not to act.
We have talked and preached an ethic of love and acting for the higher right. Now is the time to be the words. It would also be a solemn and humane act for us to help the young men who have been hurt and damaged by Robert. It would be a proper legacy to pass on to the next generation.
If you find in your solitude that fear and or the wish to defend has kept you from hearing what has been said, you lose a very dear friend. You lose yourself!
In friendship,
Samuel L. S.
March 4, 1984

Hellouuuuu ?
Where were you guys at this point…?

95. crossroads - February 4, 2019
96. jess - February 5, 2019

97. crossroads - February 5, 2019

I just got answer to my question about the place “Via Del Sol”.
Yes, it is actually Apollo in Oregon House.
According to my source, there is a rock at Apollo D’Oro carved with such name in 1973.
Really significant –

98. crossroads - February 5, 2019

99. Golden Veil - February 5, 2019

94. crossraods – February 4, 2019

The letter [dated March 4, 1984] was sent by Fellowship of Friends board member Samuel L. S. to the other members of the board – not the entire Fellowship of Friends. It instigated his excommunication; the board voted to remove him the following day. Read all the details and about the lawsuit that Samuel L. S. filed June 6, 1984 here:

https://robertearlburton.blogspot.com/1984/03/board-members-letter-to-fellowship-of.html

100. Golden Veil - February 5, 2019

Yes, page 86 of this discussion has many posts of interest.

49. Ames Gilbert – November 24, 2009

[To] Daily Cardiac

An excerpt:

“The bait was the Fourth Way, and we were switched to the Second Way, a religion based on the worship of Burton and his collection of conveniently invisible helpers, the theoretical 44 astral bodies of supposedly ‘conscious’ beings. A religion like any other in that it uses fear or infatuation to bind the followers. A religion like any other that claims it is the only true one, that it has an exclusive pathway to salvation, that all other religions are false, that followers are singularly blessed, that to leave is damnation. A religion like any other that demands faith, credulity and childlike (and permanent) dependence. A religion like any other that necessitates intermediaries between the supplicant and God.”

https://fofdiscussion.wordpress.com/2009/11/19/fellowship-of-friendspathway-to-presence-discussion-part-86/#comment-1754

101. Associated Press - February 5, 2019

166/97 crossroads:
Concerning “Via Del Sol”:
1. This was an early name used for Robert Earl Burton’s activity.
2. Early publications (1971-72) were Via Del Sol Journal.
(Later, after new publications appeared, everyone was asked to destroy them.)
3. Yes, Apollo d’Oro (once Lincoln Lodge), had(has?) a concrete
paver block with rock inset art: Via Del Sol 1973, or something
to that effect, as I remember it. It is on the patio; easily overlooked.
~~~~~~~
166/98 crossroads:
Thank you for the Amazing Grace youtube; enjoyed.
On November 17, 2007, 25/381,
AP posted some of the lyrics, copied below;
here some history is provided, too.
I also provide another youtube version that I like.
~~~~~~~
Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost, but now am found
Was blind, but now I see.

‘Twas Grace that taught my heart to feel
And Grace my fears relieved
How precious did that Grace appeal
The hour I first believed.

Through many dangers, toils, and snares
I have already come
‘Tis Grace that brought me safe thus far
And Grace will lead me home.

The Lord has promised good to me
His word my hope secures
He will my shield and portion be
As long as life endures.

Yes, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
And mortal life shall cease;
I shall possess, within the veil,
A life of joy and peace.

The Earth shall soon dissolve like snow,
The Sun forbear to shine;
But God, Who call’d me here below,
Will be forever mine.

When we’ve been here ten thousand years
Bright shining as the Sun
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise
Than when we first begun.

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost, but now am found
Was blind, but now I see.

Written by John Newton, 1725 – 1807,
upon his conversion from being
a slave ship captain on May 10, 1748.
~~~~~~~
“Newton wrote the words from personal experience. He grew up without any particular religious conviction, but his life’s path was formed by a variety of twists and coincidences that were often put into motion by his recalcitrant insubordination. He was pressed (conscripted) into service in the Royal Navy, and after leaving the service, he became involved in the Atlantic slave trade. In 1748, a violent storm battered his vessel off the coast of County Donegal, Ireland, so severely that he called out to God for mercy, a moment that marked his spiritual conversion.”
~~~~~~~

Almost 44 million views.

102. jess - February 5, 2019

PAGE 86

45. Panoritsa – November 24, 2009

DC

“It goes without saying that no spiritual truth can be arrived at through negativity – anger, hatred, revenge, etc. because that is all part of the lower realm and is exactly what must be transcended if spiritual truth is to be known…”

And this comes from a follower and “humble” slave of Robert Burton.

It is very clear you do NOT want to know, but if you were to ask ALL of the members (ex- and current) who have had the “opportunity” to “work” with Burton whether he expresses negativity, you will hear the truth (well… some will not tell you… but most will). Robert is a very negative person. I have seen him, I have felt his “negativity.” He is not a pleasant person to be around in private…

Now, you might want to again manipulate your already manipulated poor little brain and come with an argument about how he “transforms” his negativity and his “lower self”, or that he has reached such immense level of consciousness that little slips are just his “machine” reactions to the “high” energies he experiences.

Yes, you can go on and on… Where do you find the time?

103. Ames Gilbert - February 5, 2019

Thanks, Golden Veil, for making it clear that the letter was sent only to the Board.

Crossroads, you asked, “Hellouuuuu ? Where were you guys at this point…?

Yes, we, the laity, knew that Samuel Sanders was gone, but the propaganda was, that he left in total negativity, that he had gone mad, etc.—and was certainly doomed. There were vague rumors of a letter, but nothing more. I personally had no idea that there had been a lawsuit until well after it was settled, and then I was told that the Fellowship had won.

The first time I laid eyes on the letter was in 1994, when someone left me a copy of a copy in my U.S. mailbox. I immediately re–keyed it and made 120 copies and distributed them to Lincoln Lodge mailboxes and folks I felt I could trust.
Unbeknownst to me at the time, one of those recipients took it upon herself to copy and distribute copies to all mailboxes of followers at the Oregon House post office, together with copies of a lot of other material I had distributed. 500 sets in total!

As far as I know, this was the first widespread distribution of his letter, the ‘Hell’ letter, the ‘Easley’ letter, the WP letter, and a dozen other items of interest. Of course, the ‘power possessors’ had probably seen copies of the Sanders letter from the get go, apart from every member of the Board and everyone involved in the lawsuit.

A few weeks after I left, I also sent a copy of every single relevant document I had collected at that point to every single Board member, with a covering letter that boiled down to: you can claim previous ignorance, but not anymore. And I sent the same to important contributors whose addresses I could find, for example, a very rich follower, heiress to an oil fortune and who I knew paid substantial amounts every year to Burton. What came of all this, I have no idea. However, the rich lady’s name has not been on the roster for many years…

My point is, one can throw the heaviest pebble one can into the Fellowship pond, and it does cause ripples, but they are limited and soon die away. I don’t know how long you were a member, but if you arrived after the Buzbee fracas, I don’t suppose any of your ‘new friends’ went out of their way to keep you informed. It sounds like you are surprised by the Sanders letter, but I may be wrong in that regard.

Anyway, lots of other interesting things in past pages of this blog, if you have time.

104. Cult Survivor - February 5, 2019

Watching the two beautiful “Amazing Grace” videos and thinking about the atrocities that Robert Burton perpetrated “in the name of God” I can see the disparity of the human condition. I can’t wait for the moment Robert Burton dies, the Fellowship of Friends becomes an innocuous group like Ananda and this dark chapter of our lives is closed forever. Even if I am a fairly recent contributor compared to others, I feel I’ll miss the comradery that exists here — survivors have a lot in common.

105. jess - February 5, 2019

“Robert treats us as his children” (paraphrase) – Girard Haven

Through my time in education, I have had to deal with young people and, often, with their parents being present. I find it so beautiful to see a child or young adult making efforts to express themselves, forming phrases with difficulty and, meanwhile, I swing between encouragement for them yet giving an almost infinite space for the inner to become outer – for the next moment’s step to be achieved.

What does Burton do?

He stuffs dogma and tyranny down his followers’ throats. (Haven believes his followers have to be DOG-s to their MA-ster, also!!!). He gives no space for the self-expression of TRUE ESSENCE – I am not talking about the ‘frilly-girl’, made up like a ‘gateau chocolat’ and prancing around the confines of Apollo spouting delicate pert phrases detached from the philosopher to whom they belong.

No – Burton surpresses the REAL NUTS AND BOLTS of a strong essence by drowning accurate insight with drivelling dementia (becoming worse, I hear) – he preys on his followers – narcissism like Jabba the Hutt (same sort of appetite for flesh!).

What I took for a positive grin from him the few times I was in his presence, conversing, now seems like ‘the smile on the face of the tiger’ waiting to pounce…I was never a victim, other than being financially fleeced and unknotting my guilt for two years, having left the cult.

106. Ames Gilbert - February 5, 2019

Cult Survivor, thanks for doing the financials (#80).
I had often wondered just how the Fellowship of Friends could keep going if so many followers were paying reduced ‘donations’ as a way to keep them onboard. Now we know. $51k a week! That’s serious moolah.

And having an alternative currency, that is ‘vouchers’, means keeping most of the taxes due on the loot out of the purview of those pesky IRS auditors. It seems hardly likely that this income is declared in full, given past history, does it?

It is amazing how far practicing ‘intentional insincerity’ combined with Burton’s assertion that ‘we are abandoning Judeo–Christian morality and will replace it with our own’, will take one on the road of crime!
Taking my own advice and looking through page 86 reminds me of other wholesale and pervasive criminal activity undertaken by the sheep on Burton’s orders.

Let’s see:
• Stealing valuable books from libraries—check.
• Purchasing fake passports—check.
• The ‘religious visas’ scam—check.
• Smuggling currency from abroad—check.
• Fake prescriptions by Fellowship of Friends doctors—check.
• Avoidance of payments to the state for workman’s compensation—check.
• Avoiding payment of legally mandated minimum wages by forcing return of the “excess”, as stipulated by Burton and the Board.
—check.

And of course:
• The assembly–line rape factory—check.

This just on one page of this blog!

107. Four Days of the Fourth State - February 5, 2019

The question isn’t about whether you are in a state of higher consciousness because a higher state of consciousness cannot be quantified or confirmed by reason. Every bipolar manic believes he or she is in a higher state of consciousness until the dark, low-energy depressive side of their miswired brain takes over again. The question is whether you are sane. Sanity can be quantified and confirmed by what intelligent people would agree is a state of reason. Do you see yourself and the world around you from the vantage of actual reality? Reality is what sane people see. Sane people see that in reality there are no secret special higher dimensional powers passing coded messages to select people on Earth through coincidental encounters on the freeway with cryptic license plate indications. Sane people know that the reality is that those who believe they receive personal messages from license plates and other passing random indicators are what medical science has learned from many thousands of case histories to be a state of mind generally described as being out-of-touch-with-reality. Sane people do not imagine they are in touch with magical beings going to the trouble to pass messages to them on media far more difficult to manipulate than ordinary email.

Here is the problem: people who are enjoying the situation where their grandiose ego is being constantly inflated by the amazing phenomenon of spirits sending messages to them are very hesitant to give up something that makes them feel so very good about themselves. Such people are too keyed up with their fantasy world to be susceptible to reason. Sane people cannot talk people who are out of touch with reality out of the state of mind where their self-importance is being inflated a thousand times larger than anything they ever experienced in their ordinary state of mind. The sane cannot talk the insane out of their delusions and back into an ordinary frame of mind because who wants to go back to a boring life where you are nobody?

Once people who are more or less unstable to begin with join a tiny harebrained cult where the crucial state of mind in the group is the self-serving lie that the members are the only special people in the universe living magical lives in a state of conscious grace then it requires high doses of sanity and reality to sow even the smallest glimmer of doubt in their euphoric delusional minds. People in these cults believe they have out foxed everyone else in the world through the discovery of secret information and are engaged in the special process that will allow them to inherit glorious eternity. The sane can see that such a frame of mind is not actually sane but the group members floating inside the mystical bubble can’t. It is not possible to convince self-deluded people that they are self-deluded. To convince them of anything sane they first have to become at least slightly disillusioned with their delusion and generally what causes such a disillusioning are the many inevitable and unavoidable indications that the great cosmic plan being performed within the cult is in reality highly flawed.

You are in a cult believing fantastic fantasies because you are not sane. You are in a debilitated psychological condition from the point of view of reality and you can’t escape because the fantasy makes your diseased ego feel so very good. You believe you’ve got angels, gods, higher consciousness, days of the fourth state, divine fate, license plates and so many other magic coincidences all sweeping you up into the bosom of Paradise–so lucky!

Are you actually lucky or are you really just unwise to point of insanity?

108. Golden Veil - February 5, 2019

107. Four Days of the Fourth State – February 5, 2019

“You are in a cult believing fantastic fantasies because you are not sane.”

Four Days, when I read the story linked below I saw many similarities with the Fellowship of Friends, how the leader operates and members live within – and behave outside – the cult community. Good story.

“I grew up in a cult and I can tell you why ‘normal’ people join them’

https://www.thisisinsider.com/i-grew-up-in-a-cult-and-i-can-tell-you-why-normal-people-join-them-2018-3

109. Four Days of the Fourth State - February 5, 2019

Guaranteed clinical indication that you are not normal or sane: you are a member of a doomsday cult.

110. brucelevy - February 5, 2019

104. Cult Survivor

Make no mistake, Ananda was/is no different. Kriyananda fled the country a few years back. When he came back several of the women in the group charged him. He was ultimately fined around a million dollars which he didn’t pay. The members ended up paying for him. All these groups are basically the same. They are just at different places on the cult continuum at any random time..

111. crossroads - February 6, 2019

…hundreds and hundreds of them

112. Cult Survivor - February 6, 2019

110. brucelevy

I totally agree that there are little differences between the FOF and Ananda; the point I was trying to make is that after the death of Kriyananda Ananda became a pretty innocuous group, and I predict that after Robert’s death or incapacitation the FOF will be an innocuous group too. To my knowledge Dorian and Asaf are not inclined to promiscuity and sexual abuse (they are both married with children), they are not charismatic at all and they don’t have the superb skills that Robert has to extract money from people. I may be wrong thought — time will tell.

113. invictus maneo - February 6, 2019

I’m guessing the FOF higher ups are hanging on because the property is valuable, and the winery could make money if run by somebody smart, without interference from a 900 million year old toothy pink goddess. Non-profts may pay employees very large salaries. Just look up administrative and employee costs for many of the biggest “charities” in the US.

114. brucelevy - February 6, 2019

112. Cult Survivor

I may be wrong but I thought Dorian and Asaf were also part of the sexual manipulation at the property when RB wasn’t around. Do I have my names mixed up?

115. Cult Survivor - February 6, 2019

114. brucelevy

To my knowledge, the only event involving promiscuity and/or sexual abuse connected to Dorian or Asaf was the one mentioned by Artemis44 on November 15th (Post 1, Page 164):

There was a situation involving Dorian Matei and Mihai Algiu several years ago: While Robert was away in one of his travels, Dorian and Mihai invited several women to the Galleria (Robert Burton’s home) for a “higher state”, which turned out to be an euphemism for “threesome”. Three women went to the Galleria and experienced the “higher state”, including Carmina Nica, Dorian’s current wife and the mother of his two children. When one woman that refused to participate in the ménage à trois told her husband, he called Robert and when he was back from his trip he kept Dorian and Mihai in seclusion for 10 days but eventually let them out when the dust had settled. Dorian was rehabilitated and regained his position as the “éminence grise” of the FoF; Mihai was expelled several months later when he started a “meditation group” (another “play of crime”) and today is a marriage and family therapist in Grass Valley

Of course, both are guilty of complicity in Robert’s sexual crimes.

116. brucelevy - February 6, 2019

115. Cult Survivor

Thanks.

117. crossroads - February 6, 2019

103. Ames Gilbert

“I don’t know how long you were a member, but if you arrived after the Buzbee fracas, I don’t suppose any of your ‘new friends’ went out of their way to keep you informed.”

Fucking “new friends” – Just reviewing dates and places, connecting dots, makes me angry to realize…

What a big fuck!

118. Ames Gilbert - February 6, 2019

Crossroads, thanks for the video.
It was interesting to hear the viewpoint of Dawn Smith, the daughter and granddaughter of the founders of “The Assembly”. For myself, the biggest takeaways were:
• All cults reject the label “cult.”
• Leaving is incredibly difficult, but it is also completely life-changing.
• The effects of a leader who is a narcissistic, pathological liar trickle down, changing good people, who end up doing awful things.
• It takes a ‘lot’ of work to unlearn the behaviors one learned in a cult.
• Even the hardest day in freedom is better than the best day in a cult.

In the spirit of a classic satisfying story, I really appreciated the completion of a cycle. When she was five, a woman came up to her as her father was haranguing passers–by with the gospel, knelt down to her level, looked her in the eyes and said, “One day, you will grow up and you will realize you can leave all of this.”
Later, after Dawn and her sister had escaped the Assembly of God cult, she noticed a young girl on the street, accompanying her father, who was haranguing passers-by with the gospel. Dawn knelt down, looked the girl in the eye, and said, “One day, you will grow up, and you will realize that you can leave all of this.”

119. Cult Survivor - February 6, 2019

118. Ames Gilbert

Yes, I also enjoyed the video. While watching it I had the thought that Robert Burton is much more intelligent (and sinister) than the founders of the Assembly of God: He never asked members to harass passers-by while holding “The Fourth Way” and he confined his followers in a compound in the middle of nowhere à la Jim Jones — a much more difficult situation to escape.

120. crossroads - February 6, 2019

112. Cult Survivor –

“To my knowledge Dorian and Asaf are not inclined to promiscuity and sexual abuse (they are both married with children), they are not charismatic at all and they don’t have the superb skills that Robert has to extract money from people.”

hahahahahahah

As I say, “they like their bubble”. The “boys” certainly have a lot of fun at the “galleria” and surroundings, wearing R clothes and fucking around like good Russians or Rumanians or whatever, Italians, Mexicans – Fuck fuck fuck suck suck suck what’s wrong about that!
Messing up the room and sleeping cozy afterwards or whatever, more Fuck fuck fuck suck suck suck, then maybe a visit to the gardens, and expresso or machiato – croissants etc etc etc – then more Fuck fuck fuck suck suck suck what’s wrong about that!

But remember: Separate the teacher from the teacher – that is a must!

I know Dorian from day one. Are you kidding me?
And Mihai? o wow! and oh yes … Asaf, the saint…

121. Cult Survivor - February 6, 2019

120. Crossroads

Both Dorian and Asaf are certainly “narcissistic, pathological liars”, to use the expression of the woman on the video, but I don’t think they are sexual predators and psychopaths. As I said before, I may be wrong — time will tell.

122. Golden Veil - February 7, 2019

112. Cult Survivor – February 6, 2019

“To my knowledge Dorian and Asaf are not inclined to promiscuity and sexual abuse (they are both married with children)…”

It is a naive assumption that someone married with children cannot be a manipulative sexual abuser. There are many serial murderers and rapists that have lived double lives.

120. crossroads – February 6, 2019

“… Russians or Rumanians or whatever, Italians, Mexicans – Fuck fuck fuck suck suck suck what’s wrong about that!”

It’s true that in primarily Catholic countries like Mexico where the virginity of young women is especially protected male sexual experimentation with same sex is not unusual. But, surely there are Americans in the harem, too?

About the FoF after Robert – I can’t imagine the board could generate the funds to keep it all going without a Teacher. It seems to me that their only real choice would be to invite back Asaf, who has had practice teaching and has achieved some success attracting students with his distillation of the various Fourth Way authors with his impressive world travel to esoteric sites, beautifully documented by Ainsley’s photographs. He doesn’t promote Robert Burton’s doomsday predictions or C Influence of the angels gobbledygook, etc., does he?

123. rich - February 7, 2019

Uncle Bob will get a giant tombstone on the property….

124. Insider - February 7, 2019

123. rich

Yes, it’s being called a mausoleum.

Suggested inscription: “See you in Paradise, suckers. Ha Ha.”

125. Cult Survivor - February 7, 2019

123. Rich

I’m sure that Robert’s last wish will be to take a picture of him after he’s dead and sell it to students for $500 to help with the construction of the mausoleum.

126. Ames Gilbert - February 7, 2019

I had fun designing Burton’s Mausoleum just last year, on page 156, #77, about half–way down the entry:
https://fofdiscussion.wordpress.com/2017/07/06/fellowship-of-friendsfourth-way-schoolliving-presence-discussion-page-159/#comment-81227

A much more likely use for the abandoned winery building than a survival shelter after Armageddon 2019, IMHO.

Think of the $$$ Burton’s successors could charge if they make it into a successful shrine and attract pilgrims from all over!

127. Cult Survivor - February 7, 2019

After Robert “ends his task” I can imagine students telling stories about seeing his astral body visiting them and saying, “Dear, I want to be your best friend forever”

128. crossroads - February 7, 2019

122. Golden Veil

“It’s true that in primarily Catholic countries like Mexico (!) where the virginity of young women is especially protected male sexual experimentation with same sex is not unusual.”

Do you really think -specifically- that “men fuck men” because “virgins are protected”?

btw, I was being sarcastic on my last post…

129. Golden Veil - February 7, 2019

128. crossroads – February 7, 2019

Yes, and I don’t think that it is at all that unusual in certain cultures.

Anyway, men have sex with each other for other reasons, as well, but these are completely different situations than the aggressive and unequal terms that REB pressures his students to participate in which is clearly drugged and brainwashed rape and manipulative sexual abuse.

It does seem though from your post that you view many of REB;s “boys”, particularly from other countries, as happily complicit. You wrote in post 120 above:

“As I say, “they like their bubble”. The “boys” certainly have a lot of fun at the “galleria” and surroundings, wearing R clothes and fucking around like good Russians or Rumanians or whatever, Italians, Mexicans – Fuck fuck fuck suck suck suck what’s wrong about that!”

Apparently heterosexual same sex happens at times in fraternity and military hazing rituals. A scholar and sex therapist weigh in:

“The term “bro job” generally refers to sex acts taking place between heterosexual men. The phenomenon was recently explored by Dr. Jane Ward in her book Not Gay: Sex Between Straight White Men, who suggests it’s a lot more common than most people may think.

Sex therapist Susan Block agrees. “I hear about it going on in Saudi Arabia, in Latin America – I talk to guys from all over the world who are doing this. In all different cultures.”

Source: https://www.alternet.org/2015/10/bro-job-why-straight-men-secretly-have-sex-each-other/

https://nyupress.org/books/9781479825172/

130. jess - February 7, 2019

Can we get this straight?????

Power, as we know, is a corrupting factor.

The politics of the FOF encourages this and thus the handing around of power, through Robert to his boys and down through the ranks until ‘hanging’ on’ as a desperation factor is part of the whole schematic.

Sex is, by its very nature, male or female, hetero-, homo – or bi-, is a BINDING ENERGY – much like an artist would, abstractly, design a work of theirs.

A CORPORATION, AS IS THE FELLOWSHIP OF FRIENDS, binds FEATURES (the root of FALSEHOOD – PERSONALITY – MASK – SHADOW SELF – whatever) in a heirarchy that shows little regard for REAL INNER GROWTH!!!!!

They just use names and ‘banners of importance’.

131. Ill Never Tell - February 7, 2019

Robert Earl Burton Mausoleum = Erection to His Highness!
(Or, Erection to Her Highness; the 9 million year old goddess in a man’s body (or, whatever); which is to say, glorifying the Queen-of-Hearts, which is Robert Earl Burton’s alternate/true identity.)

It is going to be a wonderful monument, if it is not already designed/built while he lives so that the minutiae meet his/her’s discriminating tastes – spare no expense. (There will have to be many special donations (especially sperm), many salaried worker pay reductions, and many poor suckers on salary being forced out of work to go and find jobs in ‘life’ – or go home to country of origin. Sad! Construction crew (names withheld to protect the oh-so innocent boys) will be spared, but they will be expected to work double shifts for same money and get their just deserts (and/or desserts) at the Galleria.)

Also, to be sure, there will be plenty of phallic symbols represented in it – subtle and overt – like, as I can remember, that beautiful old restored printing press that had a polished brass finial (functional or otherwise?) that looked just like a penis. (That press may now be at The Petrarch Press and is barely visible in one of the photos on their website; go there and see.) Or, the nude painting of one of the boys with erection that graces the ceiling in the foyer of the Galleria. Or, the symbolism represented by the HUGE palm tree collection, where the palm trees resemble ejaculating penises. Or, the many other examples in and around the Fellowship of Friends property. A full-sized? replica of Michelangelo’s Statue of David a big enough penis, anyone? So, more than ‘plump cherubs with wings all over the place,’ as Ames mentions on page 159/77 (not page 156 as Ames mentions above; just follow the link he provided.) – or, more than the other things Ames mentions there.

It will be Robert Earl Burton’s final expression on Earth, in this lifetime, so it has to be glorious. Think Egyptian Pyramid in expression! Perhaps his body will be preserved and on display, or mummified and placed in a sarcophagus similar to that of Tutankhamun.

132. invictus maneo - February 8, 2019

I will make a prediction: No grandiose mausoleum for Robert Earl Burton will be completed after he dies. Money will rather be spent on the far more pressing personal expenses Board members incur playing their unspeakably difficult rôles guiding the Ark forward through History.

133. John Harmer - February 8, 2019

Greed appears to be a major motivation in Burton’s life. Greed for adoration from his students, for nice things, for power and security, for sex. I don’t think material greed is a prime motivator for many of his loyal students though, they have been knowingly fleeced by him for so many years, if they were troubled by that they would have left. I would suggest that most who have stayed with him are motivated by a spiritual greed, a wish for the act of being present to be more than it is, to be a process that accrues some special virtue to them, some special isness more precious than any material goods. I reckon his death will not stop them continuing to try to accumulate this magic invisible inner glow, but managing the social and physical realities will be tricky. The group may disperse over time, people will die, property will change hands, and eventually no one will remember the experiment that was the fellowship of friends.

134. crossroads - February 8, 2019

Robert Earl Burton – 404 not found
teacher – 404 not found
lovingpresence.com –

135. crossroads - February 8, 2019

oops – livingpresence.com

136. Cult Survivor - February 8, 2019

On November 12th last year I posted on Page 163/Post 91 a video of the first 4 minutes of a meeting with Robert condemning Asaf and showing a picture he received of a tombstone with the name “Pierce” (the last name of Asaf’s wife) indicating that it is “a sign from Influence C” and implying that her departure from the FOF with Asaf is a sinister fact (see link at the end).

Well, I just received (via Google Image Search) the following image:

That’s a clear shock from Influence C. Remember the date: April 12th, 2019 (the tombstone says 2009 meaning 2019).

Reference:
Page 163/Post 91 with Robert’s meeting
https://fofdiscussion.wordpress.com/2018/10/10/fellowship-of-friends-fourth-way-school-living-presence-discussion-page-163/#comment-82081

137. Cult Survivor - February 8, 2019

Ops, the date is April 29th, 2019 (click on the image to enlarge). As Robert said on the meeting I mentioned above regarding his prophecy that Asaf was going to be a conscious being, “when you talk about as many things as I do you don’t even have thoughts about gettig them all right.”

138. crossroads - February 8, 2019

January 13, Gurdjieff’s birthday – as they say

139. Bares Reposting - February 8, 2019

Page7/#6:
Rita Peuf0ld Says:
April 20th, 2007 at 6:17 pm

Dear All,
Yesterday I’ve received a message from my close friend Kosta Dm!tr!ev from St.Petersburg, which he sent to the students in Russia.

I thought that it was quite funny (if it wasn’t sad), and asked Kosta if I could translate it and post it on the blog, to which he agreed. If you have any questions, you’re free to ask Kosta directly, his email address is: sh@ntiw@y@y@h00.com

To those who don’t know Kosta personally, I am pleased to tell that he is one of those handsome young Russian men who rejected Robert’s advances.
———————————————-
Dear friends,

Thank you very much for the time we spent together, it was wonderful.

As many before me, I decided to leave the school when I discovered the details of sexual ‘adventures’ of the teacher.

Of course, as everybody else in the school, I knew that Robert is a homosexual. So what? So many great people and even our friends were and are homosexuals, bi-sexuals, transvestites – nobody is shocked by this nowadays. Especially among the different kinds of ‘spiritual seekers’, where there are always many, let’s say, exotically oriented people. That’s not the case, as me and my wife too, sometimes doing such things, that… let’s not talk about it.

Back to business, here are the results of my observations and investigations.

The school as organisation and its exercises are intended to:

1.Attract sponsorship for the very expensive and exquisite erotic games of Robert and Co. Teaching payments are spent on expensive clothes, often made to order for the boys and the entourage; original Viagra pills which cost $50 per tablet (completely identical ones in India cost $0.5). Air tickets and 5-star hotels for the harem; fake passports which are bought from Italian mafia, for the especially treasured lovers from Russia, and of course, for the new centres in developing countries, where new ‘members’ (‘member’ in Russian is the same word for penis – Rita) are so cheap. Also, 5-figure sums for the lawyers and parents of some of the ‘woken up’ underage victims of the teacher’s ‘mischievous’ activities.

2.Cover up the very fact that those orgies are taken place just before and after the meetings and are the main interest of the teacher in his school and the reason for its existence.

The cover-up is necessary in order to prevent students from thinking about how the teacher was using his mouth just before he kisses their foreheads. Many wouldn’t like to think about it at all. Of course, there will always be those who will work with acceptance and continue to be present to any sort of madness. But most students would leave the school to be present elsewhere.

Robert is interested only in young men, only straight (otherwise it’s not such fun to ‘get’ them), usually in financial need, preferably spiritually unripe and, what’s called in Russia, ‘without a King in the head’, and with high level of conformity of behaviour. That’s it.

Yes, my friends, it’s all about ‘members, members and more members’. Preferably big in size and several at the time. But if only that was all…

The stories of the participants are beyond even the most perverse sexual imagination.

One student has almost chocked on the teacher’s penis while giving him a blowjob. He had to be rescued by his fellow orgy-participants from the unstoppable in his sexual urge teacher.

The ‘height’ of those stories is the ‘Fountain of Eternal Youth’. What do you think that would mean? Very simple. Students are pissing in the teacher’s mouth. One at the time, or all together. I asked about the next, you know, logical step… They said – yes! That step has been taken. Sometimes all would get smeared. And why? You won’t believe… Gurjieff ordered from the astral plane!!! In order to be more present!

It’s understandable that such moments of presence will never be forgotten. You’ll be in the third state without any effort, and maybe even beyond third state, as many afterwards live their lives, wearing ‘horse faces’ forever.

You will ask me, what makes these people do this?
It’s very simple, really: everybody does it, they say. It’s accepted behaviour. You know about ‘norms of group behaviour in the totalitarian sects’.

Strangely, but many continue to interpret what happened to them in terms of the enlightenment. As a special, mystical experience of presence, which they would not get anywhere else. And, at the same time, they hate Robert for what he’s done to them and cherish plans for revenge (usually blackmail of some kind). It’s understandable, because otherwise you’d have to admit that you’ve been simply ….. .

Some invested too much in the school, suffered, paid; some simply have nowhere else to go. Most students simply don’t know many things, despite the fact that all information is published on the Internet. And, except for the ‘special’ details, it’s known to the ‘old’ students. I didn’t know the details myself, so I was hoping that Robert’s ‘antics’ were simply ‘free love’ with a bit of tantra. But, according to the participants, the whole thing is completely rotten and Robert is a typical ‘post-traumatic psychopath’. Of course, you can continue as if it wasn’t true, but then you’ll have to pay him, and that is a question of moral standards which, as any case where one is trading one’s conscience, is deeply personal. For me, it’s simply too much. It’s your business now, think for yourselves.

I wish you with all my heart to wake up before, and not during, the time when you are asked to piss someone in the mouth, given the reason of working on the 3rd line of work.

Thank you. You are welcomed any time to call or to write me.

Kosta

https://animamrecro.wordpress.com/2007/04/20/the-fellowship-of-friends-discussion-part-7/#comment-7666

———————————————-

Still believing?

140. jess - February 8, 2019

I think blog posters, in this recent flurry, have well and truly ‘stuffed’ Solartype Consortium Inc. Anyone with similar ideas?

141. jess - February 8, 2019

Excerpt from “National Secular Society”, about Roman Catholic Church abuse…

“We represent 27 core participants who suffered abuse in Roman Catholic institutions and a campaigner, Mr Jonathan West. Seven of our clients suffered abuse at St Benedict’s and you will hear from some of them this week, directly or by their statements being read.

Behind their evidence lies considerable bravery and tenacity. Our clients who have disclosed abuse at St Benedict’s have had to surmount many hurdles. Most come from families where the first principle instilled from an early age was unquestioning loyalty and obedience to the Catholic Church, and the belief that to challenge the church in any way was literally to invite eternal damnation. Moreover for children who went to St Benedict’s, the institution was far more than a school. It was the centre of a complex web of family, church and community ties. To speak out against abuse in this environment meant taking on not simply a school but an entire upbringing, culture and way of life in which the victim has grown up. This requires a special kind of courage.

An example is our client RC-A6. He was a victim of David Pearce. He tried to complain about the abuse to Abbot Shipperlee in 2004. In 2006 – with other avenues of redress exhausted – he brought a successful civil claim against the school. This was fought all the way to trial and resulted in a damning judicial indictment of both the school and Pearce. Our client’s statement describes the gross failure of the school and abbey to listen to the reality he was exposing. But it also describes the hostility he encountered from his family for simply trying to tell his story. Sadly his experience is that of many survivors of this school.”

You see how widespread is this sexual predatorial behavior, folks?

142. fofblogmoderator - February 8, 2019

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