Fellowship Of Friends/Fourth Way School/Living Presence Discussion – Page 194 January 28, 2023
Posted by fofblogmoderator in Uncategorized.trackback
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;
To hear the new Spotify expose on the Fellowship;
Comments
Sorry comments are closed for this entry
Fellowship of Friends - Living Presence Discussion 
Good to see that comments on the last page seem to be nearly all ‘work related’ rather than spewing bitterness about the FOF and RB. Much more productive and interesting.
I agree, Vinnie. It gets so boring repeating over and over again what a sociopathic con man Burton is, and how the Fellowship is, and has always been, nothing more than a conduit for tasty young boys to travel or move from a foreign land to Burton’s whore house.
I say: Let’s keep focusing on “work related” topics, and keep those higher hydrogens flowing.
Vinnie:
If it’s sanitized “work related” posts you are after, might I suggest you hop on over to the greater fellowship blog?
Given the psychic damage that the FOF rape factory has caused and continues to cause its followers, IMO, this forum has been quite instrumental in allowing ex-members to “spew” all the toxic crap they have been ingesting and repressing…otherwise the infection will likely keep spreading.
I’m pondering mind control this morning. Cognitive dissonance plays such a big role… one wants to believe in “The School”, “The Work”, methods to “Be Present”, a “Teacher.” In the early days of the Fellowship of Friends, the form of “The School” at the ranch included tried and true indoctrination tactics like hard labor and sleep deprivation (was this intentional, or was Robert just lucky?) And the long-time developed form of beauty immersion in oneself and surroundings: how could one feel bad about being so naive, to be a shill, when the con was so attractive, cloaked in such Beauty? Of course the quality of the Robert Burton ideals of Beauty is debatable!
I have been watching a documentary on Hulu, “Stolen Youth: Inside the Cult at Sarah Lawrence”. Though studying at a college that purported to foster independent thinking, several students were bamboozled by the father of one of them, who, like Robert, has a probable narcissistic personality disorder. The series documents Larry Ray’s misuse of a philosophical theory and how he courted, charmed and severely abused a small group of students for years. One student brought in two siblings who subsequently greatly suffered. A lead in to an article in The Cut purports to have instigated the 2022 investigation that resulted in Larry Ray’s conviction. Ray was sentenced this year on January 20th to 60 years in Federal Prison.
https://www.thecut.com/article/larry-ray-sarah-lawrence-students.html
The authors may be interested in hearing your story.
If you haven’t seen it already, i highly recommend the film Tár, starring Cate Blanchett, and nominated for several Oscars, including Best Picture, which the film deserves. I borrowed it from my local library.
The film challenges us to dwell in the gap between the art and the personal life of the artist and ponders…can the two sides really be separated? What does it mean to be “woke” (or more awake)?
IMO, the film also accurately depicts the trajectory of a narcissistic cult leader who uses their position of power to manipulate others in an effort to satisfy their own sexual desires by appropriating “high” culture to disguise their own ends, treating those in their orbit as faceless objects, making sure those supporting them remain in stasis, ex-communicating any who display dissent, denying any culpability for their actions by blaming their victims, and leaving a path of sadness, suicide, and destroyed lives in their wake. Sound familiar?
Blanchett’s character is only “truly at home at the podium”, her position of controlling an orchestra of others, keeping to script and score, in order to engage in an expansive fantasy world of erotic pleasure…her’s and the audience’s…while she demands, if not requires, that all eyes be upon her, not unlike a cult leader. (Although her character doesn’t need the prompting of followers to help recall and regurgitate the pithy quotes of more educated others.)
The only difference between her character and a cult leader is that her character’s employment is subject to the authority of those governing the practice of her art form and who have to manage its public persona, since the art is mostly funded by voluntary donations.
A cult and its leader thrive in the grey fringes between church and state; the leader claiming to be his or her own ultimate authority at the expense of others, eventually making “contributions” mandatory for membership, and thus circumventing any consequences for their actions, as we all know.
IMO, the film’s last scene is an apt metaphor for the current state of a FOF meeting or event. It made me laugh out loud!
On page 193/96,
WonderingWhosWatching – January 15, 2023, reported:
“Heard it through the grapevine that yet another young man has been devastated by a sexual relationship with Robert Earl Burton, leader of the Fellowship of Friends (FoF). This person is from outside U.S.A., has parents in FoF, and they are getting counselling/therapy. The young man has told his parents to leave FoF or never hear from him again. He would travel to Oregon House/Apollo periodically. I do not know the name of the person. Anyone know more about this?”
More recent info is that the young man is the grandson of a prominent FoF member who is an actress, MM, a European, who has performed for FoF many times. She has a daughter, also MM, who at one-time was in a relationship with FoF lawyer DS (DL). Not sure who the parents of the young man are. MM, the senior, may have departed FoF over these developments. Sad but true.
So, decades of loyalty to FoF/Robert Earl Burton (REB) will not protect your family and loved ones from the sexual predation of REB! FoF one-time lawyer, AG, could testify to that, were he still alive (committed suicide), who sacrificed his only begotten son to REB.
6. WWW
All true. The young man’s mother is your second MM, daughter of your first MM.
Burton’s sexual/semen appetite trumps everything.
Here’s another video about the Fellowship of Friends and Robert Earl Burton, seemingly part of a larger, on-going series called “Rate My Cult,” by a woman named Maye:
Maye based her video, to a large extent, on the “Revelations” podcast by Jennings Brown.
The Fellowship scored 4 goat heads out of 5, something Burton will no doubt be proud of.
Where did the info that lawyer AG sacrificed his son to REB come from? What is implied by that?
What is meant by AG’s son being sacrificed? Was he prayed upon by REB?
Greetings; long-time reader here. Could someone repeat the names of the Islamic teachers fairly recently named by Mr. Burton to have been Enlightened? Thank you.
Page 194/9 & 10 clementinelies
Yes, AG’s son was sexually preyed upon by Robert Earl Burton (REB). I know this as fact personally and, also, in the history of this blog you can find AG’s son posting about that experience and the family dynamic.
FoF Blog Page 110 reports:
AG passed away July 31, 2011
Appeal-Democrat August 23, 2011 carried obituary.
FoF Blog Page 111 reports:
September 7, 2011 post
Funeral Service of Saturday, August 20, 2011
FoF Blog Page 112 reports:
“25. Elan MOTHERFUCKING Goldman – September 9, 2011
My name is Elan Goldman. That’s right, the son of the late Abraham Goldman. First, I would like to make it clear that my fathers suicide has been felt throughout the community. Second, that my father suffered from severe hearing dissabilities, a course which plauged him for much of his life and drove him to his death. In no way shape or form was my fathers death related to the school. Third, you are a group of people who are full of hate. I will most likley never join the school, but I know this much. It brought more happieness to my father than most people can feel in their entire lives. You should be ashamed of how you have mentioned him in this thread.
please go fuck your selves.”
FoF Blog Page 116 reports:
“74. NG – November 11, 2011
Latest news:
It seems that Elan Goldman (who allegedly made a brief appearance on this blog on September 9, 2011) has joined the FoF. He is only about 16, but apparently Robert Burton and his inner-brown-circle made an exception; after all, he is the son of Abraham.”
FoF Blog Page 119 reports:
“150. Mick Danger – April 25, 2012
Speaking of a better life, is there any word on Elan? Is he still a virgin (if that’s not too personal a question)? Technically, is he a legal sexual victim? Any grounds for a lawsuit? Or was it the usual courtshipped, sodomized, blewed & tatooed?”
That pretty much brackets the period in time on this blog when particular subject was discussed and people can read it for themselves. Others had lived it and these words are just a shadow.
WonderingWhosWatching can you link the post by AG’s son talking about being abused by REB?
Wait, is that you, David?
Today, March 19th, the Fellowship of Friends celebrates the biggest in a long list of scams perpetrated by Robert Burton on his naïve followers. Yes, it’s “Crystallization Day” when, 47 years ago, Burton’s “higher centers fused,” and he was born as a “Young Man Number Six.”
Besides the linear, time-bound, dualistic nature of this carefully-conceived fairy tale, which is entirely incompatible with what/who Burton claims he became (i.e. immortal and timeless), how could he have possibly known what was, supposedly, happening to him, absent a guide or teacher of his own to instruct and prepare him? (And that’s presupposing that such a “crystallization” experience is a necessary step on the path to Self-Realization, which I personally don’t believe.)
Burton’s drug use is well-documented, from LSD during the early days of the Fellowship, to copious amounts of cough syrups containing DXM in more recent years.
R0wen@ T@yl0r has often shared her “3 days in the 4th state” experience. We can all guess which drug(s) she was under the influence of. What it any different with Burton in 1976?
Correction: “Was it any different with Burton in 1976?”
#16 I am intrigued to hear that Burton’s drug use is well documented, you mention LSD. I had heard that the first student was tripping on mescaline when she met Burton at the new year’s eve party, and that allowed her to “see” he was special. In what sense is his LSD use documented?
#16. Stories from people who lived with Burton in the early days in Carmel; stories from entourage insiders over the years; a child of a FF member telling of drug purchases made by Dorian “for the Galleria.” If you’re looking for hard, irrefutable, court-ready documentation, you’re not going to find it. Just people sharing stories here and there over many years. Maybe instead of “well-documented,” I should have said “well-known.”
Sorry, “#16” should have been “#18.”
Thanks Insider. I guess why I was surprised is that Burton strikes me as a classic anal retentive (as Freud might say) obsessed with tidyness and complete control. There are plenty of drugs that would give him more of that, but LSD is hard to control and can result in unforeseen experiences, which I imagine he would shy away from.
It’s very likely that Burton’s LSD phase occurred and ended a long time ago, but not his overall drug/opioid dependency.
Fellowship of Friends (FoF) student number 2 (after Robert Earl Burton (REB) student number 1) was one BG, now deceased, but her daughter still lives and could testify to early days FoF/REB goings on.
Hear ye, hear ye…
“Dear friends around the world.
Today, March 28, 2023, between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m., Dorian’s higher centers crystallized.
When told it was snowing at Apollo, Robert said the angels brought snow to Apollo this afternoon to represent the birth of Snow White, World 12.
Dorian wishes to express to each of us that everything is much closer than we can possibly imagine. The veil is thin.
There will be special celebrations this Sunday. More information will be forthcoming.”
As Burton has always said: “Never change a winning game.” Most people believed the “crystallization” scam back in 1976, that Burton’s “higher centers had fused,” and that Burton had “crossed the finish line.”
Now Burton and Matei have dusted off the same old script. No doubt most of the old folks will believe it a second time. But what about the newer Fellowsheepers who have not even studied the “4th Way?”
With all the competition for power over the past 20 years between the Russians, Romanians and Israelis, you have to wonder how many of the younger generation will immediately call bullshit on this nonsense, and call out Matei for the psychopath he is clearly becoming.
Woah! Two beings with fused higher centers in the same room? Shades of the encounter between the high voltage messiah and the god of love in the ruling class. 🙂
SNOW, SNOW-ING
”It’s snowing at Apollo.”
verb
2. mislead or charm (someone) with elaborate lies and insincere words.
”Obviously he can snow his followers into believing just about anything.”
Dorian & Blow Job Bob Snow Job!:
https://tinyurl.com/mvbknfut
SPECIAL CRYSTALLIZATION ISSUE
“Notes from Dorian on Crystallization
March 2
8 , 2023
It started with a visionary dream, sometime in the early hours of 3/28, in the dark, about 5:00 am.
I am standing at the top of a staircase, the bottom of which is in the water.
Bernard says, “When you are in the water, the water pushes up. When you are in the air, the air pushes up.”
I understand I am to step off the ladder into the air and I do it without hesitation. I find myself flying, quite literally, at first with great effort, but then it becomes natural and effortless. Two men appear and begin to make critical comments; I see them somewhere below and I step on them to lift off again.
I am now heading directly towards the horizon, and the sun is straight ahead. Gradually the light increases and everything merges with it.
A few seconds before the end of the vision I understood that it is happening. World 12 is very pure, clear and simple, and surprisingly joyful.
It brings to mind the gaze of a newborn, the gaze of infinity. Everything lasted no more than a minute.
The school is very well prepared for this moment; we are all incredibly close to it, much more than we can possibly conceive.
The state is not new, but very familiar. The change is that World 12 is now born into this world, instead of gazing at it from outside.
Crystallization is for higher centers, not for the body. In fact, one surprising fact is that the body is completely unaware of what just occurred.
What occurs in an instant for higher centers takes days, months, and years for the lower centers to comprehend and translate.
One of the final acts is letting go even of the desire for Crystallization; after all, it is the work of Influence C.
Robert is very much the mid-wife.
Q: How are you feeling now?
A: More apt to serve.
There is no “me” in Crystallization; it is about Influence C, higher centers, and the school. There is nothing selfish in it.
This event increases everyone’s chances of awakening in the school now.
Crystallization is not at all an end it itself. Higher centers are simply a better tool for Influence C now that they have fused.
The presence of Influence C permeates everything.
The connection with the rest of the students is stronger than ever, even from afar.
Robert keeps reminding us that it took the deaths of 160 students to reach this moment and, somehow, Robert Taylor’s passing has been a major stepping stone towards this Crystallization. At the time I felt its importance but did not understand where it was pointing. Where else could death point but towards life?
Q: Is there any one thing you can point out that led to Crystallization?
A: Yes, respect your own play and follow it. Even when we seem to fail, it is not a failure. The more fluid we are, the better we can be worked on by Influence C.
Q: What Crystallized, World 6 or World 12?
A: It is as if both higher centers have merged and there is something of both present together. Two partners dancing one dance.
Crystallization is a single step in an ancient journey. Strange, but one cannot know how close one is before it happens, but when the moment arrives, all it takes is the fluttering of a butterfly wing—it is that simple.
One cannot describe it as easy or difficult because those are human terms; it happens in higher centers and even then, there is no sense of effort—one feels being worked on.
Before Crystallization, the same states appeared frequently but eventually disappeared. Not anymore.
Crystallization is not an end; we continue on the same trajectory but so much more able.
A few things become much more obvious: that words are so far from higher centers, that Influence C are inside of our lives, that negativity is a crime against our own self, that our work is so interconnected—like a tapestry.
So….4th Way crystallization is ‘Lightning n Smoke’ and Non dual is ‘ Butterfly Wings’…good to know…thanx
#29 An excerpt from the special crystalisation issue –
“Robert is very much the mid-wife.
Q: How are you feeling now?
A: More apt to serve.”
There is something particularly nauseating about this exchange. Two people trying to out-do each other in expressing humility, whilst we know that both of them in fact ‘know’ in themselves that they are vastly superior to everyone they will ever meet. The smug righteous inner glow of the totally deluded narcissus.
It is fascinating to witness the extent some people will go to protect and preserve their deep seated narcissistic wounds, creating all manner of authoritarian hierarchies and imaginary delusional systems, a “bubble” they will defend and justify despite all evidence to the contrary, in turn placing themselves above others and exempting themselves from scrutiny, morality, and therefore constructive criticism from a peer group.
Thus the cult’s war on “negativity”. Cult members are rendered oblivious to burton’s spiritual crimes by how he masterfully enacts his predatory behavior in a “positive” guise…hallmark of a psychopathic personality. Examples abound in other cults and cult leaders.
I wonder what (or whom) dorian thinks he is actually “serving”?
If dorian is to follow in burton’s footsteps, watch what his hands are doing, no matter what tales he spins out of his mouth.
(Although using Robert Taylor’s passing as a self-serving springboard to further his “ascension” was truly revolting. I am curious what the relationship was like between the two men. Were they somehow in competition?)
In burton’s case, recall how many times you have observed him with his hands folded, defending his crotch, the seat of his narcissistic wound IMO, and the “c-influence” of his grandiose delusional system in which he places himself at the apex to justify his rape factory…all leveraged against his entrapped and dependent followers’ “evolution” over which he dominates. How sad, really.
If the FOF is all smoke, this blog is its mirror.
“I was only three days off in the prediction of my crystallization which over a period of ten years is quite good and I consider the prediction accurate. If a depression occurs in 1984, if California falls in 1998, if Armageddon occurs in 2006 then I was correct, all of which means I am correct regarding the other information I have been speaking about. Actually most of what I speak about is facts.”
– Robert Earl Burton, June 11th,1979.
Robert Burton laying out a very strong argument for concluding that he is a grandiose and delusional liar whose statements on any subject should not be trusted or mistaken for the truth about anything.
33. Thanks for digging this up. Ten years before 1976 would have been 1966. So, before even meeting Alex Horn, burton was already predicting his “crystallization.” Or am I mis-interpreting something?
As soon as the Fellowship began early in 1970, so did the lies. There would eventually be lies about Alex Horn, how burton met him, why he left; lies about his “level of being;” being skilled at “interpreting shocks” from “Influence C;” etc.
But one of the first big lies was about being celibate. He had sex with Bonita (per her detailed memoir), his first follower. At a meeting the next day, with Bonita right there, he told the group that he was celibate. And, apparently, Bonita let him get away with it.
Why did burton want everyone to think he was celibate? I don’t think he asked that of anyone else. He wanted to be the only one. But why? What did he gain from this lie?
#35 But why?
In 1989 when I was in the process of leaving the school, I wrote to Peter Bishop who had been the centre director when I joined in London, and asked about Burton’s behaviour. His reply was that because he was a man no 5 (I think that was the number at that time) he was “a law unto himself”. I guess that was what Burton told his inner circle at the time, who would have seen many strange things that didn’t sit well with most people’s idea of an evolved person. I pointed out that we are all a law unto ourselves, that is the essence of being a moral agent, and it in no way excuses our actions to point it out. I never got another reply unfortunately.
36. I think burton was claiming to be at least a “man #7” at that time following the 6.9 magnitude Loma Prieta earthquake. Yes, Peter was a faithful parrot, unthinkingly repeating whatever nonsense he picked up from burton. Peter joined the FF in 1971 at age 23, right after college. He did nothing for the next 30 years but promote and defend burton. He craved power, and burton gave it to him, as he gives other people cars and gold chains, eventually rising to the lofty post of “Fellowship President.” Supposedly, as he was dying, Peter said he regretted spending so much of his life in FF politics. I guess that would be like burton saying he regrets having bought so many antiques. Too little, too late.
“I guess that was what Burton told his inner circle at the time…”
My personal impression at the time was that burton was very adept at saying very little, preferring to let his starry eyed followers fill in the gaps with their imagination and projections.
It is highly likely that bishop’s response was his own rationalization to compensate for the cognitive dissonance of witnessing burton’s predatory behavior behind closed doors, IMHO.
I am confident dorian does the same…in exchange for power.
Huh? Wait what….?…..
“Chrystallization is for higher centers, not the body. In fact, one surprising fact is that the body is completely unaware of what has just occured.
What occurs in an instant for higher centers takes days, months or years for the lower centers to comprehend and translate”
Are his higher centers zapping this onto this page in an instant or are his lower centers writing this days, months or years from now.
Don’t these knuckleheads have enough awareness to read what they’re writing
The Dalai Lama Apologizes For Asking Boy to Suck His Tongue
Tsuglagkhang Temple, Nepal-The Dalai Lama has apologized for kissing a young boy on the lips and asking him to “suck my tongue” after a video of the incident sparked outrage on social media.
The 87-year-old Buddhist priest “regrets the incident” and wishes to apologize to “the boy and his family, as well as his many friends across the world, for the hurt his words may have caused,” according to a statement published by his office on Monday.
The leader calls him on stage and motions to his cheek, saying “first here,” according to a live translation from the event. The boy obliges, and the Dalai Lama offers a hug, then continues holding onto the boy.
The leader then motions to his lips, saying “I think here also.” He cups the boy’s chin and kisses him on the mouth as the audience laughs and applauds.
The Dalai Lama pauses, then adds, “and suck my tongue.” The boy slowly moves his head closer to the Dalai Lama’s but appears only to touch his forehead before withdrawing.
-EMILY OLSON, NPR · APRIL 10, 2023
Sounds all too familiar…Grooming 101. First the hugging, then kissing on the lips…
Notice his followers in public relations later spun the public shaming of the awestruck boy onstage as “playful teasing”, reinforced by the eager clapping of the faithful audience. It literally makes me sick to my stomach.
I hope his “holiness” will also take responsibility for the future pain it will cause the boy since the incident was video taped and shared across the world.
“His Holiness often teases people he meets in an innocent and playful way, even in public and before cameras,” the statement adds.”
Proof that gurus need faithful, adoring followers more than followers need gurus.
Based on what I had previously heard or read about the Dalai Lama (which isn’t much, since I’ve never felt a lot of curiosity about him), I always had a general sense or belief that he was a good man, wouldn’t hurt anyone, and was generally a man of integrity. So my first split-second reaction to the above story was that it might be a joke, or that it was some type of disinformation or even a lie. “He would never do that,” was the first thought. That’s exactly what gurus, religious leaders, and cults want us to believe. Without people thinking, “he/she would never do that,” no cults would ever exist. Followers allow it all to happen.
A conscious school, if such a thing exists, would take an honest look at itself.
There are innocent, naïve, faithful followers, and then there is another layer between these followers and the leader. These are the people who may have once been blind followers, but in any case are now knowing and willing accomplices to the leader’s lies, manipulation and brain-washing. This group benefits directly from supporting the leader, primarily materially/financially, but also by being allowed a measure of power and importance. These people are heavily invested in keeping the leader in power, and defending him from any and all attacks, as their own hard-fought lifestyle, and imaginary picture of themselves, depends on it.
In the Fellowship, such people, themselves virtual candidates for Hasnamuss status, are everywhere. They have names like Dorian Matei, Rowena Taylor, Edith Minne, Ethan Harris, Alan Schwartzberg, Wayne Mott, Linda Kaplan, Girard Haven, Mark Laskin, Helga Mueller, plus nearly the whole of Burton’s innermost circle of Galleria gophers and harem boys. They know Robert Burton is a fraud, that his behavior and relationship towards his “students” is entirely incompatible with a “real teacher,” whatever that might mean. But they keep silent in order to keep the fraud going for as long as possible, while they continue to reap the benefits. Taken as a whole, they are as despicable as Burton himself.
Amazing. Truly Amazing… As Robert once said: “I have permanently destroyed their sleep. They cannot forget this.”
“Machines they are born, machines they die.”
Talking to a chicken or an egg…
This is the: Possibility of man’s evolution…
Maybe Robert is a fraud, but I am sure neither Ouspenky nor Gurdjieff were a fraud.
how about yourself, my friend?
Maybe YOU are a FRAUD?…
If you are still thinking in terms of ‘awake’ and ‘asleep’…’mechanical’ and ‘conscious’
chicken and egg…you’re the fraud, Smurf.
#46 Burkhard says “but I am sure neither Ouspensky nor Gurdjieff were a fraud.”
If by the word fraud you mean the case where they knew their system was bogus but promoted it anyway, I would agree it is likely they were mostly sincere.
(However there are interesting documents from a student of Ouspensky who was with him in his last years in New York that appear to show at that stage he no longer thought the system could work, but he continued to teach it because he was trapped in it)
But I would say they were perpetuating a fraud by suggesting mortal men can change from mortals and become immortal by using certain techniques.
They also propose that there were higher level men in the past who devised the fourth way system, higher mind as Ouspensky describes it, and I would dispute that. There have been many eminent men, but not men who penetrated to the deepest possible secrets of the Universe, and then concealed that from the world by use of esoteric transmission.
Gurdjieff appears to have possessed a spooky charisma and hypnotic power over his followers. If I had met him I might have been seduced. However I now consider his system flawed, and something made up by him and his contacts.
You are wrong , Sir!
Did ever join the school?
If so, did you learn Anything?
I did…
“I have permanently destroyed their sleep. They cannot forget this.”
Well, there’s some truth to that, in that many of us joined and stuck around for years while being totally asleep to the fact that your’e a sociopath. You’ve destroyed our naivety about cults and cult leaders, that is for sure.
And who exactly forced you?
Gurdjieff toasted to the ‘idiots’.
Self-Remembering with the technical part of divided attention works for me.
German Rainer Maria Rilke talked of “Schreitende Alleen”.
I did not have those higher states while working in Renaissance for 7 years but they will always be with me!
I experienced them before and after Apollo!
This is not good.
I am just trying to share my experiences working in Renaissance.
Now I get some “duplicate message” bull.
You guys do not wish to here the truth…
Sad.
On Thu, Apr 20, 2023 at 9:33 PM Fellowship of Friends – Living Presence Discussi
Ah Burkhard you’ll be alright….
I was in for 4 yrs, 43 yrs ago.
My suggestion would be for you to expand your studies…i’m still hacking my way through the unconscious biases from my experience in the fof and equally the rest of the experiences of my life…but…i’m real slow…im sure you will do better if you work at it.
New Product for Old Dilemma
Dog House, CA~Have you noticed those pesky fourth way delusions still stuck in your brain? Have you found yourself still repeating oxymoronic words like “self-remembering”, “sleep” or “divided attention” to others whom have no idea what you are talking about? Do you still believe the moon is out to get you? Are you ready to write your own play?
Now there is a fifth way you can free yourself from the mental bondage of your silly fourth way verifabrications!
Introducing: Reasonol the solvent you can apply to your brain that will help dissolve the super glue of those irksome beliefs and alienating illusions of superiority, restart your critical thinking, and help you start to feel once again, equal to everyone else on the planet.
Inserted in small doses at first into the cracks of your flawed thinking, skewed beliefs, and grandiosity and over time the overwhelming evidence you have been dutifully ignoring will start to become clear and your confirmation biases will be miraculously revealed.
You will literally wake up to a new reality shared by the rest of us!
Only then will you be able to stop focusing in yourself and maybe do some good in the world by leading a productive and fulfilling life helping heal instead of exploiting the weaknesses others, unencumbered by feeling better than everyone else, except the guy at the top.
Try it today, right now, while supplies last!
replies to #48 from Burkhard.
Yes since you ask I did join the school. I joined in 1978 and left in 1989. I do feel like I learnt something, but not exactly what I was after. At the time I was looking for a conscious school that would help me achieve the transformations suggested in the books by Ouspensky and Gurdjieff. I now believe that was a hopeless quest, and I guess that is part of what I learnt from my time in the FOF.
I experienced first hand how a group who are hoping for the same thing will reinforce each other with the hope that they are on the right track. A simple example was the idea that we are all affected emotionally by the phases of the moon. People loved this as it was something external they could blame for not being in a positive frame of mind. People would say “feels like a moon phase” someone else would say but it isn’t a phase right now, and then some confabulation would occur like “Oh I must be extra sensitive”. I saw that no empirical evidence would be sufficient to falsify the theory of moon phases.
I also saw the immense power that one man can have over others. Burton uses a soft voiced monotone to induce a trance like state in his adoring followers, and that is dangerous even if he were a good man. But Burton is a very bad man indeed. His idea of fun is to force heterosexual men to have homosexual sex with him. Once I was informed of this I felt I had no moral option but to leave the school.
Further researches after I left led me to understand a little better what had happened to me. I was an enthusiastic practitioner of the transformation of negative emotions using scale and relativity and a certain detachment. But later I understood what had happened was that I had become depersonalised, so not only did I not feel negative, I didn’t really feel anything at all.
By abandoning the work language, and embracing where appropriate day dreaming, imagination, identification and relaxing the hyper vigilance of self remembering, I have restored a more natural balance to my life.
For the record, it’s not necessarily burton’s soft, monotone voice that is trance inducing, IMHO, it is primarily his role as a spiritualist authority figure and the content of his language that causes the listener to suspend their disbelief, especially when he refers to unseen “angels hovering over the dinner table”, etc.
Speaking of trance states, we have none other than Benjamin Franklin, the then Ambassador to France to thank for debunking any notion that a person can influence others through exclusive personal magical powers.
Franklin was fascinated by electricity and when dispatched to Paris, had the opportunity to study the bizarre phenomena of Anton Mesmer’s so-called, “animal magnetism”, which Mesmer claimed enabled him to exert control over his followers. (Hence the word, “mesmerized”.)
Franklin revealed three conditions necessary for that kind of trance induction, regardless of the practitioner’s method: the follower’s cooperation, expectation, and their imagination.
Once burton’s follower’s disbelief is suspended and critical thinking bypassed, burton’s predatory behavior is limited only by an individual’s conscience (a synergistic combination of critical thinking and feeling) and the boundaries of their personal integrity.
Anyone can also become entranced though a singular focus of attention, such as by music, visual beauty, repetitive movements, sparkly objects, an awe-inspiring night sky of stars, celebrities, cute babies, or a room of ticking clocks. Trance states are actually quite common, even with eyes opened.
Speaking for myself, my fourth way trance wasn’t broken all at once, but through the accumulation of undeniable first hand experiences of burton’s behavior toward me personally, eventually dissolving my imaginary picture of myself, him, and the meaning of “higher” consciousness.
53. Yes, good points about the trance state within the FF. Many will remember how softly burton would speak at meetings back in the 70s. It took every ounce of concentration to hear him, which contributed to the trance state. When he resumed leading meetings around 2001, he would literally order everyone to make eye contact throughout the meeting, and would publicly call out and humiliate anyone who failed to do so. Another trance-inducing technique.
I observed repeatedly that many/most attendees at burton’s meetings and meals willingly put themselves in a trance state well before burton even made his royal entrance. They would not speak; they would stare at the chair where his endlessness would eventually sit; they would not move; they certainly would not smile or acknowledge anyone else, lest it break the trance state.
I know I really don’t have to mention it, but this trance state was/is commonly referred to as “self remembering” or “divine presence,” converting the proverbial “sow’s ear into a silk purse.”
Heaven’s gate documentary on CNN “cult of cults” is story about an organization that has more similarities to FOF than I thought it would. I thought it was just a story about a crazy cult with a loony charismatic leader who separates people from their friends and families, and has a set of beliefs a kindergartner would laugh at.
“Who exactly forced you.” LOL. Many years ago, two of Robert’s henchmen threw me in a car on a busy street in New York, peeled off, and then dumped me at someone’s house for one of those prospective student meetings. I was locked in the basement for a few days until the second and third meetings. I wasn’t allowed to leave until I gave them my bank’s routing number and my account number for easy access to funds.
OK, that’s a lie, but the weird thing is that the truth is much worse. If they had forced me, I never would’ve joined. Deception is much more clever. It just requires a willing participant, which I was.
I still wonder about this, repeating in different words:
How can a group of people believe they’re “working on themselves” if they’re unable to engage in honest self-reflection about the actions of the group they’re a part of?
Human qualities like conscience, empathy, compassion, and kindness are generally considered strengths that one can aspire to by most rational people — but these are all considered weaknesses by this group. Blind loyalty to the leader is considered a strength, and looked upon with favor by the gods in their mind. One is saved from eternal damnation and elevated to a higher level of consciousness by demonstrating great discipline in not being swayed by uncomfortable facts, or by worrying too much about followers who are suffering. Ironically, “remembering verifications” means forgetting everything you see and know about the group and its leader, and to sleep blissfully when someone asks important questions or provides important answers.
At least with mainstream religions, there’s generally no pretentiousness about “verifying.” They wear their beliefs as beliefs, and don’t pretend otherwise. They’re at least mildly aware that most of what they believe is superstition, and that fear is perhaps the main driving force (for example, there’s the expression “god fearing”). However, this cult seems to have absolutely no clue that what they believe is superstition. And that it’s based on fear. Fear of death. Fear of the unknown. Fear of being irrelevant, small, forgotten, and typical. Fear of being just another cult, or fear of being just another person criticizing a cult and warning people about a cult.
Many religions are the scourge of the planet — causing great wars, suffering, and inhumanity throughout history — but at least they don’t pretend that they know. They generally don’t throw out a bunch of psychological buzzwords, numbers, and diagrams that help them pretend that 1) they’re intelligent, and 2) their faith is a science that can be calculated and confirmed in life’s laboratory.
Cults (including this cult) and mainstream religions are generally unaware that everything they believe is based on myths and fiction passed along through the ages with the primary goal to control people. But even people who are brainwashed by religion are at least self-aware enough to realize that their beliefs are beliefs. Believing that one has “verified” is next-level brainwashing.
56. Friend – April 27, 2023
“Human qualities like conscience, empathy, compassion, and kindness are generally considered strengths that one can aspire to by most rational people — but these are all considered weaknesses by this group.”
I think that most former members would disagree with this statement.
Cognitive dissonance is the way a Fellowship of Friends student is able to live with what they know to be wrong.
And I think that the Fellowship of Friends, with all its “specialness” – the gilded wrapping, wonderful international cultural community, and weird sexual preferences of its Teacher, is just another insidious mind control-oriented cult.
Current and former students were all bamboozled. Their membership in this particular “school” is all evidence of naivety and imagination and for some foreign students or those with a taste for power, opportunity.
The “magnetic center” is a storied invention that invited many. “Many are called, few are chosen.” But I don’t think the Fellowship of Friends is so special. It’s just a very highly developed spiritual con.
Golden Veil, I concur with most of your comments. But I’m wondering if you inadvertently left a double negative out of your first statement. Assuming not, what would they disagree with? That most rational people would aspire to those traits? Or that the traits are considered weaknesses by the cult?
It’s a general statement, and certainly not directed at you or many other individuals in the cult who treated others humanely, who cared for people in need, and who were always willing to help those who were confused or victimized by Burton. But then, if they sincerely felt that way, wouldn’t they also be on the verge of leaving?
Exactly when did the cult encourage people to have a conscience, to have empathy, to have compassion, and to have kindness for those who questioned the motives of the cult, and who didn’t agree with some of the most profound assumptions? Think of the countless members who were treated with disregard because they didn’t “value” the teaching, were on the way out, or who had left. Many were (and presumably are) shunned and left on their own to navigate the excruciating experience of “leaving the school” — ostracized by dozens or even hundreds of people they believed were friends. Help them? Forget about it. And if you do, do it quietly and invisibly.
That’s one of the classic definitions of a cult right there.
Just in time for mothers’ day:
Cult news. How far can a cult take you?:
Doomsday plot: Idaho jury convicts woman in murders of 2 children, romantic rival
https://apnews.com/article/idaho-murder-trial-doomsday-plot-mom-841bacf176c07af61d11696c7e3181f5
In news on this story:
“Several family members and friends interviewed by detectives described them as having a strange doomsday-focused belief system, and some of the friends acknowledged adopting the beliefs as well. At times as many as 10 people were part of the loose religious group that met to pray, drive out evil spirits and seek revelations from ‘beyond the spiritual veil.'”
“Lori Daybell’s close friend Melanie Gibbs told investigators Chad and Lori Daybell drew people into their circle of believers by giving them bits of information and flattered followers by telling them they were part of the select few who were supposed to carry out a special spiritual mission.
Those who questioned the beliefs were pushed out of the group, investigators said.
The Daybells used a special scoring system to determine whether people were good or evil, Gibbs said. Each person was assigned a number to indicate how many times they had lived before, as well as a ‘light’ or ‘dark’ rating to indicate if they had made a contract with God or Satan. People were also given ‘vibration’ scores and trustworthiness ratings, and those with high-enough ‘vibrations’ were deemed to be ‘translated,’ holding special powers.”
“The group also believed that once a person became ‘exalted,’ they couldn’t be held responsible for their actions on Earth.”
“Defense attorney Jim Archibald countered that there was no evidence tying his client to the killings, but plenty showing she was a loving, protective mother whose life took a sharp turn when she met her fifth husband, Chad Daybell, and fell for the ‘weird’ apocalyptic religious claims of a cult leader.”
“Daybell [said] they had been married in several previous lives and she was a ‘sexual goddess’ who was supposed to help him save the world by gathering 144,000 followers so Jesus could return, Archibald said.”
The rest is too gruesome to quote here.
Cult news. How far can a cult take you?:
Kenya Doomsday [Cult] Death Toll Hits 200, With More Than 600 Reported Missing
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/kenya-doomsday-cult-bodies-exhumed-mass-graves_n_6460fa7de4b005be8ff431a4
“The victims were allegedly told to starve themselves to meet Jesus. Their bodies are being exhumed from mass graves in the coastal county of Kilifi.”
Several days ago a posting was made, comment-86152, would likely have been #60 on this page, but has not appeared yet or for some reason. It was another pos on recent cult activity. Where is it, moderator?
AP- your post went to spam. I cleared it and it is post #60 above
Thank you fofblogmoderator. You can delete #s 61, 62 & 63.
60. Associated Press
“…starve themselves to meet Jesus.”
–What a totally absurd notion. Complete insanity.
By performing The Sequence, a mortal can become immortal.
–How very reasonable.
Consciousness exists nowhere in the Universe except in Paradise and at Apollo.
–Yep, no problem with that one.
The Absolute and Robert Burton crystallized at the same time.
–Sure, why not.
Robert Burton is a goddess in a man’s body.
–No doubt about it.
The gods want you to give up your family, your parents, your children (born and unborn) in order to become conscious.
–Makes perfect sense.
Conscience is merely a quaint idea coming from unconscious, sleeping, “life people.”
–Definitely no other way to see it.
By chance, I discovered the following passage in some of my old notes, from many years ago. I can’t recall if it’s something I wrote, or if it’s an excerpt that I copied and pasted from someone else. If that’s the case, my apologies for not specifying the author. For now, just sharing.
– – –
“Living amongst the many, embracing the world, and experiencing all of the anguish, uncertainty, unknowing, suffering, joys, jubilation, magic, hope, fear, insanity, discouragement, disappointment, inspiration, and love — that in its purest form is what we sought in the fellowship of friends. What we learned is that it’s right here, right now, right in front of us, within us, and within everyone and everything around us. If there actually are beings guiding all of this (and no one can honestly know for sure), they never left our side. They were with us before the fellowship, during it, after it. The fellowship was and is part of the anguish, uncertainty, unknowing, suffering, joys, jubilation, magic, hope, fear, insanity, discouragement, disappointment, inspiration, and love. Attaching ourselves to it, despite everything we’ve learned about it, is fear that we haven’t yet overcome.”
It has been brought to my attention that Google has taken down “Robert Earl Burton and The Fellowship of Friends: An Unauthorized Blogography of ‘The Teacher’ and His Cult” (see blogroll above.) Google was responding to a DMCA Complaint filed by the Fellowship of Friends on May 16th.
66.
By any chance, is that the same Google that hired Fellowship of Friends follower Peter Lubbers to run its Google Developer Studio, and allowed Lubbers to stack the department with Fellowship members, until a lawsuit and resulting negative attention became a detriment?
And did not Google allow the inappropriate promotion of Fellowship follower and Robert Burton “love interest,” G*b* Pannell (son of Burton gopher, G*r*ld Pannell), more likely than not the result of a “friendly suggestion” from Burton to Lubbers?
And now Google is protecting the Fellowship by shutting down the “REB” blog? Or are they protecting themselves?
Although it’s true Google has taken down the Robert Earl Burton blogspot website, it still can be downloaded on the Wayback machine: https://web.archive.org/web/20230422183518/https://robertearlburton.blogspot.com/
The following quotation from Gurdjieff appeared in a recent communication from Asaf Braverman to his followers:
“In distant times there existed a real knowledge, but owing to all kinds of life circumstances, political and economic, it was lost and only fragments of it remain.”
And there are still many people, probably tens of thousands, who believe that there was/is a complete system, often known today as “The Fourth Way.”
How in the world can “only fragments” of “real knowledge” be construed to be a complete system and method for spiritual growth and the attainment of “objective reason?”
Robert Burton, Asaf Braverman, Dorian Matei, and the thousands of other so-called “Fourth Way” groups, are basically cons and frauds, unless they clearly disclose up front, and continually thereafter, that they are only sharing bits and pieces of “ancient knowledge,” with no guaranty of any particular result.
LOL….really?… someone still thinks that ‘esoteric’ bullshit still flies in the age of the internet?
You gotta be kidding me!
At 194/6. WonderingWhosWatching – February 12, 2023 reported:
“On page 193/96,
WonderingWhosWatching – January 15, 2023, reported: . . .”
About an abused young man by the actions of Robert Earl Burton (REB), leader of the Fellowship of Friends (FoF).
Do not even think that REB’s old age and senility has slowed down his antics at all!
Here is a copy of an open letter from the abused person [edited for anonymity]:
(I hope this is not too long.)
“Hello,
If you receive this letter today, it is that there was a bond of friendship and experiences shared during my 12 years in the Fellowship.
Today I feel the necessity to tell some of my friends why there was such a sudden departure, and also the need to understand why no one reached out, to understand, to know.
I joined the school the summer of my 18th birthday, being young, passionate and inspired by the beautiful and secure world the Fellowship had offered me and my family during all my childhood. I met Robert on my first trip to Apollo, I stayed two months, and some of you may remember, I felt completely bewildered by the beauty of the property and beyond everything else, the kindness of students, the charisma and authority of Robert: he gave me much attention, I felt privileged, chosen, and unique. After three weeks at Apollo Robert took me traveling with him and on the second night he asked me to come to his room to say goodnight, when I was with him he engaged in a sexual relationship with me. He explained to me that influence C had decided that this was the way to share conscious love between him and his chosen male students, that I was special and that there was no higher form of love, that it was sacred and brought to us by higher forces for attaining higher states. I was extremely disturbed and confused at first (I am heterosexual, I was only 18 and Robert 73 years old) yet somehow I believed Robert to his word, and as everyone around me in the school seemed to completely support this, I thought there might be in deed a sacred reason why I should be so close to the teacher and why I should give him my body. At the time, no one talked to me, no one told me that this relationship can lead to suffering and trauma, as it has with many young men before me.
The years went by and Robert became like a father, or a grandfather to me, I deeply loved him, sincerely, and was completely subject to his authority, I could say that my valuation had no reasonable boundaries. Yet the sexual aspect of our bond had become more and more difficult to bear, I experienced it as some kind of sacrifice, a payment, something I needed to accept. When at Apollo I always needed to be reachable by phone, I had to be physically close by, sometimes Robert would call me 3 to 4 times a day demanding sex and had me at his disposal during the nights. This kept on going for years, there were practices that profoundly hurt me, exhausted me, I would never go into details, but the sexual perversity of what I had to endure was numbing.
At some point I dissociated, the experience was too incomprehensible for my mind to understand and cope, on one part, a community of friends I had known; valued, trusted since my childhood, a spiritual system that seemed a miracle in a crazy world, the promise of attaining consciousness, of becoming “conscious” within the school, and on the other side, being used for the voracious sexual appetite of the teacher. I was not able to cope with all the contradictions in my mind, my heart, I lost understanding, I felt split, annihilated. I prefered to look elsewhere, resigned myself, I loved Robert indeed, but I loved him as my teacher, my Guide, why did it have to be this way? At the same time, Robert ordered me to keep distance with my family even if they were students at the time, justifying that biological bounds were instinctive. Robert also formally prohibited me from talking about our intimate relationship to anyone.
Last Year after my final trip to Apollo In May 22, I clearly showed Robert that I could not go on like this, but he ignored me and insisted that I satisfy his sexual needs. This broke me. I came back to [his native country] and a few months later I went through a major depressive episode, with violent suicidal behaviou[r]s, and I am now diagnosed with depression and generalized anxiety disorder. I left the School so as to save myself. My body gave me the ultimate, violent rebellious call that I had been sexually abused for more than 10 years, in the most horrible way, used with the promise of spiritual awakening, used through my deepest aspirations of truth deviated to turn me into a sexual creature for the teacher’s incomprehensible disease.
I am now taking care of my recovery, with the help of medical treatment, and support from my family and friends.
The only reason why I felt the utmost need to write this letter is that of a need to say the truth, to chose words over silence, there was so much hidden, dissimulated, I am not even sure if students did know, or if they knew, why did no one try to help, to engage, to prevent, to open dialogue, to speak, I was so young, how can everyone watch and let be? Why does this silence create such pain in all of us…Please, help young men not to fall into suffering, please play your part, there are too many young, naive men looking for something extraordinary, who will not be able to resist, who will be used like I was used, with the spiritual as cover for justif[y]ing manipulation and sexual abuse.
The mental damages done are unspeakable…yet there is no anger.
Yours sincerely,
[SM]”
Why, in over 50 years, has there not been one single victim of Burton’s abuse who had to courage to walk into the District Attorney’s office in Marysville, and commence criminal proceedings against Burton? That’s all it would take to begin putting an end to Burton and the corrupt Fellowship of Friends.
One of the most common arguments defending the actions of Robert Burton is that the young man simply could have said “no” and walked away. And since he did not walk away, whatever happened after that was consensual.
Fellowsheepers have been telling this lie to each other for decades.
And then you have Greg Holman, Fellowship President and arch-defender of Burton. As he explained in the “Revelations” podcast a couple years ago, his door is always open; and over the many years he has been President, he never once heard anything about sexual abuse involving Burton. Not once. Not even a hint or a whisper. Absolutely nothing. Sure thing, Greg.
New Word Exercise Confuses Cult
Obfuscation House, CA~Cult members were instantly tongue tied at the onset of the newest self-censoring, thought blocking word exercise tasked by the cult leader, Robert E Burton, first thing on Tuesday morning…which was to stop using the word, “No”.
Not that cult followers ever said “No” to anything that was asked of them or risk being labeled as “willful” or marked as “soon to be ex-members” summarily cast into the fiery pit of damnation known as ‘life”, only to writhe in endless pain and suffering for eternity, wishing they’d never been born…even if they politely said, “No, thank you”.
Theoretically, members could always say “No” to making “voluntary donations”, too, but of course those who did were abruptly never seen again.
In fact, the cult’s practice of the “non-expression of negative emotions” seems to prevent members from using the word “No”, and so members say “Yes” to just about everything except extra portions at dinner, since to say “No” is often correlated with negation, the opposite of the positive, or relating to something negative involving the beastly “lower self”.
Cult members’ confusion arose around using the word “know”, a homophone (no pun intended), like when an “older student” reminds you that you are expected to do everything anyone in the cult asks of you and you blurt out, “I know”, and for an instant feel the wince of guilt that you violated the “good student act”.
Consequently, when asked to do something shocking like hop in bed with an elderly gay man who claims to be the reincarnation of Jesus Christ, young tongue tied members predictably remain silent, which translates in cult speak as “Yes”, I consent”, providing the psychopath with a cover of plausible deniability and an excuse to blame his victims.
Critics of the cult were quick to point out the ”Yes Set Sales Technique”…a ”series of questions that elicit a “Yes”, followed by a real question or request.”
“This method of manipulation involves attempting to close a sales deal by leading the client through a list of simple questions. The tactic is successful if you design questions that repeatedly lead to the answer “yes.” Asking questions is a good way to help a client feel autonomous and like they’re making their own decisions.”
It appears that members who often parrot the axiom, “confusion is a higher state”, are in reality gaslighting new members into believing that a vulnerable mental state of heightened suggestibility is somehow a “higher state of consciousness” when the opposite is true!
Spot-on Whalerider.
https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/37991452/northwestern-fires-football-coach-pat-fitzgerald
Many of the same dynamics:
—The victims of the sexual abuse are young and impressionable. They place their trust in someone, look up to them, and admire them. Initially, they can’t envision being abused by them.
—Victims are afraid to step forward in fear of being removed from the program.
—The whistleblower is attacked, and their allegations are met with a swarm of denials.
—Enablers within the institution are afraid to speak up or take action because they might lose their jobs as well as their social connections within the institution.
—People rationalize the abuse by calling the victims weak. The party line: Enduring abuse is just part of the price one needs to be pay for personal growth.
—Members of the institution dismiss any criticisms and are afraid to admit the problem as it would be painful: After all, they have placed their identity in the institution.
Many university programs in recent years have been exposed for similar abuses. Not a perfect comparison (the cult is worse), but stories like this are a good reminder that the FOF is definitely not “higher school.” Frankly, humans (the human race, or individuals within it) can forget about “evolving” as long as this is par for the course.
The letter published above is a sad and unfortunately not uncommon manifestation of grief and anger, not only when one escapes the Fellowship of Friends, but any abusive cult. Based solely on an educated guess as to who the author is, there is one wrinkle that might possibly be relevant. I emphasize that if I have guessed right, that I have never met the ‘not–so–young–anymore’ man who wrote this letter, and so cannot possibly know his history or motives in detail. But, I’ve seen plenty of similar scenarios, and can relate to the grief and anger, since I experienced all that for myself.
Anyway, the wrinkle is, I’m guessing that the author was put on the list of “future conscious beings” by Burton, and if this is correct, that put him into an especially delicate situation. First, Burton gained even more leverage than the usual, “This will hasten your evolution, and besides, C–Influence wishes you to submit”, which is powerful enough. If Burton added something on the lines of, “C–Influence has revealed to me that you are to become conscious (and immortal). In their infinite wisdom, they have designed this path especially for you. A relationship with me is the fast–track to achieving the results we both want for you. And, when you submit, you are submitting not to me, but to the will of the all–powerful gods. And, I will be with you, and watch over you, every step of the way.”.
Add to this the pressure from family members in the cult to comply. Not only his parents (still in the Fellowship of Friends, AFAIK), but grandmother as well. If they are like too many other family members in similar situations when I was there, they not only condone Burton’s behavior, but actively encourage their male relatives to accept, presenting this as a unique (for the victim) opportunity not to be passed up. In this case, factor in the added luster accruing to the rest of the family, being intimately connected to a ‘future conscious being’, and the spiritual circle–jerk is complete.
So, to those who might be inclined to question or even condemn the young man for enduring the abuse for so long, please think again, and take all the circumstances into account. Consider the unbearable pressure on a not–yet–fully–adult youth, imagine the confusion when the family you have learned to trust through your whole existence tells you to extend that trust to someone whom the victim senses deeply the family members do themselves completely trust. I ask, who at that age has the maturity and experience to resist all that weight and intimidation, under the guise of encouragement? When literally everyone around you has normalized molestation as a guarantee of spiritual growth (whatever that means)?
Well, whoever wrote that letter, I congratulate you on freeing yourself, and I hope you can heal and make a fresh start. These are harsh lessons, and extremely valuable and dearly bought realizations. I wish you all the best.
US actor Allison Mack has been released from prison early after serving two years for her role in a sex-trafficking case tied to a cult-like group.
The 40-year-old pleaded guilty to racketeering and conspiracy charges in April 2019 related to her efforts to recruit women to the Nxivm sex cult.
Nxivm, pronounced “nexium”, started in 1998 as a self-help program. It claims to have worked with more than 16,000 people including the son of a former Mexican president and Hollywood actresses such as Mack.
Prosecutors say Mack helped recruit and groom women as sexual partners for the group’s leader, Keith Raniere. Though Raniere, 62, was at the top of this structure and the only man, Mack served as one of his top female deputies.
Mack, who was arrested in 2018, was facing as much as 17 years in prison but saw her sentence reduced after providing evidence to help prosecutors pursue their case against Raniere.
In 2020, he was sentenced to 120 years in prison for multiple crimes, including forcing women to be his sexual “slaves”.
Before her sentencing, Mack apologized to those she said had been harmed by her actions, calling her involvement with the group “the biggest mistake and regret of my life”.
“I am sorry to those of you that I brought into Nxivm,” she said. “I am sorry I ever exposed you to the nefarious and emotionally abusive schemes of a twisted man.”
~
In this enlightening new interview, sociologist and world renowned cult expert Dr. Janja Lalich explains the problems with going up against a cult legally. See 1:05 into the video. Another issue, the prevalence of influential academics and professionals who are cult apologists and go to court and defend suits under the guise of “freedom of religion.”
But I highly recommend watching the entire video. It’s an AP course in cults. Dr. Lalich succinctly defines what makes an organization a cult, who is attracted and why – and her viewpoints are refreshing, at times a departure from commonly held beliefs about cults. She’s also a former cult member herself, and describes her own personal ten year journey within a cult and leaving it. Dr. Lalich is interviewed by narcissism expert, Dr. Ramani Durvasula.
A note about the above interview with Dr. Lalich
The interview was March 23, 2023. It is interesting how her viewpoints and definitions have evolved over the years; it makes sense to me.
The young man who wrote the letter, above, reveals in a moment of candor, information in a much more direct manner than usual. Most people in the Fellowship of Friends, at least in the U.S. and quite definitely amongst the half of the organization that has settled down in Oregon House, California, know what is going on. Some may know more of the details than others, but all know the general lay of the land. The trouble is, they believe that allowing Burton to indulge himself with no restraints whatsoever is morally justified in the name of gaining ‘consciousness’ and, according to their interpretation of the Fourth Way, some species of immortality. That has absolutely become the ethos of the dominant institutions of authority and power in the Fellowship and as a result, they have become exactly that which they claim to be trying to escape from. There is no such thing as human power divorced from principle, unmoored from ethics, that will ever be anything but deeply corrupted. That is how humans are. Once people tell themselves that they are fighting to achieve a ‘state’ so valuable, so overarching that there are no ethical limits that can be recognized in the methods they use to achieve it, then they are headed for a very dark place.
One of several reasons I still have an interest in the history and doings of the Fellowship of Friends is that, IMHO, the structure and politics of the organization mirror those of the larger society in which it is embedded. It makes it much easier to understand how the larger operates if I can study the smaller scale. Not only that, the leader of the Fellowship of Friends embodies in the one person the equivalent of many roles that are separated in the larger; he is the Pope, the King, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the head of Mossad or MI6 or the CIA, a dictator, all rolled into one. Burton, with his self–proclaimed ability to “make 500 decisions a day” is all of these and more, so studying him and the way he operates, and studying the organization and the way it revolves around him, is incredibly instructive.
Ditto with the honchos to whom he transmits authority and the way they deal with it. And in turn, how they transmit the authority Burton bestows, and so on down the whole hierarchy to the laity and “the least amongst us”.
So, back to the letter. There is no way in hell that the writer’s friends, parents, and other relations in the Fellowship did not know what was going on. Nowadays, everyone knows that when a young man is invited to accompany Burton on a trip, it is going to end in a demand for sex. This is not absolute, it is possible that a very naïve young man, freshly recruited in Europe by conniving ‘Center Directors’ and given an all–expenses–paid trip to Oregon House, might not himself know what he is getting in to, but in the main, they also know the gig. Revelations shared by Russians who have been through the mill are quite definite in this regard; they know in advance what the deal is, and accept it, at least initially. Sex in return for help with a Green Card, free travel, fine clothes, lodging and wining and dining, maybe even a car. Plus, the admiration and envy of their friends, adulation—and more—from attractive females who see an opportunity to ‘get closer to the flame’. Pretty hard to resist.
Then question naturally arises, why did the young man’s friends and those relatives in the Fellowship of Friends go along with all this? I can understand why the young man himself did so, at least for a while. The flattery and individual, focused attention of the Pope himself must be overwhelming. But the parents? The ‘friends’? They must have seen this exact same thing happen over and over again. It’s been going on for fifty years, fifteen of those in semi–secret, but thirty–five in open view. They must have observed the incredible turnover in Burton’s entourage. They must have heard about the sex parties, the use and misuse of drugs. They must have heard of the disillusionment and bitterness of those young men as reality displaced the fantasies whilst they were in the harem, and afterwards, first or second hand. Yet they did not warn the young man who wrote the letter, did not seek to steer him out of harm’s way? From my experience, they probably did the opposite, despite the abundance of evidence and “common sense”, and despite knowing of his immaturity, sheltered upbringing, lack of life experiences, general naïveté, and even gullibility.
Rather, they either actively encouraged him, echoed and enlarged on Burton’s assurances of ‘spiritual evolution—guaranteed by the gods themselves and their sole emissary on earth’, or shirked their responsibilities and comforted themselves with the equivalent of, “he’s over eighteen, he knows what he is doing, it is his choice, he can always say no”. In other words, an outside observer might recognize they themselves as immature and lacking basic decency and common sense themselves, but within the bubble and trained to orient their world–view to the local prevailing belief system, the relatives and friends were acting objectively and dispassionately.
This is also how things work in the larger society, when one pauses to reflect…
Yep.
A few years back i ran into a current member of the fof i hadn’t seen in some thirty years. It was in the midst of Trumps term as prez. I mentioned the obvious parallels between Burton and Trump. The constant lying, the grandiousity, the veneer of faux positivity masking an ocean of vile vindictive toxic sludge. Just repeat the same bullshit over and over and over and you are sure to get some takers.
They didn’t see any similarities and said Burton didn’t like Trump.
Fast forward to now and the front runner of one of the two major parties of the greatest democracy ever to grace the planet is indicted with how many felony crimes?
It’s a ‘Witch Hunt’
Sure is
81. Ames Gilbert July 30, 2023
“Then the question naturally arises, why did the young man’s friends and those relatives in the Fellowship of Friends go along with all this?”
It is not so surprising once you consider that these friends and relatives are in a cult and as such have what Dr. Jajana Lalich calls a Transcendent Belief System with the core principle, “The end justifies the means.”
“an ideology or belief system that basically gives you the answer to everything, the past, the present and the future. And the philosophy behind the belief system is, “the end justifies the means.” Once you have a philosophy that says, “the end justifies the means”, that means you can be asked to do anything, and as long as it’s in the service of the goals of the organization or the leader’s wishes, it’s okay. So, that puts people into a kind of a sticky wicket because most people come into the cult, unless they’re born in it, with their own sense of morality and over time they have to give up their own morality to the, what I say, the immorality of the leader because they are following these “end justifies the means” orders.
~ from the March 23, 2023 interview linked in 79.
And yes, maybe Trumpists operate under a similar core principle.
Four more indictments…wow…should increase Trumps poll numbers…
‘Transcendant belief system’ hmmmm..
There is nothing transcendant (except everything).
The ends is power and the means is by any means necessary.
Capture the imagination of a certain mass, butter the bread of a few, promise butter to a number more and instill fear in all. Straight from the tyrants handbook.
Nothing new here. EVERY ‘spiritual’ endeavor goes off the rails and runs straight to powertown.
Thats Ames point as i see it.
So you found presence…bully for you. You have that the moment you plop out on this goofy rock. But not Divine Presence you say…is there any other kind?
You…we…were conned. Its a bitter pill to swallow. We were oh so sly.
Re:”Then the question naturally arises, why did the young man’s friends and those relatives in the Fellowship of Friends go along with all this?”
In other words, what was their motivation?
IMO, the probable short answer: Self-interest at the expense of others.
For example, I recently watched a Netflix movie “The Other Boleyn”, a dramatized portrayal of the family life of the two Boleyn sisters, Mary and Anne.
The younger, Anne, as you may know, was married for a short while to the infamous womanizer, King Henry VIII, after divorcing his first wife at Anne’s insistence and proclaiming himself the Head of the Church of England.
(Henry and Anne had one surviving child together, none other than Elizabeth I, who later became Queen of England.)
Unbeknown to me, prior to Anne’s involvement with King Henry, her sister Mary had reluctantly become the King’s mistress, apparently because Henry’s first wife, Catherine of Aragon, did not bear him any male heirs and could no longer have children.
The Boleyn family was steeped in the authoritative, patriarchal English monarchy of the time; their father was Thomas Boleyn, 1st Earl of Wiltshire and their uncle was Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk.
Shortly after a grandiose visit to the family’s country estate and being introduced to the young, awestruck Mary, the King bestowed the family men with additional titles and relocated the family from the countryside to the court, in all likelihood to gain access to Mary. Sound familiar?
Mary eventually bore him a son, but that was not enough for her to remain in the King’s orbit; the son was illegitimate. Soon after, the King pursued Anne, who, according to the film, had greater aspirations, having been educated in the courts of the Netherlands and France, than her naive sister.
Now I’m unsure whether or not the movie was historically accurate, but it appears plausible that both sisters may have been encouraged, if not ordered by their father and uncle (as portrayed in the film) to make their bodies available to the King in order to gain the King’s favor and increase the family’s social rank (which it apparently did) through sacrificing the girl’s reputations and having an adulterous affair with the King.
The seduction of Mary set in the King’s chamber, with its obvious imbalance of power between a King and his lowly subject was particularly painful for me to watch.
Could not the same narcissistic motivation of self-interest be said of Center Directors and cult family members who wish to have favor bestowed upon themselves by turning a “blind eye”, if not downright recruiting and offering the bodies of young men to a gay sexual predator like burton, the self-proclaimed head of a high intensity, high control, hierarchical cult of personality such as the FOF?
In fact, some FOF cult members might unconsciously rationalize (buffer) to themselves, “Glad it was them and not me!”
Sound familiar?
This is what eventually happens when you give away your power to another person and deny your inner guru: you diminish your personal integrity, becoming inhumanly blind to how your actions contribute to the suffering of others.
In the court of the Fellowship of Friends, Robert Earl Burton’s desires and beliefs transcend those of all others. He holds the trump card – unless someone wakes up. In the Fellowship of Friends, is “Being Present” more than just a daydream or if around other students, an “act”? The “good student” must perform their role (at least if around others.) Is the pimping going on in the Fellowship of Friends done purely for personal gain, to receive the shimmering glow of favor from the Teacher? Or is it more in order to play a part for the “greater good” of the Fellowship? Ultimately, those are the same, aren’t they?
In the end, the Fellowship of Friends has the same marks of practically any cult: a charismatic (well, at one time charismatic) narcissistic leader who is the founder, along with a penchant to utilize control, exert influence, and embrace a belief system in which “the ends justify the means”.
The students toe the line, enact their roles, and some especially seek to curry favor by going so far as to pimping new people or turning a blind eye to even the abuse of a youthful, vulnerable friend or relative. This is the immoral culture that is embraced in the Fellowship of Friends.
All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely Players;
They have their exits and their entrances…”
~ As You Like It, Shakespeare
~ ~ ~
Tune in for the arraignment, U.S. vs Donald J. Trump, 4pm EST. Indictments are succinctly detailed here by Heather Cox Richardson
https://open.substack.com/pub/heathercoxrichardson/p/august-1-2023?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email
Regarding the young man under discussion: I would bet that he enjoyed the attention he was getting from burton, being elevated above the common, average “student,” not to mention burton’s prediction that he would “become a conscious being” some day.
If the rumors are true that burton paid for his ballet lessons, that would be yet another perk. I would further bet that his status with burton also paid dividends for his mother and grandmother, as burton would have wanted to keep the whole family happy in order to enjoy the intimate company of the young man.
So, everyone was happy for a number of years, and there was no reason for the family members to “rock the boat.”
Just one further possibility of the saga and dynamic of a young man who, thankfully, woke up enough to get out.
Yes, the young man wrote of being inspired by the “beautiful and secure world the Fellowship had offered me and my family during all my childhood.”
He seems to indicate that he did not actually meet Robert until he came to Apollo.
He writes of that time, “I felt completely bewildered by the beauty of the property and beyond everything else, the kindness of students, the charisma and authority of Robert: he gave me much attention, I felt privileged, chosen, and unique.” He was clearly happy, at first.
But the “beautiful and secure world” of his childhood and the privileges he enjoyed as a young adult became an ongoing nightmare when he became a voluntary sex slave for years. “When at Apollo I always needed to be reachable by phone, I had to be physically close by, sometimes Robert would call me 3 to 4 times a day demanding sex and had me at his disposal during the nights. This kept on going for years, there were practices that profoundly hurt me, exhausted me, I would never go into details, but the sexual perversity of what I had to endure was numbing.”
It is sad that he endured “the sexual perversity” of Robert Earl Burton for so many years before waking up. But I say Bravo! to him for sharing his story.
I’ve been having great difficulties signing in to WordPress. Blocked for six months, then let in for the two entries above, then blocked again. So, this is another experiment… I’m now trying another computer with an up–to–date operating system.
I tried to post this nearly a week ago. Anyway, here goes:
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++
More musings related on the letter above.
I’m still trying to understand the reasoning of the young man’s parents and other family and friends during the ten years of coercion. And this also ties in to what Insider (#73, above) said regarding one of the chief honchos, when said honcho claims “he never once heard anything about sexual abuse involving Burton.”
If he actually believes what he is saying, and also assuming the parents had enough decency to be looking out for what they perceived to be the best interests of their son for a decade, then how to explain the difference between the two versions of what has been going on in the Fellowship of Friends for over fifty years?
To me, it is obvious that people who can’t openly express what they really think for too long, are forced to split into two parts. One part sees the reality, and the second part is a sort of shadow world. They give up the right to have their independent view of the world and just accept what Burton or ‘older students’ tell them. Or maybe for a whilst they keep their own views, but they can no longer admit them out loud. Meaning they spend increasing amounts of time and energy convincing themselves that the shadow world is reality, and that the former reality is a sham. Isn’t that the essence of any “bubble” or groupthink? Resulting in the situation where Burton first gaslights his followers, and then they take over the job of gaslighting themselves. Since Burton, contrary to his claims otherwise, is actually extremely lazy, he can relax and spend most of his waking hours planning how best to fulfil his unquenchable addiction to sex and shopping, in the full (and justified) confidence the flock will control itself. The fellow Insider quoted above is an excellent example of gaslighting in action; he is trying to alter his audience’s perception of the world, lose confidence in themselves, and gain control of the narratives, internal and external. This is just what his master and ‘older students’ did to him.
This is Plato’s cave and shadows analogy in reverse. Burton aims to get his followers back into the cave and accept his explanations of what the shadows mean—the exact opposite of any form of becoming more aware of the truth of the situation we are in. In short, Burton, whose development was arrested way back when, probably during childhood, has regressed the development of all who accept his leadership, his authority, and his fantasy–infused interpretations of how the world works, and re–made them into dependent children.
All this just my opinion, of course.
Looks like a ten–year–old computer with a ten–year–old operating system may have been the trouble all along!
++++++++++++++++++++++++
Yet more musings on the letter above.
As Burton so frequently said, in my time, “This is a school of love”…
The young man was expected by Burton, his friends, and the rest of the laity to love his abuser.
The head honchos have been trained to love their servitude, as have the rest of Burton’s followers. The most faithful and obedient “yes–men” and “yes–women”, those with the most unquestioning faith, are the ones chosen by Burton to gaslight the rest and herd them back into the cave.
YouTube: Fellowship of Friends – More Than You Want to Know (Rate My Cult) by Maye Muses (51 minutes worth, if you can stand it.):
89. Ames Gilbert – August 6, 2023
Probably abandonment of reason comes into play. The concept of a split between reality and a shadow world may be part of the explanation, as well as the concept “the end justifies the means” cult philosophy and subsequent moral decay.
So glad you figured out your computer problem!
R. traditionally groomed young male students during all-inclusive international trips abroad, including stays in five-star hotels, dining in Michelin star restaurants, and the purchase of fine apparel and other gifts for his potential sexual attendants. His targeted favorites were supplied with green cards, visas and salaries. R. would often initiate sex with a new young man for the first time during these junkets abroad, establishing a history of sexual rapport outside of the United States amidst exceptional luxuries, making it harder for his targets to refuse him and at the same time, creating a history of consent.
A former long-time Fellowship of Friends member, who at one time worked in the Galleria, describes its large salon or assembly room, marble-floored foyer with its painted ceiling mural of a young man with an erection, large formal dining room, butler’s pantry, kitchen, the Whitman Study, R.’s large bedroom and private bath, and the underground wine cellar / dining area and two additional bedrooms for especially favored male harem members. They told me that most of the young male harem members slept on the floor in the Galleria so as to be ready to service R.’s needs on short notice. Eventually, housing for these men was built on the property, adjacent to the Galleria.
They also told me that after the Buzbee lawsuit that was settled out-of-court in the late ’90s, Fellowship of Friends legal advisor attorney Abraham Goldman (who later took his own life) advised R. that in order to avoid recurrence of such legal actions, he was to never again have sex with underage males (below the age of consent), and to consort only with men of legal age, who had in the presence of a third party, given in advance consent to potentially have sex with R., should they meet with him privately. Consent was definitely necessary prior to any first-time engagement for sex. R. knew his legal limitations.
All of these activities were / are accomplished at the expense of tax exempt donations by the members of the Fellowship of Friends, a so-called “religious organization”. And these luxury trips and the promotion of sexual attendants are not the religious or spiritual activities that the organization was incorporated for or is chartered to do.
re #71 WonderingWhosWatching
Does anyone remember G–nael the former Fellowship member?
In 1998 G–ael literally escaped overnight from the academy, (Burtons’ home) and the depravity he was subjected to there. He hid out at the Merryweathers’ house. Next day, (sunday) Burton drove himself out to their home, stood outside and called out repeatedly for G–nael to come out and return to him. He didn’t.
G–nael is SM’s father.
At this blog Page 169/1 Ames Gilbert – March 2, 2019 wrote:
“Jeez, it’s hard to keep up. Latest news from the bowels of the criminal enterprise, a.k.a. The Fellowship of Friends, the cult headquartered in Oregon House, California, 95962.
Burton has decided: there are four future ‘conscious beings’.
They are:
Dorian Mattei, Sasha Shalapanov, Nitzan Nitzan, and Samuel Mercer (grandson of Maria Machado).
Alert readers will quickly note that—wait for it, wait for it—Girard Haven is not on the list.
Great gallomphing goobers! I can hardly believe it myself.
After spending most of his adult life mooning after Burton, writing untold reams of rubbish about how to act more ‘conscious’, whole books of self–referential fluff justifying the actions of a loon (albeit, a ‘conscious’ loon), attempting to square the circle of the Fourth Way with the Precious Sequence™, being obedient and obsequious every moment of his life when not in front of a screen (o.k., this is a family blog)… amusing himself—and being rewarded for all this by being anointed as a ‘Man #5…
… and then having even this meagre recognition denied him? Where is the justice? Why the humiliation? It seems so unnecessary and gratuitous and cruel.
I ‘sorta’ feel for him.
But don’t worry, my source tells me that Girard is taking it well. He has nobly accepted the word of his Master, who has once again treated him as lower than a dog.
This begs the question: what about ‘Solartype’, ‘William’, ‘Nicolas Walker™’, and the rest?
Too bad, you are all ‘in imagination’. The eighty–first angel has announced The Truth, the Whole Truth, and Nothing But The Truth.
You are mere pretenders, frauds, all of you.
Robert Earl Burton, God–Emperor of Oregon House, has spoken.
So. Be. It and So. It. Is.
Until, at a guess, next week.”
One of the “four future ‘conscious beings'” mentioned there is the person who wrote the letter appearing on this page 194/71
posted by WonderingWhosWatching on June 26, 2023.
#93 Golden Veil
Burton would sometimes include a female student on these trips abroad, someone who was approximately the same age as him. This was calculated purely for the sake of appearances, they were a kind of camouflage.
From the outside, someone looking at the entourage might assume that Burton and the female were Mum and Dad or something. They would book into the hotel and Burton would go sequentially room to room for sex with the boys one after the other. Later at dinner having just dined on the boys, all would seem superficially normal and respectable from the outside to the casual observer.
94. diegoriverassquaretrouserleg – August 8, 2023
If G-nael is indeed the father of SM, the young man who wrote the letter reprinted in
71. by WonderingWhosWatching – June 26, 2023, well, that is incredible indeed, that the father did not warn or discourage his son from going through the same sort of sexual and existential hell.
Talk about “a split between reality and a shadow world” as suggested in 89. by amesgilbert – August 6, 2023 above… yikes!
96. diegoriverassquaretrouserleg – August 9, 2023
I can see how the feminine presence would be an advantage.
By the way, you may know that there is a long-time tradition, beginning in the early 20th century, of gay artistic promiscuous men from the West, traveling to gather in exotic international locations such as Morocco, where they could sexually play with each other and the locals. And sometimes even a cult of personality, with a man of some illustriousness or cultural notoriety, such as a writer, at the center of these happenings. But, they were not funded by tax exempt donations by the unwitting members of a “religious organization”. And I doubt that even if there were power imbalances or coercion, intimacy was ever achieved by far-fetched promises of a conscious state of being.
Golden Veil (#97) and DiegoSP (#94), thanks for your inputs.
Although I had left by that time, I do now vaguely remember hearing about how a certain G–nael, who at the time worked in the Lodge kitchen as a baker, escaped from Burton’s clutches. I think he was smuggled from Ramona’s house to somewhere in Foresthill, and thence to freedom.
This is mere speculation on my part, but I think it is very possible that he knowingly or unknowingly left SM’s mother pregnant when he made his escape. Whether they were married at the time or not, I have no idea, but the mother was known as M-ya M., and she also in due course produced a daughter, D_ael M. Both this daughter, son, mother and grandmother were all members of the FoF at some point. I am told that when SM left, he said that he would never contact the other members of the family still in the FoF again if they did not leave. And apparently, at least the mother and grandmother did so.
If the young man SM ever gets to hear about this blog, I for one would welcome his take on this whole matter, in his own words. He could correct the record and misapprehensions where necessary, and who knows, maybe it would help in his healing process. Ditto with other members of his family. But it would mean putting himself square center in the public eye if he did so, and I’m sure he already has enough humiliation and regrets to contend with. But maybe he could use a pseudonym and invent a ‘personality’ to speak on his behalf?
It just keeps getting darker and darker, showing what an evil, malevolent monster Burton has always been.
I’m reminded of the “Underground Railroad:”
(From Wikipedia) “The Underground Railroad was a network of secret routes and safe houses established in the United States during the early to mid-19th century. It was used by enslaved African Americans primarily to escape into free states and from there to Canada.”
Since I’m not “conscious” (meaning certified as such by Robert Earl Burton, the God–Emperor of Oregon House, CA 95962, and best pals with the Absolute), along with nearly 8 billion other humans on this planet, then any opinions I might have about “consciousness” are total bullshit. Actually, it’s worse than that, since I fluffed my admittedly already miniscule chance by rejecting Burton and his teachings, so I’m apparently at the tail end of the line of 8 billion stupids, a.k.a. cannon–fodder–for–the–angels, falling even further behind every day, and destined to become some kind of mineral. But I digress.
To me, achieving this “consciousness” thingy at least implies some extra degree of freedom, in that one has, according to popular theory, escaped some bounds that somehow restrict ordinary folks. So, it’s perfectly amazing that 1500 or so followers of Burton actually believe that someone who is an absolute slave to his desires is free in any meaningful sense. Granted, he does have the kind of freedom granted to anyone surrounded by 1500 worshippers who do their best to unquestioningly fulfill him every wish, yet he is not free of those desires. In this case, unlimited sex and unlimited shopping, unlimited control over those 1500. Attempts to satisfy these desires govern his every waking moment, meaning they have complete control of him. And this is what he advertises as “consciousness”, this is the example he sets for his followers. How can they not see the contradictions? If “consciousness” means abject slavery, and that slavery to those uncontrollable compulsions, the limitless and life–long addiction to pleasure and control, and the obvious inability to actually satiate his desires—why would anyone want to follow that path? Why would anyone want to be a slave like him? It’s all very well for him to claim that he is actually just supernaturally alert to, and obedient to, the desires of assorted angels, and that they wish him to act like the remorseless predator he is. Burton claims he is assiduously carrying out their will, and that those who submit to him are also carrying out their will in turn. In other words, he is choosing to act on the extra degree of freedom that consciousness theoretically bestows by voluntarily becoming a slave with no degree of freedom. That is so blatantly self–serving as to invite mocking laughter from those not caught in the thrall. Like, who could tell the difference between helpless addiction and ‘voluntary’ addiction anyway? He entered the prison of uncontrollable impulses and threw away the key? And it is only his self–reported and unverifiable claims to be “conscious” that would bolster such assertions in any case.
I wonder what Burton and Dorian Mattei talk about when they are alone together nowadays. Both “conscious” according to themselves, though I would guess that now they can validate each other with verifabrications galore. I bet, too, they tell their respective closest disciples that each has “verified” the other is “conscious”, and leave it to those disciples to spread the Good News. For example, Dorian can claim that the fact he is indeed “conscious” proves that Burton is “conscious” because Burton correctly predicted that he, Dorian, would become “conscious”, and so on. The mutual circle jerk.
Does anyone know, has Dorian learned how to correctly interpret t–shirts and license plates yet? Or has he developed his own special stable of signs and portents? I was told that he invented a deep significance to a branch breaking off an oak tree on the property, and connected this to Asaf departing for greener pastures…
And does Dorian, like Burton, have a powerful guardian angel whose full–time job is looking out for him? Most importantly, has he started to make predictions yet? He needs to get with it, it’s an essential part of the gig. And in due course he will surely compile his own list of “future conscious beings”. He can’t possibly do worse than Burton, who has a hundred percent record of being wrong, about that and—everything.
So, the scam rolls merrily on…
”A Permission Structure (when humanistically employed) provides an emotional and psychological justification that allows someone to change deeply held beliefs and/or behaviors while importantly retaining their pride and integrity. (See examples via link)
It’s based on an understanding that radically changing a deeply held belief and/or entrenched behavior will often challenge a person’s self-identity and perhaps even leave them feeling humiliated about being wrong.”
https://modelthinkers.com/mental-model/permission-structure
On the other hand…one could argue the FOF and fourth way cult indoctrination (“the lower cannot see the higher”) is a means for establishing a different kind of “authoritarian permission structure”, intentionally deployed upon followers “to radically change a deeply held belief” (in science, for instance, as opposed to superstition) and thus justify the cult leader’s sociopathic behavior…yet achieves the opposite effect: degrading a person’s integrity, balkanizing their self-identity, and artificially inflating a false sense of pride subject to the whims of the cult leader.
New Page