As I was saying when I hit the wrong key, so much of what I have read on this blog tonight is based on imagination! To those who don’t know the danger of that, well, there’s not much that can be said. To those who have verified to some depth the dangers of imagination, I have to say, it’s disappointing to find so much commentary standing on a foundation of imagination. The FoF is only as real as any one individual’s experience. My experience is that the ideas presented are true and that if one makes the efforts, real results can be had. It’s very simple. The ideas are not from RB, they are ancient, who are we to judge them? It is a rare bird that can put them to practical use and such a bird has little need for all this idle chatter which is mostly complaining. As RB has said “life is a collosal opportunity” time is limited so indeed the opportunity is what must be focused on while there is still time. Wishing you all the common sense to understand the gravity of the human situation. JM
Are you referring to the sequence here and if so please show me some proof that this is an ancient idea. Just because Robert says it is does not make it so. Robert seems to be displaying quite a vivid imagination himself these days.
(This can only be viewed by Greater Fellowship members.)
#624 Just Me:
If indeed, “’life is a collosal opportunity’ (and) time is limited so indeed the opportunity is what must be focused on while there is still time,” I hope you will stick around and help those who are striving to make the most of this opportunity.
Perhaps you might help elevate this from the level of “idle chatter”?
I think, what you say is correct. A few here would agree, but, it is true- life is what you make out of it.
You attitude towards it, that is what defines your internal experiences of external impressions.
And regarding imagination. Just take this story about RB and AIDS. If he had it, I think we would have 10 or 20 other people having it. None of RB’s current friends has it. Someone mentioned a student being checked recently, the results were NEGATIVE. How much more evidence one needs to finally accept the fact?!
xena:
Here is a suggestion. Find and read Daniel Goleman’s “The Meditative Mind”. In this book he shows the principle of the awakening proccess. And then uncovers it in the practices of many other religious and spiritual traditions. If one understands the principle, one will never be lost in the forest of Spiritual practices.
So, for me the Sequence is quite similar with such old practices as Mantra chanting and “continuous prayer” in Christianity. They all aim on bringing mind in focus.
And the second stage is to relax in the that state and just observe one’s mind. And this is the Long Be at the end of the Sequence.
mole:
I think many people achieve these results in a Fellowship. Sorry you can’t see them. Maybe you were not looking in the right place, I don’t know. On the other side, there are all kinds of people there, and not all are the same, not all have the same desire to be present, not all… but don’t say none!
Regarding Girard, I don’t care what he has to struggle with in his personal life, what I do know, is that if I ask him a question about something I am very likely to expect an intelligent answer. So, whether hi is man #5 or not, I don’t give a damn, and I think he doesn’t give a damn either.
For me, I am of the opinion that as long as someone has certain knowledge and is ready to make certain efforts then they are on the right track whether in FOF or not.
Alot of you comment on the 99.99… percent thing. It is not connected to member or non members of the FOF but rather as Ouspensky or Gurdjieff said to paraphrase, most people think they are already awake and going to heaven. There is only a small percentage that verify they are asleep and are machines.
This idea above seeded with me before I became a member of the FOF. Others will have their own theories, ideas, and opinions about life on the planet earth and beyond, but no one can prove or disprove another’s theory.
Early in its history, the Fellowship of Friends produced a printed publication (published approximately once a week), called “Via Del Sol”. This issue (Volume 2 Number 9, December 19th 1972) featured a collection of Robert Burton’s intellectual gems and purest distillation of his high understanding on the subject of sex. These sayings were published while he claimed celibacy yet was forcing some male students to have sex with him. Italics are in the original.
Physical sex, in its deepest meaning, is designed to perpetuate the species, and insure nature of a vehicle for transmitting planetary and celestial influences to the earth. Man’s physical pleasures are secondary to this aim, and, in general, a by–product of nature’s hidden aim.
R.
The sex center is not an intelligent brain. It has a dull, plant–like intelligence. At times, it is quite a vulgar brain, and may be easily aroused by uncivilized levels of intelligence.
R.
If a person has a full relationship with another, then sex may be a part of the whole. Without this factor, then one is in tramp and their sex life does not relate well with the mass or whole of their being.
R.
Humans have been tricked by having their sex organs covered or hidden since birth, making them appear mysterious. This is why some people move from person to person having sex. They try to discover (or steal) what is hidden about the other person, and having found the secret move onto another person seeking the same hollow goal.
R.
To have sexual relations with a partner who is at a lower level of being is to be in tramp. Flirtations are a form of tramp in sex and are sex energy leaks.
R.
Martians, as a type, have the least need or desire to abstain from sex. Mercuries follow them in this area.
R.
The machine creates enormous quantities of sex energy; nevertheless, when we lose sex energy, it can be a weary day.
R.
Most men deviate in the quest for their Self by being engulfed in a woman’s problems, which she often offers a man as a means to gain his attention. Women put themselves to sleep by being conditioned to accept a subservient role to men. This refers to machines in both cases and not thyself. One of the ways schools in the past avoided this mechanical manifestation was through monasteries. The higher we can raise our level, it will be seen we are a vacuum moving amongst life, each a monastery amongst humanity.
R.
It is not generally harmful for students to be at a level in their life where they are confused about sex aims. They may fluctuate between a desire to engage in sex and a desire to abstain. Remember the Self is born as a result of friction; and sex is most often an area of friction.
R.
The sex center is a machine designed to seek out its magnetic opposite in physical union. It does not care for abstinence or transcending itself.
R.
You speak of “the dangers of imagination” and the “foundation of imagination.” You serious? We keep hearing that word again and again — “imagination.”
Imagination:
• When you believe you are among the chosen few who will be the only survivors of a nuclear holocaust
• When you believe you are among the chosen few who will be the only survivors of a massive earthquake that will drop California into the Pacific Ocean
• When you believe in predictions of a stock market crash on a specific date, and an ensuing economic depression
• When you arrange your life around these ideas
• When you tell people this never happened, or that it was just a metaphor in RB’s teaching
• When you believe that your “teacher” is celibate or monogamous
• When you believe that your “teacher” is hurting no one.
• When you show no concern for the very real possibility that this “teacher” has a sexually transmitted disease, or diseases, and that he may be sexually transmitting them to you and your close friends
• When you show no concern that he sleeps regularly with his students, and when you see nothing even mildly inappropriate in this — let alone unethical or criminal
• When you believe you are among the chosen few on a planet of approximately 7 billion who will enter paradise.
• When you claim that you or your friends have “verified” the ideas of the so-called sequence.
• When you claim that you have verified that the “teacher” is “conscious.”
• When you claim that you know that the FoF is a so-called “conscious school”
• When you pretend that children and families and marriages are not being hurt by RB’s “behavior”
• When you pretend that there’s “nothing out there” of value
• When you think of people admiring you for your vast wisdom because you are standing in the presence of RB
• When you pretend that this list is complete
“So, whether hi is man #5 or not, I don’t give a damn, and I think he doesn’t give a damn either.”
Given that the whole aim, purportedly, of the Fellowship of Friends is to produce a “Man number 5,” I would think it would matter just a bit. Robert Burton originally predicted that the school would produce 7 conscious beings. Are you saying you don’t give a damn about Robert’s prophecies and whether anyone actually wakes up in the FOF?
When I looked to Girard for answers, I was bitterly disappointed. All I received was extremely formatory information, which sounded like an excerpt from the “Workbooks on Tape.”
Certainly I never thought so. I don’t think JM thinks so.
In fact, it would be very hard to find a person in FOF, who has such a wild imagination. But I know a few people on this blog…
Anyway, b constructive, don’t suppress anyone who has a view different from your own. Otherwise you become a fanatic yourself.
You’re both immersed in a reflection of your inner state, an amazing, yet flat, three dimensional mirror… so be it.
The Fellowship of Friends will be dismantled, with or without your cheer leading…
Keep those legs shaved and your pom poms fluffy…
There’s no greater third force to bring down this putrid, crucified road kill along the Path, than your chewing on it’s raw hide droppings…
May our deeds and that which we support (and buffer thinking we don’t support) be our footprints leading onto or away from this incredibly insane automatic participation upon this planet.
You guys are officially on my ‘toaster list’, happy buttering.
______________________________________________
Good for you, Who Knows. I’m glad you knew all along that RB was hurting people. It took me a while to figure that out… But I’m impressed with your ability to see through the act. :)
And by the way, anyone who disagrees with you is trying to “suppress” you? You really think about it that way?
You forgot to put on you Ku Klux Klan hat while writing this masterpiece.
Were you “asleep”?
16 2b
You just write what you think, don’t you.
I mean you don’t think what you write.
And I am impressed with your ability to create facts that don’t exist and make them seem so. This refers to what you had said about me in 16.
It is not that you disagree, or strongly disagree, you are fanatically disagree. And therefore you do not allow any space for any other thought’s rather then your own.
Like, you did not give a slightest chance for JM to explain what he/she meant, instead you explained everything yourself. “AND DO NOT EVEN THINK OTHERWISE!!!”
Now, calm down, Who Knows. Step away from the keyboard for a moment and take a deep breath. Actually, kidding, you are quite entertaining. Keep up the good work.
(Is this the new “form of the school” or something? Writing for the blog?)
“And I am impressed with your ability to create facts that don’t exist and make them seem so. This refers to what you had said about me in 16.
It is not that you disagree, or strongly disagree, you are fanatically disagree. And therefore you do not allow any space for any other thought’s rather then your own.
Like, you did not give a slightest chance for JM to explain what he/she meant, instead you explained everything yourself. “AND DO NOT EVEN THINK OTHERWISE!!!””
You just described yourself.
Also, it’s pretty clear what JM means. He or she imagines that we are all moon food and that we are in danger of going straight into oblivion.
Pretty insulting! It’s also very bold to imagine that everyone but school people are doomed to some vague hellish existence.
That ultimate arrogance is the full expression of someone fully in imagination.
LL
P.S. Use of: Than, Then:
I am more lucky THAN everyone. (comparative)
If anyone doesn’t believe me THEN they will suffer grandly.
Early in its no-history, the Fellowship of Friends produced a new boy (published exclusively for Robert Burton, approximately 5 times a day), called “Via The Dead Soul”.
This boy’s issue (Russian #34, Man number 4, August 8, 2007) featured a collection of Robert Burton’s ‘gifts’ bought with thousands of dollars of non-lover monies and the purest distillation of his sexual predatorship on the subject of having sex with any wife’s husband or maiden to be, he saw fit, further subconsciously aggravating the husband’s unconscious conscience, so to create an inner turmoil so contradictory for his essential love and personal will, that the only ‘act’ the Russian could take so to not kill himself outright during the months of July and August, was to severely injure his Russian wife, who, the ‘teacher’ advised to keep it ‘hush, hush’.
Italian shoes found in the laundry closet of the Galleria are usually originals.
Quotes by who knows what ~
Infra-sex, in its deepest paining, by yours truly, is designed to perpetuate my herpes, and insure the moon a vehicle for transmitting planetary and celestial influences to my victims and my supporters. My physical pleasures are secondary to my primary physical pleasures, and, in general, a by–product of my third hidden aim, physical pleasures.
R.
The hypnotized sex center is not an intelligent brain. It has a dull, plant–like intelligence in my hypnotic ‘presence’. At times, I am quite a vulgar brain, and may be easily aroused by uncivilized levels of my own intelligence.
R.
If a person has a full predatorship with me, then infra-sex may be a part of their whole teaching payment. Without this criminal factor, then one is in danger of loosing the school or one’s wife or the wife her eyesight, saving the third eye for last; and their sex life without me, my giving him what she cannot give (my big-little “I gotcha” to all the girls out there, including my living sisters), does not relate well with the mass of my mother-revenge or the whole of my dominance, greed, narcissism and conscious banality when presented with questions concerning feelings and recognizing anyone’s essential wishes other than my own.
R.
In-Humans have been tricked by me, having their sex organs covered or hidden by Sunday meetings, Wine cellar dinners, Margarita evenings and that little slot of time before meetings and afterwards and a plethora of esoteric jibber jabber, (thanks Asaf, you’re doing just fine, that #6 is just a few comings and goings away; now all you have to do is marry as many women as possible during your ‘conscious as I say you are term’, so I can rape them through using your body as a vehicle and deliver your ‘inner avoided results’ back to them, in bars they used to call it ’sloppy seconds’, you can do it, I know you can, you’re a Man #5) making them appear mysterious, connected and special. This is why I move from victim to victim having sex. I try to destroy (or steal) what is hidden about the other person, and having founded their infra-sex secrets move on to another wife’s unsuspecting husband or husband to be, seeking the same hollow parking place.
R.
To have sexual predatorship with a prisoner who is at a lower level of being institutionally insane is to me to be in love. Flirtations are a form of test in infra-sex and are sex energy leaks into my mouth.
R.
Martials, as my favorite hung-type, have the least need for conscience-explanations concerning desire to abstain from infra-sex. Mercuries follow them in this area and deliver beer quit well during football games and make handy litigious fetch-puppies.
R.
Viagra and my machine create enormous quantities of infra-sex energy; nevertheless and more, more, more, when they lose their husbands self worth, sacred sexual union with the dedicated feminine, teaching payment investment towards something communal for something I have to give the boys so to make it all look ‘worth it’, it can be a weary, WORK-day, Oh, and the fourth way.
R.
Most men #4 deviate in the quest for their first line and an honest relationship, by being engulfed in a goddess in a man’s body’s (that’s me BTW) ‘conscious’ problems, which, ’she’ often offers a man as a means to gain his Green Card and Religious Visa status, not to mention his now self-calmed status as someone ’special’ and possibly even a few deductions from the this or that number lifetime needed to be like me. I put them deeper to sleep by being conditioned by the same sleep, to accept a subservient role to one another. This refers to our machines in both cases and to thyself. One of the ways real schools in the past avoided this mechanical manifestation was through castration or exile to remote refrigerators in Death Valley. The higher the teaching payment the more we can raise our level of European and Latin American sex slaves, it will be seen that I and we, the Fellowship of Friends, are vacuums moving amongst life, each a predator amongst humanity or simply one smiling, quietly enjoying the beautiful day, picking his or her teeth with a little golden toothpick I gave them, specially engraved thereon by a Swiss jeweler ~ To pick or not to pick, that is not to pick.
R.
It is generally always harmful for students to be at a level in their common sense where they are not confused about my sex aims and misses. They may fluctuate between a lawsuit to engage in coercion and a desire to kill themselves. Remember myself was born as a result of buffering and avoiding friction; and sex is most often, particularly being addicted to Darvon and Viagra, an area of no-friction.
R.
My sex center or more popularly known as ‘The Isis Center’, is a machine designed to seek out my sexual predator ‘gazelles’, in teaching payment plane tickets, custom tailored suits, arranged marriages and false religious visa unions. We do not care for abstinence, though will drink it if you are coming to Isis from the Paris Center, or transcending affirmations, hey, why transform, I got it good, don’t you? See you on the courts!
R.
“Why would you be interested in the “new form” of the school you are out of ?!”
And why would you participate in a blog where you are thought of as a clown?
And why would you wish to participate in a blog of “life people” who are surely doomed to hell. Shouldn’t you rather be observing yourself and doing the sequence, and not slumming?
I knew Moses was up to something, damned aliens, repopulating the earth with genetically altered beasts so to do their handy work, I was wondering how it could be that ‘Fluffy’ could sleep with ‘Jaws’…
Now I know, thank you Ryan O’Poo, I am now on the next level of galactic partnership with the cosmic waffle and skillet house.
It’s a bit like banging ones head against a brick wall ( that means ‘futile’ to all you non native english speakers) speaking to people such as ‘Just Me’ and even you ‘Who knows’.
What has been repeated over and over again here by hundreds of people who were once in the FOF and seems incomprehensible to many current members including those who are posting here is the fact that
WE ALL USED TO SAY AND BELIEVE EXACTLY THE SAME STUFF AS YOU DO.
We know how it feels when those beliefs are challenged by anybody especially ex members.I myself have trotted out almost word for word what Just Me says in his post!!
Eventually you grow up, mature, grow out of it.You cannot lose ‘verifications’ as is often said to explain away why people leave. The truth is the truth. Most of what we once told ourselves we had verified is merely comforting nonsense induced in ourselves while under the influence of the FOF.
Really it’s just the same old ’special exclusivity’ that oozes from Just Me’s post. The inference always being that only the chosen are strong enough to really comprehend the real meaning of life ( the chosen of course being those who happen to be current FOF members including Just Me ). Why is it that this seems to be central to so many of the posts from current members. ? I’ll give my own answer to that from my own observations made from my time wearing exactly the same psychological overcoat as Just Me. IT’S TO COMPENSATE FOR YOUR SHEER INSIGNIFICANCE AND INABILITY TO NAVIGATE YOUR WAY UNDER THE CONDITIONS OF ORDINARY LIFE.
The standard stockphrase of FOF members to each other is ‘Theres nothing out there’ which means I CANNOT COPE WITH LIFE. Although the reasons people join the FOF are as various as the people themselves, FOF is basically a place to hide out and NOT deal with your individual dificulties that drove you to such a group in the first place. Still, as I mentioned, most people eventually find ‘Themselves’ in the FOF and when they do they leave.
Dear THE PERSON who wrote the Sheik to ‘get to me’ ~
You wrote ~
“I was involved in the Fellowship of Friends over __ years ago. My personal story is on the greater fellowship and I am one of those who believed we need to take action to make a stop to Robert Burton. We should bring our forces together to make it happen. Please contact me at….
__________________________
I will figure out firstly (with my handy Dirty Harry Detector) if you’re not packing a 44 magnum squirt gun; then we’ll hug a little.
BTW… Why not post your story here???
If it’s good enough for the blog, it’s gotta be almost good enough for the Greater Fellowship site (?)
Be brave, Arnold is our governor! Robert Burton is not made of molten mercury, yet.
____________________________
I saw your three girls about two years ago in Grass Valley; wow, what beauties! They are so ‘connected’ and Allan looked good too, with that eternal boy smile, gosh, what a heart stopper…
I knew you when…
I found your last name somewhere in Starry Galaxy #11…
I have not been “fighting” with you. I refuse to tamely allow you to misrepresent my words, or to bully me. I have been attempting to correct you in your inaccurate interpretations of and misdirected responses to my post regarding the general value of knowing if your teacher has sexually transmittable diseases when he is having sex with so many members of the community. If that makes you tired…
You guys are like six year olds. Is being here on the blog the one thing that makes you feel alive, or relatively real?
You have to be pretty fucking solar, or six years old to not see how you’re presenting your selves to everyone here. Have you no shame or pride?. Are you so completely devoid of the capacity to see yourselves?
And you’re here defending where you are and what you believe, and you’re sounding so damn stupid I feel obligated to be embarrassed FOR you.
Go do “your work”. This isn’t it. And if you think it is, then you’re just plain fucking stupid.
Lithium niobate is used extensively in telecommunication products, such as mobile phones and optical modulators, for such components as resonant crystals.
Just Me states, quite clearly, that everyone here is in “imagination” and, therefore, is in “danger”.
Also, any member of the fellowship is required to think of “life persons” as being lost, doomed and pathetic.
Therefore, when “Just Me” accuses everyone here of being in “imagination” and in “danger”, he/she is implying and repeating that we are in big trouble because we are not in the school or following the rules of the school.
Sorry about the English lesson. That was super snobby.
I guess I was thinking that a school that requires such a high aesthetic would produce students who took care with the English language.
Language is incredibly powerful and precision is quite necessary in order to avoid misunderstanding.
I agree that I am ridiculous. My general sense is we are all rather absurdist beings!
Have you ever seen “Waiting for Godot”.
There is a great new series of all of Samuel Beckett’s plays made into films. They are quite inspiring.
As Just Me (624) says – So much of what I have read on this blog tonight is based on imagination! … the ideas presented (by RB) are true… It’s very simple. The ideas are not from RB, they are ancient, who are we to judge them?
OK folks! Here’s some ancient true ideas and please remember they are not at all from Burton but straight from the ancients. In fact this is precisely what the ancients had in mind. Marvelous, isn’t it? And who are we to judge anyway, like, really who are we to even think or judge or doubt?
These interpretations are not imagination, oh no. It is the Holy truth. It is the Absolute Objective Truth straight from the ancients. It has nothing to do with Burton-Asaf dynamic duo at all.
So if you suddenly have a question at the meeting or event: “How the f-k does he come up with this?” – remember, it’s your Lower Self asking this. Shut up and keep listening. Look in the eye.
So simple, isn’t it.
NECKLACE:
A necklace made of thirty bear and lion teeth was found in France, and dates to approximately 12,000 BP (Before Present – it’s Burton’s way of counting – P.A.) It represents the thirty “imperishable stars”—the thirty great work ‘I’s engaging the four wordless breaths. Among the teeth are two shells, representing short Be and long BE, while the four large teeth represent the four wordless breaths. (A Tibetan statue depicts Milarepa showing his twenty-eight teeth, which along with his two lips, representing Be and Hold, add up to thirty.) All schools come down to this: the four wordless breaths—presence without words. It all comes down
to your ability to do this personally, your responsibility to use the sequence personally.
STAG’S ANTLERS:
In a rock painting from the Lascaux cave, dating from 15,000-13,000 BP, the stag has two antlers with nine points on each, representing the control of the seventy-two passions. There is no telling how many conscious beings the prehistoric schools have produced.
THREE MONKEYS:
A seventeenth-century wood-carving from the temple in Nikko, Japan depicts three monkeys, representing the three Be’s. They are working hard to not be distracted from their sequence. The monkey covering his ears represents the first coming; the monkey covering his eyes represents the second coming; the monkey covering his mouth represents the middle coming. Around them are leaves, representing previous successful sequences, with the three Be’s in the center.
*Monkeys are doing the sequence! Working hard not to be distracted! This is simply hilarious…C’mon guys at least RB got a sense of humor. Do you get it monkeys? JM, Fat one, Who the F-k Knows? This is just way too funny.
IBEX:
A rock painting depicting an ibex’s head, found in France, dates to 13,000 BP. The “ladder” between its two horns represents Be and Hold, while the four squares on the “ladder” represent the four wordless breaths. The white belly of the ibex may represent the lower self under control during the four wordless breaths.
DEVIL STEALING TIME
An advertisement shows the devil stealing an Omega watch. Although it is a modern image, it goes deep. Jesus said, “I am Alpha and Omega”—I am short Be and long BE. Similarly, Quetzalcoatl, which means “feathered serpent”—refers to short Be (the serpent) and long BE (the vulture). In this image, the lower self is attacking the sequence at omega—work ‘I’ number six. Be, Hold, Hear, Back, and Hear have all survived imagination, and there is only one more chance for the lower self to destroy the sequence—at work ‘I’ number six—long BE.
Although I’ve swallowed my tongue laughing I can still peck out this message to you… Please tell me that you wiseacred all this, that Fat Boy and Who Knows are not being exposed to this sort of Bubblicious bubble bum blowing bubbles by Bob…
LOL… oh, that hurts with my tongue near my tonsils (better than other things though)… Yet, this would explain everything, if they’re automatically absorbing this sort of balderdash into their unkempt sub-processes, then we are indeed in for some serious ‘Marco Polo’ pool playing…
Ordering Information for
Psychological Thinking
A New Booklet by Girard Haven
And
The Sequence:
Preparing the Nine of Hearts for Prolonged Presence
Dear Friends,
A few days ago, you should have received an a-mail advertisement announcing the publication of two booklets. One is a reprint of The Sequence: Preparing the Nine of Hearts for Prolonged Presence, which looks at how each work I in the sequence adds a necessary element to the emotional state required for prolonged presence. The other is a new publication entitled Psychological Thinking, which deals with the use of what Mr. Ouspensky calls the psychological method to understand Roberts current teaching.
Both booklets will be available during Journey Forth to Isis at a price of $7.00 per copy, or $5.00 where there is a genuine need. Students who will be at Isis may purchase copies at the Grand Bazaar, as well as at selected other events and locations.
Students who will not be at Isis may place orders with Albert G. by telephone at _______________. Because the price does not include shipping, purchasers are responsible for making their own arrangements for collecting the booklets they purchase. Please include the following information for each order: the buyers name, their center, the number of copies of each booklet being purchased, the price being paid for each copy, how payment will be made, and the arrangements which have been made to pick-up the copies.
To simplify shipping and payment, we ask students to please coordinate their orders wherever possible. The easiest way to do that will be to have one person in each center collect the orders and payments, and then to give them to someone who will be going to Isis. If you do not know of anyone who will be at Isis, please write either to me or to Albert to discuss other possibilities. For instance, it may be possible to make payments through PayPal, and delivery might be arranged through a neighboring center or in conjunction with Roberts planned Italian Journey.
For your convenience, an optional order form is attached to the end of this message. If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact either Albert or me.
Thank you, and may your sequences be more successful with every passing day.
In friendship,
Girard
______________________________________
Whooooo! Preparing the Nine of Hearts for the Sequence; not to mention that Robert Burton is a ‘nine’ of hearts…
Translation ~ We, the Fellowship of Friends are paving the way to prepare Robert Burton for The Sequence of new boys arriving, both alone, with their parents, wives and girlfriends to this years ballet gala; the publication of these ‘books’ (with the mention of Ouspensky’s name, just a little reminder that we’re still a fourth way school and that Girard is still the affirmative O. to Robert’s G-(string) ) should pretty much balance things out; no cameras, cell phones or news crews are allowed in Robert’s bedroom after the traditional Ballet after performance dinner… where Robert, like always, (Isn’t this fun?) attempts to slooth the male and females alike from the ballet company to join his ball-et’cum-pan-knee…
Well, it’s suddenly clear to me now. My lower self assumed that Girard was watching porno movies because he is basically just the same as all the other guys who watch this stuff.You know, they can’t handle the fact that sex normally requires an aknowledgment of the fact that there is a person attatched to the piece of meat they are sticking their dick into whereas porn gives them the depersonalisation they require so that they can be at their most animalistic. But.. I guess I was wrong ! Girard is most likely only looking for confirmation of the sequence ! just like it was pointed out by Robert in the cave drawings, the Steward passing knowledge to the King of hearts ( doggy style of course )
I wonder if I could get the special $5.00 rate for ‘Pathalogical Wanking’ oops ! I mean Psychological Thinking ?
There was a whole lot of material being passed around in the Fellowship back in my day that I found very hard to believe–in fact, that I considered incredible enough that I had no interest in trying to believe it. You know–the angels dancing on the pinhead, the predictions based on license plates, etc. But I could still have an intelligent conversation with someone who might believe some, or even all of it. When we’re dealing with someone who believes any part of the stuff described in 38 (Purchasing Awakening), we’re talking about a level of mindless credulity that goes well beyond anything I can imagine wasting my time on. I mean, either the person cranking this stuff out is literally insane (and I don’t mean just sociopathic, but seriously delusional on a daily basis), or considers his flock so stupid that they will believe anything at all. If a member wants to post and say “Of course I don’t believe any of that nonsense, and I really don’t feel the need to have an opinion about whether Robert is conscious or even a decent teacher because I don’t hang around with him or listen to what he says, but I value being present,” I can understand the desire to engage in conversation. But when someone says he (or she) thinks this stuff is ancient wisdom, and who are we to judge, or someone else goes on and on with adolescent rantings, I say “Come back when you grow up, if only just a little.” Come on, you guys–let’s save our energy for people who are capable of some level of understanding.
Thanks for your respons.
No claims from my part, this is perhaps were a possible misunderstanding can appear.
The Informational Cascade is a theory based on some studies. Like gravity, or any other law (if you think you can verify this for yourself, I feel I can call it “law”),
it pounds on everyone’s psyche/mass.
Since I do not verify I am free from imitative tendencies (a certain level of non-existence, the need to belong, you know… ) the key I was offering by sharing this, was the necessity to stay allert and vigilant to the “personal signal”.
To be even more personal, I believe I left the FOF in 2007 on a personal signal: just could not “sleep” anymore, I mean really, at night due to deep questionings regarding my progresses and turmoils in conscience,
yet, I do not exclude the influence of the signal given by the “others” who preceded me.
Long ago, when Rita Penfold was still participating to this blog (I miss you Girl!) she wrote a lovely story which could be titled “Me too! Me too!”…
There is undiniably a “wave” of departure going on, so,
for me to try to study my most sincere aims, considering all possible parameters, including the “disturbing ” ones, like to find myself under the effect of an Informational Cascade.
And yes, stated as a pure theory, it can be used to oil any fire.
By the way, the choices made under this mecchanism are not necessary bad! Though, I would then call the source “inspiration”.
I find interesting that Brueghel chose to depict a sequence of 6 blind men. Our senses?
Peter S. on the last page, opend a very interesting topic by questioning the validity of his senses. Actually, I owe him this chain of thoughts and researches: from optical illusion to…
Hope I clarifyied a few points here and as a conclusion, allow me to repeat the main idea which I will formulate as a wish joyfully dancing on the tumb of “I” to reach “us/we”:
May we stay allert, and vigilant to the inner signals!
Sentences crawled towards her, the grasp of air was so threatening that wind asked ephemeral permission to enter her lungs, that which denied her struggle fell to the wayside as she stood upon the bull, the steady traveling rocket, summoned to earth to spend dire consequence in retreating those who quantitatively could not consciously see it, though did so, otherwise, based upon their absolutes, their presumptions they did worship, thee Yesterday for today and tomorrow for now; be that it may, I AM NOW, I took her upon my shoulders laughing at the sea gulls, my deep jungled thrashes, my forested poems and simple wasteland worship; this, our daily bread, languages exchanged no further than one billion away and my conscience right here, right now, into her lungs she breathed me inwards and her eye lite, not because of mine, rather, for mine, because she had seen me, prior to mine seeing mine and reminded me that Robert Burton is not I, nor her I meaning Robert Burton, thine.
Cult methods of recruiting, indoctrinating and influencing their members are not exotic forms of mind control, but only more intensely applied mundane tactics of social influence practiced daily by all compliance professionals and societal agents of influence.
Cult leaders offer simple solutions to the increasingly complex world problems we all face daily. They offer the simple path to happiness, to success, to salvation by following their simple rules, simple group regimentation and simple total lifestyle. Ultimately, each new member contributes to the power of the leader by trading his or her freedom for the illusion of security and reflected glory that group membership holds out.
Cult mind control is not different in kind from these everyday varieties, but in its greater intensity, persistence, duration, and scope.
I should have known Bob was full of it the moment I heard him recommend Phillips Restaurant in Baltimore’s Harbor Place as a place to get great seafood. Actually, it’s just a noise-y tourist trap. And I’m not in imagination about that!
Former Turkmenistan President Saparmurat Niyazov died in December of last year. We’ve seen few articles about this man in the western newspapers, but I dug this one up from the internet. Copying it here because of the similarities to someone we know. Enjoy…
Turkmenistan president-for-life tries to play God
By Juliette Terzieff
Sunday, July 11, 2004
In the country that Turkmenbashy built, “He” is everywhere. “His” word is law for Turkmenistan’s 4.5 million residents, and all must pay homage to the Soviet-schooled apparatchik who has molded Turkmenistan into his own private fiefdom since 1991.
Now President-for-life Saparmurat Niyazov, better known by his self- adopted moniker Turkmenbashy (meaning Father of the Turkmen) is taking his Orwellian style of leadership one step further, transitioning from temporal leader to religious authority.
Last month, he surprised even longtime Turkmenistan observers by dictating that words from his treatise, the Rukhnama, or Book of the Soul, be inscribed alongside verses from the Koran on a $100 million mosque being constructed just outside the capital Ashgabat in his home village of Kipchak at a complex commemorating his mother.
He banned any future mosque construction and recommended all existing churches and mosques display a copy of his spiritual guidance.
“There are few leaders in the world who can match his audacity. … There aren’t many spheres of life left where Turkmenbashy doesn’t dictate behavior,” says an American official who spent time in the Central Asian republic during the 1990s.
Every denomination of the local money bears his portrait, as do local brands of vodka, tea and other commodities. The 64-year-old’s picture hangs in every building, while Turkmen TV superimposes a golden profile of Turkmenbashy over its programs.
In the center of Ashgabat towering above the Arch of Neutrality (neutrality being the centerpiece of Turkmenbashy’s simplistic foreign policy) stands a golden statue of the great leader with outstretched arms that always catch the sun as the likeness rotates 360 degrees in a 24-hour period.
Mercurial and vicious, infamous for outbursts of rage resulting in official purges, even Turkmenbashy’s casual remarks are cause for a flurry of activity.
After he recently made a remark about the unattractiveness of gold teeth — a sign of affluence used to cover up damage caused by the excessive consumption of sickly sweet tea — professionals were sent home from work and told not to return until they’d removed the offending items.
Having risen through the corridors of the Communist Party, Niyazov found himself holding the reins of power when the Soviet Union disintegrated. With the help of an extensive security apparatus, he wasted little time creating a cult of personality akin to that of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin or North Korea’s Kim Jong Il.
“Inspired by God,” Turkmenbashy wrote and published the 400-page rambling Rukhnama in 2001, which he describes as the “core of all my political, economic and life targets.” Several government officials have compared its importance to that of the Bible and the Koran. Some Niyazov supporters call him the 13th prophet.
Every government office has a weekly study hour to discuss the Rukhnama. Authorities recently demoted, replaced and sentenced Turkmenistan’s grand mufti Nasrullah ibn Ibadullah to 22 years’ imprisonment for resisting the Rukhnama’s march toward spiritual domination.
The collection of revisionist history, personal philosophy and moral guidelines — containing such jewels as “the mud thrown at you is also thrown at me; and my cleanliness, my brightness is also yours” — has become the centerpiece of Turkmenistan’s rapidly devolving education system.
Teachers are selected based on their knowledge of the tome. Turkmen literature classes focus on the Rukhnama, and an English translation of the book provides materials for English classes. Graduations are contingent on a student’s ability to answer questions on the Rukhnama.
Turkmenbashy cut mandatory schooling from 10 years to nine, cut the number of students allowed into universities, and banned all Soviet-era textbooks without printing new ones to replace them, thus leaving his Rukhnama as the dominant teaching tool for future generations.
“The government has replaced the national culture and spiritual values … with the ideas and theses of the book Rukhnama, the fruit of President Niyazov’s imagination, and on which Turkmenistan citizens are required to swear oaths,” says a recent report by a human rights watchdog, the international Helsinki Committee.
“More worryingly for the future, the teaching of humanities subjects has been replaced by the study of the Rukhnama,” the report continues, “ensuring that an entire generation will grow up knowing nothing of world culture or universal values, including human rights.”
His supporters argue that Turkmenbashy, an avowed workaholic, is carefully crafting a cohesive country out of disparate groups of impoverished Turkmen tribesmen in a mostly desert country about the size of California.
Turkmenbashy’s opponents, most of whom live in exile, call him a megalomaniac on the verge of challenging the position of God in Turkmen’s minds while amassing great personal fortune to the tune of $2.5 billion held in offshore accounts.
Turkmenbashy has done it all with a minimum of questions or condemnation from the global community.
For its part, the Bush administration has maintained and recently renewed Turkmenistan’s normal trade relations status. While his policy of neutrality prevented any military support for the war on terror, Turkmenbashy won Bush administration gratitude by opening Turkmen territory for the shipment of humanitarian goods to Afghanistan.
Turkmenistan is also home to the world’s fifth-largest deposits of natural gas and substantial oil reserves. Before his bizarre code of conduct chased most foreign companies away, there was fierce competition to get the resources, a valuable carrot Turkmenbashy continues to dangle in front of international consortia when the need arises.
“There’s little doubt Niyazov has enough savvy to give him some staying power,” said the American official. “The question nobody wants to answer is, what kind legacy is he going to leave?”
To Unanimo: I think you have lost your self in your mind, I did not understand a sentence of what you are trying to say…can you translate it for the simple human beings in this society?
Kid Shelleen
My koan for the day:
What if the Hokey-Pokey is what it’s all about?
Abraham has been saying this for decades, you might be on her/his ladder. (joke).
That reminds me of something that happened when I lived in California. Someone recommended a particular Chinese restaurant in San Francisco, saying it was Robert’s favorite. They even recommended a particular dish that he always ordered. So one evening my wife and I were going out and I suggested we try this place. It was a dirty little hole in the wall on Geary, but I figured Robert must know something I don’t, so we stayed. I ordered the recommended dish and it was some of the worst Chinese food I have ever eaten. To top it off, when we were driving home I began to feel very strange and sick. That’s when I discovered I’m allergic to MSG, at least when used in the enormous quantities that were obviously in my food. I had a terrible headache and muscle cramps, and felt very nauseated all night. I couldn’t imagine what this so-called “conscious being of exquisite king of hearts taste” was doing giving rave reviews to this hideous restaurant. Maybe it was some form of voluntary suffering, I don’t know.
And speaking of that, what’s the big deal about the Nut Tree restaurant? Every time I went up to Renaissance with another student, we had to stop there because Robert was supposed to like it so much. It seemed like just a glorified Howard Johnson’s. Maybe I’m not awake enough to appreciate it.
“Come on, you guys–let’s save our energy for people who are capable of some level of understanding.”
Thank you for your post. I couldn’t agree with you more. Unfortunately, we may have to be very patient and accepting with whomever we are presented. Who Knows may actually be the average level of understanding and emotional intelligence for the current member of the Fellowship of Friends today.
Years ago, when I worked in the milieu of a psychiatric half way house, I had to constantly ‘adjust’ my thinking and approach to people who are suffering with various stages of mental illness and work with whomever I encountered at whatever level they were at, not expecting them ‘adjust’ to my level.
This requires that you respect the ‘processes’ of others (something I struggle with, too). You must enter their world and learn their symbols to communicate with them within their delusional system. That makes expereinced ex-members well suited for the task. AND also it requires that you have a firm sense of your own identity, since you may play different roles for different people.
*********
I awoke this morning with a strong sense that in actuality, Robert Burton is the ‘b-influence virus’ that he projects onto others. After reading the recent post from Purchasing Awakening (THANK YOU!), it felt like Robert Burton’s virus was attempting to spread into the minds of the Fellowship of Friends members, infecting how they view the art and artifacts of the past and the world. Those infected are then plagued with the same ‘magical thinking’ and ‘ideas of reference’ that he has, looking for ‘verifications’ even in street advertising. Given the underlying ‘fear of losing the school’ that members carry within them, the unconscious impetus for seeking justifications and rationalizations for Robert’s obvious delusions would be quite strong.
On this lovely morning, I was also ruminating on the curious characteristics of the herpes virus. Those infected are subject to flare ups when they have emotional upsets in their lives, when their immune systems (king of clubs-Robert Burton’s stated adversary) are weakened. Also the virus is most dangerous in adults when it appears close to the eyes. It can cause blindness.
It would seem that since Robert Burton does not restrain his passions, nature has provided a viral checks and balance for him.
In general, viruses have ‘evolved’ to efficiently exploit the weaknesses of their host. A virus is pure survival instinct without a conscience. A virus does not reproduce in the ‘traditional bonding’ sense; each individual virus must replicate or clone itself to survive. It feeds off its host until the resources are exhausted and then moves on seeking new victims through the victim’s means of interaction with others. It is most active when there is a large pool of closely associated hosts present.
Viruses are very difficult to treat; to date there are few drugs to combat them in the long term. Those infected need to be ‘contained’ or have the morals to learn to contain themselves to protect others. The most effective means of treating an infected person is for that person to make efforts to strengthen their own immune system…i.e., work on one’s self.
38 Purchasing awakening 44 Brain Police
If a member wants to post and say “Of course I don’t believe any of that nonsense, and I really don’t feel the need to have an opinion about whether Robert is conscious or even a decent teacher because I don’t hang around with him or listen to what he says, but I value being present,” I can understand the desire to engage in conversation
—————-
What I understood after talking to a few reasoning students is that they adopted an attitude that it is a game they need to play in order to confuse their logical mind which prevents them from being in essence and present.
All this show creates a powerful impression, a shock, like a circus, makes your jaw drop and lets in the hydrogens.
“It’s not about the words” “I can’t understand what he is saying (I don’t speak English well, I was far I could not see or hear anything) but I liked the energy” This is the most common answers from those who are addicted to these shows and pay lots of money every week to go at least twice (or more often).
Unfortunately people do get confused and hypnotized and start losing the grasp of the reality after hearing this over and over again.
Thanks PA (38) and Uno (41) for posting examples of the latest crazy bulletins from the Fellowship of Friends.
First reaction is of course that they’re laugh-out-loud funny. I left a year ago and am in a limited sense impressed that Robert and Asaf are pressing forward into areas of weirdness even more extreme than before I left.
Second reaction is “how on earth can anyone remain in a so-called spiritual school at which this is the teaching on offer?”. Thanks to Somebody (55) for answering that question: “What I understood after talking to a few reasoning students is that they adopted an attitude that it is a game they need to play in order to confuse their logical mind which prevents them from being in essence and present.”
It seems unbelievable but unfortunately it’s true!
“All this show creates a powerful impression, a shock, like a circus, makes your jaw drop and lets in the hydrogens.”
Life can do this for us, that is why I have been faithfully paying my taxes….Bush is my teacher! He certainly confuses my logical mind. The energy of patriotism is hypnotizing, too, it makes you feel good, and who cares what other countries think about us. He’s our leader, the commander in chief, the decision maker, we should not question him. Jesus talks to Bush, that’s good enough for me. After all, “A-mer-i-ca, God shed his grace on thee” We are the chosen ones! We must combat the evil forces of radical Islam dedicated to destroying our freedom to watch Fox News and get fat eating hot dogs!
This is my predicament, OMG, just like current members of the Fellowship of Friends! I don’t want to leave America…my friends and family are here. My wife is an American, too. I have spent many, many years here..dedicated my life here. They speak my language here. Who cares if the leader and his minions are crazy. He is powerful and has a lot of money. I enjoy the impressions. I can poke fun at our leader or curse him behind his back…that makes me feel better. He doesn’t care. I don’t have to give him a blow job, but I do get fucked every time I buy gas. I can live as far away from our leader as possible…and as long as I keep a low profile, I can pretty much do whatever I want. Sure, if you get caught doing something, you can get fined, or kicked out, but if you are smart and a good person, you can get by alright. After all, I really don’t need all those freedoms guaranteed in the Bill of Rights anyway…I just do what I am told and go about my business. I don’t make trouble. I realize these are dangerous times and the pace of the economy is increasing. It’s probably not a good idea to express any dissent publicly…people are listening…and I am surrounded by people with cell phones that allow them to take photographs of me anytime, anyplace. And you could get deported if you speak up.
Do I just be true to myself and accept that I am going to get deported for my dissenting views one day anyway or do I start now intentionally planning my escape? Hmmmm…I have verified that being more intentional does tend to make things turn out better…operating proactively from a place of serenity, versus reacting from the shock of a sudden change inflicted on me is less stressful.
So all you guys in the Fellowship of Friends, help me out here! What if I don’t believe democracy is all that it is cracked up to be, the leader is insane, says the stupidest stuff, and things seem to be getting worse, but it seems too difficult to leave!!!! Sure, there is change of leadership on the horizon, but will things really be different?
Should I go or should I stay? Shall I stick around and see if things do get better? Or work for change from within? What would Jesus do…impeach the fucker and put his cronies in jail?
Hey, I need some angles here! I am in danger of losing my citizenship!!!!…know of a good blog where I can get some support from others who have made it out and are doing fine?
Or maybe, shall I write my congressman and actively work for a regime change?
Here’s a translation for ya ~ (sorry for the cryptic lines, it was a time sensitive message meant for a 007 agent in Uzbekistan.)
__________________________________________________
Seth, the mechanic, crawled to warn Herb, the poisonous gas in the air was threatening.
CIA asked permission to enter London, that was denied.
Our struggle fell to the wayside as we stood upon the Red Square in Russia.
The steady traveling rocket from North Korea.
We were summoned to South Korea in dire consequence to retreat those who were in it’s path though could not see it on radar; we did so, otherwise, based upon their absolute mismanagement and their presumptions they would not have scrambled the warships.
Yesterday we met ‘Teddy Bear’ and tomorrow we’ll met ‘Bengal the Lion’. We will all form the Triad Commission in May.
I am in the jungle now; I took the surface to air missile launcher upon my shoulder where the laughing of the sea gulls can be found.
Found the deep bunker, I’ve got jungle rashes, my Blackberry is nearly out of batteries and the simple spy-watch will have to do.
Found some bread, using the Korean language and I exchanged no more than one billion dollars away from our account and my science-lab arrived yesterday by parachute drop right here. No more drops right now; update me on the poisonous gas contamination; my eye got bit by a baby mantis, I am alright.
Mine fields are numerous, rather, creating some of my own, because they had seen me, prior to me seeing their mine fields and reminded me that Robert Burton is not to be contacted yet, nor is he supposed to meet with Kim Dong Ill yet.
_____________________________________________
Sorry guys for the mix up; it was meant for Whalerider’s eyes only; secret plans and all. Hope this clears it up.
_____________________________________________
Society is arranged entirely for the propagation of the population, anyone trying to escape has first to endure the wrath of the collective womb. The shepherds of these many children are the most voracious defenders of the biological routine. As any artist understands, in this sinking ship of life the naked women and their blind children always get to safety last.
I don’t know why this pisses a couple of you off, but here it is again just in case you were not bugged enough the first time:
“And speaking of that, what’s the big deal about the Nut Tree restaurant? Every time I went up to Renaissance with another student, we had to stop there because Robert was supposed to like it so much. It seemed like just a glorified Howard Johnson’s. Maybe I’m not awake enough to appreciate it.”
Don Birrell an early student who has since passed was the head designer of the interiors and displays at the Nut Tree. Under Don the Nut Tree always focused on producing an emotional impression in its visitors.
The Nut Tree also contained the possibility of Robert doing three of his favorite activities at the same time. One-shop, two -eat and three pontificate to his awed and loving students.
Robert “Borrowed” Don’s work in making the Nut Tree an emotional experience and incorporated it into the Fellowship “doctrine” and in his teaching methods.
The early dining octaves at the Farm/Mt.Carmel/Renaissance owed a lot to the Nut Tree, some in terms of recipes but particularly in getting a discount on the stackable chairs, cutlerry, plain white ceramics and glass wear through Don.
I understand Robert Burton contiues his program of consciously transforming the need for food into an opportunity to devolop higher hydrogens by eating his way through the day feeding on the emotionality of being with his much beloved students while simultaniously and ever so intentionally feeding the needs of his instinctive center. He models the consistancy that indicates the unity of a higher man for his students by never missing a meal.
As far as I know the Nut Tree has been closed for years. Tied up in family litigation.
That is no simple spy watch, my friend, it’s an Omega (brand) spy watch.
Wise choice. It will never fail to bring you back into the most accurate moment. That’s why James Bond always chooses Omega…you can trust it right to end.
Keep hydrated.
You will receive your next directions telepathically from your new contact, code named, “conscience”.
I’ve often wondered whether RB (or “Arby”) intentionally presents bizarre and incredible “teachings,” not to confuse the logical mind for some evolutionary end, but because, perversely, the more absurd the teaching, the more energy some will exert to justify it. That is, some will stay, not in spite of the crap, but because of it. If he continued to stress the Great Books approach, people might get bored, or buy a set for themselves, or consider that they can get that sort of teaching in a lot of places for a lot less money. But some people will react to a truly ridiculous teaching by telling themselves it MUST mean something really, really important, because there’s no other way to interpret it–except, of course, as gibberish, and people don’t like to feel they’re paying through the nose for gibberish, and so will reject that possibility.
54 WhaleRider
Yours is a compassionate approach, and I respect it. I used to work in a psychiatric hospital, where most of the residents were schizophrenic. Many of these were very, very disturbed, although I’m not sure how many would have believed some of the more imaginative recent “teachings.” I eventually concluded that I had been naive to imagine that patience and compassion and insightful interaction would slowly but surely help free these people from their delusions. Most seemed to improve only with powerful drugs.
Thanks for your post. Sounds like we worked on both sides of the curtian. In the city I live, the half way house was the place where we would lower their meds and see if they can cook and clean themselves up and get to day treatment. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn’t and we sent them back. I lasted only 6 years, mostly it was saddening, but I learned a lot. I was under no illusion that the prognosis for someone dealing with schizophrenia wasn’t that great. But as you know, you do have to have a big heart for that line of work. It reminds me of how my son is being taught (desensitized) in school that wood roaches and other lovely insects are a good thing for the environment…
Mole, You’ve much changed most of what I’ve said about Girard but you went straight to the point when you wrote
Mole 43 “whereas porn gives them the depersonalisation they require”
It is precisely that situation, frame of mind, dual personality or however it is called that is not only Girard’s state of being but the whole Fellowship’s. I couldn’t agree more with somebody’s sentence below.
55 Somebody
I’ve often wondered whether RB (or “Arby”) intentionally presents bizarre and incredible “teachings,” not to confuse the logical mind for some evolutionary end, but because, perversely, the more absurd the teaching, the more energy some will exert to justify it. That is, some will stay, not in spite of the crap, but because of it. If he continued to stress the Great Books approach, people might get bored, or buy a set for themselves, or consider that they can get that sort of teaching in a lot of places for a lot less money. But some people will react to a truly ridiculous teaching by telling themselves it MUST mean something really, really important, because there’s no other way to interpret it–except, of course, as gibberish, and people don’t like to feel they’re paying through the nose for gibberish, and so will reject that possibility
2B:
regarding your post 11. It is a good example of imagination. I mean sadly, that I dont’ think you deeply understand what it means to not be in imagination. You reference quite old events, the present does not containt them. Your posting has a lot of morality or FD “feminine dominance” just the thing a person trying to awaken must separate from to be succesfull. I gotta go outside and feed the critters but your posting is filled with the very thinking that prevents higher states.
JM
Please, anyone, remind me of what this precisely means.
Camille Paglia wrote a book called “Sexual Personae” which describes, through a historical analysis, the theory that, indeed, females are the dominant sex, although they seem otherwise.
In one section of that book, she describes the Greek’s homosexuality and the deification of the “beautiful boy”. (There were no morals relative to homosexuality and it was an intrinsic part of the culture.)
Nevertheless, she theorizes that this arose out of fear and rejection of female power, which is unrecognizable as power in a male dominated culture.
Relative to this is the current trend in fashion (which is dominated by gay males) who prefer a thin, almost male females (small breasts, no body fat).
I recommend her book. It is very detailed and quite long, but very enlightened.
I remember hearing the term “feminine dominance” and, since it was not described in my prospective student meetings, was completely confused.
I’ll theorize that “feminine dominance” acknowledges that female power exists and rejects it outright, or, at best, attempts to avoid that evil with every ounce of one’s soul.
On the origin of “Feminine Dominance” as applied in the Fellowship of Friends.
Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 42:171-189 (1994)
Veronicapoe’s editorial comments, which are speculative and which are not part of the original abstract, appear in brackets:
The Role of Mother-Son Incest in the Pathogenesis of Narcissistic Personality Disorder
Glen O. Gabbard, M.D. and Stuart W. Twemlow, M.D.
ABSTRACT
Psychoanalytic case material is presented to illustrate how mother-son incest may be involved in the pathogenesis of a particular subtype of narcissistic personality disorder. Male patients with this disorder have a grandiose view of themselves ["I am the avatar of the age"] as entitled to occupy a special position with others, combined with a paranoid tendency to anticipate imminent betrayal. The enormous guilt related to perceived oedipal transgressions leads these patients to fear retaliation from an enraged, vindictive, and castrating father ["C influence is going to expunge humanity] at any moment. In addition, these men often feel that their special role vis-à-vis mother is a precarious one contingent on doing her bidding. [i.e., "being under feminine dominance."] Hence, they also live in dread of an impending disaster involving either abandonment or humiliation by their mothers. [Ergo, why "feminine dominance" must be "overcome" in order to "evolve."]
What’s wrong wtih simple,anyways? I wasn’t free before I joined the FoF, I’m more free now, because I use the ideas and they work. Speak for yourself about
“security and reflected Glory” I’m not here for that. You see? Imagination again, the angle is based on imaginary reasons why someone belongs to a “cult”. I hate the word cult. It’s too sloppy to use a general word like that, to dump the FoF in a convenient slop bucket along with some pretty nasty groups. Just not accurate. Assuming everyone or even most in the FoF are stupid enough to be under “mind control” is again, another example of the pervasive nature of imagination at work.
re: 38 purchasing awakening:
The images mean something. It’s not a joke. RB may not be able to exactly decipher them but they,unlike modern art have multiple levels of meaning. Gurdjieff said that about the deer in the caves. Any reasonable person can understand that after spending some time with them. The amount of resistance that RB’s interpretation of the images has created in the FoF is large and is taking it’s toll. I can’t speak for anyone else, but I know that at first I thought he’d lost his mind, but after a period of time I began to realize first that they were not as the general world assumes, just primitive images but that in fact there was some attempt at communication going on in these images. The intelligence of the creators of the images understanding they had no idea who or when someone would attempt to interpret them and knowing this to create a message that could even possibly be interpreted, so many thousands of years later, well… I’m beginning to see patterns now…but why am I wasting my time? The energy contained in the posting I reference above demonstrates that you are not open minded, you are more interested in getting on some negative band wagon about the FoF. Your energy cannot result in anything constructive, at least not that energy you expressed in the posting.
The way I see it, we live in a world that is filled with mind control. The media, politicians, feminine dominance of society, morality. If one thinks leaving the FoF is walking away from mind control, that strikes me as quite naive. We live on planet earth, the whole thing is a farce! Yet it is possible for the individual to quietly slip by and get something for themselves. Right now in our general society propaganda is going mainstream, the media, is owned by fewer and fewer giant mega corp’s. I’m in the FoF. I’m sharp enough to know my mind is not controlled. I have read and studied the cult web sites and I understand what they are saying. My goal is freedom from the imposed constraints of my mind so I may realize the truth about life. Historically spiritual goals have been achieved using many different tools, called many different names. The sequence works, I have verified it. One way that it works is to show what it is like to really be present. Seeing what is not presence becomes easier as a result. It’s so simple really, I don’t know what all the fuss is about. In the end it is just another tool. These are just clumsy words. Read Meher Baba, he can really impart a sense of scale to human existence that puts things in their proper perspective.
In terms of Robert’s aesthetic. Super, super tacky on all levels.
It’s very Liberace, at best.
It definitely lacks the female touch.
His fancy necklaces are reminiscent of ghetto “bling”. (google: slang ghetto terms)
It’s also very Caucasian homosexual.
The interior designs are very bourgeois.
Pink and fancy and overdone.
Also relative is the absolute white bread make up of the membership. I know there are some Asian members, but doubt if there are any African Americans and probably very few Latinos.
My take is that it’s not about females per se; it’s about Mommy and morality. It’s about doing something naughty that Mommy told you not to do. Growing up, Mommy has a lot of power. The concept now sounds fairly adolescent to me, like a justification for some kind of acting out in your college dorm to prove you are a man and can do as you please because you are no longer tied to Mommy’s apron strings.
I don’t think I ever fully bought into that idea or even struggled against it, and I certainly don’t ascribe to it now. Did you, as a woman, ever ‘work’ against feminine dominance…yours or others…I mean how would you really? I don’t remember ever giving a photograph to a female student for feminine dominance. That would be mean, like saying ‘fuck off, cunt’ or something on that level, which I would never do or say…that’s just too misogynist for me. I love my mother and my wife. (And they don’t look anything alike.)
Maybe it’s a vehicle for male bonding or something…a la Brokeback Mountain. I could imagine Robert Burton using the concept to keep the wives of his male sex slaves contained so he could get his boys drunk and keep them out late at night…why then would he put his female followers in positions of power if it was their gender feature…so he could use the concept to keep them silent or in check?
Side by side with that concept, I remember being reading or hearing in the Fellowship of Friends that women were the civilizing influence in society. Without women, men would lead a more brutal, animalistic life. That seems like more the case to me.
Robert has asked that the following message be passed to all students. It is without precedent for the teacher to share his private life with us in this way. The timing of this message coincides with a period where many students are challenged by the new knowledge that influence C has released to the school. The developments described in this message are also the will of influence C and only the gods have decided the time and manner of this transition for the teacher.
As some of you know, Robert shares sexual energy with his male friends in a consensual adult manner. The teacher wishes to clarify his position. One aspect of being centered in the nine of hearts and having a very demanding teaching schedule is that the teacher needs to harness the finer energy that otherwise goes to waste during sexual communion in order to support the great work of the gods.
Robert’s soul is female and the care of us and our noble school is Roberts work on earth. In order to better represent his soul, Robert will align his body to the female role by submitting to modern surgery. This procedure will involve extensive reconstruction with the finest specialists in the United States.
We are asked to contribute and your center directors will be collecting contributions in the next days as Robert wants to go ahead with this as funds are in place. We are being asked to give $64 for each year we have been in the school to symbolize the gift of the sequence. The teacher has expressed this as a task from influence C and this is not a voluntary donation. All contributors will receive one raffle ticket for every $64 given. The four names drawn will be those chosen by higher to be the first to dine with the teacher when she returns to Isis for Thanksgiving.
Additionally, Robert has asked that his students should write to him with suggestions for the name that he should take on his return. He asks that all cards should have a quote in which the name appears and a reference for the source where it is to be found. The student who suggests the new name adopted by our teacher will sit next to her at the meeting where her new name is announced.
Robert appreciates your loving support and wishes to have the following personal message relayed to all of you.
‘My Dears, the sacred nine of hearts needs a feminine vessel to transmit the holy sequence. Isis will rise again in the west. Thank you for your valuation and let us all thank influence C for the perfection of the play.’
I remember being reading or hearing in the Fellowship of Friends that women were the civilizing influence in society. Without women, men would lead a more brutal, animalistic life. That seems like more the case to me.
I have always loved Rita Rudner’s comment, “Single men don’t live like people at all — they live like bears with furniture.”
I have read Meher Baba’s writings, they were disorienting and intoxicating and definitely worth reading. Something you wrote I read with interest:
I’m in the FoF. I’m sharp enough to know my mind is not controlled. I have read and studied the cult web sites and I understand what they are saying. My goal is freedom from the imposed constraints of my mind so I may realize the truth about life.
I hear what you are saying. At one time, while in the FOF, I had the illusion that my mind was not controlled. At that time, I had not studied the concept of thought reform.
You state that “I have read and studied the cult web sites and I understand what they are saying.” Part of why I invite you to dialogue is to figure out whether this is actually the case. You make your assertion in such a general way that I am not able to tell whether it is true.
Certainly it is true that in a general way we are all socially influenced. But there are forms of social influence that are ethical, and other forms that are unethical. For example, cigarette companies lied to people, deliberately encouraging them to smoke cigarettes and insisting they were harmless even when they knew they were poisonous, carcinogenic and addictive. Can we agree that this was unethical? If we can, I think it gives a starting point for dialogue.
There is no question that life is filled with elements that attempt to control and guide us manipulatively and negatively.
Advertisements are surely “mind control” and politicians and the media in general, make their living through manipulating our minds in order to make us buy, vote or watch something so that they can have more power or money.
I guess your point is that Robert’s stated main goal is not really negative because it is to assist one toward becoming more conscious, which is far better than attempting to make one buy an unnecessary item or watch a silly television program.
There is a problem, however. Robert is selling consciousness as if it were a commodity and as if he owns it and, importantly, as if he lives it.
In that, he is the ultimate manipulator since he has made a business out of that which is sacred and cannot be bought, sold or owned by anyone. He is selling sacred ideals as if he owns and lives them and therefore can mete them out at his will and for a buck.
Life and consciousness are everywhere and are available to us all at anytime for free.
Robert puts a price on pricelessness and does so recklessly and within a corrupt construct which negates its effectiveness.
He also deigns to define consciousness, which is indefinite.
Jiddu Krishnamurti speaks brilliantly about the fact that there are no leaders. There is a wonderful website which offers some of his thoughts live. I read his book, “The Awakening of Intelligence” aloud to myself a few summer ago and actually felt a visceral consciousness growing as I read.
Briefly, Krishnamurti was discovered as a young boy and it was predicted that he was to be the “new world leader” by Blavatsky and Leadbetter, who were Theosophists, and were closely related to the Fourth Way. At the last moment, before he was “ordained” as the new living god, he bolted stating that there was no “leader” and that all must follow themselves.
He lived his life lecturing about that concept brilliantly.
Also see the book, “Madame Blavatsky’s Baboon”, which is a history of this fascinating woman, who was closely aligned with Gurdieff, et al., and explains her life as yet another charlatan in this lineage.
It seems a foregone conclusion that the cigarette companies were unethical,yes. Same thing exactly is going on with global warming right now. The point is all these questionable behaviors are based on a general psychological condition of man. The earth is a prison. If men were more awake they could not do these things to each other. Everything works against a man awakening on this dear planet we are visiting. So I take help though it’s not perfect and am grateful for it. I couldn’t do it alone. From reading many, not all of the postings on this blog I can see many are spinning their wheels. It’s tough, it’s really hard to make progress, there’s so much you have to give up, stop doing, most of us just can’t give stuff up, we’re locked in, robotic and so used to it we can’t tell and will argue with anyone who tries to point it out to us! JM
I propose a little experiment. How about we engage in a dialogue. Doesn’t have to be in public on this blog, it can be private. You can write me at veronicapoe@gmail.com. It might take a little while to get back to you, but I will. The purpose of the dialogue, at least my purpose, will be to see if I can persuade you that you have been and are being subjected to unethical social influence in connection with your membership in the FOF. I might not succeed. You might even prove me wrong, though I doubt it. At worst I will bore and irritate you. At best you might find our dialogue interesting. I know I will. What do you say?
when politicians, corporations do these things to the detriment of people, the planet in shortsighted pursuit of their own immediate goals, well I guess it standard operating procedure on planet earth, I’ll just step down from my soap box on that one.
I simply must take exception to your comment “Robert is selling consciousness as if it were a commodity and as if he owns it and, importantly, as if he lives it.”
I do not know you , I don’t know who you are. This opinion you have expressed about RB is not something I could agree with (I’m trying to be sincere and just speak only of my own experience). For me, He is not selling consciousness, that is just a foreign concept. It cannot be a commodity, he cannot own it, he does appear to work very hard to live it. The money thing is difficult esp. when seen from outside. But we definetly get something for it, sometimes just sitting at a wonderful table in wonderful surroundings, it can make you BE there. It’s all voluntary! My current experience of RB is that he is doing everything he can to get us to realize the reward is uniquely ours and the efforts must be made by us alone, he cannot do it for us, he serves us by reminding us of this fairly constantly. So in conclusion, I feel your angle is misguided or misinformed. I just don’t have that experience of him at all. I’m not starry eyed about him like some either.
JM
Well. I guess I was lucky. I have an intelligent, wise mother who I honor and appreciate more and more as the days pass. Your tacky t-shirt slogan is your’s, not mine.
I also have many female friendships which I nurture and tend with care since they are extraordinarily valuable. Likewise, I have numerous friendships with males that entirely assist me to further understand life and its complexities with regard to the differences between the sexes.
I guess I just don’t see females as a negative influence to abandon or avoid. (I believe the female populations surpasses that of the male at this time, so it would be pretty difficult to negate the sex.)
Inexplicable guilt or compulsions are universal flaws and cannot be blamed on females.
Labeling anything is static and unconscious since perceptions change as the moments pass.
I’m not very enthusiastic about being “cautioned” about anything. From what authority does one caution another?
Guilty about burping? Who feels guilty about burping? That is a human reflex brought about by eating poorly. It’s true that I rarely do so because I attempt to eat healthily and with consciousness. Still, if I do, I certainly do not attempt to pretend I’m not an animal, which my physical being belies every minute of the day.
Just Me –
…I’m sharp enough to know my mind is not controlled… (Really?)
…I know that at first I thought he’d lost his mind, …
(Very accurate perception! You should have stayed with it.)
…but after a period of time I began to realize first that they were not as the general world assumes, …
(After a period of time… Something happened to your mind – the false all of a sudden became true. You should have trusted your first feeling! Oh yes, the “general world”… These asleep 99,9999%… but you imagine yourself above it, like, special, right?)
…I’m beginning to see patterns now…
(I guess it’s too late for you then. You’ll see more and more patterns, deeper meanings, keys, omens, numbers etc. It may be harder and harder for you to simply see things as they are without turning them into something.)
…but why am I wasting my time?
(I don’t know. Good question. I suggest going back to your sequence that works for you.)
GIRAFFE
“A rock painting from Algeria, dating to 100 AD, depicts a giraffe with nine circles, representing control of the passions.”
Guys, I am so glad that we can know this now. 9 circles! Who would have guessed what it really means. And now we know!
“The intelligence of the creators of the images understanding they had no idea who or when someone would attempt to interpret them and knowing this to create a message that could even possibly be interpreted, so many thousands of years later, well…”
You’re right. Thank God it finally got interpreted! How useful. How deep.
If those creators only knew what happened to their innocent image many thousands of years later… If they could only see that a delusional man will eventually interpret it to fit his hideous teaching so he could make more money… And that other intelligent but brainwashed men will swallow this idiocy and even sing praises and ask for more… I bet you those poor cave-men would have washed this freakin giraffe off the wall!
Just remember what you said JM – “I know that at first I thought he’d lost his mind”…
This is the truth, right there. You saw it. Your conscience saw it.
“Same thing exactly is going on with global warming right now. The point is all these questionable behaviors are based on a general psychological condition of man.”
You mean the fact that men don’t respect their mother earth in our vain attempts to dominate her or drain her precious bodily fluids?…That certain powerful men value hoarding money and pursuing self-gratification at other’s expense more than consciousness? That they think people are expendable? That they think they have some kind of religious mandate to carry on fighting ‘evil forces’ despite the ‘collateral damage’, who are usually women and children? How is the Fellowship of Friends so different?
Hey veronicapoe, welcome back, glad you are here too!
You are telling me what I think, that’ not right in any book. You are choosing which perceptions of mine are correct and running with those to further your own position. You are spinning my contribution. I see it for what it is and move on. JM
JM – I’m just messing with you. I am not working with ‘no teasing’ exercise or any other exercise for that matter.
I find it hilarious that anyone in their sane mind can take new ‘teaching’ seriously… The amount of buffering one needs to do so must be huge.
How does your face look during the meeting when he tells you this outrageous make-no-sense-whatsoever bullshit. Do you buffer/smile, do you blush, do you put your eyes down? Because how the heck can you listen to this crap with straight face?
I mean, a man is sitting there eliminating his wildest imagination on you, like, he has an outbreak of some serious verbal diarrhea! He repeats himself, contradicts himself, gets entangled in his own interpretations… He is lost on the forest of his own imagination. Don’t you see that he is imagining all this stuff? How can anyone know what exactly the cavemen or Egyptians had in mind? Robert announces this like an absolute truth. And how can one verify this? One can’t, one has to become a total believer.
Does screwing from behind means Steward and Nine of Hearts engaging presence for you? May be you can share how to use this knowledge practically.
Do nipples seriously mean Be and Hold and penis – Long Be? Do spots on giraffe mean control of passions to you? Do holes in the flute mean wordless breaths to you? Wherever there is 6 elements – it must be the sequence. Even if it happens to be 6 shits.
Gimme a break. This stuff is retarded. Have some respect for your intelligence man.
Laughing Love wrote,
“Also relative is the absolute white bread make up of the membership. I know there are some Asian members, but doubt if there are any African Americans and probably very few Latinos.”
There are a few African Americans, and some African Europeans. There are Asian centers, in India, Japan, China. And there are lots of Mexican, central American and south American students. Robert enjoys an occasional black boy. Race doesn’t seem to be much of an issue in the FOF, and people divide along different lines–Russian/non-Russian, first world/third world, American/European. There’s quite an anti-American attitude prevalent at Isis.
Just me. #83
“I’m beginning to see patterns now…”
Ah yes, paisley, herringbone, tartan. That happened to me.
Next come the purple ants in groups of six.
“………..but why am I wasting my time?”
Why indeed!
My advice, skip the ants and go straight to the thirty
imperishable polkadot rhinos.
Thinking of usefulness of tools- the term Feminine Dominance for me would currently score around one and Conscience… ten.
Conscience seems to be a recognition and a holding of my heart. When I wake up in the morning, my cat pads silently into my room, magics her self onto the bed and with some delicacy settles on my chest with her front paws lightly resting on my neck. When I finally open my eyes her yellow ones are looking straight in to them.
I love these moments, her liberty, and the warm weight of her. After a while various angsts start to prickle. What happened with the gas bill? How could my sister have said that? The cat jumps up and I follow.
I notice that my daughter has stuck a piece of chewing gum on the book case, that there’s a smear of chocolate something on the Sofa. There’s a rush of panic when something forgotten is remembered. As I drift into the kitchen to make coffee, there’s regret about not having done the dishes last night. Busy hands in the hot water suddenly become motionless as it penetrates that what I did yesterday was very foolish, my face burns with shame.
In the past if I had had my wits (steward) about me, I might have responded to these unpleasant moments by saying: just separate; think about something else. This is just vanity. Come back to the present. Do a sequence. Now I use my wits to try to stay with the unpleasant. Why? Because it is part of the present.
It occurs to me that each time I have turned away from WHAT IS, no matter how noble sounding the rationale I have been buffering. If it occurs to me to stick with it, with out applying any words, what had been unpleasant becomes a wordless burning force the heart… it radiates through out the body, igniting.
Have you ever sat next to Robert at an event and smelled semen on his breath? A friend called me last year, she had decided to give her self a treat and go to an event. But her overwhelming experience was of revulsion. Instead of just living/riding the myriad of contradictions that the smell evoked she had tried to block it out; to re-model the present into a place where her beliefs could remain intact. She attempted to rationalise her self out of it: she kept telling herself how lucky she was, how she should focus on the impressions, how Robert was a conscious being, how there were certain things that she at her level couldn’t understand…
But the smell remained.
And what of Feminine Dominance. I now call it a variety of things such as ‘morality’ ‘socio-cultural programming’ or ‘the wish to be certain in advance that my feeling will be approved of’. These seem to be more accurate. As a woman I had always been slightly irritated and hurt by the term, but had seen it as a duty and opportunity to ‘separate’.
The important thing seems to be not to let the tool thieve from Conscience. I remember the tears streaming down my four year olds face as I dragged myself off to another meeting….
Now she’s thirteen and when she says “Mama you’ve gotta to see this cool pic of Bill” (from boy band) I try to break away from this letter, to really see what she’s showing me, and not to enrage her by saying that he looks like a girl.
For myself, I have always related to Feminine Dominance as that influence that can keep us from going for what is Right, True and Beautiful no matter what our innerconsidering from society may tell us. As a woman, the first time I fell in love with another woman brought me smack up against it. Liberating and frightening at the same time. Ironically, leaving the Fellowship can also be work on just that.
Conscience to me these days is about recognizing the truth of my thoughts and actions, not buffering, avoiding disparity and harm.
Here are the latest membership stats:
April 2007 – 2035 (from the April FOF directory)
August 2007 – 1639 (+/- 5) (from Propylaia)
I am so tired, so tired o all the efforts I made so many years.
The skirts I bought and wore because Robert saw a women in the Rose garden and thought it was a boy. Within days the skirt exercise was installed
I am so tired of all the paid events I went to after Ka- ren John—–n told Robert that he could not have any money after a new load an dear Robert decided to start teaching events to increase his funds.
I am so tired of the contradiction of people who can hardly afford to pay their medical bills and Robert spends easy 20.000 dollars a day on shopping expensive presents and clothes for god may know who. ( Not for ladies BTW)
I am so tired of the people who are depressed in the fellowship, the people who asked Robert for help and for addiction on many levels ( alcohol, power, sex ) and Robert gives them pills or for the gravely sick he tells them this is how they will create a permanent tendency to awaken.
The Viagra distributions. the amount of sex he needs a day…Breath smelling like sperm…..
Dear Just me. I do not know what to say…there is so much evidence…we sacrificed so much, so many years. Some of us a lot more then others…the pain is sometimes unbearable…
Especially now I do not see Robert so much and when I see him, no smile, no eye contact. he ignores me…The Love I thought he had for years is so conditional…
Read Anna’s letter, aaah I have to give up. This breaks my heart and leads to nowhere. I can and do not want to convince you…wisdom can not be given through simple words…if you do not get it now….you have to go through the motions….yourself, Question yourself…let go of world 12 states search the 6 and 3 and the non states…
My best advise for you is to sit still, listen to you heart at least 15 minutes a day and listen to your conscience. Just be still and breath……The answers will come.
And when you are seeing things in a different light, there will be help and friends who went through the same.
What??? $20,000 spending money a day? Breath that smells like sperm? That’s it. Something CRIMINAL going on here.
Speaking again without permission from Vera-Mente we want MONIES. For TIME WASTED. PRICELESS. But, we will settle for JUST COMPENSATION. Out of the courtroom into the light.
I want $10,000 cash. A red 1944 Lincoln convertible, a black thoroughbred colt, a panama hat, 10,000 acres for my horse, and adequate income for life.
Breath that smells like sperm? GOD ALMIGHTY!!!!!!!
“Hei, Unoanimo, do you by any chance know Zach? I miss him…”
___________________
Hummm…. Maybe, I know pretty much everyone; describe please, as if the police were looking for him having been rumored to be abducted by Coercive, ‘look what sugar daddy got for you, nice Valium prescription, some porno videos, all the Viagra you can handle and a Hermes tie’, sexual predator.
Hello ‘Innernaut’ ~ (52)
“…what’s the big deal about the Nut Tree restaurant?”
__________________
Innernaut, you’re joking right? This of course was before the days of ‘keying’ (externally), before our conscious Man #-1 began exchanging the aspiring images of ‘his’ soul seeking students essences for cave paintings, quieting them up so he could stay on top of the ‘Nut Tree’.
Robert Burton has a very diabolical sense of self importance and bone grinding humor; the ‘nut tree’ is most likely in the same ’self-hypnotic keepsake token-category’ as the massive phallic palm trees fizzing all over Isis, but hey, nice place for the family to have a picnic under… BTW, stay off the grass; that’s only for Robert and the boys (and the ballet dancers).
Hello ‘Mole’ ~ (43)
You wrote ~
“whereas porn gives them the depersonalization they require”
____________________
Sure, along with the theory of ‘Feminine Dominance’; I believe they go ‘hand in hand’ or ‘hand in teacher’s bottom’, I’ll let ‘Just me’ choose; after all it’s a ‘conscious’ democracy.
Hey ‘Just Me’ ~ (81)
You wrote ~
“…would you allow cameras cell phone news crews in your bedroom, gimme a break.”
_____________________
‘Just Me’, Wow, are you Siddiq’s little or big brother? You sound so familiar, my toaster-list is beginning to yearn.
Well, that’s not a question for either of us (I think); yet, actually, it would not be out of fashion for such a ’seasoned beyond flavor recognition’ homegrown Oregon House porn star such as Robert Burton to have some ‘teaser videos’ or ‘instructional tip-toe-through the tulips’ for Asaf’s continuing of his legacy…
So, just to keep things (the parody of the parody) ‘All in the family’, the warning was for the possible onslaught of newer student voyeurisms, (those needing the verify the blog) and The Appeal Democrat ‘zombies’…
After all, you don’t think RB uses that trap door simply for emergencies do you, it’s not called ‘trap door’ for nothing.
With all the free time you have waiting for the next ‘Keying Group’ and Robert’s ‘this isn’t narcissistic enough, spin it some more’ glide overs (not to mention Asaf’s ‘Ah hugh’s ‘) you might take a stroll over to Res Ipsa Loquitor and peek into the ‘deeds’ and ‘treasure trove’ of the Fellowship of Friends, after all, it’s what all this affirmative ’stuffed angel hanging by fishing line’ is all about, keeping you locked into the only way out…
one thing is ‘true’, no one will leave the Fellowship of Friends till they are ready, that’s a mystery none can hurry or explain, yet, the material to assist the curious, the graduate to move on is here and in many ways, always has been, embedded down deep in your conscience…
No matter though, because if you cannot risk bursting your earth-lungs to dive way down there to get the pearl, your pearl, then that’s that, another time in this one and only moment.
_______________________
Anna ~
Thank you for that; your letters ‘keep it real’ for so many in this cocoon-time. I love it when my cat walks to me, self interested and all, takes, gives some deep resonating purrs and moves on; doesn’t leave $800 dollar Panama Jack hats in my cars front seat (no thanks Dorian, get a real job or bob, ‘Just Me’, you choose.)
______________________
Hello ‘Laughing Love’ (77)
Just a note to say that I wrote something concerning this subject way back somewhere in Part 16 I believe, no further back than 15… take a peek.
____________________________
Whalerider ~
Message received; the wood roaches are trumpeting 6000 and the daisies are in the hamburger, I repeat, the wood roaches are trumpeting 6000 and the daisies are in the hamburger…out.
Wow… are you using Whalerider’s Rolex-telepathic-line? Ah, I don’t think you’ve initiated for that (maybe you’re higher up than my sources disclosed)… I wrote the bit about the ‘Panama Jack’ hat before reading your post, which I could only ’see/access’ (after) I submitted mine…weirdy.
Dear Friends, Anne Tuder asked me to post this here. So here it is.
Dear Friends,
Leaving the FOF was a relatively easy thing to do. However, coming to grips with the fact that it had taken me 5 ‘long’ years to ‘wake up’ to Robert’s ‘outrageous’ (Initially, I used the word ‘preposterous’.) claims regarding his own person, hasn’t been so easy at all. Perhaps I needed to verify for myself that ‘imagination indeed satisfies all centres”. Be that as it may, a pressing question facing me now is how to protect myself from falling into a similar trap again. Is there anyone out there who could help me to answer this very important question?
I might like to throw “Casual” into the name somewhere. Please feel free to weigh in on this matter.
Someone asked earlier about how students keep a straight face in current meetings. Here’s a Warning-Signs-You’re-On-Your-Way-Out story:
Guinnevere was a travelling teacher visiting our center sometime in the late ’90s. She was leading a meeting on Saturday night and even the people who didn’t come to meetings anymore were going to be there. I had a music gig that evening so I arrived late with a huge amount of light-hearted, positive energy circulating in me. Maybe I was in what we use to call “Essence”. I walked in the door, or should I say snuck in, and stood for a while in the foyer dispassionately witnessing the whole scene. I was struck by the incredibly heavy energy in the room. Why was everyone sooo serious? G was going on and on about something and everyone was sitting in their seats like a repentant elementary school class receiving admonishment from Mother Superior.
At an appropriate interlude in the action, I grab a folding chair and slip into place in the circle. I am seated directly across from Mike and Don, a couple of rogue thinkers and good friends. The kiddy classroom vibe continues no matter how hard I try to turn it off. “Come on, now”, some voice is saying, “this is serious stuff.” And yet, my whole being seems to be infused with this eight year-old child yelling, “Hey, lookit all these people all dressed up playing pretend.”
Everyone is quiet for a moment. I look at Don and he’s obviously doing his best good student act, but I can see the smirk right there at the corners of his lips. Mike is studying his tie. He then proceeds to roll it up from the bottom to about mid-chest and let it roll back down. I’m not sure if he is intentionally doing this for me, he had told me a couple of months before that he always plays with his tie when meetings bore him, or if he’s just amusing himself.
Somehow the subject turns to love. Can’t remember the exact question, but we’re on to love. G starts the Robert engine, “Of course as Men #4 we cannot know what love is…” And then she says, “Perhaps we could start with a flower. One could try to love a flower. One could make that one’s aim for several months.” Do I detect a smile on Don’s lips? Is Mike’s tie flying up and down his chest like a gag blind in an old I Love Lucy episode, or is just my imagination (running away with me). I feel a sudden impulse to laugh. I stifle it and stare at the oriental carpet at my feet.
“..and then after learning to love the flower, one could move onto a small dog, perhaps.” That was it. “a small dog.” Don’t defeat your will by starting with a large dog. A burst of laughter exploded from my mouth, although it felt as if it jumped right out of my chest. I tried to disguise it as a cough, but I could tell by the faces around me, no one was buying it. And on G went with the ladder of love for man #4. I couldn’t stop The Laugh. I have to pretend that I’m having a coughing fit and leave the room. I’m standing in the Kitchen and I can’t stop laughing. I try several times to compose myself and return and each time I come un-glued as I enter the room. Finally, I pull it together and return.
Photograph received. (one from G, one from center directors, one from myself)
The moral of the story is be careful (isn’t that always the moral), for if you start to laugh at meetings you will lose the school.
And remember, Uncle Gurdj says: “There is no laughter in higher centers.”
yes it would be wonderful to be repaid back from the time and efforts lost to RB.
But I doubt there is a way to make this possible.
Indsight is always 20/20, if I could change something of the past I would have put a big stink about moving to Renaissance because my spouse was needed.
I would have said NO!instead I obeyed and got sick for a change.
Then when I got sick I had no medical insurance and a minimum wage of maybe 700 dollars a month for a family of 3.
Poverty settled in even deeper: visits to the Health and Welfare Dep., in Yuba City or Marysville (I forgot)…
I had a brief vacation from making teaching payments, later the “sweet” F…cis Th…son harrassing me and with cultish stupidity I made a few payment with credit cards, in the meantime there was no money to pay a rent. This is what happens to the people who were sucked in on salary without previous assets.
Bad choices, you pay for almost a lifetime.
Yes, I want RB to go, his students to go and get a piece of property on slope 19, 5 or more acres for all the physical and moral damages sustained. What do you think?
(I know these words will create an fof stink!)
Just Me: I simply must take exception to your comment “Robert is selling consciousness as if it were a commodity and as if he owns it and, importantly, as if he lives it.”
The emphasis on money in the Fellowhip is simply overwhelming. Isn’t it obvious? As soon as a “teacher” asks “students” for more than basic expenses (renting a room etc.) he becomes corrupted.
Nisargadatta was approached by American students asking him if they could set up a fund to buy him a car and rent him a nicer apartment. He told them to get lost.
Vera-Mente #119: Remember TIME is a big thing in the 4th Way . Time is counted whether productive or WASTED.
5 acres of FOF property? Hold on to that thought. If I remember correctly we were in an publically advertised 4th way school founded at the inception on deception.
In America that’s cause for significant compensation.
“I’m sharp enough to know my mind is not controlled. ”
So was I friend, so was I.
“Mind control? Everybody else’s minds are controlled, I’m getting free of mind control. Everybody else is too asleep to see the truth. And this isn’t a cult. All those other groups may be cults, but this one is different. Yes, I know they all say they’re different, but this one REALLY IS different. If they can’t see it then they can continue to sleep. If you think about it, it’s a perfect cover for a conscious school — to look like an ordinary cult. C influence devised the play to protect the Fellowship — sleeping people would destroy us if they knew we were a real conscious school. It’s brilliant — we’re hiding out in the open. It’s amazing really, how lucky we are. And so what if Robert is using our money to buy expensive trinkets and pay students to have sex with him. He’s conscious and we can’t understand the higher. It’s a play C influence created to give us friction to separate from — it’s a test to force us to separate from the lower self that’s concerned about those boys’ welfare. That’s just feminine dominance anyway. But I think for myself about all these things. Mind control? Yeah right.”
“Buddha’s laughter is both an expression of, and a inspiration for, enlightenment. ”
Now, from Robert:
****************************
Dear Friends,
The Teacher has requested that we work with an exercise of not laughing for one month, until November 23. The exercise applies only to the Apollo d’Oro area. Robert noticed that the seven of hearts is more prone to occupy space around food, and the aim of the exercise is to help us gain control over this part of our machine.
Linda T., Apollo
******************************
Dear Friends,
Robert wishes us to resume indefinitely the exercise of not laughing around the dining table, as the King of Clubs particularly uses this circumstance to lure us away from the present.
On his last journey, while dining with friends in Abu Simbel, Robert observed a neighboring table, whose diners were laughing loudly. Because Robert and his entourage had set the aim at the beginning of their travel not to engage in laughter around the table, observing this table of non-students was a useful lesson for them. Robert commented, “C Influence are great teachers. Observing this table laughing is an even more useful lesson than the ancient site we just visited.” Robert gave several angles about laughter, but towards the end, a new connection came to his mind. “I only now realize that the Chartres devil is laughing, showing that through laughter the king of clubs overthrows the nine of hearts.”
Linda T., Apollo
From Robert: Laughter is far from innocent.
************************************
Dear Friends around the world,
Robert sends us the following message, with his love.
Thank you for giving up artificial laughter for real presence. It is the key to success for our school; one of the few instances one gets something for nothing.
In friendship,
Linda T., Isis
***********************************
Dear friends,
Robert sends the following message to students around the world, with his love.
When you are at the table, please avoid sharing funny stories that are true, such as humorous incidents that have actually happened. In the guise of telling the truth, the lower self is trying to introduce laughter and open the door to the seven of hearts. Please reserve such stories for other occasions to avoid laughter around the table.
In presence,
Linda T, Isis
**************************************
Dear Friends,
The Teacher requests that when a picture is being taken of us, we should try to be moderate in our smile and not show our teeth. Robert points out that the instinctive center, being animal intelligence in human form, likes to display its teeth.
The poster below illustrates the point.
In friendship,
Linda T, Isis
******************************
Dear Friends,
Attached are two images that Robert related to his recent request that we not show our teeth when a picture is taken of us. In both cases, the devil’s teeth are showing.
Here is a story from this year, sometime around the beginning of April:
Wednesday we had our first meeting on the prehistorics. I hadn’t read the Thoughts yet, so everything was fresh. Long (but not tedious) angles. Interesting cave drawing images, connected to other images we have already seen, mainly from Egypt. Though the explainations were obviously stretching the point, it was enjoyable seeing and hearing all this out of patterns material. I was content to just be present and have no “I’s”. Then S. began his angle, and X. held up the image which was of a couple having sex, “dog style”. It looked like prehistoric graffiti. At first I thought it was two men, but then Robert began explaining the woman as the nine of hearts, and the man entering her as the steward. The absurdity mounted. I began to laugh, and tried to control myself, so that when it finally broke out into the room it was more of a snort(!). There were five other students there, faces turned to me while I struggled to control myself and S. continued reading. Then X. began to laugh, then Y., then Z. (a newer student), then S., and finally A.. The effort to try to control myself and the absurdity of it all caused tears to run down my cheeks, while S. tried to continue to read. The steward’s arms and legs were long be and short be etc… But then he would break up into uncontrollable laughter, too. Something about “intercourse” and “irrefutable evidence”. I was looking around and taking in impressions, mouth open for big gulps of air. It took a few minutes but we all made it through the angle and our collective fit. An amazing state. After the meeting we spoke about it together, and also later with Y. in the night by the car. All I can say is that it produced the third state for the rest of the evening (including the hour and half drive home) in me and in some of the other students who just rode the wave and did not get stuck in the “I’s” about it. I treasure that edge of insanity/sanity that sometimes the play and sometimes Robert can bring us to, if we let him. Last night was a small taste of his speciality. How bizarre, how bizarre….
“the Teacher will use these funds to rebuild the Bistro” – OK, did he? Or could he lie to us again?
“All your generous birthday gifts will be going to the Bistro rebuilding project.”
So… where is it? The plan was to re-open the Bistro by July 4th, 2006
WHAT HAPPENED?
Were you informed how your money was used?
************************
March 15, 2006
Dear Friends:
On Sunday, March 19th, Robert will celebrate his 30th Crystallization anniversary….
…We can express our gratitude to Robert by giving donations through the Fellowship of Friends to honor his 30th Crystallization anniversary.
In turn, the Teacher will use these funds to rebuild the Bistro, which was destroyed by fire in June 2004. The Bistro project is our new focus for 2006.
You may send your donations with a beautiful card directly to Robert at the Galleria or log onto Propylaia and follow the links to contribute on line. All donations are appreciated and tax deductible. Our goal is to raise $200,000.00 for the rebuilding of the Bistro.
Love,
Patricia Ch.
Isis
************************************
March 17,2006
Dear Friends:
For those of you who have already contributed to our fund for re-building the Bistro, a sincere thank-you…
Your donations are helping us reach our goal of raising $205,000.00 in efforts to reopen the Bistro on
July 4th, which is the 35th anniversary of Isis.
In a recent daily card Robert said,
“We have many events in order to strengthen one another, so that we become too strong for the lower self.”
And now he is aiming for us collectively to re-establish the Bistro, which shall provide another enchanting venue
for being present and strengthening ourselves with our 30 Work I’s.
The projected monthly financial requirements for construction at this time are:
March $40,000.00 April $35,000.00
May $55,000.00 June & July $75,000.00
Suggested contributions are: $5000, $2500, $1000, $750, $500, $250, $100, $75, $50, $25
Your gifts to Robert for his 30th Crystallization Anniversary Sunday, March 19th and his birthday May 12th can be given
as donations to the Fellowship of Friends as a way of supporting the Bistro project. When paying by check please make payable to:
Fellowship of Friends
Post Office Box 100
Oregon House, CA 95962
If you prefer to pay by credit card, log onto: http://www.propylaia.org/
and click to go to ‘Donate to Bistro Project’
Your donations are truly appreciated.
With love & gratitude, Patricia Ch., Isis
Buddha: Right efforts stand for control of passions.
**************************************
Dear Friends,
On May 12th we shall celebrate our Teacher’s birthday.
Robert has asked that all birthday gifts to him be made in the form of cash donations to the FOF Projects Fund, with the aim to rebuild the Bistro.
This year’s gifts are particularly special as they will help realize the aim to rebuild the Bistro ~
Once again we are going to witness a miraculous new development at Isis.
All your generous birthday gifts will be going to the Bistro rebuilding project.
To give Robert a birthday gift, you may send a check made out to:
Fellowship of Friends
Post Office Box 609
Oregon House, CA 95962
************************************
May 2006
My dear friends,
Tomorrow, May 12th is Robert’s birthday. Robert is asking that your gifts for his birthday be donations to the Fellowship of Friends as a way of supporting the Bistro project.
A gift to the Teacher is as much for oneself as for him.
Robert enjoys the beautiful cards and notes sent to him at the Galleria. So you may wish to send him your card with a contribution. Note on check ‘Bistro’ and make it out to FOF.
Other options are to mail a check (made to FOF) and mail to:
Fellowship of Friends
P.O. Box 609
Oregon House, CA 95962
Also, you may prefer to use your credit card on-line by logging onto Propylaia.org and following the links “Donate to Bistro Project.”
************************************
June 6, 2006
Dear Friends,
On the evening of Thursday, June 15th, you are invited to dine with Robert and friends at a lovely fund raiser that will help us rebuild the Bistro.
This event will be held at the home of A & P Ch., who shall be providing fine wines to complement the artfully prepared dinner by Ilya.
Time 6:30 PM
Dinner is for 20 with 8 standing room places available.
Cost of the dinner is $350 per person. (Three time payments are available)
Standing room can be reserved for $75 per person
To reserve please telephone P. at 692—-
************************************
That was it. No more talking about the Bistro or the funds raised.
Just a reminder: in all telepathic communications under code name: “conscience” be sure to double check and cross check message with your trusty gut reaction decoder already implanted just below the skin of your solar plexius. There are a lot of cell phones jamming up the air waves these days…
Purchasing Awakening (128): Someone should frame this post, and others.
“Suggested contributions are: $5000, $2500, $1000, $750, $500, $250, $100, $75, $50, $25… Once again we are going to witness a miraculous new development at Isis.”
“That was it. No more talking about the Bistro or the funds raised.”
I’m sure there’s a logical explanation. Maybe the “Bistro Project” was a code name for a top-secret initiative — and it may have something to do with expensive travel plans.
One of the most effective examples of mind-control in the fof, which to this day still impresses me, is the discouragement of any questions or discussion related to money — where it’s coming from, what it’s being used for, why so much of it is needed, and so on. We were very effectively held in check by the notion that it just wasn’t our business where the money was going — where our money was going — and that any questions in this regard indicated weakness and “sleep.”
Ironic, because our inability to ask these questions was a very obvious example of our sleep.
By the way, take a look at those figures… $5,000, $2,500, etc… Amazing that the government is picking up the tab for about one-third of that based on the FoF’s status as a “religious organization.” Good to know that U.S tax dollars are going to a good cause — the “Bistro Project.”
———————————
118 Kid Shelleen: Great story! Someone needs to frame that one as well. Thanks for the laughs.
———————————
126 Bass Ackwards: I loved your story, too, although it’s hard for me to tell what conclusions, if any, you drew from it. My sense is that this is one of the reasons FOR the no-laughter exercise. Reactions of laughter are very immediate and not “well thought out”, so there’s no time for us to think about what people will accept before we react.
That’s the last thing you want when you are trying for a “collective mind” that supports the hidden agendas of the group’s leadership.
———————————
A quick comment to everyone still in the FOF who may be reading the blog: I send my best wishes and love to all of you.
Robert wishes us to resume indefinitely the exercise of not laughing around the dining table, as the King of Clubs particularly uses this circumstance to lure us away from the present.
Linda T., Apollo
From Robert: Laughter is far from innocent.
****************
Actually, little repels the King of Clubs more effectively than laughter. The King of Clubs is put to sleep by the Jack of Hearts. Remember being scared, being spooked, by a ghost story and then laughing it off? Remember the relief when that eerie feeling that there was some possible unseen menace in the world dissipating through the familiar sense that it was just the product of an overactive imagination while laughing released all the tension?
The ignorant poofter RB makes this nonsense up and feeds it to his hogs for no better reason than something gets on his nerves, something disturbs his King of Clubs.
One more exercise comes to mind. At some point all foreign students had to stop speaking their language at the Apollo d’Oro and speak English ONLY. The “official” explanation was that we are more asleep when speaking our mother language. That of coarse left all English speaking students “out of luck” to practice awakening.
Guess what was the reason for that exercise? I laughed when I found out. RB’s boys (whose majority is Russian now days) were talking about girls at the Galleria kitchen, and Robert felt the energy but could not understand a word. So, the new law came about by the “iron fist”.
There were good times – no more language barriers between Italians, Russians, Romanians, Dutch, German, Mexicans etc…
But soon RB cooled off and the exercise was released.
It is interesting to consider how excersises come about. Many are the result of something that gets on Robert Burton’s nerves as Graduates says. A clear aspect of Burton’s psychosis is that he attributes an objective and disproportionate value to his own ‘I’s.
For example there was a student who lived at the Galleria 15 years ago who was a pretty raw, casual type. Because Robert had him around for a while we got a bunch of excersises relating to table manners; elbows off the table, don’t talk with food in your mouth, use your knife and fork, don’t lift your plate to your mouth, pause between mouthfulls, try to taste your food. In fact exactly the kind of things one would tell a child. Now, it is fine to adopt these standards and in the US many folks find it an effort, but what has this to do with awakening. If you really want to go against the machine , how about not playing along with Robert Burton and his phony cronies.
Yes, somebody 133, I also recall that some Russian male students took the language exercise even more seriously: they started to talk to their wives at home in English, often very poor English. I heard it from complaining wives.
What lunacy.
Dear friends,
Regarding celebrating our birthdays, the Teacher wishes to remind us to use this event as an opportunity to be in intellectual parts of centers, and specifically to try to avoid excessive laughter. Robert observed that the seven of hearts, the intellectual part of the queen of hearts, actually thinks it is its birthday, and would reduce us to its own world by indulging in jokes. Birthdays are another reminder to focus on being twice born through divided attention.
In friendship,
Linda T
I think that probably the reason RB instituted the ‘no laughing’ excercise is because laughter, humor, ridicule, satire, joking, kidding around, etc. are very effective ways of puncturing the pomposity and pretense of the Fellowship. Kid Shelleen’s and Bass’s stories illustrate this well.
Reading that series of edicts from RB via Linda, each one increasingly oppressive and creepy, made me so grateful to be out of the humorless hell hole that is the FOF.
Hey~? What happened to ‘Just Me’? I guess it what the “sperm on his breath” line, gets them B-Influencers all the time…
____________
Hello ‘Kid Shelleen’ ~
Loved your story, hee hee… gosh; Robert also does something similar to your friend rolling up and down his tie when he’s bored, ‘conscious beings’ go a few steps higher or shall we say lower…
__________________
Hello Vera.mente ~
I’ve got dibs on the Mercedes; there’s a demolition derby next spring that I want to enter it into.
__________________
Purchasing Awakening ~
Thank you for those advertisement copies; the money never went anywhere other than into Robert Burton’s pocket; he cares no more for the Bistro than he does for the winery or the bathrooms at the Apollo D’Oro or Town Hall… gotta buy those (palm) trees and keep expanding his walkways; oh, and don’t forget those insurance premiums and Troy Buzbee’s monthly stipend check.
_________________________________________
About slaughter:
“Robert’s laughter behind closed doors is both an expression of your easy money, and a inspiration for, more of it.”
Now, from Robert: Ka Ching!
****************************
Dear Friends,
The Teacher has requested that we work with an exercise of not thinking of retirement nest eggs for one month, until November 23, 3040. The exercise applies only to the Apollo d’Oro area and a 5000 mile radius thereof. Robert noticed that seven thousand dollars is more prone to occupy space around Christmas time, and the aim of the exercise is to help him gain control over this part of your budget.
Linda T., Apollo
******************************
Dear Friends,
Robert wishes us to resume indefinitely the exercise of not thinking of the retirement nest egg (and children/spousal health care) around the Earth’s crust, as our King of Consciousness particularly loves to use this circumstance to ‘consciously’ lure us away from the Savings Account.
On his last “I’ve got all yo money” journey, while dining with friends in the Mercedes, Robert observed a neighboring idling vehicle, whose drivers were laughing loudly at a mini DVD movie of ‘My Private Idaho’ playing on the backside of the seat. Because Robert and his coerced Russia sex-mafia had set the aim at the beginning of their “I’ve got all yo money” travel not to engage in conscience around the Earth’s crust, observing this idling car of non-dead was not a useful lesson for them. Robert commented, “C Influence are great preachers. Observing this idling car laughing is an even more worthless lesson than the ancient site we just bombed.” Robert gave several angles about theater and movie making, but towards the some new student’s end, a new connection came to his mid-section. “I only now realize that this reflection here next to me, a really handsome devil, is laughing, showing that through laughter the king of consciousness overthrows the nude of no hearts.”
Linda T., Apollo
From Robert: Laughter is far from yo money and innocently weighs allot carrying to Sweden.
************************************
Dear Friends around the Nut Tree,
Robert sends us the following mess, with his black ribbed latex glove.
Thank you for giving artificial laughter instead of real presence; it reminds me of a time when I too practiced laughing and smiling, just there, right there where you are standing. It is the key to success for my school; one of the few instances one gets nothing for all yo money.
In fiend-ship,
Linda T., Isis
***********************************
Dear friends,
Robert descends the following massage to students around the world, with his glove.
When you are at your conscience, please avoid sharing factual stories about me that are true, such as humorous incidents that have actually happened without my permission. In the guise of telling the truth, I, the lower self am trying to introduce “I’ve got all yo money” laughter and open the door to that seven thousand dollar Christmas thing. Please reverse such stories for other occasions, like for your next lifetime, to avoid conscience around the Earth’s crust and Pizza Hut’s too. Thought I forgot that one huh!? Yep, being conscious is some tricky business, hey, and Dominoes pizza in transit counts too; hey ho, yep, Man #8 is almost upon ya, look out Tombstone pizza.
In presence,
Linda T, Isis
**************************************
Dear Almost Friends,
The Teacher requests that when a picture is being taken of us in jail, we should try to be moderate in our admitting how much we actually had in our bank accounts and not show our real check book. Robert points out that the instinctive center, even in jail, being animal intelligence in human form, likes to play hard to get, Robert accepts checks from jail too… Isn’t this fun!
The poser below illustrates the point.
In yo face,
Linda T, Isis
******************************
Dear Friends,
Attached are two hypnotically charged with more hypnotically charged wiseacring images that Robert regurgitated out upon the floor from his recent ribs and Texan pickle sause dinner that we not show our teeth when a picture is taken of us regurgitating. In both cases, the rib meat and pickle rinds are showing.
With glove, from Bending over and still not getting any,
Dear friends,
Regarding the new exercise of setting aside the first bite of food, this only applies to the initial act of eating: whether the meal includes one course or several, one is to set aside the first bite of only one of the courses, not the first bite of each course. Moreover, the Teacher is encouraging us to choose the bite that is the most attractive to the instinctive center, both in selection and in size, as it is the bite the instinctive is most reluctant to relinquish.
The exercise is designed to show us how important food is for the instinctive center, when in fact what is truly important in that moment is consciously controlling the instinctive brain.
Thank you for your diligence.
Linda T
*****************************
Dear Friends,
To further clarify the exercise of setting aside the first bite, we are to set aside the very first bite of our breakfast, lunch, or dinner meal, and not the first bite of the principle course if we are having more than one course at the meal. The idea is that this exercise is most effective when the machine is hungry and most interested in food, not when it has already taken a few bites from the course before the principle one.
Our Teacher comments that when we put the first bite aside, we are making an offering to our own presence.
Thank you.
Linda T
**************************
This idiotic exercise created “first bite policeman’ at almost every dining table. I am sure you know what I am talking about. Also it helps to promote one’s vanity since students often try to make sure that our first bite is noticed by others at the table. Some choose the best bite and later talk about how they managed to put it aside. This is self-delusion.
“The exercise is designed to show us how important food is for the instinctive center…” – Duh! do you need an exercise to be shown this? I though it is pretty obvious. Does anyone have doubts about importance of food and nutrition?
How about… simply eating? Why not enjoy your meal without all this silly circus?
What I used to think was really funny was when the other people at the table would say “Can I have your first bite?” before you started to eat – usually folks on salary.
126 Bass Ackwards: “I treasure that edge of insanity/sanity that sometimes the play and sometimes Robert can bring us to, if we let him.”
Didn’t quite get this. Do you believe Burton is deliberately giving absurd angles so that students can have a good laugh and get into what you call the third state? Or am I misunderstanding?
Where is OUR BISTRO? What happened to the funds we donated?
Dear Friends,
Our Teacher has launched a new beginning for the Bistro; it is being rebuilt in the same location at Isis. Work has already begun..
Several special celebrations are coming also: Valentine’s Day, Robert’s 30th Crystallization anniversary on March 19th, as well as his birthday on May 12th.
Robert has requested that gifts for him be given as donations to the Fellowship of Friends, which will be used for the rebuilding of the Bistro. Further information will be forthcoming.
Your continued and reliable valuation is much appreciated.
Love,
Patricia Ch
Isis
************************************
Robert has returned to Isis and we continue making Isis more beautiful and useful. In this spirit, Robert is asking that your gifts to him for Valentine’s Day, his 30th Crystallization anniversary March 19th and his birthday May 12th be given as donations to the Fellowship of Friends, in order to continue contruction of the Bistro, which was destroyed by fire eighteen months ago. The Bistro project is our new focus for this year.
You may send your donations with a beautiful card directly to Robert at the Galleria or go to Propylaia and follow the links to contribute online. All donations are appreciated.
Love,
Patricia Ch
Isis
*************************************
March 2006
Dear Friends:
Many thanks to all of you who have already contributed to our fund for re-building the Bistro.
Your donations have brought in about 10% of the $200,000.00 needed at this time to reopen the Bistro on
July 4th, which is the 35th anniversary of Isis.
In Wednesday’s daily card Robert wrote,
“We have many events in order to strengthen one another, so that we become too strong for the lower self.”
And now he is aiming for us collectively to re-establish the Bistro, which shall provide another enchanting venue
for being present and strengthening ourselves with our 30 Work I’s.
************************************
Dear Friends,
So many of you are responding positively to the Bistro Fund emails and wish to contribute. Here are more details on sending gifts:
When paying by checks please make payable to:
Fellowship of Friends
Post Office Box 100
Oregon House, CA 95962
************************************
OK, I get it. He asked for the gift money to go through FOF as tax-free donations (and not his personal taxable income). This is smart and also makes him look good.
And then… it looks like he simply spent it on god knows what.
I haven’t heard anything about the Bistro project for over a year. Does anyone know the details? What’s up?
Members of the ‘church’ have a right to know how their donations are spent.
Anna 110: “Thinking of usefulness of tools- the term Feminine Dominance for me would currently score around one and Conscience… ten.”
Totally agree about FD – an utterly useless concept typical of the navel-gazing aspect of the Fellowship of Friends. Best to forget about it.
Conscience is bit more tricky. You say “Conscience seems to be a recognition and a holding of my heart”. This is not easy to write about but: Is there an implication here that you can choose to do the “right” or “wrong” thing depending on whether or not you listen to your conscience? It doesn’t seem to me to be that way – it all just happens in awareness with no control from me at all. But there is a kind of knowing of what’s true and what’s not. This seems to come from awareness, rather than from any part of “me”, however. Difficult to describe….
From: Linda T
To: students@beingpresent.org
Sent: Monday, March 6, 2006
Subject: [Students] Message from the Teacher: Thirty Imperishable Stars
Dear Friends,
Robert is asking students to keep making efforts to support the fine press publications of the “Thirty Imperishable Stars”. These publications will continue to come out quarterly, and are the best nourishment we can partake of in literature. They are publications that have a lasting value.
They are more significant than we realize. It is difficult for us to value what is happening in our times, and it will be easier for posterity to recognize their true value, in that they serve as milestones in our teaching. We will always be known for this: combining school knowledge with images from all the traditions that preceded us. Thus, these publications are a reflection of what we do.
Robert feels these publications are the true beginning of the School, and considers them far superior to his book “Self-Remembering”. Once these are printed and are sold out, they will not be reprinted. Volume I has been sold out. There are 100 copies of Volume II still available. Volume III is being printed these days by the Golden Pyramid Press for Robert’s Crystallization Celebration. Copies can be purchased through the Auction link on Propylaia.
From: L.M.
To: All Fellowship Students
Sent: Wednesday, March 8, 2006
Subject: [Students] Robert’s Crystallisation Anniversary
Dear Friends,
Robert will be hosting two dinners to celebrate the anniversary of his Crystallisation. The first one is on Saturday, March 18th, and reservations can be made through _______. Seats at the Saturday dinner are $350. for one person, $300. each for two people, and $250. each for four people.
Robert is also hosting an Auction dinner on Sunday, March 19th, and reservations for this dinner can be made through _________. Seats at the Sunday dinner are $500. for seats in the Goethe Room with Robert, and $600. for a table of six people in the Salon.
“Students may use time payments, raffles (on voucher events), cash, and credit cards to pay for events. We accept VISA, Mastercard, Discover, and American Express.”
From: SE
To: “students@beingpresent.org”
Sent: Thursday, March 16, 2006
Subject: [Students] Change in Work I Touch to Feel
Dear Friends,
The work ‘I’ Touch, after practical observation, has been changed to Feel. This seems to more accurately describe what we are experiencing and helps us bring presence to this sense. Used as the fourth work ‘I’ in the series of six, it can help keep imagination away in situations like showering. Be-Hold-More-Feel-More– Long Be.
With Love from Isis, SE
……………………………………………………….
from an email sent to all followers in March 06:
“My dears, the thirtieth anniversary of my crystallization is upon us. I woke up at 4:05 this morning, remembering the event. On that day we broke through time and death as a school. The school proved itself as a school; what one gains, we all gain. More than the pyramids along the Nile, more than the Taj Mahal in India, more than the Forbidden City in Beijing—in my life, I loved you more.”
……………………………………………………….
—– Forwarded Message —-
From: SE
To: “students@beingpresent.org”
Sent: Wednesday, April 5, 2006
Subject: [Students] Revising our Sequence of Six
Dear Friends,
Robert is revising our sequence of six work ‘I’s after more closely studying the Egyptian image of the first six warriors in the now familiar Hatshepsut procession of thirty. In the procession of thirty, the first three warriors arm in arm represent, ‘Be’, ‘Hold’, and ‘Pray.’ The next one is ‘Back’, then ‘Turn,’ and ‘Pax’.
Judging by this, it became clear that the third work ‘I’ would be the one that changes according to the situation, the ‘theme’ of the sequence as Robert says, rather than the fourth work ‘I.’ That is why it is designated as ‘Pray’, choose the work ‘I’ according to the situation.
The fourth work ‘I’ would then be ‘Back’. At this step one is anticipating interruption from the lower self, and responds appropriately with ‘Back’. Robert says that in this way we watch the lower self before he watches us.
The fifth work ‘I’ in our list of thirty, designated as ‘Turn’ means turn from imagination, to the theme of the sequence, to work ‘I’ number three. Thus, it will be ‘More’ of whatever one chooses to do in step number three; for example more ‘Hear’ or more ‘Look’ or more ‘Feel.’
Finally, ‘Pax’ stands for Peace, or presence; long Be.
This is how the sequence now looks: ‘Be’, ‘Hold’, ‘Pray (theme of the sequence)’, ‘Back’, ‘More’, ‘long Be’. In a concert, for example, one will use: ‘Be’, ‘Hold’, ‘Hear’, ‘Back’, ‘More’, ‘long Be’.
The next study group will explain more about this new sequence and it will be mentioned in the next ‘Travel Notes’ issue of the Teacher’s Thoughts.
146 Purchasing awakening
May be they never collected enough funds? Who will donate $5000 for the Bistro? Maybe they tried, but gave up? I personally never donated anything for the Bistro. Do you?
Anna and Rhino Neal:
Conscience is sometimes called our inner voice, or compass.
But the whole right and wrong thing is so confusing.
It was said somewhere that no one does evil on purpose. Similarly, Gourjieff said something like: there is no intentional (or conscious) evil.
At first I couldn’t understand it, but I seem to understand it a little more. Usually there is a feeling of rightness, or appropriateness even if we do something not so pretty. Evilness is in the eye of the beholder, just like the beauty!
Hitler thought he was doing good for Germany. And terrorists hurt people and probably feel OK or even proud doing it – they probably don’t think they are doing anything”evil”. I recall an TV interview with a serial killer, and he said he didn’t think at time of killings that he was doing evil – he simply did it, that’s all, he didn’t know why, he said.
When I exterminate pests in my garden, I feel justified about it.
I think Robert has the same feeling of being right and doing the right thing -whatever the thing. Now, to others it may seem evil, criminal, misleading, just wrong. But this is how it appears to others. His “conscience” may be OK with it all.
Do we really have a choice of “doing” or “choosing”? Doesn’t seem to be the case. I agree with Rhino here: It looks to me like in the moment things are just spontaneously done, and then comes either justification or the guilt trip.
But there seem to be a deep sense of “knowing” of what’s right or appropriate now, and it’s amazing to see how this sense varies from person to person. What’s so right to me is so wrong to you. All kinds of expressions are taking place and all kinds of deeds get done according to all kinds of “consciences”.
146 Purchasing awakening
May be they never collected enough funds? Who will donate $5000 for the Bistro? Maybe they tried, but gave up? I personally never donated anything for the Bistro. Do you?
—————————————–
That’s true… nor did I contribute. But I think Purchasing Awakening is making a different point — that they launched a relentless fundraising campaign and then the emails disappeared with no followup explanation whatsoever. Seems fairly natural to wonder how much money they raised, what happened to it, and why the Bistro project was apparently abandoned. It’s also reasonable to expect that they raised a considerable amount of money and that “someone” received the money, and then spent it.
Somebody, I doubt that they didn’t collect the funds. They are usually pretty pushy about collecting it. (guess where the pressure for money is coming from?) I’ve never seen them giving up. Usually there is more and more e-mails pushing you to donate.
Yes, I usually personally donated to most things (what a fool I guess). At least my donations were in the hundreds or below, not thousands.
Here’s few previous reports, not all related to Bistro. There are much more as we all know – there is always some money squeezing going on.
Have you bought your tickets for the Holiday Prize Drawing?
We have only raised $5000 by now!
********************
CONGRATULATIONS – WE SURPASSED OUR VALENTINE’S GOAL OF $70,000 TOWARDS THE ABUNDANCE FOUNTAIN
WE ARE NOW AT $85,000!
This leaves only $55,000 to be raised for Robert’s Crystallization Gift, so if you did not have time to contribute last week you can go to https://www.propylaia.org now to enter your gift amount.
*******************
The winners are:
All of us, who reached together the biggest ever challenge of $107K at a Live Auction!
*****************
Congratulations and thank you to everyone!
We reached the Live Auction target of $80,000.
****************
Thank you to everyone who generously contributed to our Abundance Auction.
We raised $56k, which helps us to continue building the beautiful Park of Abundance.
We still need $24k more to reach our goal of $80k, however.
****************
Dear Friends,
Thanks to your love and support yesterday at the Auction, we reached our goal of $100,000.
****************
Dear Friends
A very heartfelt “Thank You” to everyone who supported the 30th Crystallization Auction yesterday, which raised a magnificent $91,000.
This money will go towards helping to complete the work on the Theatron, the Park of Abundance and towards the rebuilding of the Bistro.
*******************
Dear Friends,
We have exceeded our goal of 100K at the Live Auction this morning! Thank you very much for keep supporting the growth of Isis.
*******************
We truly appreciate everyone’s contributions during this last Autumn Auction. We were able to raise $70K at the Live Auction among a little company of willing friends. We also raised a total of $9K from the Rise & Shine Prize Drawing.
********************
We truly wish to thank everyone who attended and contributed to last Sunday’s Holiday Auction. We were able to raise $72,000 at the Live Auction. Also the Quest For Immortality Prize Drawing raised $9,000.
I generally agree that people tend to feel justified in doing whatever they may do, but your post seems to confuse the experience of doing the act while feeling justified with the experience the person has later. I agree that things happen so quickly, and our awareness is so limited, that it’s rare for us to know we are doing something that goes against our conscience at the time we are doing it. Afterwards, with time to reflect, the experience for me is very different. I often find myself going over something that I did, and there may be a component of artificial morality about it, but often I’m struggling to reconcile the voice of my conscience with my many justifications and rationalizations, and there are times when I have to admit to myself (and maybe to another person) that what I did was wrong. And if I do the same thing over and over, it’s more difficult to say that I have no sense of conscience about it, although I might find to my horror that I can’t help doing it anyway.
If a person does something once and manages to avoid feeling there may be something wrong about it, that’s buffering. We all do it. If a person does it over and over with the same lack of compunction, that’s being a sociopath.
Kid Shelleen, I read your story about G. and starting by loving a flower, then a small dog (wouldn’t want to defeat your will by trying to love a big dog), and I laughed! Good one!
With many angles on the definition of conscience lately I am reminded of the Hippocratic oath for many healers.
‘First do no harm.’
‘Primum nil nocere’
I believe the more sensitive one becomes of ones environment and ones place on the planet, even killing a bug becomes difficult. So if you were to think about it from a vibrational point of view, the more sensitive one becomes of another being’s energy and ones own energy the more aware they are of injuring another being, be it bug, animal, man or tree.
What vibration do you is Mr. Burton running? We talk about higher vibrations in the Fellowship. Come on folks!
The following are quotes from one of my favorite authors, Iris Murdoch. (I’m in the midst of finishing reading her last novel of 26! I’m reading it slowly because it is like honey and I don’t want the experience of reading all of her works to end!)
Iris Murdoch quotes:
All art is a struggle to be, in a particular sort of way, virtuous.
Anything that consoles is fake.
Art is the final cunning of the human soul which would rather do anything than face the gods.
Being good is just a matter of temperament in the end.
Bereavement is a darkness impenetrable to the imagination of the unbereaved.
Between saying and doing, many a pair of shoes is worn out.
But fantasy kills imagination, pornography is death to art.
Falling out of love is chiefly a matter of forgetting how charming someone is.
Falling out of love is very enlightening. For a short while you see the world with new eyes.
Happiness is a matter of one’s most ordinary and everyday mode of consciousness being busy and lively and unconcerned with self.
Human affairs are not serious, but they have to be taken seriously.
I daresay anything can be made holy by being sincerely worshipped.
Love is the difficult realization that something other than oneself is real.
Moralistic is not moral. And as for truth – well, it’s like brown – it’s not in the spectrum. Truth is so generic.
No love is entirely without worth, even when the frivolous calls to the frivolous and the base to the base.
Only lies and evil come from letting people off.
People from a planet without flowers would think we must be mad with joy the whole time to have such things about us.
Perhaps misguided moral passion is better than confused indifference.
Perhaps when distant people on other planets pick up some wavelength of ours all they hear is a continuous scream.
Philosophy! Empty thinking by ignorant conceited men who think they can digest without eating!
Possibly, more people kill themselves and others out of hurt vanity than out of envy, jealousy, malice or desire for revenge.
The absolute yearning of one human body for another particular body and its indifference to substitutes is one of life’s major mysteries.
The cry of equality pulls everyone down.
We can only learn to love by loving.
We live in a fantasy world, a world of illusion. The great task in life is to find reality.
We shall be better prepared for the future if we see how terrible, how doomed the present is.
This evening, I was thinking about the “inner circle.” Over the last few decades, I have striven to become and be one of this elite group of pilgrims, gifted with a ‘conscious’ guide to help find a way out of the ‘prison of sleep.’ Heady and important stuff, indeed!
It was so easy to learn to see the ‘inner circle’ as a group of people, clustered around an individual. In this case, Robert Burton. But now, I am compelled to expand and alter my concept of what the ‘inner circle’ is, for me personally, in my own esoteric journey.
I recently had the errant ‘i’ that it’s all been about sex, as Gurdjieff once observed about group phenomena in general. Now that sex is not my primary motivator for remaining in the FoF, I must face the issue of my personal relationship with Influence C, higher forces, conscious guidance, etc.
I’ve come to terms with the fact that I no longer can accept Robert Burton as an intermediary for my connection to Influence C, theoretical and tenuous as it may be. So, the ‘inner circle’ is now, for me, no longer about him. He is no longer the center of the circle. His little circle is all about him.
So, where is the center now? I suppose it’s “out there,” as Fox Mulder used to say about ‘the Truth’ in the “X Files.”
I find this unaccustomed absence of a ‘center’ for the mystical inner circle to which I have so dearly wished to belong rather liberating! But I sense that this shift of attitude and orientation also carries considerable weight and personal responsibility. I trust that it may offer me the very optimistic possibility of continued evolution, search, and further exploration of presence, self-remembering and consciousness, under new, and more direct tutelage!
So, I ask myself, why not take this leap, away from circles within circles, and go directly to the source? After all, we’re all bobbing around in Ouspensky’s vast “Ocean of Love and Death…”
I have killed a fly and thought that was really unnecessary…
I have heard my inner voice…something is not right …and if I waited a little, sat with it, it became clear to me what it was.
There is a book “The gift of fear” the writer …Cohen decribes how he investigated 30.000 cases of different kind of crimes. The victimes in 99. 9 % had, had signs which were ignored most of the time
If you see a doctor and you feel something is of …run and do not go back to him..An inner voice is trying to warn you. Conscience to me is the same. So often I have overuled my inner voice and afterwards became so mad at myself because something in me knew…I just ignored it.
This is what happened a lot in my years in the fellowship of friends and often my mind would say…who are you to think you know and these people know much better……
Yes now it hurts a lot, there were so many signs so early on….
Well every body take care and listen to your inner voice it can tell you a lot and might even wake you up in the middle of the night.
LOVE to all.
Thanks for this blog and many beautiful writers.
If there’s ever an inner circle to see, it’s because you’re looking up having been dropped by god’s hand, like a pebble, into a pond… No teacher can claim that position, he or she is permitted only by you to hover there; if they start peeing in the pool and have that weird smirk on their face like they aren’t really doing anything but waiting for an elevator in a pool of water, well, they’ve gotta go!
Regarding the new exercise of setting aside the first unzip by Robert, this only applies to the initial act of… well, you know, putting the old tennis balls back in their can:
whether the meal includes one boy or several, one is to be set aside in some older students house, preferably a couple who has no kids to remind them of pure innocence and those pesky terms of legal consent (as if a sexual predator needs consent, gosh, that would be Feminine Dominance for sure!), that won’t be too tough, now will it?
This first boy is from only one of the countries all the boys are coming from this year; not the first boy for each course though, initially they will be the usual Isis lot, you know, those Oregon House Hustlers, The Conscientiously Keying Chippendales, which Asaf recently ‘unlocked’ for the first time in humanity’s history as ~
Chippendale’s; meaning C (C-Influence), hi (Higher centers), ppen (the sound Benjamin Franklin made as he asked for the pen to sign the Declaration of Independence, which, BTW, was written for The Fellowship of Friends), dale (was our teacher’s first higher center crush; so to speak). Isn’t this fun! And, BTW, a surprise interpretation by a special guest this year, our new man #5 part 2, Peter ‘twinkle toes’ Inn-gull, who recently said “If you fold the Declaration of The Fellowship of Friends upon itself 44 times and hold it up to the light, you can clearly discern Robert Burton’s signature on it.”
Yayyyyy, that’s good enough for me, thank Peter…Weeee!
More bending over, the Teacher is encouraging us to choose the boy that is the most attractive to the instinctive center, both in delicatessen and in size, as it is the bite our Teacher, the instinctive, is most reluctant to relinquish to us and the boys wife, girlfriend or any relationship that is to possibly occur after Robert’s ‘halving’ of him.
The exercise is designed to show us how important poo is for Robert, the instinctive center, when in fact what is truly important in that moment is slapping yo self up side tha head with a two by four, preferable Pressure-treated, so controlling the instinctive brain and allowing as much pickpocketing to occur by the boys downstairs of your ‘out like the lower centers on Robert dope, spread eagle-style carcass’ prior to 911 procedures soon to be administered to resuscitate your prerequisite amnesic state of being in a fun, fun, fun cult of tennis court ballet performance watchers.
Thank you for your indulgences.
Linda T, and that’s the place to Be, be, beep be-deepey do da day sha na na…
*****************************
Dear Fried Ends,
To further muddy the exercise of setting aside the first boy, we are to set aside the very first boy we find at our breakfast, lunch, or dinner meal, and not the first boy of the principle course if we are having more than one boy at the meal. The idea is that this exercise is most effective when the Teacher is hungry and most interested in poo, not when he has already taken a few bites from the course before the principle boy.
Our Teacher comments that when we put the first boy aside, we are making an offering to our own Teacher and various wonderful lava cascades and wading pools in Hades. Isn’t this fun! See you in tha lava pits, weeeeee!
Thank you, not me,
Linda To-lease-sow you up to spill you again into Robert’s pockets
BREAKING NEWS….Secret FoF Video Found….. THE ORIGIN AND MASTER key to ROBERT BURTON’s conscious keying of all esoteric and not so esoteric stuff from around the globe!!!!!!
MY GOD… UNBELIEVABLE!!!! Oh, where’s my checkbook?????
Does not encourage useful dialouge
Seems to come from place of judgement, negativity, hostility.
Land of no possibilities
Why are you so hostile to a perfect stranger? You need a check up from the neck up dude. JM
you said all those things, I don’t experience any of them. So you are like in your own world about how you imagine it is to be a mind controlled FoF member. Sadly it is not like that in reality, at least not for me. One cannot speak of another’s experience without making the effort, the payment, to know them. I appreciate your effort to show me that I am possibly hypnotized by the FoF thing but fortunately I am experiencing much more than what you state, and it is the finer energies that make it all make sense. Sure there are plenty of things wrong with FoF, after all it’s on planet Earth. But what is hardly never mentioned on this blog is the finer energies that neutralize the difficulties and make it all worth it. Reading this blog without understanding that there is a finer experience occuring is just functioning without a complete understanding. The missing ingredient is the higher experiences that are systematically not mentioned here. Unless you experience what it’s like to drive a nice sports car on a windy road on a warm summer night with the windows open, I mean, if you’ve never done that, then when you read about how much such a car is to insure, maintain and that the people that made it are sex maniacs, well you’d go with the complaint side of things every time. But that drive on that warm summer night eliminates all doubt and you just understand. It’s not the perfect analogy but it does sorta work. thanks for reading and please be kind JM
Many are negative not coming from a good place, I don’t know if you are/were a student but the idea of different parts of centers comes into play, I scan them but when I see lower parts of centers I just skip. JM
“But what is hardly never mentioned on this blog is the finer energies that neutralize the difficulties and make it all worth it.”
________________________________________________
We don’t have to mention it ‘Just me’ because you guys are doing it for us, that is, your ‘finer posts’ are buffering, buffering, buffering (“neutralizing)…
You pick out the trite negative shots and don’t talk about the fatal solar plexus punches coming from Robert Burton’s bedroom and elsewhere…
You skim over Anna’s posts (why don’t you try going heart to heart with her story or is it that the being you have inherited from Robert Burton only juggles the obvious esoteric denying forces, like ‘yes, I’ll bend over’ and ‘No, I won’t bend over’(?) ),
you skim over 415 (and counting) criminal offenses by your corrupt organization and then post something like the value of driving on a hot summer night in a sports car with the windows down…
good grief, are you 13, 12, 11? If so, just admit it and I will then understand your incredible incredulous nature… We love ya, but, hey, how long have you been in?
Some of us are covered from head to toe with prison tattoos and I happen to sense that you’re screaming bloody murder over henna coloring…
Look around and stop acting like Pee Wee Herman in the bar with the Bikers. And at least get a pin prick of ink somewhere for conversation sakes.
Congratulations ‘Just Me’ you’ve just fused your King of Hearts artificially to your King of Spades (the 8 to be exact) and created the perfect Burton-Scanner…
Welp, skim away, just stop whining if your cereal tastes ‘watery’ at the end of the Fellowship of Friends role-call; cause you’ve only got skim milk for your bowl…
And, BTW, if you are skimming OVER “The Lower”, then what are you doing commenting about it and replicating it too?
Perfect Robert Burton style… Rhino poo and hypocrisy.
I was an FoF student until the end of May this year. I agree with you that many exquisite moments can be had in the school.
I don’t think I would have stayed that long if they couldn’t.
I joined when I was twenty one and stayed for twenty three years. During this time my experience of life became progressively narrower; I had really no idea of the tremendous beauty and depth that lay beyond…
I wrote a letter addressed to you on this page, it’s number 110.
My leaving story is on board 16# 520
woa horsey, keep your ink. you wild reckless beast. Where’s all that charged energy coming from? Don’t exactly make a guy/girl feel welcome here with your strong responses. Maybe I just hang it up why bother with folks who got they mind so made up?? Why do you respond so stronglly, sheesh. JM
174/ yesir
Easy to say, actually it’s insulting. Who are you to say that it comes from my fof washed brain, the frickin nerve, you are a nutso boy. You have no idea, come on admit it. You’ll feel better.
177/ unanimo
you want to do battle…why? really, why? what’s behind that energy? It really works against intelligent conversation among equals, which is I assume what we are trying to do here. . .
NOT FOR VIRGIN EYES, SKIM OVER IF YOU ARE A VIRGIN…
Dear Friends,
Robert is very pleased with students’ efforts to bring the ballet to Isis at the end of August. To continue our support, we are offering a very special prize drawing to be held on the opening night of the ballet. Robert has personally donated two pieces of jewelry to help support this raffle, which one can enter by purchasing a bookmark from our special collection.
* 1st prize: a 50-peso Mexican gold coin pendant depicting the winged victory with a laurel wreath
* 2nd prize: a Chinese oval jade ring set in gold
* 3rd prize: two front-row seats on the second night of the ballet
* 4th prize: a pair of Maria Alexandrova’s autographed ballet shoes
* 5th prize: ballet dancer photos autographed by Robert and the dancers
If each student in the school purchases one bookmark, we can meet our goal. The prices for the bookmarks are below:
* One bookmark for $20
* Three bookmarks for $50
* Seven bookmarks for $100
______________________________________________
Hey, Robert Burton, thanks for “donating” those two pieces of jewelry bought with “donating”… Well, at least you guys can be ‘accidentally’ consistent.
Breathe, breathe in the air
Don’t be afraid to care
Leave but don’t leave me
Look around and chose your own ground
For long you live and high you fly
And smiles you’ll give and tears you’ll cry
And all you touch and all you see
Is all your life will ever be
Yes, got 172, read 110 too. Dial up tonight so going back to other of your post too slow for tonight. But will read. I appreciate your calm reasonable energy, it seems possible to have an intelligent conversation with you unlike some other hotheads on this list.
Well, at least spell my name right ‘once’ for Gurdjieff’s sake!
And don’t go hitting me with stuff like ~
“It really works against intelligent conversation among equals…”
Oxymoron’s just don’t cut it in here… You can’t “work against” another being whose in imagination of such status labels as “equal”… no one is “equal”, so get your head out of the American Declaration and take a good look at the idea of conscious individuality, if anything, love, love is our equal; and thankfully has nothing to do with ego or that little ‘evil god’ still stirring things up inside yourself, eeking out word phrases like “among equal”, this is not the Rotary Club or Amyway or The Fellowship of Friends, this is YOU, so, esoteric up and be a Real man.
SKIM THIS IF YOU’RE A VIRGIN OR A BALLET DANCER who does not know what and who you’ll be entertaining ‘really’.
______________________________________________
Dear Friends,
Journey Forth to Isis begins on Thursday August 23rd, which is in approximately two weeks.
This special international gathering relies on the willingness of each student to give and to receive. The wonderful events scheduled with our Teacher and fellow students enrich our lives; offering much-needed assistance at any of these events also yields conscious fruit.
Myra and Margaret will be at Apollo d’Oro every Thursday and Friday from 11:30 to 2pm on the front patio, beginning this Thursday.
You may also call ZZZZZZZ or ZZZZZZZ or email ZZZ.ZZZZ.org, and we will help you arrange your third line octaves.
Thank you in advance for your generous support.
In friendship,
The Third-Line Team
________________________________
184/ unanimo
I spelled your name wrong just to piss you off. Honestly, you’re too excitable, I’m re-reading your post and I don’t know what to say. You’re throwing dirt, I don’t see what’s wrong with the concept of a conversation among equals. So I’ll stick to it. Calm down
You shout in your sleep.
Perhaps the price is just too steep.
Is your conscience at rest
If once put to the test?
You awake with a start
To just the beating of your heart.
Just one man beneath the sky,
Just two ears, just two eyes.
You set sail across the sea
Of long past thoughts and memories.
Childhood’s end, your fantasies
Merge with harsh realities.
And then as the sail is hoist,
You find your eyes are growing moist.
All the fears never voiced
Say you have to make your final choice.
Who are you and who am I
To say we know the reason why?
Some are born; some men die
Beneath one infinite sky.
There’ll be war, there’ll be peace.
But everything one day will cease.
All the iron turned to rust;
All the proud men turned to dust.
And so all things, time will mend.
So this song will end.
Dear Just Me,
I want to mention something about higher experiences. Firstly – of course most people here had it! Somehow current members often say here something like “Well, if you could only experience the higher states…” But we did! For many, many years. And still do, believe it or not.
I completely agree with you that “higher experiences” can block out bad stuff. Make it not important, small, bearable. It’s called “transformed”, I’d rather say “temporarily blocked out”. Because it all does come back, doesn’t it?
I also came to understand that higher experiences is not all and everything. They are what they are – higher experiences. They are way overrated in FOF. They come and go, have beginning and end. They cannot be permanent precisely because they do have beginning and end! So I understood that I was chasing something impermanent in it’s nature – hoping for it to become permanent. It’s not going to, because it can’t. No wonder nobody “wakes up” in Robert’s school! It’s by design.
Robert often says: You are the state you’re in now!
- Wrong! How can you be something that comes and goes? Where are you in between the states?
You ARE. And state comes and goes. State has nothing to do with what You Are!
Higher states are also very pleasant and addictive and we all fell for them at some point in our lives. I can say that I truly became a “high state junkie” in the school – like many others. I would feel so “good” around students, around Robert, at Isis. I wanted more and was ready to pay. It felt sooo goood!!! “Life” people seemed to me hostile and threatening, I was able to connect to them less and less. Eventually, all my friends were from school. I see that one become increasingly dependent to the provider of “high states”.
Unfortunately, just like with any drug abuse, the end usually is somewhat tragic… Because the high states no matter how high and pleasant, don’t last. They don’t seem to lead to self-realization, inner freedom, awakening if you wish. They do what they supposed to do – get you high. And then – they disappear and it’s low times – with fear, anger, identifications. So… it’s time to get high again.
Drug junkies often end up nowhere, disappointed, broke, with damaged health, unemployed, lonely…
Look at FOF students at their old age – are they happy people? May be they are for a short time, around Robert, when they get their regular dose of spiritual high again. And how many of them are fearful, very poor, never developed careers to truly express their essences, are not healthy, not at peace with themselves?
Unfortunately, for many it’s too late to start again from the beginning. And this is exactly what seem to happen when high state addiction is finally broken – one is back to square 1. Luckily, many of us made a full recovery.
So yes, riding in the warm summer night is absolutely awesome… I agree. But where are you going, JM?
How calm a person is, in my experience doesn’t have much to do with awakening.
It’s weird to hear my self saying this after so many years of calmness cultivation. A calm person can be very impatient and hypocritical.
In the FoF Robert encouraged us to see what he/we called the king of hearts as almost divine. I have found that ‘king of hearts seeming lying’ is the most deceptive, and a very strong adversary to going beyond our hermetically sealed little selves.
Unoanimo’s words in 184 seem the most truthful that I’ve heard this morning:
“take a good look at the idea of conscious individuality, if anything, love, love is our equal; and thankfully has nothing to do with ego”
And forgive me; but these are not from someone else’s poetry book.
To Fat Boy and Just Me, written by Yo momma Robert.
Childhood’s End-ding
You shout in your soul, your spirit, your conscience as I bend you over the leopard spotted sheets.
Perhaps the price is just too steep, these sheets, though don’t worry, your teaching payment will go lower.
Is your conscience at rest, I’m doing my best to put you to the test, to get no rest, from this test, these test-icicles in your mouth, how’s that, doing the sequence?
If once put to the test, can you pretend to be like the rest?
You awake with a start and I finish you nightly, before your wife knows you’ve left the house, you’re back, smiling, kinda, yet your conscience is shouting, kill, kill, kill…
To just the beating of your heart and my chest on your back, huffing and puffing your mother’s teaching payments up in smoke, I inhale and blow out the memories of your father for awhile, so, I can be your sugar daddy tonight, did you just smile, doing your sequence?
Just one man beneath the other,
Just two boys, just two more boys.
You set male across the male, nude numbers for me never pale. Of long past Viagra pops and porno video sessions.
Childhood’s end, your fantasies are my twins,
Merge with harsh realities, keep that sequence tight.
And then as the sail is hoist, I am on you again, dropping anchor in your ocean of muffled shouts,
You find your eyes are growing moist, don’t cry, I know you love me more than that.
All the fears never voiced, I hear you, I know, cause I am one of them, dressed in silk though, a smoother fear-gear,
Say you have to make your final choice, not your final teaching payment, so it isn’t so, where’s that palm voucher? I want it before you leave.
Who are you? I do not care and who am I, about the same as way back then, when I first lied my heart out, right on the floor, I think the cat got it and the dog the other half through the dog-door.
To say we know the treason why, just do the sequence while I milk your sons and daughters dry?
Some are born and placed into my hands, I call them ‘King and Queen of Isis’, till their parents up and take a ride;
some men #4 die, so what, gotta keep keying and calling suicide a play of crime, crime, crime… keeping the lie.
Beneath one infinite shopping spree.
There’ll be war with the antique dealers,
there’ll be a piece of you waiting for me cause the gods will it so, so don’t go, keep up the sequence and give me that inheritance.
But everything one day will cease and I will live for 12,000 years, in your believing ear.
All the pretty flesh turned to stone for my garden statuary and amber for around my neck;
All the proud men, in sequence, turned to be by my side for eternity.
And so all things, time will commend to me, the second Christ or his Butler, or both, since I am doing the choosing,
So this song will end as you right your checks, pay, pay, pay, payment is a Principle and I am too, do your sequence, don’t cry, I am almost through with you.
190/ Janna
Faced with certain death…
I’m not doubting that people “here” have higher states, that would be an insult It’s our birthright to have higher states. The bad stuff can be dealt with more intelligently in a higher state. There is really nothing else to do on this planet but to remove the veils of illusion and that results in a little by little higher daily state as one sees through and no longer believes old energy draining illusions. Getting high is reminding oneself of what’s possible, it’s so easy to forget and get lost that frequent reminders are very useful. One has to create attitudes towards failures like episodes of anger and identification so that they aren’t as much of a denying force. It’s as if our attitudes towards our perceived failures have everything to do with how they will affect us and our possibilities.
I encourage you not to give up on higher states. Or maybe look at your attitude towards them. It sounds like maybe you got frustrated with creating a higher state and then going home to the realities of home and the state would go down and so you were frustrated. That’s another attitude that can be changed. thanks! JM
Sometimes I see the names of old friends and the heart beats a little faster and a smile comes. Then I read venomous messages and the smile fades. You say you reach out to those still in the school and so some have offered an open hand…and you bite it.
I remain in the school and doing that, I feel your wrath, your judgement, your disdane, your pity, your condemnation.
I am sorry for your pain. I am sorry for experiences that have been hurtful and difficult. But for those of you who seek to hurt those of us who stay, I’m sorry for you.
The idea of Inner Circle relates to the Inner Circle of Humanity. It’s a psychological place, where there is the same understanding about the Human Condition and life on Planet earth. When we speak about the inner circle of the FoF or any other organisation it is used in a relative way, it just refers to those that are close to the “action” and know what’s going on in the center of the organisation.
HEAVEN’S GATE
Christian / UFO / C Influence believers
Heaven’s Gate is a destructive, doomsday cult centered in California. 21 women and 18 men voluntarily committed suicide in three groups on three successive days starting on 1997-MAR-23. Most were in their 40’s; the rest covered an age range of 26 to 72. 1 Two months later, two additional members, Charles Humphrey and Wayne Cooke attempted suicide in a hotel room a few miles from the Rancho Santa Fe mansion;
I/m not sure what you mean when talking about higher states.
They have happened rarely for me. I would describe them like this: there’s a physical sensation as if all my cells are turning over and then ‘Anna’ shrinks. Suddenly every thing appears connected, everything is symbol; there is powerful emotion but it is ‘impersonal’; everything is loved: all people and objects, litter, dirt, tramps; all is understood.
I joined the school thinking that I would be taught these states. Somehow this aim was muffled and blurred… When it was finally remembered I had to face up to the fact that the last time I had ‘had’ a prolonged higher state was 19 years ago.
It’s not that I didn’t work hard in between. There was tremendous struggle and sincerity, but also a growing sense of failure and self-deprecation. There was Presence yes, and nice states in the rose garden, and nice quiet states at meetings, but these states were miniscule compared to the universal nature of the higher states I had been longing for.
Another quality of my higher state had been that ‘Anna’ (the lower self/ego etc) had no personal demands. She was irrelevant. The states didn’t require being in the rose garden, or at a meeting, or being hit and bullied or having sex with a man who repelled me. All is beautiful in this state, all is right.
I realised too that Robert could not be living in conscious because he had too many requirements. Of course he may be experiencing Presence and ‘niceness’ as long as the conditions are right…
I realised that he could not and had not actually been teaching me anything. Perhaps you Fat Boy and you Just me have taught me more (don’t know who you are so I can’t say), certainly my student friends and myself scraped together as much learning as we could…
in what I recognise now to have been a wasteland. Truly it is verdant out here..
I realised that Robert had usurped my longing and re-directed it towards his own (sick) agenda.
It is always easier to be negative and it only influences and convinces those that are already negative, those that can’t do anything useful anyway. To convince the productive, those with an aim, it is necessary to be objectively correct, to reveal a real law that only becomes self-evident once it is pointed out. Blame and accusation convinces only the faltering and the idle, to convince those of quality, those that actually make a difference in the world, it is necessary to be conscious. Here’s a law: no one can give you consciousness regardless how much you pay them for it or how much they try to coax you into it and at the same time no one can take consciousness away from you once you have it. Consciousness is not a temporary state, moments of consciousness live forever. What is temporary is this personality that imagines it understands anything longer than a few fleeting minutes or longer than a few constantly evaporating selves. At death the accumulation of moments of consciousness are weighed against the days of sleep and if they are enough then the soul is set free to roam the galaxy, not temporarily but forever.
I accumulated a lot of debt in the years I was in the fellowship. Any reliable, practical ways to pay it of and start all over new? I live in Ca and have a green card.
I am over 50 and reasonable healthy.
What is the use of talking about the System
if you do not produce the states you are talking
about?
Love, Robert
First: states are happening anyway, second talk does not fit the bill. Maybe that is what we all do too much. We talk a lot. Are our actions congruent?
210. paying of debt.
Try checking Bankruptcy laws?
I am not sure how they work in the US. In Europe you have to owe over a certain amount and not have reasonable means to pay it back. Its twisted but those who owe less are in a weaker situation. It can be quite difficult to establlish credit cards and the like afterwards.
You can also go to court and arrange terms Ie a very small amount regularly which they generally cant refuse and its better for them to recieve something rather than nothing.
Perhaps some of our legal beagles can help more?
Regards Jack.
You inspired me to read a book about holotropic breathing and was wondering who would be reliable and good in this matter. I searched the internet in my area and this did not show much that I felt good about.
Do you have to do it with somebody else or can you do it by yourself? I was reading a book from Kylea Taylor. She mentions that you need a facilitator. “The breathwork eperience.” She speaks about the way you come into this world and the way a person relates to the world.
I would like to be independant and not have ” an expert” coaching me.
Does anybody knows about the unability of making decisions and how the person was born?
Is dependancy and not able to make decisions related?
Does anybody has information that is to the point and not to complicated?
Graduates #208: My first thought was I like this one. Then I caught your newly moderated #73. My computer doesnt like YouTube. The sound is real jerky for some reason. I have an ME and I’ve been told it’s not the best. They have even quit making updates for the ME. Anyway, I just wanted to let you know I went to YouTube and (heard?) that band from UK.
Michael Prochazka #121: Never doubt a truth once verified.
Doubt causes lots of problems. Look up the characteristics of cults. Plenty of information on this blog.
Vera-Mente read post #91: If true that is where their Bistro money is going and our payday.
Bankruptcy is one option. It is not as devastating as it sounds.
It is on your record for seven years.
Credit card companies, who apparently won’t offer credit to bankrupt persons, can’t resist and a friend of mine (who went bankrupt twice) receives offers from them every day.
Also, some credit card companies will assist you to pay off the cards by negotiating the amount.
A financial advisor can assist you with the details of that option.
203 just me: “I encourage you not to give up on higher states. Or maybe look at your attitude towards them. It sounds like maybe you got frustrated with creating a higher state and then going home to the realities of home and the state would go down and so you were frustrated. That’s another attitude that can be changed.”
OK let’s try again. Many people writing on this blog have been through what you’re going through now, believing everything you believe, then seen through it all and come out the other side. As Janna says, the higher states to which you are currently addicted are temporary, just like a drug high. Any amount of “changing of attitudes” will not alter that simple fact. Your efforts are taking you in completely the opposite direction to where you want to go. They are reinforcing your sense of separateness and individuality, both of which are illusory.
Many of us have discovered more helpful teachings which point directly towards truth, giving an undeniable and lasting experience of reality. It doesn’t go away! If you can begin to let go of ALL your beliefs and attitudes, including what Robert Burton has told you and what you think you’ve verified, you’ll be starting on a very wonderful journey.
I would suggest your holotropic breathwork experience be facilitated by an experienced person. Obviously Grof did not develop it with a facilitator and of course you could experiment on your own. But I think it is a good idea to have someone whose job it is exclusively to attend to you while you are doing it.
The blog has been temporarily turned into a farce due to the useless and descending nature of the back and forth with the defending FOF jerk-offs.
Please realize that without their participation in the blog they have nothing real to live for. Their misery demands its’ projection onto others to reinforce and justify their sad, depleted lives. Give them your “best” at your own peril.
They’ve been here before, they’ll be here again, but nothing will stop the parasite from seeking out a nourishing host. They are the pimples on the collective ass of humanity.
If you think it’s useful to engage these gargoyles, well…you’re still willing to pour into the void. As long as they are willingly “getting fucked” it will be necessary for them to fuck others. Misery loves company.
Bankruptcy is one option. It is not as devastating as it sounds.
It is on your record for seven years.
Credit card companies, who apparently won’t offer credit to bankrupt persons, can’t resist and a friend of mine (who went bankrupt twice) receives offers from them every day.
If that doesn’t appeal, I have also heard that some credit card companies will assist you to pay off the cards by negotiating the amount. They want the money and, under certain circumstances, will negotiate.
A financial advisor can assist you with the details of that option.
Debt can be very stressful, but there are logical and practical ways to mend the problems.
JM: “I encourage you not to give up on higher states. Or maybe look at your attitude towards them. It sounds like maybe you got frustrated with creating a higher state and then going home to the realities of home and the state would go down and so you were frustrated.”
I think you missed my point…
I didn’t give up on higher states. I didn’t give up on anything! Also, (but you may not believe it) I had the longest and probably the highest state ever when I left the school – it lasted uninterrupted for over 2 months and was pretty much like what Anna described – no sense of “me”, merging with everything, overwhelming sense of love. It was very special and is hard to describe. I had nothing like that before. And these days (probably because I don’t care as much) there is lots of high states, when it all seem like a great movie and there is no sense of “me”, no personal demands but full acceptance of what IS. It’s what used to be called “low state” (identification, fears, extreme judgment) that seem to be gone – and again, I am not making it up. You don’t have to believe me, it’s just for your info.
I came to realize that chasing the states, thinking you can “produce” them only puts you further and further from reality. Because it reinforces the “me”, the ego, the personal separate doer – and this IS an illusion. States in themselves – as nice as they are – is NOT what YOU ARE. You are not the state, you are what HAS the state. It great to have them, nothing wrong (or right) – hey, I like high states a lot! I just don’t take them as myself anymore and don’t put that much value in them.
Also, I am not frustrated – in fact I couldn’t be happier and freer these days. “Realities of home” are great – I so truly enjoy the realities! I so completely enjoy life, as it is. It is like an interactive movie – watch and play too! Fun, fun, fun.
The freedom is not from life, not from “realities of home” – the real freedom is from your ego! In FOF ego is being enforced and cultivated and drugged with illusion of higher states. You start thinking of yourself highly and put yourself above others, especially “life”.
But You are not your ego – regardless which fancy name it has for now – Higher self, Steward, 9 of hearts or whatever. You are not that! And until you believe you are that – you’ll be chasing your tale, growing some imaginary inner phantoms and hoping for more high.
This is exactly what Robert sells, and you seem to be a happy buyer of the illusion.
“One has to create attitudes towards failures like episodes of anger and identification so that they aren’t as much of a denying force.”
When one sees through illusion of ego (which by the way doesn’t take lifetimes!) , there is no need anymore for any of that “creating” and “attitude changing”. It is seen as absurd. There is no “destroying of ego”, because ego is an illusion! Is ego real? And who if not another part of ego will be “doing” the destroying? All it takes is clear seeing through this illusion.
I don’t judge natural manifestations as failures, and haven’t had an episode of identification (as we used call it) for over 8 months. Life simply flows, very impersonally, sometimes with high states, sometimes without, and it is all fine because it’s WHAT IS. It shows new exciting things every day, and it’s fun to watch and participate. It is very simple.
This is one of my favorite Zen quotes (sorry don’t remember from whom):
“Die while alive and be thoroughly dead. Then do what you will, and all will be well …”
Thanks JM, it is nice to have a conversation with you.
Well, I see the postings here, like the fabric of FOF, is still the same old shit.
Its too bad you guys haven’t learned to just move on because your rants remind me of an old saying: “A leopard never changes his spots”.
I am not a member but don’t exactly agree with your recent sarcastic and crude demeanor torward the FOF members post.
I am learning things from the exchanges and hope you do not spoil this. We are well aware of what goes on at the FOF; but healing happens only when their is relativity.
The AIM of the blog is very individualistic and will take on what ever AIM that one wants to give it – what I mean is there are little guidelines, so let’s try to be kind to one another. We are all from the same planet.
Hello,
Have taken the liberty of reposting this; I know that Michael would really appreciate some help…
Dear Friends,
Leaving the FOF was a relatively easy thing to do. However, coming to grips with the fact that it had taken me 5 ‘long’ years to ‘wake up’ to Robert’s ‘outrageous’ (Initially, I used the word ‘preposterous’.) claims regarding his own person, hasn’t been so easy at all. Perhaps I needed to verify for myself that ‘imagination indeed satisfies all centres”. Be that as it may, a pressing question facing me now is how to protect myself from falling into a similar trap again. Is there anyone out there who could help me to answer this very important question?
You are certainly entitled to your opinion, and may express it whatever way you wish to. I will do the same. Personally, just for me, if I want your opinion on my demeanor I’ll ask for it. Please feel free, whenever you see “Bruce” to just skip ahead, I won’t be offended. If that isn’t enough, too bad.
Also, while it’s nice you are getting something out of this, it isn’t especially for you. It’s for everyone, and it contains the whole spectrum of information, most especially the emotional parts elicited from some pretty heavy experiences. So if you’re just recently popping in, you might want to familiarize yourself with the previous 8000 posts, or scan through Res Ipsa Loquitur to get up to speed.
This old blog is somewhat of a hockey game at times. If you prefer badminton you might want to try the forums at the Greater Fellowship site, however masks are discouraged there.
Perhaps there are risks of falling into the same trap.
I guess my strategy upon leaving the fellowship was to learn as much as possible about cults and how and why they work.
There are numerous websites and books readily available that discuss these matters in depth.
In fact, quite a few of these websites and books have been discussed at length on this discussion board.
It is a matter of recognizing and becoming highly conscious of where you’ve been in order to avoid getting trapped in the future.
Naturally, this blog is also a great help in further understanding these issues since we’ve all been through the experience of naively joining and believing in a cult.
Yes, I guess I will skip your posts in the future, and of course you can do the same with my posts……but that is really not the point. This blog is for everyone as you say and for me it stays more interesting if we don’t scare and run others away with compassionless remarks.
“A leader is best
When people barely know
That he exists,
Less good when
They obey and acclaim him,
Worse when
They fear and despise him.
Fail to honor people
And they fail to honor you.
But of a good leader,
When his work is done,
His aim fulfilled,
They will all say,
“We did it ourselves.”
- Lao-Tzu
All the best Jack.
“Yes, I guess I will skip your posts in the future, and of course you can do the same with my posts”
Personally, I don’t skip anyone’s posts. But chacon a son gout
“for me it stays more interesting if we don’t scare and run others away”
and that, of course, is all that really matters, right?
And believe me, none of these FOF posters get sacred away. This is a significant part of their lives right now. It gives them meaning. If they’ve had enough criticism they leave for 24 hours and reappear with new names.
You’ll also find it interesting that they NEVER reveal who they are. They’re a courageous sort. The FOF builds inner strength and integrity. No hiding behind pseudonyms for them. They are proud of who they are, and what they stand for, and will put themselves out there to show this inner strength, not.
“I am more and more convinced that one of the keys to right awakening is that nothing changes. The machine goes on exactly as before; it is just that something emerges and watches. We are sometimes fooled by the fact that Robert was very intense as a man number four, and this carried over when he woke up. But it seems to me that for us, being in a large and loving School, nothing need change, nothing need be extreme; we merely add consciousness to whatever else is going on, without disturbing that at all.
What I would say now is that after doing that -that is, after consciousness is added on top of everything else- the fact that there is consciousnesss is such a big stimulus for the machine that the machine will start to act differently. But this is merely a consequence of the presence of consciousness. Things change because the machine has a new and very strong stimulus.”
This last two sentences are actually a masterpiece of the kind of thinking Girard has used to justify Robert’s machine and his own.
By simply adding “consciousness” to Robert’s mechanicality, which does not need to change at all to continue being conscious, he has taken away the need of any work on the machine to become conscious.
The sad thing is that this is exactly the mind frame that he has used to continue watching pornography, treat his wives like Robert treats his boys, that is, with perfect detachment from true emotional caring, and support Robert as the one and all conscious being that has provided him with the opportunity to be a “conscious” teacher in the Fellowship of Friends.
Someone mentioned recently his Psychological Thinking. Is there a recent booklet published with that name?
“The Teacher often reminds us that we need to remember that there is a higher right. And the higher right in the work is to remember ourselves, even if that means being “wrong” on the level of the machine. The idea of payment can be useful. If being wrong is the payment I have to make in order to be awake, then I am willing to make it.”
This is the way “brainwashing” occurs in the Fellowship of Friends and it isn’t even subtle. One does wonder what makes students listen to Girard endlessly without actually questioning him, but ofcourse, I fell in love with him…….but still argued every time………so they call me crazy! I am crazy for a thousand other things but not that.
Let’s distill this quote:
The higher right is to remember ourselves, (that is, agree with Robert at all cost), even if that means being wrong on the level of the machine (condone all of Robert’s mechanicality Girard’s and yours, just add consciousness).
“The idea of payment can be useful. If being wrong is the payment I have to make in order to be awake, then I am willing to make it.”
This is a very personal statement from Girard that he wishes students to imitate. What he is really saying is, “if being wrong is the payment I have to make in order to be awake (to belong to the fellowship), then I am willing to make it.
Is it really surprising that Girard would find it very attractive to be the second conscious being on the planet, be heard and loved by students who listen unquestioningly at his amazing capacity to rationalize everything and “make sense” or justify every absurdity inside the Fellowship of Friends?
“The aim is not to alter or perfect the machine – for one thing it cannot be done- but rather to learn to separate from the machine.”
So if we all learn to separate from the Fellowship of Friends “machine”, the Robert and Girard machine and every I in us that tells us that something is not quite right, we’ll all go straight to higher centers.
An agreement in an discussion between members of the fellowship of friends and ex-members of the fellowship of friends is not really possible because those two groups of people live from two different paradigm’s.
Opposing elements:
Members are ‘educated’ that ex-members are not going to ‘evolve’ and that they belong to ‘a chain of fools’, deprived of ‘influence C’.
Ex-members believe members are fools because they believe in these ‘theories’ and that they let themselves being used as cash cows and/or sex slaves of a gentleman who builds mental psycho-emotional fences around them.
In the root they will see the other through that paradigm and will filter the information given by the other. Members will look at texts from ex-members from a point of view of what is wrong with them and ex-members wil do the same visa versa.
Neutralizing elements?
Ex-members also where members once.
They know how easy it is to be manipulated.
Members where also non-members once.
The know how miraculous live can be without being part of an institution.
Mighty-big egos claiming and re-claiming their intellectual and emotional and poetic turf, exposing their wounds and confusion for all to see and read, again and again and again.
Yuck! Sptooy! I’ve had enough. (Of course, you all won’t care what I think. You have the hides of Rhinos…)
I posted a while back about the “hungry ghosts” that simply could not — will not — wean themselves from the high (?@#$) energy they experienced while in the Fellowship… How many years ago?? How many?
Please, prove yourselves immune from this malign FoF influence, and get out of town! Move on to better things! Can you? I doubt it… You’re STUCK in this esoteric mud! I pity you. And I’m still sinking in the muck myself, with just my neck above it all!
It would seem to be the utmost and most noble statement from this ilk of poster, like dearest Unoanimo, to simply BE GONE! Like Magic! Ah, I/we can breath again…. (You’re not so much the esoteric artist as you think, Uno. But you have helped me, nevertheless, now and then, my blog-friend…)
After all, what do you all contribute, at this point, except negativity and the pitiful remnants of your broken hearts and personalities? Can this be teaching? Can this be healing?
IMHO, it’s just wise-ackering… Feeding emptiness into the void… Hungry ghosts feeding…
One, two, three… Abrakadabra! May Bruce, Unoanimo, Elena, etc., and all of the addictive and conflicted posters on this site, BE GONE!
Poof! No more. Please! Find another source of therapy. Find love. Find sex. Find another teacher. Find your Self!
Give space — thank you! — for others who may wish to take the space that you are so greedily taking, and taking again, without a single thought for those who may be in a much needier place than you…
OK, yes, I’m clearly frustrated with the quality of what I read here every day. Yes, I AM needy! But I am not getting much of anything– day after day — except ego, personality, negativity, and a whole lot of bullshit and more bullshit!
(OK, I’ve contributed my share of it…)
I’ll happily share my experience with holotropic breathing.
Mine was with a partner in a group workshop of forty people with only one facilitator and an incredible sound system in a banquet room of a hotel. And it was a day long endeavor. Your partner was your breathing coach. We were all participants doing holistic healing course work, of which holotropic breathing was a component. (In the holotropic breathing group workshop venues that are currently available where I live, intentionally choosing a partner/breathing coach is encouraged. And it can be done in remote or wilderness areas.)
So in the morning of a full day workshop, one person goes, then a break for lunch, then the other goes. From start to finish, four hours was adequate for each go.
Actually, I’d be most concerned about the choice of music, which is a reflection of the facilitator’s style, than anything else. He did not intervene. He was in charge of the sound system and music tracks, gave a brief introduction to the work of Grof, and lead a grounding visualization. Then you were on your own.
And what a trip it was! The technique is rather simple. Breathe as hard and as fast as you are physically able, for as long as you can with your eyes closed. When you slow down, the coach gently encourages you to speed you up again. There were many, many crescendos in the breathers, some in unison, and from an onlooker’s perspective it sounded rather orgasmic. (Not recommended for anyone with heart or lung disease or who smokes.) The intro lasted about forty-five minutes. So you could be breathing like that for 2-3 hours! The effect was phenomenal. You could really tell who the joggers with big lungs were!
The incredible part was…you don’t pass out, you trip. You can stop the process at any point by just slowing down your breathing, unlike hallucinogenic drugs lasting up to twelve hours and you are along for the whole ride, regardless of how it goes.
You wear sweat pants, because you sweat. It is quite a physical as well as emotional workout. And eye patches like for first state are recommended, which I second. The person going first lies down, so we ere requested to bring a sheet or pad to lie on. And during the cooling off period you might like to be wrapped up for warmth and comfort.
There is no sexual activity or inappropriate touching allowed. We were instructed that sometimes in order to facilitate a ‘breakthrough’ in the process that your coach could apply pressure with one hand on each shoulder that the breather would push against and then collapsing back to the floor in a big release. I did that and it felt great! We were told not to stand up during the process, you would feel wobbly, and if we had to use the bathroom, your coach had to escort you, providing physical support by holding your arm to steady your walk so you don’t stumble and fall.
The music sound track was an integral part of the experience. It began with drumming, with enhanced music; I believe one of the tracks was pygmy music from the group “Deep Forest”. There was some Philip Glass organ music later on thrown in, too. One began breathing to drumbeat of the soundtrack. About half way through, the music became more classical, one could even say evolved into classical, although the transition was subtle; it ended with baroque style devotional music, like Bach’s organ works. Trance house music would work, too. In fact, the experience was like raving without the MDMA, and done lying down, not dancing. Trance dancing, another favorite, is of course what Sufi’s and Dervishes do to create their states.
IMO, if you have had positive experiences with hallucinogenic drugs used for inner exploration then holographic breathing will seem very manageable and indeed enlightening. It turned my body into an intense electric field; the imagery and physical sensations were quite dynamic. I was able to maintain a state of self-observation the whole time, no problemo. And I was a bike rider at the time, so I breathed with relish!
Once everyone ‘reconstituted’, so to speak, the facilitator encouraged us to draw images and symbols that we saw on a piece of paper with a large circle preprinted on it, to capture the experience in memory, which I recommend, too. Then we gathered in a circle and anyone who wished could share their experiences with the group or not. Having the structure of a workshop lead by an experienced facilitator made it feel safe to me.
The insights I gained as a result of the breathing, I’ll keep to myself, rather than risk coloring your experience any further than that. It helped me. I recommend it.
If the concept is that the eating of the fruit of the tree of knowledge provides all knowledge, then one is being deceived, because no one particular source can provide all knowledge. Therefore, when one believes in the deception, one has now trapped oneself within parameters. And, forevermore, the human race [is being] poisoned by the very same problem which is reflected in several different ways: one is always seeking the truth through one pathway instead of seeking it through a myriad of pathways; and also believing in simplistic answers to very complex issues and questions. Cassiopaean Transcripts, 10-5-94
247/my2bits
Thanks for saying that. It was a post that I had “in there” but could not find the whatever to express. My sentiments exactly. One has to dare sometimes to move forward, it takes courage to let go and move on. There are good things ahead but often only if one let’s go of one’s past.
You said: “Is there anyone reading and posting on this blog that thinks Just Me has expressed anything but regurgitated fof crap in any posting to the blog?”
To which I say: the anonymous nature of the blog implies the need to be graceful with each other. We don’t know who we are talking to. Whoever you are, I may actually have known you and you, me. To read your insulting language above…well it is discouraging, like you are using this blog to vent instead of discuss. Venting is like process of elimination. No one wants to be on other end of that, so what’s the use? Are you trying to form a concencus of opinion against me? I don’t care, because I am like the holographic doctor on Star Trek, nothing you can say can affect me if I am paying attention, because all of this is just a bunch of white on black letters. So if truly as it is, this whole thing is for each participant a computer screen what is the point of the insults?
Does the belief that all FoF member are brainwashed serve as a foundation pillar supporting negativity towards them? If we for a moment suspended the belief about “brainwashing” which would then allow for the fact that when dialoging with FoF members, you might be engaging with someone of equal mental, emotional caliber and integrity ( I could add other descriptive words but after all they are just words) , would that help change your attitude? I find that you and others ( like Bruce recently) who are overtly negative are basically being destructive and nothing more. It feels like an indulgence, a lack of restraint. A queen. Destruction is like war, what is it good for? I think if you knew me and I knew you, we might well like each other. It seems that possibility should always be included in any dialogue instead of allowing negative assumptions (that have so much “bandwagon” support on this blog) to allow a de-constructing energy. Honestly, why do you think I’m on this blog? Because I’m totally smiley faced about FoF? JM
To my 2 bits, just me and any one of you who think it should stop.
Have you ever thought that that is exactly how some of us feel and think about the Fellowship, Robert, Girard, Asaf and the rest of the people that have been playing with our lives without mercy, or do you think we are here just joking.
243/ elena
Elena, having attended many of Girard’s potluck dinners with you there as well I can say that the reason I went is because he has a very fine mind and can give insights into ordinary situations that are remarkable. I have travelled all over the world, been to college, met lots of intelligent people, but Girard really is one of the most intelligent people I have ever met. JM
Just me, intelligence is not the only thing one needs to become conscious, integrity is more important and it is a pleasure to see that you and my 2 bits are affected by the quotes I’ve began questioning because there are an endless number of them to look at. Try yourselves at looking at the issues without blurring your mind with the comedy or tragedy of it, as you wish.
I’ve been working against feminine dominance with Robert for too long to be bothered by the fact that I am Girard’s wife to not question him down to the ground. Get a taste of your own little pills, those that kept so many of us for over fifteen years in your sick little school and your big sick teachers.
I’m not discounting your conviction at all. I understand there are people on this blog who are really upset about the FoF. That is one thing I am learning by reading this. I am simply saying that negativity and sarcasm (a part of negativity) effectively destroy the ability to communicate. They are like lashing out, but in this mysterious cyber space where most have a mask on, it just seems really weird to do that. Is this like a dumping ground? What is the aim? They can insult all they want, it will not affect me in the least. What can affect me is sincere, mutually considerate dialouge. In reviewing what has affected me, it is the sincere postings that I remember. The negative crap I just slap aside and move on but it costs a little energy, it is DE-STRUCTIVE JM
The blog is a stage. The audience is not who talk to one another here, it’s the invisible watchers. About 400 fewer FOF members in August than in April. How many of them posted here? Probably no more than 10. How many of them read what was written? (Did any of them not?)
It really is ALL good. It is all exactly the way it was meant to be. Clearer and more clear. Fat Boy, Who Knows, Emanon, Just Me…at this blog-format meeting you aren’t reading other people’s quotes anymore, thank God. It’s just you and your level of being in this prayer meeting. Here’s a tip: if you want to communicate effectively, whether to those recently-or-long-departed, or to those still-in-but-just-by-a-hair, you had better practice your listening skills more. Otherwise you are simply naked! Talking that FOF jive to yourself just like always, only now everyone sees through you, even without knowing your alternate names. Everyone can see you here, can see that you, like Robert, essentially don’t give a shit about all the collateral damage, past or present, as long as your delusional “higher aims” continue intact.
Among other things, what I’m trying to say is you do not have respect. You are talking to your “elders” here kids – this is one thing that your cult vanity simply cannot fathom – and they are running circles around you. But what else can you do but try. Defend your leader, your lives. The only problem is, you may be anchoring this hardline FOF defensiveness within your own being the more you write it out here. It’s a lot harder to remember the i’s aren’t real once you’ver taken the trouble to articulate them for an audience of thousands.
The audience is much luckier. They can just watch, and absorb, and let action come to them…and it obviously is (X 400 graduates in only 4 months).
As I allow myself to just sit in the audience for a while it really does just get too pathetic at times. But righteously so. All good. All good. All are playing their roles perfectly, no?
I saw an ad on a Muni bus the other day that said: “I thought he was a great guy until he raped me.”
Following is copied from a gay-and-lesbian website. Sorry it’s so long but the whole thing just seems incredibly pertinent. If you don’t have time to read it, I suggest at least scanning through “Gay Rape Myths” at the end…
Male rape: when Mr. Nice turns nasty
BY BRIAN VAN DE MARK
Published Thursday, 12-Jul-2007 in issue 1020
Joseph’s date seemed to be going well enough. After meeting “Frank” online, with whom he’d chatted for a number of weeks, he’d agreed to meet for dinner at Joseph’s favorite Indian restaurant. Conversation was pleasant and flowed easily enough, so they decided to take a casual walk around Hillcrest. Frank even offered to walk Joseph back to his apartment. It was about 9:30 on a Thursday evening in March. The sun had long gone down, and the cool San Diego weather lent itself well to a few warm goodnight kisses at the doorstep. It didn’t seem unusual to Joseph that Frank asked if he could use the restroom before he made the drive home. After all, they had both had several cocktails that night at dinner.
Beginning of a nightmare
But “opening the door for [Frank] that night was the beginning of a nightmare,” recalls Joseph, 34. “And the horrible thing is that I can’t get it out of my head, even though I don’t completely remember most of it.” To this day, Joseph still struggles with calling “it” rape, although he understands that what happened next was not consensual: When Frank came out of the bathroom, he walked over to thank Joseph again for a fun evening. A few more mutually enjoyable kisses were exchanged, and Joseph was ready to call it a night. But Frank asked if he could “just stay for a bit” until some of the alcohol was out of his system. “By then, I was ready for him to leave, but what can you say when someone says they don’t want to drive after they’ve been drinking?” Joseph says, recalling that he was feeling pretty tipsy himself. So, Joseph closed the front door and offered to fix them some coffee. The moment he turned to go into the kitchen, however, his “worst hell began.” Joseph recounts the scene numbly: Frank, Joseph says, pounced on him and was kissing and groping him all over. At first, Joseph tried to just laugh it off and tell Frank to go back to the sofa. But Frank persisted. The next 45 minutes are a relative blur, Joseph says. What Joseph does know is this. When he next looked at a clock, it was shortly after 11 p.m., and he was bleeding slightly from his rectum. And while he doesn’t remember everything that happened, he does remember sporadic moments of words and phrases, including his own voice saying “no” and “stop” and “hurt” and “please,” and Frank’s voice saying “relax” and “condom” and “your fantasy” and “You know you want it.” What he also knows is that he continues to feel a great deal of shame and confusion over just exactly what happened that night. And while his tears have abated, and the several-month long, every-waking-moment fear of HIV has passed, Joseph does not think he will ever be the same again.
A community issue
What Joseph may not realize is that his experience is hardly unique. In fact, it’s common enough that San Francisco has launched a campaign to raise awareness about rape in the GLBT community. The campaign, in response to a growing number of Bay Area sexual assaults on gays, includes posters on public Muni buses that read, “I thought he was a great guy until he raped me,” as well as a gay rape hotline (415-333-4357) for reporting crimes, and a Web site, http://www.mensurvivingrape.org.The campaign is among the first in the nation bringing a voice to this relatively unknown issue. The Federal Bureau of Investigations estimates that 5 to 10 percent of all reported rapes involve male victims, and the 2003 Department of Justice’s National Crime Victimization Study indicates that 1 in 10 rape victims are male. The Department of Justice says that one in 33 men in the United States has been a victim of rape or attempted rape, compared to one in six women. It estimates that between 12 to 30 percent of gay and bisexual men have engaged in sexual intercourse when they did not want to because they felt coerced to do so – the very essence of the definition of rape in the United States. However, Detective Sergeant Judy Woods of the San Diego Police Department’s Sex Crimes Unit (SDPD) suggests using caution when considering FBI or Department of Justice statistics. “It’s important to note that when you see the FBI statistics that they are very specific about what rape is, and that rape for them is defined specifically as a penis in a vagina, which fails to include, then, forced penis to anal penetration, forced penis to oral penetration, and forced object to anal penetration. Those are considered sexual assaults.” In other words, national statistics grossly underreport sexual assaults on men, if for no other reason than by sheer definition. To get a better idea of the situation in San Diego, Woods took a moment to search SDPD’s database with the key words “male victim/sexual assault.” She discovered more than 1,200 cases of reported sexual assault against men, most of which, she says, date from 2001. About 80 percent of those, Woods says, are from what the SDPD calls “brief encounters.” “We don’t use the phrase ‘date rape’ because that isn’t accurate for encounters such as meeting someone at a nightclub or on the street, having a conversation and a connection,” Woods explains. However, assures Woods, whether the violation is classified as sexual assault or rape, each is a felony and treated with the same vigilance by her unit. In fact, the SDPD uses the same protocol countywide for all assault reports, male or female – the Sexual Assault Response Team (SART).The SART team investigation consists of a physical medical exam for forensic evidence, a law enforcement officer and a victim advocate. “Regardless of the gender or sexual orientation, people need to know that their situation will be taken very seriously,” says Woods, who has been in the Sex Crimes Unit for 26 years. As staggering as the 1,200 number may be to some, it doesn’t even come close to the actual number of assaults that happen, Woods says. “The numbers we have are consistent with the grossly underreported assaults across the board,” Woods explains. “It’s because of the same factors in female victims, that there is often embarrassment or the feeling of not wanting to stir things up. Sometimes people think they made the mistake, and so they just want to let that one situation go.” But Woods argues this is not in the best interests either of the victim or the community. “Preventing sexual assault is all of our problem,” Woods says. “It could be me, my son, you, your friend. We have to be responsible for our own behavior and make sure others are responsible for their actions.”
Men less likely to report rape
Often in male rape cases, though, it’s the male victims’ perception of their own behavior or actions during the assault that leads male rape to be so grossly underreported. Paul Sussman has a Ph.D. in clinical psychology and works in the area of sexuality, sexual orientation, and violence and trauma. Sussman suggests there is a series of events or variables that are different for male victims of rape than for female victims of rape. “First of all, when we think of rape, we generally think of women,” Sussman says. “And so our services are generally set up to treat women victims. Men might not even know there are resources for them. Secondly, often men don’t even think in terms of male rape victim, and so it might not even occur to them that they were a victim of rape, per se.”
Sussman cites Mike Lew’s groundbreaking 1980 book, Victims No Longer: Men Recovering from Incest and other Sexual Child Abuse, in which Lew explains the social phenomenon that leads people to believe that “men are not victims, and victims are not men.” “Somehow, we learn to believe that it is not OK [for a male] to be a victim, and that we are less than male, or not male enough, if we fall into that category,” Sussman explains. There is also the issue of “confusion,” which can manifest itself in a wide range of ways. For example, Sussman says, “Male victims are often sexually or physically aroused during an assault, and that can lead to some confusion on the part of the victim who might be asking themselves, ‘Why was I aroused?’ It’s not unusual for a male victim to become physically aroused or experience an erection. For one, fear and excitement are wired closely together, and both nervousness and fear can cause an erection. And, if a male is anally penetrated, the interaction with the prostrate may cause arousal and/or an erection.” Sussman explains that the more sexually or physiologically aroused victims are, the more confused they are, and the less likely they are to report the assault. Arousal also makes victims more vulnerable.
Eroticism or violation?
Take Jessie, for example. Jessie, 32, is a self-described “leather boy,” and frequently participates in leather bondage and S&M scenes. Jessie says he is considered by most of his friends to be a pretty “worked-out muscle stud on the outside and a teenage fem-boy on the inside.” That is, Jessie says, his sexual encounters tend to be with people who are willing to overlook his larger, masculine exterior to dominate his more submissive interior. Last year, Jessie thought he had met someone who might be a good match for just that. Jessie, who says he has about 13 years of experience in the leather-boy role, is very particular about safe words and safer-sex play. His erotic moments come from pushing limits, but never from violating the agreed-upon boundaries. When Jessie met “Phil,” he was pretty confident that Phil was capable of playing within those parameters.
After a few play sessions, however, Jessie noticed that Phil’s erotic arousals came when he was pushing the agreed-upon boundaries further than Jessie liked. However, because they had a pre-set form of communication, where Jessie was barred from speaking in Phil’s presence, with the exception of the safe word to indicate a need to stop the play, Jessie felt he was unable to really discuss his concern with Phil. Jessie sensed that Phil actually became aroused by Jessie’s use of the safe word, rather than respecting the role it played in their scenes. Also, because Phil is an active member of the leather community in San Diego, and, in fact, often a leading voice in that community, Jessie was afraid to confront Phil for fear of being alienated by the group. While Jessie knows that if he were to come forward to members of the leather community, that such a charge would be taken very seriously, he is still concerned that Phil’s stature in the leather community would trump any concern Jessie has. “The leather community is really good about policing their own,” Jessie says. “In fact, it’s not uncommon for those of us who like scenes that take us to the edge to get references from others who have played with a partner we are considering. But with [Phil], it’s different.” Jessie fears that it would be a “his-word-against-mine” scenario, and he just isn’t sure how it would end up. After all, Jessie, himself, likes pretty extreme play. Consequently, beyond the leather community, seeking help seems unlikely, he says. “How seriously would I be taken if I went to some authority and said, ‘Well, I invited the guy over for a rape scene. But we had boundaries, and he showed up to do just that, but without the boundaries? Yeah, I was already tied up and gagged when he got there. Yeah, I was blindfolded and had the word “bitch” scrawled on my back in marker.’ How seriously do you think they would take my concern?” Jessie’s attempt to define the line between eroticism and violation became more pressing one Saturday night: Phil had arranged for Jessie to service several of his friends. And, Jessie says, what began as an erotic scene ended, at least for Jessie, as a night of horror, shame and confusion. Phil, showing off to his friends, responded to Jessie’s safe words with comments such as, “Yeah, that’s right, I know you don’t think you want it, but you do,” and “Shut up, boy, I didn’t ask how you felt.” Phil even took some duct tape and put it over the gag so Jessie’s words became completely muffled. At some point, Jessie says he just froze and stopped protesting, since every time he did, it just incited more aggression. Jessie says he understands, on one level, that what happened was rape. On the other hand, confusion nags. “Maybe on some level I wanted all of that,” he says. Much of Jessie’s uncertainty comes from the fact that he finds the very scene he took part in erotic. Further, Jessie says that his own physical response is part of what causes him to question the assault element, since he experienced a high level of physiological arousal, including an erection and multiple orgasms, during the episode. Finally, Jessie says he questions whether it was really rape, since he himself is a 6-foot-1-inch man and weighs 245 pounds, while Phil is a 5-foot-10-inch man and weighs about 160 pounds. At any point, Jessie suggests, he should have been able to stop the scene.
Physical strength not a factor in avoiding rape
Not so, says longtime rape crisis hotline counselor Yvonne Lewis. “It’s so tragic to hear [Jessie’s] story,” Lewis says. “Tragic because it’s precisely why male rape is so invisible today. Size, physique, none of that matters when psychological control is in play. I don’t care if you’re a linebacker for the Chargers and the rapist is a 4-foot-9-inch horse jockey. Control isn’t about size; it’s about psychological [control]. [A recent paper] says: ‘Male rape in the 21st century resembles nothing so much as female rape in the 19th and early-to-mid 20th centuries. Men are afraid to come forward for many of the same reasons women were [and some still are]. [Men] fear they would be blamed for their victimization, that their sexuality would be the issue, not the defendant’s wrongdoing, that they would never escape the stigma, no matter how blameless they were.’ Just because [Jessie] wore a certain type of clothing, and showed up to do a certain thing with one person, does not make him less of a victim of gang rape than the college student jumped in an alley coming out of a late-night biology lab at UCSD.” Holly Desimone, a leading rape awareness advocate in Calgary, Canada, recently turned her attention to the issues of gay male rape after meeting with Judy Shepherd, mother of the late Matthew Shepherd, who was murdered in 1998 for being gay. Judy Shepherd, who speaks frequently about the hate crime, is a leading voice in the movement to raise awareness of the issue. Desimone, a rape survivor herself, began to see a pattern emerging among rape and violence cases as they related to homeless persons, gays and lesbians, and people with disabilities. “There is this tendency to lump the rape into the hate crime,” Desimone explains. “And I think we need to separate the two from each other. Rape is rape, and beating is beating, and we can’t lose sight of the fact that many of the victims that we champion as victims of hate crimes were also victims of rape.” SDPD’s Detective Sergeant Woods agrees with both Lewis and Desimone. Woods says her department makes sure all factors of every reported attack are investigated and prosecuted. “I want people to understand that this mentality of ‘nobody is going to listen to me’ isn’t true,” Woods says. “We will listen. Let me just give you an example of when nobody thought we would listen, but we did. On Aug. 8, 2006, Joel Kuchmann was convicted and sentenced to 206 years to life in state prison. He was convicted of holding three people at gun point – a transvestite and two transgender individuals in August of 2005. He was convicted of three counts of rape with a foreign object, forced oral copulation, as well as robbery with a firearm. He was also convicted of dissuading a witness from reporting the crime.” In other words, each and every crime committed was charged and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, and the resulting sentence was not simply a hate crime sentence, but rather a series of sentences for the series of crimes committed. At the time, prosecutor Dwayne Moring issued a statement that he was “pleased with the verdict because. in this case, a defendant preyed upon individuals who he believed would be too frightened to report the crimes he committed against them.” The department’s vigilance in bringing Kuechmann to justice, Woods says, is a prime example of the SDPD’s policy of taking every victim’s case seriously. “If there is a gay man out there who is assaulted, he should know that the SDPD treats all cases equally,” Woods says. Another powerful element in the process is that the SDPD’s protocol is strictly victim-driven and, with the exception of domestic violence or child molestation, can be stopped by the victim at any time. “A person’s identity is kept confidential during the process, and people need to know that our protocol is victim-driven,” Woods explains. “At any point, an adult victim can terminate the process. People need to know that it isn’t a case of just getting a ball rolling that they can’t stop. At any point, a person can call back later and stop the process. But people should come forward as soon as possible, because the sooner we get the toxicology and forensics, the better the case is going to be.”
Condoms don’t make it OK
Another area of confusion among male rape victims has to do with condom usage. “A lot of times, you will hear a male victim of assault explain away the actual act of rape if the perpetrator uses a condom,” Lewis explains. “The thinking there tends to be that if the perpetrator used a condom, then it can’t be rape, because rape is an instantaneous, violent, spur of the moment, testosterone-filled moment, and using a condom means the perpetrator is engaged in some form of rational thought during the act, which leads to confusion on the part of the male victim. This is different than female victims’ thinking, actually. Condom or not, rape is rape, in a woman’s mind. But for some reason, we get a lot of hesitation from male victims when the issues of condoms are factored in.” There is one other area of interest when it comes to male rape, Lewis says, and that is rape within a relationship. “People don’t always think about coerced or forced sexual encounters within a relationship as sexual assault or rape,” Lewis explains. “After all, most people in a relationship have probably had sex with their partner when they weren’t necessarily in the mood themselves. And, to some extent, that’s not what I’m talking about. What I’m talking about is a partner who is a little drunk, or a little high, and forces their partner into a sexual encounter that is unwanted and unwelcomed. Rape isn’t just about strangers.” Cory, 38, knows this all too well. He recently left a relationship that he finally came to understand as abusive. In fact, Cory says, he was probably raped by his partner of nine years more than 200 times. “I know that sounds extreme, and maybe people don’t understand, but when [Kevin] would come home from a night out with some friends, he would come into the room and wake me up by getting physically aggressive and sexual with me,” Cory recalls. “It’s not just that I wasn’t ‘in the mood’ or ‘up for some play.’ He would pin me down, tear off my shorts and just begin to either rub himself against me, forcefully jack me off, or, sometimes, even [anally penetrate] me.” Cory tried discussing the problem with his family, but they couldn’t understand how a man can be raped, especially one who had erections and ejaculations. How was that congruent with a lack of desire? Like so many others, they believed a person could only become physiologically aroused if one is enjoying the act. So, Cory turned to his friends. Unfortunately, most of the responses centered around telling Cory to “loosen up a little” or “Well, if that’s what you have to do to keep [Kevin] monogamous, then suck it up.” Cory says it got to the point where he would just take sleeping pills, so that he could sleep through any late-night assaults. Cory felt very alone in his struggle. “Friends and family need to gently encourage the victim to get help,” Sussman explains. “If, for nothing else, just to know that they are not alone. It can be a very destructive, corrosive feeling to think, ‘I’m the only one it happens to.’ That can make a person feel even worse. And being informed gives a person choices, whether that’s an Internet chat group on this theme. That can be a very safe first step into it. People have to be able to understand how this has an impact on them. It’s sort of like being gay 30 years ago in Davenport, Iowa, say. One might have thought, ‘I’m the only person on earth that’s gay.’ In the same way, a person in a relationship, who is a victim of sexual assault today, may think they are the only one that this is happening to.”
Fear of disclosing sexual orientation
One of the leading reasons men like Cory don’t come forward about sexual assault is out of fear of disclosing their sexual orientation. Both Cory and his partner are active military, and disclosure of their sexual orientation could lead to being discharged – in essence, being fired from the only jobs they’ve ever known. As a result of the continued sexual assault and abuse, as well as his inability to go to the authorities, Cory says he is doing his best to cope with the hostility and anger he has for Kevin, as well as the sleep disturbance he now experiences. All of these reactions are extremely common, Sussman says. In fact, a male rape victim’s response is often that of post traumatic stress syndrome, with depression and anxiety being significant factors. “Add to all of that the shame that gay men often have surrounding their homosexuality, and you have a person who is at risk of being extremely vulnerable psychologically and emotionally,” Sussman says. As for Cory, he says he wants to stay strong. And part of that strength means not being in a relationship for a while. The issues surrounding gay rape are as complex as they are painful: shame, confusion, solitude, physical trauma and the fear of HIV transmission. But there is help for those who have been victims of gay rape. And, as cities like San Francisco become more open about the dialogue, there is hope, as well.
Gay rape myths
Myth 1: Men can’t be raped.
According to the Department of Justice, 1 in 33 men in the U.S. is a victim of rape or attempted rape.
Myth 2: Male rape only happens in prison.
While statistics may suggest that the number of daily prison rapes exceeds the number of daily rapes in society at large, rape of both males and females does happen every day, whether by strangers, friends or even partners.
Myth 3: It wasn’t rape; it was just rough sex.
A gay man can be violated, and it is considered rape if the acts continue beyond the consensual activity.
Myth 4: He just had too much to drink, so it’s not really his fault.
Alcohol is a leading factor in sexual assault, and it is not a legal excuse for a rapist’s actions.
Myth 5: It isn’t rape if you’re in a relationship.
Any sexual act that is the result of being coerced, forced or is non-consensual, whether it is a stranger, a friend or a partner, is considered rape. A partner can be charged with the same crime as a stranger.
Myth 6: He was aroused, so it wasn’t rape.
Male victims can be sexually or physically aroused during the rape due to psychological causes or fear or excitement, as well as physical causes such as the stimulation of the prostate. It’s not uncommon for a male rapist to go out of his way to make sure the victim does have an erection – and possibly even ejaculate – as this adds to the victim’s confusion and subsequent non-reporting.
Myth 7: Men are strong protectors and providers, so they can’t be raped.
Whether through physical or emotional coercion, threats or drugs (such as the “date rape” drug, GHB), men can be victims of rape.
Myth 8: The police or medical team will not take me seriously.
The San Diego Police Department has a Sexual Assault Response Team in place countywide to respond to all rape victims, including male victims.
Myth 9: Oral copulation is not rape.
If you are forced to commit any act of a sexual nature, including oral-genital contact, it is sexual assault and it is classified as sexual assault and subject to the same protection as vaginal or anal penetration.
Myth 10: Male victims don’t suffer as much as female victims
All victims suffer, and the variables that may contribute to the trauma experienced vary a great deal. And while male victims are not at risk of pregnancy, there is a much higher risk of internal damage and tearing, and, with that, comes a higher possible HIV-transmission risk.
I have been thinking why it has to be US and THEM. It seems it is my own psychology that allows this to happen for when I am sincere when I meet a student it is usually a nice conversation, but if I am inner considering then it is strange. I asked a student this same question, and she agreed, it is mostly inner considering for her. (I would not hold FOF responsible, because I remember when I was young and went from one Yoga Institute to another, and met a friend from the first one a few months later, she was quite cold to me. Maybe people act this way because on some level the intimacy in a spiritual organization is higher than like let say working at a company, so when you break that bond it creates a confusing emotional state).
Robert use to say when I was in the school that we were not better just luckier. I believe Robert and most students know that we are all the same machines, bumbling around to make ends meat. Robert has a lot of life friends and tries not to judge people. Frankly, for me I still do judge when I am in a situation of people who are obviously being mechanical and just utterly brainless to what is going on around them or inside themselves.
When you have a group of people focused on being present then that emotional energy helps to create a higher state. I miss this now and feel I will be looking for another school or group soon after more digesting.
I have heard that Robert asked students not to talk about students who leave the school in a negative or gossip way; my understanding was this would keep the door open to them if they ever wanted to rejoin. Before I left though, things had been changing because Robert in the last couple of years had not talked about students who leave the school in such a low demeanor. My gripe with Robert is about something else and in due time will share that if it seems appropriate on this blog.
Everyone is a farce; it is almost impossible for a man to know the small part of himself that is real and it is even more difficult for anyone else to know it. On that level where words come out of a man’s mind and reach the minds of others everything is lie, the actual truth can only be exchanged silently between the open windows of one soul into the windows of another. At the level of words, in order to arrange them so that they do not produce a lie first a man has to know that he lies to himself, that he is in conflict with himself and misunderstands himself. He then has to speak in such a way that he resolves all these contradictions by carefully balancing on the edge of intelligence each precarious statement.
I haven’t read the feedback to my latest post, but I wanted to offer apologies anyway to those I suggested to back off from the blog. Guess I’m tired and felt the need for some fresh blog-air in this blog-space. I am sure many feel that those I criticized are among the shining stars of this space, and I admit that they — Uno, Bruce, Elena and others — have given much to all of us. In the future, I’ll try to not be so grumpy, and be more accepting of the nature of this place.
Hello, Bruce. You were right about my post #247. I did have a buzz on, and was just unloading. At first, your posts were irritating to me, but I have come to appreciate your being here quite a lot. Thanks for your consistency, wit and intelligence.
As to the verbal battles between people – Bruce, FatBoy, Who Knows, Exlax, whoever… Maybe there has been enough conflict. I am quite surprised that it hasn’t finished yet, it’s been going for the past 3 discussions. And it does feel like its peoples egos by this point, nothing else and nothing more.
What can affect me is sincere, mutually considerate dialouge.
You know, I offered that to you, but I understood you to indicate that you didn’t want it. Did I get that wrong? I did ask you to introduce yourself, but I didn’t and don’t need your name or, really, identifying information. I don’t believe that preaching at anyone, let alone anonymous preaching, ever affects the listener’s understanding.
Real dialog involves at least some self-disclosure. I mean, if I can’t frame your words as being grounded in a person, even if I don’t know much about that person, it makes dialog all the more problematic.
Real dialog also involves a basic measure of trust. I understood you to indicate that you didn’t think you could trust me because of all the old stuff I have been dredging up about FOF. I don’t know what to say about that except that the past is not gone, it belongs to the present.
Think about it! If the only thing that is real is the present, then the present, the “eternal now,” includes the past. Those whom you should distrust are those who tell you that it doesn’t matter what happened in the past.
While I understand what you are saying about negativity and sarcasm and do not share much of it, this open violence is in no way more violent than the passive acceptance of the persistent humiliation that I had to go through in the Fellowship of Friends and think students have to go through without anyone having ever stood up and even questioned it with half of the strength my 2 bits was willing to shout here.
The greatest brainwashing of the Fellowship, is that we had to walk around on tip toe like ballerinas so that we wouldn’t question the beauty of the show.
I appreciatemy 2 bit’s apologies, or your apology and am surprised by your statement that I might be considered to be shining around here. If you had any idea of how confused I am, you would know how little of a star I feel.
I have followed a great deal of this discussion and have started posting from Girard’s books (and think it is equally necessary to look at Robert’s) because some concrete thinking needs to get involved in this discussion. What is so obvious about the brainwashing in the fellowship to some of us does not seem at all obvious to many inside and there are thousands of examples of it in any of their books.
The bottomline for me, from one angle, is that every post I’ve written, I’ve written for Girard against Girard’s role. If I were to sue the fellowship for the harm it has done me I would probably ask for something around one billion dollars. If I were to sue The Fellowship of Friends for the damage it has done to my husband, I would sue it for a hundred billion and if I were to sue Girard and Robert for the damage I’ve seen them do to others, I would sue them for ten thousand billion.
None of them are going to fix my life now but I am not going to sit and watch them continue to do harm without being deeply questioned. I think the questioning is necessary because they don’t really know what they are doing, they have gone unquestioned for so long, they think they are legitimate and so did the many of us inside.
“For as long as man has been sufficiently conscious to leave written notes, there are those who’ve been intrigued by activities of consciousness that were outside collective concerns. This interest has been labeled variously as magic, the occult, the mystical, the spiritual, the struggle-to-Awaken, the search-for-Enlightenment, or simply, The Knowledge. The bottom line is, some people have always sought to function in a manner not inherent; it still goes on today, but few of them ever pursue the matter deeply enough to get to the bottom of it. Instead they are satisfied to be students of magic, the occult, awakening and enlightenment, rather than understanding the reality behind such words. There is nothing wrong with this any more than there is anything wrong with preferring to listen to music as opposed to making music. But there is an obvious distinction between being a listener and being an artist, and no purpose is served by denying the difference. Likewise, if you really want to discover and then create your own nonstandard running of consciousness, you need to face the facts about your interest in this affair and not pretend to fool yourself, as is natural for routine consciousness.
To be conscious is to be dissatisfied; this constant neural disquiet is a survival technique: at the non-conscious level, everyone silently accepts this and gives it no particular note; but a few do make note of it–a few always have. There is a sequence of stages that underpins these peoples’ history in this matter: At first, they do not like the way life is; if they progress, they move to a stage of not liking themselves; should they move past that point, they reach a third stage where they dislike the way they think about life and themselves. Few venture beyond that third stage, but beyond that is where the whole thing begins.
Every ordinary sane person thinks that the world outside of them (or, outside of their mind, actually) is insane; this is neither true or not true–it is simply one of an infinite number of objectively meaningless concepts natural to consciousness. All you need do to get stuck in this stage is be alive. To a lesser degree, every ordinary sane person also thinks of him or herself as being short of satisfactory, but this notion is entertained in consciousness only for brief moments and under nonroutine conditions. A few sane nonordinary people find their attention regularly focused on their own consciousness, and think of its operations as ill-becoming them individually. Their overall thinking accords sufficiently with the human herd’s for them to function adequately therein, but in the privacy of their own head–they don’t like it. People at this stage are the ones who become seriously involved in organized activities devoted to discovering another way that consciousness can run. As befits the mind, the activity will have a particular method of achieving the goal, and the participant will become a student of the method. But to go from busy, monkey consciousness to dead-still, snake consciousness, you must move beyond the study of a method to the study of a goal.
The mind must have a map in hand to ever believe that it has started a journey toward the goal. But consciousness will quickly accept a periodic glancing at the map as actual travel. When you start, you cannot SEE the goal; all that you can see is the map–the method you have chosen to use as a vehicle TO the goal. This is how it works for everyone, but you must eventually recognize that no method, discipline, map or teaching is your goal; the reality of the other state of consciousness, and all ideas and talk about it, are two different things: so different, in fact, as to be beyond the widest definition of “different.” They are from two different realities.
One method is as good as another; if it initially seems good to you then it is good for you. You have to have somewhere to start, but the words and ideas that consciousness can entertain are never the same thing as the goal itself; they hide the goal; they walk around on it while talking about it so that you cannot see it; they excitedly point off in one direction or another where they say the goal lies, while it lies right under their feet.
There is no “way” to discover this other way in which your consciousness can operate. There is no right way, there is no wrong way. There IS no way–but you must use one.
You cannot think an “enlightened thought” until you think SOMEthing, but nothing you can think has any real significance regarding this goal. Anything you think about the goal is actually you thinking about a method or a map; you cannot think about the goal, there is nothing you can think about it; whenever you are thinking about the goal your thoughts are mulling about on top of it, hiding it from your view.
You can think that life is not right; you can think that you are not right; you can think that what you think about life and yourself is not right; but if you really want your consciousness to run in a way that affords you an entirely different way of thinking, what you need focus on is the neural floor in your head on which your thinking is taking place. Ignore what your thoughts think about life, you, or even themselves, and look, instead, beneath their feet: look at what they are standing on. There is that longed-for, other level of consciousness. It is ultimately just that simple. You just LOOK and there it is.
I grant you, it can seem to take a lifetime of convoluted efforts to ever get to the stage where it is that simple to see, but you may as well know now that ultimately–it is–just that simple and obvious.”
“The machine is under the illusion that it can make decisions, but if we understand that we really are machines -which means that everthing is mechanical, everything happens- then we can begin to verify that there are no decisions- The process we normally call “decision-making” becomes, instead, a question of trying to find out what is supposed to happen. With this attitude, one is much less identified with the process. One begins to be able to watch the machine, with all its ‘I’s and all its confusion, and see that that is also part of the process of what is supposed to happen.”
This is perfect Fellowship indoctrination and it is designed only for the acceptance of the Fellowship’s status quo. It takes away the ability of anyone to make decisions for himself and puts us in a place of having to find out what is supposed to happen. Just watch one’s confusion without ever questioning Robert because he is the only one with enough being to make decisions, according to Girard and Robert.
What is supposed to happen in the Fellowship is that NO ONE questions the show. “If you don’t like it, leave, it is Robert’s school. You are not school material”
“Real doing is to have something in oneself that is not affected by what the machine is doing or not doing; whether it is happy or sad; whether it has tears or laughter. The issue is to keep one’s inner world -one’s ability to observe what happens to the machine-separate and unaffected. That makes one truly free.”
“SEPARATE AND UNAFFECTED.” No feelings. This is how both Robert and Girard have crystallized and expect us to crystallize. If you can’t numb your emotional center you are not conscious enough.
“Real doing is not feeling” is the essence of this sentence.
It has changed the idea of not being identified with one’s feelings with not feeling itself. It states that freedom comes from not feeling or being in any way affected by the outside world.
The point is subtle here because it is easy to confuse not being identified with not feeling which is what Girard and Robert and so many in the inner circle have become masters of. They, for example, cannot feel the absurdity of being the only one’s to talk for the rest of their lives. They cannot feel that others have something to say. And it is not about talking, it is about “belonging”. They feel that they are the only one’s that have a right to belong to what the rest of us support. They have made a private property of the spirit.
Our Beloved Slave Driver is having fun,
or how the brainwashed slaves glorify Robert’s cruelty and worship their abuser…
************************
From Julian b.
Greetings from the Council!
This is the second in a series of bulletins that will be sent worldwide on the Journey Forth by Day events in August.
At one of the recent Wednesday meeting at the Prytaneion, there was a discussion on using the work under pressure.
A student described his experience of building Robert’s new oasis at the Galleria. Robert would visit the oasis everyday and, for an hour or so, sit observing students at work. Then Robert would often ask for changes—right after the workers thought they were finished!—for example, extending the lawn another 10 feet, moving the fountain from the garden to the center of the table, moving a road, relocating newly planted palm trees! The weather was hot, the days long and work continued through the weekend.
At the height of intensity in the octave, Robert then said that he wanted his students to learn how to use the system under pressure….
…To finish with another anecdote from the building of the oasis— a student asked one of those working what was Robert trying to achieve with the octave. “He’s taking us with him,” the student replied.
Hi all: After Anna’s post of 16/520 and her recounting of her experience and perceptions of Th. (the boy who appeared to have ‘woken up’ as well as apparently ‘went crazy’ — sorry about those choices of words), I have come across in other things I’ve been reading some discussion of these two phenomena. Somebody pointed out either here or on the greater fof site that what Th seemed to have experienced was classic schizophrenia.
To me everything that Anna desribed about him seemed consistent with other accounts I have read about people who ‘realized’ or whatever.
So, the purpose of this post is to ask anyone out there who knows more about this than I where I can go to find out information on schizophrenia that might shed light on why what Th. apparently experienced is not ‘realization’ as we all seem to understand it. Or if it was that, and also some other kind of ‘meltdown’, what that meltdown consists of.
As an example, Ken Wilbur in one of his books mentions in passing that the realization of one’s non-existence (I am paraphrasing) is NOT schizophrenic regression, which is instead he said a muddling of one’s sense of self, or something like that. Thx.
Maybe it could be who knows? An old timey FOF angle: “Dont make any hasty decisions during a fool moon”. “In fact the moon has an effect three days before and three days after the fool moon and new moon”.
Maybe (I didnt really notice) all the infighting, snarling and gnashing of teeth (my2bits) happened during a new moon?
I just read. More often than not, I’ll have an internal response.
“oops”, “that was a good one”, “that was funny”, “now what was that?”, “Oh boy, here we go again”, “Oh, so and so is back”, “I like that one”, “Oh my god”! and so on and so forth.
Some days I start the day laughing it gets so witty around here.
Thank you for both of your posts; it shows where we all are ‘really’ wherever we go, Robert Burton has trained his ‘followers’ to stick their demons on the underside of their shoes or behind their ears, like too long chewed bubble gum, too weak to blow bubbles, too tough for new sugar, yet, pliable enough to read the blog and react ‘formally’ to what seems to be ‘negative’ and ‘positive’.
Reading, I found that ‘You-me-us-they’ found within my Post 202 a level contained in there, a place for deeper consideration and ‘feeling’ or ’sense’ that the obviousness simply will not allow diving into, yet, is it not true that it is the diver that determines the depth of the dive and not the water? Sure there’s some tough stuff in there too, yet, not as tough as Fellowship of Friends 37 years old bubble-gum.
Yes, I paused for awhile before posting it, though knew my aim and that it was for ‘Fat Boy’ and ‘Just Me’, taking it out of context of the previous ’string of events’ that brought to light it’s birth would not be fair to it’s consideration, though it can stand on it’s own as a ’something’ that I felt was being channeled through me as a result of what both of them are avoiding and too,
what nearly 98% of all Fellowship of Friends members avoid while presenting their ‘half basketball’ games in here; if it pisses them off, it’s because they ‘feel it’ already, down deep, in their conscience, which is being pissed on, by Robert Burton and Friends, that is, when the depth inside oneself is truly aspiring to get out, to graduate from all ‘the stuff’,
Robert Burton simply spins more silk, more and more, till being a cocoon seems reasonable, safer and cozy; this is not awakening, I am not stating what it is, yet, would anyone argue that stating what it is not does not get one closer to what it is? I believe this is one of the highest aims of this blog, to perform just that task, somewhat by default, otherwise it gets kinda ‘preachy’.
A good example of this ‘avoiding’ or (buffering) is Elena’s interesting posts showing Girard’s quotes first then her ‘bridging’ of them at the end with some very fresh common-sense and personal ’scale & relativity’;
see, this is not allowed in the Fellowship of Friends, personal scale cannot be applied to affirmations, because, then the affirmation looses it’s affirmative-’being identified with a wishful goal or picture of oneself’-causing state’;
the angles given at meetings by both Robert and Girard are never allowed a certain ‘human-ness’, a personal realm of the one and only moment that’s unfolding as we walk it, as we communicate with silences, being and one another;
angles, they are given and actually retrieved by round-about-pontificating, then one is left afterwards with ‘aims’, ‘wondering’, ‘enlightenment’, yet, not applicability or any fundamental ‘proof’ that the givers of these ‘affirmations’ are more than ‘wishful thinkers’ or beings who intentionally suffer their wishes to come true…
Robert Burton’s wishes do not come true, they remain wishes, stars fall, new stars are found, stars fall… The students are doing his work for themselves by default, they make up things to excuse his tramp and lunatic greed feature… the school belongs to them, yet, they do not know it, nor can they practice it, till they leave the school… this is the irony and it is working itself out here and there.
Dear Margie ~
Somewhere between your opinion (which usually mirrors what the opinion is about, it’s surface-negativity or positivity, after all, usually people smile after being smiled at) and the ‘target’ or ’subject’ being given the opinion, ‘to get it off ones chest’, handing it back to the ‘creator’,
there is a SPACE, a place where perhaps the obvious simply cannot exist;
I mean, if the reflection of the pool was all there was, people would be sliding around on it, not diving under, bringing up 500 year old ship wrecks…
I would simply ask you to consider a stance that’s not Fellowship, nor Academic, just you and you, yet the you that wants to sit down (or stand) not with stern opinions and made up mind, rather, with some sense of eternity, of things changing, kinetic, mysterious and very subjective within certain ‘personal’ objective frameworks and ‘plays’…
To me, your post is very personal and believing that you can state it as fact, or a moral guideline for peace on the blog, will only get you deeper into the trap of seeing things ‘your way’,
like your note that we are all from the same planet;
this could only be true if we were standing on the moon and saying it, having come from earth;
it is true that we are ‘on’ the earth, yet, where from that our ’selves’ originate, none (I do not know yet, that is) can know, yet, to me, it is more relative to say that a ’soul’ in a Venusian container/body is from Venus, not Earth (my opinion).
The ‘idea’ of ‘The Collective Whole’ has brought this planet a tremendous amount of suffering (my opinion); and in my opinion, adds to it’s ‘collective’ inability to take individual responsibility for it’s vast array of different natures within men and women, that are simply ‘conveniently’ and not ‘consciously’ lumped together and called ‘That’;
even the Fellowship of Friends has come under the sway of seeing this way ‘with’ it’s conscious knowledge, not ‘for’ it’s conscious knowledge;
for instance ~ all ‘Saturns’ as being of the same mechanics, the same photographs given for seemingly the same things, labeling certain projections as this or that, then leaving the person to try and figure out how to be consciously right and not consciously wrong,
yet, this is simply one man’s frozen thinking (not very creative), being projected out as a ‘conscious form’, yet, it is ‘very personal’ and relates to his lifestyle and ways, not the fourth way (my opinion);
beyond the obvious is a person’s essential self being effected by an objective force (say, a feature), yet, this force and how it weaves through the growing fibers of one’s being and causes a certain kind of seeing, believing, disbelieving, reactions, etc., is not easily perceived, yet it can be held in ones hand by consciousness, by application, not by Heaven and Hell static… The quicker we sponge from our hearts a certain kind of ‘worm of static judgment’ the better we can crystallize into crystals that keep growing, not those types we go and look at in museums.
229 Anna/Michael: “a pressing question facing me now is how to protect myself from falling into a similar trap again”
Don’t worry about it. Watch what happens. It’s just the mind making up “important questions” to make itself seem real. Maybe you’ll “fall into a similar trap again”, maybe you won’t. Either way is fine and in any case you have no control over it.
271 PA: Julian B: “a student asked one of those working what was Robert trying to achieve with the octave. “He’s taking us with him,” the student replied”
The recent post about Burton’s breath smelling of sperm reminded me that I had my own ideas about why Burton has so much sex (and what invisible energies, if any, are connected with the large quantities of sperm he ingests, and what control he has over those energies) around the time I got the Big Boot in 1996. So, I made a mock-up of a “Dear Abby” column, which I didn’t share then, but I will now, seeing it is a Sunday, and any readers are hopefully mellowed out and open to the off–beat. Is there any truth buried in the (alleged) humor?
(The heading was:) _____________________________________________
Dear Abby Answers from way, way out there in ‘left field’…
“ …a certain degree of goofiness is the legitimate excretion of mental activity. However, what follows is patently ridiculous, and Abigail van Buren in no way condones this kind of drivel. In fact, she disassociates herself from it entirely. Stand by for a lawsuit!”
______________________________________________
Dear Ames,
I really enjoy stupid questions. They give me a chance to shine!
In answer to your question, “What is Robert’s purpose in having so much sexual activity?”, I have two theories to offer.
Theory 1
Robert is gathering energy from every source he can to try to break through the barrier of Kundabuffer. He believes that if he can break through it by force, he can gain access to energies (on a scale that can destroy planets) of world 6 that he does not have legitimate access to. The two main sources of energy, in addition to his own legitimate access to world 12 energy, are these: Firstly
He is presently attempting to concentrate the power of haverno, by acting strongly to ensure obedience and belief and a more complete subscription to his world view or vision. This energy comes from students who supply it in three main ways:
a) they wholeheartedly subscribe to Robert’s vision, and give various grades of energy in the form of adoration, obedience, or abdication of responsibility or will. The main energy they give him is their birthright of creative energy, but there is also a substantial contribution of the energy of fear.
b) They are disillusioned, and abdicate responsibility in the form of blaming him. They also give him creative energy, thought energy, and fear.
c) They may not knowingly do either of the above, but are still unwilling to take personal responsibility for their part of the tragedy. Thus they still give Robert energy, the energy of thought.
Secondly
He is also gathering sexual energy, and somehow accumulating it for a giant blow against the barrier. Have you noticed that the general sex exercise serves to concentrate sex energy? This is especially significant in young males because they are more likely to be enticed to give him the surplus energy (hey, even the army knows how horny young males can turn to each other for relief!). Robert gives them permission to have sex only with him, and uses fear and domination to prevent them from ‘wasting’ the sex energy elsewhere.
Theory 2
Not necessarily in conflict with theory 1. This one says Robert is actually possessed (he himself has mentioned his inability to control his appetite. Some students who have had sex with him have photographed a sense of his helplessness). He has given in so heavily to self–indulgence that some (malevolent?) energy has taken advantage of his weakness. The succubus (which may indeed have the energy/manifestation of a minor goddess) is drawing this huge amount of sexual energy to itself for its own purposes. This implies it cannot get that energy by other means. In return, it feeds Robert with certain powers of its own and with pleasurable illusions. And, the succubus/Robert combination may be trying to break through the barrier (establish local godhood, or climb higher in the ranks of gods).
In answer to your second question, “What karma is involved in the relationship between Robert and his students?”, I’m sorry to say the news is bad, so brace yourself.
Here is the answer in a nutshell. There is one Robert. There are presently 1800 people who give him energy of one kind or another. There are probably 10,000 people who have or have had some kind of involvement with the Fellowship. Thus, the ratio of responsibility is many thousands to one, though there may be different scales karmically. Sorry’ but neither the passage of time nor physical movement from the vicinity diminish this karmic connection. Only those who have discharged their full responsibility for the results of their actions can be free. The first step is to recognize exactly what has taken place, and admit full responsibility. The second is to start discharging your personal responsibility, by studying then acting to regenerate the situation. If you want to do advanced work, I suggest you study the idea of transfer of merits. Work to discharge the obligations you have incurred. And, don’t buffer. Heavy stuff, huh?
Ames, I hope these ideas help you. I had an awful lot of fun making them up, so thanks for the inspiration!
Warm regards,
(signed) Abby
Abigail van Buren
P.S. Ames, the law of three wishes applies to questions, too. Think before you ask. Do you really want to know the answer? Beware the situation which leads to the question, “How can I get back to where I didn’t want to know anything?!”
That was from 14 years ago. As an aside, there is a fascinating theory that may connect with all this, proposed in the book, “Thinking and Destiny” by Harold Percival. I briefly summarize: it says that if groups of humans set up ‘belief fields’ about an entity, they actually start to create it. For example, the tribes of Israel set up the entity “Yahweh”; their belief set this local god in motion, and the power of this god waxed and waned with the strength of their belief. If it became strong enough, a local god could take over other local gods and become a regional god; this happened frequently in the Greek and Roman civilizations. And, some gods could become entirely forgotten, and lose all their power. An interesting extension to Gurdjieff’s ideas about ‘haverno’, the power of kingship, huh?
Thank you for the reply in the middle of 274, it was thoughtful but it should be taken more concrete please, and your need to critique in this manor may be your ego! You seem to extricate ideas from my post (my theme being lets be kind to one another) like rabbits from a hat.
In any case, you wrote, “Will only get you deeper into the trap of seeing things ‘your way’”. Thank you for pointing this out, I am afraid of this sometimes and I will think about it more. But would not we all be guilty of this who post their opinions on this blog? Is someone objective?
Rhetorically I ask, not necessary to you, but do we want to see things FOF way? Do we want to see things in the way of the crude posts on this blog? At some point we do have to mediate between the two and “see things my way”. Whatever the truth maybe it is not pretty, but as I hinted to before, healing comes with relativity.
Male Rape. Thanks for bringing it up Joseph in 261.
The perpetrator of rape is traditionally the one who penetrates the victim without permission.
Although there have been attempts to bring charges against women who have forced men to have sex with them, I don’t think it has ever been made to stick because having an erect penis is seen as evidence of arousal and therefore of complicity in the act of penetrating another. It looks very different from a man forcefully penetrating a woman or other man.
The only cases I know of where someone has been sexually abused even though it was they who had the hard on, is with minors or the mentally handicapped. In these cases the victim has been stimulated in order to be taken advantage of. Think Michael Jackson masturbating boys in his bed.
Viagra changes things rather. If it can be proved that a man has been stimulated with sodomize in order for him to be sucked or made to fuck another man when he was not aroused by that other man, you surely have the makings of a case for rape.
Not only that, but if a system is in place to turn this into a production line of penises for sucking and stimulating the prostrate, it includes institutional rape, where the organization that knowingly creates the necessary conditions is guilty of rape.
Out of all the circumstances for a smart criminal attorney to earn his spurs, this has to rate high. It is a great opportunity to win fame and glory for putting away a perverted monster and destroying the institution that fed a homosexual elementary school teacher come prophet and head of a clut’s appetite for heterosexual men. You can just see it in the papers, can’t you.
We have an authority figure who is the founder of a church and self proclaimed angel, a system of victims looking to replace themselves with new meat so they can move on from suckee or poker to procurer, an institution that actively supports this in all ways, money that changes hands for the soul purpose of making this possible, drugs administered and pornography shown (straight, not gay!) to the victims in order to make them erect, so they can be milked of their sperm, explicit and also more obscure threats for those who do not go along with this including the withholding of ‘benefits’, victims who for the most part come from a background where abuse is acceptable, favors and benefits for complying (as with all prostitutes, you never give them enough to leave, but just enough to lock them in), round it all off with lots and lots of mumbo jumbo, peer pressure, economic hardship, fraudulent immigrations statuses (an R1 visa is not for sex slavery) and the insecurity of vulnerable young men and this is what you get.
If you feel love for Robert Earl Burton, affection for Isis and your dear friends and place value on the years you have spent in the Fellowship of Friends, that is not a good enough reason to refuse to look at what is going on in your name.
Do Robert Earl Burton’s crimes amount to the ‘systematic rape of numerous vulnerable men?’ (around 700 men abused, 10,000 instances – after all he currently has sex for around 3 hours with 4 people a day – do the maths.)
If you heard this about some other ‘esoteric school’, what would you say?
Just to anticipate a ‘no-one put a gun to their head’ argument. Prostitutes who enter their profession unwillingly are tricked, drugged, deceived and threatened into it, no one holds a gun to their head either. Once they are in, it is very hard to get out. As with everything else, humans adapt – especially if a system exists to accommodate them. People can do the most outrageous things if it seems that it is normal within the group of people that they belong to. The Fellowship of Friends has without doubt made all of this possible, you could even sympathize for Robert Earl Burton as he has been let down by the cowardice and petty self-interest of his loving students. The Fellowship of Friends supposedly consists of people who are on a higher level than ordinary life and yet this corruption and crime goes unchecked. What a wake up call. It could almost have been done on purpose to show us what we are really made of.
The People’s Temple, led by
James Warren (Jim) Jones
This was a Christian destructive, doomsday cult founded and led by James Warren Jones (1931-1978).
Jones developed a belief called Translation in which he and his followers would all die together, and would move to another planet for a life of bliss. Mass suicides were practiced in which his followers pretended to drink poison and fell to the ground.
During the late 1970’s, Jones had been abusing prescription drugs and appears to have become increasingly paranoid. Rumors of human rights abuses circulated. As in most high-intensity religious groups, there was a considerable flow of people joining and leaving the group. Tim Stoen, the Temple attorney and right-hand man to Jones left to form a group called Concerned Relatives. They claimed that Jonestown was being run like a concentration camp, and that people were being held there against their will.
There are many people who read the blog, and post here occasionally, who are not among the handful who post daily, and who may not feel that handful represents their own views, or at least their preferred way of expressing them. Some former members may have agendas with respect to the FoF, and some may not, or may have different ones. For example, some may want to bring down the FoF, or help bring members out. Some may not. If you’ve read a few hundred posts you’ve noticed that there’s a wide range of perspective, tone, and emotion among those from former members. It’s certainly possible to have a reasonable conversation with at least some of them–if that’s what you really want–without fear of being harangued, if being harangued bothers you.
Just as any number of former members’ posts may contain some ego, some members seem to post for little purpose except to defend–in the guise of defending their school or their teacher, they are obviously defending their own identifications with the choices they have made, and they defend through attack. There may be little to gain from discussion with either current or former members who post primarily to press their ego-point. But if a member is actually curious, actually interested in hearing a perspective different from his own, and is open to the possibility that someone who spent decades in the FoF may have picked up something real and generally applicable that the current member may not have yet learned–and if you’re in a school, presumably you’re more interested in truth than in defending your ego–maybe he could look at previous posts, pick a poster whom he respects, and direct his own post specifically to that person. Others, of course, may respond, but the poster can always skip any and all of those responses if he wants to. If the member isn’t actually interested in such discussion, or won’t take the trouble to pursue it, he’s certainly free to participate in the blog, of course, but he has little basis for complaining that it isn’t useful.
Hello everyone,
When I think about my joining FOF 12 years ago, I recall few interesting things. Mainly, that certain things were not disclosed or presented to me until after certain commitments were made.
No one mentioned a thing about apocalyptic predictions at prospective meetings, also there was no mentioning the fact that the Teacher regularly and excessively engages in sex with his students. Just these 2 things would have been major red flags for me, and both were not mentioned upfront. Both things were/are major aspects of the FOF, and please don’t say that this is “not important”. Ask Robert whether his predictions are important, and whether having sex with boys is important.
I recall joining, paying the fee and then having a brief conversation with center director after the meeting. “We should tell you that there are exercises.”
-Exercises?
“No smoking, no drugs and no sex outside marriage. There are large fees if you break any of these exercises”.
- Well, why didn’t you tell me that BEFORE joining?
“Also, we work with two predictions from our Teacher. First – in 1998 California is going to fall into the ocean as a result of a major earthquake, and second – in 2006 there will be Armageddon.”
-???
“Well, the End of the World, but our School will survive it”.
As soon as I heard this one, I felt slightly dizzy, and though – oh no, no! Apocalyptic predictions! It’s all bullshit, this whole thing is bullshit, just another creepy sect, run run!
But … I stayed. I had such a longing for “awakening”, and these people were nice and interesting, they were into 4th way ideas… They also told me not to take predictions seriously, kind of dismiss them, and just wait and see if the whole “school” works for me. They were so kind and supportive. So I ended up staying, and the “school” started to work on me, forming new concepts, behaviors, discriminations, bonding experiences, and also ripping connections with my family and “life” friends.
All this time there was not a word about teacher’s homosexuality and his engaging in lots of sex with his students. What, our center director R. T. and his wife R. didn’t know? What, older students D.C. or I.W. didn’t know? But it was not mentioned at all, and I had no idea that this takes place on such a large scale.
In my opinion, there is no real “equality” when a priest or teacher or doctor engages in sex with those who came to him for help and guidance – students, patients, members of the church… They are looking for his advice or help, or even submit themselves to his will. There simply can’t be any equality in such situation. If you think there is equality – ask any FOF student if he feels “equal” with Robert…
But no one was talking about it in the center.
So I finally decided to move to Apollo. I rented my apartment, packed some bags and departed to USA. As we were approaching the misty foothills, I suddenly asked my friend – is the Teacher married?
-No, he doesn’t need to – he has plenty of lovers.
-Oh… his student lovers?
-Yes… Many! He is a homosexual, and has male student lovers, lots of them! Actually… I am one of his lovers too.
-???!!!
I felt so bad, I felt like immediately turning around and going back! Why no one told me this before? I wouldn’t have joined a school where the teacher screws his students and predicts Armageddon! This is such bullshit. I felt it with all my heart.
But again, just like before my outraged conscience was calmed by “wait and see” attitude. And the more you wait, the deeper you go… The harder is to see, the easier is to wait…We all know this, don’t we.
I felt like lots of things in the school are kept secret, and not disclosed to the prospective students for the reason not to scare them away and get them to join. And then they join and get “worked on”, or “sucked in” – whichever you prefer, and then it is so hard for one to quit because of developed emotional connections, sense of belonging to a special community and important commitments like marriage to a student or moving to Apollo.
I am (and was) sincerely appalled by school’s recruitment campaign. It just didn’t ever seem right. It is just not fair, not honest. Prospective students are not told upfront the truth about various aspects of the organization. The payment schedule is not fully discussed either. Usually, there is a blurry phrase “payments will increase in time as your valuation for the school grows”. Well, wouldn’t it be honest to actually say how it is going to increase, and that it will end up being way more that 10% of one’s income with all additional payments and expensive teaching events?
There is also no disclosure of tasks and exercises. What if one doesn’t agree with all of them? Wouldn’t it be simple fair to spell it out upfront?
Wouldn’t it be honest to mention that the Teacher is seriously into sex with young male students, and most likely a prospective young male will eventually end up in his bedroom, because this is what tends to happen?
These days for example FOF members offer an “Esoteric Tours of the Metropolitan Museum” – as they are advertised in TONY. Sounds exciting, right? Once we met a guy who actually went on this tour. He said it was a strange presentation, very weird and the interpretations of artifacts were questionable, and he also felt that there was some hidden agenda…
Of course! The agenda is to get you to join. But it is presented as something else – mysterious esoteric tour to educate you – as if FOF really cares about educating “life people”!
I am writing this not because of anger. I don’t feel like a victim. What happened in my life – happened. It was a mixed experience, both very good and very bad, so I have no regrets over the past. I don’t think anything is ever “wasted” in one’s life.
But I am writing this to point out the continuing dishonesty in recruiting of new students. Any prospective students should be warned: FOF is not being upfront and honest about many important aspects of the organization, and this is simply not right. If anything, it is a bad business practice (mildly put).
It is ironic that FOF now has a “keeping quiet cherub” on their main page – what a joke.
“At the height of intensity in the octave, Robert then said that he wanted his students to learn how to use the system under pressure….”
What/which system are U referring 2?? Doesn’t “Mix and Match” remind you of Holly Hobby? Maybe she was conscious too?
_________________________________________________
“Men are afraid to come forward for many of the same reasons men were [and some still are].”
So, Joseph G., is this the moment of truth? What are you REALLY trying to say?
__________________________________________________
“And it does feel like its peoples egos by this point, nothing else and nothing more”
Gee, what an intelligent observation. Maybe you have voyeur
in essence?
__________________________________________________
“The recent post about Burton’s breath smelling of sperm reminded me that I had my own ideas about why Burton has so much sex”
You R 1 sick puppy.
___________________________________________________
Margie said “The AIM of the blog is very individualistic and will take on what ever AIM that one wants to give it – what I mean is there are little guidelines, so let’s try to be kind to one another. We are all from the same planet.”
I think it is interesting — this blog is a ’self-organizing-system’ and is in many ways how a REAL 4th way school should work – in life, not separate. Populated by individuals not people who deny they are individuals. Fof is a ‘top-down-system’ , like Enron. Picture a web and a triangle. It is important that space is allowed for all the connections being made here – the obvious ones and the hidden ones. All are important.
Thanks to all for some incredibly fascinating posts which add so much to my life, …for one.
OK, let’s collect pictures folks and make our own unique FOF teaching. Robert will turn many I’s from many people into the new objective teaching by adding even more I’s. Experienced PhotoShop users needed.
July 2005
Dear Friends,
Several weeks ago, Mi-ch–l G—ng sent out an email with a draft of the revised Thirty Work I’s, inviting suggestions or comments to help refine the list. There will be a new publication in mid-August and the aim is to include images representing the Thirty Work I’s. Robert has said that symbols can bypass the intellectual center and go straight to the higher
centers.
The focus for gathering the images is the Thirty Work I’s rather than each individual work I; also those which symbolize the first two work I’s,Be and Hold. We have a number of images already and the hope is by opening up the search to students around the world, it will benefit us all with new discoveries.
Sarah
******************************
Dear Friends,
We are asking for help again searching for images. This time the focus is on images that represent each of the individual thirty work I’s. Some of you sent these in with the last request for images.
For example, for the second work I, HOLD, the stained glass of the angel holding onto the second rung of the ladder is a good visual image of HOLD.
Again of particular interest are images from the Egyptian, early
Christian, Gothic, Byzantine, Persian, Hindu and now Chinese sources; there have been some revealing images outside these traditions and if you feel they depict a particular work I well, please send them.
Images are used in Robert’s meetings and other teaching events and help us penetrate the state we are after. A picture is worth a thousand words.
With Love, Sarah
*************************
Dear Friends,
Robert would like students to use the attached image as a desktop image on their computers.
Thank you.
Linda, Isis
Few days later after many questions:
The source of the desktop image is from the Royal Portal at Chartres Cathedral (right bay archivolts of the West facade). Circa 1145. The archivolts depict the Seven Liberal Arts, with scholars who best illustrate each art.
The two scholars shown in the picture represent Music on the left, and Grammar on the right. The quotation is not part of the original picture, but was entered via PhotoShop.
288/Veronicapoe: Wow, that image was deeply familiar to me. It’s been 22 years, but wasn’t that a painting on porcelain that hung in the Meissen room? I could be wrong about that, but seeing the image had a strong emotional effect on me. I’ll bet memory works differently in different people, but for some reason, this one took me back to the heightened atmosphere of that dining venue, with all its attendant anxieties, egos, desires, states, and expectations. Thanks for gathering and posting these.
You might track down a book called “Autobiography of a Schizophrenic Girl.” When I read it I thought I was reading the account of someone who had inexplicably “woken up.” I happened to mention this to a student who was in medical school studying neurology, and he said, “I would try not to romanticize mental illness.” I found that oddly disappointing, but much later realized the wisdom of it.
277/ rneal
you said: “Girard is a fine example of how useless it is to be intellectually acute while being totally unconnected with reality.”
I just can’t let you get away with that angle. It sounds so good when you first read it but then… Reality? What reality? Is there in your mind a common reality that must be subsribed to or else? The idea of awakening is based on the disposal of ordinary reality, whatever that may be, woe to those who think there is such a thing. Reality is based on many different things, but is highly individual, based on the laws of attraction, and many different factors. There is no one reality except for those who are awake. The rest of us are in our little dream packets. When a person begins to awaken it may seem that they depart from defacto reality to their peers, but in fact they may be pursuing their reality, departing from the false “common” reality.
283/Life person
thanks for the relativity. I appreciate it. Being a queen I often have a hard time returning to that place that while reading the referenced posting seems so easy to be in. It’s embaressing to be human sometimes. I’m new to this blog and you are so right… ignore what you don’t like and try to connect with what you find useful. Ah… a sigh of relief, acknowledging my idiotic human tendencies which I can scarce afford… as none of us have time to waste.
282/ brainwasher
This post is an example of including extremes under the convenient heading of “cult”. What a large bucket “cult” is, I guess. If in doubt, toss it in. No further comments because I don’t want to get my ass flamed off (medium rare please) but really…Jim Jones, he was a real sicko and what are you doing bringing this up? It’s obviously bottom feeding for the purpose of muck raking. What a sorry waste of time.
Great picture, those were the early days I suppose, when I met RB he was 44 that year. He almost looks like an actor from the “Easy Riders” days.
Fascinating to look back at the roots of this now full blown cult.
Thanks for the post.
“The idea of awakening is based on the disposal of ordinary reality, whatever that may be, woe to those who think there is such a thing.”
“There is no one reality except for those who are awake. The rest of us are in our little dream packets.”
“When a person begins to awaken it may seem that they depart from defacto reality to their peers, but in fact they may be pursuing their reality, departing from the false “common” reality.”
“It’s embarrassing to be human sometimes.”
“acknowledging my idiotic human tendencies which I can scarce afford… as none of us have time to waste.”
“It’s obviously bottom feeding for the purpose of muck raking. What a sorry waste of time.”
Just me, you get the 2nd place award for the most accurate, stomach-turning imitation of RB so far. You’d get the 1st place but we can’t be sure you didn’t write the above with hands clasped in front, with the slight lilt and tilt of the head (with small nod) and lips slightly atremble to show humility.
Nice to see what you’ve made “your own”…”dear friend”.
“…if a system is in place to turn this into a production line of penises for sucking and stimulating the prostrate, it includes institutional rape, where the organization that knowingly creates the necessary conditions is guilty of rape.”
I have to confess my previous complete ignorance about the definition of rape between men. If you are NOT gay, why would you ever think about such a thing? Seeing the ad on a Muni bus was a revelation of sorts for me. (“I thought he was a great guy until he raped me.”) Of course, I thought. That is what’s really happening.
The gay community is not so naive when it comes to respecting ethical boundaries around sex between men. These boundaries have apparently been validated by US law and are being enforced by police departments, at least in cities with sizable gay populations.
If you read the definition of rape in the article cited in my #261, rape and sexual coercion are clearly defined by law to include precisely the type of activities that are Robert’s standard operating procedure. Even more pernicious: this criminal activity has become institutionalized by both the passive/permissive as well as the active/proactive support of the FOF organization.
The common myths about rape between men were also a real eye opener for me, seeming obvious now but a blind spot previously. e.g.:
Myth 7: Men are strong protectors and providers, so they can’t be raped.
In fact…”whether through physical or emotional coercion, threats or drugs (such as the “date rape” drug, GHB), men can be victims of rape.”
Isn’t this why Robert is able to be so brazen? As a practical matter, psychologically, how does a young hetero male admit to being raped? The only way for a straight but vulnerable young man to buffer this degrading experience is by labeling it. Consensual, loving, non-formatory, a blessing…any words that allow one to move forward with some shred of self respect.
Consider several other myths (quoted):
Myth 6: He was aroused, so it wasn’t rape.
Male victims can be sexually or physically aroused during the rape due to psychological causes or fear or excitement, as well as physical causes such as the stimulation of the prostate. It’s not uncommon for a male rapist to go out of his way to make sure the victim does have an erection – and possibly even ejaculate – as this adds to the victim’s confusion and subsequent non-reporting.
Myth 4: He just had too much to drink, so it’s not really his fault.
Alcohol is a leading factor in sexual assault, and it is not a legal excuse for a rapist’s actions.
Myth 5: It isn’t rape if you’re in a relationship.
Any sexual act that is the result of being coerced, forced or is non-consensual, whether it is a stranger, a friend or a partner, is considered rape. A partner can be charged with the same crime as a stranger.
I am not writing this to try to provoke legal action. I am writing it for the victims, and for the enablers. Think about it. The correct expression is “rape”! Not “abuse of power.” Not “gay lifestyle.” Not “conscious love.”
If you were ever in that room, you knew it then. But something in you made you forget…that you really did not want to do it. You were coerced. You were raped.
If you were not in that room but you know this is true, shame on you. Shame on you.
Quoting again: “Control isn’t about size; it’s about psychological [control]. [A recent paper] says: ‘Male rape in the 21st century resembles nothing so much as female rape in the 19th and early-to-mid 20th centuries. Men are afraid to come forward for many of the same reasons women were [and some still are]. [Men] fear they would be blamed for their victimization, that their sexuality would be the issue, not the defendant’s wrongdoing, that they would never escape the stigma, no matter how blameless they were.’ ”
Whether multiple rapes of male students by RB can be legally proven is not my issue or my aim. The bigger issues are recognition of the truth and subsequent emotional healing by the victims, as well as hopefully an awakening of conscience and responsiveness within the FOF community.
Just me 299
Dear just me, I disagree with your assessment of brainwasher’s post. I happened to recently see a documentary about Jim Jones and his organization. There are differences with the FoF, of course, one being that many of Jones’ followers were poor black people instead of middle class caucasians, but I was stricken by the numerous eery similarities. Jones used to have sex with lots of his disciples (both males and females) and charmed his followers with a “crazy wisdom” teaching act not unlike the one perfected by Robert.
I don’t think you realize yet that the vast majority of former students and outside observers do see Robert exactly that way: a crazy sicko. I am not saying this to insult him or you and I know it hurts, I have been there myself, but it’s just the way it is. I’ve finally come to see that our beloved teacher is on the same psychological level as Jim Jones, the only difference being that his crimes are not quite as heinous (yet). Remember, followers of the People’s Temple were just ordinary people like you and me, who did crazy things because they were convinced they were following someone higher. What’s the big difference, really, except that luckily we are still alive?
Much love and best wishes
Meal “”you said: “Girard is a fine example of how useless it is to be intellectually acute while being totally unconnected with reality.”
I just can’t let you get away with that angle. It sounds so good when you first read it but then… Reality? What reality? Is there in your mind a common reality that must be subsribed to or else? The idea of awakening is based on the disposal of ordinary reality, whatever that may be, woe to those who think there is such a thing………..
Dear JM,
Your statements show fairly clearly the reality at least you are living in. Would you consider the following?
Do you think the Fellowship of Friends creates and imposes a concept of reality?
In establishing certain conditions to how students are to live at Isis, would you say that a certain order of things, certain way of looking at life, people, the world, a human being are taught? Imposed in as much as if you question them you are asked to leave? Only Robert’s reality is reality? And he is not to be questioned by anybody else inside or outside the Fellowship?
Would you say that this “reality” that is imposed on the students is what makes students support the Fellowship of Friends or that students adhere to this reality voluntarily and because they have adopted the point of view that Robert is a man number seven, they willingly support the trade of young men, the unconditional subserviance to Robert and a life of unconditional economic support considering that the ills of the Fellowship are not contradictory with consciousness or not too bad to not be able to accept because it looks so pretty?
Would you say that the reality that The Fellowship of Friends imposes on its members or if you wish, its members voluntarily adhere to is objective reality or a reality they have all subjectively adhered to by their own will?
Would you then agree that we can choose the reality we wish to live by?
Would you agree with Robert that there are six billion dead people on the planet because they don’t belong to the Fellowship of Friends? That there are no other conscious men on the planet except he?
Would you say that the group behavior in the Fellowship is your individual behavior? I mean, the fact that all students have to dress nicely, go to specific meetings, dinners,concerts and events is only your individual reality or a reality that you have willingly adhered to within a greater environment?
Where would you say your individual reality meets the social reality of the group you have voluntarily adhered to? Or do you think your individual reality never meets the social reality?
Do you choose to manipulate the lives of young men to be used sexually by Robert or is that a reality you do not acknowledge?
Do you drink water? Do you think water is an objective reality or just your imagination? Or does the thirst and hunger in your body remind you that your individuality is totally dependent on the reality of the world? Or do you take this for granted to the point that you no longer need to acknowledge it? Would you say there are laws that your reality needs to adhere to? Physical laws if nothing else?
Would you say that in adhering to a group behavior you have willingly given up your individuality to embrace the behavior of the group? And in so doing, that you’ve chosen the “reality” of the group as your individual “reality”?
You say:”The idea of awakening is based on the disposal of ordinary reality, whatever that may be, woe to those who think there is such a thing”.
Do you mean awakening cannot connect with ordinary reality or the fourth state is not the second state?
Would you say that there was a “reality”, that is, a concept and practice of life in the Egyptian culture? The Ming Dynasty? The Renaissance? The Greeks? or would you say there is no such a reality in any of those cultures?
Would you say there is a concept and practice of life in our modern culture?
And a concept and practice of life within the Fellowship of Friends? That is a reality? Would you say that the concept of “conscious reality” in the Fellowship of Friends is coherent with the reality practiced in the Fellowship of Friends?
I think what the friend means by: “Girard is a fine example of how useless it is to be intellectually acute while being totally unconnected with reality.” is that Girard and Robert have built a particular reality of their own called the Fellowship of Friends in which one is more conscious than the other and some of us of us were happy to believe them until the reality we verified was incoherent with the reality they offered.
It was beautiful to believe there was at least one conscious being on the planet and one was serving a noble cause until one realized the innobility(?) of the cause and the inconsistency of the characters. The characters are no less human than the rest of us but when questionable humans reach unlimited amount of power they are much tempted to become inhuman. Inhuman to the point that they slowly loose the capacity to connect to anyone beyond the reality that they have created, use puppets they have put in place to keep their reality going, and discard them without a blink when the puppet turns human. Girard and Robert have lost the capacity to strecth out beyond the reality they have created and are willing to bend any theory or human standard as long as they can continue justifying their particular creation.
Robert lives in a bubble with cream of sperm all around him and Girard, the “mother” of the Fellowship has dedicated his life to helping us buffer the reality of Robert’s lifestyle in which it doesn’t matter who gets runover to continue supporting the extremes of “conscious daddy Robert” or is it mummy Robert and daddy Girard? They and we do play around with both images because none of them are female or masculine enough. Girard is the tough macho guy with “mummy” qualities and Robert is the soft gay fine guy with kingly qualities. It is also an effect of the gradual deformity they have slowly worked themselves into. But the fact is that it is very easy for both of them to hold their “reality” up against anybody else because they don’t let anybody else talk or allow only those who have long eaten from their hand, to talk. It is not, I am afraid, that they are that conscious or that talented, that acute or that bright, they simply have the pot by the handle. And yes, we were the loving ones that put them there convinced that they were both beyond questionable integrity.
Wouldn’t you say that individual realities become extremely questionable when they cannot come to terms with common or ordinary reality? When one individual’s reality overrides in actual practice the reality of many, by asking them to give up their individuality to the One? This is called idolatry, and it is also a reality.
In the end, our many individual realities are as subject to questioning as our social reality and this is what this blog is about, not Just Me. Another reality is that we are talking here because we are in desperate need to communicate which is like drinking water for the soul.
It is a hard thing to realize that that, which is most beautiful within one; the hope and wish for a conscious life, a concious community, an “Ark”, can be turned against one so vilely to make one end up supporting a brothel in which even the man you marry cannot touch beyond your skin, watches without seeing and turns to look at the only reality he has crystallized in together with the other thousand people that live in the illusion that they exist because they dress up nicely although everybody knows that they are not welcomed even to speak, but simply, to silently adhere.
Speaking is like flowering for a human being. It is the way humans throw light towards each other and color it with their souls. It is the way we present our individual reality to the common reality and allow ourselves to be trimmed off so that we can continue to flower more beautifully in the next season.
Your post on male rape has given me a new level of understanding of my experience with Robert Earl Burton.
A curse upon him and all that support him! May the Sun blind them, the wind scour their skin, and the sands of time erase them from the Earth’s memory forever.
Thankfully, Allah is the Compassionate and Merciful one.
“Before we can work on not expressing emotions, we must understand that our emotions are subjective and mechanical, for as long as we believe our emotions to be valid and objective, we will not only wish to express them but will feel obligated to do so”.
It is interesting that Girard here has replaced the idea of not expressing negative emotions with simply not expressing emotions of any kind. It goes along well with the macho programming current in our society of not expressing emotions (In America, even women don’t express emotions but think the proffessional act of tough executives is ideal), and very revealing of the fact that the Fellowship of Friends was never able to develop any practical or even theoretical work on positive emotions.
It is also coherent with both Robert and Girard’s behavior in which they ascribe their actions to serving higher forces, not something they are doing because of their own will. By taking emotions away from themselves, they are taking out their will and hence, make it very easy not to have to assume responsibility for their behavior because they “expose it” as simply an “impersonal reality” in which they are not under the conditioning of their “emotions”. While it is precisely their thwarted “emotional life” that conditions them to have sex with young men, watch porno or have unemotional sex with a woman, they treat this aspect of their lives as if it had nothing to do with the Fellowship of Friends although it actually colors every aspect of the life of the Fellowship of Friends, specially in Isis and actually everywhere in the school, where the IMPERSONALITY of student’s interactions with each other has been interpreted as “good student behavior”, “conscious behavior” in which students are not identified with each other or each other’s lives and look down on anyone wishing to share intimate experiences of any kind. The colder, more rigid, impersonal you get, the better student you are, condemning the second line to never develop.
It is actually this behavior, this lack of relaxed contact with “life”, “people”, that makes them build a world in which they can condition the way they present themselves to others and it is also why they have to practice such extreme sexuality patterns. In the social arena they disconnect from people by conditioning the contact through specific formalities, formalities that are meant to buffer for them the intensity of the experience. Robert conditions students to look at him in the eyes but at the same time cannot establish a sincere, simple connection with any student. In the private arena they disconnect from the individual they are having sex with by not willing to acknowledge him as “the loved one” but keeping him as the “object of pleasure” who is well payed for so that he has nothing to account for. Once the sex act is accomplished they loose any further contact, except continued formalities. They disguise “not feeling”, with not being identified or being more conscious.
For the victims, wHich is actually everyone in the Fellowship even if they are not having sex with either one of them, (for everyone is equally subject to being treated under the “formality” as a “generalization” and not a person), the consequences are an increasing loss of self esteem or self respect and an increasing gain of love for the teacher who represents the state of consciousness and love that the individual is so longing to acquire. The stronger this connection of idolatry develops with the figure of authority, the easier it becomes to indulge in any atrocity to anyone that may question the authority. It is no coincidence that love in the fellowship become fanatism for Robert and did not express itself in the development of second line or love between students.
The great difficulty in our situation is that it is our “love” what is being deeply questioned and no one thinks their “love” can be wrong. It is what in the system is called, letting go of unnecessary suffering which is what is most difficult. In Robert and Girard, their “love” for influence C; in students, their “love” for Robert and Girard. Since Robert and Girard’s love for influence C is imagination fed by their own energy they can keep recycling it and feeding each other. Students recycle and feed their love for Girard and Robert attracted by our own imagination of the higher.
Any figure of authority is leveled by the love they return to the lover. When the figure of authority cannot return the love, it becomes emotional servilism from the giver. His or her own lack of self esteem or presence, feeds the excessive love for the loved figure against his/herself. It is common in any relationship of love where the balance has been lost and it is a great deal of the suffering many of us are going through and need to heal from.
Male rape:
I cannot possibly picture a normal straight guy volunterily fisting and old gay. Or volunterily sucking his old cock. Or volunterily having anal sex with him. Or shit and piss on him. These acts are against the very nature of a straight male. People who were forced to do this spoke privately to their close friends about their horrible experiences. There is a lot of shame in talking about this. They were coerced. There was nothing consensual about this.
A lot of these young males are married, some are fathers. They have families and young kids. They are put on a schedule to sexually serve Robert and it’s called ‘duty’. After they ‘volunterily’ perform ugly sexual acts with an old gay fart they return home to their young children and wives. Does this look normal to anyone?
These guys are turned into whores and they absolutely hate what they have to do. But they learned to buffer it – they had to – to protect their sanity. Most think they have no choice but to continue doing this. They are coerced. They are raped.
The amount of emotional pain Robert is inflicting on others is simply unimaginable. This is the same man who is talking to students about ‘controlling the passions’.
One day he will be stopped and hopefully that day comes soon.
California Law defines rape as sexual intercourse, sodomy or oral copulation accomplished against the victim’s will:
- By use of force or fear
- Whether the victim is male or female
- When the victim is prevented from resisting by alcohol or drugs administered by or with the knowledge of the offender
- When the victim is unconscious of the nature of the act
Thanks for your reply. It’s coherent in its own way, but from my perspective you’re overcomplicating and overintellectualising (as Girard generally does). For me, reality is very simple, it’s what I am and what is right in front of me at this moment. There’s nowhere to go, nothing to achieve.
“The idea of awakening is based on the disposal of ordinary reality”
Sorry, I see no basis whatsoever for this statement.
“There is no one reality except for those who are awake.”
Your problem is stated here in a nutshell. You assume you are not awake. What I see is that we’re actually all awake, even if some of us don’t realise it because our minds cloud the issue. There is only one reality and that’s what we are.
“The machine is under the illusion that it can make decisions, but if we understand that we really are machines -which means that everthing is mechanical, everything happens- then we can begin to verify that there are no decisions- The process we normally call “decision-making” becomes, instead, a question of trying to find out what is supposed to happen. With this attitude, one is much less identified with the process. One begins to be able to watch the machine, with all its ‘I’s and all its confusion, and see that that is also part of the process of what is supposed to happen.”
I wrote the following a couple of years ago:
“You can find many examples of formatory thinking. For instance, if I say, you must do this or you must do that, people say, ‘But you said we cannot do!’ If I say this needs will-power, they say, ‘How, if we have no will?’ If I speak of being more conscious or less conscious, people say, ‘But we have no consciousness!’ These are all examples of formatory thinking.” –P. D. Ouspensky
What is a mistake is to assume that there is not and never can be an objective point of view. Certainly there is a point of view that is objective for the specific scale that it applies to. It is too much relativity to arrive at the conclusion that only the Absolute has an objective point of view and therefore at our level we have no responsibility for knowing right from wrong, for instance. It is incorrect to conclude that on our level as machines that right and wrong, good and bad, does not exist because machines cannot understand what that means. Too much relatively, such as the attitude that “I am a machine and therefore cannot possibly understand objective behavior or action,” reduces the possibility of direct contact with real conscience. The attitude that poses through the deceitful stance of “Myself as an innocent machine” contains a corruptive lack of scale. In fact that kind of extreme relativity actually leads to the level of being in which a man is disconnected from his emotional intelligence and actually does not have any understanding of right from wrong. Such a machine is not responsible for his actions because he is no longer normal, his lower centers no longer function effectively and as a result he has no conscience. But a reasonable man, someone with a sufficient level of householder, does possess something of an objective point of view at least on the scale of life on earth. It is possible to develop an objective point of view of what is right work here on earth. Even a machine can have such an understanding. However, only a normal machine can have such an objective point of view, a deformed machine cannot. What is right work from an objective point of view of life on earth is the intentional control of the four lower centers, it is possible to raise the attention to the finest functioning of the emotional center and use the intelligence concentrated there to direct the motivations, actions and efforts of all the lower centers. This is of course the definition of a householder. The right functioning of the machine, a machine with a normal connection to inner conscience, understands the need to resist the influence of false personality. Such a machine begins to produce, accumulate and transform enough higher hydrogens to begin to bridge the interval between the lower centers and the soul and awaken the higher emotional center. On the other hand when some member of a work-cult manages to distort the knowledge that men are machines and suddenly feels liberated by the idea that because he is asleep that he is absolved of any responsibility for understanding on any scale what might constitute objective reasoning, he then becomes a lunatic rather than a householder. A man with no influence acting on him from the intellectual story of the emotional center is in fact subjective, but to the degree that a man’s conscience is sensitive he is relatively objective from the point of view of his functioning in life. Most of the inhabitants of the planet are not criminals, otherwise widespread chaos and diseased behavior would soon make civilized life impossible. Most machines have some emotional connection to some degree of objective guidance.
“But would not we all be guilty of this who post their opinions on this blog? Is someone objective? Rhetorically I ask, not necessary to you, but do we want to see things FOF way? Do we want to see things in the way of the crude posts on this blog? At some point we do have to mediate between the two and “see things my way”. Whatever the truth maybe it is not pretty, but as I hinted to before, healing comes with relativity.”
_________________________________________________
Thank you for replying ~ The “guilty” part, to me, could be translated as ‘partial’ or ‘a slice seen at a distance as a whole’; again, this “guilty” stuff has to go Margie (eventually), it’s just not you… That’s how I feel about it and yet, every day I see and interact with people and verify that there is always a SPACE circulating in them that can retrieve the feeling of ‘no ends’ of at least a kind of circulation that allows introspection of a sort which disallows stern judgment of oneself, sure, people get stuck, like people are stuck in the Fellowship of Friends, a group-stuck, family mathematics who are seemingly milling the same ’sum’ all the time, though time does move things around no matter how much we wish they’d stay the same, death being the ultimate ’symbol’ that change is where the Four Horsemen corral their horses.
You asked whether someone is objective, well, sorta, I guess it depends on what you mean by “someone”, what is a “someone” while you are a ‘becoming, losing, becoming, losing, becoming-someone’? To me, the ‘idea’ of being objective or subjective is only applicable in the one and only moment, it’s not yesterday or tomorrow, it’s barely an ‘aim’ one can ‘have’, because while you’re having the aim to be objective, so many times there’s a ’subjective’ idea harboring the ‘idea’ of ‘objective’… It’s a very private world to me, a place where ‘being objective or subjective’ can only be discerned by immediate/simultaneous ‘results’ alongside one’s internal actions and external ‘reactions’ to those actions… In other words, it’s a dance, it’s your dance and no ‘teacher’ has permission to just break in and start shadow-dancing over your shadow dancing…
Your point concerning “ego!”… Yes, it would be the ego if ‘ego’ was the only thing one has to automatically offer, yet, this is not the case… So many times what is perceived as egotistical is so by the interpretor, not the deliverer; this statement can also be a ‘buffer-zone’ for clever types and I suppose, particularly with the form of the blog (no eye contact), one simply has to try and read in between the lines and sense whether there’s a deeper level supporting the obviousness of what one sees as possibly being an ego-image, yet, perhaps the ‘picture’ is not the thing itself, i.e., the aim is more important that the words rambling in front of it, aka tough-love.
You give three choices: to see things “FOF way”, the “blog way” or “my-way”… Is there a fourth-way?
To me, I would say no to the first three, because FOF way is group-think, for the most part, which is disconnected from a conscious nucleus; group-think is fine so long as it has some common sense decency, yet, Robert Burton has never met that requirement and the beautiful essences of his students have always been a crutch that he has never hesitated to use to further ‘fake it’ while holding up 12 lanes of traffic crossing the path to who knows where.
I have never seen Robert Earl Burton shopping in the Oregon House Grocery; I believe this single fact will pretty much be the tie-breaker between allowing him to stay in this solar system or putting him in a taxi to some other less populated with solar-types one; perhaps one where there’s more of his type, some tough mirroring would do him ‘good’, yet, ‘Who Knows’?.
The ‘fourth-way’ may be available, it’s up to you and me to figure it out for ourselves, how it is that we can blend things in such a way so that we are both giving and receiving without certain sub-conscience barriers being put up by our ‘automatic selves’ getting all superficial and stuff.
Yesterday I got in between two guys who were about to tear each other apart; it was a very interesting ‘in between the lines of fire’ position ‘to be’ in;
on one side there’s this young guy who took off his shirt to expose his manly chest, i.e., warning #2, loud voice was #1, (pectorals, beefy biceps, boxer shorts showing below the mid way point, etc.),
then there’s this sorta hippy dude that was telling him not to listen to so much rap music, I kinda had to zero in really fast and blast the ‘rap thing’ off my psyche and regain right composure to see things straight;
for sure the ’shirtless one’ was the antagonist, yet the ’shirt on one’ antagonized too, in his own strange passive, fatherly way…
so there you had it, orderly chaos and chaotic order, then me in the middle playing ’save the new sidewalk from blood stains’ role or ‘air traffic controller’…
it would have been really silly had I believed the role, but I knew it was going to be ‘my fun’ so I got in there and moved around a bit, loved it all,
spoke to the ’shirt on one’ first,
he assured me that he had just got back from jail and was not too upset about returning, whereas the ’shirt off one’ was, well, completely out to lunch, adrenals pumping so far up in the sky that my words were like a kite on their strings;
yep, it was pretty interesting indeed…
perhaps part of the fourth-way is simply beholding certain forces as unfolding, not this or that greeting card, simple unfoldings that are leading to a place we cannot claim, yet may be able to effect with a certain kind of attention and action, yet, to stay away from trying to brand it ours or theirs, to see it as the mystery it is and leave it to its own glory.
You are right, “healing comes with relativity”, had I told those guys that I was going to beat both their asses in the street, they’d probably healed their rift immediately (‘relatively speaking’) in order to concentrate on me instead; funny isn’t it, the way things work?
It’s a beautiful day, I think I’ll go for a walk.
__________________________________
On the same page you mention, Joseph, and also something to consider:
“Date Rape: The majority of all rapes are acquaintance rapes.
Manipulation or coercion as well as physical force used to cause sexual contract are considered sexual assault.
Date rape causes intense feelings of betrayal, sh
In case anyone missed this one:
624 Just Me
As I was saying when I hit the wrong key, so much of what I have read on this blog tonight is based on imagination! To those who don’t know the danger of that, well, there’s not much that can be said. To those who have verified to some depth the dangers of imagination, I have to say, it’s disappointing to find so much commentary standing on a foundation of imagination. The FoF is only as real as any one individual’s experience. My experience is that the ideas presented are true and that if one makes the efforts, real results can be had. It’s very simple. The ideas are not from RB, they are ancient, who are we to judge them? It is a rare bird that can put them to practical use and such a bird has little need for all this idle chatter which is mostly complaining. As RB has said “life is a collosal opportunity” time is limited so indeed the opportunity is what must be focused on while there is still time. Wishing you all the common sense to understand the gravity of the human situation. JM
Just Me #624.
‘If one makes the efforts, real results can be had’
Would you be willing to give an example of these ‘real ‘ results.
I have to add here that Girard H. is generally given as an example of a successful result of 35+ years of efforts in a conscious school.
Masturbating while watching pornographic videos while his wife is in the same room. Beating her too! Walking around negative and talking to himself….
I hope this is not what you mean.
Just me
Are you referring to the sequence here and if so please show me some proof that this is an ancient idea. Just because Robert says it is does not make it so. Robert seems to be displaying quite a vivid imagination himself these days.
Deleted, double post. — ES
http://greaterfellowship.ning.com/profiles/blog/show?id=799715%3ABlogPost%3A28727
#17/649 Deep Throat:
Priceless.
#4 Graduates:
(This can only be viewed by Greater Fellowship members.)
#624 Just Me:
If indeed, “’life is a collosal opportunity’ (and) time is limited so indeed the opportunity is what must be focused on while there is still time,” I hope you will stick around and help those who are striving to make the most of this opportunity.
Perhaps you might help elevate this from the level of “idle chatter”?
This might explain the “don’t show your teeth while you smile” exercise (not making that up):
“Tony Bobbins Infomercial Parody”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQnOC0L8pWc
624/17 Just Me
I think, what you say is correct. A few here would agree, but, it is true- life is what you make out of it.
You attitude towards it, that is what defines your internal experiences of external impressions.
And regarding imagination. Just take this story about RB and AIDS. If he had it, I think we would have 10 or 20 other people having it. None of RB’s current friends has it. Someone mentioned a student being checked recently, the results were NEGATIVE. How much more evidence one needs to finally accept the fact?!
xena:
Here is a suggestion. Find and read Daniel Goleman’s “The Meditative Mind”. In this book he shows the principle of the awakening proccess. And then uncovers it in the practices of many other religious and spiritual traditions. If one understands the principle, one will never be lost in the forest of Spiritual practices.
So, for me the Sequence is quite similar with such old practices as Mantra chanting and “continuous prayer” in Christianity. They all aim on bringing mind in focus.
And the second stage is to relax in the that state and just observe one’s mind. And this is the Long Be at the end of the Sequence.
mole:
I think many people achieve these results in a Fellowship. Sorry you can’t see them. Maybe you were not looking in the right place, I don’t know. On the other side, there are all kinds of people there, and not all are the same, not all have the same desire to be present, not all… but don’t say none!
Regarding Girard, I don’t care what he has to struggle with in his personal life, what I do know, is that if I ask him a question about something I am very likely to expect an intelligent answer. So, whether hi is man #5 or not, I don’t give a damn, and I think he doesn’t give a damn either.
Sheik,
For me, I am of the opinion that as long as someone has certain knowledge and is ready to make certain efforts then they are on the right track whether in FOF or not.
Alot of you comment on the 99.99… percent thing. It is not connected to member or non members of the FOF but rather as Ouspensky or Gurdjieff said to paraphrase, most people think they are already awake and going to heaven. There is only a small percentage that verify they are asleep and are machines.
This idea above seeded with me before I became a member of the FOF. Others will have their own theories, ideas, and opinions about life on the planet earth and beyond, but no one can prove or disprove another’s theory.
Early in its history, the Fellowship of Friends produced a printed publication (published approximately once a week), called “Via Del Sol”. This issue (Volume 2 Number 9, December 19th 1972) featured a collection of Robert Burton’s intellectual gems and purest distillation of his high understanding on the subject of sex. These sayings were published while he claimed celibacy yet was forcing some male students to have sex with him. Italics are in the original.
Physical sex, in its deepest meaning, is designed to perpetuate the species, and insure nature of a vehicle for transmitting planetary and celestial influences to the earth. Man’s physical pleasures are secondary to this aim, and, in general, a by–product of nature’s hidden aim.
R.
The sex center is not an intelligent brain. It has a dull, plant–like intelligence. At times, it is quite a vulgar brain, and may be easily aroused by uncivilized levels of intelligence.
R.
If a person has a full relationship with another, then sex may be a part of the whole. Without this factor, then one is in tramp and their sex life does not relate well with the mass or whole of their being.
R.
Humans have been tricked by having their sex organs covered or hidden since birth, making them appear mysterious. This is why some people move from person to person having sex. They try to discover (or steal) what is hidden about the other person, and having found the secret move onto another person seeking the same hollow goal.
R.
To have sexual relations with a partner who is at a lower level of being is to be in tramp. Flirtations are a form of tramp in sex and are sex energy leaks.
R.
Martians, as a type, have the least need or desire to abstain from sex. Mercuries follow them in this area.
R.
The machine creates enormous quantities of sex energy; nevertheless, when we lose sex energy, it can be a weary day.
R.
Most men deviate in the quest for their Self by being engulfed in a woman’s problems, which she often offers a man as a means to gain his attention. Women put themselves to sleep by being conditioned to accept a subservient role to men. This refers to machines in both cases and not thyself. One of the ways schools in the past avoided this mechanical manifestation was through monasteries. The higher we can raise our level, it will be seen we are a vacuum moving amongst life, each a monastery amongst humanity.
R.
It is not generally harmful for students to be at a level in their life where they are confused about sex aims. They may fluctuate between a desire to engage in sex and a desire to abstain. Remember the Self is born as a result of friction; and sex is most often an area of friction.
R.
The sex center is a machine designed to seek out its magnetic opposite in physical union. It does not care for abstinence or transcending itself.
R.
To Just Me.
Can you define imagination?
Can you define the associated dangers?
LL
‘Just Me’,
You speak of “the dangers of imagination” and the “foundation of imagination.” You serious? We keep hearing that word again and again — “imagination.”
Imagination:
• When you believe you are among the chosen few who will be the only survivors of a nuclear holocaust
• When you believe you are among the chosen few who will be the only survivors of a massive earthquake that will drop California into the Pacific Ocean
• When you believe in predictions of a stock market crash on a specific date, and an ensuing economic depression
• When you arrange your life around these ideas
• When you tell people this never happened, or that it was just a metaphor in RB’s teaching
• When you believe that your “teacher” is celibate or monogamous
• When you believe that your “teacher” is hurting no one.
• When you show no concern for the very real possibility that this “teacher” has a sexually transmitted disease, or diseases, and that he may be sexually transmitting them to you and your close friends
• When you show no concern that he sleeps regularly with his students, and when you see nothing even mildly inappropriate in this — let alone unethical or criminal
• When you believe you are among the chosen few on a planet of approximately 7 billion who will enter paradise.
• When you claim that you or your friends have “verified” the ideas of the so-called sequence.
• When you claim that you have verified that the “teacher” is “conscious.”
• When you claim that you know that the FoF is a so-called “conscious school”
• When you pretend that children and families and marriages are not being hurt by RB’s “behavior”
• When you pretend that there’s “nothing out there” of value
• When you think of people admiring you for your vast wisdom because you are standing in the presence of RB
• When you pretend that this list is complete
Now THAT’s imagination.
Cheers,
2B
#7, Who Knows:
“So, whether hi is man #5 or not, I don’t give a damn, and I think he doesn’t give a damn either.”
Given that the whole aim, purportedly, of the Fellowship of Friends is to produce a “Man number 5,” I would think it would matter just a bit. Robert Burton originally predicted that the school would produce 7 conscious beings. Are you saying you don’t give a damn about Robert’s prophecies and whether anyone actually wakes up in the FOF?
When I looked to Girard for answers, I was bitterly disappointed. All I received was extremely formatory information, which sounded like an excerpt from the “Workbooks on Tape.”
11 2b
Was that your imagination, 2b?
Certainly I never thought so. I don’t think JM thinks so.
In fact, it would be very hard to find a person in FOF, who has such a wild imagination. But I know a few people on this blog…
Anyway, b constructive, don’t suppress anyone who has a view different from your own. Otherwise you become a fanatic yourself.
12 Innernaut
Well, I did not say you should see the world the same way as I do.
I am more concerned with being more conscious myself, then with who is going to be the next Man #whatever. Are you preoccupied with this? Why?
Dear ‘Who Knows’ and ‘Fat Boy’ ~
You’re both immersed in a reflection of your inner state, an amazing, yet flat, three dimensional mirror… so be it.
The Fellowship of Friends will be dismantled, with or without your cheer leading…
Keep those legs shaved and your pom poms fluffy…
There’s no greater third force to bring down this putrid, crucified road kill along the Path, than your chewing on it’s raw hide droppings…
May our deeds and that which we support (and buffer thinking we don’t support) be our footprints leading onto or away from this incredibly insane automatic participation upon this planet.
You guys are officially on my ‘toaster list’, happy buttering.
______________________________________________
l.t.y.a.
Good for you, Who Knows. I’m glad you knew all along that RB was hurting people. It took me a while to figure that out… But I’m impressed with your ability to see through the act. :)
And by the way, anyone who disagrees with you is trying to “suppress” you? You really think about it that way?
15 unoanimo
You forgot to put on you Ku Klux Klan hat while writing this masterpiece.
Were you “asleep”?
16 2b
You just write what you think, don’t you.
I mean you don’t think what you write.
And I am impressed with your ability to create facts that don’t exist and make them seem so. This refers to what you had said about me in 16.
It is not that you disagree, or strongly disagree, you are fanatically disagree. And therefore you do not allow any space for any other thought’s rather then your own.
Like, you did not give a slightest chance for JM to explain what he/she meant, instead you explained everything yourself. “AND DO NOT EVEN THINK OTHERWISE!!!”
Now, calm down, Who Knows. Step away from the keyboard for a moment and take a deep breath. Actually, kidding, you are quite entertaining. Keep up the good work.
(Is this the new “form of the school” or something? Writing for the blog?)
To Who Knows (17)
You wrote to 2b:
“And I am impressed with your ability to create facts that don’t exist and make them seem so. This refers to what you had said about me in 16.
It is not that you disagree, or strongly disagree, you are fanatically disagree. And therefore you do not allow any space for any other thought’s rather then your own.
Like, you did not give a slightest chance for JM to explain what he/she meant, instead you explained everything yourself. “AND DO NOT EVEN THINK OTHERWISE!!!””
You just described yourself.
Also, it’s pretty clear what JM means. He or she imagines that we are all moon food and that we are in danger of going straight into oblivion.
Pretty insulting! It’s also very bold to imagine that everyone but school people are doomed to some vague hellish existence.
That ultimate arrogance is the full expression of someone fully in imagination.
LL
P.S. Use of: Than, Then:
I am more lucky THAN everyone. (comparative)
If anyone doesn’t believe me THEN they will suffer grandly.
18 2b
you are so funny, I can’t stop laughing :-)))
new form of the school? Ha-ha-ha!
please, 2b, stop it, ha-ha-ha-ha!
Why would you be interested in the “new form” of the school you are out of ?!
let them be
In retrospect I was never in the school for awakening.
It gave me other expierences I needed
They’ll stay with me, for sure..
in these beautiful tines of healng
19 Laughing Love
Thank you for your English Lesson.
As to the rest, your assumptions are, sorry, ridiculous.
I re-read JM’s post and could not a word you were accusing him saying.
Of course, with some imagination you can find a terrorist conspiracy in the bible.
Is that what you are up to?
666 Via The Dead Soul
Early in its no-history, the Fellowship of Friends produced a new boy (published exclusively for Robert Burton, approximately 5 times a day), called “Via The Dead Soul”.
This boy’s issue (Russian #34, Man number 4, August 8, 2007) featured a collection of Robert Burton’s ‘gifts’ bought with thousands of dollars of non-lover monies and the purest distillation of his sexual predatorship on the subject of having sex with any wife’s husband or maiden to be, he saw fit, further subconsciously aggravating the husband’s unconscious conscience, so to create an inner turmoil so contradictory for his essential love and personal will, that the only ‘act’ the Russian could take so to not kill himself outright during the months of July and August, was to severely injure his Russian wife, who, the ‘teacher’ advised to keep it ‘hush, hush’.
Italian shoes found in the laundry closet of the Galleria are usually originals.
Quotes by who knows what ~
Infra-sex, in its deepest paining, by yours truly, is designed to perpetuate my herpes, and insure the moon a vehicle for transmitting planetary and celestial influences to my victims and my supporters. My physical pleasures are secondary to my primary physical pleasures, and, in general, a by–product of my third hidden aim, physical pleasures.
R.
The hypnotized sex center is not an intelligent brain. It has a dull, plant–like intelligence in my hypnotic ‘presence’. At times, I am quite a vulgar brain, and may be easily aroused by uncivilized levels of my own intelligence.
R.
If a person has a full predatorship with me, then infra-sex may be a part of their whole teaching payment. Without this criminal factor, then one is in danger of loosing the school or one’s wife or the wife her eyesight, saving the third eye for last; and their sex life without me, my giving him what she cannot give (my big-little “I gotcha” to all the girls out there, including my living sisters), does not relate well with the mass of my mother-revenge or the whole of my dominance, greed, narcissism and conscious banality when presented with questions concerning feelings and recognizing anyone’s essential wishes other than my own.
R.
In-Humans have been tricked by me, having their sex organs covered or hidden by Sunday meetings, Wine cellar dinners, Margarita evenings and that little slot of time before meetings and afterwards and a plethora of esoteric jibber jabber, (thanks Asaf, you’re doing just fine, that #6 is just a few comings and goings away; now all you have to do is marry as many women as possible during your ‘conscious as I say you are term’, so I can rape them through using your body as a vehicle and deliver your ‘inner avoided results’ back to them, in bars they used to call it ’sloppy seconds’, you can do it, I know you can, you’re a Man #5) making them appear mysterious, connected and special. This is why I move from victim to victim having sex. I try to destroy (or steal) what is hidden about the other person, and having founded their infra-sex secrets move on to another wife’s unsuspecting husband or husband to be, seeking the same hollow parking place.
R.
To have sexual predatorship with a prisoner who is at a lower level of being institutionally insane is to me to be in love. Flirtations are a form of test in infra-sex and are sex energy leaks into my mouth.
R.
Martials, as my favorite hung-type, have the least need for conscience-explanations concerning desire to abstain from infra-sex. Mercuries follow them in this area and deliver beer quit well during football games and make handy litigious fetch-puppies.
R.
Viagra and my machine create enormous quantities of infra-sex energy; nevertheless and more, more, more, when they lose their husbands self worth, sacred sexual union with the dedicated feminine, teaching payment investment towards something communal for something I have to give the boys so to make it all look ‘worth it’, it can be a weary, WORK-day, Oh, and the fourth way.
R.
Most men #4 deviate in the quest for their first line and an honest relationship, by being engulfed in a goddess in a man’s body’s (that’s me BTW) ‘conscious’ problems, which, ’she’ often offers a man as a means to gain his Green Card and Religious Visa status, not to mention his now self-calmed status as someone ’special’ and possibly even a few deductions from the this or that number lifetime needed to be like me. I put them deeper to sleep by being conditioned by the same sleep, to accept a subservient role to one another. This refers to our machines in both cases and to thyself. One of the ways real schools in the past avoided this mechanical manifestation was through castration or exile to remote refrigerators in Death Valley. The higher the teaching payment the more we can raise our level of European and Latin American sex slaves, it will be seen that I and we, the Fellowship of Friends, are vacuums moving amongst life, each a predator amongst humanity or simply one smiling, quietly enjoying the beautiful day, picking his or her teeth with a little golden toothpick I gave them, specially engraved thereon by a Swiss jeweler ~ To pick or not to pick, that is not to pick.
R.
It is generally always harmful for students to be at a level in their common sense where they are not confused about my sex aims and misses. They may fluctuate between a lawsuit to engage in coercion and a desire to kill themselves. Remember myself was born as a result of buffering and avoiding friction; and sex is most often, particularly being addicted to Darvon and Viagra, an area of no-friction.
R.
My sex center or more popularly known as ‘The Isis Center’, is a machine designed to seek out my sexual predator ‘gazelles’, in teaching payment plane tickets, custom tailored suits, arranged marriages and false religious visa unions. We do not care for abstinence, though will drink it if you are coming to Isis from the Paris Center, or transcending affirmations, hey, why transform, I got it good, don’t you? See you on the courts!
R.
20 Who Knows
“Why would you be interested in the “new form” of the school you are out of ?!”
And why would you participate in a blog where you are thought of as a clown?
And why would you wish to participate in a blog of “life people” who are surely doomed to hell. Shouldn’t you rather be observing yourself and doing the sequence, and not slumming?
24 Bruce
How intelligent of you.
Are you PHD or something?
I man Professor of Hate and Degeneration.
Who Knows,
“Of course, with some imagination you can find a terrorist conspiracy in the bible.”
Yes and a bunch of ludicrous, “keys” perhaps?
Love,
Ryan
I knew Moses was up to something, damned aliens, repopulating the earth with genetically altered beasts so to do their handy work, I was wondering how it could be that ‘Fluffy’ could sleep with ‘Jaws’…
Now I know, thank you Ryan O’Poo, I am now on the next level of galactic partnership with the cosmic waffle and skillet house.
Whew! The extra time now!
_______________________
:.)
It’s a bit like banging ones head against a brick wall ( that means ‘futile’ to all you non native english speakers) speaking to people such as ‘Just Me’ and even you ‘Who knows’.
What has been repeated over and over again here by hundreds of people who were once in the FOF and seems incomprehensible to many current members including those who are posting here is the fact that
WE ALL USED TO SAY AND BELIEVE EXACTLY THE SAME STUFF AS YOU DO.
We know how it feels when those beliefs are challenged by anybody especially ex members.I myself have trotted out almost word for word what Just Me says in his post!!
Eventually you grow up, mature, grow out of it.You cannot lose ‘verifications’ as is often said to explain away why people leave. The truth is the truth. Most of what we once told ourselves we had verified is merely comforting nonsense induced in ourselves while under the influence of the FOF.
Really it’s just the same old ’special exclusivity’ that oozes from Just Me’s post. The inference always being that only the chosen are strong enough to really comprehend the real meaning of life ( the chosen of course being those who happen to be current FOF members including Just Me ). Why is it that this seems to be central to so many of the posts from current members. ? I’ll give my own answer to that from my own observations made from my time wearing exactly the same psychological overcoat as Just Me. IT’S TO COMPENSATE FOR YOUR SHEER INSIGNIFICANCE AND INABILITY TO NAVIGATE YOUR WAY UNDER THE CONDITIONS OF ORDINARY LIFE.
The standard stockphrase of FOF members to each other is ‘Theres nothing out there’ which means I CANNOT COPE WITH LIFE. Although the reasons people join the FOF are as various as the people themselves, FOF is basically a place to hide out and NOT deal with your individual dificulties that drove you to such a group in the first place. Still, as I mentioned, most people eventually find ‘Themselves’ in the FOF and when they do they leave.
Dear THE PERSON who wrote the Sheik to ‘get to me’ ~
You wrote ~
“I was involved in the Fellowship of Friends over __ years ago. My personal story is on the greater fellowship and I am one of those who believed we need to take action to make a stop to Robert Burton. We should bring our forces together to make it happen. Please contact me at….
__________________________
I will figure out firstly (with my handy Dirty Harry Detector) if you’re not packing a 44 magnum squirt gun; then we’ll hug a little.
BTW… Why not post your story here???
If it’s good enough for the blog, it’s gotta be almost good enough for the Greater Fellowship site (?)
Be brave, Arnold is our governor! Robert Burton is not made of molten mercury, yet.
____________________________
:.)
Laura ~
I saw your three girls about two years ago in Grass Valley; wow, what beauties! They are so ‘connected’ and Allan looked good too, with that eternal boy smile, gosh, what a heart stopper…
I knew you when…
I found your last name somewhere in Starry Galaxy #11…
Very good to ’see’ your spirit here.
___________________________
Love to you all (and the three graces)
Dear unoanimo 15,
Did you take your lithium today? Your racey mind is starting to sound threatning between the lines. You sound like a teenager.
“The play is written”, and is seems your having delusions of granduer – thinking God has given you his pen (keyboard)?
Fat Boy ~
Think ‘toaster list’, ‘toaster list’, ‘toaster list’.
BE toast
HOLD toaster lever
HEAR toast-ing
BACK toast-ed
FEEL toast surface
LONG BE toast buttered
I am a teenager Fat Boy and lithium was grafted into my central nervous system while still in the womb, it’s normal for my sorts.
Shuttle Launches With Teacher Aboard
By MARCIA DUNN (AP Aerospace Writer)
From Associated Press
August 08, 2007 7:33 PM EDT
_______________________
Goodbye Robert, have a _______ trip.
Dear Who Knows,
I have not been “fighting” with you. I refuse to tamely allow you to misrepresent my words, or to bully me. I have been attempting to correct you in your inaccurate interpretations of and misdirected responses to my post regarding the general value of knowing if your teacher has sexually transmittable diseases when he is having sex with so many members of the community. If that makes you tired…
Fat Boy, Who knows
You guys are like six year olds. Is being here on the blog the one thing that makes you feel alive, or relatively real?
You have to be pretty fucking solar, or six years old to not see how you’re presenting your selves to everyone here. Have you no shame or pride?. Are you so completely devoid of the capacity to see yourselves?
And you’re here defending where you are and what you believe, and you’re sounding so damn stupid I feel obligated to be embarrassed FOR you.
Go do “your work”. This isn’t it. And if you think it is, then you’re just plain fucking stupid.
Lithium niobate is used extensively in telecommunication products, such as mobile phones and optical modulators, for such components as resonant crystals.
_______________________________
Now you know
To Who Knows (22)
Just Me states, quite clearly, that everyone here is in “imagination” and, therefore, is in “danger”.
Also, any member of the fellowship is required to think of “life persons” as being lost, doomed and pathetic.
Therefore, when “Just Me” accuses everyone here of being in “imagination” and in “danger”, he/she is implying and repeating that we are in big trouble because we are not in the school or following the rules of the school.
Sorry about the English lesson. That was super snobby.
I guess I was thinking that a school that requires such a high aesthetic would produce students who took care with the English language.
Language is incredibly powerful and precision is quite necessary in order to avoid misunderstanding.
I agree that I am ridiculous. My general sense is we are all rather absurdist beings!
Have you ever seen “Waiting for Godot”.
There is a great new series of all of Samuel Beckett’s plays made into films. They are quite inspiring.
I wish you well.
LL
As Just Me (624) says – So much of what I have read on this blog tonight is based on imagination! … the ideas presented (by RB) are true… It’s very simple. The ideas are not from RB, they are ancient, who are we to judge them?
OK folks! Here’s some ancient true ideas and please remember they are not at all from Burton but straight from the ancients. In fact this is precisely what the ancients had in mind. Marvelous, isn’t it? And who are we to judge anyway, like, really who are we to even think or judge or doubt?
These interpretations are not imagination, oh no. It is the Holy truth. It is the Absolute Objective Truth straight from the ancients. It has nothing to do with Burton-Asaf dynamic duo at all.
So if you suddenly have a question at the meeting or event: “How the f-k does he come up with this?” – remember, it’s your Lower Self asking this. Shut up and keep listening. Look in the eye.
So simple, isn’t it.
Please enjoy.
http://img120.imageshack.us/img120/9451/truthbyrblx1.jpg
NECKLACE:
A necklace made of thirty bear and lion teeth was found in France, and dates to approximately 12,000 BP (Before Present – it’s Burton’s way of counting – P.A.) It represents the thirty “imperishable stars”—the thirty great work ‘I’s engaging the four wordless breaths. Among the teeth are two shells, representing short Be and long BE, while the four large teeth represent the four wordless breaths. (A Tibetan statue depicts Milarepa showing his twenty-eight teeth, which along with his two lips, representing Be and Hold, add up to thirty.) All schools come down to this: the four wordless breaths—presence without words. It all comes down
to your ability to do this personally, your responsibility to use the sequence personally.
STAG’S ANTLERS:
In a rock painting from the Lascaux cave, dating from 15,000-13,000 BP, the stag has two antlers with nine points on each, representing the control of the seventy-two passions. There is no telling how many conscious beings the prehistoric schools have produced.
THREE MONKEYS:
A seventeenth-century wood-carving from the temple in Nikko, Japan depicts three monkeys, representing the three Be’s. They are working hard to not be distracted from their sequence. The monkey covering his ears represents the first coming; the monkey covering his eyes represents the second coming; the monkey covering his mouth represents the middle coming. Around them are leaves, representing previous successful sequences, with the three Be’s in the center.
*Monkeys are doing the sequence! Working hard not to be distracted! This is simply hilarious…C’mon guys at least RB got a sense of humor. Do you get it monkeys? JM, Fat one, Who the F-k Knows? This is just way too funny.
IBEX:
A rock painting depicting an ibex’s head, found in France, dates to 13,000 BP. The “ladder” between its two horns represents Be and Hold, while the four squares on the “ladder” represent the four wordless breaths. The white belly of the ibex may represent the lower self under control during the four wordless breaths.
DEVIL STEALING TIME
An advertisement shows the devil stealing an Omega watch. Although it is a modern image, it goes deep. Jesus said, “I am Alpha and Omega”—I am short Be and long BE. Similarly, Quetzalcoatl, which means “feathered serpent”—refers to short Be (the serpent) and long BE (the vulture). In this image, the lower self is attacking the sequence at omega—work ‘I’ number six. Be, Hold, Hear, Back, and Hear have all survived imagination, and there is only one more chance for the lower self to destroy the sequence—at work ‘I’ number six—long BE.
Much Laugh To You All! :-)
Purchasing Awakening ~
Although I’ve swallowed my tongue laughing I can still peck out this message to you… Please tell me that you wiseacred all this, that Fat Boy and Who Knows are not being exposed to this sort of Bubblicious bubble bum blowing bubbles by Bob…
LOL… oh, that hurts with my tongue near my tonsils (better than other things though)… Yet, this would explain everything, if they’re automatically absorbing this sort of balderdash into their unkempt sub-processes, then we are indeed in for some serious ‘Marco Polo’ pool playing…
:.}
Whoops, I just upchucked my false teeth…
isis NEW FLASH Part 2
Ordering Information for
Psychological Thinking
A New Booklet by Girard Haven
And
The Sequence:
Preparing the Nine of Hearts for Prolonged Presence
Dear Friends,
A few days ago, you should have received an a-mail advertisement announcing the publication of two booklets. One is a reprint of The Sequence: Preparing the Nine of Hearts for Prolonged Presence, which looks at how each work I in the sequence adds a necessary element to the emotional state required for prolonged presence. The other is a new publication entitled Psychological Thinking, which deals with the use of what Mr. Ouspensky calls the psychological method to understand Roberts current teaching.
Both booklets will be available during Journey Forth to Isis at a price of $7.00 per copy, or $5.00 where there is a genuine need. Students who will be at Isis may purchase copies at the Grand Bazaar, as well as at selected other events and locations.
Students who will not be at Isis may place orders with Albert G. by telephone at _______________. Because the price does not include shipping, purchasers are responsible for making their own arrangements for collecting the booklets they purchase. Please include the following information for each order: the buyers name, their center, the number of copies of each booklet being purchased, the price being paid for each copy, how payment will be made, and the arrangements which have been made to pick-up the copies.
To simplify shipping and payment, we ask students to please coordinate their orders wherever possible. The easiest way to do that will be to have one person in each center collect the orders and payments, and then to give them to someone who will be going to Isis. If you do not know of anyone who will be at Isis, please write either to me or to Albert to discuss other possibilities. For instance, it may be possible to make payments through PayPal, and delivery might be arranged through a neighboring center or in conjunction with Roberts planned Italian Journey.
For your convenience, an optional order form is attached to the end of this message. If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact either Albert or me.
Thank you, and may your sequences be more successful with every passing day.
In friendship,
Girard
______________________________________
Whooooo! Preparing the Nine of Hearts for the Sequence; not to mention that Robert Burton is a ‘nine’ of hearts…
Translation ~ We, the Fellowship of Friends are paving the way to prepare Robert Burton for The Sequence of new boys arriving, both alone, with their parents, wives and girlfriends to this years ballet gala; the publication of these ‘books’ (with the mention of Ouspensky’s name, just a little reminder that we’re still a fourth way school and that Girard is still the affirmative O. to Robert’s G-(string) ) should pretty much balance things out; no cameras, cell phones or news crews are allowed in Robert’s bedroom after the traditional Ballet after performance dinner… where Robert, like always, (Isn’t this fun?) attempts to slooth the male and females alike from the ballet company to join his ball-et’cum-pan-knee…
__________________________
Whooooo… see you on the courts!
:.)
Brilliant Post Bruce (35). I hope I can reach your level of expression someday!
Well, it’s suddenly clear to me now. My lower self assumed that Girard was watching porno movies because he is basically just the same as all the other guys who watch this stuff.You know, they can’t handle the fact that sex normally requires an aknowledgment of the fact that there is a person attatched to the piece of meat they are sticking their dick into whereas porn gives them the depersonalisation they require so that they can be at their most animalistic. But.. I guess I was wrong ! Girard is most likely only looking for confirmation of the sequence ! just like it was pointed out by Robert in the cave drawings, the Steward passing knowledge to the King of hearts ( doggy style of course )
I wonder if I could get the special $5.00 rate for ‘Pathalogical Wanking’ oops ! I mean Psychological Thinking ?
There was a whole lot of material being passed around in the Fellowship back in my day that I found very hard to believe–in fact, that I considered incredible enough that I had no interest in trying to believe it. You know–the angels dancing on the pinhead, the predictions based on license plates, etc. But I could still have an intelligent conversation with someone who might believe some, or even all of it. When we’re dealing with someone who believes any part of the stuff described in 38 (Purchasing Awakening), we’re talking about a level of mindless credulity that goes well beyond anything I can imagine wasting my time on. I mean, either the person cranking this stuff out is literally insane (and I don’t mean just sociopathic, but seriously delusional on a daily basis), or considers his flock so stupid that they will believe anything at all. If a member wants to post and say “Of course I don’t believe any of that nonsense, and I really don’t feel the need to have an opinion about whether Robert is conscious or even a decent teacher because I don’t hang around with him or listen to what he says, but I value being present,” I can understand the desire to engage in conversation. But when someone says he (or she) thinks this stuff is ancient wisdom, and who are we to judge, or someone else goes on and on with adolescent rantings, I say “Come back when you grow up, if only just a little.” Come on, you guys–let’s save our energy for people who are capable of some level of understanding.
To Opuss 111:
Thanks for your respons.
No claims from my part, this is perhaps were a possible misunderstanding can appear.
The Informational Cascade is a theory based on some studies. Like gravity, or any other law (if you think you can verify this for yourself, I feel I can call it “law”),
it pounds on everyone’s psyche/mass.
Since I do not verify I am free from imitative tendencies (a certain level of non-existence, the need to belong, you know… ) the key I was offering by sharing this, was the necessity to stay allert and vigilant to the “personal signal”.
To be even more personal, I believe I left the FOF in 2007 on a personal signal: just could not “sleep” anymore, I mean really, at night due to deep questionings regarding my progresses and turmoils in conscience,
yet, I do not exclude the influence of the signal given by the “others” who preceded me.
Long ago, when Rita Penfold was still participating to this blog (I miss you Girl!) she wrote a lovely story which could be titled “Me too! Me too!”…
There is undiniably a “wave” of departure going on, so,
for me to try to study my most sincere aims, considering all possible parameters, including the “disturbing ” ones, like to find myself under the effect of an Informational Cascade.
And yes, stated as a pure theory, it can be used to oil any fire.
By the way, the choices made under this mecchanism are not necessary bad! Though, I would then call the source “inspiration”.
I find interesting that Brueghel chose to depict a sequence of 6 blind men. Our senses?
Peter S. on the last page, opend a very interesting topic by questioning the validity of his senses. Actually, I owe him this chain of thoughts and researches: from optical illusion to…
Hope I clarifyied a few points here and as a conclusion, allow me to repeat the main idea which I will formulate as a wish joyfully dancing on the tumb of “I” to reach “us/we”:
May we stay allert, and vigilant to the inner signals!
Gratitude.
Sentences crawled towards her, the grasp of air was so threatening that wind asked ephemeral permission to enter her lungs, that which denied her struggle fell to the wayside as she stood upon the bull, the steady traveling rocket, summoned to earth to spend dire consequence in retreating those who quantitatively could not consciously see it, though did so, otherwise, based upon their absolutes, their presumptions they did worship, thee Yesterday for today and tomorrow for now; be that it may, I AM NOW, I took her upon my shoulders laughing at the sea gulls, my deep jungled thrashes, my forested poems and simple wasteland worship; this, our daily bread, languages exchanged no further than one billion away and my conscience right here, right now, into her lungs she breathed me inwards and her eye lite, not because of mine, rather, for mine, because she had seen me, prior to mine seeing mine and reminded me that Robert Burton is not I, nor her I meaning Robert Burton, thine.
unoanimo (around) 46
…because she had seen me, prior to mine seeing mine and reminded me that Robert Burton is not I, nor her I meaning Robert Burton, thine.
*****************
It is none of my business, but I hope you realize that you have lost your mind.
Cult methods of recruiting, indoctrinating and influencing their members are not exotic forms of mind control, but only more intensely applied mundane tactics of social influence practiced daily by all compliance professionals and societal agents of influence.
Cult leaders offer simple solutions to the increasingly complex world problems we all face daily. They offer the simple path to happiness, to success, to salvation by following their simple rules, simple group regimentation and simple total lifestyle. Ultimately, each new member contributes to the power of the leader by trading his or her freedom for the illusion of security and reflected glory that group membership holds out.
Cult mind control is not different in kind from these everyday varieties, but in its greater intensity, persistence, duration, and scope.
My koan for the day:
What if the Hokey-Pokey is what it’s all about?
I should have known Bob was full of it the moment I heard him recommend Phillips Restaurant in Baltimore’s Harbor Place as a place to get great seafood. Actually, it’s just a noise-y tourist trap. And I’m not in imagination about that!
Now back to your regularly scheduled rants.
Former Turkmenistan President Saparmurat Niyazov died in December of last year. We’ve seen few articles about this man in the western newspapers, but I dug this one up from the internet. Copying it here because of the similarities to someone we know. Enjoy…
Turkmenistan president-for-life tries to play God
By Juliette Terzieff
Sunday, July 11, 2004
In the country that Turkmenbashy built, “He” is everywhere. “His” word is law for Turkmenistan’s 4.5 million residents, and all must pay homage to the Soviet-schooled apparatchik who has molded Turkmenistan into his own private fiefdom since 1991.
Now President-for-life Saparmurat Niyazov, better known by his self- adopted moniker Turkmenbashy (meaning Father of the Turkmen) is taking his Orwellian style of leadership one step further, transitioning from temporal leader to religious authority.
Last month, he surprised even longtime Turkmenistan observers by dictating that words from his treatise, the Rukhnama, or Book of the Soul, be inscribed alongside verses from the Koran on a $100 million mosque being constructed just outside the capital Ashgabat in his home village of Kipchak at a complex commemorating his mother.
He banned any future mosque construction and recommended all existing churches and mosques display a copy of his spiritual guidance.
“There are few leaders in the world who can match his audacity. … There aren’t many spheres of life left where Turkmenbashy doesn’t dictate behavior,” says an American official who spent time in the Central Asian republic during the 1990s.
Every denomination of the local money bears his portrait, as do local brands of vodka, tea and other commodities. The 64-year-old’s picture hangs in every building, while Turkmen TV superimposes a golden profile of Turkmenbashy over its programs.
In the center of Ashgabat towering above the Arch of Neutrality (neutrality being the centerpiece of Turkmenbashy’s simplistic foreign policy) stands a golden statue of the great leader with outstretched arms that always catch the sun as the likeness rotates 360 degrees in a 24-hour period.
Mercurial and vicious, infamous for outbursts of rage resulting in official purges, even Turkmenbashy’s casual remarks are cause for a flurry of activity.
After he recently made a remark about the unattractiveness of gold teeth — a sign of affluence used to cover up damage caused by the excessive consumption of sickly sweet tea — professionals were sent home from work and told not to return until they’d removed the offending items.
Having risen through the corridors of the Communist Party, Niyazov found himself holding the reins of power when the Soviet Union disintegrated. With the help of an extensive security apparatus, he wasted little time creating a cult of personality akin to that of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin or North Korea’s Kim Jong Il.
“Inspired by God,” Turkmenbashy wrote and published the 400-page rambling Rukhnama in 2001, which he describes as the “core of all my political, economic and life targets.” Several government officials have compared its importance to that of the Bible and the Koran. Some Niyazov supporters call him the 13th prophet.
Every government office has a weekly study hour to discuss the Rukhnama. Authorities recently demoted, replaced and sentenced Turkmenistan’s grand mufti Nasrullah ibn Ibadullah to 22 years’ imprisonment for resisting the Rukhnama’s march toward spiritual domination.
The collection of revisionist history, personal philosophy and moral guidelines — containing such jewels as “the mud thrown at you is also thrown at me; and my cleanliness, my brightness is also yours” — has become the centerpiece of Turkmenistan’s rapidly devolving education system.
Teachers are selected based on their knowledge of the tome. Turkmen literature classes focus on the Rukhnama, and an English translation of the book provides materials for English classes. Graduations are contingent on a student’s ability to answer questions on the Rukhnama.
Turkmenbashy cut mandatory schooling from 10 years to nine, cut the number of students allowed into universities, and banned all Soviet-era textbooks without printing new ones to replace them, thus leaving his Rukhnama as the dominant teaching tool for future generations.
“The government has replaced the national culture and spiritual values … with the ideas and theses of the book Rukhnama, the fruit of President Niyazov’s imagination, and on which Turkmenistan citizens are required to swear oaths,” says a recent report by a human rights watchdog, the international Helsinki Committee.
“More worryingly for the future, the teaching of humanities subjects has been replaced by the study of the Rukhnama,” the report continues, “ensuring that an entire generation will grow up knowing nothing of world culture or universal values, including human rights.”
His supporters argue that Turkmenbashy, an avowed workaholic, is carefully crafting a cohesive country out of disparate groups of impoverished Turkmen tribesmen in a mostly desert country about the size of California.
Turkmenbashy’s opponents, most of whom live in exile, call him a megalomaniac on the verge of challenging the position of God in Turkmen’s minds while amassing great personal fortune to the tune of $2.5 billion held in offshore accounts.
Turkmenbashy has done it all with a minimum of questions or condemnation from the global community.
For its part, the Bush administration has maintained and recently renewed Turkmenistan’s normal trade relations status. While his policy of neutrality prevented any military support for the war on terror, Turkmenbashy won Bush administration gratitude by opening Turkmen territory for the shipment of humanitarian goods to Afghanistan.
Turkmenistan is also home to the world’s fifth-largest deposits of natural gas and substantial oil reserves. Before his bizarre code of conduct chased most foreign companies away, there was fierce competition to get the resources, a valuable carrot Turkmenbashy continues to dangle in front of international consortia when the need arises.
“There’s little doubt Niyazov has enough savvy to give him some staying power,” said the American official. “The question nobody wants to answer is, what kind legacy is he going to leave?”
Dear All.
To Unanimo: I think you have lost your self in your mind, I did not understand a sentence of what you are trying to say…can you translate it for the simple human beings in this society?
Kid Shelleen
My koan for the day:
What if the Hokey-Pokey is what it’s all about?
Abraham has been saying this for decades, you might be on her/his ladder. (joke).
Kid Shelleen, #49:
That reminds me of something that happened when I lived in California. Someone recommended a particular Chinese restaurant in San Francisco, saying it was Robert’s favorite. They even recommended a particular dish that he always ordered. So one evening my wife and I were going out and I suggested we try this place. It was a dirty little hole in the wall on Geary, but I figured Robert must know something I don’t, so we stayed. I ordered the recommended dish and it was some of the worst Chinese food I have ever eaten. To top it off, when we were driving home I began to feel very strange and sick. That’s when I discovered I’m allergic to MSG, at least when used in the enormous quantities that were obviously in my food. I had a terrible headache and muscle cramps, and felt very nauseated all night. I couldn’t imagine what this so-called “conscious being of exquisite king of hearts taste” was doing giving rave reviews to this hideous restaurant. Maybe it was some form of voluntary suffering, I don’t know.
And speaking of that, what’s the big deal about the Nut Tree restaurant? Every time I went up to Renaissance with another student, we had to stop there because Robert was supposed to like it so much. It seemed like just a glorified Howard Johnson’s. Maybe I’m not awake enough to appreciate it.
Not able to sleep, moaning conscience in the middle of the night. Many nights have passes like this.
Then one night the moaning and hurt is enough.
The process of grief starts with all its steps.
Anger, denial, pain, betray, resentment going through all the motions
The relativity is done. It does not work anymore.
Something knows it is time to go.
The grieving goes on and feels like empowerment.
Without grieving, too much reasoning and mind activity.
That is not it.
Then a gift, coming home in the body.
Something is just watching.
We stand, sit or lay down says Byron Katie
Something watches…quietly
Sometimes the mind takes over like
# Do I need a teacher…quietly sitting, laying, standing…breathing. No I do not need a teacher. Nor school, nor fellowship of friends.
# I can do with so much less…Do not have to do so much activity.
# From nothing a lot arises in the moment.
The teacher was always there, always. Inside myself, watching, through my eyes.
Stay out of the way, do not stir up dust. Clearity enters and is.
To live is easy?
Thanks for reading.
Brain Police:
“Come on, you guys–let’s save our energy for people who are capable of some level of understanding.”
Thank you for your post. I couldn’t agree with you more. Unfortunately, we may have to be very patient and accepting with whomever we are presented. Who Knows may actually be the average level of understanding and emotional intelligence for the current member of the Fellowship of Friends today.
Years ago, when I worked in the milieu of a psychiatric half way house, I had to constantly ‘adjust’ my thinking and approach to people who are suffering with various stages of mental illness and work with whomever I encountered at whatever level they were at, not expecting them ‘adjust’ to my level.
This requires that you respect the ‘processes’ of others (something I struggle with, too). You must enter their world and learn their symbols to communicate with them within their delusional system. That makes expereinced ex-members well suited for the task. AND also it requires that you have a firm sense of your own identity, since you may play different roles for different people.
*********
I awoke this morning with a strong sense that in actuality, Robert Burton is the ‘b-influence virus’ that he projects onto others. After reading the recent post from Purchasing Awakening (THANK YOU!), it felt like Robert Burton’s virus was attempting to spread into the minds of the Fellowship of Friends members, infecting how they view the art and artifacts of the past and the world. Those infected are then plagued with the same ‘magical thinking’ and ‘ideas of reference’ that he has, looking for ‘verifications’ even in street advertising. Given the underlying ‘fear of losing the school’ that members carry within them, the unconscious impetus for seeking justifications and rationalizations for Robert’s obvious delusions would be quite strong.
On this lovely morning, I was also ruminating on the curious characteristics of the herpes virus. Those infected are subject to flare ups when they have emotional upsets in their lives, when their immune systems (king of clubs-Robert Burton’s stated adversary) are weakened. Also the virus is most dangerous in adults when it appears close to the eyes. It can cause blindness.
It would seem that since Robert Burton does not restrain his passions, nature has provided a viral checks and balance for him.
In general, viruses have ‘evolved’ to efficiently exploit the weaknesses of their host. A virus is pure survival instinct without a conscience. A virus does not reproduce in the ‘traditional bonding’ sense; each individual virus must replicate or clone itself to survive. It feeds off its host until the resources are exhausted and then moves on seeking new victims through the victim’s means of interaction with others. It is most active when there is a large pool of closely associated hosts present.
Viruses are very difficult to treat; to date there are few drugs to combat them in the long term. Those infected need to be ‘contained’ or have the morals to learn to contain themselves to protect others. The most effective means of treating an infected person is for that person to make efforts to strengthen their own immune system…i.e., work on one’s self.
38 Purchasing awakening 44 Brain Police
If a member wants to post and say “Of course I don’t believe any of that nonsense, and I really don’t feel the need to have an opinion about whether Robert is conscious or even a decent teacher because I don’t hang around with him or listen to what he says, but I value being present,” I can understand the desire to engage in conversation
—————-
What I understood after talking to a few reasoning students is that they adopted an attitude that it is a game they need to play in order to confuse their logical mind which prevents them from being in essence and present.
All this show creates a powerful impression, a shock, like a circus, makes your jaw drop and lets in the hydrogens.
“It’s not about the words” “I can’t understand what he is saying (I don’t speak English well, I was far I could not see or hear anything) but I liked the energy” This is the most common answers from those who are addicted to these shows and pay lots of money every week to go at least twice (or more often).
Unfortunately people do get confused and hypnotized and start losing the grasp of the reality after hearing this over and over again.
Hey Innernaut,
Re: The Nut Tree.
“It seemed like just a glorified Howard Johnson’s.”
Are you sure glorified is the word you want to use here?
Maybe he just dug the name.
Thanks PA (38) and Uno (41) for posting examples of the latest crazy bulletins from the Fellowship of Friends.
First reaction is of course that they’re laugh-out-loud funny. I left a year ago and am in a limited sense impressed that Robert and Asaf are pressing forward into areas of weirdness even more extreme than before I left.
Second reaction is “how on earth can anyone remain in a so-called spiritual school at which this is the teaching on offer?”. Thanks to Somebody (55) for answering that question: “What I understood after talking to a few reasoning students is that they adopted an attitude that it is a game they need to play in order to confuse their logical mind which prevents them from being in essence and present.”
It seems unbelievable but unfortunately it’s true!
Dear Somebody:
“All this show creates a powerful impression, a shock, like a circus, makes your jaw drop and lets in the hydrogens.”
Life can do this for us, that is why I have been faithfully paying my taxes….Bush is my teacher! He certainly confuses my logical mind. The energy of patriotism is hypnotizing, too, it makes you feel good, and who cares what other countries think about us. He’s our leader, the commander in chief, the decision maker, we should not question him. Jesus talks to Bush, that’s good enough for me. After all, “A-mer-i-ca, God shed his grace on thee” We are the chosen ones! We must combat the evil forces of radical Islam dedicated to destroying our freedom to watch Fox News and get fat eating hot dogs!
This is my predicament, OMG, just like current members of the Fellowship of Friends! I don’t want to leave America…my friends and family are here. My wife is an American, too. I have spent many, many years here..dedicated my life here. They speak my language here. Who cares if the leader and his minions are crazy. He is powerful and has a lot of money. I enjoy the impressions. I can poke fun at our leader or curse him behind his back…that makes me feel better. He doesn’t care. I don’t have to give him a blow job, but I do get fucked every time I buy gas. I can live as far away from our leader as possible…and as long as I keep a low profile, I can pretty much do whatever I want. Sure, if you get caught doing something, you can get fined, or kicked out, but if you are smart and a good person, you can get by alright. After all, I really don’t need all those freedoms guaranteed in the Bill of Rights anyway…I just do what I am told and go about my business. I don’t make trouble. I realize these are dangerous times and the pace of the economy is increasing. It’s probably not a good idea to express any dissent publicly…people are listening…and I am surrounded by people with cell phones that allow them to take photographs of me anytime, anyplace. And you could get deported if you speak up.
Do I just be true to myself and accept that I am going to get deported for my dissenting views one day anyway or do I start now intentionally planning my escape? Hmmmm…I have verified that being more intentional does tend to make things turn out better…operating proactively from a place of serenity, versus reacting from the shock of a sudden change inflicted on me is less stressful.
So all you guys in the Fellowship of Friends, help me out here! What if I don’t believe democracy is all that it is cracked up to be, the leader is insane, says the stupidest stuff, and things seem to be getting worse, but it seems too difficult to leave!!!! Sure, there is change of leadership on the horizon, but will things really be different?
Should I go or should I stay? Shall I stick around and see if things do get better? Or work for change from within? What would Jesus do…impeach the fucker and put his cronies in jail?
Hey, I need some angles here! I am in danger of losing my citizenship!!!!…know of a good blog where I can get some support from others who have made it out and are doing fine?
Or maybe, shall I write my congressman and actively work for a regime change?
#56, Kid Shelleen:
“Maybe he just dug the name.”
ROTFL!!!
Good Morning Graduates & More History Needed ~
Here’s a translation for ya ~ (sorry for the cryptic lines, it was a time sensitive message meant for a 007 agent in Uzbekistan.)
__________________________________________________
Seth, the mechanic, crawled to warn Herb, the poisonous gas in the air was threatening.
CIA asked permission to enter London, that was denied.
Our struggle fell to the wayside as we stood upon the Red Square in Russia.
The steady traveling rocket from North Korea.
We were summoned to South Korea in dire consequence to retreat those who were in it’s path though could not see it on radar; we did so, otherwise, based upon their absolute mismanagement and their presumptions they would not have scrambled the warships.
Yesterday we met ‘Teddy Bear’ and tomorrow we’ll met ‘Bengal the Lion’. We will all form the Triad Commission in May.
I am in the jungle now; I took the surface to air missile launcher upon my shoulder where the laughing of the sea gulls can be found.
Found the deep bunker, I’ve got jungle rashes, my Blackberry is nearly out of batteries and the simple spy-watch will have to do.
Found some bread, using the Korean language and I exchanged no more than one billion dollars away from our account and my science-lab arrived yesterday by parachute drop right here. No more drops right now; update me on the poisonous gas contamination; my eye got bit by a baby mantis, I am alright.
Mine fields are numerous, rather, creating some of my own, because they had seen me, prior to me seeing their mine fields and reminded me that Robert Burton is not to be contacted yet, nor is he supposed to meet with Kim Dong Ill yet.
_____________________________________________
Sorry guys for the mix up; it was meant for Whalerider’s eyes only; secret plans and all. Hope this clears it up.
_____________________________________________
:.)
Hei, Unoanimo, do you by any chance know Zach? I miss him…
A message for the Queen of Rome:
Society is arranged entirely for the propagation of the population, anyone trying to escape has first to endure the wrath of the collective womb. The shepherds of these many children are the most voracious defenders of the biological routine. As any artist understands, in this sinking ship of life the naked women and their blind children always get to safety last.
I don’t know why this pisses a couple of you off, but here it is again just in case you were not bugged enough the first time:
http://greaterfellowship.ning.com/profiles/blog/show?id=799715%3ABlogPost%3A28727
52 Innernaut
“And speaking of that, what’s the big deal about the Nut Tree restaurant? Every time I went up to Renaissance with another student, we had to stop there because Robert was supposed to like it so much. It seemed like just a glorified Howard Johnson’s. Maybe I’m not awake enough to appreciate it.”
Don Birrell an early student who has since passed was the head designer of the interiors and displays at the Nut Tree. Under Don the Nut Tree always focused on producing an emotional impression in its visitors.
The Nut Tree also contained the possibility of Robert doing three of his favorite activities at the same time. One-shop, two -eat and three pontificate to his awed and loving students.
Robert “Borrowed” Don’s work in making the Nut Tree an emotional experience and incorporated it into the Fellowship “doctrine” and in his teaching methods.
The early dining octaves at the Farm/Mt.Carmel/Renaissance owed a lot to the Nut Tree, some in terms of recipes but particularly in getting a discount on the stackable chairs, cutlerry, plain white ceramics and glass wear through Don.
I understand Robert Burton contiues his program of consciously transforming the need for food into an opportunity to devolop higher hydrogens by eating his way through the day feeding on the emotionality of being with his much beloved students while simultaniously and ever so intentionally feeding the needs of his instinctive center. He models the consistancy that indicates the unity of a higher man for his students by never missing a meal.
As far as I know the Nut Tree has been closed for years. Tied up in family litigation.
I don’t know why this pisses a couple of you off, but here it is again just in case you were not bugged enough the first time:
http://greaterfellowship.ning.com/profiles/blog/show?id=799715%3ABlogPost%3A28727
Calm down Graduates, nobody here can see your link unless he/she is a member of the GF, and no, I am not one of the blind children or naked women.
Opus111
Calm down Graduates, nobody here can see your link unless he/she is a member of the GF,
**********
Yes, I am aware of that.
Calm is for sissies.
Dear unoanimo:
That is no simple spy watch, my friend, it’s an Omega (brand) spy watch.
Wise choice. It will never fail to bring you back into the most accurate moment. That’s why James Bond always chooses Omega…you can trust it right to end.
Keep hydrated.
You will receive your next directions telepathically from your new contact, code named, “conscience”.
55 Somebody
I’ve often wondered whether RB (or “Arby”) intentionally presents bizarre and incredible “teachings,” not to confuse the logical mind for some evolutionary end, but because, perversely, the more absurd the teaching, the more energy some will exert to justify it. That is, some will stay, not in spite of the crap, but because of it. If he continued to stress the Great Books approach, people might get bored, or buy a set for themselves, or consider that they can get that sort of teaching in a lot of places for a lot less money. But some people will react to a truly ridiculous teaching by telling themselves it MUST mean something really, really important, because there’s no other way to interpret it–except, of course, as gibberish, and people don’t like to feel they’re paying through the nose for gibberish, and so will reject that possibility.
54 WhaleRider
Yours is a compassionate approach, and I respect it. I used to work in a psychiatric hospital, where most of the residents were schizophrenic. Many of these were very, very disturbed, although I’m not sure how many would have believed some of the more imaginative recent “teachings.” I eventually concluded that I had been naive to imagine that patience and compassion and insightful interaction would slowly but surely help free these people from their delusions. Most seemed to improve only with powerful drugs.
Hey Brain Police:
Thanks for your post. Sounds like we worked on both sides of the curtian. In the city I live, the half way house was the place where we would lower their meds and see if they can cook and clean themselves up and get to day treatment. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn’t and we sent them back. I lasted only 6 years, mostly it was saddening, but I learned a lot. I was under no illusion that the prognosis for someone dealing with schizophrenia wasn’t that great. But as you know, you do have to have a big heart for that line of work. It reminds me of how my son is being taught (desensitized) in school that wood roaches and other lovely insects are a good thing for the environment…
Graduates 65
“Calm is for sissies.”
Sadly, I suspect you believe that. What’s up with the macho routine?
Brain Police 69
Graduates 65
*************
Exactly “who are the Brain Police?”
I’ve been told that lots of kids on long road trips eventually say, “are we there yet”?
I’ve been told that Gurdjieff said a long time ago that the world (people) is slowly cracking (psychologically) up.
Are we there yet?
arthur 71
slowly cracking up.
Are we there yet?
****************
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jTvQJBbHP8
*****
Graduates
Brain Police 69
Graduates 65
Exactly “who are the Brain Police?”
************
testing for moderation
You might want to test yourself for a brain. — ES Don’t forget, two links will fling your post straight away to the moderation queue.
Mole, You’ve much changed most of what I’ve said about Girard but you went straight to the point when you wrote
Mole 43 “whereas porn gives them the depersonalisation they require”
It is precisely that situation, frame of mind, dual personality or however it is called that is not only Girard’s state of being but the whole Fellowship’s. I couldn’t agree more with somebody’s sentence below.
55 Somebody
I’ve often wondered whether RB (or “Arby”) intentionally presents bizarre and incredible “teachings,” not to confuse the logical mind for some evolutionary end, but because, perversely, the more absurd the teaching, the more energy some will exert to justify it. That is, some will stay, not in spite of the crap, but because of it. If he continued to stress the Great Books approach, people might get bored, or buy a set for themselves, or consider that they can get that sort of teaching in a lot of places for a lot less money. But some people will react to a truly ridiculous teaching by telling themselves it MUST mean something really, really important, because there’s no other way to interpret it–except, of course, as gibberish, and people don’t like to feel they’re paying through the nose for gibberish, and so will reject that possibility
Graduates 70
Speaking of which, some of FZ’s lyrics are so…timely, don’t you think?
http://globalia.net/donlope/fz/lyrics/Broadway_The_Hard_Way.html#Jesus
2B:
regarding your post 11. It is a good example of imagination. I mean sadly, that I dont’ think you deeply understand what it means to not be in imagination. You reference quite old events, the present does not containt them. Your posting has a lot of morality or FD “feminine dominance” just the thing a person trying to awaken must separate from to be succesfull. I gotta go outside and feed the critters but your posting is filled with the very thinking that prevents higher states.
JM
For those interested, “Crystallization Party Photos, Nos. 1 and 2″ are now online:
http://www.archive.org/details/TheEsotericHistoryArchive_300
Hello All.
Feminine dominance.
The term is so insulting.
Please, anyone, remind me of what this precisely means.
Camille Paglia wrote a book called “Sexual Personae” which describes, through a historical analysis, the theory that, indeed, females are the dominant sex, although they seem otherwise.
In one section of that book, she describes the Greek’s homosexuality and the deification of the “beautiful boy”. (There were no morals relative to homosexuality and it was an intrinsic part of the culture.)
Nevertheless, she theorizes that this arose out of fear and rejection of female power, which is unrecognizable as power in a male dominated culture.
Relative to this is the current trend in fashion (which is dominated by gay males) who prefer a thin, almost male females (small breasts, no body fat).
I recommend her book. It is very detailed and quite long, but very enlightened.
I remember hearing the term “feminine dominance” and, since it was not described in my prospective student meetings, was completely confused.
I’ll theorize that “feminine dominance” acknowledges that female power exists and rejects it outright, or, at best, attempts to avoid that evil with every ounce of one’s soul.
True?
LL
77/Laughing Love
On the origin of “Feminine Dominance” as applied in the Fellowship of Friends.
Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 42:171-189 (1994)
Veronicapoe’s editorial comments, which are speculative and which are not part of the original abstract, appear in brackets:
The Role of Mother-Son Incest in the Pathogenesis of Narcissistic Personality Disorder
Glen O. Gabbard, M.D. and Stuart W. Twemlow, M.D.
ABSTRACT
Psychoanalytic case material is presented to illustrate how mother-son incest may be involved in the pathogenesis of a particular subtype of narcissistic personality disorder. Male patients with this disorder have a grandiose view of themselves ["I am the avatar of the age"] as entitled to occupy a special position with others, combined with a paranoid tendency to anticipate imminent betrayal. The enormous guilt related to perceived oedipal transgressions leads these patients to fear retaliation from an enraged, vindictive, and castrating father ["C influence is going to expunge humanity] at any moment. In addition, these men often feel that their special role vis-à-vis mother is a precarious one contingent on doing her bidding. [i.e., "being under feminine dominance."] Hence, they also live in dread of an impending disaster involving either abandonment or humiliation by their mothers. [Ergo, why "feminine dominance" must be "overcome" in order to "evolve."]
re: #48 by Brainswashed:
What’s wrong wtih simple,anyways? I wasn’t free before I joined the FoF, I’m more free now, because I use the ideas and they work. Speak for yourself about
“security and reflected Glory” I’m not here for that. You see? Imagination again, the angle is based on imaginary reasons why someone belongs to a “cult”. I hate the word cult. It’s too sloppy to use a general word like that, to dump the FoF in a convenient slop bucket along with some pretty nasty groups. Just not accurate. Assuming everyone or even most in the FoF are stupid enough to be under “mind control” is again, another example of the pervasive nature of imagination at work.
For those interested, “Master List, August 1971″ is now online:
http://www.archive.org/details/TheEsotericHistoryArchive_864
re: 41 unanimo
would you allow cameras cell phone news crews in your bedroom, gimme a break.
79/just me
Have you studied “mind control”? It is quite different than you imagine. I invite you to engage in dialogue on the subject.
re: 38 purchasing awakening:
The images mean something. It’s not a joke. RB may not be able to exactly decipher them but they,unlike modern art have multiple levels of meaning. Gurdjieff said that about the deer in the caves. Any reasonable person can understand that after spending some time with them. The amount of resistance that RB’s interpretation of the images has created in the FoF is large and is taking it’s toll. I can’t speak for anyone else, but I know that at first I thought he’d lost his mind, but after a period of time I began to realize first that they were not as the general world assumes, just primitive images but that in fact there was some attempt at communication going on in these images. The intelligence of the creators of the images understanding they had no idea who or when someone would attempt to interpret them and knowing this to create a message that could even possibly be interpreted, so many thousands of years later, well… I’m beginning to see patterns now…but why am I wasting my time? The energy contained in the posting I reference above demonstrates that you are not open minded, you are more interested in getting on some negative band wagon about the FoF. Your energy cannot result in anything constructive, at least not that energy you expressed in the posting.
For those interested, “Love, Sweet Love – Two Phone/Address Directories from 1970″ is now online:
http://www.archive.org/details/TheEsotericHistoryArchive_956
To Veronicapoe (78)
Thank you for your response. I always appreciate that you ground yourself in research.
My general sense is that the fellowship is a misogynistic organization. (That means that it dislikes and/or fears females.)
The very idea that they disdain feminine power rather than embracing it is pretty old fashioned. (Right, the 18th century aesthetic.)
How could any female conscionably be a part of this type of organization?
The whole idea that women must wear skirts to meeting (is this still true?) is completely bizarre.
I wonder if there are any lesbians in the fellowship. I doubt it.
What is the male to female ratio?
The very fact that the term “feminine dominance” is negative, and that it is a concept to overcome, is very telling.
What is “masculine dominance” and is that a concept that is encouraged toward one’s flight toward consciousness?
LL
82/Veronicapoe
The way I see it, we live in a world that is filled with mind control. The media, politicians, feminine dominance of society, morality. If one thinks leaving the FoF is walking away from mind control, that strikes me as quite naive. We live on planet earth, the whole thing is a farce! Yet it is possible for the individual to quietly slip by and get something for themselves. Right now in our general society propaganda is going mainstream, the media, is owned by fewer and fewer giant mega corp’s. I’m in the FoF. I’m sharp enough to know my mind is not controlled. I have read and studied the cult web sites and I understand what they are saying. My goal is freedom from the imposed constraints of my mind so I may realize the truth about life. Historically spiritual goals have been achieved using many different tools, called many different names. The sequence works, I have verified it. One way that it works is to show what it is like to really be present. Seeing what is not presence becomes easier as a result. It’s so simple really, I don’t know what all the fuss is about. In the end it is just another tool. These are just clumsy words. Read Meher Baba, he can really impart a sense of scale to human existence that puts things in their proper perspective.
Hello All.
In terms of Robert’s aesthetic. Super, super tacky on all levels.
It’s very Liberace, at best.
It definitely lacks the female touch.
His fancy necklaces are reminiscent of ghetto “bling”. (google: slang ghetto terms)
It’s also very Caucasian homosexual.
The interior designs are very bourgeois.
Pink and fancy and overdone.
Also relative is the absolute white bread make up of the membership. I know there are some Asian members, but doubt if there are any African Americans and probably very few Latinos.
LL
Dear Laughing Love:
Feminine Dominance…
My take is that it’s not about females per se; it’s about Mommy and morality. It’s about doing something naughty that Mommy told you not to do. Growing up, Mommy has a lot of power. The concept now sounds fairly adolescent to me, like a justification for some kind of acting out in your college dorm to prove you are a man and can do as you please because you are no longer tied to Mommy’s apron strings.
I don’t think I ever fully bought into that idea or even struggled against it, and I certainly don’t ascribe to it now. Did you, as a woman, ever ‘work’ against feminine dominance…yours or others…I mean how would you really? I don’t remember ever giving a photograph to a female student for feminine dominance. That would be mean, like saying ‘fuck off, cunt’ or something on that level, which I would never do or say…that’s just too misogynist for me. I love my mother and my wife. (And they don’t look anything alike.)
Maybe it’s a vehicle for male bonding or something…a la Brokeback Mountain. I could imagine Robert Burton using the concept to keep the wives of his male sex slaves contained so he could get his boys drunk and keep them out late at night…why then would he put his female followers in positions of power if it was their gender feature…so he could use the concept to keep them silent or in check?
Side by side with that concept, I remember being reading or hearing in the Fellowship of Friends that women were the civilizing influence in society. Without women, men would lead a more brutal, animalistic life. That seems like more the case to me.
PS. I do enjoy your posts. Thanks for being here.
Dear Friends at Isis and abroad,
Robert has asked that the following message be passed to all students. It is without precedent for the teacher to share his private life with us in this way. The timing of this message coincides with a period where many students are challenged by the new knowledge that influence C has released to the school. The developments described in this message are also the will of influence C and only the gods have decided the time and manner of this transition for the teacher.
As some of you know, Robert shares sexual energy with his male friends in a consensual adult manner. The teacher wishes to clarify his position. One aspect of being centered in the nine of hearts and having a very demanding teaching schedule is that the teacher needs to harness the finer energy that otherwise goes to waste during sexual communion in order to support the great work of the gods.
Robert’s soul is female and the care of us and our noble school is Roberts work on earth. In order to better represent his soul, Robert will align his body to the female role by submitting to modern surgery. This procedure will involve extensive reconstruction with the finest specialists in the United States.
We are asked to contribute and your center directors will be collecting contributions in the next days as Robert wants to go ahead with this as funds are in place. We are being asked to give $64 for each year we have been in the school to symbolize the gift of the sequence. The teacher has expressed this as a task from influence C and this is not a voluntary donation. All contributors will receive one raffle ticket for every $64 given. The four names drawn will be those chosen by higher to be the first to dine with the teacher when she returns to Isis for Thanksgiving.
Additionally, Robert has asked that his students should write to him with suggestions for the name that he should take on his return. He asks that all cards should have a quote in which the name appears and a reference for the source where it is to be found. The student who suggests the new name adopted by our teacher will sit next to her at the meeting where her new name is announced.
Robert appreciates your loving support and wishes to have the following personal message relayed to all of you.
‘My Dears, the sacred nine of hearts needs a feminine vessel to transmit the holy sequence. Isis will rise again in the west. Thank you for your valuation and let us all thank influence C for the perfection of the play.’
With loving presence,
L_____ T______, Isis
No names people! –ES
88/Whalerider
I remember being reading or hearing in the Fellowship of Friends that women were the civilizing influence in society. Without women, men would lead a more brutal, animalistic life. That seems like more the case to me.
I have always loved Rita Rudner’s comment, “Single men don’t live like people at all — they live like bears with furniture.”
85/Laughing Love
I agree with you. I also agree with Whalerider.
just me
I have read Meher Baba’s writings, they were disorienting and intoxicating and definitely worth reading. Something you wrote I read with interest:
I’m in the FoF. I’m sharp enough to know my mind is not controlled. I have read and studied the cult web sites and I understand what they are saying. My goal is freedom from the imposed constraints of my mind so I may realize the truth about life.
I hear what you are saying. At one time, while in the FOF, I had the illusion that my mind was not controlled. At that time, I had not studied the concept of thought reform.
You state that “I have read and studied the cult web sites and I understand what they are saying.” Part of why I invite you to dialogue is to figure out whether this is actually the case. You make your assertion in such a general way that I am not able to tell whether it is true.
Certainly it is true that in a general way we are all socially influenced. But there are forms of social influence that are ethical, and other forms that are unethical. For example, cigarette companies lied to people, deliberately encouraging them to smoke cigarettes and insisting they were harmless even when they knew they were poisonous, carcinogenic and addictive. Can we agree that this was unethical? If we can, I think it gives a starting point for dialogue.
85/ Laughing love
feminine dominance, that T shirt “Momma ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy” is a part of the answer.
or the fact that Mother’s day is always a bigger deal than Father’s day.
I refers more to the internal automatic behaviors associated with an unexplainable guilt or compulsion to act.
labeling it, giving it a name makes it easier to see that it’s automatically occuring internally. Useful if you are trying to stop being a robot.
I caution you not to jump on the negative bandwagon about the concept until fully understanding it. You complemented vernoicape about her research…
well, time to go feel guilty about burping out loud today in public… JM
To Just Me
There is no question that life is filled with elements that attempt to control and guide us manipulatively and negatively.
Advertisements are surely “mind control” and politicians and the media in general, make their living through manipulating our minds in order to make us buy, vote or watch something so that they can have more power or money.
I guess your point is that Robert’s stated main goal is not really negative because it is to assist one toward becoming more conscious, which is far better than attempting to make one buy an unnecessary item or watch a silly television program.
There is a problem, however. Robert is selling consciousness as if it were a commodity and as if he owns it and, importantly, as if he lives it.
In that, he is the ultimate manipulator since he has made a business out of that which is sacred and cannot be bought, sold or owned by anyone. He is selling sacred ideals as if he owns and lives them and therefore can mete them out at his will and for a buck.
Life and consciousness are everywhere and are available to us all at anytime for free.
Robert puts a price on pricelessness and does so recklessly and within a corrupt construct which negates its effectiveness.
He also deigns to define consciousness, which is indefinite.
Jiddu Krishnamurti speaks brilliantly about the fact that there are no leaders. There is a wonderful website which offers some of his thoughts live. I read his book, “The Awakening of Intelligence” aloud to myself a few summer ago and actually felt a visceral consciousness growing as I read.
Briefly, Krishnamurti was discovered as a young boy and it was predicted that he was to be the “new world leader” by Blavatsky and Leadbetter, who were Theosophists, and were closely related to the Fourth Way. At the last moment, before he was “ordained” as the new living god, he bolted stating that there was no “leader” and that all must follow themselves.
He lived his life lecturing about that concept brilliantly.
Also see the book, “Madame Blavatsky’s Baboon”, which is a history of this fascinating woman, who was closely aligned with Gurdieff, et al., and explains her life as yet another charlatan in this lineage.
LL
91/ Veronicaper
It seems a foregone conclusion that the cigarette companies were unethical,yes. Same thing exactly is going on with global warming right now. The point is all these questionable behaviors are based on a general psychological condition of man. The earth is a prison. If men were more awake they could not do these things to each other. Everything works against a man awakening on this dear planet we are visiting. So I take help though it’s not perfect and am grateful for it. I couldn’t do it alone. From reading many, not all of the postings on this blog I can see many are spinning their wheels. It’s tough, it’s really hard to make progress, there’s so much you have to give up, stop doing, most of us just can’t give stuff up, we’re locked in, robotic and so used to it we can’t tell and will argue with anyone who tries to point it out to us! JM
Just me
I propose a little experiment. How about we engage in a dialogue. Doesn’t have to be in public on this blog, it can be private. You can write me at veronicapoe@gmail.com. It might take a little while to get back to you, but I will. The purpose of the dialogue, at least my purpose, will be to see if I can persuade you that you have been and are being subjected to unethical social influence in connection with your membership in the FOF. I might not succeed. You might even prove me wrong, though I doubt it. At worst I will bore and irritate you. At best you might find our dialogue interesting. I know I will. What do you say?
93/ laughin’ love
when politicians, corporations do these things to the detriment of people, the planet in shortsighted pursuit of their own immediate goals, well I guess it standard operating procedure on planet earth, I’ll just step down from my soap box on that one.
I simply must take exception to your comment “Robert is selling consciousness as if it were a commodity and as if he owns it and, importantly, as if he lives it.”
I do not know you , I don’t know who you are. This opinion you have expressed about RB is not something I could agree with (I’m trying to be sincere and just speak only of my own experience). For me, He is not selling consciousness, that is just a foreign concept. It cannot be a commodity, he cannot own it, he does appear to work very hard to live it. The money thing is difficult esp. when seen from outside. But we definetly get something for it, sometimes just sitting at a wonderful table in wonderful surroundings, it can make you BE there. It’s all voluntary! My current experience of RB is that he is doing everything he can to get us to realize the reward is uniquely ours and the efforts must be made by us alone, he cannot do it for us, he serves us by reminding us of this fairly constantly. So in conclusion, I feel your angle is misguided or misinformed. I just don’t have that experience of him at all. I’m not starry eyed about him like some either.
JM
Hello Just Me.
Well. I guess I was lucky. I have an intelligent, wise mother who I honor and appreciate more and more as the days pass. Your tacky t-shirt slogan is your’s, not mine.
I also have many female friendships which I nurture and tend with care since they are extraordinarily valuable. Likewise, I have numerous friendships with males that entirely assist me to further understand life and its complexities with regard to the differences between the sexes.
I guess I just don’t see females as a negative influence to abandon or avoid. (I believe the female populations surpasses that of the male at this time, so it would be pretty difficult to negate the sex.)
Inexplicable guilt or compulsions are universal flaws and cannot be blamed on females.
Labeling anything is static and unconscious since perceptions change as the moments pass.
I’m not very enthusiastic about being “cautioned” about anything. From what authority does one caution another?
Guilty about burping? Who feels guilty about burping? That is a human reflex brought about by eating poorly. It’s true that I rarely do so because I attempt to eat healthily and with consciousness. Still, if I do, I certainly do not attempt to pretend I’m not an animal, which my physical being belies every minute of the day.
LL
Hello Just Me.
I’m tired and cannot respond at the moment.
I will say that I really appreciate your thoughts and that you express them very well.
I hope that you will continue to participate!
LL
Hello Whalerider!
Thanks for your response.
It was very helpful.
I’m delighted that you appreciate my posts.
Entirely separate from that notion is the fact that you inspire and assist me with your thoughts always.
I also feel very emotional about your experiences and am amazed by your honesty.
Best,
LL
To Just Me.
If he is not “selling consciousness” why does he charge money?
LL
Just Me –
…I’m sharp enough to know my mind is not controlled… (Really?)
…I know that at first I thought he’d lost his mind, …
(Very accurate perception! You should have stayed with it.)
…but after a period of time I began to realize first that they were not as the general world assumes, …
(After a period of time… Something happened to your mind – the false all of a sudden became true. You should have trusted your first feeling! Oh yes, the “general world”… These asleep 99,9999%… but you imagine yourself above it, like, special, right?)
…I’m beginning to see patterns now…
(I guess it’s too late for you then. You’ll see more and more patterns, deeper meanings, keys, omens, numbers etc. It may be harder and harder for you to simply see things as they are without turning them into something.)
…but why am I wasting my time?
(I don’t know. Good question. I suggest going back to your sequence that works for you.)
GIRAFFE
“A rock painting from Algeria, dating to 100 AD, depicts a giraffe with nine circles, representing control of the passions.”
http://img46.imageshack.us/img46/7466/883phgiraffeinredpe8.jpg
Guys, I am so glad that we can know this now. 9 circles! Who would have guessed what it really means. And now we know!
“The intelligence of the creators of the images understanding they had no idea who or when someone would attempt to interpret them and knowing this to create a message that could even possibly be interpreted, so many thousands of years later, well…”
You’re right. Thank God it finally got interpreted! How useful. How deep.
If those creators only knew what happened to their innocent image many thousands of years later… If they could only see that a delusional man will eventually interpret it to fit his hideous teaching so he could make more money… And that other intelligent but brainwashed men will swallow this idiocy and even sing praises and ask for more… I bet you those poor cave-men would have washed this freakin giraffe off the wall!
Just remember what you said JM – “I know that at first I thought he’d lost his mind”…
This is the truth, right there. You saw it. Your conscience saw it.
The rest is mind control and self-bullshitting.
Just me:
“Same thing exactly is going on with global warming right now. The point is all these questionable behaviors are based on a general psychological condition of man.”
You mean the fact that men don’t respect their mother earth in our vain attempts to dominate her or drain her precious bodily fluids?…That certain powerful men value hoarding money and pursuing self-gratification at other’s expense more than consciousness? That they think people are expendable? That they think they have some kind of religious mandate to carry on fighting ‘evil forces’ despite the ‘collateral damage’, who are usually women and children? How is the Fellowship of Friends so different?
Hey veronicapoe, welcome back, glad you are here too!
101/ p awakening
You are telling me what I think, that’ not right in any book. You are choosing which perceptions of mine are correct and running with those to further your own position. You are spinning my contribution. I see it for what it is and move on. JM
100/ LL
that is not a very thoughtful or in depth response JM
104 Just Me
How about this response then?
You are a moronic brainwashed cult member.
JM – I’m just messing with you. I am not working with ‘no teasing’ exercise or any other exercise for that matter.
I find it hilarious that anyone in their sane mind can take new ‘teaching’ seriously… The amount of buffering one needs to do so must be huge.
How does your face look during the meeting when he tells you this outrageous make-no-sense-whatsoever bullshit. Do you buffer/smile, do you blush, do you put your eyes down? Because how the heck can you listen to this crap with straight face?
I mean, a man is sitting there eliminating his wildest imagination on you, like, he has an outbreak of some serious verbal diarrhea! He repeats himself, contradicts himself, gets entangled in his own interpretations… He is lost on the forest of his own imagination. Don’t you see that he is imagining all this stuff? How can anyone know what exactly the cavemen or Egyptians had in mind? Robert announces this like an absolute truth. And how can one verify this? One can’t, one has to become a total believer.
Does screwing from behind means Steward and Nine of Hearts engaging presence for you? May be you can share how to use this knowledge practically.
Do nipples seriously mean Be and Hold and penis – Long Be? Do spots on giraffe mean control of passions to you? Do holes in the flute mean wordless breaths to you? Wherever there is 6 elements – it must be the sequence. Even if it happens to be 6 shits.
Gimme a break. This stuff is retarded. Have some respect for your intelligence man.
Laughing Love wrote,
“Also relative is the absolute white bread make up of the membership. I know there are some Asian members, but doubt if there are any African Americans and probably very few Latinos.”
There are a few African Americans, and some African Europeans. There are Asian centers, in India, Japan, China. And there are lots of Mexican, central American and south American students. Robert enjoys an occasional black boy. Race doesn’t seem to be much of an issue in the FOF, and people divide along different lines–Russian/non-Russian, first world/third world, American/European. There’s quite an anti-American attitude prevalent at Isis.
Just me. #83
“I’m beginning to see patterns now…”
Ah yes, paisley, herringbone, tartan. That happened to me.
Next come the purple ants in groups of six.
“………..but why am I wasting my time?”
Why indeed!
My advice, skip the ants and go straight to the thirty
imperishable polkadot rhinos.
Love,
Ryan.
Yesri Baba,
#105
succint, elegant….you rambled a bit in the middle.
Just kidding about the middle. Really made me laugh
Thanks,
Ryan.
To Just Me and all
Thinking of usefulness of tools- the term Feminine Dominance for me would currently score around one and Conscience… ten.
Conscience seems to be a recognition and a holding of my heart. When I wake up in the morning, my cat pads silently into my room, magics her self onto the bed and with some delicacy settles on my chest with her front paws lightly resting on my neck. When I finally open my eyes her yellow ones are looking straight in to them.
I love these moments, her liberty, and the warm weight of her. After a while various angsts start to prickle. What happened with the gas bill? How could my sister have said that? The cat jumps up and I follow.
I notice that my daughter has stuck a piece of chewing gum on the book case, that there’s a smear of chocolate something on the Sofa. There’s a rush of panic when something forgotten is remembered. As I drift into the kitchen to make coffee, there’s regret about not having done the dishes last night. Busy hands in the hot water suddenly become motionless as it penetrates that what I did yesterday was very foolish, my face burns with shame.
In the past if I had had my wits (steward) about me, I might have responded to these unpleasant moments by saying: just separate; think about something else. This is just vanity. Come back to the present. Do a sequence. Now I use my wits to try to stay with the unpleasant. Why? Because it is part of the present.
It occurs to me that each time I have turned away from WHAT IS, no matter how noble sounding the rationale I have been buffering. If it occurs to me to stick with it, with out applying any words, what had been unpleasant becomes a wordless burning force the heart… it radiates through out the body, igniting.
Have you ever sat next to Robert at an event and smelled semen on his breath? A friend called me last year, she had decided to give her self a treat and go to an event. But her overwhelming experience was of revulsion. Instead of just living/riding the myriad of contradictions that the smell evoked she had tried to block it out; to re-model the present into a place where her beliefs could remain intact. She attempted to rationalise her self out of it: she kept telling herself how lucky she was, how she should focus on the impressions, how Robert was a conscious being, how there were certain things that she at her level couldn’t understand…
But the smell remained.
And what of Feminine Dominance. I now call it a variety of things such as ‘morality’ ‘socio-cultural programming’ or ‘the wish to be certain in advance that my feeling will be approved of’. These seem to be more accurate. As a woman I had always been slightly irritated and hurt by the term, but had seen it as a duty and opportunity to ‘separate’.
The important thing seems to be not to let the tool thieve from Conscience. I remember the tears streaming down my four year olds face as I dragged myself off to another meeting….
Now she’s thirteen and when she says “Mama you’ve gotta to see this cool pic of Bill” (from boy band) I try to break away from this letter, to really see what she’s showing me, and not to enrage her by saying that he looks like a girl.
Anna,
Thanks for another beautiful, personal post.
For myself, I have always related to Feminine Dominance as that influence that can keep us from going for what is Right, True and Beautiful no matter what our innerconsidering from society may tell us. As a woman, the first time I fell in love with another woman brought me smack up against it. Liberating and frightening at the same time. Ironically, leaving the Fellowship can also be work on just that.
Conscience to me these days is about recognizing the truth of my thoughts and actions, not buffering, avoiding disparity and harm.
Here are the latest membership stats:
April 2007 – 2035 (from the April FOF directory)
August 2007 – 1639 (+/- 5) (from Propylaia)
Cheers,
Bass
I am so tired, so tired o all the efforts I made so many years.
The skirts I bought and wore because Robert saw a women in the Rose garden and thought it was a boy. Within days the skirt exercise was installed
I am so tired of all the paid events I went to after Ka- ren John—–n told Robert that he could not have any money after a new load an dear Robert decided to start teaching events to increase his funds.
I am so tired of the contradiction of people who can hardly afford to pay their medical bills and Robert spends easy 20.000 dollars a day on shopping expensive presents and clothes for god may know who. ( Not for ladies BTW)
I am so tired of the people who are depressed in the fellowship, the people who asked Robert for help and for addiction on many levels ( alcohol, power, sex ) and Robert gives them pills or for the gravely sick he tells them this is how they will create a permanent tendency to awaken.
The Viagra distributions. the amount of sex he needs a day…Breath smelling like sperm…..
Dear Just me. I do not know what to say…there is so much evidence…we sacrificed so much, so many years. Some of us a lot more then others…the pain is sometimes unbearable…
Especially now I do not see Robert so much and when I see him, no smile, no eye contact. he ignores me…The Love I thought he had for years is so conditional…
Read Anna’s letter, aaah I have to give up. This breaks my heart and leads to nowhere. I can and do not want to convince you…wisdom can not be given through simple words…if you do not get it now….you have to go through the motions….yourself, Question yourself…let go of world 12 states search the 6 and 3 and the non states…
My best advise for you is to sit still, listen to you heart at least 15 minutes a day and listen to your conscience. Just be still and breath……The answers will come.
And when you are seeing things in a different light, there will be help and friends who went through the same.
It is all a matter of time……
What??? $20,000 spending money a day? Breath that smells like sperm? That’s it. Something CRIMINAL going on here.
Speaking again without permission from Vera-Mente we want MONIES. For TIME WASTED. PRICELESS. But, we will settle for JUST COMPENSATION. Out of the courtroom into the light.
I want $10,000 cash. A red 1944 Lincoln convertible, a black thoroughbred colt, a panama hat, 10,000 acres for my horse, and adequate income for life.
Breath that smells like sperm? GOD ALMIGHTY!!!!!!!
Hello ‘Somebody’ (61) ~
“Hei, Unoanimo, do you by any chance know Zach? I miss him…”
___________________
Hummm…. Maybe, I know pretty much everyone; describe please, as if the police were looking for him having been rumored to be abducted by Coercive, ‘look what sugar daddy got for you, nice Valium prescription, some porno videos, all the Viagra you can handle and a Hermes tie’, sexual predator.
Hello ‘Innernaut’ ~ (52)
“…what’s the big deal about the Nut Tree restaurant?”
__________________
Innernaut, you’re joking right? This of course was before the days of ‘keying’ (externally), before our conscious Man #-1 began exchanging the aspiring images of ‘his’ soul seeking students essences for cave paintings, quieting them up so he could stay on top of the ‘Nut Tree’.
Robert Burton has a very diabolical sense of self importance and bone grinding humor; the ‘nut tree’ is most likely in the same ’self-hypnotic keepsake token-category’ as the massive phallic palm trees fizzing all over Isis, but hey, nice place for the family to have a picnic under… BTW, stay off the grass; that’s only for Robert and the boys (and the ballet dancers).
Hello ‘Mole’ ~ (43)
You wrote ~
“whereas porn gives them the depersonalization they require”
____________________
Sure, along with the theory of ‘Feminine Dominance’; I believe they go ‘hand in hand’ or ‘hand in teacher’s bottom’, I’ll let ‘Just me’ choose; after all it’s a ‘conscious’ democracy.
Hey ‘Just Me’ ~ (81)
You wrote ~
“…would you allow cameras cell phone news crews in your bedroom, gimme a break.”
_____________________
‘Just Me’, Wow, are you Siddiq’s little or big brother? You sound so familiar, my toaster-list is beginning to yearn.
Well, that’s not a question for either of us (I think); yet, actually, it would not be out of fashion for such a ’seasoned beyond flavor recognition’ homegrown Oregon House porn star such as Robert Burton to have some ‘teaser videos’ or ‘instructional tip-toe-through the tulips’ for Asaf’s continuing of his legacy…
So, just to keep things (the parody of the parody) ‘All in the family’, the warning was for the possible onslaught of newer student voyeurisms, (those needing the verify the blog) and The Appeal Democrat ‘zombies’…
After all, you don’t think RB uses that trap door simply for emergencies do you, it’s not called ‘trap door’ for nothing.
With all the free time you have waiting for the next ‘Keying Group’ and Robert’s ‘this isn’t narcissistic enough, spin it some more’ glide overs (not to mention Asaf’s ‘Ah hugh’s ‘) you might take a stroll over to Res Ipsa Loquitor and peek into the ‘deeds’ and ‘treasure trove’ of the Fellowship of Friends, after all, it’s what all this affirmative ’stuffed angel hanging by fishing line’ is all about, keeping you locked into the only way out…
one thing is ‘true’, no one will leave the Fellowship of Friends till they are ready, that’s a mystery none can hurry or explain, yet, the material to assist the curious, the graduate to move on is here and in many ways, always has been, embedded down deep in your conscience…
No matter though, because if you cannot risk bursting your earth-lungs to dive way down there to get the pearl, your pearl, then that’s that, another time in this one and only moment.
_______________________
Anna ~
Thank you for that; your letters ‘keep it real’ for so many in this cocoon-time. I love it when my cat walks to me, self interested and all, takes, gives some deep resonating purrs and moves on; doesn’t leave $800 dollar Panama Jack hats in my cars front seat (no thanks Dorian, get a real job or bob, ‘Just Me’, you choose.)
______________________
Hello ‘Laughing Love’ (77)
Just a note to say that I wrote something concerning this subject way back somewhere in Part 16 I believe, no further back than 15… take a peek.
____________________________
Whalerider ~
Message received; the wood roaches are trumpeting 6000 and the daisies are in the hamburger, I repeat, the wood roaches are trumpeting 6000 and the daisies are in the hamburger…out.
______________
l.t.y.a.
Arthur ~
Wow… are you using Whalerider’s Rolex-telepathic-line? Ah, I don’t think you’ve initiated for that (maybe you’re higher up than my sources disclosed)… I wrote the bit about the ‘Panama Jack’ hat before reading your post, which I could only ’see/access’ (after) I submitted mine…weirdy.
;’)
HERPES a sexual transmitted viral disease. INCURABLE. In the state of California Supreme Court Kathleen W. vs Robert B. awarded compensation. BATTERY.
Robert Burton has HERPES for 27 years? Forces sex that’s BATTERY.
Sorry! It was Kathleen K vs Robert B. and it was a civil case sucessfully brought to a conclusion by the California Court of Appeals.
It’s NEGLIGENCE if accidental and BATTERY if deliberate.
Dear Friends, Anne Tuder asked me to post this here. So here it is.
Dear Friends,
Leaving the FOF was a relatively easy thing to do. However, coming to grips with the fact that it had taken me 5 ‘long’ years to ‘wake up’ to Robert’s ‘outrageous’ (Initially, I used the word ‘preposterous’.) claims regarding his own person, hasn’t been so easy at all. Perhaps I needed to verify for myself that ‘imagination indeed satisfies all centres”. Be that as it may, a pressing question facing me now is how to protect myself from falling into a similar trap again. Is there anyone out there who could help me to answer this very important question?
Michael
Prochazka
“It’s also very Caucasian homosexual.”
If I ever form my own band, that’s the name:
“The Very Caucasian Homosexuals”
(I wonder how Freudian this is?)
I might like to throw “Casual” into the name somewhere. Please feel free to weigh in on this matter.
Someone asked earlier about how students keep a straight face in current meetings. Here’s a Warning-Signs-You’re-On-Your-Way-Out story:
Guinnevere was a travelling teacher visiting our center sometime in the late ’90s. She was leading a meeting on Saturday night and even the people who didn’t come to meetings anymore were going to be there. I had a music gig that evening so I arrived late with a huge amount of light-hearted, positive energy circulating in me. Maybe I was in what we use to call “Essence”. I walked in the door, or should I say snuck in, and stood for a while in the foyer dispassionately witnessing the whole scene. I was struck by the incredibly heavy energy in the room. Why was everyone sooo serious? G was going on and on about something and everyone was sitting in their seats like a repentant elementary school class receiving admonishment from Mother Superior.
At an appropriate interlude in the action, I grab a folding chair and slip into place in the circle. I am seated directly across from Mike and Don, a couple of rogue thinkers and good friends. The kiddy classroom vibe continues no matter how hard I try to turn it off. “Come on, now”, some voice is saying, “this is serious stuff.” And yet, my whole being seems to be infused with this eight year-old child yelling, “Hey, lookit all these people all dressed up playing pretend.”
Everyone is quiet for a moment. I look at Don and he’s obviously doing his best good student act, but I can see the smirk right there at the corners of his lips. Mike is studying his tie. He then proceeds to roll it up from the bottom to about mid-chest and let it roll back down. I’m not sure if he is intentionally doing this for me, he had told me a couple of months before that he always plays with his tie when meetings bore him, or if he’s just amusing himself.
Somehow the subject turns to love. Can’t remember the exact question, but we’re on to love. G starts the Robert engine, “Of course as Men #4 we cannot know what love is…” And then she says, “Perhaps we could start with a flower. One could try to love a flower. One could make that one’s aim for several months.” Do I detect a smile on Don’s lips? Is Mike’s tie flying up and down his chest like a gag blind in an old I Love Lucy episode, or is just my imagination (running away with me). I feel a sudden impulse to laugh. I stifle it and stare at the oriental carpet at my feet.
“..and then after learning to love the flower, one could move onto a small dog, perhaps.” That was it. “a small dog.” Don’t defeat your will by starting with a large dog. A burst of laughter exploded from my mouth, although it felt as if it jumped right out of my chest. I tried to disguise it as a cough, but I could tell by the faces around me, no one was buying it. And on G went with the ladder of love for man #4. I couldn’t stop The Laugh. I have to pretend that I’m having a coughing fit and leave the room. I’m standing in the Kitchen and I can’t stop laughing. I try several times to compose myself and return and each time I come un-glued as I enter the room. Finally, I pull it together and return.
Photograph received. (one from G, one from center directors, one from myself)
The moral of the story is be careful (isn’t that always the moral), for if you start to laugh at meetings you will lose the school.
And remember, Uncle Gurdj says: “There is no laughter in higher centers.”
113 Arthur
Dear Arthur,
yes it would be wonderful to be repaid back from the time and efforts lost to RB.
But I doubt there is a way to make this possible.
Indsight is always 20/20, if I could change something of the past I would have put a big stink about moving to Renaissance because my spouse was needed.
I would have said NO!instead I obeyed and got sick for a change.
Then when I got sick I had no medical insurance and a minimum wage of maybe 700 dollars a month for a family of 3.
Poverty settled in even deeper: visits to the Health and Welfare Dep., in Yuba City or Marysville (I forgot)…
I had a brief vacation from making teaching payments, later the “sweet” F…cis Th…son harrassing me and with cultish stupidity I made a few payment with credit cards, in the meantime there was no money to pay a rent. This is what happens to the people who were sucked in on salary without previous assets.
Bad choices, you pay for almost a lifetime.
Yes, I want RB to go, his students to go and get a piece of property on slope 19, 5 or more acres for all the physical and moral damages sustained. What do you think?
(I know these words will create an fof stink!)
Warning-Signs-You’re-On-Your-Way-Out:
1. Laughing During Meetings
2. Skinny-dipping noisily with others in the teaching house pool at 2:00 a.m.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Just Me: I simply must take exception to your comment “Robert is selling consciousness as if it were a commodity and as if he owns it and, importantly, as if he lives it.”
The emphasis on money in the Fellowhip is simply overwhelming. Isn’t it obvious? As soon as a “teacher” asks “students” for more than basic expenses (renting a room etc.) he becomes corrupted.
Nisargadatta was approached by American students asking him if they could set up a fund to buy him a car and rent him a nicer apartment. He told them to get lost.
Vera-Mente #119: Remember TIME is a big thing in the 4th Way . Time is counted whether productive or WASTED.
5 acres of FOF property? Hold on to that thought. If I remember correctly we were in an publically advertised 4th way school founded at the inception on deception.
In America that’s cause for significant compensation.
#86, Just Me:
“I’m sharp enough to know my mind is not controlled. ”
So was I friend, so was I.
“Mind control? Everybody else’s minds are controlled, I’m getting free of mind control. Everybody else is too asleep to see the truth. And this isn’t a cult. All those other groups may be cults, but this one is different. Yes, I know they all say they’re different, but this one REALLY IS different. If they can’t see it then they can continue to sleep. If you think about it, it’s a perfect cover for a conscious school — to look like an ordinary cult. C influence devised the play to protect the Fellowship — sleeping people would destroy us if they knew we were a real conscious school. It’s brilliant — we’re hiding out in the open. It’s amazing really, how lucky we are. And so what if Robert is using our money to buy expensive trinkets and pay students to have sex with him. He’s conscious and we can’t understand the higher. It’s a play C influence created to give us friction to separate from — it’s a test to force us to separate from the lower self that’s concerned about those boys’ welfare. That’s just feminine dominance anyway. But I think for myself about all these things. Mind control? Yeah right.”
About laughter:
“Buddha’s laughter is both an expression of, and a inspiration for, enlightenment. ”
Now, from Robert:
****************************
Dear Friends,
The Teacher has requested that we work with an exercise of not laughing for one month, until November 23. The exercise applies only to the Apollo d’Oro area. Robert noticed that the seven of hearts is more prone to occupy space around food, and the aim of the exercise is to help us gain control over this part of our machine.
Linda T., Apollo
******************************
Dear Friends,
Robert wishes us to resume indefinitely the exercise of not laughing around the dining table, as the King of Clubs particularly uses this circumstance to lure us away from the present.
On his last journey, while dining with friends in Abu Simbel, Robert observed a neighboring table, whose diners were laughing loudly. Because Robert and his entourage had set the aim at the beginning of their travel not to engage in laughter around the table, observing this table of non-students was a useful lesson for them. Robert commented, “C Influence are great teachers. Observing this table laughing is an even more useful lesson than the ancient site we just visited.” Robert gave several angles about laughter, but towards the end, a new connection came to his mind. “I only now realize that the Chartres devil is laughing, showing that through laughter the king of clubs overthrows the nine of hearts.”
Linda T., Apollo
From Robert: Laughter is far from innocent.
************************************
Dear Friends around the world,
Robert sends us the following message, with his love.
Thank you for giving up artificial laughter for real presence. It is the key to success for our school; one of the few instances one gets something for nothing.
In friendship,
Linda T., Isis
***********************************
Dear friends,
Robert sends the following message to students around the world, with his love.
When you are at the table, please avoid sharing funny stories that are true, such as humorous incidents that have actually happened. In the guise of telling the truth, the lower self is trying to introduce laughter and open the door to the seven of hearts. Please reserve such stories for other occasions to avoid laughter around the table.
In presence,
Linda T, Isis
**************************************
Dear Friends,
The Teacher requests that when a picture is being taken of us, we should try to be moderate in our smile and not show our teeth. Robert points out that the instinctive center, being animal intelligence in human form, likes to display its teeth.
The poster below illustrates the point.
In friendship,
Linda T, Isis
******************************
Dear Friends,
Attached are two images that Robert related to his recent request that we not show our teeth when a picture is taken of us. In both cases, the devil’s teeth are showing.
With love, from Buenos Aires.
Linda T.
*****************************
http://img409.imageshack.us/img409/1730/laughterkv5.jpg
Re: Post 124 from Purchase awakening
Why does reading these make me so angry? Guess I’ve still got some work to do.
Here is a story from this year, sometime around the beginning of April:
Wednesday we had our first meeting on the prehistorics. I hadn’t read the Thoughts yet, so everything was fresh. Long (but not tedious) angles. Interesting cave drawing images, connected to other images we have already seen, mainly from Egypt. Though the explainations were obviously stretching the point, it was enjoyable seeing and hearing all this out of patterns material. I was content to just be present and have no “I’s”. Then S. began his angle, and X. held up the image which was of a couple having sex, “dog style”. It looked like prehistoric graffiti. At first I thought it was two men, but then Robert began explaining the woman as the nine of hearts, and the man entering her as the steward. The absurdity mounted. I began to laugh, and tried to control myself, so that when it finally broke out into the room it was more of a snort(!). There were five other students there, faces turned to me while I struggled to control myself and S. continued reading. Then X. began to laugh, then Y., then Z. (a newer student), then S., and finally A.. The effort to try to control myself and the absurdity of it all caused tears to run down my cheeks, while S. tried to continue to read. The steward’s arms and legs were long be and short be etc… But then he would break up into uncontrollable laughter, too. Something about “intercourse” and “irrefutable evidence”. I was looking around and taking in impressions, mouth open for big gulps of air. It took a few minutes but we all made it through the angle and our collective fit. An amazing state. After the meeting we spoke about it together, and also later with Y. in the night by the car. All I can say is that it produced the third state for the rest of the evening (including the hour and half drive home) in me and in some of the other students who just rode the wave and did not get stuck in the “I’s” about it. I treasure that edge of insanity/sanity that sometimes the play and sometimes Robert can bring us to, if we let him. Last night was a small taste of his speciality. How bizarre, how bizarre….
Well, that was in April…
Cheers,
Bass
Dear Purchasing Awakening:
“I find it hilarious that anyone in their sane mind can take new ‘teaching’ seriously…”
Hence the no laughter exercise. You might choke on your own vomit. Save lives, saves teaching payments. Everyone a winner.
I am so glad you are here.
Question: WHERE IS THE BISTRO MONEY?
“the Teacher will use these funds to rebuild the Bistro” – OK, did he? Or could he lie to us again?
“All your generous birthday gifts will be going to the Bistro rebuilding project.”
So… where is it? The plan was to re-open the Bistro by July 4th, 2006
WHAT HAPPENED?
Were you informed how your money was used?
************************
March 15, 2006
Dear Friends:
On Sunday, March 19th, Robert will celebrate his 30th Crystallization anniversary….
…We can express our gratitude to Robert by giving donations through the Fellowship of Friends to honor his 30th Crystallization anniversary.
In turn, the Teacher will use these funds to rebuild the Bistro, which was destroyed by fire in June 2004. The Bistro project is our new focus for 2006.
You may send your donations with a beautiful card directly to Robert at the Galleria or log onto Propylaia and follow the links to contribute on line. All donations are appreciated and tax deductible. Our goal is to raise $200,000.00 for the rebuilding of the Bistro.
Love,
Patricia Ch.
Isis
************************************
March 17,2006
Dear Friends:
For those of you who have already contributed to our fund for re-building the Bistro, a sincere thank-you…
Your donations are helping us reach our goal of raising $205,000.00 in efforts to reopen the Bistro on
July 4th, which is the 35th anniversary of Isis.
In a recent daily card Robert said,
“We have many events in order to strengthen one another, so that we become too strong for the lower self.”
And now he is aiming for us collectively to re-establish the Bistro, which shall provide another enchanting venue
for being present and strengthening ourselves with our 30 Work I’s.
The projected monthly financial requirements for construction at this time are:
March $40,000.00 April $35,000.00
May $55,000.00 June & July $75,000.00
Suggested contributions are: $5000, $2500, $1000, $750, $500, $250, $100, $75, $50, $25
Your gifts to Robert for his 30th Crystallization Anniversary Sunday, March 19th and his birthday May 12th can be given
as donations to the Fellowship of Friends as a way of supporting the Bistro project. When paying by check please make payable to:
Fellowship of Friends
Post Office Box 100
Oregon House, CA 95962
If you prefer to pay by credit card, log onto: http://www.propylaia.org/
and click to go to ‘Donate to Bistro Project’
Your donations are truly appreciated.
With love & gratitude, Patricia Ch., Isis
Buddha: Right efforts stand for control of passions.
**************************************
Dear Friends,
On May 12th we shall celebrate our Teacher’s birthday.
Robert has asked that all birthday gifts to him be made in the form of cash donations to the FOF Projects Fund, with the aim to rebuild the Bistro.
This year’s gifts are particularly special as they will help realize the aim to rebuild the Bistro ~
Once again we are going to witness a miraculous new development at Isis.
All your generous birthday gifts will be going to the Bistro rebuilding project.
To give Robert a birthday gift, you may send a check made out to:
Fellowship of Friends
Post Office Box 609
Oregon House, CA 95962
************************************
May 2006
My dear friends,
Tomorrow, May 12th is Robert’s birthday. Robert is asking that your gifts for his birthday be donations to the Fellowship of Friends as a way of supporting the Bistro project.
A gift to the Teacher is as much for oneself as for him.
Robert enjoys the beautiful cards and notes sent to him at the Galleria. So you may wish to send him your card with a contribution. Note on check ‘Bistro’ and make it out to FOF.
Other options are to mail a check (made to FOF) and mail to:
Fellowship of Friends
P.O. Box 609
Oregon House, CA 95962
Also, you may prefer to use your credit card on-line by logging onto Propylaia.org and following the links “Donate to Bistro Project.”
************************************
June 6, 2006
Dear Friends,
On the evening of Thursday, June 15th, you are invited to dine with Robert and friends at a lovely fund raiser that will help us rebuild the Bistro.
This event will be held at the home of A & P Ch., who shall be providing fine wines to complement the artfully prepared dinner by Ilya.
Time 6:30 PM
Dinner is for 20 with 8 standing room places available.
Cost of the dinner is $350 per person. (Three time payments are available)
Standing room can be reserved for $75 per person
To reserve please telephone P. at 692—-
************************************
That was it. No more talking about the Bistro or the funds raised.
“A gift to the Teacher is as much for oneself as for him.”
Great, then I’ll just keep my cash and cut out the middle-man.
agent unoanimo:
Just a reminder: in all telepathic communications under code name: “conscience” be sure to double check and cross check message with your trusty gut reaction decoder already implanted just below the skin of your solar plexius. There are a lot of cell phones jamming up the air waves these days…
Purchasing Awakening (128): Someone should frame this post, and others.
“Suggested contributions are: $5000, $2500, $1000, $750, $500, $250, $100, $75, $50, $25… Once again we are going to witness a miraculous new development at Isis.”
“That was it. No more talking about the Bistro or the funds raised.”
I’m sure there’s a logical explanation. Maybe the “Bistro Project” was a code name for a top-secret initiative — and it may have something to do with expensive travel plans.
One of the most effective examples of mind-control in the fof, which to this day still impresses me, is the discouragement of any questions or discussion related to money — where it’s coming from, what it’s being used for, why so much of it is needed, and so on. We were very effectively held in check by the notion that it just wasn’t our business where the money was going — where our money was going — and that any questions in this regard indicated weakness and “sleep.”
Ironic, because our inability to ask these questions was a very obvious example of our sleep.
By the way, take a look at those figures… $5,000, $2,500, etc… Amazing that the government is picking up the tab for about one-third of that based on the FoF’s status as a “religious organization.” Good to know that U.S tax dollars are going to a good cause — the “Bistro Project.”
———————————
118 Kid Shelleen: Great story! Someone needs to frame that one as well. Thanks for the laughs.
———————————
126 Bass Ackwards: I loved your story, too, although it’s hard for me to tell what conclusions, if any, you drew from it. My sense is that this is one of the reasons FOR the no-laughter exercise. Reactions of laughter are very immediate and not “well thought out”, so there’s no time for us to think about what people will accept before we react.
That’s the last thing you want when you are trying for a “collective mind” that supports the hidden agendas of the group’s leadership.
———————————
A quick comment to everyone still in the FOF who may be reading the blog: I send my best wishes and love to all of you.
Dear Friends,
Robert wishes us to resume indefinitely the exercise of not laughing around the dining table, as the King of Clubs particularly uses this circumstance to lure us away from the present.
Linda T., Apollo
From Robert: Laughter is far from innocent.
****************
Actually, little repels the King of Clubs more effectively than laughter. The King of Clubs is put to sleep by the Jack of Hearts. Remember being scared, being spooked, by a ghost story and then laughing it off? Remember the relief when that eerie feeling that there was some possible unseen menace in the world dissipating through the familiar sense that it was just the product of an overactive imagination while laughing released all the tension?
The ignorant poofter RB makes this nonsense up and feeds it to his hogs for no better reason than something gets on his nerves, something disturbs his King of Clubs.
One more exercise comes to mind. At some point all foreign students had to stop speaking their language at the Apollo d’Oro and speak English ONLY. The “official” explanation was that we are more asleep when speaking our mother language. That of coarse left all English speaking students “out of luck” to practice awakening.
Guess what was the reason for that exercise? I laughed when I found out. RB’s boys (whose majority is Russian now days) were talking about girls at the Galleria kitchen, and Robert felt the energy but could not understand a word. So, the new law came about by the “iron fist”.
There were good times – no more language barriers between Italians, Russians, Romanians, Dutch, German, Mexicans etc…
But soon RB cooled off and the exercise was released.
It is interesting to consider how excersises come about. Many are the result of something that gets on Robert Burton’s nerves as Graduates says. A clear aspect of Burton’s psychosis is that he attributes an objective and disproportionate value to his own ‘I’s.
For example there was a student who lived at the Galleria 15 years ago who was a pretty raw, casual type. Because Robert had him around for a while we got a bunch of excersises relating to table manners; elbows off the table, don’t talk with food in your mouth, use your knife and fork, don’t lift your plate to your mouth, pause between mouthfulls, try to taste your food. In fact exactly the kind of things one would tell a child. Now, it is fine to adopt these standards and in the US many folks find it an effort, but what has this to do with awakening. If you really want to go against the machine , how about not playing along with Robert Burton and his phony cronies.
Yes, somebody 133, I also recall that some Russian male students took the language exercise even more seriously: they started to talk to their wives at home in English, often very poor English. I heard it from complaining wives.
What lunacy.
Happy Birthday! No kidding.
Dear friends,
Regarding celebrating our birthdays, the Teacher wishes to remind us to use this event as an opportunity to be in intellectual parts of centers, and specifically to try to avoid excessive laughter. Robert observed that the seven of hearts, the intellectual part of the queen of hearts, actually thinks it is its birthday, and would reduce us to its own world by indulging in jokes. Birthdays are another reminder to focus on being twice born through divided attention.
In friendship,
Linda T
I think that probably the reason RB instituted the ‘no laughing’ excercise is because laughter, humor, ridicule, satire, joking, kidding around, etc. are very effective ways of puncturing the pomposity and pretense of the Fellowship. Kid Shelleen’s and Bass’s stories illustrate this well.
Reading that series of edicts from RB via Linda, each one increasingly oppressive and creepy, made me so grateful to be out of the humorless hell hole that is the FOF.
Hey~? What happened to ‘Just Me’? I guess it what the “sperm on his breath” line, gets them B-Influencers all the time…
____________
Hello ‘Kid Shelleen’ ~
Loved your story, hee hee… gosh; Robert also does something similar to your friend rolling up and down his tie when he’s bored, ‘conscious beings’ go a few steps higher or shall we say lower…
__________________
Hello Vera.mente ~
I’ve got dibs on the Mercedes; there’s a demolition derby next spring that I want to enter it into.
__________________
Purchasing Awakening ~
Thank you for those advertisement copies; the money never went anywhere other than into Robert Burton’s pocket; he cares no more for the Bistro than he does for the winery or the bathrooms at the Apollo D’Oro or Town Hall… gotta buy those (palm) trees and keep expanding his walkways; oh, and don’t forget those insurance premiums and Troy Buzbee’s monthly stipend check.
_________________________________________
About slaughter:
“Robert’s laughter behind closed doors is both an expression of your easy money, and a inspiration for, more of it.”
Now, from Robert: Ka Ching!
****************************
Dear Friends,
The Teacher has requested that we work with an exercise of not thinking of retirement nest eggs for one month, until November 23, 3040. The exercise applies only to the Apollo d’Oro area and a 5000 mile radius thereof. Robert noticed that seven thousand dollars is more prone to occupy space around Christmas time, and the aim of the exercise is to help him gain control over this part of your budget.
Linda T., Apollo
******************************
Dear Friends,
Robert wishes us to resume indefinitely the exercise of not thinking of the retirement nest egg (and children/spousal health care) around the Earth’s crust, as our King of Consciousness particularly loves to use this circumstance to ‘consciously’ lure us away from the Savings Account.
On his last “I’ve got all yo money” journey, while dining with friends in the Mercedes, Robert observed a neighboring idling vehicle, whose drivers were laughing loudly at a mini DVD movie of ‘My Private Idaho’ playing on the backside of the seat. Because Robert and his coerced Russia sex-mafia had set the aim at the beginning of their “I’ve got all yo money” travel not to engage in conscience around the Earth’s crust, observing this idling car of non-dead was not a useful lesson for them. Robert commented, “C Influence are great preachers. Observing this idling car laughing is an even more worthless lesson than the ancient site we just bombed.” Robert gave several angles about theater and movie making, but towards the some new student’s end, a new connection came to his mid-section. “I only now realize that this reflection here next to me, a really handsome devil, is laughing, showing that through laughter the king of consciousness overthrows the nude of no hearts.”
Linda T., Apollo
From Robert: Laughter is far from yo money and innocently weighs allot carrying to Sweden.
************************************
Dear Friends around the Nut Tree,
Robert sends us the following mess, with his black ribbed latex glove.
Thank you for giving artificial laughter instead of real presence; it reminds me of a time when I too practiced laughing and smiling, just there, right there where you are standing. It is the key to success for my school; one of the few instances one gets nothing for all yo money.
In fiend-ship,
Linda T., Isis
***********************************
Dear friends,
Robert descends the following massage to students around the world, with his glove.
When you are at your conscience, please avoid sharing factual stories about me that are true, such as humorous incidents that have actually happened without my permission. In the guise of telling the truth, I, the lower self am trying to introduce “I’ve got all yo money” laughter and open the door to that seven thousand dollar Christmas thing. Please reverse such stories for other occasions, like for your next lifetime, to avoid conscience around the Earth’s crust and Pizza Hut’s too. Thought I forgot that one huh!? Yep, being conscious is some tricky business, hey, and Dominoes pizza in transit counts too; hey ho, yep, Man #8 is almost upon ya, look out Tombstone pizza.
In presence,
Linda T, Isis
**************************************
Dear Almost Friends,
The Teacher requests that when a picture is being taken of us in jail, we should try to be moderate in our admitting how much we actually had in our bank accounts and not show our real check book. Robert points out that the instinctive center, even in jail, being animal intelligence in human form, likes to play hard to get, Robert accepts checks from jail too… Isn’t this fun!
The poser below illustrates the point.
In yo face,
Linda T, Isis
******************************
Dear Friends,
Attached are two hypnotically charged with more hypnotically charged wiseacring images that Robert regurgitated out upon the floor from his recent ribs and Texan pickle sause dinner that we not show our teeth when a picture is taken of us regurgitating. In both cases, the rib meat and pickle rinds are showing.
With glove, from Bending over and still not getting any,
Not wishing I was you,
Lights Twinkling, me, me, me
____________________________
:.}
Playing with food:
Dear friends,
Regarding the new exercise of setting aside the first bite of food, this only applies to the initial act of eating: whether the meal includes one course or several, one is to set aside the first bite of only one of the courses, not the first bite of each course. Moreover, the Teacher is encouraging us to choose the bite that is the most attractive to the instinctive center, both in selection and in size, as it is the bite the instinctive is most reluctant to relinquish.
The exercise is designed to show us how important food is for the instinctive center, when in fact what is truly important in that moment is consciously controlling the instinctive brain.
Thank you for your diligence.
Linda T
*****************************
Dear Friends,
To further clarify the exercise of setting aside the first bite, we are to set aside the very first bite of our breakfast, lunch, or dinner meal, and not the first bite of the principle course if we are having more than one course at the meal. The idea is that this exercise is most effective when the machine is hungry and most interested in food, not when it has already taken a few bites from the course before the principle one.
Our Teacher comments that when we put the first bite aside, we are making an offering to our own presence.
Thank you.
Linda T
**************************
This idiotic exercise created “first bite policeman’ at almost every dining table. I am sure you know what I am talking about. Also it helps to promote one’s vanity since students often try to make sure that our first bite is noticed by others at the table. Some choose the best bite and later talk about how they managed to put it aside. This is self-delusion.
“The exercise is designed to show us how important food is for the instinctive center…” – Duh! do you need an exercise to be shown this? I though it is pretty obvious. Does anyone have doubts about importance of food and nutrition?
How about… simply eating? Why not enjoy your meal without all this silly circus?
What I used to think was really funny was when the other people at the table would say “Can I have your first bite?” before you started to eat – usually folks on salary.
#92, Just Me:
“or the fact that Mother’s day is always a bigger deal than Father’s day.”
Not in my house it isn’t.
“I refers more to the internal automatic behaviors associated with an unexplainable guilt or compulsion to act.”
This explains my experience in the Fellowship of Friends to a “T.” My level of “unexplainable guilt” has dramatically decreased since leaving.
It appears we have #3 for Kathleen’s list (post 120)…
Warning-Signs-You’re-On-Your-Way-Out:
1. Laughing During Meetings
2. Skinny-dipping noisily with others in the teaching house pool at 2:00 a.m.
3. Simply eating.
4.
etc.
Put aside first bite?
Lunatics.
#120, Was Kathleen W:
“Warning-Signs-You’re-On-Your-Way-Out:
1. Laughing During Meetings
2. Skinny-dipping noisily with others in the teaching house pool at 2:00 a.m.”
3. Suggesting to a student one has just met that we do mushrooms together — real soon.
4. Surfing.
5. Returning to the only kind of guitar playing one was ever really good at: rock & roll.
6. Feeling oddly reassured when a student confesses they have a very negative attitude towards Robert.
7. Admitting to oneself that if one ever hears Vivaldi’s Four Seasons again, one will puke.
8. Admitting to oneself that all those cutesy cherubs everywhere are just kitschy, overly precious junk.
9. Being happy at having an ironclad excuse for missing a meeting.
10. Starting to add up all the money one is about to save when one stops making teaching payments.
126 Bass Ackwards: “I treasure that edge of insanity/sanity that sometimes the play and sometimes Robert can bring us to, if we let him.”
Didn’t quite get this. Do you believe Burton is deliberately giving absurd angles so that students can have a good laugh and get into what you call the third state? Or am I misunderstanding?
regards, RN
Where is OUR BISTRO? What happened to the funds we donated?
Dear Friends,
Our Teacher has launched a new beginning for the Bistro; it is being rebuilt in the same location at Isis. Work has already begun..
Several special celebrations are coming also: Valentine’s Day, Robert’s 30th Crystallization anniversary on March 19th, as well as his birthday on May 12th.
Robert has requested that gifts for him be given as donations to the Fellowship of Friends, which will be used for the rebuilding of the Bistro. Further information will be forthcoming.
Your continued and reliable valuation is much appreciated.
Love,
Patricia Ch
Isis
************************************
Robert has returned to Isis and we continue making Isis more beautiful and useful. In this spirit, Robert is asking that your gifts to him for Valentine’s Day, his 30th Crystallization anniversary March 19th and his birthday May 12th be given as donations to the Fellowship of Friends, in order to continue contruction of the Bistro, which was destroyed by fire eighteen months ago. The Bistro project is our new focus for this year.
You may send your donations with a beautiful card directly to Robert at the Galleria or go to Propylaia and follow the links to contribute online. All donations are appreciated.
Love,
Patricia Ch
Isis
*************************************
March 2006
Dear Friends:
Many thanks to all of you who have already contributed to our fund for re-building the Bistro.
Your donations have brought in about 10% of the $200,000.00 needed at this time to reopen the Bistro on
July 4th, which is the 35th anniversary of Isis.
In Wednesday’s daily card Robert wrote,
“We have many events in order to strengthen one another, so that we become too strong for the lower self.”
And now he is aiming for us collectively to re-establish the Bistro, which shall provide another enchanting venue
for being present and strengthening ourselves with our 30 Work I’s.
************************************
Dear Friends,
So many of you are responding positively to the Bistro Fund emails and wish to contribute. Here are more details on sending gifts:
When paying by checks please make payable to:
Fellowship of Friends
Post Office Box 100
Oregon House, CA 95962
************************************
OK, I get it. He asked for the gift money to go through FOF as tax-free donations (and not his personal taxable income). This is smart and also makes him look good.
And then… it looks like he simply spent it on god knows what.
I haven’t heard anything about the Bistro project for over a year. Does anyone know the details? What’s up?
Members of the ‘church’ have a right to know how their donations are spent.
Anna 110: “Thinking of usefulness of tools- the term Feminine Dominance for me would currently score around one and Conscience… ten.”
Totally agree about FD – an utterly useless concept typical of the navel-gazing aspect of the Fellowship of Friends. Best to forget about it.
Conscience is bit more tricky. You say “Conscience seems to be a recognition and a holding of my heart”. This is not easy to write about but: Is there an implication here that you can choose to do the “right” or “wrong” thing depending on whether or not you listen to your conscience? It doesn’t seem to me to be that way – it all just happens in awareness with no control from me at all. But there is a kind of knowing of what’s true and what’s not. This seems to come from awareness, rather than from any part of “me”, however. Difficult to describe….
x RN
Uno 138
One of the funniest things I’ve read in a long time.
From: Linda T
To: students@beingpresent.org
Sent: Monday, March 6, 2006
Subject: [Students] Message from the Teacher: Thirty Imperishable Stars
Dear Friends,
Robert is asking students to keep making efforts to support the fine press publications of the “Thirty Imperishable Stars”. These publications will continue to come out quarterly, and are the best nourishment we can partake of in literature. They are publications that have a lasting value.
They are more significant than we realize. It is difficult for us to value what is happening in our times, and it will be easier for posterity to recognize their true value, in that they serve as milestones in our teaching. We will always be known for this: combining school knowledge with images from all the traditions that preceded us. Thus, these publications are a reflection of what we do.
Robert feels these publications are the true beginning of the School, and considers them far superior to his book “Self-Remembering”. Once these are printed and are sold out, they will not be reprinted. Volume I has been sold out. There are 100 copies of Volume II still available. Volume III is being printed these days by the Golden Pyramid Press for Robert’s Crystallization Celebration. Copies can be purchased through the Auction link on Propylaia.
In presence,
Linda T, Isis
From: L.M.
To: All Fellowship Students
Sent: Wednesday, March 8, 2006
Subject: [Students] Robert’s Crystallisation Anniversary
Dear Friends,
Robert will be hosting two dinners to celebrate the anniversary of his Crystallisation. The first one is on Saturday, March 18th, and reservations can be made through _______. Seats at the Saturday dinner are $350. for one person, $300. each for two people, and $250. each for four people.
Robert is also hosting an Auction dinner on Sunday, March 19th, and reservations for this dinner can be made through _________. Seats at the Sunday dinner are $500. for seats in the Goethe Room with Robert, and $600. for a table of six people in the Salon.
Thank you,
L
From March 14th, 2006
“Galleria Crystallisation Anniversary Dinner
7:00 p.m-$350./$300./$250.”
……….
“Students may use time payments, raffles (on voucher events), cash, and credit cards to pay for events. We accept VISA, Mastercard, Discover, and American Express.”
From: SE
To: “students@beingpresent.org”
Sent: Thursday, March 16, 2006
Subject: [Students] Change in Work I Touch to Feel
Dear Friends,
The work ‘I’ Touch, after practical observation, has been changed to Feel. This seems to more accurately describe what we are experiencing and helps us bring presence to this sense. Used as the fourth work ‘I’ in the series of six, it can help keep imagination away in situations like showering. Be-Hold-More-Feel-More– Long Be.
With Love from Isis, SE
……………………………………………………….
from an email sent to all followers in March 06:
“My dears, the thirtieth anniversary of my crystallization is upon us. I woke up at 4:05 this morning, remembering the event. On that day we broke through time and death as a school. The school proved itself as a school; what one gains, we all gain. More than the pyramids along the Nile, more than the Taj Mahal in India, more than the Forbidden City in Beijing—in my life, I loved you more.”
……………………………………………………….
—– Forwarded Message —-
From: SE
To: “students@beingpresent.org”
Sent: Wednesday, April 5, 2006
Subject: [Students] Revising our Sequence of Six
Dear Friends,
Robert is revising our sequence of six work ‘I’s after more closely studying the Egyptian image of the first six warriors in the now familiar Hatshepsut procession of thirty. In the procession of thirty, the first three warriors arm in arm represent, ‘Be’, ‘Hold’, and ‘Pray.’ The next one is ‘Back’, then ‘Turn,’ and ‘Pax’.
Judging by this, it became clear that the third work ‘I’ would be the one that changes according to the situation, the ‘theme’ of the sequence as Robert says, rather than the fourth work ‘I.’ That is why it is designated as ‘Pray’, choose the work ‘I’ according to the situation.
The fourth work ‘I’ would then be ‘Back’. At this step one is anticipating interruption from the lower self, and responds appropriately with ‘Back’. Robert says that in this way we watch the lower self before he watches us.
The fifth work ‘I’ in our list of thirty, designated as ‘Turn’ means turn from imagination, to the theme of the sequence, to work ‘I’ number three. Thus, it will be ‘More’ of whatever one chooses to do in step number three; for example more ‘Hear’ or more ‘Look’ or more ‘Feel.’
Finally, ‘Pax’ stands for Peace, or presence; long Be.
This is how the sequence now looks: ‘Be’, ‘Hold’, ‘Pray (theme of the sequence)’, ‘Back’, ‘More’, ‘long Be’. In a concert, for example, one will use: ‘Be’, ‘Hold’, ‘Hear’, ‘Back’, ‘More’, ‘long Be’.
The next study group will explain more about this new sequence and it will be mentioned in the next ‘Travel Notes’ issue of the Teacher’s Thoughts.
With Love from Isis, SE
146 Purchasing awakening
May be they never collected enough funds? Who will donate $5000 for the Bistro? Maybe they tried, but gave up? I personally never donated anything for the Bistro. Do you?
Anna and Rhino Neal:
Conscience is sometimes called our inner voice, or compass.
But the whole right and wrong thing is so confusing.
It was said somewhere that no one does evil on purpose. Similarly, Gourjieff said something like: there is no intentional (or conscious) evil.
At first I couldn’t understand it, but I seem to understand it a little more. Usually there is a feeling of rightness, or appropriateness even if we do something not so pretty. Evilness is in the eye of the beholder, just like the beauty!
Hitler thought he was doing good for Germany. And terrorists hurt people and probably feel OK or even proud doing it – they probably don’t think they are doing anything”evil”. I recall an TV interview with a serial killer, and he said he didn’t think at time of killings that he was doing evil – he simply did it, that’s all, he didn’t know why, he said.
When I exterminate pests in my garden, I feel justified about it.
I think Robert has the same feeling of being right and doing the right thing -whatever the thing. Now, to others it may seem evil, criminal, misleading, just wrong. But this is how it appears to others. His “conscience” may be OK with it all.
Do we really have a choice of “doing” or “choosing”? Doesn’t seem to be the case. I agree with Rhino here: It looks to me like in the moment things are just spontaneously done, and then comes either justification or the guilt trip.
But there seem to be a deep sense of “knowing” of what’s right or appropriate now, and it’s amazing to see how this sense varies from person to person. What’s so right to me is so wrong to you. All kinds of expressions are taking place and all kinds of deeds get done according to all kinds of “consciences”.
146 Purchasing awakening
May be they never collected enough funds? Who will donate $5000 for the Bistro? Maybe they tried, but gave up? I personally never donated anything for the Bistro. Do you?
—————————————–
That’s true… nor did I contribute. But I think Purchasing Awakening is making a different point — that they launched a relentless fundraising campaign and then the emails disappeared with no followup explanation whatsoever. Seems fairly natural to wonder how much money they raised, what happened to it, and why the Bistro project was apparently abandoned. It’s also reasonable to expect that they raised a considerable amount of money and that “someone” received the money, and then spent it.
That previous post was actually a response to “Somebody,” who was responding to PA.
Have a great weekend everyone.
Somebody, I doubt that they didn’t collect the funds. They are usually pretty pushy about collecting it. (guess where the pressure for money is coming from?) I’ve never seen them giving up. Usually there is more and more e-mails pushing you to donate.
Yes, I usually personally donated to most things (what a fool I guess). At least my donations were in the hundreds or below, not thousands.
Here’s few previous reports, not all related to Bistro. There are much more as we all know – there is always some money squeezing going on.
Have you bought your tickets for the Holiday Prize Drawing?
We have only raised $5000 by now!
********************
CONGRATULATIONS – WE SURPASSED OUR VALENTINE’S GOAL OF $70,000 TOWARDS THE ABUNDANCE FOUNTAIN
WE ARE NOW AT $85,000!
This leaves only $55,000 to be raised for Robert’s Crystallization Gift, so if you did not have time to contribute last week you can go to https://www.propylaia.org now to enter your gift amount.
*******************
The winners are:
All of us, who reached together the biggest ever challenge of $107K at a Live Auction!
*****************
Congratulations and thank you to everyone!
We reached the Live Auction target of $80,000.
****************
Thank you to everyone who generously contributed to our Abundance Auction.
We raised $56k, which helps us to continue building the beautiful Park of Abundance.
We still need $24k more to reach our goal of $80k, however.
****************
Dear Friends,
Thanks to your love and support yesterday at the Auction, we reached our goal of $100,000.
****************
Dear Friends
A very heartfelt “Thank You” to everyone who supported the 30th Crystallization Auction yesterday, which raised a magnificent $91,000.
This money will go towards helping to complete the work on the Theatron, the Park of Abundance and towards the rebuilding of the Bistro.
*******************
Dear Friends,
We have exceeded our goal of 100K at the Live Auction this morning! Thank you very much for keep supporting the growth of Isis.
*******************
We truly appreciate everyone’s contributions during this last Autumn Auction. We were able to raise $70K at the Live Auction among a little company of willing friends. We also raised a total of $9K from the Rise & Shine Prize Drawing.
********************
We truly wish to thank everyone who attended and contributed to last Sunday’s Holiday Auction. We were able to raise $72,000 at the Live Auction. Also the Quest For Immortality Prize Drawing raised $9,000.
What is the Park of Abundance?
150 Janna
I generally agree that people tend to feel justified in doing whatever they may do, but your post seems to confuse the experience of doing the act while feeling justified with the experience the person has later. I agree that things happen so quickly, and our awareness is so limited, that it’s rare for us to know we are doing something that goes against our conscience at the time we are doing it. Afterwards, with time to reflect, the experience for me is very different. I often find myself going over something that I did, and there may be a component of artificial morality about it, but often I’m struggling to reconcile the voice of my conscience with my many justifications and rationalizations, and there are times when I have to admit to myself (and maybe to another person) that what I did was wrong. And if I do the same thing over and over, it’s more difficult to say that I have no sense of conscience about it, although I might find to my horror that I can’t help doing it anyway.
If a person does something once and manages to avoid feeling there may be something wrong about it, that’s buffering. We all do it. If a person does it over and over with the same lack of compunction, that’s being a sociopath.
Kid Shelleen, I read your story about G. and starting by loving a flower, then a small dog (wouldn’t want to defeat your will by trying to love a big dog), and I laughed! Good one!
several views of the Park of Abundance
http://toon.heindl-internet.de/usa/b800/047100207-las-vegas-venetian.jpg
http://www.cnrc.navy.mil/sandiego/las_vegas1.jpg
and the Abundance Fountain
http://www.planetwaves.net/contents/images/sex_fountain.jpg
With many angles on the definition of conscience lately I am reminded of the Hippocratic oath for many healers.
‘First do no harm.’
‘Primum nil nocere’
I believe the more sensitive one becomes of ones environment and ones place on the planet, even killing a bug becomes difficult. So if you were to think about it from a vibrational point of view, the more sensitive one becomes of another being’s energy and ones own energy the more aware they are of injuring another being, be it bug, animal, man or tree.
What vibration do you is Mr. Burton running? We talk about higher vibrations in the Fellowship. Come on folks!
Hello All.
The following are quotes from one of my favorite authors, Iris Murdoch. (I’m in the midst of finishing reading her last novel of 26! I’m reading it slowly because it is like honey and I don’t want the experience of reading all of her works to end!)
Iris Murdoch quotes:
All art is a struggle to be, in a particular sort of way, virtuous.
Anything that consoles is fake.
Art is the final cunning of the human soul which would rather do anything than face the gods.
Being good is just a matter of temperament in the end.
Bereavement is a darkness impenetrable to the imagination of the unbereaved.
Between saying and doing, many a pair of shoes is worn out.
But fantasy kills imagination, pornography is death to art.
Falling out of love is chiefly a matter of forgetting how charming someone is.
Falling out of love is very enlightening. For a short while you see the world with new eyes.
Happiness is a matter of one’s most ordinary and everyday mode of consciousness being busy and lively and unconcerned with self.
Human affairs are not serious, but they have to be taken seriously.
I daresay anything can be made holy by being sincerely worshipped.
Love is the difficult realization that something other than oneself is real.
Moralistic is not moral. And as for truth – well, it’s like brown – it’s not in the spectrum. Truth is so generic.
No love is entirely without worth, even when the frivolous calls to the frivolous and the base to the base.
Only lies and evil come from letting people off.
People from a planet without flowers would think we must be mad with joy the whole time to have such things about us.
Perhaps misguided moral passion is better than confused indifference.
Perhaps when distant people on other planets pick up some wavelength of ours all they hear is a continuous scream.
Philosophy! Empty thinking by ignorant conceited men who think they can digest without eating!
Possibly, more people kill themselves and others out of hurt vanity than out of envy, jealousy, malice or desire for revenge.
The absolute yearning of one human body for another particular body and its indifference to substitutes is one of life’s major mysteries.
The cry of equality pulls everyone down.
We can only learn to love by loving.
We live in a fantasy world, a world of illusion. The great task in life is to find reality.
We shall be better prepared for the future if we see how terrible, how doomed the present is.
LL
Hello all!
This evening, I was thinking about the “inner circle.” Over the last few decades, I have striven to become and be one of this elite group of pilgrims, gifted with a ‘conscious’ guide to help find a way out of the ‘prison of sleep.’ Heady and important stuff, indeed!
It was so easy to learn to see the ‘inner circle’ as a group of people, clustered around an individual. In this case, Robert Burton. But now, I am compelled to expand and alter my concept of what the ‘inner circle’ is, for me personally, in my own esoteric journey.
I recently had the errant ‘i’ that it’s all been about sex, as Gurdjieff once observed about group phenomena in general. Now that sex is not my primary motivator for remaining in the FoF, I must face the issue of my personal relationship with Influence C, higher forces, conscious guidance, etc.
I’ve come to terms with the fact that I no longer can accept Robert Burton as an intermediary for my connection to Influence C, theoretical and tenuous as it may be. So, the ‘inner circle’ is now, for me, no longer about him. He is no longer the center of the circle. His little circle is all about him.
So, where is the center now? I suppose it’s “out there,” as Fox Mulder used to say about ‘the Truth’ in the “X Files.”
I find this unaccustomed absence of a ‘center’ for the mystical inner circle to which I have so dearly wished to belong rather liberating! But I sense that this shift of attitude and orientation also carries considerable weight and personal responsibility. I trust that it may offer me the very optimistic possibility of continued evolution, search, and further exploration of presence, self-remembering and consciousness, under new, and more direct tutelage!
So, I ask myself, why not take this leap, away from circles within circles, and go directly to the source? After all, we’re all bobbing around in Ouspensky’s vast “Ocean of Love and Death…”
Undress! Run out into the surf! Splash!
About conciensce.
I have killed a fly and thought that was really unnecessary…
I have heard my inner voice…something is not right …and if I waited a little, sat with it, it became clear to me what it was.
There is a book “The gift of fear” the writer …Cohen decribes how he investigated 30.000 cases of different kind of crimes. The victimes in 99. 9 % had, had signs which were ignored most of the time
If you see a doctor and you feel something is of …run and do not go back to him..An inner voice is trying to warn you. Conscience to me is the same. So often I have overuled my inner voice and afterwards became so mad at myself because something in me knew…I just ignored it.
This is what happened a lot in my years in the fellowship of friends and often my mind would say…who are you to think you know and these people know much better……
Yes now it hurts a lot, there were so many signs so early on….
Well every body take care and listen to your inner voice it can tell you a lot and might even wake you up in the middle of the night.
LOVE to all.
Thanks for this blog and many beautiful writers.
My2bits (158) ~
If there’s ever an inner circle to see, it’s because you’re looking up having been dropped by god’s hand, like a pebble, into a pond… No teacher can claim that position, he or she is permitted only by you to hover there; if they start peeing in the pool and have that weird smirk on their face like they aren’t really doing anything but waiting for an elevator in a pool of water, well, they’ve gotta go!
:’)
Hello Purchasing Awakening.
Your posts are pithy, enlightening and immensely important.
Thank you.
LL
Playing with fools and poo poo:
Dear ballet-tennis court diners,
Regarding the new exercise of setting aside the first unzip by Robert, this only applies to the initial act of… well, you know, putting the old tennis balls back in their can:
whether the meal includes one boy or several, one is to be set aside in some older students house, preferably a couple who has no kids to remind them of pure innocence and those pesky terms of legal consent (as if a sexual predator needs consent, gosh, that would be Feminine Dominance for sure!), that won’t be too tough, now will it?
This first boy is from only one of the countries all the boys are coming from this year; not the first boy for each course though, initially they will be the usual Isis lot, you know, those Oregon House Hustlers, The Conscientiously Keying Chippendales, which Asaf recently ‘unlocked’ for the first time in humanity’s history as ~
Chippendale’s; meaning C (C-Influence), hi (Higher centers), ppen (the sound Benjamin Franklin made as he asked for the pen to sign the Declaration of Independence, which, BTW, was written for The Fellowship of Friends), dale (was our teacher’s first higher center crush; so to speak). Isn’t this fun! And, BTW, a surprise interpretation by a special guest this year, our new man #5 part 2, Peter ‘twinkle toes’ Inn-gull, who recently said “If you fold the Declaration of The Fellowship of Friends upon itself 44 times and hold it up to the light, you can clearly discern Robert Burton’s signature on it.”
Yayyyyy, that’s good enough for me, thank Peter…Weeee!
More bending over, the Teacher is encouraging us to choose the boy that is the most attractive to the instinctive center, both in delicatessen and in size, as it is the bite our Teacher, the instinctive, is most reluctant to relinquish to us and the boys wife, girlfriend or any relationship that is to possibly occur after Robert’s ‘halving’ of him.
The exercise is designed to show us how important poo is for Robert, the instinctive center, when in fact what is truly important in that moment is slapping yo self up side tha head with a two by four, preferable Pressure-treated, so controlling the instinctive brain and allowing as much pickpocketing to occur by the boys downstairs of your ‘out like the lower centers on Robert dope, spread eagle-style carcass’ prior to 911 procedures soon to be administered to resuscitate your prerequisite amnesic state of being in a fun, fun, fun cult of tennis court ballet performance watchers.
Thank you for your indulgences.
Linda T, and that’s the place to Be, be, beep be-deepey do da day sha na na…
*****************************
Dear Fried Ends,
To further muddy the exercise of setting aside the first boy, we are to set aside the very first boy we find at our breakfast, lunch, or dinner meal, and not the first boy of the principle course if we are having more than one boy at the meal. The idea is that this exercise is most effective when the Teacher is hungry and most interested in poo, not when he has already taken a few bites from the course before the principle boy.
Our Teacher comments that when we put the first boy aside, we are making an offering to our own Teacher and various wonderful lava cascades and wading pools in Hades. Isn’t this fun! See you in tha lava pits, weeeeee!
Thank you, not me,
Linda To-lease-sow you up to spill you again into Robert’s pockets
**************************
Thanks LL,
And this was on South Park, episode about the cult of Scientology (BTW it’s worth watching) :
First kid: What’s better than telling people the stupid stories and having them believe it?
Second kid: Getting paid for it!!!
BREAKING NEWS….Secret FoF Video Found….. THE ORIGIN AND MASTER key to ROBERT BURTON’s conscious keying of all esoteric and not so esoteric stuff from around the globe!!!!!!
MY GOD… UNBELIEVABLE!!!! Oh, where’s my checkbook?????
_________________________________________________
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFlDUK7YG6A
_________________________________________________
;.)
105/ybb
you said: “How about this response then?
You are a moronic brainwashed cult member.”
Does not encourage useful dialouge
Seems to come from place of judgement, negativity, hostility.
Land of no possibilities
Why are you so hostile to a perfect stranger? You need a check up from the neck up dude. JM
123/ inernot
you said all those things, I don’t experience any of them. So you are like in your own world about how you imagine it is to be a mind controlled FoF member. Sadly it is not like that in reality, at least not for me. One cannot speak of another’s experience without making the effort, the payment, to know them. I appreciate your effort to show me that I am possibly hypnotized by the FoF thing but fortunately I am experiencing much more than what you state, and it is the finer energies that make it all make sense. Sure there are plenty of things wrong with FoF, after all it’s on planet Earth. But what is hardly never mentioned on this blog is the finer energies that neutralize the difficulties and make it all worth it. Reading this blog without understanding that there is a finer experience occuring is just functioning without a complete understanding. The missing ingredient is the higher experiences that are systematically not mentioned here. Unless you experience what it’s like to drive a nice sports car on a windy road on a warm summer night with the windows open, I mean, if you’ve never done that, then when you read about how much such a car is to insure, maintain and that the people that made it are sex maniacs, well you’d go with the complaint side of things every time. But that drive on that warm summer night eliminates all doubt and you just understand. It’s not the perfect analogy but it does sorta work. thanks for reading and please be kind JM
Dear Just Me,
Hope you read some of the other postings as well…
167/anna
Many are negative not coming from a good place, I don’t know if you are/were a student but the idea of different parts of centers comes into play, I scan them but when I see lower parts of centers I just skip. JM
Hello ‘Just Me’ ~
“But what is hardly never mentioned on this blog is the finer energies that neutralize the difficulties and make it all worth it.”
________________________________________________
We don’t have to mention it ‘Just me’ because you guys are doing it for us, that is, your ‘finer posts’ are buffering, buffering, buffering (“neutralizing)…
You pick out the trite negative shots and don’t talk about the fatal solar plexus punches coming from Robert Burton’s bedroom and elsewhere…
You skim over Anna’s posts (why don’t you try going heart to heart with her story or is it that the being you have inherited from Robert Burton only juggles the obvious esoteric denying forces, like ‘yes, I’ll bend over’ and ‘No, I won’t bend over’(?) ),
you skim over 415 (and counting) criminal offenses by your corrupt organization and then post something like the value of driving on a hot summer night in a sports car with the windows down…
good grief, are you 13, 12, 11? If so, just admit it and I will then understand your incredible incredulous nature… We love ya, but, hey, how long have you been in?
Some of us are covered from head to toe with prison tattoos and I happen to sense that you’re screaming bloody murder over henna coloring…
Look around and stop acting like Pee Wee Herman in the bar with the Bikers. And at least get a pin prick of ink somewhere for conversation sakes.
___________________________
l.t.y.a.
Congratulations ‘Just Me’ you’ve just fused your King of Hearts artificially to your King of Spades (the 8 to be exact) and created the perfect Burton-Scanner…
Welp, skim away, just stop whining if your cereal tastes ‘watery’ at the end of the Fellowship of Friends role-call; cause you’ve only got skim milk for your bowl…
And, BTW, if you are skimming OVER “The Lower”, then what are you doing commenting about it and replicating it too?
Perfect Robert Burton style… Rhino poo and hypocrisy.
OH, hey Anna.
Dear Just Me,
I was an FoF student until the end of May this year. I agree with you that many exquisite moments can be had in the school.
I don’t think I would have stayed that long if they couldn’t.
I joined when I was twenty one and stayed for twenty three years. During this time my experience of life became progressively narrower; I had really no idea of the tremendous beauty and depth that lay beyond…
I wrote a letter addressed to you on this page, it’s number 110.
My leaving story is on board 16# 520
All the best
Anna
169/ uanimaoh
woa horsey, keep your ink. you wild reckless beast. Where’s all that charged energy coming from? Don’t exactly make a guy/girl feel welcome here with your strong responses. Maybe I just hang it up why bother with folks who got they mind so made up?? Why do you respond so stronglly, sheesh. JM
165-166 Just Me
“Seems to come from place of judgement, negativity, hostility.
Land of no possibilities.”
This comes from your fof washed brain.
“…it is the finer energies that make it all make sense.”
This and every word you have written on this blog come from your fof washed brain.
174/ yesir
Easy to say, actually it’s insulting. Who are you to say that it comes from my fof washed brain, the frickin nerve, you are a nutso boy. You have no idea, come on admit it. You’ll feel better.
Just me, it’s just me… what’s your excuse?
You’re not skimming ‘Just me’…
177/ ??
177/ unanimo
you want to do battle…why? really, why? what’s behind that energy? It really works against intelligent conversation among equals, which is I assume what we are trying to do here. . .
NOT FOR VIRGIN EYES, SKIM OVER IF YOU ARE A VIRGIN…
Dear Friends,
Robert is very pleased with students’ efforts to bring the ballet to Isis at the end of August. To continue our support, we are offering a very special prize drawing to be held on the opening night of the ballet. Robert has personally donated two pieces of jewelry to help support this raffle, which one can enter by purchasing a bookmark from our special collection.
* 1st prize: a 50-peso Mexican gold coin pendant depicting the winged victory with a laurel wreath
* 2nd prize: a Chinese oval jade ring set in gold
* 3rd prize: two front-row seats on the second night of the ballet
* 4th prize: a pair of Maria Alexandrova’s autographed ballet shoes
* 5th prize: ballet dancer photos autographed by Robert and the dancers
If each student in the school purchases one bookmark, we can meet our goal. The prices for the bookmarks are below:
* One bookmark for $20
* Three bookmarks for $50
* Seven bookmarks for $100
______________________________________________
Hey, Robert Burton, thanks for “donating” those two pieces of jewelry bought with “donating”… Well, at least you guys can be ‘accidentally’ consistent.
Word!
Just Me…
Did you get my note? it’s at 172
Breathe, breathe in the air
Don’t be afraid to care
Leave but don’t leave me
Look around and chose your own ground
For long you live and high you fly
And smiles you’ll give and tears you’ll cry
And all you touch and all you see
Is all your life will ever be
181/ anna
Yes, got 172, read 110 too. Dial up tonight so going back to other of your post too slow for tonight. But will read. I appreciate your calm reasonable energy, it seems possible to have an intelligent conversation with you unlike some other hotheads on this list.
Just me ~
Well, at least spell my name right ‘once’ for Gurdjieff’s sake!
And don’t go hitting me with stuff like ~
“It really works against intelligent conversation among equals…”
Oxymoron’s just don’t cut it in here… You can’t “work against” another being whose in imagination of such status labels as “equal”… no one is “equal”, so get your head out of the American Declaration and take a good look at the idea of conscious individuality, if anything, love, love is our equal; and thankfully has nothing to do with ego or that little ‘evil god’ still stirring things up inside yourself, eeking out word phrases like “among equal”, this is not the Rotary Club or Amyway or The Fellowship of Friends, this is YOU, so, esoteric up and be a Real man.
:.)
SKIM THIS IF YOU’RE A VIRGIN OR A BALLET DANCER who does not know what and who you’ll be entertaining ‘really’.
______________________________________________
Dear Friends,
Journey Forth to Isis begins on Thursday August 23rd, which is in approximately two weeks.
This special international gathering relies on the willingness of each student to give and to receive. The wonderful events scheduled with our Teacher and fellow students enrich our lives; offering much-needed assistance at any of these events also yields conscious fruit.
Myra and Margaret will be at Apollo d’Oro every Thursday and Friday from 11:30 to 2pm on the front patio, beginning this Thursday.
You may also call ZZZZZZZ or ZZZZZZZ or email ZZZ.ZZZZ.org, and we will help you arrange your third line octaves.
Thank you in advance for your generous support.
In friendship,
The Third-Line Team
________________________________
:.)
I think just me is a woman.
184/ unanimo
I spelled your name wrong just to piss you off. Honestly, you’re too excitable, I’m re-reading your post and I don’t know what to say. You’re throwing dirt, I don’t see what’s wrong with the concept of a conversation among equals. So I’ll stick to it. Calm down
To Unoanimo, written by David G.
Childhood’s End
You shout in your sleep.
Perhaps the price is just too steep.
Is your conscience at rest
If once put to the test?
You awake with a start
To just the beating of your heart.
Just one man beneath the sky,
Just two ears, just two eyes.
You set sail across the sea
Of long past thoughts and memories.
Childhood’s end, your fantasies
Merge with harsh realities.
And then as the sail is hoist,
You find your eyes are growing moist.
All the fears never voiced
Say you have to make your final choice.
Who are you and who am I
To say we know the reason why?
Some are born; some men die
Beneath one infinite sky.
There’ll be war, there’ll be peace.
But everything one day will cease.
All the iron turned to rust;
All the proud men turned to dust.
And so all things, time will mend.
So this song will end.
And I think Unoanimo is a guy, does that give him license to be so exciteable? Or maybe he doesn’t get enough exercise.
Dear Just Me,
I want to mention something about higher experiences. Firstly – of course most people here had it! Somehow current members often say here something like “Well, if you could only experience the higher states…” But we did! For many, many years. And still do, believe it or not.
I completely agree with you that “higher experiences” can block out bad stuff. Make it not important, small, bearable. It’s called “transformed”, I’d rather say “temporarily blocked out”. Because it all does come back, doesn’t it?
I also came to understand that higher experiences is not all and everything. They are what they are – higher experiences. They are way overrated in FOF. They come and go, have beginning and end. They cannot be permanent precisely because they do have beginning and end! So I understood that I was chasing something impermanent in it’s nature – hoping for it to become permanent. It’s not going to, because it can’t. No wonder nobody “wakes up” in Robert’s school! It’s by design.
Robert often says: You are the state you’re in now!
- Wrong! How can you be something that comes and goes? Where are you in between the states?
You ARE. And state comes and goes. State has nothing to do with what You Are!
Higher states are also very pleasant and addictive and we all fell for them at some point in our lives. I can say that I truly became a “high state junkie” in the school – like many others. I would feel so “good” around students, around Robert, at Isis. I wanted more and was ready to pay. It felt sooo goood!!! “Life” people seemed to me hostile and threatening, I was able to connect to them less and less. Eventually, all my friends were from school. I see that one become increasingly dependent to the provider of “high states”.
Unfortunately, just like with any drug abuse, the end usually is somewhat tragic… Because the high states no matter how high and pleasant, don’t last. They don’t seem to lead to self-realization, inner freedom, awakening if you wish. They do what they supposed to do – get you high. And then – they disappear and it’s low times – with fear, anger, identifications. So… it’s time to get high again.
Drug junkies often end up nowhere, disappointed, broke, with damaged health, unemployed, lonely…
Look at FOF students at their old age – are they happy people? May be they are for a short time, around Robert, when they get their regular dose of spiritual high again. And how many of them are fearful, very poor, never developed careers to truly express their essences, are not healthy, not at peace with themselves?
Unfortunately, for many it’s too late to start again from the beginning. And this is exactly what seem to happen when high state addiction is finally broken – one is back to square 1. Luckily, many of us made a full recovery.
So yes, riding in the warm summer night is absolutely awesome… I agree. But where are you going, JM?
How calm a person is, in my experience doesn’t have much to do with awakening.
It’s weird to hear my self saying this after so many years of calmness cultivation. A calm person can be very impatient and hypocritical.
In the FoF Robert encouraged us to see what he/we called the king of hearts as almost divine. I have found that ‘king of hearts seeming lying’ is the most deceptive, and a very strong adversary to going beyond our hermetically sealed little selves.
Unoanimo’s words in 184 seem the most truthful that I’ve heard this morning:
“take a good look at the idea of conscious individuality, if anything, love, love is our equal; and thankfully has nothing to do with ego”
And forgive me; but these are not from someone else’s poetry book.
To Fat Boy and Just Me, written by Yo momma Robert.
Childhood’s End-ding
You shout in your soul, your spirit, your conscience as I bend you over the leopard spotted sheets.
Perhaps the price is just too steep, these sheets, though don’t worry, your teaching payment will go lower.
Is your conscience at rest, I’m doing my best to put you to the test, to get no rest, from this test, these test-icicles in your mouth, how’s that, doing the sequence?
If once put to the test, can you pretend to be like the rest?
You awake with a start and I finish you nightly, before your wife knows you’ve left the house, you’re back, smiling, kinda, yet your conscience is shouting, kill, kill, kill…
To just the beating of your heart and my chest on your back, huffing and puffing your mother’s teaching payments up in smoke, I inhale and blow out the memories of your father for awhile, so, I can be your sugar daddy tonight, did you just smile, doing your sequence?
Just one man beneath the other,
Just two boys, just two more boys.
You set male across the male, nude numbers for me never pale. Of long past Viagra pops and porno video sessions.
Childhood’s end, your fantasies are my twins,
Merge with harsh realities, keep that sequence tight.
And then as the sail is hoist, I am on you again, dropping anchor in your ocean of muffled shouts,
You find your eyes are growing moist, don’t cry, I know you love me more than that.
All the fears never voiced, I hear you, I know, cause I am one of them, dressed in silk though, a smoother fear-gear,
Say you have to make your final choice, not your final teaching payment, so it isn’t so, where’s that palm voucher? I want it before you leave.
Who are you? I do not care and who am I, about the same as way back then, when I first lied my heart out, right on the floor, I think the cat got it and the dog the other half through the dog-door.
To say we know the treason why, just do the sequence while I milk your sons and daughters dry?
Some are born and placed into my hands, I call them ‘King and Queen of Isis’, till their parents up and take a ride;
some men #4 die, so what, gotta keep keying and calling suicide a play of crime, crime, crime… keeping the lie.
Beneath one infinite shopping spree.
There’ll be war with the antique dealers,
there’ll be a piece of you waiting for me cause the gods will it so, so don’t go, keep up the sequence and give me that inheritance.
But everything one day will cease and I will live for 12,000 years, in your believing ear.
All the pretty flesh turned to stone for my garden statuary and amber for around my neck;
All the proud men, in sequence, turned to be by my side for eternity.
And so all things, time will commend to me, the second Christ or his Butler, or both, since I am doing the choosing,
So this song will end as you right your checks, pay, pay, pay, payment is a Principle and I am too, do your sequence, don’t cry, I am almost through with you.
190/ Janna
Faced with certain death…
I’m not doubting that people “here” have higher states, that would be an insult It’s our birthright to have higher states. The bad stuff can be dealt with more intelligently in a higher state. There is really nothing else to do on this planet but to remove the veils of illusion and that results in a little by little higher daily state as one sees through and no longer believes old energy draining illusions. Getting high is reminding oneself of what’s possible, it’s so easy to forget and get lost that frequent reminders are very useful. One has to create attitudes towards failures like episodes of anger and identification so that they aren’t as much of a denying force. It’s as if our attitudes towards our perceived failures have everything to do with how they will affect us and our possibilities.
I encourage you not to give up on higher states. Or maybe look at your attitude towards them. It sounds like maybe you got frustrated with creating a higher state and then going home to the realities of home and the state would go down and so you were frustrated. That’s another attitude that can be changed. thanks! JM
Sometimes I see the names of old friends and the heart beats a little faster and a smile comes. Then I read venomous messages and the smile fades. You say you reach out to those still in the school and so some have offered an open hand…and you bite it.
I remain in the school and doing that, I feel your wrath, your judgement, your disdane, your pity, your condemnation.
I am sorry for your pain. I am sorry for experiences that have been hurtful and difficult. But for those of you who seek to hurt those of us who stay, I’m sorry for you.
158 my2bits
The idea of Inner Circle relates to the Inner Circle of Humanity. It’s a psychological place, where there is the same understanding about the Human Condition and life on Planet earth. When we speak about the inner circle of the FoF or any other organisation it is used in a relative way, it just refers to those that are close to the “action” and know what’s going on in the center of the organisation.
HEAVEN’S GATE
Christian / UFO / C Influence believers
Heaven’s Gate is a destructive, doomsday cult centered in California. 21 women and 18 men voluntarily committed suicide in three groups on three successive days starting on 1997-MAR-23. Most were in their 40’s; the rest covered an age range of 26 to 72. 1 Two months later, two additional members, Charles Humphrey and Wayne Cooke attempted suicide in a hotel room a few miles from the Rancho Santa Fe mansion;
http://www.religioustolerance.org/mc_cults.htm#actua
Dear Just Me
I/m not sure what you mean when talking about higher states.
They have happened rarely for me. I would describe them like this: there’s a physical sensation as if all my cells are turning over and then ‘Anna’ shrinks. Suddenly every thing appears connected, everything is symbol; there is powerful emotion but it is ‘impersonal’; everything is loved: all people and objects, litter, dirt, tramps; all is understood.
I joined the school thinking that I would be taught these states. Somehow this aim was muffled and blurred… When it was finally remembered I had to face up to the fact that the last time I had ‘had’ a prolonged higher state was 19 years ago.
It’s not that I didn’t work hard in between. There was tremendous struggle and sincerity, but also a growing sense of failure and self-deprecation. There was Presence yes, and nice states in the rose garden, and nice quiet states at meetings, but these states were miniscule compared to the universal nature of the higher states I had been longing for.
Another quality of my higher state had been that ‘Anna’ (the lower self/ego etc) had no personal demands. She was irrelevant. The states didn’t require being in the rose garden, or at a meeting, or being hit and bullied or having sex with a man who repelled me. All is beautiful in this state, all is right.
I realised too that Robert could not be living in conscious because he had too many requirements. Of course he may be experiencing Presence and ‘niceness’ as long as the conditions are right…
I realised that he could not and had not actually been teaching me anything. Perhaps you Fat Boy and you Just me have taught me more (don’t know who you are so I can’t say), certainly my student friends and myself scraped together as much learning as we could…
in what I recognise now to have been a wasteland. Truly it is verdant out here..
I realised that Robert had usurped my longing and re-directed it towards his own (sick) agenda.
Am so glad to have escaped.
It is always easier to be negative and it only influences and convinces those that are already negative, those that can’t do anything useful anyway. To convince the productive, those with an aim, it is necessary to be objectively correct, to reveal a real law that only becomes self-evident once it is pointed out. Blame and accusation convinces only the faltering and the idle, to convince those of quality, those that actually make a difference in the world, it is necessary to be conscious. Here’s a law: no one can give you consciousness regardless how much you pay them for it or how much they try to coax you into it and at the same time no one can take consciousness away from you once you have it. Consciousness is not a temporary state, moments of consciousness live forever. What is temporary is this personality that imagines it understands anything longer than a few fleeting minutes or longer than a few constantly evaporating selves. At death the accumulation of moments of consciousness are weighed against the days of sleep and if they are enough then the soul is set free to roam the galaxy, not temporarily but forever.
175 Just Me
Ok, maybe you are right and I have no idea.
Let’s try this-
Is there anyone reading and posting on this blog that thinks Just Me has expressed anything but regurgitated fof crap in any posting to the blog?
Practical Question: How to pay of debt.
I accumulated a lot of debt in the years I was in the fellowship. Any reliable, practical ways to pay it of and start all over new? I live in Ca and have a green card.
I am over 50 and reasonable healthy.
Thanks for your support in advance.
73, 91, 121, 154, 155, 156, 165, 166 and 204 are newly moderated.
A daily card I just found…
What is the use of talking about the System
if you do not produce the states you are talking
about?
Love, Robert
First: states are happening anyway, second talk does not fit the bill. Maybe that is what we all do too much. We talk a lot. Are our actions congruent?
210. paying of debt.
Try checking Bankruptcy laws?
I am not sure how they work in the US. In Europe you have to owe over a certain amount and not have reasonable means to pay it back. Its twisted but those who owe less are in a weaker situation. It can be quite difficult to establlish credit cards and the like afterwards.
You can also go to court and arrange terms Ie a very small amount regularly which they generally cant refuse and its better for them to recieve something rather than nothing.
Perhaps some of our legal beagles can help more?
Regards Jack.
To Unoanimo:
Tears…
Too real: “… the beating of your heart and my chest on your back…”
“The Christs of fourteen”, Pier Paolo Pasolini.
Gratitude.
Dear whalerider and others.
You inspired me to read a book about holotropic breathing and was wondering who would be reliable and good in this matter. I searched the internet in my area and this did not show much that I felt good about.
Do you have to do it with somebody else or can you do it by yourself? I was reading a book from Kylea Taylor. She mentions that you need a facilitator. “The breathwork eperience.” She speaks about the way you come into this world and the way a person relates to the world.
I would like to be independant and not have ” an expert” coaching me.
Does anybody knows about the unability of making decisions and how the person was born?
Is dependancy and not able to make decisions related?
Does anybody has information that is to the point and not to complicated?
Thanks so much.
Love for all of you and happy Saturday.
Is post #91 a joke?
Graduates #208: My first thought was I like this one. Then I caught your newly moderated #73. My computer doesnt like YouTube. The sound is real jerky for some reason. I have an ME and I’ve been told it’s not the best. They have even quit making updates for the ME. Anyway, I just wanted to let you know I went to YouTube and (heard?) that band from UK.
Michael Prochazka #121: Never doubt a truth once verified.
Doubt causes lots of problems. Look up the characteristics of cults. Plenty of information on this blog.
Vera-Mente read post #91: If true that is where their Bistro money is going and our payday.
To 210 paying of debt
Bankruptcy is one option. It is not as devastating as it sounds.
It is on your record for seven years.
Credit card companies, who apparently won’t offer credit to bankrupt persons, can’t resist and a friend of mine (who went bankrupt twice) receives offers from them every day.
Also, some credit card companies will assist you to pay off the cards by negotiating the amount.
A financial advisor can assist you with the details of that option.
LL
Unoanimo,
Singing the same sarcastic witty tune………
There is only an element of truth in your posts and when you go over the top its effect does not serve the truth……but only serves your ego……..
I observed when your not present on this blog there actually is some meaningful diologue between members and former members…….
Your probably not interested in giving space to more sincere voices whether non members or not…….
203 just me: “I encourage you not to give up on higher states. Or maybe look at your attitude towards them. It sounds like maybe you got frustrated with creating a higher state and then going home to the realities of home and the state would go down and so you were frustrated. That’s another attitude that can be changed.”
OK let’s try again. Many people writing on this blog have been through what you’re going through now, believing everything you believe, then seen through it all and come out the other side. As Janna says, the higher states to which you are currently addicted are temporary, just like a drug high. Any amount of “changing of attitudes” will not alter that simple fact. Your efforts are taking you in completely the opposite direction to where you want to go. They are reinforcing your sense of separateness and individuality, both of which are illusory.
Many of us have discovered more helpful teachings which point directly towards truth, giving an undeniable and lasting experience of reality. It doesn’t go away! If you can begin to let go of ALL your beliefs and attitudes, including what Robert Burton has told you and what you think you’ve verified, you’ll be starting on a very wonderful journey.
RN
I would suggest your holotropic breathwork experience be facilitated by an experienced person. Obviously Grof did not develop it with a facilitator and of course you could experiment on your own. But I think it is a good idea to have someone whose job it is exclusively to attend to you while you are doing it.
167 Laughing Love. Nice to find a fellow Iris Murdoch fan here. Her novels are indeed wonderful. She had a fascinating life too. regards, RN
public service announcement:
The blog has been temporarily turned into a farce due to the useless and descending nature of the back and forth with the defending FOF jerk-offs.
Please realize that without their participation in the blog they have nothing real to live for. Their misery demands its’ projection onto others to reinforce and justify their sad, depleted lives. Give them your “best” at your own peril.
They’ve been here before, they’ll be here again, but nothing will stop the parasite from seeking out a nourishing host. They are the pimples on the collective ass of humanity.
If you think it’s useful to engage these gargoyles, well…you’re still willing to pour into the void. As long as they are willingly “getting fucked” it will be necessary for them to fuck others. Misery loves company.
To Rhino Neal (220)
I’m always pleased to meet a fellow Iris lover.
I rarely meet them and I always crave conversation about her.
The books are surprisingly hilarious.
As of Monday, I will have completed all 26 of her novels.
I recently found out that “A Severed Head” was made into a film in the 70s. I can’t find it anywhere.
Best,
LL
To 210 paying of debt
I posted this earlier, but it didn’t take.
Bankruptcy is one option. It is not as devastating as it sounds.
It is on your record for seven years.
Credit card companies, who apparently won’t offer credit to bankrupt persons, can’t resist and a friend of mine (who went bankrupt twice) receives offers from them every day.
If that doesn’t appeal, I have also heard that some credit card companies will assist you to pay off the cards by negotiating the amount. They want the money and, under certain circumstances, will negotiate.
A financial advisor can assist you with the details of that option.
Debt can be very stressful, but there are logical and practical ways to mend the problems.
LL
JM: “I encourage you not to give up on higher states. Or maybe look at your attitude towards them. It sounds like maybe you got frustrated with creating a higher state and then going home to the realities of home and the state would go down and so you were frustrated.”
I think you missed my point…
I didn’t give up on higher states. I didn’t give up on anything! Also, (but you may not believe it) I had the longest and probably the highest state ever when I left the school – it lasted uninterrupted for over 2 months and was pretty much like what Anna described – no sense of “me”, merging with everything, overwhelming sense of love. It was very special and is hard to describe. I had nothing like that before. And these days (probably because I don’t care as much) there is lots of high states, when it all seem like a great movie and there is no sense of “me”, no personal demands but full acceptance of what IS. It’s what used to be called “low state” (identification, fears, extreme judgment) that seem to be gone – and again, I am not making it up. You don’t have to believe me, it’s just for your info.
I came to realize that chasing the states, thinking you can “produce” them only puts you further and further from reality. Because it reinforces the “me”, the ego, the personal separate doer – and this IS an illusion. States in themselves – as nice as they are – is NOT what YOU ARE. You are not the state, you are what HAS the state. It great to have them, nothing wrong (or right) – hey, I like high states a lot! I just don’t take them as myself anymore and don’t put that much value in them.
Also, I am not frustrated – in fact I couldn’t be happier and freer these days. “Realities of home” are great – I so truly enjoy the realities! I so completely enjoy life, as it is. It is like an interactive movie – watch and play too! Fun, fun, fun.
The freedom is not from life, not from “realities of home” – the real freedom is from your ego! In FOF ego is being enforced and cultivated and drugged with illusion of higher states. You start thinking of yourself highly and put yourself above others, especially “life”.
But You are not your ego – regardless which fancy name it has for now – Higher self, Steward, 9 of hearts or whatever. You are not that! And until you believe you are that – you’ll be chasing your tale, growing some imaginary inner phantoms and hoping for more high.
This is exactly what Robert sells, and you seem to be a happy buyer of the illusion.
“One has to create attitudes towards failures like episodes of anger and identification so that they aren’t as much of a denying force.”
When one sees through illusion of ego (which by the way doesn’t take lifetimes!) , there is no need anymore for any of that “creating” and “attitude changing”. It is seen as absurd. There is no “destroying of ego”, because ego is an illusion! Is ego real? And who if not another part of ego will be “doing” the destroying? All it takes is clear seeing through this illusion.
I don’t judge natural manifestations as failures, and haven’t had an episode of identification (as we used call it) for over 8 months. Life simply flows, very impersonally, sometimes with high states, sometimes without, and it is all fine because it’s WHAT IS. It shows new exciting things every day, and it’s fun to watch and participate. It is very simple.
This is one of my favorite Zen quotes (sorry don’t remember from whom):
“Die while alive and be thoroughly dead. Then do what you will, and all will be well …”
Thanks JM, it is nice to have a conversation with you.
#204 emanon:
Pay more attention and you will find those who are usually “bitten” here have come to read from the Fellowship training manual.
There is no need to “feel sorry” for anyone.
Well, I see the postings here, like the fabric of FOF, is still the same old shit.
Its too bad you guys haven’t learned to just move on because your rants remind me of an old saying: “A leopard never changes his spots”.
PS: You know who U R, right assholes?
226 Exlax 101
Then don’t bother wasting your time posting.
Exlax, Bruce, Unoanimo, others;
I am not a member but don’t exactly agree with your recent sarcastic and crude demeanor torward the FOF members post.
I am learning things from the exchanges and hope you do not spoil this. We are well aware of what goes on at the FOF; but healing happens only when their is relativity.
The AIM of the blog is very individualistic and will take on what ever AIM that one wants to give it – what I mean is there are little guidelines, so let’s try to be kind to one another. We are all from the same planet.
Wishing the best – M
Hello,
Have taken the liberty of reposting this; I know that Michael would really appreciate some help…
Dear Friends,
Leaving the FOF was a relatively easy thing to do. However, coming to grips with the fact that it had taken me 5 ‘long’ years to ‘wake up’ to Robert’s ‘outrageous’ (Initially, I used the word ‘preposterous’.) claims regarding his own person, hasn’t been so easy at all. Perhaps I needed to verify for myself that ‘imagination indeed satisfies all centres”. Be that as it may, a pressing question facing me now is how to protect myself from falling into a similar trap again. Is there anyone out there who could help me to answer this very important question?
Michael
Prochazka
Margie,
You are certainly entitled to your opinion, and may express it whatever way you wish to. I will do the same. Personally, just for me, if I want your opinion on my demeanor I’ll ask for it. Please feel free, whenever you see “Bruce” to just skip ahead, I won’t be offended. If that isn’t enough, too bad.
228
Also, while it’s nice you are getting something out of this, it isn’t especially for you. It’s for everyone, and it contains the whole spectrum of information, most especially the emotional parts elicited from some pretty heavy experiences. So if you’re just recently popping in, you might want to familiarize yourself with the previous 8000 posts, or scan through Res Ipsa Loquitur to get up to speed.
This old blog is somewhat of a hockey game at times. If you prefer badminton you might want to try the forums at the Greater Fellowship site, however masks are discouraged there.
To Michael via Anna (229)
Hello Michael.
Perhaps there are risks of falling into the same trap.
I guess my strategy upon leaving the fellowship was to learn as much as possible about cults and how and why they work.
There are numerous websites and books readily available that discuss these matters in depth.
In fact, quite a few of these websites and books have been discussed at length on this discussion board.
It is a matter of recognizing and becoming highly conscious of where you’ve been in order to avoid getting trapped in the future.
Naturally, this blog is also a great help in further understanding these issues since we’ve all been through the experience of naively joining and believing in a cult.
LL
Recently seen on a bumper sticker.
“Those that can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities.”
All hail the divine church of rock and roll
A messege from the sacred messenger the
most holy Jay and the Americans
This magic moment
This magic moment
So different and so new
Was like any other
Until I felt you
And then it happened
It took me by suprise
I knew when I felt it
It was like the summer sun blinded my eyes
Sweeter than wine
Softer than a summer’s night
Everything I want, I have
Whenever I am with you inside
This magic moment,
While your touch is close to mine,
Will last forever,
Forever, ’til the end of time
So why won’t you stay with me?
please won’t you stay with me
Hi folks. On a larger scale than the fof. Heres what happens when we ignore the slow progression of events being busy with “more important issues”.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jl1VIhdpl4c
ltya. Jack.
Michael 229
Be more skeptical – lay the burden of proof on those selling you something.
Develop your reason. It makes life far more interesting and saves you from many errors.
Go out of your way to be kind to others but not following anyone else’s moral program.
Dear Bruce,
Yes, I guess I will skip your posts in the future, and of course you can do the same with my posts……but that is really not the point. This blog is for everyone as you say and for me it stays more interesting if we don’t scare and run others away with compassionless remarks.
Michael,
I like intense living. The fellwship was part of that.
I gained
You gained..
Double post. — ES
Hi all.
“A leader is best
When people barely know
That he exists,
Less good when
They obey and acclaim him,
Worse when
They fear and despise him.
Fail to honor people
And they fail to honor you.
But of a good leader,
When his work is done,
His aim fulfilled,
They will all say,
“We did it ourselves.”
- Lao-Tzu
All the best Jack.
236 margie ( scuse me, you’re not reading this)
“Yes, I guess I will skip your posts in the future, and of course you can do the same with my posts”
Personally, I don’t skip anyone’s posts. But chacon a son gout
“for me it stays more interesting if we don’t scare and run others away”
and that, of course, is all that really matters, right?
And believe me, none of these FOF posters get sacred away. This is a significant part of their lives right now. It gives them meaning. If they’ve had enough criticism they leave for 24 hours and reappear with new names.
You’ll also find it interesting that they NEVER reveal who they are. They’re a courageous sort. The FOF builds inner strength and integrity. No hiding behind pseudonyms for them. They are proud of who they are, and what they stand for, and will put themselves out there to show this inner strength, not.
Obviously that should be “scared”, not “sacred”. A double reverse freudian slip with a half twist.
From Girard Haven’s booklet “Best Thoughts”.
“I am more and more convinced that one of the keys to right awakening is that nothing changes. The machine goes on exactly as before; it is just that something emerges and watches. We are sometimes fooled by the fact that Robert was very intense as a man number four, and this carried over when he woke up. But it seems to me that for us, being in a large and loving School, nothing need change, nothing need be extreme; we merely add consciousness to whatever else is going on, without disturbing that at all.
What I would say now is that after doing that -that is, after consciousness is added on top of everything else- the fact that there is consciousnesss is such a big stimulus for the machine that the machine will start to act differently. But this is merely a consequence of the presence of consciousness. Things change because the machine has a new and very strong stimulus.”
This last two sentences are actually a masterpiece of the kind of thinking Girard has used to justify Robert’s machine and his own.
By simply adding “consciousness” to Robert’s mechanicality, which does not need to change at all to continue being conscious, he has taken away the need of any work on the machine to become conscious.
The sad thing is that this is exactly the mind frame that he has used to continue watching pornography, treat his wives like Robert treats his boys, that is, with perfect detachment from true emotional caring, and support Robert as the one and all conscious being that has provided him with the opportunity to be a “conscious” teacher in the Fellowship of Friends.
Someone mentioned recently his Psychological Thinking. Is there a recent booklet published with that name?
From Girard Haven’s “Best Thoughts.”
“The Teacher often reminds us that we need to remember that there is a higher right. And the higher right in the work is to remember ourselves, even if that means being “wrong” on the level of the machine. The idea of payment can be useful. If being wrong is the payment I have to make in order to be awake, then I am willing to make it.”
This is the way “brainwashing” occurs in the Fellowship of Friends and it isn’t even subtle. One does wonder what makes students listen to Girard endlessly without actually questioning him, but ofcourse, I fell in love with him…….but still argued every time………so they call me crazy! I am crazy for a thousand other things but not that.
Let’s distill this quote:
The higher right is to remember ourselves, (that is, agree with Robert at all cost), even if that means being wrong on the level of the machine (condone all of Robert’s mechanicality Girard’s and yours, just add consciousness).
“The idea of payment can be useful. If being wrong is the payment I have to make in order to be awake, then I am willing to make it.”
This is a very personal statement from Girard that he wishes students to imitate. What he is really saying is, “if being wrong is the payment I have to make in order to be awake (to belong to the fellowship), then I am willing to make it.
Is it really surprising that Girard would find it very attractive to be the second conscious being on the planet, be heard and loved by students who listen unquestioningly at his amazing capacity to rationalize everything and “make sense” or justify every absurdity inside the Fellowship of Friends?
From Girard Haven’s Best Thoughts.
“The aim is not to alter or perfect the machine – for one thing it cannot be done- but rather to learn to separate from the machine.”
So if we all learn to separate from the Fellowship of Friends “machine”, the Robert and Girard machine and every I in us that tells us that something is not quite right, we’ll all go straight to higher centers.
An agreement in an discussion between members of the fellowship of friends and ex-members of the fellowship of friends is not really possible because those two groups of people live from two different paradigm’s.
Opposing elements:
Members are ‘educated’ that ex-members are not going to ‘evolve’ and that they belong to ‘a chain of fools’, deprived of ‘influence C’.
Ex-members believe members are fools because they believe in these ‘theories’ and that they let themselves being used as cash cows and/or sex slaves of a gentleman who builds mental psycho-emotional fences around them.
In the root they will see the other through that paradigm and will filter the information given by the other. Members will look at texts from ex-members from a point of view of what is wrong with them and ex-members wil do the same visa versa.
Neutralizing elements?
Ex-members also where members once.
They know how easy it is to be manipulated.
Members where also non-members once.
The know how miraculous live can be without being part of an institution.
Most members wil be ex-members.
The unity of all that is.
216 Arthur
I think post 91 is a joke, I would have missed it if it were not for you.
Oh, my god. This blog is really too much!
Mighty-big egos claiming and re-claiming their intellectual and emotional and poetic turf, exposing their wounds and confusion for all to see and read, again and again and again.
Yuck! Sptooy! I’ve had enough. (Of course, you all won’t care what I think. You have the hides of Rhinos…)
I posted a while back about the “hungry ghosts” that simply could not — will not — wean themselves from the high (?@#$) energy they experienced while in the Fellowship… How many years ago?? How many?
Please, prove yourselves immune from this malign FoF influence, and get out of town! Move on to better things! Can you? I doubt it… You’re STUCK in this esoteric mud! I pity you. And I’m still sinking in the muck myself, with just my neck above it all!
It would seem to be the utmost and most noble statement from this ilk of poster, like dearest Unoanimo, to simply BE GONE! Like Magic! Ah, I/we can breath again…. (You’re not so much the esoteric artist as you think, Uno. But you have helped me, nevertheless, now and then, my blog-friend…)
After all, what do you all contribute, at this point, except negativity and the pitiful remnants of your broken hearts and personalities? Can this be teaching? Can this be healing?
IMHO, it’s just wise-ackering… Feeding emptiness into the void… Hungry ghosts feeding…
One, two, three… Abrakadabra! May Bruce, Unoanimo, Elena, etc., and all of the addictive and conflicted posters on this site, BE GONE!
Poof! No more. Please! Find another source of therapy. Find love. Find sex. Find another teacher. Find your Self!
Give space — thank you! — for others who may wish to take the space that you are so greedily taking, and taking again, without a single thought for those who may be in a much needier place than you…
OK, yes, I’m clearly frustrated with the quality of what I read here every day. Yes, I AM needy! But I am not getting much of anything– day after day — except ego, personality, negativity, and a whole lot of bullshit and more bullshit!
(OK, I’ve contributed my share of it…)
But can’t it be better? Can’t it?
Let the flames begin! I don’t give a shit.
247 my2bits
Got a bit of a buzz on, dontcha?
my2bits:
“…simply BE GONE! Ah, I/we can breath again”
Whew, that must be a load off your chest!
Speaking of breathing…
Dear Another Name:
I’ll happily share my experience with holotropic breathing.
Mine was with a partner in a group workshop of forty people with only one facilitator and an incredible sound system in a banquet room of a hotel. And it was a day long endeavor. Your partner was your breathing coach. We were all participants doing holistic healing course work, of which holotropic breathing was a component. (In the holotropic breathing group workshop venues that are currently available where I live, intentionally choosing a partner/breathing coach is encouraged. And it can be done in remote or wilderness areas.)
So in the morning of a full day workshop, one person goes, then a break for lunch, then the other goes. From start to finish, four hours was adequate for each go.
Actually, I’d be most concerned about the choice of music, which is a reflection of the facilitator’s style, than anything else. He did not intervene. He was in charge of the sound system and music tracks, gave a brief introduction to the work of Grof, and lead a grounding visualization. Then you were on your own.
And what a trip it was! The technique is rather simple. Breathe as hard and as fast as you are physically able, for as long as you can with your eyes closed. When you slow down, the coach gently encourages you to speed you up again. There were many, many crescendos in the breathers, some in unison, and from an onlooker’s perspective it sounded rather orgasmic. (Not recommended for anyone with heart or lung disease or who smokes.) The intro lasted about forty-five minutes. So you could be breathing like that for 2-3 hours! The effect was phenomenal. You could really tell who the joggers with big lungs were!
The incredible part was…you don’t pass out, you trip. You can stop the process at any point by just slowing down your breathing, unlike hallucinogenic drugs lasting up to twelve hours and you are along for the whole ride, regardless of how it goes.
You wear sweat pants, because you sweat. It is quite a physical as well as emotional workout. And eye patches like for first state are recommended, which I second. The person going first lies down, so we ere requested to bring a sheet or pad to lie on. And during the cooling off period you might like to be wrapped up for warmth and comfort.
There is no sexual activity or inappropriate touching allowed. We were instructed that sometimes in order to facilitate a ‘breakthrough’ in the process that your coach could apply pressure with one hand on each shoulder that the breather would push against and then collapsing back to the floor in a big release. I did that and it felt great! We were told not to stand up during the process, you would feel wobbly, and if we had to use the bathroom, your coach had to escort you, providing physical support by holding your arm to steady your walk so you don’t stumble and fall.
The music sound track was an integral part of the experience. It began with drumming, with enhanced music; I believe one of the tracks was pygmy music from the group “Deep Forest”. There was some Philip Glass organ music later on thrown in, too. One began breathing to drumbeat of the soundtrack. About half way through, the music became more classical, one could even say evolved into classical, although the transition was subtle; it ended with baroque style devotional music, like Bach’s organ works. Trance house music would work, too. In fact, the experience was like raving without the MDMA, and done lying down, not dancing. Trance dancing, another favorite, is of course what Sufi’s and Dervishes do to create their states.
IMO, if you have had positive experiences with hallucinogenic drugs used for inner exploration then holographic breathing will seem very manageable and indeed enlightening. It turned my body into an intense electric field; the imagery and physical sensations were quite dynamic. I was able to maintain a state of self-observation the whole time, no problemo. And I was a bike rider at the time, so I breathed with relish!
Once everyone ‘reconstituted’, so to speak, the facilitator encouraged us to draw images and symbols that we saw on a piece of paper with a large circle preprinted on it, to capture the experience in memory, which I recommend, too. Then we gathered in a circle and anyone who wished could share their experiences with the group or not. Having the structure of a workshop lead by an experienced facilitator made it feel safe to me.
The insights I gained as a result of the breathing, I’ll keep to myself, rather than risk coloring your experience any further than that. It helped me. I recommend it.
If the concept is that the eating of the fruit of the tree of knowledge provides all knowledge, then one is being deceived, because no one particular source can provide all knowledge. Therefore, when one believes in the deception, one has now trapped oneself within parameters. And, forevermore, the human race [is being] poisoned by the very same problem which is reflected in several different ways: one is always seeking the truth through one pathway instead of seeking it through a myriad of pathways; and also believing in simplistic answers to very complex issues and questions.
Cassiopaean Transcripts, 10-5-94
247/my2bits
Thanks for saying that. It was a post that I had “in there” but could not find the whatever to express. My sentiments exactly. One has to dare sometimes to move forward, it takes courage to let go and move on. There are good things ahead but often only if one let’s go of one’s past.
#226 Ex-lax 101
Good to hear from you.
We have moved on, but not so far that we cannot see the tunnels at the end of the light.
209/ yesirbaba
You said: “Is there anyone reading and posting on this blog that thinks Just Me has expressed anything but regurgitated fof crap in any posting to the blog?”
To which I say: the anonymous nature of the blog implies the need to be graceful with each other. We don’t know who we are talking to. Whoever you are, I may actually have known you and you, me. To read your insulting language above…well it is discouraging, like you are using this blog to vent instead of discuss. Venting is like process of elimination. No one wants to be on other end of that, so what’s the use? Are you trying to form a concencus of opinion against me? I don’t care, because I am like the holographic doctor on Star Trek, nothing you can say can affect me if I am paying attention, because all of this is just a bunch of white on black letters. So if truly as it is, this whole thing is for each participant a computer screen what is the point of the insults?
Does the belief that all FoF member are brainwashed serve as a foundation pillar supporting negativity towards them? If we for a moment suspended the belief about “brainwashing” which would then allow for the fact that when dialoging with FoF members, you might be engaging with someone of equal mental, emotional caliber and integrity ( I could add other descriptive words but after all they are just words) , would that help change your attitude? I find that you and others ( like Bruce recently) who are overtly negative are basically being destructive and nothing more. It feels like an indulgence, a lack of restraint. A queen. Destruction is like war, what is it good for? I think if you knew me and I knew you, we might well like each other. It seems that possibility should always be included in any dialogue instead of allowing negative assumptions (that have so much “bandwagon” support on this blog) to allow a de-constructing energy. Honestly, why do you think I’m on this blog? Because I’m totally smiley faced about FoF? JM
To my 2 bits, just me and any one of you who think it should stop.
Have you ever thought that that is exactly how some of us feel and think about the Fellowship, Robert, Girard, Asaf and the rest of the people that have been playing with our lives without mercy, or do you think we are here just joking.
243/ elena
Elena, having attended many of Girard’s potluck dinners with you there as well I can say that the reason I went is because he has a very fine mind and can give insights into ordinary situations that are remarkable. I have travelled all over the world, been to college, met lots of intelligent people, but Girard really is one of the most intelligent people I have ever met. JM
Just me, intelligence is not the only thing one needs to become conscious, integrity is more important and it is a pleasure to see that you and my 2 bits are affected by the quotes I’ve began questioning because there are an endless number of them to look at. Try yourselves at looking at the issues without blurring your mind with the comedy or tragedy of it, as you wish.
I’ve been working against feminine dominance with Robert for too long to be bothered by the fact that I am Girard’s wife to not question him down to the ground. Get a taste of your own little pills, those that kept so many of us for over fifteen years in your sick little school and your big sick teachers.
254/ elena
I’m not discounting your conviction at all. I understand there are people on this blog who are really upset about the FoF. That is one thing I am learning by reading this. I am simply saying that negativity and sarcasm (a part of negativity) effectively destroy the ability to communicate. They are like lashing out, but in this mysterious cyber space where most have a mask on, it just seems really weird to do that. Is this like a dumping ground? What is the aim? They can insult all they want, it will not affect me in the least. What can affect me is sincere, mutually considerate dialouge. In reviewing what has affected me, it is the sincere postings that I remember. The negative crap I just slap aside and move on but it costs a little energy, it is DE-STRUCTIVE JM
The blog is a stage. The audience is not who talk to one another here, it’s the invisible watchers. About 400 fewer FOF members in August than in April. How many of them posted here? Probably no more than 10. How many of them read what was written? (Did any of them not?)
It really is ALL good. It is all exactly the way it was meant to be. Clearer and more clear. Fat Boy, Who Knows, Emanon, Just Me…at this blog-format meeting you aren’t reading other people’s quotes anymore, thank God. It’s just you and your level of being in this prayer meeting. Here’s a tip: if you want to communicate effectively, whether to those recently-or-long-departed, or to those still-in-but-just-by-a-hair, you had better practice your listening skills more. Otherwise you are simply naked! Talking that FOF jive to yourself just like always, only now everyone sees through you, even without knowing your alternate names. Everyone can see you here, can see that you, like Robert, essentially don’t give a shit about all the collateral damage, past or present, as long as your delusional “higher aims” continue intact.
Among other things, what I’m trying to say is you do not have respect. You are talking to your “elders” here kids – this is one thing that your cult vanity simply cannot fathom – and they are running circles around you. But what else can you do but try. Defend your leader, your lives. The only problem is, you may be anchoring this hardline FOF defensiveness within your own being the more you write it out here. It’s a lot harder to remember the i’s aren’t real once you’ver taken the trouble to articulate them for an audience of thousands.
The audience is much luckier. They can just watch, and absorb, and let action come to them…and it obviously is (X 400 graduates in only 4 months).
As I allow myself to just sit in the audience for a while it really does just get too pathetic at times. But righteously so. All good. All good. All are playing their roles perfectly, no?
With love,
Joseph G
Joseph G
WOW–Thanks for raising the level here.
I saw an ad on a Muni bus the other day that said: “I thought he was a great guy until he raped me.”
Following is copied from a gay-and-lesbian website. Sorry it’s so long but the whole thing just seems incredibly pertinent. If you don’t have time to read it, I suggest at least scanning through “Gay Rape Myths” at the end…
Male rape: when Mr. Nice turns nasty
BY BRIAN VAN DE MARK
Published Thursday, 12-Jul-2007 in issue 1020
Joseph’s date seemed to be going well enough. After meeting “Frank” online, with whom he’d chatted for a number of weeks, he’d agreed to meet for dinner at Joseph’s favorite Indian restaurant. Conversation was pleasant and flowed easily enough, so they decided to take a casual walk around Hillcrest. Frank even offered to walk Joseph back to his apartment. It was about 9:30 on a Thursday evening in March. The sun had long gone down, and the cool San Diego weather lent itself well to a few warm goodnight kisses at the doorstep. It didn’t seem unusual to Joseph that Frank asked if he could use the restroom before he made the drive home. After all, they had both had several cocktails that night at dinner.
Beginning of a nightmare
But “opening the door for [Frank] that night was the beginning of a nightmare,” recalls Joseph, 34. “And the horrible thing is that I can’t get it out of my head, even though I don’t completely remember most of it.” To this day, Joseph still struggles with calling “it” rape, although he understands that what happened next was not consensual: When Frank came out of the bathroom, he walked over to thank Joseph again for a fun evening. A few more mutually enjoyable kisses were exchanged, and Joseph was ready to call it a night. But Frank asked if he could “just stay for a bit” until some of the alcohol was out of his system. “By then, I was ready for him to leave, but what can you say when someone says they don’t want to drive after they’ve been drinking?” Joseph says, recalling that he was feeling pretty tipsy himself. So, Joseph closed the front door and offered to fix them some coffee. The moment he turned to go into the kitchen, however, his “worst hell began.” Joseph recounts the scene numbly: Frank, Joseph says, pounced on him and was kissing and groping him all over. At first, Joseph tried to just laugh it off and tell Frank to go back to the sofa. But Frank persisted. The next 45 minutes are a relative blur, Joseph says. What Joseph does know is this. When he next looked at a clock, it was shortly after 11 p.m., and he was bleeding slightly from his rectum. And while he doesn’t remember everything that happened, he does remember sporadic moments of words and phrases, including his own voice saying “no” and “stop” and “hurt” and “please,” and Frank’s voice saying “relax” and “condom” and “your fantasy” and “You know you want it.” What he also knows is that he continues to feel a great deal of shame and confusion over just exactly what happened that night. And while his tears have abated, and the several-month long, every-waking-moment fear of HIV has passed, Joseph does not think he will ever be the same again.
A community issue
What Joseph may not realize is that his experience is hardly unique. In fact, it’s common enough that San Francisco has launched a campaign to raise awareness about rape in the GLBT community. The campaign, in response to a growing number of Bay Area sexual assaults on gays, includes posters on public Muni buses that read, “I thought he was a great guy until he raped me,” as well as a gay rape hotline (415-333-4357) for reporting crimes, and a Web site, http://www.mensurvivingrape.org.The campaign is among the first in the nation bringing a voice to this relatively unknown issue. The Federal Bureau of Investigations estimates that 5 to 10 percent of all reported rapes involve male victims, and the 2003 Department of Justice’s National Crime Victimization Study indicates that 1 in 10 rape victims are male. The Department of Justice says that one in 33 men in the United States has been a victim of rape or attempted rape, compared to one in six women. It estimates that between 12 to 30 percent of gay and bisexual men have engaged in sexual intercourse when they did not want to because they felt coerced to do so – the very essence of the definition of rape in the United States. However, Detective Sergeant Judy Woods of the San Diego Police Department’s Sex Crimes Unit (SDPD) suggests using caution when considering FBI or Department of Justice statistics. “It’s important to note that when you see the FBI statistics that they are very specific about what rape is, and that rape for them is defined specifically as a penis in a vagina, which fails to include, then, forced penis to anal penetration, forced penis to oral penetration, and forced object to anal penetration. Those are considered sexual assaults.” In other words, national statistics grossly underreport sexual assaults on men, if for no other reason than by sheer definition. To get a better idea of the situation in San Diego, Woods took a moment to search SDPD’s database with the key words “male victim/sexual assault.” She discovered more than 1,200 cases of reported sexual assault against men, most of which, she says, date from 2001. About 80 percent of those, Woods says, are from what the SDPD calls “brief encounters.” “We don’t use the phrase ‘date rape’ because that isn’t accurate for encounters such as meeting someone at a nightclub or on the street, having a conversation and a connection,” Woods explains. However, assures Woods, whether the violation is classified as sexual assault or rape, each is a felony and treated with the same vigilance by her unit. In fact, the SDPD uses the same protocol countywide for all assault reports, male or female – the Sexual Assault Response Team (SART).The SART team investigation consists of a physical medical exam for forensic evidence, a law enforcement officer and a victim advocate. “Regardless of the gender or sexual orientation, people need to know that their situation will be taken very seriously,” says Woods, who has been in the Sex Crimes Unit for 26 years. As staggering as the 1,200 number may be to some, it doesn’t even come close to the actual number of assaults that happen, Woods says. “The numbers we have are consistent with the grossly underreported assaults across the board,” Woods explains. “It’s because of the same factors in female victims, that there is often embarrassment or the feeling of not wanting to stir things up. Sometimes people think they made the mistake, and so they just want to let that one situation go.” But Woods argues this is not in the best interests either of the victim or the community. “Preventing sexual assault is all of our problem,” Woods says. “It could be me, my son, you, your friend. We have to be responsible for our own behavior and make sure others are responsible for their actions.”
Men less likely to report rape
Often in male rape cases, though, it’s the male victims’ perception of their own behavior or actions during the assault that leads male rape to be so grossly underreported. Paul Sussman has a Ph.D. in clinical psychology and works in the area of sexuality, sexual orientation, and violence and trauma. Sussman suggests there is a series of events or variables that are different for male victims of rape than for female victims of rape. “First of all, when we think of rape, we generally think of women,” Sussman says. “And so our services are generally set up to treat women victims. Men might not even know there are resources for them. Secondly, often men don’t even think in terms of male rape victim, and so it might not even occur to them that they were a victim of rape, per se.”
Sussman cites Mike Lew’s groundbreaking 1980 book, Victims No Longer: Men Recovering from Incest and other Sexual Child Abuse, in which Lew explains the social phenomenon that leads people to believe that “men are not victims, and victims are not men.” “Somehow, we learn to believe that it is not OK [for a male] to be a victim, and that we are less than male, or not male enough, if we fall into that category,” Sussman explains. There is also the issue of “confusion,” which can manifest itself in a wide range of ways. For example, Sussman says, “Male victims are often sexually or physically aroused during an assault, and that can lead to some confusion on the part of the victim who might be asking themselves, ‘Why was I aroused?’ It’s not unusual for a male victim to become physically aroused or experience an erection. For one, fear and excitement are wired closely together, and both nervousness and fear can cause an erection. And, if a male is anally penetrated, the interaction with the prostrate may cause arousal and/or an erection.” Sussman explains that the more sexually or physiologically aroused victims are, the more confused they are, and the less likely they are to report the assault. Arousal also makes victims more vulnerable.
Eroticism or violation?
Take Jessie, for example. Jessie, 32, is a self-described “leather boy,” and frequently participates in leather bondage and S&M scenes. Jessie says he is considered by most of his friends to be a pretty “worked-out muscle stud on the outside and a teenage fem-boy on the inside.” That is, Jessie says, his sexual encounters tend to be with people who are willing to overlook his larger, masculine exterior to dominate his more submissive interior. Last year, Jessie thought he had met someone who might be a good match for just that. Jessie, who says he has about 13 years of experience in the leather-boy role, is very particular about safe words and safer-sex play. His erotic moments come from pushing limits, but never from violating the agreed-upon boundaries. When Jessie met “Phil,” he was pretty confident that Phil was capable of playing within those parameters.
After a few play sessions, however, Jessie noticed that Phil’s erotic arousals came when he was pushing the agreed-upon boundaries further than Jessie liked. However, because they had a pre-set form of communication, where Jessie was barred from speaking in Phil’s presence, with the exception of the safe word to indicate a need to stop the play, Jessie felt he was unable to really discuss his concern with Phil. Jessie sensed that Phil actually became aroused by Jessie’s use of the safe word, rather than respecting the role it played in their scenes. Also, because Phil is an active member of the leather community in San Diego, and, in fact, often a leading voice in that community, Jessie was afraid to confront Phil for fear of being alienated by the group. While Jessie knows that if he were to come forward to members of the leather community, that such a charge would be taken very seriously, he is still concerned that Phil’s stature in the leather community would trump any concern Jessie has. “The leather community is really good about policing their own,” Jessie says. “In fact, it’s not uncommon for those of us who like scenes that take us to the edge to get references from others who have played with a partner we are considering. But with [Phil], it’s different.” Jessie fears that it would be a “his-word-against-mine” scenario, and he just isn’t sure how it would end up. After all, Jessie, himself, likes pretty extreme play. Consequently, beyond the leather community, seeking help seems unlikely, he says. “How seriously would I be taken if I went to some authority and said, ‘Well, I invited the guy over for a rape scene. But we had boundaries, and he showed up to do just that, but without the boundaries? Yeah, I was already tied up and gagged when he got there. Yeah, I was blindfolded and had the word “bitch” scrawled on my back in marker.’ How seriously do you think they would take my concern?” Jessie’s attempt to define the line between eroticism and violation became more pressing one Saturday night: Phil had arranged for Jessie to service several of his friends. And, Jessie says, what began as an erotic scene ended, at least for Jessie, as a night of horror, shame and confusion. Phil, showing off to his friends, responded to Jessie’s safe words with comments such as, “Yeah, that’s right, I know you don’t think you want it, but you do,” and “Shut up, boy, I didn’t ask how you felt.” Phil even took some duct tape and put it over the gag so Jessie’s words became completely muffled. At some point, Jessie says he just froze and stopped protesting, since every time he did, it just incited more aggression. Jessie says he understands, on one level, that what happened was rape. On the other hand, confusion nags. “Maybe on some level I wanted all of that,” he says. Much of Jessie’s uncertainty comes from the fact that he finds the very scene he took part in erotic. Further, Jessie says that his own physical response is part of what causes him to question the assault element, since he experienced a high level of physiological arousal, including an erection and multiple orgasms, during the episode. Finally, Jessie says he questions whether it was really rape, since he himself is a 6-foot-1-inch man and weighs 245 pounds, while Phil is a 5-foot-10-inch man and weighs about 160 pounds. At any point, Jessie suggests, he should have been able to stop the scene.
Physical strength not a factor in avoiding rape
Not so, says longtime rape crisis hotline counselor Yvonne Lewis. “It’s so tragic to hear [Jessie’s] story,” Lewis says. “Tragic because it’s precisely why male rape is so invisible today. Size, physique, none of that matters when psychological control is in play. I don’t care if you’re a linebacker for the Chargers and the rapist is a 4-foot-9-inch horse jockey. Control isn’t about size; it’s about psychological [control]. [A recent paper] says: ‘Male rape in the 21st century resembles nothing so much as female rape in the 19th and early-to-mid 20th centuries. Men are afraid to come forward for many of the same reasons women were [and some still are]. [Men] fear they would be blamed for their victimization, that their sexuality would be the issue, not the defendant’s wrongdoing, that they would never escape the stigma, no matter how blameless they were.’ Just because [Jessie] wore a certain type of clothing, and showed up to do a certain thing with one person, does not make him less of a victim of gang rape than the college student jumped in an alley coming out of a late-night biology lab at UCSD.” Holly Desimone, a leading rape awareness advocate in Calgary, Canada, recently turned her attention to the issues of gay male rape after meeting with Judy Shepherd, mother of the late Matthew Shepherd, who was murdered in 1998 for being gay. Judy Shepherd, who speaks frequently about the hate crime, is a leading voice in the movement to raise awareness of the issue. Desimone, a rape survivor herself, began to see a pattern emerging among rape and violence cases as they related to homeless persons, gays and lesbians, and people with disabilities. “There is this tendency to lump the rape into the hate crime,” Desimone explains. “And I think we need to separate the two from each other. Rape is rape, and beating is beating, and we can’t lose sight of the fact that many of the victims that we champion as victims of hate crimes were also victims of rape.” SDPD’s Detective Sergeant Woods agrees with both Lewis and Desimone. Woods says her department makes sure all factors of every reported attack are investigated and prosecuted. “I want people to understand that this mentality of ‘nobody is going to listen to me’ isn’t true,” Woods says. “We will listen. Let me just give you an example of when nobody thought we would listen, but we did. On Aug. 8, 2006, Joel Kuchmann was convicted and sentenced to 206 years to life in state prison. He was convicted of holding three people at gun point – a transvestite and two transgender individuals in August of 2005. He was convicted of three counts of rape with a foreign object, forced oral copulation, as well as robbery with a firearm. He was also convicted of dissuading a witness from reporting the crime.” In other words, each and every crime committed was charged and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, and the resulting sentence was not simply a hate crime sentence, but rather a series of sentences for the series of crimes committed. At the time, prosecutor Dwayne Moring issued a statement that he was “pleased with the verdict because. in this case, a defendant preyed upon individuals who he believed would be too frightened to report the crimes he committed against them.” The department’s vigilance in bringing Kuechmann to justice, Woods says, is a prime example of the SDPD’s policy of taking every victim’s case seriously. “If there is a gay man out there who is assaulted, he should know that the SDPD treats all cases equally,” Woods says. Another powerful element in the process is that the SDPD’s protocol is strictly victim-driven and, with the exception of domestic violence or child molestation, can be stopped by the victim at any time. “A person’s identity is kept confidential during the process, and people need to know that our protocol is victim-driven,” Woods explains. “At any point, an adult victim can terminate the process. People need to know that it isn’t a case of just getting a ball rolling that they can’t stop. At any point, a person can call back later and stop the process. But people should come forward as soon as possible, because the sooner we get the toxicology and forensics, the better the case is going to be.”
Condoms don’t make it OK
Another area of confusion among male rape victims has to do with condom usage. “A lot of times, you will hear a male victim of assault explain away the actual act of rape if the perpetrator uses a condom,” Lewis explains. “The thinking there tends to be that if the perpetrator used a condom, then it can’t be rape, because rape is an instantaneous, violent, spur of the moment, testosterone-filled moment, and using a condom means the perpetrator is engaged in some form of rational thought during the act, which leads to confusion on the part of the male victim. This is different than female victims’ thinking, actually. Condom or not, rape is rape, in a woman’s mind. But for some reason, we get a lot of hesitation from male victims when the issues of condoms are factored in.” There is one other area of interest when it comes to male rape, Lewis says, and that is rape within a relationship. “People don’t always think about coerced or forced sexual encounters within a relationship as sexual assault or rape,” Lewis explains. “After all, most people in a relationship have probably had sex with their partner when they weren’t necessarily in the mood themselves. And, to some extent, that’s not what I’m talking about. What I’m talking about is a partner who is a little drunk, or a little high, and forces their partner into a sexual encounter that is unwanted and unwelcomed. Rape isn’t just about strangers.” Cory, 38, knows this all too well. He recently left a relationship that he finally came to understand as abusive. In fact, Cory says, he was probably raped by his partner of nine years more than 200 times. “I know that sounds extreme, and maybe people don’t understand, but when [Kevin] would come home from a night out with some friends, he would come into the room and wake me up by getting physically aggressive and sexual with me,” Cory recalls. “It’s not just that I wasn’t ‘in the mood’ or ‘up for some play.’ He would pin me down, tear off my shorts and just begin to either rub himself against me, forcefully jack me off, or, sometimes, even [anally penetrate] me.” Cory tried discussing the problem with his family, but they couldn’t understand how a man can be raped, especially one who had erections and ejaculations. How was that congruent with a lack of desire? Like so many others, they believed a person could only become physiologically aroused if one is enjoying the act. So, Cory turned to his friends. Unfortunately, most of the responses centered around telling Cory to “loosen up a little” or “Well, if that’s what you have to do to keep [Kevin] monogamous, then suck it up.” Cory says it got to the point where he would just take sleeping pills, so that he could sleep through any late-night assaults. Cory felt very alone in his struggle. “Friends and family need to gently encourage the victim to get help,” Sussman explains. “If, for nothing else, just to know that they are not alone. It can be a very destructive, corrosive feeling to think, ‘I’m the only one it happens to.’ That can make a person feel even worse. And being informed gives a person choices, whether that’s an Internet chat group on this theme. That can be a very safe first step into it. People have to be able to understand how this has an impact on them. It’s sort of like being gay 30 years ago in Davenport, Iowa, say. One might have thought, ‘I’m the only person on earth that’s gay.’ In the same way, a person in a relationship, who is a victim of sexual assault today, may think they are the only one that this is happening to.”
Fear of disclosing sexual orientation
One of the leading reasons men like Cory don’t come forward about sexual assault is out of fear of disclosing their sexual orientation. Both Cory and his partner are active military, and disclosure of their sexual orientation could lead to being discharged – in essence, being fired from the only jobs they’ve ever known. As a result of the continued sexual assault and abuse, as well as his inability to go to the authorities, Cory says he is doing his best to cope with the hostility and anger he has for Kevin, as well as the sleep disturbance he now experiences. All of these reactions are extremely common, Sussman says. In fact, a male rape victim’s response is often that of post traumatic stress syndrome, with depression and anxiety being significant factors. “Add to all of that the shame that gay men often have surrounding their homosexuality, and you have a person who is at risk of being extremely vulnerable psychologically and emotionally,” Sussman says. As for Cory, he says he wants to stay strong. And part of that strength means not being in a relationship for a while. The issues surrounding gay rape are as complex as they are painful: shame, confusion, solitude, physical trauma and the fear of HIV transmission. But there is help for those who have been victims of gay rape. And, as cities like San Francisco become more open about the dialogue, there is hope, as well.
Gay rape myths
Myth 1: Men can’t be raped.
According to the Department of Justice, 1 in 33 men in the U.S. is a victim of rape or attempted rape.
Myth 2: Male rape only happens in prison.
While statistics may suggest that the number of daily prison rapes exceeds the number of daily rapes in society at large, rape of both males and females does happen every day, whether by strangers, friends or even partners.
Myth 3: It wasn’t rape; it was just rough sex.
A gay man can be violated, and it is considered rape if the acts continue beyond the consensual activity.
Myth 4: He just had too much to drink, so it’s not really his fault.
Alcohol is a leading factor in sexual assault, and it is not a legal excuse for a rapist’s actions.
Myth 5: It isn’t rape if you’re in a relationship.
Any sexual act that is the result of being coerced, forced or is non-consensual, whether it is a stranger, a friend or a partner, is considered rape. A partner can be charged with the same crime as a stranger.
Myth 6: He was aroused, so it wasn’t rape.
Male victims can be sexually or physically aroused during the rape due to psychological causes or fear or excitement, as well as physical causes such as the stimulation of the prostate. It’s not uncommon for a male rapist to go out of his way to make sure the victim does have an erection – and possibly even ejaculate – as this adds to the victim’s confusion and subsequent non-reporting.
Myth 7: Men are strong protectors and providers, so they can’t be raped.
Whether through physical or emotional coercion, threats or drugs (such as the “date rape” drug, GHB), men can be victims of rape.
Myth 8: The police or medical team will not take me seriously.
The San Diego Police Department has a Sexual Assault Response Team in place countywide to respond to all rape victims, including male victims.
Myth 9: Oral copulation is not rape.
If you are forced to commit any act of a sexual nature, including oral-genital contact, it is sexual assault and it is classified as sexual assault and subject to the same protection as vaginal or anal penetration.
Myth 10: Male victims don’t suffer as much as female victims
All victims suffer, and the variables that may contribute to the trauma experienced vary a great deal. And while male victims are not at risk of pregnancy, there is a much higher risk of internal damage and tearing, and, with that, comes a higher possible HIV-transmission risk.
Peter, thanks for you post in 245,
I have been thinking why it has to be US and THEM. It seems it is my own psychology that allows this to happen for when I am sincere when I meet a student it is usually a nice conversation, but if I am inner considering then it is strange. I asked a student this same question, and she agreed, it is mostly inner considering for her. (I would not hold FOF responsible, because I remember when I was young and went from one Yoga Institute to another, and met a friend from the first one a few months later, she was quite cold to me. Maybe people act this way because on some level the intimacy in a spiritual organization is higher than like let say working at a company, so when you break that bond it creates a confusing emotional state).
Robert use to say when I was in the school that we were not better just luckier. I believe Robert and most students know that we are all the same machines, bumbling around to make ends meat. Robert has a lot of life friends and tries not to judge people. Frankly, for me I still do judge when I am in a situation of people who are obviously being mechanical and just utterly brainless to what is going on around them or inside themselves.
When you have a group of people focused on being present then that emotional energy helps to create a higher state. I miss this now and feel I will be looking for another school or group soon after more digesting.
I have heard that Robert asked students not to talk about students who leave the school in a negative or gossip way; my understanding was this would keep the door open to them if they ever wanted to rejoin. Before I left though, things had been changing because Robert in the last couple of years had not talked about students who leave the school in such a low demeanor. My gripe with Robert is about something else and in due time will share that if it seems appropriate on this blog.
Everyone is a farce; it is almost impossible for a man to know the small part of himself that is real and it is even more difficult for anyone else to know it. On that level where words come out of a man’s mind and reach the minds of others everything is lie, the actual truth can only be exchanged silently between the open windows of one soul into the windows of another. At the level of words, in order to arrange them so that they do not produce a lie first a man has to know that he lies to himself, that he is in conflict with himself and misunderstands himself. He then has to speak in such a way that he resolves all these contradictions by carefully balancing on the edge of intelligence each precarious statement.
Double post. — ES
I haven’t read the feedback to my latest post, but I wanted to offer apologies anyway to those I suggested to back off from the blog. Guess I’m tired and felt the need for some fresh blog-air in this blog-space. I am sure many feel that those I criticized are among the shining stars of this space, and I admit that they — Uno, Bruce, Elena and others — have given much to all of us. In the future, I’ll try to not be so grumpy, and be more accepting of the nature of this place.
Hello, Bruce. You were right about my post #247. I did have a buzz on, and was just unloading. At first, your posts were irritating to me, but I have come to appreciate your being here quite a lot. Thanks for your consistency, wit and intelligence.
236 is newly moderated.
As to the verbal battles between people – Bruce, FatBoy, Who Knows, Exlax, whoever… Maybe there has been enough conflict. I am quite surprised that it hasn’t finished yet, it’s been going for the past 3 discussions. And it does feel like its peoples egos by this point, nothing else and nothing more.
Just me wrote,
What can affect me is sincere, mutually considerate dialouge.
You know, I offered that to you, but I understood you to indicate that you didn’t want it. Did I get that wrong? I did ask you to introduce yourself, but I didn’t and don’t need your name or, really, identifying information. I don’t believe that preaching at anyone, let alone anonymous preaching, ever affects the listener’s understanding.
Real dialog involves at least some self-disclosure. I mean, if I can’t frame your words as being grounded in a person, even if I don’t know much about that person, it makes dialog all the more problematic.
Real dialog also involves a basic measure of trust. I understood you to indicate that you didn’t think you could trust me because of all the old stuff I have been dredging up about FOF. I don’t know what to say about that except that the past is not gone, it belongs to the present.
Think about it! If the only thing that is real is the present, then the present, the “eternal now,” includes the past. Those whom you should distrust are those who tell you that it doesn’t matter what happened in the past.
258 Just me,
While I understand what you are saying about negativity and sarcasm and do not share much of it, this open violence is in no way more violent than the passive acceptance of the persistent humiliation that I had to go through in the Fellowship of Friends and think students have to go through without anyone having ever stood up and even questioned it with half of the strength my 2 bits was willing to shout here.
The greatest brainwashing of the Fellowship, is that we had to walk around on tip toe like ballerinas so that we wouldn’t question the beauty of the show.
I appreciatemy 2 bit’s apologies, or your apology and am surprised by your statement that I might be considered to be shining around here. If you had any idea of how confused I am, you would know how little of a star I feel.
I have followed a great deal of this discussion and have started posting from Girard’s books (and think it is equally necessary to look at Robert’s) because some concrete thinking needs to get involved in this discussion. What is so obvious about the brainwashing in the fellowship to some of us does not seem at all obvious to many inside and there are thousands of examples of it in any of their books.
The bottomline for me, from one angle, is that every post I’ve written, I’ve written for Girard against Girard’s role. If I were to sue the fellowship for the harm it has done me I would probably ask for something around one billion dollars. If I were to sue The Fellowship of Friends for the damage it has done to my husband, I would sue it for a hundred billion and if I were to sue Girard and Robert for the damage I’ve seen them do to others, I would sue them for ten thousand billion.
None of them are going to fix my life now but I am not going to sit and watch them continue to do harm without being deeply questioned. I think the questioning is necessary because they don’t really know what they are doing, they have gone unquestioned for so long, they think they are legitimate and so did the many of us inside.
“For as long as man has been sufficiently conscious to leave written notes, there are those who’ve been intrigued by activities of consciousness that were outside collective concerns. This interest has been labeled variously as magic, the occult, the mystical, the spiritual, the struggle-to-Awaken, the search-for-Enlightenment, or simply, The Knowledge. The bottom line is, some people have always sought to function in a manner not inherent; it still goes on today, but few of them ever pursue the matter deeply enough to get to the bottom of it. Instead they are satisfied to be students of magic, the occult, awakening and enlightenment, rather than understanding the reality behind such words. There is nothing wrong with this any more than there is anything wrong with preferring to listen to music as opposed to making music. But there is an obvious distinction between being a listener and being an artist, and no purpose is served by denying the difference. Likewise, if you really want to discover and then create your own nonstandard running of consciousness, you need to face the facts about your interest in this affair and not pretend to fool yourself, as is natural for routine consciousness.
To be conscious is to be dissatisfied; this constant neural disquiet is a survival technique: at the non-conscious level, everyone silently accepts this and gives it no particular note; but a few do make note of it–a few always have. There is a sequence of stages that underpins these peoples’ history in this matter: At first, they do not like the way life is; if they progress, they move to a stage of not liking themselves; should they move past that point, they reach a third stage where they dislike the way they think about life and themselves. Few venture beyond that third stage, but beyond that is where the whole thing begins.
Every ordinary sane person thinks that the world outside of them (or, outside of their mind, actually) is insane; this is neither true or not true–it is simply one of an infinite number of objectively meaningless concepts natural to consciousness. All you need do to get stuck in this stage is be alive. To a lesser degree, every ordinary sane person also thinks of him or herself as being short of satisfactory, but this notion is entertained in consciousness only for brief moments and under nonroutine conditions. A few sane nonordinary people find their attention regularly focused on their own consciousness, and think of its operations as ill-becoming them individually. Their overall thinking accords sufficiently with the human herd’s for them to function adequately therein, but in the privacy of their own head–they don’t like it. People at this stage are the ones who become seriously involved in organized activities devoted to discovering another way that consciousness can run. As befits the mind, the activity will have a particular method of achieving the goal, and the participant will become a student of the method. But to go from busy, monkey consciousness to dead-still, snake consciousness, you must move beyond the study of a method to the study of a goal.
The mind must have a map in hand to ever believe that it has started a journey toward the goal. But consciousness will quickly accept a periodic glancing at the map as actual travel. When you start, you cannot SEE the goal; all that you can see is the map–the method you have chosen to use as a vehicle TO the goal. This is how it works for everyone, but you must eventually recognize that no method, discipline, map or teaching is your goal; the reality of the other state of consciousness, and all ideas and talk about it, are two different things: so different, in fact, as to be beyond the widest definition of “different.” They are from two different realities.
One method is as good as another; if it initially seems good to you then it is good for you. You have to have somewhere to start, but the words and ideas that consciousness can entertain are never the same thing as the goal itself; they hide the goal; they walk around on it while talking about it so that you cannot see it; they excitedly point off in one direction or another where they say the goal lies, while it lies right under their feet.
There is no “way” to discover this other way in which your consciousness can operate. There is no right way, there is no wrong way. There IS no way–but you must use one.
You cannot think an “enlightened thought” until you think SOMEthing, but nothing you can think has any real significance regarding this goal. Anything you think about the goal is actually you thinking about a method or a map; you cannot think about the goal, there is nothing you can think about it; whenever you are thinking about the goal your thoughts are mulling about on top of it, hiding it from your view.
You can think that life is not right; you can think that you are not right; you can think that what you think about life and yourself is not right; but if you really want your consciousness to run in a way that affords you an entirely different way of thinking, what you need focus on is the neural floor in your head on which your thinking is taking place. Ignore what your thoughts think about life, you, or even themselves, and look, instead, beneath their feet: look at what they are standing on. There is that longed-for, other level of consciousness. It is ultimately just that simple. You just LOOK and there it is.
I grant you, it can seem to take a lifetime of convoluted efforts to ever get to the stage where it is that simple to see, but you may as well know now that ultimately–it is–just that simple and obvious.”
Jan Cox
From Girard Haven’s Best Thoughts.
“The machine is under the illusion that it can make decisions, but if we understand that we really are machines -which means that everthing is mechanical, everything happens- then we can begin to verify that there are no decisions- The process we normally call “decision-making” becomes, instead, a question of trying to find out what is supposed to happen. With this attitude, one is much less identified with the process. One begins to be able to watch the machine, with all its ‘I’s and all its confusion, and see that that is also part of the process of what is supposed to happen.”
This is perfect Fellowship indoctrination and it is designed only for the acceptance of the Fellowship’s status quo. It takes away the ability of anyone to make decisions for himself and puts us in a place of having to find out what is supposed to happen. Just watch one’s confusion without ever questioning Robert because he is the only one with enough being to make decisions, according to Girard and Robert.
What is supposed to happen in the Fellowship is that NO ONE questions the show. “If you don’t like it, leave, it is Robert’s school. You are not school material”
“Real doing is to have something in oneself that is not affected by what the machine is doing or not doing; whether it is happy or sad; whether it has tears or laughter. The issue is to keep one’s inner world -one’s ability to observe what happens to the machine-separate and unaffected. That makes one truly free.”
“SEPARATE AND UNAFFECTED.” No feelings. This is how both Robert and Girard have crystallized and expect us to crystallize. If you can’t numb your emotional center you are not conscious enough.
“Real doing is not feeling” is the essence of this sentence.
It has changed the idea of not being identified with one’s feelings with not feeling itself. It states that freedom comes from not feeling or being in any way affected by the outside world.
The point is subtle here because it is easy to confuse not being identified with not feeling which is what Girard and Robert and so many in the inner circle have become masters of. They, for example, cannot feel the absurdity of being the only one’s to talk for the rest of their lives. They cannot feel that others have something to say. And it is not about talking, it is about “belonging”. They feel that they are the only one’s that have a right to belong to what the rest of us support. They have made a private property of the spirit.
Our Beloved Slave Driver is having fun,
or how the brainwashed slaves glorify Robert’s cruelty and worship their abuser…
************************
From Julian b.
Greetings from the Council!
This is the second in a series of bulletins that will be sent worldwide on the Journey Forth by Day events in August.
At one of the recent Wednesday meeting at the Prytaneion, there was a discussion on using the work under pressure.
A student described his experience of building Robert’s new oasis at the Galleria. Robert would visit the oasis everyday and, for an hour or so, sit observing students at work. Then Robert would often ask for changes—right after the workers thought they were finished!—for example, extending the lawn another 10 feet, moving the fountain from the garden to the center of the table, moving a road, relocating newly planted palm trees! The weather was hot, the days long and work continued through the weekend.
At the height of intensity in the octave, Robert then said that he wanted his students to learn how to use the system under pressure….
…To finish with another anecdote from the building of the oasis— a student asked one of those working what was Robert trying to achieve with the octave. “He’s taking us with him,” the student replied.
Re: Unitive Consciousness and Schizophrenia
Hi all: After Anna’s post of 16/520 and her recounting of her experience and perceptions of Th. (the boy who appeared to have ‘woken up’ as well as apparently ‘went crazy’ — sorry about those choices of words), I have come across in other things I’ve been reading some discussion of these two phenomena. Somebody pointed out either here or on the greater fof site that what Th seemed to have experienced was classic schizophrenia.
To me everything that Anna desribed about him seemed consistent with other accounts I have read about people who ‘realized’ or whatever.
So, the purpose of this post is to ask anyone out there who knows more about this than I where I can go to find out information on schizophrenia that might shed light on why what Th. apparently experienced is not ‘realization’ as we all seem to understand it. Or if it was that, and also some other kind of ‘meltdown’, what that meltdown consists of.
As an example, Ken Wilbur in one of his books mentions in passing that the realization of one’s non-existence (I am paraphrasing) is NOT schizophrenic regression, which is instead he said a muddling of one’s sense of self, or something like that. Thx.
Maybe it could be who knows? An old timey FOF angle: “Dont make any hasty decisions during a fool moon”. “In fact the moon has an effect three days before and three days after the fool moon and new moon”.
Maybe (I didnt really notice) all the infighting, snarling and gnashing of teeth (my2bits) happened during a new moon?
I just read. More often than not, I’ll have an internal response.
“oops”, “that was a good one”, “that was funny”, “now what was that?”, “Oh boy, here we go again”, “Oh, so and so is back”, “I like that one”, “Oh my god”! and so on and so forth.
Some days I start the day laughing it gets so witty around here.
Dear My2bits ~
Thank you for both of your posts; it shows where we all are ‘really’ wherever we go, Robert Burton has trained his ‘followers’ to stick their demons on the underside of their shoes or behind their ears, like too long chewed bubble gum, too weak to blow bubbles, too tough for new sugar, yet, pliable enough to read the blog and react ‘formally’ to what seems to be ‘negative’ and ‘positive’.
Reading, I found that ‘You-me-us-they’ found within my Post 202 a level contained in there, a place for deeper consideration and ‘feeling’ or ’sense’ that the obviousness simply will not allow diving into, yet, is it not true that it is the diver that determines the depth of the dive and not the water? Sure there’s some tough stuff in there too, yet, not as tough as Fellowship of Friends 37 years old bubble-gum.
Yes, I paused for awhile before posting it, though knew my aim and that it was for ‘Fat Boy’ and ‘Just Me’, taking it out of context of the previous ’string of events’ that brought to light it’s birth would not be fair to it’s consideration, though it can stand on it’s own as a ’something’ that I felt was being channeled through me as a result of what both of them are avoiding and too,
what nearly 98% of all Fellowship of Friends members avoid while presenting their ‘half basketball’ games in here; if it pisses them off, it’s because they ‘feel it’ already, down deep, in their conscience, which is being pissed on, by Robert Burton and Friends, that is, when the depth inside oneself is truly aspiring to get out, to graduate from all ‘the stuff’,
Robert Burton simply spins more silk, more and more, till being a cocoon seems reasonable, safer and cozy; this is not awakening, I am not stating what it is, yet, would anyone argue that stating what it is not does not get one closer to what it is? I believe this is one of the highest aims of this blog, to perform just that task, somewhat by default, otherwise it gets kinda ‘preachy’.
A good example of this ‘avoiding’ or (buffering) is Elena’s interesting posts showing Girard’s quotes first then her ‘bridging’ of them at the end with some very fresh common-sense and personal ’scale & relativity’;
see, this is not allowed in the Fellowship of Friends, personal scale cannot be applied to affirmations, because, then the affirmation looses it’s affirmative-’being identified with a wishful goal or picture of oneself’-causing state’;
the angles given at meetings by both Robert and Girard are never allowed a certain ‘human-ness’, a personal realm of the one and only moment that’s unfolding as we walk it, as we communicate with silences, being and one another;
angles, they are given and actually retrieved by round-about-pontificating, then one is left afterwards with ‘aims’, ‘wondering’, ‘enlightenment’, yet, not applicability or any fundamental ‘proof’ that the givers of these ‘affirmations’ are more than ‘wishful thinkers’ or beings who intentionally suffer their wishes to come true…
Robert Burton’s wishes do not come true, they remain wishes, stars fall, new stars are found, stars fall… The students are doing his work for themselves by default, they make up things to excuse his tramp and lunatic greed feature… the school belongs to them, yet, they do not know it, nor can they practice it, till they leave the school… this is the irony and it is working itself out here and there.
Dear Margie ~
Somewhere between your opinion (which usually mirrors what the opinion is about, it’s surface-negativity or positivity, after all, usually people smile after being smiled at) and the ‘target’ or ’subject’ being given the opinion, ‘to get it off ones chest’, handing it back to the ‘creator’,
there is a SPACE, a place where perhaps the obvious simply cannot exist;
I mean, if the reflection of the pool was all there was, people would be sliding around on it, not diving under, bringing up 500 year old ship wrecks…
I would simply ask you to consider a stance that’s not Fellowship, nor Academic, just you and you, yet the you that wants to sit down (or stand) not with stern opinions and made up mind, rather, with some sense of eternity, of things changing, kinetic, mysterious and very subjective within certain ‘personal’ objective frameworks and ‘plays’…
To me, your post is very personal and believing that you can state it as fact, or a moral guideline for peace on the blog, will only get you deeper into the trap of seeing things ‘your way’,
like your note that we are all from the same planet;
this could only be true if we were standing on the moon and saying it, having come from earth;
it is true that we are ‘on’ the earth, yet, where from that our ’selves’ originate, none (I do not know yet, that is) can know, yet, to me, it is more relative to say that a ’soul’ in a Venusian container/body is from Venus, not Earth (my opinion).
The ‘idea’ of ‘The Collective Whole’ has brought this planet a tremendous amount of suffering (my opinion); and in my opinion, adds to it’s ‘collective’ inability to take individual responsibility for it’s vast array of different natures within men and women, that are simply ‘conveniently’ and not ‘consciously’ lumped together and called ‘That’;
even the Fellowship of Friends has come under the sway of seeing this way ‘with’ it’s conscious knowledge, not ‘for’ it’s conscious knowledge;
for instance ~ all ‘Saturns’ as being of the same mechanics, the same photographs given for seemingly the same things, labeling certain projections as this or that, then leaving the person to try and figure out how to be consciously right and not consciously wrong,
yet, this is simply one man’s frozen thinking (not very creative), being projected out as a ‘conscious form’, yet, it is ‘very personal’ and relates to his lifestyle and ways, not the fourth way (my opinion);
beyond the obvious is a person’s essential self being effected by an objective force (say, a feature), yet, this force and how it weaves through the growing fibers of one’s being and causes a certain kind of seeing, believing, disbelieving, reactions, etc., is not easily perceived, yet it can be held in ones hand by consciousness, by application, not by Heaven and Hell static… The quicker we sponge from our hearts a certain kind of ‘worm of static judgment’ the better we can crystallize into crystals that keep growing, not those types we go and look at in museums.
_____________________________________________
Love to You all.
Hello Margie,
Are you Margie from Sedona?
If so please contact me at a.tudor@chello.nl
Been looking for you…
229 Anna/Michael: “a pressing question facing me now is how to protect myself from falling into a similar trap again”
Don’t worry about it. Watch what happens. It’s just the mind making up “important questions” to make itself seem real. Maybe you’ll “fall into a similar trap again”, maybe you won’t. Either way is fine and in any case you have no control over it.
256 Just Me: “Girard really is one of the most intelligent people I have ever met”
Girard is a fine example of how useless it is to be intellectually acute while being totally unconnected with reality.
271 PA: Julian B: “a student asked one of those working what was Robert trying to achieve with the octave. “He’s taking us with him,” the student replied”
Unfortunately that’s probably true.
The recent post about Burton’s breath smelling of sperm reminded me that I had my own ideas about why Burton has so much sex (and what invisible energies, if any, are connected with the large quantities of sperm he ingests, and what control he has over those energies) around the time I got the Big Boot in 1996. So, I made a mock-up of a “Dear Abby” column, which I didn’t share then, but I will now, seeing it is a Sunday, and any readers are hopefully mellowed out and open to the off–beat. Is there any truth buried in the (alleged) humor?
(The heading was:)
_____________________________________________
Dear Abby Answers from way, way out there in ‘left field’…
“ …a certain degree of goofiness is the legitimate excretion of mental activity. However, what follows is patently ridiculous, and Abigail van Buren in no way condones this kind of drivel. In fact, she disassociates herself from it entirely. Stand by for a lawsuit!”
______________________________________________
That was from 14 years ago. As an aside, there is a fascinating theory that may connect with all this, proposed in the book, “Thinking and Destiny” by Harold Percival. I briefly summarize: it says that if groups of humans set up ‘belief fields’ about an entity, they actually start to create it. For example, the tribes of Israel set up the entity “Yahweh”; their belief set this local god in motion, and the power of this god waxed and waned with the strength of their belief. If it became strong enough, a local god could take over other local gods and become a regional god; this happened frequently in the Greek and Roman civilizations. And, some gods could become entirely forgotten, and lose all their power. An interesting extension to Gurdjieff’s ideas about ‘haverno’, the power of kingship, huh?
With love to all, ‘in’ and ‘out’,
Ames
Dear Unoanimo,
Thank you for the reply in the middle of 274, it was thoughtful but it should be taken more concrete please, and your need to critique in this manor may be your ego! You seem to extricate ideas from my post (my theme being lets be kind to one another) like rabbits from a hat.
In any case, you wrote, “Will only get you deeper into the trap of seeing things ‘your way’”. Thank you for pointing this out, I am afraid of this sometimes and I will think about it more. But would not we all be guilty of this who post their opinions on this blog? Is someone objective?
Rhetorically I ask, not necessary to you, but do we want to see things FOF way? Do we want to see things in the way of the crude posts on this blog? At some point we do have to mediate between the two and “see things my way”. Whatever the truth maybe it is not pretty, but as I hinted to before, healing comes with relativity.
Male Rape. Thanks for bringing it up Joseph in 261.
The perpetrator of rape is traditionally the one who penetrates the victim without permission.
Although there have been attempts to bring charges against women who have forced men to have sex with them, I don’t think it has ever been made to stick because having an erect penis is seen as evidence of arousal and therefore of complicity in the act of penetrating another. It looks very different from a man forcefully penetrating a woman or other man.
The only cases I know of where someone has been sexually abused even though it was they who had the hard on, is with minors or the mentally handicapped. In these cases the victim has been stimulated in order to be taken advantage of. Think Michael Jackson masturbating boys in his bed.
Viagra changes things rather. If it can be proved that a man has been stimulated with sodomize in order for him to be sucked or made to fuck another man when he was not aroused by that other man, you surely have the makings of a case for rape.
Not only that, but if a system is in place to turn this into a production line of penises for sucking and stimulating the prostrate, it includes institutional rape, where the organization that knowingly creates the necessary conditions is guilty of rape.
Out of all the circumstances for a smart criminal attorney to earn his spurs, this has to rate high. It is a great opportunity to win fame and glory for putting away a perverted monster and destroying the institution that fed a homosexual elementary school teacher come prophet and head of a clut’s appetite for heterosexual men. You can just see it in the papers, can’t you.
We have an authority figure who is the founder of a church and self proclaimed angel, a system of victims looking to replace themselves with new meat so they can move on from suckee or poker to procurer, an institution that actively supports this in all ways, money that changes hands for the soul purpose of making this possible, drugs administered and pornography shown (straight, not gay!) to the victims in order to make them erect, so they can be milked of their sperm, explicit and also more obscure threats for those who do not go along with this including the withholding of ‘benefits’, victims who for the most part come from a background where abuse is acceptable, favors and benefits for complying (as with all prostitutes, you never give them enough to leave, but just enough to lock them in), round it all off with lots and lots of mumbo jumbo, peer pressure, economic hardship, fraudulent immigrations statuses (an R1 visa is not for sex slavery) and the insecurity of vulnerable young men and this is what you get.
If you feel love for Robert Earl Burton, affection for Isis and your dear friends and place value on the years you have spent in the Fellowship of Friends, that is not a good enough reason to refuse to look at what is going on in your name.
Do Robert Earl Burton’s crimes amount to the ‘systematic rape of numerous vulnerable men?’ (around 700 men abused, 10,000 instances – after all he currently has sex for around 3 hours with 4 people a day – do the maths.)
If you heard this about some other ‘esoteric school’, what would you say?
Just to anticipate a ‘no-one put a gun to their head’ argument. Prostitutes who enter their profession unwillingly are tricked, drugged, deceived and threatened into it, no one holds a gun to their head either. Once they are in, it is very hard to get out. As with everything else, humans adapt – especially if a system exists to accommodate them. People can do the most outrageous things if it seems that it is normal within the group of people that they belong to. The Fellowship of Friends has without doubt made all of this possible, you could even sympathize for Robert Earl Burton as he has been let down by the cowardice and petty self-interest of his loving students. The Fellowship of Friends supposedly consists of people who are on a higher level than ordinary life and yet this corruption and crime goes unchecked. What a wake up call. It could almost have been done on purpose to show us what we are really made of.
256 Just Me: “Girard really is one of the most intelligent people I have ever met”
The fact that he has devoted his life to a criminal lunatic would seem to undermine this claim.
Destructive cults
The People’s Temple, led by
James Warren (Jim) Jones
This was a Christian destructive, doomsday cult founded and led by James Warren Jones (1931-1978).
Jones developed a belief called Translation in which he and his followers would all die together, and would move to another planet for a life of bliss. Mass suicides were practiced in which his followers pretended to drink poison and fell to the ground.
During the late 1970’s, Jones had been abusing prescription drugs and appears to have become increasingly paranoid. Rumors of human rights abuses circulated. As in most high-intensity religious groups, there was a considerable flow of people joining and leaving the group. Tim Stoen, the Temple attorney and right-hand man to Jones left to form a group called Concerned Relatives. They claimed that Jonestown was being run like a concentration camp, and that people were being held there against their will.
http://www.religioustolerance.org/dc_jones.htm
Just Me, etc.
There are many people who read the blog, and post here occasionally, who are not among the handful who post daily, and who may not feel that handful represents their own views, or at least their preferred way of expressing them. Some former members may have agendas with respect to the FoF, and some may not, or may have different ones. For example, some may want to bring down the FoF, or help bring members out. Some may not. If you’ve read a few hundred posts you’ve noticed that there’s a wide range of perspective, tone, and emotion among those from former members. It’s certainly possible to have a reasonable conversation with at least some of them–if that’s what you really want–without fear of being harangued, if being harangued bothers you.
Just as any number of former members’ posts may contain some ego, some members seem to post for little purpose except to defend–in the guise of defending their school or their teacher, they are obviously defending their own identifications with the choices they have made, and they defend through attack. There may be little to gain from discussion with either current or former members who post primarily to press their ego-point. But if a member is actually curious, actually interested in hearing a perspective different from his own, and is open to the possibility that someone who spent decades in the FoF may have picked up something real and generally applicable that the current member may not have yet learned–and if you’re in a school, presumably you’re more interested in truth than in defending your ego–maybe he could look at previous posts, pick a poster whom he respects, and direct his own post specifically to that person. Others, of course, may respond, but the poster can always skip any and all of those responses if he wants to. If the member isn’t actually interested in such discussion, or won’t take the trouble to pursue it, he’s certainly free to participate in the blog, of course, but he has little basis for complaining that it isn’t useful.
Double post. — ES
Hello everyone,
When I think about my joining FOF 12 years ago, I recall few interesting things. Mainly, that certain things were not disclosed or presented to me until after certain commitments were made.
No one mentioned a thing about apocalyptic predictions at prospective meetings, also there was no mentioning the fact that the Teacher regularly and excessively engages in sex with his students. Just these 2 things would have been major red flags for me, and both were not mentioned upfront. Both things were/are major aspects of the FOF, and please don’t say that this is “not important”. Ask Robert whether his predictions are important, and whether having sex with boys is important.
I recall joining, paying the fee and then having a brief conversation with center director after the meeting. “We should tell you that there are exercises.”
-Exercises?
“No smoking, no drugs and no sex outside marriage. There are large fees if you break any of these exercises”.
- Well, why didn’t you tell me that BEFORE joining?
“Also, we work with two predictions from our Teacher. First – in 1998 California is going to fall into the ocean as a result of a major earthquake, and second – in 2006 there will be Armageddon.”
-???
“Well, the End of the World, but our School will survive it”.
As soon as I heard this one, I felt slightly dizzy, and though – oh no, no! Apocalyptic predictions! It’s all bullshit, this whole thing is bullshit, just another creepy sect, run run!
But … I stayed. I had such a longing for “awakening”, and these people were nice and interesting, they were into 4th way ideas… They also told me not to take predictions seriously, kind of dismiss them, and just wait and see if the whole “school” works for me. They were so kind and supportive. So I ended up staying, and the “school” started to work on me, forming new concepts, behaviors, discriminations, bonding experiences, and also ripping connections with my family and “life” friends.
All this time there was not a word about teacher’s homosexuality and his engaging in lots of sex with his students. What, our center director R. T. and his wife R. didn’t know? What, older students D.C. or I.W. didn’t know? But it was not mentioned at all, and I had no idea that this takes place on such a large scale.
In my opinion, there is no real “equality” when a priest or teacher or doctor engages in sex with those who came to him for help and guidance – students, patients, members of the church… They are looking for his advice or help, or even submit themselves to his will. There simply can’t be any equality in such situation. If you think there is equality – ask any FOF student if he feels “equal” with Robert…
But no one was talking about it in the center.
So I finally decided to move to Apollo. I rented my apartment, packed some bags and departed to USA. As we were approaching the misty foothills, I suddenly asked my friend – is the Teacher married?
-No, he doesn’t need to – he has plenty of lovers.
-Oh… his student lovers?
-Yes… Many! He is a homosexual, and has male student lovers, lots of them! Actually… I am one of his lovers too.
-???!!!
I felt so bad, I felt like immediately turning around and going back! Why no one told me this before? I wouldn’t have joined a school where the teacher screws his students and predicts Armageddon! This is such bullshit. I felt it with all my heart.
But again, just like before my outraged conscience was calmed by “wait and see” attitude. And the more you wait, the deeper you go… The harder is to see, the easier is to wait…We all know this, don’t we.
I felt like lots of things in the school are kept secret, and not disclosed to the prospective students for the reason not to scare them away and get them to join. And then they join and get “worked on”, or “sucked in” – whichever you prefer, and then it is so hard for one to quit because of developed emotional connections, sense of belonging to a special community and important commitments like marriage to a student or moving to Apollo.
I am (and was) sincerely appalled by school’s recruitment campaign. It just didn’t ever seem right. It is just not fair, not honest. Prospective students are not told upfront the truth about various aspects of the organization. The payment schedule is not fully discussed either. Usually, there is a blurry phrase “payments will increase in time as your valuation for the school grows”. Well, wouldn’t it be honest to actually say how it is going to increase, and that it will end up being way more that 10% of one’s income with all additional payments and expensive teaching events?
There is also no disclosure of tasks and exercises. What if one doesn’t agree with all of them? Wouldn’t it be simple fair to spell it out upfront?
Wouldn’t it be honest to mention that the Teacher is seriously into sex with young male students, and most likely a prospective young male will eventually end up in his bedroom, because this is what tends to happen?
These days for example FOF members offer an “Esoteric Tours of the Metropolitan Museum” – as they are advertised in TONY. Sounds exciting, right? Once we met a guy who actually went on this tour. He said it was a strange presentation, very weird and the interpretations of artifacts were questionable, and he also felt that there was some hidden agenda…
Of course! The agenda is to get you to join. But it is presented as something else – mysterious esoteric tour to educate you – as if FOF really cares about educating “life people”!
I am writing this not because of anger. I don’t feel like a victim. What happened in my life – happened. It was a mixed experience, both very good and very bad, so I have no regrets over the past. I don’t think anything is ever “wasted” in one’s life.
But I am writing this to point out the continuing dishonesty in recruiting of new students. Any prospective students should be warned: FOF is not being upfront and honest about many important aspects of the organization, and this is simply not right. If anything, it is a bad business practice (mildly put).
It is ironic that FOF now has a “keeping quiet cherub” on their main page – what a joke.
“At the height of intensity in the octave, Robert then said that he wanted his students to learn how to use the system under pressure….”
What/which system are U referring 2?? Doesn’t “Mix and Match” remind you of Holly Hobby? Maybe she was conscious too?
_________________________________________________
“Men are afraid to come forward for many of the same reasons men were [and some still are].”
So, Joseph G., is this the moment of truth? What are you REALLY trying to say?
__________________________________________________
“And it does feel like its peoples egos by this point, nothing else and nothing more”
Gee, what an intelligent observation. Maybe you have voyeur
in essence?
__________________________________________________
“The recent post about Burton’s breath smelling of sperm reminded me that I had my own ideas about why Burton has so much sex”
You R 1 sick puppy.
___________________________________________________
Margie said “The AIM of the blog is very individualistic and will take on what ever AIM that one wants to give it – what I mean is there are little guidelines, so let’s try to be kind to one another. We are all from the same planet.”
I think it is interesting — this blog is a ’self-organizing-system’ and is in many ways how a REAL 4th way school should work – in life, not separate. Populated by individuals not people who deny they are individuals. Fof is a ‘top-down-system’ , like Enron. Picture a web and a triangle. It is important that space is allowed for all the connections being made here – the obvious ones and the hidden ones. All are important.
Thanks to all for some incredibly fascinating posts which add so much to my life, …for one.
OK, let’s collect pictures folks and make our own unique FOF teaching. Robert will turn many I’s from many people into the new objective teaching by adding even more I’s. Experienced PhotoShop users needed.
July 2005
Dear Friends,
Several weeks ago, Mi-ch–l G—ng sent out an email with a draft of the revised Thirty Work I’s, inviting suggestions or comments to help refine the list. There will be a new publication in mid-August and the aim is to include images representing the Thirty Work I’s. Robert has said that symbols can bypass the intellectual center and go straight to the higher
centers.
The focus for gathering the images is the Thirty Work I’s rather than each individual work I; also those which symbolize the first two work I’s,Be and Hold. We have a number of images already and the hope is by opening up the search to students around the world, it will benefit us all with new discoveries.
Sarah
******************************
Dear Friends,
We are asking for help again searching for images. This time the focus is on images that represent each of the individual thirty work I’s. Some of you sent these in with the last request for images.
For example, for the second work I, HOLD, the stained glass of the angel holding onto the second rung of the ladder is a good visual image of HOLD.
Again of particular interest are images from the Egyptian, early
Christian, Gothic, Byzantine, Persian, Hindu and now Chinese sources; there have been some revealing images outside these traditions and if you feel they depict a particular work I well, please send them.
Images are used in Robert’s meetings and other teaching events and help us penetrate the state we are after. A picture is worth a thousand words.
With Love, Sarah
*************************
Dear Friends,
Robert would like students to use the attached image as a desktop image on their computers.
Thank you.
Linda, Isis
Few days later after many questions:
The source of the desktop image is from the Royal Portal at Chartres Cathedral (right bay archivolts of the West facade). Circa 1145. The archivolts depict the Seven Liberal Arts, with scholars who best illustrate each art.
The two scholars shown in the picture represent Music on the left, and Grammar on the right. The quotation is not part of the original picture, but was entered via PhotoShop.
In presence,
Linda, Isis
http://img135.imageshack.us/img135/6906/desktopimage800600kf2.jpg
For those interested, “Noble Child” is now online:
http://www.archive.org/details/TheEsotericHistoryArchive_849
288/Veronicapoe: Wow, that image was deeply familiar to me. It’s been 22 years, but wasn’t that a painting on porcelain that hung in the Meissen room? I could be wrong about that, but seeing the image had a strong emotional effect on me. I’ll bet memory works differently in different people, but for some reason, this one took me back to the heightened atmosphere of that dining venue, with all its attendant anxieties, egos, desires, states, and expectations. Thanks for gathering and posting these.
David, #272:
You might track down a book called “Autobiography of a Schizophrenic Girl.” When I read it I thought I was reading the account of someone who had inexplicably “woken up.” I happened to mention this to a student who was in medical school studying neurology, and he said, “I would try not to romanticize mental illness.” I found that oddly disappointing, but much later realized the wisdom of it.
For those interested, “The Fellowship Trance” is now online:
http://www.archive.org/details/TheEsotericHistoryArchive_383
277/ rneal
you said: “Girard is a fine example of how useless it is to be intellectually acute while being totally unconnected with reality.”
I just can’t let you get away with that angle. It sounds so good when you first read it but then… Reality? What reality? Is there in your mind a common reality that must be subsribed to or else? The idea of awakening is based on the disposal of ordinary reality, whatever that may be, woe to those who think there is such a thing. Reality is based on many different things, but is highly individual, based on the laws of attraction, and many different factors. There is no one reality except for those who are awake. The rest of us are in our little dream packets. When a person begins to awaken it may seem that they depart from defacto reality to their peers, but in fact they may be pursuing their reality, departing from the false “common” reality.
283/Life person
thanks for the relativity. I appreciate it. Being a queen I often have a hard time returning to that place that while reading the referenced posting seems so easy to be in. It’s embaressing to be human sometimes. I’m new to this blog and you are so right… ignore what you don’t like and try to connect with what you find useful. Ah… a sigh of relief, acknowledging my idiotic human tendencies which I can scarce afford… as none of us have time to waste.
282/ brainwasher
This post is an example of including extremes under the convenient heading of “cult”. What a large bucket “cult” is, I guess. If in doubt, toss it in. No further comments because I don’t want to get my ass flamed off (medium rare please) but really…Jim Jones, he was a real sicko and what are you doing bringing this up? It’s obviously bottom feeding for the purpose of muck raking. What a sorry waste of time.
236, 265 and 284 are newly moderated.
About 5 or 6 posts were unjustly sent for moderation, thanks for taking the time and patience to post twice.
296 Veronicapoe: the Fellowoship Trance:
Great picture, those were the early days I suppose, when I met RB he was 44 that year. He almost looks like an actor from the “Easy Riders” days.
Fascinating to look back at the roots of this now full blown cult.
Thanks for the post.
297-299 just me
“The idea of awakening is based on the disposal of ordinary reality, whatever that may be, woe to those who think there is such a thing.”
“There is no one reality except for those who are awake. The rest of us are in our little dream packets.”
“When a person begins to awaken it may seem that they depart from defacto reality to their peers, but in fact they may be pursuing their reality, departing from the false “common” reality.”
“It’s embarrassing to be human sometimes.”
“acknowledging my idiotic human tendencies which I can scarce afford… as none of us have time to waste.”
“It’s obviously bottom feeding for the purpose of muck raking. What a sorry waste of time.”
Just me, you get the 2nd place award for the most accurate, stomach-turning imitation of RB so far. You’d get the 1st place but we can’t be sure you didn’t write the above with hands clasped in front, with the slight lilt and tilt of the head (with small nod) and lips slightly atremble to show humility.
Nice to see what you’ve made “your own”…”dear friend”.
#284 “I see” said the blind man:
“…if a system is in place to turn this into a production line of penises for sucking and stimulating the prostrate, it includes institutional rape, where the organization that knowingly creates the necessary conditions is guilty of rape.”
I have to confess my previous complete ignorance about the definition of rape between men. If you are NOT gay, why would you ever think about such a thing? Seeing the ad on a Muni bus was a revelation of sorts for me. (“I thought he was a great guy until he raped me.”) Of course, I thought. That is what’s really happening.
The gay community is not so naive when it comes to respecting ethical boundaries around sex between men. These boundaries have apparently been validated by US law and are being enforced by police departments, at least in cities with sizable gay populations.
If you read the definition of rape in the article cited in my #261, rape and sexual coercion are clearly defined by law to include precisely the type of activities that are Robert’s standard operating procedure. Even more pernicious: this criminal activity has become institutionalized by both the passive/permissive as well as the active/proactive support of the FOF organization.
The common myths about rape between men were also a real eye opener for me, seeming obvious now but a blind spot previously. e.g.:
Myth 7: Men are strong protectors and providers, so they can’t be raped.
In fact…”whether through physical or emotional coercion, threats or drugs (such as the “date rape” drug, GHB), men can be victims of rape.”
Isn’t this why Robert is able to be so brazen? As a practical matter, psychologically, how does a young hetero male admit to being raped? The only way for a straight but vulnerable young man to buffer this degrading experience is by labeling it. Consensual, loving, non-formatory, a blessing…any words that allow one to move forward with some shred of self respect.
Consider several other myths (quoted):
Myth 6: He was aroused, so it wasn’t rape.
Male victims can be sexually or physically aroused during the rape due to psychological causes or fear or excitement, as well as physical causes such as the stimulation of the prostate. It’s not uncommon for a male rapist to go out of his way to make sure the victim does have an erection – and possibly even ejaculate – as this adds to the victim’s confusion and subsequent non-reporting.
Myth 4: He just had too much to drink, so it’s not really his fault.
Alcohol is a leading factor in sexual assault, and it is not a legal excuse for a rapist’s actions.
Myth 5: It isn’t rape if you’re in a relationship.
Any sexual act that is the result of being coerced, forced or is non-consensual, whether it is a stranger, a friend or a partner, is considered rape. A partner can be charged with the same crime as a stranger.
I am not writing this to try to provoke legal action. I am writing it for the victims, and for the enablers. Think about it. The correct expression is “rape”! Not “abuse of power.” Not “gay lifestyle.” Not “conscious love.”
If you were ever in that room, you knew it then. But something in you made you forget…that you really did not want to do it. You were coerced. You were raped.
If you were not in that room but you know this is true, shame on you. Shame on you.
Quoting again: “Control isn’t about size; it’s about psychological [control]. [A recent paper] says: ‘Male rape in the 21st century resembles nothing so much as female rape in the 19th and early-to-mid 20th centuries. Men are afraid to come forward for many of the same reasons women were [and some still are]. [Men] fear they would be blamed for their victimization, that their sexuality would be the issue, not the defendant’s wrongdoing, that they would never escape the stigma, no matter how blameless they were.’ ”
Whether multiple rapes of male students by RB can be legally proven is not my issue or my aim. The bigger issues are recognition of the truth and subsequent emotional healing by the victims, as well as hopefully an awakening of conscience and responsiveness within the FOF community.
With love to all, both in and out,
Joseph G
Just me 299
Dear just me, I disagree with your assessment of brainwasher’s post. I happened to recently see a documentary about Jim Jones and his organization. There are differences with the FoF, of course, one being that many of Jones’ followers were poor black people instead of middle class caucasians, but I was stricken by the numerous eery similarities. Jones used to have sex with lots of his disciples (both males and females) and charmed his followers with a “crazy wisdom” teaching act not unlike the one perfected by Robert.
I don’t think you realize yet that the vast majority of former students and outside observers do see Robert exactly that way: a crazy sicko. I am not saying this to insult him or you and I know it hurts, I have been there myself, but it’s just the way it is. I’ve finally come to see that our beloved teacher is on the same psychological level as Jim Jones, the only difference being that his crimes are not quite as heinous (yet). Remember, followers of the People’s Temple were just ordinary people like you and me, who did crazy things because they were convinced they were following someone higher. What’s the big difference, really, except that luckily we are still alive?
Much love and best wishes
297 Just Me,
Meal “”you said: “Girard is a fine example of how useless it is to be intellectually acute while being totally unconnected with reality.”
I just can’t let you get away with that angle. It sounds so good when you first read it but then… Reality? What reality? Is there in your mind a common reality that must be subsribed to or else? The idea of awakening is based on the disposal of ordinary reality, whatever that may be, woe to those who think there is such a thing………..
Dear JM,
Your statements show fairly clearly the reality at least you are living in. Would you consider the following?
Do you think the Fellowship of Friends creates and imposes a concept of reality?
In establishing certain conditions to how students are to live at Isis, would you say that a certain order of things, certain way of looking at life, people, the world, a human being are taught? Imposed in as much as if you question them you are asked to leave? Only Robert’s reality is reality? And he is not to be questioned by anybody else inside or outside the Fellowship?
Would you say that this “reality” that is imposed on the students is what makes students support the Fellowship of Friends or that students adhere to this reality voluntarily and because they have adopted the point of view that Robert is a man number seven, they willingly support the trade of young men, the unconditional subserviance to Robert and a life of unconditional economic support considering that the ills of the Fellowship are not contradictory with consciousness or not too bad to not be able to accept because it looks so pretty?
Would you say that the reality that The Fellowship of Friends imposes on its members or if you wish, its members voluntarily adhere to is objective reality or a reality they have all subjectively adhered to by their own will?
Would you then agree that we can choose the reality we wish to live by?
Would you agree with Robert that there are six billion dead people on the planet because they don’t belong to the Fellowship of Friends? That there are no other conscious men on the planet except he?
Would you say that the group behavior in the Fellowship is your individual behavior? I mean, the fact that all students have to dress nicely, go to specific meetings, dinners,concerts and events is only your individual reality or a reality that you have willingly adhered to within a greater environment?
Where would you say your individual reality meets the social reality of the group you have voluntarily adhered to? Or do you think your individual reality never meets the social reality?
Do you choose to manipulate the lives of young men to be used sexually by Robert or is that a reality you do not acknowledge?
Do you drink water? Do you think water is an objective reality or just your imagination? Or does the thirst and hunger in your body remind you that your individuality is totally dependent on the reality of the world? Or do you take this for granted to the point that you no longer need to acknowledge it? Would you say there are laws that your reality needs to adhere to? Physical laws if nothing else?
Would you say that in adhering to a group behavior you have willingly given up your individuality to embrace the behavior of the group? And in so doing, that you’ve chosen the “reality” of the group as your individual “reality”?
You say:”The idea of awakening is based on the disposal of ordinary reality, whatever that may be, woe to those who think there is such a thing”.
Do you mean awakening cannot connect with ordinary reality or the fourth state is not the second state?
Would you say that there was a “reality”, that is, a concept and practice of life in the Egyptian culture? The Ming Dynasty? The Renaissance? The Greeks? or would you say there is no such a reality in any of those cultures?
Would you say there is a concept and practice of life in our modern culture?
And a concept and practice of life within the Fellowship of Friends? That is a reality? Would you say that the concept of “conscious reality” in the Fellowship of Friends is coherent with the reality practiced in the Fellowship of Friends?
I think what the friend means by: “Girard is a fine example of how useless it is to be intellectually acute while being totally unconnected with reality.” is that Girard and Robert have built a particular reality of their own called the Fellowship of Friends in which one is more conscious than the other and some of us of us were happy to believe them until the reality we verified was incoherent with the reality they offered.
It was beautiful to believe there was at least one conscious being on the planet and one was serving a noble cause until one realized the innobility(?) of the cause and the inconsistency of the characters. The characters are no less human than the rest of us but when questionable humans reach unlimited amount of power they are much tempted to become inhuman. Inhuman to the point that they slowly loose the capacity to connect to anyone beyond the reality that they have created, use puppets they have put in place to keep their reality going, and discard them without a blink when the puppet turns human. Girard and Robert have lost the capacity to strecth out beyond the reality they have created and are willing to bend any theory or human standard as long as they can continue justifying their particular creation.
Robert lives in a bubble with cream of sperm all around him and Girard, the “mother” of the Fellowship has dedicated his life to helping us buffer the reality of Robert’s lifestyle in which it doesn’t matter who gets runover to continue supporting the extremes of “conscious daddy Robert” or is it mummy Robert and daddy Girard? They and we do play around with both images because none of them are female or masculine enough. Girard is the tough macho guy with “mummy” qualities and Robert is the soft gay fine guy with kingly qualities. It is also an effect of the gradual deformity they have slowly worked themselves into. But the fact is that it is very easy for both of them to hold their “reality” up against anybody else because they don’t let anybody else talk or allow only those who have long eaten from their hand, to talk. It is not, I am afraid, that they are that conscious or that talented, that acute or that bright, they simply have the pot by the handle. And yes, we were the loving ones that put them there convinced that they were both beyond questionable integrity.
Wouldn’t you say that individual realities become extremely questionable when they cannot come to terms with common or ordinary reality? When one individual’s reality overrides in actual practice the reality of many, by asking them to give up their individuality to the One? This is called idolatry, and it is also a reality.
In the end, our many individual realities are as subject to questioning as our social reality and this is what this blog is about, not Just Me. Another reality is that we are talking here because we are in desperate need to communicate which is like drinking water for the soul.
It is a hard thing to realize that that, which is most beautiful within one; the hope and wish for a conscious life, a concious community, an “Ark”, can be turned against one so vilely to make one end up supporting a brothel in which even the man you marry cannot touch beyond your skin, watches without seeing and turns to look at the only reality he has crystallized in together with the other thousand people that live in the illusion that they exist because they dress up nicely although everybody knows that they are not welcomed even to speak, but simply, to silently adhere.
Speaking is like flowering for a human being. It is the way humans throw light towards each other and color it with their souls. It is the way we present our individual reality to the common reality and allow ourselves to be trimmed off so that we can continue to flower more beautifully in the next season.
Thank you for sharing.
Thank you Joseph G.
Your post on male rape has given me a new level of understanding of my experience with Robert Earl Burton.
A curse upon him and all that support him! May the Sun blind them, the wind scour their skin, and the sands of time erase them from the Earth’s memory forever.
Thankfully, Allah is the Compassionate and Merciful one.
306. Whalerider.
Bismilah al rahman al rachman.
jack.
From Girard Haven’s Best Thoughts. On Emotions
“Before we can work on not expressing emotions, we must understand that our emotions are subjective and mechanical, for as long as we believe our emotions to be valid and objective, we will not only wish to express them but will feel obligated to do so”.
It is interesting that Girard here has replaced the idea of not expressing negative emotions with simply not expressing emotions of any kind. It goes along well with the macho programming current in our society of not expressing emotions (In America, even women don’t express emotions but think the proffessional act of tough executives is ideal), and very revealing of the fact that the Fellowship of Friends was never able to develop any practical or even theoretical work on positive emotions.
It is also coherent with both Robert and Girard’s behavior in which they ascribe their actions to serving higher forces, not something they are doing because of their own will. By taking emotions away from themselves, they are taking out their will and hence, make it very easy not to have to assume responsibility for their behavior because they “expose it” as simply an “impersonal reality” in which they are not under the conditioning of their “emotions”. While it is precisely their thwarted “emotional life” that conditions them to have sex with young men, watch porno or have unemotional sex with a woman, they treat this aspect of their lives as if it had nothing to do with the Fellowship of Friends although it actually colors every aspect of the life of the Fellowship of Friends, specially in Isis and actually everywhere in the school, where the IMPERSONALITY of student’s interactions with each other has been interpreted as “good student behavior”, “conscious behavior” in which students are not identified with each other or each other’s lives and look down on anyone wishing to share intimate experiences of any kind. The colder, more rigid, impersonal you get, the better student you are, condemning the second line to never develop.
It is actually this behavior, this lack of relaxed contact with “life”, “people”, that makes them build a world in which they can condition the way they present themselves to others and it is also why they have to practice such extreme sexuality patterns. In the social arena they disconnect from people by conditioning the contact through specific formalities, formalities that are meant to buffer for them the intensity of the experience. Robert conditions students to look at him in the eyes but at the same time cannot establish a sincere, simple connection with any student. In the private arena they disconnect from the individual they are having sex with by not willing to acknowledge him as “the loved one” but keeping him as the “object of pleasure” who is well payed for so that he has nothing to account for. Once the sex act is accomplished they loose any further contact, except continued formalities. They disguise “not feeling”, with not being identified or being more conscious.
For the victims, wHich is actually everyone in the Fellowship even if they are not having sex with either one of them, (for everyone is equally subject to being treated under the “formality” as a “generalization” and not a person), the consequences are an increasing loss of self esteem or self respect and an increasing gain of love for the teacher who represents the state of consciousness and love that the individual is so longing to acquire. The stronger this connection of idolatry develops with the figure of authority, the easier it becomes to indulge in any atrocity to anyone that may question the authority. It is no coincidence that love in the fellowship become fanatism for Robert and did not express itself in the development of second line or love between students.
The great difficulty in our situation is that it is our “love” what is being deeply questioned and no one thinks their “love” can be wrong. It is what in the system is called, letting go of unnecessary suffering which is what is most difficult. In Robert and Girard, their “love” for influence C; in students, their “love” for Robert and Girard. Since Robert and Girard’s love for influence C is imagination fed by their own energy they can keep recycling it and feeding each other. Students recycle and feed their love for Girard and Robert attracted by our own imagination of the higher.
Any figure of authority is leveled by the love they return to the lover. When the figure of authority cannot return the love, it becomes emotional servilism from the giver. His or her own lack of self esteem or presence, feeds the excessive love for the loved figure against his/herself. It is common in any relationship of love where the balance has been lost and it is a great deal of the suffering many of us are going through and need to heal from.
Thank you for sharing.
Male rape:
I cannot possibly picture a normal straight guy volunterily fisting and old gay. Or volunterily sucking his old cock. Or volunterily having anal sex with him. Or shit and piss on him. These acts are against the very nature of a straight male. People who were forced to do this spoke privately to their close friends about their horrible experiences. There is a lot of shame in talking about this. They were coerced. There was nothing consensual about this.
A lot of these young males are married, some are fathers. They have families and young kids. They are put on a schedule to sexually serve Robert and it’s called ‘duty’. After they ‘volunterily’ perform ugly sexual acts with an old gay fart they return home to their young children and wives. Does this look normal to anyone?
These guys are turned into whores and they absolutely hate what they have to do. But they learned to buffer it – they had to – to protect their sanity. Most think they have no choice but to continue doing this. They are coerced. They are raped.
The amount of emotional pain Robert is inflicting on others is simply unimaginable. This is the same man who is talking to students about ‘controlling the passions’.
One day he will be stopped and hopefully that day comes soon.
From the following link on rape:
http://www.sfsu.edu/~dps/html/crime_prevention/sexual_assault.html
California Law defines rape as sexual intercourse, sodomy or oral copulation accomplished against the victim’s will:
- By use of force or fear
- Whether the victim is male or female
- When the victim is prevented from resisting by alcohol or drugs administered by or with the knowledge of the offender
- When the victim is unconscious of the nature of the act
297 Just Me
Thanks for your reply. It’s coherent in its own way, but from my perspective you’re overcomplicating and overintellectualising (as Girard generally does). For me, reality is very simple, it’s what I am and what is right in front of me at this moment. There’s nowhere to go, nothing to achieve.
“The idea of awakening is based on the disposal of ordinary reality”
Sorry, I see no basis whatsoever for this statement.
“There is no one reality except for those who are awake.”
Your problem is stated here in a nutshell. You assume you are not awake. What I see is that we’re actually all awake, even if some of us don’t realise it because our minds cloud the issue. There is only one reality and that’s what we are.
Elena (around) 273
From Girard Haven’s Best Thoughts.
“The machine is under the illusion that it can make decisions, but if we understand that we really are machines -which means that everthing is mechanical, everything happens- then we can begin to verify that there are no decisions- The process we normally call “decision-making” becomes, instead, a question of trying to find out what is supposed to happen. With this attitude, one is much less identified with the process. One begins to be able to watch the machine, with all its ‘I’s and all its confusion, and see that that is also part of the process of what is supposed to happen.”
I wrote the following a couple of years ago:
“You can find many examples of formatory thinking. For instance, if I say, you must do this or you must do that, people say, ‘But you said we cannot do!’ If I say this needs will-power, they say, ‘How, if we have no will?’ If I speak of being more conscious or less conscious, people say, ‘But we have no consciousness!’ These are all examples of formatory thinking.” –P. D. Ouspensky
What is a mistake is to assume that there is not and never can be an objective point of view. Certainly there is a point of view that is objective for the specific scale that it applies to. It is too much relativity to arrive at the conclusion that only the Absolute has an objective point of view and therefore at our level we have no responsibility for knowing right from wrong, for instance. It is incorrect to conclude that on our level as machines that right and wrong, good and bad, does not exist because machines cannot understand what that means. Too much relatively, such as the attitude that “I am a machine and therefore cannot possibly understand objective behavior or action,” reduces the possibility of direct contact with real conscience. The attitude that poses through the deceitful stance of “Myself as an innocent machine” contains a corruptive lack of scale. In fact that kind of extreme relativity actually leads to the level of being in which a man is disconnected from his emotional intelligence and actually does not have any understanding of right from wrong. Such a machine is not responsible for his actions because he is no longer normal, his lower centers no longer function effectively and as a result he has no conscience. But a reasonable man, someone with a sufficient level of householder, does possess something of an objective point of view at least on the scale of life on earth. It is possible to develop an objective point of view of what is right work here on earth. Even a machine can have such an understanding. However, only a normal machine can have such an objective point of view, a deformed machine cannot. What is right work from an objective point of view of life on earth is the intentional control of the four lower centers, it is possible to raise the attention to the finest functioning of the emotional center and use the intelligence concentrated there to direct the motivations, actions and efforts of all the lower centers. This is of course the definition of a householder. The right functioning of the machine, a machine with a normal connection to inner conscience, understands the need to resist the influence of false personality. Such a machine begins to produce, accumulate and transform enough higher hydrogens to begin to bridge the interval between the lower centers and the soul and awaken the higher emotional center. On the other hand when some member of a work-cult manages to distort the knowledge that men are machines and suddenly feels liberated by the idea that because he is asleep that he is absolved of any responsibility for understanding on any scale what might constitute objective reasoning, he then becomes a lunatic rather than a householder. A man with no influence acting on him from the intellectual story of the emotional center is in fact subjective, but to the degree that a man’s conscience is sensitive he is relatively objective from the point of view of his functioning in life. Most of the inhabitants of the planet are not criminals, otherwise widespread chaos and diseased behavior would soon make civilized life impossible. Most machines have some emotional connection to some degree of objective guidance.
Hello Margie ~ (283)
You wrote ~
“But would not we all be guilty of this who post their opinions on this blog? Is someone objective? Rhetorically I ask, not necessary to you, but do we want to see things FOF way? Do we want to see things in the way of the crude posts on this blog? At some point we do have to mediate between the two and “see things my way”. Whatever the truth maybe it is not pretty, but as I hinted to before, healing comes with relativity.”
_________________________________________________
Thank you for replying ~ The “guilty” part, to me, could be translated as ‘partial’ or ‘a slice seen at a distance as a whole’; again, this “guilty” stuff has to go Margie (eventually), it’s just not you… That’s how I feel about it and yet, every day I see and interact with people and verify that there is always a SPACE circulating in them that can retrieve the feeling of ‘no ends’ of at least a kind of circulation that allows introspection of a sort which disallows stern judgment of oneself, sure, people get stuck, like people are stuck in the Fellowship of Friends, a group-stuck, family mathematics who are seemingly milling the same ’sum’ all the time, though time does move things around no matter how much we wish they’d stay the same, death being the ultimate ’symbol’ that change is where the Four Horsemen corral their horses.
You asked whether someone is objective, well, sorta, I guess it depends on what you mean by “someone”, what is a “someone” while you are a ‘becoming, losing, becoming, losing, becoming-someone’? To me, the ‘idea’ of being objective or subjective is only applicable in the one and only moment, it’s not yesterday or tomorrow, it’s barely an ‘aim’ one can ‘have’, because while you’re having the aim to be objective, so many times there’s a ’subjective’ idea harboring the ‘idea’ of ‘objective’… It’s a very private world to me, a place where ‘being objective or subjective’ can only be discerned by immediate/simultaneous ‘results’ alongside one’s internal actions and external ‘reactions’ to those actions… In other words, it’s a dance, it’s your dance and no ‘teacher’ has permission to just break in and start shadow-dancing over your shadow dancing…
Your point concerning “ego!”… Yes, it would be the ego if ‘ego’ was the only thing one has to automatically offer, yet, this is not the case… So many times what is perceived as egotistical is so by the interpretor, not the deliverer; this statement can also be a ‘buffer-zone’ for clever types and I suppose, particularly with the form of the blog (no eye contact), one simply has to try and read in between the lines and sense whether there’s a deeper level supporting the obviousness of what one sees as possibly being an ego-image, yet, perhaps the ‘picture’ is not the thing itself, i.e., the aim is more important that the words rambling in front of it, aka tough-love.
You give three choices: to see things “FOF way”, the “blog way” or “my-way”… Is there a fourth-way?
To me, I would say no to the first three, because FOF way is group-think, for the most part, which is disconnected from a conscious nucleus; group-think is fine so long as it has some common sense decency, yet, Robert Burton has never met that requirement and the beautiful essences of his students have always been a crutch that he has never hesitated to use to further ‘fake it’ while holding up 12 lanes of traffic crossing the path to who knows where.
I have never seen Robert Earl Burton shopping in the Oregon House Grocery; I believe this single fact will pretty much be the tie-breaker between allowing him to stay in this solar system or putting him in a taxi to some other less populated with solar-types one; perhaps one where there’s more of his type, some tough mirroring would do him ‘good’, yet, ‘Who Knows’?.
The ‘fourth-way’ may be available, it’s up to you and me to figure it out for ourselves, how it is that we can blend things in such a way so that we are both giving and receiving without certain sub-conscience barriers being put up by our ‘automatic selves’ getting all superficial and stuff.
Yesterday I got in between two guys who were about to tear each other apart; it was a very interesting ‘in between the lines of fire’ position ‘to be’ in;
on one side there’s this young guy who took off his shirt to expose his manly chest, i.e., warning #2, loud voice was #1, (pectorals, beefy biceps, boxer shorts showing below the mid way point, etc.),
then there’s this sorta hippy dude that was telling him not to listen to so much rap music, I kinda had to zero in really fast and blast the ‘rap thing’ off my psyche and regain right composure to see things straight;
for sure the ’shirtless one’ was the antagonist, yet the ’shirt on one’ antagonized too, in his own strange passive, fatherly way…
so there you had it, orderly chaos and chaotic order, then me in the middle playing ’save the new sidewalk from blood stains’ role or ‘air traffic controller’…
it would have been really silly had I believed the role, but I knew it was going to be ‘my fun’ so I got in there and moved around a bit, loved it all,
spoke to the ’shirt on one’ first,
he assured me that he had just got back from jail and was not too upset about returning, whereas the ’shirt off one’ was, well, completely out to lunch, adrenals pumping so far up in the sky that my words were like a kite on their strings;
yep, it was pretty interesting indeed…
perhaps part of the fourth-way is simply beholding certain forces as unfolding, not this or that greeting card, simple unfoldings that are leading to a place we cannot claim, yet may be able to effect with a certain kind of attention and action, yet, to stay away from trying to brand it ours or theirs, to see it as the mystery it is and leave it to its own glory.
You are right, “healing comes with relativity”, had I told those guys that I was going to beat both their asses in the street, they’d probably healed their rift immediately (‘relatively speaking’) in order to concentrate on me instead; funny isn’t it, the way things work?
It’s a beautiful day, I think I’ll go for a walk.
__________________________________
Love to you all.
On the same page you mention, Joseph, and also something to consider:
“Date Rape: The majority of all rapes are acquaintance rapes.
Manipulation or coercion as well as physical force used to cause sexual contract are considered sexual assault.
Date rape causes intense feelings of betrayal, sh