Re: #11/82 Newcomer on the Fellowship of Friends discussion: A SHORT GUIDE TO THE BLOG
First, a summary from Cliff #9/241:
For those who may be new to this blog, here are my notes, which may save much reviewing of previous posts:
The Fellowship of Friends is an organization dedicated to the creation of consciousness and implementing the will of disembodied spirits existing at a higher level.
Many former Fellowship of Friends members are upset that they belated discovered that the organizattion’s leader, Robert Burton, has for at least the past thirty-seven years had sex of one form or another with a large number of heterosexual men, at least many of whom would not have had sex with him had he not assured them that their spiritual development, or ability to remain in the United States, or financial wellbeing, depended on it. Others are upset because they were personally involved in such sexual experiences. Some are upset that this practice continues, without recognition by the Fellowship that there is anything wrong with it, or that the sex was not entirely consensual.
Some former members are upset that they belatedly discovered that Mr. Burton frequently provided misinformation to the members while asserting it was truth that he was uniquely positioned to understand, and that it appears that this was done intentionally for selfish purposes. Some observe that Fellowship students are told that they will lose all hope of redemption if they leave, are shunned if they leave, and that the financial cost of not leaving has grown increasingly steep, to the point that many members lead marginal existences to support the institution. Others point out that the Fellowship doctrine has grown increasingly bizarre in recent years, relying on idiosyncratic assertions by Mr. Burton about, for example, the significance of ancient works of art. Some question whether the Fellowship teachings are effective in promoting awakening, noting that members appear to spend decades practicing according to Mr. Burton’s instructions without much change in their daily experience. Some discuss the ways in which they currently seek fulfillment in view of lessons they have learned.
Members of the Fellowship respond that criticism of the Fellowship, its doctrines, or Mr. Burton is itself conclusive proof of a failure to understand the value and truth of that doctrine, leader, and institution, or that the critic is intentionally not telling the truth, or is misinformed. These individuals maintain that Mr. Burton is a “conscious being,” and therefore, by definition, is incapable of nontrivial error. Some reveal that they have verified this by careful and painstaking observation. Others explain that, while harm may perhaps occur as a result of experiences in the Fellowship, it is always the fault of the harmed individual. Some take the position that, if a person is present, anything else that may occur to any other individual, or to the person himself, is irrelevant.
Members assert that while the Fellowship of Friends may superficially resemble many other groups and institutions making similar claims, it is fundamentally different, the difference being that other such groups only imagine they possess the qualities that the Fellowship possesses in fact.
—
I’ve also saved a few of my favorite posts, so I can tell you exactly where they are. For example:
#1/20 – Former long time student, on adapting to the culture of the FoF
#1/57 – Angel 44 (Charles), on B-influence virus
#1/72 – Former student, personal experience with Robert
#1/84 – Vena, on narcissism
#1/88 – No Person, on being kicked out
#1/129 – Philip, on trying to make it work
#1/148 – Zsuzsa, on leaving
#1/238 – Rabbi Burns, on exploitation
#1/296 – inmate #5691, on who is Robert Burton
#2/32 – Reality Check, on relativity
#2/33 – Simon, on what is your business
#2/43 – Edward, on “invasion of privacy”
#2/100 – Charlie Nothing, on choosing parts that work
#2/144 – Anonymous, on Robert’s sexual exploits
#2/158 – Kid Sheleen, on charisma
#2/170 – Stephen, on not knowing
#3/81 – Comrade, on being special
#3/240 – William Heinz, on cognitive dissonance
#5/12 – A Friend in the FoF, responding to Girard’s suggestion to not read the blog
#5/13 – Flying Free, on moving on
#5/17 – For the Relativity, on the school
#5/98 – I see said the blind man, on inclusive present
#5/140 – FenceRider, on issues
#5/183 – Innernaut, on devotion
#5/206 – I see said the blind man, on prophets
#5/332 – Half Life, on discontentment
#5/336 – Clara Elena, on external consideration
#6/53 – Not his real name, on aspects of the FoF
#6/71 – I see said the blind man, on joining
#6/319 – Martin from Berlin, how did we let this happen
#6/405 – Traveler, on examining the school
#6/407 – Joe Average, letter from an ex-student (really read this one)
#7/22 – Rabbi Burns, on verification
#7/38 – Ames Gilbert, on crimes, censorship and FoF and Robert Burton’s history
#7/184 – Ames Gilbert, on power play
#7/194 – VeronicaPoe, history of the Fellowship of Friends essay
#7/224 – Flying Free, on what is awakening
#7/235 – Bruce, Blake cottage days with Robert
#7/259 – Charles R., on Robert’s “little secret” and dealing with it
#7/266 – Innernaut, on taking in impressions
#7/304 – FenceRider, on unsuspending disbelief
#8/207 – coot, blog guide for dummies
#8/262 – WhaleRider, on personal experience with Robert
#8/301 – WhaleRider, on groupthink
#8/328 – no kid, on growing up in the FoF
#9/231 – Joe Average, on why we stay
#9/255 – Ames Gilbert, on immortality
#9/318 – Charles R., letter of resigning his membership
#9/324 – Joseph G., on integrity
#10/35- Ames Gilbert, on wanting to improve the FoF
#10/36 – I’ll give it a try, on other teachings
#10/120 – Sylvia T., extending her love
#10/141 – Paola Evelina, story with Asaf and Robert
#10/353 – Medusa, on buffering
#11/14 – Joe Average, on contradictions
And many, many more people whose posts I’ve enjoyed.
This is how you search through previous posts: open the page, then press the keys Ctrl+F at the same time. A little pop-up window will open in the middle of the screen (or at the bottom), and you type the word you are looking for (e.g. the name of the poster) and press Enter or click Find. This will take you to the next occurrence of this word on that page. Repeat the procedure as necessary.
Hey Sheik do you think it’s possible to establish a rating system, something like on Amazon (“was this post helpful”), people give star ratings to posts they think are really good, and that way it’s visible to newcomers which posts have been appreciated before. And they don’t have to read hundreds of pages necessarily before they get to where we are. Would that be complicated? I’d gladly use that PayPal button again (or anyway) if you could take some time to do that.
Intelligent yet irrelevant. Thought dueling to avoid decisions made alone, unscripted unbounded by group directive. If only I had walked into your lavish social setting and found IT. It’s only life you escape while pretending consciousness. Surrounded, protected, inner circle of knowing the cues, the winks the nods, of being part of IT. I’m alone in the morgue with my brother, food for the moon. You didn’t listen to me cry. The romance of jade mines and jaunts, to higher sexual forces that were ground out in hot, gritty bus seats. A superior man will not be recognized in his own country. Your vanity expanded so huge that no former informer would be left to comment on YOU. The superior man who turned his back on me, on his friends, on his family because the Fellowship of Friends awaited. The intelligent yet irrelevant rant on this website doesn’t ever discuss the agony the Fellowship of Friends imposes on the dead.
C us here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ErtyC3NqHw
OR
http://www.youtube.com/v/0ErtyC3NqHw
Never without you.
Love,
A Hundred Thousand Angels
A “Hundred Thousand Angels” was really good. Wish all the religious / political leaders of the world could experience it also. Good, real-real, Good.
Re: #11/82 Newcomer on the Fellowship of Friends discussion: A SHORT GUIDE TO THE BLOG
First, a summary from Cliff #9/241:
For those who may be new to this blog, here are my notes, which may save much reviewing of previous posts:
The Fellowship of Friends is an organization dedicated to the creation of consciousness and implementing the will of disembodied spirits existing at a higher level.
Many former Fellowship of Friends members are upset that they belated discovered that the organizattion’s leader, Robert Burton, has for at least the past thirty-seven years had sex of one form or another with a large number of heterosexual men, at least many of whom would not have had sex with him had he not assured them that their spiritual development, or ability to remain in the United States, or financial wellbeing, depended on it. Others are upset because they were personally involved in such sexual experiences. Some are upset that this practice continues, without recognition by the Fellowship that there is anything wrong with it, or that the sex was not entirely consensual.
Some former members are upset that they belatedly discovered that Mr. Burton frequently provided misinformation to the members while asserting it was truth that he was uniquely positioned to understand, and that it appears that this was done intentionally for selfish purposes. Some observe that Fellowship students are told that they will lose all hope of redemption if they leave, are shunned if they leave, and that the financial cost of not leaving has grown increasingly steep, to the point that many members lead marginal existences to support the institution. Others point out that the Fellowship doctrine has grown increasingly bizarre in recent years, relying on idiosyncratic assertions by Mr. Burton about, for example, the significance of ancient works of art. Some question whether the Fellowship teachings are effective in promoting awakening, noting that members appear to spend decades practicing according to Mr. Burton’s instructions without much change in their daily experience. Some discuss the ways in which they currently seek fulfillment in view of lessons they have learned.
Members of the Fellowship respond that criticism of the Fellowship, its doctrines, or Mr. Burton is itself conclusive proof of a failure to understand the value and truth of that doctrine, leader, and institution, or that the critic is intentionally not telling the truth, or is misinformed. These individuals maintain that Mr. Burton is a “conscious being,” and therefore, by definition, is incapable of nontrivial error. Some reveal that they have verified this by careful and painstaking observation. Others explain that, while harm may perhaps occur as a result of experiences in the Fellowship, it is always the fault of the harmed individual. Some take the position that, if a person is present, anything else that may occur to any other individual, or to the person himself, is irrelevant.
Members assert that while the Fellowship of Friends may superficially resemble many other groups and institutions making similar claims, it is fundamentally different, the difference being that other such groups only imagine they possess the qualities that the Fellowship possesses in fact.
—
I’ve also saved a few of my favorite posts, so I can tell you exactly where they are. For example:
#1/20 – Former long time student, on adapting to the culture of the FoF
#1/57 – Angel 44 (Charles), on B-influence virus
#1/72 – Former student, personal experience with Robert
#1/84 – Vena, on narcissism
#1/88 – No Person, on being kicked out
#1/129 – Philip, on trying to make it work
#1/148 – Zsuzsa, on leaving
#1/238 – Rabbi Burns, on exploitation
#1/296 – inmate #5691, on who is Robert Burton
#2/32 – Reality Check, on relativity
#2/33 – Simon, on what is your business
#2/43 – Edward, on “invasion of privacy”
#2/100 – Charlie Nothing, on choosing parts that work
#2/144 – Anonymous, on Robert’s sexual exploits
#2/158 – Kid Sheleen, on charisma
#2/170 – Stephen, on not knowing
#3/81 – Comrade, on being special
#3/240 – William Heinz, on cognitive dissonance
#5/12 – A Friend in the FoF, responding to Girard’s suggestion to not read the blog
#5/13 – Flying Free, on moving on
#5/17 – For the Relativity, on the school
#5/98 – I see said the blind man, on inclusive present
#5/140 – FenceRider, on issues
#5/183 – Innernaut, on devotion
#5/206 – I see said the blind man, on prophets
#5/332 – Half Life, on discontentment
#5/336 – Clara Elena, on external consideration
#6/53 – Not his real name, on aspects of the FoF
#6/71 – I see said the blind man, on joining
#6/319 – Martin from Berlin, how did we let this happen
#6/405 – Traveler, on examining the school
#6/407 – Joe Average, letter from an ex-student (really read this one)
#7/22 – Rabbi Burns, on verification
#7/38 – Ames Gilbert, on crimes, censorship and FoF and Robert Burton’s history
#7/184 – Ames Gilbert, on power play
#7/194 – VeronicaPoe, history of the Fellowship of Friends essay
#7/224 – Flying Free, on what is awakening
#7/235 – Bruce, Blake cottage days with Robert
#7/259 – Charles R., on Robert’s “little secret” and dealing with it
#7/266 – Innernaut, on taking in impressions
#7/304 – FenceRider, on unsuspending disbelief
#8/207 – coot, blog guide for dummies
#8/262 – WhaleRider, on personal experience with Robert
#8/301 – WhaleRider, on groupthink
#8/328 – no kid, on growing up in the FoF
#9/231 – Joe Average, on why we stay
#9/255 – Ames Gilbert, on immortality
#9/318 – Charles R., letter of resigning his membership
#9/324 – Joseph G., on integrity
#10/35- Ames Gilbert, on wanting to improve the FoF
#10/36 – I’ll give it a try, on other teachings
#10/120 – Sylvia T., extending her love
#10/141 – Paola Evelina, story with Asaf and Robert
#10/353 – Medusa, on buffering
#11/14 – Joe Average, on contradictions
And many, many more people whose posts I’ve enjoyed.
This is how you search through previous posts: open the page, then press the keys Ctrl+F at the same time. A little pop-up window will open in the middle of the screen (or at the bottom), and you type the word you are looking for (e.g. the name of the poster) and press Enter or click Find. This will take you to the next occurrence of this word on that page. Repeat the procedure as necessary.
Hey Sheik do you think it’s possible to establish a rating system, something like on Amazon (“was this post helpful”), people give star ratings to posts they think are really good, and that way it’s visible to newcomers which posts have been appreciated before. And they don’t have to read hundreds of pages necessarily before they get to where we are. Would that be complicated? I’d gladly use that PayPal button again (or anyway) if you could take some time to do that.
Original source material relating to the Fellowship of Friends as well as to other self-styled “Fourth Way Schools” may be found at
http://www.archive.org/bookmarks.php?screenname=veronicapoe
Intelligent yet irrelevant. Thought dueling to avoid decisions made alone, unscripted unbounded by group directive. If only I had walked into your lavish social setting and found IT. It’s only life you escape while pretending consciousness. Surrounded, protected, inner circle of knowing the cues, the winks the nods, of being part of IT. I’m alone in the morgue with my brother, food for the moon. You didn’t listen to me cry. The romance of jade mines and jaunts, to higher sexual forces that were ground out in hot, gritty bus seats. A superior man will not be recognized in his own country. Your vanity expanded so huge that no former informer would be left to comment on YOU. The superior man who turned his back on me, on his friends, on his family because the Fellowship of Friends awaited. The intelligent yet irrelevant rant on this website doesn’t ever discuss the agony the Fellowship of Friends imposes on the dead.