The Essence of Freedom

Before he died, William Duby and the Witches posed for a picture

at the SRF penal colony the "Blue Sky Ranch" in Bethel Island.
Bill always did like cowboy hats...

So, I get all kinds of comments on this blog. Some are supportive and some are not. No matter the nature of the comment, I allow them all and contribute my own reply, if I can.

Usually, those replies are pretty short. I've recently seen this thing on my page entitled: ISHI School of Hypnosis and the Cult of SRF - what happened after World Hypnotism Day?


Anonymous said...
"I'm so sorry you feel the need to do his (sic). This is not helping you towards your own personal healing and growth. I think that the ISHI school is great.I pray that you will find something better to do with your time like taking care of yourself and healing from your past."

This comment apparently came from a woman with a well of axes to grind about something. So, I thought it warranted a special reply all its own. I've deconstructed the comment and added my own commentary for your amusement and edification.


"I'm so sorry you feel the need to do his (sic)."

Yeah, so am I. But I and the countless others affected by the practices of this organization make it absolutely necessary to express the outrage we have all felt after hearing the lies and distortions we were fed. I've said before: this blog was created for a purpose. That purpose is to give those who left the Spiritual Rights Foundation and its related organizations the freedom to express what they could not at the cult. It is a place where they can speak without the crushing humiliation they experienced at the cult. It is a place where we can tell our side of the story. It is a place where seekers can make up their own mind.

In a perfect world, there would not be people who prey on others. There would not be people in desperate need to relieve themselves of the mental and emotional burdens placed on them at a cult. There would not be people who revise history and brush questions aside. Yeah, I wish there was no need to create and maintain this blog.

But I'll keep doing it for as long as there is a need and as long as the people who caused pain grief and misery keep hiding behind locked gates and dirty auras.


"This is not helping you towards your own personal healing and growth."

Uh... what?

If this person is as I suspect: a loyalist of the Ellsworth Street Commie Club, I would expect that kind of comment. We heard that statement (or something like it) any time we were engaged in an activity the cult did not like or understand.

Activities like pursue our careers, gain an academic education or socialize with family and friends - anything outside the limits of the cults understanding or approval. It's such a common phrase in the new age and cult world, it's become a rallying cry for them, anathema for the rest of us.

Actually, I have long wondered why the Spiritual Rights Foundation spent a lot of time and money pursuing this blog with laughable legal actions that fail miserably and with small pin pricks from anonymous commenters on this blog - just like the one we see here. Those commenters never made rebuttals to their commentary or engaged in dialog, even though it's available and encouraged. It's a hit-and-run tactic. The problem for them is when they run, we hit back.  Hard.


"I think that the ISHI school is great."

Well, so does the Spiritual Rights Foundation. So did I until I realized what was happening behind the scenes. My experience there, along with the experience of others called the integrity of the organization into question. Perhaps you may be tempted to distinguish the behavior of the organization called ISHI Hypnosis from its founders and staff. But any organization is only as good as the leaders and staff.

In ISHI's case, there is direct experience from former students that have led them to question the integrity of the organization and those who run it. In the case of the commenter, she only offers up the statement "I think that the ISHI school is great.".  She never said if she was or was not a student of ISHI . She never claimed our experiences are mistaken and our conclusions incorrect. Most important, she never makes any real attempt to tell her side of the story.

If she does have an experience that contradicts that of myself and others, why not tell it? Why remain nameless if your story is as true and candid as our own? If you are so proud of ISHI to be motivated to comment on this decidedly anti-ISHI blog, wouldn't you stand as tall as John Hancock signing the Declaration of Independence?

To this commenter, the declaration "I think that the ISHI school is great." is sufficient. Is it to you?


"I pray that you will find something better to do with your time like taking care of yourself and healing from your past."

Now this is an interesting statement. While the commenter chose to remain anonymous, this particular choice of words is quite revealing. It appears to be from someone with more than a passing interest in a religious, new age type of cult. This person repeats the concepts of "healing" and "growth" - two concepts all we ex-culties heard every day and nearly every hour at the cult. Notice I say we "heard" those concepts. Rarely could we see or experience those concepts for ourselves.

The fact is, the intent and accomplishments of this blog are exactly the things this commenter says you, I and all our readers are failing to achieve - healing, taking care of our own well being. I have heard from many of this blog's readers this blog has helped them understand what happened at the Spiritual Rights Foundation and through this blog they have been empowered to begin the healing process and discover the strength they need to free themselves from the bonds of cult thinking and take that step to take care of themselves in the ways ISHI and SRF would not allow:

Things like professional treatment from people who truly care and have real training - far more in depth than the ten days ISHI Hypnosis instructors received and with real certification and licensing for real, proven treatments.

Things like the freedom to associate, the freedom to speak, the freedom to think for yourself.

We now have the freedom to succeed in the career of our choice, live where we please and own property for ourselves and our loved ones - rather than work at the pleasure of the cult and encumber your property with the crippling debt of the cult's tithe.

We can care for those we care about without having to hear the phrase "you are not your brother's keeper" spat from the mouths of the leaders and ringing in our ears.

We have the freedom to love who we choose and put that bond before the cult. We can choose how we conduct that relationship. We can protect the cohesion of our families and defend them from those who work to inject themselves into our closest and intimate relationships.

We have to freedom to live.

And isn't it true: "Freedom is the Essence of Life"

We never knew the real meaning of that pithy aphorism while we attended the Spiritual Rights Foundation and ISHI Hypnosis.

It's all clear to us now - We broke free from the bonds of tyranny and deception. We got our life back. But those still disengage their thoughts from  the Spiritual Rights Foundation can't imagine life without the cult. And they can't accept we can live without it either.

We are here to tell our side of the story. A story that seekers like us can use to decide on their own spiritual path. And many have made a decision - their own decision.

As always, my purpose is to present the side of the SRF story told from those who had been there, revealing our experiences with the Spiritual Rights Foundation and ISHI Hypnosis in a truthful and candid manner. Unlike the coercion practiced at cultic organizations like SRF, I encourage my followers to make up their own mind.

If you disagree with me, that is your right. And speaking up and speaking out is your right. The First Amendment lives and breathes right here. If you would like to post a comment just like the comment I quote here, please do. In fact, comments give me and those reading this blog the seed to have an open and frank discussion.

All comments are welcome. But as I warned in a previous post, it is an OPEN forum. Your comment may attract opposing comments that you may care to rebut. That's the nature of an open forum. That kind of environment is unusual and intimidating to the cult devotees. They will have to get used to it. It what the United States of America and the First Amendment is all about.