False Evidence Appearing Real

I had a pretty brisk discussion with a few people about what the purpose of the blog is intended to be. Am I speaking for those who have left, those who remain, those who may choose to join?

I have said in a earlier post that my wife and I host gatherings of those who are no longer with SRF. We love to do this and will continue for as long as the need exists. I think it will be a long time. I've also said that we are not exit counselors, de-programmers or guerrilla-style saviors of the world. We are just hosts.

I've also said that I conceived this blog as a kind of graffiti. Just a way to spray paint random thoughts on the internet wall that no one pays attention to. Well except for rival gangs, I guess.

And pay attention they are. My web stats show a lot of hits based on searches on my name and the word "blog". Those who come to this blog by searching on my real name have to be someone who knows me and have an interest in the Spiritual Rights Foundation. We did send the links to people we know, who sent them on to others and so on. Those hits were easy to identify. But I'm sure there is a certain group looking for scandalous information about themselves.

I'm not doing this because I think the Spritual Rights Foundation will suffer because of it. They seem to be doing a fine job of melting down without my help. But with the traffic being so high, I have to wonder what my purpose will become.

I'm not straying from my principle that I don't pull people away from the Spiritual Rights Foundation. But we will still host those get-togethers. I just ask anyone who may be considering a departure to make that decision on their own. If this blog adds to you knowledge base, then that is fine. You need to consider information from any available source. You can consider all of this pure fiction and unrelated to anything. That's your right as well. If after you consider all the data you get more by staying than leaving, then please stay there.

I don't advocate that you look to me or any ex-member for your salvation. Whether you believe it or not, the guy who took the job so long ago is your best bet for that. If you want to talk about your past experience over some good eats and coffee, I'm all ears. Just be sure that your affiliation with SRF is in your past - distant or recent.

In short, make up your mind first. I'm not your rescue worker or your savior.

That said, I renew my pledge to you that our hands are open should you choose to exit. And the pledge of forgiveness is always there.

It is scary to leave. It is scary to think you are on your own, without the support of a group. That is part of the purpose of our gatherings. We support each other in the warm, personal sense that only those who share a common experience can do. We speak in the intimate manner that comes from those who have truely found a common bond. That bond is somewhat painful and frightening to confront, but a bond it is.

You are not to blame for anything that you many have done to anyone nor are your fellows to blame for what they have done to others. The collective consciousness drove you to do things that you may be regretting now. We all have regrets. And we all are devoted to healing the pain by talking the pain out. We have had enough of burying our shame and repressing those thoughts and emotions that were anathema in our dysfunctional past.

Take your time. Most of us were gone for a while before we could say anything about our experiences. We'll be around.

Many of the posts on this blog are scary, candid, direct. I have heard them called them "sarcastic". That's fine. Many find what was here informative and somewhat funny. But those experiences are scary when I look back on them. And my observations and commentary are direct and unequivocal. While I believe that the basic principles of meditation and other practices are valid (when properly used), I believe that the conduct of that organization has been and continues to be counter-productive to personal growth and personal freedom. There are those at SRF who feel they have nowhere else to go. I call that a sense of spiritual imprisonment.

Those of us heard frequently that there is no guru at SRF, that there is freedom and you cannot become dependant on SRF and what it offers. If that is the case, why is it that so many of us yearned for freedom that seemed to elude us? How did that lead us to withdraw into the imposing walls of a cult, being not of the world?

What did we have to fear?

Why is it that we feared a world that presented no fear?

Those who are out have grown in ways unimaginable while they were at SRF. My own wife is thriving at college. Others are experiencing more loving and satisfying relationships with loved ones, friends, family. And without the burden of up to 80% of their money going down the drain, financialy as well.

We were told that fear is an acronym for False Evidence Appearing Real. So tell me, if the world is so fearsome, what about that fear is false? Am I against you as a fellow resident of planet Earth? Are those who left before you the personification of evil? Or are we all truly kindered in spirit?

So what the hell does all that have to do with the purpose of this blog?

It's me facing the fear. It's me releasing the nightmare of the last decade.

I hope you can find that place where you can as well.

And when you do, come over. The coffee is always fresh and we keep some good eats around all the time. Stay a while. You'll have a lot to talk about.