Suffer in Peace, Bill.

Jeff, the Psychdoctorate left the following comment on the post "Farmyard Follies".

It's a well thought piece on what Rev. Bill Duby must have been encountering after his perverse, abusive and deranged practices were exposed to public view and condemnation.

Sure as long as no one knows about your bad behavior, it's OK, right?  That's what my niece thinks, anyway.  But the kind of thinking you would expect from a teen is not what you would find acceptable in a spiritual leader.

Ever since the groundbreaking, bombshell expose of the Spiritual Rights Foundation in the San Francisco Chronicle broke, there has been more and more of the craziness, abuse and perversion exposed.  It wasn't the only media coverage.  There was more.  Lots more from several other dissident followers - even the ex-wife of one devoted follower.

The cult's only defense to these true stories?  They never addressed them directly.  Instead, we heard the authors are lying, cheating, thieving, immoral and mentally deficient psychotics who have perverted the true nature of the peaceful practices of the Spiritual Rights Foundation.

At least, that is what the Witches of Ellsworth delighted in telling us.

They must have been looking in the mirror when they concocted that tall tale.

Bill, on the other hand, became more introspective and more concerned about the afterlife than ever.

One of his foster parents (the one he had formed the closest bond - to the point he called her "mom") was a very moral and religious woman.  I know all this because I met her at her home more than once.  She insisted on morally correct behavior with Bill, I am certain.  Bill was a good student and a high school star athlete under her guidance - a church-going and bible-believing young man as well.

Once away from his foster mother, Bill was drawn to the dark world of the streets of Emeryville, CA.  In his day, Emeryville was a rough place, filled with prostitutes, gamblers and the usually motley collection of street hustlers and con men.  Bill worked at his uncle's card room then, learning the gambling trade and spending much of his time interacting with the people on the street.  One of them was Rev. Angela Silva.

Bill's transformation from high school star athlete to hustler, con man and preacher was certainly a product of that environment. And that allowed him to take his Berkeley Psychic Institute education to start the Spiritual Rights Foundation.

I would bet BPI now wishes they kept him the hell out when they had a chance.

When the negative press about the Spiritual Rights Foundation and Bill in particular emerged, only Bill's wives were outraged.  Bill, uncharacteristically, withdrew.  I not only saw less of him but he was indeed not-so-glib and not-so-grandiose and shallow.  His famous tantrums were less than ever as he was too preoccupied to find demons among his followers.

I'm sure Bill found that his chickens had come home to roost and the vision of his foster mother shaking her head in disapproval found its way into his psyche.

The high school athlete with the morally strict mom began to return.

What might have happened after his epiphany had he lived long enough is anyone's guess.  I believe Bill would have toned down his aberrant behavior a little but would have allowed the picking of the follower's pockets and looting of their assets to continue.  I mean, he had two women to support, you know.

But instead, Bill dropped dead.

It had to happen.  The realization that he and he alone set the Spiritual Rights Foundation on a path that will lead it to a long, slow demise, the thought that he alone had left a path of destruction in his wake was too much to bear.  His foster mother, I am sure, instilled a sense of moral responsibility in Bill that was long ignored but never forgotten.

Unfortunately, his two wives never had that fundamental teaching.  And as Steve Sanchez said so well, only the ego's desire to avoid exposure of one's inner evil and its tendency to resist its elimination is the essential manifestation of hereditary evil.  In short, they appear to not know better but they should.

As Jeff has observed so well (and he did this well without even being there!) Bill's evil deeds came back to haunt him after experiencing a lifetime of an empty void deep within his being.

Jeff said it well: I pity you Bill.  It's all you deserve.

====================================

PsychDoctorate said...

The term psychopath litterally translates into "suffering soul". Robert Hare, a man who studied sociopaths and psychopaths for many years in the prison system would say that this is an accurate description of these individuals. They are truly suffering souls, with a baren inner world filled with nothing but desolation, lonliness, isolation, rage and anguish. They take their deep suffering out on others because they lack empathy. Without empathy, they cannot love, they can only feel negative emotions such as hatred. They lack the moral and ethical components that make us human.

Their personalities are a facade. Something they hold onto, especially since all psychopaths are Narcissistic. However, this facade cannot be maintained and over time the "mask" falls off. Their glibness and false charm falls away and we (the victims) see the "suffering soul" for what they are. An emotionally bleak and baren landscape. It is a hard thing to view, for it is a void where there should be something. It has been said somewhere that if you look long enough into the void something will eventually look back! To those now leaving SRF and those who have left, they saw that void and they ran for their lives. Steve saw it, Mason saw it, Joy saw it and Mike all saw it. So have many others.

The women, Angela, Robin and Debbie saw it and embraced it letting the void despoil them. It eroded their sense of self, claimed their morals and corrupted their ethics. It made them mockeries of what they could be. It is sad.

It is good that Bill is dead, it is good that his "suffering soul" is now at rest. The desolation and corruption of his "subjects" and his reign of terror is over. Although the women cary his "essence" they cannot and do not have his charisma or glibness and too many have seen through their thin veneers.

Rest in peace Bill Duby, your reign of terror is gone. Your suffering soul will claim no more lives and harm no one else. From what I have heard, you are a pitiful thing.

Mike told me that near the end Bill called him, something deep inside of him knew his life was coming to a close. If I am correct (if not, Mike will fill in the proper details) you were showing some regret for you behaviors. You were feeling guilt and shame. Emotions you can feel as they do not require empathy to be understood. You knew and you were being forced to acknowledge your immoral and unethical (and illegal) behavior. The terror of seeing ones self so clearly is a humbling experiencing, espeically for the you the suffering soul.

I have nothing but pity for Bill, that is all he deserves.

Right now I am facing a huge loss in my life, my own sister is dying. We have never gotten along but she is trully suffering from a horrendous thing. She is dying of cancer that has spread. I wish her peace, I wish her strength and I wish her courage as she now leaves this world.

For all of the surviviors of Bill Duby's reign, I wish you courage, I wish you strength and I wish you peace. I also wish you a speedy recovery as you reclaim your own souls and rid yourself of the pain and suffering he inflicted upon you. I offer you compassion and deep empathy. I offer anyone coming from SRF who needs it, a safe place to speak about your trevails. Please contact Mike and he can put us into contact.

Best Regards,

Jeffrey

August 12, 2010 10:15 PM 

The Response to the Academy for Psychic Studies Response

Here is what Joy thinks of the Academy for Psychic Studies response.

Go ahead, watch the video.  You'll like it.

Here's what I think about their response.

The Academy for Psychic Studies has a response to all the things I said on this blog and to all the things ever said about, them I guess. I wouldn't agree to settle until I saw it. Well, I have seen it. And now that I have, I think it's a good time to deconstruct it and comment on it piece by piece.

Below, I will excerpt the response from the Academy for Psychic Studies and add my commentary.


Response First Paragraph
The Spiritual Rights Foundation was founded in 1981. Since its inception, thousands of seeking souls have come through its doors. For some seekers, SRF was a brief sojourn on their path, for others, an abiding spiritual home.

Commentary
Since there are roughly 16 people left in an organization that claims to have affected the lives of tens of thousands, there seems to be a slight problem with retention, don't you think? If over the years you hang on to 16 people out of thousands, there's got to be something wrong. And I don't think there is something wrong with the seekers.

Oh, and the phrase "brief sojourn" is incorrect as "sojourn" means a temporary (aka: brief) stay. And since I'm nurturing my inner grammarian, the word "abiding" is actualy a verb taken from the root word "abide", meaning "to stay". These writers have used a verb where they should use an adjective such as "treacherous" or "inescapable" or "irredeemable".

Response Second Paragraph
For those who have come and gone, SRF has nothing but good wishes, understanding that those who left found what they needed and then journeyed on. Some former students of SRF have gone on to be spiritual guides and teachers in their own right, and many of those still maintain a warm and nourishing connection with SRF. On the other hand, a small number who have left SRF have expressed hostility and anger toward SRF after leaving. Some have made the most outrageous and fantastic claims against SRF.

Commentary
Interesting statement. Read this paragraph carefully: SRF wishes you well if you decide to walk away and shut the hell up. To the knowledge of, well, anyone there were NO "warm and nourishing" connections with ex-members. Instead, when someone left the fold we were gathered around to "clean out" that person's energy from the premises and our consciousness. - regardless whether that member left with hugs and kisses or with a display of his or her middle finger. Actually, everyone we can remember left with his or her middle finger extended.

Leaving SRF on "good" terms was unheard of and the existence of a "warm and nourishing" relationship with anyone who has exited was also unheard of. 

As for those who have gone on to become "spiritual guides and teachers in their own right", the few who dared to venture out on their own to bring the shining light of inspiration and truth to the Great Unwashed were brutally ridiculed in front of as many SRF followers as could be mustered.

• One SRF member went on to form a spiritual school of his own. His teaching was essentially the same as SRF. However his school was branded "bullshit" by the leaders - even though that person established the SRF "spiritual education" curriculum.
• Another person who practices her own brand of spiritual teaching (and sold some of SRF's recorded materials) was never acknowledged at all. No one would talk about her.
• One person moved on to start his own spiritual school near SRF headquarters. The "warm and mourishing" relationship consisted of as much silence about him as possible.
• There is another SRF graduate currently teaching spiritual matters. I don't remember any acknowledgment of him at all. In fact, I'd like to see the faces of the SRF leaders when someone asks about him.
• There is a couple who have recently started their own spiritual school. They certainly do not have the "warm and nurturing" relationship SRF claims. In fact, they left after the President of SRF (Angela Silva) made a blatantly false statement about one of them to the gathered congregation. When that person wrote a complaint to Angela, the letter was read and ridiculed to the gathered congregation.

That is 0 for 6 (the couple counts as 2). Can they name the people with whom they are practicing their own brand of warmth and nourishment? Can you? Can anyone? 

I have never heard of "warm and nourishing connections" between the extraordinarily small number of spiritual teachers unleashed into the world by the Academy for Psychic Studies and the leaders, staff and students thereof. In fact, I never heard anything but the worst possible insults and derision for anyone who dared to leave the Academy to begin their own brand of teaching.

What is also interesting is the last two sentences. Actually, MOST of those who leave Academy for Psychic Studies have at least some anger at them. Anger and being lied to. Anger at being cheated out of thousands of dollars. Anger at the insertion of the leaders into their most precious and intimate relationships. So, if most ex-members are angry and if the Academy for Psychic Studies has touched the lives of tens of thousands, there has to be tens of thousands of persons who are right pissed vs. the 16 8 "happy", "prosperous" souls who remain.

As far as "outrageous and fantastic claims" go, you have seen in this blog many of my opinions based on my experiences at the Spiritual Rights Foundation, the experiences of my contemporaries, the experiences of former staff of SRF, public record, court documents, media reports and the Spiritual Rights Foundation's own publications. Some of what we report is outrageous - the outrageous behavior the leaders conducted at SRF and the outrage we felt when we recalled that behavior. Public record, court documents and the experiences shared by many is what I report here.


Is it fantasy to have reported it? Or maybe it is fantasy to deny it.

Far from making "outrageous and fantastic claims", I'm reporting the outrageous behavior and fantastic beliefs of the leaders of the Spiritual Rights Foundation observed by me and my colleagues at SRF, ministers and students alike. I raised several questions that arise from seeing that behavior. And I make pointed commentaries that arise from seeing that behavior.

If you keep reading, you'll see the Spiritual Rights Foundation doesn't address any of the events involving Bill Duby, Angela Silva or Robin Dumolin described in this blog or elsewhere. Instead, they will say, you, me and everyone else are warped and depraved, projecting our own spiritual shortcomings on poor little them.

Response Third Paragraph
The anger that some former students expressed after leaving SRF is akin to the anger that some children express as they separate from a parent that nurtured and supported them. The process of separation is necessary for some souls, and, unfortunately, separation can be messy as it involves all kinds of justifications and projections.

Commentary
I'm speechless. Perhaps they found a Psychology 101 textbook that dropped open on the "projection" page. Or maybe they consulted an expert on the subject and made a well considered and thoughtful determination. Oh, yes. I forgot. Robin is an expert at Google-ing and she read the only paragraph she could understand on the subject from the Oprah site.

And uh, I have not ever met someone who separated from their parents in anger, when their parents are indeed warm, supportive, and as nurturing as most parents are (has anyone left their kind and supportive parents pissed off?).  I have met people who separated from their parents in anger when their parents are abusive, exploitative, unreasonable, dictatorial, insane or just plain mean - just like the leaders of the Spiritual Rights Foundation.

I wonder if Robin, Angela and Debi are speaking from their own experience?  All three have at this expressed conflict or strain with one or both of their parental units.  Perhaps the strained relationships with their own parents inspired the above statement?  Would we then, be the targets of the "projections" and "justifications" of the three SRF leaders who have expressed their own rocky relationships with their parents?  Since it is much harder to reconcile your emotions when your abuser is dead, perhaps they are looking for a target, any target, for the unresolved issues with their dead parents?

Or maybe I'm just cutting the Witches too much slack... 

If the inconsiderate martinets at the Spiritual Rights Foundation truly believe they give the support and nurturing of the finest parents, while they loot their flock's finances, conduct baseless and self-destructive lawsuits (ours is only one), skirt the law, displace parents from their children and shriek of defamation while thrusting a dagger in your back when their immoral and detrimental behavior is brought into the light, then I guess they really are nourishing and supportive.

Maybe I'll go back and get me some more of that kind of nourishment and support. 

Response Fourth Paragraph
Spiritual teachers are subjected to all manner of projections from their students. Students project their higher selves as well as their shadows onto their teacher. Discerning students recognize that they are projecting their own psychic wounds on to the teacher. These students continue to grow and mature. Some students do not understanding (sic) the phenomenon of projection and believe that what they are seeing in the teacher is really inherent in the teacher. These students can become stuck in their confusion and anger and, as a result, fail to progress. 

Commentary
So, let's get this straight: they are saying in Oprah-esque language that all students of Bill Duby projected their own spiritual or psychic wounds onto Bill. OK, fine. However, Bill has been DEAD for a number of years. The lawsuit against us was brought by  Angela Silva and, Robin Dumolin  because THEY were offended. In their complaint, there was only passing reference to Bill Duby and his legacy of insanity. My outrage and the outrage of so many others is directed at:  Angela Silva and, Robin Dumolin  with a passing reference to Bill Duby.

Nice try, girls. You can't use a dead man to duck the tomatoes coming your way.

Response Fifth Paragraph
The late Rev. Bill, the founder of SRF, was the recipient all kinds of projections from his students. Rev. Bill was an iconoclast who refused to be held to a particular form. He was a spiritual teacher that never conformed to the stereotypical image that people hold of a spiritual teacher. As a flame can illuminate one’s path or burn one’s hand, so was Rev. Bill. (sic)  He was challenging to some because he confronted students who tried to hide behind false conceptions and worn-out ways of being. For those who knew and understood him, Rev. Bill was a guiding light on their path to Truth.


Commentary
This paragraph stands out as a screaming example of writing while rounding the bases on the astral plane. Again, Bill is DEAD. Had  Angela Silva and, Robin Dumolin reconciled themselves with the abuses committed upon the congregation and consequently renounced those practices, there would be no need for anyone to have exposed the Spiritual Rights Foundation's inexcusable practices and behavior.

They could still make a mea culpa, right the wrongs of the past and continue in an ethical, warm and nurturing fashion. However, as there is certainly a profit motive involved in maintaining the status quo - why strangle that golden goose?

It's SRF standard practice to say everyone but the few at the top are hiding behind false conceptions. I guess "false conceptions" such as family first, help your neighbor, honor they mother and thy father and "worn-out ways of being" like enjoying home and family, encouraging your children to pursue an education relevant to their skills and interest, providing for your loved ones instead of dumping money to a cult are just a few of the things Bill and his Femme Fatales have been confronting the students to give up.

Well, those who did stand aside and who allowed Bill,  Angela Silva and, Robin Dumolin  to confront them found their wallets, bank accounts, relationships with spouses, the love of their children and their very souls incinerated by SRF's flame of illumination. But of course, you need to experience such a re-birthing process to reveal that guiding light on the path of truth, don’t you? Just don't ask where everything you used to have wound up.

None of us understood why Bill would have to resort to con man tactics and out and out bullying to pry money loose from our wallets.   None of understood how Robin Dumolin and Angela Silva could have all the things they wanted whenever they wanted them, while the rest of us had to wait to get what we needed when we needed it but usually never received.  No one understood how the Blue Sky Ranch, "the people's place" could only be visited if we lowly congregants are "working or paying".

But we do understand we wound up financially wrecked, emotionally destroyed, with fewer prospects, fewer friends and little to no family left after a few years with the Spiritual Rights Foundation.  Would that situation have happened without SRF?  Maybe we really don't understand.

But if you recall the relentless drive to give your money, give your time, "release your family programming", "put your friend's foreign energy down your grounding cord", and the ever-present degradation and humiliation performed by the holy leaders of SRF in the name of looting even more of your money and time, and estranging yourself from anyone left in your life, I guess we really DO understand.

I can also tell you that Robin Dumolin and Angela Silva were the only ones understood Bill Duby.  They understood Bill could con people out of money like no one else.  They understood all that money flowed through their hands and theirs alone.  They understood how to hide that money.  They understood how to spend that money.  And they understood every penny of the Spiritual Rights Foundation's money was in fact, intended to go straight to them.

So now, I guess you understand Bill Duby as well.

Sixth Paragraph
Some of Rev. Bill’s former students had difficulty in assimilating his teachings, and in understanding who he was. In order to justify leaving SRF, these students painted a picture of Rev. Bill as a dangerous man. However, these students failed to grasp that the image they painted was simply a projection from their own psyche. They failed to realize that the real danger lies in not understanding that what they have projected onto Rev. Bill is the picture of their own unresolved inner wounds.

Commentary
First, Bill worked deliberately to make his message incomprehensible and his own personal history murky and unverifiable while spinning a tale of amazing, superhuman deeds. As far as being "a dangerous man" is concerned, Lewis Bostwick, Bill Duby's claimed "mentor" made the observation that Bill was "dangerously twisted" and was to be kept as far away as possible.

Bill Duby's tirades were legendary.  Bill once taunted a member so the member would take a swing at Bill.  The purpose of the taunts were not to clear whatever psychic energy was haunting the member.  It was so Bill could file a battery charge against the member.  Fortunately, the member was one of the more intelligent persons you'll ever meet.  Bill's scheme was so transparent, the member was able to recognize it and keep his cool, spoiling Bill's grand plan.

The hours-long screaming tirades where Bill made death threats against members who displeased him, grabbed and assaulted women who were not of service to him were common.  I witnessed Bill slap around a female member who was not as compliant as he wanted.

Sorry girls, it's not a "projection" from the minds of the formally-faithful that Bill was "dangerous" - it was the considered opinion of Bill's claimed mentor and our observations of his terroristic threats and physical abuses. It's not our inner wounds that call Bill insane. Bill was proud to waive his Medicare card in the air proclaiming the government considered him so insane, he was declared permanently disabled. 

Oh, but those facts are mere fantasy in the minds of the psychically wounded. Bill's students projected an image of insanity and danger onto him by way of misinterpreting the insane hostility and anger Bill displayed towards his students as, you know, hostility, anger and insanity towards his students.

How silly of me to have not understood. A dozen Krispy Kremes are coming your way in apology.

Response Final Paragraph
Many charges and wild allegations have been hurled at Rev. Bill and SRF by a small–but vocal--group of former students. Rev. Bill cannot defend against the charges, and SRF chooses not to do so. For those who believe the wild stories told by some former students, nothing SRF can say will change they minds. SRF invites those who want to see the truth with their own eyes to come, take a look at SRF’s work, meet the current students and teachers, listen to the teachings, and then to listen to the teaching that comes from their own hearts.

Commentary
It's another paragraph written from Right Field on the astral plane.  There is no hurling of insults here, just the revelation of truthful experiences and the opinions developed from them.

However, I will admit to hurling my lunch when I think about the place.

In a one sentence, SRF admits they will not address anything stated on this blog or anywhere else. However, they took up several paragraphs saying we who speak from OUR souls and have listened to the teachings of our OWN hearts, and we who speak the truth have been wasting our time beating a dead man rather than expose the ongoing exploitative behavior of the current leadership.

That last paragraph tells the whole story: the leaders of the Spiritual Rights Foundation never read the message, they never bother to understand themselves or the people around them. Angela Silva and, Robin Dumolin have not only separated themselves from the way the people of the world think, they insulate themselves from it. They are quick to attack the character of those who disagree without offering foundation, evidence and certainly without even taking the time to understand what is being said.

But, I think we already know: they never did understand what is being said nor do they want to. If they were to read all the commentary (here and elsewhere) made by the people who were subjected to their abusive and exploitative behavior, they would drop faster than Michael Jackson.

And I have seen this: when they see something they can't understand, they insult the message and the messenger. It's a typical pattern with Angela Silva and Robin Dumolin: they belittle the messenger while never addressing the message.

 

Like a cat, they toy with the messenger to just short of the point of death before losing interest and moving to another victim while the first ran and hid. 

But this time, the messenger wouldn't try to run and hide. In fact, they found this messenger fought back - and defeated their attempt to exert petty tyranny.

Joy and I may have been their latest victim but we are determined to be the last. Our struggle against them has laid a blow that rippled through the very heart of their existence. We have worked to protect the rights of those who wish to speak out now and for those who will. I expect the SRF despots and their lackeys will think twice before coming after anyone else.

And no collection of insipid detritus like the alleged "response" from the Spiritual Rights Foundation will ever prevent me from standing tall in the face of oppression.

But don't let me stop you. Do as they say. Go there and take a look at SRF for yourself. 

But keep this in mind:  I used to have links to the Spiritual Rights Foundation and related sites as way to maintain fairness and balance. Inexplicably, Angela Silva and Robin Dumolin demanded those links be removed. I removed them because it wasn't worth an argument and further, their demand to remove the links accomplished only one thing: now you can't click through to the SRF site for their side of the story. 

So, you'll have to speak with a current student of SRF- if you can find one.  The elite Clairvoyant Training Program is barren of students.  Their "core curriculum" classes have been empty but one unsuspecting soul does turn up once or twice a year - only to leave after a session or two.

They also ask you to come take a class and see for yourself. I would say you should if you are so inclined, if there is one.  The classes offered have dwindled from several per session to maybe one.  However, you can go to a healing retreat or refreshing spa day for a couple hundred or so.

Go speak with them and speak with others if you can find them to get their side of the story and make up your own mind about this place.  In fact, I have ALWAYS encouraged you make up your own mind. But please be sure it is YOU who made your mind. I let them make up my mind for me. I and many others paid a horrible price for our mistake.

But go take that class, have that reading, enjoy that healing and listen to that teaching. 

And do as they say: listen to the teaching that comes from your own heart.

It might say: RUN, SPOT, RUN!  It's a CULT!

Please Support This New Movie - Paradise Recovered

There's an indie film coming out called Paradise Recovered.  It's a film about an ex-cult member who leaves her cult and learns to love life. 

Sounds familiar, doesn't it?

The trailer is available on YouTube.  It's a very well-made film; the filmmakers took a lot of care and attention to its quality and story.  Paradise Recovered is the kind of once-in-a-lifetime accomplishment all filmmakers hope to achieve.

From the filmmaker's website  www.paradiserecovered.com :

Synopsis:

Esther Harris, a virtuous young woman and devotee of Warren F. Vanderbilt , is given the opportunity of a lifetime – to marry a minister’s son and attend Vanderbilt’s Kingdom Bible College.

When her fundamentalist Christian group falls on hard times, Esther looks for employment at a local health food store to supplement the group’s income.

At the store, Esther gets a chance to share her faith with her new manager, Gabriel, a Philosophy student and devout skeptic, and learns what it really means to experience faith, love, and life.

Fun Facts about Paradise Recovered:

We put the 'ultra' in 'ultra-low budget', relying on a lot of in-kind support, goodwill, donated items, and stuff from our houses as props.

The camera used was the Holy Grail of Ultra Low-Budget Filmmaking: The RED One.  At the beginning of the shoot in Austin, the temperature topped out at 110 degrees. The RED took the heat.

Most films boast that no animals were harmed during their shoot. We boast that one kitten was saved during the making of Paradise Recovered, thanks to the generosity and heroism of David Blue Garcia and Julio Quintana.

The profits of Paradise Recovered will help provide mental health services for survivors of religious abuse, as well as assist our team of aspiring filmmakers, musicians, actors, and artists in doing what they do. They make art. Making art takes money. Spreading the wealth around to all who shared in making it is the right thing to do. 

The filmmakers are pledging at least 10% of the profits to Wellspring Retreat, a residential treatment center for recovering cult members.  That is a great thing.  Their hope is to provide access to treatment to all recovering cult members no matter their ability to pay.

============================================

We have all seen how cult leaders engage in shameless exploitation for personal gain.  It's nice to see someone really working towards making lives better.

Take a look at their website.  There is an open letter to ex-cult members.  When they are finished with the final cut of the film (which is a long process) they will put together a list of recovery sources and have it available.  That alone is enough to support.

When Paradise Recovered is released, I hope you will support this film by attending a screening, buying a DVD or telling people you know about it.

The trailer is absolutely beautiful.  The photography, the music and direction shows a remarkable sense of appreciation and awareness of the beauty of everyday life and the world around us.  So often, destructive cultic organizations replace our natural sense of wonder with fear, suspicion, distrust and disdain for those who don't adopt the cult doctrine.  

Paradise Recovered shows so very well how one person can release that unnatural state to return to embrace the world around her and regain the life she was truly meant to live.

And ironically, it's Paradise Recovered that truly shows how Freedom is the Essence of Life.

The Paradise Recovered web site

Paradise Recovered on Facebook

Paradise Recovered on Twitter

Totally Bogus Prosperity

Did I tell you Psycho Donuts in Campbell, CA

with Lady Gaga are my slice of heaven?

Looking back at the perverse and demented psychic classes I attended at the Spiritual Rights Foundation, I am surprised I believed them - especially the bogus classes on "prosperity and havingness".

The Spiritual Rights Foundation's prosperity formula involved something like taking all the money you have in the world, shoving it up a dead chicken's ass and leaving it on Angela Silva's doorstep. If the chicken turns into a KFC bucket full of bones, empty gravy containers and leftover cole slaw the next morning, you can expect to see prosperity.

It wouldn't be your prosperity you'd see, but you would find a certain individual belching up the smells of last night's KFC seems to be wearing new jewelry and has added gold trim to her car.

But that's proof the Spiritual Rights Foundation prosperity plan works! The only thing is: it won't work for YOU.

Evil - it just goes on until you make it stop

Here's a piece from Steve Sanchez.  It's a excerpt from his midterm paper on Hereditary Evil.

Steve explains the concept of hereditary evil better than I can, so I'll just let you read the paper for yourself and taking away from it what you will.

==============================

On the level of individual spiritual development, an adolescent person is transitioning from childhood to adulthood. The life of innocence is going away and they must begin to deal with the hereditary inclinations toward evil that are now beginning to be activated. This corresponds to the awakening of rational cognition in regards to moral decision-making, and formation of identity. Sometimes mistakes are made, and bad decisions are acted on. The parent will of course need to give guidance, and sometimes they have to let the young person learn on their own.

A major theme I see, in regard to an adolescent, or any individual, has to do with the constant tension and striving to bring one’s externals into harmony with internals. This is a great and tough lesson to pay attention to as a practical message. Maclagan writes: “The great lesson that we have all to learn from the study of this section is, habitually, to endeavor, while we are in this world, to bring our outward life as far as we possibly can into harmony with our internal life”.

When Maclagan writes, “Of the delusions of falsities from interior evil, of the corrupted principles in which there is yet something of good”, he is interpreting the phrase, ‘Ameleks who dwell in the south’. According to Swedenborg the Amelaks represent those who no longer care to examine themselves, but delight in deceiving and harming the soul of others. He writes:

They who are in this evil do not attack the truths of faith, but the goods of faith; for they act by means of depraved affections, whereby they pervert good thoughts. Because they are of such a nature, their hells are completely separated from the hells of evil spirits, insomuch that they have scarcely any communication, and this for the reason that they may be separated from the men of the spiritual church; for if they were to flow in from their hells, it would be all over with the man of that church, because they would act in the most hidden manner into his conscience and would pervert it, and this by the breathing in of depraved affections. These infernal genii never attack a man openly, nor when he is capable of vigorous resistance; but when it appears that a man is falling so as to yield, they are then suddenly at hand, and push him on to a complete fall. This too is represented by the fact that Amalek now fell upon Israel; and also afterward, when the sons of Israel had set themselves in opposition to Jehovah, and were afraid of the nations in the land of Canaan (AC 8593).

The kind of evil Swedenborg is talking aboutseems to be very severe and is difficult to regenerate. In ourselves it needs to be identified, resisted, and deeply repented for. In others, it needs to be identified and avoided, or if possible held in check. I have encountered people like this in life who use ‘the delusions of falsity’ to manipulate people. The awareness of severe evil like this and how it operates is an intense lesson in life.  I have a ‘for instance’ in regard to this. The leader of the religious group I was in was of this nature. He was a master at manipulating, and profoundly deceptive. This is an important awareness because, as Swedenborg says, it is the constant effort of such people to hide what they are really seeking to do. Their deception is much more persuasive and sustainable when the victim believes they are good. It is easy to see evil behavior in the actions of extreme terrorists, but it is much more difficult in those who seem upstanding in society.

For instance, the cult leader always named or addressed intense personal or group issues first. Most people are afraid or sensitive about doing this so his skill at it is a powerful way of making a huge impact on a person’s mind and soul. He was not afraid to engage in conflict, intimidation, or scary thoughts. He was very demonstrative of powerful emotions like joy, acting-out, amusement, anger, and rage. He always grabbed the stage and claimed to act out what people secretly wanted to or feared to do the most themselves. In his speeches he constantly revealed people’s personal lives, publicly shaming them in front of the group. He made himself the central hub of all relationships, and thereby manipulated all romantic relationships, putting people together and tearing them apart. In return for total dedication he promised that his followers could become like him. This was real, severe evil, under the guise of good.

The cult leader fulfilled in people what psychologists called a ‘salvation fantasy’. Salvation fantasy is said to a big part of the emotional appeal that inspired the hippy movement. The leader claimed to be a master of the ‘mystery teachings’, which promised to give a unique and elite connection to God. If we didn’t execute the teaching to his satisfaction then we were in danger of a horrible fate in hell. The strange thing was he used Swedenborg’s writing to make himself look enlightened. All of these things are examples, I believe, of what Maclagan calls the ‘delusions of falsity’.

One of the essential messages to learn is the necessity of self-examination. This takes a great deal of self-discipline, honesty, and a desire to be led by the Lord. For instance, in my own experience, writing, Spiritual Perversion, was a great experience of self-examination and therapy. I had to delve deep into memory and relive experiences in order to present the whole picture. The process was like mining a rich vein of gold; I was compelled to follow the veins of deception, fully expose them and thereby take charge of it. I didn’t know it at the time, but in hindsight I could see that God was with me guiding the process the whole time, and this perception brought me into greater relationship with Him. From this kind of therapeutic writing I realized that thought is rooted in feeling and affection, because as I felt and explored my feelings about a particular situation, a rush of ideas and memories came to me. I remembered all kinds of dialogue and important detail. I also saw that the evil attached to thoughts and feelings has all kinds of filters designed to protect it from detection. Revealing the depth of the story and forming it into art was essential to healing trauma and making myself whole. I think this kind awareness is of great value for religion and people of faith, because the psychological detail of how to heal the psyche is often wanting.

For instance, one of the pitfalls of religion is that we are vulnerable to fall into a mentality of being ‘goody, goody’, ‘perfect’, or indulge in spiritual pride over what we ‘know’. By doing so we are concreting over our shadow. The Amekelites probably represent people who have done this. To do so leads to psychological suffocation; it is a real psychological danger because the personality can lose its wholeness and vitality, like the Star trek episode when they were separated from their ‘Id’ self, or like the psychotic Church Lady character on Saturday Night live. In Buddhism one develops the skill of being mindful, and a major component of it is to be honest with ourselves; this goes hand in hand with a humble outlook. Making art can potentially serve the same purpose. When I wrote Spiritual Perversion I felt compelled to be completely honest. I couldn’t stop from writing a scene because it was embarrassing or humiliating. Art, and Buddhism, have pitfalls of their own, but they can serve us psychologically in a way that religion sometimes misses.

This brings out a major theme in the scripture in question, that is, if evil is left trapped in the psyche unexamined and unseen, it becomes like poison.

Now let’s look at an example on an individual level of the consequences of not regenerating hereditary evil. Here is a story that may serve as a good example: A friend came to me with a problem; he told me the story of how his wife and him had let his wife’s sister and her daughter move-in to live with them. His wife’s sister had been having financial problems for a long time. It quickly became appear that the 14-year-old daughter had some behavioral problems. She was getting F’s in school, and wouldn’t cooperate with guidance from adults. They found out she was smoking cigarettes, doing drugs, and heavily involved in sex chat on the Internet. A big part of the problem was that her mother would not stand up to her, but coddled her, and ignored it all. The daughter attempted suicide and was put in a rehab facility. When she came out, she asked to go back in and was allowed. She came out and wanted to go back in again. But there seemed to be no effect on her attitude. The problem for my friend was that when he made rules for the house and tried to help in her school work, he got grief not only with the girl, but with his wife, his wife’s sister, and their mother for trying to straighten things up. This was causing major tension in their marriage and they came to agree that they needed to ask the sister and daughter to leave. My friend decided to write a letter to the girls councilor at school, so that she might get into a more structured school that could lead to a new pattern in her life.


Now, this is what he said too me about why he took action, “This whole situation was driving me to distraction, but I could not face God and have him ask me, why didn’t you help that girl when you had a chance; I had to do something”.

The mother in this story may serve as an example of not facing the situation, and thereby letting hereditary evil ‘ride’. In the context I have presented, the adolescent daughter remains in ignorance, subject to the forces of hereditary evil, and its inherent tendency to protect itself to exposure and elimination. The mother seems to be complicit with this. My friend, on the other hand, by listening to God seeks to take action that can ‘regenerate’ the situation.

Another example that demonstrates some of the dynamics of hereditary evil, and how it can be potentially regenerated, has to do with the genogram. In seminary we are asked to interview our family members and draw up a genogram. This means putting together the story of one’s parents and one’s siblings, the story of our grand parents and their siblings, and so on. We look for patterns in these stories, and the impact they may have on our own lives. This was an eye opening experience for me. In my family there were significant themes of alcoholism, emotional cut-offs, mental disturbances, attempted suicides, and loss of faith. There was also significant achievement, perseverance, and acts of self-sacrifice. Understanding the stories of emotional trauma in my parent’s life was very important to understanding the traumas I suffered. The process of interviewing my parents in the way we were taught was a big part of the healing, because it afforded the chance to develop a certain amount of skill at re-orienting the relationship. By this I mean I was able in some measure to objectify my family role, and move out of it into a more mature identity. Most of all, it was powerful to observe the similar patterns of thought, feeling, and trauma that had a marked tendency to move downward in despair. I was able to see to a certain degree how these forces operated in my psyche. I realized I didn’t have to identify with being them. They were influences, but not I.


The experiences I have been describing all have to do with bringing the external and internal of our soul into a greater measure of harmony. It takes work, intention and skill.

====================================

I BEAT THE SPIRITUAL RIGHTS FOUNDATION !

I can't help it. I have to gloat.

I BEAT
THE SPIRITUAL RIGHTS FOUNDATION,
THE ACADEMY FOR PSYCHIC STUDIES, AND ISHI HYPNOSIS

and Debi Livingston

and Angela Silva

and Robin Dumolin


To the three Witches of Ellsworth:

You tried to intimidate me and all the people I care about. You tried to sue me with a lame, sloppy and irrelevant legal complaint. You lost. The Superior Court made you pay for my legal expenses.

Your attempt to silence the truth failed. Your attempt to abuse the legal system backfired.

This blog continues. And this blog is thriving.

That's not exactly what you intended with your lawsuit, I would guess.

Because of your failed, amateurish and transparent attempt to silence me with a wave of your gnarled fingers, I have been able to present myself and this blog to the anti-cult community. Thanks to your perverted actions, this blog and I have achieved more visibility than if you just kept your mouths shut.

And because of your childish and stupid actions, you have even more to explain away and even less credibility and even fewer victims to prey upon.

Now, if you had taken the correct path and made reasonable participation in this blog, you would not have faced that.

That opportunity was always available to you. Despite your claims to the contrary, Blogger allows no way to block any particular individual or group from commenting. You should know that. You operate a blog on Blogger yourselves. Even if Blogger did allow me to block you, I invited you and anyone affiliated with you to comment. All I asked is that you identify yourself in the interest of fairness. This blog has been open to you even after you dropped your idiotic suit. How else were you able to post your ridiculous response?

If you had thought to address what is said here in a reasonable, public manner or even if you had exercised the good judgment and restraint to have kept quiet, this blog would be read only by a handful of your victims - people who have already spoken out publicly who you have tried to discredit and people who remain anonymous and silent.

But instead, your supporters left comments like: "Fuck You" or "Mike Kawahara is an #$!#!$%$@#@@^&@" and other comments that don't address the issue or make any attempt to spell out your value to the world. They do leave comments that tell me I am a jerk, an idiot or otherwise "insensitive" to the poor leaders of your valueless and dysfunctional organization.

It is a hallmark of your organization to attack someone's personality, ethnic background, family life, socio-economic status (dispensing more venom to those who grew up in money), educational achievements (again, with more disgust for those who are educated) whenever that person speaks out against your abuse.

It's truly ironic that while you hide behind the First Amendment to conduct you reign of terror and spew the vile filth that guides your behavior, you attempt to deny the protections of the First Amendment to anyone who says anything you don't like.

Especially when those things are the truth.

The truth about what happens behind the wrought iron fence of your compound.

The truth about how the children were treated.

The truth about what you did to their parents.

The truth about how your teaching of prosperity prospered no one but yourselves.

The truth that the Spiritual Rights Foundation operates like no other legitimate church.


Well ladies, your disturbed brand of oppression may work in the confines of your gated compound but it didn't fly in the Superior Court of the State of California.

I BEAT YOU!

My right beat your might. Now that your might has turned to fright, I hope there will be no more victims of your practice of spiritual domination and emotional torture.

I hope that more will read this blog so they can see our side of your story.

I hope the few remaining in your evil clutches will continue to obey your forced silence and refrain from polluting the population with your brand of evil.

I hope your potential victims will have the opportunity to see there is a dark side of the SRF moon.

And I hope this blog will continue to provide that opportunity.

Your continued bad behavior, your devotion to discrediting your critics, your inept and amateurish presentation of yourselves and your practices to the world will ensure that for as long as you exist, so will this blog.