Another View of Your Brain on SRF

I was perusing the blog of my "nemesis" Ms. Rosebud Maid herself. I am referring to the following post and subsequent responses so I can illustrate to you one way a follower's brain can meltdown and who was responsible for the melting. In fact, if this "Rosebud Maid" person is who I suspect, it would be an example of a brain melting down after a major meltdown. You'll have to figure that one out for yourself but if you have a sense who I am talking about, I guess you already got it.

Please read the comments with your full attention. They illustrate the the practice of "lighting up your personality" and the true effects it has on your soul. And another little tidbit: As he described, Bill was not liked where he got his "spiritual training". Not by his fellow students, not by the staff and certainly NOT by his supposed "mentor" Lewis Bostwick.

So, where did Rev. Bill Duby get his training about "lighting up" your personality, "tearing you down to build you up", healing you with taunts, insults, racial epithets, sexual epithets, profanity, scatology and obscenities unleashed upon his victims?

How did we come to accept a situation, a body of knowledge, an impossible circumstance that was in itself, unacceptable?

I'd like to ask Bill but he's DEAD.

So, I'll leave it up to our friend and colleague, Ms. Rosebud Maid as she is the sole expert on the subject.

Kind of makes you question the "spiritual knowledge" we got at the Spiritual Rights Foundation, doesn't it?


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Walking in the World

It is not for me to judge those that condem the teachings of Rev. Bill Duby and devoted wife Rev. Angela. But God will judge you and you who are trying to make a bad name of the Rev. Bills blue eyed devotee Rev. Debi Livingston. Rev. Bill would allways joke that Rev. Debi was mystisising blue eyed girl that would put any man in trance. he was such a joker. Rev. Bill liked to keep things lite by telling jokes and liting up peoples personalitys.

Maybe some people didnt like there personalitis lite up but who does. Rev. Bill was one of a kind he did not go along with the world but did what he know he needed to do. people just didnt understand him. I do. Rev. Bill I know you are looking down on all of us and smiling and laughing and joking and telling us what we need to do like an angel. God bless you ad all your woman who are carying on your teaching being in the world but not of it, following Gods laws not mans laws. Praise Jesus. Praise Rev. Bill. Praise the spiritual rights foundation and the teaching.

Posted by Rosebud Maid at 10:34 PM

4 comments:

Joy Butler said...

Is it right to yell at people until they cry, until they begin to believe that they are the scum of the earth because Bill is telling them so? I call this emotional abuse. When you see people in the movies act like Bill dosen't it make you mad or sorry for the person receiving the yells, put downs ext. I think we all could step back and look at Bill with new understanding and perspective. I have at least and it has led me to many new conclusions.

February 25, 2009 10:44 PM

PsychDoctorate said...

Lighting up someone personality doesn't sound that nice. It sounds like Bill enjoyed teasing people and making them feel bad about themselves. But instead of saying that it hurt their feelings, they just learned to laugh and pretend not to think that it really hurt. 

Mean people don't think that they are hurting someone else's feelings. They don't think that they are saying anything wrong. 



Normal people don't say things which Bill said to people. Sometimes they do but they usually apologize afterward when they realize that they hurt the other person.

Mean people never apologize for hurting someone else. 

They think that they are right and that it is ok for them to speak that way.



It is not!



Words can hurt! 



How would you feel Rosebud if someone continually was mean to you all the time.



I never met Bill, but a lot of people I knew at the Berkeley Psychic Institute, where Bill got his training, did think he was mean!



I like to make people laugh and smile, but I am never intentionally mean.

February 26, 2009 3:17 AM

Joy Butler said...

RosebudMaid,

PsychDoctorate makes a very good point that I can attest to from personal experience. Bill was really mean to me allot. 

I remember one period of time he was always coming up with something to put me down and make me feel bad and afraid for months. I began to feel nervous and sick every time I came into the Academy during this time. He would seem to come out of his house as if he knew I was there, maybe he had house control call him to let him know I was there, I don't know. He made a point to ride me, to break me down. 

After a couple months of this I began to feel suicidal, that was just the first time I felt that way there. I felt hateful, scared, rageful. It's like Bill brought out all the worst of me. It was horrible. And it did not do me one ounce of good. 

When Bill was done with me I was so afraid of making any perceived "bad" move. I learned to internalize all negative feelings and store it up. I did not get a healing from Bill doing this. I did not get a release. I did become so afraid of his seeming power over me I began to lie that I was ok when I was not because I did not want him to do this to me anymore.

So yes many people at the Spiritual Rights Foundation hide their feelings, deny being angry because they are afraid. Almost everyone I have talked to honestly from there or are still there have admitted to this as well.



Bill ruled by intimidation and fear. And I am afraid that those he mentored are doing the same. I am afraid for the people still there and those who may stumble upon this organization innocently.

February 26, 2009 9:04 AM

Mel said...

Rev. Bill saw fit to have license to taunt, sadistically berate, rip a new asshole, make others cry, lash out at the drop of a thought form and generally be mean spirited in the guise of taking your money and teaching you to be a special psychic and spiritual being. We had the privileged to pay them for this treatment..A big mistake for all of us that thought we were going to be enlightened and shown a brighter future.

We were recruited with much love and complimented on our insight. That changes slowly but surely, through indoctrination, intimidation, long all night classes and general personality changes that occured in all of us. We were given license to be little Bill tyrants because our psychic readings were encouraged and validated by Bill and Angela. Today its Angela and Debi Livingston Boushey.

Everyone went out of there way to pay loads of money for special classes with Angela Silva, and all the holidays and birthdays surrounding top management were met with loving praise, giving up your self respect, seniority and pocket book to buy gifts for the Angela Silva and Robin DuMolin team.

Every person I know who has been in that environment that was a female all gushed and enthusiastically poured money towards gifts for them. If you'd heard there minds at the time, you could hear peer pressure thoughts crushing down and around common sense and holding it captive while the mouth said give and be like the rest and in this energy! Reminded me of all the Rashneesh followers who gave cars and money after cars and money to the guy. The video of these people all excited and in a frenzy as he strolled by them in his many vehicles a la The Pope was incredible.

I would see glimpses of this with the woman who spoke reverently of Angela Silva, Robin DuMolin and in some later cases Debi Livingston. Bill didn't like this type of behavior, and I will give him that, but Angela Silva and Robin DuMolin fed off it and expected it as entitlement to there positions in the church. They kept it going during Bill's life and long afterwords. Except now, Robin's daughter is the heir apparent along with Angela and Robin.

Lighting up the personality was Bill's favorite passtime, and in retrospect made him feel superior when he would tear down others.

Rosebud Maid never saw this side to him because Bill cared not to work with her, passing her off to Angela and Debi to work with instead.

Michael's previous blog stated those who are still there are SUCKERS! It's true, we were all suckers, in a misdirected way, ala the confidence man scam. We were maid to believe that psychic vampires are in our midst and come to get readings, church service and take classes, if not want to take the year class, all in search for peoples soul energies, rather than spiritual truth.

In reality, the sucking was going on within, as Bill would say I suck the souls of those who come to throw them away. He said he could fed of these energies, aka spiders and snakes from people and use it to his advantage. He definitely liked to taunt, rip us a new asshole on endless occasions, made some of us cry with cruel and sadistic comments pretending to be healing sessions amongst those in the environment. It was an excuse for Bill to indulge in his delighting in others human flaws and frailties.

The one thing I remember so well, is Bill saying how when people left they broke the confidence and trust of talking to others about private conversations or entire church experiences. Yet, when you said something to him in private and thought it to be in strict confidence, was laid out in front of others in the congregation to be the punch line to thousands of cheap laughs by others.

He delighted on seeing others so called exposed for there hang ups...or in psychic terms..ala Scientology mental image pictures. SO MUCH FOR CLERGYMAN PRIVATE CONFIDENTIALITY!

Angela Silva, Robin DuMolin and the bishop Debi Livingstion Boushey still follow in Bill Dubys tradition. Claim foul and victimization when others do it them after they leave. They want it only one way. THEIRS!

Rosebud Maid your are truly blessed of having not had to go through that so called spiritual teaching. It was actually SPIRITUAL TAUNTING. They got paid for doing this to us, so we are just now waking up seeing the truth from the lie and speaking out on these blogs.


Man oh man, I hope these blogs are effecting change like it has in America, and will shut down these GOD AWFUL places such as Spiritual Rights Foundation and Berkeley Psychic Institute. The cockroaches running these places need to run and hide once the light of exposure of there misdeeds are blogged about and spread out onto the internet.

February 26, 2009 4:45 PM

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She Said, He Said. Or is it the other way around?

The Female Energy Classes and Female Readings.

The pinnacle of womanly understanding. The ultimate knowledge how energy works in a woman's body. Information for women, by women. Information so exclusive, no males are allowed to possess it or even become casually exposed to it. Information passed down from only from woman to woman. As female energy is equivalent to 140 volts to a man's puny 40 volts, any man with that information would be burned out like a used match due to its power and force.

Or so we students at the Spiritual Rights Foundation thought.

The founders of the Spiritual Rights Foundation all attended the Berkeley Psychic Institute where they received training as Psychic Ministers. Of the four SRF founders, three were men. One of them was Bill Duby. The only woman founder was Bill's partner and former lover, Angela Silva.

When the founders decided to form SRF and continue the psychic, spiritual education they received from the Berkeley Psychic Institute, they essentially had to create the curriculum (such as it is) from memory.

This wasn't a huge deal as a couple of the founders had good heads on their shoulders and remembered the class information and the teaching structure. So, all that was committed to paper.

The only problem was the female class. The male founders were, obviously, not allowed in the female class. Worse, the only female in their group was too drugged up and delirious to remember a thing.

So, what's a male founding member of a new psychic school going to do about that?

In this case, they made it up.

Yes, they made it up.

A male founder sat down to figure out inner workings of female energy. It wasn't Bill.

Angela was no help at all. She was dragged to BPI by Bill kicking and screaming. She was still using drugs at the time and had some issues remembering, well, anything. So, from his grounded space the male co-founder used his divine knowledge, channeling the spirit of, uh, whoever to reveal how the sacred inner goddess of womanly energy flowed through a female body.

Never mind that he never went to a female energy class. And of course, he never conducted a female reading. He never had a female body either. But that never lead Bill Duby, the pastor of the Spiritual Rights Foundation, to give a second thought. Bill snatched up the syllabus and proudly proclaimed it the sacred female teaching of the newly created Spiritual Rights Foundation.

From the day the psychic teaching program at the Spiritual Rights Foundation began to today, the curriculum stayed more or less constant. And the syllabus for each class remained the same: a fading, typewritten sheet of paper frayed along the edges, dogeared and wrinkled - kind of like the way we SRF members looked after a while.

So, that female teaching from the mind of men is presented to every woman at SRF, even to this day.

Given that the female energy class was concocted from the inferences and deductions of the male founders of SRF, how feminine could it be? And what becomes of the myriad of women who attended a female energy class?

Your guess is as good as mine.

Boyle and The Dream

No offense to Susan Boyle but this is THE performance of "I Dreamed A Dream" you need to hear.

In fact, if you listen to the lyrics you might begin to think about your own dreams, how they changed and why.

And for comparison, here's Susan Boyle's version of "I Dreamed A Dream". It's nice. Really nice considering Susan is an amateur. She came in second place in "Britain's Got Talent" losing only to a dance group (they were tough to beat, actually). So, that's pretty good. Susan even got a makeover thanks to a magazine and is looking forward to a career in music. I think it will be a long and successful one.

How to gaslight for fun and profit.

Gaslighting is a form of intimidation or psychological abuse in which false information is presented to the victim, making them doubt their own memory and perception.

Bill Duby, founder of the Spiritual Rights Foundation, undertook several tactics to keep his followers confused in doubt of their own memories and distrustful of their own good judgement.

Bill would frequently resort to sophomoric, juvenile behavior liberally peppered with racial epithets and sexual behavior to throw people off-guard and to induce them to doubt their "tired, old morals and ethics". Bill loved gaslighting. In fact, he'd gaslight us so damn much our sense of self, our ability to engage in rational and clear thought became impaired. Bill's antics were so outrageous, incendiary and anti-social he could put someone in apoplexy nearly at will.

Imagine this: if Bill were to see you with your (female) spouse, he'd sneak up behind her, and while honking her boobs in your full view, lovingly coo in her ear "Would you rather suck my dick or his stinky dick?" while you stood there mouth agape. Your formally loving spouse was now smitten with attention from Bill while you were forced to re-double your efforts to drag her back to earth. Soon after this disgusting display, he would usually call your spouse a "whore" who only wanted sperm and money and you a "loser" for not providing enough of either.

Bill gave one newlywed man the sage advice: "Take your goddamn (epithet for African-Americans) to the big house and fuck her like you're her slave master." Later, after the newlyweds performed as instructed, Bill berated and humiliated the man in front of the entire congregation for being "addicted to pussy juice" then turned on the wife, scolding her for "mothering" her husband's desire for intimacy. Hell, be beat her up for wanting intimacy too!

Frequently, Bill would espouse: "God doesn't let the left hand know what the right hand is doing". Obviously, that sentiment sets up deception, obfuscation and concealment.

Here is only one example: Bill would often tell one spouse one thing, then immediately tell the other spouse contradictory or confusing information before the first spouse could deliver his message. It should be no surprise that situation would never fail to result in marital conflict and rancor.

Husbands were told they were the "head of the woman". Wives were told "control your men". "Make her WORK and don't let her stay home eating bon-bons" we men were told. "Make him PAY for wanting sex or children (or food or any damn thing)" the women were told. "Turn off to the bitch so she won't get in your head" we men were told. "Use your womanly charms to get what you want" the women were told.

When the wife controlled her man as instructed, she were hauled in front of the SRF Kangaroo Kourt for judgement and compelled to conduct self-criticism for the crime of being a capitalist roader before being perp-walked to community service answering the SRF phone and cleaning SRF floors.

In the man's case, well we never were deemed successful in being the "head of the woman" and were alternately sent to live alone in motor homes, trailers with no running water or dumped in the back yard of the SRF tenement building with a sleeping bag. Good thing we "turned off to the bitch" as our penance was "reform through labor" for an indeterminate period. Usually years of "reform through labor". "reform through labor" performed on the SRF Farm. Uh, actually that wasn't SRF's farm, it belongs to Angela Silva and Robin Dumolin, the heads of SRF. But it's all the same because we all worked on it for free while they made money selling animals and skimming the take for the retreats we paid to attend there - no discounts for our "reform through labor". [p.s. I stole that little tag line from Bill and Hill's new "friend" Kim Jong Il]

Anyway, you worked hard to earn a reform that never came. You worked hard and endured the pain and grief of humiliation in front of your peers. You suffered through the betrayal of your friends as they abandoned you until the day Bill and the leaders believed you can have them back.

But that day never happened. Bill changed his message as often as a teenage girl re-loads her iPod. He would forcefully exclaim his hate for a particular person in the morning then proclaim his love for them at night. His rules and expectations of conduct for anyone changed like the wind.

Bill's mood swings, his violent hatred of anyone or anything in opposition or even in sight doubt of his maniacal and delusional outbursts finally got the best of him. Bill dropped dead of a cardiac arrhythmia in front of his Clairvoyant Training Program students in December 2001.

His successors have carried on his evil tradition in honor of his memory.

We were fed "filtered" information. This information may be an opinion of a person or event. The information would change from day to day, depending on the mood of the day or the requirements of the leadership. The result of the constantly changing information was we lost our ability to perceive the events around us and thus became completely dependent on the leadership for all but the most basic decisions. Of course, no information source but the leadership would be considered as valid, exacerbating and continuing the gaslighting.

An example: One young man brought into the SRF fold was faced with a dilemma: his new girlfriend became pregnant. This young man thought a quickly arranged wedding was in order, but he needed advice to be sure. His best first step was to ask his parents. However, his parents (long time SRF members) declined to provide it for some reason and surrendered their parental responsibility and privilege to the wise counsel of the SRF president.

This president is a 5th grade dropout (seriously), has little experience with the outside world (apart from the drug addicts and petty criminals she met on the street) and had been called "brain damaged" by Bill Duby himself. Well, she did spend many years as a drug addict, so I guess that is a great qualification to counsel the life of a young man.

I hope they didn't share a needle.

Anyway, a marriage was recommended and the union was blessed by the wise and enlightened president of SRF. I'm not sure what substance provided the enlightenment but the marriage was hastily conducted with the intent of providing the child a father and to instill a sense of responsibility upon this young man. The young man was also given the "gift" of a church-owned ghetto apartment (managed by an SRF president who gets a piece of the revenues - before taxes) at a rent only slightly higher than it's worth.

The Spiritual Rights Foundation was abuzz with the excitement of a wedding and aglow with the pride of watching a fine young man do an honorable thing by seeking out the sage advice of the SRF president. A new family for the pleasure of the SRF faithful would sprout from the heavenly blessing provided by God's own servant and holy body of the church herself, Angela Silva.

However, there was one problem: the baby was NOT his. The young man's now-wife admitted that to him after arrangements were made and plans were set. No backing out of that one, I guess.

Obviously, the wise and enlightened president of SRF neglected to ask the first thing the rest of us would: "So, how in the hell do you know this goddamn kid belongs to YOU?" Followed by: "Look kid, no offense but you have got to run a DNA test. We will help you and her through the pregnancy, but if she squirts out a baby who looks more like your third cousin twice removed than YOU, we are cutting her loose. So, don't marry her until we know who the baby daddy is."

I mean, would any parent, much less any MATURE ADULT want a young man to make a mistake that could haunt him for a lifetime? And would you want your son saddled with a lifelong responsibility while letting the real perpetrator get off (so to speak) scot free?

Well this young man's parents are more than capable of acting in a reasonable and sensible manner - if they were not members of the SRF cult. However, years of gaslighting, years of being set up to distrust your own memory, thoughts, common sense and natural initiative left them and their son utterly vulnerable and submissive to the whims of one who has little interest in their best interest.

I'll bet there is one other person happy with that advice: the real father. He's either breathing a sigh of relief or more likely, laughing his ass off.

And if that wern't enough, I've been told the spouse of the young man I wrote about had put the child up for adoption. The baby was whisked away to its new family soon after birth.

So now, that young man has nothing to show for his honorable intent. Well, a lease on an apartment that's now too big is something, I suppose.

Well there's yer problem: yer in a cult!

I grabbed this from Provender's amazing blog on spiritual abuse:
From Spotlight Ministries, Are You the Victim of Mind Control? contains a useful checklist to see if your group is becoming a cult (I changed the word "group" to "leader" in some instances):

• Do you feel that no matter how hard you try, the ‘good deeds’ you perform for your group or leader are never quite enough? As a result of this do you often feel plagued with feelings of guilt?
• What are you motivated by? Is it genuine love for God and the group etc., or is it fear of not meeting the desired standards.
• Is questioning the group, or the group leaders, discouraged or frowned upon?
• Does the group you belong to believe that it is an elite and exclusive organization which alone has ‘the truth’ and answers to life’s questions?
• Does the leader pour scorn upon, attack, and mock other Christian churches and their interpretation of the Bible?
• Is reading any literature critical of the group discouraged? Many cults will warn members not to read anything critical of the group, especially if written by an ex-member (who are called names by the cult such as “apostate”, “hardened”, or “of the devil” etc.). This is a well known information control technique to stop the member from discovering the clear and documented errors of the cult. Members abilities to think for themselves is effectively disarmed in this way. Instead, they will think more and more as the rest of the group thinks.
• Take a look at the way the group looks and acts. Does everyone dress more or less the same, act the same, and talk the same? One observer, speaking of his particular involvement with a cult, said that the group encouraged its members “to do everything in exactly the same way - to pray the same, to look the same, to talk the same. This in psychology is a classic example of group conformity. Its purpose is to ensure that no-one tries to act differently or become dissident, thus nobody questions the status quo.” (Andrew Hart, Jan. 1999).
• Does the group discourage association with non-members (except, maybe, for the possibility of converting them to the group)?
• Does the leader give you ‘black and white answers’? What the leader agrees with is right and what the leader disagrees with is wrong.
• Does everyone in the group believe exactly the same things (i.e. what the group leaders tell them to believe)?
• Is there no room for individual belief, or opinion even in minor areas?
• Does the group wear ‘two faces’? On the one hand, does it attempt to present itself, to potential converts and the public at large, as a group of people who are like one large family, who have love among themselves, where everyone is equal? But on the other hand, the reality is, that many members inwardly feel unfulfilled and emotionally exhausted?
• Have you attempted to disable your own God-given critical thinking abilities by ‘shelving’ various doubts about the leader or group’s teachings etc.
• Are others in the group, who do not conform to the requirements of the movement’s teaching, treated with suspicion, and treated like second class members?
• Does the group tend to withhold certain information from the potential convert? Are the more unusual doctrines of the group not discussed until an individual is more deeply involved in the movement?
• Do you feel fearful of leaving the group? Many cults use subtle fear tactics to stop members from leaving. For example, the group may imply that those who leave will be attacked by the Devil, have a nasty accident, or at least not prosper because they have left ‘the truth’.

I was reading all the media reports on SRF on the sly for quite some time. It still took a while to re-activate the educated and discriminating mind I used to have.

Think of all the things we were told by the leader of the Spritual Rights Foundation. What did Bill Duby, Angela Silva and Robin Dumolin tell you? How much of that proved true? How much of it proved false? I'm still finding falsehood after falsehood.

They are still lying. In their failed lawsuit aginst me, they said my claim the "Blue Sky Ranch" is a private, for-profit enterprise NOT owned by the Spiritual Rights Foundation was "false" and "libelous". In fact, I proved beyond all doubt I was correct.

The list of falsehoods goes on. And on. And on.

After you read the above list, how much of it seems familiar to you SRF escapees? I'd imagine all of it.
And if that does seem familiar, do yourself a favor - find someone to talk with about that experience. Start by checking out the Cult Recovery links on the right side. You'll feel better about it.

 

Blame the Elephant

Bill would always say: "Lewis took me under his wing." He would also entertain us with outrageously funny stories about things he saw Lewis do or said to Bill. Those stories were so outrageous, they couldn’t be true. But we believed them anyway even if they never happened.

Thanks to information from people who knew, I think it's clear: Bill Duby had no relationship with Lewis Bostwick. None. Zero. Bill made up all the things he told us from the wild gyrations in his mind. Bill was so delusional, he spun story after story about his close relationship with Lewis Bostwick. But none of it was true. Lewis Bostwick considered Bill Duby to be dangerous and twisted. As a result, Lewis Bostwick avoided Bill Duby at all times and instructed his staff to keep Bill at a distance - a very long distance, from him.

Bill also spun story after story of the injustice and oppression he suffered at the hands of everyone BPI except Lewis Bostwick. Bill also said that Lewis blessed him and anointed him as the best guy to carry on the Bostwick teaching.

Bill wove such a web of illusion about his experience at the Berkeley Psychic Institute to his followers at the Spiritual Rights Foundation, I can see why BPI and Lewis Bostwick thought he was dangerously twisted.

If you told anyone still at SRF about the things the BPI faithful dug up, they would start a fight.

Bill would tell us a story about Lewis Bostwick wanting to die with a charge of molesting a 13 year old girl waiting for him. I think it was another sick twist of Bill’s mind. We discovered that a member of SRF was asked to find Bill an attorney. Bill was accused of molesting a 13 year old girl who was living with him and his partner, Angela Silva. Another person says that same girl related to her years of molestation at the hands of Bill.

I guess it wasn’t exactly his hands doing the molesting.

Bill’s explanation for his behavior at the time was that he had to impress her cervix with his semen so no other man could satisfy her. What makes this incident more shocking and perverse is that the girl involved is alleged to be the daughter of his own life partner. Even more shocking is that the life partner allowed Bill to escape the charge of molestation when the attorney made an arrangement with the girl's father.

Years later,when the media ran stories of indecent and disgusting behavior he was said to have committed, Bill went around SRF headquarters moaning about being labeled a child molester.

I never did hear him say “I did not molest my partner's young daughter.”
I never heard him say “I never arranged a marriage.
I never heard him say "I did not use my influence to demand a couple to divorce."

In fact, there are couples who will say that Bill demanded they divorce. We saw relationships Bill claimed to have a "hand" in "arranging" (I nearly fell prey to that myself - but came to my senses after I realized where his "hand" had been). As for the molestation, there is a detailed account of how Steve Sanchez learned of it in his book "Spiritual Perversion".

He did complain about the exposition of his behavior, the unfairness of the media’s portrayal of him, the unseemly character of those who had the courage to expose his as a charlatan. It was Bill’s way of diverting attention from himself by calling into question the veracity of those who spoke the truth, attempting to put the spotlight on them.

Bill's infamous article "Faith Under Fire" in the SRF organ "American Spirit Newspaper" was not only a long-winded, rambling and pointless waste of paper, it memorialized the hate and sociopathic nature of Bill Duby for all to see. It was Bill's way to get to those who had pulled back the curtain and saw a con man in the place of the Great Oz.

He denounced the courageous men and women who told their side of the story. Never directly addressing the questions and issues that were raised but conducted a full assault - calling them :"wolves in sheep's clothing", saying they "desecrate the faith" and they "turned the holy into the unholy"

Within the gated confines of the cult, Bill’s tactics were effective. He got the control over our thoughts and emotions he desired and in fact, he needed. But outside, it was a different matter entirely.

More and more (thanks to the mainstream articles and the cult's own publications), the public began to call into question the practices at the Spiritual Rights Foundation. As soon as one news media made its report, another sprang up. None were flattering. And none has ever been shown to have reported false or incorrect information.

As you know, the Spiritual Rights Foundation has attacked me and Joy for our expose on the practices conducted behind the wrought iron gates. The conduct we have revealed call into question the honesty and true purpose of the Spiritual Rights Foundation and its related organizations.

If their complaints are truthful, the Spiritual Rights Foundation has lost “business” in its Academy for Psychic Studies and its ISHI Hypnosis School.

And, if their complaints are truthful, the loss of “business” at the non-profit religious organization known as the Spiritual Rights Foundation are a direct result of the information I convey in this publication.

Well, my position has always been that it is the practices themselves, the conduct of those who operate the Spiritual Rights Foundation and its related organizations and the persons who carry out the directives of those leaders are the true cause of the demise of SRF and the loss of their “business”.

Apart from the effects of the economy, if SRF has lost "business" due to the information I relate in this blog, that just supports my trust in the strength and intelligence of the public. Unlike the techniques used at SRF, I relate my information and tell the public to decide.

Some who read this blog may disagree.

Most, though, appreciate the opposing opinion and are smart enough to look around elsewhere to vet what is said here and make up their own mind. I don't attack the core belief of SRF - if you want to believe in chakras, auras and spirits dancing around your head, the First Amendment supports your right to do so. So do I. But look deeper at the organization - who know what you will find.

It's not the core beliefs of that organization that are the problem - it is how the organization operates, it's how they carry out their beliefs, it's the carnage they leave behind as they pursue their own agendas.

Mostly, I am at odds with the lack of any sense of responsibility for that destruction and any sense of remorse by those at the Spiritual Rights Foundation. Honestly, I can't tell if they have lost any sense of humanity or if they never had it in the first place. They continue to defend the practices of humiliation, deceit and mind control by blaming the victims. Blaming the victims by saying the incidents seen and experienced were only projections from the spiritually defective minds of the spiritually inadequate.

Of course, it's more forgivable if a person makes a mess without knowing better. And if that same person blames another for the mess, you might understand.

I remember my friend’s four-year-old had just spun himself around the living room, tossing his toys and everything else he could get his little hands on all over the floor. When I asked him how all the toys got there, he replied that a big purple elephant named “Mr. Elephant” was the responsible party. He did help clean up after “Mr. Elephant”, though.

It don’t think SRF will do any cleaning up after their own “Mr. Elephant”.

Instead, they are looking for more big purple elephants to blame for the messes they are leaving behind.

Why didn't they distance themselves from the past? Why not acknowledge the now-deceased pastor of the Spiritual Rights Foundation had problems with his behavior they no longer practice or condone?

It's simple: mind control. Bill had the faithful under such control, no one could make the leap into clarity. Just as Bill Duby's delusions led him to believe he had a relationship with a man who wanted nothing to do with him, Bill's followers can't accept the unacceptable nature of Bill's behavior because of the mind control Bill created.

If you believe Bill practiced mind control, you have to accept that his successors are under mind control as well - even as they perpetuate that same mind control on the faithful few who remain.

That bit purple elephant will be there for a long time, I think. There isn't a soul left at SRF who will dare distance themselves from the past abuses. I believe they won't ever say they will give them up either. If they did, they would have to admit the big purple elephant is standing right there among them.

One Day More!

Hello Readers,


Take a good look at the above picture. It is a still shot of Thénardier and Madame Thénardier from the musical Les Miserables.

Their description from Wikipedia: They are ordinary working class people who blame society for their sufferings. They care nothing for the lives of others and only care about themselves and acquiring money, whether by cheating customers at their inn or robbing people.


Their lyrics are:

Watch 'em run amok,
catch 'em as they fall,
never know your luck
when there's a free for all!

Here a little `dip'.
There a little `touch'.
Most of them are goners
so they won't miss much!

I'm not comparing the Thenardiers to anyone you or I may have encountered. But something about them looks quite familiar.

...who are not to be confused by the blog-writing couple depicted here:

Or this courageous book-writing individual (what's his name again?):
Here's the whole video. You might find more individuals to point out. Let me know who they are.

Steve Sanchez's view on lawsuits

I grabbed this from Steve Sanchez's blog. Although it was written almost three years ago, I think it says it all regarding the absurd lawsuit conducted by the Spiritual Rights Foundation.

Thursday, July 27, 2006

Trauma On Society

I believe our society has become too litigious.

The proliferation of lawsuits and the use of lawyers incites peoples fears and suspicions in a very unhealthy way. It brings out the inclination toward evil in human nature. It is too easy for people to hide behind lawyers and become like vengeful children instead of learning to resolve conflict.

Of course, lawyers are a necessity in our system. They are meant to protect those who are honest. But the system can easily become abused and often is. The legal system is too often used as a tool by the greedy and the vengeful for selfish gain. This breeds a consciousness of fear and conflict which contributes greatly to the stress level of individuals and businesses.

It is well known that there is an enormous amount of money spent on liability insurance and on litigation and lawsuits themselves. Many of these may be necessary, but there is an enormous amount of legal activity which is unnecessary and causes a great burden of stress on individuals and society.

The real solution to this is the universal religious ethic of do unto others as you would have them do unto you - which means to love others as we love ourselves.

Another way to put it is to look after others interest the same as we would look after our own. Such a fair-minded society would help the individual feel safer and freer and therefore more spiritually open.

In my construction and real estate business I never did have a lawsuit against me nor did I present one against anyone else, but there were times when people threatened to do so. The threats always created great anxiety for me.

Forty nine out of fifty jobs were a mutually good experience but those times I ran into difficult people were very disturbing.

In Swedenborg’s theology he presents heavenly life as a state of being where each soul loves the neighbor more than themselves. This is the cause of the ever-growing, eternal happiness of heaven.

On earth we are asked to love the neighbor at least as much as ourselves.

In Churches, which represent heaven on earth, members are trying to practice this and so, I would conjecture, the litigious problem is far less amongst Church members.


posted by Steve at 1:14 AM 0 comments

It Never Goes Away - SRF defames Steve Sanchez

I honestly thought the net nazis at the Spiritual Rights Foundation learned their lesson and removed defamatory items from their site.

I realized I am wrong.

Take a look at this link:

http://www.celestia.com/pages/spiritualrightstevesanchez.html

Now, before any of you get the idea I trolled around on the SRF website and dug up that page about Steve Sanchez surreptitiously, guess again. You can get to that page if you Google this:

Steve Sanchez, Spiritual Rights Foundation

Steve Sanchez did report potentially illegal activities to the proper authorities and was considered lucid and reliable enough that investigations were conducted. That's not an issue here.

Because of the allegations made by Steve Sanchez, there WAS probable cause for investigation of Spiritual Rights Foundation in several instances. The only thing the Spiritual Rights Foundation is appalled at was they WERE investigated.

In many of those investigations, the Spiritual Rights Foundation was allowed the opportunity to correct the infractions - like a fix-it ticket. In at least one case (a truancy issue) the school board was not given discovery (by SRF) and as a result, the District Attorney was unable to prosecute.

Instead of owning up to their issues, the Spiritual Rights Foundation decided to kill the messenger. This statement regarding Steve Sanchez was linked to the front page of the official SRF website.

They just pushed this insult to Steve Sanchez front and center to the back page of their web site but forgot about the Google effect. Google indexes everything on the web. That's Google's power, beauty and drawback. A drawback, that is, if you have something on your web site that is potentially embarrassing.

Making personal attacks on a man without foundation is a tactic commonly used at the Spiritual Rights Foundation. They believe Steve Sanchez is mentally ill because he dares to speak truthfully of his experiences at the the cult. And they will call him mentally ill because he dared to print a book about that experience.

I wrote about that earlier in "Back in the USSR". Steve Sanchez isn't the only ex-member of the Spiritual Rights Foundation who's integrity was attacked in false and defamatory ways. Many other people were threatened with assaults on their good name and even with the loss their children or family.

Before you consider attending an organization like the Spiritual Rights Foundation, you might ask yourself some questions. And ask around for the answers.

Just make sure you ask the right questions so you won't wind up on their web site.

The Work Song

The Spiritual Rights Foundation has a farm on Bethel Island. Actually, we THOUGHT there was a Spiritual Rights Foundation farm on Bethel Island. There was a farm all right. It just wasn't owned by SRF.


Nevertheless, we slaved and toiled on it to improve it for the benefit of the church and its people. Digging trenches, building structures, laying plumbing and whatever other physical labor was strongly encouraged and in many cases, demanded from those of us who were formally able-bodied.

For many of us, our weekend time was consumed with project at the celebrated "SRF Farm". They were spending time from Friday evening to Sunday evening providing labor at the farm. And providing their own grub, drink, bedding and paying all of their personal expenses for the honor and privledge of working on your time off.

And before the "farm", we had many opportunities to labor and sweat in the hot sun for the pleasure of sweating in the hot sun. Really. We men were told it was good to work our asses off in the sun so we can sweat out "female energy". We sweat out a lot of other kinds of energy as well. Like the kind that lets us stand and walk.

I was going through my DVD collection. There's a lot of musicals there. None of the old MGM kind or the Rodgers and Hammerstien musicals (although they are gems). Mine are the newer ones from Andrew Lloyd-Webber (Cats, Phantom) and Boubil and Schoenburg (Miss Saigon, Les Miz).


While viewing my Les Miz disc, I saw the below clip that pretty much sums up how I and others felt about our participation at the "SRF" farm.

Forgive Me, Father, I've found some jokes

We need a bit of levity here.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
When Declan was a young man he went to confession saying, "Father forgive me, I have sinned with a young woman."

The Priest asked, "Was it Mary McCarthy?"

"No, father, its not for me to say," Declan replied.

"Was it Siobán O'Reilly?"

"No, father, I can't tell you."

"Linda Mallory?"

"No, father, it wouldn't be right for me to mention any names."

With this the priest told him to sin no more and gave him pennance.

On the way out of the church, Declan passed a friend, who asked "What'd you get?"

He replied, "I got three Hail Marys, two Our Fathers, and three new leads!"

---------------------------------------------------

The McLartys and the O'Reillys appeared in court after a ferocious melee broke out during the wedding of Kate and Michael. Even after being locked up in jail overnight, they continued to bicker all the way into the courtroom.

The judge appeard and started banging on the bench, shouting, "Stop this shite immediately! Someone tell me what in hell you're doing here."

Eamon O'Reilly came forward, hat in hand and said, "Yer honor, it all started when I was dancin' wit the bride, and Michael dere came running up and kicked her square in the privates."

The judge replied, "That must have hurt!"

Eamon said, "Aye. 'e busted t'ree of me fingers."

---------------------------------------------

One day Mrs. Flanagan feels sickly and goes to the doctor for a look at. The doctor looks her over and says,

"Well now, Mrs. Flanagan. I'm a perplexed on your condition but if you bring a urine specimen to me in the morning I can tell exactly what's wrong."

Mrs. Flanagan went home and said to her husband, "The doctor wants me to bring him a urine specimen in the morning. I don't know what a urine specimen is, what am I to do?"

Mr. Flanagan replied, "I don't know, but if you go see Mrs. O'Toole, she'll know what to do."

Mrs. Flanagan then went down the road to Mrs. O'Toole's and returned a few minutes later with her clothes torn, a black eye, bruises all over her body, and her hair tangled like a bird nest.

A shocked Mr. Flanagan gasped, "Jesus, Mary and Joseph, woman! What happened to ye?"

"I went to see Mrs. O'Toole and asked her what a urine specimen is and she said 'Piss in a bottle, woman.'

So, I said 'Go shit in yer hat!' And the fight was on."

---------------------------------------------------------

The Smoking Gun

Up until now, you've had to take my word for it that ISHI has been founded and operated by the Spiritual Rights Foundation. I and several others have already made the connection between the Spiritual Rights Foundation and its founder William (Bill) Duby with cultic behavior.

But now, below, is the smoking gun: articles excerpted from the Spiritual Rights Foundation's own newspaper site (The American Spirit).

Clicking on the article's titles will take you to the original post.

--------------------------------------------------------------

A Guided Tour Through ISHI

The International Spiritual Hypnotherapy Institute
By Deborah Livingston, CI, CHT

People are often surprised when they walk up the front steps to the International Spiritual Hypnotherapy Institute (ISHI), located in Berkeley, California. The word 'Institute' often conjures up images of a big stone building, perhaps cold and uninviting. What they encounter instead is the warmth and charm of a large Berkeley Victorian house.

ISHI was founded by Rev. William Duby, who is also the founder of the Spiritual Rights Foundation Inc., Academy For Psychic Studies, which shares the same site as ISHI. In fact, it is two schools under one roof.

While SRF just celebrated its 16th year anniversary in April, ISHI is a newer addition. However, within its first year of operation, Angela Silva and Debi Livingston, both Certified Instructors for the National Guild of Hypnotists, have graduated over 40 Certified Hypnotherapists, and many, many individuals have been introduced to the healing art and science of Hypnotherapy.

-----------------------------------------

ISHI, Is The Place To Be

By William Duby

---

I have opened an international school for the learning of the workings of hypnosis. The acronym ISHI stands for the International Spiritual Hypnotherapy Institute.

---------------------------------------------------

As you should with anything, I strongly suggest that you do some research into this organization before you get too involved with it. If you like the idea of taking hypnosis training from an outfit that is affiliated with one that is apparently cultic, then please follow through.

Otherwise, you might want to dig a little deeper.

Wrong and Write

Why do this blog?

I mean really - why am I doing this thing. Especially when I am putting myself out in the open for SRF to attempt to discredit or embarrass. And also especially when anyone can Google me and find this blog.

Find this blog is what many people have done. The most common search term used to find this blog is (surprisingly) not "Spiritual Rights Foundation". It's my name.

So, people have heard. Many of them the right people. Some of them the wrong people.

And those wrong people are the ones who may do something wrong.

There's something really strange on this page. A strange comment from a unique and interesting person: http://learningtoletgosrf.blogspot.com/2009/01/january-15-from-road.html#comments

I want to make it clear: there are two young women who wrote highly passionate comments on that page. They are not the ones to fear. You'll see who is, though. Read all of the comments posted there. Even the passionate ones.

As the author of this blog, I will tell you that I will never submit to idle threats. I will not bow to pressure to stop from those who may be embarrassed by the exposition of my opinions and of the truth. I will not succumb to those who would use any person or any underhanded tactic available in an attempt to embarrass, harass or intimidate me.

Outside Looking In

You know it's bad at the Spiritual Rights Foundation when people who are truly outsiders start pointing out all the things that are rotten about it.

It all started some years ago. The San Francisco Chronicle printed a front page story about a member who was cast out by the leaders of SRF after years of torture and abuse. Those years of torture led up to his forced separation from his wife and daughter by the church leadership.

Then came others. The San Jose Metro taking a look at the strange effect the Spiritual Rights Foundation has on married members and actually the strange effect they had on, well, everything. The East Bay Express writing about more forced separations and of children kept out of public schools, left largely uneducated.

Now, there is someone new.

At least new to the ongoing SRF saga.

I became aware of PsychDoctorate from a video he posted on YouTube describing his recovery from a mental illness (which I learned was absolutely caused by the things taught at the Berkeley Psychic Institute, where the leaders of SRF studied). I later saw some honest but critical comments on SRF's YouTube videos.

PsychDoctorate has new become a contributor to this blog through his insightful comments. He's made a video on YouTube that makes an amazing case. At least, it's amazing to me. PsychDoctorate is able to make a strong case that not only are the Spiritual Rights Foundation and the Berkeley Psychic Institute cults in themselves, they also teach the exact same destructive techniques.

And they both have the same effect on people. Remember Santa?

PsychDoctorate's blogs is here.

His YouTube page is here.

Enjoy it. And look at all of it.

PsychDoctorate, in the famous words of the joint-puffing George W. Bush in "Harold and Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay", "You just blew my fucking mind..."

Humpty Dumpty talks prosperity

Double-Talk

“There’s glory for you!”
“I don’t know what you mean by ‘glory’,” Alice said.
“I meant, there’s a nice knock-down argument for you!”
‘But‘glory’ doesn’t mean‘there’s a nice knock-down argument”, Alice objected.
“When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said in a rather scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less.”

“The question is,” said Alice, “whether you can make words mean so many different things.”
“The question is,” said Humpty Dumpty, “which is to be master—that’s all.”

So, while at the Spiritual Rights Foundation my world went upside down. And by upside down, I do not mean a knock-down argument. I mean the familiar words and phrases I and likely you grew up with were re-defined, their old meaning washed away.

Prosperity is a word thrown around a lot at the Spiritual Rights Foundation. Everyone there desires it, as we all do. Everyone there strives for it, as we all do. But SRF's definition of prosperity is unlike anything I had heard of before.

Has anyone heard that the definition of prosperity is "getting what you need when you need it"? I haven't either. At least, not until I got hooked up with SRF.

I grew up in an upper-middle class family in an upper-middle class suburban neighborhood. Over the years, my parents accumulated two nice homes, a substantial investment portfolio, luxury cars, and an interest in a commercial property leased by FedEx. Vacations were taken at least twice a year to places like Europe, Asia, Las Vegas, the Gulf of Mexico for Marlin fishing, Victoria Canada for tea at the Empress Hotel. Not too bad for a couple of kids who lost everything after WWII.

I had a hard time reconciling my knowledge of prosperity with the new definition.

But that was Bill's definition.

None of the things I was familiar with meant anything when it came to prosperity. In fact, Bill frequently said I grew up as a "yuppie puppy" and that my knowledge of prosperity was zero. That my experience with prosperity was exactly none. That I needed him to find the way to real prosperity. And of course, that the only definition of prosperity that really mattered was "you get what you need when you need it".

So, Bill Gates got all that money exactly at the time he needed to drop 20 billlion or so to get those things out of layaway at K-Mart? Or maybe he hocked his watch and needed a couple billion so he can turn in the ticket.

Looking back, that was an absurd definition of prosperity. That I accepted it was even more absurd given my background.

Were there any other absurdities at SRF? If you know of any others, please leave a comment. It can be a huge page.

The Good Mentor

I've been asked if I have more on my dad's time with Frank Lloyd Wright.

I'll get a bit more together later but here is something you can look at in the meantime:

And yes, that old guy in the flat hat is indeed Frank Lloyd Wright. And the young fellow in the red sweater bears an uncanny resemblance to the blog author.

That young man went on to build a custom home for his first client. That home still stands today and the original owners still live in it. The owners say the house has never, ever needed any maintenance or repairs even to this day, enduring harsh northern weather with grace. The house is exquisite, built with hand-selected natural materials and embracing a panoramic view of a beautiful lake. The architect said it was the hardest damn thing he ever did.

He swore off building houses forever after that and focused only on commercial buildings and shopping centers. One development was "The Crossroads" in Sacramento, CA - a breathtakingly beautiful shopping center that thrived until some idiot flying a jet that he was not licensed to be in crashed into it. He also built a lovely shopping complex in downtown Santa Cruz called "The Galleria" (he just designed them, he didn't name them). This complex was so well engineered, that while every other nearby building suffered damage in the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake, his was unscathed.

Through it all, he helped many young people learn the finer points of his craft. Even though, like his teacher, he was a brilliant engineer, my dad always said he was in the business of design, not construction.

Joy and I were the last people my dad saw before he passed. Joy told me my dad won't leave the Earth until he sees me one last time. I'm glad he waited.

Bad Mentor, Good Mentor

Bill Duby was fond of saying that the founder of the Berkeley Psychic Institute was his closest spiritual mentor and that the time Bill spent at BPI was full of close contact with BPI’s founder. Bill went on to say that he was “taken under Lewis’ wing” and treated somewhat like the heir to the BPI legacy.

We all took this for granted for a long time. Like up until now when I decided to get to the bottom of the whole thing.

Bill’s history at BPI is somewhat of a mystery. A few who had attended BPI simultaneously with Bill remember him being there but can’t recall that BPI’s founder had any particular affection for Bill other than for the money Bill spent there.

I also discovered that shortly after enrolling in the BPI Clairvoyant Training Program (a two-year course of training) at BPI headquarters in Berkeley, CA, Bill was expelled by none other than Michael Tamura presumably for being a pain in the ass. Apparently after some kind of appeal to someone (it is believed that the founder was not involved in the appeal), Bill was reinstated but was shoveled off to a satellite location about a half hour away in Walnut Creek, CA. It seems that the founder of BPI was not fond enough of Bill to have him nearby.

No one recalled seeing Bill at the Berkeley headquarters, much less recall seeing him at the foot of Lewis Bostwick, the founder of BPI. Legend has it that Lewis Bostwick was far more interested in complaining about imaginary plots against him and pinching the asses of his female students than he was with mentoring a banished pain in the ass.

In fact, if the official SRF timeline of Bill’s life is to be believed, Bill spent at least one year attending BPI and Marc Reymont’s New Age Awareness Foundation simultaneously. The notion that one could have cultivated a close relationship with Lewis Bostwick (after being expelled, reinstated then relocated a half hour away from Berkeley) while pursuing studies with Marc Reymont in San Francisco (nearly an hour away from Berkeley, factoring in Bay Area traffic) sounds pretty much impossible.

Bill was graduated from BPI in the prescribed two year term and awarded the title of “Reverend” by the Church of Devine Man. As I hear it, Bill was graduated not one moment later than the exact time necessary to complete the Clairvoyant Training Program. Bill was fond of saying that Lewis Bostwick blessed him with the words: “now go out and learn”.

Unfortunately, we were the ones who learned something: we learned how a con man operates. We learned how far two women will go to protect a man and conceal theft and deceit. We learned how much we could be debased and to what depths we would descend to gain favor and status.

And as for Bill: he learned how to control minds, bodies, hearts and souls. He learned how to make money using other people’s money. I mean, he made money by TAKING other people’s money. Bill learned how to use women to get away with whatever kind of crazy notions he may desire. Like the rape of teenage girls.

Many members of SRF claim knowledge of Bill Duby molesting the daughter of his own partner as well as another young member of the cult. As far as the partner’s daughter is concerned, that was said to be covered up with a secret (and illegal) agreement involving Bill, his partner (who now serves as SRF’s president) and the girl’s father. As for the other, it’s spoken of quietly out of respect for the person involved.

That is some kind of mentoring. Looks like Bill took pinching of asses to a whole new level.

I have a different story for you. It is also a mentoring story. One that even my wife didn’t believe until she found confirmation.

My dad was a young man in the early 50’s. He and his family were wiped out after WWII as were many of Japanese ancestry. Their farm, their livelihood was just plain gone after they returned from their internment. A caretaker had sold it out from under them and kept the money, daring them to come get it. Of course, no jury or court at the time would uphold the rights of a Japanese American citizen who's only crime was the birthplace of their ancestors.

My dad was able to scrape enough together to attend the California Polytechnic Institute in San Luis Obispo just before WWII started, and stayed until he got hauled out of college because of the internment. He then set his sights on architecture as a career. To obtain the education necessary, though, he had to attend a good college and study from a real architect. So, he hitchhiked across country landing on the East Coast.

Every college he applied to rejected him for one reason and one reason only. He was denied because of his ancestry . Commonly, he was told that he lost the war and he better get his yellow ass out of town before they set the dogs loose to straighten out those slanted eyes.

Discouraged, he set back for California. On the way back, he stopped at the home of a man he admired. Just to see the home this great man built. Just for a moment before he went back home to a life of picking fruit and plowing fields.

To his shock, the man came out to say hello. And after hearing my dad’s story, the man hung his head as was moved to say, “I am truly sorry for what you and your family experienced. “ Then raising his head , looking my dad in the eye, this famous and accomplished man said “So, you want to be an architect? I'd love to teach you. In fact, you can start today. I’ll tell Iovana to get you on a scholarship and we will get your dorm room set up for you. Come on, we have lots to do.”

Of course my dad being who he is, stammered out that he and his family will be happy to pay for his education and that, you know, at least make me do something for this.

To which, Frank Lloyd Wright said to my dad, his blue eyes twinkling and his wry smile on his lips, “Well if you feel guilty, you can be my driver.” Then waiving his hand said, “Come on! Come on! ”

And that started a six year odyssey with my dad and Mr. Wright.

And that odyssey began a lifetime of creation, prosperity and the honor of having been inspired by a true genius. His projects provided employment for thousands of workers, comfort and enjoyment for those who resided and worked in them.

And I never heard of him pinching anyone ass.

Well, my mom’s sometimes. But let’s not go there.

And just last year, the California State Polytechnic University at San Luis Obispo conferred a rare honor upon my dad:  he was conferred a posthumous honorary degree for his sacrifices during WWII and his internment.  For those out there who believe that's an empty gesture or a useless item: just try to get one of those on your own.

And then try to enter Taliesin for six years.  Oh, and try to get that training with Frank Lloyd Wright.  I'm sure your psychic powers can resurrect Mr. Wright and you'll receive all his knowledge through the ether.  Many healings and psychic readings as well as hours of trance will help you I'm sure.

Run like hell, the wolves are coming.

I often wonder what I was doing in that crazy place for so long.

I mean, this place lost its appeal to me after a while. Things got boring, mundane. The focus on the whole thing was just plain money. That's all thanks to the nuts who were in charge. At least, when Bill Duby was alive, you'd get a laugh now and then. With the current motley crew at the helm, you wind up as morose and bitter as they are every week. It's just that there was that great numbing session called "healing clinic" once a week to give you that shot of spiritual morphine. And if that wasn't enough, the Monday Night Trance sessions gave you a nice big slam of heroin in your veins.

I thought that I'd had enough. I did stick around long enough to establish a great relationship with a wonderful woman. That woman had nothing to do with the leadership. In fact, she was frequently shunned, demeaned by leaders and membership.

One member, we knew, is a man for whom we had some respect. He carried an advanced degree from a major university, was obviously well educated and was successful. My wife was most impressed with his knowledge and educational achievements. Now when my wife began attending a community college to begin her own higher education, this respected man said derisively "She will find that a college education won't do her any good." He went on to repeat the SRF party line about over-education and how it fills your head with the thoughts of college professors; thoughts that cloud your mind with the unenlightened and demonic information of college.

Well, that just made his stock go down faster than the Dow. He went from admired to disdained in a second.

Still, we soldiered on while my wife continued to attend college. It was a struggle. Not only did she have to attend college, she had to work as often as possible, attend her SRF classes, pay for SRF classes and activities and try to eat at the same time. Not a lot of fun.

When she waivered from her commitment to SRF, they reined her back in saying that SRF is the best place for her and the best thing in her life. We bought it - for a while. And for that while, we felt trapped. Trapped in a crap apartment in a gang-filled, drug-infested slum. Trapped in an organization that would stoop to any depths to exert control over its members. Trapped by a leadership that was dysfunctional and corrupt. We needed a way out. A way to seek our freedom. A way to find the essence of life.

Then when things started looking up for us by way of a modest, but nice inheritance, SRF made a characteristic, clumsy and ultimately fatal blunder: they tried to get their hands on our new home. That's right. We were told to "sell that goddamn house" and get back up to Berkeley, erasing all of our needed gains and eliminating our much needed freedom. In order to take the bad energy off the house, we would be required to tithe 10% of the house's value in accordance with spiritual law and SRF doctrine. And that 10% would be due every year. Every year until we have exhausted our ability to borrow against the house. Then we would be required to sell it to pay our debts and move back into the SRF slum apartment.

At that point, we decided that we had to get out. As soon as the house was closed and all the issues in the contentious probate I had to endure was over, I decided it was truely over for SRF. My wife and I fought bitterly over SRF. When is was over with SRF, we were fine. It's good to be away from all that. My wife has said over and over that the fights were all over SRF and all over the thing they wanted from us.

As far as the leaders are concerned, they can have go enjoy their retirement villa in Marin County for as long as they can. That is, if they can.

Maybe they are depressed and defeated. Fine. Maybe they just had enough. That's fine too. It seems to me that they are looking for one last chance to rape, pillage and plunder. Don't be surprised if they move into that retirement villa with a very large piggy bank under their arm. And that piggy bank has your name, your neighbor's name, all your ex-member's names and the names of anyone who has ever been at SRF written on it.

Bill Duby himself said you can't keep running - the world is round. If these two are running from the problems they created, how much running do you think they can do? And what happens when you discover those problems? Will you be the one to fix it?

Or will you be the ones to suffer from them?

Above the Law

Today, I thought quickly about channeling Keith Olberman, that craze on MSNBC. I could have a post full of "HOW DARE YOU" and close-ups with my scowling, pouting face outraged about, well, you know what I could be outraged about. But that sounds exhausting.

I could just say, "caution - you are entering a no-spin zone" and start channeling Bill O'Riley. All I'd have to do is call people "pinhead". It's a lot easier than channeling Olberman.

But instead, I thought of those who believe they are above the law.

Unlike most of the world, religions in America enjoy an enormous amount of freedom. The First Amendment of the Constitution absolutely bars federal, state or local government from regulating or restricting the practice of any religion.

The first amendment is so broad, that unconventional churches are allowed to become established and thrive in America.

Religions can also enjoy tax-exempt status from monies donated to the church and stipends payed out to clergy. Not many ministers get rich on their churches. Some in the larger churches are well paid, deservedly so but that pay is a small percentage of church revenues. Those in smaller churches who own properties, luxury cars and treat themselves to new designer wardrobes every year are probably less deserving.

When it comes to the Spiritual Rights Foundation, you have to wonder: with all these crazy antics, the intermingling of private enterprise with church leadership, the use of church funds to provide for the satisfaction of the leader's desire for cars, real estate, new clothes and retirement villas, what the hell are they thinking?

One thing I noticed about SRF and other groups like it is that they tend to operate above the law. Look at the FLDS: they marry off girls as young as 11 years old but claim religious freedom to justify their actions. If those dirty old men at the FLDS were not playing hide the salami with 11 year old girls, we might have looked the other way with their spiritual marriages. But, we have this thing about our constitutional laws overriding spiritual laws, if those spiritual laws involve the actual or threatened loss of a person's life, liberty, personal safety or property.

But if you think you are not bound by the laws of the land, why not rape any 11 year old who comes near you? Why not have 4, 5, maybe 10 wives (all on welfare, because a man can make only so much, you know). And why not set up companies for yourself using church money for your capital, and why not buy properties with the church money?

For as long as I remember, Bill Duby was suspicious and even disdainful of our government and our way of life - even as he drew Social Security Disability checks every month and benefited from Medicare coverage while his followers lived hand-to-mouth and often had to rely on the public health system for medical attention.

Some of the advice I heard was somewhat sensible: you don't have to pay taxes, so pay as little as possible. Some absurd: set up a system of affiliated churches to create tax-free income among the members or "drop out" of the tax system by deleting your social security records. Of course, removing yourself from social security will have some pretty dire consequences if you retire or become disabled - you won't be able to. It makes no sense to wipe out that safety net.

But what's worse is the sense that separation of church and state entitles you to behave in ways not tolerated in the world of law and justice.

During the long and protracted disputes between a group of courageous men and women and the leadership of the Spiritual Rights Foundation, there were several behaviors brought to the light of law enforcement - things that few, if any of the membership was aware of.

One day, the Alameda District Attorney's office conducted a raid of the SRF headquarters with a complaint regarding truant children. Apparently, while we were being told that the children were "home-schooled", the children were actually not-schooled. That particular revelation drew the ire of the DA's office and caused a tremendous amount of angst within SRF.

Other things came up. Some small, such as buildings constructed without permits, a cafe operated without a license were some of the items. But dropping out from society, becoming invisible to the government, was always spoken about at SRF.

One particularly crazy scheme was that ordained ministers of SRF should each found their own SRF-affiliated church so "they can pass money back and forth and not pay taxes".

Most likely, the affiliated churches would be passing more money forth than they got back.

But the practice of "buying" cars for certain church members was also suspicious from a legal point of view. The church (in the form of the leader) would purchase a car, obtaining financing themselves and generally maintaining title to the vehicle. That vehicle would then be "given" to a member. However, the member was required to make the payments on the vehicle, pay for insurance, maintenance, fuel and anything else related that vehicle - even if that vehicle was used to conduct church business.

Most of the recipients of these gifts were in no position to afford such generosity. But that didn't stop SRF. Those cars were intended to project the image of prosperity. And these cars were not on the economy end of the line. Many were luxury cars, SUV's, sports cars. Cars that were expensive. One would need to drive a shiny new car he or she can't afford in order to become prosperous, was the thinking. I've never met anyone who became prosperous that way, have you?

That kind of practice would probably be considered vehicle leasing or re-selling and would require licensing from the DMV. It may also be considered a profit-making activity which would then allow the IRS to require the filing of detailed tax returns.

After those issues were conveyed to SRF by an attorney, the practice stopped.

Now, forcing people to buy a car is not the smartest thing to do. I really don't think that this gesture was motivated by generosity. It's control, plain and simple.

My wife and I bought new cars. We were careful to plan, save and research. Because of that effort, we both got the cars that not only fit our lives, they fit our budget and have made us very happy and satisfied. And prosperous. Those vehicles are in the higher end (they are Volvos). We afforded them easily by adhering to a savings plan, making a down payment large enough we can afford the payments on even a fourth of our income.

Of course that is not the SRF way as it's reasonable, methodical, requires advance thought and is absolutely, scrupulously legal.

But we are re-discovering those reasonable and legal ways to get through life. We don't mind paying our Social Security taxes. Income taxes are fine as long as we get a refund and like most Americans we know that the majority of our taxes go to government services like roads, hospitals and the like. It's OK with us to buy a car the usual way. It's OK with us to maintain a healthy distance between ourselves and our church.

But it's not OK with us to participate in unlawful acts - even if our church says it's OK. Or even if our church says to evade the government is to promote moral, biblical conduct.

Bill Duby was fond of saying that God is not a respecter of persons. He used that statement to justify being a scofflaw, a bully, a thief and as alleged by several persons, a child molester.

Even if the state and church remain separated, when you live in the world of man, you have to respect the laws of man. Even Bill had to admit that.

Do you know who this could be?

Psychdoctorate posted a comment earlier. He says the use of the meditation techniques taught at SRF cause a condition called "hypomania". I'm not much of psychologist so I had to look that up.

Here is what I found describing hypomania.

Hypomania Episodes
According to the DSM-IV-TR, a hypomanic episode includes, over the course of at least 4 days, elevated mood plus three of the following symptoms OR irritable mood plus four of the following symptoms:

• pressured speech; rapid talking
• inflated self-esteem or grandiosity
• decreased need for sleep;
• flight of ideas or the subjective experience that thoughts are racing;
• easy distractibility and attention-deficit (superficially similar to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder);
• increase in psychomotor agitation
• steep involvement in pleasurable activities that may have a high potential for negative psycho-social or physical consequences (e.g., the person engages in unrestrained buying sprees, sexual indiscretions, or foolish business investments).

In the hypomanic state, people may feel like they can't slow their mind down, and that all these speeding thoughts are amazingly perfectly crafted. Some examples are speaking or writing in rhyme or alliteration without planning it first; quick responses to people talking; or the ability to improvise easily on the spot.


While reading this description, I had a sixth sense of sorts. That sense was telling me that I saw all that before.

Now, I am sure I've seen that somewhere before. I don't exactly recall with whom or at what time. But it seems like someone, somewhere did most or all of the stuff described at some time.

I'll send donuts to the first person to tell me.