"In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies but the silence of our friends."
"Cowardice asks the question, 'Is it safe?' Expediency asks the question, 'Is it politic?' Vanity asks the question, 'Is it popular?' But, conscience asks the question, 'Is it right?' And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but one must take it because one's conscience tells one that it is right."
- Martin Luther King
Posts
62 comments:
Who is G?
To ArrangedMarriages,
You have written your observations and thoughts so beautifully. I differ with Warren Peace and do not encourage you to excercise our concience in the classroom. Just get out. You are very clear abou what you see and understand. It is not your job to save anyone but yourself. Once done,(out) then you can make yourself available to your friends when they are ready. It is a near impossible thing to stand up to the teacher forces in that forum. I do know from what I speak. I was in school for 25 years off and on in NY and Boston, and had 2 marriages to fellow students,and children. Your instincts are in tact. I wish you the best in your hopeful departure.
To Anonymous and ArrangedMarriages,
I also feel that standing up and speaking up is a risky business.
In my own case, I was very fearful about leaving, and was determined to complete the things I was responsible for before I left, in part so nobody could say "he really dropped the ball." And then, suddenly, all three things ended within a week or so. It was like a little side door opened, and I thought "this is the moment, no one is watching", and I just stepped out.
Yes, Anonymous, you will lose your friends who stay in school. Count on it. You may be officially forgotten, or officially slandered. Count on that, too.
It's hard at first, but it's not a desert "out here" and there may be people you cared about who left the group and who are just waiting for your call.
To Arranged Marriages – You’re seeing with the eyes of the heart, compassionate and clear. I add to your well deserved chorus of Bravos!!!
Your perceptions are a crowning achievement despite so many years of thought control and programming. To see with the eyes of the heart is a gift. Now is the time to for you to leave school, while your guts are wrenching at the emotional upheaval playing in front of you. It can give you the strength and impetus to make a clean and decisive break from Gans & Co.
But before you go, I side with those who think you should share your perspective with both the parting husbands and wives. I would do it privately, definitely not in the context of class itself. As anonymous says, it’s extemely hard to stand up to the “teacher forces in that forum”. Maybe you can speak on the way to or from class or make up some pretext to get together. They may not be open to you. The spell they’re under is so strong, but your words will plant some seeds of doubt that might bear fruit later. What you have to say will hopefully reach that deep and profound part that ALWAYS KNOWS TRUTH, and can nourish and sustain it.
The Script, or the “divorce/marriage playbook” as you call it– is so articulately and accurately recounted. I saw the script played out dozens of times over the years before I was on the receiving end. It was certainly emotionally brutal, I think more so for my ex than for myself. My ex was so clearly and completely manipulated, and in a great deal of self inflicted pain. I was out of school at the time of the divorce, but I could sense what the teachers were telling him almost word for word nonetheless. I still find it horrifying - the degree of Sharon’s power and control over the inner and outer lives of her students. We were like puppets who danced to her every whim.
And my ex is still dancing, and the bonds of school are tighter for him, I fear. Yes, I think he suffers from "trauma bonding”. It’s good you bring these emotional consequences into the light of day. And it’s also good to hear from the grown children of these arranged marriages and divorces, too. Their voices and all of ours are needed to help break the spell.
Soon the day will come when your heart knows you can’t spend another minute of your precious life with those heartless and greedy imposters. Trust your heart, leave now, while you still can. To stay increases your risk for emotional numbness. Why else would so many of the brightest and most caring people around sit and watch their friends be so heartlessly toyed with? I believe they’ve become disconnected or dismissive of their emotional perceptions.
If you can, speak to all four individuals, Nick, Bliss, and their soon to be ex spouses. Be wise and discreet, and then get the hell out of Dodge.
Your heart is certainly strong and present. Act now. Be strong and brave. Our best wishes pour out to you.
To the anonymous poster who's still in school: I urge you, too, to listen to your heart, leave now while you still can, don't waste another minute or penny of your life!
Like me, you're hesitant to give up your friendships in school. I tell you they're not truly your friends anyway. What kind of friendship is it if you leave the group and your alleged friends then refuse to say hello to you on the street? Why cling to such fickle friendships?
I urge you to break free while you can. Contact Ashiata by email and he can put you in touch with former students you know. You may have more friends on the outside than on the inside. Best of luck to you, write back and let us know how you're doing.
Jo-
BRAVO to you!!!!
Congratulations on your blog. It is fabulous! I applaud you on your bravery and willingness to speak up.
Just out of curiosity, how does Jeannine fit into the picture? I am assuming that she is your sister?
Jo, your blog is amazing.
I think "our" most effective way of "speaking truth to power" is the slow piling-on of facts -- as in public documents, first-person testimonials, and detached descriptions of patterns of behavior in the cult.
I've never seen most of the newspaper articles you posted, anywhere. And I note how little has changed in the fundamental DNA of the group, 30 years later, except that the way it expresses itself now may be a notch more toned down and subtle.
ps. Whatever became of Michael Hilsenrad?
Bravo to you Ashiata!!
Thank you so much for the Esoteric Freedom site!
Jeannine is my younger sister, who married Bob after he divorced Jo. I haven't seen or heard from Jeannine since the Horns fled the bay area in 1978.
Jo and I met (quite by 'accident') on our children's school playground, in Napa, CA. We were shocked (to say the least!) when we realized our mutual connection to Bob and Jeannine. Jo and I have been married and raising a lge. extended family of curious and creative types (aka the Berkeley Bunch) since 1989.
The "Dear Sis" on our front page is Jo's younger sister, Cheryl, who was also a member/victim in Horn's first S.F. group.
We will be posting the background story on how and why Bob divorced Jo, then married Jeannine, who was told to lie and pretend that she was the real mother of Jo's beloved first-born son, who disappeared with his father, stepmother and their two children, when the Horns fled.
Three months after Horn married Sharon (fall of '72), Jo was the first young married woman and expectant mother he decided to rape and force into isolation, getting a divorce and giving her baby "up for adoption." The whole story is unbelievable and horrifying. She could never recover from the loss, abduction and disappearance of her child.
When Jo read the following heart-wrenching comment and plea for help (January 9, 2010), she wept for days and decided to come forward - on behalf of all the mothers of missing children - and fully expose the fake "teachers", all their crimes and abuse, secrets and lies.
"Can anyone tell me why an adopted child and her sister will never be told the truth. Older students adopted a younger students' child nearly 30 yrs ago while I was in the group. I am still in touch with this troubled young women who still does not know and when confronted her parents will never reveal the truth and the birth mother will not come forward. The girl needs the truth as she now is facing serious health problems and family history could help. I have really tried to understand possible reasoning for this behavior from a teacher of the Work. Even if it is not the Work still Sharon and Robert "think" they are representing it and why would they insist on burying the truth to this extent? What profit or benefit to all or any involved? Can anyone reading this enlighten me? Who would ever want to go to their grave with the burden of these kind of lies! Can a mother forget the child of her womb????"
Jo: "NO! If your child were missing, you'd be thinking about it every minute!"
We're trying to get the whole nightmare up on our site, but it's very long, crazy and complicated!
Sam,
My eyes are filled with tears, not just for you and Jo and myself as well but for all the others - for all of the different types of abuse they suffered at the hands of Sharon, Alex and Robert.
Jeannine once told me that she and Bob were only married for five years. I kind of said: "Wow, three kids in five years must have kept you very busy!" She then told me that her eldest wasn't actually her child. She said that "the mother" had been crazy and that "they" had to "get rid of her."
I always liked Jeannine but Sharon (and Robert) always kept her like a dog on a leash. She longed to find a man but as soon as she got close to someone, Sharon would always put the kabash on the relationship and she still remains alone. She too is a victim in spite of everything. As is Robert in his own way. It's not an excuse...
So sad how many lives were (and continue to be) ruined...
It was all the anger that I felt (and still feel) towards them that spurred me on to creating the website and blog. And a strong desire to reqach out to others to help where I can. There are so very many nightmares out there that Sharon and Alex created...
Living well is the best revenge and it sounds like you and Jo are proving that true.
God Bless us all.
Dear Mantequilla,
Odd it is that the very thing that held your Mother in school was the thought that it would make her a better Mother, a finer woman; for you. They are very clever people. You have opened my eyes to the affect on you with courage, and undying patience over the past few years.
It really is a different perspective to see The Cult as you started calling it before I was able to, from where you stand. I know you hold yourself responsible as the keeper of the truth for your brother and sister and this weighs heavy on you. It is a deeply tangled web. As always; I have complete faith in your heart and your brilliance. I know it's legacy; both past and present, continues to be a struggle for you on a near daily basis - for your story has no ready closure. Love forever M
Sam and Jo,
In the past eight months, I've made a pretty systematic effort to speak with fellow departees -- to hear their stories. Many times, what I've heard has been so disheartening that it made me unable to get off the couch the next day.
After a number of these conversations, I've thought, "Well, now you've heard everything there is to know. It cannot get any worse."
But it does. Until I read your story today, Jo, I had been under the illusion that the forced divorces, arranged marriages, and pressured giving up of children were about enmeshing "students" with "school" beyond the possibility of their escape.
Serial rape, predatory procurement of new rape targets, and the use of divorces, abortions, adoptions and marriages to facilitate these crimes is another order of odiousness altogether.
A few years before I left, I dated a woman in "school" who'd been with the group in San Francisco. She was still beautiful, and had been stunningly beautiful when I met her first in the late eighties.
There was something missing when we made love, which I attributed almost entirely to my own shortcomings.
Now I remember: I did actually ask myself on several occasions, "I wonder if she was Alex's concubine. That would explain the way she is." It makes me sad for her, for you Jo, and for all the other victims.
the power of sharon boils down to a whorehouse madam's shrewdness.
alex was a brilliant, brutal
crook
the ideas of gurdjieff appeal
to bright people. bright people
tend to be sexually attractive
and tend to make money. if you
want to make a cult, why draw on trailer trash? alex and sharon
both had the gift of gab.
combine all those nifty theatre stories with nutty sex advice and the hallucinagenic effects of
certain esoteric ideas in the context of sleep deprivation, and
you have created on truly groovy
experince for a bunch of naive people. and you get a stable for
plenty of sex
i am glad the dam has broken
the children must come forward
class action suit against sharon
for ritual child abuse
depose david kulko and robert klein
sue klein too. he knows everyhting and he should know better.
sue that sleazy creep fred mindel
facilitator of violence and theft
Hi Jo ,
G. has returned !
Jo--why are you railing against a
dead guy when the people who stole
your son are alive and well and
benefiting financially from
Ganscult?
Sharon, not Alex, is the most
manipulative person I have ever
met.
I knew them both very well.
Alex tried and failed to get real
money out of me. I thought he was
kind of obvious.
It is said that without Hitler,
Eichman would have been a third
rate engineer. Does that make
Eichmann any less evil?
It may make hime less imaginative.
Have you read the complaints
about Fred Mindel from his
chiropractic patients?
This guy is a petty crook at heart.
So were most of the Nazi henchmen.
They would never have hit the bigtime without Adolf, Ernst
Joseph and Heinrich.
Your story makes me quake.
The living thieves deserve to be punished.
One of my more valuable post-departure talks was with a highly accomplished business professional (and fellow exile) about "the business model" of "school." "Because it is a business," she said.
Agreed.
In that vein, here are some selected excerpts from an article by Michael Wolff, in this week's ADWEEK, on the business model of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation:
"And partly, it’s because the fundamental currency of the company has always been reward and punishment. Both the New York Post and Fox News maintain enemy lists. Almost anyone who has directly crossed these organizations, or who has made trouble for their parent company, will have felt the sting here…Similarly, the Post and Fox News heap praise and favors on partisans, who in turn do them favors (the police, in New York as well as London, receive and return the favors)…There’s also the money. Ultimately, if you have the goods or the savvy with which to damage the company, you get paid off…"
"News Corp. has never had anything more than a thin skin of an orderly, well-resourced, highly regulated corporation. Underneath the first layer is a kind of unreconstructed, even Dickensian, do-anything-to-survive world…"
"It’s an organization all about doing what Rupert wants you to do, or doing what you imagine Rupert wants you to do, or doing what you imagine your boss imagines Rupert wants done. There are few companies as large as News Corp. that are so devoted and in thrall to one man. There are few companies which, over so long, have so assiduously hired the kind of people who would be in thrall to one man. Indeed, News Corp. can be quite a disorganized and scattered company, and yet its driving premise, what unites and motivates this oft-times gang-that-couldn’t-shoot-straight enterprise, is to do as Rupert would have you do."
(The url to the full story – http://bit.ly/qlNn2H)
Sound familiar?
diogenes-- david kulko is easily available and accessible. he isn't hiding from anybody and surely has plenty to say on the old days in san francisco. why not drop him a line if it means so much to you?
I want to know why Sharon Gans lives in $8 million apartment on Fifth Avenue and I have a lien on my house and owe back taxes and credit cards that I can't pay.
I worked my arse off for her for years and gave and gave her my hard earned money.
What a schmuck I was. What a petty tyrant narcissistic sociopathic bitch she still is. Karma time.
Diogenes,
It seems a bit harsh to take anyone to task when she is coming forward with rape allegations. If Jo's example helps other women to do the same, God bless her courage.
It does not matter -- in my opinion -- that Alex Horn no longer lives in the flesh. From Jo's testimonial, and those of many others (published and unpublished), it seems clear his impact lives on all too well.
Your point about Sharon is not invalid, at all. It just may not be the question to ask Jo, at this moment. A bit like the question, "Other than that, what did you think of the play, Mrs. Lincoln?"
It is so wonderful to see the damn Dam breaking after all of this timeand to hera of so many people being able to open, connect, share, and listen so they can truly remember "the truth will set you free". To those of you who are still is school and are "disobeying the rules" - please see the real pain and the real compassion that the people here are sharing. It is the real truth. There are too many corroborations, too many witnesses. If you are feeling that you wish to leave school, please take the courage of your convictions and GO! Don't even pay (because you would never collect) another $200! Get Out! Anyone who wishes to speak out from "inside" should do so if they are so moved, but the psychological violence that will be directed at you will be intense. Make sure you feel you can bear it, but know that anyone involved in that 'pain factory' has born more than their share of mental and physical torture.
I have been part of the effort to expose the group for a long time, and I can tell you that your leaving, and letting people know why you are leaving, even if it is only privately to those friends you cherish, it will help - they may rejoin you outside Sharon's little Auschwitz. Your leaving may be what They need to go. It may happen in its own time, but seeds germinate in all sorts of crazy and wonderful ways.
My life (small 'l' according to them, big "L" by my experience) is in no way perfect. I experience bad thigns and good things;but I can look back from over a decade gone now and say that much of my growth was hampered by the cult,even amberized. I see how emotionally, intellectually, I went no where in my dreams for myself. Work on myself did happen and I did grow - in ways I never would have contemplated and wouldn't have wished: to be exposed to the worst of human behavior constantly in a place that was supposed to represent the best? I can only say that my personal efforts to apply the ideas of the work to my actions were constant - and those efforts were mine, and often at odds with how everyone else, especially teachers and senior special-asshole students were behaving.
continued:
So whgat's that to you/ It means that whatever understanding you have made, You have made, it's yours, and you take it with you. Sharon offers nothing but pain. There are plenty of honest and knowledgable spiritual teachers and therapists out here - the real ones dont' take your money (well, the therapists sure can), but a real spiritual teacher will not because they understand that they ONLY way to follow the teaching is to offer it to those who yearn, as a gift.
I have grown, changed, evolved, acoomplished, achieved more in the ten years I've been gone than I did in the previous twenty (12 in school). look around yoru class and ask yourself how happy people genuinely, ask yourself how much they've really changed or accomplished. Sure some have made money, others opened businesses that are successful, or artistic careers - Geuss what? So what? In school this is always treated as incredible accomplishment (and people should be proud) yet in life it seems like those things are easier to do than when you're in school! What do I see among people who leave? Success - in work money, relationships - doing what is right for them without having to "check it out" - not living the 'approved' school life - job that allows you to take a lot of time serving school, pays enough to pay school, a relationship either based on untruth, as others have said, or to someone in school,, where you are not allowed to talk about school - which constitutes a huge part of your lives and resources! Bull shit!late nights and exhaustion making you cranky, irritable, gain weight, have sleep deprivation trance experiences which are presented as mystical states. I don't know if it's been mentioned recently, but a book by
Rodney Collin's sister in law, joyce Collin Smith, is available on the web. It's a gentle book, her own story - "Call No Man Master" - her search leads her to the realization that if you think you must have a teacher to conduct your life, then you mistake what teaching is. Teaching is an art in which the student learns the practice - and then is responsible for themselves and their own lives. the teacher is there, but the student must decide their lives! The only people I hear about who are controlled in their decisions the Sharon does are people like the polygamist groups in Utah, her old buddy and competition from San Fransisco, Jim Jones, and other psycopaths. But I digress. Here is the point:
Life is good. Sharon is bad. Stay and continue to accept the blows to yourself and your friends. Go and be happy.
To ebrbwscb, CTT, Adam Mageia, soulspark, ghostdog, anexiled1, Moishe3rd, bluebelly, Albert Arme, JellyBean, summer walk, and Xram ochuorg:
Ashiata Shiemash and Ajax co-administer a FaceBook “group” for former members of Gans/Klein cult. It is set up -- by FaceBook technical/privacy criteria -- so that ONLY members of the group can see the membership, or read posted items. By that same criteria, the group – called “Friends” – does NOT appear on your FaceBook homepage.
There are currently 41 members of “Friends,” spanning the time from San Francisco to the present, and including individuals from New York and Boston. This is the mission statement of the group:
"Have you noticed: One of the most often-asked questions in conversations among us is: ‘Whatever happened to [my friend]?’ This group is a venue for asking that question, and answering it, akin to the kind of impromptu bulletin boards that spring up after, say, a hurricane.
The initiative of other friends has given us a number of venues to talk about our experiences THEN. This group is a way to allow people who are willing to use their names to talk about their lives NOW, reweave lost or broken connections, re-establish some sense of community, and enable each other to contact each other directly.
I hope to play a very light ‘administrator’ role to support these guidelines in practice. Please back me up in this decision."
For some of us, the page has proved to be a collective affirmation of our continued existence as individuals, our sheer numbers, and our determination to move on and thrive.
If you (or any fellow exile you know) would like to join, please contact Ashiata Shiemash, or email me (Ajax) at aeneas@safe-mail.net.
first--i want to apologize to jo
for being insensitive. my anger
towards klein, gans and mindel
clouds my judgement
second--i want those new people readng the site to know that there is a real Gurdjieff group in this city. if you join a group, it may or may not be suggested to donate
$30 per month. it is never mentioned again. and there is total
respect for everyone's privacy.
i have grown there. it is the real thing. the more i understand, the more evil the ganscult seems to me.
i have mostly left ganscult behind--it is the "pillar of salt" for me.
it just riles me to think that
decent people who could have grown
in a real group are now burnt out
by this pericious cult. i was
burnt out for fifteen years.
i dont even know how i came back to life, but my current group helped me tremendously.
the ganscult is particularly harmful when it actually come close
to the real gurdjieff work--that is when sharon's poison can really
mess people up, i could write a book about it, but i would not want
the wrong people to read it and start their own cults.
sharon opens up your soul and spits in it
you people who leave--you are in a bad position. you need spiritual healing--but now you dont trust anyone. tough situation.
i cannot say--go to the real group--because that may be ruined for you,or at least damaged for the present. but you will not be able to get thu this alone. i tried,
and i ended up drinking. thank god i am over that.
i wish you all the best
Go Jo!!!
Sharon and Robert, I hope you are listening...
Dear Mom,
I’m so proud of you -- for being an amazing woman and survivor of extreme evil. Not only have you overcome evil, but you are also willing to completely expose the false school. You are the bravest woman I know! I’m so lucky to be your daughter!
I’ve always known that my life story started before I was born. This is true for all of us born within the cult situation. How could I possibly explain what it’s like to have a mother who was stalked and repeatedly raped by the cult leader – who also made my mom give up her baby boy – my brother?
You've given me the courage to tell my own story and how I feel about what Bob and the Horns did to you and the rest of our family, including Abe.
Let's bring the Devil down together!!
xoxo
Go Heidi!
Yes, please, I would love to hear more from the children...
Esotericfreedom.blogspot.com currently averages about 50 page visits per day. To increase traffic to the blog, and make its content more useful to visitors, we are looking for some technical help.
The goals:
1. To organize the more than 600 posts on the blog by THEME. Each entry would be indexed with three or four "keywords." Examples of keywords might include "money", "organization", "Robert Klein", "divorces", "children", "the ideas", "personal finances," "adoptions", "San Francisco", "marriages." Visitor can then pull up all posts that relate to that keyword interest.
2. To increase visitor traffic to the blog by use of "search engine optimization" (SEO) coding. With SEO coding, a Google search for "Sharon Gans" could then list -- as separate Google results --
every single esotericfreedom.blogspot post with those words in it.
If you have relevant web-content skills, and would be willing to donate them for a very short, finite project period, please contact Ashiata Shiemash.
I don't have the skills to help with the site upgrades, but I do have one suggestion. Be sure knowing Sharon's last name isn't required to find this blog. I didn't know it when I left. I searched Google for Sharon The Work and eventually got here. I also looked up OSG. Just bear in mind everyone has different bits of information, and if they are searching for the facts, they may have odd bits to try to string a search together.
Very good point, Anonymous!
(originally posted 8/31/11, 9:55 pm)
When considering how best to help someone leave who is still "in," my own experience tells me that every person is different.
As "The A Word" just posted, years of reading this blog and others like it may have no immediate effect on a person's decision. In other cases, the information may be THE catalyst to a decision to leave.
Here are some questions I ask myself when thinking through how best to help someone leave:
1. How much of the student's current income is derived from "school"-related businesses, from projects referred by someone in "school" or from a hiring decision influenced by someone in "school"?
2. Is the student's marital situation hostage in any way to "school"? Is the spouse also in "school"? Are there still-unresolved legal issues over a pending divorce?
3. Are there parental complications? Are there ongoing child-custody, visitation rights, or child-support issues -- legal and financial -- that "school" could still influence? Will godparent relationships or life-long extended family relationships be a hindering factor in a departure decision?
4. How long has the student been in "school"?
5. What alternative networks of support or community might be quickly available to this particular prospective departing student?
Very interested in any thoughts about this topic.
(comment submitted 8/31/11)
(originally posted 8/31/11 6:11 pm)
I have now been “school-free” for four whole years!
In that time, I have gone from being flat broke to having a somewhat comfortable financial cushion. It’s amazing what a few years of not paying an extortionate “tuition” can do! I also have a better relationship with my family, although there is still some way to go there.
I feel like a bit of celebration is in order - Anybody feel like getting together for a drink some evening? I am in the Boston area. If you are interested, we can figure out a way to connect.
ps - Ashiata Shiemash - while I don't have the web skills you need to re-do the blog, I would be happy to help in any way I can, brainstorming or doing the grunt work of going back over old posts to figure out key-words and so forth.
(originally posted 8/14/11, 10:39 pm)
Heidi,
You are a very courageous woman. (Yes, as is your mother.) Your post, and that of Mantequilla a couple of weeks ago, touched me deeply. The testimony of "the children" may be the very thing that finally blows the doors off the whole House of Lies.
After talking over Mantequilla's post with another parent last week, I reached out to my own stepdaughter (we have not spoken in nearly three years), to offer to talk about the cult values and decisions that touched her life.
I wish you the best, Heidi.
(originally posted 6/19/11, 9:02 pm)
I am so moved my these words of Martin Luther King. I know that King is one of Sharon's favorites but I can also see how words can get distorted and mixed up.
I am sure that when people who are still in "school" read these kinds of things, they think that they have a conscience and that they are not silent. That they are are on the "right" side and believe everything that Sharon and Robert has told them.
They don't understand that they are all silently complicit when they see their friends being abused and torn down emotionally by teachers. They don't understand that they have substituted Sharon and Robert's conscience for their own. Psychopaths don't have a conscience. They have lost the ability to think and question for themselves.
The other night night, a friend ran into someone who is still in "school" and when she realized who he was, she ran into the ladies room, came out a few minutes later talking on her cell phone and walked out the door.
This has happened to me as well. I saw someone I knew and approached her, said her name and said hello. There was a blank stare on her face and slowly it dawned on her who I was. She screamed "Oh my God!" and she turned quickly and RAN away.
Some much for the concept of "essence friendship."
In the inimitable words of the great Bob Dylan:
"You never ask questions
When God's on your side.
In a many dark hour
I've been thinkin' about this
That Jesus Christ
Was betrayed by a kiss
But I can't think for you
You'll have to decide
Whether Judas Iscariot
Had God on his side."
I know that everyone connected to Sharon and Robert sees me as the "Devil Incarnate" but you have to ask if God is on my side too...
Delete
(originally posted 9/2/11, 10:47 AM)
In order to increase the usefulness of this site to its readers, esotericfreedom will be begin indexing older posts by keyword. This feature will let visitors search contents both by theme and by contributor. You will see the list of keywords (with the number of posts containing the keyword) in the right-hand column.
It will take a few weeks to fully index the 745 posts on the site -- please be patient. And, yes, editors will be making judgement calls about the most germane keywords contained in any given post. If you feel the keyword selection for one of your posts misrepresents it, please let us know.
Within coming months, we hope to add a feature that will allow contributors to select their own keywords, in real time, as they post.
Thank you.
(originally posted 9/4/11, 9:10am)
WOW thanks for your work!
Hassin
(originally posted 9/25/11, 6:32am)
How can we read new postings?
From Ajax:
I've been thinking alot about the roles that alcohol and alcholism play in the dysfunction of the Horn/Gans/Klein group.
I joined Alcoholics Anonymous about a year ago, in order to focus on a condition (in myself) that was probably always there, but definitely became unmanageable in my last several years with the Gans group.
I haven't picked up a drink in since that time, and also have become much more attuned to what is called "alcoholic behavior." In the case of Gans: stunning cruelty, narcissism, an "iron whim", grandiosity ("WE got Obama elected!") and obliviousness to emotional experience of others.
All these traits have trickled through the culture of "School." This group celebrates alcohol, putatively as a substance that has liberating properties (which it may), and as an aspect of a "We are not ascetics. We live hard, we work hard, we play hard, and we drink hard."
I had the "privilege" of preparing Gans' drinks for a number of years -- before and during class, and during "school"-related meals. I am reminded of the court of Louis XIV, where it was considered the highest honor to bring the monarch his morning cup of chocolate (just as it was the highest honor to remove his bedpan).
Drunken public behavior on the part of the "teachers" (from the top down), large numbers of older students with alcoholic histories, significant numbers of "dry drunks," a fetishized treatment of alcohol in the inner circle (what brands, how much ice, what glass or cup), an office packed with a full bar's worth of top-shelf liquor, the occasional use of marijuana in the office (at Christmas classes), the use of medical doctor "students" to secure continuous streams of mood-altering prescribed drugs.
What is wrong with this picture?
From Ajax:
Think of this as a WikiPost, an initial draft subject to updates, clarifications and revision:
After he was "deposed" by Gans sometime in the early 80s, Alex Horn continued to lead a group in New York, which stayed together until his death in October 2007. Some known facts:
1. At the end, Horn's group met uptown on Sunday evenings.
2. Tuition is said to have been $500/month.
3. The group was relatively small.
4. The group was led by Ken and Michael, who were transferred to the New York Monday/Wednesday group when it was disbanded.
5. Some of the participants in the Horn group were folded into a new "uptown" group, which started up in early 2008. In the beginning, Terry and Cynthia led this new group. Later Fred, Mary, Una and Greg led this new, post-Horn group.
6. The new group, as of 2009, met once a week at the Methodist church on 84th & Park, and once a week at a church on the West Side. At the time, it made for four operating NYC groups: the two "older" groups that met on 25th Street, the "Chelsea" group that met at Taylor Hodson offices on 19th Street, and the new group.
As I learn new things about the Horn/Gans/Klein organization, I am continually impressed by how clever the group was/is at using "need to know" to keep secrets and compartmentalize information.
(Corrections welcome!)
A comment on the practical issues of leaving the group----------
Generally, in any field, you need a good basis created by networking. In a sense, good networking is more important than money, because anyone can lose a job, but only people who know people have a good chance at speedy re-employment. But if a person is in Ganscult, they are cloistered from ordinary society--except fot the purpose of capturing new converts to the cult. So After a person leaves after 5, 10, 20 years, the hell of it is--you have no money (you gave it all to Ganscult) and you do not know anybody, which is even worse, because a good network of personal conections is the best form of capital in a competitive society. In this way, the group creates social, financial and psychological dependence, leaving those who leave with less than nothing--less than just about anyone would have--except for drug addicts and alcoholiocs! Only alcoholics and drug addicts lose what people lose in Ganscult.
Alex Horn's NY Group:
Thanks for posting the most current information. I think it's great. If anyone else knows anything about where they meet, what time, who is teaching, etc. THEN PLEASE POST IT.
Diogenes:
Yes, That's why this website is so great: because you don't have to feel that you have nothing and no one if you want to leave school - YOU HAVE ALL OF US! If you are thinking of leaving school and feel like you will have no friends or connections, you are wrong: WE ARE HERE TO HELP YOU! Think of it, all those people who left and you were afraid to ask what happened to them, well, we are alive and looking forward to hearing from you and helping you in any way we can!
Give Me Liberty Or Give Me DEATH!
-Patrick Henry
More about Joe Stilwell:
Look at this article:
“Run-off” the cliff and into the ground. The sleazy (and continuing) story of multi-national insurer Kingsway Financial Services. at:
http://slabbed.wordpress.com/2009/12/30/run-off-the-cliff-and-into-the-ground-the-sleazy-and-continuing-story-of-multi-national-insurer-kingsway-financial-services/
I think the word SLEAZY says it all...
Go ahead and Google Joseph Stilwell yourself and see what you come up with. Sleazy is only the begining...
Amazed & Grateful says:
Just feeling grateful today that not only am I out of the grips of this disturbed, twisted organization, I am also enjoying a second chance at friendship with other former members. This time around - it's real. We actually know last names, what you do for a living, what makes you happy. Enjoyed some joking around with no fear of judgement or having to behave according to mind-bending layers of rules that prevent a relaxed, real atmosphere.
I really do pity these teachers. Yes, I can sometimes quake with rage at my still recovering self (at this point it's mostly financial recovery), but mostly, I can know that there really is hope, there really is change happening. In school, you can guarantee it will be more of the same. Sharon, Robert et al. may have their silk curtains, but they are dead inside, trapped in their lies. We "on the outside" are not.
If you are still "in" -- I and many others assure you, there is no "life turning to shit" or "sleeping humanity" going on out here. It's very much beautiful, real, and as awake as you can make it.
Be strong, take the first step, we are out here to hold your hand the rest of the way.
Originally posted 8/27/11
The A Word Said:
I'm one of the exodus of folks from the NY Tue/Thurs class that left a couple of years ago.
Looking at the list of people who left, I think a key figure is Terry (and his wife Suzanne). Terry, if you are reading this, it would be very helpful to have your take on the organization from one who was in the inner circle until very recently.
I studied acting with Terry and always admired him. I was "friends" with Suzanne--meaning, we were in the same group and I always liked her...but of course friendship in the context of "school."
Regardless, I'm happy they both left (if indeed they have). I'm happy for all those who have found their way out.
I was in for nearly 8 years. It still stuns me on some level. My journey there had basically 3 phases:
1. Honeymoon: this is the "new student" phase, where I felt like I had found what I was always looking for. Where ideas and people and experiences were being introduced into my life that I never thought possible. Class was only a couple of hours twice a week and the pressures were totally minimal. During this time (this was the Artists and Orphans period) I looked up info about Sharon on the internet and found Rick Ross. Amazingly, I read tons of material and was able to refute it all. "My experience," I told myself, "is not like this at all!" I assumed that all naysayers were disgruntled students who couldn't complete "the journey." This honeymoon period lasted for about 2-3years.
2. Moving up/Personal crisis: Just as I got "moved up" to the older students group (originally Mon-Wed, then Tues/Thurs), my personal life exploded in a series of crises. In retrospect this was true blessing. "Teachers" clearly didn't know what to do with me and it was known throughout that, due to my home situation I didn't have the same demands placed on me. Sorry to be so vague on the details. The point is, though, this, thankfully, placed me on the outside just at the point where I think the indoctrination process really takes hold. On the other hand, it also made me less critical at that very same time (in other words, I was *wanting* to be more involved with "school", only my family life was just too tenuous too often...). Another 2-3 years passed in this fashion.
3. Stability/disillusionment: My life began to be sorted out. And as I enjoyed this new stability, "school" began to seem a burden. I began to fantasize more and more about leaving. It was boring. I witnessed some terrible dressing down of people in class (and felt--still feel--guilty for not being man enough to defend them!) I started to look at teachers and wonder...is that what I want? To be like them? Good friends in "school" began to disappear (leaving). Some of them, god bless 'em, left me voicemails when they left. I didn't call them back (too scared) but it stayed in my mind that they were out there.
I tried to leave 3 times. The first two times I stopped going to class for a couple of weeks but then gave in to meeting or speaking to teachers. When I came back to class I was treated as a hero..I had struggled to "stay on the path!" Finally, the third time, I left and immediately called a good friend who had left a year or so earlier. That phone call was crucial. I also did not answer--nor even listen to--voicemail from teachers. The last words I ever heard was a message on my cell from Leslie O. saying "I'd like to pass on a message to you--" Click. I deleted it.
Four years in I had a crush on a fellow student. I thank god nothing came of it. It would have been one more (powerful) lever holding me in.
I appreciate this blog and check it semi-regularly. Thanks, Ashiata. There's more, of course, there always is. Another time though.
Best wishes out there.
August 27, 2011 9:08 AM
Jo's Clarification
(originally published 8/13/11)
After receiving a few email messages, it became obvious that I should clarify something:
1. If you send a message to me (Linda Jo Sapere) libertybelle@toknow.us, I am the ONLY one reading your message.
2. I am the REAL mother of Abraham David Klein, born to Linda Jo and Robert Morris Klein, Aug. 30, 1973. I wrote Alex a letter. I wrote Sharon two letters. I wrote B.K. a hundred letters and sent him over 25 books (c/o Lee Klein), published by the great Sage and Teacher of the Age, Work and Way.*
3. I’ve written volumes about Horn’s filthy organization and multi-million $ operation, "esoteric" scam and cesspool, booby trap and con game, rape conspiracy and crying shame, fascist regime and power game, guilt trip, hate trip and blame game, bullshit, horseshit, ego puke and elephant shit, vicious circles and cycles of abuse (aka the Gans-Horn/Klein cult).
4. I am a normal human being, woman and mother (66), creative thinker, artist and designer, teacher, writer and rape survivor, truth-teller and freedom fighter.
5. Predator: Alex Horn (1970 to ‘76) Psychiatrist: Dr. Arthur Deikman (‘77 to ‘79) Teacher: Idries Shah (‘79 to ‘85)
6. I took the Path and Way of the Sufi because it is based on common sense, correct and comprehensive information, real knowledge and ultimate understanding.
7. I was one Seeker after Truth who finally found what she was seeking, from the beginning.
8. I work in the field of human knowledge, growth and development because ...
"There is nothing more important than the development of a human being." (Idries Shah)*
9. I am writing A Life's Work: Understanding the Obvious and Our Meaning by Creation
10. You are FREE to ask and tell me anything.
11. I am here to inform all the fake "teachers" - especially Sharon, Fred and B.K. - that I am HERE, alive, awake and well, willing and going to expose them as Horn's stupid sheep, carbon copies and "copy cats," co-abusers and sex offenders, thugs and thieves, crap and bullshitters, pulp fiction and garbage dispensers!
12. God is my Guide and Protector. (Sam is my editor.)
August 13, 2011 3:16 PM
Reported Student Departures, in 2011
(originally published 8/9/11)
According to a reliable source, at least four additional students have left the Mon/Wed New York group in 2011: Stuart, Matt, Kirsten, and Alan. These students have not been replaced by "new blood." In addition, amidst speculation whether Terry is "out" or simply "around," it is reported that he has not been present in the Mon/Wed group since late 2010.
To bring the numbers up to date:
(From Truth2Power’s post of February 15, 2011 8:24 AM)
"So, to recap, in Boston, 30 have left the 'older' group, and 16 have left the 'younger' group. In New York, 12 have left the Mon/Wed group, and 19 have left the Tues/Thurs group, within the past three years."
(From Truth2Power’s post of February 15, 2011 7:34 PM)
"So, departed from the Mon/Wed New York group, in the past three years (alpha order): Casey (came back and left again), Charles, Chris (came back), Colette, Enid, Greg, Helene, Jill, Lanie, Lili, Richard, Ron, Terry.
From the Tues/Thurs group (alpha order): Adam, Al, Cheryl, Christine, Dara, David, Eric, Faith, Jay, Josh, Katie, Kevin, Leslie, Linda, Matthew, Michael, Spencer, Steve, Suzanne.
Sam said:
(originally published 8/4/11 0
Bravo to you Ashiata!!
Thank you so much for the Esoteric Freedom site!
Jeannine is my younger sister, who married Bob after he divorced Jo. I haven't seen or heard from Jeannine since the Horns fled the bay area in 1978.
Jo and I met (quite by 'accident') on our children's school playground, in Napa, CA. We were shocked (to say the least!) when we realized our mutual connection to Bob and Jeannine. Jo and I have been married and raising a lge. extended family of curious and creative types (aka the Berkeley Bunch) since 1989.
The "Dear Sis" on our front page is Jo's younger sister, Cheryl, who was also a member/victim in Horn's first S.F. group.
We will be posting the background story on how and why Bob divorced Jo, then married Jeannine, who was told to lie and pretend that she was the real mother of Jo's beloved first-born son, who disappeared with his father, stepmother and their two children, when the Horns fled.
Three months after Horn married Sharon (fall of '72), Jo was the first young married woman and expectant mother he decided to rape and force into isolation, getting a divorce and giving her baby "up for adoption." The whole story is unbelievable and horrifying. She could never recover from the loss, abduction and disappearance of her child.
When Jo read the following heart-wrenching comment and plea for help (January 9, 2010), she wept for days and decided to come forward - on behalf of all the mothers of missing children - and fully expose the fake "teachers", all their crimes and abuse, secrets and lies.
"Can anyone tell me why an adopted child and her sister will never be told the truth. Older students adopted a younger students' child nearly 30 yrs ago while I was in the group. I am still in touch with this troubled young women who still does not know and when confronted her parents will never reveal the truth and the birth mother will not come forward. The girl needs the truth as she now is facing serious health problems and family history could help. I have really tried to understand possible reasoning for this behavior from a teacher of the Work. Even if it is not the Work still Sharon and Robert "think" they are representing it and why would they insist on burying the truth to this extent? What profit or benefit to all or any involved? Can anyone reading this enlighten me? Who would ever want to go to their grave with the burden of these kind of lies! Can a mother forget the child of her womb????"
Jo: "NO! If your child were missing, you'd be thinking about it every minute!"
We're trying to get the whole nightmare up on our site, but it's very long, crazy and complicated!
The Real Terror of the Situation
Originally posted August 3, 2011
Many Sapere family members have been contemplating the comments, questions and concerns posted on this and other sites, from the beginning. And we really appreciate your efforts to expose the filthy Gans-Horn/Klein cult, psychodrama school and pseudo-religious organization, designed and choreographed, scripted and directed by Alex Horn – starting in the Sonoma hills and bay area.
I wish we could get together in one room and have a spontaneous discussion about the REAL terror of the situation - especially for all the "female students" Horn stalked and raped, wrecked up and ripped off - including me, before and after I got married (for protection) and became the mother of a beautiful boy, born to Linda Jo and Robert Morris Klein, Aug. 30, 1973.
The TRUE story of raped mothers and missing children - abused and neglected, aborted, abducted, adopted, displaced and "disappeared" children in San Francisco, Boston and New York - has been buried beneath a mountain of sick and stupid, dirty, rotten lies.
Not only were Alex and Sharon lying and pretending to be "Teachers of 'the Work'" and "Way of Essence" - "Real Love" (and so on), but they were also lying and pretending that his pretty young prey, usual and potential rape victims, targets and scapegoats were "always asking for it'" and "coming onto him"!
Sam and I have finally published the first chapter of A little Survivor’s Handbook (what a daunting task!), with Nightmare articles and a Comment area for Examples of Abuse … We’ll be posting more information every week. I’ll be publishing Horn’s incomprehensible rape “script” and “party line” soon. Send me whatever “lines” you can recall, and I’ll add them to “The Predator’s Script” page, including “Teacher S” and B.K.
xoxo
Jo
August 3, 2011 9:58 PM
From the "Children of the Cult"
(Originally posted August 3, 2011)
To Mantequilla,
Your post made a big impact on me.
Nothing could be as damning as the testimony of "children of the cult" like you, because one of the illusions I operated from when in that group was that my decisions made were, in part, FOR THE SAKE OF MY CHILDREN, those born and being raised, or not yet born. That illusion was shared and supported among all of us, continuously.
Your post opened my eyes (and heart) to what must be the shared experience of many other young people like yourself.
Thank you. August 3, 2011 12:07 PM
Labels: children, illusion, Mantequilla
Restoring Blog
There were a number of posts that were mistakenly removed and I am just trying the repost everything that was removed. Unfortunately, they will not be in their original order but I am marking them with their origianl date of posting.
Sorry about all this.
Mantequilla said
(Originally published August 3, 2011)
To ArrangedMarriages,
I am a product of two such arranged marriages. My parents were brought together and ripped apart by the cult. Both parents re-married others (in the cult) and were again torn apart by the same forces.
Can you possibly imagine the psychological effects on their children? If they are too young to seek the truth, the lies and confusion follow them until they finally reach the age where the pieces start to fit together. Or perhaps they will never fully understand the transactions that took place.
When parents choose the cult over their own children, you can see the power that this group holds.
This cult has effectively marred not one but two generations of brilliant, talented, generous people. August 3, 2011 3:32 AM
Anonymous said
(Originally published 8/2/11)
I have gained some bravery from my fellow student who admitted he was in school - I also am in school and have been "bad" and looked at the internet and found this blog.
I am on the fence about leaving because I am afraid to leave. I'm not sure how better to express it than that.
I also have ambivalent feelings because I am afraid to bring things up in class because I don't want to hear what the teachers might say.
I really enjoy my fellow students and value their friendships which would all be lost if I left....[Image]
Labels: Anonymous, fellow students, getting out, internet
Warren Peace said:
(Originally published 8/1/11)
Dear ArrangedMarriages:
Bravo for having the guts to oppose the considerable forces ranged against you and posting your observations here, which I can verify are accurate.
Because you're still in school, you have a unique opportunity to something even more brave. That is to stand up in class and bear witness to what you know. As a "student," you must also "care deeply about right and wrong, and questions of conscience." If you can sit by and watch people you obviously care about get sold down that very familiar river, then maybe "school" doesn't really teach people how to be extraordinarily ethical, does it?
You're taught to "never fear to hate the odious." But you do fear, as did I in the years before I got up the gumption to honor my own integrity and perceptions to leave. That's because the "teachings" are a sham. What teachers *say* is a far cry from the way teachers *behave,* but you're not allowed to point out that discrepancy. The favorite tool of manipulation here is the famous "a lower level can't understand a higher level" crap, which is clearly one of the many slogans that the "teachers" employ to invalidate and dismiss all dissenting opinions.
If you can't bring yourself to denounce the "script" you so clearly describe in your posts, at the very least try to warn the parties involved, and do yourself a favor and get the hell out of there. That can only help those still in "school" who are similarly aghast.
Best of luck to you
The Arranged Marriage Playbook - I
(Originally published 8/1/11)
According to reliable sources, another arranged marriage is coming down the pike. Nick and Bliss, originally of the Monday/Wednesday New York group, are "seeing each other" and have each met their respective families.
We know the script well:
1. First, the existing marriages must be gotten out of the way. This begins with an innocuous-enough question, "Why do you want to stay in an unhappy marriage?"
2. That question becomes a steady mantra, amplified by new implications that the student who hesitates to break up his/her marriage is A) deeply attached to his/her unnecessary suffering. B) willful and stubborn in his/her refusal to take "help."
3. The volume increases, with character assassination of the spouse-to-be-dumped. "Crazy" is one frequently used epithet. "Incapable of love" is another. "Not your equal" is yet another.
The hesitating spouse may be accused of "sentimentality" when expressing feelings of loyalty-to-their-current-mate or guilt about an impending break-up.
4. If the separation happens, one partner is demonized. Usually, but not always, it is the woman. Most of the time, but not always, that person is not in school, with no knowledge of the demonization campaign being conducted against him/her. If that person is in "school", the "demonized" partner is told he/she "does not deserve"/"has never deserved" the now-former partner, or, in some cases, any other partner.
5. The favored partner receives legal and financial counsel from "teachers" on how to handle the divorce, primarily the settlement terms. In some cases, if the divorce becomes too contentious, the favored partner may be asked to take a leave-of-absence until the heat dies down. However it is presented, this is ALWAYS to protect "school" interests from threatening scrutiny and possible legal action.
6. The new couple are wed as soon as is legally possible.
In the Tuesday/Thursday New York group, this was the script used to marry Laura and Joe Q.
The Arranged Marriage Playbook - II
(Originally published 8/1/11)
For a spouse divorcing his/her mate (particularly one not in "school"), a less-discussed aspect of an arranged marriage is "trauma bonding":
1. The favored one in "school" is, by the very definition (and recruiting requirements) of "student," someone who cares deeply about right and wrong, and questions of conscience,
2. That student knows on some level that he/she has been complicit in a act of extraordinary emotional violence against his/her spouse (whatever problems may have existed in the marriage), on a very uneven playing field. This is the very person with whom he/she has exchanged VOWS, in a teaching which purports to value a man or woman's WORD very, very highly.
3. The partner in that act of violence is the architect of the new marriage, Gans.
4. In this regard, one might call the "school" divorce/marriage playbook -- and it is a playbook, used on dozens of occasions -- a kind of "Stockholm Syndrome" script, whereby the prisoner bonds and becomes even closer to their captor/punisher. In other words, what would in therapeutic circles be called "trauma bonding."
The Arranged Marriage Playbook - III
(Originally published 8/1/11)
I should have made it clear: I am one of those "reliable sources." I'm still in school. It tears me apart to have written what I just wrote, but it tears me apart more to just sit there and watch a woman I've sat next to for years be taken down this path.
I'm afraid. I hate what I see, and I can't yet find the courage to go. Maybe this is a step in that direction.
My teachers believe that "need to know" keeps me clueless, and maybe it does. But I watch, and I listen, and catch small inconsistencies out of the mouths of teachers and students. You cannot be around here and have NO idea what goes on. August 1, 2011 11:03 AM [Image]
Ajax said
(ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED 7/30/11)
I had one of those periodic "school" dreams the other night. I was at Country Retreat, and it was the beginning of a "work weekend." I was rolling one of those big suitcases with wheels down a long driveway, because I just wanted to go. At the top of the driveway, a whole new batch of students, "youngsters" when I was in the group, was getting organized, with Gans encouraging, gesturing, shouting out instruction. It might have been those younger students first time at CR.
In any case, I just wanted to take my bag and go without attracting any attention or having to explain myself. I passed two teachers -- peers of mine -- on the way down the driveway, but somehow we did not engage with each other.
Then -- and this point comes in all my "school" dreams -- I realize I don't have to participate in the activity that the dream is about. I'm not in "school"!
Jo said
(Originally published 7/27/11)
Does anybody know what happened to G. and his website? He seems to have disappeared.
Sam and Jo said
(Originally published 6/28/11)
We don't know who "G" is, but that is the alias used on his/her website. ("Gans is Dangerous")
thesharonganscult.blogspot.com
There have been no new updates or comments posted there for a few months. Nor did G. respond to an email we sent two months ago... July 28, 2011 6:29 PM
Chris said
(Originally published 6/28/11)
This story presents a macrocosm of the microcosm that is "school." Same tactics, same hypocrisies.
http://board.freedomainradio.com/blogs/freedomain/archive/2011/06/13/the-handbook-of-human-ownership-a-manual-for-new-tax-farmers.aspx
"School" was a wonderful vehicle for waking me up to larger realities, for making obvious the manipulations that are taking place, all the time, all around us.
For this, anyone who has gone through the admittedly painful process of waking up, should be very grateful. I know I am.
Call Me Ishmael said
(Originally published 6/21/11)
It's good to see some activity on this board, although I would love to hear more stories of recent departure. It's been 2 years since I've left the tues/thurs NYC faction of the ganscult.
In response to recent--and excellent--"tips for survival", I'd like to offer two more suggestions:
1. Look in the world (or history) at people you admire...whether in your life or in history, famous or not...who are not "connected" with a "school.". How were they able to achieve what they did? Doesn't it fly in the face of what you are being taught?
A subset of this is to question anytime you are taught that certain people were a part of "school" or "studied with Gurdjieff". This is twofold: first, often you are being lied to. I was told Ibsen spent "30 years in an esoteric school" and that Stanislavsky studied with Gurdjieff" and that "Herman Hesse was in School". I never was able verify any of that. But here's the catch: if Ibsen DID study in an esoteric school just look at his life and you can tell it was a totally different animal than this "school." And if Stanislavsky DID study with Gurdjieff--again not verified by me--guess what? There still isn't an actual connection between G. and this so-called school.
2. Find something or someone to love who has nothing to do with school. Make it or her or him your sanctuary. Part of what helped me to leave was meeting a wonderful woman whom I instinctively knew I didn't want the teachers to get their hands on. I left school and moved in with her in the same month. We are married now, raising a family, living our lives. She knows and accepts my experience in the ganscult. And I am grateful.
Best to all,
Call me Ishmael, or Adam
Anonymous said
(Originally published 6/21/11)
I thought Sharon was freakish the first time I saw her. She stared and stared at me, trying to look through and intimidate me into thinking she was seeing something deep inside.I thought she was weird and crazy the first time I met her and didn't listen to my god-given instinct to walk away. My experience just proves that I can trust it, and halt the contradicting thoughts that are implanted from elsewhere.
Diogenes said
(Originally published 6/20/11)
it is amazing how many cults
are out there--and how similar they
are. they all abuse something
which is genuine--the powerful feelings created when people
sense a common bond and purpose.
people are so starved for this
in America. aa uses this group
phenomenon for a specific, reasonable purpose--of course,
individual abuses occur (financial,
sexual), but, considering that you
are dealing with drug addicts and
alcoholics. it is amazing how
well run aa is and how well behaved
the members are. ganscult steals
from aa. it also steals from
actors studio, another cult.
ganscult is similar to the seventh day adventists, the scientologists,
even the mormons. a real eclectic
brew. it has little to do
with the teachings of gurdjieff,
using the phrases for
hypnotic purposes. they could just as well use edgar cayce
or billy graham or christian science.
gee whiz, sharon looks like a freak. what a bunch of shell-shocked puppets must be licking
her hands. she's kind of like
quadaffi in her own little
fiefdom, cosmetic surgery and all
Allice said
(Originally published 6/19/11)
Ashiata,
I don't know if this makes up for your former friend's absurd and melodramatic reaction, but recently I was telling an acquaintance abotu "school" at the same time who was being recruited for it by a former colleague! My acquaintance extremely grateful for the information and called the recruiter, furious that a former colleague and friend had gotten involved and had toe audacity to try ensnare her in such a filthy organization.
Anyone who has not gotten caught up in the distorted thinking of the group realizes at once the truth about it when they see this website.
I know that your big hope is to try to free the people who are still caught up in the group, but remember, a big part of your audience are also people who know nothing about cults and are able to avoid this group (and others like it) because of what they learn here. That is a huge, huge service.
It's no doubt hard to see a former friend react that way, but in order to treat you like the friend you were, the person would simultaneously have to face their own misguided involvement, and all that lost time (years, perhaps) and money. Consider the "oh my god" a real reaction to that.
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