Tag: authoritarian

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The Tyranny of (the) Now…and other Spiritual Concepts

As many of you know, I’ve been reporting on the existential controls that can, and do, exist with non-dual teachers/teachings.

These controls have a surreptitious way of being masked and hidden especially under the cloak of numerous spiritual concepts.

As the Zen saying goes “Though gold dust is precious, when it gets in the eyes, it obstructs the sight.”

Born out of (the) fading patriarchal non-duality there have been many spiritual concepts that have ensured the silencing of those who have been harmed by certain authoritarian-leaning spiritual groups.

Concepts such as using one’s own discernment derided as ‘judgement’…feeling the forbidden anger at deliberate abuse (sexual or otherwise) and facing the love-and-light crowd…pre-mature forgiveness where there has been zero accountability…and the list goes on….and on.

It is in situations of harm at the hands of teachers, that there is often gaslighting….using the very teachings themselves (especially with regard to stories)… to ensure the truth never gets told.

However, there are very few spiritual concepts as potent and as radically dogmatic as the ‘tyranny of The Now’ (a perfection of descriptive words attributable to the great poet David Whyte) in silencing those who have an important ‘story-to-tell.’

Some stories need to be told…especially stories that reveal abuse at the hands of spiritual teachers.“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” ~ Maya Angelou 

There was/is the absolute necessity of telling-the-facts-of-a-story (some describe this with, yet another, spiritual concept of ‘blame’) …a process needed for removing the mantle of victimhood (there are indeed victims)…and of coming into a birthright of genuine authenticity.

I like what David Whyte has to say about this ‘tyranny of the now’ stuff:

“Maturity is the ability to live fully and equally in multiple contexts; most especially, the ability to courageously inhabit the past, the present, and the future all at once; the wisdom that comes from maturity is recognized through a disciplined refusal to choose between or isolate three powerful dynamics shaping human identity: what has already happened, what is happening now and what is about to occur. 

Immaturity is shown by making false choices: living only in the past, or only in the present, or only in the future, or even, living only two out of the three.” ~ David Whyte

  • -Presence is available in an important recounting (most especially of harm and abuse) and healing of the past; 
  • Presence is available in this here-now…and 
  • Presence is necessarily available in the planning-for-a-future.
  • In all 3-timelines Presence is the common denominator…in all time-space(s). And, for Humans, healing in all three is necessary. 

“The victim who is able to articulate the situation of the victim has ceased to be a victim: he or she has become a threat.” ~James Baldwin

In an on-line conversation with spiritual teacher Rita Friedman she responded to the very beginning of my recounting the harm by saying:

“Those caught within this particular out-of-integrity drama (https://integrityintruth.com/clarification-of-videos/), will have reckoning, trust me. 

You may be one of those vehicles for reckoning but if there is you, there are others as well, and that is a strong karmic push that will occur.

Even if you never said a word, it would…and will…occur. But I suspect that it is there so that you can burn off the mantle of victimhood.

You are doing what you are designed to do as part of that burn off.” ~Rita Friedman

And THAT may be precisely why there are so many spiritual concepts around our precious individuation…it’s a potential threat against what is commonly known as ‘patriarchal, radical non-duality.’ 

The following link describes the existential danger of radical non-duality: https://integrityintruth.com/the-existential-danger-of-radical-non-duality/

Timelines do not wield a stronger power over the Power-of-Presence. Attention is our super-power.

Thank you for reading…Warmly,

-Leslie@ integrityintruth.com

(Image: Presence, courtesy Bing Images)

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The Play of Karma and ‘As Above, So Below’

Sri Yantra and the infinitude of the sacred geometry of ‘as above, so below’ representing the exquisite Balance of all Creation: may we honor the Integrity of That.

In order to bypass the law of ‘as above, so below’ various non-dual teachings have, for years, operated within the dualistic system of separating the universe into such dualities as ‘real and unreal’ etc. 

It provides an effective and efficient barricade to any harm that might occur within any particular ‘non-dual’ framework in what has been brilliantly described as, ultimately, ‘authoritarian.’ (See ‘resources’ below)

Combine a system in which the guru is in a ‘no-loose authoritarian situation’ with some high-level siddis (occult powers) and you’ve entered into some potentially dark-matter…and ultimately controlling, territory….as was the case in this life.

The universal law of Karma, however, exists as the purveyor of ‘as above, so below.’ 

This can certainly be seen playing out in what occurred in this life at the hands of the following teachers:

Nome (and his wife Sasvati) and Russell Smith (and his wife Helga Schleiter-Smith) of SAT, The Society of Abidance in Truth in Santa Cruz, CA and Candice O’Denver, a.k.a. Candice Rinpoche of Great Freedom/Balanced View headquartered in Marin County, CA.

Karma, ultimately, is not a punishment but a balancing of energies…a ‘boomerang’ of sorts…even of those who say they are ‘beyond karma’…as Nome, himself, said many times. 

The first 8 videos in the series ‘Information I Hold’ protected the names of the teachers involved in silencing and isolating me for a decade due to being the ‘holder’ for their lies and deceptions. That time is over.

Following is the link for Video #9: ‘Information I Hold: Naming-theNames’…

Video #9 – ‘Information’ I Hold…Naming-the-Names

If you prefer to read the text of this video you can do so here:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/cnhrbr18iljk5yk/TEXT%20FOR%20%239%20video%20…for%20those%20who%20prefer%20to%20read.docx?dl=0

The names were originally withheld for a number of reasons, not the the least of which was due to an internal ‘death’ threat (Source: Nome) should any of the ‘information’ ever become public knowledge.

That time of being silenced…and threatened…ends with Video #9. I am no longer willing to continue to martyr this life for their lies nor for the cover-up occurring in the non-dual community.

In the words of Russell Smith during a taped, private session… “You will fall through the cracks.” 

Those ‘cracks’ were the lies and deceptions put forth by the above named teachers…lies which I was forced to hold, under threat, for a decade.

A series of actions creating a ‘final straw’ was the prompt to finally speak-the-names, openly and publicly, of those who are acting teachers and who are continuing to harm and control this life. This requires the silent and systemic complicity of the many in the non-dual community who are entirely willing to continue to cover for the above teachers and who, as a community, are engaging in airtight collusion and coercion to protect the lies and deceptions of the above-named teachers.

There has been gaslighting and scapegoating with regard to my reporting on the abuse by these teachers.

The actual teachings around ‘victim identification’ (there certainly are victims) and ‘story’ telling’ have been used to cast doubt and/or to shame with regard to this reporting. 

Regarding ‘stories’… what I am sharing is a truthful experience and observation of deception and overt control for the purpose of silencing.

That is not a “story”, in my worldview, rather it is a sharing of facts.

Thank you, always, for reading/listening. ❦

-Leslie

Photo Image: Sri Yantra (Bing.com/images)

Resources: ‘The Guru Papers’ by Joel Kramer and Diana Alstad