Adyashanti, the ASI (Association of Spiritual ‘Integrity’) and their Collusion to cover for the Existential Controls of Nome, Russell Smith and Candace O’Denver…
Association for Spiritual ‘Integrity’ – ASICandace O’Denver’s Great Freedom/Balanced ViewNome and Russell Smith’s SAT – Society of Abidance in ‘Truth’Adyashanti and Mukti’s ‘Open Gate’
On March 2, 2023 (Admin of) the FaceBook Association for Spiritual Integrity (ASI) Discussion Group posted:
“We are excited to let you all know that the Association for Spiritual Integrity has been invited to present at the Harvard Divinity School Conference….Jac O’Keeffe, Philip Goldberg, and Rick Archer will be leading an interactive workshop on “Lessons from a Young Organization Making a Difference,” about the work of the ASI.”
“Making a difference?!?” Given the hypocrisy of the ASI’s attendance to Harvard Divinity School Conference I wrote the following:
Is this the same Rick Archer and Jac O’Keeffe who I addressed the following letter (dropbox link below) to?
Instead of saying “How can we help?”…I was told Nome, Russell Smith and Candace O’Denver (who goes by too numerous aliases to mention) that they were NOT members of the ASI, and therefore the ASI could NOT help me.
Jac O’Keeffe and Lauren Medeiros met with me on Zoom for 30 minutes concluding ONLY that contemporary non-duality is the ‘wild west’ and…
…Rick Archer who, on a private messenger thread with @ 50 others, chided my reporting…and the voice recording at the end of the above letter describing the deliberate existential controls affecting 4-generations of my family…defiantly asked me “How’s thatgoing for ya?”(in reference to my reporting).
This case involving 4-generations of my family is arguably one of the most existentially damaging to a life/lives…not to mention to the integrity of the teachers/teachings.
Are these the SAME PEOPLE who are going to the Harvard Divinity School??
How about a live…and OPEN…meeting with one of the more significant and influential teachers who absolutely participated in the existential controls of Nome/Russ/Candice?
Namely: ADYASHANTI?
Adya could look me straight-in-my-eyes and tell me, unequivocally, that not only does he know nothing of Nome but he, himself, didn’t have his OWN HANDSdirectly involved in the ‘Compression Years.’
Truth & Integrity contain non-duality but non-duality, most definitely, does not guarantee truth nor integrity.
Warmly, ~Leslie Read
Thank you 🌷❣️…Please feel free to contact me should you have anything to share related to this content or any questions: ⚛️ Leslie@IntegrityInTruth.com
P.S.…As of March 24, 2023 the above message was removed by an admin on the FaceBook ASI Community page
In 2020 I wrote a letter to the ASI (The Association for Spiritual Integrity) describing the harm that had occurred in this life at the hands of certain spiritual teachers: Nome, Russell Smith and Candace O’Denver (who goes by various aliases).
The organization ASI (Association for Spiritual Integrity) was formed shortly after I began working on my own website: www.IntegrityInTruth.com.
The ASI provided a platform…an address…with which I addressed my concerns in a letter that detailed the existential harm to this life…and to the Truth. It was in the hopes of getting some support that I wrote this letter describing what is arguably one of the worst breaches in the awakening community.
(A link to the PDF of that letter appears at the end of this blog-post.)
Over time it became very clear that not only would no help be forthcoming but that there was inordinate cover-up and collusion for the very ‘story’ I was/am reporting on.
Shortly after writing that letter I started a private message thread with approximately 100+ people that I invited who were current FaceBook ‘friends.’
Of those 100 at least a couple dozen were/are currently acting teachers and others well known in the non-dual spiritual community.
Many well-known teachers were/are present on that thread as well as Rick Archer of BATGAP (Buddha at the Gas Pump) and
Ralitza Zaya Benazzo and Maurizio Benazzo, co-founders of SAND (Science & Nonduality Conference).
(At this time a separate letter explaining what had happened was addressed to Zaya and Maurizio. No answer was forthcoming.) Clairvoyantly I felt Zaya’s discomfort.
During the past couple of years, those on that private message thread bore witness to the unfolding of my deepening understanding of what had occurred and the nature of what, ultimately, looked like collusion and cover-up in the non-dual community.
Significantly, as I deepened in my understanding of the obvious collusion…people began to leave the thread.
While I appreciated the willingness to stay ‘on topic’ and not go down endless rabbit holes around abuse of power, eerily, there was an airtight silence regarding the harm I was describing among the folks that remained on the thread.
Why?
As the saying goes: Silence = Complicity
That silence became even more airtight as the enormity of the scope of collusion to cover for the existential harm to myself…and my family…became clearly evident.
Rick Archer…one of the founding board members of the ASI began pushing back on my reporting with the following gaslighting:
“All I’m saying to you Leslie is, this thing seems to dominate your life. Is it really your mission in life to bring these people to justice, or whatever you hope to do? How is that coming along? How long have you been at it and how much progress have you made?”
“I’m sure that these guys are putting much less attention on you than you are on them. That to which we give our attention grows stronger in our life. Want to get them out of your life? Stop giving them attention.”
In correspondence with me one person (who will remain unnamed) finally stated the unspoken obvious:
“…everyone plays dumb to maintain a whitewashed narrative — at your expense …(and) is lying about the same thing…”
Thank you for following this story and for your continued interest in seeing actual integrity in high-level spiritual teachings. ❦
Please email with any questions at: Leslie@IntegrityInTruth.com
_________________________❦
Please use the following link to access the letter to the ASI. At the end of that letter is a link to a short (22 minutes) recording detailing the harm to 4-generations of my family.(There have been several editions of this letter…the factual meaning and substance remains entirely the same.)
Controlled suppression of the ego. (Siva image first found on Jeannie Zandi’s Website.)
The following is, in part, from a ‘private’ FaceBook messenger thread where I’ve been relaying what occurred in this life at the hands of certain spiritual teachers:
Patriarchal spiritual traditions have a history of teachers manipulating families of seekers in order to achieve certain spiritual goals.
In addition to manipulating families for certain spiritual outcomes, there have been teachers who have attempted to ‘influence’ seekers by indicating certain romantic outcomes.
I’ve long described Nome as the ‘Cosmic Cupid’ as he would, quite literally, pluck people out-of-nowhere and pair them up with people in the sangha at SAT.
It was his version of the ‘arranged marriage’…so to speak.
This might even entail the breaking up of marriages that had been together 20–30 years…as long as he achieved the goals he needed and wanted.
“Yes, many teachers have done exactly that: they have split families up and/or longtime connections and marriages. This is one of their techniques of subjugation. To control the emotional and sentimental lives of their followers is one of the tools to keep people in trance. I have seen happening inmy own cult: the leaders separate friends and familymembers to deeper control their subjects. It is revolting and cruel… Unfortunately, in the so-called spiritual world amends have not been made and this has damaged many souls.”
– Maria Grazia Mori-Oakley…Prior Osho Community member – Pune
Everyone who has said: ‘change will never happen’…the ‘occult will never be able to be proven’….“How’s that working out for ya?!” (Rick Archer)… all those who have denied knowing my former teachers as well as the many, within the non-dual community who have been actively covering for my former teachers…acting in complicity and collusion…each-and-every single-one-one-of-them knows I’m telling the truth!
Yet, ultimately, I feel truth rises and there will be justice. We are seeing the last stranglehold of those aspects of patriarchy that are out-of-sinc with the new energies of our Humanity: justice, integrity and fairness.
What we are moving into is simply no longer a match with the out-of-balance energy frequency of patriarchal structures that give no credence to the Just…call it God, Source, Spirit or what you will.
Solely realizing Wholeness is no longer the singular mark of an evolved Soul. That has been made abundantly evident.
The statement “How’s that working for ya?” (Rick Archer) was made after listening to an outline of the occult controls over 4-generations of this life. His statement was indicative of the pervasive sentiment….not only of himself but of many currently acting teachers and those in leadership positions of organizations (such as SAND, ASI and his own BatGap)…all of whom have known of the harm in this life…and have remained silent.That silence of so many in leadership within the non-dual community indicated that I would have no choice but to simply accept the harm and control of these teachers.These were all people who knew of the harm…and said nothing.
In some cases the very teachings were used to gaslight the one reporting on the harm.
Yes…occult controls are nearly impossible to prove.
Anyone with any understanding that siddis (occult powers) can do anything would know that.
Yet…with the addition of naming-names and providing photos of people directly involved in collusion to cover-up harm — ALL on a public website…this story could not have been ‘made-up,’ as some have alluded to.
Furthermore, it was more-than-evidentwho was protecting the brand of Adyashanti.
From 2012 I knew of Adya’s involvement in covering for his friends: Nome, Russell Smith and Candace O’Denver.
Over this past decade it became clearer-yet that Adya was the major player in ensuring the harm at the hands of those teachers would never become public knowledge.
There were many who met with me and emphatically expressed that Adya did not even know of Nome!
Ellen Davis was one who came within a hairsbreadth of gaslighting me by indicating I was reporting on this for money. Even she must’ve realized that would be going too far.
Adya was, clearly, not the only teacher covering for his friends…yet he was/is the main one. Of all the currently acting teachers protecting my former teachers…Adyashanti is the one who has the most ‘skin’ in the non-dual game.
If I could describe the look Adya gave me as he was indicating that I should return to SAT a decade ago….one word comes to mind: arrogance.
That look indicated what I was ‘up against.’ His look indicated that there would be no way for me to overcome such ‘power’ and control.
I am not interested in power…or in the overcoming of such.
What I am interested in…and what I am reporting on…is pulling-back-the-veil involving unintegrated teachers and their deliberate control-over-others.
That deliberate control-over-others is variously known as patriarchy which, of course, is not gender-specific.
There are quite a number of current female teachers actively carrying that patriarchal shadow. Those femaleteachers still operating within the patriarchal paradigm are fully willing to cover for harm at the hands of their male counterparts…especially as seen with the submission and existential quashing of the Human ego. (The header image for this post…of Siva’s foot on the head of the ego…was first seen on Jeannie Zandie’s website.) https://integrityintruth.com/bentinho-and-the-adya-connection/
(Humans need a ‘healthy ego.’ It could be argued that, for some, the expedient path of Freedom is not the denial of an ego but, rather, the building up of the ego. This is subject for another post.)
“I have witnessed the worst side of patriarchy in the Osho cult where some of the women were involved in prostitution for the “master” and in turn were telling the, younger ones how to do it so that they could contribute monetarily to the commune and his extravagant, luxurious life-style.“
– Maria Grazia Mori-Oakley
Historically, women veered away from any sense of ‘right sisterhood’ to where women felt they were more valued (and safe) if they acted in certain ways according to the patriarchal paradigm.
This affected everything from competition with each other for men, status and ultimately their own survival…and often, and sadly, against each other.
That type of control…which was out-of-control in the Osho community will be (and more-and-more is) undermined as we each discover our own authentic connection to Truth, Spirit and the Divine.
The necessity to prove, compete, manipulate, toe-the-line or do any kind of harm to others will dissipate. At SAT this was displayed by the subtle moves by Nome/Russ playing women against each other. In fact, I remember Nome saying out-loud “Jealousy is good!”
That same dynamic is carried on with Bentinho…
The patriarchal imbalance…resulting in a type of False sisterhood…remains as long as there is any kind of channel seen to be more worthy than our own innately sourced connection to The Divine.
With our own, independent, connection to The Divine the patriarchy in spirituality will be wholly undermined.
“What we do to one, we do to the entire Web of Life.” ~Chief Seattle (Chief of the Duwamish and Suquamish tribes)
What is integration?
For those who say “I’m not the doer” and “nothing ever happens”…integration, paradoxically, means to ‘own your actions.’
Owning one’s actions is the beginning of on-going integration…and integrity.Without integrity (any) awakening is meaningless.
Four years-ago I began reporting on the lies I had been forced (under threat) to hold for non-dual teachers: Nome, Russell Smith and Candace O’Denver (who goes by a variety of aliases).
What were the lies?
The lies were in regard to the ‘supposed split’ of the teachings of the brothers Nome and Russell Smith and their formative connection with Candace O’Denver’s Great Freedom/Balanced View.
The supposed split (of the brothers) was a ruse.
When I returned to SAT (after being asked to leave ‘The Way of Sudden Awakening’) upon entering the SAT Satsang Hall there was Russell sitting on the dias next to Nome, looking sheepishly at me as I entered the hall. After that Sunday, Russell left and did not return during the remainder of my stay at SAT.
The deceptions of the purported animosity between the brothers…in order to convincingly ‘paint the picture’…was a deliberate ruse that was even taken into the Santa Cruz County court system.
These lies occurred in tandem with the coupling/marriage of teachers (primarily Nome and Sasvati, aka Judy Gilden) and their own projected fear that jealousy may ensue.
I (and by relation, my family) became the inadvertent ‘holder’ for the deceptive secrets of these teachers.
Because of that those teachers felt compelled to completely tear this life apart for the sole purpose of ensuring that their lies would never become public knowledge.
I (and by relation, my family) became the inadvertent ‘holder’ for their deceptive secrets.Because of that those teachers felt compelled to completely tear this life apart for the air-tight purpose of ensuring that their lies would never become public knowledge.So…I am forced (under threat) to hold the lies belonging solely to these teachers and for an un-embodied teaching I do not even believe in!Yes, non-duality is a ‘truth’ but without integrity it is (also) moot.
The systemic cover for these teachers/situation… occurring over this past decade+…includes many in ‘leadership’ and teaching roles in the ND spiritual community. This includes several far-reaching non-dual organizations such as SAND, BatGap and ASI.
Matt Licata succinctly described this situation as a ‘cosmic betrayal.’
It has not only been a process of my own unfolding and understanding but of a growing revelation as to the extent of complicity and collusion in what has become known as the “non-dual” community.
The dark underpinnings of control, corruption and collusion as they exist in the non-dual space are clearly evident as they played out in this complex dynamic, involving un-provable siddis (occult powers), that is, unless one uses names and photos painting a clear narrative that would be nigh impossible to fabricate.
As a loyal and devoted seeker I was the recipient of (way) more than my fair share of the ‘beneficial’ aspect of occult powers.
Having been the one who “fell between the cracks” (exact words of Russell Smith in a taped session) the burden for the lies of those teachers fell squarely…and solely…on these shoulders…and hence the literal waterfall of psychic control to ensure their lies would never become public knowledge.
Whether beneficial OR malevolent: both aspects of occult control look to remove the inherent sovereignty that is each-of-our birthright.
Portending that level of control were Nome’s own words from the early years:
“Just look at who it is you’re up against.”
Those words, alone, demonstrated Nome’s dedication to power over others.
It is no wonder there was such extreme existential control over this life.
It becomes my duty…if not Soul Mission…to bring light to this type of occult control and existential manipulation.
Unfortunately, I feel uniquely qualified to disclose where there has been…and continues to be…harm existing under the shroud of spiritual control.
Fortunately, this marks the end of a karmic SoulCycle of having been silenced at the hands of spiritual teachers for being the holder of deceptive secrets.
This may not have been something I would have chosen.
There are times when Life chooses us for a particular job.
For this devotee to be speaking out so publicly the actions of the above-mentioned teachers would have had to be so extremely violative on the existential level.
Owning one’s actions is the beginning of on-going integration…and integrity. ❦
Teachers who have no relationship with their emotions…or who consider emotions (and the body, thoughts and world) as ‘unreal’…have a tendency to control and restrict others based on fear.
This unprocessed emotional content is a real danger when it appears in an unbalanced teacher who may have realized wholeness yet is a veritable holding ground for unresolved emotional expression…in other words an un-embodied teacher.
Many say to let go of ‘the past.’ And, yet, such an admonition can also be for purposes of concealing where there has been harm.
It is in the actual telling of such a story…and the reopening of an expression that had been shut-down (under threat)…that is the release from a ‘past.’
Two decades ago I received, in the mail, a rare copy of the book “Love Letters from Spirit to You.” This edition contained a previously unpublished 4-chapters.
There was a palpable shock that went through my system as the mailman handed me the package.
The ‘missing 4-chapters’ not previously published were significant.
Jacob Beilhart was a late 19th – early 20th century American Sage with ‘community’ in the Santa Cruz Mountains.
I opened to the following…
“…when you submit to all that is in your nature regardless as to what it has been in the past, or whether it is called good or evil, and resist not their expression even as you have not resisted the right of other persons and things to express what they would to you; when you abandon yourself entirely to all that I give you and condemn not in any expressions then I shall clear away every vestige of the past. And thus will I renew you in every part.”
It goes against every grain of our very nature as free and sovereign Beings to willingly be controlled and oppressed by any authoritarian figure…inclusive of authoritarian Gurus and teachers the spiritual arena.
“Authoritarian figures are everywhere, some of them in sheep’s clothing.” This is, sadly, truer-than-true. Furthermore, there are many who are willing to collude with those who look to control others.
That said…things are happening in ‘real time’ these days so wherever there is someone’s sociopathic need to control…it will be met with the *exact measure* exposing that out-of-balance dynamic. If you have landed on this blog please refer to the section of this website titled “Clarification of the Videos” (and the drop-down menu) for the much fuller description of collusion and coercion in the non-dual community. ❦
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’…
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.
It is said that eclipses serve as catalysts for timely change. This is being written a few days before the full moon lunar eclipse in Gemini on Nov. 30, 2020 which will be followed a couple weeks later by a total solar eclipse in Sagittarius, two weeks later, on December 14. Additionally Neptune…the planetary karmic revealer is stationing direct on November 28th. More and more I am amazed at the accuracy of these planetary reflections and energetics.
In this life I have, never before, felt such a dramatic change of direction…not intention…but a radical change of direction. What I had once considered so perfectly beautiful, and true…and had, certainly, been so devoted to…now had the makings of the worst possible nightmare. As a ‘holder of information’ for high-level spiritual teachers, that nightmare has been variously described, by those who know the situation, as a ‘Soul’s torture chamber’…akin to being ‘buried alive’ and a ‘cosmic betrayal.’
Those are accurate descriptions and not-at-all exaggerated.
While this situation does not include the typical breaches of integrity commonly known as sexual manipulations (and is, most certainly, not making light of such) this particular situation is far more pervasive, insidious, systemic and dis-turbing (of Integrity) in its use of over-arching lies, deceptions, and cronyism involving cover-up, collusion, coercion and the extreme misuse of high-level siddhas (occult powers) over this life and the lives of my family.
These breaches have…and are…demanding extensive cover-up throughout the spiritual community…inclusive of other high-level contemporary teachers and certainly many in the general awakening community.
The ‘information’ I hold is in regards to the supposed separation of the teachings of Nome and Russell Smith of SAT (The Society of Abidance in Truth in Santa Cruz, CA) and Candace O’Denver, aka Candice Rinpoche of Great Freedom/Balanced View in Marin, CA. The burden for the lies regarding that supposed separation fell squarely on my shoulders…for a decade, plus.
In the (exact) words of Russell Smith, in private session many years ago: “You will fall through the cracks.”
I had no idea what he was talking about at the time. That fact of falling ‘through the cracks’ and that it was ‘not intentional to me’…were the exact words of Paul Selig’s Guides!
I knew this was not ‘intentional to me.’ There was always enormous dedication, not only student-to-teacher but teacher-to-student.
Yet…this breach, requiring enormous manipulation and suffocating control to keep it under wraps, would have never have happened without all the lying.
The lying, deflection and gas-lighting in the spiritual community regarding their knowledge of these teachers and of the situation I found myself in is systemic. This website exposes only a partial reveal of the reasons for my reporting on such over-arching corruption, coercion and collusion in the non-dual community regarding this ‘information.’
The teachers involved are high-level teachers with a certain ‘standard of gold’ teaching…and reputation.
That ‘gold-standard’ is the high-level Light.
Yet…there were lies and deceptions meant to control and manipulate seekers…some very long and devoted seekers who had given extensively, not only, of their dedication to Truth but of their time, labor and money.
The steps (occult and otherwise) taken by the main teachers to cover for their extensive and highly-coordinated lies and deceptions constitutes the high-level shadow.
This included not only high-level shadow of advanced siddhas (occult powers) in the form of ‘auric blocks’ (for control) and ‘psychic implants’ (for surveillance) utilized for top-to-bottom control by the main teacher, Nome, but shadow in the form of collusion throughout, primarily, the patriarchal Non-dual spiritual community.
This collusion included patriarchal teachers in the non-dual community as well as women non-dual teachers involved in a type of ‘false sisterhood’ based on shadow feminine energies left over from loyalty to certain patriarchy. This loyalty involved the same collusion, coercion and widespread gaslighting.
It is imperative that seekers are aware of the potential for such occult control, manipulation and extreme misuse (indeed, any misuse) of siddhas….even, and perhaps most especially, when everything seems to be pointing to high clarity and Light.
“All that glitters is not gold.” ?
(Photo image: blossom in the full of the Moon…by Max Dupain)
