“You will fall through the cracks.” -words of Russell Smith in a taped, private session.
Instead of admitting to their own lies Nome, Russell Smith and Candace O’Denver made the decision to deliberately place the entirety of the weight for their lies and deceptions…the karma of their own lies…squarely on my shoulders...and the shoulders of my family. Those lies concerned the supposed (but not true) animosity between the brothers, Nome and Russell Smith, and the supposed ‘splitting’ of the teachings with Russell leaving SAT to work with Candace O’Denver in establishing Great Freedom/Balanced View.
Leaving no stone unturned these brothers (Nome and Russell) took those lies all the way into the Santa Cruz County court system.
To cover for these deceptions these teachers required the airtight complicity of the entire non-dual community. This collusion included the certain heavyweight complicity of Adyashanti and Gangaji to deliver subtle messages that indicated their support for my former teachers. Of necessity, their messages of support had to be extremely subtle.
It was this support of Adya and Gangaji for my former teachers that kept me silent for several more years lest my telling the truth of those lies affect the trajectory of non-dual ‘awakening’ teachings.
After Bentinho came to visit, and before I ended up leaving my home of close to 20 years, I attended talks of both Adya and Gangaji in the Santa Cruz area.
As I had been isolated…due to what I was carrying for those teachers…people were ‘sent’ for companionship as well as for control. None of them would admit, of course, to any knowledge of my former teachers and of what occurred at their hands. Their denials were extensions of the deceptions. In addition to Bentinho the following people had been sent…
–Michael Harrington
–Steven Walters
–Marilyn Madden
–Kiran Trace deJaray
All of these people have very close ties with Adyashanti.
Those four (and, later, Prajna Ginty and Kristy Thompson) spent inordinate amounts of time with me.
Marilyn Madden invited me to gatherings at Prema Akasha’s home (Prema was the Creative Director for Open Gate who now goes by now Maja Apolonia Rodé) where Bentinho, Michael Harrington, Benjamin Smythe, who had his knowledge of my situation written all over his face!
That inability to hide the truth of what you know…essentially not being a good liar!…was certainly evident in in many, including currently acting teachers. Energy does not lie…and, apparently in some cases, cannot lie! In 2013 Nishkala Leslie Jennings and I attended two talks with Rupert Spira. It’s unusual for a teacher to look at you with a look of deep sympathy for no reason. It was clearly evident that Rupert knew of what I had been forced to hold. It was written ALL over his face. There was comfort in his knowing yet there would have been FAR greater comfort if he…or anyone else of the many ‘awake’ folks who have known all along…would have said “This is not right!”
With the reporting on this website some have gone to great lengths to protect Adya’s brand, for obvious reasons.
Yet, from Adya’s talks in Santa Cruz, the cover and complicity for Nome et al was apparent.
Mentioning the possibility of a connection between Adya and Nome to Sonya Amrita Bibilos, Marilyn Madden and John Thomas drew extreme reactions ( a sure sign). In the case of Marilyn Madden, her response was an over-the-top gaslighting. The reactions of those three tell a lot…yet SAT and Open Gate were always revolving doors with each other.
Being from the highly air-tight and insular SAT (Society of Abidance in Truth in Santa Cruz, CA), I knew none of these people until I was introduced to most of them by Marilyn Madden, long-time family friend of Adyashanti.
In 2012 I felt an undeniable pull to walk up to the First Congregational Church at 900 High in Santa Cruz to hear Adya.
The pull was strong and unmistakeable.
I sat in the back and, while I don’t attribute huge significance to glances, there was obvious recognition by Adya.
The talk was on self-inquiry, a practice that never felt native to my approach.
The indication in the talk was that inquiry was the only practice that would lead to true freedom.
The set up to ask a question…as with many teachers…was one of a spotlight in the front of the hall. I had a question regarding the necessity of a practice that did not feel in alignment with my own native approach.
After being called on I went up to the microphone and asked my question.
In the middle of Adya’s answer to my question he indicated for me to return to SAT!
There was no way for me to return to SAT. Yet this was a significant demonstration that Adya was lending his obvious support to Nome. There was so much subtlety and nuance to the interaction.
This message in combination with the extensively planned complicity…only some of which have been named above...point to the deeply disturbing lengths involved in what can only be called systemic collusion and complicity in the control of the lives of seekers within the greater non-dual community.
_________________ ❦
Before leaving my home on the west side I heard a song of Steven Walter’s…which I had never heard before. One day, while still at 504 King, Michael Harrington walked in when I was playing a Steven Walters CD. There was the distinct intuition that this triggered an ‘idea’ in him. This would later play out in a set-up for companionship with Steven.
When I met with Michael at The Abbey Coffee Lounge…I, later, learned that Steven was local and playing in a coffee house in Capitola. I went a couple times…still a bit in shock as I never went anywhere. This was during the ‘Compression years.’ Looking back, I can still feel the trauma of PTSD from that level of control and isolation.
Michael Harrington met with me he said…referring to Steven Walters…“Keep exercising. He likes skinny women!”
Thank you for your continued interest. ❦ If you have any questions, whatsoever, feel free to email me at: ⚛️Leslie@IntegrityInTruth.com.
(Photos of Adyashanti courtesy Google search. All other photos taken by the author, Leslie Read)
