From One Cult To Another...

[Ursus]

I am assuming the flanking photos are both of Jeff Black (Hyde days, and currently)?  Anyone remember his older brother Chris?

[Anonymous]

Is that Sarah Carlin in the front?  Old eyes fail me.

[Anonymous]

I am assuming the flanking photos are both of Jeff Black (Hyde days, and currently)?  Anyone remember his older brother Chris?

  Yes those are Jeff.  I think I remember a Black that was there and dropped out.   The whole Hyde connection seems to have worked to Jeff's advantage.  He has got control of this Dad's business.  He has the big chair at his Dad's school.  I wonder about guys like that, if they ever have self doubt, never having to prove themselves in an environment that was not tilled in their favor by consanguinity.   Does Malcolm thinks about it?  Is it an indication of a character flaw or weakness, not to strike out and make a mark that is purely your own.  Maybe if you get good tee times you don't think about it.

  You will be sad to note the reunion has been postponed to next year.

[Ursus]

I am assuming the flanking photos are both of Jeff Black (Hyde days, and currently)?  Anyone remember his older brother Chris?

Yes those are Jeff.  I think I remember a Black that was there and dropped out.   The whole Hyde connection seems to have worked to Jeff's advantage.  He has got control of this Dad's business.  He has the big chair at his Dad's school.  I wonder about guys like that, if they ever have self doubt, never having to prove themselves in an environment that was not tilled in their favor by consanguinity.   Does Malcolm thinks about it?  Is it an indication of a character flaw or weakness, not to strike out and make a mark that is purely your own.  Maybe if you get good tee times you don't think about it.

You will be sad to note the reunion has been postponed to next year.

Ha ha haaa!  I have no illusions as to just how welcome I might be there, I think I'll pass... gas...   ::kma::

If I remember correctly, there were 3 Black brothers.  I don't remember what happened to the oldest, they were always giving Chris grief, perhaps it was he who dropped out, and then there was Jeff.  Chris looked a lot different than Jeff, at least back then.  Maybe they look more similar now.

As to the rest of your post, I must say that you put it quite tactfully.  I, myself, might not have been so nice.  It is a fact of life that some of the progeny stay closer to the nest, and some venture further afield.  I should hope that in my old age, some one in the next generation might concern themselves so astutely for my well being.  That's not the same thing, I know, although it does seem to translate into that, where Hyde enters into the picture.  When coated with that oil slick that is Hyde, such demonstrations of filial loyalty take on a righteous hue that is altogether not very attractive.

[Anonymous]

I am assuming the flanking photos are both of Jeff Black (Hyde days, and currently)?  Anyone remember his older brother Chris?

Yes those are Jeff.  I think I remember a Black that was there and dropped out.   The whole Hyde connection seems to have worked to Jeff's advantage.  He has got control of this Dad's business.  He has the big chair at his Dad's school.  I wonder about guys like that, if they ever have self doubt, never having to prove themselves in an environment that was not tilled in their favor by consanguinity.   Does Malcolm thinks about it?  Is it an indication of a character flaw or weakness, not to strike out and make a mark that is purely your own.  Maybe if you get good tee times you don't think about it.

You will be sad to note the reunion has been postponed to next year.

Ha ha haaa!  I have no illusions as to just how welcome I might be there, I think I'll pass... gas...   ::kma::

If I remember correctly, there were 3 Black brothers.  I don't remember what happened to the oldest, they were always giving Chris grief, perhaps it was he who dropped out, and then there was Jeff.  Chris looked a lot different than Jeff, at least back then.  Maybe they look more similar now.

As to the rest of your post, I must say that you put it quite tactfully.  I, myself, might not have been so nice.  It is a fact of life that some of the progeny stay closer to the nest, and some venture further afield.  I should hope that in my old age, some one in the next generation might concern themselves so astutely for my well being.  That's not the same thing, I know, although it does seem to translate into that, where Hyde enters into the picture.  When coated with that oil slick that is Hyde, such demonstrations of filial loyalty take on a righteous hue that is altogether not very attractive.

   Filially.  Funny.  I was watching Triumph  of the Will a while back. Here is a clip where the youth of the nation are addressed:

http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uvdtp4AqiZg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triumph_of_the_Will

ToTW  has some really beautiful cinematography.  On the DVD release there is a commentary tract where the the word filialty was use to describe the way the underlings interacted with Hitler.

 I had a dream the other night. I my dream Joe was lecturing us on our lack of character.  It was one of those rants where he was red in the face and throwing his arms wildly.  He said "you know the problem with the Germany people? It is the same as your problem.  The Germans had no character.  They just sat there and let that man stand of front of them and rant"  Some one got up and said, "Yeah, you are right that is why we sit here and listen to you"  At that point Joe melts just like the Wicked Witch of the West does when Dorothy pours water on her. "W A T E R yes Helen yes!"

  I was thinking about reworking "I dreamed I saw Joe Hill"

I dreamed I saw Joe Gauld last night
Ranting at you and me
Complaining about the way the good Germans
show Hitler filially.
Just then some one stood up and Said "Hey Joe you are just like him"
He desolved into a cloud of dust just like he had never been.

I don't mean to pick on an old man like Joe but I really did have that dream.  It was very wierd.

BTW that is not Sara. I think the second woman is Tammi Lund and the man on the end is John Spira

[Anonymous]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uvdtp4AqiZg

[Ursus]

Filially. Funny. I was watching Triumph of the Will a while back. Here is a clip where the youth of the nation are addressed:

http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uvdtp4AqiZg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triumph_of_the_Will

ToTW has some really beautiful cinematography. On the DVD release there is a commentary tract where the the word filialty was use to describe the way the underlings interacted with Hitler.

I had a dream the other night. I my dream Joe was lecturing us on our lack of character. It was one of those rants where he was red in the face and throwing his arms wildly. He said "you know the problem with the Germany people? It is the same as your problem. The Germans had no character. They just sat there and let that man stand of front of them and rant" Some one got up and said, "Yeah, you are right that is why we sit here and listen to you" At that point Joe melts just like the Wicked Witch of the West does when Dorothy pours water on her. "W A T E R yes Helen yes!"

I was thinking about reworking "I dreamed I saw Joe Hill"

I dreamed I saw Joe Gauld last night
Ranting at you and me
Complaining about the way the good Germans
show Hitler filially.
Just then some one stood up and Said "Hey Joe you are just like him"
He desolved into a cloud of dust just like he had never been.

I don't mean to pick on an old man like Joe but I really did have that dream. It was very wierd.

BTW that is not Sara. I think the second woman is Tammi Lund and the man on the end is John Spira

Man, you really covered some territory there... Triumph of the Will... (fade into) Joe Gauld... (fade into) The Wizard of Oz... slip in a little reference to Anne Sullivan with Helen Keller... (fade into) Joe Gauld superimposed on Joe Hill in the land of Oz!  My my!

I actually did see Triumph of the Will, the full 2 hours or however long it was, quite some time ago.  I also saw Das Blaue Licht.  Almost prophetic, when you think about it... Leni Reifenstahl played the protagonist Junta in her first film (as a director), a feature film with a plot that she had more than a heavy hand in writing, and it ends up foretelling what ends up happening to her in real life, career wise, metaphorically...

I wouldn't be at all surprised if it were to come to light that Joe Gauld had studied Triumph of the Will prior to or shortly after starting Hyde.  

[Anonymous]

I had a dream the other night. I my dream Joe was lecturing us on our lack of character. It was one of those rants where he was red in the face and throwing his arms wildly. He said "you know the problem with the Germany people? It is the same as your problem. The Germans had no character. They just sat there and let that man stand of front of them and rant"

umm... i think this really did happen!  it seems so familiar to me... for some reason i am remembering the term "backbone" (instead of "character")... or maybe it was "guts"

[Anonymous]

I'm guessing this is Vanda these days, middle photo, far left, all dressed in white...

Is this a recent photo?  Why would Larry Dubinsky be participating in Hyde activities when he was fired for fondling a female underage student? Did he learn this type of "character education" at Hyde School? Guess you can't blame the guy. At Hyde they say,"the apple doesn't fall far" and he has surely been around Hyde most of his life! Wonder who his mentor was? Taught him well..........not!

[Joseph W. Gauld]

I'm guessing this is Vanda these days, middle photo, far left, all dressed in white...

Is this a recent photo?  Why would Larry Dubinsky be participating in Hyde activities when he was fired for fondling a female underage student? Did he learn this type of "character education" at Hyde School? Guess you can't blame the guy. At Hyde they say,"the apple doesn't fall far" and he has surely been around Hyde most of his life! Wonder who his mentor was? Taught him well..........not!

Face it, Sweetie, Larry was just following protocol.  He was following a fine, long-standing tradition of adult-child "mentorship" that we've had ensconced in our hallowed halls for at least the last 35 years or so.  He was just dumb enough to get caught at it, and we were stupid to accept that girl to Hyde in the first place.  I guess someone thought the mother could be more easily brain-washed like the rest of the parents so desperate to send their messed up lil Jimmer juniors to us, har har har!!!  Ah, well, can't win them all!!

I figure if we are able to retain ~40% of our students through to the end of the school year, we're still ahead of the game, financially.  And we get to keep the year's tuition of those who bail out early, har har har!!!  So, yeah, who cares about those sad-sack whiners.  They're pathetic losers anyway.  Glad to be rid of them!

Loving life and golf to the penultimate,
Joe Gauld, The Educator

[Ursus]

I am assuming the flanking photos are both of Jeff Black (Hyde days, and currently)?  Anyone remember his older brother Chris?

Yes those are Jeff.  I think I remember a Black that was there and dropped out.   The whole Hyde connection seems to have worked to Jeff's advantage.  He has got control of this Dad's business.  He has the big chair at his Dad's school.  I wonder about guys like that, if they ever have self doubt, never having to prove themselves in an environment that was not tilled in their favor by consanguinity.   Does Malcolm thinks about it?  Is it an indication of a character flaw or weakness, not to strike out and make a mark that is purely your own.  Maybe if you get good tee times you don't think about it.

You will be sad to note the reunion has been postponed to next year.

Some fruitful rummaging in the Wayback attic yielded this little apple:  "What happened at the previous reunion?"  I.e., the one five years ago, which theoretically involved the same class years, i.e., the same people, though who knows how the hell they organize these things...

Nice to see that "Hyde-Bath Head of School Laurie Hurd offered special consideration to former faculty attendee... Robert Thurrell," amongst others.  At this point, I'm beginning to see that Hyde not only covers for these odious pedophiles, but condones their victimizing actions as well.  I suppose by now I should be well-inured to the parade of evidence, but it just never ceases to amaze me, time and time again...

=====================

• Highest Scoring Golf Team (Jeff Black '78, Will Umbach '98, Hyde President Malcolm Gauld '72, and Hyde-Bath Director of Development Lavoe Davis)

• Youngest Alum (Chris Collins '01)

• Youngest Alum Baby (Joan Gallo-Guido '77)

• Longest Distance Traveled (Jeb Buffinton '78 from Paris, France)

• Earliest Registrant (Andrij Rudko '94).[/list]
The cocktail party was also a time for alumni from the classes of 1973, 1976, 1978, 1983, 1988, 1993, and 1998 to gather for group pictures, a lobster fest, and finally a gathering and dance in the Mansion.

Some reunion classes also held special get-togethers on their own throughout the weekend, including the Class of 1978, which honored its class member Mark Walters, who received his Hyde diploma during an afternoon meeting in the Mansion’s teak room.

The weekend was a wonderful experience, said Walters. The highlight was getting back in touch with old friends that I spent some great years with. It was amazing how fast the bonds formed again. I had such a great time, and we're going to start seeing each other again. These are people I hadn't seen in 26 years.

Rob Schuller deserves a lot of credit for getting in touch with me and asking me if I wanted to get a diploma. I was very much interested in that. It just kind of happened. It wasn't something I had planned on when I first started talking about attending the weekend, but I'm certainly pleased with how it did happen.[/list]
The reunion weekend wrap-up consisted of a full brunch in the Student Union, where alumni said their goodbyes and Hyde-Bath Head of School Laurie Hurd offered special consideration to former faculty attendees Bob Bertschy, Dick and Ellen Klain, and Robert Thurrell and alumni parents Paul and Claire Hurd and Perry and Pearl Collins.

After brunch, alumni, faculty, and staff, armed with exchanged business cards, addresses, phone numbers, and good wishes left in happy groups to resume their lives until the next welcome return.

Here's what some of the alumni had to say about Hyde Reunion Weekend 2003.

I want to tell you that I am in awe of whoever pulled off that weekend. All the planning was great. John in the kitchen must not have slept much all week. What a great lobster dinner! The kids loved the rock wall. It was very well done in all respects. Thank you! It was just so wonderful to see everyone again.
You all did a great job organizing the reunion. Every event was well done, the meals were great and my kids LOVED Dottie's daycare. So, thanks for everything. We had a great time.
    —Joan Gallo '77

It was good to return for the 2003 reunion. I reunited with a number of good people. It's interesting how time ticks by and so many things change, however, the effects of internal recall rarely do. It felt good to embrace these memories and the people who helped to create them.
    —Brad Upp '88

I don't know why I had not been back to Hyde in so many years. My experience at Hyde was the true beginning of a lot of spiritual growth for me. It was so special to feel the essence and spirit of the Hyde program again. Both Mike and I felt so welcomed and a part of Hyde's family. The weekend reminded me of why I have chosen my life experiences and why those experiences have come easily to me. I have a lot of self-respect today and I know it started at Hyde.
    —Lee Sewall McAleney '83[/list]

[Anonymous]

and Robert Thurrell

  The appearance at Hyde @ 40 of bob that was reported here on another thread was not a fluke.  Hyde, clearly, has no problem with his presence on campus.  There is really nothing more to say.

[Ursus]

...and Robert Thurrell

The appearance at Hyde @ 40 of bob that was reported here on another thread was not [a fluke.  Hyde, clearly, has no problem with his presence on campus.  There is really nothing more to say.

Which is, of course, actually saying quite a lot.  It would appear that one's standing in the oligarchy-that-is-Hyde matters a great deal more than the actual truth of the matter.  The so-called ten principles be damned, really.  And that does not even address common sense issues or safety concerns that any self-respecting parent in this country has a right to expect from any so-called school, let alone one that has elected itself to be the expert in character development (said credentials having been determined by the institute in question... gimme a break, they are even worse than Sue Scheff in the "self-proclaimed expert" department).

ol·i·gar·chy[/b]
Pronunciation:   ˈä-lÉ™-ËŒgär-kÄ“, ˈÅ

[Ursus]

Someone sent me a link to a story about one of these newage sewage cults on the left coast, thinking perhaps that it was about Ramtha or somehow connected to Ramtha, knowing that I was interested in them...  It turned out not to be about Ramtha, although at least one person mentions him/her/it in the lengthy Comments section that follows the article.  Nevertheless, this article turned out to be pertinent to the Hyde forum in another aspect, namely the effects on a community when its gurus engage in the sexual predation of its subjects, those treasured souls it is ostensibly teaching and guiding towards enlightenment and awareness.

Spending some time perusing the comments section after the article (highly recommended, but definitely not for just one sitting), not to mention some of the several links found therein leading one to other commentary and blogs on the subject elsewhere on the web, crystallized some formerly vague notions I had re. what exactly the attraction to Ramtha and its ilk really held for some former Hyde students.

===========================

Briefly, the article is about the following:  a husband and wife guru team have a racket that's been going on for perhaps 15-20 years, the last two or three years of which have been in Oregon.  They have separate "Foundations" but many of their devotees belong to both and there is a lot of overlap.  Husband, who's a hypnotherapist by "trade," has a relationship with one of his students that went on for about three years behind everyone's back.  

Two years into the spiel, wife finds out but helps keep it under wraps rather than spill the beans.  All the while these people are raking in millions of dollars in fees from attendees to their various retreats and seminars about finding yourself and the value of truth and honesty and what-not, not to mention all the couples retreats and seminars about how to have a more honest and fulfilling marriage, etc. etc. etc.  

Meanwhile, the third wheel on this bicycle wants out.  She wants to end the relationship and leave the cult and completely get away.  Turns out there was some pressure on the 30 years younger woman in question and she never really wanted things to go "that far."  Husband and wife put a lot of pressure on the young woman to keep quiet, but eventually it becomes clear that the truth will out.  So the husband makes a public confession and apology to the community, before the young woman can.  And then the wife gets into the act too, and wants to hold public meetings where everyone can talk about their "feelings" over this betrayal of trust and protocol.  The young woman meanwhile, was never apologized to, is totally messed up, and is suicidal.  The community is in a bit of an uproar...

The real story of this sad, tawdry tale is told in the Comments section that follows the article, as well as the aforementioned links.

===========================

[Ursus]

A Letter from a former student of Eli Jaxon-Bear and Gangaji.        
Former Leela Foundation Staff Member
Oct 07, 2006 14:32 PDT

Dearest friends -

As the hours go by and the two of us process the past four years of our lives in this community, deep layers of the cult are being revealed.  It is shocking, horrifying, humiliating, painful, pathetic, perverse, and for me at least, absolutely consuming me in rage... I want you to know that I am very clear about the fact that I am writing from deep within the heart of this rage. And I am also truly silent and still within it... This rage is not directed toward you, friends. It is rage.

I am writing this to you because I have heard that you are part of a group of people coming together to write a letter to the community about this horrible abuse of power that Eli has admitted to. I must say that some of the words I am hearing from Ashland have made me question whether there is some conscious or unconscious attempt to spin this whole thing in such a way that Eliot or Toni will be supported to teach again. At first I thought to keep silent so as not to cause more distress, but the fury that I feel when I think of them ascending an altar to teach again.... It's too much...

I have earned -- and paid for -- my right to speak in this community.  The last words Eli said to me were that he "felt hijacked" when I played my brother's song after our fixation plays in August. Hijacked? If that is hijacked, what is the word for what I am feeling now?

I write this far from Ashland, to give my perspective on things as you begin to craft a response for the community.

***

I truly hope you agree that any attempt to defend, protect, or support either Eli or Toni Varner is a fear-response that is the result of the fact that we have all been living in a nightmarish cult for the past several years. To protect them or to support them is to continue being complicit in the cult mentality. Eli is a sexual predator who abused his power in the most egregious way.  Toni was complicit in covering up that lie from the group for the past year. They manipulated us to reveal our deepest secrets and expose our deepest scars while they sat upon their thrones, passing judgements, mocking people, condescending, (throwing bean bags at those who dared question or who were too slow to learn) and lying to us the entire time about their own despicable behavior and cover-ups.

This whole event must not be framed as an "affair". We have spoken to the woman who was harmed in this event, and it is very clear that there can be no "relationship" or "affair" when there is such a great disparity of power. As you know, this woman is nearly 30 years Eli's junior and truly believed him to be the Sat-guru. She was preyed upon, "softened up", and then very nearly destroyed psychologically. You know too well that I do not exaggerate the situation. I also don't think it's an exaggeration to say that we are lucky she is alive. I wish I had the numbers at my fingertips to show just how many young women take their own lives after this sort of sexual abuse from a "spiritual" teacher.

I am not afraid of being ostracized from or exposed to the group anymore. There is no group. There are no teachers. Wasn't that the teaching all along? No teacher - no student... The only group is the one that arises, in truth and in love, from the ashes of this train-wreck. And it does not include -- for me -- the two people who have taken my money for the past four years to support their increasingly lavish, 1st class, Trump Tower, gas guzzling, philandering lifestyles. They are not just "part of the group" that we need to love and support and try to understand. They held and then betrayed great trust. They broke their part of the three-year agreement; and they broke the implicit agreement between teacher and Sat-guru. We have been asked to stop and tell the truth so that we can put an end to the suffering. Just look at all of the suffering now. What a tragedy.

I can see very plainly that the emperors have no clothes and I am prepared to make public everything I know of this if the whole truth is not revealed. While I truly do not want to be a part of any war, at this moment I feel that I would write letters to Oregon newspapers, and the newspapers of any and every city -- nationally and internationally -- in which they are scheduled to hold an event. We must not go so far in "finding compassion for the victimizer" (as we have been told to do for so many years now) and in so doing, overlook the life that has been nearly destroyed through the victimizers actions.  

If Eliot and Toni think that we will be silent and that we are all going to continue to support them, then they have clearly not felt the rage and horror that we have been hearing from people for the past 24+ hours here in New York and elsewhere. We are heartbroken and furious.

This is no joke. This is an outrage! And at this moment, yes, I am willing to lose everything. Your friendships do not compare to being true to Truth. And this truth might protect other women from falling for this man who charmed all of us into believing his rap.

I have loved you all so deeply. I hope that when we all emerge from this that we will be able to look each other in the eye and know that, in the depth of the greatest horror, we all kept our integrity. That is all that matters to me from this point forward.

With great sincerity and love -
A former student of Eli and Gangaji