June 12th, 1989
Dear ______
Out of respect and appreciation for our long friendship I write today to inform you of my recent actions.
In the final days of the month of May I posted a rather provocative letter to Robert asking him to apologize to me for seducing and molesting me as a new student. I stated further that I would no longer stand as an accomplice to his crimes by remaining complacent and silent. I have seen too many young men abused by Robert under the banner of love and enlightenment. At the height of Robert’s abuse of me he persuaded me (at Clare Bradford’s house in 1973) to give him a blow job as a necessary step to achieve awakening.
During that time he praised me daily for my talents and my great desire to awaken. But all such praise stopped once I refused to enter a bed with him. I thought then that Robert’s love was only as great as my usefulness to him but I ignored the thought.
It has taken great effort and many years for me to heal myself; to establish the proof within that a man’s worth to himself is greater that his usefulness to others. I don’t know if the Fellowship can heal itself of the same ills, but I do know it needs to. Someday members must face the truth about Robert. He is not all good and wise. Four to five hundred male students have been abused by Robert over the past twenty years. All have been led to believe that they would profit spiritually by succumbing to Robert’s advances. I have verified for myself that self remembering does not hinge on submitting one’s body to the desires of the teacher. I therefore cannot support attitudes and behavior in the Fellowship which justify such acts.
Robert has been teaching in a teapot rather than in the world, he has confused people with the fear of questioning; the fear of losing the school and the gods if they don’t see things his way. He has taught the opposite of tolerance and compassion. How much growth of the soul can be expected from so closed and restricted an environment? Everything that Robert says, all institutions in the form of the school which lead in the end to satisfying his personal desires must be questioned.
To survive in the school requires that a student choose either to observe Robert’s corruption and remain silent or to justify it. For those who choose to justify it, all understanding of the system and self remembering must be made to support Robert’s behavior. (Like Joann Keahey telling new students, and old, that Robert’s homosexuality is “One of the school’s greatest blessings”.) For those who remain silent a right understanding can develop but little room has been made in the school for expressing such an understanding. Most conflict between students arises between the differences of those two groups.
Generally Robert will give his time and attention only to those who provide him with either physical, financial or organizational support. Then those who believe that awakening depends on agreement with the teacher will do all they can to fulfill one or more of the three categories.
All this is not to say that Robert is without merit. I would not deny that he has taught me great things. It is the aggrandizing of his faults along with his virtues that I object to. Idealistic and troubled young people are quite suggestible and very vulnerable. Robert has taken undue advantage of the young much too frequently while we older students just sat by and watched. In many ways we are as much to blame as he is for the permission of this vice. And certainly it must be clear that the greatness of the school has been reduced in proportion to our allowance of this vice.
So - in response to all this I stepped out in the open, stated in no uncertain terms what my point of view is and asked for an apology. Robert, with his customary response of calling such actions instinctive, promptly called and asked me to leave the school. And of course he offered me no apology. He did admit, years ago, to molesting me but now as it was then, he felt it was his right to do so.
I had hoped for an improvement in Robert’s attitude. (In many ways he is very insecure, this is why he is so afraid of a challenge.) But alas, he remains convinced in his own mind that he is the second Christ and I doubt that he is. (C–influence may have set him up with that just like they did with the depression and how many other such things.) Personally I just can’t imagine Jesus asking his students to sleep with him, to erect his penis; to titillate his flesh. What then of his behavior if he is not the Christ?
My desire to know the mysteries began long before I joined the Fellowship. My work in the school has enhanced that desire and I’ve even managed to raise the level of my consciousness. So I can’t complain on a personal level. Now I will work alone until such time as C-influence decides to give me company. And I don’t mind this, my delight in the present is wholly satisfying and it’s nice to be free of the need for outside approval.
One last thought - I will not close myself off from friends. Anytime that you wish to see, write or talk to me I will be pleased to hear from you.
With my deepest regards
I am, yours sincerely,
(s) Thomas Easley
Thomas Easley's form letter received by the editor in 1991:
April 28th, 1991
Dear ______
First I must ask you to pardon the brevity of this letter.
After so long an interval between us a longer book size letter would
be more appropriate.I've been back in America for about nine months now. (Theenclosed article will give you a bit of idea about my activities.)
One of the reasons for my return to America is to expose Burton to
the media and hopefully the courts. While I was in India I wrote to
Burton demanding that he stop molesting young male students. His
response was to kick me out of the F.O.F.. I was one of Burtons
victims in 1972.
It has been difficult for me to find people willing to talk
about Burtons abuses. If you feel up to it I would like to hear
from you. So far B_uce H_lft is the only victim, other than myself
who has to come forward. I know this is not a happy subject and I
wouldn't be speaking about it myself if it were not for the fact
the he is still molesting young men today. I feel the truth must
come out. A silent truth give lies a voice. Burton is not a
Prophet, not the Avatar of the age, not a goddess, not the Second
Christ. He is cunning, deceitful and charismatic. That we learned
from him is a credit to our own desire for knowledge of the
mysteries. Burton is a dictator, not a teacher. His manipulation
of our minds, hearts and souls served the appetites of his own ego
agenda, not the needs of our hopes for spiritual gain.
Well I guess that's it. Again, if you feel up to it, drop me
a note or call me.
Yours Sincerely,
(s) Thomas Easley
