"Fellowship of Friends Videos" YouTube channel

[ed. - The "Fellowship of Friends Videos" project appears to have gone on hiatus after posting the lone video below. For more information, consult Google before visiting the Fellowship of Friends recruiting websites mentioned below.]

"Welcome to Fellowship of Friends Videos! We are beginning a project of uploading short videos based on content from our websites RobertEarlBurton.net, LivingPresence.com, BeingPresent.org, and more. [ed. - Indeed, many more!]

"We are a group of men and women, who have gathered together to share a lifetime pursuit of being present. Based in Northern California, with centers located worldwide, our school provides a place for aspiring souls to live and work together in an atmosphere of beauty and effort, under the guidance of a conscious teacher.

"We were founded fifty years ago on the Fourth Way teachings of George Gurdjieff and Peter Ouspensky. Today, we embrace the practical wisdom of all great spiritual traditions, recognizing that all esoteric schools teach the same thing: how to be present to your own life.

"To learn more about our school and living in the present—working with a precise method, a teacher, and the help of other dedicated people—we invite you to visit our pages or find the center nearest you."
[ed. - The original introduction to the channel continued:]

Robert Earl Burton bases his teaching on George Gurdjieff [ed. - Though Burton claims he never read Gurdjieff's works] and the Fourth Way writings of Peter Ouspensky. Over the years, he has focused relentlessly on “self-remembering,” the effort to increase consciousness by a direct effort to be present within this moment. The Fellowship of Friends channel is focused on selected themes and thoughts from Robert Earl Burton. Robert Earl Burton founded the Fellowship of Friends on New Year’s Day, 1970.

Robert Earl Burton's Fifty Years with Angels: September 5, 1967 - September 5, 2017 is published

[ed. - Robert Earl Burton's, Fifty Years with Angels: September 5, 1967 - September 5, 2017 (not to be confused with My Fifty Years with the Angels) is published. It is compiled and edited by Judith Grace, a Burton acolyte for over 42 years. To date, it is the most autobiographical, and self-congratulatory, of Burton's publications.]

 "Very early on I wondered who was helping me, and they ["C Influence" or "Influence C"] started signaling Leonardo [da Vinci]. Leonardo and I are very different, but we are also very similar from the point of view of presence. What a great founder for a civilization! We can see why Apollo is already so beautiful in its small way. Leonardo was probably the most aesthetically sensitive human in the history of the earth. His role was intended to represent the Absolute on earth. Once, when I began to work, as I was laboring, Leonardo said to me, "Trust no 'I's; be present." Then everything stabilized.

At one point when I was younger, I was receiving many shocks from Leonardo. Finally I snapped and spoke back. He whispered, "Shhhh." And I never did it again after that! I am actually Leonardo's only offspring. Like myself, he never had children in his life, and I am his only child five hundred years later. He is behind every word I speak, even though I take responsibility for it, and I am grateful. Who would not be grateful for such a mind guiding us."  - Robert Earl Burton, from Fifty Years with Angels

[ed. - The following excerpt from the Fellowship of Friends Wikipedia page appears under the heading "Doctrines of the Fellowship of Friends":]

A recently published book "Fifty Years with Angels" (first edition, December 2017), summarizes the history of the organization and expounds the current thinking as of that date. Robert Burton considers one of his roles is as a conduit for teaching communicated to him by beings he calls angels, who are the immortal spirits of men who have achieved awakening and specifically assist the Fellowship of Friends in its mission. This mission is twofold: to create the seed of a new civilization after the catastrophic doom that Burton has predicted since the early days of the organization, though the dates have been changed as each prediction has not been fulfilled, and to create consciousness in the members of the organization. At the end of "Fifty years with Angels" Burton makes the claim that he has been visited on three occasions by a being he calls the Absolute, which equates with God in other religions. Here is a quote from "Fifty years with Angels": "On June 27, 2014 we had a visit with the Absolute, a direct visit with Him Himself, but I did not feel quite ready to speak about that at the time. I spoke about it only to Dorian. It occurred right in front of the Gallery at the beginning of the rose arbor, after you walk past the four cypress trees and turn left. I knelt down and bowed, kissing the ground. Then we walked straight ahead, beyond the path on the right, where our dog Apollo was doing his business - number two - on the lawn near a tree that had died in the drought. It was the third state. Nicky Johnson was with Him. He was two meters away and he came up behind me putting his hand in my hand, saying 'Hello,darling' in a very sweet voice". He describes the second visit, on September 2, 2016, which happened during a dinner when other members were present: "In the visit, which was not a dream or a vision, He appeared in child form - World 1 with Nicky and World 3 with Deniris. The first visit was in a male form and the second visit was in a female form - World 1 and World 3 in conscious form. How much has changed from that dream to 'Hello,darling!'. On the Sunday after that second visit, on September 5, 2016, the Absolute Himself, a host of His angels, and all of His youngest conscious beings - a conscious field of presence - were with us in the Grand Pavilion. When the Absolute appeared, we focused our third eye directly on His, where He was. We focused our third eye directly on presence and the problem was solved. We were all conscious. That is why He came - because there were conscious beings here who could relate to and understand His visit."^[8]

Presumed self-portrait of Leonardo da Vinci
Wikimedia Commons

"Don't Pick up the Ball"

[ed. - Howard Kingston, a former Fellowship of Friends member, shares a humorous and (appropriately) irreverent anecdote about his one-time guru, Robert Burton. Howard was punished for participating in the 1994 "uprising" (awakening) within the ranks of Burton's followers.]

YouTube introduction: "Howard Kingston shares his story 'Don’t Pick up the Ball!' Howard Kingston, in 1978 has his mind blown when he is told the difference between subjective and objective and is told to read “In Search of the Miraculous” by Russian philosopher P. D. Ouspensky, and joins a cult as a result."

The story is also available on Tell Us Something.

"Somms Are Obsessed with a ‘Cult’ Wine Bottled by a Fringe Religious Group"

vinepair.com[ed. -  The Fellowship of Friends has long been desperate to move a large inventory of older (some decades-old) Renaissance wines from its cellar. In a move that is reminiscent of Renaissance founding winemaker Karl Werner's departure from Callaway in the 1970s (Werner was offered a large inventory of unmarketable Callaway red wines at bargain prices,) it appears Gideon Beinstock may have brought a creative solution to Renaissance's long-standing overstock (and image) problem.]

From: vinepair.com

By: Courtney Schiessl @takeittocourt

A smattering of under-the-radar, late-1990s Cabernet Sauvignons from the Sierra Foothills have started appearing on top wine lists in the past several months. The 1997 vintage of Taken from Granite, the California label in question, is available by the bottle at New York City fine dining restaurants Union Square Cafe and Momofuku Ko. Manhattan wine bar Terroir Tribeca offers $30 by-the-glass pours of Taken from Granite, and retail shops such as Vine Wine in Brooklyn have plentiful supplies of Taken From Granite cuvées as well.

These 20-year-old bottles aren’t “cult wines” in the traditional industry sense. Oenophiles generally use that term to indicate wine that is both highly sought-after and difficult to find, both of which often make said wine quite expensive. Taken From Granite is cult wine in a slightly more literal sense. These well-priced, aged wines, just re-labeled and re-released by noted California winemaker Gideon Beinstock, originally came from Renaissance Vineyard and Winery — a historic property owned by Fellowship of Friends, an international religious organization and purported cult.

Read more at vinpair.com

A Vision for Vineyards

Renaissance Vineyard and Winery is not a new name in California wine. The winery has received many critical accolades, and the wines were even poured at a Republican National Committee gala in honor of Ronald Reagan’s birthday.

But Renaissance wasn’t created with the intention of becoming a benchmark California producer. The winery was a byproduct of Fellowship of Friends founder Robert Earl Burton’s vision: a Mediterranean paradise for his followers called the Apollo Compound.

The sprawling, 1,300-acre Apollo Compound in Yuba County in the Sierra Foothills, upon which Renaissance resides, was created in the 1970s. Burton’s Mediterranean vision included vineyards and olive groves, and so they were planted.

Despite Renaissance being the religious group’s side project, Sierra Foothills wine lovers can actually thank Fellowship of Friends for paving the way for the region. It was Renaissance that first applied for North Yuba, California to have its own AVA in the mid-1980s. The tiny but well-regarded area is now known for its decomposed granite soils (hence the name that Beinstock chose for these re-labeled bottles).

A Winemaker’s Roundabout Journey

Fans of Beinstock and his sought-after Clos Saron wines might want to praise the Fellowship as well; had Beinstock never become acquainted with Fellowship of Friends, he likely wouldn’t have started making wine in the first place.

Long before Beinstock gained a reputation as a crafter of small-production, low-intervention Pinot Noir and Syrah wines under the Clos Saron label, he was an Israeli artist and philosopher living in Paris. While reading the works of George Gurdjieff, who inspired Burton to launch Fellowship of Friends, Beinstock discovered the group. He soon became involved in the Fellowship community and helped to first plant the Renaissance Vineyard in the 1970s.

Bitten by the wine bug, Beinstock sold Renaissance wine for years. In 1994, he moved to the Apollo compound and became its sole winemaker. He streamlined Renaissance’s production, pulling out vine varieties that didn’t work in the Sierra Foothills’ climate, and became the face of Old World-style, terroir-driven, low-intervention winemaking in the region.

In the early 2000s, Beinstock grew disillusioned with Fellowship of Friends’ philosophies and practices. But his dedication to that style of winemaking persisted, living on through Clos Saron. Ironically, it’s because of Renaissance’s ownership that Beinstock was even able to get his hands on some of his old bottles. Fellowship of Friends is technically classified as a non-profit organization, and Beinstock purportedly felt that the group had no need or desire to run Renaissance like a business. Beinstock was given the opportunity to buy back some of his favorite cuvées from Renaissance’s remarkable library of unsold, back-vintage wines, and he re-labeled them Taken From Granite. Curious wine drinkers need look no further than the cork to verify a bottle’s origin; their corks still say “Renaissance.”

Three Taken From Granite cuvées are on the market right now. The most widely available is the “Village” Cabernet Sauvignon from California’s epic 1997 vintage. Not only do these wines offer oenophiles a chance to experience aged, balanced Cabernet at comparatively affordable prices, but they give super-geeky Clos Saron Pinot Noir and Syrah fans the opportunity to taste what kind of restraint Beinstock can bring to Bordeaux blends. Most would be shocked to discover, for instance, that the 1996 “Élégance” variety has a mere 12.6 percent ABV.

A generous supply of Taken From Granite exists right now, but there’s no guarantee whether or not Beinstock will be able to get his hands on more aged Renaissance juice in the future. Complicating things further, Renaissance has considerably decreased its wine production, and the compound now has only 50 acres planted with vines.

Taken from Granite could disappear as quickly as it arrived. Wine lovers should seek it out now, before prices go up, availability goes down, and Taken from Granite becomes a “cult” label in every sense of the word.

Gideon Beinstock has become known for his amazing Clos Saron wines, but the history goes back much further than that. A long and winding road from growing up in Israel, an artist’s life of painting in Paris, helping to plant the Renaissance Vineyards in the 1970’s, international wine sales, and finally finding his way into winemaking at the very same vineyards he had planted almost two decades earlier. It was there at Renaissance that he began learning his craft and made the first of his incredible wines.

Gideon left Renaissance in the late 1990’s to found Clos Saron, just a few miles down the road, but has always felt a connection to Renaissance, both as a piece of his history, and also as a totally unique and special terroir.

Which brings us to the present: Gideon was given the opportunity to reclaim some of the greatest wines he made during his time at Renaissance! These wines have never left the winery and have been aging perfectly, undisturbed for the past two decades.

The cuvees that were hand-picked by Gideon are showing outstandingly right now, and should continue to age gracefully for years to come.

Notes from Gideon:

Pre-1995, like all self-respecting Cali wineries, Renaissance was producing an ‘Estate’ and a ‘Reserve’ Cabernet.

In 1995, I broke the Reserve down into three cuvées, with more specific expressions: 

1. “Première Cuvée”, a varietal Cabernet Sauvignon (min. 75%), was meant to continue in the tradition of the older Reserve tradition of long lasting, powerful, blockbuster wines.
2. “Claret Prestige”, a non-varietal wine, was meant to be the most elegant, aromatically complex, harmonious wine we could achieve every vintage by the blending of (mainly) Bordeaux varieties.
3. “Vin de Terroir”, 100% varietal Cabernet Sauvignon, selected every vintage from (either the same or any) specific micro-site in the vineyard for its clearly distinctive expression of terroir.

The names we chose for the Taken From Granite wines are related to the original stylistic goal of each cuvée:

-“Village” is the ‘Estate’ made from all the various slopes combined.
-“Soleil" is the “Première Cuvée”.
-“Élegance" is the “Claret Prestige”.
 
About 400 cases of each was produced every vintage between 1995 and 2002 (with a few exceptions). All the grapes for these wines came from a few vineyard sites (we referred to them as ‘slopes’), which were determined as the best we had (our “Reserve Slopes” - mainly Slope 1, 16,  and 21).

***The “Vin de Terroir” may or may not appear under the TFG label, as of now it is unreleased and TBD***

Products

Cabernet Sauvignon "Soleil" Renaissance Vineyard 1995
Cabernet Sauvignon "Village" Renaissance Vineyard 1997
Claret "Elegance" Renaissance Vineyard 1996

Fellowship of Friends and Yuba County settle for $310K

The Fellowship of Friends asserts the Galleria “remains exclusively a place of religious worship and ceremonial
religious events,” while others describe it as the playground of the "goddess" Robert Earl Burton and his male harem.

[ed. The Fellowship of Friends and Yuba County have settled a three-year-old lawsuit over the Fellowship's tax-exemption claims. See also, "Fellowship of Friends sues Yuba County over tax status" and "Claim for refund of taxes paid."]

Fellowship of Friends and Yuba County settle for $310K

Appealdemocrat.com

By Rachel Rosenbaum/ rrosenbaum@appealdemocrat.com

A Yuba County foothills religious organization and the county reached a $310,000 settlement in a lawsuit nearly three years after it was filed.

The Fellowship of Friends, of Oregon House, filed the lawsuit against Yuba County and its Board of Supervisors in 2014, claiming it was erroneously and illegally taxed between 2009 and 2013, when the county assessor refused to recognize the Fellowship’s right to religious and welfare exemptions. It asked for a refund and a declaration that the center be protected – through religious exemptions – from future taxation.

The central focus of the suit is the 5,600-square-foot building referred to as the Galleria, which houses collections of books, arts and antiquities which “occupy an essential place in the practices of the Fellowship,” according to the settlement. Formal services, meals and other events of sacramental nature occur at The Galleria, according to the complaint.

The Assessor’s Office investigated and determined that the Fellowship is entitled to a tax year 2017-18 welfare exemption based on religious use for the Galleria Property – which is valued at $3.3 million, according to Appeal-Democrat archives.

According to the settlement, the Fellowship must pay and has paid any taxes owed through tax year 2016-17 for the property, and will be provided with a partial refund of taxes for the years put at issue in the complaint.

The Assessor’s Office determined the Fellowship is entitled to welfare exemptions for some of its additional parcels or portions for tax year 2017-18:

– 3.28 acres of the administrative office.

– 1.07 acres of the Galleria gardens.

– 1.4 acres of the Festival Hall.

– 8.95 acres of the Theatron and its surrounding gardens.

Yuba County will pay the Fellowship $310,452 in a series of three payments: $150,000 within 30 days of the agreement; $85,452 no later than June 30, 2018; and $75,000 no later than June 30, 2019.

In return, both the Fellowship and the county agree to “maintain the status quo of the terms reflected in this agreement for a period of 10 years.”

Specifically, the Fellowship agrees to not file exemption applications with the county for any of its currently assessed properties other than welfare exemption applications for the Galleria Property for a period of 10 years, and will submit annual exemption applications for its exempt property under the welfare exemption.

The Fellowship, headquartered at 12607 Rices Crossing Road, Oregon House, describes itself as a nondenominational church with principles based on “universal religious teachings that transmit the art and science of recognizing and experiencing a Divine Presence,” according to Appeal-Democrat archives. There are 1,600 members of the church in more than 30 countries throughout the world.

The Fellowship sought tax exemption for the Galleria in the mid-1980s, but the county denied the application on the grounds the Galleria was not used exclusively as a museum, the complaint said.

In the early 1990s, the Fellowship obtained a conditional use permit to operate a museum, but the permit required several “burdensome conditions of approval” and the “onerous and expensive conditions” were never initiated and the permit expired, according to the complaint.

The Fellowship closed the property to the public and it now “remains exclusively a place of religious worship and ceremonial religious events.”

Yuba County Administrator Robert Bendorf said settling for approximately half the amount that was originally asked for by the Fellowship is a win for the county.

“Considering the initial lawsuit filed and seeking four years of refunds of taxes, we feel the settlement is very fair to both parties,” Bendorf said Thursday.

CONTACT Rachel Rosenbaum at 749-4771 and on Twitter @RaeRosenbaum.

"(Robert Earl Burton) is a professional predator."

Sasha Shalapanov, Robert Earl Burton, Dorian Matei, with god, er...dog.

[ed. - Michael Shelton, a self-described Mormon apostate, has created a series of podcasts examining cults. In this podcast, he addresses Robert Burton and the Fellowship. Though the narrative may be disjointed and difficult to follow, the final few minutes offer a clear-eyed assessment of dynamics at work in the Fellowship, that are common to most destructive cults. 7/1/21 update: Shelton's podcast, "Robert Earl Burton Fellowship of Friends Cult" is currently unavailable.]

    (http://one-man-lost.blubrry.net/2017/10/02/robert-earl-burton-fellowship-of-friends-cult/)

“Here's an easy way to figure out if you're in a cult: If you're wondering whether you're in a cult, the answer is yes.” - Stephen Colbert

[ed. - See also 44 personal stories of Robert Earl Burton's abuses.]

Robert Earl Burton - A Fourth Way Teacher for Today

[ed. - The robertearlburton.org domain now forwards to the WordPress blog Robert Earl Burton - A Fourth Way Teacher for Today (below). As previously mentioned, Burton and the Fellowship have had an on-again, off-again relationship with The Fourth Way, even resorting to such extreme measures as banning the works of Gurdjieff and Ouspensky! And it is indeed a stretch when the biography below states that Alex Horn was "affiliated" with the Gurdjieff Foundation and that Horn "studied" with Rodney Collin. But Robert Burton's (and the Fellowship's) credibility depend upon establishing a clear (though at best tenuous) link to the Fourth Way Lineage. And in that pursuit, truth is often sacrificed.]

Screenshot from Fellowship of Friends blog, Robert Earl Burton - A Fourth Way Teacher for Today

50th Anniversary of the legendary meeting with Influence C

Photo and quote from Burton's Fifty Years with Angels. "This is the house at 350 Page Street where I had
my prospective student meeting, implying the turning of the final page before our school was to begin."
(The homes pictured are actually 290-294 Page Street.)

[ed. - According to Robert Burton, he first met Alex Horn, his direct link to The Fourth Way Lineage, and the gods (also known as "Influence C") on September 5, 1967, in San Francisco, California. The following was transcribed from a meeting Burton led on the 44th anniversary of that sacred event. At the time, his recollections were accompanied by photographs.]

The extraordinary meeting with Influence C, as retold 44 years later, on September 21, 2011, in Robert Burton's own words:

“On September 5, 1967, I met Alex Horn. This date marks the moment when angels from Paradise descended upon us [the royal "us"?], and our quest for divine presence began. We could say that on this day: ‘It has begun.’ Here [referring to a photo] we see a photograph of Alex Horn, showing four fingers on each hand. This [referring to a photo] is the Claremont Hotel and the Berkeley Tennis Club, where I played tennis. I met Influence C hitchhiking because it was just fashionable in the sixties; one would hitchhike from Berkeley to Carmel, and such things. I met Influence C in Berkeley on the crossing of Ashby and Domingo Avenues, like Placido Domingo, the singer. He was born in Spain and raised in Mexico, so it is an omen of my bringing the sequence – the Song of Solomon – to our school. Incidentally, the sequence is a ‘Song of the Self.’ It is four words. This is where our journey began. A doctor picked me up and gave me a ride. He would later turn out to be payment for Dr. Ethan Harris. So we did very well! The doctor was on his way to a prospective student meeting on Page Street (like William Page) in San Francisco. This [referring to a photo] is the house at 350 Page Street where I had my prospective student meeting. It is eight – three plus five. This [referring to a photo] is the interior. The owner was quite gracious about inviting us in. Here [referring to a photo] I am before the gated entrance. … I am looking up in gratitude to Influence C. I was just like you, one of many, one of seven billion. [ed. - World population was around 3.5 billion at the time.] There was no particular reason on the surface they would give any of us this gift, but we are exactly the ones they wanted. And now we are all present and we can see why they wanted us.”

The actual 350 Page Street

"Insider" wrote on the Fellowship of Friends Discussion blog, September 2, 2017:

September 5, 1967. Fifty years ago, this coming Tuesday.

In case anyone misplaced their scorecard, that’s the day Robert Burton met Alex Horn. At least according to the version of their meeting as told by Burton. Well actually, he has rarely made it clear that he met Horn on that day. What he says is that’s when he met “Influence C.” But a very sharp “student” figured out some years ago that that date of meeting “Influence C” and Alex Horn coincided, and that Alex Horn must be “Influence C.”

In any case, he has been celebrating the 50th anniversary of “Meeting Influence C” for a year now. And right now is the big weekend, not only the culmination of another “Journey Forth” gathering (and a large one), but the pinnacle of a year-long build-up of excitement. Endless meetings (4 in 5 days, 3 days in a row, through Tuesday), dinners, “fund-raising” activities, a performance of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony. And I’m willing to bet that “The Absolute” will make his Fourth appearance sometime this weekend, probably on Tuesday, Sept 5. Perfect.

And the 2 nearby fires are also perfect, the smell of smoke, the extreme heat warning this weekend.

Pity the money-counters having to work all that overtime (without pay). Pity, too, the chefs working in 100+ temps to feed the masses visiting from the around the world.

But especially pity the 1500 or so lost souls who still believe that Robert Burton holds their ticket to Paradise, and who have given all their will and power and personal responsibility to a fake guru.

Well, at least everyone gets what they wish.

Robert Earl Burton - Thoughts from a Fourth Way Teacher

[ed. - As the inevitable passing of the torch approaches, The Fellowship of Friends has introduced new Robert Earl Burton hagiographies.

The domains "robertearlburton.net" and "robertearlburton.com" both direct to the "Nature of Presence" WordPress blog (below). The blog is the latest in the endless shuffling of Robert Burton aphorisms paired with "meaningful" images. New look, "same old jive" (as Miles Barth once called it.) Curiously, Burton and the Fellowship have had an on-again, off-again relationship with The Fourth Way.]

Screenshot of Fellowship of Friends blog Robert Earl Burton - Thoughts from a Fourth Way Teacher

"Golden Veil" wrote on the Fellowship of Friends Discussion blog, April 3, 2018:

102. trenchant – April 2, 2018

The link you put shows only an image and I can’t tell what it is about. Re-post?

The folksy commentary by Jodi and Jess gets heatedly critical near its end. I don’t know who they interviewed, but notwithstanding their “scientific” mindsets, it’s a pity they didn’t see evidence of the sex abuse lawsuit that was settled out of court by at least one underage male member. I had never heard of REB’s own, rather unimpressive website until listening to the podcast.

http://www.robertearlburton.net/

"Associated Press" wrote on the Fellowship of Friends Discussion blog, April 3, 2018:

Re: robertearlburton.net

More FoF drivel.

"Insider" wrote on the Fellowship of Friends Discussion blog, April 3, 2018:

103, 104. [Above] This site was not designed to say anything useful, truthful or profound, which is why it does not. The plan, hatched a couple of years ago, was to flood the internet with pro-FoF sites, so that someone searching for the FoF or for Burton would have a decreased chance of finding this discussion forum fofdiscussion.wordpress.com or the “REB blog” robertearlburton.blogspot.com.

As we all know by now, once a fish is reeled in and given their introductory meetings, nothing further is said about Gurdjieff, Ouspensky, or “the 4th Way.” There is not a trace of the G-O system or teaching coming from Burton, Matei, Haven, or anyone else. Instead the gullible fish is taught the real secret of eternal life: orbit Robert Burton forever; mindlessly repeat Burton’s ridiculous “Sequence;” pay, pay, and pay some more; then follow Burton to Paradise.

"The Fellowship of Friends: A Cult of Gentlemen"

[ed. - "The Critical Unbeliever's" take on the Fellowship of Friends. Apparently drawing entirely on internet sources, including this blog, the video's creator appears to have no first-hand knowledge of Burton and the Fellowship. His narrative is reasonably coherent and generally on the mark, though a number of factual errors (and some very bizarre graphics) detract a bit from the overall impact.]




[ed. - Some comments the video has drawn on YouTube:]

"Fellowship of Friends.. with benefits."

"Herpes benefits."

"Great, that's all we need, another cult ravaging our country, literally it would seem."

"I left that cult in April 1981 but it was before I learned of any of this when I came in contact with other students who had left, did some research and learned the truth around 1998. Thanks, excellent work. I'm 78, and was beginning to wonder what stage his health was in. Many of his photos reveal dark eyes and more."

"Amazing video, absolutely astounding."

"My gosh that's horrible. Good video though"

"Awesome video! that must have taken a lot of research, and time to put together. thank you"

"Amazing video! Dang.."

"Very well done videos. Keep it up!"

"Very interesting"

"I was a member of this group in the mid-70's." [ed. - a "higher force"!]

"Wow, I am very interested in speaking with you in the future. Got an email?"

"Yeah. What interests you about them? Curious. Happy to chat with you."

"I suppose the easy question is, did anything in my video strike you as inaccurate?"

"Youtube is an awkward place for these conversations but here is my email, please contact me when convenient. Criticaldisbelief@gmail.com"

"Okay, I know I should really watch the whole video before making a random, pointless comment... But that's what the edit button is for, and...'Fired for hugging the children too much.' Is that all? Just hugs? Are they SURE they didn't notice something weird about his... clothing? Whilst hugging the children? Specifically the clothing that isn't his shirt, shoes, jacket, or socks. Yeah. You know what I mean. That leaves one option left."

"what is REB hiding under his purple trilby!!!!!????"

"I actually couldn't care less about people who join cults."

"What is this proof of a cult?! I was interested in learning of a cult near my home town but this shit is so laughable. Please post legitimate information, legitimate proof, some actual info on this cult. I truly want to learn about this but this is all nonsense"

"So, would you say running a work camp for people that believe he speaks to 44 angels and can predict the future is something a cult wouldn't do?"

"I would say Hitler would kick a kitten but that doesn't make every person who kicks a kitten Hitler now does it."

"That doesnt make any sense. I think you should review the definition of the word cult. Maybe you expect black cowls or something? I assure you, the majority of cults are high control groups without any scary imagery. I imagine thats what you're looking for, pretty unrealistic."

"haha not at all. This is merely a delusional sexual deviant who at best ran a co-opt and still definitely not a cult"

Fellowship of Friends launches "Fourth Way Today" website

[ed. - The Fellowship of Friends Council, led by Rowena Taylor (Renée Taylor), has rolled out a "new and exciting" format for their recruiting efforts. See Fourth Way Today.]

The Fellowship of Friends registers "robertearlburton" domains

Robert Earl Burton in polka dots

[ed. - Six years ago, when this blog was established, I registered the domains "robertearlburton.com" and "robertearlburton.org" but allowed the contracts to expire after one year. Now it appears Ezio Luccini of The Fellowship of Friends has registered those domains, in addition to the "robertearlburton.net" domain, through NameCheap, a Panamanian-based web-hosting service.

Perhaps developed by an "online reputation management" service hired by the Fellowship to do some damage control, the strategy obviously seeks to displace this blog in search result rankings. Such a scheme may however backfire if it results in Fellowship members stumbling upon this blog rather than the Fellowship's (and thus learning the truth about their organization!)]

"Insider" wrote on the Fellowship of Friends Discussion blog, April 3, 2018:

103, 104.

This site [ed. - http://www.robertearlburton.net/] was not designed to say anything useful, truthful or profound, which is why it does not. The plan, hatched a couple of years ago, was to flood the internet with pro-FoF sites, so that someone searching for the FoF or for Burton would have a decreased chance of finding this discussion forum (fofdiscussion.wordpress.com) or the “REB blog” (robertearlburton.blogspot.com).

As we all know by now, once a fish is reeled in and given their introductory meetings, nothing further is said about Gurdjieff, Ouspensky, or “the 4th Way.” There is not a trace of the G-O system or teaching coming from Burton, Matei, Haven, or anyone else. Instead the gullible fish is taught the real secret of eternal life: orbit Robert Burton forever; mindlessly repeat Burton’s ridiculous “Sequence;” pay, pay, and pay some more; then follow Burton to Paradise.

Ames Gilbert's liberation plea

I think I could turn and live with animals, they are so placid and self-contain’d, I stand and look at them long and long.

They do not sweat and whine about their condition, They do not lie awake in the dark and weep for their sins, They do not make me sick discussing their duty to God, Not one is dissatisfied, not one is demented with the mania of owning things, Not one kneels to another, nor to his kind that lived thousands of years ago, Not one is respectable or unhappy over the whole earth.

― Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass: The "Death-Bed" Edition

"Ames Gilbert" wrote on the Fellowship of Friends Discussion blog, July 23, 2017:

To everyone who is currently a member of the Fellowship of Friends.

Of course you have been advised to not read this blog, so I’m almost certainly wasting my time with this appeal. But maybe a psychic vibration will get through, or someone will pass it along…

You have a great opportunity RIGHT NOW to end the madness.

There is some part of you that recognizes that you have been led down a dark and dismal path, no matter how gorgeous the externals, the trinkets and ornaments and endless ‘cultural’ activities, no matter the beautiful surroundings. There is something inside you that recognizes these are masks covering the corruption and emptiness. As Burton gasps his last breaths, the ‘leaders’ he has appointed or who have clawed their way into the limelight are deciding your future. You have become very used to others making the important decisions in your life, but I beg of you now—take back your power and break free of these people and their machinations.

Withdraw your support, leave the organization now, let it wither as it should have done decades ago. Do not accept the claims of the would–be ‘leaders’, why should you? They are just very ordinary people who have been lent spiritual and temporal authority by Robert Burton. Without that, they have nothing, are nothing. Why should you follow their directions? They have spent decades being mere ciphers, mouthpieces for Burton, and every one of them carries very heavy baggage of their own.

They were chosen by Burton for their weaknesses, not their strengths. They were chosen because they were more willing than you to give up their chances for individuation. They were chosen because they are consummate ‘yes men’ and ‘yes women’, not because they have the abilities to manage the organization in the absence of Burton.

Take Dorian Matei, for example. Do you want someone who sells favors for sex to take over your spiritual path? Or Linda Kaplan/Tulisso, do you want someone whose sole moral guidance is, “I was just following orders” to teach you likewise? Do you want those like Steven Dambeck who would do anything that Burton ordered, regardless, without question or compunction or care for the consequences, to act as an example for you? Do you want any of the other slimy sycophants who did whatever was necessary to please Burton to gain ultimate power in the organization? Do you want the weak fools who comprise the Board of Directors, who were especially selected by Burton because he knew they would never take any independent action, to lead you? Do you really want any of these and other contenders for power to take charge of all the things that are important in your life?

You may have believed that Burton was connected to or even represented higher powers, and that those he has selected and groomed to take over have their approval as well. But, look back at the history. Every single person that Burton anointed as a ‘future conscious being’, with the sole exception of Girard Haven, turned out to be a dud. So, do you want someone like Girard to be your leader? Someone who advises you to abandon the idea of verification and instead look for evidence to support received wisdom, you wish such a person to guide you? What does Burton’s sorry record on that score say about his capabilities to choose those who would follow him? Why has he surrounded himself with people that wholeheartedly and uncritically supported his fantasy, and who never aspire to graduate from his ‘school’, don’t even consider it possible? Why do none of them ever stand up to him? When the new management takes over, you will be required to give your unconditional support to people who were chosen for their colossal weaknesses, not strengths. So, don’t tolerate or condone it! Whatever your history in the Fellowship, recognize that it is over. It’s over. The prophecies were false, the signs and numerology were fake, there never was some justifying ‘grand purpose’ to the ‘school’, the whole setup is dead and rotting from the head downwards. C’mon, do you really want to go to any more meetings where the ‘leaders’ mouth yet more platitudes, cherry–pick quotes from dead philosophers out of context, project fake meanings into ridiculous symbology and numerology, claim false connections to higher wisdom, snare you deeper and deeper into the fantasy. Do you want to spend the rest of your lives trying to square the circle over and over again?

So what happens if you men and women stop the nonsense right now, individual by individual? Well, it’s certainly a risk, no question about that. You are heading into unknown territory, especially internally. But, nothing stops you folks being a community and supporting each other. I understand—you have friends, family, houses, jobs, commitments. But, you don’t have to lose any of this. You don’t have to stop trying to be present (though you might want to question the techniques you’ve been told to use), you don’t have to cut yourself off, you don’t have to cut others off, and you can learn to make new friends. You can carry on trying to be a decent human being. You can start to forgive yourself for your complicity in the enormous boondoggle. But not if you stay and support another generation of charlatans.

Really, what on earth can Dorian Matei offer? He has nothing but borrowed authority, pat phrases with no meaningful content, and an acquired taste for loud clothing. He wants your money, your adoration and plenty of sex, like Burton. Of course he does, he has spent twenty years or more exploiting the accidents that allowed him to move from Romania and end up in the U.S., with the status of princeling. He has became accustomed to this lifestyle, all courtesy of Burton’s physical desire for him and his own ruthless cunning. But why should you let this continue? Why should you deliver yourself into his clutches? He has nothing of value to offer you, he is empty inside, he has spent his adult years conforming to Burton’s will and giving up all possibilities for individuation and graduation. The same goes to any of the contenders for power.

Do you really want those who pursued ‘consciousness at any price’, but have no idea of value, who think that the ends justifies the means, who are willing to squash their consciences so they could fit in and ascend to the temporal power they so desperately crave, who want you to do the same, who want you to give them unquestioning obedience, your money, maybe your body, and most importantly, your psychological power—do you want such people to control your lives? In a few weeks, whoever is the most ruthless will have consolidated their power, and you will be required to conform to their vision, to pledge loyalty to them in all areas of your life. Is that what you really, really want?

End it now. Take your future in your own hands. Step away, and end it now. For your own sweet sakes, end it now.

"Ames Gilbert" wrote on the Fellowship of Friends Discussion blog, July 27, 2017:

Seems like Dorian Matei and Sasha Shalapanov, previously both anointed ‘future Man #5s' by Robert Earl Burton, have taken over as front men for the Fellowship of Friends. Supported, presumably, by ‘older students’ such as Rowena Taylor [Renée Taylor], and the Board and Spiritual Council of the FoF.

Last Friday, Sasha ‘led’ a meeting of the faithful, and last Sunday Dorian did likewise.

The words of Sasha Shalapanov (he of the clown costumes) have not yet been relayed to your humble blogger; no doubt they also consisted mostly of similarly vague and soporific generalities. The point—kindly keep the bubble of the joint fantasy inflated with worship and money. But during a vapid monologue lasting 70 minutes, Dorian Matei took incoherence and the very essence of the insubstantial to new levels of vapidity (sample follows).

His performance was apparently highlighted with images of Burton, photos taken that same day. Maybe someone will post them, but my initial impression was that neither Dorian or Sasha grasped any of the essential principles from the correspondence course in Basic Taxidermy that they had obviously ordered and studied in haste over the preceding days. Their first publicly revealed experiment was a sad indictment of both the course ($39.95 including shipping and handling, from the College of Steer Preservation Technology, 44/45 Slaughterhouse Ave., Chicago, IL60618), their own abilities, and the facilities in the Galleria kitchen. So, Big Fail. My objective advice: practice a whole lot on smaller roadkill first.

Dorian started his monologue with the words below. Imagine them continuing in the same vein for the rest of the seventy minutes. No questions, comments or observations allowed, during or after.

Summary: Everything is fine. (Subtext: keep sending $$$$$. Don’t forget the $$$$$. If you forget your ‘teaching payments’, the only alternative is hell.)

These guys already have a history within the organization of exchanging favors for sex. My guess is that everything will be prim and proper for a little while, then some nubile young sheep will attract their attentions, and the process of grooming and seduction will continue as before, with nary a bleat of protest from the rest.

Where is Asaf Braverman when you need him? Although Asaf’s smoothly delivered words also dispense received wisdom by the bucketful, and he also mixes short pithy sayings of conveniently dead philosophers—lifted out of context— with his own to imply some non–existent connection or even sanction; which he also plentifully lards with unverifiable claims, he is a model of clarity and wisdom compared to this claptrap. Not that he is immune to the temptations of power either. How long before some pert young follower with plenty of upthrust over there in Italy attracts his attention and subtly conveys that if he seeks comfort, she is willing to exchange a favor or two for more private access to Asaf? After all, his wife is busy with their new child, and will take a while to recover her youthful grace… and in the meantime, how can a little sincere communion behind closed doors, based on their spiritual bond, possibly matter?

Enough from Ames, over to Dorian:

Dorian Matei (center) performing in the role of a "conscious being"

[ed. - The following is a transcript of the first 15 minutes of the Sunday, July 23rd meeting led by Dorian. The transcript and photos were provided by an inside source who shall remain anonymous, as they are not authorized to speak on behalf of The Fellowship of Friends.]

Good morning. I guess it’s now 2 weeks since this great gift came to us as a school. We are still in the furnace. I was thinking before coming here these words from Bernard of Clairvaux. He says, “The fire that is God. It is indeed a fire that devours, but it does not debase.”

Beautiful image. “The fire that devours, but does not debase.” In fact, it refines and concentrates and purifies.

I was thinking that we will look at our school as the time before this incident happened with Robert, and a time after this incident, marking a great  transition, in a way; and that we…it’s yet to be understood exactly what our school was given, but one feels a very, very powerful gift descended upon us. And related to the subject this morning, I feel that in order for this gift to be received and used, we must do our very best not to attach any positive or negative thought to it.  It’s a little easier to avoid attaching negative attitudes toward it, such as resentment, fear, concern, because these are more obvious, and I think as a school  we’ve done a great job staying away from those emotions. But it is equally important to not attach hope and happiness to it. Somehow when Hydrogen 12 and 6 come, the more pure they descend on us, the more they can change our lives. I had a birthday last week, and this desire came to make a wish, and it was before Robert came back from the hospital; and of course this tendency was to make a wish related to that. I then understood that my wish would stain this great gift, and then I had nothing to wish for.

(Shows 2 photos of Robert taken earlier that morning [ed. - screen shots of video monitor. Filmed inside a bordello?]:)

I mentioned at the beginning that we are still in the furnace, and what I mean by that is part of this gift that C Influence has given us is a very precious and rare substance which we call Hydrogen 6. A shock like this infuses Hydrogen 6 in a school.

This week, especially witnessing Sasha’s meeting Friday, which I thought was wonderful, and I understood that, in a way, the requirement of a host for our events is to be able to address the present moment, and yet it’s a very mystical present moment. It’s a present moment that our whole school experiences. It’s a present moment of the whole earth, you would say, and it’s a present moment that includes what Influence C releases to the school and to humanity in this moment. It’s a very mystical moment once more, and the requirement of a host is to bring awareness to this moment and all of its contents that is happening before our eyes. Only Higher Centers can do that. No intellectual process…we can’t imitate that. To address what is here now. And the “here” is here throughout the globe, in centers, in places where students are alone.

It’s a very mystical year (laughs), and this is the requirement of a host, somehow to bring awareness to that and thereby assimilate the gift that Influence C is releasing right this moment.

It is hard to move somewhere from this place because it’s so beautiful, what we share now.

"brucelevy" wrote on the Fellowship of Friends Discussion blog, July 27, 2017:

49. Ames Gilbert [above]

I thought it was fucked up when I left 32 years ago…this is unfuckingbelievable. They must have some truly and deeply stupid people making up the rank and file…besides the psychopaths at the top of the hierarchy Clearly, RB has passed his psychopathology down to the little runt mini-RB’s. Then again, they all deserve each other. Now it’s just a wankathon.

"Insider" wrote on the Fellowship of Friends Discussion blog, July 27, 2017:

[Responding to "wallis":]

That Warm Fuzzy Feeling is achieved most of all through the flattery that Robert dished out repeatedly for so many years, and which Dorian and Sasha have now learned to imitate.

“Students” are flattered that they are in the presence of a divine God/Goddess in human form; that they are, without fail, headed straight for Paradise; that their “Work” is proceeding wonderfully (“Keep doing what you are doing.”); that a host of angels hovers continually above them and Apollo; that they themselves, and each one of them, are “Conscious Beings.”

"Ames Gilbert" wrote on the Fellowship of Friends Discussion blog, July 28, 2017:

Insider, # 52 [above],

You said, “…and each one of them are ‘Conscious Beings’.”

Is that right? I had no idea that there had been such major ‘grade inflation’ since I left.

During my extended stay in the asylum, my impression was that: at the introductory meetings we were Man #1, 2 or 3, and that at the moment we made the commitment to seriously ‘working on our selves’, we became provisional Man #4s. But at the same time, it was implicitly as you say—write the checks and you are assured of ‘becoming conscious’ in this lifetime or the next. Burton claimed the extraordinary ability to foresee who would became conscious, and seemed very attached to the idea that his ‘school’ would produce 7 ‘conscious beings’. And in the case of Miles and Girard, he informed them that they had actually become Man #5s (I guess they missed out on the thunder and lightning stuff). To his credit, Miles declined the honor and said, in my hearing, that nothing had changed. Not so Girard, however; he told me that there were ‘certain indications’ that he was conscious. Burton was certainly, irrefutably wrong with his choices, wasn’t he? So, why would the present inhabitants of the asylum particularly believe that a couple of gits (who happen to have met Rowena T.’s meticulously researched and Burton’s personally verified standards of sexual endowment and elastic morality) are actually angels masquerading as men?

So now everyone who writes a check is ‘conscious’? Wow! According to the Fourth Way ideas, that state is ‘crystalized’ and relatively permanent. So anyone could join, achieve that state as soon as his/her check clears, then sever relations—and they’ve got what they came for, huh?

If this whole sorry saga isn’t a prime example of the commodification of spirituality, I don’t know what is.

P.S. When JC died, it is claimed that there were earthquakes and the curtain (wall separating the main temple from the ‘Holy of Holies’) in the Temple (of Solomon) was destroyed.

One version: “Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.”

Since Burton has advanced from merely being “the brightest light in 2,000 years” to having the Absolute “perform an act of humility for him”, maybe we can expect something momentous akin to the oft–predicted Fall of California upon his death, huh? Something considerably more suitable to his great standing than a comemorative earthquake or two. However, California is particularly noted for its dearth of saints, so maybe deceased celebrities of Hollywood will have to be substituted instead.

Will Leonardo [da Vinci, Burton's personal "guardian angel"] shed tears? I doubt it, and I certainly won’t.

"Insider" wrote on the Fellowship of Friends Discussion blog, July 28, 2017:

57. Ames Gilbert [above]

Yes, it’s quite true. For many years, Robert’s events have been providing the weekly fix for his followers addicted to flattery. He constantly reminds them (lest they should forget) that “You are all Conscious Beings.” And people then smile, as if to prove Robert correct.

Actually it makes perfect sense: Would The Absolute visit Apollo (not once, but twice) if there was a chance he/she would encounter a non-conscious being while strolling the grounds?

"Ames Gilbert" wrote on the Fellowship of Friends Discussion blog, July 29, 2017:

Insider, #60 [above],

Thanks for the confirmation.

I’m actually shocked. I thought it must have been a misunderstanding, so I had some fun extrapolating what that might mean, expecting to be corrected in due course.

Now I’ve slept on it, I can see that I’ve had a major attitude shift. It is much more obvious to me that the large majority of folks who remain are really, really happy to be there, so I’m wasting valuable time in appeals like above and other efforts. Bruce is right to write the whole bunch off, and say they have attracted and deserve their fates.

Following this train of thought, I guess I see a division line; pre–blog and post–blog. Post–blog plus, say, a couple of years. Pre–blog it was very hard to find out much about the Fellowship of Friends, especially if you were doing due diligence and were thinking of joining. Post–blog, there really is no excuse for anyone, inside or out, to not to know what is going on, at least in broad strokes. I don’t know if the young men in Burton’s never-ending parade of fresh meat have been warned or can be warned. I’ve been told that nowadays many of them do have an idea in advance and accept becoming part of Burton’s harem as the necessary price to escape their situation (usually economic) in eastern Europe, Russia, or South American countries. In other words, they are willing prostitutes and know the deal. And any present member of the Fellowship of Friends, male or female, is an accessory and a pimp.

From now on, I’m going to concentrate on emphasizing the connections between the Fellowship of Friends and any offshoots for anyone doing due diligence. At this time, the most important offshoot, in my estimation, is Asaf Braverman’s creation, Beperiod. I assume that Asaf spent the last ten years accepting Burton’s assertions that he, Asaf, was already ‘conscious’, without much protest, right? If he accepted that assertion as fact, then he is irrevocably flawed and ditto any of his ‘teachings’.

Anyway, Insider, thanks for helping chip away at my unwarranted naiveté and idealism. And Bruce is probably slapping his forehead and saying, “Duh!” for the nth time!

Robert Earl Burton undergoes cardiac procedures

Dorian Matei (center) informs Fellowship members that everything is fine.

[ed. - An individual who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak on behalf of The Fellowship of Friends provided the photos and information for this article. The insider reported that, on the morning of Sunday, July 9th, Robert Burton was unexpectedly unable to lead a scheduled meeting at the Fellowship's Apollo Festival Hall ("Prytaneion"). Sitting in for Burton, Dorian Matei (pictured) began:

"Good morning, and everything is fine. Robert is fine. Uh, he uh, he wanted to be cautious with his, um, health and balance, and he decided not to come to host the meeting this morning. But he is fine.

“Interesting situation. In a way, I am grateful we are here to experience this.”

The emergency care of a conscious being calls for extreme measures, and the disregard of lowly, sleeping "life people," as Burton recounts in his latest book:

"Only this ordeal could bring out the conscious love that has come forth. On July 10th...I went to see Gernot Mueller, a student who is my physician. He said, 'Let's call an ambulance because that is the way to bypass everyone who is waiting in the emergency room; the ambulance goes to the head of the queue.' I said that was fine, and we took an ambulance fifty meters from his office to the hospital." - Robert Earl Burton, Fifty Years with Angels.

Burton would be admitted to hospital the same day, undergoing tests that determined he had blockages in his coronary arteries. On July 11th and 12th, he underwent surgeries to place stents in two of the arteries.

Sasha Shalapanov. Everything is fine.

On the 12th, Sasha Shalapanov led a meeting at the Festival Hall, during which was shown a brief video of Burton in a hospital recovery room.

And today, Rowena Taylor (Renée Taylor), Dean of the Fellowship Council, and Greg Holman, President of the Fellowship of Friends, issued a very upbeat (no pun intended) statement to the Fellowship congregation, the gist of the message being:]

Robert is home and hopes to lead events in the near future. Meanwhile, our school spirit is strong. At Apollo, in the week Robert was away in hospital, students gathered together even more frequently to share energy and provide emotional support to one another. Meetings were held as usual and work at the Theatron [ed. - being restored primarily for tax-exemption classification] continued at a good pace. Robert has asked various students to step up to lead meetings and events, and everyone is responding.

Shocks help us in interesting ways. It is a time of energy and renewed sense of direction. We also have a renewed appreciation for one another, and for the being of the school. It was heartening [ed. - No pun intended?] to see that students immediately met the shock of Robert’s illness from higher centers and the kings of centers, rather than the queens. [ed. - Which conscious follower verified this?] We have been able to see what we have, and what we are. We see more clearly that each of us must work to co-create the school.

The Fellowship organization includes a Board of Directors that helps to govern our infrastructure, meeting regularly to assess needs and priorities. The Council maintains links with our worldwide centers and helps our teaching reach students and prospective students. [ed. - "Please trust us."] We are working to publish a new website [ed. - Yet another?] on Robert and our school, and will share it with you later this month.

Thank you for keeping the flame of presence alive as we continue as a school and fellowship of friends.

[ed. - If Robert Burton's prediction is correct, once he shuffles off his mortal coil, a Fellowship Council, Board of Directors, and website may be unnecessary.]

"One positive aspect about the completion of my role, that is, the dissolution of this body, is that I feel I will be able to communicate to students information I could not give them here, particularly about their next roles." - Robert Earl Burton

Miles Barth, once declared a "Man Number 5," dies

Miles Barth as Fellowship minister, April 26, 1981 (Photo by Bruce Levy)

[ed. - Ronald Miles Barth checked himself into a hospital on Friday, June 26th, and on Monday, June 28th, died from an undisclosed illness. Few details are available at this time. Members of the Greater Fellowship network, may visit Miles Barth's In Memoriam page where remembrances are being shared. Miles was one of Robert Burton's earliest followers, joining in the Fall of 1970. Over the following decade, he would become a Fellowship leader, regarded by many as second only to Robert Burton. Miles was considered a "Man Number 5," a conscious being (though he officially lost all that the moment he decided to leave Burton's teaching.) See also the following discussions about Miles.]

Miles and Susan leave the Fellowship

Damage control following Miles' departure

Miles Barth's Letter (extracts)

Betty Jane Barth Obituary (Miles' mother)

Fellowship of Friends recruiting in Surat, India

[ed. - A recruiting advertisement for the Fellowship's Surat, India center. See their Facebook page.]

[ed. - Fellowship of Friends recruiting materials will never feature Robert Burton quotations like the one shown below.]

Robert Burton speaking to James Bryant, regarding Sharole Mannering, a Fellowship member who was dying of cancer:

"Remind her that this is C influence speaking directly with her through me. Remind her that this is their way of warning her and that she has to become current with her donations now or she will have to leave the Fellowship. Tell her that the only other place to go is hell."

Soccer player's Memorial Day monologue

Former location of the Fellowship of Friends soccer field

"fofblogmoderator" wrote on the Fellowship of Friends Discussion blog, June 17, 2017:

Someone sent in a picture [above] of the soccer field as it looks today.

[ed. - For about 24 hours, the mystery guest "Soccer player" took to the Fellowship Discussion blog in an unbridled, and unhinged rant about his experience as an entitled member of Robert Burton's inner circle. Many of Soccer player's more offensive comments were ultimately deleted by the blog moderator, but are preserved here, unedited, with the blog post serial numbers indicated. Despite the delusions, some glimpses of life at Apollo are revealed. (Links to deleted posts are now dead.)]

"Soccer player" wrote on the Fellowship of Friends Discussion blog, May 31, 2017:

~ ever read Gurdjieff? ~

81019

I sure hope, that the soccer field I built in Renaissance, 21 years ago, is now a golf course, ornamented with golden angels, and not a potato field…

81020

~ yeah ~ it only took me 32 years to truly understand what Gurdjieff (and maybe Robert) meant by: I AM. !! ~

81021

…what took you so long?… ask Girard!!

81022

“…if we do not understand, what the Gods wish from us, it is not because their language is obscure, but because it is too simple..” Very well said, Girard. I hope the Gods have not left you…

81023

…many moons ago, Robert said about the people who left his company: “I have disrupted their sleep. They cannot forget this.” So true!

81024

C’mon u guys! I AM number5! Girard can be…5++…

81025

…remain 5++…

81026

David Lubbers…was a cute guy. Crashed Robert’s Lexus sport car while flirting with some fof chick. Robert forgave him. I remember Dave giving me some cold bier for building the soccer field. In the Ming House.

81027

~ You All know that there is something in the FOF Robert has created that is beyond boring life of A~influence. As he said: “they cannot forget that I interrupted their sleep”. One thing I can share with you is what Robert said to me, personally: “You will not enjoy improving life [A influence[]”. In that he was right. Other than building the soccer field and the rose garden, after becoming a parent (which Robert perceived as a challenge to his sexual sperm food desires), his words hold true. Life is still a mess!

81028

and, yes: Robert did pay me to run with his little dog on this soccer field. Daisy. I dragged her along to get her into a better shape. She was thankful.

81029

Robert had a hard time finding “food” in America. Read Gurdjieff!! 100 years ago! All canned American “food”!! ~ so, as in Taoism, the sperm of young males does provide better nutrition. maybe this is not so much about homosexualism as it is about a decayed US culture, after all. Do read: “Diet for a New America.” 1970.

81030

Robert did build the pub in the place for me. That kept me out of those visitors from the frisco bay… A good thing, indeed!

81031

And, YES, Steven “olive oil”: when you came to Germany, I took the chance! now, you are the “olive oil” man!!

81032

funnily, David Lubbers, while being the ‘maitre d’ in both of those places, “Goethe Academy” and “Ming House”, said to me that I am receiving more personal teaching from Robert that he does. This is funny. The previous maitre was from Germany. So am I.

81033

The “hanged man” was at our wedding. I did NOT like this dude, as he had threatened the building of our soccer field. But his wife paid my Chinese wife to paint her beauty…

81034

I feel utterly disgusted by Robert’s boys being predicted to become ‘conscious beings’, just because they provide his needed sperm food.

81035

Gurdjiff will kill this sperm~sucker…from his grave!!

81036

to “see a man”… is to: “hang a man!”

81037

~ there was a black follower…he did write a “poem” while sitting “guard” inside this silly box, that might “protect” the place. The nigger gave a book to what became my Chinese wife. His trick did not work for him, but it did work for me. Robert became “jealous” when I had acquired a certain ‘self-control’ but not ejaculating into his bodily system. He was not happy.. For me, it did prove that “esoteric schools” do exist. The fof is not one of them. There do exist Higher Schools. Ouspensky did leave Gurdjieff. He did not leave the fragments. When Burton proclaims both “feminine dominance”, which is a lie invented by his homosexuality, (in the Work, this is called “inner considering” and this work word is true, according to my understanding), and “leaving Higher School is suicide”. Robert is right! Once we experience the Gods, Higher Forces, everything is pure madness. But, as Ouspensky did, we can separate the ‘Higher’ from the lower and in his sexual perversions, Robert IS the LOWER. sad.

81038

In the End, you just have to bite into your own dig!!

81039

and Good Luck with that!

81040

~ yeah… ~ and” WELCOME TO THE REAL WORLD!! ~

81041

“Life is Real then, when I AM” ~

81042

Lubbers in Malibu! cool! This dutch is just as much of a fof looser at the merc I met in Argentina. btw, Girard got himself (and his first ex-wife) in trouble with an Argentine lady… why? the mercury body type of south America said:: “sometimes money does attract money”. So he stole money from the fof as a ‘traveling jerk”…and Robert kicked him out! good job!

81043

and for those of you, living in this boring “real world”: yes, go f~yourself!!

81044

I turned over the 3,000 gallon water truck in the vineyard. Almost got myself killed. What did I “get” from the “fellowshipers”? they took a photo of me and the damaged water truck and posted it in the Auto shop. Robert said: “They are jealous of you.” That was the Truth!

81045

~ it seems to be correct to distinguish the Gods from the low-level clowns. be they self-proclaimed presidents, teachers or what not. ~

81046

the ‘hanged man’ and his wife were present at our wedding in Renaissance. He had threatened our soccer team before; I did not like this.

81047

but he was a good man, jew, lawyer or what not. may he smolder in hell!

81048

Abraham “goldfinger” ~ German nazis knew why they chose those names.

81049

And, yes, I did travel with Robert! Great steaks at Harris Ranch. Looking out over LA, I discovered my city essence. Great cars too! Even when driving too drunk…

81050

The Sierra foothills were on fire…after a teaching dinner we left to Lake Tahoe. what a scene, driving in the Lexus (later replaced by a Benz). my soccer friend jogging along the (cold) Lake Tahoe water… almost like Whitman!!

81051

Walt Whitman…one of the 44s….

81052

and, Yes: “catch me if you can, for I AM the ginger bread man!”

81053

~ and a big LOL to all of silly “humanity” … ~

81054

Have some conscience: Look at the Roman Pope ~ and CRY!!

81070

The System does work! Has nothing to do with Robert. To put it more correctly: “Using the fragments of this System does work”. As Rodney Collin tried to explain: “We have to recreate the ‘system’ for ourselves.” So true.