Robert Earl Burton and The Fellowship of Friends: June 2017

Introduction

Robert Earl Burton founded The Fellowship of Friends in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1970. Burton modeled his own group after that of Alex Horn, loosely borrowing from the Fourth Way teachings of Gurdjieff and Ouspensky. In recent years, the Fellowship has cast its net more broadly, embracing any spiritual tradition that includes (or can be interpreted to include) the notion of "presence."

The Fellowship of Friends exhibits the hallmarks of a "doomsday religious cult," wherein Burton exercises absolute authority, and demands loyalty and obedience. He warns that his is the only path to consciousness and eternal life. Invoking his gift of prophecy, he has over the years prepared his flock for great calamities (e.g. a depression in 1984, the fall of California in 1998, nuclear holocaust in 2006, and most recently the October 2018 "Fall of California Redux.")

According to Burton, Armageddon still looms in our future and when it finally arrives, non-believers shall perish while, through the direct intervention and guidance from 44 angels (recently expanded to 81 angels, including himself and his divine father, Leonardo da Vinci), Burton and his followers shall be spared, founding a new and more perfect civilization. Read more about the blog.

Presented in a reverse chronology, the Fellowship's history may be navigated via the "Blog Archive" located in the sidebar below.

Wednesday, June 28, 2017

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

Former Fellowship of Friends minister Ronald Miles Barth

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)

Sunday, June 18, 2017

Fellowship of Friends recruiting in Surat, India

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

Fellowship of Friends Fourth Way School Living Presence recruiting Surat India

[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."