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.

Saturday, December 10, 2022

London Meetup a Fellowship of Friends recruiting effort

[ed. - The Meetup announcement for the group "Gurdjieff Ouspensky - from words to being." features this photo of a gathering in a private room at Aix in London's Crouch End. Bistro Aix was established by Fellowship of Friends member Lynne Sanders. The Meetup organizer, Sharon Gordon and attendee Martin Courbet are Fellowship members in the London Center. Another meeting is planned March 6th.

See the Fellowship of Friends London Center Facebook page, A Fourth Way Symposium. With its myriad disguises, the Fellowship can make one's head spin! (A plentiful supply of wine helps.) In Robert Burton's Fellowship, "Symposium" has taken on a very special meaning.

To anyone who considers joining a group that claims to possess esoteric or "hidden knowledge," especially a group guided by a "conscious teacher," I highly recommend reading Ames Gilbert's list of questions a prospective member should be prepared to ask. See: Due diligence before making a leap of faith]

Gurdjieff Ouspensky Fellowship of Friends Meetup Bistro Aix
"Gurdjieff Ouspensky - from words to being." Meetup at Bistro Aix in London's Crouch End


Gurdjieff Ouspensky Fellowship of Friends Meetup Bistro Aix
"Gurdjieff Ouspensky - from words to being." Meetup announcement

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