Conscious Development of Body, Soul and Mind: Terri Hoffman

Terri Lee Hoffman (March 21, 1938 – October 31, 2015), later known as Terri Lilya Keanely, was an American religious cult leader known for the unexplained deaths of some of her followers, including two husbands, shortly after they had willed their possessions to her. The devotees in her Dallas-based new religious movement, Conscious Development of Body, Mind and Soul, fought against the "black lords" on various planes of existence and protected themselves with powerful gems. The goal was joining God and the twelve "masters" through reincarnation in the spiritual realm. A four-year investigation by Dallas district attorney's office failed to produce evidence tying Hoffman to the deaths, but she was later sentenced to prison for bankruptcy fraud.

Biography

Early life and career

Hoffman was born to poverty and sent to a Lutheran orphanage at nine. She was adopted two years later and renamed Terri Lee Benson. Hoffman married truck driver John Wilder in 1953 and had her daughter Cathy in 1954, her son Kenneth in 1958 and another daughter, Virginia, in 1963. She was committed to the Parkland Hospital for psychiatric evaluation during divorce proceedings in 1971, but got custody of the oldest child. In the 1950s, Hoffman became interested in meditation, metaphysics, hypnotism, Silva Mind Control and the writings of Edgar Cayce. After attracting a number of followers in the late 1960s, she incorporated her movement as Conscious Development of Body, Mind and Soul in 1974, selling lessons and private "consultations".

Hoffman also started a jewelry business, incorporating it as CD Gems. Followers were instructed to buy expensive, handmade jewelry that she would turn into powerful, protective gems. By the mid-1970s, over a hundred people attended the weekly lectures in Dallas, Texas, and many more took Hoffman's printed lessons. She claimed herself the reincarnation of Saint Teresa of Ávila as her inner circle waged war against the "black lords" on several planes of existence. Aiding them were God and the twelve "masters" such as Jesus who were visible to Hoffman. She also said that she could communicate with the dead and see the past and the future. Hoffman taught her followers to avoid critical thoughts, "negative energies", as they could prove fatal. However, death was not to be feared as the ultimate goal was rebirth in the spiritual realm.

Deaths in the cult

In late 1976, Hoffman's second husband Glenn Cooley wanted out of the cult and his marriage to Terri. He was discovered dead of an overdose of valium and librium in February 1977, five days after the divorce was finalized. Hoffman produced Cooley's will from her safe, naming her the sole beneficiary, and her group saw the tragedy as proof that the black lords were making gains and poisoning the blood. The cure was draining the poison through bloodletting, which caused many members to leave the movement. Thirteen years later, a former high-ranking follower told investigators that Hoffman had said to her that Cooley was "going to the next level", and that the two had visited him at his cabin the night before his death but after he had ingested the drugs. Five months after Cooley's death, Hoffman married Ben Johnson but divorced him in 1980. Her meditation classes were reportedly attracting hundreds at the turn of the 1980s, and Conscious Development began expanding into Chicago, Illinois.

In February 1979, Hoffman's secretary-treasurer Sandra "Sandy" Cleaver went on a vacation with her daughter Susan Devereaux, whom she had previously kept distance from because Devereaux's "evil spirits" were infecting her energies. Devereaux drowned while the two went rafting, and soon the 14-year-old's will was delivered to her father Chuck Cleaver. Her $125,000 trust fund was left to the cult, but the document was invalid as wills written by minors were not legal in Texas. Sandy Cleaver took a $300,000 life insurance policy to the sole benefit of Hoffman and also transferred title of her house to her guru, paying Hoffman rent to live in her own home. In September 1981, Cleaver drove her station wagon straight off a mountain, killing herself and her 77-year-old housekeeper Louise "Weasie" Watson who had been reluctant to join the trip. Three months before their deaths, both women had updated their wills naming Hoffman as the sole beneficiary. Cleaver's brother Croom Beatty IV contested the will and his lawyer James Barklow called it the result of fraud and "undue influence". The case was settled but Hoffman and her movement were faced with bad publicity. Three of the four followers who testified on Hoffman's behalf would later commit suicide. By the mid-1980s, Hoffman had founded the perfume mixing company Perfume Oils International and begun performing acupressure massages.

Robin Otstott, whom Hoffman had matched with an invisible CIA agent named George, believed that her non-physical "bodies" were working against her and that her best friend Tamara Taylor's invisible CIA lover Martin was threatening her life. On April 19, 1987, she told her former husband that she had terminal viral hepatitis but was persuaded to see a doctor. Two days later, after visiting Hoffman, Otstott killed herself with .38-caliber revolver. Her blood tests later showed no signs of diseases.

In November 1987, Chicago follower Mary Levinson was found dead from a drug overdose. $125,000 in cash was missing and she had changed her life insurance policy less than two weeks before her death. The new beneficiary was her former boyfriend Larry Keyes whom she had met through Hoffman. Terri Hoffman's fourth husband Don Hoffman, who had fallen out of favor in the movement, was discovered dead from a "mixed drug intoxication" in September 1988. In his legal pad, Don cited his terminal, inoperable cancer as the reason for his suicide. The autopsy found no traces of cancer. Terri explained to Don's son Rick that the black lords had hidden the evidence of cancer behind an illusion. She was the sole beneficiary of her husband's estate. Rick and his sister Janet filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Terri in March 1989.

Four days after Don Hoffman's death, former cult devotee Jill Bounds was beaten to death in her home. The killer had browsed through her 1979 diary and ripped out some of the pages. Bounds had left the movement in 1982 but, despite being afraid of her, visited Terri Hoffman a few months before her death, which caused police to look for a connection. In June 1989, long-time followers David and Glenda Goodman marked in their journal that they had received instructions from God to practice shooting. Four months later, God announced that "the way is clear to get high energies. It's like this: You are about to be joined in a marriage between your phys self & your spirit. All is in readiness. The date is set for Oct 20..." The Goodmans were found dead in late November, five weeks after dying in a ritualistic double death.

Investigation and later life

Spurred by news reports about the Goodmans and the pattern of deaths that followed Hoffman, a criminal investigation was launched by the Dallas district attorney's office in January 1990. Assistant District Attorney Cecil Emerson stated that it would be difficult to determine if mind control could legally be a contributing factor in a death. Hoffman and Conscious Development denied any wrongdoing. Hoffman's lawyer, Fred Time, referred to the investigation as a witch-hunt and praised his client's persona. After four years, prosecutors could not find evidence linking Hoffman to the deaths.

Hoffman filed for bankruptcy in October 1991, and she was sentenced to 16 months in prison for ten counts of bankruptcy fraud in May 1994. She was released after serving a year.

In 1995, the TV series Unsolved Mysteries featured an episode on the mysterious disappearance of Hoffman follower Charles Southern.

Hoffman later married Roger Keanely and changed her name to Terri Lilya Keanely. She started a website touting her experience and many talents and wrote a financial advice book.

Publications

Ryan, Mike; Keanely, Terri Lilya (2006). The Colors of Money: Finding Your MoneyForce. MoneyForce Press. ISBN 978-0978967208.

Sources

Elkind, Peter (May 1990). "The Curse of the Black Lords". Texas Monthly. Vol. 18, no. 5.

 

Christian Catholic Apostolic Church: John Alexander Dowie

 

John Alexander Dowie (25 May 1847 – 9 March 1907) was a Scottish-Australian minister known as an evangelist and faith healer. He began his career as a conventional minister in South Australia. After becoming an evangelist and faith healer, he immigrated with his family to the United States in 1888, first settling in San Francisco, where he expanded his faith healing into a mail order business. He moved to Chicago in time to take advantage of the crowds attracted to the 1893 World's Fair. After developing a huge faith healing business in Chicago, with multiple homes and businesses, including a publishing house, to keep his thousands of followers, he bought an expansive amount of land north of the city to set up a private community.

There Dowie founded the city of Zion, Illinois, where he personally owned all the land and established many businesses. The operations of the city have been characterized as "a carefully-devised large-scale platform for securities fraud..." His lieutenant initiated an investigation of business practices and deposed him from leadership in 1905. Dowie was given an allowance until his death.

In this period Dowie had also refined his religious organization, naming it in 1903 as the Christian Catholic Apostolic Church.

Personal life and education

Dowie was born in 1847 in Edinburgh, Scotland to John Murray Dowie, a tailor and preacher, and his wife.[1] In 1860 his parents moved the family to Adelaide, South Australia. John Alexander Dowie worked for a few months in a boot-maker retail and factory business developed by his paternal uncle, Alexander Dowie.

He took various other jobs, advancing to a position as confidential clerk for the resident partner of a firm that was doing a business of $2 million a year.

In 1867 Dowie's father was president of the South Adelaide chapter of the Total Abstinence Society in 1867, and John Alexander was an active member. Around 1868, at the age of 21, Dowie returned to Edinburgh to study theology.

He married his cousin, Jane Dowie, on 26 May 1876. She was the daughter of his father's brother Alexander Dowie and his wife. They had three children: A.J. Gladstone (1877–1945), Jeanie (1879–1885), and Esther (1881–1902).

Ministry in Australia

Congregational Ministry

After Dowie completed his theological studies, he returned to Australia and was ordained in 1872 as pastor of a Congregational church at Alma, South Australia (near Hamley Bridge). Dowie then received and accepted a call in 1873 to a pastorate at Manly, New South Wales before moving to Newtown in 1875.

The Salvation Army

About this time he gave up his pastorate as a Congregational clergyman. For a time he was involved with the Salvation Army. After his move from Sydney to Melbourne in the early 1880s, he attracted many followers. In 1882, he was invited to the Sackville Street Tabernacle, Collingwood. After his authoritarian leadership led to a split in the church, Dowie was fined and jailed for more than a month for leading unauthorized processions. He gave his account of the incident in Sin in The Camp.

Dowie developed an interest in faith healing in around 1883, became an independent evangelist, founding the International Divine Healing Association. He held meetings in a theater and claimed powers as a faith healer. A businessman signed over a church building to Dowie as his personal property. This insured building then burnt down in a suspicious fire that the pro-temperance Dowie blamed on "pro liquor interests". The event was covered in both local and London newspapers.

Life in the United States

Dowie immigrated with his family in 1888 to the United States.

California

He first settled in San Francisco, California and built up a following by performing faith healings across the state. His ministry, the International Divine Healing Association, was run largely as a commercial enterprise. All members were expected to tithe. Those who did were eligible to request Dowie's aid in healing their ills. They made such requests by mail or telegram (or later, by telephone). Dowie prayed in response to requests by paid-up members. Although Dowie funded his lifestyle largely through tithes, he also liked to buy up securities of bankrupt companies and sell them to his members. Two women whom he had defrauded in this way sued him and won their cases.

Chicago

In the aftermath of this legal and public relations defeat, Dowie moved to Chicago in 1890. After a few unsuccessful years, he gained fame by his activities on property rented adjacent to the World's Fair in 1893. There he staged elaborate "Divine Healings" in front of large audiences drawn from attendees to the fair. Many of these "healings" were staged: Dowie used audience plants and other dubious methods. For instance, he arranged for carefully screened individuals to be brought on stage to be healed. Dowie appeared to cure a range of psychosomatic illnesses with his stagecraft.

With the growth in numbers of Dowie's following in Chicago, in 1894 he established the Zion Tabernacle downtown. He held regular services for large crowds at Chicago's Central Music Hall. He launched his own publishing house, Zion Publishing, and started a weekly newsletter titled Leaves of Healing.

In 1896 Dowie disbanded the International Divine Healing Association to form the Christian Catholic Church in Zion. He renamed it as the Christian Catholic Apostolic Church in 1903.

By the late 1890s, Zion headquarters had moved to the seven-story Zion Home on Michigan Avenue. This building also housed many worshippers in residence from all walks of life; nearby were the New Zion Tabernacle, Zion Junior School, Zion College, Zion Printing, and the Zion Hall of Seventies. Dowie also established the Zion Home of Hope, more Zion Tabernacles, and various healing homes in Chicago. He leased Chicago's Auditorium Building to accommodate the swelling crowds attending his services. Beyond Chicago, his teaching spread through evangelists and publications across the U.S. and around the world. As his following expanded, Dowie also faced considerable criticism. In 1895 he was in court fighting charges that he was practicing medicine without a license.

City of Zion

With a following of some approximately 6,000, He sought land north of Chicago and secretly bought a large amount of real estate. In 1900, he announced the founding of the city of Zion, 40 miles from Chicago: he personally owned all the property. He established a theocratic political and economic structure and prohibited smoking, drinking, eating pork, and the practice of any form of modern medicine. He also established a range of businesses, healing homes, and a large Tabernacle. Followers from across the world descended on Zion.

Zion has been characterized as "a carefully-devised large-scale platform for securities fraud requiring significant organizational, legal, and propagandistic preparation to carry out." To this end Dowie forced his followers to deposit their funds in Zion Bank. It appeared to be a registered entity but was, in fact, an unincorporated entity under his control. He also sold stock in an array of Zion's businesses which proved worthless. The entire structure of Zion was continually in debt, and eventually crashed as Dowie became increasingly senile and unable to handle his affairs.

T.P. O'Connor, an Irish M.P. and journalist, wrote of Dowie:

"the one incomprehensible element in the man's gigantic success is the personal luxury in which he lives, and his superb refusal at the same time to account for any of the sums of money entrusted to him. His horses are worth a fortune in themselves; his carriages are emblazoned with armorial bearings; his wife is said to dress with the gorgeous extravagance of an empress. When he travels, hemmed round with a little army of servants, the prophet of humility and self-denial has a special train chartered, and whenever the spiritual burdens become too great a tax there is a delightful country residence belonging to him in which to retreat from the glamour and importunate appeals of the faithful.

His wife and children left him. In 1904, he revisited Adelaide, Australia, but his efforts to conduct services were met with hostility.

In 1905, he suffered a stroke, and traveled to Mexico to recuperate. While absent from Chicago, he was deposed from his business affairs by Wilbur G. Voliva, his chief lieutenant.

Voliva and official investigators maintained that anywhere from $2.5 to 3.4 million of funds were unaccounted for. Dowie attempted to recover his authority through litigation, but he was ultimately forced to retire and accept an allowance, which was paid until his death in 1907. Dowie is buried in Lake Mound Cemetery, Zion, Illinois.

Theology and influence

Dowie was a restorationist and sought to recover the "primitive condition" of the Church. He believed in an end-times restoration of spiritual gifts and apostolic offices to the Church. In 1899, he claimed to be "God's Messenger" and, in 1901, he claimed to be the spiritual return of the Biblical prophet Elijah, and styled himself as "Elijah the Restorer", "The Prophet Elijah", or "The Third Elijah". He was also an advocate of divine healing and was highly critical of other teachers on healing. This criticism largely stemmed from differences of opinion on the use of "means" or medicine; Dowie was for total reliance on divine healing and against the use of all forms of medicine. He opened a number of healing homes where people could come for instruction in healing and for specific prayer. He emphasized faith in God, "entire consecration", and holiness.

Dowie was a forerunner of Pentecostalism, and many of his followers became influential figures in the early twentieth century revival. Though Dowie did not visit South Africa, his emissary Daniel Bryant between 1904 and 1908 established churches at Wakkerstroom and on the Witwatersrand. After Bryant left these churches proliferated into a number of denominations of Zionist Churches, all claiming their origin in Zion, Illinois, which together constitute the largest group of Christians in South Africa.

Publications

Dowie published Rome's Polluted Springs in 1877, the substance of two lectures given at the Masonic Hall, Sydney. In 1879 he published The Drama, The Press and the Pulpit, revised reports of two lectures given the previous March.

Contest with Mirza Ghulam Ahmad

Dowie is of particular significance to the Ahmadiyya movement in Islam due to a well-publicized contest that took place in the early 1900s between himself and the movement's founder Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835–1908). Dowie had claimed to be the forerunner of Christ's second coming and was particularly hostile towards Islam, which he believed Christ would destroy upon his return. In northern India, Ahmad had claimed to be the coming of Christ in the spirit as well as the promised Mahdi of Islam, who would usher in the final victory of Islam on earth. In 1902, Ahmad invited Dowie to a contest, proposing a "prayer duel" between the two in which both would pray to God that whichever of them was false in his prophetic claim die within the lifetime of the truthful. The challenge attracted some media attention in the United States and was advertised by a number of American newspapers at the time which portrayed the contest as one between two eccentric religious figures. Dowie, however, dismissed the challenge. Ahmad reissued it the following year adding a unilateral death prophecy.

The Endeavor Academy: Chuck Anderson

Endeavor Academy, founded in 1992 as the New Christian Church of Full Endeavor, was a community of students of Charles Buell Anderson, which focused primarily on the teachings found in the book A Course in Miracles (or ACIM). Anderson's teachings also incorporate elements from the New Testament, and from other various spiritual and religious leaders. The community lists itself as an "international school of enlightenment", and also as a seminary.

The stated purpose of the community was to provide its members with a "universal experience of oneness that is ideally the goal of every spiritual tradition." The Academy Journal promises "an intensive encounter with Singular Reality and a forum for the complete transformation to enlightenment that is the inevitable destiny of mankind." Standard teaching sessions were provided for students on a daily basis, and an introductory session for the public was given each Sunday. The organization was headquartered in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, USA and had affiliate centers in Poland, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, and Mexico.

Founding and leadership

Endeavor Academy was founded in 1992 by Charles Buell Anderson (b. ca. 1926, d. 2008). Anderson described his 'Spiritual Awakening' as a spontaneous experience he had in 1979. A certain pair of earlier extraordinary experiences Anderson had may offer some insight into Anderson's later experience of 'Spiritual Awakening'.

The first of these two earlier extraordinary experiences was Anderson's World War II experience in Nagasaki, Japan. Anderson's Nagasaki experience appears to have made a deeply profound and formative impression upon him. In a letter to the Atomic Veteran's History Project, Anderson described how, with the Marines 6th Regiment, he was one of the first to land at Nagasaki after the atomic bombing of that city in 1945, where he was faced with a vast and overwhelming feeling of the devastation he was witnessing:

On "one particular day", at "one particular moment in time", I found myself standing directly in the center of this unspeakable, indeed unthinkable, devastation that had to have been caused by someone or something. At "that one time" I was filled with complete rage, a wrenching, seething, frustrating, insatiable need for revenge. But against what or whom? It had no point of location, no focus of causation - in effect, no one to blame, no one to hold responsible. It became a passion of intense revulsion for myself, for this world and for any and all members of the human species - a contained certainty from deep within me that all of us, everyone on this earth, all were totally guilty together. And then at "that one moment in time", the light of an inner peace enveloped me. It became "a space in time" where a new resolution appeared, and with it, the message, "Look at this as a new beginning."

Anderson wrote that his second such experience came 26 years later in 1971, during a 'Near Death Experience' he had. Anderson wrote that during this second such experience, he had a certain "space of peace and happiness" while lying on what he presumed would be his deathbed, and that also during this second event, he received a spontaneous healing from cirrhosis of the liver.

In an interview with CBS News, Anderson denied having followers, teaching that "the Light is in everyone" and that "You are the light of the world." He claimed to be "returning to heaven" "shortly", and said that "everybody" will be going with him. "There's nothing dangerous about me," Anderson explained, "I am the danger of eternal love."

Since Anderson's passing in 2008, the Academy and its affiliates have so far continued to remain active, and have continued to produce and disseminate instructional materials.

Following Anderson's passing, the nature of, and names of, the ongoing leadership of the Academy is unknown.

Publicity

At the end of 2006 film director Jubi Onyeama and producer Cameron Kennedy, both students of Endeavor Academy, started to interview approximately 120 fellow students. In April 2007 Endeavor Academy sent a film crew to Edinburgh, Scotland to interview additional students and teachers from affiliated centers in Europe. The film was shot over an approximately 2-year period and required more than 200 hours of shooting for the 4-part documentary. The movie, "A Course in Miracles Unleashed" was released on Labor Day 2008. The movie was first screened at Sundance Cinema Madison, WI and received much attention on the internet, IMDb. Within the first year of release, the documentary has been subtitled in Dutch, German, Polish, Spanish and Swedish. The documentary about the individual awakening of the students from Endeavor Academy was also screened at the Parliament of World Religions 2009 in Melbourne, Australia. Teachers from Endeavor Academy also represented A Course in Miracles at the 2004 Parliament of World Religions in Barcelona, Spain and at the 2000 Millennium World Peace Summit at the United Nations in New York City.

History

Anderson received a copy of A Course in Miracles ca. 1982. In 1991 he first registered the organization in Reedsburg, Wisconsin, USA under its original name, which was "God’s Country Place" (GCP). This organization was based on many of the teachings of ACIM, as well as some Biblical and AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) materials. By 1999, Endeavor Academy had grown to accommodate 500 residents.

In 1992 the organization was registered to operate under the names Endeavor Academy and New Christian Church of Full Endeavor. Around this time, the use of the GCP name was discontinued.

Endeavor Academy's headquarters was a converted summer resort facility located in a diverse area of water parks and tourist attractions in the middle of Wisconsin Dells. The original facility of 1991 was a large main house, but in 1992 a summer resort motel complex was acquired and converted to meet its needs.

In 1994 they opened the doors of the Miracles Healing Center for the first time. A 400-acre (1.6 km2) lot with the Miracles Healing Center in the middle. The lot holds also the Revelation Hall where big International events were held and four houses for the residential community are located.

Activities

Every Sunday,"Bible Alive" services are held in their Miracles Healing Center building on Highway 23 in Wisconsin Dells. On the roadside they have a billboard promoting their Miracles Healing Center with "Always Open, Everyone Welcome". On their website is an email address and phone number for prayer requests that can be reached 24/7. In that same building twice a week, 12-step and AA-meetings are hosted by Academy teachers and students as a service to the community.

For several years now, students have participated in helping inmates by offering them the 12-step program through their Miracles Prisoner Ministry. The Miracles Prisoner Ministry is supporting the Christian Association for Prison Aftercare, Wisconsin Network for Peace & Justice, Madison-area Urban Ministry, Inc.

Litigation related to the A Course in Miracles text

Endeavor Academy's primary text, A Course in Miracles, was published and distributed between 1995 and 2000 by Penguin Books. As a result of litigation with Endeavor Academy the Foundation for Inner Peace (FIP) copyright claims were largely voided in 2003 on the grounds of general distribution prior to obtaining copyright, thus placing the majority of the material previously claimed by FIP as under copyright protection in the public domain. As a result of the copyright litigation, three earlier limited editions or drafts of A Course in Miracles surfaced (the Urtext draft, "Hugh Lynn Cayce" edition, and the "Criswell" edition), which also fell into the public domain. The US Trademark Office canceled both the Servicemark on A Course in Miracles and the Trademark on the acronym, "ACIM" in 2005. EA publishes their own edition of ACIM, called "The Advent of a Great Awakening" edition. This EA edition is currently available in print through many major book retailers. Meanwhile, the Foundation for Inner Peace continues to also publish its version of the ACIM text, which also includes the smaller sections for which the copyright was upheld, and which the FIP claims to still be the only unabridged and complete version of the ACIM text available.

 

Frederick Lenz

Frederick Philip Lenz, III, also known as Rama (Sanskrit: राम) and Atmananda (Sanskrit: आतमाननद; February 9, 1950 in San Diego, California – April 12, 1998) was a spiritual teacher who taught what he termed American Buddhism, including the teachings of Tibetan Buddhism, Zen, Vedanta, and Mysticism. Lenz also was an author, software designer, businessman, and record producer.

Biography

Childhood and adolescence

Lenz was born February 9, 1950, at Mercy Hospital in San Diego, California. At the age of three, he and his family moved to Stamford, Connecticut. He spent the rest of his childhood and teenage years there, attending schools in the Stamford area.

Lenz's father, Frederick Lenz Jr., worked as a marketing executive and later went on to become the mayor of Stamford from 1973 to 1975. His mother, Dorothy Gumaer Lenz, was a housewife and a student of astrology.

After high school, he spent a short period of incarceration in a low security camp near San Diego for possession of marijuana, a misdemeanor offense which was later removed from the court records by way of a dismissal. According to his own account, he then traveled to Kathmandu, Nepal and encountered a Tibetan Buddhist monk who informed him that in the future, he would help millions of people and carry on the teachings of a lineage that had almost disappeared.

Education

Lenz graduated from Rippowam High School in 1967. He later attended the University of Connecticut, where he majored in English and minored in Philosophy. He was inducted as a member of the Phi Beta Kappa honor society in 1973 and graduated magna cum laude.

After college, he won a competitive State of New York Graduate Council Fellowship enabling him to continue his studies. He earned a Master of Arts and a Doctor of Philosophy from State University of New York at Stony Brook. His doctoral dissertation was on "The Evolution of Matter and Spirit in the Poetry of Theodore Roethke".

Spiritual Teachings

Lenz stated he first went into samadhi, or a state of spiritual absorption, at the age of three. In his books Surfing the Himalayas and Snowboarding to Nirvana, he stated that traveling to sacred locations heightened his experiences in meditation.

Beginning in 1972, Lenz became a student of Hindu guru Sri Chinmoy, who gave him the name "Atmananda," meaning "rejoicing in the soul."

At the end of 1982, Lenz adopted the teaching name of "Rama" and stated that he was not the historical Rama but rather represented a warrior quality implied in that name. Lenz said that he remembered all his previous reincarnations, including his life as a high priest in Atlantis, and as a teacher in ancient Egypt, India, Japan, and Tibet.

His students wrote that they witnessed him perform miracles, or siddha powers, including levitation, teleportation, disappearing, turning rooms to molten gold light, projecting light from his hands, and transforming into an old, bearded Asian man before their eyes. He often took his students on field trips to the deserts of Southern California and to Disneyland where a number of these events were witnessed.

Lenz said that the core of his teachings was contained in his books, Snowboarding to Nirvana and Surfing the Himalayas, the latter was a national best-seller. The singer Tina Turner noted that she keeps a copy of Surfing the Himalayas in her prayer room. Lenz's teaching focused on modern spiritual enlightenment through the application of Eastern religious principles. The main themes of his teachings in American Buddhism included the engaged practice of meditation, Zen, living and working in the world, and the enlightenment of women.

In 1981, after moving back to San Diego, he ended his association with Chinmoy and founded his own teaching center initially called Lakshmi.

"Self-discovery is the essential core of all of Rama's teaching", according to Zoe Nicholson. "The principle is simple; that inside of each woman and man is the Self, Nirvana, Eternity. It has been covered with layers of conditioning, lifetimes of tendencies and fear of the unknown. Through the practice of Self Discovery all these layers are peeled back eventually revealing one's true nature: perfect pure light."

For 27 years, Lenz taught spiritual classes and seminars and public meditations. Although students completed college-style applications, he accepted students based on "his intuition and his sense of what each student needs."

During that time, the core of the spiritual study was meditation. Lenz explained to his students, “You concentrate so intensely, you bring your will to such a singular point that you break through all the limited mind states. You bring in so much kundalini because your focus is so intense that you snap out of the limited mental states into higher mental states, and then, of course, you experience the pure, shining void in whatever form you’re capable of experiencing it as, from your sentient mind state, and that in itself is ecstasy.”

With the primary focus on meditation, Lenz went on to put the practice itself into a wider framework: “Meditate and realize that when you meditate, no matter how high you go, no matter how deeply you perceive, that you’re only touching the bare surface of infinity. Just hold in mind the fact that beyond your perception is ecstasy. Not far beyond. Just with the stoppage of thought there’s ecstasy—power, understanding, in limitless amounts. And no matter how far you go, you can never experience all of it. And if you dissolve the self completely, it doesn’t end.”

Software designer

Lenz advocated students going into computer science, because of the mental challenge diverse career opportunities, and the strong pay rates.

Many students became skilled programmers and went on to form their own software companies, with Lenz acting as co-designer and thought leader. These companies included AutoSys (sold to Platinum Technology in 1995), CS10000, Vantage Point (VP-Med and SmartCare), Vayu Web, and Eagle Ray Project Management Software (sold to Primavera).

Music career

Lenz was the producer for the rock band, Zazen, which produced 31 albums in 13 years. The group also released several music videos. Lenz was also co-composer of the album Ecologie (credited under "Rama") and the soundtrack for 704 Hauser.

Criticisms and controversy

Lenz received criticism from the sect-monitoring movement.

A small number of Lenz's students became involved with several sect watchdog groups, including the CAN (Cult Awareness Network).

Several disgruntled parents formed a group, Lenz-Watch, that "kept tabs" on Lenz because they considered him a "danger to society." The group focused on placing negative media about Frederick Lenz wherever he lived, taught, or wherever his students taught. Two of the parents paid kidnappers to deprogram their adult children with unsuccessful results.

Death and his estate

Lenz drowned in the bay next to his home on April 12, 1998, the victim of an apparent suicide. He stated that his death was a protest against how spiritual teachers are treated in America. He left a gross estate of approximately $23 million. His will was a matter of dispute between the National Audubon Society and his estate, which was settled by a donation to the National Audubon Society, and the creation of the Frederick P. Lenz Foundation for American Buddhism, which at the time was headed by Lenz's accountant, Norman Marcus (executor of his will) and Norman Oberstein, his attorney. This act fulfilled provisions of the will necessary to apply the funds from Lenz's estate to the creation of the Lenz Foundation. Claims by two persons who contested the will were withdrawn and dismissed. His estate was settled in 2002. The Frederick P. Lenz Foundation for American Buddhism has engaged in substantial grant making activity (over $7 million to date) to approximately 140 American Buddhist organizations from 2003 onwards. As part of the settlement with Audubon, a gorge was named for Lenz at the Sharon Audubon Center in northwest Connecticut.

Publications

Books

Frederick Lenz published eight books between 1979 and 1997.

Lifetimes: True Accounts of Reincarnation, 1979, Fawcett Crest, New York (ISBN 0-449-24337-0)

Total Relaxation: The Complete Program for Overcoming Stress, Tension, Worry, and Fatigue, 1980, The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Indianapolis (ISBN 0-672-52594-1)

Meditation: The Bridge is Flowing but The River is Not, 1981, Lakshmi Publications, Malibu, CA, Revised 1983 (ISBN 0-941868-00-1)

The Wheel of Dharma, 1982, Lakshmi Publications, Malibu, CA (ISBN 0-941868-01-X)

The Last Incarnation, 1983, Lakshmi Publications, Malibu, CA (ISBN 0-941868-02-8)

Insights: Tantric Buddhist Reflections on Life, 1994, Interglobal Seminars, New York (ISBN 0-9642196-7-0)

Surfing the Himalayas, 1995, St. Martin's Press, New York (ISBN 0-312-14147-5)

Snowboarding to Nirvana, 1997, St. Martin's Press, New York (ISBN 0-312-15293-0)

Films and video recordings

Tantric Buddhism with Rama 1993 (ASIN: B002VAMPA0)

Canyons of Light & Cayman Blue 2011 (ASIN: B006FBYL)

Signs of a Rebel Buddha (starring)

Further reading

American Buddhist Rebel: The Story of Rama - Dr. Frederick Lenz. Liz Lewinson. 2016. ISBN 978-1611532562.

American Zen: The Wisdom of an American Zenji. Y. Ohta. 2009. CreateSpace. ISBN 978-1449560799.

Art of Rama, The: Interviews with Direct Students of Rama. Marsha Pritchard. 2011. CreateSpace. ISBN 978-1461052999.

Last Incarnation, The: Experiences with Rama in Southern California. Compilation. 1983. Los Angeles. The Frederick P. Lenz Foundation for American Buddhism. ISBN 0-941868-02-8.

Passionate Heart, The. Zoe Nicholson, Lune Soleil Press, 2003, ISBN 978-0972392822.

Road Trip Mind. by Uncle Tantra (Barry Wright). 2001. Online Only (click footnote for link).

Unplugging the Patriarchy. Lucia Rene. 2009. Williamsburg, VA. Crown Chakra Publishing. ISBN 978-0982377628.

Worlds of Power, Worlds of Light. Jenna Sundell. 2013. Electric Bliss Publishing. ISBN 0615909345.

Rama Speaks: The Teachings of Rama-Dr. Frederick Lenz. Lawrence Borok. 2021. Lawrence S. Borok. ISBN 9798985284706,ISBN 9798985284713,ISBN 9798985284720.

 

Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Insan

 

Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Insan (born 15 August 1967), known also as MSG, is the head of the Indian social group Dera Sacha Sauda (DSS) since 1990. Prior to a 2017 rape conviction, he was a religious leader, actor, singer, writer, songwriter, director, and composer. He was also convicted of being involved in the murder of journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati. According to The Indian Express, a prisons department official said Bharatiya Janata Party-led Haryana government had started looking for a “suitable job” for Ram Rahim two years ago before the 2017 rape conviction.

The Indian Express had placed Ram Rahim 96th in their list of the 100 most powerful Indians of 2015. He has released several music albums and films, which typically revolve around himself and his teachings. He is usually credited in his films for various other roles, in one instance being credited in more than forty departments. His films were negatively received by critics, with many considering them propaganda and criticizing their poor quality, although the production house claimed that several of them had grossed ₹1 billion.

On 25 August 2017, Ram Rahim was convicted of rape by a special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court. His conviction led to widespread violence from members of the DSS and simultaneous clashes with the police, which left several dead and injured. On 28 August 2017, Ram Rahim was sentenced to 20 years in prison. In January 2019, he and three others were convicted of the murder of journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati and sentenced to life imprisonment. He is also facing prosecution for other murders and ordering forced castrations.

The name MSG is thought to be derived either from the initials of the three DSS heads, Shah Mastana, Shah Satnam, and Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, or as an abbreviation for "Messenger of God".

Early life and family

Singh was born on 15 August 1967 at Sri Gurusar Modia village in Ganganagar district of Rajasthan. Born into a Jatt Sikh family, his father Maghar Singh was a landlord, and his mother Naseeb Kaur was a housewife. Maghar was a devoted follower of the DSS leader Shah Satnam Singh, and Gurmeet accompanied his father to the dera. At the age of 7, Singh was initiated into the Dera Sacha Sauda sect by Shah Satnam Singh.

As an adult, Singh did many jobs, including driving a tractor, and assisted his father in volunteer work at the dera and he retired and started a potato farm for 4 years. When Shah Satnam Singh announced his retirement in 1990, Singh was not one among the three contenders expected to succeed him. In a surprise public announcement, however, Satnam Shah appointed him as his successor, giving him the name "Huzoor Maharaj Gurmeet Ram Rahim". Ram Rahim became the leader of Dera at the age of 23, on 23 September 1990.

Ram Rahim and his wife Harjeet Kaur have two daughters, named Amarpreet and Charanpreet. They also have a son, Jasmeet, who is married to Husanmeet, a daughter of the Indian National Congress leader Harminder Singh Jassi. Ram Rahim also adopted his confidante Priyanka Taneja as his daughter, giving her the name Honeypreet in 2009. Ram Rahim's followers have adopted "Insan" ("human") as a surname.

Social work

The Dera runs 1 hospital and 10 educational institutes. Ram Rahim has organized drives for blood pressure, diabetes and cholesterol screening that have been recognized by Guinness World Records. He also hold the world record for most people sanitizing their hands simultaneously also recognized by Guinness World Records. In association with the American Society of Echocardiography, he also organised the world record for "Most Cardiac Echo Tests" although it was proved as a 'scam' on 2 January 2022. On 21 September 2011 in New Delhi, Ram Rahim initiated a series of sanitation drives and also pledged his support to the Central Government's campaign. As of 2016, about 30 Mega Cleanliness Campaigns have been conducted in several states of India. A CBI report investigating criminal allegations against him mentioned that Ram Rahim's "crusades against drugs, alcohol, and prostitution" have gained him a "larger-than-life" image. He has also spoken out against cattle slaughter in India.

Movement Against Prostitution

In 2009 Ram Rahim had initiated a drive to eradicate forced prostitution from society and rescue them from high risk groups, the women who were pushed into flesh trade were to be brought back into the mainstream of the society and get married them in a good family. He also made arrangement for their treatment from HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections. Ram Rahim motivated his followers to marry sex workers and out of which 1500 men, agreed to marry women who had left the life of prostitution and wished to get assimilated in the mainstream of society. Many of these marriages have actually taken place.

Invitation From The United Nations

Almost a month after Singh got convicted, on 4 October 2017, The United Nations Water Body, on their official Twitter handle, had invited Ram Rahim and his "adopted daughter", Honeypreet Insan, to support its World Toilet Day event which was held in November 2017. The rationale behind the United Nations' decision to invite two of India's most controversial figures is still puzzling, as the tweets were later taken down without any clarification.

Contribution to Sports

In 2017, Ram Rahim had been nominated for Dronacharya Award by Yoga Federation of India (YFI) for producing ‘world champion yogis’, including World and Asian Cup winners. Ram Rahim has also established the MSG Bharatiya Khel Gaon, a sports village spread across 23 acres, in his Dera headquarters.

Political influence

Ram Rahim had been known for political clout, as his Dera has a large number of followers among Dalits, estimated to be over 70%. His Dera Sacha Sauda is the only one among the various Deras that openly asks its supporters to vote for particular political parties.

Ram Rahim originally supported the Indian National Congress. and aided them in the 2007 Punjab state elections esp. to wrest control of the Malwa region. Before the 2012 Punjab state elections, the Congress leader Amarinder Singh, his wife Preneet Kaur and his son Raninder Singh visited Ram Rahim, asking him to extend his support to Congress. However, Dera's support to Congress alienated the party's Sikh vote bank. In the 2012 elections, Congress performed poorly, and Jassi himself lost the election. The poor performance of Congress was seen as a signal of the downfall of Dera's political power.

Before the 2014 Haryana state elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader And Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi praised Ram Rahim in order to attract the Dera Sacha Sauda followers. Ram Rahim reciprocated by supporting the BJP in the state elections. and in February 2015, again in the Delhi assembly elections. He reportedly claimed to have over 2 million followers in Delhi. His organisation supported BJP in the Bihar assembly election in 2015, and nearly 3,000 Dera followers campaigned for BJP in the state. In 2016, the Haryana sports minister Anil Vij announced a ₹ 5 million grant to the Dera for promoting sports, in Ram Rahim's presence, which led to a controversy.

Controversies

Rape conviction

In 2002, a woman wrote to the respective Chief Ministers of the states of Punjab and Haryana, and to the Union Home Minister, CBI, NHRC and the Punjab and Haryana High Court, describing an incident involving Ram Rahim. The Punjab and Haryana High Court sought a report from the District and Sessions Judge of Sirsa, after which Judge MS Sular conducted an inquiry and submitted a report recommending a probe by a central agency.

After the report from Sirsa, the Punjab and Haryana High Court ordered the CBI to probe into the allegations leveled in the letter. The Chandigarh Branch, CBI registered a case of rape under the IPC Section 376, criminal intimidation under Section 506 and insult to the modesty of a woman under 509. This letter was published in Ram Chander Chhatrapati's four-page Hindi eveninger, Poora Sach in 2002. A CBI probe was ordered into the incident on 24 September 2002. The investigations involved contacting 18 sadhvis who had left the dera by 2002. In the same year, Ram Rahim had charges levied against him for the murder of journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati, who was writing articles at the time about Dera Sacha Sauda, and for the murder of Dera Sacha Sauda manager Ranjit Singh.

In 2014 Ram Rahim said he was impotent since 1990. The special CBI court rejected these contentions.

On 25 August 2017, a special CBI court in Panchkula, Haryana, delivered its verdict in a sexual assault case regarding a former Dera sadhvi, finding Ram Rahim guilty of two counts of rape. Ram Rahim was taken into custody. More than 200,000 people had gathered near the court premises ahead of the verdict in Panchkula, Haryana. Following the conviction, there were violent protests in parts of India with reports of widespread vandalism. 31 DSS members were killed in clashes with police and another 120–300 people were injured as a result. On 26 August 2017, the Punjab and Haryana High Court ordered the police to seize the properties of the group to compensate for the vandalism caused in protests by his supporters. On 28 August 2017, the CBI court sentenced him to a total of 20 years in prison, 10 years for each of the two rape convictions to be served consecutively. Ram Rahim challenged his rape conviction in the Punjab and Haryana High Courts on 9 October 2017.

Castration of followers

Ram Rahim has been prosecuted for being involved in enforcing the castration of hundreds of followers; Ram Rahim has denied the charges. On 5 October 2018 he was granted bail by a Panchkula CBI court in the case involving castration of 400 of his followers.

Conflict with Sikh and Hindu groups

In May 2007, Ram Rahim was accused of hurting the religious sentiments of the Sikhs by wearing in an advertisement attire resembling the tenth and final living Sikh Guru Gobind Singh, by using a turban with a kalgi (egret feather). His followers also organised a demonstration against their alleged persecution at the hands of some religious organizations. Ram Rahim was attacked by a mob on 16 July 2007, but escaped unhurt. The Dera Sacha Sauda tendered multiple apologies, regretting confusion over the dress, and stated that it had high regard for all Sikh Gurus, Sikh religion and all of humanity. A multi religion delegation approached the apex Sikh organisation to accept the apology. While not rejecting the apology outright, the Akal Takht maintained it was inadequate on several counts.

A criminal case filed against him, for hurting the Sikh sentiments, was dismissed by the Sirsa court in 2009 and Bathinda court in 2014. Counter-terrorism expert Ajai Sahni has stated that the tensions between the Sikh community and the Dera have been exploited by the pro-Khalistan elements. He has further quoted Indian military intelligence that Iknoor Khalsa Fauj, Khalistan Zindabad Force and Khalistan Commando Force have attempted to eliminate him. In a case where the Dera's followers were accused of being suicide attackers, the Dera has stated publicly that it was being targeted by vested political groups that were conspiring to defame it. The organisation has demanded a judicial probe into the allegations.

On 2 February 2008, Ram Rahim's cavalcade was attacked, with explosives injuring 11 persons. A Khalistan Liberation Force member was later arrested and confessed to arranging explosives and executing the plan along with his associates. After that, Ram Rahim was protected with Z+ security cover. On 20 June 2008, a group of Sikhs shouted anti-Dera slogans during Ram Rahim's visit to the Nirmal Lifestyles mall in Mumbai. The situation developed into an altercation between the protestors and the Dera followers, and one of the Sikh protestors was killed. This led to further protests from Sikhs in Mumbai and Punjab. On 27 September 2015, the Akal Takht accepted his apology and pardoned him, but, on observing widespread resentment and protest among Sikhs regarding his pardon, the organisation revoked the pardon on 16 October.

On 8 November 2021 the Punjab Police found concrete evidence for Gurmeet Ram Rahim's involvement in more than 107 cases of Guru Granth Sahib sacrilege cases. He was brought to investigation although no FIR has been issued yet. The Dera Sacha Sauda chief was named as an accused in the theft of 52 "bir's" (copy) of the Guru Granth Sahib, the holy book of Sikhs and burning of a Gurudwara and 49 Swaroops along with tearing and misusing 6 of them. The court had, however, said Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh would not be taken to the Faridkot court in pursuance of a production warrant, according to Hindustan Times the Dera Chief didn't cooperate fully.

The previous SAD-BJP government in Punjab had handed over three cases—lodged in connection with the theft of a copy of the Guru Granth Sahib from a Burj Jawahar Singh Wala gurdwara, putting up of handwritten sacrilegious posters in Bargari and Burj Jawahar Singh Wala, and torn pages of the holy book found at Bargari—to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Currently death threats have been issued against him with placards saying "Satkar Committee, Shiromani Gurudwara Parbandhak Committee and Shiromani Budha Dal Fauj please give justice, this Devil (Dusht) has killed the Guru Maharaj, defeat him through the sword (Kirpan) or through the pen (Kalam)."

In January 2016, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad lodged a complaint with police after Ram Rahim dressed up as the Hindu god Vishnu.

Murder conviction

In January 2019, Ram Rahim was convicted of the murder of journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati. Chhatrapati was shot in 2002 outside his home after reporting articles on the rape charges facing Ram Rahim. Afterwards, Chhatrapati's father gave a letter to police implicating Dera members. On 17 January 2019, Ram Rahim was sentenced to life imprisonment by Special CBI Court along with three other men involved. Ram Rahim challenged his murder conviction in the Punjab and Haryana High Courts on 15 March 2019.

Parole

On 24 October 2020, the jail superintendent granted Ram Rahim one day of parole, to allow him to visit his ailing mother in a hospital in Gurgaon. The administration secretly carried out the work and Ram Rahim was accompanied by police.

On 21 May 2021, Ram Rahim's parole application to visit his unwell mother was approved, which lead to his release for 12 hours, "from sunrise to sunset", under police protection.

In February 2022, Ram Rahim was granted 21-day furlough to meet his family. He was given Z plus security.

In June 2022, Ram Rahim was granted a 30-day parole, during which he stayed at his Dera Sacha Sauda Ashram, Barnawa, in Uttar Pradesh's Baghpat. The parole was objected by the SGPC.

On 14 October 2022, Ram Rahim was granted a 40-day parole, during which he again stayed at Barnawa, in Uttar Pradesh's Baghpat. During his parole, he released three music videos of tracks wrote, sang, produced and composed by him, titled "Sadi Nit Diwali", "Jaago Duniya De Loko" and "Chat Pe Chat", on his own YouTube channel. Delhi Commission for Women's chairperson Swati Maliwal appealed to cancel the parole.

On 21 January 2023, Ram Rahim has been given parole for 40 days. Ram Rahim applied for parole which has been accepted

Online Gurukul was scheduled to be a future project involving Ram Rahim speaking out against terrorism, along with playing in six different roles. On 2 September 2017, the Indian Film & Television Directors’ Association (IFTDA) and the Cine and TV Artists Association (CINTAA) banned Ram Rahim from future work in Indian film and television for "criminality and moral turpitude".

 

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