Citizen Initiative

www.citizeninitiative.com

Citizen Initiative is a publishing and internet project created by the British writer Kevin R. D. Shepherd, who is the author of eleven published books. He has formulated a citizen philosophy (in Pointed Observations), which he applies to various aspects of contemporary life. For instance, he has pressed for educational priorities in the marketplace as distinct from commercial gains at the public expense. This issue is spotlighted in the publishing statement (tab 4) that commences the website, and which illustrates the commercial priorities of current bookselling practice in retail chains.

The phrase citizen initiative also signifies, e.g., the incentive to confront drawbacks in “alternative” thought and practice relating to “new spirituality,” which again is too often exploitive rather than remedial. The Citizen Initiative website appeared in August 2007, and disputes factors in malfunctioning organisations, together with evasive political and bureaucratic agendas.  Issues relating to drugs and alternative therapy are included. See further kevinrdshepherd.net, which extends attention to the history of philosophy and religion, amongst other matters, and linking with the approach Shepherd has called interdisciplinary anthropography, projected in his Meaning in Anthropos (1991). See also kevinrdshepherd.info and independentphilosophy.net. His fifth website is citizenphilosophy.net. The same writer has the blog On Philosophy.

The key book of Citizen Initiative is Kevin Shepherd’s Pointed Observations (2005), which covers subjects in Western philosophy, Eastern religion, ecology, criminal behaviour, and alternative “new age” thought. That book notably warns against the fallacies attaching to recreational and “therapeutic” use of drugs, including cannabis, cocaine, MDMA (Ecstasy), and LSD.  A related volume tackles the history of religion and philosophy. Entitled Some Philosophical  Critiques and Appraisals (2004), this features over 800 annotations to prove a serious orientation.

Kevin Shepherd has composed seven epistles of complaint which revolve around deficiencies visible in “new age” or “alternative” trends. Those letters include two to Tony Blair, the recent British Prime Minister. The Second Letter to Tony Blair  (2006) continued the identification of problems attaching to “new spirituality” in Britain, and also complained at bureaucratic inefficiency. Some assessors have concluded that Shepherd has started an unprecedented form of confrontation with trends and doctrines that are elsewhere beginning to be accepted without question, and to the detriment of the public.

The seven letters are reproduced in their entirety, along with introductions for the guidance of readers. Other documents are also featured on this website, and are described below.

Webpage  Summaries:

PHILOSOPHY, RICHARD TARNAS, AND HOLISTIC CONFUSION

 

Richard Tarnas

A critical view of alternative trends and fashions occurring since the 1960s, including the vogue for commercial "workshops" promoted by the Esalen Institute of California. The word "holistic" has tended to become a blanket term for diverse entrepreneurial enthusiasms that are sceptically viewed by observers. Books by Stanislav Grof and Richard Tarnas are mentioned, both of these academics being strongly associated with Esalen and the California Institute of Integral Studies. Some themes expressed by Professor Tarnas are here questioned by a citizen philosopher favouring more traditional perspectives.

During the 1970s, in collaboration with Grof at Esalen, Tarnas interpreted Grof's dossier of LSD experiences in terms of "archetypal" astrology. Tarnas has been celebrated by Grof partisans for correlating the four "perinatal matrices" of Grof's "cartography of the psyche" with "archetypal meanings" of the planets Neptune, Saturn, Pluto, and Uranus. Grof endorsed this linkage, implying that archetypal astrology is the only means for successfully predicting the content of experiences in LSD "psychotherapy," Holotropic Breathwork, and the "spontaneous eruption of unconscious contents." These ideas are in dispute elsewhere.

The book by Tarnas entitled Cosmos and Psyche (2006) presents a theory of direct correlation between planetary alignments and trends in human history. This argument does not appeal to people unconverted to astrology. The earlier book by Tarnas entitled The Passion of the Western Mind (1991) reviews Western thought in a controversial context.

SATHYA  SAI  BABA  AND  WIKIPEDIA

Sathya Sai Baba presides at the wealthy ashram of Puttaparthi in South India. His devotees include politicians and court judges. His followers celebrate the multi-volume work Sathya Sai Speaks. He claims to be a God-man, to perform miracles, and to be a reincarnation of Shirdi Sai Baba (died 1918). From the early 1970s, many Westerners became devotees of the "miracle" guru. Yet there have been numerous defections in the West since adverse internet reports commenced in 2000. It is strongly alleged that many Indian boys and also Western males have been the victims of homosexual molestation. Sathya Sai Baba has even been called a paedophile. There are other accusations also. The allegations are denied by the sect.

Basava Premanand (1930-2009) was the representative of a growing Indian Rationalist party in reaction to Sathya Sai Baba, and he pioneered exposure of the “miracles” claimed by the guru. Premanand complained of a terrorist dimension to local support for the guru, himself having suffered violent beatings as reported to the BBC. However, the notorious “bedroom murders” of 1993 are more salient in the web archives. A lengthy book on those controversial murders was contributed by Premanand (Murders in Sai Baba’s Bedroom, 2001). A basic complaint of the Indian Rationalists is that socially prominent devotees in India have obstructed the due investigation of allegations.

Influential devotees like Dr. Michael Goldstein have repudiated many allegations of sexual abuse made against Sathya Sai Baba. These allegations were strongly profiled in the BBC documentary The Secret Swami (2004), and are represented by numerous web commentaries. The basic conflict denoted here emerged in Wikipedia files during 2006. A description of that situation is given by Kevin Shepherd, who warns of extremism in web tactics of the American branch of the Sathya Sai Baba sect. There is also indication of problems in Wikipedia, the online encyclopaedia whose guidelines are not considered sufficient by all observers.

This webpage further describes a controversy relating to the sociology of religion and issues surrounding INFORM, the British organisation created by Professor Eileen Barker, who has been an influential commentator on the disputed theme of "new religious movements."

The sectarian activist Gerald (Joe) Moreno countered the original Citizen Initiative webpage (of August 2007) in an internet attack resorting to libel. The extension entitled Kevin R. D. Shepherd in response to Gerald Joe Moreno answered the renewed offensive of pro-Sai activism. See further The Internet Terrorist Gerald Joe Moreno (2009).

GROF  THERAPY  AND  MAPS

Dr. Stanislav Grof is the author of numerous controversial books such as LSD Psychotherapy (1980) and Beyond the Brain (1985). His name is strongly associated with LSD therapy and MDMA therapy, two very controversial practices which became illegal in America many years ago. The most commonly visible Grof therapy is now Holotropic Breathwork, a trademark exercise which is also disputed. This very commercial package was developed by Dr. Grof at the Esalen Institute in California when LSD therapy became illegal.

Kevin Shepherd confronts some relevant issues in his webpage Criticism of Holotropic Breathwork and MAPS. There are many references to Holotropic Breathwork in Shepherd’s epistles, and this webpage is a significant clarification of the reasons for his sustained criticism. The frequently understated incentive and ideology of MAPS (Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies) is also described, MAPS being a Grof-related project. MAPS covers a wide sphere of drug investigations, claiming to portray the benefits and disadvantages of psychoactive drugs.

In another avenue, Grof’s influential disciple Dr. Christopher Bache currently advocates LSD therapy to a marked extent. A critical response to Grof theory is necessary not least because there are current indications that many people are resorting to psychoactive drugs in the belief that these confer spiritual experiences, a belief that is insidiously furthered by Grof and his disciples. The Wikipedia entry on Holotropic Breathwork comes under review, an entry which at first strongly resisted a critical supplement, preferring to dismiss critics of the commercial exercise.

THE  FINDHORN  FOUNDATION:  MYTH  AND  REALITY

This webpage analyses the Findhorn Foundation from their inception in 1962, together with antecedents. The co-founders of the 1960s were Eileen and Peter Caddy, who established themselves in the Findhorn Bay caravan park of Moray, Scotland. Shepherd’s account describes accumulating problems and discrepancies attending this “new age” community, and which became acute during the 1990s and after. A feature of the coverage that strongly emerges is the contradictory role of Eileen Caddy (died 2006). The treatment serves to accentuate omissions in the Times online obituary. Factors involved here are Eileen’s purported divine guidance, community economic problems, the promotion of commercial therapy by the management, and the severe treatment of dissidents.

The lengthy article also touches upon the recent and strongly disputed elevation of the Findhorn Foundation to CIFAL status via a UN training centre in ecology. The presiding personnel named in recent promotionalism for the closely related Ecovillage project include Alex Walker, Michael Shaw, and Craig Gibsone. These three exemplars are all associated (in different ways) with the suppression of the dissident Kate Thomas and her maligned friends. The dissident problem tends to strongly contradict Findhorn Foundation sentiments and catchphrases relating to intentional communities and the commercial “conflict resolution.” A society or grouping which stifles dissent and creates stigma is basically questionable.

CIFAL  FINDHORN – A  CRITICAL  STATEMENT

The Findhorn Foundation ecology project (an extension of Findhorn Ecovillage) became officially known as CIFAL Findhorn in 2006. This investiture occurred via UNITAR, the UN branch based in Geneva. Critics maintain that relevant data was suppressed by the various bodies involved. Shepherd here mentions such unpublicised matters, and also gives a critical assessment of the “low carbon footprint” theme promoted by CIFAL Findhorn and the Ecovillage.  Anomalies are observed in the closely attendant commercial devices of “new spirituality” occurring within the Findhorn Foundation, an ongoing matter persisting over decades. CIFAL Findhorn is a facet of the Findhorn Foundation, and is not effectively a separate entity in real life. The Ecovillage has the same shared identity, existing on the same territory. Shepherd urges that close attention must be given to the hindrances and exploitation for which the ecological themes provide a questionable camouflage.

CIFAL Findhorn describes itself as “an International Training Centre for knowledge sharing on integrated sustainable development and other global goals of the United Nations.” Such claims are promoted via CIFAL Findhorn Company Ltd on the website www.cifalfindhorn.org. CIFAL Findhorn Company Ltd describes the patron UNITAR (United Nations Institute for Training and Research) in further glowing terms. UNITAR are here called “the UN training arm for social and economic development, environmental services and multilateral diplomacy.” The diplomacy has involved total neglect of varied complaints about the inauguration of CIFAL Findhorn, including a warning from a professional accountant about former Findhorn Foundation accounts.

SEVEN  LETTERS  OF  KEVIN  SHEPHERD

These epistles include two to Tony Blair during his term as Prime Minister. The First Letter to Tony Blair (April 2006) argues against the partiality for Grof doctrines visible in the Scientific and Medical Network (SMN) and associated with the nonjudgmentalism of David Lorimer, a key figure in both the Wrekin Trust and the SMN. These are prominent “new spirituality” organisations in the UK.  In addition, an extension dwells upon alternative trends of “Mind, Body, Spirit” that are commercially misleading.

The Second Letter to Tony Blair (September 2006) primarily argues against the Findhorn Foundation, who are strongly associated with the promotion of alternative therapy and pop-mysticism of a lucrative kind. Findhorn Foundation promotions have been observed to charge high fees for these indulgences. Yet this organisation became elevated to CIFAL status in 2006 via the Ecovillage project associated with Craig Gibsone, Alex Walker, and other Findhorn Foundation celebrities. This project amounts to a telling compromise when the situation is closely analysed. Several of the Shepherd epistles dwell upon the discrepancies involved.

Kevin Shepherd was a supporter of the Club of Rome in his first published work Psychology in Science (1983), and he has commented upon the vindication of that approach in Pointed Observations (2005), Part 8. He urges that purist ecology is not reducible to, and nor compatible with, the cause of alternative therapy (which has created misleading doctrines and health problems in some directions). It is now well known that alternative therapy relies heavily upon the subscription of affluent females who are beguiled by the ads for weight loss and other presumed benefits. The ecological cause should be separated from such commercial considerations. In 1983 the ecological cause was viewed as speculative (even in the most sober versions) by the establishment, who merely marked time in consumerist pursuits. Yet recently the cause has been validated by mainstream science (after costly and potentially fatal delays). The conclusion of Kevin Shepherd is that ecology must comprise a science, not a convenience supporting commercial “workshops” of the Esalen variety. There are also other considerations which support his verdict that UNITAR, based in Geneva, has not accomplished the due research into events occurring in north Scotland. Busy bureaucrats frequently overlook relevant data from other countries.

A document sent to the Home Office was About the Findhorn Foundation and United Nations (2006). That message was also circulated to various other bodies, including Moray Council, who failed to respond. The political and economic agenda created to support CIFAL Findhorn is committed to ignoring details upsetting to the promotionalism of the Findhorn Foundation. The Home Office document affords an insight into obscured matters consigned to oblivion elsewhere. The oblivion was largely preferred by the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR). The two Letters to OSC Regulator (2006) attest the reluctance of that body to duly intervene in some doubtful tactics of the Findhorn Foundation, even though this organisation was officially discovered to be evasive about the promotion of Holotropic Breathwork. The OSCR was overawed by UNITAR and Moray Council, declining to reply further. The status of Scottish Charity regulation is currently in dispute.

Two earlier epistles were circulated to a wide audience of politicians, academics, and other categories. The results are still ongoing. Noticeably failing to respond (save in one isolated instance) were the Scientific and Medical Network, whose pivotal figure was addressed in the Letter of Complaint to David Lorimer (2005). This lengthy epistle is now considered to be a landmark in British commentary pertaining to the “nonjudgmentalism” and “new spirituality” trends. The accompanying Letter to BBC Radio (2006) queries the activities of alternative therapy as visible in the curriculum of the Findhorn Foundation and their exemplar William Bloom, both being linked to the SMN and the Wrekin Trust. That letter arose in response to a radio chat programme considered to be misleading by some assessors.

NEGLECTED  PAPERS  AGAINST  GROF  THERAPY

This webpage gives an insight into the “LSD neoshamanism” issue associated with Grof’s American disciple Dr. Christopher Bache, and as contested by the British writer Kate Thomas, whose contributions have been neglected by the British organisation calling itself the Scientific and Medical Network (SMN). The SMN has chosen to favour Bache on their website, and have ignored the warnings against LSD therapy (and the strongly associated recreational use of LSD and MDMA in Grof circles). The Grof movement is inseparable from the subject of psychoactive drugs. The books of Stanislav Grof are based upon LSD sessions which have been given misleading interpretations in the “perinatal” idiom devised by Grof. An influential book by Bache describes experiences of the latter arising in LSD sessions and Holotropic Breathwork. Thomas supplies a different interpretation of those experiences.

The Thomas version of mysticism is attended by an unusually realistic assessment of shamanism in counter to new age romanticism. SMN “nonjudgmentalism” discarded the Thomas version in preference for LSD neoshamanism, which is currently an influence on the SMN website. The two relevant articles of Thomas are here reproduced. In addition, a paper of Stephen Castro appearing in 1995 is included as testimony to the drawbacks in Holotropic Breathwork that were observed at the Findhorn Foundation during 1989-93 before official intervention occurred.

Shortly after, Castro wrote his significant book Hypocrisy and Dissent within the Findhorn Foundation (Forres, 1996). That work was published in the face of overwhelming odds created by deceptive promotionalism, but has since gained acknowledgment from close analysts as a courageous stand against bad management. The Castro report was favourably reviewed in some well known journals before the Findhorn Foundation internet ploy of 2002 discrepantly declared that Hypocrisy and Dissent was not worthy of review, a dogmatic verdict which showed no awareness of other published viewpoints.

SCIENTIFIC  AND  MEDICAL  NETWORK  AND  THE  FINDHORN  FOUNDATION

The Scientific and Medical Network (SMN) is a British organisation having the anomalous reputation of being a haven for alternative therapy and “new spirituality.” Kate Thomas was a member for some years until she resigned in 2004. She here describes her encounters with the SMN, the Wrekin Trust, and the Findhorn Foundation. These three organisations are interlinked in terms of affiliations and some degree of shared conceptualism. The account of Thomas has been considered a unique insight into the problems denoted by “new spirituality.” In particular, she describes her contact with David Lorimer, the leading organiser of the SMN and a major official of the Wrekin Trust University for Spirit Forum (since known as Forum for Spiritual Education).

A crisis occurred when Lorimer sanctioned the inclusion of Dr. Christopher Bache as a speaker in 2003, making no objections to Grof doctrines of LSD therapy. Lorimer had penned an enthusiastic review of Bache’s LSD book Dark Night, Early Dawn (2000). The eminent neuropsychiatrist Dr. Peter Fenwick, a presidential figure of the SMN, was in private agreement with the counter-argument of Thomas, but was not prepared to openly contradict David Lorimer.

When Thomas resigned in 2004, Lorimer instigated the inclusion of a controversial pro-LSD article by Bache on the SMN website, and neglected to include the opposing article by Thomas which had appeared in the SMN journal in 2003. The pro-Bache tendencies of David Lorimer were thus confirmed in an obvious gesture of favouritism. The Bache article advocates LSD therapy as a spiritual path, and is far more decisive on this issue than the questioning title suggests ("Is the Sacred Medicine Path a Legitimate Spiritual Path?").

The extremist pursuit of LSD therapy, via the Bache article, was still being openly promoted on the SMN website (www.scimednet.org) in 2010. This was the sixth year running that the SMN were openly celebrating LSD therapy, despite a trite disclaimer of responsibility for views expressed on their website. The absence of appropriate social responsibility has been perturbing. That same year, the Articles Archive was moved from public view to a log-in procedure for SMN members, with only the article titles being publicly visible. The title of the Bache article is still openly listed, with no accompanying details.

Critics say that the SMN form of “new spirituality” nonjudgmentalism is potentially disastrous for the younger generation, and also very inadvisable for the older generation (especially the gullible sector frequently recruited by the SMN, the Wrekin Trust, and the Findhorn Foundation). The absence of a due sense of moral responsibility is a frequent hallmark of new age nonjudgmentalism. Six years of public view web advocacy of LSD ingestion, ignoring all the complaints made during that period, is something not easily forgotten.

LETTER  OF  KATE  THOMAS  TO  UNESCO

In September 2007, Kate Thomas sent a substantial letter of complaint to the Director General of UNESCO at Paris. That document describes discrepant policies and attitudes maintained by the Findhorn Foundation, an organisation here revealed in a very different light to the promotionalism favoured by the management. This promotionalism has influenced official parties who have taken no account of drawbacks in a suppressive milieu that has undertaken continual commercial expansion since the 1970s. However, the dissident complaint has recently gained influential support.  A belated reply from UNESCO has been evoked in an ongoing situation of confrontation with the Findhorn Foundation, a situation  that  has involved British solicitors. See further Kate Thomas and the Findhorn Foundation (2009).

 

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