Pretentious "Temple Degree Initiates", fake Buddhism and other false claims

Having had access to a genuine guru, a Master who has attained true Enlightenment himself, has had a strange effect upon the inner circle of members and directors of the Aetherius Society. In actual fact, they themselves have little or nothing to show. It is all so much ineffectual hot air despite their perceived exclusivity.

They are not aware that they are following their Master's work in the world but not his own path of personal spiritual development. Not having had certain essential experiences themselves, they naively dabble in things that they have no real experience or understanding of and can't see the dangers or the pitfalls yet, like monkeys, they cannot let go. Obviously, he chose not to train them any further.....

In other words, they are "the Masters' apprentices" in name only. Despite their efforts, they do not realize that they still haven't really stepped upon the Path. They are blocked by self-delusion and conceit and they are so pre-occupied with their position in the world that they are open to deception and manipulation in the worst ways.



As a kind of Spiritualist Church, the Aetherius Society is neither specifically a Christian organization or a Buddhist one or Hindu or anything else as far as the established religions are concerned. Yet, latterly, that has not stopped them from usurping the trappings of Buddhism in particular and their website is now crammed with statues of Buddhas and other religions' deities.

They seem to be trying to fill a chasm which has opened as regards their own inability to perceive a path and to follow it. In other words, they are doing their best to ignore their Master's directions. In the end, they can only build up their own egos to a point of conceit and self-destruction. This is known as madness and, having wandered away, they now have no-one on the higher realms to guide them as a result.

Depending upon cleverly making their way in the world by fooling both themselves and others will be their downfall. It is best not to be exposed to such folly oneself as the consequences are pitiful yet severe. Mao's "long march" or Moses' "forty years in the wilderness" will seem as nothing when it all finally catches up with them.

Doting on disgusting little figures such as this (below) and statues which do not belong to them will give no support in their hour of need. Not sweeping their own doorsteps before advising others is a serious shortcoming. Another teacher, Swami Yogananda, once condemned it as the "spiritual laziness" of those not awakened.

Praying into radionic batteries is a fools' errand when one has not developed the necessary mystical skills. Not only are they unable to retrieve the energy successfully, they are themselves unclean vessels from which nothing useful can come. And what "adept" would want to manipulate their murky emotionally-colored energy of wants and desires out into the world and what possible good could it do anyway?

It is very wrong of the Society to put pictures of mudras being performed onto the internet for public viewing. That applies to this person who imagines he is achieving anything just by adopting a hand-sign without the inner knowledge that goes with it. They are fools but worse still is the picture on their site of a woman performing a mudra and breathing exercise. That is suggesting to people that it is harmless to undertake such a practice unsupervised by a real Master.

Additionally, the websites of some of the Society's branches advertise yoga training classes although the Society doesn't teach yoga and none of its Directors or initiates were ever trained in yoga the way their Master was himself. That was not his aim. As such, they should refer people on to an accredited yoga school or desist unless the class is being run separately by an independently accredited teacher. And, as none of them have achieved the very specific level of inner Self-Realization necessary, they should also desist in showing or teaching mudra as well. But then, America has crazy gun laws too, uhh.....

As with the proverbial lowly priest who swept the stables and prayed for the animals, it is the quiet and the meek and humble and unassuming who actually may be the most spiritual. The ordinary Reiki healer usually does far better work in their earnestness and dedication than the arrogant so-called Reiki master who has stupidly paid many $1,000's for his or her supposed mastership over others. There are no certificates or paper degrees for these things. It is all in the heart and the innate desire to serve one's Creator, uhh.

Hui-neng: "...our essence of mind, which is the seed or kernel of enlightenment, is pure by nature, and by making use of this mind alone, we can reach buddhahood directly..."

SETI doesn't believe in UFO's!

If there's one thing you can be sure of, its certain that these telescope arrays and so forth are not there merely to search for the odd UFO - or even ET. Astronomy is the game at SETI and UC Berkeley, nothing else, uhh.

If they can persuade you to part with some computer time, it to their advantage in a big way. This email (below) might have shocked some of those in Silicone Valley who fund that research..... but think of a Creative Principle or Original Cause which is behind even the "Big Bang" and the creation of Its universe.

That is to say that science has now accepted that there is a "god" and a "creation". Pity that they are still so subject to evolution here on Earth, though. Interpreting The Designer's laws is far different than trying to construct theories to suit your own self-styled ignorance.

After all, we are all merely a product of Its creation - including all the 'evolution' on Earth.....



Original Message -----
From: Douglas D. Chalmers
To: lab-notes edu
Sent: Wednesday, December 29, 2004 7:44 PM

Subject: SETI***WHAT!?!?

ATT: MR. JACK WELCH - College of Engineering - University of California - Berkeley

RE: Lab Notes article - UC Berkeley News Centre

Dear Professor,

Thank you for your website invitation to comment on your SETI research. After the US bombing everywhere from Belgrade to Baghdad "back to the stone-age", you all certainly do need something to make you feel clever again. SETI is not only a "long shot" - it gives you the feeling (illusion) that you are actually calling the shots. What utter nonsense.

The main problem, of course and as usual, is in the minds of the researchers. After looking for biological life on Mars and elsewhere, all you have discovered is that you have failed to discover that there is something that you don't know. That is, you have overlooked something fundamental or, more accurately, have failed to consider it. In other words, your egos have blinded you all to something right in front of you.

That is typical of the human race and leads one to the clues as to why no alien intelligences have bothered to openly contact us. Given our history as a belligerent race, why would anyone of real intelligence want to? After all, wouldn't it be courting disaster to invite communication with a pack of foul rapacious bastards? That is, after all, what we are, you know, and we on Earth would be generally seen as that by anyone from anywhere else.

Do we really think that other intelligences would be as dumb as, or more dumb, than ourselves? Of course, if you are only looking for protoplasmic lifeforms, how would you recognise really intelligent life from another planetary culture anyway? So SETI scientists think so? Oh? Are you sure?



It has recently been supposedly accepted that the fourth dimension is time. How many generations staring at clocks did it take to work out that simple piece of information? When so-called science finally discovers that we live in a framework of at least seven dimensions (its no good just postulating - you have to actually know what that really is), perhaps then will we be on the road to the kind of discoveries that would induce alien intelligences to bother contacting us.

I mean, how long will it take some "bright spark" (with suitable paper credentials, of course) to realise that the fifth dimension is motion. Clue: look at the large dial in front of you when you drive your automobile. These are, after all, all measurable dimensions in which we operate (or exist), aren't they?

So, where did all those aliens go who we thought might be there in out solar system? Well, I'll ask you another question - where do "you" come from before "you" are born and where do "you" go to after "you" die. Answer: two sets of "you" ? - not really. Think about it - aren't we already all living in a multi-dimensional framework and existing in a subtle state around which we have grown a more gross physical body?

Does that mean that there is more than one framework of dimensions and do we simultaneously exist in all of these or, at least, can we move between them? You find out! How? Why should I tell you?

So, why wouldn't alien intelligences be more intelligent than us an why wouldn't they have discovered that it is not necessary to live in a gross form which ages and decomposes? That would surely solve a lot of social and logistical problems, wouldn't it? Then, how does one communicate with such intelligences? Again, you would have to make yourself so good in their eyes that they would want to? What!?!? That wouldn't go down well with the egos on your grants board (or wherever you get your funding from), would it?

So, if these alien intelligences (in whatever kind of bodies they inhabit) don't care to recognise your inflated egos or dubious qualifications, what, then, will they take notice of? Well, of course, another truly intelligent person who is sensitive enough to perceive that there is more to life than "eating, shitting and copulating". Sounds like you need a real scientist on your team, doesn't it? Where do you find them, these days? After all, how many "scientists", could
actually devise a table of elements for elements which they hadn't yet discovered, as the pioneers of your craft did (and so forth)?

Yes, I think you are merely running out of ideas. Perhaps, then, you will really have to come up with some original thoughts. Oh, drat!?!?

Yours sincerely,

DOUGLAS D. CHALMERS
Melbourne, Australia.



William J. Welch
Professor of Electrical Engineering
Professor Emeritus of Astronomy

Specialty areas: Formation of stars, dark dust clouds, Michelson interferometer array, and Allen telescope array

Research projects: In collaboration with other researchers and students in the Radio Astronomy Laboratory and Astronomers at the Universities of Maryland and Illinois, we have developed a Michelson Interferometer Array for millimeter wavelengths at the Hat Creek Radio Observatory of the University of California, located near Mt. Lassen in the northern part of the state. This instrument can form high-resolution images with good spectral coverage of regions of star formation. What we "see" is radiation emitted by trace chemicals in each dust cloud: HCN, CO, etc. The pictures show remarkable objects and processes such as energetic winds and outflows ejected from protostars and massive, rapidly rotating gas clouds with disk shape that are probably the early stages of star clusters. This instrument has operated as the Berkeley Maryland Illinois Association Millimeter Array since 1988. At the present time, this instrument is being combined with a similar array at Caltech which will be located at Cedar Flats in the Into Mountains of southern California. The new combined instrument will be known as CARMA. A new activity at the Hat Creek Observatory in which I am involved is the development of a novel large centimeter wavelength radio telescope, the Allen Telescope Array. This instrument, a joint project with the SETI Institute in Mountain View, will carry out sensitive studies of the ISM and the distant universe, as well as searches for technological evidence of complex life on other planets.
http://www.coe.berkeley.edu/forefront/spring2006/seti.html

http://sciencematters.berkeley.edu/archives/volume4/issue32/story1.php


Farewell Good Brothers (1992): A look at the "Contactees" who, back in the 1950s, claimed to have been contacted by friendly aliens from the planet Venus. They pioneered flying saucer mythology..... includes Frank E. Stranges and George King. Does anyone have a copy of this video to upload? Indeed, "farewell" if peoples' opinions today are as narrow as the reviewer's ridiculing "their belief that the "space brothers" are offering a message of salvation for humanity..." but then, the film was made as a kind of mockery perhaps anyway?

The Ray Nielsen fiasco - a "pet poodle" out of his depth.....

An email to which a satisfactory answer was never received from either the Aetherius Society's headquarters in Los Angeles or from their errant bishop, Ray Nielsen, in New Zealand. The magazine's editor in Brisbane, Australia was also too embarrassed to reply after having published an uninvestigated and uncorroborated special report on the Aetherius Society......

Original Message -----
From: douglas au
To: monique org
Cc: Aetherius Society LA HQ
Sent: Thursday, October 21, 2004 10:01 AM

Subject: Re: INSIGHT MAGAZINE - FEBRUARY 2004 ISSUE***R.NIELSEN***

ATT: MS. MONIQUE KING - DIRECTOR 
 
Dear Monique King,
 
Kindly refer to the FOLLOWING EMAIL>>>> of 12th October to Ms. Samantha Moore, office manager, Insight magazine in Brisbane, Australia (http://www.insightpublishingcompany.com/) regarding certain statements made by your irresponsible bishop, Mr. Ray Nielsen, as their guest editor in February this year.
 
I was not aware until recently that you have all now marginalised, diminished and usurped your Master's role and his life's work. If Ray Nielsen ever thought he could project into the lower astrals and achieve anything, he might have some claim to having played a "...key role...". We all know that this is not the case.
 
I am sending this message to you to give you the opportunity to do something about controlling and disciplining your worthless emissaries. Expounding something other than the Truth will inevitably have a negative effect on the minds of all those young people who are being subtly misled into Mr. Nielsen's selfish ego constructs. That was never what George King wanted from any of you.
 
Thank you and good day.
 
DOUGLAS CHALMERS

***************************************** 
 
douglas.chalmers@earthlink... wrote:
 
Hello Samantha,

Thank you for your kind words in replying to me and your prompt response in sending me a copy of your February back-issue of Insight. Whose is the beautiful face on the cover? I noticed an article on page 32 but no information about her. Any clues?

I noted with interest the articles on George King's "Aetherius Society" by Ray Nielsen and others. It is good to see that the work of a real enlightened master is still being promoted.

Unfortunately, I must disagree with the statement by Ray Nielsen (editorial, p.3) that "...for over 40 years, I have.....played a key role in The Aetherius Society's mission...". That is not what he spent at least 30 of those years doing and it is only since he was made a bishop of the Aetherius "church" that he has done anything like that. I know these people and it was not like that. Nielsen was George King's personal assistant and that was all.

It was always very much George King's organisation when he was alive and it was he who solely played the "key role" in spreading the teachings he received through mediumship or channelling whist in a 'positive' self-induced trance state as well as LIVING those teachings and diligently attending to whatever tasks his teachers or masters gave to him or directed him to do. No-one else was really capable of the depth of knowledge and, in those dark days of the 'cold war' global madness, the real bravery it took to competently deliver those messages of TRUTH to a desperate but ignorant world.

In fact, George King could have just as easily and with much less risk to himself made himself popular and wealthy by promoting himself as "guru" this or "yogi" that as many have done. Instead, he chose to follow the path he was given because he could see that it would help the world and all people by that much and more than by merely catering to his own personal benefit. That, and the truth in the words that were spoken, proved him to be the real article in every respect.

Sadly, if you look at it on their website, that portrait photo of George King which you printed has been 'colourised' more recently by his followers to give him a 'California surfie' look with blond hair and blue eyes! As you can see by the other photo you printed, he actually had black hair and brown eyes - a 'look' which is now becoming much more popular in California these days with the Latino (and Asian) influence finally taking precedence as it once was long before.

If anyone had ever dared to look at George King when he was in one of his "power" states with The Force flowing through him, they would have seen something else quite different again:-

  "Oh, to look again into those Awe-ful Eyes
   Death.... and Life.... and Beyond.....
    Forever and  ever"

Only one who can travel freely between the worlds ("heaven" and "hell") and can fearlessly meet whatever is there has that appearance. Even those Buddhist meditation masters who I have met who have had  "diamond light" in their eyes, and with all credit due to them, have not had that kind of power or spiritual development.

When my mother was the organiser of the Queensland branch of The Aetherius Society (in about 1960), I recall that she had once complained that the then very small Aetherius Society was in danger of becoming the "Ray Nielsen society" when he was assisting with its running while George King spent much time doing his essential work. It would seem that is also why he was more recently "encouraged" to leave their headquarters in Los Angeles and go far away to the other side of the world. Well, now I guess he can have it his way over here.

It is disappointing to find that those who were fortunate enough to live for years with their master have still not given up their silly egos or whatever else is holding them back from truly benefitting themselves from his valuable guidance and teaching. Nielsen and Co seem to be only able to recount what their master has done in the past but still have not been able to put it completely into the context of the present. That is still worthwhile but it does not give people NOW what they really need.

You only have to look at the healing (etheric/ spiritual) instruction video that the Aetherius Society put out a few years back to see that Ray Nielsen doesn't really have a clue when it comes to the way he was waving his hands about in that pathetic demonstration. I've seen real healers at work and not even George King would have done his hands-on healing anything like that - and they had the cheek to grizzle when I told them so!

No-one can heal without demonstrating true LOVE - that is all it takes and the technique is secondary. No amount of "stage performance" (like Shamans or so-called Philipino "faith" healers) ever does anything except in the mind of those looking on and possibly the patient if they are ignorant enough. I don't know what Nielsen thought he was up to but it wasn't anywhere up to the standard one would expect from a sincere disciple of a real master.

In all those years, none of his followers seem to have fully grasped the essence of what George King was doing. You would expect most of them to have attained enlightenment by now but they seem to still be proving that they haven't applied themselves diligently enough. Except for the teachings of the masters and the story of George King's achievements, any failed ShaoLin monk would be able to put them to shame. Instead, they have, for the most part, been so pre-occupied with their "position" in their church instead of going out into the world to demonstrate the power of real love in action as they were required to.

George King once referred to "...you robed ones..." in a rueful lecture on their woeful failures including their apparent inability to follow the pointed advice of the ascended Chinese master who had instructed George King to found the Aetherius Society to "be kind to one another". You only have to listen to the lectures on cassette of a couple of their "bishops" to find what pointless prattling they have limited themselves to in the past instead of trying to live up to the example of their master. I hope they can do a little better than that now. That is why George King alone played the key role in disseminating the teachings and any decent student of metaphysics or mysticism would be impressed by his clear forthright lectures and vast genuine knowledge of his subject.

Thanking you for your kind assistance.

DOUGLAS CHALMERS

Misleading "benefits" of membership

*
Looking at the Aetherius Society's "Membership" section on their website, the following is expressly stated (an extract):-

The Aetherius Society is a Spiritual Order, which was brought into being not by man, but through man by The Cosmic Masters Themselves! It is an organization devoted to Spiritual action and the spreading of the Cosmic Teachings with which it has been entrusted.

Membership is a major Initiatory step.

Members of The Aetherius Society feel very privileged to be part of this Spiritual organization and to be able to give Service to humanity in the many practical ways made possible by our Dr. George King, who lived from 1919 to 1997.

To become a Member is a major initiatory step in a person's path of Spiritual development. Such a step opens the way for the karmic opportunities and initiations, which are available to members.

Access to the greatest Cosmic Teachings ever given to Earth;
Direct cooperation with The Cosmic Masters through world-saving missions;
Participation in our mission to help heal and uplift mankind;
Participation in our missions to help heal The Mother Earth;
Opportunities for great Spiritual advancement.

We invite all Spiritually minded individuals who wish to support the aims and objects of The Aetherius Society and cooperate with our world-uplifting activities, to apply for Membership..........

Full Membership

Full Membership entails a definite level of commitment to the Society and its global mission of world peace and enlightenment...........

During all official functions a link is created between the attenders on the physical plane and the attendees of the Temple of The Aetherius Society on the higher mental planes. Members also often hold their own Services at home to send out much needed Spiritual energy and healing to the world........

Annual Questionnaire

At the end of each Earthyear, Full Members are asked to detail their cooperation with The Aetherius Society activities throughout the year on a questionnaire, such as observance of Commemoration Dates, First and Last Hour of a Spiritual Push, regular Twelve Blessings Services performed in their homes each week, etc. Through this we can make sure that your Spiritual work for our great cause is recognized in an appropriate manner. Based on this information, future awards and Initiations will be assessed.

Certificates Of Merit

There are three basic categories of Certificates of Merit, which can be obtained after three years of Full Membership. These are awarded for regular participation in official activities, for financial support, and for direct help in the work of The Aetherius Society. As soon as two such Certificates have been earned, the Member can apply to sit for their Temple Degree examination.........

Help On Your Demise

Full Members of The Aetherius Society benefit from a unique Service when they pass on to the other realms. Our Spiritual Master, His Eminence Sir George King, arranged for Full Members who have passed over to be met by entities of a high caliber who will help them personally during the transition period.

Spiritual Protection

All Members, whether Full or Associate, come under the Spiritual protection of the Group Soul of The Aetherius Society - an organization of tremendous karmic potency because of the great good it performs for the salvation and enlightenment of humanity. The largest and most potent part of the Group Soul is active on the Higher Mental Realms of Earth.........

"Saint Gu-Ling's" mother-in-law!



In particular, I believe that some members were deceived over the long term and induced by such membership conditions and assertations to fear for their personal spiritual progress, even after they died and passed on, if they did not continue to support the Aetherius Society in every possible manner during their lifetime.

In fact, they were most probably eventually so fearful of their own personal spiritual situation that they failed to realize that they were not acting in their own best interests and to the extent that personal service had become the sacrifice of any reasonable regard for their own individual rights.

Those so-called benefits of "Help On Your Demise" and "Spiritual Protection" were latterly always uppermost on the minds of some members and I believe that their personal unresolved fears and anxieties made some vulnerable and that was played upon if not preyed upon by the dubious claims of imagined spiritual benefits both during their lifetime and later upon whatever spiritual realm they supposedly eventually found themselves as a deceased discarnate entity.

In examing their claims, despite whatever spirtual abilities their Master, George King, had in the past, not one of the people running the Aetherius Society has in any way any personal ability whatsoever to manifest their touted promises of either "Spiritual Protection" to members or of "Help On Your Demise" to members and it is mischeviously conceited of them to continue such erroneous assertations after their Master's passing.

The fact that George King, as the founder of the Aetherius Society, made those claims himself many years ago was and is questionable in itself as, even if he actually had that rare psychic or spiritual ability, such promises would certainly have had some effect upon the minds of members of the Society. It would seem that the more devoted members were, the more gullible they became and the more naively susceptible they were as the result of being part of the founder's "very privileged" society.

There is no doubt that the surviving directors of the Aetherius Society are behaving arrogantly and pompously in asserting themselves as leaders of "a Spiritual Order, which was brought into being not by man, but through man by The Cosmic Masters Themselves..." and that to become a Member is in any way "a major initiatory step in a person's path of Spiritual development..." whilst they are running things for their own self-styled aggrandizement.

I can hardly imagine that such a path of egotistical delusion and deceit could any longer be called "spiritual service" or even be construed in any way to be a path of genuinely helping others and the world at large. They are instead profitably bargaining their way in the world with false blandishments of imaginary "karmic opportunities" and of supposed spiritual "initiations" that they themselves are not spiritual enough to be able to perform, if they are totally honest with themselves.

Thus there is no doubt that some members were induced one way or another over their years of membership in the Aetherius Society to erroneously believe that they could eventually buy their way into Heaven. There was obviously the likelihood of some negative result and one wonders how many other individuals who were once members of the Aetherius Society were eventually affected by that and fears of things that could supposedly happen to them upon the spirit realms of the dead and departed.

All that I can now see as a benefit of membership being offered is that you get to dress up and parade around in some kind of pretentious robes and pass yourself off as a "Temple Degree Initiate", uhh.

The Great Tantra Challenge

*
Just aside from the main topic, I mention this as an example of challenging the established lies and distortions which continue to prop up all vested interests in this world......

Sanal Edamaruku..... challenged India's most "powerful" tantrik (black magician) to demonstrate his powers on him. That was the beginning of an unprecedented experiment. After all his chanting of mantra (magic words) and ceremonies of tantra failed, the tantrik decided to kill Sanal Edamaruku with the "ultimate destruction ceremony" on live TV. Sanal Edamaruku agreed and sat in the altar of the black magic ritual........

By doing so, Sanal Edamaruku has broken the spell, and has taken away much of the fear of those who witnessed his triumph. In this night, one of the most dangerous and wide spread superstitions in India suffered a severe blow.....

Tantriks are creating such a scaring atmosphere that even people, who know that black magic has no base, can just break down out of fear, commented a scientist during the program. It needs enormous courage and confidence to challenge them by actually putting one’s life at risk, he said.....

I'm not so sure that "mantra and tantra have no power" but this  tantrik priest (or was he an actor?) certainly couldn't manifest anything but meaningless words and ineffectual actions......





But the most evil people in modern society are not the religionists but the legalists who still cling to their power at any cost. The judiciary hide behind a veil of privilege and immunity from prosecution just as politicians (usually lawyers) do in their cowards' castles.

From there, through fear they can control people with impunity in a society which still holds onto an ancient punishment mentality and a false belief in imprisonment as a solution to its problems. Yet another FAKE religion, uhh!

The Man and the boys.....

The difference between ENLIGHTENMENT in the Master and the ego nature as manifest in some of the  Aetherius Society "Temple Degree Initiates" and Directors........ more obvious still in some other pictures - and certainly woefully apparent in their lame lectures and irrelevant writings, uhh!



Who would want to follow these latter-day pigs yet they so pretentiously style themselves as worthy to take over the mantle of leadership of a spiritual organization founded by an Enlightened Master thus usurping the Society for their own purposes and a lesser agenda as regards the Master's mission!?!?

Richard Lawrence - usurper


John Holder - pretender


One of the worst things that ever happened to the new HQ of the Aetherius Society in Los Angeles in the 1960's - 70's was that the useless crew from the London HQ of the organization migrated on some kind of permanent holiday in the sun. Actually, that was more like what the English once called "a bugs' flitting" and it had a harmful effect in many ways upon the white racist Orange County folk they happily found themselves with (those nice white policemen protecting us from those awful black folks, uhh).

To this day, the Aetherius Society in the USA has failed to attract any substantial ethnic representation in its membership from the African-American community or the more recently enlarged Latino and Asian communities. It is also questionable as to whether its Anglo or European membership would not have increased more significantly without the English continually turning up to run things their way.



Even more shameful though, and again to suit their whims, they colorized their Master's hair and eyes in his picture on the front of their website so that he appeared as some kind of pathetic out-of-date blond and blue-eyed California surfer. He always had black hair and brown eyes which is now, of course, a look more popular  than ever with the Asian and Latino communities to whom California really always belonged.

Leaving the Aetherius Society

*
Like another well-known yoga organization, "leaving" is an imperative once one discovers that things are no longer working successfully or that you are not receiving the individual respect or support to which you should be entitled or that Service is no longer "the jewel in the rock" of their supposed attainments.

Other cults had problems with their gurus as well as with the management but that was not the real issue with the Aetherius Society. The founder was perhaps a little too pre-occupied with his own mission to be able to prevent some of the ego problems that arose from time to time. Perhaps his authority was even usurped?

Back in the early years in London,  it had already become known as "the Ray Nielsen society" after one of the members who eventually became employed as the Master's personal assistant or 'batman'. That people like that were later made bishops of the Society's church was consequently a serious error but it was never rectified.

Inevitably, though, the effects on the members of having a guru or master are extensive whether the master is a good person or not. How that is handled or appreciated by the organization's management became a problem for the Aetherius Society once the Master had entrusted things to the directors. All dissent was totally suppressed.

In some ways, the beliefs and mannerisms of the Aetherius Society have grown to become strikingly similar to Scientology, particularly with regard to their "operation Prayer Power" and some absent healing techniques. See Tom Cruise Indoctrination Video: "When you're a Scientologist, and you drive by an accident, you know you have to do something about it, because you know you're the only one who can really help... We are the way to happiness. We can bring peace and unite cultures." So much for "the study of truth...".

In comparing those situations, there is a lot to be learned by studying the Leaving Siddha Yoga website and the writings of Daniel Shaw, LCSW, a psychologist specializing in abusive cults.....

More disturbing..... was the increasing rift in the organisation as Muktananda’s health failed and his close personal control slipped away. Followers began to side either with the "ambitious and dominant" Gurumayi or her younger brother Nityananda. After Muktananda’s death elements within the organisation..... and the relentless jockeying for power by some members - ran unchecked.

"Most people were only intereseted in being part of a powerful organisation. It became blatantly corrupt. It reached the point that there was no free speech any more..... Too many people were no longer even attempting to live the teachings - which simply, were to recognize God in everyone. It had become a cult."

Dan makes no secret that he always felt more empathy with Nityananda, previously called Subhash, than with the "sharp and controlling" Gurumayi.....

See http://www.leavingsiddhayoga.net/ and go to http://www.leavingsiddhayoga.net/frames2.htm and check their articles such as:-

Leaving the Ashram; O Guru, Guru, Guru,
Agitators at the Ashram; The Emperor's Tantric Robes, 
The Heart of the Secret: A Personal & Scholarly Encounter with Shakta Tantrism in Siddha Yoga, etc, etc, etc

Also see http://www.danielshawlcsw.com/ and his articles at http://www.danielshawlcsw.com/publications.html on similar issues:-

The Dark Side of Enlightenment; On the therapeutic action of analytic love;
Traumatic Abuse In Cults: A Psychoanalytic Perspective;
Psychoanalysis, Meet Spirituality: And This Time, Get It Right;
Madness and Evil: Book Review of "The Sullivanian/Fourth Wall Community, etc, etc, etc

Aya Ueto - Achieving "cut-through" in the world of illusion.....

The Earth is a Dangerous Place - The World View of the Aetherius Society

Now that the Aetherius Society has "the great Truths..... released to Terra through metaphysical means...",  are they really living by those TRUTHS or are they merely using them as building blocks for their own self-centred and illusory aggrandizement?

An extract from an article in the Marburg Journal of Religion regarding the Aetherius Society by John A Saliba, University of Detroit, Mercy Religious Studies Department, Michigan:-  

The Earth is a Dangerous Place - 1) Intro.....

Of the UFO organizations listed by Melton (1996) in his encyclopedia, the majority are quite harmless and not prone to violence. While many look forward to an age when human life will be improved through contact with aliens, only a few maintain that the end of the world is imminent, or that the advent of the flying saucers is about to happen, or that the aliens are nefarious and dangerous entities intent of destroying humankind. This paper[1] examines a contemporary flying saucer religion, namely, the Aetherius Society, and attempts to show, by an examination of its world view, that it does not fit into the foreboding scenario found especially in the popular media....... and aim at depicting the Society's world view from the "inside out" rather than from the "outside in." It will reproduce, and reach conclusions from, data provided by the Aetherius Society itself. Such an approach is justified both from practical and theoretical point of views. From a practical viewpoint, there is so little scholarly information on the Society that one has no choice but to rely on its publications and on the researcher's interactions with its members......


2) The Aetherius Society and its Founder

The Aetherius Society, one of the most well-known flying-saucer religions,[3] was founded in the mid-1950s by the late George King (1919-1997) who claimed to have received continual communications, through physical contact, trance, and telepathy, from various extraterrestrial beings who stem mainly from different planets in our solar system. His eminence Dr. George King, as the members of the Society usually address him, has been lavished with innumerable titles, academic degrees, and honors.[4] He is credited with countless skills, accomplishments, and missions (Cosmic Voice, vol. 16, May 1977: 1-8). He is regarded as a charismatic leader by the society's members and is referred to in its literature as an author, inventor, metaphysician, occultist, prophet, psychic, spiritual healer, spiritual leader, teacher, yogi, and Aquarian master. The following dedication in tribute to George King at his death sums up the high esteem in which the Society's members hold him (Cosmic Voice 1997):

To his eminence Sir George King, Beloved Master and Cosmic Avatar whose long life of selfless Service and sacrifice is the example to all who would dedicate their lives to God through practical Spiritual Action, and thus bring a New Age of Peace and Enlightenment to the Earth for the benefit of their fellow man [sic].

Roy Wallis (1974) describes King in classical Weberian terms, namely as a mystagogue who "offers a largely magical means of salvation." The reason for this is probably because King created and directed a number of spiritual and occult techniques and invented artifacts which seem to have magical power........








3) Organization

The Aetherius Society, which gets it name from the pseudonym of a being from Planet Venus who first contacted George King, is probably the most well-organized Flying-saucer religion........  Its work is closely linked to the directives of the Cosmic Masters who are believed to use the Society as an essential tool for the purpose of achieving universal peace and world enlightenment..... Its members participate in this noble task and become "builders of the New Age"........ The Aetherius Society harbors and encourages good relationships with other religions from which it incorporates several religious themes and spiritual goals. Unlike some of the new religious organizations, the Society does not proselytize........ Its members, however, believe that the Society has a function that is not being fulfilled by the other faiths. In one transmission from one extraterrestrial named Mars Sector 6, King maintains that it was revealed that "the orthodox religions have been given every opportunity to make known the great Truths. They have failed because they have chosen to exercise petty free will........  More recently, Richard Lawrence (1997), reflecting on the future of the Society after King's death, writes: "Over and over again, the plans and teachings of great Avatars have not gone ahead correctly after their lifetime. Ours is greater than any previous spiritual legacy, but it will work only if we make it work."


4) Major Beliefs

The beliefs of the Aetherius Society are rather complex. As an organization that promotes occult wisdom, it incorporates ideas from various religious traditions. Reference to God is common in its prayers (King 1966), though the planetary beings appear to occupy the central stage in the members' spiritual lives. Its main beliefs are listed as follows: Service to mankind........ Some of the major beliefs and goals of the Society are summarized in "nine freedoms," which express its goals as well as the stages of spiritual development open to all human beings (King 1963). These freedoms consist of (1) bravery; (2) love; (3) service; (4) enlightenment....... 5)


Interplanetary Beings

One of the Aetherius Society's main beliefs is the existence of a kind of pantheon of beings, referred to as Interplanetary Intelligences, who form a spiritual hierarchy concerned with the welfare of planet Earth. These beings, unlike the aliens of abduction accounts,[17] are for the most part benign, compassionate, peace-loving, and dedicated to the service of others and, scientifically and spiritually, millions of years ahead of the human race here on Earth. They live in a paradisial state and place, where old age, disease, natural disasters, and wars do not exist.....  Martians are described as having brown skin without any blemish or wrinkle..... Some of the teachings of the Aetherius Society have led one scholar, Robert Ellwood, to place the Society within the Theosophical tradition. The literature of the Aetherius Society in the late 1950s and early 1960s exhibits both great concern for the dangers of atomic warfare and fallout as well as excitement about UFO sightings. Accounts that the planet Earth is under attack by evil cosmic forces and references to the coming of the next cosmic Master,[18] may have led Ellwood to interpret the struggles with evil forces as apocalyptic in nature and to conclude that "like the Adamski teachings, Aetherius can be thought of as apocalyptic theosophy"..... In fact, some of the transmissions from the Masters suggest that the end is far from near. Master Aetherius, for example, is recorded to have said that the "Third satellite will continue to come into Orbit of your Earth for many centuries to come" (King c1975: 6, 30). He has also given to King the dates for the next 1,000 years during which Satellite No. 3 will be operating round the Earth (King, c1975: 34ff.). The society believes that we are on the verge of a great millennium, the Age of Aquarius, which is described as follows (King 1996: 85):

In the Age of Aquarius we will see a merging of science and religion; a breaking down of the barriers between different religions and cultural and racial groups; the introduction of mysticism into orthodox thinking to bring a deeper realization about the meaning of life in all aspects; and, above all, a much clearer realization and recognition of the importance of Service to humanity.

Even though one of the goals of the Society is to prepare for the eventual coming of the next Master, there has never been any attempt to specify the time of his arrival. King has stated that when the next Master will arrive, he will come as an adult in a spacecraft and present irrefutable credentials to the Earth's leaders. Though it is said that he will come "shortly," his arrival will depend on whether there are enough people prepared to receive him........ Members of the Aetherius Society are not preoccupied with an imminent catastrophe that will mark the end of the world. Rather they believe that the Earth faces periodic disasters of vast proportions. These calamities, which may stem from both internal and external sources, can, and have been on several occasions, averted. They are not inevitable or fatalistic. Thus, for example, there was an urgency to the early messages King received from the Space Intelligences. Some of these beings, referred to as the "Lords of the Ineffable Flame of the Logos of the Earth," are endowed with unlimited power and could, if necessary, prevent human beings from destroying the planet through atomic warfare ..... Others visit the Earth regularly to protect it from the wrong thoughts and actions of humankind and to help humans to live according to God's laws so that dangerous situations may be interrupted and prevented from harming the human race...... The cosmic battles with evil forces or intelligences also bear some resemblance to the fundamentalist Christian concept of "spiritual warfare," shorn of its imminent apocalyptic content..... The Society's literature contains several records which corroborate their belief that the Earth had been on the brink of annihilation.....





7) Main Operations and Missions

In practice, much of the work of members of the Society is dedicated to conducting and/or maintaining several major operations and/or missions, some of which confirm the members' preoccupation with the perils to which the Earth is exposed. Among these missions are..... (1) Operation Starlight, a Mission which began in Holdstone Down in Devon, England, in July 1958, and continued till August 1961. During this period 19 select mountains were charged with spiritual energy that can be radiated to uplift our world by anyone who prays unselfishly on them. Located in different parts of the world..... they can be used to send out spiritual energies to the world by anyone who, with pure and selfless motives, climbs them and prays for peace and enlightenment.....


8) Ritual Practices

The rituals of the Aetherius Society, which can be rather elaborate, are carried out on a weekly basis and on special commemorative occasions. The temple (often a small room) where the services are held is usually decorated with religious symbols that include a photograph of George King and a portrait of the Master Jesus. Members sit either in a circle or in rows facing a sanctuary area where religious objects are displayed and from where the officiating ministers lead the congregation.

Every week the following services are held: (1) a prayer meeting that includes a short meditation period, the recitation of some segments of the Twelve Blessings of Jesus, and petitions for the healing at a distance for anyone who has requested to be placed on the healing list; (2) a service dedicated to Operation Prayer Power; (3) a private healing service; and (4) a regular Sunday service, during which taped instructions or lectures of King and messages from various planetary beings might be played.

On a yearly basis the start and/or completion of several of the Missions and Operations are commemorated. Pilgrimages to the Holy Mountains, charged with spiritual power during Operation Starlight, are periodically made by devoted members of the Society.....

Various other spiritual practices are also encouraged. Instructions for spiritual healing, correct breathing exercises for promoting mental balance and spiritual well-being, healthy drinking and eating habits, and aura cleansing exercises can be found in the Society's literature..... Yoga plays an important part in the lives of the Society's members since it is the means by which an individual comes into contact with his or her Higher Self and thus acquires the knowledge and understanding of truth.....


9) Future of the Society

The future of new religious movements has been one of the concerns of scholars studying them (Bromley and Hammond 1987). Sociologists tend to look on new religious groups as dynamic organizations subject to change. New movements can remain marginal in the society in which they sprung; or they could simple die out because of internal conflicts and/or outwards pressures. They could alternatively grow into larger bodies and become established religious groups. This, in the opinion of Stark and Bainbridge, is not very plausible. They think that "all contemporary cult movements contain too much magic to become really successful mass movements"..... and they expect no single new religious movement to become a dominant force in Western culture.

The future of the Aetherius Society depends very much on what happens in the aftermath of the demise of its leader. Even during the last few years prior to King's death, there seems to have been very little speculation among members of the Society on this issue. Some believe that George King will not be succeeded by another Master as the Primary Mental Channel. One transmission from the Master Aetherius states explicitly: "When George King--as you call him--has to vacate the terrestrial body he now inhabits, he will not be replaced" (King c1975: 7). Other maintain that in the unspecified future a Cosmic Intelligence could come to Earth and be the next Master with a mandate to act as the spokesman for the Interplanetary Intelligences.

What will happen to the Aetherius Society is open to several speculative possibilities:


(1) After the death of it's founder, the members will disband and the Society will cease to exist. This is unlikely to happen since, as Gordon Melton has remarked, "the death of the founder rarely proves fatal or leads to drastic alteration in the group's life"..... It has, in fact, not happened. Rather the Society, a year and half after King's death, is continuing to operate with no visible changes in the religious lives of its members.

(2) The Society will split into several branches as happened to other religious movements. There is no indication, however, that any rifts between members have occurred and there are no signs of factions within the Society. The Board of Directors is carrying on business as usual and there is no evidence of internal conflicts between individuals vying for control. The relatively small size of its membership is likely to militate against divisions..... (Ed.???)

(3) The Society will become an institutionalized religious organization with authority and charisma vested in itself. The succession of authority, necessary if the organization is to survive, will pass from George King to the membership or board of directors. This is what is apparently taking place. The fact that the Society has been a well-structured organization with a well-defined religious agenda favors such institutionalization. As Gordon Melton (1991: 8) has pointed out "once the founder articulates the group's teachings and practices, they exist independently of him/her and can and do develop a life of their own."

To some extent the Aetherius Society had already begun the process of institutionalization before King's death. Its leader made provision for the continuation of the society's missions. He not only established the Board of Directors which would provide a mechanism for governance, but also stated explicitly (King 1989) that after he is gone, the members of the Society will still be able to cooperate with the uplifting, healing, and inspiring spiritual energies sent from Satellite 3.

Less than two years after King's death, the Aetherius Society has already assumed the task of continuing King's work....... Another example of the move towards institutionalization is the exercise known as a "Spiritual Push." Since the 1950s the Society's members have believed that a massive spacecraft, known as Satellite No. 3 and manned by the Cosmic Masters, came into the Earth's orbit to beam the correct energy to those people, irrespective of their belief or nationality, involved in helping humankind...... There are set times, four every year, when this satellite is believed to come into orbit and radiate its energies......

It is, therefore, likely that the Aetherius Society will continue to function as a small religious movement or organization where belief in flying saucers is central and whose main mission is to protect the Earth from evil forces and prepare it for the millennium.......

Introduction to this blog.....

*
The Aetherius Society is a mystical cult and latterly a religious group founded in the 1950's by George King in London. It then moved with him to a new base domiciled in Los Angeles around 1960 and a church was eventually established.....

I was doing time
In the universal mind,
I was feeling fine.
I was turning keys,
I was setting people free,
I was doing alright.....

Then you came along,
With a suitcase and a song,
Turned my head around.
Now I'm so alone,
Just looking for a home
In every face I see.

I'm the freedom man...
That's how lucky I am.
(Jim Morrison - The Doors)

After his death in 1997, and most probably  even before, the effective leadership was controlled  by various Directors of the Society who chose to run things to suit themselves.  A "gang of four" was headed by the founder's wife in California who vied for control with the London clique.

The original concepts of TRUTH and SERVICE were usurped to support their own power base through domination and control and the Society's Directors both in London and in Los Angeles have subsequently pretended to have some of the powers of the Master.

This is a blog for those who have left the Aetherius Society through dissatisfaction or disappointment - or have been asked to leave through no fault of their own! Some of the faithful have even been marginalized to mere "friends" of the Society after years of unselfish service.

Feel free to add your own comments.......