News Section

The News Archive has been tidied up and 16 new articles have been added, bringing the total close to 100.

The Devotee Database is currently being indexed and a lot of details have been added over the past few days.

Library site is still being set up to make documents more accessible and the front page of CoB will be updated soon with our new favourite picture of Chris and better linking to the other sites.

Manly Daily

The latest news article…

Link to cult denied
Jesse Phillips

9 August 2008

MANLY Library may unknowingly be a recruiting ground for an international organisation that requires followers to regard a Hawaiian guru “as good as God.”

Cara James, a former student of the Science of Identity Foundation, claims she was recruited into the group which she describes as a cult eight years ago through the Australian School of Meditation and Yoga.

The meditation school runs free classes throughout Australia, including at Manly Library.

The Identity Foundation is headed by a Hawaiian man, Chris Butler, and followers are required to accept him as being in touch with God, according to Ms James.

The Australian School of Meditation and Yoga has strongly denied the claim and said it has no direct or indirect link with Mr Butler also known as Jagad Guru Siddhaswarupananda Paramahamsa or the Science of Identity Foundation.

But a spokesman for the group acknowledged that most people who run its classes are followers of the Identity Foundation and the teachings of Chris Butler.

He maintained this did not constitute an indirect link. He also played down the existence of a pamphlet from the meditation school linking its teachers to Chris Butler.

In a statement, Ray Linsley of the meditation school said, “Chris Butler does not have any direct or indirect involvement in the affairs and activities of the Australian School of Meditation and Yoga.

“ASM does not pressure, force or influence anyone who takes part in its courses to follow any form of religion.”

Ms James said she was introduced to the Science of Identity Foundation after attending the meditation classes in 2000.

Once she willingly became a member she was then introduced to the teachings of Mr Butler, one of which is that he is God’s servant, and his followers must be his servants.

“He is referred to as being as good as God,” Ms James said.

She said followers are encouraged to keep shrines of Mr Butler in their homes and are never allowed to turn their back to it and must accept his teachings as divine.

A solicitor representing the meditation school called The Manly Daily and said they were pursuing Ms James for defamation, and warned he would be “watching what the Daily prints very closely.”

Manly Daily

The Manly Daily has a readership of 159 000 on Saturdays so hopefully this has served to warn a few people off becoming involved with this cult.

Another Lawyer’s Letter

ASMY appears to be in need of a little leverage lately so this comes as no suprise. At the same time that he is issuing these letters claiming that his reputation is damaged Ray Linsley continues to teach public yoga classes, act as the media contact person for ASMY and promote ASMY, as a good friend of Gold Coast Council no less. He also continues to make statements to journalists that ASMY has attempted mediation and would welcome the opportunity to resolve the issues of former members. We continue to wait for ASMY to tell us where this mediation is.

No suprise that it seems to be that they would settle right now if the information just goes away, but it isn’t and it won’t. The same laws that allow cults to run wild recruiting people and friends of friends to promise / brainwash their daughters to be submissive wives to perverted old men like Ray Linsley - who purports himself to be the moral example of society, do not impress me at all.

My point is that ASMY, including Ray Linsley’s mother in law Margaret Doyle (Vrindarvan dasi) who has directed the marriages of her three daughters and boasts of the fact, think that they have all the answers to how other people should live and actively seek to condemn gay men and others for their lifestyle, attack current and former students for their lifestyle, while at the same time carry on as they do and demand that no scrutiny be directed at them.

According to the lawyers there is no evidence, so obviously they need to ask their client who his wife is. A man who is a leader in cult recruitment in Australia, who habitually uses and alias and has spent a lot of time overseas where who really knows what he is up to, isn’t quite the upstanding citizen that they are attempting to imply.

I have no intention of meeting these demands regardless of what the consequences might be to me and quite honestly find it amusing that Ray Linsley according to this letter has spent $5 500 over a blog entry. Seems to me if he was a good disciple he wouldn’t care what people think of him, as Chris Butler teaches, and would have given that money to his guru.

Of course if this goes any further than the initial letter then it will be the first time out of four legal threats so far.

(This is the full text, I will get the .pdf up later… the misspelling of Principal is theirs not mine)

We act for Ray Linsley, the Principle of the Australian School of Meditation and Yoga based in Queensland (”Mr Linsley”).

We refer to an article published in the “Site Blog” section of the CultofButler.com website run by you on 17 June 2008 and available on the www.cultofbutler.com website since that date entitled “Site Update/RKd” authored by you (”the article”)

By the article, you have imputed that:

i Mr Linsley is a paedophile
ii Mr Linsley “grooms” minors to become his spouse

There was and is no factual foundation for any of those imputations.

Further as you should be aware, Mr Linsley has never been charged with or accused by the police of being a paedophile or of “grooming” minors or convicted of the same or any other similar offences.

The article has caused and continues to cause substantial and irreparable damage to Mr Linsley’s reputation, both in Australia and overseas.

We have advised our client that we could not imagine more grossly defamatory imputations than those stated above.

We are instructed to commence Court proceedings against you without further notice unless within fourteen (14) days from the date of this letter you :

i Print a full and unreserved apoloty for and retraction of the article, worded to the satisfaction of Mr Linsley and published in such prominence as agreed with by Mr Linsley upon the www.cultofbutler.com website and in a prominent newspaper circulating within the Gold Coast area of Queensland;

ii remove the article from www.cultofbutler.com website

iii pay Mr Linsley’s costs to date in respect to the article which are in the sum of AU $5 500.oo and

iv make an offer to pay compensation to Mr Linsley, to Mr Linsley’s satisfaction, having regard to the substantial and irreparable damage caused by the article.

Should it become necessary to issue such Court proceedings, given that the damage to Mr Linslet occurred in Queensland Australia, other states of Australia and overseas, those proceedings will be brought pursuant to the governing Defamation legislation in force in those jurisdictions as at the time of the publication of the article and will include claims for aggravated and exemplary damages. Should agreement as to the extent of those damages not be agreed between the parties, Mr Linsley will consent to the damages being assessed by the appropriate Court.

We require your urgent response to this matter.

Yours faithfully

Stuart Gibson and Kevin Dorey

Activism Update

I wasn’t going to blog this for a few days so as to not give the cult a chance to run around getting the papers but it has been picked up widely on the net already. Warning on Homophobic Cult

Queensland Pride has distribution to 16 000 plus a lot more online and sister publications in every state.

I am very torn about wanting to work on the site because there is still so much that needs to be on here or focussing on media coverage. Really getting articles like this, which has had a great impact, is pretty much a full time job.

There is also a list of letters that have to be written and posted off today which is going to keep me occupied.

I know Australian School of Meditation and the rest of SoI didn’t expect this to happen, and they will probably keep kidding themselves that it won’t keep happening. I expect they will just keep on spamming and trying to recruit more people and never bother to even consider that it would be better for everyone, themselves included to be honest and have some basic respect for others. Chris Butler doesn’t care about all the effort they are making or if they are effected by any of this - he’s certainly not around.

Site Update

Six Articles today, as always the promise of more and still no response from ASMY

Personal Stories

Papaharini dasi
Former Disciple
Haiku School

SoI Centers

Kingscliff

Politics

Constructed Protests

The ‘Science’

Plagarism by Chris Butler

Still Waiting for A Response…

This is an email which was sent today which pretty much sums up the current situation with Australian School of Meditation and SoI in general, and I hope provides some reason why site updates have been so infrequent lately, there has been a lot of letters needing to be written and general beareaucracy to contend with. Next update will be tomorrow, I will try to clear as many open projects as I can, since there is a lot of recent happenings not here yet.

Cara James
PO Box 849
Albury 2640

Tel - 0431088544

Email - cultaction@hotmail.com

To Australian School of Meditation,

I am writing to formally raise a number of issues in view of the claims recently made by Ray Linsley to a Sydney journalist.
On the subject of responding to critical information about ASM it has been stated that “Representatives from the Australian School of Meditation have invited both individuals to participate in independent mediation sessions to resolve this issue however all attempts have been rejected by complainants.”

I assume in this statement that you are referring to myself, since it is well established that ASM is aware that I am the owner of cultofbutler.com and it’s associated sub-sites.

It is however erroneous to assume that there are only two people who have issue with ASM based on the fact that the journalist mentioned she has spoken with two former members.

I have advocated on behalf of many former members through publishing their information on my websites, arranging contact with media and other organisations as requested, including a forum on the website and facilitating an informal private network of former members. Although I act as an individual activist I am always open to working with others or helping them in any way that I can.

On the date that I received this statement 29th July 2008, I telephoned both Luke Myers whose details were provided as a contact for further enquiries and Ray Linsley to state that anytime ASM is willing to participate in mediation I am more than happy to participate and always have been. Mr Myers stated that he would pass on the message. Mr Linsley’s wife took a message which she stated she would pass on. I have heard nothing further. When I spoke briefly to Mr Myers on 1st August he said he had ‘passed the message on’ but did not want to provide any specifics beyond ‘I passed it on to the school of meditation’. He did not want to disclose his relationship with ASM or sugguest any reason as to why he is the media contact person, although he confirmed that he is the media contact person at the current time.

You are hereby formally advised that this statement is untrue and is in need of being retracted and not further repeated.
Mr Linsley has attempted in the most vague terms to dismiss wholesale any critical information about ASM claiming that criticism is ‘baseless and defamatory’ - yet he provides no evidence to support this claim and piling further lies on top of those already told certainly does not assist ASM to appear more credible than ASM has already been presented. The refusal to accept any accountability for actions or maintain any transperancy or communication by ASM is infact one of the many critical points that I present and is only being further proven by the refusal of ASM to stick with their own statements.

I have made many statements published on my website over 18 months inviting any representative of ASM to communicate with me and none have come forward. I have email corresspondence from Ray Linsley which proves he claimed he was willing to answer questions and meet with me but never carried through on his word. I also have further evidence of Mr Linsley attempting to bribe me on two seperate occassions both emotionally and financially.

The statement is made “the Australian School of Meditation would welcome any attempt to resolve this issue”

If this is a truthful statement then I propose that you accept the fact that I am writing this letter and reiterating my willingness to participate in mediation, which ASM alledges their willingness for, as such an attempt. If not then I will present this letter as evidence that any such claim by ASM of seeking a resolution in future is completely untrue.

A futher statement is made indicating that the persons ASM are ‘aware of’ making claims againt them have never been members of ASM or requested membership of ASM. If you are referring to me never being a member of ASM and never requesting membership of ASM then you are certainly not speaking the truth.

To begin with I know that there is no such thing as membership with ASM. Despite meeting many ‘devotees’ in ASM I never heard about a single member or membership. Infact it is quite the opposite as Chris Butler preaches against sectarianism and claims that religion is a false identification. There is no mention whatsoever of membership on the ASM website or in any of the archived newsletters of ASM.
I submit to you that you either withdraw this statement or advise what the nature and conditions of membership are.

You are herby advised that if you wish to maintain this statement or you wish to deny me membership, if indeed it does exist, that I will be making a formal complaint to the Qld Anti Discrimination Board for being denied membership and will also be requesting an investigation by the taxation department, Australian Securities and Investments Commission and other authorities about the legality of ASM maintaining a private membership while being registered as a public company.

Further as a registered public company ASM has already discriminated against me by refusing to place me on the mailing list for ASM newsletters and refusing to provide me with a catalogue from Transcendental Sound, the registered trading name of ASM in Queensland so that I am able to purchase books, booklets and CD lectures by Chris Butler. Should you decide that this discrimination is going to continue I will be making a formal complaint of discrimination to Queensland Anti Discrimination as well as requesting investigation of ASM by Department of Fair Trading, ASIC and the taxation authorities to determine if selling only to private membership qualifies ASM as a charitable institution, noting that public benefit is the defining point on past determinations of this nature.

Another issue is that as a registered public company, under the jurisdiction of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission ASM is required under the law to comply with any request by a member of the public to inspect their public office. You are herby advised that I am making this request and providing ASM with the opportunity to respond with the location and hours of operation of their office. Choosing to ignore this request will be grounds for investigation by ASIC.

There is a great deal more that I could write regarding the misleading and untrue statements made by Ray Linsley which are designed to provide a false impression of the nature and association of ASM, but given the abusive and hostile stance of ASM to date I do not really expect to receive an answer to this letter and do not believe, based on the long standing deceptive practices of ASM and the highly paranoid and secretive nature of followers of Chris Butler that there is any intention of honesty or responsibility being taken up now. That said I would welcome your response and participate in communications with ASM.

I have forwarded a copy of this letter to the journalist Mr Linsley recently issued his statement to so that she may be aware that this statement does not reflect sincere intentions on behalf ASM.

Regards

Cara James

Site Update

Devotee Database

More details have been added and two new photo entries - Australian School of Meditation Photos and Katyayani and Congregation 2007.

Homophobia

2 new articles, both by Chris Butler disciple and president of the World Vaishnava Association Allan Tibby (Acharya das)

Gay Rights are Special Rights and Homosexuality - A Normal and Natural Lifestyle?

News Database

10 new articles have been added including a recent interview with the latest cult politician Kai Nishiki and Mike Gabbard is Oily Al. Includes a vey funny pic of the senator oozing filth from his whole body rather than just his mouth for a change.

Update/YTAA

New Stuff :

Devotee Database About 20 names were added to the main list including 8 new profiles

About this Site/Response Second Letter of Copyright Infringement and the response to it

Introduction Sourcewatch Article

Homophobia 2 new articles

Stop Promoting Homosexuality International

Hindu Cleric Denounces Anti-Gay Protestors

Also 2 New Articles on www.australianschoolofmeditationandyoga.com

ASMY Website Decoded

Evidence ASMY is a Religion

YTAA Update

In the category of recruitment an article was recently published about Yoga Teacher’s Assoc. Australia providing endorsement for Australian School of Meditation and Yoga (this also appears on www.australianschoolofmeditationandyoga.com)

I do need to write a more complete update about this issue, but for the time being it has been made clear that YTAA takes orders from their members (big suprise there ) and I was contacted by the President of YTAA who had it reported to him by ASMY that this site was defaming his organisation. ASMY is alledgedly going to be investigated (as a result of my complaint) but in the course of telling me this President Stephen Penman has revealed that the ethics committee only meets four times a year, so I don’t expect to see any positive changes anytime soon.

It really is a disgrace that these individuals set themselves up with an association to create an air of professionalism and regulation which they are incapable of living up to. Really all YTAA exists for is to form a cartel of legitimacy for a very corrupt industry. No, I am not saying that all yoga teachers are corrupt, but a lot of them are linked to cults and yoga classes have proven to be a very effective method of recruitment and indoctrination for about 3 decades now.

Of course I know that ASMY reads this site and that they can’t do their own dirty work in trying to bring it down, but YTAA is certainly not going to effect what is written on this site - or be taken seriously when it is sugguested that we just sit quietly and wait for them to have a chance to resolve the issue while ASMY uses their endorsement to appear legitimate.

I have already advised Stephen Penman and the committee members of YTAA that I will be making a complaint to the Department of Fair Trading and making it my business to write to every single organisation and government representative that YTAA has/intends to/might be interested in representing themselves to in the future to advise them of the nature of this organisation and their inability to maintain their own code of ethics.

So YTAA and Council issues are certainly keeping me very busy at the moment, but I do feel that we are making very good progress in raising awareness of ASMY and Science of Identity over here.

Site Update

This is a new section on the site which has started off with five articles.

*Disciplic Succession
*Homophobia
*Sexist Teachings
*Racism
*Introduction to Krishna Science

A major piece of writing has been Cause for Concern : Submission for Local Councils to Withdraw all support and promotion of Australian School of Meditation and Yoga. Read It Here

Another new page on the ASMY site is Sexually Explicit Material in Who Are You Here

I felt that I would have more to update this week - at the start of the week at least , but have been seriously swamped with phone calls and emails over the past few days and I am told that we can expect some more media coverage soon.

ASMY Update

This morning I sent out over 200 emails to organisations to raise awareness of the Gold Coast City Council’s continued support for Australian School of Meditation and Yoga.

New pages have been added to the protest site and we are communicating with supporters on the Gold Coast regarding further action to raise awareness. It is now considered that the Council is not unwittingly supporting ASMY given their highly defensive stance and refusal to consider or respond to the many issues of concern put to them.

We have received reports of ASMY lobbying Council switchboards with glowing testimonials and endorsements of their classes and harrassing and threatening actual and perceived critics.

I have not received any contact from ASMY despite the long standing offer to communicate with them and to publish any submissions made to this site. The simple fact that rebuttals to the information presented here to date amount to zero should be noted as proof that ASMY has no argument against those that know them and refuse to bow to their methods of intimidation.

I once again extend the invitation to ASMY or SoI to put forward any specific reason why they believe this site should not exist and they should not be truthful in their promotions and classes about who they are and what they represent. I don’t really expect this to happen, but maybe one day a member of ASMY will get tired to giving their life to guru they are ashamed to acknowledge and are incapable of defending. Email cultaction@hotmail.com or phone 0431088544, it’s that simple.

Press releases have been made and information will continue to be distributed for as long as ASMY continues to engage in deceptive recruitment. Regardless of whether the Gold Coast Council Partnership disappears or not, we will not until the truth is told.