This quote by Shanti is a good example of the mind control within the Butler cult many years ago .
Yes, as a female ex-member of that group, I can absolutley say that fears of the outside world, and people in general who were not devotees, (called "karmi's") was hammered into you daily. Don't associate, don't associate, don't associate! Women are told they NEED husbands because the world is dangerous . You're at high risk of only God knows what happening to you w/o their protection. You are told that THE only path to God is through your spiritual master(Butler ). Total submission, unquestioning obedience is the fine line you must learn to walk with all your heart to achieve ANY knowledge of God. For lots of us, a huge range of old hippies, who had gone the gamut of drug years, meditation techniques, living in nature in jungles, Christian backgrounds on and on... we'd about run out of options (we thought) for spiritual enlightenment. Here was a new one...with a live-in-your-face-guy telling you what to do. HE could be kind & melt your heart one minute, and hold you in despair the next. If you got punished for some offense and were not allowed to go to kirtan, your whole world fell apart! Those people, that life, THAT was your world...it did not extend past this select group of humans activities. We did not own any books or music that wasn't associated with this. No TV watching, no outside friends (unless you were trying to recruit them) etc. And, devotees spied one one another! It's true. If you saw a devottee doing something they "shouldn't", even drink a damn coke, rumors flew at the speed of light! All this was most especially true if you were in Honolulu, as that was a big clan gathering spot. HE was there a lot of the time, Down To Earth was there, the warehouse etc...lots was centered in Hawaii then. That's how I felt anyway. When I was initiated by HIM, I was told that the beads he just placed around my neck were like a dog collar, for the spiritual master (Butler)to yank on at any time he pleased. That's a quote. Total total submission was what it was all about.
Yes, as a female ex-member of that group, I can absolutley say that fears of the outside world, and people in general who were not devotees, (called "karmi's") was hammered into you daily. Don't associate, don't associate, don't associate! Women are told they NEED husbands because the world is dangerous . You're at high risk of only God knows what happening to you w/o their protection. You are told that THE only path to God is through your spiritual master(Butler ). Total submission, unquestioning obedience is the fine line you must learn to walk with all your heart to achieve ANY knowledge of God. For lots of us, a huge range of old hippies, who had gone the gamut of drug years, meditation techniques, living in nature in jungles, Christian backgrounds on and on... we'd about run out of options (we thought) for spiritual enlightenment. Here was a new one...with a live-in-your-face-guy telling you what to do. HE could be kind & melt your heart one minute, and hold you in despair the next. If you got punished for some offense and were not allowed to go to kirtan, your whole world fell apart! Those people, that life, THAT was your world...it did not extend past this select group of humans activities. We did not own any books or music that wasn't associated with this. No TV watching, no outside friends (unless you were trying to recruit them) etc. And, devotees spied one one another! It's true. If you saw a devottee doing something they "shouldn't", even drink a damn coke, rumors flew at the speed of light! All this was most especially true if you were in Honolulu, as that was a big clan gathering spot. HE was there a lot of the time, Down To Earth was there, the warehouse etc...lots was centered in Hawaii then. That's how I felt anyway. When I was initiated by HIM, I was told that the beads he just placed around my neck were like a dog collar, for the spiritual master (Butler)to yank on at any time he pleased. That's a quote. Total total submission was what it was all about.