From the book, HERO, by Bernadine Burlin, Sri Darwin's secretary
Chapter 7, Nightmare
What follows is true; not an easy subject to write about, for every bit of it is as true as I am knowledgeable. They were my friends (or so I thought) and co-workers. I had worked with many of them for well over nine years. Many I shared meals with, traveled with to seminars, worked closely with on a day to day basis. Then in what appeared to be one swoop, they became raging beasts tearing Darwin apart, tearing Bob and I apart. No, it has never been "laughable" to me. Sick? Yes. Paranoid and unbelievable? Definitely. Benumbing and baffling? Absolutely.
Darwin had built upon Peddar's, (Paul Twitchell), work, expanding and adding to areas that enhanced the office's capabilities, which in turn contributed to better service to the field and the public. When Darwin turned the spiritual mantle over to another man, he expected this man to continue building upon what he and his predecessor had built. Darwin had chosen Harold Klemp (NL), a quiet, hard-working family man who appeared to have the qualifications he could work with and who could help shoulder the immense spiritual burden Darwin had been carrying alone. They met to discuss future plans and the extent of the new leader's spiritual responsibilities, with Darwin assuring him he would not need to worry about business, that Darwin and the Board of Trustees would function in that capacity with the man's input. Upon NL's verbal agreement, Darwin set into motion the transitional procedures that would culminate in Anaheim at the World Wide Seminar in October 1981, and eventually in the treachery at the Menlo Park office on August 7, 1983.
Darwin was to later recall that when he "introduced this man to Master Rebazar Tarzs, [the Torch-Bearer for these teachings] Rebazar refused to let the man come up to the area beyond the dual worlds. He told me to keep him down there. I should have remembered that, for the man's experience was within the dual worlds only."
On October 22, 1981, in a poignant ceremony witnessed by twenty-three higher initiates, Darwin presented his appointed successor with a blue carnation, symbolic of the acceptance of this spiritual responsibility, at midnight, in soul, in the Valley of Shangta at the Oracle of Tirmer in Tibet, to give him the opportunity to unfold in soul.
Darwin then introduced him to the thousands who had gathered in Anaheim to meet the new master he had appointed. Word had spread like wildfire that Darwin had stepped aside due to his physical condition, and excitement was high as the transition was made. The wonder of having two masters working together to perpetuate and make available the ancient teachings was beyond words. Those initiated during Darwin's time as 972nd Master were still his spiritual responsibility as long as he was alive.
The Corporation provided the new leader, and his family, with his choice of a new home, as they had Darwin, in addition to a car and a Lifetime Agreement similar to Peddar's and Darwin's. When Darwin learned that they had little furniture, NL was asked to go out and buy what he needed. When he didn't, Darwin gave him a fair amount of his own. Within weeks NL and two staff members were on a lecture tour to the South Pacific, while Darwin prepared for concert tours throughout the United States and Canada. Two business managers, inspired by the financial success of his earlier concert tours, pressed Darwin into an additional tour with a strings group.
Darwin had been acting as temporary office manager and many changes were occurring. It was important that the office run smoothly to assist NL, and to that end, eight department managers were delegated as a team to keep the operations of the office humming. In January of 1983, Darwin was asked by the Board to work full time in the office. His remarkable capacity to see the "long haul" through his inner vision often created a whirl of activity and change. A man well ahead of his time, a dynamo, it is sometimes difficult to keep up with Darwin, yet paradoxically, he is one of the most considerate and generous beings many have ever known.
Office procedures were examined to see if they could become more efficient. With the Board of Trustees' approval, small Apple computer terminals were brought in to replace a large outdated DEC. When a problem occurred within the accounting department regarding a discrepancy in the figures, Darwin spent weeks working individually and collectively with the people involved until things were straightened out and the necessary accountings made available to the Board. It disturbed him greatly that a couple of individuals might have taken financial liberties with the membership's contributions.
Meticulous in his record keeping, Darwin expected the same from those who were responsible for the Corporation's funds, adamant that the financial records be "squeaky clean" at all times. Sometimes stern and strong as he directed office procedures, it was always done with the good of all in mind and heart. He felt the office personnel were competent, trusted them and was generous in his praise and attention to them. They felt his divine love and responded in kind. He welcomed their input and instituted monthly "gripe" sessions in the office's auditorium where genuine grievances could be aired without rancor or retaliation. Darwin joined these sessions several times, offering the participants the same opportunity to share their gripes about him.
Darwin had offered NL his private office several times, but the man preferred to work at home, quietly slipping into the office for short periods of time, making the rounds of various departments, as Darwin did, occasionally visiting with Darwin. NL inspired much love in the office personnel for he had worked side by side with them before being given the opportunity to serve as the Master. Under his quiet demeanor lurked a delightful sense of humor and an endearing friendliness. Darwin, very popular with the students, purposely stayed in the background, cutting his appearances at seminars to twenty-minute segments, usually to play his Vibes or talk for short periods.
The prime of the management team was to maintain the smooth-running operation of the office, accommodating as quickly as possible the requests of both the Masters. One day NL's first wife brought a dilemma to their attention. He felt he was not being kept up to date on what was going on. The management team was called together where it was agreed that he would receive a copy of all notes taken at meetings that he or his secretary did not attend. January 9, 1982, NL was elected as the President and a member of the Board. Then at the Board Meeting on September 30, 1982, Darwin was asked to come back in as President, and accepted.On October 5, 1982, Darwin, NL, and a small group of staff members and initiates, attended a ceremony in the beautiful setting of Sedona, Arizona, establishing the seat of power for the teachings. The air was still as the group stood outside in a large circle while Darwin read a poem by the late Homer Carlile. Suddenly the two flags (U.S. & the path's emblem) overhead on their poles began to straighten and blow vigorously, whipped by a mysterious warm breeze, as though someone had pushed a preordained button. Later when asked about this suprising phenomenon, Darwin winked, "Yeop, right on cue!" No other explanation was offered.
The establishment of the seat of power was a grounding wire in the physical for the positive power of spirit, in the sense that it was no longer pouring through Darwin's body in the same way it had been before. It also established this direct path to God in the existing world as the Catholic religion has in the Vatican, the Rosicrucians in San Jose, California, the Islamics in Mecca, etc. It had been a long time coming, 500 years, according to Rebazar Tarzs.
One of my jobs, in addition to being Darwin's secretary, was to work with Peddar's manuscripts. I kept a project board in my office reflecting the projected printing schedules for PZ's works, as well as manuscript considerations from some of the initiates, with the possibility of additional works by the two Masters. I provided the management team, Board Members and the Masters with periodic updates of these projections that ran through 1984.
Darwin made no secret of wanting to get out of the Menlo Park office. He didn't mind staying on there to "straighten things out" as requested by the new leader, but his tentative plans were to move to Oregon as soon as the house, which had been approved and built by the Board of Trustees for the Corporation, was available, to live his life and continue spreading the message. He would take at least his secretary with him, as provided in his Lifetime Agreement, and possibly one or two others to establish a small office to work with some of PT's unprinted manuscripts, and the other books that had not yet been written by the masters. Peddar's widow had assigned his published and unpublished written materials to the Corporation with the stipulation that the "Certified Copyrights and any and all [of his] unpublished works" be "under the direction and control of Sri Darwin Gross to assure their originality and proper presentation..."
Darwin still wanted to travel to meet with the students who lived in out of the way areas, give introductory talks again as he had prior to his mastership, use concerts and music opportunities to present the message of the teachings to the public. He voiced these plans often at staff meetings, management team meetings, and to the Board of Trustees, as well as to audiences at seminars.
With the help of the office manager, a couple of department heads and office personnel, I began gathering together and setting aside, items and office equipment to be taken to Darwin's Oregon office. By the end of June 1983, Sri Darwin Gross had begun his long awaited semi-retirement, settling into the Corporation's Gleneden house, with chipmunks, neighborhood eagles, owls, hawks and deer in a lush evergreen forest, high upon a hill overlooking the ocean to the west. However, Darwin's semi-retirement was short-lived!
In October of 1980, an Oregon corporation was set up, with Darwin Gross and two Oregon initiates on its Board. Under the direction of the Corporation's Board of Trustees in Menlo Park, California, Articles of Incorporation, #N-9-147615, were filed in Salem, Oregon. They stated that "provision for the distribution of assets on dissolution or final liquidation shall be distributed to the sole member which is a California non-profit Corporation," which is the corporation itself. Three signatures were required for the withdrawal of any funds (with Darwin one of the three) and the bank book was kept in the Menlo Park Office.
The Oregon Corporation was called Dharma Aircraft Ltd. and at the Board Meeting in June 1983, held after the seminar in St. Louis, Missouri, the Minutes read: "Dharma Aircraft Ltd. was discussed. After it was moved by P., seconded by J., and unanimously passed: RESOLVED: That Dharma Aircraft Ltd. be renamed [Glen Eden Press] and set up and maintained as a separate corporation to work with other income producing sources to raise funds for (corporation).... It would initially hold the books and copyrights and discourses. RESOLVED FURTHER: That (corporation's)... Certificates of Deposit be transferred to the new Dhanna Corporation to finance it, as C.D.'s become due." This money was to be three million dollars put in trust for the life members.
Darwin had moved to Glen Eden, Oregon on June 29, 1983. He flew to Holland for the European Seminar in July, 1983, attending a meeting where NL had asked P. to act as moderator. Through P. at this meeting, Darwin learned that NL wished to assume the presidency of the Corporation again. Darwin agreed. Throughout the Holland meeting, NL said little, but thanked Darwin for doing a good job in the Office. P. later claimed, "After that [Holland meeting] there was movement of money, unbeknownst to the Board of Trustees, which was a broken trust." In answer to P.'s claim, Darwin stated, "There was no discussion of money or moving funds. The transfers of C.D.'s in late June and July I lth were made before any meeting in Holland. There was another $500,000 prepared to be transferred, but it was held back. This was tied directly to (corporation)... as mentioned in the Articles of Incorporation N-9-147614."
On Saturday, August 6, 1983, I was at the office to oversee the placement of goods on the moving van for the move to the Oregon office. A small office crew was there and aware of these activities. Darwin flew to Menlo Park that weekend for the quarterly meeting of the Board of Trustees. However, just moments after the August 7, 1983 Board Meeting opened, Darwin was unceremoniously ousted from the Corporation as President and Officer of the Board, as well as Employee. Bob Brant, Secretary of the Board and the Office Manager, and A.N., Chairman of the Board and the Corporation's Legal Counsel for nine years, received the same treatment.
"P. stood up and took over the meeting," Darwin stated. "The Chairman of the Board, A. N., objected and called for an open discussion to resolve any differences, but P. went right ahead and handed out eleven resolutions already reproduced, and demanded they be passed without discussion.
"The resolution number one read: "Whereas it is in the best interests of (the corporation) to make certain changes regarding officers of the corporation, it is hereby: RESOLVED, that Darwin Gross is hereby removed as President ... and his services as an officer and employee... are hereby terminated, both such removal and termination being effective immediately.
"The resolution also removed Bob Brant and A.N. as well, with the new leader nominated as President and P. as Chairman of the Board. The benumbed trio received no answers to their questions and the meeting was hastily ended. The Board Members, without Darwin's, A.N.'s, or Bob's knowledge, had met secretly the day before, and apparently other times as well, considering the progressive states of the conspiracy.
Already printed for mailing was a letter to the membership, signed by the new leader and dated August 8, 1983. "For the last two years he [Darwin] has graciously helped with the business side of (corporation) as I was getting my feet under me ... I have stepped into the foreground as the spiritual leader in order to combine the spiritual and business duties. Thanks are due Sri Darwin who stood by while I learned the many tasks of the Master. At yesterday's meeting with the Board of Trustees, I accepted the position as president of (corporation), which (Peddar Zaskq) once carried himself, as has Sri Darwin after him.
"Peculiar to this case, however, is that the President (Darwin) had moved out of the state, had already agreed wholeheartedly to the new leader's request to be the President again. Darwin had built up the Corporation's resources from forty-five thousand dollars in 1972 to over fifty million by the time he was unceremoniously kicked out.
There were proposals that Darwin and the management team had readied for presentation at the August 7, 1983 Board Meeting. They were never introduced. One contained a detailed investigation and cost analysis of moving the printing and shipping half of the Corporation to Las Vegas, which was approved by the Board of Trustees, and a proposal with the corporate headquarters in Oregon, possibly Eugene. The purpose? To cut expenses while still serving the best interests of the members and those interested in the teachings of these great spiritual Masters. It had been an investigation only for presentation to the Board. There were other proposals which would have spent a good deal of the Corporation's liquid funds.
I had breakfasted that fateful August 7th morning with one of the department heads who told me, "You must make a choice" (between the masters), and refusing to clue me in on what was about to transpire. To add to my puzzlement, this party added: "One day we will laugh about this together."
August 8th Darwin and I returned to Oregon and waited at the Oregon office two days for the arrival of the moving van that had been halted, unbeknownst to us, enroute. The impact of what had happened still not getting through to me. Under the circumstances, why was the initial loading of the van even permitted?
For two months following August 7, 1983, "shock" set in. Darwin's home phone number had always been available to the new leader, management team personnel and Board Members. Yet personnel claimed they "tried to reach Darwin after August 7, 1983 and couldn't." Darwin tried through five different people to arrange a meeting with NL and Board Members, but NL refused to see or speak with Darwin. Darwin learned through two individuals that his salary "had been amended" following the August 7th takeover, but he was never officially informed. He received no further salaries from October 1983 on.
No one called or met with Darwin about any alleged "mis-management of Corporation funds," either prior to his leaving for Oregon or after. NL had access to all the information he wanted, in every comer of the corporation, once he had made his wishes known. By early September 1983, Menlo Park personnel had appeared and removed all the corporation's equipment and materials out of Darwin's "retirement" home in Glen Eden, the house that belonged to the Corporation. He was given two weeks to vacate the premises and told by one staff member, "we will take care of you." The true implication behind that remark did not register until later.
The Corporation had halted the moving van carrying the necessities to establish Darwin's small Oregon office, impounding it in a storage warehouse in Portland. Some of Darwin's personal items (like his own cassette tapes of PZ's talks purchased before 1971, as well as his own lectures and music) were removed by personnel from the storage area with the comnent that he would get them back. He never did. Personal and working files were sorted, some to be "copied" and returned to him. They were not. He refused to give up the locked file cabinet filled with student initiate reports, saying he'd burn them first since they were a sacred trust between the Initiates and their Master. The files remained with him; however, he was forced by the courts to make copies of each and every letter and give them over to the Corporation, which he did.
As Sri Darwin's personal secretary since 1975, I expected to work hand in hand with the Menlo Park Office while working with Darwin in Oregon. I didn't want to believe that co-workers and Initiates whom I had worked with for years could do such a 180-degree turn where Darwin was concerned. But as the nightmare progressed and there were such brutal efforts made to suppress the truth by frightening people away from Darwin, acting as though Darwin had never existed, had never accomplished for them and for the whole what had been accomplished, no appreciation extended, and accepting the sheep-like attitude (as one staff member commented), "Five Board Members can't be wrong," without questioning Darwin, I had to accept the fact that it was a conspiracy or there would be no need to fear the facts being told.
Chapter 8, Surviving Betrayal
What do you do when you want truth suppressed? When you choose to tumble a giant because he is in your way? Because he is too charismatic and beloved by too many? You annihilate him by the sword of jealousy, hate, envy and greed. You attempt to smear his reputation through defamation, you turn his Initiates and friends against him. You create distrust and gossip, fire up the top eschelon to spread slanderous lies, aimed at inflaming those who might doubt the hate-filled accusations. Then you tell your followers your predecessor was an embezzler, a black magician who must be avoided. Don't keep his pictures or books. Destroy them all. Destroy his music. He might hypnotize you with his spells. And destroy they did, the herds, the packs, back-yardburning parties, incinerations of thousands of dollars of material that bore the 972nd Master's good name and efforts.
When efforts are purposely made to suppress truth, a divisional fissure occurs, placing those who serve truth on one side and power-hungry self-servers on the other. There is no "battle," per se, for the recording of the truth is non-erasable; compensation is unerring, and through the laws of spirit, will sort out the pluses from the minuses in the direction of truth. The suppressors of truth are themselves fearful that truth will come out about their actions, words and deeds, and although appearances might indicate they have "won" a victory, they alone are the War, and fear of discovery is their constant companion.
One young man I thought I knew wouldn't even speak with Darwin on the phone. I placed Darwin on the spot by offering the truth to this fellow, with Darwin sitting across the table from me. Darwin reached out for the phone, willing to talk with him, but the man didn't wish to find out what really had happened. He hesitated briefly, then said, "I can't! It's scary." I reminded him there were always two sides to every story, but he did not wish to hear the "other side," content--no, afraid --- to disbelieve the ugly rumors being circulated by supposedly spiritually unfolded individuals.
It was made to appear that Darwin had left the path and corporation of his own free will, rather than the truth --- he was ousted! When personnel at Menlo Park were asked why Darwin wasn't included in the October 1983 seminar program, one individual heard, "You mean he'd WANT to come? We thought he'd left US!"
He was told by his lawyer not to go to the October seminar as the Board had stated they would jail him if he did. When asked on what charges, Darwin learned the charges were all in the Federal Court House. The Corporation sued Darwin August 18, 1983 for the 2.6 million held in GlenEden, Oregon (and later for the contents on the moving van). It forced him to locate a lawyer in Portland who placed the Glen Eden money (still untouched and intact) "in trust" until the case was settled. The bank book for this account was in the corporation's accounting department at all times.
Former office manager, Bob Brant, made this comment: "I actually was around Darwin during the time he was accused of taking money. That accusation is an outright lie! There were three signatories to the account that the money was transferred to: Darwin, S.L., the former accounting manager, and me, as the former Operation's Manager. Two signatures were required to do anything with the account, and the Board's approval. The money was transferred at the direction of the Board of Trustees. You can find a written verification of this in the Minutes of the June 1983 Board Meeting held after the seminar in St. Louis. The money was transferred, in several installments as various C.D.'s matured, to another corporation bank account. Darwin was not even a signatory on some of the transactions. Just like taking money out of your left pocket and putting it in your right pocket. The money was never out of the Corporation's control. So that story is a lie!
The Board Minutes may well have been changed, for this charge has been made of Darwin and even involved me as Darwin's secretary, although I had never worked with the Board Minutes. According to Darwin, "the Certificates of Deposit that were transferred to the Oregon Corporation [renamed Glen Eden Press] were $500,000 on June 28, 1983 by wire transfer via the accounting department in Menlo Park. The second transfer was on July 11, 1983 for $2,010,000."
When Darwin learned he had been removed from the October 1983 seminar program, he underwent his fifth surgery, October 4, 1983, in San Franciso, having to sell his car to cover medical costs and the mounting legal fees. Whereupon the Coporation set up its third lawsuit, to regain the car (which was part of Darwin's Lifetime Agreement) or its financial equivalent.
At the seminar in October 1983, Bob Brant and I, both higher initiates, were bodily kept out of a higher initiate's meeting. We had given out some of Darwin's business cards with his Oregon post office box number to individuals who had indicated interest in what Darwin was doing. Before he left for Oregon, Darwin had asked that his new address be printed in the membership publication so those initiated under him could contact him directly. This request was refused and those who wrote to Darwin in care of Menlo Park, had their letters returned to them marked "Address Unknown, Return to Sender."
Bob Brant stated, "The fact that we were prevented from attending that higher initiate meeting is proof positive to me that the truth was not wanted, only the Board's version of it, because either Bernadine (BB) or I could have set the record straight, and this was definitely not wanted. The World Wide Higher Initiate Tape* of that meeting offers no proof, but only makes accusations, allegations and inferences."
The points brought up before the Higher Initiates at that meeting were:
1) Darwin's Salary. NL stated that "Darwin has more money than you and I put together. He earns four times more than I do. I've come up the hard way." *
Darwin responded: "I've come up the hard way too, as Peddar Zaskq did, with my salary $1200 a month from 1971 'til 1974 or so. Subsequent raises brought my yearly salary to $75,000 in 1982. I was supposed to receive $85,000 in 1983, was given $66,000 (the manager of the time did this under someone's instructions), and was cut off completely in October 1983. Salaries were set by the Board of Trustees, and sometimes between the Chairman of the Board and Management. The wages for the Staff and Master are in the Minutes of the Board Meetings. All the copyrights for and royalties from my books were turned over to the Corporation. When I left Menlo Park in June 1983, the Corporation had liquid assets of nine million dollars. (NL) was given an opportunity more than once to have whatever he wanted in salary. All the Office Staff received raises, including (NL) and the Board. This year he accepted more."
From Bob Brant: "For a period of several years in the beginning, Darwin made subtantially less than the new leader does today, and Darwin donated nearly all of that amount back to the Corporation for the specific use of continuing the message to the world. I, as Operations Manager, had to do a study which involved thoroughly researching the corporate financial records, and can say, for a fact, this is true."2)
The $30,000 President's Discretionary Fund. Darwin's comment: "Where is this new leader's trust! If he suspected me, why didn't he come to me and the Board rather than cause all this ruckus? This fund was put into the by-laws of the Board, and the Minutes state: 'February 20, 1978. RESOLVED that in light of the special requests for funds and needs, the Business Manager is directed to pay $30,000 per year to the President as a discretionary fund, to be used at the President's sole discretion, without any necessity for accounting as to the use of said funds to Corporation.' An early Board did this when they heard I gave one-half of my salary back for the message to be spread, without tax deduction. The purpose of this fund was to make investments for the Corporation by me. It was used ONCE, the funds invested in property and the profit went to the Corporation."
3) $300 Membersbip Contribution Raise.According to Darwin, "(NL) was at every Board Meeting since October 1981. He got to vote, along with all the Board Members on the $300 membership. He did not oppose it! There was only one 'no' vote on that proposal, made by B.E., who had guts enough to say no. (NL) did not express his sentiment and his feeling to the Board about the $300 membership. After he expressedwhat he wanted, it was changed to $150. This was discussed at a prior Board Meeting, then left for Management and Staff to make a proposal. (NL) got all the numbers about business that he requested. He needed only to make his wishes known, instead of going behind my back seeking information, based on suspicion."
When Darwin left for his so-called "semi-retirement," he expected the Board to honor his updated 1981 Lifetime Agreement which covered his salary, a car and residence, medical, dental and travel expenses, in addition to a secretary to continue with his work. Now, the Agreement had become an issue in the widening canyon created by the conspiracy. Two watered-down versions of a lifetime agreement were offered Darwin but the blatant controls on his activities were refused by him. (He would not be able to travel or give talks, or represent the teachings; he would have to submit everything he wrote to the new leader before it could be printed. Any breach of these agreements by Darwin would nullify it.)
They finally refused to honor his Lifetime Agreement at all, saying he had not carried out his spiritual and physical responsibilities. It was at this point that Darwin countersued the Corporation for that Agreement. The Corporation had already sued him three times, for the items on the moving van (which the Board had waylaid before it reached GlenEden), the 2.6 million, and the car.
Of note here is the emergence of some "requests of the Board of Trustees" acknowledged by five initiates of the eighth circle, written around June 1983, stating that "through our own investigation," the Board must accomplish their requests or "we will feel an obligation to take our concerns first to the (other higher initiates) and second, to the chelas at large." It appears to be the clout used to discard Darwin. It also reinforces why Darwin was never questioned or asked about any of the accusations brought against him. He could provide answers. The conspirators did not want answers.
The demands made by the eighths included the obvious: An office for (the new leader),"and a budget "for his own spiritual projects," "unrestricted authority" as to his travel arrangements, "immediate control" of publishing, advertising, spiritual programs, seminars; that he be fumished whatever materials, infon--nation he needed. The baiting ended with "within 24 hours following the adjourm-nent of the Board of Trustees' meeting, currently scheduled for August 7, 1983, the Minutes book be turned over to the new master, so that he can study the legal history of (corporation) in the modem movement begun by (Peddar Zaskq)," and that he "be elected president as the Master has been in the past, and that a Board Member, not a paid employee, be Chairman of the Board."
There had been several meetings prior to August 1983 with Darwin, NL and their two secretaries about initiation procedures. Recommendations from Higher Initiates in the field were requested when higher initiations were under consideration. Darwin still has the responsibility of those initiated under him, but he shared the reviews and decisions made about initiations with the new leader, who now was claiming "many of the initiation records we had were by Darwin's orders erased."* According to both Darwin and Bob Brant, "there were complete records of all members on tapes and hard copy" in Menlo Park at the time Darwin left for Oregon, and Darwin had a complete hard copy tape with study histories and initiation dates of the membership with him. He would usually update these lists twice a year, looking them over to review initiations, seeing that they were given to those who earned them. At the Board's request, he returned all these materials through his lawyer.
The Corporation in Menlo Park had liquid assets of nine-million dollars, thanks to Darwin's overview and guidance. His motives --- to build resources through investments and real estate ventures, to seed them in different areas for the members' and the Path's protection, so all the Corporation's "eggs" weren't all in one basket. The liquid monies were all earmarked for projects world wide. All this well voiced and known by Management Teams and Board of Trusteesmembers. Never forgetting that their prime purpose was to make the message of the Masters available to the world. Now these motives of the 972nd Master were being twisted, tom and tarnished, part of a plot that the dark force could use to undermine the true teachings if enough vehicles were willing to go along with it, and provided the persuasive qualities of the conspirators were successful. Then you add Fear. That's the clincher. The members have to "fear" facing Darwin or contacting him. If they were to get the truth directly from him, members might be lost. No, the membership had to be kept away from Darwin. Fear. Fear will do it.
This was best served through an article in a quarterly membership-only publication. "Methods of the Black Magician," written by NL, told the membership they could "survive a psychic attack" by putting "any photos, as well as memorabilia of a disruptive personality, out of the house," and not to open any letters from Darwin, for it triggers a post-hypnotic suggestion. Though Darwin's name was not used, the implication did not go unheeded, as these comments from letters written to Darwin show: "I had to put my account on hold at Menlo Park, because I find the fon-nerly spiritual publication less and less mystical since (NL) took over certain operations. It's become some kind of subtle propaganda against Darwin without mentioning your name."
"I would like to circulate a petition among the chelas to be sent to the Board of Trustees. Some ideas that came to me to consider for the petition: To make sure you get your letters from your Initiates; an appropriate role for you in all membership functions and publications; a fair salary and/or pension; no changes be permitted in the writings of previous masters; no black magic fear tactics to be used against Initiates as is presently the case. With the reaction from Menlo Park being, 'well, the dirt under the rug wants to stay there. We can't have the chelas find out."'
"Articles in the recent publication seem to be angled toward you but without openly saying so or naming names."
So thoroughly was the fear implanted within the membership that Darwin's books, tapes and pictures were destroyed throughout the world. His books were dumped into the Chicago River, others burned in California, with at least "$30-40,000 worth of books burnt" in an official incinerator, through the European office, according to the European Council's communique of March 30, 1984. Just like Hitler. World wide, greater than one million or more of them. One extremely important spiritual law has been forgotten by those perpetrating this conspiracy: What you put out will return to you in kind. The law of compensation will come full circle.
It seems clear that NL did not want Darwin's assistance either in the office or in the field, yet was unable to face Darwin in person about this. It is felt that he was baited by a couple of higher initiates who had their own axes to grind. When Darwin received a letter from NL on September 15, 1983, scolding him and indicating he should quietly go off to some retreat, Darwin responded with an answer sent to the man's personal mail box. The letter was returned to Darwin, unopened, marked "Refused."
A friend mentioned that "whatever Darwin may or may not have done, it never warranted the manner in which it was handled." Of interest: When Darwin stood up to leave that benumbing Board Meeting of August 7, 1983, he turned to the man he had selected to succeed him and said quietly, "I am still the best friend you will ever have in this world." Bob Brant concluded: "I have personally witnessed the most cruel, degrading, unbelievable acts perpetrated on Darwin by this new leader and the current Board. Sri Darwin is still totally devoted to Spirit, to the many thousands upon thousands throughout the worlds that looked to him, and is every bit an Eshwar Kanewale Master."
The entire nightmare left me numb and shocked. How could so many be so fooled by so few, and without even contacting Darwin for his view? It had been an ingenious plan, deftly executed and extremely clever and cruel in what it did to hundreds of thousands of sincere people who lovedDarwin and appreciated the inner and outer help he had given them over the years, as the focal point for the positive power of God. They had looked forward in excitement to two masters working together, but it was not to be, at this point in time anyway.
While unwarranted and unnecessary fear tactics had kept many of those initiated by Darwin, away from him, those who were brave enough to want the truth from him directly, discovered an amazing and yet unsurprising truth. The divine love is still here. The happy, loving, compassionate Master they have known since 1971 and before, is still the same. He is accessible to them, shares his spiritual insights at appearances, and in communications with students and friends, enjoys bringing the healing beauty of his music to them. He continues to bring the message of the teachings to those awaiting its message. This is his only mission --- always was, and always will be.
On January 12, 1984, Darwin once again reassumed the spiritual mantle he had prior to choosing a successor. He was forced by the courts to stop the use of certain terms which he did by re-editing his books and tapes. Asked if he was still a Master, he answered affirmatively. He had not deviated from what PZ had brought forth, nor would he. It was his purpose for being here, his mission as a spiritual adept.
*Taken from the tape of the Higher Initiate's Meeting, October 1983 World Wide Seminar, Anaheim.
Chapter 9, Beginning Again
When he was ordered out of the house in GlenEden, Darwin moved to Corvallis, Oregon. He had put together a few talk tapes, sending them out to students who were appalled by the Corporation's actions, very upset that it could happen in the spiritual path that had opened the doors to their individual mastership through Peddar's and Darwin's guidance and dedication to Sugmad (God). For many, the Black Magician article in the member's publication was the straw that tipped the scale. It required making a choice, something they would never have felt necessary, but now they chose to stand up and be counted, preferring not to be herded along like frenzied sheep.
Darwin responded to concerned phone calls and letters personally wherever he could. He spoke on the phone for hours with many heart-sick Initiates, his eyes often filling with tears at their confusion. The recuperative period from the October 1983 operation gave him time to put additional talks on tape and duplicate them in a spare bedroom. He took the name Sounds Of Soul as a mail order company for music, books and tapes, for remuneration and to maintain an open line of conununication with those who chose to remain in contact with him.
When some individuals wondered, did he know what was occurring, Darwin answered, "I was not totally aware of everything going on behind my back with (NL) and the Board of Trustees. As Peddar and I have said many times. we can never dwell in total awareness all the time unless someone takes care of the body, washes it from head to toe, feeds it, like Krishna did in his time. I have developed the ability to be in that state of awareness up to forty-five minutes to an hour only."
To assure those who questioned: "Was all this a great test for the students?" Darwin responded, "People have been listening to misguided higher initiates who have been told by MenloPark to remove my pictures, destroy my books and writings, tapes and music, and this has not been authorized by me; it is under the control and guise of someone working in the psychic world here, controlling others. Neither Peddar Zaskq nor I have planned any of this psychic negativism that has been coming out since August 1983. It smacks of control and fear. What has been happening is taking away the individual's freedom of choice, which has been a million years or more a precept of the teaching. Those individuals who have been reporting psychic attacks and concern about black magicians need to ask Divine Spirit or Sugmad, where is the spiritual protection that each Initiate has? They should know that Spirit is stronger than any negative force. The dark force does not like the Light."
Darwin sent out notices to the Initiates who were writing him, making available the tapes he had for sale, and telling them about the takeover. He was informed by the lawyers he could not use certain ten-ns in his writings under penalty of jail, even though these terms had not been copyrighted at that time by the Corporation. By now three lawyers were being paid by Menlo Park. Darwin turned down the Board's motion that he be known as a higher initiate. "I am still a Master of the Eshwar Khanewal Order," he announced firmly, "and that's that!"
In January 1984, Darwin moved closer to Portland, Oregon, to have better access to business facilities. Along with Bob Brant, and two secretaries, he opened a small office for Sounds Of Soul, to sell his tapes and lay in an inventory of books. Since the Corporation did not want his books, discourses or music anymore, he tried through the lawyers to buy them back. It never happened. The Corporation claimed that Darwin was working in opposition to the teachings, in competition with them. He wasn't and never had been.The cruelest and saddest blow of all came through NL's letter to the membership, dated January 6, 1984. It read in part: "I have informed Darwin Gross that the Order of the ... Masters no longer recognizes him as a Master. His initiations in have been removed and his membership terminated. He is not capable or authorized to act or speak for or about the Masters, or the teachings. Darwin was ten-ninated as an officer and employee of (corporation) last August for causes related to his management of (corporation) funds, writings and other property... His termination as a Master is for spiritual reasons known only to the ... Masters .... Go within, search your inner world and talk with the Inner Master."
Many who "went within" in their shock and disbelief received yet another shock. They were socked with psychic attacks unlike anything they had ever experienced before, and the attacker? A mocked-up version of Darwin! Cleverly designed and orchestrated, the psychic attacks were skillfully geared to drive the Initiates away from Darwin. The fear and confusion instilled in these souls was ugly and terrifying. Why would Darwin want to alienate the initiates? Who was benefiting by these attacks upon them? The enlightened soul does not play such games. It has moved light years beyond the lower, confining psychic worlds, and knows the penalty for misusing the powers of God.
Responses to NL's letter poured into Darwin's office: "You still are beloved Darwin, Master of the Ancient Order. I will not order the tape (NL) is offering [from the Higher Initiate's Meeting October 1983]. The whole affair is repulsive to me This was disheartening news as you were the main reason I'm on this Path today. I felt an immediate reaction as soon as I first saw your picture on one of the books. It was a recognition of you as my spiritual guide. This letter is to thank you for the love and guidance you gave to me and countless other souls. I would like to know what you are doing and what your plans are We had a heavy blow again concerning what's been happening. My husband and I can't believe that a master with so many, many initiations could have done anything so wrong as to be stripped of everything he has so diligently worked for. We want you to be our Master How come the Rod of Power has trouble finding its way from you, Darwin, to the new man? [Most do not know the Rod of Power is Divine Love. and I was unable to give it to anyone as long as I'm alive. DG] It is very sad that the negative power is that strong." [It really isn't ; the individual gives it what it wants. DG] ....... Immediately after I received (NL's) letter in the house I became very ill, in such constant pain that I had to take off work. I am your Initiate and I don't believe what he is saying. Something is terribly wrong because I would not feel such beautiful power and love cor-ning from you if things were as this man says. It sounds like this is becoming a cult where you are told what to do, with no free will of your own, and I have had enough of being told what to do in this lifetime by the churches and other psychic organizations. I'm with you, Darwin, all the way. I woke up this morning with Peddar Zaskq there and I knew you were working with him and are most certainly Sugmad's vehicle."
Those who chose to remain with Darwin and wrote the corporation of the fact were immediately removed from their membership ("excommunicated" was the term used) and initiations "eliminated." From the computer. No one can take from you what Spirit has given to you, what you have earned. No one. Not even a Master. "Only God can destroy a Master, for anything given to one in Spirit can only be taken away by God. Only you yourself can change your level of initiation," Darwin stated. "The efforts to discredit me have created a great deal of sorrow and confusion for many students who are sincere in their way back to God. The higher initiates and another individual have accomplished what other outside forces have attempted to do --- split and destroy the teachings as Paul Twitchell presented them."
To the many friends and Initiates who contacted Darwin about NL's letter of January 6th, 1984, Darwin wrote: "Many individuals have expressed concerns about (his) letter to the membership, saying that the Masters no longer recognize me as a Master of their Order. This is not true! Nor can my initiations be removed. (NL) does not have that authority. He was given an opportunity to unfold into a spiritual responsibility which he has lost. There is one way to know the master is authentic. That is to see him in the Radiant Body in the pure positive God Worlds, where assumption is impossible. This can be in the dream state or in contemplation."
I have a spiritual function and responsibility that will continue whether titles are taken away from me or not. Titles don't carry any weight, but what I am able to do in the higher worlds will. I have the backing of the Order of the God-Eaters. I am a Master of that Order, and no words, verbally or on a piece of paper can change that. The teachings are universal. Whatever bears the stamp of universality is rooted in truth. Much fear has been impressed, from the Corporation, upon individuals and this concerns me. You can assist the Masters, for the good of the whole, by helping to squelch this fear, by talking to others about freedom of speech and individual choice."
Varnish was sprayed on Darwin's Vibraphone just hours before a perfon-nance in the state of New York. It took him hours of painstaking effort to remove the gunk from the vibraphone keys. The musical performance went on in spite of the small number of people on hand. At this appearance were two Initiates who were very close to the new leader.
Two briefcases were stolen from Darwin's (and a co-worker's) hotel room in Sacramento during an appearance there. Gone were keys, airline tickets, Darwin's travel schedule, cash, work they had brought to review between them. It all happened within minutes after they arrived at the hotel, checked into their room and hurried to the hotel's coffee shop to join helpers for dinner. An "inside" job by a double-agent.
On January 12, 1984 something happened that was validated by letters to Darwin: "I was informed by members of the Sacred Order of the Master that Sri Darwin Gross had replaced (NL) as the head of the one direct path to God, the Sugmad." (Switzerland) I was driving home and very quietly this is what was spoken from the Spirit: (NL) has been removed. I asked, By whom? Yaubl Sacabi. Who is the replacement? Darwin Gross." (Oregon) I wonderedhow I was going to prove to myself that you were as you said, still a Master. Sitting on the couch thinking of you, I again felt the presence of the Master, your presence as the Master of this great Order. You are still a Master!" (Australia) In early January I had the privilege of the inner experience of seeing Darwin with Peddar and Rebazar. (NL) was just leaving; I was being shown that he did not belong. There was so much overwhelming love there, especially from Darwin, it was almost too much to bear. It certain strengthened that which I already knew, that Darwin IS the Master, my spiritual Master to whom I humbly surrender." (Australia) I am so happy that you have been handed back the spiritual mantle and are the Master once again. Welcome back to the driver's seat!" (Ohio) I was with you when you received the Rod of Power. I will never forget it. I saw all the Masters of the Order there; you have taken me to the top of the mountain, and I have seen the souls with outstretched hands reaching up to you. You have been with me before every major or minor situation in the field. I met and talked with you on the inner as what was to be done and the many other beautiful inner experiences. No one can ever take this away from me as I know what you are to the thousands of chelas." (Indiana)
Darwin's heart was heavy as the eighth and other higher initiates were sent into the field to implement the widening gap being created by the Corporation's actions. Someone had suggested that a meeting of higher initiates be called together with both NL and Darwin on stage to discuss these events, answer questions and get to the truth of the matter. Darwin had offered to pay the postage on a joint letter to the membership where both he and NL explained that an error had been made but that they were working it out so the best interests of the whole would be served. These gestures was refused."
The one thing that makes this path to God so different from any other," Darwin commented, "is its individuality, and allowing the individual to make his or her choice as to which spiritual guide to look to on the inner. This has always been stated by Sri Peddar Zaskq and by myself. This does in no way take away loyalty or devotion to the master of the time. Keep in mind, that which I give out in the spoken and written word is from the Seven Golden Wisdom Temples, as Peddar presented it to this world. The teachings of the ancient masters are to instruct you to control your own world and universe; I have not started another path, nor intend to. The ancient teachings of this unbroken line of masters are foremost and utmost in my mind and heart. I am not competing with anyone, for in soul, there is no competition, or in spirit. Those who look to me on the inner for spiritual guidance and protection, I will always be waiting for you in the radiant form, in the pure positive God worlds. The choice is yours to make."
It's very distressing to me that the words of Peddar Zaskq's are being changed. But the word is out and available to seeking souls, and those who have their inner experiences with the masters will never be without them. I see mastership in Darwin daily. No matter what has been heaped upon him, he radiates only divine love for all life.
(Further information can be obtained through Pretrail Order #84-228,United States District Court for the District of Oregon, Portland, Oregon.)
