just a little digging brings up lots of info. No wonder a young woman can disappear into this netowrk of groups.
ONE TASTE could easily be a front-group, or just an off-shoot.
The root of ONE TASTE comes from what is now called Lafayette Morehouse.
Even their biased Wiki page points to blogs and articles about how its a fenced off community with guards, who call themselves Purple People, even shooting rocksalt at people.
Notice how often they CHANGE THE NAME OF THE GROUP, to try and confuse people, one assumes.

[en.wikipedia.org]

Free sex alleged being offered to teens here.
[claycord.blogspot.com]
[reverendpujo.blogspot.com]

Purple Haze
[www.sfweekly.com]
A recent visit to the 16-acre compound yields a strange feeling, like stumbling onto a Peter Fonda hippie-exploitation movie set. Empty grapefruit juice cartons are stacked next to a pile of crumbling bricks in a clearing between purple buildings. A knock on a residence door elicits immediate panic among the inhabitants, who demand to see identification. A guy finally comes out in shorts, puts on an odd-looking pendant and says he'll have to take you to the front gate. Asked if he has ever heard of the nickname Purple People, he answers, "Do I look purple to you?"

Escorted down a gravel road, you pass several purple, egg-shaped living structures, hidden in tall trees and elevated about 10 feet off the ground, sort of a futuristic Disneyland-Monsanto-meets-the-Flintstones architectural design. Women and children are busy repairing a roof. A swimming pool, a heart-shaped artificial pond, and a basketball court are not visible beyond the egg-pods, nor is the television studio, the boxing ring, or the cocktail lounge.

Nobody knows how many residents are at Morehouse, but estimates range up to 150, including many homeless, much to the neighbors' irritation.

Farther down the gravel road are parked a Winnebago and several Cadillacs, models from the '60s and '70s -- all purple. (Members reportedly also drive golf carts on paths made of carpet remnants.) The whole color thing reminds you of the Rajneesh and his orange fixation. Asked why purple, the escort replies, "It's the favorite color of the owner's wife." He doesn't answer any other questions.
...

search Google for these words just like this...

"One Taste" cult

and a number of entries come up. Clearly there is something going sour. There seems to be serious danger for young women.




Wed Nov 14, 2007 10:16 am Post subject: One Taste Is a Cult
[dontdatehimgirl.com]


[www.yelp.com]
OneTaste Urban Retreat Center
___________________________
07/26/2008 This place IS A CULT. Women bware do not go alone. These are some weird ass people, A CULT IS AS A CULT DOES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
BEWARE
_______________________________
11/05/2007 While pausing to write this review i noticed the categories included, "Adult, Day Spas, Yoga"

The Yelp people should really consider adding a "Cult" category to the selective choices because thats what this place fucking is.

This hot mess of weirdness really should just go for the gusto and rename itself the One Taste Urban Cult Center.

Straight up Waco shit going on in there, just with more group sex and yoga.

Dont ask me how i know these things, please.

But in all honesty if i ever felt the need to have sex with a wide variety of people in a single setting i'll take the Power Exchange, because at least i can leave at the end.

All i can say is that I never thought I would ever have a story to whip out at parties about how i got temporarily trapped in a cult, referred to as "an outsider",and had to physically make an escape.

Well now i do.

Thanks, One Taste Urban Cult Center
_______________________________

06/19/2007 One time, while waiting around for someone who lives there, my wife and I were kicked out of the front office/waiting room by an older One Taste cult member because we were, quote, "OUTSIDERS".

Real nice.
_______________________________

08/01/2007 Just your basic sex cult with a clever urban twist. You'll leave broke and possibly psychotic.
____________________



[www.sfweekly.com]
A bitter Taste: Sure, One Taste is a cult ["Sex and Sensuality," April 4], but is that such a bad thing? How else are people going to learn the consequences of giving away their power? The article does a great job of depicting the positive things One Taste offers. What's missing is the shadow side. That deficiency makes the article a puff piece.

There are plenty of people who have been disenchanted by One Taste, and you would not have to be Inspector Clouseau to find them. However, it's not as if we were expecting the SF Weekly to hew to some journalistic standard of balance.

The thing about a cult is that its structure encourages the subordination of individual well-being to that of the cult itself, individual aspirations to the goals of the leader or collective. Daedone's goal of promoting sensual pleasure is laudable, and indeed, a much needed antidote to the widespread sexual repression of our society. Unfortunately, her ambitious pursuit of that goal takes precedence over what many would consider the best interests of One Taste community members and workshop participants.

Is a cult leader any less mesmerized and deluded than her disciples? I would say, actually, more. Despite protestations to the contrary, the charismatic and seductive Daedone is the center of the One Taste vortex. Without her, there is no One Taste. She is One Taste's Svengali, and the girls are her Sirens.
...
[Name withheld]

notice how in their advertising they use deception, they don't talk about what is really going on in there. Its amazing this has slipped under the radar so far, this is a Rajneesh group in the making. Its an extension of what Victor Baranco was doing, but taken into the city. Notice how she calls it a Research Community, which is the exact same language as Victor Baranco, its the same thing, different location.

The best part of the article are some of the COMMENTS!
[www.sfweekly.com]
Way to pimp the latest cult SF Weekly...
Comment by word from SF on Apr 4th, 2007, 15:38 pm

Nothing more than a glorified sex cult--for profit, I might add. I walk by this place every day, and it's literally frightening. Stay away, this is sexual scientology.
Comment by James from San Francisco on Apr 4th, 2007, 16:43 pm

One Taste ripped off all their material from others, perverted it and dish it up in very bad taste. They have created a dangerous and perverted environment and they do not practice safe sex. Nicole has very low integrity so if you take classes from them just be warned to protect yourself.



___________________________
[www.sfweekly.com]

At One Taste Urban Retreat Center, orgasm is life. One Taste is home to more than 50 "turned on" people who describe themselves as "messengers of orgasm." Community members cook, eat, do yoga, and sleep together. They live together in several buildings in the same neighborhood, with as many as 24 people staying in one of the large bedrooms.

Most pair up as "research partners" to explore sensuality with one another. That can mean simply sharing a bed, making out, having intercourse, or some level of intimacy in between. Research partnerships can last for as short as a week or for more than a year. While some at One Taste are monogamous, many are not. And just because a pair of residents may have broken up as research partners doesn't preclude them from occasionally snuggling and making out on one of the center's comfy vintage couches.

They call this a research community rather than a commune, although communal living is part of the deal. It's not the first sensuality-focused community, but there are a couple of things that set One Taste apart.

For one thing, while it clearly has a pleasure principle, One Taste also emphasizes discipline — one reason that its denizens created what they call an "urban monk" sensual immersion program. The community typically comes together to practice orgasmic meditation three times each weekday, at 7 a.m. (that's the big one where just about everybody goes), 2 p.m., and about 6:45 p.m. The afternoon and evening OMs tend to be a bit smaller, due to work and other obligations. The schedule differs slightly on weekends, with a 7:45 a.m. OM session to allow community members to sleep in.

Then there's the fact that this is a sensuality community focused on building connections to others through stroking the clitoris.

The female-centric nature of One Taste makes sense since it was founded by a woman: 39-year-old Nicole Daedone. She's striking, a dynamic presence whose speech is punctuated by pregnant pauses and plenty of hand gestures. Her chestnut hair normally hangs in perfect waves, and she always seems to have the right amount of makeup on her olive skin.

She gets quoted a lot by others at One Taste. A community member may say, "Nicole says, "Avoidance is buying pain on credit cards with interest'" or "Nicole says, "We should be an open source for sensuality.'"
...

Still, One Taste is a for-profit business, meaning they do have a goal to make money as they spread the message of orgasm. For example, the urban monk program for those who want to immerse themselves in sensuality costs $2,000 per week. One Taste is already expanding to other cities by teaching courses in Hawaii, New York, and Sacramento, and has additional requests to teach in Seattle, Los Angeles, and Santa Cruz. A One Taste in New York may be open by fall, and Daedone hopes to eventually open a center in every major city.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/23/2008 03:02PM by The Anticult.

Below is a link to a blog post that does possibly seem legit. Notice how this young female's gut feeling that she is being GROOMED is being triggered, but she seems to discount it. (trust your feelings of unease and wariness!! They are trying to lure you in)
Its interesting that OneTaste has lots of programs costing thousands of dollars, and their customers are 70% male. Imagine that.
Its not hard to imagine that young women get a "special deal" to join, as they have a program for "young people". Daedone obviously knows how to target people.

OneTaste has other programs for "men only", where the guys pay hundreds of dollars to talk to One Taste girls about sex. These women would be members of the OneTaste commune, and thus work for free, and thus the thousands go to Nicole Daedone and her masterplan to open sex-centers nationwide, or into her real estate projects.

This is an interesing group that is just starting out. Clearly, Daedone learned from her other groups, that if she can get a stable of young women using various methods she has learned, then she can lure in the 70% male customers, and charge them thousands. (the same as the Raelians). They could make 10's of thousands a month in profit very easily.
That is the bottom line, this is a very old story, and has been done countless times.
Of course they have an ideology behind it to rationalize what is going on, but Daedone learned a bunch of techniques from Victor Baranco in how to manage people's minds, and bodies, and sexuality.
This is not going to turn out well.
Guess who is going to pay the price?



[www.consideringtheuniverse.com]
When I went inside on Tuesday morning, I noticed that all of the staff was young, thin and good looking. Interesting. They were very friendly but somewhat reserved. They invited me to return in the evening for an introductory course.
...
After the group, I was introduced to one of the young ladies who participates in the Y.Now (ages 18-26) group. I felt much more comfortable talking to her and a genuine warmth coming from her. She invited me to return the next evening for IN Group.

IN Group is a gathering to play connectivity games and practice authenticity. There were a lot of people there, maybe 50. There was a good mix of ages, although the crowd was probably 70% male
and 90% white. You could identify the female OneTaste residents easily as most of them were wearing flirty dresses without bras. Huh. It’s also very warm in OneTaste. I theorize this is to encourage less clothing. Maybe I’m cynical.
...
I will definitely be going back, but with some reservations. First, I can’t help but feel that I was getting extra attention because I am a young female. I suppose this is normal in any social gathering, but because of the “sex cult” reputation of OneTaste, I was a little wary.

An item about Baranco--interesting background for a founder of a university.

THE BIRTH AND DEATH OF NEW RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS[/b]

Benjamin Zablocki

.

Quote

Victor Baranco was born in California in 1934. In 1969, he founded the More Institute. In an interview done at that time, he said the following:

I am 34 years old. I have done everything there is to do. I have been a maitre d’ in a fine restaurant and a used car salesman. I have peddled phony jewelry and flown people to Las Vegas to gamble. Some of the great people of the world—Mort Sahl, Francis Faye, Christine Jorgensen—know me by name. I have a wonderful wife, two perfect children and a Thunderbird. I have traveled to Los Angeles, Reno, Hawaii, and Mexico. And now I have solved the biggest logic problem of all: Who am I and why am I here? (Felton 1972, 111)

Today, Baranco’s nrm is still thriving although he, himself, is serving a prison sentence for the possession and sale of narcotics.

[209.85.173.104]




Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/24/2008 01:02AM by corboy.

Thank you for the tremendous work, Anticult! I'd been looking into them on occasion, but had never known about the Boranco angle. The fact that Daedone was in a Theosophist group was troubling enough, the Boranco aspect takes it to a completely different level.

great research job, AC.

Hmm. This is where things get complicated.

Theosophy, by itself, may not necessarily indicate that something funky is going on.

What may be helpful is a concept, described by sociologist, Philip Jenkins, termed 'cultic milieu'--a social venue of alternatives to the mainstream, that is not itself cultic, but can sometimes serve to attract persons who are a little too willing to take risks, and who dislike critical thinking and fact checking.

An entity may not meet Lifton's criteria for a cult, yet might be what Jenkins calls cultic milieu.

We discussed this here:

[forum.culteducation.com]

One can be socialized and pre-formatted within the cultic milieu to become ripe for plucking by recruiters for cultic entities.

Then, again, others may pass through the cultic milieu and emerge as discerning and critical thinkers.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cultic Milieu--a Possibly Helpful Concept?

'The concept of 'cultural milieu', as developed by sociologist Bryan Wilson,is very helpful in understanding this conglomeration of alternatives. According to Wilson, there is exists in Western societies, a milieu, which he terms 'cultic' where much that is rejected by the dominent cultureaccumulates.(Corboy's italics) -- alternative therapies, alternative beliefs, and to some extent, alternative lifestyles.

'Both ideas and persons usually belong more to the milieu than to any specific group within it. Individuals easily shift their allegiences from group to group and idea to idea, and ideas and groups are themselves linked to each other by a shared network of publications and venues. ('Venues' meaning places where people socialize and meet face to face C)

From Bryan R. Wilson, The Social Dimensions of Sectarianism: Sects and New Religious Movements in Contemporary Society, (Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1990)

Quoted in a book by Mark Sedgwick, page 48-49 'Against the Modern World: Traditionislm and the Secret Intellectual History of the Twentieth Century: Oxford University Press, 2004

All this is very interesting and might offer us a way to understand the New Age.

First, some of the alternative ideas and therapies are later found to be effective and become part of mainstream culture. I am thinking of the use of traditional Chinese medicine and acupunture. This was considered fringe and goofy forty years ago. But...what mattered was that some TCM
practitioners had the ability to learn how to do well designed scientific research and were able to start conversations with medical researchers. Even political factors such as the Nixon Administration's willingness to enlarge political and economic exchange with Red China, played a role.

Now we are at a point where tai chi is taught as part of patient education programs at hospitals after studies have shown that it preserves agility and reduces the incidence of disabling falls and injuries.

What is of concern is when portions of the cultic milieu devalue scientific research and write off critical thinking as negative, and make claims and demand personal allegiance or conceal information needed for informed consent.

The concept of cultic milieu is interesting as well because many persons are recruited into Liftonian cults by gurus and outreach workers who know how to use marketing and publicity that are geared precisely to the cultural milieu.

The sad thing is, those in the cultic milieu think they have escaped the evils of mainstream culture and have escaped from the forms of marketing and consumerism that plague the mainstream culture.

Those in the cultic milieu dont realize that the milieu is still very much part of mainstream culture, for it remains a valuable niche market and it can be targeted, accessed and exploited by advertising strategies designed in mainstream culture.

In short, the cultic milieu thinks its a sanctuary, but it is easily penetrated and cognitively colonized by those who masquerade as members of the cultic milieu but whose actual agendas, concealed by spiriitual talk and charisma, are no different than an advertising campaign meant to market cigarettes to teenagers.

This also has implications for exit counseling and cult recovery

Many who feel traumatized by abusive gurus and human potential programs may leave the specific abusive group or guru, but when they leave that group, they return to the cultural milieu...and that milieu may
1) devalue critical thinking

2) contain triggers that constantly activate conditioning inculcated by the group, since a lot of NLP speak seems to float arond in the milieu

3) the cultic milieu seems collectively phobic and unconscious about power issues and issues of abuse and power imbalance, and in my opinion, tends
to shame those who try to discuss this and issue harm reports

4) The cultic milieu seems to enable spiritually rationalized power abuse, socializing people to be codependent to gurus before they even meet a guru and at the same time has a rhetoric of shame and invalidation that is readily directed at anyone who tries to warn of guru abuse

5) The cultic milieu has a network of magazines, social events, conventions, and websites easily colonized and appropriated by enterprising entrepreneurs/eneuses who know exactly how to exploit the mindset of the New Age cultic milieu, using marketing and PR techniques that are created by the very mainstream culture that the cultic milieu sees itself as having rejected.

In short, I contend that what is damaging about the New Age cultic milieu that many of us dislike is not that it is a liberating alternative to mainstream culture, but covertly is an extension of the very worst of mainstream culture.

------------------

This article puts some human flesh and bones on the cultic milieu concept--it was written by someone who entered the milieu in her teens, had a niche in that social setting as a teacher, and then decided to leave it.

The entire article can be read via this URL

[www.csicop.org]

Bridging the Chasm between Two Cultures

Karla McLaren

(abstract)

A former leader in the New Age culture - author of nine titles on auras, chakras, "energy," and so on - chronicles her difficult and painful transition to skepticism. She thanks the skeptical community and agonizes over how the messages of scientific and critical thinking could be made more effective in communicating with her former New Age colleagues.

This is a bizarre little new group, with lots of deception going on.
Nicole Daedone is marketing the group as Naked Yoga, as that is a great marketing tool. But that is obviously not what is going on, that is just the salespitch for the media.
There are many serious problems with this group.

1) cultic commune techniques: Daedone has learned the methods to manipulate people while in a cultic commune environment, they have dozens of young people living in there, and they have them doing everything in the cultic book. These kids don't even know what has hit them.

2) sex: sex sells, and Daedone is using sex/orgies as a marketing tool. Young women might be lured in for certain reasons, but this then brings in the large groups of men who she markets to. She is selling Men's Circles and other products which are marketed as ways for men to learn how to pickup women, this is a huge market, and those guys will spend $5,000 without blinking if they think its going to lead to sex and orgies. This is why OneTaste is making so much money now, the money is not coming from the 20 year old kids, its coming from the 30+ guys with sweaty palms.
She is advertising lots pf photos on the internet with young women and young people obviously high, perhaps on Ecstasy, and the imagery is about free love sex, orgies, etc.
Have a look at the slideshow for YNOW for 18-30 year olds [www.onetaste.us]

3) PROFIT: This is not being done for fun, this is a big moneymaker for Daedone. So this is not some post-hippy free love den. This is a corporate business.

When you connect this to the Victor Baranco methods, its very dangerous. Obviously Nicole Daedone is a good businesswoman, who decided to take her sex stuff from underground into a business. But she clearly knows nothing about human sexuality, except perhaps what she learned from the Victor Baranco systems, which also include drugs, verbal abuse, and everything else.
Putting 18-19 year old teenage girls in with groups of men, and then acting out all of their repressed sexual fantasies, while possibly high on drugs or alcohol, and also living in that environment 24/7?
Some people are going to get seriously hurt, there could be sexual assualt, and with human nature, there could even be a homicide with all of those mixed-up emotions and cult systems.

Nicole Daedone clearly does not have a clue, or does not care, about the damage that will be happening to people. Its about profit, even she admits that, making money is what its about.

There are some comments here and there about the co-founder Robert Kandell, and how he is drooling over the new young girls as they come into the group. (perhaps Robert thinks...why work for a living when you can make money at orgies?)

Hate to be so blunt, but you can see OneTaste is practicing quite serious deception on people, as they refer to what they do in public as Sensuality, but once you get inside the group that completely changes back to the more crude and violent terms used by Victor Baranco.

Its very obvious what is going on, and these folks are making a ton of money. They could very easily get $5,000 off each guy coming through there in a few months, and they are advertising all over the place. They could be grossing a million bucks a year, or even more.
There is a huge market for a part of what OneTaste is marketing, in their classes for men on how to pickup women. They could easily clear 20 grand a month from that alone, and from their advertising slideshow found here.
YNOW [www.onetaste.us]

This is another puff-piece, or perhaps a fluffer-piece about One Taste and their MAN COURSE, to teach guys how to pickup women, for a price. The article functions as an advertisement.

"If you really want to see what we're all about, you'll take the Man Course," she said. And with that, my fate was sealed.
My research later that night revealed that the Man Course would involve 10 "extremely orgasmic" women who'd spend an entire day fielding questions and revealing their secrets to a small group of men. It was boot camp for jilted lovers, designed to help downtrodden men build confidence and score more chicks."

G-Spot: Getting girls
What a supposed sex cult can teach you about women — and yourself
BY JUSTIN JUUL
Tuesday February 5, 2008
[www.sfbg.com]
__________________________________

they also took their name OneTaste, it seems from the Ken Wilber book One Taste.

__________________________

[themachoresponse.blogspot.com]
"I'd come to the center to do research on what I'd heard was a sex cult, and by the looks of things the rumors weren't far off. In fact, as I'd entered the center on my way to class, I got the feeling my story was writing itself. I would talk about how the receptionists at the front desk had to stop groping one another in order to greet me, how the women looked younger than the men, and how all the signs of new age spirituality — earth tones, organic food, Birkenstocks — seemed a cover for what I sensed was actually a coven of perverts."

- Justin Juul, being sucked in (!) much too easily, while writing for the San Francisco Bay Guardian about the One Taste Urban Retreat Center
Posted by The Crack Emcee
Labels: cultish thinking, cults, fraud, justin juul, ken wilber, lying, new age, one taste, san francisco bay guardian

for such a small group, OneTaste already has a lot of serious problems.
Its described as a FARCE.
Here is an excerpt from one of the original members of OneTaste in San Francisco.

[commongroundmag.com]
April 2007 | Letters to the Editor
One Taste Not So Spiritual

Having been one of the 17 people who was there when One Taste [“The Spirituality of Sensuality,” February Common Ground] first opened, I am familiar with the inner workings of this community. To compare what’s happening at One Taste to Buddhism, or to spirituality in general, is an egregious error. I was there when Nicole [Daedone, One Taste’s founder] began to “spiritualize” the information she was teaching.

Since there is a growing pool of spiritual seekers in the Bay Area, and “operating on appetite” as they do, Nicole morphed what she was offering into something that can be construed as spiritual. In order to “spiritualize” the basic practice she teaches, Nicole changed the name from “deliberate orgasm,” as it is known in other communities, to “orgasmic meditation.” Et voila, it’s now a spiritual practice!

The article mentions the Buddhist idea of the witness. What I understand about this concept is that the witness is simply that, witnessing what the self/ego/small mind is doing, with no judgment, attachment or agenda. That was not my experience of “being witnessed” while living with the One Taste community. There was always an agenda, one that primarily had to do with the leader’s wants and desires. As soon as I was willing to trust what I saw, felt and experienced for myself, I knew this community was a farce. I observed many cult-like characteristics that I had not allowed myself to see previously.
...

— E*** A****, San Francisco