I have decided to create a seperate post here to deal with claims made by the Gnostic Movement of Mark Pritchard (aka Belzebuub, aka Belzebub), by Pritchard and by his agents that their right to freedom of religion, spirituality and worship is being attack. I have done this because I think it is a very serious accusation and a very serious matter.

Clearly this is being done to avoid actually dealing with the issues that have been brought forward. Instead of dealing with the issues or even denying the claims that have made they have attacked the individuals who have spoken out against them and accused those people of many things, myself included. As part of this they claim that those who criticize them are against an individuals right to freedom of spirituality.

All this is done without actually engaging with the discussion that has taken place nor the points that have already been made.

In their blog they refuse to even post my responses to what they have written about me. Their Blog is Called Gnostic Voice and its on Word press. I will provide a link later.

In a moment I will post most of the discussion they have had regarding me so far, up until this point.

What should be of interest to many people here is that they accuse Rickross.com of being a site that is against an individuals right to freedom of religion, worship and spirituality.

I'm just going to repost this bit that I've already posted on the main Mark Pritchard discussion.

"Gnostic Voice a voice defending Gnosis The Jeff Farrell Affair – Part 1: A Positive Beginning October 9, 2010 by experiencegnosis “Nothing comes of nothing”. Yet, this is the story of someone who in my view, is trying to make a huge something out of truly nothing. I’ve seen thousands of people come through the various free courses on Gnosticism for many years now; some stick around and decide to try and make it a priority in their lives, some decide to take some of the practices and try to implement them when they can, some simply enjoy hearing the various Gnostic ideas while they attend, some decide only to add a few new books to their ever-growing collection, but with a few rare exceptions, if they’ve decided they’re no longer interested in Gnosis, they simply seem to move on with other things in their lives. This blog will give the beginning of an opinion of one such person who appears to be one of those rare exceptions: Jeff Farrell. It will detail in my view, his involvement with The Gnostic Movement, so that it is clear who it is exactly that is spreading what seem to me to be many negative and misleading things about the organization and the Gnostic teachings as if they are a credible source on the subject. The facts appear to confirm that he has taken to an anonymous username online (“notanantignostic”) and gone to many groups in person to heavily criticize The Gnostic Movement, modern Gnostic authors Belzebuub (Mark H Pritchard) and Samael Aun Weor, and various individuals who practise the Gnostic teachings in their lives. It appears that he is attempting to take away people’s free right to practise religion/spirituality of their choice in their own lives. I believe that Jeff Farrell first professed an interest in Gnosis and the Gnostic teachings in May 2008, when he dropped in at the The Gnostic Movement’s Toronto Gnostic Centre and took flyers for some upcoming events. He also began attending some drop-in meditation classes mid-May, where he bought Belzebuub’s The Peace of the Spirit Within, to go along with a class he was taking online. He completed the first course online and then took it at the Centre the following course round, in August, attending various practice nights and events at that time. While at the Centre, the teachers observed that he often came early and repeatedly asked to help in any way he could with setting up the cushions, watering plants, lighting candles, etc. He also turned up once during a big street festival in the area where the Centre was to volunteer in any way he could, handing out flyers advertising courses to people walking by. He spent many evenings chatting away at the Centre keeping the volunteers there until late at night. It appears he also often went to the chatroom on the website to converse with anyone available online. He repeatedly requested in person and via email that the teachers of the Centre organize events (awareness walks) for him during the week, since he was unable to attend with everyone else on the weekends. He also requested permission to organize walks with students of the classes on his own if the teachers couldn’t do that. He requested for the organizers of the Centre to run one of the advanced courses just for him starting at the end of October 2008, and that it not be on particular nights of the week so as not to conflict with his schedule. The teachers agreed, but he never ended up attending this course anyway. It is my view that he was for the most part an active student while he attended the Centre, trying to read the recommended readings, attempting to practise the relevant exercises, and giving feedback on what he thought of things as he went along in the first two courses. Right as he first started attending, I made the observation that in my opinion he appeared to be a very fidgety person, for example moving around a lot both in conversation and even during what are supposed to be still meditation practices, rubbing his wrists and forearms together with his hands, repeatedly twisting on and off his water bottle without drinking from it, continually bringing up and discussing the exact same topics with others time and again, and had a seemingly hard time staying on the same subject in any one conversation. It became clear that while taking the courses, he began to be able to address these and many other similar things, in my view, to his satisfaction. As such, as far as I could see he was quite positive about his experience with Gnosis, stating repeatedly how much he had truly benefitted from what he was learning through the courses. He mentioned that with the practices he had learned in The Gnostic Movement’s courses, he was able to change many things about his life for the better. I believed he was going to be taking his 3rd course after the break in October 2008. Also, at that time, I observed him openly sharing with fellow students that he was really excited to take the course, had skimmed through many of the readings for it already, and that he found it very reassuring to read up on some of these Gnostic topics and concepts that he had questions about. However, right before the course was to start, he sent an abrupt email stating that he was “unable” to continue with any Gnostic courses run by The Gnostic Movement in the future. He said thank you for helping him and that he appreciated all the efforts the teachers made for him. He wished all the best. Yet at the very same time I opened the email that night, I observed that he changed his online profile on the site to read something along the lines of “get out while you can”, and he was found in the online chatroom giving links to a forum where he later wrote many what appear to be damaging and outright lies about the organization and its members. It was reported that he also changed his facebook profile/status to say similar such statements. In conclusion, I have observed that he attempted to study and practise what he understood of Gnosis for a total of under 6 months; very basic and introductory Gnostic material. At that time, many of the teachers and senior students alike at the Centre wondered what could’ve happened to make this person who had professed to have had such a positive experience with Gnosis and the people practising it so far, to all of a sudden at the tip of a hat become, in our opinion, quite negative and hateful towards both Gnosis and the friends he made while trying it? More to come: what happened next and how we began to find out what might be behind all this… Read The Jeff Farrell Affair – Part 2: The Great Escape Posted in Jeff Farrell / notanantignostic | Tagged gnostic, cult, Jeff Farrell, notanantignostic, religious freedom, The Gnostic Movement, Toronto | 5 Comments 5 Responses on October 11, 2010 at 1:42 pm | Log in to Replyunmaskurself I feel it’s really weird that this guy would flip so quickly like that. And this sets the basis for an interesting study of character: after all, what kind of a person who is supposedly interested in spirituality, spends time within a spiritual group, then decides to leave with an amiable parting email to those he knew, and at the same time posts “get out while you can” to strangers on the internet, all from behind the safety of a computer screen?? Obviously, someone who has completely missed the point of how to be spiritual! I mean, if a person decides not to practice gnosis, that is completely their decision, but it seems that the way he seems to have left is very telling of Jeff’s character. When you say kind words to one group of people, and hateful, scary words to others at the same time, that is not only dishonest, it’s completely hypocritical. on October 11, 2010 at 5:02 pm | Log in to Replyanonymous98361 It is very strange how you describe this person changing his views and behaviour so quickly and erratically. I mean, it’s not a problem to change your mind about something, but why turn and attack the same people that were your friends just a short time ago, when nothing really has changed? That seems like extreme behaviour to me. on October 13, 2010 at 12:26 am | Log in to Replyrecordstr8 Yes, I’m curious to see your opinion of what may have been behind such a drastic change in perspective. I’ve known a few people in my life who were always very extreme. Their moods, opinions, and behaviors would be one way for a period of time until seemingly out of nowhere, they become the polar opposite. There was never any real peace within or around these people; if they weren’t experiencing some kind of crisis, passion or drama, they would do extreme things to create some. One of the people I knew like this actually landed himself in jail for murder eventually! I hope this Jeff Farrell finds some peace in his life. He definitely won’t find it by creating drama through hatred though. on October 14, 2010 at 3:04 am | Log in to Replyfreetobegnostic I’m interested to hear more about this, as I can’t understand what’s motivating this guy, since his actions don’t seem to make a lot of sense to me. I mean, it appears to me that he came along to the courses, liked it at first, changed his mind and then left… so what’s the big deal, and why carry on with what seems to be over the top drama and antagonism? on October 19, 2010 at 3:20 pm | Log in to Replynickmoss I have met someone at the Toronto Centre one time, who mentioned that they attended another unrelated event in the city where there was an individual named Jeff who showed up to that event seemingly just to complain about and defame The Gnostic Movement. The person telling me the story was a relatively new student of the intro courses who has since stopped attending as well, not someone with any kind of vested interest in Gnosis or the Centre, and yet they were quite unimpressed with Jeff who they said based on his actions that night seemed an unbalanced individual. Apparently this student attempted to discuss the issues that Jeff was bringing up with them, but said that they soon gave up because Jeff was not up to any kind of rational discussion and was just there to push his point of view on others. It is interesting to me that when met in person, Jeff Farrell’s true qualities and zealous fanaticism seem to really come through, and yet disguised behind his username online, this individual presents himself as authority on the subject… On a separate note, I have to agree as well that the logic of all this is completely beyond me. He attended a few introductory courses, liked them at first, then abruptly changed his mind and decided to devote endless hours to religious persecution against an organization he willingly began participating in and then freely decided to leave. Something doesn’t add up here – sounds like a bit of a drama queen situation to me, or perhaps the old Ethiopian proverb: “A fool looks for dung where the cow never grazed.”

The Jeff Farrell Affair – Part 2: The Great Escape October 13, 2010 by experiencegnosis When after having attended for just under six months and in my view having gained many positive experiences with the various practices of Gnosis, Jeff Farrell sent an email stating he would no longer be taking any courses with The Gnostic Movement in the future, he also stated in that email that he would continue on his spiritual journey to work upon himself. From his own words, it seems clear to me that spirituality was, and possibly still may be, of interest to him. In this post, we will examine from my opinion what then transpired… It was and still is my sincere hope that Jeff Farrell is able to move on to pursue some sort of spirituality or peace in his life. From my opinion however, his next actions went down quite a different track. In what I believed to be his first post on a website seemingly in my view dedicated to the suppression of the free right to practise religion or spirituality of nearly any kind, his very first sentence, paraphrased, states: I know a great deal about The Gnostic Movement as I have just escaped the movement. Two things strike me as quite odd in that statement: Firstly, “a great deal”? As we discussed in part 1 of this story, Jeff Farrell spent a grand total of under 6 months attending classes, during which time, he took two introductory courses. What exactly in that period of time could he “know” about the movement that tens of thousands of others don’t? Apparently, he would seem to present many “facts” and claims about so many aspects of the movement and its dealings that, as I mentioned, tens of thousands of people that have taken the courses, including his very own teachers, are certain and can confirm in many cases from experience, from being there, and from being involved for years are not the case. But going back to that statement again, there’s the even more perplexing question of “just escaped”… Escaped!?? Escaped the free courses with an open door at the front? Escaped the meditative practices and exercises of Gnosis to be implemented in one’s own life, when and where one so desires? Escaped the friendly chats in the cafe after a class? Escaped the rides home from the Centre at the end of the night? Escaped the time, care, and help given to any questions or concerns put forward? Escaped the incense and comfortable cushions at the Centre? Escaped indeed The way I see it, to hear Jeff describe his “experience” with the group, and considering the type of language he employs, one gets the sense he was being kept in some sort of horrible damp underground cell for years, starving to death, and somehow all the while being forced to accept some sinister idealogy—not stopping by after work to sit on comfortable cushions a couple times a week meditating or listening to classical music and enjoying tea and cookies in the cafe. But in any case, to escape means that one was first somehow confined. The one time it was pointed out to Jeff Farrell that he had left entirely of his own accord, just as he had come entirely of his own accord, he stated that he never claimed that anyone tried to keep him. Well, which is it then? Was he being held captive, or was he free? You can’t have it both ways… If this was all some sort of joke, it wasn’t very funny to me. I think it’s a serious matter to play around with damaging words and accusations against innocent people such as cult, escape, dishonesty, ethnocentrism. But where was this all really coming from? What could possibly be behind this? To be continued in part 3…

6 Responses on October 13, 2010 at 11:31 pm | Log in to Replygnosticessence I’ve seen, “Escape from Alcatraz” but this story takes the cake.., those cushions and cookies must have been formidable obstacles when he was breaking out Let’s hope Jeff “escapes” into a peaceful way of being where he respects the religious freedom of others and doesn’t persist with what it seems are petty arbitrary attacks. on October 14, 2010 at 1:35 am | Log in to Replyrecordstr8 He probably means that he escaped having his brain “washed” by the teachings of gnosis, though still seems quite a contradiction as you’ve pointed out. From what I’ve read so far about this guy, he appears to be one of those individuals who is very easily swayed by the opinions of others. That could explain why he was so ‘into it’ in the beginning only to then make that drastic swing of ‘escaping it’ later. Most of the people I know that practice gnosis are normal people that think for themselves and understand the difference between using the techniques that gnosis teaches to better their lives and becoming a seemingly devoted fanatic of gnosis that just gets absorbed into the teachings and loses their sense of reality. I truly hope there are more people in the world that have their eyes open and their feet on the ground so that the atrocity stories of these individuals are seen for what they are. on October 19, 2010 at 2:38 pm | Log in to Replynickmoss Yes, I have to agree with you on that. From what I’ve observed in interacting with Jeff is that he definitely is easily swayed by and heavily concerned with others’ views and what others think of him. You can see that very much if you only compare the nasty things he is saying now about his involvement with The Gnostic Movement vs. the things that he was saying in favour of the organization while he was interested in Gnosis. The two extremes are quite shocking, and not typical behaviour of a balanced individual who has his feet on the ground… It’s just unfortunate that this individual apparently chooses to blame this disposition on others, rather than simply accepting that Gnosis wasn’t for him and moving on with his life. on October 14, 2010 at 2:45 am | Log in to Replyfreetobegnostic The Gnostic Movement must not be very escape-proof if thousands are doing it (if you consider attending a few courses and then ceasing to attend an ‘escape’). Maybe you need some refurbished prison cells? on October 15, 2010 at 9:15 am | Log in to Replytruewitness Ethnocentrism? lol, that’s creative I think it’s interesting to see how people can react by blaming a group for their former commitment/devotion to it rather than just admitting that it wasn’t for them and move on. In my opinion, it doesn’t do them any justice to try to convince others they were manipulated by a ‘cult’ when they weren’t, because as soon as others see through it, they’re left wondering what sort of person makes such a fuss over a voluntary group that runs free meditation classes? on October 16, 2010 at 12:46 am | Log in to Replyanonymous98361 Heaven preserve us from the soft cushions and the comfy chair I think some people like to portray that they have been through something dramatic and heroic, even though the scenario may actually have been pretty unexceptional. Perhaps that could explain why it appears that Jeff Farrell is taking an innocuous situation and spinning it into a very imaginative story.

Here is my response to the first post, so far. Wow this is special. Why are personal attacks justified by this divine master? I at least had the decency to not write a blog called “Jordan Resnicks still stuck in a cult that he got caught up in while a drug addict”. “This blog will give the beginning of an opinion of one such person who appears to be one of those rare exceptions: Jeff Farrell.” Clearly from your need to respond to a number of people I am not such a rare exception any longer, eh Jordan? Nice attempt at spin. “It will detail in my view, his involvement with The Gnostic Movement, so that it is clear who it is exactly that is spreading what seem to me to be many negative and misleading things about the organization and the Gnostic teachings as if they are a credible source on the subject. ” If its your view or opinion than how will anything be clear? Is that not a contradiction? Are not only making your opinion clear? I think we should try honesty for a change and facts. Something new for a follower of Mark Pritchard. “The facts appear to confirm that he has taken to an anonymous username online (“notanantignostic”) and gone to many groups in person to heavily criticize The Gnostic Movement,” Ok first of all the rules of the Rick Ross forum state that you are supposed to have anonymous username or at least those were the rules according to my understanding. You will find another personal attack by Jordan here. [forum.culteducation.com] You will notice that Jordan said he wanted to work through my supposed lies, he has not kept his word on that matter. Next please state what groups i have been to to criticize your organization. Also please state why it would not be my right to do so? “It appears that he is attempting to take away people’s free right to practise religion/spirituality of their choice in their own lives.” How could I possibly be doing that? Am I government official? It seems a lot more like you are attacking my right for freedom of expression and speech. Why can you not just answer the questions? Sorry I am hoping to empower people to make their own choices in regards to religion and spirituality. Lets all remember that Pritchard has stated on a few occasions that he is not spreading a religion, but yet religions are dogmatic and fanatical.

“I believe that Jeff Farrell first professed an interest in Gnosis and the Gnostic teachings in May 2008″ No, I first took an interest in Gnosticism in the summer of 2007 when I started researching the matter. In May of 2008 I had become so desperate to find a group that was interested searching for Gnosis that I was will to try out a group (aka the Gnostic Movement) that did not meet most of the requirements for such a group, but did work on such important matters as dreamtime work and meditation. “He completed the first course online and then took it at the Centre the following course round, in August, attending various practice nights and events at that time.” So we are clear, I took one of the spirit within nonsense courses online and once in the centre, but I also did the dreams course online and I went through a whole round of the meditation course. I did enough of the meditation course to be given full access to the discussion online. Also I read the book for advanced course and it was at that time that I decided that could no longer make excuses for what was going on in the Gnostic movement. I feel ashamed I ever gave support to such an intolerant organization. As a result I feel a responsibility to act. “He also turned up once during a big street festival in the area where the Centre was to volunteer in any way he could, ” Actually no, I spend three evenings at said street festival helping to promote the Toronto Centre. This was initially because the teachers of the centre had planned an extra session during a well known street festival of the city. The teachers of the centre did not seem to be aware enough to know of this conflict (or considerate of students) nor that they had to pay for a permit to participate in said event. I continued to help as I wanted to be part of a community and I felt it was right to give back. Also I gave a lot of money to the centre. Just before I left I spent a very stressful day with one of the trainees putting up posters around the city. Their was a lot of aggression expressed by said trainee for suggesting that he gets a proper meal instead of rushing to the centre, as he did every evening. The real bother was finding a restaurant that had no pork in it. This is some beautiful spin ” He spent many evenings chatting away at the Centre keeping the volunteers there until late at night.” Actually no, the first time that I was there really late was because I was in fact volunteering and helping with various events. Nice try Jordan.

“He requested for the organizers of the Centre to run one of the advanced courses just for him starting at the end of October 2008, and that it not be on particular nights of the week so as not to conflict with his schedule.” As I recall you were due to run the advanced course again. You were “only running it for me” because you were not able to get anyone else to take the course. When I found out I was the only one taking the course, I requested that it be on a night that best fit my schedule. It made sense to run the course on a night that the only student could take it. Is your organization really that clueless or do you admit that expect people to be completely multiple to your ways? Really it was my intention to take the course as agreed but seeing how truly badly the teachers of the centre treated one another, how cold one teacher was upon leaving the country and how clueless all you were to how conflicted I was at our last meeting I decided that I could not continue with your organization. Of course I have to add to that what nonsense your masters teachings are and how dishonest all of you had been to me about the later teachings. “It is my view that he was for the most part an active student while he attended the Centre, trying to read the recommended readings, attempting to practise the relevant exercises, and giving feedback on what he thought of things as he went along in the first two courses.” I was an extremely active student. From my observations during the time I was involved in the centre I was there more often than Jordan. I did not try to read the recommended readings I read them and more and I had no problem with the relevant exercises. I tried them all until I realized how harmful they were. What really did it to me was the teachers of the centre admitting that they had justified lieing to me about the later teachings, just so we are clear. Also trying to walking death or whatever you call it told me that it was all nonsense. Again what is an Ego? and please to not tell me what they do, tell me what they are. “continually bringing up and discussing the exact same topics with others time and again, and had a seemingly hard time staying on the same subject in any one conversation.” As someone who offers a service to the community (or at least claims to) to you not still under the concept of confidentially? Did you ever think that the same subject was brought up because you had not offered a satisfactory answer? “He said thank you for helping him and that he appreciated all the efforts the teachers made for him. He wished all the best.” Thank you for showing that I had no ill will towards those supposed friends I had made. “and he was found in the online chatroom giving links to a forum where he later wrote many what appear to be damaging and outright lies about the organization and its members. It was reported that he also changed his facebook profile/status to say similar such statements.” If these are outright lies than why have you not tried to correct them as you said you would? Who is the liar now? And why are people reporting you what i was doing on facebook? on October 20, 2010 at 12:22 am | Replyjefffarrell Your comment is awaiting moderation. “quite negative and hateful towards both Gnosis and the friends he made while trying it?” What exactly has been done that is hateful to said “friends”. It is the rules of the Gnostic Movement that keep you from having contact with me. If you actually were a friend you would not close your mind to someone who does not support what you support. All I did was say I wanted to not continue with the Gnostic Movement course, and I can continue to be able to say that I have said nothing against anyone in the Movement, except for its leaders unless they have spoken out against me, ie Jordan who never acted much like a friend anyways.

These are my responses so far to the responses of Jordans posts. I've posted them here in case they get deleted. jefffarrell Your comment is awaiting moderation. You ask who would do this? How about someone who feels betrayed, lied to and conflicted. One who doesn’t want to loose friends he was made but can’t stay in the organization that he met them through because he has learned it is nonsense? Did Jordan mention to his friends that I left shortly after I finished reading the book for the advanced course and I could no longer take the nonsense? “if a person decides not to practice gnosis” Sorry I practice “Gnosis” every day. Those pseudo-Gnostics that follow Mark Pritchard do no have a monopoly on such concepts. This is why I picked the term notantignostic, because I am not an anti Gnostic. ” but it seems that the way he seems to have left is very telling of Jeff’s character.” Who are you? Do you know me? How can you say if something is telling of my character? jefffarrell Your comment is awaiting moderation. “It is very strange how you describe this person changing his views and behaviour so quickly and erratically. ” Yes it is quite strange that Jordan would describe events which is rather ignorant of in such a way. “but why turn and attack the same people that were your friends just a short time ago, when nothing really has changed?” How by the way did I attack friends? In fact I am at the best helping friends to see the nonsense that they got themselves stuck in years ago, if they decide to do so. It should be noted that Jordan got involved in the Gnostic Movement when he was still a technically a child from what I understand, while I was an adult with life experience before I am came across the organization. This helped me to know what I was seeing while in the organization. jefffarrell Your comment is awaiting moderation. “Yes, I’m curious to see your opinion of what may have been behind such a drastic change in perspective.” Why bother being curious about what Jordan thinks, I’ve just posted what caused my reaction. You will be able to read it if it does not get deleted. Otherwise you can find it here. [forum.culteducation.com] “I hope this Jeff Farrell finds some peace in his life. He definitely won’t find it by creating drama through hatred though.” Why are you repeating my last name? is this a planned strategy? Why are you exposing me but not using your real names? Is that not dishonest? “I mean, it appears to me that he came along to the courses, liked it at first, changed his mind and then left… so what’s the big deal, and why carry on with what seems to be over the top drama and antagonism?” Have you even read this discussion? Despite what has been written it is an open Forum. [forum.culteducation.com] Why don’t you bother to ask me about why I have done what I have done, instead of getting so excited about this gossip? This is all really quite general. “they attended another unrelated event in the city where there was an individual named Jeff who showed up to that event seemingly just to complain about and defame The Gnostic Movement.” Please enlightenment me, nickmoss, because I have no idea what you are talking about, because so far (as the person who is said to have done these things) I have no idea what you are talking about. What event are you talking about? “The person telling me the story was a relatively new student of the intro courses who has since stopped attending as well” What a surprise? Yet another student has decided that the courses were nonsense and left. But its also quite convenient that this Nick person can not provide any evidence for their claims. “It is interesting to me that when met in person, Jeff Farrell’s true qualities and zealous fanaticism seem to really come through, and yet disguised behind his username online, this individual presents himself as authority on the subject…” I’m sorry I don’t remember ever meeting you in person Nick. When did we meet? Ok what is it going to be, am I hiding behind a username and a computer or am I running around the city screaming at the top of my lungs? Oh and Nick when are we going to get together to discuss this nonsense?

The Jeff Farrell Affair – Part 3: Personal Experiences October 24, 2010 9:40 pm As mentioned in part 1 of this story, “The Jeff Farrell Affair – Part 1: A Positive Beginning”, Jeff Farrell attended some introductory Gnostic courses and meditation practices online and at the Toronto Gnostic Centre for under six months. During this time, I observed that he tried the various exercises and readings in Gnosis more or less as best he could, and as such, had what he said and considered to be many positive experiences, as well as held a very positive view of the Centre and its teachers. On his experience with Gnosis, here are just a few of the things I noticed that he has shared openly in online forums (and in most cases also repeated in public classes at the Centre). Paraphrased, Jeff stated that in his opinion: - He came to Gnosis with a degree of skepticism, as he would approach anything in life, but saw he could trust this organization based on what he saw at the Toronto Centre.- He had directly observed that The Gnostic Movement is comprised of very tolerant and careful people.- He could see in himself that he had a lot of what he thought was a particularly harmful inner state (“inner state” meaning something such as anger, aggression, fear, etc.) under the surface, but it had improved since he started the courses as result of the Gnostic work.- He would like to assure anyone that The Gnostic Movement is the furthest thing from a brainwashing cult. Furthermore, that he even made lots of jokes about this at the Centre that would make a “real cult member” crazy, which doesn’t happen there.- He believed that the worst that could happen to someone when attempting to do the Gnostic work is that they are unsuccessful and then they go off and continue with their life. These are some actual examples of the experiences, views, and opinions about Gnosis that Jeff once held and shared openly. As you would have seen from the previous two parts of this story however, his new views and opinions of Gnosis are dramatically different. As pointed out in my observations, they are not only dramatically different, but they also changed suddenly. Surely people have the right to change their minds and opinions about things. What is interesting though, is as pointed out in the first two parts of this story, the actual experiences, thoughts, and feelings Jeff had toward Gnosis, The Gnostic Movement, and the people involved, have somehow been not only seemingly “forgotten”, but also, changed and replaced with what I see as a seemingly unpacifiable rage and hatred towards anything to do with Gnosis and The Gnostic Movement. So what might have really set him off then? How is it that he went from holding such views and saying such statements above, based on his actual experience with Gnosis and the Centre during those 5+ months he was attending, to later on, after having stopped attending, repeatedly and vehemently condemning The Gnostic Movement and its members, in my view, based purely on hearsay and mistaken self-created ideas? To be continued and explored further in part 4. (Back to The Jeff Farrell Affair – Part 2: The Great Escape)(Back to The Jeff Farrell Affair – Part 1: A Positive Beginning) Posted by experiencegnosis

24 Responses to “The Jeff Farrell Affair – Part 3: Personal Experiences” 1. It’s too bad, it sounds like Jeff initially got something from practicing Gnosis. Based on reading his new posts on various forums, my perception of Jeff now is that he appears to be a very angry person. What I find interesting and also saddening in this case is not just that someone initially liked Gnosis and then later pursued other things, which is common enough. But from what I can see, Jeff’s writings demonstrate what seems to be such a “die-hard,” obsessive, and fanatical hatred for The Gnostic Movement and anyone involved with it. That’s unusual. I can only speculate on what would drive someone to apparently devote so much time and energy to attacking others. I just can’t imagine it’s a happy way to be, though. By anonymous98361 on October 24, 2010 at 10:19 pm 2. Thank you for outlining these things, experiencegnosis. I remember very clearly how Jeff shared these observations openly at the centre and online with the teachers and fellow students. The new Jeff is a rather different and angrier version than I recall. I wonder what would cause an individual to flip like that? How can someone go from making over-the-top positive comments to over-the-top negative and violent remarks about something? Was he being insincere then? Or is he being insincere now? Or perhaps it is the case of a rather unbalanced individual? My guess would be the latter… By realitycheck36 on October 24, 2010 at 10:49 pm 1. The dramatic reversal is the problem I personally have with people who claim they were “wrong then” but now they “see the light.” Don’t get me wrong, everyone changes their mind sometimes, and everyone deserves a fair hearing in most situations I can think of. But it seems as if these individuals feel they can completely repudiate all of their former statements, actions, sentiments, comments, etc. and start afresh as totally reliable sources of information. They seem to expect that their new words be given complete credibility, while their former words were simply misguided and should be erased from the ledger. In fact, it seems they feel entitled to even more credibility precisely because they were so “misguided” and “wrong” in the past (as if that makes any sense!) I just find I am a bit skeptical of that kind of maneuver. It smells of self-righteousness to me. “Don’t listen to old me! He doesn’t know what he’s talking about! Listen to new me! I know everything!” By anonymous98361 on October 25, 2010 at 12:54 am 1. “Don’t listen to old me! He doesn’t know what he’s talking about! Listen to new me! I know everything!” I think you summed up the ridiculous mindset perfectly. In my opinion, it’s such a ridiculous mindset that it would be terribly funny, if it were not for the very serious harm this individual appears to be inflicting on a religious minority with what I would describe as a tirade of irrational hatred. By gnosticessence on October 25, 2010 at 6:04 am 2. “Don’t listen to old me! He doesn’t know what he’s talking about! Listen to new me! I know everything!” That’s a good way of summarizing it. By realitycheck36 on October 26, 2010 at 12:40 am 3. It seems like that “particularly harmful inner state” ultimately got him, and now is manifesting in its full force… By breakthechainss on October 24, 2010 at 11:17 pm 1. Agreed. By plainjane234 on October 25, 2010 at 12:33 am 2. Sad, but from my own experience with these things, it seems like it could be true. By anonymous98361 on October 25, 2010 at 12:55 am 4. Yes, I would really like to understand what makes a person seemingly swing to such a drastic and intense hatred against something you once benefitted from. I feel like there are esoteric reasons behind this – it’s too dramatic of a shift to be caused by something small and mundane. I look forward to seeing more of your observations. By recordstr8 on October 24, 2010 at 11:19 pm 1. Interesting thought recordstr8. It seems there is almost always more than meets the eye to life. I would not be surprised if there are esoteric reasons at work in this current scenario as well. By anonymous98361 on October 25, 2010 at 12:58 am 5. It’s pretty interesting, reading all this. Especially that last opinion that Jeff once shared about the worst thing that could happen to someone unsuccessful with Gnosis is that they move on with their life. If only that were true. I think worst thing that can happen is you move on with your life…unless you can’t move on! And because you seemingly either can’t handle failure, or feel the need to save face because you changed your mind, or you are so easily swayed by what other people say that you can’t distinguish what’s reality and become consumed with inflicting the hatred you feel on others, and this is how you appear to spend all your time…well, I think that is by far the worst thing. By plainjane234 on October 25, 2010 at 12:29 am 1. Yes plainjane, the facts definitely seem to support this. I just hope there aren’t lower levels for someone reacting against gnosis to go. By recordstr8 on October 25, 2010 at 8:58 am 6. Reading more of this story I can only think that it’s the old mechanism of ‘going from one extreme to another’ – being totally involved and liking it, even as you mention making jokes about cults, to then seemingly in my view going off the rails and completely bagging the organization. It appears to me this was something internal for Jeff to work on and hasn’t been addressed.. Bring on part 4! By hjc3000 on October 25, 2010 at 12:51 am 7. Yes I agree, although Jeff may have been doing some of the gnostic work, as he was apparently gaining experiences, in my view it seems he was clearly not working on the subconscious side of things, which can sometimes trick us in ways we are not aware of. By truthseeker333 on October 25, 2010 at 1:46 am 1. Good point truthseeker. In fact, that’s what interests me primarily about all the stories of these individuals. It seems many of them simply fell into certain traps of the egos that led to them abandoning working upon themselves for the sake of liberation and happiness. I think we all have elements of these egos within us and that it is worth taking these examples seriously so that, as unfathomable as it may seem to us now, we don’t follow in their footsteps. By recordstr8 on October 25, 2010 at 9:05 am 8. It looks to me from what I can tell like Jeff’s anger is blinding him to a massive degree. So much so that it seems he cannot remember all the good he apparently saw in the movement when he was attending.Thanks for your post, experiencegnosis. By able000 on October 25, 2010 at 1:57 am 1. Yes! I’ve noticed the same tendency in myself. When I’m feeling down, frustrated or depressed, it’s like there’s this roadblock in my mind stopping any kind of positive memories that could possibly lift me out of that state from entering. It’s like the emotion has this control over the mind – only allowing thoughts that reinforce the emotion’s position. It seems to me this is happening on many levels with all of these individuals involved with the modern persecution of Gnosis. By recordstr8 on October 25, 2010 at 9:23 am 9. It seems that the theme of experience keeps coming up in various places. Jeff’s experience was apparently first positive but then seemed to become negative, and it seems to be the same for Jo, Ioannis and the others. As I read it, this apparently was their experience with The Gnostic Movement and the teachings of Belzebuub – their experience. It’s not my experience nor many others. I’ve found that a lot of our experiences with things are very much based on our perceptions of things, from our point of view- and unfortunately most times are not outside of it – unless we really work at it, and a lot of times that perception has to do with what’s going on inside of us. I’ve found from my own experience as well when things don’t work out or go how I thought they should go that it’s easy to become negative and just see things from your own point of view and it can be hard to come out of that to see the full picture of what is going on, what is actually happening outside of just yourself and what your feeling and thinking. And just like with a lot of things in life, people respond in all different kinds of ways with the negative experiences they have – some just decide that whatever it was is not for them and move on, some complain, but some seem to really go after, what in their mind, caused their negative experience. Is it fair though to those that have not had a negative experience and have had a good experience to have to endure and deal with what seems like all the negativity, hatred, and disruptions of others because of their experience? Or what about others who are looking exactly for the teachings The Gnostic Movement and Belzebuub provide. Shouldn’t they have the opportunity to find the teachings of Gnosis and practice and experience things without what I would call a negative cloud of opinions, lies, and half-truths? By cstarlight6 on October 25, 2010 at 3:15 am 1. That’s a great comment cstarlight6. With regard to your last paragraph I would like to say that I agree completely and we must therefore speak out against the injustice of the ‘negative cloud of opinions, lies and half-truths’. I truly hope that all those reading this blog will be able to see that we need to speak up to allow people the chance to make up their own mind, and not discount things simply by reading something negative from those on a heartless mission to destroy that which is good. By able000 on October 25, 2010 at 7:48 am 10. I agree cstarlight6. I mean, if someone doesn’t like something because it doesn’t fit in with their own ideas, fair enough. But as I see it, its not fair to try to prevent others from benefiting from it. That goes against what living in a free and tolerant society is all about. I mean, if I go to a baseball game and don’t like it, I don’t have to go again. If I don’t like my experience at a Mormon church, I don’t have to be a Mormon, and if I don’t like the food at a restaurant, I don’t have to eat there again. In a free society we all have many choices we can make and we can choose not to participate in things we don’t like. And for freedom to prevail there must be respect and tolerance shown toward others who hold different views and make different choices than we do. Giving a bad review of something you don’t like is one thing, but what kind of a person obsessively tries to prevent other people from accessing or doing something just because they don’t like it? What kind of a person tries to actively attack, oppose and oppress something they dislike, by using prejudicial language of discrimination like ‘cult’ and spreading what I think is a hurtful campaign of hatred aimed at creating fear and loathing? A person who does not respect freedom in my opinion. A person who lacks tolerance for others and doesn’t respect other people’s differences I think. A person who is very self-absorbed in my view, because they fail to see that their own personal take on things is not the center of the universe, and just becasue they don’t like something, it doesn’t mean it should not be allowed to exist, and that other people who do enjoy it should be demonized. Many people, including myself, have befitted from The Gnostic Movement and the teachings of Belzebuub. If Jeff doesn’t like it and didn’t benefit from it that’s fine, I respect that. But I can’t respect Jeff launching what I see as a campaign of distortions and hatred, which is making it very difficult for me to continue enjoying and benefiting from the spirituality I have chosen. I wish that Jeff would respect our religious freedom and leave us alone. But since he isn’t I’m glad you are bringing his violations of religious freedom to light experiencegnosis, because I strongly feel its important that the light of the truth is put against the distortions and lies I see being propagated by Jeff, and then people can make up their own minds. By gnosticessence on October 25, 2010 at 6:58 am 11. Good points gnosticessence, and I also think that it’s time that they stop allowing this hatred to eat them up from the inside, it is just not doing them or the people close to them any good at all. Obviously in Gnosis we have ways to overcome and be free of this hatred once and for all, but letting go of anger is something that all religions, spiritual movements, self-help groups etc advocate, so I’m sure there must be some system they believe in which can help them. I sincerely hope they are able to move on and bring forth love into this world rather than division and contempt for their fellow men and women. By truewitness on October 25, 2010 at 11:59 am 1. Well put truewitness. Just from seeing how much stress aggression and hatred has caused me at times, I can only imagine what kind of damage they could possibly be doing to their bodies by seemingly carrying such a vehement grudge. The last part of your post reminded me of something else. A while back, I spent a lot of time watching testimonials of people who’ve had near death experiences. I noticed many recurring things in these videos, but one I found interesting was that they all had said that in the process when they were reviewing their lives, objectively seeing and feeling the effects of their actions on themselves and others, the one thing that the Divine being that was present was interested in was… …what have you done for your fellow man? One person even noted how his good intentions, ideas, and beliefs were completely forgotten and all that remained was the reality of his actions. Keep in mind, these weren’t Gnostics in these videos but traditional Christians and many of them atheists! Hopefully these modern persecutors of Gnostics will take note of this. Just because someone may not believe in something, doesn’t mean it ceases to exist. We all have to answer for our actions at some point. By recordstr8 on October 25, 2010 at 6:24 pm 1. Yeah I have also seen videos like that recordstr8 with people’s testimonies, and how it gives someone that clearer perspective on their life that is often hard to get when consumed by the daily grind of everyday life. OBEs are so valuable to get objective understanding, as when lies are circulating as facts, as I believe to be happening now, people can easily be fooled, and not realize that their emotions and reactions are being exploited by others. By truewitness on October 26, 2010 at 10:32 am 2. That’s an interesting perspective regarding that documentary on near death experiences. I hope that people who I believe are spending their time persecuting Gnostics currently can review their actions now, and change what I see as their hateful actions into peaceful ones, and learn to respect the freedom of others. It would be shame to realize that spending all your time and energy on hatred and persecution isn’t a good thing only after the end… a bit too late to change anything at that point, unless your lucky enough to be revived after a near death experience I guess. By freetobegnostic on October 26, 2010 at 10:34 am 12. Your comment is awaiting moderation. Why are my comments not being posted? You feel the need to attack people and not allow them to defend themselves? What does that say about you? This is just anotherway that you are shown to a be a hypocrit. I’ve seen your anger Jordan. By jefffarrell on October 26, 2010 at 12:13 am

It should be noted that Jordan posted part 3 after I pointed out that what he was doing was a violation of the Gnostic Movements Privacy policy.

In relation to the matter of freedom of religion I would like to dispute the Pritchards claim that the modern equivalent of the term heretic is cult. Really termonology has not actually changed that much. The actual modern equivilent of the term heretic is heretic. (Would some buy this guy a dictionary already?) It really is unfortunate that we use the term cult to mean a dangerous religious group. As many people know this word is rooted in an attack on minority groups by the dominant Christian minority. The literal meaning of the word and the most grammatically correct is to mean a small minority involved in select worship ie the Cult of Isis etc. However it is well known that to refer to a group as a cult in our society is to mean that said group is a dangerous and manipulative relgious group. This is based on the behaviour of the groups leadership and its lack of accountability. There is often also a manipulation of students thoughts and undue influence on them. There seems to also commonly be a failure to up front with the beliefs of the group. Based on this objective test of the organization a number of people have decided that Mark Pritchards Gnostic Movement is a Dangerous group (aka a cult). This is not an attack on anyone right to freedom of belief. We have discussed the beleifs of this organization in the past it was for a number of reasons. 1st To help those who to not know to know what the followers of Pritchard process to belief. 2nd to show the change of teachings from one stage to another and 3rd to show the contradictions between various statements. These are really people who want to have it both ways. Now as far as who is calling who a Heretic, I would have to say that is Mark Pritchard. We can see this in the way that he calls anyone doesn't agree with him a fanatic. Clearly he does not understand the meaning of the term, since he literally loves fanatics as long as they are his fanatics. From what has been written about Pritchard it would seem that he internalized the term fanatic to mean those who are not on the right path, who have lost their way. Does this not sound quite similar to calling someone a heretic? Heretic btw means someone who has left the 'true faith' but beliefs that they have the true faith.

Overall I have to say that these accusations of persecution are nonsense.

We are not attacking The Gnostic movements believe but are are criticizing its lack of accountability both financial and in management. Further we are raising concerns with how manipulation and fear is used to control the members and students.

I have a problem with how the Gnostic movement is not up front with its beliefs and how they use deceptive recruitment practices and they use their master and his divine mission to justify this.

So do the "Gnostics" believe in spreading fear, in manipulating people, in justified dishonesty, or in not being accountable?

If that's the case than that's fine, I will be against your belief system.

In regards to how I have discussed your beliefs in the past it was only to show what they are, how you hide them and also to show contradictions between one statement or action and another.

Here is the Gnostic Voice address.

[gnosticvoice.wordpress.com]

And this is the blog of former students and members that has got the Gnostic Movement so excited, along with of course what has been written here.

[movementsofgnostics.wordpress.com]

Here is the Gnostic Movement attempting to defend themselves and attack others at the same time.

[www.gnosticawakenings.com]