Rawlinson document

To go to the beginning of this blog and an introduction to the Lifewave cult click here.

This is a document that came out soon after the breakup of Lifewave.

'The rise and fall of Lifewave' by Andrew Rawlinson:

Lifewave was the name of an organization designed to bring spirituality into the world. It was the inspiration of one man, John Yarr. It began in 1974 with his claim to enlightenment; it ended with his exposure and disgrace (brought about by his own followers) in 1986. The story of its rise and fall is yet another reminder that human nature is very complex and that without a proper understanding of it, the spiritual quest, which is a noble aspiration, can end in a mess. What follows is based on interviews with members and ex-members of Lifewave, both before and after the debacle of September 1986. Quotations are from them or from Lifewave literature, which consists entirely of short pamphiets, very few of them dated and none of them on public record. No books were ever produced. I would like to acknowledge the help of Kriss Glenville, who was going to Lifewave meetings when the revelations about Yarr took place, and who has expended considerable time and energy on trying to understand the whole phenomenon. He provided me with a lot of contacts and a number of stimulating ideas.

The history of Lifewave can be briefly told. In 1974, John Yarr, aged 27, was initiated into Guru Maharaj ji's Divine Light. After long hours of meditation on the light and sound as taught by Divine Light, he claimed to have attained enlightenment.This claim was not accepted by Divine Light and Yarr left to set up as a teacher on his own. He took with him four women who were all Divine Light initiates. By 1976, two of these women had themselves become enlightened. According to one of them they both attained this state by their own efforts in meditation. She also maintains that in the early days Yarr said that all that was required for enlightenment was meditation on light and sound. But someone who joined the group in this year says that he was never told either of these things. On the contrary, he was told that enlightenment was possible only by the grace of a perfect master who put his initiates in touch with the light and sound.

The perfect master was John Yarr, now Called Ishvara (meaning 'Lord'). This remained the central teaching thereafter. Gradually, the numbers grew. In 1977, the group (numbering less than 20) gave itself the name Spiritual Organization for the Teachings of the Master (SOTM). This was changed to Lifewave in 1980. Starting in the area around portsmouth, groups spread to various parts of England and to a number of European countries, as well as India, Africa, Australia and North and South America. By 1986, there were perhaps 500 committed practitioners. Yarr had been a corporal in the Army working in the stores until 1974, when he left and worked for Marconi for a while. He has been supported by Lifewave funds ever since.Lifewave was organized as a spiritual hieraichy. At the bottom were aspirants - those who were preparing to ask for initiation. They were given various mantras (eg DAK-ME-VA and TE-SO-AN) and had to fulfil certain conditions: vegetarian diet; no alcohol, drugs or tobacco; sex to be contained within a monogamous relationship. Next came the initiates. Each one was given the same mantra (EE-O-DE-KAR). The eyeballs were pressed very hard so that flashes of light could be seen; this was a physical preparation for the seeing of inner light. In addition, the thumbs were put in the ears in order to listen to inner sound. All this is very similar to Divine Light. Some people undoubtedly had very powerful experiences at the time of initiation. As one of them said to me: 'What I experienced was not of my own making.' This inner manifestation of light and sound was itself called the Lifewave and initiation was said to be the revelation of the source of life. The Lifewave was described as 'a dynamic powerhouse, a Being that drives, nourishes and vitalises the entire universe ... the source of all intelligence and wisdom”.

Initiates were expected to meditate for two hours a day, and six hours a day at weekends. There could be as many as two or three meetings a week as well as a recommended study course (including homework) concerned with such topics as the subtle body, the chakras and the aura. All the material that I have seen appears to be derived from Theosophical writers like Besant, Leadbeater and Bailey.

All this was hard work and a fulltime occupation. Those initiates who were thought to be progressing were then 'sat down' for second initiation - the next level of the lifewave hierarchy. This was not a formal occasion as such; rather, it consisted of about ten days of up to 15 hours meditation a day, during which time the initiate would go beyond form. This meant the realization that one was not the mind nor anything pertaining to the mind; that one cannot die and that one will not be reborn. Second initiates were said to be free of samsara.There remained the final goal - enlightenment or liberation. Going beyond form gives the realization of what you are not; liberation is the realization of what you are in your real nature. It was defined as 'complete knowledge of the unchanging aspect of man', 'unity with the Self, 'the unity of man and God', 'love itself'. In Lifewave News (only three issues in 1984), two of those who had attained this state said: 'I know that I am a Divine Being, that the entire universe comes from me.' And: 'I realize now that I am not a single individual person, but rather the very essence of life which allows everything to exist. Everything around me now is never separate from me; I see all things, both beautiful and ugly, as the same, all contained in me. My Enlightenment is a state of peace and stillness - freedom beyond all imagination.'

Such people were called adepts (the term was 'saints' in the early years) and given the title Adara, which was short for AD(ept of Ishv)ARA. Naturally, they were regarded as special. Lifewave literature says that they cannot incur karma. For them, 'Creation's mysteries stand revealed.' They possess the eight siddhis spoken of by Patanjali. They are the externalization on earth of the Spiritual Hierarchy and can 'communicate at will with DjwhaI Khul, Morya and Koot Hoomi.' (NB Theosophy again) They are 'the start of the new race, the New Humanity.' They carried out all the initiations, including the initiation for enlightenment.

lshvara himself, of course, was the apex of the hierarchy. He was described as the Supreme Being in human form, the Messiah, the Liberator of Mankind, the world Saviour, the Kalki Avatar. The Spiritual Hierarchy serves him. His power is limitless. In the only peice of his own writings that I have seen, Yarr says: 'Because I have never been born and never die, I have no guru or spiritual teacher ... The initiate travels to Enlightenment within my aura... I have the power to enlighten millions and millions of people.' Elsewhere it is said that love flows from him and that he is a 'living example of the noblest qualities.' A Lifewave pamphlet called The Sacred' Mirror says: 'Have steadfast trust in Ishvara as the Supreme Lord.'

These claims about lshvara and the path to enlightenment that he had inaugurated are certainly very high. Why should people believe them? All those whom I have asked this question have given the same answer: their experience in meditation was so strong and blissful that they were convinced by everything they were told. Lifewave said that the teachings would be confirmed by experience - and they were.

However, there were aspects of the Lifewave organization that were not so blissful. First, there was considerable pressure to conform. In the early years, initiates had to bow down before adepts, actually touching their heads to the ground. Later, only a bowed head was required but the principle remains the same. Initiates were also expected to tithe one tenth of their income to the organization and if they didn't they had to justify why not. People at all levels of Lifewave, from adepts down to aspirants, have said that they were told where to live, what job to do, who to be friends with and so on. There were also some instances of initiates being encouraged by adepts to report someone else's deviant behaviour so that the miscreant could be pulled back into line.

There was considerable rule by fear. Nonconformists were not allowed to just leave; they were 'sent away.' This meant that they could not come back to Lifewave later if they wished, and had in effect been cut off from what they had been told was the only source of spirituality in the world. Naturally, some hesitated before continuing with their independent line. One Initiate who was critical of Ishvara and therefore sent away was at one point visited by six female followers, who 'made countless threats on our well-being...became hysterical and both my common-law wife and I were hit several times.' Another initiate who left told me that his wife (who was still a membe) was stopped in the street by an adept and told, 'Ishvara can curse as well as bless, you know.' The Sacred' Mirror’ appears to provide a justification for this behaviour: 'Justice does not allow people to take its vows and then forget. Turning away from the Path brings punishment, as you break its laws.'This darker side of Lifewave was undoubtedly connected with a darker side of John Yarr. He said to one initiate: 'I am God. I am enitled to have what I like. Its my creation, so I can do what I want' An aspirant was told that Ishvara controlled aircrashes and the weather, and that if people did not listen to him, he would cause a lot of destrucuon in the world. She left the path.

It is difficult to judge how widespread all this was and how many people in Lifewave knew about It. Adepts had considerable leeway in how they dealt with the initiates in their charge and there were those who flagrantly abused their position while others did not. Hence some actually perpetrated the darker side of Lifewave, and some merely knew of it but condoned it. Some found out and left (despite threats, curses and attacks). Perhaps most had intimations of what was going on but did nothing because of what they were receiving in meditation. The bliss of the inner journey was so intoxicating that they could not help but feel devotion for lshvara. They were grateful to him and they trusted him. What they had been told about the spiritual path was true and therefore they were prepared to overlook whatever aspect of the darker side of Lifewave they had seen. It was spiritual experience that mattered above all else. One initiate wrote to the Chichester Observer in 1979, replying to criticisms of a public meeting that was held to attract people to Lifewave: 'lshvara has given me something so beautiful and so precious - is it wrong to tell others?... Only the truth is offered... We know exactly what we are talking about and what we are doing.'

Unfortunately, he was wrong. In September 1986, Lifewave groups throughout the country were told that the organization was being dismantled. The reasons emerged rather slowly but they can be summarized as follows. Yarr had had sexual relations with a number of female adepts, including children. This had been going on since the earliest days and in fact all of the original four women had been involved (though none knew that the others were). In order to keep all this a secret, he had consistently lied - not only to the whole organization but to some of the women, to whom he had promised marriage. He certainly caused all of them distress, and two adepts who work in alternative medicine have told me that they have treated women who had become ill as a result of their involvement with Yarr.

The central charge here is betrayal of trust. He used his authority as a spiritual teacher, employing persuasion and fear, so that he benefitted and others suffered. When one of the children Involved with Yarr was asked years later why she had said nothing, she replied, 'I thought it was part of my spiritual training.' That a man calling himself a perfect master should take advantage of such innocence is shameful and grotesque.As might be expected, these revelations convulsed the Lifewave organization (which is to be formally disbanded in the near future). Yarr is now in hiding. He has had bricks thrown through his window and has been threatened and punched by those who have turned against him. He has sold his house (bought for him by Lifewave) but no one is clear about what he is going to do with the money. Already there have been considenble divergences in the interpretation of events by adepts (there were 46 officially recognized in September) and first and second initiates. These divergences centre around the nature of the state called enlightenment, the significance of meditation and the relation of both to the whole notion of human values and right conduct.

Leaving aside those who have simply given up in disgust, there appear to be two groups that have emerged (though there are considerable variants within each). The first group is made up of those who believe two things: that their experience has shown that spiritual progress is dependent on grace; and that it may be possible to reform John Yarr. That is to say, while they do not condone his behaviour, they still think that he was the cause of their enlightenment (or inner progress, for those are not adepts) and that it is possible that he could fulfil this function in the future. He would not, however, be the God-like figure of the past but rather someone who has a unique spiritual power that can benefit others. This group includes women who were sexually involved with Yarr.

These people are not fools but they are clearly taking a big risk in effect, they are considering climbing back on board a powerful car that has dodgey brakes, which has already gone out of control once and crashed, causing considerable injuries. It also seems as if they are prepared to recommend that first-time passengers should climb aboard too.

One cannot help feeling that perhaps they might convince themselves that the brakes have been fixed when they do not have the skill to be sure. It is not at all clear how they can reform Yarr. After all, what qualifications do they have? They have certainly been taken for a ride up till now. In the light of what has happened, amateur mechanics, however well intentioned, are surely not enough.
The second group consists of those who say that enlightenment is still possible but that it is not, and never has been, dependent on grace - John Yarr's or anybody else's. Rather, it is attained by meditation on light and sound and that is what people in Lifewave did. In fact, they are still doing it and between 15 and 20 of them have claimed this independent enlightenment as a result of their efforts in meditation since September. So all along it was the Inner power of the Lifewave that was operative - and it still is. Hence people can say that their enlightenment is uncontaminated by Yarr and what he has done. He was simply a means to bring them to meditation. Their realization still stands.

This claim sounds plausible but there are three reasons why we should treat it with caution. First, those who are saying all this were saying the exact opposite a few months ago. Then the universal view was that enlightenment was entirely the result of Ishvara's grace. It does not appear, then, that this state carries with it an understanding of itself. Why should we accept the explanation of it given now when the earlier explanation was so monumentally incorrect? Secondly, not only were adepts wrong about their enlightenment, they were wrong about John Yarr - his qualities and behaviour. So enlightenment does not lead to any obvious improvement in perception of other people and the world. This undeniable fact stands in stark contrast to the grandiose claims that were made for adepts and their realization in the Lifewave literature. Lastly, quite a few members of Lifewave behaved badly themselves by colluding, or actually participating, in deceit, hypocrisy and bullying. They are now honest enough to admit that they were brain-washed and corrupted (these are their words, not mine) and that they had completely lost their perspective. But surely one must ask what kind of enlightenment it is that allows such behaviour, not to mention that of Yarr himself. Are we to believe that he was enlightened as well?

How can those in Lifewave who readily admit these three points still claim that the state called enlightenment is genuine? The answer that I have been given is that enlightenment is neutral. It includes the opposites of good and bad, pure and corrupt. Therefore it can allow the betrayal of trust that Yarr has exhibited, collusion in that betrayal by others, and a complete misunderstanding of what enlightenment is and where It comes from.It appears, then, that this enlightenment is entirely self-contained. It does not of itself lead to a development of human values since it is located 'beyond' them. But without a grounding in such values, life ceases to be human and becomes something else, though what that something else is cannot be derived from enlightenment (because nothing is inherently derivable from enlightenment). One adept said to me that because enlightenment obliterates the distinction between oneself and everything else, there is no expectation that things should be a certain way. Hence one can accept them, however they turn out. As he put it, "There's a certain complacency in enlightenment."

We may out of generosity recognize that everyone in Lifewave has his or her excellent qualities as well as faults, and has suffered at Yarr's hands. It takes a degree of self-righteousness to think that we would have behaved any better in the circumstances. We may also, on mature reflection on their efforts and attainments in meditation, agree that the realisation they have reached has its place in the spectrum of consciousness and therefore has its own value. But common sense leads inexorably to the conclusion that this realization is not enough to regulate one's life and indeed can violently distort it (and that of others). In short, all those involved In Lifewave have been out of their depth and they still are.

This is nothing to be ashamed of but it does have to be admitted. No spiritual state, whether it is called enlightenment or not, can make anyone superior to anybody else such that he can assume a privileged position. The 'I know and you don't' attutude is inherently exploitative and always damages those who are persuaded of their inferiority. People in Lifewave have found this out for themselves whatever they may have experienced in meditation. They therefore have a choice. They either continue to assert that they know something that makes them special (which apparently Yarr and his supporters still claim) or they accept that it was the very notion of being special that caused the Lifewave mess in the first place - grotesque antics masquerading as spirituality. The desire for spiritual knowledge should never be denigrated; but if the method of obtaining this knowledge involves convincing other people of their Inferiority, It just isn't worth having.

The author is a Lecturer in Buddhism, University of Lancaster.

This article first appeared in Religion Today, Vol 4, No's 1 & 2 (October 1987).