Yarr-the 'god' with all mod cons

09/04/1987 Portsmouth Evening News

most of this text is difficult to read so there is a digital version below the image

see here for the other stories about John Yarr in the Portsmouth Evening News

News Investigation

Yarr - the 'god'

with all

mod cons

"GOD" lived lavishly in a luxury house in the heart of the West Sussex countryside. Such was John Yarr's arrogance, he even called his £150,000 home in the exclusive village of Slindon, "Shambala" - the Tibetan word for House of the Gods.

Guarded by two Lifewave "minders", Simon Bowes and Dennis Simmonds, the small Irishman, who called himself Ishvara: The Perfect Master, lived like a recluse.

His four-bedroomed neo-Tudor home was protected by ultra-sonic burglar alarms and he kept a Dobermann Pinscher.

Even next-door neighbours in the select and picturesque village did not know his name. But they watched, intrigued, as a succession of guests came and went.

EXCLUSIVE

By France's Hardy

Said neighbour Mrs. Lynn Beadle: "They were very secretive. If you asked anything about their personal life it was as if a shutter came down.

"We only knew them by Christian names or nicknames. Some were very friendly, others stand-offish.

Yarr was obsessive about keeping his own identity secret. The select caucus of men and women devotees who shared his house let nobody outside Lifewave know their relationship. with the man they worshipped.

Yarr, who demanded ten per cent. of his devotees' incomes, bought the house with money given him by Lifewave members.

Greedy

He was also showered with gifts of jewels from followers worldwide, and he asked for precious stones from his disciples which he claimed helped with his healing arts.

Said Mari-Ann Barrett, who was among the chosen devotees who shared the Slindon home with Yarr: "He lived lavishly. He was always out buying some new piece of gadgetry. He became more and more greedy.

Writer John Milan, a Lifewave member for two years, said: "Originally people would make donations to John Yarr. Later he said he would only take 10 per cent. and give the rest to the organization.

"He used to get living expenses and around £200 a week pocket money. He had a box of jewellery rubies and diamonds which he would take great pleasure in showing people."

Liar

Yarr sold his Slindon home in December last year and fled with his henchmen Simmonds and Bowes, leaving no forwarding address.

An inveterate liar, Yarr had told the family who bought his house that he was a chiropractor (practitioner who manipulates the spine to cure illness). He said he lived there with his son and daughter. The new owners moved in and found nothing to indicate that "God" had dwelt in the house. Only a few incense sticks and shells were left as evidence of Yarr's empire. He even took with him the sign that read Shambala...

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THE SELF-STYLED god of the religious cult Lifewave has fled his luxury West Sussex home and gone into hiding. The organization he founded has collapsed amid revelations that John Yarr, who called himself the Messiah, hypocritically kept his own "harem" of lovers while demanding celibacy of his unmarried recruits.

Day two of an exclusive series of Interviews looks at the earthly home of "God" in the select village of Slindon.

[picture]"GOD'S" MINDERS...Simon Bowes (left) and Dennis Simmonds

The Perfect Master's trick

JOHN YARR'S spiritual empire was founded on an elaborate con trick. He convinced his disciples that he was the Perfect Master and only he could lead followers on the divine journey to spiritual enlightenment.

Many devotees paid £500 for "enlightenment" believing Ishvara was the only being capable of conferring this spiritual state. One boy was made an "adept" (spiritual teacher) of the organization when he was seven years old. At 18 he now admits that he did not understand the concept of enlightenment and pretended to possess spiritual powers to please Yarr.

Now their "heavenly king" is dethroned, the vast majority of Lifewave members believe he doesn't hold exclusive worldwide rights to enlightenment. But a cluster of "hardliners" shielding Yarr, still believe he is the supreme spiritual teacher and that they were enlightened through his power.

Lifewave funds stood at £170,000 when the organization was formally dissolved at the meeting in the Midlands last week. The money is all to be refunded to ex-members of the now defunct organisation.

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[picture]The evil John Yarr and (above) his former lair, a luxurious £150,000 house in Slindon.

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Despair of his disciples

THE PRESSURE of Lifewave's demands on its disciples left some suicidal and others mentally scarred.

A doctor, who treated members of the sect and was himself a follower of Yarr for six years, said: "The lifestyle suited only a very small proportion of members

"The celibate existence- the fact that relationships were frowned upon gave rise to a great deal of sexual frustration."

The doctor, who declined to be named for professional reasons, said: "For many the organization gave companionship, a goal and purpose. It was an ideal they gave their lives to.

"But there was pressure on people to conform. They were told where to live and who to live with. They had to hold down jobs, attend meetings and meditate for two hours a day. The lifestyle dissolved certain tensions and pressures, but created others.

Intimidation and fear

"There was a great feeling of being watched. You had to be seen to be doing the right things. There was a constant unspoken fear."

Those who stepped out of line or questioned the word of autocratic "adepts" were "sent away".

"Heavies" were sent round to threaten people who left, said the doctor. "Those who left were subjected to intimidation and fear."

Some were even "cursed".

"If you were cursed by someone you believed was the Lord of Creation it would have a traumatic effect." One woman who was cursed is still in hiding, afraid to reveal her whereabouts.

"Six people have attempted suicide. I certainly know of one person who had fits which were resolved when she left the movement.

"Another person endured stomach pains; another spent years suffering from insomnia and panic attacks."