1meditation

This post is here so that anyone searching for information about the https://1meditation.com/ group will find important information. What they don't tell you on the 1meditation site is that this group is a dangerous cult.

On one of their pages they state "This has been realised by hundreds of men and women using this meditation all over the world during a time of over 40 years". 'This meditation' has been taught by the cult known as Lifewave and before that known as SOTM.

The Lifewave cult ceased to exist in 1986 because people found out that the cult leader, John Yarr, had been abusing his followers and their children. John Yarr fled from Sussex to Leeds. He started a new cult which is called 1meditation or The Path.

They have had meetings at Global Tribe (a café and shop run by Bev and Mario), Hyde Park Book Club and the Friends Meeting House in Roundhay. In other cities in England too and in Australia and Colombia. People go to these meetings because they want to find out about meditation. They are not told about John Yarr and the history.

Once they have developed a loyalty to the group they are exploited. Please read some of the other posts and pages on this blog. Start with my introduction to John Yarr and his cult. You can read about what some of his most loyal followers of the past say about him now. My recent posts include words by people like Mari-Ann Barrett who was one of his first followers.

Another thing they don't tell you is the precise nature of 'this state of being' (Enlightenment). They may tell you if asked that it is something that cannot be comprehended by the mind. That's not true. When you find out what it is you might not be so willing to attain it. Neither is it true that only people in their group can find this state of being.

You don't need their initiation. If you want to meditate on the Inner Light and Sound there are ways to do that without them squeezing your eyeballs. If you are in too deep with their group don't feel that they can harm you. They can't curse you although they may say that they can. Don't feel that you will miss out on your chance for spiritual development if you leave their group. Lots of people left Lifewave, continued meditating, and got what they were hoping for - without John Yarr or Ishvara or whatever he is calling himself these days. He hasn't learned his lesson.

1meditation

view from an early disciple

This is another document written by someone in Lifewave. It was written by one of the four women who were in the Divine Light Mission with John Yarr. She might be Mari-Ann Barrett, who contributed so much to the series of articles published in the Portsmouth Evening News. Or she might be Caroline Roberts, Jan or Liz.

"HERBERT JOHN YARR ......THE MYTH (June 2000)

By an ex-Lifewave member.

Herbert John Yarr has been teaching meditation on light and sound for the last 25 years. From 1975-86 he formed the organisation called Lifewave. This folded due to allegations and disclosures about his personal behaviour, ranging from sexual abuse to harassment and intimidation.

Whilst he remained fairly low key for a couple of years he eventually began teaching again and formed a new group which was known to followers as "The path".

My interest in writing this letter is to pass on some relevant facts about his history in order to reassure anyone who at this time may be wanting to leave his "Path" but is afraid to do so for fear of recriminations and\ or the loss of the opportunity for spiritual growth.

Firstly it is important to know that what he teaches is not original. There are many accounts of meditation on light and sound throughout the scriptures - his own initiation into it came from being a follower of Divine Light Mission in 1974

Before this time he had spent several years as an army corporal . He had a private interest in occult matters particularly the art of mind control which he often boasted of using in most unethical ways. His friends and collegues at the time also knew him well for all his bragging about his sexual conquests (he boasted of having slept with a different woman every night for a year), and aptly named him Dirty Dingus Mc Gee. His nickname was Dingus for the next few years until he decided to rename himself with a more fitting title (Ishvara). Translated, this means Lord of The Universe.

With hindsight it is clear to see that at the time of meeting up with those of us who were to become his first followers, the unusually self obsessed and controlling aspects that made up his personality were fertile ground for his transcendence to the new Messiah.

In 1975 his following was small (4 actually), but even at that stage he was already developing sexual relationships with those female devotees of whom I was one.

Although inspired greatly by our own belief in his elevated position we did in those first few years , through our own effort, and long hours spent meditating, experience states of bliss and spiritual awakenings. Only after several years did Yarr see the benefit of linking peoples spiritual revelations to his` Grace` to enhance his own position of power, thus creating the myth.

Unfortunately many of the truths about Yarr have become cloudy and mystified over time and of course conveniently withheld from his followers.

I lived with John Yarr for over 10 years in various houses, most of the time believing in him in the same way followers do now. I would have died for him and may have even killed for him. My life was utterly tied up with him and I could see no other life or world except his. Over the dozens of times I wanted to leave, because of the great despair and isolation I experienced, I felt utterly hopeless because there was seemingly nowhere to go. The world outside the organisation and the people in it were the 'Anti Christ' and the only life I could lead that wouldn't plunge me into darkest hell and damnation was his.

The worst harm he has done and continues to do is in the way in which he divides and rules. In order to maintain his position of power he spreads gossip amongst the followers about those with whom he is having secret affairs so they can end up feeling persecuted, isolated and bereft of enough credibility to be believed by anyone, were they to try to confront him.

Fortunately, (probably) because I was living so intimately with him I was able to finally see the situation more clearly and eventually confront him and moved out.

Despite the many times I have witnessed Yarr and his close followers perform ritualised curses on those who wanted to leave him, over the 10 years I lived with him and the 14 years since I left him nobody has ever fallen victim to any of his sick and cruel designs for them. He would of course attribute anything unfortunate that happened to them or their families as his work.

There is too much about my time with him to write here, but having talked recently to some of his current followers, some having been near to suicide and having been reminded of his tyranical ways, I really want to reassure anyone that this man , in his own right, without the power you give him, is simply a very complex and disturbed man capable of many a temper tantrum and who, when confronted displays great cowardice and fear.

Curses and threats only have a chance of working if we believe in them. It is ourselves that give meaning to them.and it is in this way that Yarr literally 'plays on peoples fears'.

Unfortunately Yarr's intimidations don't only take the shape of secret rituals. In the time I knew him there were several incidents of attempted assaults by groups of (usually male) followers on direct instruction from Yarr. These were often on vulnerable young women and on some occasions police protection was sought. This is, of course criminal behaviour and if reported is taken extremely seriously. However in many instances in the past the persecuted individual has been too afraid to lay any charges. Anyone wishing to leave him at this time can be reassured that because of recent events (April - September 2000) Mr. Yarr is most likely to be on his best behaviour at the moment.

Yarr has a huge amount of philosophical and spiritual clarity and can present himself as a powerfully charismatic man, I know this, but unfortunately because of his stunted and detatched emotional state, wherein he actually believes himself to be beyond the concepts of right and wrong, he is capable of great cruelty.

There are people even now who left his organisation 15 years ago who still have psychological scars from their time with him. The thrust of his teaching is based on detachment. This is of course a valuable concept. However when it is not balanced with a wholesome emotional development it becomes a very polarised and potentially cold and cut off condition.

I know from my time with him that even when he had a couple of breakdowns, around 84-86, he was totally unable to gain insight into the issues causing them. His answer is to meditate and to meditate more. (Although even he at that time was unable to follow his own advice).

I am very sorry for anyone whose lives seem to have been taken over by Yarr - in their real and honest desire to find spiritual truths, but I have found that without him as part of the equation there is no less of a possibility of knowing those truths.

Please take a good look at this man. The facts, the history,, the people who have known him well. See the consistency of his abusive behaviour, the lives he has hurt, the marriages he has broken up, the number of people needing psychological support and the families he has torn apart and worst of all the power he has over you.

I wish you well in retrieving what is rightfully yours and seeing that without what you give him he is no more powerful in your life than you want him to be.

And I wish you all the best in your spiritual aspirations. None of any of our efforts in that direction have been wasted."

John Yarr

view from a former Adept

In 2019 I posted a document on this blog. I found it on a forum. I didn't know who had written it but now I have found out. It was written by someone called AK, one of the Adepts in Lifewave. It was written in 1986. There is another document by him or her, written in 2000. I thought it is interesting so I have copied it and put it here.

"SOME REFLECTIONS ON LIFEWAVE AND JOHN YARR 14 YEARS ON. (June 2000)

by AK, May 2000

In Sept 1986 I wrote an article about Lifewave at the time of its dissolution and photocopies of my handwritten article were circulated at that time to many initiates and members of the organisation.

A few weeks earlier, in August 1986, I had written a letter to John Yarr (circulated too at the time but not now in my possession) which was, for me, the beginning of a process of helping to expose some truths about him which were not widely known: the letter led to a meeting between him and about eight adepts (including myself) in which we confronted him collectively with our concerns and allegations: the outline of these accusations and his reply are covered in my article.

These allegations amounted to an accusation of serious criminal activity which he had not been able to answer satisfactorily. While the police were approached at the time, the victims were not in a position to give statements and the case has only now been gathered by the police (April 2000) with sufficiently robust evidence to lead to his arrest and appearance at Chichester Magistrates Court.

Without prejudicing the case it is not possible to describe the allegations in detail, but they were broadly known by many adepts and many others who made enquiries in 1986. Undoubtedly they were for me and many others the 'final straw' in displacing his image in my mind as the perfect master, and in causing me to have to question the whole ethical base of his authority, both organisationally and spiritually. I was struck then and remain astounded by his inability to be honest and humble enough to acknowledge how badly and persistently he had hurt and let people down: I felt this lack of empathy coupled with sexual perversion and emotional cowardice were all intolerable in a man claiming his position and wisdom.

Looking back now I consider that he was responsible for the following effects on people that I am aware of , with whom I have either talked or heard about from someone who has, (and my estimate in brackets for the number of people I am aware of having been affected in the UK ):

• Vindictive gossip and rumour mongering, spreading lies and disrespectful stories (dozens)
• Unethical and abusive therapeutic practices - examinations, manipulations,etc (dozens)
• Psychiatric events and ilnesses (selfharming attempts, depressions, admissions), (five-ten)
• Marriage breakups including false prophecies about husbands' deaths etc (6)
• False promises of marriage to himself (several, possibly more than a dozen)
• Abuse of his position of power and trust with women for his sexual needs (dozens)
• Threats of intimidation and damnation to people leaving his organisation (dozens)
• Malicious occult practices visualising or wishing ritualised harm to people (four)

In addition to all this has been his obsessive use of pornographic magazines and videos (several times a week over years), and the likelihood that he has not meditated himself much, if at all, for years.

Having seen for myself the true nature and impact of his shadow side and his lack of respect for people who had given their lives and love to him and the reflection of this throughout his organisation, including my own ways of thinking, made me absolutely sure in 1986 that I could not be part of any structure supporting him. It would be basically unethical as I had to recognise how my naivety and gullible eagerness had added to his power and the collective abuse of many vulnerable individuals.

I felt he had totally betrayed my trust and irrevocably compromised my integrity as his follower and teacher so I lost my loyalty to him and to Lifewave as an organisation, having been completely committed and devoted for a number of years. Needless to say I found this a difficult and confusing time. I was disappointed but not completely surprised by the extent of denial of the accusations and support for himself that he managed to muster to enable him to carry on after the dissolution of Lifewave. Those older initiates who knew of the allegations but who did not help expose him or kept supporting him may not have known enough, had a warped sense of values or imagined that the realities of the meditation somehow made it all allright: I still think they have much to answer for.

From meeting with and talking to 'ex-members' over the last few years I do not now think there is or was one experience nor one truth about Lifewave: everyone has a different story to tell about it both spiritually and organisationally. People also had very different experiences of joining and leaving, from having found it after years of spiritual practices to coming along with a partner or a group of friends, from being 'sent away' to leaving at the time of Lifewave's disbanding in 1986. Some people had fairly benign experiences of the lifestyle changes, while for others the path led to major sacrifices and losses and considerable trauma.

My own particular experience of Lifewave had been relatively free of trauma: I found the meditation profoundly inspiring and liberating. I loved the sense of belonging to a community of like-minds and fellow devotees, and learnt a great deal about philosophy, psychology and complementary medicine amongst many other subjects. I also found John Yarr very charismatic and inspiring, often apparently very caring, with an incisive mind and an apparently encyclopaedic knowledge. These qualities are what made confronting him and myself with the truth about his other side and the ending of Lifewave initially confusing and difficult: belief in his grace and fear of his power over me took months, even years to dismantle.

As for making sense of spirituality after Lifewave, I have found my path has been much less clear, and dominated by knowing what I do not want or cannot support, rather than knowing where to place my devotions and energies. Having a guru, belonging to a group, or following any path with a map certainly simplifies many complications in life. Without these it is easy to become cynical of the whole 'spiritual' trip, the self-rightiousness and introspection, the gap between theory and ideals and practical reality. I have also been tempted to dismiss all teaching and gurus. But I now see these as structures which help some people grow at some stages in their lives (as worked for me), but which may well need to be removed to allow another phase of growth (as also happened for me). Behind all this I find there is a constant whisper from my soul in many situations reminding me of my source and 'home', and a real strength from the knowledge of meditation.

Since Lifewave I have been particularly helped and inspired by nature, the world of the senses and by movement and dance as expressions of spirit: finding ways of grounding my energy through my body has helped me make sense (literally) of the realisations and connection with light and sound which I had gained through meditation and Lifewave. Learning about female ways of knowing and allowing and receiving not straining and pushing for spiritual truths, and trusting power with others rather than power over others, have also been important. I have learned much from being part of groups and organisations that are aware of the dangers of hierarchies and explicitly explore alternative methods or rituals using circles and networks, and consciously pay attention to the 'people on the edge' whose views are usually as revealing as those of the leaders or people at the 'centre'. Some of all this I have been taught by people with disabilities through my work: they have given me some profound spiritual teachings, especially that every human interaction is two-way not one-way.

I am certainly glad that I am free of the fearful intolerance, arrogant fanaticism and intimidation that I learnt from Lifewave (and sometimes copied from John Yarr) and I am glad to find that I can be myself more fully now, the same and different as every one else, enlightened or not!

So I have no conclusions to share, but some observations: however difficult and shaming it was to have gone through an experience like Lifewave and to attempt to understand someone as complex and confusing as John Yarr and the devotion he inspired in people like me, I do think I have learned much from both going into it all and coming out of it, though I regret all the hurt he and the organisation caused. Talking about it all is a good way of piecing the jigsaw together. I would like to give people who are still involved with John Yarr personally or his path the information they need about his dark and shady side: they can then make up their own minds and not feel they are damned for all eternity by the Lord of the Universe if they recognise that he has damaged many people's lives and may yet be convicted of serious crimes. I would also like him to fully face the consequences of what he has done and his responsibilities, and be prevented from causing further harm.

More than all this, I want to keep a love of the truth and of sacred teachings and realisations alive in my life and in the lives of people I have contact with, so that we help each other sharpen our minds and open our hearts and, learning from the mistakes of the past, keep true to our deepest wisdom and aspiration in each new day."

John Yarr