timeline and history

Timeline

1947 John Yarr born

1974 claim to enlightenment/leaves army/works for Marconi/beginning of Yarr's teaching

1975 Yarr and 4 disciples moved to Portsmouth

1978 new home in Bognor Regis

1980 name change from SOTM to Lifewave

1983 move to Slindon

1986 end of Lifewave, Yarr moved from Slindon to Leeds

1987 meeting at hotel in Northampton where Lifewave formally dissolved

1994 three teachers sacked from Bridgewater School in Salford - followers of Yarr

2000 John Yarr arrested, court case in Chichester

History

Much of what is below here is speculation. I can't be sure of a lot of it. You might be able to help me fill in the blanks. If so then please email me. andrewmclarenlewis@gmail.com

The first disciples were Mari-Ann Barrett, Caroline Roberts, Jan and Liz. Jan was said to have attained enlightenment 6 months after being initiated and it took Liz a year. Caroline left quite soon. She never became enlightened.

The next generation of female Adepts included Carmel and Judy (Judy Lunn?). There was also Mary. And another one. Carmel left John Yarr. Judy continued, I think I met her once, possibly in Manchester. Judy had been in the Divine Light Mission a long time and eventually turned against John Yarr.

It is possible that Mary was Mary Taylor Brown who then married Arthur Kelthorpe (AK).

Yarr moved to Portsmouth in 1975. Where from? Maybe Cornwall. That was where they were in the Divine Light Mission together. Mari-Ann and her sister Sally-Ann bought a house for John Yarr in Bognor in 1978. One of the four original disciples had a son called Ryan. He lived with Yarr from 6 to 16 and has rejected him. John Yarr claimed that Ryan was enlightened but Ryan rejects this.

John Yarr moved to the nice village of Slindon in Sussex in 1983. Two Adepts close to him were Simon Bowes and Dennis Simmonds. They helped him escape to Leeds when Lifewave collapsed but it didn't take long for them to abandon him.

Some people I knew in Leeds decided to follow John Yarr. Carolyn Elliott (there are various spellings of her name) and Sandra Swift. Something happened to Carolyn. She might have been sectioned or she might have had aneurisms but she is no longer around. Carolyn was a friend of mine. We were at a garden centre one day and she suddenly froze and stared at someone. I think she had seen Judy and recognised her: did Carolyn see Judy as a former version of herself in John Yarr's affections?

Maureen Traynor and Sally Hill are two other names that have come up. There was another Maureen who was active in Newcastle, Leeds and Durham. Kaylene is another one who followed John Yarr in Leeds. I had not heard of her. Teresa Bianca is someone from that area. Nick Kemp, Mark Helston and Dave Hill I haven't mentioned before.

In 1994 three teachers at Bridgewater School in Salford were sacked because they were followers of John Yarr. I have been given the names of two of them. It was in the news because Eric Cantona's son was a pupil at this independent school at the time.

Dr Tim Duerden set up a website (www.meditationunlimited.org) in about 2000 which is now defunct. Then he set up another site (https://spiritualenlightenments.weebly.com/) which is still up and running. He got initiated in 1987 and enlightened in 1995. He spent time with John Yarr when he was in the Greater Manchester area. He learned how to hypnotize people.

Then there were all the offshoots. I have mentioned these on a different page. There are those who didn't abandon John Yarr in 1986 but did in 2000 when he got arrested and charged with paedophile and sadistic acts. Apparently these ones hadn't been told about the paedophile and sadistic acts. I'm not sure that I believe that.

The 2000 Court Case
John Yarr was arrested at Manchester airport after returning from Portugal. Two girls who were children of his followers had accused him of abuse. This abuse occurred before Lifewave broke up in 1986. One of the girls went to the police in 1987, the other did not. Nothing happened at this time.

In 1995 one of the girls went to the police again. She had read in a newspaper that three of John Yarr's followers had been sacked as teachers from a public school. She realised that John Yarr was still active and recruiting which motivated her to go to the police again.

A statement from 1987 from one of the girls could not be found. This seems to have been the reason why the case did not proceed. Another problem is that a certain "Mr Taylor" stated that he had seen a letter from the police in 1987 that confirmed all charges had been dropped against the John Yarr.

Interesting that, because I have been told that one of the teachers sacked from his job in 1994 was a Mr Taylor. There were three Taylor brothers, all of them followers of John Yarr.

The allegations made against John Yarr are very serious. I don't want to state just now what they are. I want to wait until I am more sure of the facts. I have seen a web page that states 8 charges were made against John Yarr after his arrest in 2000. I should think that there would be an official document somewhere that will confirm this.

People want to know my motivation for writing this blog. There are several reasons.

  • I had different information and I wanted to put it in one place
  • I like to see a bully get his comeuppance: John Yarr was a bully
  • I want people to know what I wanted to know in the 1980s
  • cults tell you what they want you to know not what you need to know
  • find out what is the true nature of enlightenment
  • I like to annoy people who tell me they are the only ones who can talk about a subject



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