Skip to main content
Category

Stanislav Grof

Mar 23

Attacking All Connections

By Anthony Busuttil, Edinburgh University, Holotropic Breathwork, Simon Kidd, Stanislav Grof, University of Western Australia
Simon Kidd
In becoming a target of Equalizer (Gerald Joe Moreno), I discovered that my family and supporters were also derided. The hate campaign was thorough and unrelenting, reflecting a sectarian cyberstalker tactic.
In December 2009, Moreno attacked Simon Kidd, an academic in Australia who defended me on Wikipedia against a hostile faction influenced by Moreno blogs and the 2006 Wikipedia User page of SSS108 (Moreno). Kidd was incongruously mocked by Moreno in his role as a Senior Research Officer in Education Policy at the University of Western Australia. Moreno urged that Kidd could not be taken seriously for supporting me. The academic was even described as an “internet propagandist” in this zealous attack. The truth is that Moreno (alias Equalizer) was the major internet apologist and propagandist for Sathya Sai Baba (d.2011). 
Moreno/Equalizer contrived the ridiculous argument that Kidd was desperate to deceive others about my “credentials.” I have never claimed credentials, and Kidd made no such reference. Instead the academic showed ability and scruple in parrying the defamatory content of Moreno blogs. 
Simon Kidd had earlier obliged the Holotropic Breathwork (HB) promoters on Wikipedia to acknowledge published criticism instead of suppressing this inconvenience. He had a valid role in such measures because of his early correspondence relating to the HB issue. In 1994-5, Kidd had corresponded with medical authorities, including Regius Professor Anthony Busuttil of Edinburgh University. Busuttil was very concerned about commercial HB. In 1993, this medical expert had been commissioned by the Scottish Charities Office to provide a report on that disputed subject. 
Moreno knew nothing about medical matters. He ignorantly diluted the subject of HB as though it were a crime to support my views in that direction. He even stated: “Simon Kidd was apparently involved with Kevin Shepherd’s campaigns against Stanislav Grof and Holotropic Breathing.” I did not conduct any campaigns, and had never met Simon Kidd. I mentioned the subject of Grof and HB in a lengthy annotated book of 1995 (Minds and Sociocultures Vol. One, pp. 66ff., 945ff.). A sequel chapter appeared in my Pointed Observations (2005). 
I contributed a web article on Grof therapy and MAPS, viewed as relevant information by some interested academics. MAPS is a controversial psychedelic project of Grof supporter Rick Doblin. The subject of LSD “psychotherapy” is strongly related to HB, a potentially hazardous exercise in hyperventilation. Criticism of these trends is not reprehensible outside the stifling boundaries of Pro-Sai  polemic. 
If credence is given to Moreno, then Edinburgh University and the Scottish Charities Office count for nothing in stemming the tide of commercial therapy, represented by such enterprises as Grof Transpersonal Training Inc. Grof had invented HB, charging high prices for HB workshops at the Findhorn Foundation and elsewhere. 
These complexities were typically avoided by Moreno, who suggested that Simon Kidd was involved in “some sort of collaborated scheming on Wikipedia against Stanislav Grof, Holotropic Breathwork and the Findhorn Foundation.” In reality, Kidd merely appeared on a discussion page to dispute the suppressive HB publicity. Even one of the HB supporters remarked that the Wikipedia article on HB read like a therapy advert until Kidd made objections. 
Observers again deduced that Gerald Joe Moreno (Equalizer) could not be taken seriously in his extremist arguments and defamations. 
Kevin R. D. Shepherd 
ENTRY no. 22 
Copyright © 2014 Kevin R. D. Shepherd. All Rights Reserved.
Nov 30

New Age Sceptic Kevin RD Shepherd

By Equalizer, Esalen, Findhorn Foundation, Gerald Joe Moreno, LSD, Stanislav Grof
Stanislav Grof
In 2008, Gerald Joe Moreno duplicated some contents of his aggressive website (saisathyasai) on blogspot, producing a blog cycle pitched against me. This hostile feature bore his pseudonym of Equalizer, with Moreno being deceptively referred to in the third person. Of course, Moreno really had nothing to do with the hostility; he was merely mentioned in this troll exercise. At least, that is what some uninformed surfers were led to assume. 
The header title of this fresh attack comprised the words: 

Exposing the vanity self-publisher, pseudo-intellectual, Findhorn Foundation and Stanislav Grof critic, new age sceptic and pseudo-philosopher Kevin Shepherd. 

Equalizer (Moreno) was here demonstrating the aggressive nature of trolling. This manifestation of zealous “guru defender” campaign did not convince all observers as to the propriety of blog graffiti. 
Equalizer evidently believed that he could not have been a pseudo-intellectual, or indeed pseudo in any way; he was promoting the authentic cause of Pro-Sai activism. He emphasises his point by repeating the accusatory word pseudo. My books included 4,000 (four thousand) annotations, which is not the sign of a vanity publisher, as the book trade knows very well. 
The category of new age sceptic is not stigmatised outside cult circles. To be a critic of the Findhorn Foundation and Stanislav Grof  is not necessarily any proof of dire error. In my case, this disposition can  be viewed as a symptom of resistance to new age capitalist pursuits such as Grof Transpersonal Training Inc., which gained an influential presence at Esalen and the Findhorn Foundation. The Grof activity has notably included LSD “psychotherapy,” which is not one of the conventionally accepted enterprises. 
Kevin R. D. Shepherd 
ENTRY no. 12 
Copyright © 2013 Kevin R. D. Shepherd. All Rights Reserved.