I invoke my Fifth Amendment right to silence.
Ghislaine Maxwell
Somebody told me,
Somebody told me,
Something about you.
I didn’t believe it,
I just couldn’t believe it,
I’m still reeling
Cause I just can’t take the blow…
Somebody Told Me, The Eurythmics
Every being in the universe knows right from wrong, Mark.
Prot (the patient) to Dr Mark Powell, in the movie K-PAX
This is a time of great turmoil, suffering, and opportunity. It is also a time of great „dis-illusion“, a point which has been underscored by some of the many revelations in the so-called Epstein Files over the past ten days.
First off, let’s acknowledge the victims of Epstein’s crimes. It is important to expose and address the crimes perpetuated upon mainly girls (children) and young women, by Epstein and his buddies. In my work as a coach, I am constantly confronted with the lifelong disastrous consequences of sexual abuse. It is far more widespread than we would, collectively, like to believe.
The physical, emotional, and spiritual violation of boundaries by those with power over us, especially by those in whom we trusted, either by default (parents, clerics, doctors), or through manipulation (like many of the victims of the heinous crimes committed by Epstein, his circles of friends and his associates), is generally devastating, can overshadow entire lives, and is very difficult to overcome.
Congratulations to these women who are now pushing for accountability, for justice, and for full disclosure – while insisting that they be protected from further humiliation and re-traumatisation. Their bold activities, including a searing advertisement during the break in the NFL Superbowl TV broadcast this week, is a source of inspiration to those who might be inclined to fold in resignation under the weight of feeling overwhelmed and hopeless.
In this essay, I would like to address the topic of „dis-illusion“, because several major illusions have been wrenched from me in the course of the past ten days. They concern men whom I have admired and from whom I have learned much over the decades. To see their collusion and active participation in this criminal orgy of cruelty and abuse, is a real punch in the gut.
So much so, that I couldn’t even begin to write this piece yesterday. Monday and Tuesday are my writing days, and it felt impossible to sit down in a state of sufficient calm yesterday to write on this subject. This is the visceral effect of what has been revealed and continues to unfold as the three million released documents are analysed and gradually made visible to the „interested public“.
„Interested public“ because some people are so overwhelmed they cannot even look. I get that. Others see this as a crime committed by others, – „them“, i.e., the guys at the top of the pyramid – concluding that it has nothing to do with us personally.
As I have commented before in these essays, there is no „us“ and „them“. Whether we like it or not, we are all interconnected in this web. Projection and blame do not get us (especially men) off the hook.
Then there are the perpetrators and enablers of the perpetrators, who are caught up in denial and delusion. Only they can work their way out of that mess. As a recovering addict, I can state that breaking through denial is possible, that it is simple yet not easy. The key to unlock this door has to be turned from the inside.
The visceral effect of this topic on me was such that, before I sat down to write this morning, it was necessary to literally clean up my workspace, as if a toxic drizzle, which had been falling for days, had to be removed before work could begin. Following that intuition proved to be important. Only now have I the serenity to be able to tune into my sixth sense and allow the ideas to flow.
Noam Chomsky, born in 1928, has been a role model, source of inspiration, and teacher for several decades. Since the end of World War II, he has been a defining Western intellectual figure, central to the field of linguistics and an innovator in many fields including cognitive science, computer science, philosophy, and psychology.
A man who generally shies away from the mainstream spotlight, it has widely been accepted that he is not motivated by a desire for fame but impelled to tell what he perceives as the truth and a desire to aid others in doing so. This is what inspired my admiration of him for so long.
I was particularly impressed during our only personal meeting at a UN-sponsored Conference on „Truth in the Media“ in Bonn, Germany in 2012. Here, again, he appealed to young journalists never to shy away from identifying and revealing the truth.
Chris Hedges is a highly respected social activist and journalist in the United States. A long-time associate and fellow traveller of Chomsky, he recently published his response to the revelations concerning Chomsky and Epstein. I share his assessment of the situation.
„Having been aware of and admired Noam Chomsky for a long time, I can state that he is, arguably, our greatest and most principled intellectuals. He is not as passive or gullible as his wife claims. He knew about Epstein’s abuse of children. They all knew. And like others in the Epstein orbit, he did not care.
„From the email correspondence between Epstein and Valéria, it appears she particularly enjoyed the privileges that came with being in Epstein’s circle, but this does not absolve Chomsky’s acquiescence. Of all people, he knows the predatory nature of the ruling class and the cruelty of capitalists, where the vulnerable, especially girls and women, are commodified as objects to be used and exploited. He was not fooled by Epstein. He was seduced. His association with Epstein is a terrible and, to many, unforgivable stain. It irreparably tarnishes his legacy.”
Then there is the case of Deepak Chopra whom I have admired as a spiritual teacher and a person who has not only achieved heightened states of awareness but has also been very effective in helping those who have embarked on a similar quest.
What alarms me is the documented propinquity, familiarity, and absence of scruples between this powerful spiritual figure and a man (Epstein) whose crimes against children and young women were not only widely known but had already led to criminal prosecution. When someone claims moral authority, association itself becomes evidence of lack of discernment.
When Deepak Chopra positioned himself as a global moral authority, and spoke endlessly about consciousness, healing, and enlightenment, while simultaneously maintaining close relationship and correspondence with one of the most documented child sex traffickers in modern history, no further „evidence“ of his spiritual bankruptcy is needed.
What we see here is intellectual spirituality divorced from ethics. Referred to in plain language as hypocrisy, it is a manifestation of „Spiritual Consumerism“ which is only another piece in the jigsaw of the „Addictive Society“, a society which is in the process of jeopardising the basis of human life on our beautiful planet.
In his 2017 publication „The Religion of Tomorrow“, Ken Wilber has written very eloquently about the different axes of human development: „waking up“, „growing up“, and „showing up“. In Deepak Chopra, we clearly have a case of a man who, while highly awakened, has not done the inner work necessary for growing up, hence leading to the showing up of the Shadow in such stark terms.
Tanja Diamond is an autistic polymath, Tantra Lineage Holder, and Business and Life Strategist. She has been held in high esteem in the US intellectual community for over four decades.
Tanja’s assessment of the Chopra situation, recently published on a FB post, resonates with me:
„Deepak Chopra could speak beautifully about shadow while never facing his own appetite for proximity to power, prestige, and influence. Adults choose who they associate with, leaders choose the standards they model. Teachers choose whether their private actions align with their public doctrine.“
Integrity is how we behave when we think nobody is looking. Spiritual authority without ethical backbone is dangerous. It confuses followers and induces people to doubt their own alarm systems in favour of charisma and going with the crowd.
Where are the gifts and opportunities in this mess?
There is a saying in AA that every problem comes bearing its own solution. What we’re going through right now is no exception.
This situation is encouraging us to fulfil our potential and become the people who, had we been those people before all of this happened, it could never have happened. It’s very easy to see only the chaos, the disruption, and the crumbling of one world, which is very true and very real. There is, however, also an awakening going on.
If we grasp the opportunity, we will bring to an end the era of untouchable predators and unaccountable gurus. The era of Spiritual Consumerism.
In the new era we are shaping, no one gets to preach consciousness while outsourcing conscience. No person gets to speak about healing while contributing – directly or by association – to systemic harm and calling it complexity. No one gets to wear the robes of wisdom while refusing to look directly at what their choices cause and enable.
My compassion is for the victims of Epstein and his cronies, for everyone who has to live with the aftermath of sexual abuse, while powerful men trade philosophies and „spiritual insights“ at lavish dinner parties, their yachts anchored at the local port below.
It also reaches into the darkness of the souls of the fallen idols who may now have an opportunity to drop the mask they have held up, even to themselves, in the mirror as they attended their morning ablutions every day, over decades.
And finally, it applies to all of us who have lifted mere mortals onto the pedestal of the „idol“.
As the gifted somatic teachers of our time continue to encourage us, we need to follow the quiet, uncompromising intuitive clarity of our own bodies, to note that part that tightens up when something feels off – even if the words sound beautiful and soothing – and to call those teachers out.
One by one, over the last 40 years, we have witnessed the downfall of famous „gurus“: Swami Rama, Soyal Rinpoche, Osho, João de Deus, the list could be extended for several pages. Their behaviour has been deplorable, and the gaslighting of victims and lack of true accountability are truly tragic.
We can, we should, and we will do better!
Photo: Facebook
