1 00:00:01,160 --> 00:00:01,680 Speaker 1: Trust me. 2 00:00:02,560 --> 00:00:07,040 Speaker 2: Trust me. I'm like a swat person. I've never lived. 3 00:00:07,040 --> 00:00:07,240 Speaker 2: To you. 4 00:00:08,280 --> 00:00:13,440 Speaker 3: If you think that one person has all the answers, don't. 5 00:00:14,600 --> 00:00:17,840 Speaker 4: Welcome to trust me. The podcast about cults, extreme belief 6 00:00:17,880 --> 00:00:20,920 Speaker 4: and the abuse of power from two human suits who've 7 00:00:20,920 --> 00:00:22,119 Speaker 4: actually experienced it. 8 00:00:22,239 --> 00:00:23,119 Speaker 1: I am Lola. 9 00:00:22,880 --> 00:00:25,920 Speaker 4: Blanc and I am Megan Elizabeth. Today our guest is 10 00:00:25,960 --> 00:00:28,400 Speaker 4: Frank Leiford, whom you may have seen on the HBO 11 00:00:28,480 --> 00:00:32,040 Speaker 4: docuseries Heaven's Gate the Cult of Cults, because Frank was 12 00:00:32,080 --> 00:00:33,280 Speaker 4: a member of Heaven's. 13 00:00:32,960 --> 00:00:34,839 Speaker 1: Gate for eighteen years. 14 00:00:35,600 --> 00:00:39,240 Speaker 4: That's right, Heaven's Gate the UFO religious cult most famous 15 00:00:39,240 --> 00:00:42,000 Speaker 4: for its mass ritual suicide in the nineties, which its 16 00:00:42,040 --> 00:00:44,760 Speaker 4: participants believed was going to result in them being taken 17 00:00:44,840 --> 00:00:47,960 Speaker 4: up into a spacecraft that was trailing the comet Hilbop. 18 00:00:48,440 --> 00:00:50,600 Speaker 4: This is one of the most famous cults in the world, 19 00:00:50,960 --> 00:00:53,320 Speaker 4: often reduced to jokes about the nikes that they weren't 20 00:00:53,320 --> 00:00:56,120 Speaker 4: the suicide, and today we get an inside look into 21 00:00:56,120 --> 00:00:57,160 Speaker 4: what it was really. 22 00:00:56,960 --> 00:00:57,840 Speaker 1: Like in this cult. 23 00:00:58,080 --> 00:00:59,600 Speaker 4: There was so much to get into with him that 24 00:00:59,680 --> 00:01:01,840 Speaker 4: this is a two parters, So in part one today 25 00:01:01,880 --> 00:01:03,360 Speaker 4: he's going to tell us what his life was like 26 00:01:03,440 --> 00:01:06,080 Speaker 4: in the very beginning of joining the cult. He'll talk 27 00:01:06,080 --> 00:01:08,240 Speaker 4: about how he came to follow the leader's Tea and 28 00:01:08,360 --> 00:01:11,280 Speaker 4: Doe with his girlfriend Erica, what it was like wandering 29 00:01:11,319 --> 00:01:15,000 Speaker 4: the country living a nomadic lifestyle with his assigned check partner, 30 00:01:15,440 --> 00:01:17,679 Speaker 4: and what happened when they finally settled down in one 31 00:01:17,720 --> 00:01:19,480 Speaker 4: place for what they called class. 32 00:01:19,720 --> 00:01:23,120 Speaker 3: The documentary on HBO is so good. I cannot believe 33 00:01:23,120 --> 00:01:26,160 Speaker 3: we got him. I'm so excited. He's going to tell 34 00:01:26,240 --> 00:01:28,440 Speaker 3: us how things began to get more and more strict 35 00:01:28,440 --> 00:01:32,240 Speaker 3: and controlling, down to the size of their pancakes, how 36 00:01:32,280 --> 00:01:34,200 Speaker 3: it felt to be separated from the love. 37 00:01:34,040 --> 00:01:36,120 Speaker 4: Of his life, and how things began to get much 38 00:01:36,160 --> 00:01:39,320 Speaker 4: darker when one of their leaders, Tea, got cancer, leaving 39 00:01:39,400 --> 00:01:42,800 Speaker 4: Marshall Applewhite aka Doe as the only leader of the group. 40 00:01:43,040 --> 00:01:45,160 Speaker 3: And stay tuned next week because we have the rest 41 00:01:45,160 --> 00:01:46,280 Speaker 3: of this story coming up. 42 00:01:46,520 --> 00:01:50,000 Speaker 4: Oh and it's so heartbreaking and really the sweetest. 43 00:01:50,520 --> 00:01:51,000 Speaker 5: Yeah. 44 00:01:51,040 --> 00:01:54,800 Speaker 4: Anyway, dear Megan, Yes, tell me please, what's the cultiest 45 00:01:54,840 --> 00:01:55,760 Speaker 4: thing that happened to you this week? 46 00:01:55,840 --> 00:01:56,000 Speaker 2: Well? 47 00:01:56,040 --> 00:01:57,960 Speaker 3: I think it was when you sent me the most 48 00:01:57,960 --> 00:02:01,200 Speaker 3: insane video story Instagram I've ever seen. 49 00:02:01,240 --> 00:02:02,920 Speaker 5: Are we talking about that this week? 50 00:02:03,120 --> 00:02:07,160 Speaker 1: Yes? Please, what is happening? Okay? Do you want to start? 51 00:02:07,360 --> 00:02:07,520 Speaker 2: No? 52 00:02:07,560 --> 00:02:10,040 Speaker 5: I think you should. This was your find, all right? 53 00:02:10,080 --> 00:02:12,359 Speaker 1: So someone people send me cult videos a lot. 54 00:02:12,440 --> 00:02:15,640 Speaker 4: A cult TikTok is like blowing up and it should 55 00:02:15,680 --> 00:02:18,160 Speaker 4: make me happy, but it kind of stresses me out. 56 00:02:18,200 --> 00:02:21,160 Speaker 4: So I got sent this series of tiktoks that this 57 00:02:21,200 --> 00:02:25,280 Speaker 4: woman posted on her Instagram about a commune in Tennessee, 58 00:02:25,440 --> 00:02:29,640 Speaker 4: a sustainable living community that TikTok cult talk has decided 59 00:02:29,800 --> 00:02:34,200 Speaker 4: is a cult. And granted, yes, these people seem very weird. 60 00:02:34,880 --> 00:02:37,120 Speaker 4: One of them is this woman with dreads who's like 61 00:02:37,280 --> 00:02:40,400 Speaker 4: creepy and gas lighting and apparently they killed a feral 62 00:02:40,480 --> 00:02:41,680 Speaker 4: cat and ate it. 63 00:02:41,639 --> 00:02:44,320 Speaker 5: With the dreads. She's white, so there's that's the problem. 64 00:02:44,560 --> 00:02:47,679 Speaker 1: Didn't I say that? No, I didn't specify. 65 00:02:47,800 --> 00:02:48,440 Speaker 5: She's a white oman. 66 00:02:48,520 --> 00:02:52,919 Speaker 4: Yeah, she's a white woman with dreads. Okay, No, that's 67 00:02:52,960 --> 00:02:53,600 Speaker 4: why it's weird. 68 00:02:53,639 --> 00:02:54,040 Speaker 5: She's white. 69 00:02:54,080 --> 00:02:57,960 Speaker 3: Okay, she's incredibly white. Well, she also turned her golden 70 00:02:58,000 --> 00:03:00,800 Speaker 3: retriever into a rug. I don't know if you saw that, 71 00:03:00,919 --> 00:03:04,160 Speaker 3: like a bear skin rug. She made a golden retriever 72 00:03:04,360 --> 00:03:07,359 Speaker 3: rug out of her dog. So obviously there's a lot 73 00:03:07,720 --> 00:03:12,480 Speaker 3: there under the surface. But it was pretty scary. More 74 00:03:12,560 --> 00:03:13,320 Speaker 3: scary to me. 75 00:03:14,120 --> 00:03:16,480 Speaker 5: How obsessed the TikTokers were. 76 00:03:16,760 --> 00:03:18,960 Speaker 1: Same. We gotta talk about this, Okay. 77 00:03:19,040 --> 00:03:20,720 Speaker 4: First of all, I want to I want to just 78 00:03:20,760 --> 00:03:23,120 Speaker 4: say one thing about the animal stuff. Yes, it is 79 00:03:23,200 --> 00:03:26,080 Speaker 4: totally unacceptable to shoot a cat instead of taking it 80 00:03:26,080 --> 00:03:28,919 Speaker 4: to a shelter, obviously, and it is bizarre to then 81 00:03:29,000 --> 00:03:31,280 Speaker 4: eat it, even if that's not why you shot it. 82 00:03:31,400 --> 00:03:36,120 Speaker 4: They say it's a no waste community or whatever. I 83 00:03:36,200 --> 00:03:37,840 Speaker 4: just want to say this one thing, which is that 84 00:03:38,040 --> 00:03:42,000 Speaker 4: I know Hella gooth people who like when their animals 85 00:03:42,080 --> 00:03:44,960 Speaker 4: die they taxidermy them themselves, right. 86 00:03:45,040 --> 00:03:45,600 Speaker 5: I mean, I don't know. 87 00:03:45,640 --> 00:03:47,240 Speaker 4: I won't I won't say I know a lot of people, 88 00:03:47,240 --> 00:03:49,240 Speaker 4: but I'm I am I know enough people. 89 00:03:49,560 --> 00:03:54,320 Speaker 5: How many would you say, oh like two hundred? Okay, 90 00:03:54,440 --> 00:03:55,640 Speaker 5: all right, all right? 91 00:03:55,720 --> 00:03:55,920 Speaker 2: Yeah? 92 00:03:55,960 --> 00:03:58,400 Speaker 3: I mean I can see that the Golden Retriever died 93 00:03:58,480 --> 00:04:02,160 Speaker 3: of apparently natural so you know, she didn't kill the 94 00:04:02,240 --> 00:04:03,480 Speaker 3: dog for his fur. 95 00:04:04,000 --> 00:04:06,240 Speaker 4: Yeah, And I mean I don't think you should ever 96 00:04:06,400 --> 00:04:09,040 Speaker 4: kill an animal. You should take the animal somewhere or whatever. 97 00:04:09,160 --> 00:04:11,160 Speaker 4: But I do know also a lot of country people 98 00:04:11,200 --> 00:04:14,240 Speaker 4: who legitimately, so the cat apparently killed thirty of their 99 00:04:14,320 --> 00:04:17,200 Speaker 4: chickens and I grew up on a farm. There just 100 00:04:17,279 --> 00:04:19,680 Speaker 4: are country people who will kill animals, that are killing 101 00:04:19,680 --> 00:04:22,040 Speaker 4: their animals. That is, that is a thing that happens. 102 00:04:22,120 --> 00:04:24,520 Speaker 4: It doesn't mean that it's cool or acceptable or right. 103 00:04:24,560 --> 00:04:27,320 Speaker 4: But it also doesn't automatically mean that they're like a 104 00:04:27,400 --> 00:04:30,880 Speaker 4: murderous cult. That's not automatically what that means. And that 105 00:04:31,000 --> 00:04:32,400 Speaker 4: seemed to be the takeaway. 106 00:04:33,160 --> 00:04:35,159 Speaker 1: Yeah, from these people on TikTok. 107 00:04:35,240 --> 00:04:37,800 Speaker 3: Maybe we needed to watch more of it or like 108 00:04:37,880 --> 00:04:42,440 Speaker 3: get a more full story, because I mean, obviously they're 109 00:04:42,640 --> 00:04:45,400 Speaker 3: they're doing some really weird shit, Like they're saying it 110 00:04:45,440 --> 00:04:48,200 Speaker 3: doesn't matter what age you are, just come, and so 111 00:04:48,360 --> 00:04:51,200 Speaker 3: you know, thirteen year olds on TikTok are like I'm 112 00:04:51,240 --> 00:04:53,360 Speaker 3: going to go to Tennessee and like run away. 113 00:04:53,839 --> 00:04:55,560 Speaker 5: I kind of got that argument. 114 00:04:55,839 --> 00:04:57,719 Speaker 1: You know, they said any age could come. 115 00:04:57,839 --> 00:04:58,320 Speaker 2: Yeah. 116 00:04:58,520 --> 00:05:01,000 Speaker 1: Yeah, so they said it was it's like family friendly. 117 00:05:01,480 --> 00:05:01,880 Speaker 2: Uh huh. 118 00:05:01,920 --> 00:05:04,520 Speaker 4: I don't think they were saying unaccompanied miners should come though. 119 00:05:04,600 --> 00:05:06,200 Speaker 5: I don't think they were staying like her, it's. 120 00:05:06,080 --> 00:05:08,839 Speaker 1: A family it's a face place that families can come to. 121 00:05:09,000 --> 00:05:10,839 Speaker 4: I don't know either, but they're inviting people to this 122 00:05:10,920 --> 00:05:13,839 Speaker 4: compound and yes, it could very well be a cult. 123 00:05:13,920 --> 00:05:15,360 Speaker 1: One hundred percent it could be a cult. 124 00:05:15,400 --> 00:05:17,400 Speaker 4: Oh and there was one other thing that was very 125 00:05:17,440 --> 00:05:19,760 Speaker 4: creepy where they are all passing around a jug of 126 00:05:19,839 --> 00:05:20,480 Speaker 4: kool Aid and. 127 00:05:20,440 --> 00:05:22,240 Speaker 1: Saying, drink the cool aid. 128 00:05:23,720 --> 00:05:26,920 Speaker 4: I'm all taking a swig, and then the dreads lady 129 00:05:27,120 --> 00:05:31,000 Speaker 4: was like, drink the kool Aid is not a reference 130 00:05:31,160 --> 00:05:32,280 Speaker 4: to Jonestown. 131 00:05:32,480 --> 00:05:35,880 Speaker 1: I don't even know what Jonestown is. I don't watch TV. 132 00:05:36,440 --> 00:05:37,480 Speaker 1: There was a book. 133 00:05:37,240 --> 00:05:40,760 Speaker 4: Called the Electric kool Aid Acid Test that these kids 134 00:05:40,800 --> 00:05:45,159 Speaker 4: don't know anything about. It has nothing to do with Jonestown, 135 00:05:45,160 --> 00:05:48,120 Speaker 4: which is a lie. Like obviously they know they're referencing 136 00:05:48,200 --> 00:05:51,080 Speaker 4: Jonestown like that is like some weird gaslighting shit. So 137 00:05:51,240 --> 00:05:53,480 Speaker 4: I do think that that woman is probably there's something 138 00:05:53,560 --> 00:05:56,159 Speaker 4: up with her. But can I just so if a 139 00:05:56,200 --> 00:05:59,520 Speaker 4: group is a cult, right, if we see a group 140 00:05:59,680 --> 00:06:02,520 Speaker 4: on TikTok or wherever that we're like, oh, that's a cult, 141 00:06:02,800 --> 00:06:04,680 Speaker 4: that doesn't mean that all of those people in that 142 00:06:04,720 --> 00:06:09,320 Speaker 4: group are bad people and doing bad things. That means 143 00:06:09,320 --> 00:06:14,240 Speaker 4: that somebody is probably controlling those people, and like those 144 00:06:14,240 --> 00:06:17,560 Speaker 4: people are most likely victims, right, So I feel like 145 00:06:17,600 --> 00:06:21,599 Speaker 4: it further stigmatizes cult members and former cult members, you know, 146 00:06:22,000 --> 00:06:22,400 Speaker 4: I don't know. 147 00:06:23,279 --> 00:06:26,120 Speaker 5: I mean, well, just off the subject. 148 00:06:26,160 --> 00:06:31,880 Speaker 6: It is literally the worst place I've ever seen. It's 149 00:06:32,000 --> 00:06:38,000 Speaker 6: like truly five am Coachella, gross vibes. 150 00:06:38,440 --> 00:06:40,520 Speaker 1: The fake Ed Sheeran guy is kind of hot. Though 151 00:06:40,720 --> 00:06:42,960 Speaker 1: not gonna lie, Okay, I'm just gonna say that he's 152 00:06:43,040 --> 00:06:43,599 Speaker 1: kind of hot. 153 00:06:43,680 --> 00:06:46,600 Speaker 3: Guys, everybody needs to go watch this immediately. I mean, 154 00:06:46,600 --> 00:06:48,880 Speaker 3: I'm not saying he's not hot. I'm not trying to 155 00:06:48,880 --> 00:06:50,160 Speaker 3: be a dick, but that's shocking. 156 00:06:50,240 --> 00:06:50,839 Speaker 5: I'm shocked. 157 00:06:51,000 --> 00:06:51,480 Speaker 1: Honestly. 158 00:06:51,680 --> 00:06:53,440 Speaker 4: I wish it weren't COVID times because I would say 159 00:06:53,480 --> 00:06:56,000 Speaker 4: we should go there and just like investigate. 160 00:06:56,040 --> 00:06:57,960 Speaker 1: I want to go investigate. We'll talk to them. 161 00:06:58,040 --> 00:07:01,200 Speaker 3: There is some definite COVID sts there for sure. 162 00:07:01,680 --> 00:07:03,960 Speaker 4: Oh wait, I forgot. They also have like a weird 163 00:07:04,720 --> 00:07:08,360 Speaker 4: Confederate flag. It's definitely bad. Like it's definitely not a 164 00:07:08,400 --> 00:07:10,360 Speaker 4: good situation going on there. 165 00:07:10,760 --> 00:07:13,560 Speaker 3: I guess it's just that there's like so many of 166 00:07:13,600 --> 00:07:16,679 Speaker 3: those across America. It's almost just more of a dysfunctional family. 167 00:07:17,160 --> 00:07:19,600 Speaker 4: Where do we draw the line between commune of weird 168 00:07:19,640 --> 00:07:25,720 Speaker 4: people and like actual abusimical I you know, like some 169 00:07:25,760 --> 00:07:28,360 Speaker 4: of those people who are farming that they just seem 170 00:07:28,440 --> 00:07:31,080 Speaker 4: like country folk who are farmers, who are like, I guess, 171 00:07:31,120 --> 00:07:31,640 Speaker 4: not a cult. 172 00:07:31,680 --> 00:07:32,680 Speaker 1: I'm fading the cow. 173 00:07:32,840 --> 00:07:37,280 Speaker 3: Yeah, but then they're like raving like in a weird attic. 174 00:07:37,920 --> 00:07:42,400 Speaker 5: It's just awful. It's my health. It's awful, it's my health. 175 00:07:42,600 --> 00:07:47,120 Speaker 4: Yeah, definitely weird bad views. But also, can we not 176 00:07:47,400 --> 00:07:50,320 Speaker 4: start doing this thing that TikTok is doing where it's 177 00:07:50,400 --> 00:07:53,160 Speaker 4: like this growing paranoia about everything being a cult. 178 00:07:53,240 --> 00:07:54,200 Speaker 5: TikTok's the cult. 179 00:07:54,560 --> 00:07:59,120 Speaker 4: It's just prime and territory to oversimplify and to organize 180 00:07:59,120 --> 00:08:02,000 Speaker 4: things in black and white. And we are fighting against that, 181 00:08:02,440 --> 00:08:06,880 Speaker 4: I think critically, my friends, because honestly, attacking people when 182 00:08:06,920 --> 00:08:09,080 Speaker 4: they are genuinely in a cult is not the thing 183 00:08:09,120 --> 00:08:12,560 Speaker 4: that's gonna help anything anyway. Yeah, Like, they don't respond 184 00:08:12,560 --> 00:08:15,000 Speaker 4: to being attacked, they don't respond to their belief systems 185 00:08:15,040 --> 00:08:18,080 Speaker 4: directly being attacked, So you're not it's not constructive in 186 00:08:18,160 --> 00:08:20,800 Speaker 4: any way other than like making people afraid of them. 187 00:08:20,880 --> 00:08:23,320 Speaker 5: It just perpetuates the problem exactly. 188 00:08:23,680 --> 00:08:26,160 Speaker 1: Anyway, if you guys have thoughts on any of these 189 00:08:26,160 --> 00:08:30,080 Speaker 1: groups on tiktoks, please let tiktoks on tikstoks. Yeah, please 190 00:08:30,160 --> 00:08:31,800 Speaker 1: let us know, and if it was. 191 00:08:31,840 --> 00:08:34,800 Speaker 3: Particularly triggering to you and we're writing it off like 192 00:08:35,000 --> 00:08:37,800 Speaker 3: it's fine, let us know that part too, because yeah, 193 00:08:37,840 --> 00:08:40,439 Speaker 3: we want to be sensitive to we want to understand. 194 00:08:40,760 --> 00:08:43,080 Speaker 1: We're talking about some happy stuff today. 195 00:08:43,440 --> 00:08:46,800 Speaker 4: Yeah, but I'm so excited to get into this stuff 196 00:08:46,800 --> 00:08:47,280 Speaker 4: with Frank. 197 00:08:48,000 --> 00:08:50,160 Speaker 1: I'm just I'm just so grateful he talked to us 198 00:08:50,559 --> 00:08:52,400 Speaker 1: me too. Shall we begin. 199 00:08:52,840 --> 00:09:06,520 Speaker 4: Yeah, welcome, Frank Leiford. Thank you so much for coming on. 200 00:09:06,960 --> 00:09:07,320 Speaker 2: Thank you. 201 00:09:08,120 --> 00:09:09,920 Speaker 1: It's good to be here, so happy to see you. 202 00:09:09,920 --> 00:09:12,439 Speaker 4: I was just watching your beautiful story in the HBO 203 00:09:12,480 --> 00:09:14,240 Speaker 4: documentary and so nice to get to talk to you 204 00:09:14,240 --> 00:09:18,400 Speaker 4: in the flesh, well, in the digital flesh. So Heaven's Gate, 205 00:09:18,440 --> 00:09:20,440 Speaker 4: as many of our listeners will already know, was a 206 00:09:20,480 --> 00:09:23,640 Speaker 4: religious UFO cult in the seventies, eighties, and nineties. It 207 00:09:23,679 --> 00:09:26,120 Speaker 4: was run by a man named Marshall Applewhite and a 208 00:09:26,120 --> 00:09:29,720 Speaker 4: woman named Bonnie Nettles who went by Doe and Tea, respectively. 209 00:09:29,800 --> 00:09:31,960 Speaker 4: So the man is Dough and the woman is Tea. 210 00:09:32,600 --> 00:09:35,000 Speaker 4: And of course they're most famous for committing a mass 211 00:09:35,000 --> 00:09:37,600 Speaker 4: suicide in nineteen ninety seven. And you, Frank, were a 212 00:09:37,600 --> 00:09:39,359 Speaker 4: member for eighteen years. 213 00:09:39,160 --> 00:09:40,520 Speaker 1: Is that right correct? 214 00:09:41,280 --> 00:09:43,720 Speaker 4: So can you Please start us at the beginning, like 215 00:09:44,160 --> 00:09:46,200 Speaker 4: how old were you when you first joined? Where were 216 00:09:46,200 --> 00:09:47,840 Speaker 4: you at in your life? Like tell us about that. 217 00:09:48,120 --> 00:09:53,400 Speaker 2: Oh, it's going back, Okay, I was twenty one. I 218 00:09:53,640 --> 00:09:59,720 Speaker 2: was a story I naive, twenty one year old kid 219 00:10:00,120 --> 00:10:06,360 Speaker 2: who had read some UFO books. I'd read about Edgar Casey, 220 00:10:06,920 --> 00:10:09,760 Speaker 2: his book by Thomas Screw There was a River. 221 00:10:10,000 --> 00:10:12,040 Speaker 1: What is that? That's just like a UFO book. 222 00:10:12,320 --> 00:10:17,520 Speaker 2: No, Edgar Casey is a channeler. He's a trance channeler 223 00:10:17,920 --> 00:10:25,120 Speaker 2: in the nineteen thirties. He's also famous for several predictions 224 00:10:25,160 --> 00:10:29,199 Speaker 2: about the state of the world. Gotcha anyway, I had 225 00:10:29,200 --> 00:10:32,800 Speaker 2: a girlfriend at the time. We've been together three years, 226 00:10:32,880 --> 00:10:35,440 Speaker 2: and both of us were interested in, or you know, 227 00:10:35,600 --> 00:10:40,200 Speaker 2: entertained the idea of UFOs. We were getting ready to 228 00:10:40,200 --> 00:10:42,560 Speaker 2: move in together and we were gonna go on vacation. 229 00:10:43,320 --> 00:10:46,360 Speaker 2: First we were in Calgary, Alberta. We went on vacation 230 00:10:47,000 --> 00:10:50,600 Speaker 2: out to the West coast. We're gonna dip down into 231 00:10:50,640 --> 00:10:54,960 Speaker 2: the US and visit my first cousin, David Vin Sindarin. 232 00:10:55,280 --> 00:10:57,880 Speaker 2: He was one of my favorite people and I just 233 00:10:58,200 --> 00:11:04,000 Speaker 2: really enjoyed his company. We went to Corbalis, Oregon, where 234 00:11:04,040 --> 00:11:06,840 Speaker 2: he was going to school. He was a perpetual student. 235 00:11:07,360 --> 00:11:11,400 Speaker 2: And in the course of our talking he told us 236 00:11:11,440 --> 00:11:16,000 Speaker 2: about a poster that he had seen around Corbalis. It's 237 00:11:16,040 --> 00:11:18,640 Speaker 2: a college town, and he said he would show it 238 00:11:18,679 --> 00:11:22,520 Speaker 2: to us the next day. So he did, and it 239 00:11:22,600 --> 00:11:27,439 Speaker 2: intrigued me. It intreated Erica, and he was also intrigued. 240 00:11:27,920 --> 00:11:31,800 Speaker 2: The thing that piqued my interest was a line in 241 00:11:31,840 --> 00:11:35,640 Speaker 2: the poster that first of all, it was headed UFO two, 242 00:11:36,400 --> 00:11:41,720 Speaker 2: Why they're here, who they have come for? And when 243 00:11:41,760 --> 00:11:44,760 Speaker 2: they will leave? But there was a line in there 244 00:11:44,800 --> 00:11:48,400 Speaker 2: that piqued my interested said something like, if you have 245 00:11:48,760 --> 00:11:54,240 Speaker 2: ever entertained the idea of a real physical level of 246 00:11:54,320 --> 00:11:58,559 Speaker 2: existence beyond the human level, you will want to attend 247 00:11:58,600 --> 00:12:03,439 Speaker 2: this meeting. So I did. I want to do it 248 00:12:03,559 --> 00:12:08,320 Speaker 2: in the meeting because I had entertained such a thing. 249 00:12:09,440 --> 00:12:11,640 Speaker 2: So the meeting was in a couple of days. So 250 00:12:11,679 --> 00:12:15,680 Speaker 2: we drove about an hour to the coast of Oregon 251 00:12:15,880 --> 00:12:22,000 Speaker 2: to a little place called Waldport, and the room was packed. 252 00:12:22,440 --> 00:12:25,320 Speaker 2: We got there just before the meeting was going to start, 253 00:12:25,559 --> 00:12:30,160 Speaker 2: so we had trouble finding seats. There may be one 254 00:12:30,240 --> 00:12:31,960 Speaker 2: hundred people in the room. 255 00:12:32,080 --> 00:12:34,559 Speaker 4: Oh, I can't imagine, just a poster could get that 256 00:12:34,640 --> 00:12:36,520 Speaker 4: many people there, it seems crazy now. 257 00:12:36,520 --> 00:12:41,640 Speaker 2: Well, apparently they had pepper the whole area. Plus, as 258 00:12:41,679 --> 00:12:46,679 Speaker 2: we found out later, there was a commune in the 259 00:12:46,760 --> 00:12:52,239 Speaker 2: Waldport area of maybe fifty people who were all hippies 260 00:12:52,320 --> 00:12:57,079 Speaker 2: and dropouts. A lot of them ended up joining the group. 261 00:12:57,480 --> 00:12:57,960 Speaker 1: Interesting. 262 00:12:58,480 --> 00:13:04,240 Speaker 2: So, you know, there were I sensed differing mindsets of 263 00:13:04,320 --> 00:13:07,959 Speaker 2: the people there. There were some who seemed quite excited 264 00:13:08,480 --> 00:13:11,880 Speaker 2: and others who were standing at the back as if, 265 00:13:12,320 --> 00:13:15,400 Speaker 2: you know, I'm not so sure about this. I'm gonna 266 00:13:15,400 --> 00:13:18,280 Speaker 2: see what it's like. And if they sound crazy, I'm 267 00:13:18,320 --> 00:13:22,120 Speaker 2: ready to leave, you know, ready to bolt. There were 268 00:13:22,240 --> 00:13:25,760 Speaker 2: two people at the front kindo at that point. They 269 00:13:25,760 --> 00:13:30,560 Speaker 2: were called Bow and Peep, and they spoke for maybe 270 00:13:30,600 --> 00:13:34,360 Speaker 2: an hour. Their talk kind of had a blend of 271 00:13:34,559 --> 00:13:41,160 Speaker 2: three different approaches to life. One was the spirituality common 272 00:13:41,520 --> 00:13:45,840 Speaker 2: of that time, using some of the work from the 273 00:13:45,880 --> 00:13:51,800 Speaker 2: book Seth Speaks, and he was another channeled entity. They 274 00:13:52,040 --> 00:13:56,920 Speaker 2: talked about Christianity and how the same energies that they 275 00:13:57,000 --> 00:14:01,960 Speaker 2: represented had visited the Earth two thousand years ago in 276 00:14:02,000 --> 00:14:06,800 Speaker 2: the form of Jesus. And they talked about UFOs, how 277 00:14:07,000 --> 00:14:14,319 Speaker 2: UFOs were the transportation of this next evolutionary level above 278 00:14:14,360 --> 00:14:18,680 Speaker 2: human that they were here to tell people about. They 279 00:14:18,880 --> 00:14:25,040 Speaker 2: said that if anyone was interested in following them, they 280 00:14:25,080 --> 00:14:30,240 Speaker 2: would teach those people how to prepare to graduate to 281 00:14:30,400 --> 00:14:32,640 Speaker 2: this next evolutionary level above human. 282 00:14:32,960 --> 00:14:36,120 Speaker 4: So when you say they represented the energy of Jesus, 283 00:14:36,240 --> 00:14:40,040 Speaker 4: does that mean that they're like physically embodying Jesus, Like, 284 00:14:40,080 --> 00:14:41,080 Speaker 4: what does that mean exactly? 285 00:14:41,480 --> 00:14:45,880 Speaker 2: We found out later they believed they were the two 286 00:14:46,000 --> 00:14:51,080 Speaker 2: witnesses talked about in the Book of Revelation in the 287 00:14:51,120 --> 00:14:58,600 Speaker 2: Bible ah right. And they believed Doe the Man was 288 00:14:58,920 --> 00:15:05,040 Speaker 2: Sabri incarnate of Jesus, and t the woman was Doe's 289 00:15:05,400 --> 00:15:11,360 Speaker 2: older member, those elder those teacher, long story short. At 290 00:15:11,400 --> 00:15:14,280 Speaker 2: the end of their talk, they said, if anybody's interested, 291 00:15:14,840 --> 00:15:18,560 Speaker 2: there are son here who have been with us for 292 00:15:18,600 --> 00:15:21,640 Speaker 2: a few months, and they will tell you where to 293 00:15:21,680 --> 00:15:25,440 Speaker 2: meet to find out more information. So after the meeting, 294 00:15:26,800 --> 00:15:30,160 Speaker 2: I felt higher than a kite. I felt like just 295 00:15:31,040 --> 00:15:36,560 Speaker 2: brimming with energy and like really excited that this was 296 00:15:37,080 --> 00:15:39,960 Speaker 2: pretty cool thing that we had stumbled across. So I 297 00:15:40,080 --> 00:15:45,280 Speaker 2: was interested in more information, and we had sat separately 298 00:15:45,320 --> 00:15:48,560 Speaker 2: because of the sparse seating. So I met up with 299 00:15:48,600 --> 00:15:53,720 Speaker 2: my girlfriend Erica and my cousin David, and we kind 300 00:15:53,720 --> 00:15:57,760 Speaker 2: of compared notes. Erica felt the same way. David wasn't 301 00:15:58,000 --> 00:16:01,200 Speaker 2: quite so sure. He was intrigued, but he went to 302 00:16:01,240 --> 00:16:06,360 Speaker 2: go back home and talk with his girlfriend, Susie Strom. 303 00:16:07,240 --> 00:16:11,960 Speaker 2: So we went back to Corvalis and I don't remember it. 304 00:16:12,120 --> 00:16:15,200 Speaker 2: The next day or two days later, we went to 305 00:16:15,600 --> 00:16:19,200 Speaker 2: Eugene where the follow up meeting was. This was just 306 00:16:19,240 --> 00:16:22,800 Speaker 2: a three of us ACND. Susie still wasn't able to come, 307 00:16:23,120 --> 00:16:26,520 Speaker 2: and we talked with some of the followers who had 308 00:16:26,560 --> 00:16:29,920 Speaker 2: been with T and DOO for weeks or months. I 309 00:16:29,960 --> 00:16:35,320 Speaker 2: didn't really get a definitive answer of is this legit? 310 00:16:35,880 --> 00:16:39,840 Speaker 2: You know, is this a real thing? Do you have proof? 311 00:16:40,760 --> 00:16:45,400 Speaker 2: Is this real? But I got the sense from the 312 00:16:45,400 --> 00:16:49,600 Speaker 2: people that I spoke with that it was real enough 313 00:16:49,880 --> 00:16:54,960 Speaker 2: in their experience that it meant that it was worth 314 00:16:55,200 --> 00:17:00,320 Speaker 2: leaving behind all aspects of their human life to find 315 00:17:00,320 --> 00:17:04,600 Speaker 2: out more about it. So everyone I spoke to seemed 316 00:17:05,200 --> 00:17:09,640 Speaker 2: sincere and truthful. They weren't trying to pull the wool 317 00:17:09,680 --> 00:17:12,960 Speaker 2: over our eyes. So we decided we would take the 318 00:17:13,000 --> 00:17:16,040 Speaker 2: next step. So they took our phone numbers. They told 319 00:17:16,119 --> 00:17:18,840 Speaker 2: us they would call us in a week. They told 320 00:17:18,920 --> 00:17:23,960 Speaker 2: us to go home and tie up loose ends. Wow, wow, 321 00:17:24,640 --> 00:17:28,119 Speaker 2: and you get ready to be on the road for 322 00:17:28,160 --> 00:17:32,159 Speaker 2: a while. The belief from T and Do's talk and 323 00:17:32,280 --> 00:17:37,959 Speaker 2: from these other followers was that this process of preparation 324 00:17:38,680 --> 00:17:42,320 Speaker 2: would take months. It wouldn't take years. It wouldn't be 325 00:17:42,359 --> 00:17:45,720 Speaker 2: long and drawn out. That was the thought. So they said, 326 00:17:45,840 --> 00:17:48,120 Speaker 2: go home, time up to sends and we'll call you 327 00:17:48,160 --> 00:17:51,760 Speaker 2: and tell you where to meet the next day, Eric 328 00:17:51,800 --> 00:17:55,800 Speaker 2: and I left to go back to Calgary to tie 329 00:17:55,840 --> 00:17:56,800 Speaker 2: up loose ends. 330 00:17:57,119 --> 00:18:01,000 Speaker 4: Well, what was it that was appealing? You already have 331 00:18:01,160 --> 00:18:05,919 Speaker 4: this interest in UFOs and like extraterrestrial life, and it 332 00:18:06,080 --> 00:18:08,679 Speaker 4: just like really appeals to that interest that you already have. 333 00:18:08,960 --> 00:18:12,440 Speaker 1: Is it the community? Is it the shared experience with Erica? 334 00:18:12,480 --> 00:18:12,560 Speaker 2: Like? 335 00:18:12,600 --> 00:18:14,520 Speaker 1: What about it was the most appealing to you? 336 00:18:16,760 --> 00:18:22,200 Speaker 2: Well, I felt like I had the opportunity to learn 337 00:18:22,320 --> 00:18:26,080 Speaker 2: things that I didn't think I could learn anywhere else. 338 00:18:27,119 --> 00:18:32,600 Speaker 2: So it was like this whole window into wisdom and 339 00:18:32,720 --> 00:18:36,440 Speaker 2: knowledge that I'd never experienced before. At least that was 340 00:18:36,560 --> 00:18:40,800 Speaker 2: my perception. I think Erica and David felt the same way. 341 00:18:41,640 --> 00:18:44,040 Speaker 2: So all four of us ended up joining the group. 342 00:18:44,200 --> 00:18:47,600 Speaker 2: So we received our phone call after a week, we 343 00:18:47,640 --> 00:18:49,760 Speaker 2: had tied up loose ends in Calgary. 344 00:18:50,280 --> 00:18:52,040 Speaker 4: And when you say tie up loose ends, does that 345 00:18:52,080 --> 00:18:55,159 Speaker 4: mean just like quit your jobs? Talk to your family 346 00:18:55,200 --> 00:18:55,840 Speaker 4: like what does that mean? 347 00:18:55,920 --> 00:18:56,120 Speaker 2: Yeah? 348 00:18:56,119 --> 00:18:58,440 Speaker 5: What was your life like that you had to tie up? 349 00:18:58,960 --> 00:19:04,520 Speaker 2: Well, there wasn't a lot to tie you up. I 350 00:19:04,680 --> 00:19:09,640 Speaker 2: was a bartender at the time, so it didn't require 351 00:19:10,000 --> 00:19:14,119 Speaker 2: a lot of notice. I think Erica was a hostess somewhere. 352 00:19:14,280 --> 00:19:17,480 Speaker 2: We were both in the restaurant business. We didn't tell 353 00:19:17,640 --> 00:19:21,919 Speaker 2: anyone really what we were doing. We were warned that 354 00:19:22,000 --> 00:19:24,000 Speaker 2: if we did that, they would try to talk us 355 00:19:24,080 --> 00:19:28,600 Speaker 2: out of it. So we just told my parents and 356 00:19:29,160 --> 00:19:32,040 Speaker 2: Erica told her parents, well, we're just going to travel 357 00:19:32,080 --> 00:19:35,560 Speaker 2: for a while around the US. We're going to meet 358 00:19:35,600 --> 00:19:38,240 Speaker 2: some friends. We're not sure how long we're going to 359 00:19:38,320 --> 00:19:40,240 Speaker 2: do it, but off we go. This is what we 360 00:19:40,320 --> 00:19:44,600 Speaker 2: want to do. And they didn't think much of it 361 00:19:44,720 --> 00:19:49,040 Speaker 2: until weeks later when they didn't hear from us. So 362 00:19:49,720 --> 00:19:54,560 Speaker 2: we met in a place called Cherry Creek Campground just 363 00:19:54,680 --> 00:19:58,520 Speaker 2: outside of Denver. There are other people there family camping, 364 00:19:58,920 --> 00:20:03,840 Speaker 2: but it seems a bit like a carnival there because 365 00:20:04,119 --> 00:20:08,399 Speaker 2: all kinds of people from all different meetings were meeting 366 00:20:08,480 --> 00:20:11,120 Speaker 2: up there, you know, it was a little bit wild. 367 00:20:11,800 --> 00:20:14,199 Speaker 2: There was a lot of pot smoking, a lot of 368 00:20:14,520 --> 00:20:19,000 Speaker 2: hippie type people. They are mostly young. I was a 369 00:20:19,040 --> 00:20:23,720 Speaker 2: little bit skeptic of did we make the right choice here, 370 00:20:23,840 --> 00:20:26,680 Speaker 2: But then you know, we found somebody who could tell 371 00:20:26,760 --> 00:20:30,720 Speaker 2: us what was going on, and then they moved everyone 372 00:20:30,840 --> 00:20:34,240 Speaker 2: off into groups of ten or twelve. There were two 373 00:20:34,280 --> 00:20:37,960 Speaker 2: group coordinators who had been with the ENDO for a while, 374 00:20:38,000 --> 00:20:41,520 Speaker 2: and they briefed us on what they knew, and then 375 00:20:42,040 --> 00:20:45,160 Speaker 2: in a few days we moved to a different campground, 376 00:20:45,200 --> 00:20:49,040 Speaker 2: and the whole thing was a vetting process in a 377 00:20:49,040 --> 00:20:53,360 Speaker 2: way of weeding out the people who were not serious. 378 00:20:53,760 --> 00:20:58,200 Speaker 2: And then we moved to a third campground a week later, 379 00:20:58,440 --> 00:21:01,959 Speaker 2: and at that point we had a chance to meet 380 00:21:02,119 --> 00:21:04,639 Speaker 2: with T and do for the first time kind of 381 00:21:04,640 --> 00:21:09,080 Speaker 2: an additional layer of the vetting prossus. When I met 382 00:21:09,240 --> 00:21:15,200 Speaker 2: and I felt like they could see my thoughts. Wow, 383 00:21:15,960 --> 00:21:20,879 Speaker 2: I felt dirty, you know, I felt like I was impure. 384 00:21:21,040 --> 00:21:23,639 Speaker 2: And I don't know how much of this was my 385 00:21:24,000 --> 00:21:28,439 Speaker 2: projection onto them, of putting them on a pedestal, but 386 00:21:29,119 --> 00:21:32,520 Speaker 2: they seemed like they were authorities of a kind that 387 00:21:32,560 --> 00:21:37,000 Speaker 2: I hadn't met before. Why dirty, impure, impure. 388 00:21:37,320 --> 00:21:41,960 Speaker 3: Yeah, if somebody could read my thoughts, i'd feel pretty dirty. 389 00:21:44,440 --> 00:21:45,840 Speaker 5: Yeah, that's stressful. I get that. 390 00:21:46,920 --> 00:21:49,960 Speaker 4: Did you know about the asexuality of the group at 391 00:21:49,960 --> 00:21:52,239 Speaker 4: this point or that was that revealed sort of later on? 392 00:21:52,520 --> 00:21:55,639 Speaker 2: They may have talked about it generally we're going to 393 00:21:55,640 --> 00:22:01,239 Speaker 2: be getting rid of all mammalian behavior eventually, But they 394 00:22:01,280 --> 00:22:06,480 Speaker 2: didn't really go hardcore into no sex whatsoever, I think 395 00:22:06,600 --> 00:22:10,200 Speaker 2: until a year later when we gathered again. 396 00:22:10,480 --> 00:22:12,879 Speaker 4: So how long are you guys living on sort of 397 00:22:12,960 --> 00:22:14,560 Speaker 4: a nomadic lifestyle? 398 00:22:14,640 --> 00:22:16,520 Speaker 1: How long does this camping year? 399 00:22:16,760 --> 00:22:17,080 Speaker 2: A year? 400 00:22:17,240 --> 00:22:17,520 Speaker 5: A year? 401 00:22:17,600 --> 00:22:21,400 Speaker 2: About a year and we crisscrossed the country. I don't 402 00:22:21,440 --> 00:22:24,360 Speaker 2: know how many groups there were. Is there were as 403 00:22:24,359 --> 00:22:28,240 Speaker 2: many as two hundred and fifty people doing that, But 404 00:22:28,359 --> 00:22:31,440 Speaker 2: during that first year a lot of people fell away, 405 00:22:31,560 --> 00:22:35,440 Speaker 2: people went back to their lives. Shortly after we met, Tindo, 406 00:22:35,680 --> 00:22:38,080 Speaker 2: Erica and I were split up and we were given 407 00:22:38,119 --> 00:22:39,400 Speaker 2: new check partners. 408 00:22:39,520 --> 00:22:41,280 Speaker 1: Can you explain what a check partner is? 409 00:22:41,600 --> 00:22:45,760 Speaker 2: Similar to how Jesus instructs his disciples in the Bible, 410 00:22:46,440 --> 00:22:49,560 Speaker 2: you will go out two by two and spread the 411 00:22:49,560 --> 00:22:53,960 Speaker 2: good news. The purpose of a check partner is as 412 00:22:54,040 --> 00:22:58,199 Speaker 2: a sounding board. We were taught over and over and 413 00:22:58,240 --> 00:23:03,120 Speaker 2: over again to not trust our own minds, to trust 414 00:23:03,480 --> 00:23:08,800 Speaker 2: our check partners judgment more than our own, so that 415 00:23:09,520 --> 00:23:13,560 Speaker 2: if both of us had that trust, we would arrive 416 00:23:13,960 --> 00:23:17,560 Speaker 2: at a decision that was best for everything and everyone, 417 00:23:18,600 --> 00:23:22,120 Speaker 2: basically without the interference of the eco mind. If that's 418 00:23:22,160 --> 00:23:25,399 Speaker 2: not really how they described it, But the goal was 419 00:23:25,720 --> 00:23:30,320 Speaker 2: to between the two of you arrive at what your 420 00:23:30,520 --> 00:23:35,000 Speaker 2: older member would decide. You weren't using your own mind, 421 00:23:35,080 --> 00:23:39,360 Speaker 2: You weren't using your own history, your own logic, right, 422 00:23:39,720 --> 00:23:43,320 Speaker 2: you were both reaching up to connect with your older 423 00:23:43,359 --> 00:23:44,080 Speaker 2: member's mind. 424 00:23:44,880 --> 00:23:48,879 Speaker 5: And did you find that, like decisions started to become better? 425 00:23:48,960 --> 00:23:50,080 Speaker 5: Were they clearer? 426 00:23:50,119 --> 00:23:53,280 Speaker 3: And I mean that sounds like just from a therapeutic 427 00:23:53,359 --> 00:23:56,399 Speaker 3: standpoint that it could actually work. 428 00:23:56,280 --> 00:23:58,960 Speaker 4: If it's someone who's wise though and has your best 429 00:23:59,520 --> 00:24:01,200 Speaker 4: in mind exactly. 430 00:24:01,960 --> 00:24:06,639 Speaker 2: That's the key is were we really connecting with our 431 00:24:06,680 --> 00:24:12,639 Speaker 2: older member's mind and were they actually receiving valid information 432 00:24:12,880 --> 00:24:16,040 Speaker 2: from their older member's mind. You and Do presented it 433 00:24:16,080 --> 00:24:18,200 Speaker 2: to us as if there was a chain of mind 434 00:24:18,640 --> 00:24:22,160 Speaker 2: that we were reaching up and connecting too, in effect 435 00:24:22,480 --> 00:24:27,159 Speaker 2: psychically or intuitively, and then you know, Doe would be 436 00:24:27,200 --> 00:24:29,720 Speaker 2: reaching up to his older member's mind and his older 437 00:24:29,760 --> 00:24:34,240 Speaker 2: member T would be reaching up to her older member's mind, 438 00:24:34,560 --> 00:24:38,280 Speaker 2: you know, not physically present on the surface of the earth. 439 00:24:38,680 --> 00:24:39,359 Speaker 2: That was the goal. 440 00:24:39,840 --> 00:24:44,160 Speaker 4: It's interesting, though, Megan, you see it as a therapeutically. 441 00:24:44,400 --> 00:24:47,680 Speaker 3: Sound I think what I'm thinking of as like AA 442 00:24:47,840 --> 00:24:52,920 Speaker 3: when you think contrary action, where your first instinct, sometimes 443 00:24:52,960 --> 00:24:56,359 Speaker 3: if you bounce it off another person, you get clarity 444 00:24:56,400 --> 00:25:01,040 Speaker 3: into how many decisions you're making based off of wrong information? 445 00:25:01,240 --> 00:25:01,440 Speaker 1: Right? 446 00:25:01,600 --> 00:25:01,960 Speaker 2: Right? Yeah? 447 00:25:02,000 --> 00:25:04,640 Speaker 4: See, my when I hear that, my first thought is, oh, 448 00:25:04,680 --> 00:25:07,440 Speaker 4: that's priming everyone to stop thinking. 449 00:25:07,240 --> 00:25:11,600 Speaker 3: For themselves, trusting and trusting exactly exactly for sure. 450 00:25:11,560 --> 00:25:15,400 Speaker 2: Right, and I would agree with that. Probably the biggest 451 00:25:15,520 --> 00:25:20,840 Speaker 2: lesson of my life is to trust my own intuition. Right. 452 00:25:21,840 --> 00:25:26,320 Speaker 2: And in effect, the teachings of T and DO were 453 00:25:26,320 --> 00:25:30,080 Speaker 2: telling me not to telling me that I didn't have 454 00:25:30,160 --> 00:25:36,240 Speaker 2: the answer that they did, and most people would immediately 455 00:25:36,800 --> 00:25:40,840 Speaker 2: run away from that, you know, from anything is fringe. 456 00:25:41,000 --> 00:25:44,000 Speaker 2: Even at the point of hearing the first talk they 457 00:25:44,000 --> 00:25:48,520 Speaker 2: would say, these people are not they would run away. 458 00:25:49,000 --> 00:25:51,480 Speaker 2: For some reason. That didn't happen for me. 459 00:25:52,200 --> 00:25:55,080 Speaker 1: You were young and open minded and curious of me. 460 00:25:55,280 --> 00:26:00,200 Speaker 2: I was. I haven't lost that open mindedness. I I've 461 00:26:00,400 --> 00:26:04,240 Speaker 2: learned a lot about how to trust intuition. That was 462 00:26:04,280 --> 00:26:08,719 Speaker 2: a slow journey post cult, but that has ended up 463 00:26:08,760 --> 00:26:09,600 Speaker 2: serving me well. 464 00:26:09,840 --> 00:26:12,800 Speaker 4: Right, So tell us more about this year. So things 465 00:26:12,840 --> 00:26:15,920 Speaker 4: aren't really strict yet. Have you changed your name yet? 466 00:26:15,960 --> 00:26:18,320 Speaker 4: Have you cut your hair yet? Or does that happen later? 467 00:26:18,520 --> 00:26:21,440 Speaker 2: We all took new names right off the bed pretty much. 468 00:26:21,680 --> 00:26:23,760 Speaker 2: I don't think we cut our hair. As a matter 469 00:26:23,800 --> 00:26:25,960 Speaker 2: of fact, I grew a beard well. Help we were 470 00:26:26,000 --> 00:26:31,879 Speaker 2: on the road. It was brown and not white. But 471 00:26:32,359 --> 00:26:35,320 Speaker 2: the meetings that we held for recruiting were like the 472 00:26:35,359 --> 00:26:38,080 Speaker 2: blind leading the blind. We knew very little, you know, 473 00:26:38,119 --> 00:26:41,680 Speaker 2: we learned more as we went along. Things were passed 474 00:26:41,760 --> 00:26:46,600 Speaker 2: down to us through drips and drabs. The coordinators would 475 00:26:46,680 --> 00:26:51,240 Speaker 2: have a scheduled phone call with the people surrounding teenan 476 00:26:51,320 --> 00:26:54,480 Speaker 2: dough once a week. The coordinators were given a phone 477 00:26:54,560 --> 00:26:56,960 Speaker 2: number to call, and then they would go to a 478 00:26:57,040 --> 00:27:00,720 Speaker 2: pay phone. There were no cell phones. This was nineteen 479 00:27:00,840 --> 00:27:05,520 Speaker 2: seventy five. And then the coordinators would come back to 480 00:27:05,600 --> 00:27:09,040 Speaker 2: their groups and share what they were given from the 481 00:27:09,080 --> 00:27:13,160 Speaker 2: helpers of t and do I think about twice maybe 482 00:27:13,200 --> 00:27:17,680 Speaker 2: we had a gathering. One was somewhere in maybe Colorado 483 00:27:18,080 --> 00:27:20,760 Speaker 2: with t and Do, And then there was another one 484 00:27:20,800 --> 00:27:24,639 Speaker 2: in Mississippi where we all got a chance to gather 485 00:27:24,840 --> 00:27:28,679 Speaker 2: and hear Tando speak, and that was really exciting because 486 00:27:28,680 --> 00:27:32,200 Speaker 2: we had very little contact with them. I had been 487 00:27:32,280 --> 00:27:37,480 Speaker 2: partnered with two different partners. There wasn't any connection and 488 00:27:37,520 --> 00:27:42,080 Speaker 2: there wasn't any negativity. We're just both neutral. So I said, 489 00:27:42,359 --> 00:27:44,879 Speaker 2: is something supposed to be going on here? Because I 490 00:27:44,920 --> 00:27:48,760 Speaker 2: heard a lot of other partners had triggering circumstances between 491 00:27:48,800 --> 00:27:52,040 Speaker 2: their partnerships and that was supposed to be of benefit 492 00:27:52,240 --> 00:27:55,439 Speaker 2: if we could work them out. So I was switched 493 00:27:55,480 --> 00:27:58,600 Speaker 2: to another partner. His name was Amos, so I took 494 00:27:58,640 --> 00:28:02,600 Speaker 2: the name Andy. You're Amos and Andy. At one point 495 00:28:02,960 --> 00:28:06,119 Speaker 2: we were in Phoenix, it was midnight, we had a 496 00:28:06,160 --> 00:28:08,959 Speaker 2: place to stay, we were looking for it, and we 497 00:28:09,000 --> 00:28:12,959 Speaker 2: had also swapped cars, and it was part of letting 498 00:28:13,000 --> 00:28:17,280 Speaker 2: go of all of our human connections, including our possessions. 499 00:28:18,040 --> 00:28:20,440 Speaker 2: So the little Fiat that I had come in with 500 00:28:20,720 --> 00:28:24,760 Speaker 2: was long gone, and we exchanged it for this old 501 00:28:24,880 --> 00:28:27,960 Speaker 2: beat up powder blue Plymouth with a hole in the 502 00:28:28,000 --> 00:28:31,880 Speaker 2: floorboard the driver's side. You could see the road going by. 503 00:28:32,720 --> 00:28:37,479 Speaker 2: D done nothing, so I had no idea who the 504 00:28:37,480 --> 00:28:40,840 Speaker 2: owner of the car was. At one point, we're going 505 00:28:40,920 --> 00:28:43,800 Speaker 2: to go straight in an intersection and and Amos and 506 00:28:43,920 --> 00:28:46,880 Speaker 2: no turn left ere So I turned left from the 507 00:28:46,880 --> 00:28:49,680 Speaker 2: middle lane and I was pulled over by a policeman 508 00:28:50,160 --> 00:28:53,840 Speaker 2: and we both looked kind of scruffy. We both had beards, 509 00:28:54,160 --> 00:28:57,480 Speaker 2: longer hair, so the policeman, you know, was kind of 510 00:28:57,480 --> 00:29:01,440 Speaker 2: suspicious of us right off the bat, and he wondered 511 00:29:01,440 --> 00:29:04,440 Speaker 2: why we were driving somebody else's car, and we didn't 512 00:29:04,520 --> 00:29:07,360 Speaker 2: have a letter of permission or anything. But he couldn't 513 00:29:07,400 --> 00:29:11,800 Speaker 2: really find fault with our story, but he still wanted 514 00:29:11,840 --> 00:29:14,160 Speaker 2: to put me in jail for the night because we 515 00:29:14,200 --> 00:29:16,720 Speaker 2: had no money. So I spent the night in the 516 00:29:16,880 --> 00:29:20,960 Speaker 2: Tempe Arizona jail. I didn't have any cell mates, so 517 00:29:21,000 --> 00:29:23,840 Speaker 2: it was a little bit scary. Yeah, but I didn't sleep. 518 00:29:24,160 --> 00:29:27,400 Speaker 2: And eight point thirty came around, somebody came and let 519 00:29:27,440 --> 00:29:31,400 Speaker 2: me out. So I was outside looking for Amos. I 520 00:29:31,400 --> 00:29:34,000 Speaker 2: saw the blue Plymouth parked and he was in the 521 00:29:34,040 --> 00:29:37,040 Speaker 2: back seat sleeping, So I thought I probably had a 522 00:29:37,040 --> 00:29:43,040 Speaker 2: better sleep than he did. Anyway, We've spent the week 523 00:29:43,520 --> 00:29:47,320 Speaker 2: in Phoenix when on a meeting, we got one recruit 524 00:29:47,760 --> 00:29:52,840 Speaker 2: from that meeting. So Amos decided that he was going 525 00:29:52,880 --> 00:29:56,040 Speaker 2: to go off on his own with some peyote buttons 526 00:29:56,160 --> 00:29:59,320 Speaker 2: into the desert and talked to his older member and 527 00:29:59,360 --> 00:30:00,840 Speaker 2: determined what to do next. 528 00:30:01,200 --> 00:30:04,200 Speaker 1: An older means like metaphysically older, right. 529 00:30:04,240 --> 00:30:08,400 Speaker 2: Yeah, wiser, okay, yeah, teacher. Right back then, it wasn't 530 00:30:08,760 --> 00:30:13,200 Speaker 2: super clear that our older member was dough and those 531 00:30:13,240 --> 00:30:17,000 Speaker 2: older member was tea. We thought we had to reach 532 00:30:17,160 --> 00:30:20,360 Speaker 2: up into the heavens to speak with our older member, right, 533 00:30:20,400 --> 00:30:22,120 Speaker 2: So that was what he was going to do, so 534 00:30:22,200 --> 00:30:26,120 Speaker 2: that I was going to be the tech partner with 535 00:30:26,480 --> 00:30:30,120 Speaker 2: our new recruit. So he and I set out in 536 00:30:30,160 --> 00:30:33,960 Speaker 2: his Citron, because Amos took the Blue Plymouth and we 537 00:30:33,960 --> 00:30:37,120 Speaker 2: were going to Florida. I don't remember what we talked about. 538 00:30:37,160 --> 00:30:39,680 Speaker 2: I'm sure we talked about what little teachings I knew 539 00:30:39,720 --> 00:30:43,480 Speaker 2: of T and O's. And then when we got to Miami, 540 00:30:43,760 --> 00:30:48,080 Speaker 2: he decided that he was going to wander the beach 541 00:30:48,640 --> 00:30:53,640 Speaker 2: and simply talk to his older member. So I ended 542 00:30:53,720 --> 00:30:56,600 Speaker 2: up with the Citron. All of the people in the 543 00:30:56,680 --> 00:31:00,200 Speaker 2: group that I was in had gone their separate way, 544 00:31:00,200 --> 00:31:02,920 Speaker 2: so I was the only one left in my group 545 00:31:03,240 --> 00:31:07,920 Speaker 2: still following. Oh so I had no way of contacting 546 00:31:08,200 --> 00:31:13,640 Speaker 2: the people around Tindo, except something almost miraculous happened. At 547 00:31:13,640 --> 00:31:17,440 Speaker 2: one point somebody at a place where I had gone 548 00:31:17,520 --> 00:31:23,120 Speaker 2: to ask for some assistance food and gas for the car. 549 00:31:23,680 --> 00:31:29,040 Speaker 2: They had received a call from Tindo's helpers. So the 550 00:31:29,040 --> 00:31:32,520 Speaker 2: people at this community center gave me a phone number 551 00:31:32,520 --> 00:31:35,920 Speaker 2: to call. So I did. I reconnected with my original 552 00:31:35,960 --> 00:31:38,280 Speaker 2: coordinator in Cherry Creek, Colorado. 553 00:31:38,440 --> 00:31:39,560 Speaker 1: Wow, a stroke of fate. 554 00:31:40,080 --> 00:31:44,680 Speaker 2: Yeah. So they directed me to a group in New Mexico. 555 00:31:45,120 --> 00:31:46,960 Speaker 2: So I met up with them and there were ten 556 00:31:47,040 --> 00:31:48,680 Speaker 2: or twelve of us. So I was given a new 557 00:31:48,760 --> 00:31:51,560 Speaker 2: check partner, and off we went again. That was kind 558 00:31:51,600 --> 00:31:54,880 Speaker 2: of the nature of the first year. We were like gypsies, 559 00:31:54,960 --> 00:31:58,880 Speaker 2: crisscrossing the countryside, holding recruiting meetings. 560 00:31:59,240 --> 00:31:59,880 Speaker 1: Quick note here. 561 00:32:00,160 --> 00:32:02,680 Speaker 4: So I was kicking myself after this interview for not 562 00:32:02,760 --> 00:32:05,640 Speaker 4: asking why Frank still felt compelled to go back even 563 00:32:05,680 --> 00:32:07,760 Speaker 4: though everyone else had left and he was all alone. 564 00:32:08,120 --> 00:32:10,440 Speaker 4: So I asked him after the fact and he told 565 00:32:10,440 --> 00:32:12,960 Speaker 4: me this, and I quote A big piece of it 566 00:32:13,080 --> 00:32:15,960 Speaker 4: was the carrot as always of my belief in the 567 00:32:16,040 --> 00:32:19,000 Speaker 4: opportunity to ascend to the next level, and looking back 568 00:32:19,320 --> 00:32:21,840 Speaker 4: rolled into that was the fear of missing out. I 569 00:32:21,880 --> 00:32:23,920 Speaker 4: see the fallacy of NAT now because I feel I've 570 00:32:23,920 --> 00:32:26,760 Speaker 4: grown more self aware, but it was my motivation then. 571 00:32:27,160 --> 00:32:29,360 Speaker 3: And where was Erica during all of this? She was 572 00:32:29,480 --> 00:32:33,560 Speaker 3: just in a different so called pod like right, okay? 573 00:32:33,680 --> 00:32:36,320 Speaker 3: And were you guys still together or no? 574 00:32:36,680 --> 00:32:41,000 Speaker 2: Okay? But when we met up in Biloxi, everyone converged. 575 00:32:41,040 --> 00:32:45,080 Speaker 2: In Biloxi, Mississippi, she had been in a similar circumstance 576 00:32:45,600 --> 00:32:49,160 Speaker 2: in that she and her check partner were off on 577 00:32:49,200 --> 00:32:54,120 Speaker 2: their own and their group had completely disintegrated. Oh, she 578 00:32:54,160 --> 00:32:56,479 Speaker 2: didn't know what to do because she still wanted to 579 00:32:56,920 --> 00:33:01,160 Speaker 2: follow Teen Do. So she was actually in contact with 580 00:33:01,760 --> 00:33:06,520 Speaker 2: my parents in Calgary because she didn't feel like her 581 00:33:06,560 --> 00:33:11,840 Speaker 2: parents would be sympathetic to her continuing interesting with Team 582 00:33:11,960 --> 00:33:14,440 Speaker 2: Do because my parents were a little bit on the 583 00:33:14,480 --> 00:33:18,760 Speaker 2: wu Wu side anyway, nice because my mother gave me 584 00:33:18,800 --> 00:33:23,480 Speaker 2: the Edgar Casty Book and they sent my parents sent 585 00:33:23,680 --> 00:33:27,440 Speaker 2: Erica some money, and then she somehow got in touch 586 00:33:27,520 --> 00:33:32,800 Speaker 2: with everyone ended up in Biloxi, Mississippi, and we weren't together. 587 00:33:32,840 --> 00:33:37,960 Speaker 2: But I still had huge feelings for her, and those 588 00:33:38,080 --> 00:33:42,560 Speaker 2: actually never went away, except that I suppressed them over 589 00:33:42,600 --> 00:33:43,120 Speaker 2: the years. 590 00:33:43,400 --> 00:33:46,680 Speaker 4: Did you feel any resentment for being separated from her. 591 00:33:48,720 --> 00:33:54,040 Speaker 2: No, Because our thought was, even if, even if she's 592 00:33:54,120 --> 00:33:58,840 Speaker 2: the love of my life, if this opportunity to gain 593 00:33:59,040 --> 00:34:03,800 Speaker 2: membership in a completely different kingdom level above the human level, 594 00:34:04,520 --> 00:34:08,120 Speaker 2: even if if she's loved my life, that opportunity is 595 00:34:08,280 --> 00:34:12,040 Speaker 2: worth letting go of the love of my life. To me, 596 00:34:12,200 --> 00:34:17,239 Speaker 2: this was a once in a lifetime opportunity, right, But 597 00:34:17,320 --> 00:34:21,640 Speaker 2: that didn't stop me from, you know, feeling attraction for 598 00:34:21,680 --> 00:34:25,200 Speaker 2: her and feeling a deep connection with her. 599 00:34:26,680 --> 00:34:30,280 Speaker 3: Had you guys, gotten more details at this point about 600 00:34:30,280 --> 00:34:33,680 Speaker 3: the teachings, Were you more juiced in onto what was 601 00:34:33,719 --> 00:34:35,440 Speaker 3: happening and where you were heading? 602 00:34:35,600 --> 00:34:38,239 Speaker 2: And yeah, more and more. As time went on, we 603 00:34:38,360 --> 00:34:41,879 Speaker 2: learned more, and the more time we spent with Tea 604 00:34:41,960 --> 00:34:45,840 Speaker 2: and grow, the more we learned, the more discipline we 605 00:34:45,920 --> 00:34:49,799 Speaker 2: could apply using the teachings that they had passed on 606 00:34:49,880 --> 00:34:53,080 Speaker 2: to us, and the more things made sense, the more 607 00:34:53,120 --> 00:34:56,640 Speaker 2: we realized what we had signed on for, and there 608 00:34:56,680 --> 00:35:01,320 Speaker 2: was always new information that we hadn't encountered before. 609 00:35:01,800 --> 00:35:05,480 Speaker 4: Tell us about when the class begins, what happens. You 610 00:35:05,520 --> 00:35:08,399 Speaker 4: all kind of settle in one area, right, right, And. 611 00:35:08,400 --> 00:35:12,200 Speaker 2: It was wyoming where we were all called together. There 612 00:35:12,239 --> 00:35:14,720 Speaker 2: could have been as many as two hundred people there, 613 00:35:14,880 --> 00:35:17,279 Speaker 2: and that was wild. That was like I think of 614 00:35:17,640 --> 00:35:20,320 Speaker 2: the children of Israel, you know, wandering in a wilderness, 615 00:35:20,560 --> 00:35:25,400 Speaker 2: the people who were unruly, and the people were unruly there. 616 00:35:25,800 --> 00:35:30,440 Speaker 2: It's crazy. So that was what Tindo wanted to do, 617 00:35:30,640 --> 00:35:34,360 Speaker 2: was kind of bring us together into the same mindset 618 00:35:34,520 --> 00:35:39,560 Speaker 2: and to help us establish some kind of discipline. First, 619 00:35:39,640 --> 00:35:44,160 Speaker 2: there was a lesson about kindness and consideration, things that 620 00:35:44,640 --> 00:35:48,960 Speaker 2: made sense. That was kind of a first basic essential lesson, 621 00:35:49,440 --> 00:35:52,520 Speaker 2: And a few weeks or months later, we had something 622 00:35:52,560 --> 00:35:58,200 Speaker 2: called the seventeen Steps, which were guidelines for how to 623 00:35:58,360 --> 00:36:03,719 Speaker 2: live in ways were becoming two members of the next level, 624 00:36:03,800 --> 00:36:05,960 Speaker 2: so that we would fit in there, so that we 625 00:36:06,000 --> 00:36:10,800 Speaker 2: wouldn't stick out like a sore thumb, so that we wouldn't. 626 00:36:10,360 --> 00:36:13,400 Speaker 1: Be disruptive once you get to the higher plane. 627 00:36:14,200 --> 00:36:16,560 Speaker 5: It's kind of like alien etiquette kind. 628 00:36:16,400 --> 00:36:19,160 Speaker 2: Of, yes, yeah, exactly. 629 00:36:19,239 --> 00:36:22,080 Speaker 4: I wrote down from some of what I heard, and 630 00:36:22,120 --> 00:36:27,400 Speaker 4: they included things like, can you follow instructions without adding interpretation? 631 00:36:28,440 --> 00:36:32,600 Speaker 4: Can you deliver instructions as you receive them so I'm hearing, 632 00:36:32,880 --> 00:36:35,799 Speaker 4: can you follow orders and do as we say and 633 00:36:35,840 --> 00:36:41,800 Speaker 4: be controlled by us? They forbade things like clumsiness, procrastination. 634 00:36:41,760 --> 00:36:42,920 Speaker 5: And even I'm not allowed in. 635 00:36:44,400 --> 00:36:47,319 Speaker 1: And even having private thoughts. Is that right? 636 00:36:47,840 --> 00:36:47,960 Speaker 2: Oh? 637 00:36:48,040 --> 00:36:51,480 Speaker 4: Yeah, that is wild. You're not allowed to have private thoughts. 638 00:36:51,960 --> 00:36:54,680 Speaker 4: And then also arousal was forbidding. 639 00:36:54,880 --> 00:36:55,480 Speaker 2: Yeah. Right. 640 00:36:55,800 --> 00:36:58,560 Speaker 4: How did you feel about these steps? I mean, what 641 00:36:58,800 --> 00:37:00,520 Speaker 4: did you feel good about them? 642 00:37:00,600 --> 00:37:04,960 Speaker 2: Yeah? Because we were already to a degree brainwashed in 643 00:37:05,000 --> 00:37:09,759 Speaker 2: a sense, we were motivated. You know, it's like this 644 00:37:10,239 --> 00:37:13,920 Speaker 2: carrot out in front of us that if you do 645 00:37:14,080 --> 00:37:18,719 Speaker 2: as we teach you, you will graduate, you will ascend 646 00:37:19,280 --> 00:37:24,160 Speaker 2: to this next evolutionary level. And during that first year, 647 00:37:24,239 --> 00:37:27,640 Speaker 2: in the first several years, the idea was that we 648 00:37:27,680 --> 00:37:32,520 Speaker 2: would ascend while conscious and alive. Right, we would ascend 649 00:37:32,640 --> 00:37:36,040 Speaker 2: consciously into this next evolutionary level above human. 650 00:37:36,680 --> 00:37:38,640 Speaker 1: So tell us what vehicles means. 651 00:37:39,320 --> 00:37:43,000 Speaker 2: Vehicle is your body that you, as a soul inhabit, 652 00:37:43,280 --> 00:37:47,319 Speaker 2: which I would say is accurate to a degree, but 653 00:37:47,480 --> 00:37:51,040 Speaker 2: it's it was also considered the same as a car 654 00:37:51,080 --> 00:37:54,400 Speaker 2: would be to a driver, So the soul is the 655 00:37:54,520 --> 00:37:59,680 Speaker 2: driver of the car of the vehicle. T would often say, 656 00:38:00,120 --> 00:38:04,560 Speaker 2: get your mind into your vehicle, meaning get your vehicle 657 00:38:04,760 --> 00:38:08,840 Speaker 2: under control of your mind, kind of like a rider 658 00:38:08,920 --> 00:38:12,280 Speaker 2: on a horse. A rider doesn't let the horse run wild. 659 00:38:12,680 --> 00:38:16,319 Speaker 2: The rider keeps the horse doing what the rider wants 660 00:38:16,400 --> 00:38:17,120 Speaker 2: the horse to do. 661 00:38:18,080 --> 00:38:21,239 Speaker 4: So getting your sexual urges under control is a big 662 00:38:21,320 --> 00:38:24,960 Speaker 4: piece of that, right. I mean, so I am a 663 00:38:25,000 --> 00:38:27,840 Speaker 4: little familiar with that idea, just having grown up Mormon. 664 00:38:28,960 --> 00:38:29,200 Speaker 5: You are. 665 00:38:29,280 --> 00:38:32,719 Speaker 4: Sexuality is you know, there's a lot of shame around it, 666 00:38:32,880 --> 00:38:35,319 Speaker 4: and I felt a lot, you know, anytime I would 667 00:38:35,320 --> 00:38:37,680 Speaker 4: feel an urge or like masturbate or anything. 668 00:38:37,440 --> 00:38:39,360 Speaker 1: I just felt so ashamed after. 669 00:38:40,960 --> 00:38:45,280 Speaker 4: Did you you know how successful were you in suppressing 670 00:38:45,320 --> 00:38:47,560 Speaker 4: those urges or did you like feel shame like what 671 00:38:47,680 --> 00:38:48,520 Speaker 4: was going on there? 672 00:38:49,160 --> 00:38:52,600 Speaker 2: Well, when we were on the road, we're virtually always 673 00:38:52,719 --> 00:38:57,200 Speaker 2: in the presence of our check partner, and the goal 674 00:38:57,440 --> 00:39:01,760 Speaker 2: in sight in the assignment of check partner was if 675 00:39:02,320 --> 00:39:05,560 Speaker 2: you could easily be attracted to a member of the 676 00:39:05,600 --> 00:39:08,759 Speaker 2: opposite sex or a member of the same sex that 677 00:39:09,000 --> 00:39:13,480 Speaker 2: was your sexual orientation, then they would partner with someone 678 00:39:13,760 --> 00:39:16,640 Speaker 2: who you would not be attracted to. You know, that 679 00:39:16,760 --> 00:39:19,680 Speaker 2: was the goal. It didn't always work out that way. 680 00:39:19,840 --> 00:39:22,719 Speaker 2: I mean, that's why some of the people left, is 681 00:39:22,760 --> 00:39:25,560 Speaker 2: because they found some that they were attracted to, and 682 00:39:25,600 --> 00:39:29,719 Speaker 2: they left with them. That's why I generally was partnered 683 00:39:29,960 --> 00:39:31,080 Speaker 2: with the male. Right. 684 00:39:31,520 --> 00:39:34,040 Speaker 4: Yeah, it's kind of like Mormon missionaries. Actually, they're sent 685 00:39:34,120 --> 00:39:37,560 Speaker 4: out two by two and they're together twenty four to seven, 686 00:39:37,800 --> 00:39:41,200 Speaker 4: same sex, And yeah, their their behavior is just like 687 00:39:41,280 --> 00:39:45,160 Speaker 4: strictly constantly regulated by the presence of another person who's 688 00:39:45,440 --> 00:39:46,759 Speaker 4: trying to be righteous. 689 00:39:47,280 --> 00:39:51,680 Speaker 2: Right. Living in the same community started after the first year, 690 00:39:52,360 --> 00:39:57,880 Speaker 2: So from like September of seventy six to sometime in 691 00:39:57,960 --> 00:40:03,040 Speaker 2: nineteen eighty one, we lived in campgrounds or on BLM 692 00:40:03,160 --> 00:40:07,480 Speaker 2: land that's not Black Lives Matter, that's Bureau of Land Management. 693 00:40:08,480 --> 00:40:12,560 Speaker 2: Or we would get permission from ranch owners who had 694 00:40:12,640 --> 00:40:18,440 Speaker 2: these vast expanses of ranch lands, who camp on their property, 695 00:40:18,640 --> 00:40:22,440 Speaker 2: and so we would be unhindered and not interfered with 696 00:40:22,680 --> 00:40:26,600 Speaker 2: by curious people. You know. That was about five years 697 00:40:26,680 --> 00:40:29,680 Speaker 2: when we lived outside. I was outside all the time. 698 00:40:30,200 --> 00:40:33,239 Speaker 4: But then you get your cousin's trust fund kind of 699 00:40:33,239 --> 00:40:35,680 Speaker 4: starts funding a new lifestyles. 700 00:40:35,040 --> 00:40:38,960 Speaker 2: That right, I think Rob Balsh had that backwards. Oh, 701 00:40:39,440 --> 00:40:43,200 Speaker 2: his trust fund was funding us from seventy six to 702 00:40:43,880 --> 00:40:46,920 Speaker 2: eighty one, and then it ran out. We ran it dry, 703 00:40:47,400 --> 00:40:50,160 Speaker 2: and at that point half of us had get work 704 00:40:50,320 --> 00:40:54,160 Speaker 2: and then pool whenever funds came in to the group communally, 705 00:40:54,320 --> 00:40:57,880 Speaker 2: that's when we moved into houses. So there were as 706 00:40:57,960 --> 00:41:00,759 Speaker 2: many as thirty six of us living in house, and 707 00:41:00,880 --> 00:41:03,960 Speaker 2: yet we couldn't let on that there was that many 708 00:41:04,040 --> 00:41:07,279 Speaker 2: of us there, so only certain people could go outside 709 00:41:07,400 --> 00:41:08,240 Speaker 2: at that point. 710 00:41:08,400 --> 00:41:10,160 Speaker 1: Were you one of the people who went outside or 711 00:41:10,160 --> 00:41:11,040 Speaker 1: did you stay in the house. 712 00:41:11,360 --> 00:41:15,000 Speaker 2: I was one of the people who worked outside. But 713 00:41:15,200 --> 00:41:19,399 Speaker 2: we had people called intercept or, you know, they were 714 00:41:19,440 --> 00:41:24,279 Speaker 2: assigned to be the interface between us and anyone who 715 00:41:24,360 --> 00:41:27,560 Speaker 2: would come to the door, so that it wasn't you know, 716 00:41:27,640 --> 00:41:30,200 Speaker 2: a different person each time that you would pretend to 717 00:41:30,239 --> 00:41:34,320 Speaker 2: be like the householder. Right. I worked outside the group 718 00:41:34,400 --> 00:41:38,399 Speaker 2: initially as a waiter, and this was near San Antonio. 719 00:41:38,840 --> 00:41:42,880 Speaker 4: And at any point are you're you're really deep in 720 00:41:42,920 --> 00:41:45,440 Speaker 4: at this point, I'm assuming everyone sort of has the 721 00:41:45,480 --> 00:41:49,440 Speaker 4: same haircut, kind of like my hair, right, and you know, 722 00:41:49,560 --> 00:41:53,800 Speaker 4: dressing the same and living this lifestyle because you're interfacing 723 00:41:53,840 --> 00:41:55,600 Speaker 4: with the outside world war. Is there any point at 724 00:41:55,640 --> 00:41:58,359 Speaker 4: which you're questioning or does that not happen till later? 725 00:41:58,920 --> 00:42:04,040 Speaker 2: Periodically, doubt would come up in my mind and I 726 00:42:04,239 --> 00:42:08,959 Speaker 2: would stuff it down because it was like the doubt 727 00:42:08,960 --> 00:42:12,680 Speaker 2: would be is this really gonna happen? Or you know, 728 00:42:13,320 --> 00:42:16,040 Speaker 2: can I really do this? Can I really hack all 729 00:42:16,080 --> 00:42:20,720 Speaker 2: of the requirements of this? Because you asked earlier how 730 00:42:20,800 --> 00:42:27,120 Speaker 2: successful was I regarding sexuality? And there were weeks and 731 00:42:27,280 --> 00:42:30,160 Speaker 2: months where I didn't think about yet at all. I 732 00:42:30,280 --> 00:42:34,680 Speaker 2: was too busy, too focused on other things. And then 733 00:42:35,000 --> 00:42:37,640 Speaker 2: there were times when I would it would be this 734 00:42:37,760 --> 00:42:44,360 Speaker 2: internal battle, like you say, guilt and shame about having slipped. 735 00:42:44,680 --> 00:42:47,560 Speaker 2: You know, there were slippages, and then there were major 736 00:42:47,600 --> 00:42:52,800 Speaker 2: slippages sensuality, sexuality. It was a major slippage. Over time, 737 00:42:53,400 --> 00:42:57,319 Speaker 2: we had more and more and more guidelines and procedures 738 00:42:57,400 --> 00:43:01,040 Speaker 2: and things to follow, the ways of being and thinking 739 00:43:01,080 --> 00:43:06,120 Speaker 2: and acting and behaving and speaking and eating and sleeping, 740 00:43:07,640 --> 00:43:10,960 Speaker 2: showering in the morning. Everything was regimented. 741 00:43:11,160 --> 00:43:14,520 Speaker 4: I remember hearing even the size of your pancakes was 742 00:43:14,600 --> 00:43:18,319 Speaker 4: regulated and how much syrup was poured on top of them. 743 00:43:18,480 --> 00:43:21,560 Speaker 4: That is a very high control group right there. 744 00:43:23,239 --> 00:43:27,080 Speaker 3: When did the plan of the Comet come into being 745 00:43:27,520 --> 00:43:29,359 Speaker 3: or was that always no? 746 00:43:29,520 --> 00:43:32,960 Speaker 2: That was when the world heard about the Commet. That's 747 00:43:33,200 --> 00:43:35,680 Speaker 2: when they got the hair brained idea that it was 748 00:43:35,719 --> 00:43:39,320 Speaker 2: their time to leave. That was in nineteen ninety seven 749 00:43:39,480 --> 00:43:42,600 Speaker 2: or the end of nineteen ninety six when the comet 750 00:43:43,000 --> 00:43:45,719 Speaker 2: was discovered by two people, Hail. 751 00:43:45,719 --> 00:43:48,359 Speaker 1: And Bob, And you'd been out already by that point. 752 00:43:48,480 --> 00:43:52,160 Speaker 2: Yeah, I was left in August of ninety three. 753 00:43:52,400 --> 00:43:55,279 Speaker 4: I see, are you living with Doh and te or 754 00:43:55,320 --> 00:43:57,120 Speaker 4: are you in a sort of like a separate household. 755 00:43:57,440 --> 00:44:01,719 Speaker 2: For a while, they did live with this house. Eventually 756 00:44:01,760 --> 00:44:06,360 Speaker 2: they felt like they could think better being separate from us, 757 00:44:06,560 --> 00:44:09,640 Speaker 2: being separate from our vibrations, so they got their own 758 00:44:09,800 --> 00:44:13,560 Speaker 2: separate house, their own separate quarters. They rented a smaller 759 00:44:13,560 --> 00:44:17,400 Speaker 2: house Classic. So we had different star groups, four different 760 00:44:17,440 --> 00:44:20,840 Speaker 2: star groups that this started in campgrounds. I think we 761 00:44:20,920 --> 00:44:24,520 Speaker 2: had forty eight people. So we had formal out Proceeon, 762 00:44:24,920 --> 00:44:31,680 Speaker 2: alt Air, and Serious. We went by numbers one through twelve, 763 00:44:31,840 --> 00:44:32,879 Speaker 2: I think, and I. 764 00:44:33,080 --> 00:44:35,680 Speaker 1: Was P one, that's your name? That was what you 765 00:44:35,760 --> 00:44:36,120 Speaker 1: went by? 766 00:44:36,440 --> 00:44:39,000 Speaker 2: That was I think we even had name tags. 767 00:44:39,160 --> 00:44:42,840 Speaker 1: Wow, P one one very dehumanizing. 768 00:44:43,560 --> 00:44:46,719 Speaker 3: Is it kind of like Harry Potter houses like Slytherin? 769 00:44:47,280 --> 00:44:47,760 Speaker 2: Is it that? 770 00:44:48,120 --> 00:44:52,400 Speaker 5: What it is? Is that the vibe or well. 771 00:44:52,239 --> 00:44:57,520 Speaker 2: It's kind of like that, but that's not the vibe. 772 00:44:58,080 --> 00:45:01,560 Speaker 5: Not the vibe, got it right? But kind of the same. 773 00:45:01,680 --> 00:45:06,600 Speaker 2: No, it wasn't serious. It was Lera anyway. Yeah, So 774 00:45:06,640 --> 00:45:10,759 Speaker 2: this was eighty five and we were in Dallas, Texas. 775 00:45:11,080 --> 00:45:14,480 Speaker 2: At this point, I had moved up from being a 776 00:45:14,520 --> 00:45:18,879 Speaker 2: waiter to being a medical receptionist, and then I got 777 00:45:18,880 --> 00:45:23,080 Speaker 2: a job at Microsoft in their Dallas sales office. We 778 00:45:23,120 --> 00:45:26,120 Speaker 2: would go to work and we would pretend to be normal. 779 00:45:29,400 --> 00:45:31,920 Speaker 5: I understand that feeling completely. 780 00:45:33,080 --> 00:45:36,120 Speaker 2: I'd pretend to be a husband to somebody, and you know, 781 00:45:36,200 --> 00:45:38,200 Speaker 2: I had to go home to my wife at the 782 00:45:38,320 --> 00:45:41,440 Speaker 2: end of the day, and so I couldn't participate in, 783 00:45:41,800 --> 00:45:44,200 Speaker 2: you know, going out to the bar or whatever. You know, 784 00:45:44,239 --> 00:45:46,920 Speaker 2: if anybody would ask me to do that, right, Sorry, 785 00:45:47,160 --> 00:45:48,719 Speaker 2: I can't. I have other plans. 786 00:45:49,120 --> 00:45:52,000 Speaker 1: Can you tell us about when t got cancer and 787 00:45:52,040 --> 00:45:53,560 Speaker 1: what that experience was like. 788 00:45:53,800 --> 00:45:58,600 Speaker 2: She had cancer twice. Once when we were in campgrounds, 789 00:45:58,760 --> 00:46:01,719 Speaker 2: she had cancer of the She had cancer in her eye, 790 00:46:02,480 --> 00:46:05,080 Speaker 2: so she had her eye removed and she had a 791 00:46:05,200 --> 00:46:08,680 Speaker 2: prosthetic put in, and you know, everybody thought, well, okay, 792 00:46:08,719 --> 00:46:10,799 Speaker 2: that's good. I'm glad you had it taken care of. 793 00:46:10,840 --> 00:46:13,640 Speaker 2: It's over and done with. And then we moved into 794 00:46:13,680 --> 00:46:17,320 Speaker 2: houses around nineteen eighty one, and then nineteen eighty five, 795 00:46:17,560 --> 00:46:20,640 Speaker 2: we learned that t was sick again and they had 796 00:46:20,640 --> 00:46:23,799 Speaker 2: separate quarters, so we didn't We didn't see Tando for 797 00:46:23,880 --> 00:46:28,640 Speaker 2: quite a while, and then they had two helpers go 798 00:46:28,800 --> 00:46:31,920 Speaker 2: help t and do while t was sick. In general, 799 00:46:32,040 --> 00:46:35,320 Speaker 2: there were people who were trusted or by t and 800 00:46:35,400 --> 00:46:41,719 Speaker 2: do to follow instructions, to be disciplined, to get things right. 801 00:46:42,040 --> 00:46:46,840 Speaker 2: These two helpers would go and stay at Tando's place, 802 00:46:47,200 --> 00:46:50,919 Speaker 2: called it crafts. It wasn't a house craft as in spacecraft. 803 00:46:51,560 --> 00:46:54,160 Speaker 2: So we had the main craft and we had their craft. 804 00:46:54,800 --> 00:46:57,160 Speaker 2: So we were all curious about what was going on. 805 00:46:57,280 --> 00:46:59,840 Speaker 2: And then it was only like two or three weeks 806 00:47:00,200 --> 00:47:05,600 Speaker 2: before Tea passed on and she had their cancer. So 807 00:47:05,719 --> 00:47:10,200 Speaker 2: the cancer head spread all throughout her body right, and 808 00:47:11,440 --> 00:47:14,640 Speaker 2: this was never in the plant, of course, and so 809 00:47:14,760 --> 00:47:21,560 Speaker 2: we were all devastated, particularly Dough. He was heartbroken because 810 00:47:21,600 --> 00:47:27,600 Speaker 2: this was his older member. And he came for a 811 00:47:27,640 --> 00:47:31,720 Speaker 2: meeting with us and said, I'm not sure we should 812 00:47:32,040 --> 00:47:38,279 Speaker 2: continue with the class, and virtually everyone said, no, we 813 00:47:38,360 --> 00:47:41,880 Speaker 2: have to, we have to keep going. We believe and 814 00:47:42,040 --> 00:47:46,640 Speaker 2: you we believe in the next evolutionary level of humans, 815 00:47:46,640 --> 00:47:50,719 Speaker 2: so you know, we were all completely on board. So 816 00:47:51,080 --> 00:47:52,520 Speaker 2: he continued, Was. 817 00:47:52,480 --> 00:47:57,840 Speaker 4: It confusing, Like, how did you reconcile this idea that 818 00:47:58,480 --> 00:48:02,280 Speaker 4: you know you are going to phys transform from your 819 00:48:02,360 --> 00:48:07,080 Speaker 4: vehicles with T's vehicle actually just dying. What was the 820 00:48:07,160 --> 00:48:08,200 Speaker 4: justification for that? 821 00:48:09,680 --> 00:48:14,080 Speaker 7: Well, the party line, I guess was we were taking 822 00:48:14,160 --> 00:48:19,799 Speaker 7: too long and he had to go on ahead and 823 00:48:20,320 --> 00:48:22,120 Speaker 7: prepare a place. 824 00:48:21,960 --> 00:48:26,560 Speaker 2: For us get ready for our graduation. And because we 825 00:48:26,560 --> 00:48:30,160 Speaker 2: were taking too long, Tea decided to exit her vehicle 826 00:48:30,600 --> 00:48:35,680 Speaker 2: that way. Right, But Tea's passing in that way had 827 00:48:35,680 --> 00:48:39,680 Speaker 2: a huge impact on those thinking about how the graduation 828 00:48:39,760 --> 00:48:43,120 Speaker 2: would occur, and that worked on him over the coming 829 00:48:43,239 --> 00:48:46,600 Speaker 2: months and years, to the point where he began to 830 00:48:47,040 --> 00:48:50,640 Speaker 2: entertain ideas of how we might do our vehicles in 831 00:48:51,080 --> 00:48:55,480 Speaker 2: which was entirely diametrically posed to the way it was 832 00:48:55,520 --> 00:48:56,560 Speaker 2: originally presented. 833 00:48:56,920 --> 00:48:59,920 Speaker 1: How was it originally percent we will be taken up 834 00:49:00,040 --> 00:49:00,800 Speaker 1: in a craft. 835 00:49:01,760 --> 00:49:05,480 Speaker 2: Well, we're conscious, we will listen well, conscious and. 836 00:49:05,520 --> 00:49:08,640 Speaker 4: Alive, and we will leave that there for now, to 837 00:49:08,719 --> 00:49:12,560 Speaker 4: be continued in part two next week. Okay, Megan, we've 838 00:49:12,560 --> 00:49:14,160 Speaker 4: come to the part in the story where I ask 839 00:49:14,239 --> 00:49:16,520 Speaker 4: you do you think that you would join Heaven's Gate? 840 00:49:17,000 --> 00:49:18,960 Speaker 1: Yes, I do, tell me more. 841 00:49:19,080 --> 00:49:19,760 Speaker 5: No, bullshit. 842 00:49:21,320 --> 00:49:24,319 Speaker 3: I mean, anybody who watches the documentary and is like, 843 00:49:24,480 --> 00:49:28,360 Speaker 3: I'm not intrigued by that is, in my opinion, boring. 844 00:49:29,520 --> 00:49:30,760 Speaker 1: It's I'm boring. 845 00:49:31,480 --> 00:49:36,720 Speaker 3: It's basically like two of the oddest people ever saying 846 00:49:36,760 --> 00:49:41,920 Speaker 3: that they are communicating with aliens. Essentially, I would be 847 00:49:41,960 --> 00:49:45,680 Speaker 3: excited by their message. I guess my is my takeaway. 848 00:49:45,880 --> 00:49:46,440 Speaker 1: Mm hmmmm. 849 00:49:46,880 --> 00:49:52,360 Speaker 4: It's all about transcending the body and UFO life. 850 00:49:52,480 --> 00:49:54,520 Speaker 1: I see the appeal for sure. I could see you 851 00:49:54,600 --> 00:49:55,040 Speaker 1: joining it. 852 00:49:55,120 --> 00:49:57,920 Speaker 3: I can definitely see myself going to a few meetings 853 00:49:58,000 --> 00:49:59,719 Speaker 3: and you know, getting excited. 854 00:50:01,200 --> 00:50:03,400 Speaker 1: I think it wouldn't appeal to me. But the alien stuff, 855 00:50:03,600 --> 00:50:04,880 Speaker 1: what do you like that alien stuff? 856 00:50:04,960 --> 00:50:05,160 Speaker 2: Oh? 857 00:50:05,280 --> 00:50:08,200 Speaker 5: I like that alien stuff. I know, I know, you 858 00:50:08,280 --> 00:50:09,040 Speaker 5: know what I do. 859 00:50:09,239 --> 00:50:11,560 Speaker 4: Oh yeah, New age stuff is not really my bag, 860 00:50:11,600 --> 00:50:13,040 Speaker 4: as we all kind of know by now. 861 00:50:12,960 --> 00:50:16,279 Speaker 1: But who's to say. Who's to say it is. 862 00:50:16,280 --> 00:50:19,520 Speaker 4: Sort of in that science fiction category of cults, kind 863 00:50:19,520 --> 00:50:23,400 Speaker 4: of like scientology, where it could be new ag or 864 00:50:23,440 --> 00:50:25,600 Speaker 4: it could seem like it's just sort of the forefront 865 00:50:25,600 --> 00:50:28,319 Speaker 4: of science in a way exactly which I think would 866 00:50:28,320 --> 00:50:29,000 Speaker 4: be really appealing. 867 00:50:29,200 --> 00:50:31,239 Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean, I think that they were ahead of 868 00:50:31,239 --> 00:50:31,680 Speaker 5: their time. 869 00:50:32,040 --> 00:50:34,439 Speaker 4: The ancient folks also believed they would be taken away 870 00:50:34,480 --> 00:50:35,879 Speaker 4: by people from the sky. 871 00:50:35,600 --> 00:50:38,120 Speaker 1: So in a way, it's the tale as old as time. 872 00:50:38,280 --> 00:50:43,320 Speaker 3: They were definitely with what the aliens. The Egyptians for sure. 873 00:50:45,400 --> 00:50:46,480 Speaker 1: Debate for another time. 874 00:50:46,719 --> 00:50:49,920 Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, yeah, it would be tempting to me. 875 00:50:50,040 --> 00:50:52,960 Speaker 4: One of the other guys from the docuseries still believes 876 00:50:53,239 --> 00:50:56,279 Speaker 4: to this day. Yeah, he wasn't a part of the 877 00:50:56,280 --> 00:50:58,600 Speaker 4: suicide and he still really believes. And there are a 878 00:50:58,600 --> 00:51:01,560 Speaker 4: couple people who still really believe, which is wild. 879 00:51:01,800 --> 00:51:02,400 Speaker 1: It's wild. 880 00:51:02,520 --> 00:51:05,400 Speaker 4: It must have, you know, just it really resonated with 881 00:51:05,440 --> 00:51:08,719 Speaker 4: them even after the suicides. Well, anyway, there's so much 882 00:51:08,719 --> 00:51:11,759 Speaker 4: more to explore. Next week, Frank is gonna tell us 883 00:51:11,880 --> 00:51:15,200 Speaker 4: how he decided to leave and what it was like 884 00:51:15,280 --> 00:51:18,640 Speaker 4: when he lost his friends of so many years, and 885 00:51:19,360 --> 00:51:20,799 Speaker 4: real heartbreaking. 886 00:51:20,440 --> 00:51:21,720 Speaker 5: And very enlightening. 887 00:51:21,960 --> 00:51:24,280 Speaker 1: Yeah, so we'll see you next week, y'all. 888 00:51:24,520 --> 00:51:25,960 Speaker 5: Yeah, thanks for listening, guys. 889 00:51:26,160 --> 00:51:29,600 Speaker 3: Remember, follow your gut, watch out for flags. 890 00:51:29,640 --> 00:51:38,040 Speaker 1: Never ever trust me. Bye bye, guys.