EXPOSE THE TRUTH 1: History

 

The birth of the Moscow Study Group. The Moscow Group started in November, 1994 when two people Eugene V. and Ketino L. agreed together to start "Saint Germain's services", as they called it. Eugene was coming to Ketino's working place on Saturday morning (when no other people were there), they pushed the button of the tape recorder and did the "Violet Flame 1" tape from the beginning to the end. That was that. They did not know about the Tube of Light decree, Astreas, Dweller calls etc. They just had the "Save the World with Violet Flame 1" tape and thus started the saving of their world by decreeing for 1.5 hours with Mother on this tape.

Ketino had been working for a small medical company, where the members of this company were interested in esoteric teachings and seeking spirituality. The books of the Prophet's had come to their attention and the company translated and published two books: "Chela and the Path" and "Saint Germain on Alchemy". In autumn 1994, Mother had sent Paul Haugen with two more Keepers to Moscow to introduce the Teachings. This was the time when a few people became the first Keepers in Russia. Eugene and Ketino were amongst them. They got from Paul the "Violet Flame 1" and Archangel Michael tapes (Thank you, Paul!) and started their first decree sessions.

The readers of the books were calling to that company to find out more about the books of the Prophet's and were invited to the Saturday services. Within two weeks three women (Stella L. and two others, who left soon afterwards) joined Eugene and Ketino. The following Saturday another new person came El Morya and Saint Germain continued to send their chelas the readers of the two published books to this little group and in May 1995 there were already about 20 people coming to do decrees. They were still doing the "Violet Flame 1" tape from the beginning to the end with no explanations or Teachings, as there was nobody who could teach the Teachings in this group.

 

First Russians attend SU level 1. Mother was determined to bring the Teachings to the Russian lands and thus 5 Russians, including Eugene, Ketino, Alexandra Sh. and two others, who later left the Teachings, were invited to the Ranch to study the Teachings. They arrived at the Ranch at the end of May and were taught daily by Nelly Tsuru, for one month before the Summer conference, the ABC's of the Teachings. After the conference they attended SU level 1 and at the end of SU, Ketino and Eugene were asked to be the co-leaders of the Moscow Unchartered Group.

 

First steps of the Unchartered Study Group. After returning to Moscow in September they continued to run Saint Germain services, that were greatly enriched by the decrees from the other regular Violet Flame and El Morya tapes, as well as Kuan Yin mantras. Eugene and Ketino also started giving the Teachings they had learned at SU. Eugene was translating the dictation from the weekly POW subscription he received and was reading the dictation in Russian after the service (we did not have tapes with dictations, just the Pearls). Ketino was giving her first simple lectures using her notes from SU and a few audio tapes with Mother's lectures that she had bought at the Ranch.

 

December 1995 First Group test. New people continued to come and the Group grew. At the end of December 1995, Ketino went to Holland to attend the New Year's conference. It was the first European phone patch conference. While she was away Eugene split the Group, invited all the "old" students to follow him and said that all the rest should go home, as there would be no more decree services for them (later he explained that these new people had entities and were not ready to attend the services with him). This was the first initiation for the group.

Looking back on these events we can say that we passed it somewhat easily, even though Eugene took away the altar, the equipment and the venue. There was no gossip, no condemnation. We extended the full cup of forgiveness to Eugene and all the others who had left. We found a new venue for services; Ketino brought her personal tape recorder and her home altar; a whole bunch of new people joined the group; in February 1996 seven people volunteered to serve on the Board of the Group and the Group elected these people by a majority vote to be our first Board members; and finally, literally all the people, who had left the group with Eugene returned within five months.

 

April 1996 First KOF Lessons in Russian. In April 1996 we started translating and distributing the Xerox copies of KOF lessons amongst the members of the Moscow group, who signed the Pledge to Saint Germain and burned it, thus becoming a Keeper. From this point the Russian KOF Fraternity began to grow, as the people received the opportunity to study the KOF lessons in their native language. The Russian Keepers did not pay dues, nor were they officially registered in Montana. They just paid for the Xerox of the lessons in Russian thus having the opportunity to buy and study the lessons.

In summer 1996, Ketino with three other Russians, went to Montana to attend the Freedom conference and SU (for her it was SU level 2, for the other three, who came from other Russian cities level 1). By that time there were more than 50 people attending regular Saint Germain Services in Moscow. The people from nearby cities were attending our services as well. There was a great need for people who knew the Teachings and could teach the Teachings. From the very first day of the Summer Conference Ketino cried out for help. The first people who responded were the Keepers from Europe (Thank you to Europeans and Praise God!). Five people from five European countries (Holland, Austria, Denmark, Norway and Finland) agreed to come to Moscow in the beginning of November and conduct a 9-day Teaching Class on the Teachings of the Ascended Masters.

 

November 1996, First Russian Class. For the first time the lightbearers of Russia and the former Soviet Republics, from cities near and far, who had read the Prophet's books, came to Moscow to study and practice the Teachings. It was the first big event organized by the Moscow group, where many Moscow Keepers stepped forward to serve more than 300 people who attended the Class. Looking back, it was probably the most difficult Teaching Class the Moscow Group has had in terms of energy and expectations from attendees. Many psychic messengers came to deliver their messages and were very surprised to know that they would not be allowed to do so. It was a time when our Group took the first steps to set standards for the Ascended Masters Activity in Russia. Some people, who attended that first Class, became the core people who formed groups in their cities and followed the Moscow example and are successfully practicing the Teachings and conducting decree services till this day.

Russia desperately needed teachers/lecturers the people who knew the Teachings and were eager to work day and night in order to fulfill the spiritual needs of Russians, who were awakened by the books (by that time three most important books "The Chela and the Path", "Saint Germain on Alchemy" and "The Science of the Spoken Word" were already translated and printed in Russian) and were now doing the first steps in practicing the Teachings. We needed these trained lecturers here in Russia! It was clear from the experience of 1995 and 1996 that there could only be a handful of people who could make it to Montana to participate in studies at SU. The Russians did not have enough money, they hardly knew English and then those who could potentially make it, were denied visas. Since the many couldn't go to SU, we needed SU Level 1 to come to Russia!

 

Christmas Eve, 1996 First Live Dictations in Russia . Praise God we were not left comfortless. God heard our plea and sent to us Stuart Montgomerie, who had been in the Teachings since 1992 and had attended SU level 1 and 2. Stuart was one of the five Keepers who had come to teach at our November Class. He saw our vital needs, understood them and responded. After returning back to Denmark from the November Class, he spoke with his wife Susanne and they both decided to come and serve in Russia for one year. In one month they sold their house, quit their jobs and arrived in Moscow on December 24, 1996. On Christmas Eve, the Moscow Group had it first phone patch dictations. The first live dictations on Russian soil were from Lanello and Mother Mary.

 

December 1996 Chartered Study Group. The rules at that time dictated that in order to be on the phone patch we had to be a chartered study group. Thus at the beginning of December we sent to RHQ a request to be chartered along with the applications of the potential Board members, explaining that the chartering had to be done quickly, so that we could participate in the upcoming conference. The first seven KOF lessons had already been translated and given to the members of the Group. The Keepers then wrote the second letter to Saint Germain and thus many members of the Group became lesson 8+ Keepers, which allowed us to form the Board of the chartered group. In the middle of December we received a fax that we had become chartered and were now the TSL Study Group of Moscow. Did we sign any chartered agreements? We can say that we do not have any such signed documents. Russia is too different from America to have common legal agreements easily signed. We were committed to study and embody the Cosmic Laws and Ascended Masters Teachings standards as given through Mark and Mother, though we understood that our beliefs are not necessarily supported by the state or the Russian Orthodox Church.

 

1997 A Year of Growth and Acceleration. The year 1997, when Stuart and Susanne were in Moscow, was a year of great growth, maturity and acceleration. The hungry Russians were getting tons of basic and profound Teachings on a weekly basis. Stuart compiled short Sanat Kumara fiats and nearly the whole group was soon doing hourly Sanat Kumara calls (Mother was very happy about the way we did these fiats). We started an Omri-Tas El Morya 48 hour vigil. "Strong Teachings and Strong Decree Services!" became and remains the motto of our group.

While the Moscow group was going strong, other cities desperately needed help. They needed not only the Teachings, but the basic tools on how to form a group, how to decree (remember, that the people could not buy the decree tapes and did not know English), how to put the altar together etc. We had no materials and no structure. The whole organization had to be built up from a big fat zero.

 

March 1997 Russian Easter Class. In March 1997 we conducted a five-day Teaching Class and Easter phone patch conference attended by representatives of dozens of Russian cities. Europeans once again came to help us. Along with the Masters Teachings given to all attendees, there were three different courses run simultaneously:

1)      for the group leaders (lead by Stuart and Ketino)

2)      on Montessori (lead by Marius van Dorp from Holland)

3)      on macrobiotic diet (lead by Stig Vesturland from Finland)

 

Discipline of the Summit Lighthouse instilled. Stuart compiled the basic rules and standards based on the Administrative Manual for us. The main problem that the Russian groups faced was psychic influence. Many people seeking spirituality were already a part of another spiritual movement, practice or group before they found the Prophet's books. We have in Russia many psychic messengers and people who give karmic readings or who have clairvoyant ability. Such people often became leaders of the study groups and would lead the lightbearers astray. Thus our goal was to inspire people to create study groups where they would study and practice only the Teachings of the Ascended Masters as given through the Messengers Mark and Elizabeth Prophet or those teachings recommended by them.

We taught the people how to set up a Study Group, how to be an effective decree leader, how to make and run services, key Teachings that leaders needed to understand and present to their groups including essential calls and dispensations, how to deal with psychicism etc. Finally all the people coming to Moscow were taught to give English decrees. As explained earlier, the Moscow group decree services were first based on the Violet Flame 1 tape, but the other groups did not have such tapes and thus were decreeing only in Russian. Because of the Moscow example the majority of Russian groups started decreeing in English as well.

 

Publishing House Started. The small publishing company that originally printed the Prophet's books was closed. The books were out of print and the Keepers in the Moscow Group decided to register an organization for publishing the books. The translators and the editors in this publishing company were and still are Keepers (as it is important to understand the subject that one translates), but other types of work for the company (such as layouts, covers, printing process etc.) were often done by non-Keepers. The work and success of the Moscow Study group was and is very much dependent on the work and success of the publishing company and vice-versa.

 

Effective System of Publishing and Teaching. Russians traditionally love to read. Every second person you see in the metro or in the bus is reading. We do not have illiteracy in our country (by God's grace) and nearly all the people in Russia find the Teachings through the books. Thus publishing books is the best way to spread the Teachings in Russia and the former Soviet Republics where the people also understand the Russian language. Our publishing house is successful because it has a follow up. The Moscow group is doing that follow up. We are teaching the readers of the books about how to put the Teachings into real life and how to practice them. Alternately, when the people come to study at our international Teaching Classes that we run yearly, they buy the books and sell them in their own cities and countries, thus making the publishing company stronger. We believe that the success we have in Russia is due to the joint work of the publishing company that provides the theoretical aspect of the Teachings, and the Study Group that helps the readers to practice and internalize the Teachings.

 

1997 First SU Class in Russia . The main event of 1997 was a one month SU Class in a retreat setting near Moscow attended by 170 people. We were determined to run this Class and to bring SU level 1 Teachings to Russians. When Stuart and Ketino traveled to the Ranch in August 1996 in order to invite the SU lecturers and get videos and materials for the Class, the arrangements for the venue had already been made and the pre-registration done. Kate Gordon and Neroli Duffy agreed to come and teach in Russia (Thank you, Kate and Neroli). This was the first and probably the last time when such a long SU Class was held outside of the USA. Mother supported this Class greatly and "fulfilled" all our requests in terms of allowing us to use the Teachings we wanted. She allowed us to take to Russia not only the Teachings of SU level 1 but even level 2 (Mother's lectures on Roerich's "Leaves of Morya's Garden"). Mother also did an emerald matrix blessing for all of us via the phone-patch during the Harvest Conference 1997 she used the pictures of people registered for the Class that we provided in August.

Since 1997 Teaching Classes have been held every year or even twice a year. The retreats were attended by as many as 500 people, the Classes in Moscow up to 800 people. An important aspect that contributes to the success of the Teaching Classes, conferences, seminars is that the Moscow Group does not make a profit on the events to make it affordable to as many people as possible. The people only pay for food, accommodations (if the Class is in the retreat setting), the travel expenses of the American guests/lecturers and for the rent of the venue. Also, we regularly sponsored people from the poorest regions of Russia, gave discounts to old-age pensioners, students and school children. This gave the maximum number of people from all areas and walks of life the opportunity to attend our events and study the Teachings.

 

Unofficial Regional Center. The Moscow group became a regional center (without official status) serving the needs of hundreds and thousands of people in Russian-speaking lands. It was to the Moscow group where people came with their questions and needs often the tests and situations they faced were similar to the ones the Moscow Group had already passed through. The Russians were able to receive the Teachings and words of advice based on the Teachings we had already received from the Masters and Messengers, as well as our experience and the answers we had already received from RHQ. Just as Mother and Masters taught and empowered us to spread the Teachings, so we felt our job was to give the Russian-speaking Keepers the Teachings and to teach the Teachings. We encouraged them to form groups, to elect Boards, to exercise their free will and make decisions themselves based on the Ascended Masters Teachings.

 

Spring 2000 Over 20 Study Groups Chartered. In 1999 Ketino sent to RHQ a number of requests from Russian-speaking groups to supply them with some forms and norms that would allow them to be chartered. She was given the understanding that the norms were in the process of being changed Finally Ketino suggested the adoption of the three-page document, that was written based on the administrative manual. It contained the goals of the TSL study group, the requirements for the group and for the Board and the procedure of elections. The RHQ representative for Russia, Peter Duffy, endorsed the document. During the Spring 2000 visit to Moscow of Kate Gordon, Neroli and Peter Duffy, more than twenty study groups, which had already been actively working for a few years as unchartered study groups, became chartered on the basis of this document. None of the Russian groups have signed any charter agreement with the Mother Church.

 

March 2000 Disagreement Over Church Membership. The first disagreement between the leadership from the Ranch and Moscow leadership of which we are aware was in March 2000 about the communicant initiations and the way the Russians were becoming communicants. There was no way during the Class to follow the proper procedure, i.e. to study the required Teachings and the standards to become a communicant, to go through interviews, to present recommendations from two other communicants etc. The requirements to become communicants were read by Neroli right before the ritual. Then the people stood in a long line to receive the blessing. There were some people whom we knew were psychics or followers of false gurus; some others were totally new in the Teachings (they just came to the Class for the first time and we never saw them again); for some people this was just one more blessing that they were eager to get during the Class. When the Board shared these concerns with Kate and Neroli, they said that all the responsibility is on the people, as it is their free will choice to stand in the line and to become a communicant after they heard the standards, and the ministers are just responsible for telling the standards and requirements. The Moscow Board believed that many people, who became communicants "by any means" could well become the burden for our community in Russia, to our worldwide community, as well as to the Messenger, as they were not keeping the standards of communicants. 

 

Autumn 2000 Disagreement Over A. Blumenschein. The second disagreement was in autumn 2000, when Neroli Duffy spoke for more than an hour on the phone with Ketino, trying to convince her to change her opinion about Andrew Blumenschein. Ketino did not agree with Neroli's judgment. The fact is that many Russians know Andrew personally, as he conducted in Moscow a very successful, fiery, inspiring Prayer Vigil in the Spring of 2000, and could make their assessments from their personal first-hand experience. Andrew was also invited to come conduct the Vigil in 2001, however, that never happened.

 

January 2001 Disagreement Re: April SU Class. The third disagreement was between the Moscow Board and the team from the Ranch. According to an agreement made in the Summer of 2000 Kate Gordon, Peter and Neroli Duffy were to conduct the SU Class in April 2001, that was to be 10 days long and include Maitreya's Seminar and the SU series on "Understanding Yourself". At the end of December the agreements were confirmed via e-mail and the announcements were already made during the New Year's conference, but on January 10th Kate and Neroli informed us on the phone about the changes they wanted to make in the format and the context of the Class. They said they could not bring Maitreya's Seminar and could come just for 3-4 days instead of 10 days. They also said, that they will only bring a few lectures on "Understanding Yourself" instead of the whole series, though they knew the book "Understanding Yourself" was planned to be released by the date of the Class and these were the first lectures on psychology for Russians.

We explained that the Teaching Class is the spiritual event that the people are waiting for and preparing for during the whole year by saving up their money, using their annual vacation, some of them traveling 3-4 days one way just to come to Moscow, sending the representatives of the groups so that they can bring the Teachings they learned to their cities. We explained the needs of Russians and the importance of giving a good portion of Teachings during this Class as it is the only time and place in a year the people can get it. But Kate and Neroli responded with some interesting statements, for example: "It does not matter what Teachings we bring to Russia, as Russians would be anyway happy to see us and grateful for whatever Teachings we bring." While it is true, that Russians are happy to see Kate and Neroli, we tried to explain that it does matter what Teachings would be taught at the Class. Moreover the people had to pay for a 3-4 day Class the same amount of money as for a ten-day Class, as they still had to pay the traveling expenses for three people from the Ranch. The Moscow Board had also concerns about the desire of the ministers to conduct the sacraments, as we had recent problems with Russian authorities. Finally after difficult discussions we had a five-and-a-half day Class with no Maitreya's Seminar, but by God's Grace, the full cup of "Understanding Yourself" lectures by Mother and the sacraments held in a separate venue for security reasons was negotiated.

 

January 2002 Ranch Begins Its Reformation of the Moscow Group. The formerly good working relationship and understanding between Kate-Neroli-Peter and the Moscow leadership was disturbed. This may have been the time when they decided to change the "rebellious" leaders, who disagree with them on so many points into a "yes"-leadership. After getting information about the next annual elections in January 2002 the RHQ (through Peter Duffy) did not approve the election of the three core people with the excuse of rotation. These were the people, whom the members of the Group were electing on the Board year after year (we were existing as a chartered group for just 5 years). The three Board members stepped down and other elections were held a month later.

At the time the second elections were taking place in Moscow, Ketino was going through the Council of Elders election process at the Ranch, where she was elected as an elder with a two-year term. While being at the Ranch Ketino approached Kate Gordon asking if there was any other substance but rotation behind the resignation of the three key Board members including herself from the Board of the Moscow Group. Kate assured her that it was just the issue of rotation and the desire to give the opportunity to other people in the Group to be on the Board and that headquarters was very happy with the work that the Moscow group was doing and had no complaints about Ketino or other discharged Board members. The result of the second elections was unexpected: only one person was elected to the Board and the two other seats remained vacant. The Group did not give 50 percent or more of the votes to any other candidate.

In his first letter to the new Board on March 7, 2002 which appeared to be the formal letter from the Office of Ministry confirming the appointments of the Board Peter Duffy wrote: "I also hope to visit Moscow at least once this year if it can be arranged. This could be for a Summit University class, or even just to visit with the Moscow Study Group". In his next letter on March 17 Peter wrote: "I have received a couple of questions from Keepers of the Flame in Russia wondering why Kate, Neroli or myself are not visiting Moscow this year Is there anything I should say in reply to these questions, apart from the fact that we haven't received an invitation?" The Board sent RHQ an abstract of the Board meeting minutes stating that the Teaching Class in May would be based on Mother's Teachings on Phylos the Tibetan and that Tom and Celeste Miller, who knew both Messengers personally were invited to the Class as special guests to help Russians establish the heart tie with the Messengers Mark and Mother. (Any one may get an idea about our Class by watching the movie "From Russia with Love" Tom Miller did after his visit to Russia.)

 

2002, Another Year of Growth. 2002 was very fruitful for the Moscow Group. After living for 4 years in New Zeeland Stuart and Susanne returned to Moscow and helped prepare the lectures and Teaching Classes. Besides the May Class in Moscow another Teaching Class was held during September in Sochi, in the South of Russia where Mother's lectures on the Holy Spirit were presented. We also had the biggest Victory in our publishing affair: the book "Climb the Highest Mountain" was published (Praise the LORD!), which took us one and a half years of work to translate and edit.

 

Also a Year of Russian Opposition. It was not surprising for us that along with the Victories we had plenty of opposition to the Masters' work. Where there is a great Light there always comes Darkness to oppose that Light. Right after the May Class we were kicked out of the venue we had for services and had to find a new one, though the venue was prepaid through the end of June. In October, as soon as the book "Climb the Highest Mountain" was available in the bookstores we lost our customer service office, that was selling the books via mail. The same month we once again lost (this time for 1.5 months) our main venue for the services. All of this was because some officials did not like the "religious" content of our books or work.

 

January 2003 Meetings at RHQ. At the end of January Ketino came to the Ranch to attend the annual Elder's meeting. She also had a number of meetings with the leadership of the organization. On January 29 at 2 p.m. she had a meeting with Linda Worobec, David Lewis and Peter Duffy at the Ministry trailer. It was the first time Ketino met with Linda and David to speak about the Moscow Group's activities, as both of them were recently appointed to the positions that hold them responsible for the group's and KOF's activities.

During the meeting Linda said that she plans to come to Moscow sometime in Spring this year. Ketino asked: "For sightseeing?" Linda responded that she wants to come not for sightseeing, but to visit the Moscow Group as a minister etc. Ketino said that she couldn't come to the Moscow group, as she is a minister. Ketino also answered "Yes" on Peter's question if that means that he, and Neroli and Kate couldn't come as well. Then she turned to David Lewis and asked: "Are you a minister?" David replied "No". Ketino said "You can come".

Then they had conversation for a few hours where Ketino explained in detail about the differences between the ways Russia and USA treat religious groups. Russians are only allowed to run the organization in a certain way that is different from the way they are run in America. During this meeting Peter and Linda started proposing the ways around the obstacles that prevented them from coming to Russia. Linda said she could come as a singer and nobody would know that she is a minister. Peter said that the event could be conducted in the other city and country (Ukraine or Baltic country) rather than Moscow. Ketino said that the other groups have much less to lose, as they are small and are not responsible for publishing etc. She said the Boards will make the decisions for their groups themselves and she is speaking just for the Moscow Group and asking Linda to consider the information she gave her before she makes the decision to come to Moscow.

A few days later during a break in Elder's meeting Ketino had a similar conversation with Kate Gordon, explaining why Kate is not invited to come to the Moscow Group.

 

SU team plans the trip to Russia and Ukraine . In February Vadim from Rostov Group contacted Moscow Group asking the e-mail address of Lars Johansson (minister in Europe), saying that he wants to invite him as a minister to his Group. He also sent the same type of e-mail to Peter Duffy. Peter responded that Lars is not an active minister any more and instead Peter and Neroli could come to Russia to fulfill the ministerial duties.

In the beginning of March Peter wrote a letter to the Dnepropetrovsk Group, asking if they would like to have him and Neroli to come to hold a short seminar in Ukraine. The respond from the Dnepropetrovsk Group was that they would be very happy to receive them.

The Moscow Group members were busy preparing their own big annual Teaching Class and were not involved in the preparations of Peter and Neroli's trip to Russia and Ukraine, except Olga P., who offered them help with visas, travel and accommodation arrangements (she was not involved in the activities of the Moscow Group and even hardly attended the services in the past two years).

 

The letter "Ignorance of the law is no excuse" gives a lot of factual material and quotes from the e-mails between headquarters and the Board of the Moscow Group during this year. This letter will just add more facts and correspondence that happened this Summer before the August 29 meeting and in preparation to it in order to help you better understand where we all were by August 29.

 

A New Milestone: The May Retreat 2003. The two-week May Retreat 2003 was no doubt under El Morya. We had Mother's/El Morya's "Community" lectures with quite a few dictations of El Morya (including the "benched" and "unbenched" ones). We also played the whole 1993 Easter conference dictations (Class of Elohim), that was a very new and profound experience for Russians, who did not have a chance to attend such conferences with Mother in the past. Tom and Celeste Miller, Alex and Margaret Reichardt were invited as guests to the Class. We believe, these were truly the right/best people, who could share their personal experience of living in Community and participating in building the Community, that Mother was speaking about in her lectures. Thank you Tom and Celeste, Alex and Margaret, we were truly blessed to have you here in Russia.

 

 The written response from Peter Duffy on May 13 on this fact was: "I just learned that you invited four people from America to participate in the May class you are holding in Moscow. You will remember that I asked you previously to let us know about people you were thinking of inviting before inviting them. Could you tell me why you didn't do that this time?" By the tone of this letter we felt that he was not happy with our choice.

 

Moscow Board Elections. The Russian people are used to their leaders saying one thing and doing another, so they have become well trained in judging their leaders by their actions, not their words. The will of the Moscow group is expressed yearly during the elections to the Board. Before 2002 we had one-year term elections. Each year all the Board members were stepping down and going through elections. Usually the elections were bringing the 3 "new" Board members and the 4 "old". It is obvious that the people, when they have the opportunity to choose, support those who serve their needs the best, isn't it? The Board elections of 2003 brought Ketino and Stuart back on the Board for a two-year term. This was the will of the majority of the members of the Moscow group. But it did not necessarily match with the will and the desires of

1)           &nb sp;    some people in the Moscow group who were lusting for power, but were not able to get that power through the rightful election process, and

2)           &nb sp;    those in RHQ, who wanted the power and control over Russia, but were not able to get it through the rightful election process

The desires of these two groups of people could be easily fulfilled when one group is appointed by the other.

 

The questions to ask about the people in the Moscow Group that were not happy with the work of the Board and the activities of the Group are: Who were they? What were they complaining about? How many people were in that complaining group?

 

The Orchestration of the Complainers. One could be surprised, but the whole scenario of the opposition in the Group was orchestrated throughout the years by one single person Alexandra Sh. (A.Sh.) From the first year of existence of the Group she did attract to her all the complaining people, no matter what they were unhappy about. She was artfully playing on the different problems small and big, that burdened the people at any particular moment by pointing the finger at the Board as the source of the problem/burden/inconvenience. These "problems" ran the gamut of: the decrees are too loud/the decrees are too soft; too many decrees are in English/too many decrees are in Russian; it is too cold in the venue/it is too hot in the venue; the services are too early/the services are or too late; the venue is too far from metro; the absence of permanent focus (and thus the altar, equipment, chairs have to be set up for each service); the absence of macrobiotic food or Montessori Teachings; the absence of a bookstore owned by the Group; the absence of the registered religious organization and so on and so forth. Generally the complainers focused on "what was not" and not on "what can I do".

A.Sh. complained about the published books as well: either the size of the book was wrong, or the cover was not good enough, or the amount of books sold was poor. In fact any Victory in the Group was turned by her into defeat. When 10.000 books sold, she could complain why not 20.000, when 100.000, why not 200.000, etc.

A young couple Rauf and Natalia who went with A.Sh. to Fatima in 2001, were present in the meetings that Alexandra had with Norman Millman, who worked at that time at the SU Press department. We learned recently from them that A.Sh. was telling Norman how bad our books, covers, distribution and that the whole publishing process was. She told the same things to the Spanish publishers she met there. As a result, Norman asked us to start sending him the covers of the books for approval. The witness of Rauf and Natalia explains also why Norman wanted to visit Moscow in October 2001. By God's Grace the fruits, i.e. the books, speak for themselves and thus the only words Norman was saying about the Moscow publishing were "God bless you for the work you do".

A.Sh. visited quite a few groups (some of them two-three times) in different parts of Russia and Ukraine with a Community Building Program that was originally taught in 1998 in Moscow by Neroli and Peter Duffy. There was one main message that we heard from her through all the years of the existence of our Group and this message she also brought to the groups she visited: the Moscow Group is in trouble, people are leaving and the Group will surely die, die, die in the next few months if the Board is not changed and this or that thing is not changed.

Why do the people tend to listen to and believe A.Sh.? First of all she is a masterful speaker. She is also one of the eldest members of the Group. She was the chief translator and editor of the books for many years, which explains her knowledge of the Teachings. Her good deeds as the translator of the books, the knowledge of the Teachings, the masterful skill to speak well/nice and the beautiful promises to change the life for the better attracted through the years many people, especially among the new seekers. One can hardly find a person in the Moscow Group (including the Board members) who did not go through some tests with A.Sh. By God's grace for the majority this influence was just for a time. Some people felt that something was wrong with her sweet words by their heart discernment. Many needed time sometimes months, sometimes years in order to see the fruits/deeds of the "doers" versus the "talkers" and recognize the Truth. Some are still caught in her nets, but by God's Grace these people were and are in the vast minority.

This Summer A.Sh. organized a trip of a group of Russian Keepers to Montana to attend the Freedom conference and SU. This was a good opportunity to plan the events that took place on August 29. This explains why Alexandra was well aware not only about the dismissal of Ketino, but also about the reason she was to be dismissed before the event took place.

 

Future big changes in September are anticipated. During the Summer conference Natalia K. from Rybinsk approached Ketino and expressed a big concern about what she was told by Valdemar, a member of the Moscow Group. Valdemar was in favor of the official registration of the Church in Russia and told Natalia that big changes would be happening in Moscow Group in September this year, that would help manifest this idea. (Note, originally the SU team had planned to be in Russia during the first ten days of September and at least one Keeper of the Moscow Group already knew in the beginning of July that big changes would be happening in the Group.)

 

RHQ team increases. The SU team was growing. In June there were already five people, who planned to come to Russia, as Kate, Linda and Benuard joined Neroli and Peter. Benuard was hired to work at the Ranch and help prepare the SU trip to Russia.

Right after the July conference Benuard spoke with Alexandra T. (A.T.) from Dnepropetrovsk and told her that the young couple Andrey and Elena, who visited the Ranch for the Summer conference and SU expressed a lot of concerns about the current situation in the Moscow Study Group. He asked A.T. if she knew anything about that situation or about any problems in the Moscow Study Group. A.T. said that she is not aware about any problems in Moscow and advised Benuard not to take into consideration the words of Andrei and Elena as she does not consider them to be true chelas of the Ascended Masters. She said this because she had witnessed their attitude to the Teachings when Andrei and Elena visited Dnepropetrovsk and lived at her house for a few days.

On July 23 in his conversation with A.T. from Dnepropetrovsk Benuard mentioned how wonderful was the team of people from Russia, who visited the Ranch in the Summer and that he was very sorry that these people were not able to find their rightful place in the Group. Julia P., from Moscow who was also a part of the Russian team staying at the Ranch for another month after the Summer conference and SU and was in close contact with Neroli and Peter Duffy, helping to prepare their trip.

It was not surprising that the two people from that team, who were at the Ranch and expressed concerns about the Moscow Group Andrei and Julia became appointed Board members. One other new Board member appeared to be Julia's Mother Olga, who organized the trip of the SU team to Moscow.

All of this shows that those who were at the Ranch, those who expressed "concerns", those who invited the ministers to Moscow, are the same people who are now appointed at the new Board.

 

RHQ Creates a Problem in Order to Provide the Solution. On July 12 Peter Duffy wrote to the Board:

"This purpose of this letter is to let you know about some of the requirements for the chartered study groups that are included in the bylaws that study group operate under. In particular I want to let you know about two reports that we ask study groups to send to headquarters each year. I do understand that you have not been sending these to headquarters in previous years. But we would like to begin receiving these reports from you now.

The first is the annual report on the activities of the group in the previous year. The election guidelines have a suggested outline for this report. I will also send you a sample outline. It is not essential to follow this exact format, but we would like to have a fairly comprehensive report of your activities. It is very helpful to us in assessing our priorities at headquarters and our allocation of resources to know what is happening in our different groups.

The other report that is required by the Study Group Bylaws is a financial report. The bylaws provide for this to be forwarded to headquarters every three months, but we have recently been asking only for annual reports. I will send you a copy of recommended format for this report for 2002. If there are differences in accounting principles and practices in Russia, this may need to be adapted. But the sample report gives you a good idea of what kind of report we are looking for.

We are requesting that you send these two reports for the year 2002 and also send them in future years as specified in the bylaws and election guidelines".

 

One can see from this letter that

1)      We were not required before to send these two reports to RHQ.

2)      We never fulfilled the requirements of the Bylaws they quoted.

3)      The leadership (whom Peter represented) knew well that we were not sending these two reports and were not fulfilling the requirements of the Bylaws and were in agreement with this through all the years of our existence.

4)      The leadership has changed their mind about the way we existed and operated all these years and was now demanding from us to fulfill the rules that were written in the document that was never applicable for the Moscow Group or any other group in Russian speaking lands.

5)      The leadership did not discuss with us if we were capable to operate under these new rules. They did not tell us why they changed the agreements we operated under through all years of our existence. They just demanded us to do something that we are not capable of fulfilling in our country.

 

We were not fulfilling some points of the Bylaws, not because we did not want to fulfill them, but because we were not able to fulfill them. These two things: the laws of our country and the Summit Lighthouse Study group Bylaws are incompatible. Back in '95 and '96 when Mother was aware of the Russian situation and apparently more aware of the long lasting influence of the communist ideology than the present leadership, this situation was understood and RHQ was happy with the structure we were building. During the intervening years until this past July, the leadership appeared to show an understanding of what and why we were doing things differently than in the USA. When Ketino was at the Ranch at the end of last April, she was not told of any concerns with the way the Moscow group operated or about RHQ's desire to make drastic changes. Just three months later we were told that we had to operate differently with no explanations of what were the causes for these changes nor with any questions to us as to whether or not we could operate under the new requirements. Any person would ask the question: "What happened during these three months that dramatically changed the minds of the leadership?"

 

The Board responded to Peter on July 20 that we will provide him with the required reports and indicated our concern: "The only problem we see with the provision of such reports is the security risk of mailing or e-mailing them. If these, or any future reports from the study group (especially financial reports) will fall into wrong hands then the group and its activities will be severely jeopardized. We would like to suggest that we adopt the same practice that we use for providing our regular financial reports to SU Press which is for these reports to be physically delivered in person".

That same day on July 20 Peter responded: "I do understand your concerns about the reports. Therefore it will be fine to follow the procedures you have for your reports to SU Press. Since we will be there at the end of August, this would be a good opportunity for us to get these reports".

In two days on July 22 he wrote another letter requesting again the reports to be sent right away: "Kate said she would like to receive the reports from Moscow group before we arrive in Moscow".

 

Ketino wrote a long letter to Kate explaining the security issues, giving the examples of persecution we were facing etc. At the end of her July 22 letter she wrote: "Each time you have some idea about doing something in Russia or requesting something from us, please, ask what we are capable of doing in our given circumstances, that are so different from your country. Unfortunately, often what we can do is different from what we wish to do. If we would follow our desires and not see the reality and not hear many warnings, then we will be physically destroyed: no books, no groups, no services, no Keepers. We can do only what we can do".

Kate responded on July 24: "Thank you for sharing your concerns about getting information to us.  I am simply trying to make time to read your documents and understand them before leaving for the trip to Russia I/we are at a disadvantage in creative thought because we are ignorant of what takes place there".

Ketino wrote to Kate the same day: "It is very sad to hear that you are "ignorant of what takes place". By their fruits ye shall know them. You know us by our fruits. I have given many reports over the years about what and how we are doing here".

 

It was clear for our Board that the leadership was not happy anymore with what, why and how we were doing and with the way we have lived all these years and thus wanted to change it. We sensed a problem.

 

Olga P. gives Ketino the forewarning. At the end of July Ketino spoke on the phone with Olga P., who was appointed after the August 29^th meeting as a President of the Moscow Group. Olga was very negative about the activities of the Group, including our recent May Class, that she did not attend herself. Actually she hardly attended even our services during the last 2.5 years. Olga said that she did not consider herself to be a member of the Group. She called herself an observer, watching from outside what the Group is doing. At the end of the conversation she said that it would be better if Ketino leaves the position of leader by her free will, as she will be swept away by the tide/wave anyway.

 

Communications and Events Leading Up to August 29. By August 10 we knew that Benuard was going to stay in Moscow for about half a year. We had good relationships in the past with Benuard and did not see any problems for him to stay in Moscow, but we sensed that there was a problem.

The Church leaders, who hired Benuard to work in Russia, had a vision about what is the Moscow Group and what it is meant to be and there was no place for our Board in this vision. If our understanding was wrong and Benuard was going to work with us as Board members for six months, why did not we plan this work together in the open? It is a real blessing for any group to have one more person who is full time working for the Teachings! And we know this well by our personal experience and that is why we invited Stuart and Susanne to come and work in our Group. Benuard could happily join our team if he wanted to work together with us. But he did not share with us his plans, as if we were not the ones who would be fulfilling these plans with him. The other explanation could be that the Church leaders and Benuard knew beforehand that we would not support these plans. Thus there was no need to discuss the ideas that we would be either forced to manifest or we would have to get out of the way of those who would be happy to manifest them.

 

We knew neither the long term plans, that the representative of headquarters was to fulfill in Moscow, nor the short term plans about the visit of RHQ leadership to Moscow. On August 21 we wrote to Linda, who was communicating with us regarding the meetings that the leadership requested with our Board:

 

"You have said that you would like to discuss future plans for the Moscow Study Group. We would appreciate beforehand an agenda for this meeting and details of your future plans. As you will only be in Moscow for 2 meetings with us, we believe the most constructive and effective use of time is when all parties are prepared. To this point in time, we don't know what your plans and ideas are. We would appreciate detailed plans from you, in order to be well prepared for the meetings. It would be good, if you could provide us with this information before August 25."

 

On August 25 we got this response from Linda:

"Regarding the agenda, the organization's leadership has not met with the Moscow Board since 2000 (note. Actually 2001) therefore we would like to find out how the study group is doing in terms of membership, services, how to have closer relationship with headquarters, publishing issues and also address some of the concerns you brought in your recent email to the Elders and the Board. Then we will just see where things evolve from our discussions. We expect all of the board members to participate in the discussions. We are looking forward to meeting with you and meeting El Morya's and Igor's  chelas."

 

As one can see from this e-mail the leadership said very little about their plans and did not indicate any concerns from their side. We had only written communication with RHQ during the last three months before the August 29 meeting and thus we can state as a fact, that we were not informed about any specific concerns that the leadership had or wanted to discuss with us. There were only our concerns that we voiced in the letter "Ignorance of the law is no excuse". But our Moscow Board did not get any response on its letter. We did not get even any single question from the Board of Directors about the events that on August 16^th, we warned would happen.

The physical division and destruction of the Moscow Group started on that day. It was initiated by the Church leadership and could be stopped by them. Where the dialog was needed, there was only a monologue a long letter "Ignorance of the law is no excuse" from our side and silence from the other side.

On our last Moscow Board meeting in August Konstantin (the only Board member who was not dismissed from his position, who had voted against the "Ignorance of the law" letter) asked us: "Do you all know what had happened with the Board of the London Study Group?" He warned us that this can happen with us also. We responded that we all know that.

 

On August 18 Ketino received the e-mail from Jacqueline Millman: "Hi Ketino. We're trying to reach you by phone and I've tried to call you several times this morning but there was no answer "

Ketino answered on August 19: "Dear Jacqueline, Please let me know who is requesting to speak to me and what is the purpose of the call. The best way would be to e-mail me the issue that needs to be discussed. Always Victory! Ketino".

Jacqueline the same day: "Dear Ketino, Thank you for responding. I just received your e-mail. Are you available to have a phone meeting tonight, Tuesday, August 19^th, with Kate Gordon and Tina Storti regarding Russia? We are hoping that 7:00pm or 8:00pm Montana time would work for you. Could you please let me know if this is possible for you?"

Ketino spoke with the Moscow Board members and they said that they want to be involved in any discussion "regarding Russia". Thus Ketino wrote:

"Dear Jacqueline,

The time you proposed is not good for me, as it is night in Moscow due to the time difference with Montana. Thus I will not be able to answer the phone call at that time. Moreover the Board of our Group would like to be involved into any discussions of issues regarding Russia and does not encourage me having any personal conversations on this topic at this particular time. Thus we would like to suggest writing an e-mail on the issues that need to be discussed. It will enable the leadership to have not just my personal respond, but the respond of the Board.

Always Victory !

Ketino"

Jacqueline responded: "Dear Ketino, Thank you for your response. Kate and Tina said that they will schedule a meeting when they arrive, and they will talk to you when they get there".

 

The place for the August 29^th meeting. The first and the last meeting the Moscow Board had was the August 29 meeting. The place for the meeting also appeared to become a problem, though first it did not seem to be a difficult issue.

August 21, the Moscow Board writes to Linda: "The Board of the MSG can meet you in your room at the President Hotel, Friday August 29, at 1p.m. We can also meet on Saturday at the same place. Can you please let us know the address of this hotel?"

August 25, Linda writes to us: "Dear Ketino and the Moscow Board, We have been informed that the President Hotel has strict security arrangements in place. We need to give them a list of the visitors who will be meeting us at the hotel on Friday and Saturday. So, please email me a list of the full name of everyone on the board who will be there for the meeting. Also, please let the board members know that all visitors to the hotel have to have their passports with them. Here is the address of the President Hotel "

The next day the SU team had another proposal: "Dear Ketino and the Moscow Board, It seems that we are not able to use the meeting rooms in the President Hotel. Olga P. has graciously offered the use of her office for the meetings which will be held on Friday "

The Board definitely did not want to meet at office of Olga for the same reason why we did not want her daughter Julia to translate for us (Note, that Olga became a President of the newly appointed Board on August 30).

The Board decided to propose a venue that we used for our middle week services. On August 26 we wrote: "Dear Linda, Our board would like to use another venue for our meetings on Friday and Saturday We have now arranged a suitable venue for the meeting at XX for Friday and Saturday between 12 and 3pm. We are happy to meet you either outside the Building at 11.55am or on the platform at Metro XX at 11.50am. This venue is only 20 minutes away from your hotel traveling via Metro so it will also be convenient for you as regards time. If you would prefer, one of our board members could meet you at your Hotel and take you via Metro to the venue".

On August 27 we got a positive response from Linda on our proposal: "Dear Ketino, I think the meeting can be held on Friday at the XX at 12 noon to 3pm. Please have a board member meet us at our hotel at 11.30 am to take us to the metro".

We wrote back: "Dear Linda, One of our Board members will meet you at reception at the President Hotel at 11.30 sharp for the 12 noon meeting".

The arrangements were made, the agreement was reached, the SU team was on their way to Moscow, BUT

But Olga P. who was making the visa, travel and accommodation arrangements for the SU team wrote us a fax (in Russian), saying that we had to consult with her before we made the arrangements. She did not like the place we have chosen and said that the guests will not travel to the meeting via metro.

We wrote back to Olga asking to give the following message to the SU team:

"Dear Linda and members of the SU team,

The Board of the MSG has already rented a venue for the meetings. This is the venue that we use for our mid-week services. We thought it would be interesting for you to see where we meet as well as to have an altar for our meeting. This place has a free entrance, and by God's grace we have never had any security issues while attending this venue. We understand Olga's concern about travel via the Metro, and thus we accept her offer to take you to the meeting via car. We will be waiting for you at XX at 12 noon".

 

One can see from this correspondence that we did our best to meet the changing plans of the SU team. Unfortunately after arriving in Moscow and speaking with Olga the leadership was convinced that the best place to meet would be Olga's office. They also proposed to meet at the hotel, but without Stuart as he is a foreigner and Olga told them that it is somehow dangerous to have him on the meeting in the hotel. She also said that the place we proposed was also "dangerous". Both things to meet without Stuart or to meet at Olga's office were not acceptable for us. Thus it resulted in an argument between Ketino and Linda that was later reported as the "demands that the team meet in the location of her choice".

 

The last service of the Moscow Group as a whole. On August 21^st the Group lost it's venue for Saint Germain services. We had to quickly find some a temporary venue as we were participating in the prayer vigil and had to broadcast the service from Moscow on August 23^rd.  That August 23 ^rd service was the last service when the Moscow Group members came together with more than a hundred people in attendance.

 

Dnepropetrovsk calls Moscow before August 29^th meeting. At night on August 29 Ketino got the phone call from Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine. The Dnepropetrovsk board member Alexandra T. (A.T.) told Ketino, that a member of her group Natalia Y. was informed by Alexandra Sh. (A.Sh.) from Moscow that Ketino would be dismissed from the Moscow Board for personality cult reasons. A.T. asked Ketino if the information about her dismissal is true and without even allowing her to answer this question said that she and the other Board members knew well about the intentions and the plots of A.Sh., as she had tried to poison their minds against Ketino and the Moscow Board for many years each time she visited the Dnepropetrovsk Group. She said that they never thought she could succeed in her plans and thus did not pay the due attention to her speeches, but if the information about the dismissal would be true, the Dnepropetrovsk Group will not support those who bring destruction to Russia and would cancel the SU Class. It was a big surprise for Ketino to receive such a phone call and the support from the Dnepropetrovsk Group. Ketino confirmed that the information is correct and within two days she would be dismissed together with the other Moscow Board members.

A.T. wanted to know the details of what is happening in Moscow. Ketino said that she does not have time to give the explanations, but she can send her the letter "Ignorance of the law is no excuse", that would give some answers on her questions. That was the end of that conversation. Ketino send A.T. the letter, but did not tell her that the letter was just for her to read it, thus A.T. sent it to her friends in the USA.

Note, the Moscow Board sent the letter to the Church leadership on August 13 and have waited till August 29 for a response, but did not get any. Note also that it was not our Group who made it public. From the very beginning we attempted to work within the leadership communication structure (to the Church Board with copy to Elders), but the leadership assumed that we were the ones, who released the letter, as they have not given us a meeting where we could have explained this.

 

What was the Moscow Study Group by August 29, 2003?

Age 6 years 8 month old (chartered)

KOF over 500

Average attendance on a regular basis:

-         Weekly Saint Germain services 135 people

-         Monthly Surya services 175 people

-         Quarterly conferences 200 people

-         Annual Teaching Classes 500 people

Note: The Moscow Group has a different charter than US and other foreign groups: see the discussion at the "December 1996 Chartered Study Group" heading above. The KOF Fraternity is also set up in a different way, as the Keepers of Russian speaking nations are not registered in Montana and do not pay monthly dues.

 

What was TSL in Russia by August 29, 2003?

The Moscow Study Group was a regional center for TSL in Russia. The study groups all over Russian speaking lands were formed/(set up) by the example, tutorage and direct assistance from the Moscow Group.

-         Age 6 years 8 month old

-         "Russia" means Russian speaking lands (15 former Soviet Republics)

-         Territory 11 time zones

-         KOF about 4500

-         Chartered Study Groups 27

-         Unchartered Study Groups numberless numbers that we will not number

Note: Again, the charter under which groups operate in the Russian speaking nations is different than the charter that applies to US and other foreign groups: see also the discussion at the "Spring 2000 Over 20 Study Groups Chartered" heading above.

 

What was our publishing house by August 29, 2003?

-         Books published 35 titles of SU Press, including "Climb the Highest Mountain", "Science of the Spoken Word", "The Chela and the Path", "Saint Germain on Alchemy" "Lost Years of Jesus", "The Human Aura", "Reincarnation: the Missing Link in Christianity", "Lords of the Seven Rays", "Dossier on Ascension", "Saint Germain's Prophecy for the New Millennium", "Kabbalah: Key to Your Inner Power", "Messages from Heaven", "Understanding Yourself" etc.                   

-         Books sold 700 000 copies in 6 years

-         Video over 15.000 tapes sold of Masters dictations with Russian subtitles and Mother's lectures with voiceover

-         Audio over 20.000 tapes with decrees and songs sold

-         Pictures and focuses of the Masters (including the big altar sets) over 200.000 copies sold

-         KOF lessons 1-26 lessons in Russian

 

 

This letter was written by the former Board members and the core active Keepers of the Moscow Group.