By Kellie Newton
This letter is intended as a resource for those who are thinking of leaving Training in Power, and as a counter point for those still firmly ensconced in TIP who believe that Diane Muir’s website “Lessons in Awareness” is just a spiteful, one woman’s crusade to destroy an “innocent church of light.”
My perspective comes from many years distance from the training; I was one of the first to leave in the exodus of ’97. I really don’t need to go into details about grievances regarding Faye’s behavior–EVERYONE has their stories in this arena– even the diehards, they just haven’t had enough of them yet to admit to themselves that the empress has no clothes. Some people are simply learning at a much slower pace.
Here are some points to consider around the very important need for DueDiligence when considering Faye and the Training:
When Faye makes a fantastic claim, gems ranking from the benign such as “I am a martial artist”, to more suspect ones like “My psychic accuracy is near perfect” or “I have training in psychotherapy and psychology”–be sure you perform due diligence in researching that she is who she says she is, that she has the expertise that she claims. Where are her certifications? Who did she train with and for how long?
You have the right to question her. People who rage at those who question often have much to hide.
When has anyone ever forced her to prove her psychic accuracy? Has she ever shown her students how well she plays the hiding game people learn in level 2? And, assuming that she “may” be more intuitive than you, just because she may hit one nail on the head, does not mean that she is always right. Her telling you that you have abuse in your past (whether received or perpetrated) that you cannot remember, does not mean that this is true, that she is getting a psychic hit about you, or that she is even psychic.
One of the priceless claims I now laugh at is the assertion that Level 1 and 2 are energetically “equivalent to (x amount) of years of cloistered monastic training in Tibet”. Energetically equivalent? Measured by whom? Is there even a remotely verifiable way to prove this statement beyond Faye’s own, and her starry-eyed upper level followers own, assertions that this is true? I laughed to hear a friend recount how, upon recently attending a Level 1 training and hearing this assertion, he actively questioned the one who taught him.
“Did (the teacher) know,” he asked, “exactly what Tibetan monks could accomplish upon finishing their first 7 years training in Tibet?”
“No”, she did not know.
“Well, I do,” said my friend. “I have interacted with quite a few of them. They are so energetically tuned that they have the ability to mentally control their body temperature so as to be able to sleep outside on a frozen ground in freezing temperatures with only a thin cotton blanket to cover them and awake the next morning refreshed and well rested without any signs of hypothermia. Is this something that you can do?”
Well, no she couldn’t.
And I am certain neither can her enlightened Faye. Needless to say, this Level 1 teacher was very nonplussed and, from my friend’s description of her reaction, she evidently believed that he was a big conduit of attack towards her. Hmmmm, all for asking probing questions.
Okay this is a big one: One of the hardest things to let go of is the work, the techniques learned for the various healing groups, the shielding, the strikes, the work done in meditations. Faye will still grip you if you leave but think that her work is still good. I say that most of it was just overly elaborate visualization exercises, as opposed to verifiable energetic techniques. Remember, the mind is so powerful that it can do miraculous things if it’s fully behind a–or any, for that matter– belief system (see the book “The Holographic Universe”) The amazing things you have experienced in the Training can be just as easily (and less crazily) experienced outside theTraining if you choose to do your own work of spiritual discovery.
Faye’s strengths lie in a flair for the dramatic, story weaving, and whipcracking; she’s a good motivator and a hell of a web spinner. But again, think! I know we new age-y types like to dive into all that science fiction-y mumbo-jumbo that she tells us about—but ask yourself is any of this provable outside the opinions of this group?
Be absolutely honest with yourself—can you really see grey lines or a golden cord, or a pillar of fire, or periwinkle parasites, or space sharks, etc, etc or do you just really, really WANT to see them sooo bad and are convinced that others can so you just are going to believe that you can “sense” them because you really are only “clair-sentient” anyway? Give it up! You know, I have been walking around for the last 7 years since I left the training not seeing those things, not doing one WHIT of anything that I learned and I am FINE. (And, by “fine,” I certainly do not mean “fucked up neurotic and emotional”, Jesus, what a trip she does on people!
Envision a time when you will not be trapped by words, significators and smug knowing nods – it’s a great place!) I am happy much more so than I was in the Training. I have a satisfying, playful, functional relationship with a man I am married to. I am healthy, and my soul is my own—with no guru / teacher / leader to constantly tell me I am not hitting the mark. There are those who will say that it’s because I’m asleep, or back on the Karmic wheel, or on the fabric, or blah, blah, blah but they need to say that to justify their own unhappiness, unhealthiness (no historical native Shamans I have studied were obese and addicted to coffee), and deep fear of what would happen if they asked,”what if Faye is, and therefore I am, wrong?”
Do yourself a huge favor, try to find how you can view a series of shows putout by Penn and Teller called “Bullshit!” This show is SO good at showing how a little common sense and not a few probing questions go a long way in teaching people that many claims to esoteric and mundane ability and knowledge are merely only smoke and mirrors.
Phew! A very long letter, thanks for wading through this. My intent is not to cause harm to those I care for still in the training, you know who you are, my intent is to create a space for pause and reflection. Your soul is your own, you can do it alone, no fear of attack, no fear of evil.
“Out beyond ideas of right and wrong, there is a field – I’ll meet youthere.”
–Rumi
With Love,
Kellie Newton (class of ’97)