Take Me for a Ride Part 41

For a period of time during the summer of 1987 Lisa and I traveled together. I purchased some clothing for her, and some luggage which she desperately needed.

I recalled, from press accounts, that Rama had bought Lisa $17,000 worth of clothes. I also recalled how, in 1984, Rama had told me I was mentally ill when I tried to return the new car he had bought for me.

During that summer while Lisa was a guest in my home, Lisa and I were frequently joined for dinner, videos and an occasional soccer game by our mutual friend Mr. Richard Loftin.

Shortly before I started spending time with Lisa, a close female friend of hers was killed in a brutal knife attack in a parking lot in Santa Barbara. Lisa told me that she 'knew'

that the killer was also stalking her. She told me that he was following her on campus and knew where she lived.

Lisa shared a small house in the Santa Barbara area with several men and one other woman. She told me that she was certain that the killer had come into her house when no one was home. She told me that this was possible because her housemates never locked the doors. She said that it was only a question of time before she would be killed.

Out of concern for her welfare I gave Lisa some money to rent an apartment in a gated high security condominium complex so that she would be safe. Just before Lisa graduated the killer was apprehended and I did not give the matter any more thought until she brought it up over the summer.

During the summer Lisa told me about the demons.

Her first revelations occurred in the early part of the summer. As the summer progressed 'demons' became all that she talked about.

One evening, in the presence of Mr. Loftin, she said that she was convinced that demons had been directing the killer in Santa Barbara.

She also a.s.serted that my home was filled with demons.

Anne turned to me and said, "I don't know whether that is true or not, but he makes it sound as if he is perfectly normal-- as if *he* is not obsessed with demons."

I recalled how Rama had increasingly preached that most of his disciples-- and most of the human race--were possessed by "Negative Ent.i.ty" demons.

"And I know for a fact," Anne added, "that Rama told us there were demons in his house in Seattle."

Rama writes:

She [Lisa] led Mr. Loftin and I down into the bas.e.m.e.nt and pointed to areas of the vacant air where she a.s.serted that the demons lived. She was also convinced that a demon lived on the second to the top stair of the upstairs staircase. She told us that the demon that lived on the stair had caused her to fall down the stairs once and was continually trying to trip her.

I recalled, from press accounts, that it was Rama who had climbed a stepladder to clean invisible demons off the ceiling, it was Rama who had swept the stairs with his hands to avoid being tripped by demons, and it was Rama who, wearing raingear and Indian beads, had spent hours in the bas.e.m.e.nt grabbing at the air.

Rama claims:

On another occasion while the three of us were chatting in my backyard, Lisa told Richard and I that she had taken L.S.D. and other drugs as a student at U.C. Santa Barbara.

She asked Richard if he knew where she could get some L.S.D. and cocaine. When he informed her that he had no knowledge of where she could get these drugs she became belligerent and angry.

I recalled reading about Rama's treatment of Lisa. He had allegedly given her LSD. Then, as he had done to the three women in Seattle, he screamed at her for hours, repeating that she was evil and that she had been trying to hurt him.

Rama writes:

Lisa told me she was afraid of her parents.

She was convinced that they were trying to psychologically control her. It was only after I had repeatedly requested that she call her parents and inform them that she was staying with me as a guest that she finally did so.

I recalled how Rama had instructed me to avoid speaking with my parents, unless I needed money.

Rama continues:

Finally, it became clear to me that it was time for us to separate. I suggested that she return home to her parents, and she insisted that the demons were possessing them too.

After Lisa's refusal to return to her parents, we agreed on a solution. Lisa had expressed a desire to go to a local computer school. I agreed to pay her tuition, purchase her a car and give her enough money to get an apartment. It was my hope that this would give Lisa a new start and help her to gain some perspective on her life.

Rama goes on:

Nancy Knupfer, a woman in her early forties, attended some of my seminars a number of years ago. She also, entirely voluntarily, donated a sum of money to help defray the cost of offering meditation cla.s.ses free or at low cost to the public...

Anne said, "Free or at low cost to the public? Rama has a funny concept of what 'free' and 'low cost' actually mean."

Rama describes Steve Putnam, who:

...made a number of public accusations regarding the validity of the teaching process I engage in. My seminars are frequently attended by Buddhist monks and teachers. Dr.

Wayne Surdam, an award winning Oriental scholar from the University of California at Berkeley, also regularly attends. I certainly feel that Dr. Surdam is a better judge of the validity of my presentations of the Buddhist and Hindu philosophies and methodologies than is Mr. Putnam.

I recalled that the editor-in-chief of the Vajradhatu Sun, an international Buddhist newspaper, once wrote of Rama, "n.o.body within the Buddhist tradition, as far as I know, has ever taken him seriously."

(New Age Journal, "The Rama Drama", 6/1/88.)

Rama continues:

Donald Kohl was a young man who at one time attended a number of my seminars in meditation and self-development. In the Buddhist philosophy we strongly counsel persons against taking their own lives because of a negative karma that can be generated by this action. I was touched by the fact that Donald said good-bye to me in the note he left before he died, and I was deeply saddened to hear of his suicide. I did not know Donald and I never spoke to him personally, except in pa.s.sing to say h.e.l.lo.

Anne said to me, "Donald did not just attend a number of seminars.

He was a student. He saw Rama on a weekly basis. He came to Rama's house and ate dinner with us. He came to parties.

He went on desert trips. He came to movies with us on Friday nights.

Rama is trying to make it seem as if Donald had been some kind of stranger."

I replied, "Mr. Kohl called me after Donald's death. I spoke with him for more than an hour. I figured Rama would not want me talking with him, but I did anyway."

Anne said, "I was at the Centre when Rama found out that Donald had taken his life. At first he looked very sad. But the first thing he said was regarding protecting himself from blame.

He told us not to speak with Donald's parents except to say we were sorry."

Rama writes:

I can understand Donald's parents' grief over the tragedy of their son's death.

In their pain they are understandably inclined to search for events and individuals they can use to explain or rationalize Donald's death. However, to attempt to attribute his death to his interest in meditation or to his attendance at some seminars I conducted on meditation and self-development is far-fetched at the very least.

When examined individually the charges that these six persons have made against me have little validity or impact. But when all of these people walk into a newspaper office together and tell their stories, an avalanche effect occurs. I can well understand how all of these allegations, when presented at the same time, could raise questions in someone's mind regarding my conduct and character. And until Jennifer Jacobs told me the story of her kidnapping, I too was at a loss to explain how these individuals, who attended my seminars at different times, had come to join together in an orchestrated effort to discredit me.

Rama begins the "Kidnapping Of Jennifer Jacobs" section of the "Statement" with:

It wasn't until I encountered Jennifer Jacobs, a woman who at one time attended some of my cla.s.ses, that I understood why I had become the target...

Anne said, "At *one time* attended *some* of my cla.s.ses?

She was in the inner circle. She worked for him. She was one of the nineteen 'witches.' He recommended where she should live, and gave her other personal advice..."

Rama writes:

Jennifer's mind was violated in a variety of horrible ways. She was kept awake for extended hours and forced repeatedly to view videos of Charles Manson...Jennifer was screamed at, ridiculed and degraded. She was constantly surrounded by guards and was never allowed to leave the motel...

Jennifer was told that she would not be released until she gave up her beliefs in the Buddhist faith...her kidnappers also threatened that if she went to the police they would kidnap her again and that her family would have her committed to a mental inst.i.tution for the rest of her life.

Jennifer Jacob's parents maintain that their daughter was not screamed at, ridiculed, or degraded. Although neither Anne nor I knew what had actually taken place with Jennifer, Anne recalled too well some of Rama's methods: "Our minds [during nightmare weekend in Seattle] were violated in a variety of horrible ways.