Aesthetic Realism is a cult   Who they are, how they operate • Written by former members	Get notified when I update this site.
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"Most of the main AR people have been stuck there for upwards of 30 years. They are scared to death their lives might be somewhat pointless." written January 11, 2005      I am currently an executive at a Fortune 100 company. I am embarrassed by having belonged to the Aesthetic Realism cult and I do not want my name associated with AR in any way. However, your call to those who left AR stirred me. I believe for the most part you have it right.      By the way, I am writing this note directly into the little box you provided [on your website]. I did not prepare a statement and have an editor revise it for me. Everything published by the AR folks goes through rigorous editing. What you are reading did not...It is just stream of thoughts on this subject.      I do think that Eli Siegel had some very valuable things to say. My argument is with what surrounded Siegel's thoughts. All the control, guilt, and manipulations. Why did we wear pins reading Victim of the Press for all those years. I used to sign my name with VOTP under it. I still have books with votp inscribed in them...YEECCH.      First, let's (superficially) review a few of Siegel's great statements: • beauty is the making one of opposites This is good and certainly is worthy of critical discussion. • the reason you are affected by art is that likely it puts together opposites that you are having trouble with... This is another wonderful idea. no denying that! And this also can be thought about long and hard. • contempt causes insanity This is also highly insightful. Contempt causes isolation and yes possibly insanity. However, there are other possible causes of insanity (physical/chemical problems) which AR completely discounts. • the profit system is over, the triumph of goodwill I'm afraid Siegel was not a deep enough student of economics...he wanted to believe that goodwill was more prevelant in communism than capitalism... just plain wrong. • contempt causes homosexuality This is homosexuality as seen by a heterosexual. Not quite deep enough. Wrong.   So I was initially seduced into AR because these philosophic statements are worthy of investigation (even the wrong ones). However, in classes with him we did not study critically. Siegel would lecture in his crowded small apartment on Jane Street in NYC. People were then given a chance to make adoring comments. I never heard a "student" ask Siegel a deep critical question. To question Siegel would have been [considered] heresy and deeply disrespectful.      In some ways the women surrounding Siegel encouraged him to believe he was more than human. Thus when he had a prostate operation he found himself changed physically. He felt that "the way my feet meet the ground" was changed. He caused the students to picket the doctor who performed the surgery with the aim of getting the truth. What truth? Siegel was growing old. He had major surgery. He had poor circulation and water swelled his legs. Aging can create deeply upsetting changes. However, he could not endure this change and eventually convinced himself that committing suicide was more in keeping with his self-respect. I suppose he had that right. However, this was terribly odd and painful to those of us studying at the time. Life within AR became a huge guilt trip, even more than it had been before. Those of us that didn't understand the guilt were isolated. If we didn't buy into the guilt we were challenging the ruling matriarchy.      For the next several years a power struggle occured with various people being purged and thrown out of AR. Martha Baird, Siegel's wife, also committed suicide a year or so after Siegel. Ellen Reiss, class chairman, initially shared power with a few other women but eventually felt sure enough to push her rivals out.      Maybe AR has changed and is more open now, but when I studied everything Adam Mali says was true. I know most of the people making statements on the "Countering the Lies" site. They are the old timers [who were there when I was] and they know quite well they are lying by telling partial truths. Maybe they really do associate with their families now but I doubt they enjoy it.    Since Siegel's death, maybe it is easier to live a distance from the center of things. As I remember there was a class held by Siegel every day except Monday and Thursday. To fill up those days Ellen Reiss held "respect meetings" on Monday and the Terrain Gallery had presentations on Thursday and Saturday night. If you studied you were expected to participate or attend 90-95% of these events. Turning back to "respect meetings" for a second -- this is where people would be encouraged to "help" others. An example would be to tell 25 people that John saw his father for lunch and his father said something negative about Eli Siegel and John did not defend Eli Siegel adequately. Poor John then would be the subject of an onslaught of criticism to help him see his own contempt for Eli Siegel...blah blah blam. This is merely one example of the way people were controlled and humiliated if they stepped out of line or didn't conform to accepted behavior. Other ways: significant others told to withhold sex. Whole relationships brought into question and examined by groups of people. A person's life was definitely not his own.      I have written more than I meant to so I will stop now.      Just a final warning. Don't believe anything the AR people say. They are a cult and most of the people have been stuck there for upwards of 30 years. They are scared to death their lives might be somewhat pointless.   Add a comment about this page Feel free to add your thoughts to this page. We don't allow attacks on the contributors, though. (Why not?) Name Email In case we have a question about your post. We won't put it on the web page, of course. Subject: Comments:   Share your Aesthetic Realism story! If you did time in AR, had or have a friend or relative in AR, or had some other run-in with the group, I hope you'll share your story on this site. If you'd like to write something that you don't want to appear on this site, then please instead. Name (We won't publish your name unless you say it's okay, but we have to have it in order to verify submissions.) Email Address (We won't publish your email address, but we have to have it in order to verify submissions.) Please type the word in the picture:  (prevents spam) Your experience: Yes   No Okay to publish your name? Yes   No Okay to identify your gender? (e.g., "his story", "her story") Yes   No Get a notice of updates to this site? (no more than 4x/year)   Share your Aesthetic Realism story! If you did time in AR, had or have a friend or relative in AR, or had some other run-in with the group, I hope you'll share your story on this site. If you'd like to write something that you don't want to appear on this site, then please instead. Name (We won't publish your name unless you say it's okay, but we have to have it in order to verify submissions.) Email Address (We won't publish your email address, but we have to have it in order to verify submissions.) Please type the word in the picture:  (prevents spam) Your experience: Yes   No Okay to publish your name? Yes   No Okay to identify your gender? (e.g., "his story", "her story") Yes   No Get a notice of updates to this site? (no more than 4x/year)   Former members describe Aesthetic Realism The ULTIMATE statement by a former member. Wow. A former Aesthetic Realism member who was involved for over ten years and into the 1990's sent us this incredibly detailed account of what life inside AR is like. This puts to rest once and for all any lingering question about whether AR is a cult - it is. The AR people will not be able to "counter" this on their Countering the Lies website because this account is from one of their own, and because it's so exhaustively detailed. A tale of getting sucked in. Another former member shares his experiences. This story is unique because he describes exactly how he initially got drawn in, and how he then kept getting more and more involved. Aesthetic Realism ruined his marriage. "[It] introduced a level of stress in my marriage that had not previously existed....I consider my 'study' of Aesthetic Realism to be one of the factors that led to the eventual breakup of my marriage, to my eternal sorrow." This former member also wrote about AR on Steve Hassan's Freedom of Mind. On having all the answers. A former member explains how AR members think they have all the answers, and feel qualified to lecture others about how they should view personal tragedy. Kicked out for remaining gay. A former student describes how he was kicked out of AR because he couldn't change from homosexuality. Powerful stuff. "If I disappointed them, then I now consider that a badge of honor." A former member tells how AR try to change him from being gay, and convinced him not to spend Christmas with his family. "This is merely one example of the way people were controlled and humiliated if they stepped out of line...". The experiences shared with us by a member from 1974-80, now a Fortune 100 executive. "I want Ellen Reiss questioned!" A former member tells her story, and wonders why there hasn't been a class-action lawsuit against the foundation yet. They took his consultation tape. A former student describes how AR people kept his consultation tape with his most intimate thoughts on it, and told him he couldn't study any more unless he incorporated AR more radically into his life. "I personally know at least half of the contributors to AR's Countering the Lies website and know them to either be fibbing or having a long-term memory problem.". A former member from 1971-80, confirms that AR students don't see their families, are discouraged from attending college, and shun other members. He also offers that he was mistaken when he was involved about thinking that AR had changed him from homosexuality. Michael Bluejay's description. This whole website is my statement about Aesthetic Realism. But in this article I describe my family's involvement in more detail. Members interviewed in Jewish Times. This lengthy article in Jewish Times quotes former students of Aesthetic Realism extensively. NY Post article. A series of articles in the NY Post quotes many former members who are now critical of the group. Aesthetic Realism debunked. A former student explains the cult aspects of AR. Posted on Steve Hassan's Freedom of Mind website.

Aesthetic Realism at a Glance Name The Aesthetic Realism Foundation Founded 1941 Founder Eli Siegel, poet and art/literary critic. Committed suicide in 1978 Purpose To teach Siegel's philosophy of aesthetic realism. Philosophy The key to all social ills is for people to learn to like the world. Having contempt for the world leads to unhappiness and even insanity. (The slogan of their newsletter is "Contempt causes insanity".) Homosexuality is seen as a form of insanity caused by not liking the world sufficiently. Also teaches that "beauty is the making one of opposites". Location New York City (SoHo) Membership About 103 (35 teachers, 41 training to be teachers, and 27 regular students). Has failed to grow appreciably even after 70 years of existence, and is currently shrinking. Members call themselves "students". Advanced members who teach others are called "consultants". Method of study Public seminars/lectures at their headquarters (in lower Manhattan), group classes, and individual consultations (three consultants vs. one student). Cult aspects Fanatical devotion to their leader/founder Belief that they have the one true answer to universal happiness Ultimate purpose is to recruit new members Feeling that they are being persecuted Wild, paranoid reactions to criticism Non-communication (or at least very limited communication) with those who have left the group Odd, specialized language. More about cult aspects...     Open offer to debate How do you decide which side is telling the truth? I think that would be the side willing to stand behind what he says. Since 2005 I've had an open offer to debate the Aesthetic Realists publicly in a formal format at any time to defend what I've said on this site, and to answer their own charges against me. But the AR people won't do it. Their excuse is, "He's not worth debating." But if that's true, then why did they put up a ninety-six page website to try to snipe at me and to try to rebut what I'm saying? I think the answer is that they're content to hide behind the cover of the Internet, but they know how bad they'd look in a live format where anyone actually got to ask any pointed questions. You know what's really funny? Someone went to one of their public presentations, said he'd seen this site, and asked about the cult allegations. The AR person said, "It's very easy to say crap like that on the Internet and never have to be challenged." Oh, the irony is killing me! Anyway, Aesthetic Realists, as for a public debate, I'm ready when you are. And to everyone else, when the AR people won't stand behind what they're saying, why should anyone take what they say seriously?     Open offer to debate How do you decide which side is telling the truth? I think that would be the side willing to stand behind what he says. Since 2005 I've had an open offer to debate the Aesthetic Realists publicly in a formal format at any time to defend what I've said on this site, and to answer their own charges against me. But the AR people won't do it. Their excuse is, "He's not worth debating." But if that's true, then why did they put up a ninety-six page website to try to snipe at me and to try to rebut what I'm saying? I think the answer is that they're content to hide behind the cover of the Internet, but they know how bad they'd look in a live format where anyone actually got to ask any pointed questions. You know what's really funny? Someone went to one of their public presentations, said he'd seen this site, and asked about the cult allegations. The AR person said, "It's very easy to say crap like that on the Internet and never have to be challenged." Oh, the irony is killing me! Anyway, Aesthetic Realists, as for a public debate, I'm ready when you are. And to everyone else, when the AR people won't stand behind what they're saying, why should anyone take what they say seriously?