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I am a British writer, born in 1950. I am identified on Google Search listings as Kevin R. D. Shepherd and Kevin Shepherd. I have composed diverse books ranging from Psychology in Science (1983) to Pointed Observations (2005). This is my third of six websites. Two earlier sites are citizeninitiative.com (August 2007) and the FAQ format kevinrdshepherd.net  (September 2008). For history of religion, see independentphilosophy.net (November 2009). My fifth website is citizenphilosophy.net (January 2010), likewise still in process. I also maintain the blog Commentaries, which relates to philosophy and other subjects. See further my profile and bibliography.

The present website comprises the following entries:

ASPECTS  OF  CITIZEN  PHILOSOPHY

A brief explanation of the orientation I have expressed in web articles, published epistles, and the book Pointed Observations. This orientation links to my exercise in a philosophy of culture, dating back to Meaning in Anthropos (1991). This project I have described as philosophical anthropography, not to be confused with ethnography.

KATE  THOMAS  AND  THE  FINDHORN  FOUNDATION

A coverage of the major dissident at the Findhorn Foundation, who was repressed and stigmatised by the management and staff of this "alternative" organisation. The Findhorn Foundation has claimed spiritual and therapeutic characteristics, and for many years capitalised upon the theme of "conflict resolution." In reality, there was no such resolution with dissidents, despite marked tendencies to reconciliation from the latter.The evasive policy of the Foundation has caused Kate Thomas to resort to solicitors. A unique feature of this webpage is the incorporation of the legal attention factor in detailed format. Solicitor correspondence with the Findhorn Foundation, dating to 2008-2009, is here reproduced. That correspondence has confirmed the evasive tactic of the organisation at issue, and made the position of the Findhorn Foundation even more indefensible in the eyes of observers.

THE  FINDHORN  FOUNDATION: PROBLEMS

Findhorn  Foundation  wind  turbines

An overview of some basic events concerning the alternative community, which originated in 1962 in a caravan park at Findhorn Bay (Moray, Scotland). The eventual reliance of the Findhorn Foundation upon commercial "workshops," associated with the prototype of Esalen (in California), met a setback in the promotion of the Grof alternative therapy known as Holotropic Breathwork, which was suspended because of an official recommendation made in 1993 by the Scottish Charities Office, who acted on a report commissioned from Edinburgh University. The subsequent economic problems of the Foundation receive mention, and also the controversial pursuit of CIFAL status that was gained in 2006 for a projected ecology programme associated with the Findhorn Ecovillage. Formerly obscured dissident correspondence with Scottish politicians is here exhumed, casting light upon events too rarely seen in due perspective.

LETTER  TO  ROBERT  WALTER  MP  ON THE  FINDHORN  FOUNDATION

Robert  Walter  MP

This epistle to a considerate British Member of Parliament is dated November 2008. It was written in counter to a misleading communication from the Director of the Findhorn Foundation, who was attempting to justify the discrepant position of that organisation in relation to solicitor confrontation. Arranged in nineteen sections, this letter describes and clarifies numerous points in connection with the Findhorn Foundation and dissidents.

KEN  WILBER  AND  INTEGRALISM

Ken  Wilber

A lengthy and annotated webpage on the American writer Ken Wilber. His influential books are described from a critical viewpoint. The "post-metaphysical" version of spirituality by the versatile integralist is attended by his claimed convergence with postmodernism. The "integral psychology" of Wilber, plus his early "Up from Eden" theory, are amongst other components outlined. Points of disagreement are charted, and in relation to the increasing volume of "Wilber critique" that has been in evidence on the internet during recent years. The survey includes reference to Frank Visser, the Dutch commentator who was formerly a partisan of Wilber in the major published guide to the latter's life and works (Ken Wilber: Thought as Passion, 2003). Visser has since become a critic of his former hero, and the reasons for this change of attitude are here investigated.

THE  INTERNET  TERRORIST  GERALD  JOE  MORENO

Gerald Joe Moreno, of New Mexico, is notorious for libellous materials that have gained description in terms of blog attack, cyberstalking, and web harassment.  Moreno (alias Equalizer) has asserted an explicit campaign against critics of the controversial guru Sathya Sai Baba. However, the Indian factor is here marginal in the discussion of  American internet terrorism associated with a sectarian agenda, and one assisted by the absence of public responsibility on the part of blog media giants blogspot.com and wordpress.com. Not content with militating against ex-devotees, Moreno has also attacked complete outsiders to the Sathya Sai Organisation. This webpage duly confronts the misinformation and harassing tactic directed at an outsider. In addition, Moreno has sought to prevent his sole known web image from being reproduced, thus maintaining his desire for anonymity.

SHIRDI  SAI  BABA  AND  THE   "SAI  BABA  MOVEMENT "

l to r: Shirdi Sai  Baba, Upasni  Maharaj, Meher  Baba

An annotated webpage describing three deceased saints of Maharashtra. The Muslim faqir Sai Baba of Shirdi (died 1918) has been Hinduized in many portrayals. His Hindu disciple Upasni Maharaj (died 1941) of Sakori was an unpredictable guru who aroused strong opposition from the brahman caste by his promotion of female rights in the sphere of spirituality. Upasni created a distinctive community of nuns at his Sakori ashram. Meanwhile, his Irani Zoroastrian disciple Meher Baba (died 1969) established Meherabad ashram near Ahmednagar and commenced silence in 1925, a discipline which did not prevent him from undertaking many journeys and conducting diverse activities. This varied trio have since been subsumed under the contested denominator of "Sai Baba Movement" by commentators who have favoured by association the later instance of Sathya Sai Baba of Puttaparthi, who lived in Andhra and not Maharashtra. This webpage may be regarded as a supplement to my book entitled Investigating the Sai Baba Movement (2005). An update refers to the recent contribution of Professor Tulasi Srinivas in relation to the Sathya Sai Baba organisation.

CLIMATE  CHANGE  COMPLEXITIES

This contribution affords a citizen coverage of the global warming issue, observing the acute discrepancies between the consensus verdict of climate scientists and sceptic or "denialist" factions, the latter including corporate business interests, the controversial Bjorn Lomborg, and economist Nigel Lawson. Anthropogenic or man-made global warming is a matter of pressing relevance, and the validity of that theme is confirmed by such documents as the Copenhagen Diagnosis of 2009, which requires to be distinguished from the associated political summit meeting, widely considered to be a failure. The webpage investigates some complexities and problems in different key regions, varying from the ice melt in Greenland and Antarctica to the fraught ecological situation on the Tibetan Plateau and adjacent areas. I originally championed ecological themes of the Club of Rome in the early 1980s, in the book Psychology in Science (1983), though I am not an activist. See also Autobiographical Reflections (2010).

HAZRAT  BABAJAN,  A  PATHAN  (PASHTUN)  SUFI

Hazrat Babajan (d. 1931) was a distinctive Muslim female faqir whose final years were spent at the Poona cantonment of the British Raj. There she lived a simple outdoor existence under a tree, gaining an inter-religious following. She did not preach any doctrine or observance. Her tolerant attitude contrasts with fundamentalist orientations. Her early life is more sparsely recorded. She originated in a Pathan (Pashtun) milieu of Afghan associations, and was reputedly the daughter of a chieftain at an early date in the nineteenth century. She ran away from home to escape unwanted matrimony, and became an itinerant ascetic in the Punjab and other areas of India. She was reputedly buried alive by Islamic fundamentalists, though the Baluch Regiment subsequently made her famous at Poona. The contribution on this webpage includes reference to some events in Afghan history, especially the conflict between the British Empire and Pathan tribes. A Wikipedia issue is also described.

THE  DESERT  FATHERS  AND  CHRISTIAN  PHILOSOPHY

The desert fathers of Egypt created monasticism, which took different forms. Coptic hermits like Antony existed along with the semi-eremitical settlement of Kellia and the coenobitic Pachomian monasteries in the Thebaid. This diverse phenomenon was accompanied by the "Christian philosophy" associated with entities varying from Origen and Evagrius Ponticus to Didymus the Blind and Basil of Caesarea. The chronology of events from the third to fifth centuries CE is kaleidoscopic, including factors that have been reassessed by specialist scholarship. The present overview includes a rebuttal of the "pro-Roman" viewpoint represented by Edward Gibbon, and a critical approach to the strategies of Athanasius, fourth century bishop of Alexandria. The pivotal figure of Antony the Hermit, hagiologised by Athanasius, has an Origenist complexion afforded by other documents relatively neglected. The Pachomian federation of monasteries created by Pakhom (Pachomius) transited to an orthodox outlook. The subject of female ascetics is a matter of further complexity. Egyptian "monasticism" was multi-faceted, existing in urban, village, and desert formats that defy simplistic classification of the type formerly imposed.

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None of the written materials on this website may be copied for public use or posting without written permission.

The photograph of Kevin R. D. Shepherd is copyrighted and requires due permission for public use or posting.

The photographs of Kate Thomas are also copyrighted with similar considerations of potential legal complexity in cases of abuse.

The photographs of Stephen Castro are also copyrighted with similar considerations entailed.

The photographs of Jill Rathbone are also copyrighted with similar considerations entailed.

The photograph of Sylvia Darke is also copyrighted with similar considerations entailed.

Copyright  ©  2012 Kevin  R. D. Shepherd.   All  Rights  Reserved. Page uploaded August 2009, last modified January 2012.