The Gnostic Movement fundraising at a rummage sale
This post is part of a series refuting false allegations made as part of a dedicated smear campaign against The Gnostic Movement and its spiritual teacher, Mark H Pritchard. To go to the main page on rebuffing the false allegations click here, or read the background to the smear campaign see here.
The Gnostic Movement’s mission is to share the Gnostic teachings without profit with all who wish to receive them and to provide a means to practice Gnosis in a community with others. It operates as a volunteer-administered, not-for-profit religious organization in various countries worldwide and runs on voluntary donations.
All our courses are free of charge, people volunteer for free, and the Gnostic teachings are never sold for profit, in keeping with our spiritual principles. These principles can be summed up as follows:
“Spiritual teachings are a gift from the universe and should never be for profit. To charge money would be to require that those who get spiritual knowledge are those who can afford to pay money, but true wisdom comes freely from the truly spiritual. Its cost is in being prepared and fitting enough to receive it.”
Living in a commercial world, however, even giving freely costs money. There is a cost to providing every service we offer. For instance, providing free courses in Gnostic Centers requires paying rent, bills and, maintenance. Providing free online courses requires paying website hosting costs. Letting people know about a free course requires advertising, and so on. Donations given to The Gnostic Movement are put towards all the organization’s ongoing expenses and, when sufficient, go toward expanding and developing new services and projects such as educational videos, retreats, training centers, new websites, and more. Donations are therefore essential in allowing us to continue providing the Gnostic teachings to the public.
The Gnostic Movement is run by Gnostics, for Gnostics. If no one valued or wanted its services, The Gnostic Movement would not exist; it exists because Gnostics want it to exist. People voluntarily donate their time and money to support the organization so that they and others can benefit from its services.
No one in The Gnostic Movement is ever forced to make donations, and making donations is not a requirement at any stage of being in the organization. This would be against our organization’s principles and those of Gnosticism. Donations are received voluntarily from adults responsible for, and free to make, their own financial choices.
It is perfectly acceptable for a non-profit organization to solicit and receive donations in order to operate; in fact, it has been recognized as essential to religious freedom as a human right. Article 6 (F) of the United Nations’ Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief proclaims that the “freedom of thought, conscience, religion or belief” includes the right to “solicit and receive voluntary financial and other contributions.”
Yet there have been unfounded allegations made by a few individuals about the ways The Gnostic Movement utilizes this fundamental human right and concerted attempts to cast this in a negative light. It has been alleged that The Gnostic Movement solicits donations for some hidden purpose or for the personal gain of individuals. This is not true; donations all go toward achieving the organization’s sole religious purpose. No donations inure to the private benefit of any individual, nor do any of the activities of the organization serve the private interests of any organization or individual.
Donations made to The Gnostic Movement are used for the purpose for which they are given. General contributions are used to help The Gnostic Movement achieve its mission according to current projects and needs as outlined above. When donations are received for a specified purpose—such as funding a retreat—then those donations are used for that specified purpose.
The Gnostic Movement also cooperates with other organizations such as Absolute Publishing Press and The Belzebuub Foundation to promote Gnosticism. However, the finances of each organization are separate, and they are each self-sustaining, as they each have their own unique role and purpose. Donations made, for example, to The Gnostic Movement are not given to The Belzebuub Foundation or vice versa.
Neither does The Gnostic Movement donate to Absolute Publishing Press or vice versa. The Gnostic Movement promotes the Gnostic materials published by Absolute Publishing Press on its websites and in its centers, in keeping with its mission to promote and study Gnosticism, but no one in The Gnostic Movement or in Absolute Publishing Press profits from the sale of Absolute Publishing Press books or DVDs. Revenue from sales goes back into printing or providing more products at reduced costs, for the benefit of the Gnostic community.
Although many popular teachers and companies do sell spiritual teachings for profit, this would be counter-productive to what we do, because we believe that spirituality should be made as accessible as possible to everyone. Our organization and its spiritual teacher Mark Pritchard work to enable the life-changing message of Gnosis to reach people the world over as freely as possible for humanity’s spiritual enrichment.
To read a rebuttal of the false allegations made about Mark Pritchard (Belzebuub) personally gaining from donations read: Lies About Wages and Personal Profit
Misrepresentation of Publicly Filed and Audited Tax Returns
Unscrupulous individuals have persistently dug up limited factual information about the organization’s legitimate expenditure and assets, but grossly distorted the simple innocent facts with malicious speculation and ill will. They have taken publicly filed, audited and acceptable tax returns and made baseless claims of mishandling of finances, personal gain from donations, and cast doubt upon our integrity and credibility. Consistently, they have quoted funds or assets listed in our tax returns and suggested they were funneled elsewhere for private benefit, or attempted to cast doubt on the integrity of our finances by suggesting something illegitimate has “happened” to them.
If their claims were true, we would not be able to run. As an independently audited not-for-profit organization in various countries we must, and do, use all donations for the purposes they are given, in full compliance with the law, and manage all finances appropriately. The unscrupulous naysayers are not privy to the facts, and their wild speculations about our finances are completely incorrect and groundless, but it seems they will say anything in their attempts to tarnish our reputation and incite suspicion and ill will toward us.
This is a recurring feature of the smear campaign – the dredging up of information, distorting it with devious speculation, and misrepresenting facts to suit their purposes of attacking our credibility.
In my eight years with The Gnostic Movement, having been on both sides of the equation as a student, teacher, and now a member, I can say confidently that while of course donations have always been very much appreciated, they are by no means at any point in time forced from anyone.
As someone who benefitted very much from the Gnostic teachings, I had the wish after having attended the courses for just a short while to donate to help pay for things like renting rooms, advertising, office costs, later helping to organize ongoing funding for a Centre, and so on. My contributions were always met with a sincere appreciation, yet at the same time, if I didn’t donate, I wasn’t “given an evil eye”, harassed, spoken to, or anything ridiculous like that.
I also know and have seen just how careful and upstanding Mark Pritchard is with regard to taking donations. He will not and does not even so much as touch anything unless it is absolutely made certain that it is donated specifically to him. Also, I believe it was due to his guidance years ago that all Centres have strict rules put in place for taking donations to TGM and ensuring that everything filters through a proper TGM bank account, that we have proper accounting procedures, and so on. In fact, the issue is so serious that if not followed properly, people can lose their positions and responsibilities for it.
Some of these ridiculous allegations even come from people who have absolutely no knowledge or experience of how The Gnostic Movement works, having not been part of it. Others make claims in some cases based on assumptions, but without having been directly invovled with various issues at the time, and so on.
From my experience, the types of allegations that I’ve seen circulated about the issue of donations serve only to harm the image and reputation of The Gnostic Movement and Mark Pritchard, but in reality, are nothing more than scandalous and misleading accusations.
I remember the first time I donated to The Gnostic Movement. I’d heard about a free course in self-knowledge, which was being run at the local library. I went along and sat in to listen with about 40 other people. The teacher was just a young guy who’d obviously arrived there straight after work, he still had his office clothes on so I could see that he was a volunteer. The information given was really amazing. It was unlike anything I had come across in other spiritual books and groups. It struck me just how real, how genuine it all was. Unlike other groups there was no charge for anything. People came and left as they wanted. The volunteers just did it for free, they gave of their time for free, all the information I was getting was free. This was the first time I had come across something like this. I noticed there was a small box on a table for donations. No one asked me to donate. I went along to about 4 classes before I made the decision to start donating. I felt like I was being given something of such value, and I wanted to give something back to make sure other people would have the same opportunity I had to find out about it. I didn’t have much money at the time, so each week I would just quietly leave $5 in the box on my way out. Not a huge sum obviously, but it somehow felt very important to me to do and special, not because anyone told me to, but because I felt the significance of what was being taught.
It has been manyyears since then. I actually went on to become a teacher myself. At no time was I ever asked to give, and there were never any requirements to donate to become a teacher or member – no way! In fact in all that time I had very little money, and remember making the big decision to contribute $10 a week to the rent of the Gnostic center where I was teaching, to help it keep going. Those were such great times, I got such incredible value out of that center. I was never charged for anything, anything at all, and never have been, but got so much back.
Actually I never had much to donate, so I would donate my time instead. I just felt so deeply that the opportunity to experience what I had experienced, should be there for the whole world.
I’ve been involved in lots of fundraising events, and they are just loads of fun! Getting together with everyone at movie nights, garage sales, dinners, art workshops, people even bring their kids along, have been some of my fondest memories. Instead of spending money eating out, we had delicious home cooked food, and the money all went towards what we love. I met so many new people, and shared times with good friends.
I can see that the money I gave went towards something that helped so many people and that to me is of a lot of value. Thank you to The Gnostic Movement, to Mark Pritchard, and everyone involved for everything that you gave to me freely without ever asking for anything in return – now that is true love! And thanks to everyone who has ever donated so that I can keep receiving what is given!
My experience has been very similar to the experiences of Jordan & GODISLOVE. In my entire time with The Gnostic Movement, I have never yet once been asked for a donation or made to feel like I must donate “or else”…
When I first began attending The Gnostic Movement’s courses at a local library, I was also attending other spiritual classes (such as Yoga, etc.) where I was expected to pay at each visit. Finding out that The Gnostic Movement’s courses were free was rather surprising for me at the time, and despite the fact that none of the people attending with me donated, I always put in whatever I could afford into the small donations box at the reception desk – usually a meager $5 – $10. I just felt that it would be ridiculous to pay hundreds of dollars on yoga classes, and yet give nothing to an organization that clearly put so much effort into making available such profound teachings. The principle of spirituality being available freely to others is something I first came across being practised by The Gnostic Movement, and is something I agree with wholeheartedly.
As time went on, I decided to take the steps to become a teacher, so that I too in turn can be a part of this network of dedicated individuals who want to share what they’ve gained with others. In my experience of being a teacher, I voluntarily donate my time, efforts, skills and financial aid where I can to support something I find extremely valuable and enjoyable and want to be able to share with others.
This article really highlights the true nature of Gnosis and its universality.
Many have freely benefited from the Gnostic teachings and for those that value what they have received they can support this to continue so others can also receive.
I have a similar story to Jordan, Godislove and Jenny except I was a little stingier than them and waited until the end of the course to give some money. In the end I personally felt I had received so much through the course that I was happy to support it.
It is amazing to see the disbelief on peoples’ faces when they hear these teachings are free. Instantly you seem their minds ticking over…. ‘what’s the catch?’
As a human being you deserve this knowledge, it is not even a gift it is an offering. You are not even expected to take it. It is made available for those who want it and need it. Most don’t
This has been a great blog to read. It’s very refreshing to read the comments made so far and I too can relate to many of the experiences described.
I have every faith in The Gnostic Movement and know that whatever donations I have made personally have been, and will be, used in the best way possible, and in line with the aims and objectives of The Gnostic Movement.
Likewise all donations made by others are treated with care and are accepted graciously with no expectation of having ever been given.
Through my own involvement with the Movement, in this regard, I know that any donations given are used by the Movement for the purposes, aims, objectives and mission of The Gnostic Movement. We are all very grateful for such contributions and acknowledge these enable all the projects at the time to come to life.
Once again, it’s appalling to hear that there are false allegations circulating about incorrect use of donations. Any allegations made against the Movement’s management of its donations are again in line with the common theme of being false, misleading and deceptive. As such, I personally find such allegations very offensive.
I was surprised and extremely grateful when I found The Gnostic Movement’s courses given freely! I first started them online, and after a short time attended a center where I continued with the courses and learned to teach.
I have donated money of my free will almost since the beginning. Having become more involved with the organization and how it runs, I have only ever seen the greatest of care taken with the handling of money and respecting the purpose for which donations are given – to continue helping people get access to these amazing life-changing teachings!
Thanks for your blog and everyone’s comments — I couldn’t agree more.
As already mentioned, from all my years of experience within the Movement I have seen and experienced first-hand that all who are in charge of donations are always very careful about using donations for the purposes for which they were given.
These allegations are complete nonsense and very far from the truth.
Thanks to everyone for their contribution to this very necessary blog article. I fully agree with you John, and it has also been my experience that when dealing with donations, those in charge are always very careful and respectful of those monies given for the purpose they were intended. If we were to believe this unfounded allegations of misappropriation of funds, how then could we explain the fact that the websites now available through the Movement are so professional and top quality? If we remember their humble beginnings, it is clear to see how much they have been improved upon. How could it ever be possible to have such fantastic training centres such as the European Monastery, if the misappropriation of funds were rife throughout the Movement?
It is just so clear and patent that these allegations are utter nonsense and another sign of desperation on behalf of those that continue to peddle them in such an offensive manner!
You bring up some great points Patricia, and it is good to reflect upon the slow and natural growth of all the facilities and offerings of The Gnostic Movement over the years.
And just to add, it’s been the same for me in regards to donations within the movement. Nobody ever asked me or pressured for anything. Actually, as an online student I used many of the services provided by The Gnostic Movement for years without donating financially, until it finally dawned on me what a massive undertaking it is to provide these services to people free of charge, and of course then I was happy to start donating, of my own accord.
Yes agreed, Patricia you bring up some really good points about how things have developed over the years with the websites, centers, videos, and the European Monastery! Everything that has slowly developed over the years has come from people caring and wanting to make things happen, wanting to get these teachings out there freely to the world in better ways, and I have seen that this has happened with caring people volunteering their efforts and with the donations people have freely made to materially make these things happen in this commercial world.
I have seen nothing but the greatest care used in dealing with donations and using donated funds appropriately. From my experience, the allegations these people have made to the contrary are ridiculous and untrue.
And I just wanted to share as well that in all my years, first starting out online and then being involved with centers, at no time was I ever forced to donate. I started donating and helping to start a center on my own accord and I continue to donate because I care about getting these teachings out to the world and see that to make these things happen in the world. Having centers, websites, building a retreat place, etc. — well, that takes money in this world and, to me, donating money to help make these things happen and getting these very important, life-changing teachings freely to the world is worth it.
I started to attend a Gnostic Center back in Fall 2005 – at the time, I did not have a job, and I could not afford to spend money on any “frivolous things”, so I was extremely grateful to be able to attend a course on Astral Experiences and Dreams for free. It was like a gift.
As weeks, passed, I started to realize what I was being given for free: knowledge and understanding thru techniques I was given every week to practice. All for free. It was surreal – I remember going to a chiropractor who not only charged me a lot of money for a 15-min session, but when I asked for exercises to practice at home, I was charged even more.. Where was the love of the practitioner for his patients??
So finding a course on spirituality for free was a breath of fresh air. It was practically unheard of. In a way, almost suspicious… Why don’t they charge money? They should, everybody does it. A yoga class does, and even Sunday church asks for money by passing the little basket of donations through the alleys… No one is offended by that – it’s expected from people to give money to support the church.
Yet still no one ever asked me to personally donate, and no one passed a little basket at the end of a lecture.. Weird.. At first I thought it strange, and I remember asking the instructor about it and suggesting it. Her reply was sincere and straight to the point: “Spirituality is not something you make money of, we’re volunteers, we do this to help people not to make money – if you want to give you can but you don’t have to”. I did not understand yet the concept of spirituality that it does not belong to anyone and it should never be bought or sold. Yet every week, I could see that organization was not making a dime. it looked more that it was working at a loss. I remember even suggesting when I saw the number of people would dwindle toward the end that perhaps if people paid a fee they would stay in the course. Again, my question coming from a commercial world was met without judgement and instead the instructor said to me: of we don’t work that way – we’re not about making people stay. They come and go and if we’ve been able to help them then great.
Yet, because each week, the instructors were giving me their time, and things were given for free, and I was gaining so much I wanted to help. My contributions were small – it was whatever I had in my wallet $5, sometimes less, but I tried to give every time I was there. Again, no one asked me to do so.. Yet I did it because I wanted to help back.
Since then, I became a teacher then a member and any dealings with money I witnessed was always done extremely carefully and professionally, and donations are always strictly used appropriately for the purpose that they were raised for.
And I continue to donate to this day because like so many others people, I care for these teachings to be available to people (via website, online resources, centers, lectures etc..) and everyone should have access to them.
Hey Geraldine and everyone,
My experience relates a lot to what you have written above. When I started doing the courses at The Gnostic Movement I was a uni student on government support ($120 or $200 a fortnight or something like that) so I had practically no money and in the beginning when I started the courses it didn’t even occur to me to donate money for what I was receiving! As I continued with the courses I started to see how valuable they were and how many positive changes they were bringing to my life and I started wanting to give back something. I still didn’t have much money though so I put in what I felt I could (about $20 a fortnight) and when other opportunities like helping to clean the centre or to put up some posters for the next round of courses etc. became available I jumped at the chance because it was a way I could help and give back to something that was becoming extremely valuable to me without necessarily having much money etc.
I have never felt forced to give donations, in fact quite the opposite, I have seen time and time again that all services are given for free above and beyond what would be expected even if the courses had cost money, even teas or snacks in the cafe could be eaten free of charge – if I wanted to give a bit of money to support the centre and the teachings I could but there was no obligation.
When I later learnt to teach and became involved with the administrative tasks in the centre I saw how carefully money was dealt with and any donations were really appreciated and well used for the purpose they were given because they were precious! I also saw how shocked some people were when they asked how much the course was and were told it was free of charge because we felt that people should not have to pay to get access to information and practices that would help them develop spiritually. I guess that’s the world we live in though where if you want something you usually need to pay for it. In that sense I have found the teachings of Belzebuub and The Gnostic Movement to be a diamond in the rough. For teachings so valuable to be given freely I feel is an amazing and almost unexpected thing nowadays, and I’m really glad to have been able to contribute in any way I could to help other people experience the same thing as the Gnostic teachings have greatly enriched my life.
I have been attending a centre very regularly for 8 years.
I have never been pressured to donate. I have never witnessed any teacher or member pressuring someone else to donate. I have never pressured anyone to donate. I have never witnessed funds being used for a purpose other than which they were donated for. Indeed, I have witnessed the care to make sure funds are used as intended by the donor. I have never witnessed anyone keeping tabs on how much someone else is donating. On the contrary, I have witnessed teachers and members purposefully look the other way if they notice someone making moves to put money in the donation box.
Any suggestions to the contrary of the above are completely false and ridiculous in my opinion and experience.