‘Prison Monastery’ Program, Linked to Multi-Million Dollar Orgasm Organization, Suspended
Mendocino County Sheriff Matt Kendall suspended a “prison monastery” program at the jail on Monday afternoon amid revelations that Unconditional Freedom, the organization running the program, was linked to OneTaste, a company intimately connected to the Institute of OM, which touts the supposed neurological and spiritual benefits of an expensive clitoral stimulation technique called Orgasmic Meditation, or OM. The Institute of OM Foundation, which generates white papers and studies on the practice, claimed in a press release to have raised over $2 million “to support rigorous, peer-reviewed scientific research into partnered stimulation and the physiological and psychological effects of Orgasmic Meditation (“OM”).”
Kendall was concerned that inmates would be vulnerable to exploitation through the so-called spiritual curriculum, which revolved around a self-published book called “The Art of Soulmaking,” by OneTaste founder Nicole Daedone.The program included a penpal component with mystery address labels and unknown correspondents. One of the Unconditional Freedom volunteers also worked at Juvenile Hall, though he was never alone with inmates, and the curriculum was not in use among the minors.
A Bloomberg piece from 2018 reported former OneTaste members’ allegations that the company pressured its sales team to work long hours selling seats at OneTaste events, often to pay off staggering debts they themselves had incurred to receive higher and higher levels of certification in “the practice,” which consists of one person stroking a woman’s clitoris for exactly 15 minutes, often in a group setting. And in 2020, the BBC released a ten-part podcast called the “Orgasm Cult,” which interviewed subject matter experts and chronicled the experiences of people who claimed that the organization engaged in abusive and controlling practices to make money from sex.
An attorney for Unconditional Freedom insisted that there is no legal connection between OneTaste and Unconditional Freedom, though they share key personnel, a website, and a mailing address.
According to OneTaste’s website, which went live this year, there does seem to be some kind of relationship between the service organization and a company that’s been dogged by reports of financially and sexually exploitive practices. Numerous professional profiles and advertisements for past OneTaste events identify eight current or former OneTaste personnel among the Unconditional Freedom volunteers who appear in months-long correspondence between Kate Feigin, the Mendocino County Jail’s Restorative Justice Program Manager inmate services coordinator for the Mendocino County jail, and the organization’s leadership. (The connection between Unconditional Freedom and OneTaste was initially reported last year by B.T. Linhden.)
Unconditional Freedom shares an EIN (Employer Identification Number, issued by the IRS to track business tax reporting), with another organization the OneTaste Foundation. The Foundation is legally distinct from OneTaste, though intimately connected with it. A 2014 press release issued by OneTaste for an event called an “Orgasmic Meditation Xperience” in San Francisco states that, All proceeds from ticket sales will go to the OneTaste Foundation, which exists to convert trauma into triumph through the practices of narrative therapy and Orgasmic Meditation. It aims to advance an innovative method of holistic reconciliation which serves to liberate both victims and perpetrators from debilitating, negative narratives.”
Until a few days ago, the OneTaste website featured a photograph of a Mendocino County jail inmate whom we were able to identify by distinctive tattoos that were visible in photographs Feigin attached to an email she sent to Marcus Ratnathicam, the Executive Director of Unconditional Freedom and a former coach at OneTaste. The picture was replaced shortly after we started asking questions. Visitors to the OneTaste website, which features highly sexual content, can quickly follow a series of links to the Unconditional Freedom website, where they can still view images of inmates and video testimonies by a variety of participants identified as “Builders of the monastery.”
We spoke with Unconditional Freedom attorney Caren Callahan about how the program measures the success of the program with inmates. She did not know how much public money it saves. The eight-week curriculum includes brief before-and-after surveys, where inmates self-report a 24% reduction in depression, 23% less use of drugs and alcohol (which they are not supposed to have in the jail anyway), and 16% less anger. Objective measurements like recidivism and post-release employment, housing, and sobriety were not immediately available.Kendall had some rough metrics. He said Unconditional Freedom’s garden program alone saved the jail $10,000 in food costs last year. “And it’s going to be more this year, because prices of things have gone up,” he predicted. The jail is also working to gather data on inmates who have gone through the Art of Soulmaking curriculum, versus those who have not. “We’re trying to put together some data on that, but you have to understand, that’s going to take probably another year before we get enough history in the rear view mirror before we can say if this is really working,” he said.
Inmate Services Coordinator Mendocino Jail’s Restorative Justice Program Manager Kate Feigin said the curriculum does include making connections with the outside world. “Part of the Art of Soulmaking is that you connect with a mentor on the outside of jail, and they write letters back and forth with the incarcerated person, and they go through the lessons in the workbook with them, to help them deepen the lessons that they’re learning,” she explained. We discovered when we looked at one of the inmate Art of Soulmaking packets which contained two envelopes with mailing stickers to an addressee. Inmates receive instructions informing them that removing the stickers “will constitute immediate removal from the program.” When we removed the sticker, we found another label underneath–this one to the address shared by OneTaste, Unconditional Freedom, and the Institute of OM, which offers intimacy training packages for upwards of $500, claiming that studies show that “OM has been shown to produce mystical experiences on par with the second highest dose of psilocybin.”
The penpal program was a concern for Kendall, as he considered the jail’s relationship with Unconditional Freedom over the weekend. “Number one, is there any issue with this OneTaste program?” he asked. “And then secondly, are the inmates staying in contact with these folks after they get out?”
Both Kendall and Chief Probation Officer Izen Locateli, who runs Juvenile Hall, said they never had complaints about any of the Unconditional Freedom volunteers in their institutions. Locateli welcomed the help after he cut back on staff.
“A while back, our staffing was reduced, when the county had conversations about closing Juvenile Hall, and to keep it open, we had to have less staff,” he explained. “So we used more community-based organizations or non-governmental organizations, and volunteers, to do some of the work we used to do. Which includes the Unconditional Freedom Project working in our garden on a volunteer basis,” starting a little over a year ago.
The garden is closed until security protocols can be improved after two inmates escaped briefly over the weekend, but Locateli said the volunteer, a high-level trainer in OneTaste techniques, will not return when the garden re-opens. Locateli said Juvenile Hall only uses evidence-based curriculum, and that The Art of Soulmaking program was not in use at the facility. He emphasized that volunteers are never alone with the underage inmates. He hopes to continue the gardening project with a paid contractor.
“Growing up in this community, and not wanting to bring any type of perception issues and having a vulnerable population, I think it would be best to do some type of RFP (request for proposals from would-be government contractors) to bring in a variety of different people, and make a selection process that’s very transparent and open,” he concluded.
On Monday afternoon, Kendall spoke with Ratnathicam, the Executive Director of Unconditional Freedom. He said he wasn’t much more successful than we were at getting information. “Marcus said that he had previously worked for OneTaste, and that he was very proud of the work that they had done,” he reported. “I said, there are some things that went on there that simply shocked my conscience. And he said the reporting made it very shocking to people. And so I very bluntly asked him…if there was some type of group masturbation going on. And he simply went into the science behind things and did not answer.”
Kendall suspended Unconditional Freedom programming at the jail on Monday, though he plans to continue looking into the situation. The same night, he said, “If it doesn’t meet my morals and values for my family, it’s not good enough for the inmate population. And I’m sorry. From what I’ve seen so far, the work that the Unconditional Freedom Project did, I’m thrilled with it. I thought they were good, professional people. However, if the foundation of this is OneTaste, I am not okay with that. And it will not continue.”
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An interesting story, but which is more correct?
A) NPO’s are the new “startup”…
B) Teaching people to masturbate meditatively, would probably solve all the world’s ills…
Unfortunately, humans are a little too caught up in feeling repressed, trying to control everyone and inheriting our parent’s foibles, so much so that even if we feel sexual, we are conditioned to instantly feel guilty…
I hope they help someone, and if humans spent more time having recreational sex and enjoying it more, and spent less time being greedy and mean, I expect that the world would be a much better place…
There probably won’t be any other rational comments, but hell, let’s talk about sex!
And what’s in that jar, anyway?
whatdeygonnatinkupnex?
wanking will never solve the world’s problems even if some religion is doing it for you. This sounds like a creepy cult.
Lol
Scammy scammers scamming. So creepy it’s almost funny! Of course. Real life is always weirder than anything you could make up. It’d be strange on an Instagram commercial. Verges on criminal in Civil Government. This jerk off guru is the only “vendor” in Mendo who can run a garden with free labor?
Rub one out. Let us know if Brandon’s still a slack-jawed, mouth-breathing piece of shit after you experience some euphoria…
founders of OM are super greedy, people pay buckets of money to take their culty courses. One course costs $25,000
Oh, I’ve heard of that group OM, they have a bunch of local chapters, including in Ashland where a friend went to get “serviced,” and I guess she had a pleasureable, though socially empty, experience…(the guy had One Job)
Yeah- they are freaky perverts trying to look like some church group. Predatory. Sex is healthy and orgasm is good and so is masturbation so I have no argument against any of that. But this group manipulates the loneliness or sexual frustration of people to get them into their cult and then extract the money while literally fucking them. And then represents themselves as wonderful ” helpers” using “science” to “free souls”. It’s fucking sick…
It’s not unlikely that someone already involved was either employed or incarcerated there and used it to manipulate the prison bureaucracy. The article didn’t seem to explain how the entity got there. Unfortunately it’s not just the prisoners involved. https://www.irs.gov/compliance/criminal-investigation/twenty-one-defendants-convicted-during-three-year-investigation-into-drug-trafficking-and-criminal-activities-led-by-inmates-inside-state-prison-walls-using-contraband-cell-phones
well we wouldn’t want any of the prisoners to become vulnerable
Ha ha ha ha ha!!!! Been running this program in the jail and juvenile hall for over a year?! Talk about targeting a captive audience and people who are in a highly suggestive condition! Wtf is wrong with Mendocino County?!! Inviting the cults and predators to feast on the imprisoned…because hey- we saved some money? Incredible
It would have been interesting to find out how this organization cane to have access t the jail. And how programs are vetted by the staff.
Been doing it for decades and continuing to do so. One way ticket to Jamestown anyone ? And for those not familiar w the reference you should look into the relationship between the Jamestown massacres and Mendo.
Jonestown? Unless there is some obscure reference to 1622 I’m missing.
Sorry. My misspelling. Jonestown is correct
Jim Jones was based in Redwood Valley before heading to SF.
Yeah- that’s really where they formed their cult They took over the old mental hospital grounds which are now that City of 1000 Buddhas… When it was a state mental hospital they ran experiments on the patients by giving them LSD. Also they did involuntary sterilization of the patients And lobotomies. Hopefully not at the same time!
No wonder that place feels a bit creepy.
Actually, their main funny farm was the Assembly of God Church off of East road. The floor is covered with a swimming pool there
Rather the swimming pool is covered with a floor
Never thought kool-aid in a syringe was hip.
All the needle marks were in the upper back, and shoulders.
Yeah that People’s Temple started in Mendocino. Many of them got jobs in the county beurocracy and then they used their power to hire more and sway decisions….but who let them in? The Mormons? Mendocino County government has been creepy and corrupt from the days they slaughtered the natives and stole their children to be house slaves. Super evil takes place in Ukiah it’s the tradition there
As with nearly all liberal programs, policies and politics, all roads lead to the crotch. Think about it!!
And there it is…
You mean like Christianity and organized religion?
Yeah. Really needed to have kept Jimmy Carter out of office. He really started the whole downward trend.
ur on the wrong page
What are you talking about? God Almighty. Liberals own your heart and mind free of charge. Get a grip
When you go to the gas station and pay seven dollars a gallon how could you not think about liberals and then I go grocery shopping and I pay double I think about liberals when I watch the news and see all the crime I think about liberals when I see a our lying dementia ridden president talk I think about liberals thank you liberals yes we are all thinking about you constantly rent free in our heads. Thank you so much!
When you pay 7 dollars you need to be upset with Putin and the invasion of Ukraine. Ukraine and Russia are the largest produces of grain and oil – both imports are problems. Russia is a leading exporter of oil. We have to continue to do everything that Ukraine needs to win the war which means continuing sanctions against Russia. We did nothing when Russia invaded Georgia, we did basically nothing when Russia invaded Crimea. If we do nothing when they invade Ukraine, who is next? when do we stop them. Yes, the current administration needs (and needed) to do more. Biden just now opened the strategic oil reserves, more pressure on Saudi Arabia and Opec to pump more, open more American wells, get rid of gas taxes and oil companies opportunism to use this to make massive profits. We need to demand that action to help regular Americans. But we also need to demand continued support for Ukrainians who are fighting and dying for all of our democracy and freedom.
What the fuck is going on in Mendo lately?
Tax dollars from weed sales have crashed, so the government is jonesing. Dope growers and pushers ain’t making shit off weed anymore, so the criminals are scared, broke and anxious…
Pretty simple. Mendocinians are frustrated. Onanism is a great release, but how dumb do rubes have to be to pay for it?!
🤣
Sounds like that anxiety and fear is pervading Southern Humboldt according to another article I read on the 5150 echo chamber blog, so expect spontaneous self gratification to spill into Humboldt County.
This seems like a give away of public funds and resources to a questionable group. As easy money dries up, we’re gonna find all kind of gross creatures at the bottom of the trough.
Gotta say they figured out how to get people to give them money so they could masterbate….You gotta hand it to them!
Lately? Jim Jones was there in the ’70s
I’m just thinking about this on the heels of all the different drama coming out of different law enforcement offices. I get that there’s clearly some deep rot in the county, but God damn, it’s like the legal structure of the county is in the process of imploding
Same old story Same old song and dance my friend
“The Foundation is legally distinct from OneTaste, though intimately connected with it.
I hope this was on purpose
Ommmmmmmmm…Yes! Yes!
…
💡TIP: If they taught auto-erotic asphyxiation the prisoners could experience orgasms 3/2 times as great as per otherwise with the side benefit of an attrition in the prisoner population.
Please take your own advice.
Wow I saved millions as a teenager! 🤣
LOL!! Best comment!
Oh cum on, and on, and on
While there are worse cults that recruit people in jails this one is just comically weird. Who let the masturbation cult into the jail? I am sure men in jail already do that to release tension, by the way.
Luckily Women do not.
Women do not do what?
that’s why they’re always angry
See.
Too hung up to talk about it!
Everyone does it, but nooooooobody will talk about it…
You are all so hung up…
Well people shit, piss, sweat, cry, vomit and fart too, everyone knows about it but maturity keep conversations about it only occasion. Unless of course one is an eighth grade boy nattering on with other eighth graders. The people who are “hung up” are those who stay there.
Om is a real cult in the true sense of the word
Its a true cult with a structure like scientology, you pay bucket loads of money for seminars, each level costing more and more, there’s one level where you pay $25,000 to watch a woman on a massage table have an hr long orgasm. The cult has a few off shoot cults too. There are a number of people who’ve left the cult whove done podcast episodes about it.
Sounds a lot like that NXIUM cult from a few years ago, too.
Gross.
Orgasmic Meditation? OOOMMMMM MY GOD!!!!!
WOW
This is some crazy shit
State sanctioned crazy shit no less.
This sounds like PSI with voyeurism.
It’s the new church of Ruth Westheimer ! Sexually speaking……. You are on the air !!!!!!
California has been locking male felons who claim to be women in Women’s prisons and now they are letting sex cults in to visit and minister. Gee. What could go wrong?
Oh, come on.. Is this a skit from Monty Python or SNL?
As capitalists continue to push for cuts in spending money on government institutions, “outsourcing” will continue to cause this kind of problem. Non profits are corporations, except that everybody thinks they are do-gooders.
Non profit organizations are not answerable to anyone, and don’t have to have public disclosures. They can appoint their own boards of directors and don’t have to have meetings open to the public. They don’t have to comply with FOA requests.
The only thing that non profits have to do is file tax statements that no one looks at.
Anybody can create a non profit and get away with just about anything, and this article proves it.
It is very interesting that an organization like this can establish themselves so easily in a “supposed secure setting” like the jail or Juvenile Hall. Meanwhile anyone trying to get hired or get processes through systems of the county it takes months and months. Then you might not even still pass the background check or something you did when you were 15 comes back to haunt your job application. Cannot load money on an inmate’s books anymore without having to supply your driver’s license, bank account numbers and I think 25% fee on top of the deposit. Everything is monitored.
Meanwhile, these guys get in in the blink of an eye, no questions asked.
““Orgasm Cult,” which interviewed subject matter experts and chronicled the experiences of people who claimed that the organization engaged in abusive and controlling practices to make money from sex.”
Well isn’t that why modern psychology is used to sell consumer products with the idea that you will become more desirable to the opposite sex?
Isn’t this what has been called in sex based massage parlors, a happy ending?
This whole story is absurd, base and really silly. The comments, on the other hand, are pure gold. Thanks for the laughs, folks. I knew they would be good.
Female hysteria is a real problem. Especially in prison.
Was Kevin Murray a member? Sounds like he was doing his part to keep the female cult members happy. Orgasm with 9 MM
service weapon anyone?
Interesting…. They have a website that sells books and there is a book about “being free” while in the justice system. Wow!
https://soulmakerpress.com/books/free-people/
The way 2022 is shaping up? This seems mild. People are insane right now
As a longtime mendocino resident concerned with our jail, I wonder why no one is asking the question of whether there was good brought by this program? The sheriff seems to think so in his own words. I pose to my community, how do we heal in such a way that we don’t get distracted by media headlines the way big city people do, and instead remain a community that asks the real questions. Like for example what does the inmate population we are posing to be protecting here think of this? Did they feel abused by this group or did they benefit? Are they pleased this program is gone or do they feel they lost?
Lots of money to be made in the prison system
In a nutshell, Founder Nicole believes that rape victims are guilty. Easiest way for her to deal with her guilt as a child with her father Joseph Daedone using her as bait to abuse girls…