It's worth looking at the Complaint for Damages filed in 1986 by Mark Miller, and ask: a) whether a class action suit could have been filed at that time; b) whether Adi Da/Franklin Jones/Adidam are still vulnerable to such a class action lawsuit.

COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES: Fraud and Deceit - Intentional misrepresentation; Fraud and Deceit - Suppression of fact; Fraud and Deceit - Promise made without any intention to perform; Fraud and Deceit - Negligent misrepresentation; Undue influence - Imposition of constructive trust; Intentional infliction of emotional distress; Negligent infliction of emotional distress. [from the Miller lawsuit]

It appears virtually certain that everyone who was a devotee prior to 1985, when the Daists (under duress) openly acknowledged they were engaged in fraud, deceit, and misrepresentation, could have been party to a large class action suit at that time -- a suit which would have effectively put an end to the Daist cult. It didn't happen, and one reason it didn't happen was that the individual lawsuits were settled out of court, and the various complainants (including Mr. Miller) signed non-disclosure agreements in exchange for sums of money.

[These NDA's are a whole other subject for discussion. On the one hand they are probably unenforceable -- any one of the "dissidents" could publish a book of his/her experiences, and if Adidam sued to halt publication the book would become an instant bestseller, accompanied by an 'orgy' of journalistic investigations and fresh revelations. On the other hand, Adidam itself probably invalidated the agreements after the fact, by publicly defaming the reputations of those who signed the agreements.]

Any number of devotees -- from 1975 to 1985 -- were completely in the dark as to the drug-taking and sex and abuse that were going on behind closed doors. Any number of devotees would have never joined Adidam or become followers of such a guru, if they had known the truth of what was going on in "the inner circle". A great many were hurt, and many gave up college educations, careers, and large sums of money to follow a man they considered to be a Living Incarnation of God -- a teacher "of the highest degree" who was presented as leading an exemplary spiritual life. (At one point it was even alleged that he never touched money, because of the worldly and unspiritual nature of it.)

Not everyone was subjected to the "copious ammounts of drugs and alcohol" that Miller describes. However almost everyone, without exception, was subjected to a number of other mind-control methods, including non-stop indoctrination, intense overwork, sleep-denial, constant peer pressure and a barrage of demands, to the point where they were effectively robbed of judgement.

People accepted this mistreatment because, like Mark, they believed the promise that it would break down their "resistance" to God in the person of the Guru. People accepted that their "egos" needed to be disciplined and "destroyed", so that the same "spiritual genius" the Guru claimed would awaken in them.

Part of the deceit practiced by this guru and his henchman, however, was to hide from the Adidam community at large the fact that the Divine Teacher was a profligate hedonist, steeped in sexual abuse and corrupt practices of the worst sort. As I said above, if any of the behaviors which Daists reluctantly acknowledged after the 1985 Beverly O'Mahoney lawsuit had been known to everyone, very few people would have ever signed on to become followers of Franklin Jones. In short, no devotees, other than a few of Frank's "intimates", ever agreed, either implicitly or by verbal contract, to be a party to the immorality, drug-taking and sexual abuse that were first brought to light in 1985. That was the reason these facts were hidden from the community at large -- not because people weren't "mature enough", as Frank's henchmen alleged.

Now, the question arises whether a Class Action suit could still be filed in the name of all those who were victimized prior to the 1985 Daist confession of fraud and deceit. It seems that the statute of limitations for these kinds of charges has expired. (The new law in California which extends the statute of limitations in the case of sexual abuse could certainly have an effect on Adidam. The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to issue a ruling which will either invalidate or unleash that law in June of 2003.)

But then a greater question arise: Whether, in its quest for new followers, Daism is still engaged in false representations and suppression of facts? If you read The Promised God-man is Here, you would think so. This book, designed to promote Franklin Jones as the apex of spiritual wisdom and enlightenment for all time, is a massive whitewash and coverup of the truth. It tells prospective followers virtually nothing of substance about the events that came to light in 1985. It "spins" Frank's "unconventional" behavior with the usual "crazy wisdom" and "tantric master" excuses and puts all of the responsibility for "experimentation" on the backs of the devotees, who "needed to be shown the ego's fundamental refusal to love."

The question remains, then, whether people joining today are being fully informed about the facts prior to 1985 -- or even the facts at this moment, when the wall of concealment around Frank has grown higher and thicker.