REPLY TO A 'SPIRITUAL' PYRAMID-SCHEME LETTER (see the original letter below my reply) Date: Mon, 23 Feb 1998 15:46:46 -0800 (PST) From: William Beaty Subject: Re: Abundance and dishonesty. On Mon, 23 Feb 1998, Kathy & Jim S wrote: > My name is Amber and I live on the east coast of Australia. > I have been involved in spirituality for most of my life and > have been > blessed by being given many opportunities to bring more light > into people's lives. There are many characteristics which > You will then add your name to the list of participants shown further > down. Then you will distribute this letter in full to 100 people, > either through the internet or through regular mail. The only > requirement is that the recipients must be spiritually-minded, as we > would like the I am a somewhat spiritual person myself. I also practice brutal self-honesty. I say this because you may not like the following. I'm not trying to be superior, I'm just trying to point out an important negative aspect of all this. You can tell me "You're just a negative person!" "You're not spiritual!" I hear you. Before I can fix my flaws, I must first perceive them. But before anyone lowers themselves to namecalling, please read my thoughts below. Your message is redistributing wealth, yes. ANd it really works. But this sort of thing operates by convincing a large number of people at the bottom of a list to give money to a few people at the top of a list. But the message doesn't admit that this is what's happening. Therefor the whole thing is extremely dishonest. In my opinion, participating in a pyramid scheme is extremely "bad karma" because of the number of people being lied to. In comparison, lotteries and gambling are honest! There, lots of people lose money so that a few may win. But at least everyone knows this! With the "pyramid scheme" letter below, the fact that most participants lose money while THOSE WHO STARTED THE LETTER WIN BIG, is hidden. Was it done through ignorance? Maybe. People with good intentions can harm others through ignorance. But where $$$ is concerned, we might also suspect greed. Participants and instigators should either be ashamed of their ignorant acts, or ashamed of their greed and hypocrisy. As spiritual people we must battle the illusory world which draws us into narcissim. We must conquer "self-importance", and try hard to avoid letting our self-serving delusions suck us into acts which make the world just a bit more of a rotten place to be. Negative actions, even if obscured by denial and intentional self-blindness, are still negative actions. When a "pyramid" letter is first launched, the person at the top of the list gets money. More and more people receive the message, and the people farther down the list get less money. Finally the message spreads to a major part of the world, and people start ignoring the circulating message. When all is said and done, a very large number of people have sent money up to those near the top of the pyramid, yet since there are no people below them, the huge multitude at the end of the process don't get money in return. Think about it. THe message does not create money, it just convinces many people to send money to few people. The instigator of the message benefits the most. Even if the message reached everyone on earth, all that would happen is that we would each give $33, and each receive $33. But when thousands of people send the message back to Amber and those on the message list, will they part with their large earnings and redistribute it again? You think they will? Maybe. But then, we aren't supposed to send the message to people on the list! The message says that it's not a chain-letter. Was this statement made in ignorance of what a "chain letter" is? Of course that message is a chain-letter. It is a typical pyramid-scheme chain letter, originally known as "ponzi scheme" long ago. Pyramid schemes are tempting because they really work. Robbery really works too. What is worse; to break into one person's home, or to take unearned money from thousands of people, while covering up the fact that they won't get money back in return? If you honestly want to redistribute wealth, go buy lottery tickets, or anonymously give money to a needy family. If you want to receive because you have given, then go volunteer at your favorite charity. But never send money to a pyramid-scheme participant on the internet. As reprehensible acts go, it's a far worse act than gambling, because you become a sort of "casino owner" rather than a fellow gambler. Your chances for making money are far higher than those to whom you send the chain letter. I think we should all send our best wishes to Amber and those on her list. They have caused a slight amount of harm to a very large number of people. They have aquired soiled earnings, participated in lying to friends, and have spread a type of "email disease" across the internet. When they eventually come to confront their actions, I think they'll need all the kind thoughts they can get. Think twice about it all. Be self-honest, don't let temptation and denial cloud your vision. Send back the money, you did not earn it properly, and it has the curse of the Pyramid Scheme attached to it. ((((((((((((((((((((( ( ( ( ( (O) ) ) ) ) ))))))))))))))))))))) William J. Beaty SCIENCE HOBBYIST website billbeskimo.com amasci.com EE/programmer/sci-exhibits science projects, tesla, weird science Seattle, WA 206-762-3818 freenrg-L taoshum-L vortex-L webhead-L @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ Date: Mon, 23 Feb 1998 From: xxxx Subject: Abundance Dear Friend, My name is Amber and I live on the east coast of Australia. I have been involved in spirituality for most of my life and have been blessed by being given many opportunities to bring more light into people's lives. There are many characteristics which typically describe the wonderful people whom I've met in my spiritual travels : warm, loving, joyful, resilient, devoted. But there is one aspect which I have often noted and wished I could bring more help to. It is apparent that many spiritual people find it difficult to prosper whilst sticking to their morals in this materialistic society. Most spiritual people would use any abundance they acquire to bring more light into the world through selfless giving, charity, and lightening the burdens of themselves and others that we can all live together joyously and harmoniously. There are many books that promote abundance through positive thinking and strong belief that it will occur in one's life. After all, hasn't it been stated, "Ask and You Shall Receive"? Whilst in theory it seems solid, most of us find little success despite our faith. It seems that for now at least, we must endure our limited financial circumstances and accept our situation. It was whilst pondering the somewhat disappointing efforts of myself and others in similar circumstances that I came across a new hope. It adds to "Ask and You Shall Receive" the equally important "The Lord Helps Those That Help Themselves." You see this takes into account the well known universal law that essentially requires you to give in order to receive. This became obvious to me from a letter that I received. The letter outlined a 'self-help co-operation project' that aimed at helping spiritually minded people become more financially secure. This project has been operating very successfully around Australia for a number of years. Since I had access to the internet, I have opened this project up to the worldwide spiritual community. Below are the full details which I have slightly adjusted to work in an international setting. I hope you find this project to be worthwhile and personally successful. If however it doesn't interest you, please accept my love and blessings for your patience. Thankyou, Amber. ========================================== Self-Help Co-Operation Project ------------------------------ Please take the time to read this fully. Many people have received great deals of financial return from this project. It has been said, "The Lord works in mysterious ways." Often we ask the universe for abundance, but we don't take notice of the opportunities that we are presented with, missing the circumstances that may have actually brought to us what we were asking for. This opportunity is definitely worth your time and consideration. This project is very simple. In fact it is the simplicity of the project and the faith of the participants that ensures it's success. Although the project involves re-distributing this letter, it is vital that we assure you right now that this is NOT a multi-level marketing scheme or chain letter. This project is entirely legal and has been created BY spiritual people FOR spiritual people. It has been designed to help the entire community. YOUR participation is the key to your success in this project. A single gift of $33 or equivalent of your local currency is donated to a single person or organisation. This is not payment for anything, it is simply an act of unselfish giving (this is entirely legal just like any other birthday or Christmas gift). You will then add your name to the list of participants shown further down. Then you will distribute this letter in full to 100 people, either through the internet or through regular mail. The only requirement is that the recipients must be spiritually-minded, as we would like the project to remain in the hands of responsible and loving people. Please note that we are not judging non- spiritually minded people, and we encourage you to share your time, love and abundance with them! 100 people is the suggested number of letters to send, but you may help more people by involving them in this project if you personally have a wide circle of friends and associates. Similarly you can send less if you wish, though obviously the results may be lessened. Once you have put in this small effort, you can sit back and allow the universe to return your kindness to you multiplied manyfold. If this project is beyond your current time commitments or finances, our thoughts are with you. Perhaps you can pass this along to someone you think may benefit from it. This project has proven to be successful when followed precisely. Be sure to act as soon as possible, if you put it in your 'to-do-later basket' it will end up never getting done. The sooner you put in your small effort, the sooner your efforts will be returned to you. Please do not consider moving your name up the list for a quicker outcome. You will only be short-changing yourself. Similarly you will not be rewarded if you add yourself to the list without taking the time to send the donation. By the way, a number of legal experts have agreed that the project is entirely legal due to the gift-status of the donation. Since this project is international, gifts to other countries must be able to be easily transferred between countries. The best way to achieve this is by using International Postal Orders which are obtainable from most post offices around the world. The post office usually requires a very small administration fee for this service. We hope that you can accept that this is part of your selfless giving, as will the future participants when sending their gifts to you. In some areas the post office will not issue International Postal Orders (they MUST be marked as INTERNATIONAL) so in this case it is possible to obtain from most banks a 'bank draft cheque' (not a personal cheque) which will be issued in the currency of the country to which it is being sent. This small effort on your part is appreciated for the complete success of the project for everyone involved. If however the person on the list is in your own country, then all this is unnecessary and a personal cheque or similar will be fine. It is important that you include with your donation a small note, something like "I give this gift selflessly and with love and thanks to the Creator / the Universe." This ensures that you are not just giving with a feeling of wanting something in return. It is also advisable that the receiver keeps these notes in case they are required for financial purposes, taxation, etc. Your total outlay consists mainly of your time and effort, and these small acts of giving for the benefit of all involved will naturally be rewarded. Monetarily the total outlay is $33 (plus bank/postal fees), in addition to postal and photocopying charges or internet charges as applicable in your redistribution of this letter in full. Considering that past participants have been known to receive literally hundreds of thousands of dollars, this is a golden opportunity. A rough estimate predicts that if only 10% of every 100 people who receive this letter actually participate, when you start receiving money it would be approximately $330,000. We sincerely hope this occurs for you! Whatever your financial destiny may be, try to remain detached and remember that your money is a gift. Hopefully you will find charitable purposes for a percentage of your income. Please note that through constant photocopying of this letter it may lose print quality, or through some email programs it may become difficult to read. If it reaches you in this state, please take the time to retype or fix it to make it easier for others to continue. Also, if you are emailing this to a large number of people, please send each letter individually as it is difficult to read messages that contain long 'TO:' lists. An internet web site has been created to act as an International Focus Point for our prayers and meditation for spiritual peace and physical abundance. Feel free to visit it at the web address below as often as you like, to give and receive our joint energies. If you don't have access to the internet, you can still participate - your prayer and intention to connect with the site will ensure that the energy is perfectly directed to you. The web address is : http://members.xoom.com/focuspoint ========== DIRECTIONS ========== (1) Forward the International Postal Order / Cheque (as appropriate) to the person or organization at the TOP of the list (below). Do this before moving on to the next step, to avoid natural procrastination that will ultimately let all participants down. The donation should be $33 of your local currency or the rough equivalent. (2) Remove that person from the top of the list, and play yourself or your organization in the BOTTOM position (don't worry, it will quickly move to the top!). Be sure to use a name that will allow you to place the gifts into your bank account (don't use a nickname or unregistered business name). Double check your address details to be accurate. Don't forget to include your country. (3) Select 100 people to distribute this letter to. Start by thinking of friends, family and clients that are spiritually minded. These are the people that are most likely to continue the project. Then continue by finding details of other spiritual people that may be interested. Spiritual magazines, local newspapers and yellow pages can be good sources, and most people involved in alternative healing will also be interested. Use your imagination. Remember that success relies on finding people that will continue the project, so only choose people that are likely to be interested, and remember that you are requested to only approach spiritually-minded people. ============ CURRENT LIST ============ (1) Colin Jones Australia (2) John Mattox USA (3) Children's Hunger Relief Fund USA (4) Terry Romine USA (5) Kathy Snow USA =========== Final Notes =========== There will always be some who try to criticize and object. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. The cynics can remain in their clouded vision as is their right, but don't forget to share some of your success and light with them when you prove them wrong! With predictions of only 10% participation bringing great success, there is little room for failure, and a practically 100% percent chance of at least having your initial investment of time and money returned to you, so what is there to lose? Now ask yourself, do you know a better way to become abundant whilst simultaneously helping others do the same, with minimal time, effort and investment? So then what are you waiting for? This doesn't require luck, just a little effort. We pray for your continuing success and good fortune.