– Marc Gafni’s friends, collaborators, and colleagues speak out for the sake of restoring integrity. This statement by Tonya “Tbird Luv” Ridgely on conclusions based on an unethical smear campaign was first posted as a comment to the Center for Integral Wisdom statement on centerforintegralwisdom.org. You can read the statement below or listen to the audio. –
The last few weeks have unleashed some of the most sinister and diabolically orchestrated attempts to terminate Marc’s Gafni’s career and credibility under the guise of protecting “vulnerable” women. The allegations made against him online and in the press paint a picture of an evil parasitic man who preys upon helpless women and girls. They say that he sexually harasses women and abuses his authority as a rabbi and spiritual teacher to manipulate women into having sex with him. They even go as far as to call him a pedophile and rapist; claiming that he is a sociopath who uses “mind control” to get what he wants. After carefully reviewing these allegations, doing the research and checking the facts, I am convinced that these claims are false or grossly distorted.
As a woman, friend, colleague, staff and student of Marc’s for four years, I can definitively state that this is NOT my experience of him. Nor am I or have I ever been a victim of his either. If I am being victimized by anyone, it is by the people who are out to destroy Marc Gafni and the Center for Integral Wisdom, as this slanderous campaign has affected my job and my livelihood. The Marc I know is an extraordinary human being who has challenged, inspired and welcomed me to play bigger in my life as an evolutionary agent of change. He’s been a great mentor and friend who’s helped me grow more into an exceptional woman in leadership. For this I stand by him and support his work in the world.
I’ve decided to use this negative experience to build the superpowers to LOVE in the face of lies, hate and discrimination. In my view, what is really being attacked is not Marc himself but the revolutionary message of Outrageous Love he is inspiring in all of us. Evolving the “source codes” of culture requires us to participate in the Evolution of Love by waking up, growing up and showing up in order to play a bigger role. Our current paradigm is doing its best to not allow that to happen as it values polarization rather than harmony and instigates affliction over forgiveness and pain over Love.
This is cyclical. Any great leader or movement that ever challenged “the way it is” to bring about more freedom, love and equality, was always meet with resistance. Many were condemned, jailed, burned, driven out or even killed. It has happened many times. Therefore the corrupt forces in our culture are doing what they always do; target, exploit, and manipulate without regard to guilt or innocence. And those who’ve gotten swooped by the media hype without doing the research and fact checking have fallen victim to passing the poison. They too have been used by the system.
Though I am deeply saddened by this experience and at times extremely angry, I am reminded by Marc that there is nothing more whole than a broken heart. Because once the heart is broken open, love can get in and flow out. My hope is that everyone affected by this painful experience heals from it. I pray that we collectively move in a direction of healing towards Love and away from condemning and crucifying others for their so-called sins. Otherwise nothing changes.
There are hundreds of pages of documentation evidencing that the claims are either false or grossly distorted. Please carefully read the entire Facts section on Marc’s website before commenting or drawing conclusions based on an unethical smear campaign.
– Tonya Ridgely