Zendik

(I'll report it to cops in a heartbeat if I sense it's serious on either end.) That's

What kind of crazy ..... are you, and what even makes you think you have any right to interfear with anything that dont concern you, let alone bring the cops in on anything that dont concern you, if you knew anything about law they would tell you the same, if you have a feeling thats not enough to act on anything, ive seen some of your posts and at 19 you seem to be simply whacked, stick to your lil porn line and leave folks alone.....

 

OK.
Siah.
Why does all the art look the same? Are new peoples art considered Valid if it does not fall in line with the established Zendik Order?
Is it true that new people don't stay that long or are treated like throw aways? Why is that?
Do Zendiks practice PermaCulture? Do you build with Cob?
How is Zara?
Why, when I came to give all that I had, was I treated like an idiot that had no knowledge of anything?
Basically, are new people still treated like shit? Unless of course they get hooked up with Chey, Lore or Arol....... You know... Like when Chazz is doing Fawn and gets to live in the special house with the special food.
Sound like I'm complaining? Consider it feedback. It's valid, remember my name is Jason.

 

Ah, yes, I use the names I came up with and drawings that I did on albums that I made featuring the muzikal style I innovated over the last 20 years. That makes me pretty dedicated to getting things done and keeping my interests alive, I guess. I assume that's what you're insinuating. And, yes, I have a website! Thanks for the plug. Again that address is:

http://www.elementalmuzik.cjb.net/

Check out my muzik! It's been described as a cross between Pink Floyd and Ministry. Wulf was a HUGE influence on my muzikal style, and I worked with him for many years capturing his last great performances on tape. Chrome, Einsturzende Neubauten and Bill Laswell are also primary influences of my sound. Many have enjoyed it, many still do...

 

Wow, Siah, what the hell are you doing here? Welcome to the hippy tabloids! It's good to hear you are still on ZF. Hope all's going well for ya.
Everybody here is trying to push their own point of view, so you may find trying to answer any questions a little un-productive. Despite the fact that you're a hard working, intelligent man who knows what he believes in, you're not likely to find the respect you deserve in this corner of the Universe.
Here's the gig, coming from someone who lived at Zendik Farm for 11 years: ZF could be considered a cult, because it requires total commitment if you are to stay there permanently - as does McDonalds, Wal-Mart, being a hippy, a "Deadhead", a politician, a punker or any other organization that wants its members to comform to a particular aesthetic. To my knowledge, tribes were the same way.
The answer is simple, guys. If you don't think you will fit in, don't try. Don't waste other peoples' time with your lameness. Do something else. Siah is being honest with you about his lifestyle. It works for him. Hooray! There's one less frustrated person in the world. Everybody who's been there is being honest about how it effected them. I personally got a lot out of it. When it wasn't working for me anymore, I left. I can agree with some of the criticisms that have been posted here. Some are not true at all! I think the strengths and weaknesses of Zendik Farm can be generalized from all of it. If this thread has helped you make your decision, then you're more easily influenced than I, but hey, whatever...
To close, let me just say, good luck finding anything if you don't want to work your ass off. Being born human doesn't make you exempt from the trials and tribulations of survival. Of course, you can be a professional free loader, but don't expect open arms or a lot of invitiations. That's actually hard work as well.

 

I think that this page (from Nez's website) has been referred to elsewhere in the thread, but it's worth repeating. The original URL no longer works, but it's cached: http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:ll41SGxGnxQJ:users.arczip.com/kidnez969/Zendik%2520Warez.htm+zendik+warez&hl=en

Here's the text:


"ZENDIK WAREZ
Has been
OFFICIALLY CLOSED

We deeply apologize to the fans of Wulf's work who requested this site and helped make it

possible. We hope you found it useful. Here is the letter that was written to the EleMental Alliance about this site.


June 14, 2003

Nez Zendik,

It has come to the attention of the heirs of Wulf Zendik that you are currently, in violation of federal copyright and state personal property laws, displaying the writings of Wulf Zendik in a public format (the website known as the EleMental Alliance; url, http://elementalalliance.cjb.net/) and offering them for download and distribution. We ask that you cease this activity immediately or face legal action. Wulf Zendik¹s writings and music are the sole property of his heirs, Arol Wulfing and Fawn Wulfing, and cannot be reproduced or distributed in any form without their direct written consent. Below you will find a list of the writings in question. They, and any other material in your possession, are private property, and your continued use of them constitutes a crime:

...(Titles of all essays at the site)...

Zendik Farm Arts Foundation


We would like to thank the EleMental Alliance for letting us link to their site, but you can see why we were forced to close our site down altogether. We created Zendik Warez as a service to those of you on the truthway. Please request that Zendik Farm make more of Wulf's work available for those of us who care about the revolution more than the copyrights."

 

A pretty noble gesture, if I may say so myself Sorry if you missed out.

 

Nez, please! You can't compare living at Zendik Farm & working at Mc Donalds! All McDonalds cares about is that you show up on time and flip burgers, etc., day after tedious day. Zendik tries to influence & control your very being. Also, I will note that working for McDonalds is a completely empty and meaningless experience while at least living at Zendik provides you with some meaningful or at least interesting experiences.

Zendik is totalitarian in the sense that they want to get into your soul and make you a total Zendik “fanatic” as Arol puts it, while with most jobs, all the company wants is your cooperation and subservience while you're at work.

Punks? Hippies? Zendik is ruled from the top down, unlike most hippy or punk groups, so the whole social, psychological, & power structure is different. At Zendik you're not only asked to conform, but are brought into a society that is ruled by Arol & co. When you commit to Zendik, you become a soldier in the Zendik culture war against everything non-Zendik - very very different than hanging around with punks or goths on the corner, or working at Wal Mart.

 

"The heirs of Wulf Zendik" Who do these people think they are, freaking nobility? "Personal property." What a bunch of hypocrites!



If I were reading this thread and considering whether or not to try the Zendik Farm, the above quote would kill any notion I’d have of going there. It clearly exposes Arol & Fawn Wulfing as the fakes and capitalists that they truly are. If they were at all dedicated to Wulf or any sort of Zendik revolution they’d want Wulf’s work published far & wide and not be trying to profit personally from Wulf’s work by considering it their “personal property.” Funny how they go running for “deathkulture” property rights and law when it suits them. These people are charlatans.

 

I didn't compare living at ZF to working at McD's. I said they could both be considered cults. As well as the other examples. Make no mistake: Everyone is trying to get everyone to believe the same things, including you & me. McD's would love nothing more than to own your soul if it meant higher profits. Look at the zombies behind the cash registers wearing matching polyester uniforms... Think before you debate.

 

Wow, Nez. The "Deathkultur" hasn't tainted your Zendik cynicism, misanthropy, paranoia, or ignorant contempt for the poor.

 

Well, you're mistaken again! I am not a cynic, I still trust that humanity can one day be the awesome species we are meant to be, and I said nothing against anyone except for the corporations who victimize the poor. You seem to have a bone to pick with me, or a desire to make me look bad. If you think that's the right thing to do, then I guess you'll continue on the path you're on. I came here only because I heard from a friend that folks were talking shit about me, and probably got too involved. I have made my points, and now I am out of time. I hope you find your brain at the end of the road...
I would like to thank everyone for their time. Maybe we will meet again at some other place.

 

As a frequent low-wage worker and a former cultist, I must protest a comparison between Zendik Farm and any working environment I've encountered. Wal-Mart is not a cult!

If you're wondering whether or not your employer or organization might be a cult, this handy checklist might help clear up some confusion:

http://www.csj.org/infoserv_cult101/checklis.htm

...

 

Wal Mart is too dull & boring to be a cult. Mc Donalds & Wal Mart don't care about the souls of their workers. I doubt the concept of the base philosophy of their minumum wage workers has ever even occured to the Wal family and the large stockholders in Mc Donalds. For all these companies care you could go home and read Neo Nazi trash so long as it never comes out & you show up to work on time and do as you're told.

Nez, I'm glad I'm not married to you! You never admit a single mistake or bend in the least! It's always the other person who is wrong or doesn't get it or is the cynic or has to "find their brain at the end of the road." You just contradict what anyone says.

You need to take a good look at yourself and hop on that proverbial truthway, buddy.

Note: if you look at the checklist that red lentil provided a link to, Zendik matches every category!

 

"I didn't compare living at ZF to working at McD's. I said they could both be considered cults."

Same thing.

"Make no mistake: Everyone is trying to get everyone to believe the same things, including you & me."

This statement is cynical and paranoid. Not everyone is a fascist. Speak for yourself.

"McD's would love nothing more than to own your soul if it meant higher profits. Look at the zombies behind the cash registers wearing matching polyester uniforms..."

My reaction to this is complex. Your statement reeks of superficial Zendik-taught "social criticism", and reads like a page from their magazine. An assumption of absolute evil on the part of the powerful requires an assumption of absolute personal powerlessness. Zendik Farm exploits the helplessness felt by individuals who do not know that they are not alone and that the monsters around them can indeed be vanquished.

McDonalds would be shut down very quickly if it attempted to practice thought reform (as Zendik Farm and many other cults do) on its employees. Huge corporations are at the mercy of public opinion. Bad publicity can kill the beast, and in the "Deathkultur" whistleblowers are protected.

Low-wage workers are not "zombies". We're people.

 

The unique feature of labor at McDonald’s is that they have streamlined their production process to the point where workers are inherently replaceable. McDonald’s doesn’t want to capture your mind or soul...they just want to borrow your body for a couple of weeks or months, until the inevitable moment comes when you find a better job. You are hired with the tacit understanding that this will be a temporary gig for you (something like 1 out of 8 Americans have worked at McDonald’s at some point in their lives, if I remember correctly.) Yes, they make you wear a uniform, and yes, there’s a boss telling you what to do, exerting power over you in some sense, but these criteria do not a cult make. This is not to say that McDonald’s is not pure evil, for dozens of reasons...just that the comparison doesn’t make much sense to me. This seems like a rhetorical sleight of hand, stretching the definition of cult to mean any organization that has any agenda whatsoever, or exerts any sort of power over its members...hence, the Zendiks can feel good about being a cult, because every other organization on the planet has suddenly become a cult too, according to this new definition...

I hope that Nez sticks around and adds to this discussion, though I can understand if he feels that there are better ways to use one’s time than arguing with strangers on the internet. Oh well.

 

No one has the right to threaten physical harm. I won't tolerate it because I couldn't feel comfortable if I let someone die as a result.

Wal-Mart and McDonald's are both profit driven. Like someone else said, this is really too boring to run a cult on, because if you're operating a place like Zendik for the money, well, like Wal-Mart and McDonald's, you'd have to have a more palatable and mainstream philosophy/set of products. Big corporations seek to attract as many people as possible to buy their stuff; Zendik is seeking certain types of people. (Nez and Siah, even if you guys don't think you are in a cult, I think you have to admit you don't want the majority of people at Zendik!)

To further steal from someone's post (sorry, GC), a cult has to have some absolute, unquestionable power structure that consists of either a tiny core or individual, but is primarily headed usually by one person who is thought to be "better," 'more pure," or "godlier" than others. I can't even think of the name of the person who owns McDonald's and I applied to work there back in the day.

I agree with GC that it would be nice if Nez stuck around. I'm really interested in both sides.

 

People that arrive at the farm are motivated to be Zendik. They're not going there because they think they may like the place or ideas, no this is what people who just donate do, send money or stuff. I read their mag page to page several times a day and spoke with Zendiks for months before I stepped of the bus in Bastrop. I kind of though I was coming home as just about everything I was reading was in my soul before I ever heard the word Zendik.
I've been a carpenter for 20 years and a musician for longer I was really excited to contribute my skills to what I was reading, a place where artists and musicians could work, life and create together. I couldn't wait to start swinging a hammer, playing music, learning a different way of life and making great friends.
Everything was OK the first few hours before I started feeling weird vibes which could have been just me but.... Painting the main house was my first job after my first lunch, more on that later. I've done my share of painting but it seemed that however I applied the paint was wrong. I remember scraping the old paint off and it was just the way I was told not to that was off. When they say apprenticeship they mean it. Whatever you have done in your life is no longer valid until you learn the Zendik ways of doing everything. Notice there has not been to many professionals at the farm. No doctors or teachers to be seen, whatever.
I guess it's true that older people have less of a chance to make it at the farm because your skills are not valid at the farm. Unless.
People are committed to the Zendik way of life by just arriving and or giving up there possessions, we fulfilled our part of the bargain.
I thought that anyone stepping up with their life to offer would be treated with more respect than what I and the others that were there had at the time. No new person that was there when I was there are, well, there to my knowledge. Think about if you had a farm and people offered to come live on it and work on it in exchange for a place to sleep and eat. How would you treat them? Would you watch every move of their paint brush and point out all the "mistakes"? How much time would you give them to work and play? Twelve hour days? Eight? Six days or seven or five? Would you them have them go door to door or on the streets asking for money after working all day? Would you scoff at their art or be thankful for the gift?
Me, I'd be thankful. I would be happy that they are doing anything at all. Matter of fact I'd be greeting everyone with hugs! When I first met Arol she barely acknowledged my presence, like I was beneath her. She never looked me in the eye while saying one word to me and this was after me working my ass off.
Just think if everyone was encouraged to create whatever art it was and Zendik Farm sold all the works at open markets and the internet, no need to be hitting the streets.... What if they had more than one band, one style....
This is not the case. There is no diversity with this established order it's one way or the highway.

 

I would like to make a quick point to those who are reading this and have not been to the farm. Everyone here who has lived at Zendik did so at different times. I know there are some overlaps here and there, but for the most part you are getting a view of Zendik from a very wide time frame. I lived at the farm from 95-97 I think, and then again in 2002. Some of the people who have posted here are talking about what the farm was like more than 10 years ago.



Anyway, my point being that you are getting a lot of different viewpoints and stories about what the farm is/was like from people who were either kicked out or left over a period of more than a decade. I am not trying to put people down or to defend Zendik. I am just trying to give a little perspective to those who are reading this and have not been to the farm. I can only give you my opinion about how things were, based on the 2 1/2 years I was there. That is all anyone can do.



There are however certain themes that do seem to pop back up over and over, like Arol's totalitarian rule of the place, the fact that unless you had been at the farm for years (or were sleeping with someone who had been) your opinion was not only discounted but often distained, and the was people who had valuable skills and art forms were treated as slave labor for the good of those in the inner circle. It is not always easy to separated truth from fiction. But there is one thing you cannot deny, and that is that if Zendik Farm were a healthy society, why are there only a few dozen Zendiks on the farm where literally thousands of people have visited or tried to live there. My only conclusion is that if they were really interested in saving the world they would be creating a society where more than .001% of the population is welcome and can make it work. Not only have they not gained in population since they were formed more than 30 years ago. They have lost some of the most talented, intelligent and hardworking people I have ever met in my life. This says it all to me. If Arol and the rest can not see that and want to discount what I have said then fine. Like they have always said...



A society based on lies can't hope to survive in the universe.



Oh and yes I agree, the fact that Arol is now willing to threaten to sue people just proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that she isn't in it to save the world, but rather just to make a buck and keep here kingdom.



Rasha

 

Once, when I was at the Farm (96-7), I was given the task of going through folder after folder of Xeroxes of philosophy texts that Wulf had written over the past 20-25 years and typing this stuff into the computer. This was an eye-opening experience, because it became obvious to me that Wulf was just recycling the same old points over and over again...what he said in the 70s was indistinguishable from what he was saying in the 90s (apart from the occasional appearance of new Zendik jargon terms). The lesson I drew from this was that the Zendik philosophy was paralyzed...more a mystical tradition to be passed from master to disciple, rather than a real philosophy involving active curiosity about how the world works, how people work, etc. Anyway, I think Rasha is right that we should be cautious about claiming to know what goes on at the Farm when some of us haven't stepped foot there for years...but if I know anything about the Zendiks, it's that they like to do things the Zendik way, the same old way they've always done things. I'm prepared, though, to admit that I'm totally wrong, since I haven't in fact even seen a Zendik for eight years...

 

True, many of us haven't been on Zendik in years, but I will point out that Spanky & Rasha have been on the farm within the last 3 or so years and their stories are strikingly simular to the tales that we 'old timers' tell.