John de Ruiter

John de Ruiter
Born Johannes Franciscus de Ruiter
(1959-11-11) November 11, 1959
Nipawin, Saskatchewan, Canada
Occupation Spiritual Teacher
Language English
Nationality Canadian
Genre Metaphysics, Spirituality, Psychology, Philosophy
Website
www.johnderuiter.com

John de Ruiter (born November 11, 1959) is a Canadian-born Nondualist[1] author who conducts meetings and seminars on his own 'College of Integrated Philosophy' in Edmonton, Alberta[2] [3] and abroad.

Early life

John de Ruiter was born in Nipawin on November 11, 1959, and is one of two boys and two girls raised by Dutch immigrant parents in the town of Stettler in Alberta, Canada.[2] While still a boy, he was taught shoe repair by his father, who was from a long line of shoemakers from De Bilt in the Netherlands.[2]

Awakening

Raised in the town of Stettler in Alberta, Canada, de Ruiter remained indifferent to and unaffected by religious doctrine.[4] At age 17 he claims to have experienced, without preparation or warning, a state of awakening.[1] This state lasted a year, then left him as abruptly as it had come.[1] Following this experience, de Ruiter spent several years undertaking a gruelling investigation of many mystical and philosophical traditions in an attempt to regain what he had lost.[1] He found no existing system, religious dogma or technique that provided the means to truly answer the void within.[5] According to de Ruiter, only unconditional surrender returned him to the state of awakening.[1][5]

College of Integrated Philosophy

John de Ruiter founded in Edmonton the 'Oasis Edmonton College of Integrated Philosophy' where he holds weekly meetings on Fridays, Sundays, and Mondays when he is not travelling oversea,[6] the facility was opened in 2005 and is said to be worth $7-million.[7]

Meetings

De Ruiter rarely addresses the whole group, and he often answers questioners after long pauses or sometimes not at all.[8][9][10] During these periods of silence de Ruiter appears to be in a deep state of Samadhi.[11][12] The extended periods of silence and eye contact has led one critic to interpret this as an opportunity for audience members to "elicit projection, the psychological phenomenon in which we attribute certain thoughts or feelings to another.”[13]

In a study about Silence, Charisma and Power was concluded that de Ruiter’s silence sometimes serves a punitive purpose, solidifying beliefs that he possesses an authority of godly proportions. Finally, de Ruiter’s use of intimacy-fostering silence encourages the belief among followers that he has an extraordinary ability to form intimate bonds with complete strangers, simply by gazing at them.[14]

Teachings

De Ruiter practices and recommends inner quiet and integrity on all levels of life, from the profound to the superficial.[11] De Ruiter's teaching style has been compared to the centuries-old oral-based teaching of Tibetan Buddhism.[8] Parallels have also been made between de Ruiter’s philosophy and Buddhism, where detachment and release are also key principles.[2][13]

“Okayness” is central to de Ruiter’s philosophy. It is best understood as “loving acceptance” and can exist even “in moments of intense sorrow or immense physical pain.”[2]

De Ruiter states that "Truth lives in each one of us," and that a high level of awareness, that can only come from "core splitting honesty," is required to understand that there is no necessity to search.[2]

Reception

Accusations have been made that de Ruiter is establishing a new religion or cult after some of his followers described odd conversation experiences such as seeing lights and auras, for example.[13]

Lawsuits

Joyce de Ruiter who was married with John de Ruiter for 18 years confronted him before she divorced in front of 300 of his devotees on stage that he was having an affair with Benita and Katrina, both daughters of businessman Peter von Sass who belonged to the guru’s inner circle, when the love-affair was over the two daughters stated in 2009 that they were told that their relationship with de Ruiter was Gods will but discovered that the three-way relationship they seemed to cherish all these years was a painful farce and that John de Ruiter was "an opportunist and a huckster" and sued him for financial support.[7][15] [16]

Jeanne Parr, a retired CBS news reporter and independent television producer from New York was instrumental in the production of some of de Ruiter’s videos and became in this way part of the inner circle, according to de Ruiter, she made “approximately 50 videotapes” to make a documentary but in December 1999 when Parr became disillusioned with de Ruiter because of his adulterous relationships she left Edmonton, after which de Ruiter and Oasis Edmonton Inc. perceived that Parr’s possession of the videotapes was now a threat and subsequently sued her.[15][17]

De Ruiter and Oasis Edmonton Inc. also started a lawsuit against long-term member Boots Beaudry who was accused of failing to return materials that would belong to them, at her court appearance, she returned one tape that she had found .[15][18]

Publications

Books

Audio CDs

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Marvelly, Paula (2003). Teachers of One Living Advaita. New Age Books. p. 138. ISBN 978-8178221441.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Brummelman, Niels (Jan–Mar 2012). "Honesty is the best policy". Inner Self. 2012 (27): 6–7.
  3. ↑ Christi, Nicolya (2011). 2012: A Clarion Call: Your Soul's Purpose in Conscious Evolution. Rochester, Vt.: Bear & Co. p. 207. ISBN 978-1-59143-129-9.
  4. ↑ Marvelly, Paula (2002). The teachers of one : living advaita, conversations on the nature of non-duality. London: Watkins Pub. p. 138. ISBN 978-1-84293-028-1.
  5. 1 2 Parker, John W. (2000). Dialogues with emerging spiritual teachers (1st ed.). Fort Collins, Colo.: Sagewood Press. p. 43. ISBN 0-9703659-0-X.
  6. ↑ de Ruiter, John. "The Official Website of John de Ruiter". Retrieved 7 September 2012.
  7. 1 2 "When lovers turn litigants: Edmonton sisters sue spiritual leader for support". National Post. Retrieved 2016-06-27.
  8. 1 2 Dann, G. Elijah (2007). Leaving fundamentalism : personal stories. Waterloo, Ont.: Wilfrid Laurier University Press. p. 93. ISBN 978-1-55458-026-2.
  9. ↑ Polster, Kaya (2011). In Search of Freedom: A Memoir. eBookIt.com. p. 312. ISBN 978-1-4566-0605-3.
  10. ↑ Smith, Ryan. "Study reveals religious leader's silent". Folio. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
  11. 1 2 Willis Toms, Justine. "The Direct Route to Awakening with John de Ruiter". New Dimensions Radio. Retrieved 25 July 2012.
  12. ↑ Holeman. "John de Ruiter Introductory Leaflet". Retrieved 10 July 2012.
  13. 1 2 3 McKeen, Scott (13 April 2007). "Disarming guru has his temple after bookstore start". The Edmonton Journal. Retrieved 29 August 2012.
  14. ↑ Joosse, Paul (24 Nov 2006). "Silence, Charisma and Power: The Case of John de Ruiter". Journal of Contemporary Religion. 2006 (21:3): 355–371. doi:10.1080/13537900600926147.
  15. 1 2 3 Joosse, Paul (2011). "The Presentation of the Charismatic Self in Everyday Life: Reflections on a Canadian New Religious Movement". Sociology of Religion. 2012 (73:2): 174–199. doi:10.1093/socrel/srr045. Retrieved 27 June 2016.
  16. ↑ McKeen, Scott. "I Was God's Wife" (16 May 2000). Edmonton Journal.
  17. ↑ Oasis Edmonton Inc. and John de Ruiter vs. Jeanne Parr. Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta. Action no. 0103 24617
  18. ↑ Oasis Edmonton Inc. and John de Ruiter vs. Boots Beaudry. Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta. Action no. 0503 00938.
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