Meditation group has opposition

Walter Jacobs calls it a cult. Lisa Lewinson calls it a religion. And in the wake of the debate, University officials have told a meditation group that met on campus this semester -- and that Jacobs says recruits members for the cult -- that it may not continue to use University buildings. Jacobs, a Philadelphia businessman, says the Philadelphia Society for the Meditative Arts, which held meditation workshops in Bennett Hall and International House this semester, is affiliated with Frederick Lenz, also known as Zen Master Rama. Lenz is a self-proclaimed Buddhist guru who has led meditation seminars primarily for college students and young adults across the country for the past 20 years. He says his goal is to help his students find "enlightenment." However, in recent years Lenz has been accused in several newspapers nationwide of financially and psychologically exploiting his followers and of sexually abusing several of his female students. According to some of his former students, Lenz encouraged them to sever ties with their families and abandon all of their outside interests, causing them to become increasingly dependent on Lenz. Several former members also said they were required to attend expensive meditation seminars conducted by Lenz. Some reported paying as much as $5,000 a month for the seminars and said when they became unable to pay -- and the money stopped flowing -- so did the spiritual guidance. Jacobs says that when his daughter Jennifer joined the group she ended contact with her family, started giving most of her money to Lenz and left school to start a career in computers -- an occupation Lenz encourages for all his followers. · Jacobs, along with his wife Julie, is now a member of a group called Lenz-Watch, a watchdog organization and support group for people who Jacobs said have "lost a family member" to Lenz's organization. Lewinson, a spokesperson for Lenz, called Lenz-Watch's activities "a smear campaign" and Jacobs' charges "unequivocally false." She said Jacobs is connected with the Cult Awareness Network, a national awareness and educational organization which Lewinson said faces 30 lawsuits for anti-religious activities. And she accused him of having an "obsession" with Lenz's organization. "Whatever he chooses to call it, it's a mask," Lewinson said. "He has consistently refused to believe his own daughter." She also maintained this week that the Philadelphia Society for the Meditative Arts -- the group Jacobs said is recruiting students on campus -- is legally unaffiliated with Lenz. She did say, however, that most of the society's teachers "probably are" students of Lenz. Jacobs maintained that there was a "clear link" between the Philadelphia group and Lenz. He said he knows of several individuals who went to workshops in Philadelphia and were than asked to attend all-expenses-paid seminars with Lenz in New York. And Lyn Watson, who conducted a meditation workshop in Bennett Hall this semester said Rama was her teacher. At a workshop run by Watson in October, the instructor led the four students in attendance in a series of meditations, interspersing them with a talk on the characteristics of Buddhism. · Jacobs said he wrote letters this semester to the offices of University President Sheldon Hackney, Vice Provost for University Life Kim Morrisson and Newman Center Director James McGuire, telling them he believed the meditation group misrepresented itself. "Their real purpose was not conducting seminars in meditation but in screening and recruiting for Frederick D. Lenz, a.k.a. Zen Master Rama," Jacobs said. According to Assistant Vice Provost for Student Life Barbara Cassell, the group may no longer use University facilities because it does not meet the University's criteria for renting space in campus buildings. "Our policy regarding the rental of space on campus is that the priority is for University-affiliated groups and organizations, and that, essentially, was the way we handled the issue," Cassel said. This is the reason, Cassell said, that the VPUL's office felt it "wasn't prudent to rent space to this group." She said this decision does not affect International House, which is not affiliated with the University. Jacobs praised the University's decision this week to stop the group from meeting. "I think that's an appropriate response from an educational institution," he said. Lewinson, however, condemned the decision, calling it "irresponsible" and accused Jacobs of carrying out a "personal vendetta." "[Jacobs is on] a personal vendetta because he can't accept his daughter's religious choices," she said. Jacobs countered by saying it was not necessary for anyone to take him at his word, because he had provided University officials with ample documentation. "I ask no academic institution to take my word for anything," he said. "I have merely provided them with innumerable articles from reputable news organizations." Now, Jacobs says, the cult has spread to the University's campus. Lewinson, however, says the group that has met on campus this semester is unaffiliated with her organization.