Foundation of Human Understanding

    I. Profile Report

    1. Name: Foundation of Human Understanding, original name: Institute of Hypnosis

    2. Founder: Roy Masters; born Ruben Obermeister

    3. Date of Birth: 1928

    4. Birth Place: England

    5. Year Founded: 1961, Los Angeles, California

    6. Brief History: Masters spent the early part of his life working with a stage hypnotist. Later, he moved to South Africa and quenched his knowledge about mental processes by working with witch doctors in the area. In 1949 he returned to the United States and became a well known diamond expert. After the Bridey Murphy case reinvigorated interest in reincarnation and hypnosis, Masters found himself surrounded with friends who wanted him to demonstrate his hypnotic abilities. Masters began conducting sessions, hypnotizing associates. The time constraint was too much on his day job so he quit evaluating diamonds and founded the Institute of Hypnosis. He wrote Your Mind Can Keep You Healthy in 1968 and started a radio show in Los Angeles. It was here that he started the foundation. A following quickly developed. In the 1970s, when IRS refused to recognize the foundation as a religious organization, Masters filed a lawsuit that was settled in 1987. The foundation was legally a church. By then, the foundation had moved to Oregon.

    7. Cult or Sect: Negative sentiments are typically implied when the concepts "cult" and "sect" are employed in popular discourse. Since the Religious Movements Homepage seeks to promote religious tolerance and appreciation of the positive benefits of pluralism and religious diversity in human cultures, we encourage the use of alternative concepts that do not carry implicit negative stereotypes. For a more detailed discussion of both scholarly and popular usage of the concepts "cult" and "sect," please visit our Conceptualizing "Cult" and "Sect" page, where you will find additional links to related issues.

    8. Beliefs: Masters believed that everyone was already hypnotized due to the stressful nature of their lives. Irrationality, irritability and anxiety are all traits found in hypnotized patients. Masters set about on his mission to teach the world psychocatalysis, a meditation technique. This technique taught people how to cure themselves of the ills plaguing them and foster a mystical outlook on life. Many who went through Masters' process stayed, and the foundation became a community.

    9. Size of Group: Some reports say that 3 million people tune into Masters' radio show; supporting evidence from Neilson or Arbitron is unavailable.

    10. Remarks: Masters' states that truth is latent within a person's soul: "Everything you 'learn' as a result of the meditation exercise is what you already know; the only thing new about it is the way it enters the mind and feelings from within rather than having been pressured to accept it." Masters' defines God as `stillness' and maintains that he is a Christian. Many people living around his community aren't so sure, and many have voiced their complaints about the successful radio talk show host.

    II. Foundation of Human Understanding Web Sites

    Foundation for Human Understanding Home Page

    This Foundation for Human Understanding home page has recently been brought to our attention. It appears to be a faily extensive page. We will be reviewing it soon and updating this page.
    http://www.fhu.com

    III. Selected References

    Wolff, William. 1969.
    Healers, Gurus, and Spiritual Guides. Los Angeles: Sherbourne Press.

    Masters, Roy. 1976.
    How to Conquer Suffering Without Doctors. Los Angeles: Foundation of Human Understanding.