Robin Marshall joined the Science of Identity Foundation (SIF) when she was 19, calling herself the "typical person that gets pulled into a cult." She had seen a poster for a meditation class while living in California and the group offered Sunday feasts with meditation and chanting.
"It was all very attractive to me because it was like a family and all caring," Marshall told Newsweek. "Then, I get to Hawaii, and it was a different story."
A number of former members have described the Foundation as a "cult."
The group offered the opportunity for "wwoofing" or working on a farm for a few hours each day while being hosted and accommodated by the organization.
Marshall said once she arrived, she noticed an issue with the group—"I heard everybody there at some point get called worthless."
Marshall and others say SIF is not a typical farming community organization. While people like Marshall were only working for about four hours a day, they say they also listened to audio lectures from "guru" Chris Butler. Marshall said she listened every morning and night as Butler ranted and shared random lessons. He often spoke with people in the room while he was recording.
One prominent figure in the group that Marshall highlighted: Former Representative Tulsi Gabbard.
"Tulsi was being groomed for a political position because Chris Butler had political aspirations," Marshall said. "He wanted the influence. It was very unusual because women in Science of Identity aren't really encouraged to do anything."
Newsweek reached out to Gabbard, people who worked on her campaigns, her family, the SIF as well as those who have been identified as members for this story.
Gabbard, a Democrat-turned-Republican, has recently been tapped by President-elect Donald Trump to serve as the director of national intelligence, which oversees 18 intelligence agencies including the CIA and NSA. The military veteran and former congresswoman ran for president in the Democratic primary in 2020. She has faced scrutiny for years for alleged affiliations with foreign entities, including Russia, and a highly controversial visit with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Marshall said that while under the foundation's accommodations, she would often clean. She said she one time "got screamed at" for picking out supplies from a cabinet and Butler saying that the product was too pungent.
"I never did (meet Chris Butler) but we were always told we should be ready for him to appear," Marshall said. "How abusive Chris Butler was, I'm glad I never met him."
The SIF was founded in the 1970s after Butler had taken messages of A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada and the Hare Krishna movement, and broke off in his own group with followers from Hawaii, Australia and Southeast Asia.
An acquaintance of the family, Michael Brannon Parker, who said he has known the Gabbards, including Tulsi, for decades told Newsweek that while he was never officially a member of the SIF, he attended "many" of the group's gatherings in the 1990s.
He used to work for Tulsi Gabbard's father, Mike Gabbard, who has served as a Democrat in the Hawaii state Senate since 2007. Parker said he "got to know the family quite well over the years."
"SIF is basically a Westernized version of the ancient Gaudiya Vaishnava Hindu tradition," Parker said. "While Iskcon (the Hare Krishna movement) is much more Indian in its presentation, SIF is the same tradition yet with an emphasis on being part of mainstream society. Their impact, especially here in Hawaii, has been tremendously positive."
Butler has produced television specials featuring him surrounded by students. One of which included Mike Gabbard.
Butler reportedly would stay at his beachfront Hawaii property, away from the commune where Marshall and others were located. Marshall referred to the house as an eyesore because it was covered in tinfoil, which an anonymous source told Newsweek was meant to "keep out germs."
The guru reportedly had people feed him regularly and tend to his laundry.
The anonymous source, who says they joined the group when they were 17 years old, said it was considered a "great opportunity to go to site" adding that "the hymn tunes were all about serving the servant of God." The source said they mostly worked in the kitchen, cooking for Butler and his wife throughout their 10 years of trips to Hawaii.
"It was all very highly stressful," the anonymous source told Newsweek. "Food couldn't be late. Food had to be hot. He would swear at you if you got it wrong. People would get fired for getting the meal slightly off."
There was also demand for scraps of his food and his used belongings, according to the anonymous source.
"Anything he touches or food that was offered to him, things that came from his house and things of his bodily person were considered what's called mahaprasada, very holy," the source said. "People would definitely want to eat food remnants. If there was an article of clothing that you happen to get that he no longer uses, that was considered very important."
The anonymous source said the Gabbards did not necessarily have servants like Butler but they were comfortable in their two- or three-bedroom apartment.
In 1992, Gabbard's parents Mike (who became known as Krishna Katha das) and Carol (Devahuti dasi) allegedly ran the SIF after Butler moved to California, according to archived documents from the Honolulu Weekly, as provided to Newsweek by journalist Christine Gralow of Meanwhile in Hawaii. The QAnon Anonymous podcast cited the Gabbard parents as holding top positions in the group, a mark that is "not easy with a large harem of devotees vying for (Butler's) attention."
From an early age, Tulsi Gabbard was immersed into the SIF ideals. She attended schools run in the Philippines by Butler's followers. She kept her childhood Bhagavad Gita with her when she was deployed in Iraq, calling it a "transcendental lifeline," and she even later gifted the Scripture to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"I've never heard him say anything hateful, or say anything mean about anybody," Tulsi Gabbard told The New Yorker of Butler in 2017. "I can speak to my own personal experience and, frankly, my gratitude to him, for the gift of this wonderful spiritual practice that he has given to me, and to so many people."
The anonymous source called Gabbard an "advanced devotee" within the SIF, adding that the more advanced a person was, the more people served them and the more others listened to them. Butler would reportedly instruct followers to back Gabbard, making them "very instrumental in her running for those first times in politics."
Butler has always said that his group would "make their own minds up" on who would be the next leader of the SIF once he dies, according to the anonymous source, who added that Gabbard has a chance as an advanced devotee.
Asked whether Tulsi Gabbard still maintains a presence among the sect, Parker told Newsweek he has "no idea" of her current status or participation in such gatherings. Tulsi's ties with SIF are being highlighted against her as part of a technique conducted "by the political elite to protect their vested interests," he added.
"Membership in an indigenously recognized authentically traditional religious group older than many current religious groups, Mormons, Protestant Christianity, Sikhs, Baha'i, Ahmadiyyas etc., has no genuine or legal bearing on Tulsi's qualifications for the job [of DNI]," Parker said.
Marshall added that she doesn't believe Gabbard has left the group.
"There's claims that she left. There's no way that she left because you would know. She would've been shunned," she said. "None of her family would talk to her anymore. You don't just leave without being shunned. It's a lifelong commitment."
The anonymous source also agreed.
"Unless you're directed by him, they're not going to serve you, like they're not going to work on your political campaign unless it's directed by him. Otherwise, it's a waste of time," they said.
Gabbard has discussed her ties to the Foundation publicly.
In a 2015 address to honor the Hare Krishna 50th anniversary, she called Butler, who she referred to in his Sanskrit name Jagad Guru Siddhaswarupananda Paramahamsa, as her "beloved grandfather" and "spiritual master."
At the anniversary gala event in Washington, D.C., Gabbard said "it is impossible to fully describe the innumerable spiritual truths given to us by (Butler)." She called "real religion" something that "transcends sectarianism."
In 2020, Gabbard wrote to journalist Kerry Howley saying, "My 'religion' is my loving relationship with God," and sent a chart of the Hindu lineage that included Butler, according to the QAnon Anonymous podcast.
The same year, Gabbard encouraged her followers to draw strength in the tough times from the Bhagavad Gita.
Beyond discussing Butler, Gabbard's ex-husband, Eduardo Tamayo, is the nephew of a person that runs Butler's schools, according to Gralow's documents. Her husband, Abraham Williams, is also a Butler disciple and many of her congressional staffers were allegedly a part of the group as well, according to the documents.
As Gabbard gears up for a confirmation hearing with the U.S. Senate, the anonymous source warned Butler could "influence" the former lawmaker.
"I think it's a very dangerous position," they said. "I do not see how she will not either leak classified information to Butler and...or he won't influence her in her position."
The source said it's about the SIF mindset.
"We're told his perspective and what he says is 100 percent accurate. So if that's skewed, then whatever you listen to from him is also going to be skewed," the anonymous source said. "If he wants to put a thing across or gives advice, she will follow it."
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