Critical commentary & awareness istaAwareness.life

ISTA allegations: a documented overview

A consolidated, source-cited overview of the allegations made against the International School of Temple Arts (ISTA) in published journalism, expert statements, and court documents, plus ISTA’s own public responses. Part of istaAwareness.life, an independent awareness project. Not affiliated with ISTA.

Quick background ↑ Top

The International School of Temple Arts (ISTA) was founded in 2007 by Robert “Baba Dez” Nichols in Arizona, and offers “Spiritual Sexual Shamanic” (SSS) workshops at retreat locations around the world. In its own materials, ISTA describes itself as “part of a global transformational movement where human consciousness is being opened to its source as love and harmoniously integrating with other sentient kingdoms and dimensions,” and as a collaborative organisation of around 100 faculty members with no central leader. Basic organisational facts are also summarised on the Wikipedia entry for ISTA.

Since at least 2022, ISTA has faced sustained scrutiny from cult-recovery experts, investigative journalists in multiple countries, two cult-victim advocacy organisations, and former participants and ex-facilitators. The sections below organise those allegations by theme.

The most-cited investigation is “The Neo-Tantric Sex Group That Promised to Change” (The Cut / New York Magazine, 28 February 2025), which documents coercion, group-sex rituals, and consent abuses inside ISTA from named former participants.

Earlier reporting set out the same pattern. Radio New Zealand (Oct 2022) interviewed former NZ students and facilitators who described emotional and sexual abuse during ISTA courses. Haaretz (July 2022) linked sacred-sexuality therapists, including ISTA personnel, to assault allegations. OnlySky (Nov 2022, by Becky Garrison) examined ISTA through a cult-analysis lens, including its “sacred sexuality” claims.

Investigative journalist Becky Garrison’s follow-up, “Bringing Sacred Sexual Abuses within the ISTA Network to Light” (March 2025), connects ISTA-related allegations to broader patterns of abuse in the sacred-sexuality scene.

The patterns described across these investigations include “consent” rhetoric used to reframe refusals as personal blockages, group sexual rituals presented as healing modalities, and the framing that sexual interactions with senior facilitators can be therapeutic for participants.

Cult-dynamics analysis ↑ Top

In September 2023, cult-recovery expert Dr. Steven Hassan published a video applying his BITE model (Behaviour, Information, Thought, Emotional control) to ISTA. He labelled the organisation “problematic.” Hassan’s analysis was subsequently supported by the Israeli Center for Victims of Cults (ICCV) in its September 2023 public statement, which warned of manipulation, group-sex “healing” rituals, and reports of animal abuse at ISTA workshops.

The ICCV reviewed ISTA’s public response and issued an updated statement in November 2025, concluding that the original concerns remain.

Cult journalist Anke Richter presented evidence about ISTA to the Victorian Parliament Inquiry into Cults & Organised Fringe Groups in Australia. A timestamped summary of what she told the inquiry is in our media archive.

Financial and organisational concerns ↑ Top

A U.S. Bankruptcy Court (District of Arizona) memo in opposition to a motion to quash subpoena (DOC 292, 11 June 2024) names Richard Priddis — ISTA’s president — and describes allegations that ISTA serves as Priddis’s alter-ego, with workshop income diverted to offshore investments. The full document is hosted on this site under fair use for commentary.

The NZ Skeptics have documented overlapping financial interests between ISTA leadership and the New Zealand training venue Highden Temple — reporting, for example, that “some senior members of ISTA’s faculty, including founder Robert ‘Baba Dez’ Nichols, had money in the [Highden] property.”

Allegations involving named individuals ↑ Top

The individuals below are named because the published journalism we cite has named them on the record. We do not add allegations of our own; we describe what each cited source reports and link to the original so you can read the journalism directly.

Robert “Baba Dez” Nichols (founder)

Baba Dez Nichols is named as ISTA’s founder by Wikipedia, the NZ Skeptics, Becky Garrison’s reporting, and ISTA’s own materials. NZ Skeptics also reports his financial interest in the Highden Temple property in New Zealand.

Richard Priddis (ISTA president; named in the 2024 U.S. Bankruptcy Court matter)

Richard Priddis is named as the respondent in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court (D. Ariz.) memo in opposition to a motion to quash subpoena (DOC 292, 11 June 2024). The memo describes allegations that ISTA functions as Priddis’s alter-ego and that workshop income is diverted to offshore investments. Priddis is ISTA’s president and legally registered ISTA as an organisation; the founder credited in ISTA’s own materials and in independent reporting (Wikipedia, NZ Skeptics, Becky Garrison) is Robert “Baba Dez” Nichols (above).

Bruce Lyon (Highden Temple, New Zealand)

Bruce Lyon is named by Radio New Zealand and the NZ Skeptics as the operator of Highden Temple, the New Zealand venue where ISTA workshops have been held. Both sources document complainant accounts and the venue’s ties to ISTA. An open letter published by Highden Temple itself in December 2022 (now hosted by 3SC) acknowledges past shortcomings in aftercare support and describes changes to their training programme — useful primary-source context for how the venue has framed its own history.

Pele Ohad Ezrahi

Pele Ohad Ezrahi is named in the Haaretz investigation (July 2022) and in Becky Garrison’s 2025 follow-up as among the named ISTA-network facilitators against whom specific assault allegations have been published. We do not restate the specific allegations here; please read the originals at the links provided for the exact claims and their attributions.

ISTA’s response ↑ Top

ISTA has publicly responded to several of the major allegations on a dedicated “ISTA Responds” section of its own website. Direct links to ISTA’s position pages:

ISTA’s broad position, summarised from those pages, is that the cult label is misplaced; that it operates as a decentralised collaborative of approximately 100 faculty members with no single leader; that it has made changes to its consent and aftercare protocols since 2023; and that the cult-victim advocacy statements about it are inaccurate.

The ICCV’s November 2025 updated statement reviews ISTA’s response and explains why the ICCV maintains its original assessment. 3SC’s “Changes at ISTA” page documents ISTA’s own announced 2023 changes alongside ongoing concerns.

Readers can compare these positions and form their own view. Our editorial position is that the published evidence is serious enough to merit public awareness and a clear paper trail; that is the purpose of this site.

Where to read the primary sources ↑ Top

The full archive is on the istaAwareness.life homepage, organised into: