The Foundation of Human Understanding was founded in Los Angeles in 1961 by Roy Masters. Born Reuben Obermeister on April 2, 1928, to a Jewish family of diamond cutters in London, Masters worked as a diamond expert in England, South Africa, and Belgium before immigrating to the United States in 1949. During his early adulthood, he became interested in stage hypnotism and developed a theory that modern social pressures functioned as a form of mass hypnosis, causing individuals to become anxious and overly influenced by external forces.
This belief led Masters to leave the diamond trade and pursue work related to mental health and personal development. During the 1950s, he opened the Institute of Hypnosis in Houston, where he taught techniques intended to help people overcome stress and psychological conditioning.
At age 30, Masters was convicted in Texas of practicing medicine without a license and served a 30-day jail sentence, an event he later discussed openly with followers. After his release, he distanced himself from conventional hypnotherapy and promoted what he called “unhypnotizing” or “psychocatalysis,” a meditation-based practice intended to help individuals resist external influences and emotional stress.
In 1961, he relocated to Los Angeles, founded the Foundation of Human Understanding, and launched a syndicated radio counseling program that eventually became known as Advice Line. Through the broadcast and media products such as the recording Your Mind Can Keep You Well, Masters developed a substantial regional following.
The organization entered a period of expansion during the late 1970s and 1980s. Following a lengthy dispute with the Internal Revenue Service over its tax status, a 1987 settlement formally recognized the Foundation of Human Understanding as a church. Around the same time, Masters encouraged supporters to relocate from urban areas in anticipation of a future societal collapse. After profiting from investments in gold during the price increases of 1980, he purchased the 372-acre Tall Timber Ranch in Selma, Oregon, and moved the organization’s headquarters to nearby Grants Pass.
An estimated 1,500 to 2,000 followers relocated to southern Oregon. Members established a variety of businesses and institutions in the region, including a construction company, real estate agencies, a private academy, and a used-car dealership. The rapid growth of the community brought the foundation into frequent conflict with other residents of Josephine County.
Local officials and political figures accused foundation members of attempting to gain influence within the local Republican Party and of organizing a number of controversial political initiatives. These included an unsuccessful recall effort against a county commissioner and a ballot proposal seeking to designate the county as an “AIDS-free zone.” Tensions reached a peak in 1988 when Masters, his sons, and several associates filed a federal lawsuit seeking two billion dollars in damages from the governor of Oregon, the state attorney general, and a local newspaper. The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals later dismissed the case, describing the filing as rambling and difficult to understand.
During its years in Oregon, the Foundation of Human Understanding also became the subject of criticism from counter-cult organizations, mental health professionals, and secular advocacy groups. Some critics classified the group as a pseudo-Christian sect or a cult and argued that Masters exercised excessive influence over followers through his meditation techniques and personal authority. Critics also cited his public exorcism demonstrations involving a wooden cross and a 1984 interview in which he described himself as a person without sin whose role was to draw evil from others. Masters himself occasionally referred to his most devoted followers as “Roybots.”
The organization’s internal dynamics received public attention. During the late 1990s, Masters’s former daughter-in-law appeared on national television and accused him of encouraging the mistreatment of women and engaging in domestic violence against family members. The foundation’s leadership denied the allegations.
At the same time, the foundation sought greater influence within conservative political circles through the publication of “New Dimensions” magazine. Produced by an editorial staff located near the foundation’s church building in Grants Pass, the glossy monthly publication featured articles opposing homosexuality, abortion, and secular media. To broaden its reach, the magazine regularly republished columns by nationally known conservative commentators and distributed thousands of complimentary copies to evangelical pastors and organizations in Washington, D.C.
Masters died in Oregon on April 22, 2021, at the age of 93. Before his death, operational control of the foundation and hosting responsibilities for the Advice Line radio program had already been transferred to his sons. The Foundation of Human Understanding continues to operate from southern Oregon.
Key Sources:
Kurtz, H. (1990, November 29). The Evangelist’s New Pulpit. The Washington Post.
Masters, R. (1988). Beyond the known. FHU Bookstore.
Masters, R. (1988). The hypnosis of life: Self Defense Lessons to Help You Cope with Everyday Pressure. FHU Bookstore.
Morgan, N. (2021, April 23). Radio evangelist Roy Masters dies at 93. The Medford Mail-Tribune.
The Oregonian. (1999, February 28). Former relative denounces Grants Pass evangelist.