The Deliberate Deception of Orgasmic Meditation(OM)

This episode of Sex Is Medicine clearly breaks down the overt and intentional lies told by Nicole Daedone regarding the origins of Orgasmic Meditation (OM). This episode highlights how these falsehoods were used to manipulate and coerce clients, employees, and the general public into practicing OM. The misleading narrative suggested that OM was a legitimate esoteric method of spiritual realization, supposedly transmitted by a Buddhist monk to OneTaste founder Nicole Daedone.

These lies form the foundation of the OneTaste brand and its primary methodology, Orgasmic Meditation. They directly challenge the core of the OneTaste trial defense, which claims that the plaintiff and OM participants were always in “full consent.” 

However, one of the basic tenets of abuse recovery is recognizing that you cannot consent to a lie. Withholding or omitting the truth, as well as intentionally deceiving people about the origins of a method to manipulate their perception, are hallmarks of abusive behavior.

This is crucial because OM was, and still is, promoted as a method for “healing sexual trauma,” yet the very foundation of the practice was built on an extensive and deliberate lie propagated by Nicole Daedone through multiple media outlets. Fortunately, the US justice system agrees with this perspective.

On Monday, June 9th, 2025, after less than 2 days of deliberation, a federal jury convicted the Founder and former CEO of OneTaste, Nicole Daedone, and her former head of sales, Rachel Cherwitz, of forced labor conspiracy.

After hearing 5 weeks of testimony from former employees and clients of OneTaste, based on the evidence presented, it took less than 48 hours for the jury to determine that the defendants, Nicole Daedone and Rachel Cherwitz , subjected their victims to: 

• economic
• sexual
• emotional
• financial
• and psychological abuse
• as well as surveillance
• indoctrination
• and intimidation

They are each facing up to 20 years in prison. Read more here.

The defense presented by Nicole Daedone and Rachel Cherwitz argued that all participants consented to the practices of OneTaste. Defense attorney Celia Cohen, representing Cherwitz, stated in her closing arguments, “Regardless of what you think about OneTaste and what they were doing, the participants chose it. They knew what it was about. The fact that they regret their actions from their younger years is not evidence of a crime.”

However, can one truly consent to something built on a lie? Are you truly exercising agency if the information guiding your choices is misleading or entirely false?

If the practices and their origins were based on deception, then full consent was never possible in the relational dynamics from the beginning. You cannot consent to a lie. Lying or misleading someone about the origins of a practice or method they are engaging in robs them of their ability to consent. And, misrepresenting the truth, lying, deception, and manipulation are all tools and indicators of psychological abuse.

Here are multiple, publicly documented lies about OM being a Buddhist Sex Technique:

2016 Excerpt from Complex:

“Nicole Daedone was at a Buddhist gathering when a monk made an unusual proposition: that he rub the upper left quadrant of her clitoris as part of a meditation ritual.”

“To figure out what the hell was going on, Daedone consulted a Buddhist teacher, who explained that she’d had an elevation in consciousness called a “kundalini opening” and taught her more about the practice of orgasmic meditation (known as “OM” for short) on the condition that she promote it.”

Additional documented lies regarding the origins of OM

• Daedone claims she was introduced to this practice by a Buddhist monk in her 2011 TEDx Talk.

• Daedone stated that a Buddhist monk introduced her to orgasmic meditation before she started OneTaste, though she did not name the monk nor the lineage the monk studied under. 

• According to the story she repeats onstage and in YouTube videos, Daedone founded OneTaste in 2004 after she met a monk at a party who showed her a version of the technique she developed into OM.

• Orgasmic meditation was first introduced to Daedone by a Buddhist monk, and she began teaching the practice in 2001

• Orgasmic meditation is a practice that was adopted and made mainstream in 2004 by co-founder of OneTaste, Nicole Daedone. Daedone claims she was introduced to this practice by a Buddhist monk in her 2011 TEDx Talk.

• Hear co-founder Nicole Daedone’s story of how she encountered a Buddhist monk at a party who changed her life.

• Nicole states, “I met a monk at a party” – 10 seconds in on this video

What are the true origins of OM?

As Devi discusses in this episode, The Welcomed Consensus is an organization in Northern California that teaches a sexual practice called Deliberate Orgasm. Deliberate Orgasm and OM are nearly identical techniques. Deliberate Orgasm has no association with Buddhism. According to the leadership team at Welcomed Consensus, with whom Devi spent time in 2014-2015, Nicole Daedone met a student and resident of The Welcomed Consensus at a party in San Francisco. This person was NOT a Buddhist monk. In fact, the leadership team at The Welcomed Consensus told Devi that they don’t believe he was even a Buddhist.

This student of the Welcomed Consensus introduced Nicole Daedone to the technique called “Deliberate Orgasm” when they met one evening at a party. Nicole Daedone then went to live with The Welcomed Consensus for several years and trained in their methods, along with original One Taste Co-Founders, Robert Kandall and Ken Blackman. Nicole Daedone left The Welcomed Consensus organization (along with Robert Kandall and Ken Blackman) and rebranded “Deliberate Orgasm” as OM.  

The “Buddhist Monk” origin story of OM was entirely fabricated to enhance the credibility and marketability of this method as a meditation technique. There is absolutely NO legitimate reason for Nicole Daedone to have misrepresented her introduction to this method so egregiously, except for the obvious intention to mislead and deceive the public about the true origins of this method.

• OneTaste Co-Founder Robert Kandell describes the TRUE Origins of OM

• 2014 Sex Is Medicine interview with The Welcomed Consensus describing Nicole Daedone’s introduction to Deliberate Orgasm.

Confronting the lie

What happened when the current OneTaste leadership was confronted with the lies surrounding the origins of OM?

Recently, on Facebook, Devi confronted the current OneTaste leadership with the evidence of Nicole’s Daedone lying about the origins of OM. During this process, the leadership of OT engaged in gaslighting, lies, and personal attacks against Devi.

These folks are trying to sell you “healing” while engaging in abusive behavioral tactics such as excusing and enabling lies, gaslighting to avoid accountability, DARVO, and smearing and defaming the people who provide evidence.