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SRF Walrus > SRF Publications Center > Summer 2003 - Money makes the world go round...

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True Enuf Registered User (6/17/03 7:22 pm) Reply	Summer 2003 - Money makes the world go round... See page 48, it's a first. I can't recall ever seeing this direct an appeal for dough, for the ever-expanding growth of the work, the overflowing ashrams and overbooked retreats, the exponentially increasing social service work performed here and across the globe. Articles by Daya Mata and Anandamoy, plus a host of strangers. Template for the future? Don't know who's left to trust with an article? Strange, I couldn't find Peoplesoft mentioned anywhere in the appeal. How could they have forgotten to mention that? It's the grand centerpiece of the work, for Pete's sake!!
KS Registered User (6/17/03 9:07 pm) Reply	Re: Summer 2003 - Money makes the world go round... Peoplesoft is SRFs Golden Calf. It is being worshipped as the solution to what is wrong with SRF. The fact that the calf is made of pure gold in the biblical story, and therefore possibly cost nearly as much as the accounting system, is just a bonus for the comparison. By the way, I don't get the magazine anymore. What does the shameless appeal say exactly?
True Enuf Registered User (6/17/03 9:25 pm) Reply	Re: Summer 2003 - Money makes the world go round... Sorry, I refuse to type the exact words on the grounds that I may be violating copyright, thereby exposing myself to all manner of ruthless tracking down by you-know-how. OK, actually it's too long to type the whole shebang, but here's a little paraphrased taste: Through selfless giving and generous gifts, you're allowing us to spread PY's emanicipating teachings to more folks than ever. This help permits us to to publish the books, support the tours globally (didn't they cancel all foreign tours?) and build necessary ashrams and retreats to accomodate the greatly increasing membership. And the other vital activities: VL in the US and cosmos, all manner of charitable/medical/educational/spiritual aid throughout the universe. And a whole paragraph on how to do it (securities, bequests, trusts, wills, real estate. And the final plug about how unselfishness moves the Divine to manifest untold blessings in the large hearted devotee's life. All on 1 big page.
member108 Registered User (6/18/03 5:02 am) Reply	Re: Summer 2003 - Money makes the world go round... I am going to gag! What a mess SRF has become. I wonder if they have twisted their integrity and logic to the point that this all seems true to them. 1. How are our gifts helping to spread Master’s teachings??? Good heavens are they in delusion. The Internet is selling their books, they canceled foreign retreats, and the convocation is self supporting financially. The Temples are expected to be self supporting also. Our donations go to the support of the monastics, into a savings account, or to support lawsuits and bloated wasteful computer projects. Lets at least be honest with each other about that one. 2. It helps them build ashrams and retreats to support the greatly increasing membership????? PLEASE!!!!!!!! With their fuzzy math they may just be counting the number of people who buy a book or maybe those who take the first 20 Lessons? A more honest evaluation would be one where people take more than the first set of Lessons. They have no way of counting those who no longer want to be associated with SRF. I am among them. Does anyone else know anyone who might no longer consider themselves members? ha ha ha Very clever math. And how does the building of new ashrams support the membership? I know for a fact that there are more empty rooms at Mother Center than there has EVER been. On the nun’s side they are having trouble keeping enough people staying in each area to do basic house cleaning. (Basic house cleaning is all they do as they hire maids with your gifts as well as using the money to support the members ) Does anyone know of any retreats they are building? They have fired the retreat managers at both Encinitas and Lake Shrine in the last few years. 3. What the hell are they talking about the VL appeal for? Good gracious these people have no shame. SRF accepts donations of clothes and packs them away for monastic use. Sometimes they may give a few away. Most high schools do more charity work than SRF and they mention it in a shameless appeal for money????? What charitable work do they think they are doing? What they are doing is trying to take credit for the work that SRF/India is doing. That work is minor and our donations from here don’t help with that in any significant way. A realistic look at the usage of our donations, with a little transparency (new hip term), would reveal a much different big picture. 90% might be overhead with 2% making its way to help YSS with some project. I have heard some speculation that if it were seriously looked at SRF might not even qualify for it’s non-profit status since so much of its money goes for overhead. I wonder?
member108 Registered User (6/18/03 6:15 am) Reply	Re: Summer 2003 - Money makes the world go round... Someone has to call them on their abuses and lies. They have been able to avoid outside review for 50 years. Enter the Walrus. A second opinion on SRF is now available. We can now freely debate their actions. I love the smell of freedom in the morning! It will come as a shock to them that a large number of people no longer feel the need to believe everything they say comes from God and is perfect.
ranger20 Registered User (6/18/03 11:26 am) Reply	Re: Summer 2003 - Money makes the world go round... *Quote:* Articles by Daya Mata and Anandamoy, plus a host of strangers. Template for the future? I didn't even get to p. 48. The spiritual Reader's Digest nature of this issue bummed me out, and I put it up for later. This is the Summer issue for heaven's sake, presumably to be prominently displayed at Convocation, but it surely is a testimony to internal problems. Seems like there are not only not enough monastics who can be spared or trusted to write an article, but not enough staff available to even go through the archives and transcribe a past talk. Wonder who will speak at Convocation? I bet Anandamoy comes out of "retirement," with a rousing "don't try to think for yourself" message.
babaGEE Registered User (6/23/03 11:48 am) Reply	Re: Summer 2003 - Money makes the world go round... It would seem a misconception that MC is pro-growth with the following story: About 20 devotees were trying to open/purchase a center or temple in their area and were raising money through their own donations for a period of well over a year and had accumulated about $20,000. They were in communication with MC in order to receive instruction on how to do it, etc. (There are always rules to follow.) MC said they required at least 30 adult members to open/purchase a center. A period of time went by without an increase in the number of devotees. MC said if they didn't get 30 adult members (or whatever arbitrary number they required) by a certain date then they had to send the $20,000 in to Mother Center. I never heard the outcome of what happened, but I can just imagine those greedy bad ladies salivating over the thought of that check.
member108 Registered User (6/23/03 7:46 pm) Reply	Re: Summer 2003 - Money makes the world go round... Remember that the members there would have gotten a nice automated letter from the nuns thanking them for the donation. In reality SRF is more looking for the larger pots of money. They can help you write your will and get into trusts and so on.
True Enuf Registered User (6/23/03 9:33 pm) Reply	Re: Summer 2003 - Money makes the world go round... They're not even good at that. Almost all of the established churches, charities, and non-profits, e.g., the Salvation Army, offer a broad array of investment vehicles, ranging from of a vast selection of annuities and all manner of charitable trust devices, replete with glossy explanatory brochures and knowledgeable people ready to assist with the process of planned giving. SRF in 80 years has developed nothing more than name us in a will, deed over a property.

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