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SRF Walrus

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SRF Walrus > What can we do to help SRF? > Suggestions on what to do

Author	Comment
MG Unregistered User (8/6/01 11:51 am) Reply	Suggestions on what to do 1) Refuse to mistreat others on behalf of SRF. 2) Point out mistreatment when you see it. If you see Br. Fred yelling at someone in the office, speak to him about it. Then write his supervisor. 3) When you hear a senior nun lie to you, and you know it is a lie, say so to her. Don't grandstand and inflate your ego by doing it in front of others. This can take you down the same ego centered road some of them are running down. If it is done in a small group, or in a letter it might be easier. 4) Don't be afraid. Don't do something that harms members or Yogananda's work because someone told you to do it. 5) Don't look the other way as millions of dollars are wasted to ensure the positions of a few within the organization. Thousands of people are mailing in their little donations and they deserve to have the money spent wisely and for the betterment of Yogananda's devotees. The proper response might be a letter to your supervisor, minister, and the Board. The truth can stand a questioning letter. If they are doing the right thing, which truely is better for the membership, it should be easy to explain. Don't refuse their direction or stop doing your job, but you do have the right to question their actions. The reaction to the questioning will tell you if you are helping or hurting. --- These people are comfortable in the belief that YOU believe all their actions are for the greater good of protecting Yogananda's work. But Yogananda has said that nothing can harm this work, so why is lieing and hurting people needed to protect it? Once these issues are brought out into the light, they can't last long. Upper management will either start to introspect and learn and grow, or they should be replaced with those who will.
Dakota Unregistered User (8/6/01 1:07 pm) Reply	We must do it. I wish everyone would read MG message. Don’t expect someone else to be the perfection you want to see. You be it!! "Jesus said: "Heaven and earth will pass away: but my words will not pass away." Prepare yourselves now to be instruments of truth. I used to tell the students in my school in India that they must not only speak truth and expect forgiveness, but that they must speak truth and willingly accept any unpleasant consequences. Make the effort to get along with others through kindness, love and compassion; but whenever untruth comes, stand firmly against it. Never cooperate with untruth." Paramhansa Yogananda “The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it.” Albert Einstein "Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person" Mother Theresa "If not now, when? If not me, who?" ancient Jewish wisdom Truth, Joy & Empowerment Dakota
srfwalrus ezOP (8/7/01 5:00 pm) Reply	Re: We must do it. Totally agree with MG and Dakota. We want more posts like this with positive suggestions and open discussions of the issues. Bring these things out into the open!
WantToHelp Unregistered User (9/16/01 7:55 pm) Reply	I agree I agree with the MG post above. Those are specific things we can and should do. Of course, you better be looking for a job when you do them.
4py Unregistered User (9/22/01 1:40 pm) Reply	Be fearless... Of the 26 Divine Qualities needed to reach self-realization, the first is fearlessness. And I quote from the Bhagavad Gita, page 956, "Fearlessness is mentioned first because it is the impregnable rock on which the house of spiritual life must be erected. Fearlessness means faith in God: faith in His protection, His justice, His wisdom, His mercy, His love, His omnipresence. "The spiritually intrepid devotee is mightily armed against any foe that obstructs advancement. Disbelief and doubt, delusion's first line of attack, are summarily routed by undaunted faith, as are desires and all of their enticements that bluff with threats of unhappiness if not embraced." When I started to bring up things that were happening when I was in the ashram, I knew that it would be the end of any monastic opportunity I so wanted to dedicate my life to. But I had to make a choice, it seemed, between the party line and Truth. I read the above passage in it's entirety (pg956-957) at least 3 times per day. Sometimes as many as 5. I was on fire to become fearless because I was scared to death of what God had given me. If I knew I was strong enough to handle it and did not say or do anything, what would happen to the next person who might not be so strong? It is so important for individuals to post their experiences here to bring things to the light of day. All of our experiences are different and we all have different perspectives on the same issues. I feel that SRF management is reading this board and if enough people post their experiences there is a possiblity of change happening. Wouldn't that be refreshing? We are all Children of God, no? I had many many good experiences in the ashram but I also had many bad experiences too. The bad experiences if reproduced in a "family" in the "outside world" (wherever that is) would be equivalent to child abuse. Social Services is sometimes called and the children are removed from the abusive environment for their own safety. Think about it. I had a meeting years ago with a senior nun in SRF regarding happenings at HV. One of the gravest concerns she voiced is the bad organizational karma accrued as a result of intentionally bad actions.
KS Unregistered User (9/22/01 1:49 pm) Reply	4PY Did that senior nun do anything about it? Or did she show fear and false loyalty and give in?
mangomoy Registered User (2/8/02 11:43 pm) Reply	Idea: How we might help for the ages Many Walrus postings express that the excessively insular BOD is not receptive to input from pipsqueaks. Below, I'm going to ask a question that at first reading you may think is ridiculous. However, think it over. What are everyone's thoughts about possibilities of forming an initiative, from among we on Walrus, maybe also in confederation with other PY devotee groups, to campaign for and win changes to the SRF's corporate charter? Our Continental Congress! Mainly the goal would be to secure a right for lay members to have one or a few representatives with voting power on the SRF BOD. Representatives could fully disseminate information to the laity about what's going on, and take input from the laity about how to vote on issues before the board. Maybe it could be like the US electoral college. There could be a lower-level committee of representatives, perhaps one elected at each temple, and others elected at-large by popular vote of members for areas without temples. Or maybe elected by proportional representation, based on numbers of SRF members within existing political subdivions such as states (in the US) or similar subareas of other countries. The committee(s) could then elect a very small number of members to the actual SRF BOD. If anyone on Walrus is an attorney, perhaps they'd advise how we could nominate a motion to amend the SRF charter, so the BOD can vote to approve it (optimism always!). Also, if anyone here is in public relations, they may have good ideas on how we could persuasively campaign for an affirmative vote on the motion. Yes, yes, I do indeed fully understand that at first glance this sounds ridiculous, since the Dayanasty has a hammer lock on everything, seems to have some ill paradigm that they're higher than everybody else, know better than anyone else, and apparently won't listen. But think about it! This might be a very practical way to influence the diverging Yogananda devotee groups back toward a common focus, and to reduce the culture of secrecy within SRF. We'd transmute our grave concerns into wonderfully constructive action, help to heal SRF, and help to harmonize the spreading of Master's work. Master would put his shoulder behind such an initiative, with all his blessings. Do you think the monastics may even welcome with relief the chance to share responsibility for making tough BOD decisions with the laity, through its elected representatives? The monastic BOD members would then be less blame-able, and would gain benefit of those "in the world" with more up-to-date knowledge on some types of matters. Do you think they'd welcome that ? Everybody would win !!! Comments invited! Edited by: mangomoy at: 10/21/03 6:43 pm
KS Registered User (2/8/02 11:53 pm) Reply	Love it I love the idea and of course it would freak out SRF and maybe lead to more change. Maybe. What we have here is a non-profit church where the BOD is really just a title. There is no real management or control from the BOD. It is for show and these people don't do much. They have other duties. The BOD is padded with people the public might recognize to give the illusion of stability and goodness. Put five lay members on the BOD, it will not matter. I like some variation of this idea though. Let's think about it.
Borg108 Registered User (2/4/03 10:59 pm) Reply	Re: Things to do If you live near an SRF temple or go on conducted retreats, you could submit probing and revealing satsang questions. I've been doing some of this and plan to do more. It can help increase member awareness of issues they are probably not even aware of. Of course, this depends on the questions being read during satsang. Also, if the monastics don't know the answers, they will usually call someone senior, which means those higher up will know what some of the members know and are concerned about. Another idea is to fax MC generally or the BOD members in particular with questions and concerns. You can do this from a copy place or mailbox center and request a fax answer be sent to an anonymous fax number you can get for free from go.efax.com. The fax will show up in your email. Fax number at MC: (323) 225-5088. "Those who know of tyranny and do not oppose it are guilty of helping it along." - Thoreau Edited by: Borg108 at: 2/5/03 9:00:07 am
X Insider Registered User (2/5/03 1:24 am) Reply	Re: Things to do Hello, Borg-person. I do not mean to dampen your enthusiasm, but there is a bulwark already in place to thwart your efforts to make an impact. As far as satsang goes, the monastics get to pick and chose what they will and will not answer, isn't this still so? Has spontaneity been introduced? You may want to know also that the individuals you mentioned are, in my opinion, already well programmed to deal with you. No matter what they may say to you, they already have been taught to believe that anyone with your perspective is the tool of Satan/Delusion. Your objection to their way of thinking may only strengthen their resolve.
username Registered User (2/5/03 8:55 am) Reply	Re: Things to do A better thing to do would be to raise your hand and ask a question without waiting to be called on. Act like you don't know that you are not supposed to do this. When the monk doesn't answer the question, anyone new at the lecture that day will know to NOT come back.
Borg108 Registered User (2/5/03 9:26 am) Reply	Re: Things to do username, That could work if no one there knows you and assumes that you're unfamiliar with the ways of SRF. But must of us who see things differently now are older than dirt with respect to SRF. XInsider, Vary rarely do they allow spontaneous questions. But if the written questions aren't too confrontational, they sometimes will try to answer them. It can actually be fun trying to say strident things in a seeming innocuous way. You can use SRF style as a role model. This works especially well if you can catch a minister saying something particularly egregious, or find something illogical in SRF's actions or in its presentation of the teachings. They then feel obliged to try to justify themselves or the organization. Yes, there is a strong bulwark in place, and those at the helm are certainly well programmed. Questions we ask and comments we make will probably make no difference right now. But SRF has been known to back down to public pressure, such as happened with the Mt Washington expansion plans. Maybe if the dissent starts as a gentle zephyr, becomes a strong wind, and then turns into a hurricane gale... The journey of a thousand miles begins with the first few steps.
soulcircle Registered User (2/6/03 1:15 am) Reply	Borg108 and username Guests, Borg108, username and ALL, from Core Issues, Critical Mass, by Raja Begum: *Quote:* Critical Mass -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "The force of concentrated venom of all humiliated tigers.... had gathered momentum sufficient to operate hidden laws and bring about the fall of a proud tiger tamer." --- AY Dear Friends, I need not comment on this. We all are quite aware of what's in store for SRF next. circle

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