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SRF Walrus > Treatment of Members/Monastics > Management's attempts to "fix" things

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member108 Registered User (5/13/02 6:12 pm)	Management's attempts to "fix" things Most of the readers probably don’t know some of the history of SRF’s recent efforts to control the minds and attitudes of monastics and members. I wish to relay one interesting story I heard recently. A few years ago SRF brought in a nice couple from out of state to help SRF clean up it’s problems. I am told that at the time SRF management felt that the problems were that everyone was not getting along. Some people were not following the dictates of the more powerful nuns and management decided to bring in outside help. Naturally they selected SRF members as they can be manipulated the best by the God Realized management. So this nice couple were brought in and basically told to straighten these people out. They had in their tool box a meeting style called sinthesis (or something similar) and claimed it had worked in really dangerous and damaged organizations. They could help rescue SRF and make everyone get along! This meeting style had a set of rules. These rules were the following: 1. Everyone at a meeting is equal. 2. High perspective and high integrity 3. non-judgement of each others statements 4. perception = reality 5. trust each other to be honest 6. self-discipline 7. loyalty to each other and goals of the process 8. sanctuary, say what is needed, be honest and not have it repeated. The whole process was a total flop and ended up making things worse. For example rule #8 was meant to set up a safe environment where people could say what they believed without fearing retaliation. This was really really needed. During these meetings part of the process was to record everything that was said (nit one, pearl two). Unfortunately this transcription was then used to demote some people, and helped get others fired. A healthy black list was also generated. After one great session where many people expressed honest concerns about the direction of SRF the process was shut down. Management (Savitri, Uma Mata, Vishwananda) explained that Master didn’t want problems discussed. To discuss them was to acknowledge them and that wasn’t positive thinking. Management really thought people were that stupid. This is of course a reflection on the character of SRF management and on the power they thought they had to force people to believe these things. Management then informed those involved in the initial meetings exactly what the problems were they were to fix and pretty much ignored the situation from then on. The two nice member consultants were ignored for months, possibly even a year, before they finally realized it and left. This is SRF’s way. Edited by: member108 at: 5/13/02 6:23:12 pm
KS Registered User (5/16/02 4:18 pm)	Re: Management's attempts to "fix" things If I were doing things people didn’t like, was a coward and smarter than everyone else, didn’t like criticism and was afraid of change I would just dig deep for a quote from Master to show that I was really doing good stuff after all! What a great idea! OK. They could not come up with one. So I would dig deep and come up with a quote from Master to give me an excuse! OK. They could not come up with one. So I would dig deep again and come up with a quote of Master’s that would at least show them that criticism was not spiritual. OK that worked. Think the membership and monastics bought that????? What was really going on was self-criticism. The organization got together and was introspecting. People had determined things the organization needed to work on. Introspection is allowed isn’t it? Let me read the lessons again.
Kevin Registered User (5/19/02 12:46 am)	"fixing" things I was actually part of the Syntesis project at the Lake Shrine. The couple of devotees were really of the most exquisite character and the highest intelligence. They put in months of work for SRF (apparently for free or a nominal fee). They were so patient, intelligent and enthusiastic to work for SRF, at the time I thought: I wonder how long before they discover what they are against ! It worked very well at the Lake Shrine and a lot of hard points came up that were deeply buried under a molding crust of so called "loyalty". I have to say that it worked so well at first that I myself really hoped it might work for the whole organization. I assume that that was Devananda's plan as well. The Lake Shrine must have been a test case for the whole SRF organization which needed honesty and openness so badly. Well, I don't have the details of what went 'wrong' at M.W. but at first it worked there too and the constitution of the Spiritula LIfe Committee was one of the results. The problem was the deeply ingrained bad habits of an organization based on the authority of a (according to roomors, senile) president, and several charismatic and deeply authocratic figures (without counting the power struggles among managment) afraid of anything NEW and FREE ; quite a dangerous mix. I can easily see how most monastics got tired of the 'difficult' new atmosphere when one has more responsibility and has to decide more for him/herself instead than following blindly in evrything!. From a life where everything ws decided for you in the minute details to the upheaval of a more democratic state of things? Can you imagine the fear the monstics must have felt? how easier the previous life must have appeared to most of them! The dust deposited on SRF for half a century was shaken and the pollution must have seemed unbearable! The air unbreathable. Some negative results into any field would support and foment the guilt felt by so many for breaking from the mold, a mold created on the very feeling of blind obedience, fear, repression and guilt, where intellectuality is seen as a 'bad' attribute and individuality a thing of the devil. Who would have thought that hell could actually be a life in an ashram? and the ultimate irony that the people in hell think they are the chosen ones? , the 'happy few', the really spiritual ones?!
KS Registered User (5/19/02 9:13 am)	Re: "fixing" things You are right, the people who brought this process to SRF had good intentions and the process itself would work great to solve certain types of problems. It is not a cure all as I am sure the authors would not claim it to be. The monks who pushed it into mother center had good intentions also. The bad ladies (the matas for you new readers plus some senior nuns like Priya) agreed to use it without doing much research on it. They assumed they could control it and use it as a hammer to fix things they wanted fixed. People were starting to complain about the environment, resist certain projects and rules, and they wanted that stopped. The bad ladies are not particularly smart people and assumed they could control a process based on free and open discussions of problems! The reason they believed they could control this process is their deeply felt understanding that they are in total control, they are lead directly by God, and that the members and monastics believe this. The process started and meetings began to be held. Some are documented here in other messages. You might say that those meetings were the beginnings of this Walrus board. Many of the same ideas and thoughts were discussed. This was NOT what the bad ladies had in mind and they attempted to then set the list of problems to be fixed and even specify some solutions. This is like herding cats of course and things started to get out of hand with more people speaking out. It grew and grew as more people realized how common the problems were and where the real problem started… with Daya Mata. The calls for reform got too loud and several things happened: A flood of monastics began leaving the ashram: pub78.ezboard.com/fsrfwal...D=14.topic The monks and nuns spiritual life committees were dissolved. These were the hope the monastics had that the place would change. Several members were fired, others demoted and encouraged to leave (Uma Mata told them they were trouble makers) and other monastics moved to punishment positions. I believe all this is documented on this board if you have the patience to look for it! Someone needs to create an index of these messages!
Carbohydramoy Registered User (5/20/02 2:33 pm)	Re: "fixing" things From MSNBC today. Some of you will smile when you see this, others will be furious. Having been a consultant to PeopleSoft, I would say it's long overdue.... WASHINGTON, May 20 — The Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday accused accounting giant Ernst & Young of violating auditor independence rules by having a joint business relationship with PeopleSoft Inc.

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