Bro. Devananda's exile in India

SRF Walrus

Mt. Washington, Ca

Open discussions about SRF

SRF Walrus > Treatment of Members/Monastics > Bro. Devananda's exile in India
Page 1 2 3	<< Prev Topic \| Next Topic >>

Author	Comment
Kriyacat Unregistered User (1/12/02 8:02 pm) Reply	Bro. Devananda's exile in India In several messages here those in the know have said that Bro Dev. "holds a one way ticket to India". Allegedly SRF is displeased with him and wants to mete out the ultimate punishment in SRFdom...banishment to India. But nobody has mentioned why SRF is so unhappy with him. So what happened, what did he do, or what do they think he did?
KS Unregistered User (1/12/02 8:49 pm) Reply	Deva He and Mitrananda, Jayananda, and Atmananda were part of a formal committee to look at improving the atmosphere within the ashram. You will see the messages about the Spiritual Life Committee. This group came up with too many ideas that did not sit well with the bad ladies and they were disbanded (Satya was put in charge of it). Atma ran off to hide at Lake Shrine, Jaya at Hollywood, Mitra already lives at Encinitas, and that left Deva a target at Mother Center. Deva then tried to help many of the local employee/devotees. Many are getting involved in a non-SRF self-help counseling program which the bad ladies didn’t like either. He tried to find out more about this program was found out and dropped farther down on the bad-boy list. He didn’t quit and therefore had to be dealt with some other way. Why so many local devotees are seeking non-SRF counseling should be obvious to anyone reading the Walrus.
Kriyacat Unregistered User (1/12/02 9:13 pm) Reply	Re: Deva Thanks KS. Another question - where/what is Bro. Deva in charge of, what is his official duty within SRF? One time I attended a sunday service at Lake Shrine he gave the service, and since that is not the temple I regularly attended I thought he was the minister in charge there, but apparently not, as I was told that was Bro. Achalananda (?). Anyway, the members seemed to like him very much, and he had them roaring with laughter. His talk struck me as very unorthodox, he really deviated from the topic for that day, and he even made a reference to a psychologist he knew who treated a lot of SRF members (this was two or three years ago, long before I read about all these things here on this board!) So he works at Mother Center then?
Web site surfer Unregistered User (1/13/02 11:06 am) Reply	Bro. Devananda He moved out to Lake Shrine. They did not send him to India because travel to certain places became disallowed after Sept. 11. Seems he travels around to various temples and groups to speak. Living at Lake Shrine gives the monks much more freedom than living at MC.
In Recovery Unregistered User (1/13/02 12:12 pm) Reply	Devananda For the record, Brother Atmananda didn't run off to hide at Lake Shrine; he was assigned there well before the MSLC broke up. Jayananda may well be happy at Hollywood, but I wouldn't say he ran off to hide there.
KS Registered User (1/13/02 3:04 pm) Reply	Hiding While it is true that many went to Lake Shrine before the spiritual life committee was disbanded, they went there to get away from the atmosphere at mother center. I am referring to that as “hiding”. Atma was among them. Jaya is now at Hollywood while there are still plenty of rooms at mother center. He is now the 3rd brother located there. His move did occur after the snuffing out of the SLC. He is an incredibly intelligent and thoughtful man, and a very sincere devotee. Yet the bad ladies have not given him much to do. I call his move to Hollywood hiding too. If the bad ladies banished him there themselves, or Satya, then it is just punishment. However, his putting up with it is hiding from his responsibilities to Master to do the right thing. My only point in characterizing it that way is to show that they do not like the atmosphere at mother center and instead of leaving the ashram they have decided to hang on a while longer. Maybe I am too harsh? Atma and Jaya are two of the few I feel have some integrity left, so maybe I am?
Wondering Unregistered User (1/13/02 3:33 pm) Reply	Naming Names I am curious -- can you tell me what Atma and Jaya's names were when they were brahmacharis? And do you happen to know approximately when they took final vows? Thanks!
Wuder No More Unregistered User (1/13/02 5:06 pm) Reply	Names Br. Ryan and Br. Brian(?). Not sure of Brian. It was about 4 to 5 years ago.
NewBoy Unregistered User (2/8/02 11:34 am) Reply	Not hiding but wondering KS, Do you think Bro. Ishtananda is also hiding at Hollywood temple? The last time I saw him on tour he looked different to me. Maybe he was just tired since he wasn't feeling well. But I think it was more than that. He seemed distracted and a bit down. Also, and I know this is unrelated, but on another thread somewhere, someone said that Ananda Mata had Alzheimer's and was out of the picture! Is that why she wasn't interviewed for the film "Glimpses of a Life Divine"? I've often wondered why a disciple of 70 years standing rarely speaks even though she appears in the SRF magazine a lot, especially in India.
Lobo Registered User (2/8/02 9:22 pm) Reply	Re: Not hiding but wondering Re: Ananda Mata. I don't know the answer to your question regarding her public reticence and have often wondered why she doesn't appear in public as well. But she is someone who has a lot of power in the organization. Whether through the power of the Wright's or whatever she is on the board of directors which makes her one of the most powerful in determining the direction, tone and activities of SRF, the organization. Maybe if she is ill they should make a decision and start to bring in the younger monastics onto the board. After all when Durga became older she voluntarily resigned, which in my opinion, is good form. And she was the oldest nun in the ashram; but she didn't hang on past her time, going instead into a productive retirement of accomplishment and spiritual counseling. Like the famous 4 stages of life described as ideal in the Vedas. The last being one of renunciation and spirituality, spending more time interiorily and letting go of outward concerns and duties.
KS Registered User (2/8/02 11:40 pm) Reply	Ishtananda I think Ishtananda was moved to Hollywood to help Bro Bhaktananda. Possibly partially to remove him from his previous job by the bad ladies too I suspect. Once there I think he has found a new relaxed lifestyle and gotten back in touch with what being a monk is all about. He is tearing around Hollywood and improving the grounds. I believe he likes it there. He didn't go there of his own free will and therefore didn't go there to hide, but I suspect he doesn't want his old life back.
Been there Unregistered User (2/9/02 9:13 am) Reply	Monks' transfers The word is that Bro. Devananda has been sent to Hidden Valley, helping out now that Bro. Dharmananda is ill. Should be a nice life -- lots of access to nature, plenty of cars, no controlling nuns. His last speech at Convocation got him ousted, and I am sure Master is proud of his fighting spirit! Seems that Ananda Ma is indeed ill. No doubt she is being given good care, as she should be.
Bliss Bunny NOT Unregistered User (2/9/02 11:32 am) Reply	Ginnieananda Once again, I am stunned by the semi-reverential tone used in referring to Ginnie Wright (who has indeed got Alzheimer's and is undoubtedly getting the absolute best care your devotee dollar can buy). Am I alone in wondering why she got to spend the last forty years living in a luxurious home (which I have seen), being waited on by servants -- also known as monastics, and I'll bet none of them envisioned that entering the ashram would someday involve doing yardwork for two spoiled, secretive old ladies? And doesn't anyone ever ask themselves why someone entitled to such a lifestyle, which also included being able to abuse both other monastics and employees at will, never stooped to anything as demeaning as, say, counseling members, meeting regularly with employees, sharing her "wisdom" with younger monastics -- in short, doing anything that could even vaguely be construed as useful labor. And I don't consider blocking publication of all those pictures of Yogananda she was sitting on as real work. It proves one thing to me -- she and her sister were absolutely right to live their lives in almost total secrecy and mainly restrict their interactions to the occasional regal wave from the Cadillac as it glided from Mt. Washington to their real home in Sierra Madre. It works -- the less people see of figures like that, the blanker the screen upon which the yearning masses can project their fantasies of loving mothers. Bad, bad mas. And silly devotees.
AumBoy Registered User (2/9/02 11:47 am) Reply	Re: Ginnieananda Good points, but I don't wonder about it anymore. It is a closed system. No outside input. And if there is outside input, it must conform with the pre-existing paradigm on the inside to be accepted.
Bliss Bunny NOT Unregistered User (2/9/02 12:20 pm) Reply	Financial Disclosure Is An Action Verb Aumboy, your reply reminds me that the calls to action that have appeared on this board don't seem to be rooted in the "real world," if you know what I mean. There are suggestions so naive I cringe, like the post I just came across that advocates going to one's supervisor, or writing a letter to those at the top, etc. when there are cases of lying or other abuses. I suspect this is where people confuse being a "good spiritual devotee" with being a passive, childlike cult member who wants to believe that reminding power-drunk, cold, distant "gods" they are behaving like -- well, like power-drunk, cold, distant gods -- will produce a miraculous transformation. You now, an "OH! Now I see the light!" epiphany -- which is rather like expecting Ken Lay to drop to his knees and beg forgiveness. Unfortunately, as the Nuremburg trials suggest, human beings who have walled themselves away at the top of abusive power structures rarely respond to gentle nudges. Or, for that matter, to anything short of being hung. Why don't some of the good souls on this board, who profess to want to transform SRF into an organization a psychologically healthy person would want to join, get cracking on the kinds of measures that might actually rock SRF's world? Such as demanding, as members, that their "Church," as I guess it's now considered, open their books to an impartial audit by an outside firm? Not that it could ever happen. But I can dream, can't I?
AumBoy Registered User (2/9/02 1:11 pm) Reply	Re: Financial Disclosure Is An Action Verb *Quote:* Such as demanding, as members, that their "Church," as I guess it's now considered, open their books to an impartial audit by an outside firm? LOL! I understand your point, but: "Which outside firm?" From what I'm gathering, Enron isn't the only company with "cooked books". I'm thinking of entering the stock market and going short on a bunch of companies. Get this: The FBI is investigating Anderson, right? Most people don't know that Anderson is under a government contract to reorganize the FBI at the same time! Just how far do you think the FBI will get in their "investigation". (Does dead end sound correct?) *Quote:* people confuse being a "good spiritual devotee" with being a passive, childlike cult member who wants to believe that reminding power-drunk, cold, distant "gods" they are behaving like -- well, like power-drunk, cold, distant gods -- will produce a miraculous transformation. You know, an "OH! Now I see the light!" epiphany -- which is rather like expecting Ken Lay to drop to his knees and beg forgiveness. Absolutely! Some of the dangers of group-think and unswerving, unthinking, loyal, blind obedience to a personally untested ideal. "Oh, the "authorities" have all the answers" crap.
username Registered User (2/9/02 2:55 pm) Reply	Re: Financial Disclosure Is An Action Verb the firm name is Andersen not Anderson
BLS Unregistered User (2/9/02 4:00 pm) Reply	Realize People have to realize the trouble starts at the top. As Bliss says, writing is of no use. Because they stay separated they have been able to maintain the illusion of goodness. Don't be fooled.
premdas Registered User (2/9/02 6:51 pm) Reply	Devananda's Speech Been There: Can you relate Devananda's speech in more detail? I wasn't there and would like to know more about the subject, his opinions, reactions from attendees, monastics. Thanks, Premdas
Been there Unregistered User (2/9/02 9:41 pm) Reply	To Bliss Bunny NOT and Premdas Everyone who suffers from Alzheimers deserves good care, including Virginia Wright. So will you and your loved ones deserve it, should you one day fall victim to this dreadful condition. It is also true that SRF employees and ex-monastics who are not able to play the system do not have the privileges of the Wright. This should change; the nature Miss Wright's care should not.
Been there Unregistered User (2/9/02 9:42 pm) Reply	To Bliss Bunny NOT and Premdas Everyone who suffers from Alzheimers deserves good care, including Virginia Wright. So will you and your loved ones deserve it, should you one day fall victim to this dreadful condition. It is also true that SRF employees and ex-monastics who are not able to play the system do not have the privileges of the Wright. This should change; the nature Miss Wright's care should not. About the speech, you need to get the details from someone else, perhaps. I was not in attendance and my info is second hand.

Page 1 2 3

<< Prev Topic | Next Topic >>

Email This To a Friend
Topic Control Image

Topic Commands

Click to receive email notification of replies

Click to stop receiving email notification of replies

jump to: