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SRF Walrus

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SRF Walrus > Treatment of Members/Monastics > Monastics Leaving
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MathMajor Unregistered User (8/22/01 7:39 pm) Reply	Monastics Leaving Let us get the facts correct. Our best count for the number of monastics who have left the Ashram since last summer is 22. This is as of the week before Convocation 2001. Monks ------------------------ > Brothers 2 > Brahmacharis 7 > Novices/Postulants 1 --------------------------------- > Total Monks 10 Nuns ------------------------- > Sisters 2 > Brahmacharinis 7 > Novices/Postulants 3 ---------------------------------- > Total Nuns 12 This makes 22 monastics who feel that they can make better progress in their search for God outside of SRF (usually away from Mother Center) than inside. Some may decide to post their specific reasons, but from these numbers you can certainly draw some general conclusions. Something is seriously wrong with the environment.
xmonk Unregistered User (8/23/01 5:49 am) Reply	Monastics Leaving Let me add that in addition to many of us having already left, there are more to come...very soon.
jm Unregistered User (8/26/01 6:48 am) Reply	Treatment of members-monastics We have all read about how the monastics are treated. I know from first hand experience. But have you thought about what that does to these dedicated people? Within the monastic community there is depression, paranoia, suicidal tendencies, loss of hope and deep despair. They are made to believe that they must endure because it is the will of God or that there is something wrong inside of them such as a big ego, lack of dedication, loyalty and such. They work long grueling hours with Big Brother or Big Sister always watching them to be sure they do what is expected of them. Can you imagine working under these conditions? When they do make a mistake or if someone reports them as having said or done something that is not acceptable (it doesn't matter if the person accusing them is telling the truth or not) then they are severely reprimanded and made to feel as if they are no good or not trying hard enough. No wonder SRF has had to hire psychologists to deal with the growing emotional problems they themselves are creating. They are made to feel that God and Guru want them to suffer. They are trained to not ask questions and not to think for themselves. This is brainwashing. The end result is that the people in power have complete power and those monastics that do finally speak up are placed in lower positions and watched more closely. They are shunned, snubbed, lied about and made into enemies of Master's work. Should there not be joy in serving a Master such as ours?What has happened to His teachings and the compassion he showed to others? Should that not be a part of the monastic community also? God is a loving God. Master is a loving Master. Can that same word be used within SRF today with the Board of Directors. the management committee and the senior monastics who make the rules or blindly follow when they know what they are doing is hurting the very people they should be serving? Part of the answer is that they are unaware of what they are doing having been removed from the world in general for so long, they act as robots or do what others tell them is right because they have no experience that tells them differently and the other part is that they have personal agendas that can only be accomplished by being secretive and it doesn't matter how they get there. It is sad that the monastics must suffer in silence because they know that by speaking up, they seal their fate. They do not know who to trust so speaking to each other is out of the question.
jlm Unregistered User (8/29/01 5:58 am) Reply	monastics leaving I noticed as I read some other comments on this site, there is another person listed as jm. We are different people. I will use jlm in future.
maggie mcclintock Registered User (9/11/05 8:09 am) Reply	Re: monastics leaving I can't figure out how to start a new topic, so I decided this will have to do. I left SRF many years ago, but I heard about the 40-50 monastics leaving, and I know about Walrus and the Cult Buster board. But upon reading them now I see that everything has died. No one is posting, no new members on either board, except now for me and another member. I called an SRF friend the other day, one that used to be filled with gossip, and she said that she doesn't hear anything about SRF anymore. And for some odd reason she is very happy in SRF now. I think I recall hearing that SRF has asked people to stop gossiping, again. So did that work? My other question is, Why the silence on the board, which I actually just asked? Is it that SRF is now behaving itself, unlikely, or is it that devotees are no longer hearing gossip? Or is it due to the fact that things have settled down in the SRF disputes between Ananda and SRF, and so now that leaflets are not being passed around SRF members are in the dark and are happy being there? And no one is mentioning Walters or even the Walrus anymore? You would think if SRF was as bad as many of us felt it to be that more would be leaving? Especially the newer monastics.
Paramadas Registered User (9/11/05 9:58 pm) Reply	Re: monastics leaving Hi Maggie, Welcome to the Walrus. No, it hasn't died, but it's not exactly hopping either. A few of us still post occasionally. We tend to go in waves, I think. One recent wave was that whole discussion that Divine Gypsy started about Yogananda's connection to the Nazis. Very valuable reading. Another thread (most of which got killed with the recent hacker attack) involved the dismissal of one of SRF's main speakers, Bro. Mitrananda. Unfortunately, our message is not reaching the "rank and file" of SRF, most of whom remain willing and able to tithe themselves to ruination to support SRF, despite the horrific inefficiency in the organization (criminy, the wastefulness I've seen!), and despite the oppressiveness of some of SRF's policies, and finally, despite SRF's willingness to alter Master's words to make SRF look good. Most of the Walrus members just want to put it all behind them, and after getting their greivance off their chest, they stop posting. There are, however, a few of us diehards left, and we've added a few new members recently. For the record, most of what we do here at the Walrus would not be classified as "gossip" but more like "constructive criticism." At least that's how I see it.
maggie mcclintock Registered User (9/12/05 5:06 am) Reply	Re: monastics leaving 1. I never heard about Yogananda and the Nazis. That is a hard one to believe. 2. I can understand old members finally moving on, but what I am talking about is where are the newly dissatisfied? Or are the devotees at SRF all happy now?
divine gypsy Registered User (9/13/05 12:42 pm) Reply	Re: monastics leaving Hi, Maggie. The thread referred to above by Paramadas is Not the Mainstream/Early East-West. Check it out. It's not so much Yogananda's connection to the Nazis as what he wrote in the early magazine about Hitler, Stalin, etc., and how to square that with the idea of him being omniscient. Anyway, read it for yourself. I think the board doesn't have much activity because people aren't leaving and/or getting laid off in droves at the moment and needing to process the cognitive dissonance as much. After all, you only really see "behind the curtain" when you get pretty close to Mother Center, either as a monastic or lay member. Also, I think SRF has probably made a concerted effort to get rid of the independent thinkers and get "loyal members" not to read the Walrus. Also, most who post here eventually realize that SRF is not very likely to change. Also, getting active on the board can be time consuming and sometimes lead to a certain amount of abuse. Oh yeah, and the Walrus can sometimes be a micromanager, too. Hope this helps. Welcome to the board.
maggie mcclintock Registered User (9/14/05 6:14 am) Reply	Re: monastics leaving Thanks for the welcome and telling me where to read about Hitler. I agree SRF must have the loyal ones totally devoted to them and to the guru. Hopefully, they are treating the newer monastics kinder, but I doubt it. I am still overwhemed that my best informant in SRF has now become a devot fan of Mother Center. I just can't get over it. Her family knew all that was going on and were so upset by it that they quit going to the temple. Now the opposite is true. Perhaps it is called forgiveness, but even with forgiving SRF, how can one go back to the muck? Someday I must go back to the temple and see how many members I know. Well, maybe I will and maybe I won't. Such a waste of time. Such a very long drive too as I am 6 hours away.
dontknownothinbouthistory Registered User (9/14/05 1:28 pm) Reply	Re: monastics leaving Some writers on Walrus have been banned for various reasons by SRF Walrus. The bringing to light of PY's lack of omniscience seems not to have caused any posters being banned. Some times direct criticism of the Avatar does end a poster's access to being able to make posts. SRF Walrus is not an open discusiion board. It is for a narrow purpose, though for the time being divine gypsy's thread exists and hasn't caused her to be banned. There are other boards and among people privately histories are being written, visits made, and phone calls from one country to another.
moyma Registered User (9/14/05 7:07 pm) Reply	Re: monastics leaving I don't agree, I think walrus is very open . I have posted more than most in the last year and walrus only pulls stuff thats to gross or attacks to people that have nothing to do with the subject at hand....read the stuff here, they let almost anything go if it's about srf.
member108 Registered User (9/16/05 9:49 pm) Reply	Re: monastics leaving I agree the Walrus is open. Look at the variety of stuff here. Some hateful mean stuff has been removed and pornographic stuff. There are many references to the purpose of the board being about the organization and that is about it. From what I know these days most members are no longer working for SRF. Most have been fired or quit. Those remaining are usually burn outs who don't know any better. Keeping members at a distance in centers and temples allows a certain haze to again form so people think SRF has some value. SRF provides a service for the weak minded. If they don't get it from SRF they will just join some other cult anyway. The people I knew who used to post here have pretty much said their piece and moved on. The abuse and lies were processed and SRF is of no more concern. I check in once in a while to see if old friends are posting again. Usually not. For the new comer there is plenty here to read! SRF doesn't change so it all applies. If anything they are sinking further and further into ruin.
SayItIsntSo Registered User (10/30/05 12:44 pm) Reply ezSupporter	Re: monastics leaving Member 108. How right you are. I used to post here but ran out of things to say. I quit SRF in 2000 so I felt my posts were not relevant anymore. But maybe nothing has changed there. I don't know since I'm out. There has been stuff deleted here and members banned, and then the big crash with Ezboard. I hope Walrus continues for those looking for answers to questions SRF doesn't want to address. Spot the Looney

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