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Paramadas
Registered User
(8/29/05 2:29 pm)
Reply 		not from Ananda
Since I've been posting a bunch lately and since Galaxy666 suggested that most Walrusites were from Ananda, I think I should say that I'm NOT from Ananda, never was, never will be. While it is certainly true that no organization is perfect, SRF renunciants have to work extra hard to be as lame as they are, and those of us who care about Yogananda don't want his legacy spoiled by a bunch of myopic old ladies and the servile men who obey them.

divine gypsy
Registered User
(8/29/05 6:57 pm)
Reply 		Re: not from Ananda
Galaxy 666:
Quote:
Seems like alot of frustrated Ananada people post here. No organization is perfect, so expectations that SRF function flawlessly are naive. Many cannot progress on a spiritual path because of lack of will or getting caught in their own illusions. The worst part is when they begin to defend their own delusions - it would be better to remain quiet. SRF serves a function and hopefully it will continue that mission.

Just make sure, Galaxy 666, that you're not projecting here and actually defending your own delusions. Like Paramadas, I've also never been involved with Ananda, and my perception from reading many posts on this board is that most are from SRF members who were involved enough, as both lay members and monastics, to have really seen the organization up close.

moyma
Registered User
(8/30/05 12:46 pm)
Reply 		Re: not from Ananda
over fifty monastic's have left SRF over the last couple years
Not because they have lost there "vocation" but because the enviorment is so bad inside . There's no trust , all there ideals have been shattered . SRF today is not even a shadow of what it was when Yogananda was alive.
SRF puts a smile on there face and insists that all is well....
that they are the ones doing masters work and all that have left are doomed to wander for incarnations for leaving SRF....
Ask them ! They will tell you....
They have replaced Yogananda with SRF..... AND SRF CAN DO NO WRONG ! BECAUSE IT AND ONLY IT ARE GUIDED BY MASTER. THEY ARE INFALLABLE !!!!!.
Any tree that loses fifty apples that quickly has a dis ease,
Yogananda will give them a good shaking....

redpurusha
Registered User
(8/30/05 7:34 pm)
Reply 		Yogananda's Own Attitude Towards the Organization
While many posts here make valid criticisms towards the organization (and some creative & amusing ones even) like this one by moyma...

"Any tree that loses fifty apples that quickly has a disease,
Yogananda will give them a good shaking...."

If anyone is interested in Yogananda's own attitude, however, towards the organization (in its state while he was alive at least) and I'm sure most of you are...

In a letter dated December 15th, 1941, Paramahansa Yogananda wrote, "Unless you conentrate on good and seeking only good - gravitating to negative things in organization would only drive you crazy. Only by seeing good have I laughed and preserved my sanity. Organization life is different and peace is found if only concentration is on good." -from Treasures Against Time (pg 91) by Brenda Lewis Rosser

Another one...

"The Master was under no illusion that his, or that any other, organization was perfect, for mankind itself is not perfect. "Don't speak of the bad side of the organization," he told us. "If I wanted to list all its faults, I could start now and never stop! By concentrating on that side, however, one loses sight of the good. And there is also much good here." -from Conversations with Yogananda (pg 306) by J. Donald Walters

Edited by: redpurusha at: 8/31/05 2:43 pm
moyma
Registered User
(8/31/05 11:19 am)
Reply 		Re: Yogananda's Own Attitude Towards the Organization
thats is a good point....but If your dog keeps having accidents on the living room carpet,I bet you would be mighty upset untill you got it all cleaned up and stoped it from happening in the future.... You can't just ignore it.....can you ?

redpurusha
Registered User
(8/31/05 4:36 pm)
Reply 		Re: Yogananda's Own Attitude Towards the Organization
While you can't change the way the teachings are handled by others, you can change the way you handle the teachings in your own life -for the better.

I've found that although others might, and almost always will disapoint you, God or the Master will always come through as long you make an honest and strong effort.

I agree with J. Donald Walters in the view that the work (of Yogananda) is currently being distributed to the world mainly by a feminine force and a masculine force -the former is contractive and the latter expansive. There is evidence for both sides having over-stepped their boundaries towards these directions ('crossed the line' so to speak). i.e., While there is the need to institutionalize, the problem is over-institutionalization and being too constrictive. On the other hand, while there is the need to have creative and dynamic energy, the problem is abusing that energy in other ways. So no one here is without fault.

There is much substance to this view I think. Generally speaking, women are more interested in things looking good while men are more interested in things how they actually are. Here is the essential difference between the editing styles of Tara Mata and J. Donald Walters (SRF and Ananda respectfully). I have derived benefit from both of these styles, although prefer the editing style of the latter (perhaps naturally, being a guy?). Isn't it amazing how God's cosmic play is being played out right before us and we're in on the set?

The main point Yogananda stresses, however, is to focus on the positive wherever you go because by doing so you take on those qualities. Some devotees may have heard of Kriyananda's sexual misconducts and be totally turned away, yet they would be missing out on the enormous amount of creative and powerful work he has produced related to P. Yogananda and his mission. The same can be said of the other side of the work (although in its respective context).

I'm a fan of the Master and his teachings so naturally I am drawn to any credible source of information on him. Here I mention what I believe to be the main two, but there are others also.

This weekend I visted a local aquarium and saw up-close many various types of walruses. With all their blubber and weight, they moved within their aquatic environment as gracefully as any other sleek land animal would. For me, this internet Walrus, has not been 'an anti-SRF forum' but an open discussion forum, where I've discovered many interesting facts related to Yogananda and have been able to share some thoughts.

Edited by: redpurusha at: 8/31/05 4:37 pm
Paramadas
Registered User
(8/31/05 9:20 pm)
Reply 		attitude adjustment
What does it mean to have a positive attitude? Some devotees think it means ignoring anything negative, refusing to speak about it, and they justify their cowardice by glibly quote the old Hindu expression, "See no evil, hear no evil...". What does such a person do when confronted with injustice? They hide in a closet and pray to God to take the negativity away. They fail to realize that God sent THEM to take away the negativity, to pray for guidance, then to constructively deal with it, bringing it to people's attention, marshalling whatever forces are necessary and eliminating the cause of the injustice. This is exactly how I see the Walrus board. Maybe others see it as a dumping ground for their negative experiences with SRF, and that's OK with me if they need to do that, but I would prefer to express my disapproval of SRF's handling of Master's legacy in the hope that my concerns will eventually be addressed by SRF. From my point of view, "focussing on the positive" does NOT mean ignoring all problems and acting like a timorous bliss bunny. It means focussing on problems in a constructive way, so that they might be solved.

Used Yogi
Registered User
(8/31/05 10:19 pm)
Reply 		Re: attitude adjustment
I'm not associated with Ananda either, and I don't think most people are here. But even if they are, it's all the same.

I'm here after seeing what SRF is like up close. If you read posts throughout this board, you'll start to get an idea...about SRF's attitudes towards Yogananda's family members (for example, Daya Mata refusing to increase a 70 Rupee ($2) per month stipend that Yogananda bequeathed to a relative), SRF laying off loyal employees with no unemployment insurance, and SRF referring to 50 monastics leaving in a short time as "house cleaning." And that doesn't even get into their multi-million dollar lawsuits and threats of lawsuits against Ananda and others. There are so many examples of why they are just plain mean and petty.

This board has mentioned the Mormon influence of SRF, such as the Wright sisters and Tara Mata. You know what the Mormon church does if you're out of work? Other members of the church are told about it, and they show up at your home with groceries for your family, provide you with money to pay the bills, and help you line up another job. Know what SRF did when they laid off people? Lies, for example saying they wished a manager from the Publications Center they were firing good luck in his future career. Then it was out in the street.

And speaking of Mitrananda, someone here posted that they thought he was in Los Angeles. Well, if he is in Los Angeles, then why did SRF claim that he was taking a paid one-year sabbatical to do filming in India?

Lies, more lies, and lack of love. That's what SRF is today. They can't even keep their mitts off Yogananda's writings.

Okay, now somebody ask me how I really feel! :b

Seriously, we're not all a bunch of people from Ananda out to bash SRF just to bash SRF for no good reason. The most valuable thing this board has done is warn others of what happens if you get in too deep with SRF.


Used Yogi

moyma
Registered User
(9/1/05 7:24 am)
Reply 		Re: attitude adjustment
I agree, You can sit back and say Srf is ok and not be negative untill they do something that personally affects you,
Then everything changes.
Most people in SRF are like 666.... They just let it slide because it's Master org and the leaders are doing the best they can and there great souls.....on and on.
and slowly over time the aims and ideals of Yogananda change to become the ideals of SRF.....Because they want to guide people into what the EGO thinks Yogananda really wanted....It's done with the best intentions.....but human nature doesn't rest....neither does evil.....rust never sleeps.....
So here we are.....Used yogi is right on .....Whats a little lie if it helps the work.....human nature at it's best.

Used Yogi
Registered User
(9/1/05 8:17 pm)
Reply 		Re: attitude adjustment
Yes, like Tara Mata telling Kriyananda once, "I know that Master said we're not a sect...well, we ARE a sect." Or Daya Mata's response when Kriyananda asked her about the World Brotherhood Colonies that Yogananda wanted so badly. She told him, "frankly, I'm not interested."

Heck, Yogacharya Oliver Black wanted to give his beautiful Song of the Morning Ranch to SRF as long as they used it to fulfill Yogananda's wish for a World Brotherhood Colony. Daya Mata didn't want anything to do with it. She still didn't want it after he passed away, because she didn't want to deal with a World Brotherhood Colony.

SRF bills themselves as THE religion of the New Age...the "airplane route" to God. No matter what good karma might have gone into their founding, I can't believe the religion of the New Age will be run by a bunch of selfish money-hoarding lying people who shut themselves off from the world and even their own congregations. The ministers don't have any real power, it's all with the Board of Directors, and really all with the President. And it's the BOD's job to keep everyone in the dark about the truth because nobody has a "need to know." And their job isn't to care about other people.


Used Yogi

galaxy666
Registered User
(9/11/05 4:55 pm)
Reply 		Re: Back-up thread Mitrananda
No, I don't get your "point". You're putting interpretation on my comments according to your illusions. The techniques are to be used by each aspirant according to their karmic ability - organizations are relative. The whiners who demonize SRF are wasting time - get on with it and see only fault in your hesitation to pursue truth.

divine gypsy
Registered User
(9/11/05 5:53 pm)
Reply 		Re: Back-up thread Mitrananda
Galaxy, your first point was that the posters here seemed to be mainly Ananda members. When a number of us disputed that, your main tactic was to start name-calling.

I don't know who's point it is that you don't get, but my point is that you should take off your blinders and start to see the truth about the dysfunctional state of Master's organization.

Paramadas
Registered User
(9/11/05 9:36 pm)
Reply 		On Not Remaining Quiet (see quote by MLK on main page)
If I'm understanding what Galaxy666 is saying, we at the Walrus should stop criticizing SRF because no organization is perfect, and our criticicms of SRF are fueled by our delusions/illusions.
For starters, I don't feel comfortable with someone whose moniker includes the "mark of the devil." I don't know if that 666 business means anything, but it still makes me feel uncomfortable, and it raises the question of whether this person is being serious or is just trying to "raise a little hell", in which case I think we can safely ignore him.
Assuming for the moment that Galaxy didn't mean anything devilish by his moniker, I must say that the majority of us at the Walrus are convinced that SRF is not acting as a good steward of Master's teachings, and that they have made egregious mistakes which not only diminish our religious experience, but which (if left unchallenged) will diminish the experience of devotees in future generations. For our own well-being, it is valuable to express our grievances in a public forum, and we view this as healthier than keeping our discontent locked in our hearts. Furthermore, it is the fervent hope of some of us that our constructive criticisms will eventually find a sympathetic ear amongst other devotees and with SRF itself. While Galaxy and some others may discount the value of our contributions, or even their necessity, I am convinced that constructive criticism is useful, even essential, if an organization, or an individual, is to progress and grow. In conclusion, I completely disagree with Galaxy's initial comment, "it would be better to remain quiet." No, Galaxy, it would not.

Used Yogi
Registered User
(9/13/05 7:31 am)
Reply 		Re: On Not Remaining Quiet (see quote by MLK on main page)
Galaxy666 actually seems to be repeating the type of propaganda that a monastic probably fed to him/her:

1) Walrus people are all from Ananda -- don't pay any attention to them ("Ananda" is the code word for "mortal enemy" in SRF-speak).

2) We are caught up in God's lila, his play, instead of focusing on what is important: the techniques.

In other words, it sounds like Galaxy666 is repeating some of the stock propaganda from a monastic intended to dismiss any questioning. I heard similar dismissals of issues from monastics when I was active in SRF. That is a big part of what makes SRF so dangerous, a failure of the leadership to even consider that there are any problems. And explaining away any questioning as getting distracted from what is important to your spiritual progress.

Galaxy666, there was someone else on this board, Astral7, who thought SRF could do no wrong. Astral7 seemed to disappear from this board during SRF's layoffs, when they threw lots of loyal members out on the street without even unemployment benefits. You could look at replies to messages he/she posted.

Read more posts on this board and you should start to get an idea of the darker side of SRF -- the side they like to gloss over with out of touch monastic counsel like "just focus on practicing the techniques." The monks are ordered to give such head-in-the-sand replies.


Used Yogi

galaxy666
Registered User
(11/14/05 8:03 pm)
Reply 		Re: On Not Remaining Quiet (see quote by MLK on main page)
These are all semantical distinctions of one upmanship. I mentioned Ananda because they still seem to engage in a war of words and primal stewardship with SRF. SRF is composed of people on various levels of spiritual evolution - they spread the teachings in a manner more effective than what I have heard any of you propose. Whether they got it "perfect" or not is irrevelant; the Guru will guide those who seek his counsel and guidance.
And that person who did not like the 666, get a life! Do pentagrams keep you up at night? Boo hoo, I'm, scared!!
The devil/God - symbols - don't take it so seriously.

Paramadas
Registered User
(11/15/05 7:06 pm)
Reply 		Re: On Not Remaining Quiet (see quote by MLK on main page)
galaxy666,
Perhaps you should read CS Lewis's book, "That Hideous Strength." It's the third book in his sci fi trilogy, and it deals with, you guessed it, that hideous strength. In the book, Lewis puts his protagonist in a situation where he is asked to defile religious icons. In order to side-step a moral confrontation, the person egging him on suggests that he do this (evil) deed without thinking about it. "Don't take it so seriously" he is told. Gee, sounds like your last post, doesn't it? NOT taking evil seriously is a very serious spiritual mistake. Don't misunderstand, I'm not suggesting you do anything you don't want to do. If you feel like keeping a moniker that includes a symbol of Satan, fine with me, just don't expect me NOT to take it seriously.

galaxy666
Registered User
(11/15/05 7:46 pm)
Reply 		Re: On Not Remaining Quiet (see quote by MLK on main page)
Sounds like you are the tangent Master. The icon is irrelevant in the context of this type of expression. You seem to want to build some fantasy about it (C.S. Lewis reference).
The topic was SRF. The organization and its hierarchy seem to threaten you and you construct self-serving rationalizations to persist in your obcession. What would you have them do?? Do something constructive once in awhile.

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