stripping the gurus - Brahma Kumaris Info

AFTER THE ORDEAL 427
Note that Andrew Harvey himself is openly gay, and yet was
welcomed into numerous ashrams throughout the world as both
visitor and resident. Further, there was no apparent “chaos in the
male monastic community” resulting from that. His experience
thus casts “nineteenth century” policies which explicitly discriminate
against his orientation into sharp and uncomplimentary relief.
My life was forever altered by my experience in a [so-called]
religious cult. Not only did I abandon my passions in life, I
spent fifteen years following someone else’s path. When I finally
awakened from my enchantment, I found myself with
near-zero self-esteem, a lot of regret for many wasted years,
and plenty of anger at my own naïvete, as well as being furious
with my former group. I felt that a gigantic chunk of my
real identity had been stolen from me without my conscious
consent. At the same time, I felt a euphoric sense of freedom
and complete delight that I now had my life back in my own
hands (Goldhammer, 1996).
ONE MAY JOIN A SPIRITUAL ORGANIZATION for reasons ranging from
the childish search for a substitute parent-figure to the mature
hope of achieving liberation or enlightenment in this lifetime. And
having thus joined, there is a comparable range of reasons to stay.
In that regard, one former ashram resident informally estimated
that 85% of monks and nuns he had met were there just for power,
control or codependence trips, or for fear of the world. Or, for a
feeling of belonging to something larger, and for enjoying the stardust
falling on their robes. That is, for adulation in their positions
as ashram “rock stars,” a respect which they would not receive
anywhere else in the world for any reason, much less for so little
accomplishment as the color of the robe they are wearing. Or, they
were there “just for laziness, for being trapped or were just too
‘short’ of brains to know any better.” (If that estimate of 85% seems
excessively harsh, consider that the Dalai Lama himself proposed
an even less complimentary figure of 90%. My own independent
estimate had been a mere 80%.)
Fond memories of past good times, in one’s early “honeymoon”
days with the guru-figure, can also play a role in keeping disciples
living in the community (Strelley, 1987).