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I've been thinking about this forum all day long, as I'm sure many folks are also preoccupied with their experience in it. I would just like to say that this is not a "let's bash Masterpath thread"... it is a thread of people sharing their experiences in ways that were never allowed while on the path.
I think it is important that we all maintain a level of sensitivity to fellow souls that we once called friends, and who still are our friends (in spirit and in truth). We know from our own experience the searing pain, and how deeply it cut when we realized that the Ones we loved were as far from BEing in a state of love as they could be when they spoke to us. Let us not treat each other in that way.
This forum is meant to help people. Only that.
There are some examples that I feel are important to place on this forum. These are experiences that have been shared with me by someone that I respect and love. I consider this individual to be of the highest quality, a person of integrity and honesty. His information is reliable and credible, and I do not question where his heart lies.
There is a student on MP; she's been on the path for many years. This chela suffers from a physical disability which has hindered her ability to function in the world at a level that most of us take for granted. She is a beautiful, dedicated, and sincere soul. She lives in a rural community with limited options for employment. She pays her monthly dues to be on the MP, and has accrued quite the credit card debt over the years that she has been a student. All because she loves truth and couldn't imagine living without MP in her life.
Guess what she does to earn the money to pay her 30.00 month? She irons clothes for a $1.00 an item. For her to attend a seminar is quite the special treat. Imagine how many articles of clothing this chela must iron in order to attend. I find it incredibly sad and disheartening that this individual has not been given a free lifetime membership. I find it terribly disappointing that this has not been given priority attention by the leaders of MP. Especially knowing what I know about the PRIORITIES on MP. Of course, if Gary Olsen were a 'real guru,' this chela would have no debt because there would be no membership dues, no seminar fees, books at cost rather than 4x's the cost. MP is a money drain. Is it a path of the wealthy in spirit, or the rich in pocket.
The next example: there was an elderly woman whose health was failing, and death drawing near. She wrote to request her sixth initiation, and was denied. (it just seems that rules and regulations should not have trumped this request... all of us former students feel that whoever made the decision to not grant this person initiation should feel shamed)
But, there was a chela in her 30's who was not responding to the repeated invitations to receive her sixth initiation, and she received a serious phone call of inquiry.
Something is terribly wrong with this picture.
Some of the other examples cited and alluded to on this forum are the tip of an iceberg.
However each one of us experiences this is the way it is supposed to be. It's live-wire and real. And I'm especially glad that we are all sharing in it. It's important.
Last edited by end_of_faith; 05-28-2009 at 05:59 PM..
Okay, my moments of sensitivity have passed. The only exception is if Gary Olsen decides to join our conversation. In which case, we have to draw straws for who gets to take the first shot. Oh wait, we can all fire off simultaneously and no one call tell us to sit still, be quiet, pay attention, do as you're told, don't question the higher authority of MP leaders, don't question anything the Master does or says as every word he utters is straight from God.... ughhh, it truly is like a previous poster said: it would be hysterical if it were not so sadly true... Maybe this thread is an exercise in sharpening our aim... yea, that works for me :-) a little levity
Okay, my moments of sensitivity have passed. The only exception is if Gary Olsen decides to join our conversation. In which case, we have to draw straws for who gets to take the first shot. Oh wait, we can all fire off simultaneously and no one call tell us to sit still, be quiet, pay attention, do as you're told, don't question the higher authority of MP leaders, don't question anything the Master does or says as every word he utters is straight from God.... ughhh, it truly is like a previous poster said: it would be hysterical if it were not so sadly true... Maybe this thread is an exercise in sharpening our aim... yea, that works for me :-) a little levity
ok, just in case there are any literalists hanging in the ethers that was an entirely figurative statement.... and in the figurative sense, I definitely mean it. In fact, I've thought about FormerChela's suggestion that we should all have a face to face sit down with Olsen, and let him answer our concerns and questions. Wouldn't that be interesting.
I think the difference in experience for some of us on this forum is simple: there are those who have direct experience with the leaders of MP, and there are those who have no personal experience with them.
Obviously, the latter are the most blessed. For they have not had to wrangle with the intense levels of deception, coercive techniques, personality trips, and mind games that others know are alive and well with the leaders of MP. They don’t have to deal with the lies, the BS, the falsehoods.
If chelas really knew the inner circle bull****… they would realize the blind are leading the blind.
It was only upon leaving MP did I understand what is meant by "ignorance is bliss."
Hi, well I guess I have to catch up a bit, for some reason Id not been getting any alerts that there were new posts here, even though I am subscribed for that.
FormerChela, I've only read your first post so far.
Firstly, my main interest here is to the extent people are calling MP a destructive and harmful cult. To a lessor extent that claims that Gary is harmful, and then perhaps the claims he is a fraud.
I've no interest in defending MP or recruiting people, or explaining its tenets etc.
That said, and I'm sorry if it sound as if I am making light of your pain, but the irony that what some are calling a harmful cult has been harmful in its rejection of a potential chela, jumps out at me.
I do remember a tape/satsang where Sri Gary discussed how he had found out that there were people (sounded like many) that had went past the 2 year study/investigation period and that he had to find some balance / policy because he didn't feel it was right or healthy to keep providing monthly discourses of teachings for 2cd initiates to people who were not 2cd initiates. I did not get the impression that it was permanent or like a banning.
yes I don't hold to the theory that Gurus need to be perfection on earth, I recognize they are in human form, and while I would expect them to be upstanding citizens, I don't expect them to be perfect humans.
Yes if Gary was involved in a direct lie that would be worthy of lots of discussion. Though in all my listening to tapes and audios, I do that much more then I read, I've not heard any claims of slums, low living standards, vows of poverty, and such. Not recently in his life. He has refereed to humble beginnings and most of his earlier life and perhaps even early days on the path. Perhaps even when he first founded MP.
I'm not sure I understand your current dilemma and pain? If Gary is authentic then he has done you a favor and explained that continuing to have access to materials meant for a 2cd initiate are not appropriate and I guess could be harmful for someone who is not a 2cd initiate. I don't believe he has said you cant choose to apply for the 2cd any longer.
If Gary isn't authentic, then he has also done you a favor.
End_of_faith - why do you lie and claim mystery where there is none?
You've done this repeatedly, like your exaggerations about reading monthly reports. Here is your latest
Quote:
What they don’t tell you is that Gary does not want people to continue receiving discourses beyond the second year if they have not received the second initiation. Why? He doesn’t want people to have more than two years of discourses in their possession if they decide to leave the path. I’m not quite sure what the reasoning is behind such thinking.
As I said above the letters to people in FormerChela's position was discussed openly at a satsang. He explained the situation, his policy and rational for it.
Yet you choose to frame it as secret and hidden and all that. Why do you continue to be so flatly wrong? Can you see how it distorts your credibility? At tis point I cant see how anything you say you 'know' as fact can be trusted.
You are clearly prone to exageration, spin, and drama. Like reporting me to an anti-cult person and claiming I was a stalker, and trying to screw with my personal life outside of this board.
I can't see why you should be trusted in your 'inside information' at all?
You did not take the initiation because you were uncertain and not ready.
....Trust yourself, and let MP go.
It is not a healthy activity to continue dwelling on the past. There’s no life in it. It’s a drag that breeds disappointment and pain. The more you separate yourself from it, the more objective and aware you become in viewing it.
I agree with this advice. Attachment to the past and all of the dead imagery is not good for you. MP is hardly the only game in town and if it's not for you, its not for you.
Quote:
By the time I ended MP, I was so disillusioned, unhappy, and unfulfilled that I could hardly breath. I lived a life of isolation and aloneness on MP. Not anymore. I have a wonderful life and am developing friendships with people who are honest, kind, and down to earth.
Of course I am finding the opposite effect in that I am increasingly happy with my journey in MP, I am certainly not isolated or alone and probably wouldn't resonate with a path that promoted such. MP and Sri Gary are just the est thing since sliced bread.
Clearly it didn't work out for End_of_faith, though her behavior, lies, etc make me wonder if she is in a bit of denial where the problem lied? She seems to need to blame it all on Gary and villainies him.
There are some specific key points when an 'inner master' are needed
And other times when the guidance and even protection of the inner master is very welcomed.
I find the teachings and lessons of the outer master, the man we call Sri Gary, to be stimulating and helpful. I find the course of practice and exercises to be very helpful.
You of course welcomed to your opinion, I just want to point out that it's your opinion and seems to be based on lost of unexplored bias and beliefs.
Steer clear of Olsen. He is like the sad little man behind the curtain in the Wizard of OZ... desperately, pathetically trying to feel powerful by keeping his sham alive. If you believe he is "higher than Jesus" and pay him for his plagerized work and endlessly boring lectures, maybe you will help him feel better about himself. It will cost you dearly though. The biggest price? You will have to believe that your own truth lies within somebody else. The only thing he has "mastered" is being a paranoid, greedy, sleazy, angry predator.
Would you care to explain or are you just into drive by slander?
Are there any Gurus you think a are credible?
>>You will have to believe that your own truth lies within somebody else
Hows that? Can you explain the MP teaching for that? It's unfamiliar to me. In fact its directly anti MP in that I am specifically told that my truth is in me, and does not lie in the personage/man of gary olsen.
I look forward to your considered and factual response.
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