[shriadishakti] One reason why SYs must be their own masters, free from all external control

February 26, 2003

What is it to be your own master?

"jagbir singh <adishakti_org" <adishakti_org wrote:

"With the exception of these brief experiments in free expression, most Baha'is gain their knowledge of the wider Baha'i worldthrough institutional letters shared at Feast, or the NSA's newspaper, The American Baha'i, both of which tend to be cheerleading efforts to encourage members to meet the goals of the current teaching plan and to financially support theinstitutions' various building projects. [52] With such a historyof information control, it is no exaggeration to say that the spread of the Internet in the 1990s had a staggering impact on the quality of Baha'i discourse. However, while the Baha'i institutionscannot control what ideas are expressed on online forums, they have taken punitive action against individuals who are perceived as threatening. The Talisman email forum was created in 1994 by Professor John Walbridge of the University of Indiana as an academic project. Many participants were delighted at the kind of freewheeling, even contentious, intellectual discussions that took place there and that had hitherto been so rare in Baha'i community life.[53] However,as in the earlier cases mentioned above, more conservative Baha'iswere disturbed by the opinions expressed there and turned in e-mails to Baha'i authorities. In late 1995, the NSA contacted DavidLangness, demanding that he make a retraction for a post he had made in October comparing Baha'i judicial proceedings to "kangaroocourts" and complaining about the secretive way these cases are handled.[54] The primary focus of their concern was his statement that the NSA had initially acted against dialogue without approval from the House. Langness had been one of those sanctioned for his association with dialogue and had been the primary author of A Modest Proposal. The NSA threatened to take away Langness'svoting rights if he did not comply.[55] However, when Langness eventually posted a retraction, it was deemed insufficient, and he was sanctioned anyway.[56]On a smaller, more specialized forum called Majnun, a Talisman r was outraged at Langness's treatment and proposed an organized protest. A responding message, somewhat snide and humorous in tone, batted down the idea as unnecessary and unworkable within the Baha'i system.[57] This email, later dubbed simply "theMajnun post," was accidentally sent to Talisman and was thenseized upon as evidence of a conspiracy.[58] This was the catalyst for an investigation of Talisman's prominent posters in spring1996.Six people, including David Langness, were contacted by Counsellor Stephen Birkland and, according to their accounts, were threatened with being named covenant-breakers for their cyberspace activities.[59] All of them were long-time Baha'is of the Baby Boomgeneration, highly educated and intellectual, who had connections to the LA study group and/or dialogue. Four of the six eventually resigned their membership from the Baha'i Faith.That these Baha'is were under intense psychological pressure is evident from their stories. One example:When I received a letter from a Baha'i Cont. Counsellor indicating that I was under threat of being declared a Covenant-breaker, the impact on me personally was less than on my family. My wife is a Baha'i as are many of her family members, . . . The very real threat of being declared a Covenant breaker meant my wife had to face the decision of joining me as a heretic or divorcing me so that she could maintain her relationships with her family and other lifelong friends. Since [my wife] had no intention of divorcing me, the choices then extended out to her family. Her sister would not refuse to socialize with us so she would automatically be declared a covenant breaker along with her husband and children. Many of my close Baha'i friends would also be faced with the decision of maintaining friendships or joining me as a heretic. The whole thing is absurd and quite medieval. But it does raise the issue which you point out so well; how anyone would want to belong to a group which is willing to act this way and be so cruel is beyond me. That is why I voluntarily left the religion. Not in order to escape punishment but because the Baha'i community had become such an unhealthy place spiritually. I was terribly saddened that my spiritual home of 25 years had turned into a prison and nightmare. [60] David Langness also expressed concerns about the potential effect on his family and reported being more afraid of the prospect of being named a covenant-breaker than he had ever been during his experience as a medic in Vietnam.[61]If the intent of the Baha'i institutions was to silence dissent,the effort backfired. One of those investigated, Professor Juan Cole of the University of Michigan, became far more vocal and critical after his resignation than he had been before. Freed from the restraints imposed by Baha'i membership, he not only went public with the story of how he had been coerced into renouncing his religion, but also put previously-suppressed documents, such as A Modest Proposal, on the web and wrote articles about the administration's internal control mechanisms.[62] It is fair tosay that, while conservative Baha'is continue to defend the administration's actions, the crackdown created more onlinecritics than it silenced. . . .Outside the world of Baha'i cyberspace, the information availableto adherents is still controlled, and these conflicts have garnered little attention from the non-Baha'i media.[68] Newcomers toBaha'i forums online frequently express shock and dismay at the often strident criticisms leveled at the Baha'i administration; others are appalled at the punitive actions taken against their co-religionists in what they had always believed to be a tolerant faith. Those disturbed by the actions of the UHJ can be thrown into a crisis of faith where they either have to adjust their values to find such harsh measures acceptable or abandon belief in Baha'u'llah. A few find the nontraditional path whereBaha'u'llah is still the center of their spiritual focus, but infallibility of the UHJ is seen as limited or even nonexistent.While the Baha'i Faith is not a cult, it does have anauthoritarian structure and conformist culture that many of those attracted to the liberal ideals and inspiring writings of Baha'u'llah find intolerably restrictive. It remains to beseen whether the new openness afforded by Internet discourse will push the administration towards the tolerant ideals contained in its scriptures or cause it to retreat ever further into defensive fear."http://www.angelfire.com/ca3/bigquestions/enemies.html

February 26, 2003

I have a example of what it is to be your own master.

To be your own master is to feel confident and sure of your own knowledge and aims in life and to share it with others only when you decide the moment is right. Some people easily find themselves in arguements and confrontations because they cannot help opening their mouths and getting involved even though afterwards they know they would have prefered to keep their mouth shut. To be your own master is to also be the witness, were you just witness everything, watching, taking it all in but at no time feeling like your going to get sucked into a problem, basicly, emotionaly incharge of yourself....in balance (thoughtlessly aware!)....not disturbed by your own straying thoughts!

This is my brief understanding of it even though I have only been a yogis for a few months. I am also interested to see if the more experienced like Jagbir and Lyndal would agree with what I have to say.

Adam

What is it to be your own master?

" jagbir singh <adishakti_org " <adishakti_org wrote:

" With the exception of these brief experiments in free expression,

most Baha'is gain their knowledge of the wider Baha'i world

through institutional letters shared at Feast, or the NSA's

newspaper, The American Baha'i, both of which tend to be

cheerleading efforts to encourage members to meet the goals of the

current teaching plan and to financially support the

institutions' various building projects. [52] With such a history

of information control, it is no exaggeration to say that the spread

of the Internet in the 1990s had a staggering impact on the quality

of Baha'i discourse. However, while the Baha'i institutions

cannot control what ideas are expressed on online forums, they have

taken punitive action against individuals who are perceived as

threatening.

The Talisman email forum was created in 1994 by Professor John

Walbridge of the University of Indiana as an academic project. Many

participants were delighted at the kind of freewheeling, even

contentious, intellectual discussions that took place there and that

had hitherto been so rare in Baha'i community life.[53] However,

as in the earlier cases mentioned above, more conservative Baha'is

were disturbed by the opinions expressed there and turned in e-mails

to Baha'i authorities. In late 1995, the NSA contacted David

Langness, demanding that he make a retraction for a post he had made

in October comparing Baha'i judicial proceedings to " kangaroo

courts " and complaining about the secretive way these cases are

handled.[54] The primary focus of their concern was his statement

that the NSA had initially acted against dialogue without approval

from the House. Langness had been one of those sanctioned for his

association with dialogue and had been the primary author of A

Modest Proposal. The NSA threatened to take away Langness's

voting rights if he did not comply.[55] However, when Langness

eventually posted a retraction, it was deemed insufficient, and he

was sanctioned anyway.[56]

On a smaller, more specialized forum called Majnun, a Talisman

r was outraged at Langness's treatment and proposed an

organized protest. A responding message, somewhat snide and humorous

in tone, batted down the idea as unnecessary and unworkable within

the Baha'i system.[57] This email, later dubbed simply " the

Majnun post, " was accidentally sent to Talisman and was then

seized upon as evidence of a conspiracy.[58] This was the catalyst

for an investigation of Talisman's prominent posters in spring

1996.

Six people, including David Langness, were contacted by Counsellor

Stephen Birkland and, according to their accounts, were threatened

with being named covenant-breakers for their cyberspace activities.

[59] All of them were long-time Baha'is of the Baby Boom

generation, highly educated and intellectual, who had connections to

the LA study group and/or dialogue. Four of the six eventually

resigned their membership from the Baha'i Faith.

That these Baha'is were under intense psychological pressure is

evident from their stories. One example:

When I received a letter from a Baha'i Cont. Counsellor indicating

that I was under threat of being declared a Covenant-breaker, the

impact on me personally was less than on my family. My wife is a

Baha'i as are many of her family members, . . . The very real threat

of being declared a Covenant breaker meant my wife had to face the

decision of joining me as a heretic or divorcing me so that she

could maintain her relationships with her family and other lifelong

friends. Since [my wife] had no intention of divorcing me, the

choices then extended out to her family. Her sister would not refuse

to socialize with us so she would automatically be declared a

covenant breaker along with her husband and children. Many of my

close Baha'i friends would also be faced with the decision of

maintaining friendships or joining me as a heretic. The whole thing

is absurd and quite medieval. But it does raise the issue which you

point out so well; how anyone would want to belong to a group which

is willing to act this way and be so cruel is beyond me. That is why

I voluntarily left the religion. Not in order to escape punishment

but because the Baha'i community had become such an unhealthy place

spiritually. I was terribly saddened that my spiritual home of 25

years had turned into a prison and nightmare. [60]

David Langness also expressed concerns about the potential effect on

his family and reported being more afraid of the prospect of being

named a covenant-breaker than he had ever been during his experience

as a medic in Vietnam.[61]

If the intent of the Baha'i institutions was to silence dissent,

the effort backfired. One of those investigated, Professor Juan Cole

of the University of Michigan, became far more vocal and critical

after his resignation than he had been before. Freed from the

restraints imposed by Baha'i membership, he not only went public

with the story of how he had been coerced into renouncing his

religion, but also put previously-suppressed documents, such as A

Modest Proposal, on the web and wrote articles about the

administration's internal control mechanisms.[62] It is fair to

say that, while conservative Baha'is continue to defend the

administration's actions, the crackdown created more online

critics than it silenced. . . .

Outside the world of Baha'i cyberspace, the information available

to adherents is still controlled, and these conflicts have garnered

little attention from the non-Baha'i media.[68] Newcomers to

Baha'i forums online frequently express shock and dismay at the

often strident criticisms leveled at the Baha'i administration;

others are appalled at the punitive actions taken against their co-

religionists in what they had always believed to be a tolerant

faith. Those disturbed by the actions of the UHJ can be thrown into

a crisis of faith where they either have to adjust their values to

find such harsh measures acceptable or abandon belief in

Baha'u'llah. A few find the nontraditional path where

Baha'u'llah is still the center of their spiritual focus, but

infallibility of the UHJ is seen as limited or even nonexistent.

While the Baha'i Faith is not a cult, it does have an

authoritarian structure and conformist culture that many of those

attracted to the liberal ideals and inspiring writings of

Baha'u'llah find intolerably restrictive. It remains to be

seen whether the new openness afforded by Internet discourse will

push the administration towards the tolerant ideals contained in its

scriptures or cause it to retreat ever further into defensive fear. "

http://www.angelfire.com/ca3/bigquestions/enemies.html

February 26, 2003

Thank you for your response. Does awakening the Kundilini cause one to become his own master? How so? Is becoming your own master a process? What does the process involve?

lunduner1 wrote:

I have a example of what it is to be your own master.To be your own master is to feel confident and sure of your own knowledge and aims in life and to share it with others only when you decide the moment is right. Some people easily find themselves in arguements and confrontations because they cannot help opening their mouths and getting involved even though afterwards they know they would have prefered to keep their mouth shut. To be your own master is to also be the witness, were you just witness everything, watching, taking it all in but at no time feeling like your going to get sucked into a problem, basicly, emotionaly incharge of yourself....in balance (thoughtlessly aware!)....not disturbed by your own straying thoughts!This is my brief understanding of it even though I have only been a yogis for a few months. I am also interested to see if the more experienced like Jagbir and Lyndal would agree with what I have to say.AdamWhat is it to be your own master? "jagbir singh <adishakti_org" <adishakti_org wrote:

"With the exception of these brief experiments in free expression, most Baha'is gain their knowledge of the wider Baha'i worldthrough institutional letters shared at Feast, or the NSA's newspaper, The American Baha'i, both of which tend to be cheerleading efforts to encourage members to meet the goals of the current teaching plan and to financially support theinstitutions' various building projects. [52] With such a historyof information control, it is no exaggeration to say that the spread of the Internet in the 1990s had a staggering impact on the quality of Baha'i discourse. However, while the Baha'i institutionscannot control what ideas are expressed on online forums, they have taken punitive action against individuals who are perceived as threatening. The Talisman email forum was created in 1994 by Professor John Walbridge of the University of Indiana as an academic project. Many participants were delighted at the kind of freewheeling, even contentious, intellectual discussions that took place there and that had hitherto been so rare in Baha'i community life.[53] However,as in the earlier cases mentioned above, more conservative Baha'iswere disturbed by the opinions expressed there and turned in e-mails to Baha'i authorities. In late 1995, the NSA contacted DavidLangness, demanding that he make a retraction for a post he had made in October comparing Baha'i judicial proceedings to "kangaroocourts" and complaining about the secretive way these cases are handled.[54] The primary focus of their concern was his statement that the NSA had initially acted against dialogue without approval from the House. Langness had been one of those sanctioned for his association with dialogue and had been the primary author of A Modest Proposal. The NSA threatened to take away Langness'svoting rights if he did not comply.[55] However, when Langness eventually posted a retraction, it was deemed insufficient, and he was sanctioned anyway.[56]On a smaller, more specialized forum called Majnun, a Talisman r was outraged at Langness's treatment and proposed an organized protest. A responding message, somewhat snide and humorous in tone, batted down the idea as unnecessary and unworkable within the Baha'i system.[57] This email, later dubbed simply "theMajnun post," was accidentally sent to Talisman and was thenseized upon as evidence of a conspiracy.[58] This was the catalyst for an investigation of Talisman's prominent posters in spring1996.Six people, including David Langness, were contacted by Counsellor Stephen Birkland and, according to their accounts, were threatened with being named covenant-breakers for their cyberspace activities.[59] All of them were long-time Baha'is of the Baby Boomgeneration, highly educated and intellectual, who had connections to the LA study group and/or dialogue. Four of the six eventually resigned their membership from the Baha'i Faith.That these Baha'is were under intense psychological pressure is evident from their stories. One example:When I received a letter from a Baha'i Cont. Counsellor indicating that I was under threat of being declared a Covenant-breaker, the impact on me personally was less than on my family. My wife is a Baha'i as are many of her family members, . . . The very real threat of being declared a Covenant breaker meant my wife had to face the decision of joining me as a heretic or divorcing me so that she could maintain her relationships with her family and other lifelong friends. Since [my wife] had no intention of divorcing me, the choices then extended out to her family. Her sister would not refuse to socialize with us so she would automatically be declared a covenant breaker along with her husband and children. Many of my close Baha'i friends would also be faced with the decision of maintaining friendships or joining me as a heretic. The whole thing is absurd and quite medieval. But it does raise the issue which you point out so well; how anyone would want to belong to a group which is willing to act this way and be so cruel is beyond me. That is why I voluntarily left the religion. Not in order to escape punishment but because the Baha'i community had become such an unhealthy place spiritually. I was terribly saddened that my spiritual home of 25 years had turned into a prison and nightmare. [60] David Langness also expressed concerns about the potential effect on his family and reported being more afraid of the prospect of being named a covenant-breaker than he had ever been during his experience as a medic in Vietnam.[61]If the intent of the Baha'i institutions was to silence dissent,the effort backfired. One of those investigated, Professor Juan Cole of the University of Michigan, became far more vocal and critical after his resignation than he had been before. Freed from the restraints imposed by Baha'i membership, he not only went public with the story of how he had been coerced into renouncing his religion, but also put previously-suppressed documents, such as A Modest Proposal, on the web and wrote articles about the administration's internal control mechanisms.[62] It is fair tosay that, while conservative Baha'is continue to defend the administration's actions, the crackdown created more onlinecritics than it silenced. . . .Outside the world of Baha'i cyberspace, the information availableto adherents is still controlled, and these conflicts have garnered little attention from the non-Baha'i media.[68] Newcomers toBaha'i forums online frequently express shock and dismay at the often strident criticisms leveled at the Baha'i administration; others are appalled at the punitive actions taken against their co-religionists in what they had always believed to be a tolerant faith. Those disturbed by the actions of the UHJ can be thrown into a crisis of faith where they either have to adjust their values to find such harsh measures acceptable or abandon belief in Baha'u'llah. A few find the nontraditional path whereBaha'u'llah is still the center of their spiritual focus, but infallibility of the UHJ is seen as limited or even nonexistent.While the Baha'i Faith is not a cult, it does have anauthoritarian structure and conformist culture that many of those attracted to the liberal ideals and inspiring writings of Baha'u'llah find intolerably restrictive. It remains to beseen whether the new openness afforded by Internet discourse will push the administration towards the tolerant ideals contained in its scriptures or cause it to retreat ever further into defensive fear."http://www.angelfire.com/ca3/bigquestions/enemies.html

February 27, 2003

Yes, when the kundilini is properly raised (blazing out of the 7th chakra)...you automatically become your own master to a degree....you are thoughless, you just act right...you don't think 'shall I do this or that'?.....there is somekind of divine power which guides you!!! It's all quite strange really. But I must say, in my experience..... becoming your own master can be built upon and the more you meditate and understand thoughtlesness, the more your 'own Master' personality evolves!!

Basicaly, you must feel a need and desire to meditate and if you do, everything will roll out like a red carpet You sound now like you are in too much of a thinking state 'how do I become this...how do I become my own Master'? You must attend the group meetings and slowly take in all their info!!!

Adam

Thank you for your response. Does awakening the Kundilini cause one to become his own master? How so? Is becoming your own master a process? What does the process involve?

lunduner1 wrote:

I have a example of what it is to be your own master.

To be your own master is to feel confident and sure of your own knowledge and aims in life and to share it with others only when you decide the moment is right. Some people easily find themselves in arguements and confrontations because they cannot help opening their mouths and getting involved even though afterwards they know they would have prefered to keep their mouth shut. To be your own master is to also be the witness, were you just witness everything, watching, taking it all in but at no time feeling like your going to get sucked into a problem, basicly, emotionaly incharge of yourself....in balance (thoughtlessly aware!)....not disturbed by your own straying thoughts!

This is my brief understanding of it even though I have only been a yogis for a few months. I am also interested to see if the more experienced like Jagbir and Lyndal would agree with what I have to say.

Adam