just joined

Discussion of the SES, particularly in the UK.
taboo
Posts: 3
Joined: Fri Apr 10, 2009 6:53 am

just joined

Postby taboo » Fri Apr 10, 2009 2:20 pm

Hi just joined this forum... have completed stages one and two and can not say i have had any bad experiences as such but will not be attending any further classes for the following reasons.
We are taught that " the need of the moment will arise in the moment and the knowledge to meet that need will also arise in the moment " Saraswati. When i ask myself " what is the need of the moment?' it never arises that there is any 'need ' to join an organisation or 'volunteer' or donate or any such things... 90% of the time i find if i sit still and ask myself " What is the need of the moment?" the answer that arises is "nothing" or something very simple but not " to join an organisation "
I do feel that being urged to do certain things for the school such as volunteering to clean dishes etc as a means of shedding the ego is really just a ruse to get you to serve the "organisations" needs...and not the true needs of the 'moments' Again if i come to stillness at any given moment and ask myself 'what is the need here?" it most certainly is not to be cleaning walls...this is 'their' need and not the true need of the moment...
I do believe that the school is hypocritical in this sense that they ask you to observe the moment...and then proceed to tell you what that moment should entail...I have found great peace and clairty from what they have taught me in terms of the pause and coming into the present, letting go of the ego, living in the moment etc...compared to my past life which was filled with frantic worry and anxiety it truly helped me let all that go... but then being told that the moment should be a certain way or that you should " Serve " the school seems to be the complete opposite of what was just taught. I have never found in my deepest meditation a sudden need to serve...i have only ever found peace clarity...perhaps the answer to a problem arises or there is a need to work or do some action....but not to go to philosophy...i do not understand how anyone could wake up in the morning come into stillness and suddenly find that their particular need is to run a multi national multi million dollar organisation?? what better way to 'lose' the moment and become distracted? where is the 'need' there? Is not putting together a school of philosophy based on the need of an imaginary future? And not the need of the moment at all?
If i am told that the moment IS ALL and will provide ALL and that everything arises in the moment...then where is the need for a school of philosophy? There is only the need to be aware of the present and once i am told that and accept it i do not need to here it again. I can understand that some individuals may feel that it is their calling to teach this and spread the word and hence they become teachers and that is their need or their moment or their reality but it is not mine and i feel my time there is up. I also see that some individuals may not get the mesasage straight away and may need to attend for a while but once that basic meesage is discovered i do not see a need for constant contact. Its like at a real university you enrol, you do your course, you graduate, you leave...some people may return to teach at the uni, but most go on to other things.

User avatar
bonsai
Posts: 322
Joined: Sun Feb 12, 2006 12:08 am
Location: London

Re: just joined

Postby bonsai » Sat Apr 11, 2009 10:18 am

hi taboo and welcome to the forum.

It is very nice to have people with recent experience of the SES onboard.

I'm pleased that you found parts 1 & 2 useful and that you got something useful out of them that has meant your experience has not been wasted.

At the same time your criticisms of the organisation are spot on. I think you are absolutely correct that the organisation interprets everything to its own self serving purpose which sadly has very little to do with truth.

The longer you stay in the SES the longer the drip drip effect has to work.

I think many people join the SES and stay with them, some beacause they like the social aspects others because they like the concepts they are introduced and feel that they will be strong enough to resist the negative side but gradually you start thinking the organisation's way.

At the core you just have a self serving organisation

Bonsai

taboo
Posts: 3
Joined: Fri Apr 10, 2009 6:53 am

Re: just joined

Postby taboo » Sat Apr 11, 2009 5:11 pm

Hi thanks for the response yes i think it is a very specific type of person who would get caught up in the whole thing, like someone old and lonely or someone without a life...or their opposite number a power hungry egomaniac...they could find their calling but unfortunatley they would then be MILKED because of it... I think they even milk the power hungry, who wouldn't normally be duped but they are led on with promises of "MORE" power if they could just move up a little bit further...just donate a little more time and money and they will finally be let into the higher reaches...but it is like chasing a rainbow...it really is a pity... if you could have the teachings without the organisation it would ge great, i guess that goes for nearly all religions...what they teach is one thing and what they practice is another...prime example is the christian teaching "thou shalt not kill " and " love thy enemy " and then they go and start 500 years of crusades!? Even different branches of Buddihst monks fought each other in the middle ages...which means people are simply not reading or understanding what they are being taught....anyway i digress although i didn't name a topic so i can ramble on here for a bit...
three more reasons why i am leaving
1) i LOVE red meat and would never give it up
2) i never volunteer i always charge for my services
3) i believe the self or consciousness arises FROM the brain and not the universe somehow beaming it INTO the brain
so you see i may have been thrown out eventually anyway!

User avatar
bonsai
Posts: 322
Joined: Sun Feb 12, 2006 12:08 am
Location: London

Re: just joined

Postby bonsai » Sat Apr 11, 2009 7:53 pm

Yes, I think it's fair to say you were never going to get on with the SES in a lasting way.

You mention about religion and one of the things I find a problem with the SES is that it tries to claim that it is not a religion. And OK it is not formally recognised as one but it does have a specific view of the world and teaches a specific belief system and expects all its members to conform to certain behaviours and practices. It doesn't unfortunately tolerate people who disagree and as a result their advaita goes out the window at this point

Bonsai

User avatar
Free Thinker
Posts: 325
Joined: Wed Jan 12, 2005 4:05 am
Location: USA

Re: just joined

Postby Free Thinker » Wed Apr 15, 2009 6:20 am

Yeah, I'm kind of surprised you made it all the way through parts 1 and 2. It sounds like you'd be happier somewhere like the Ayn Rand Society.

taboo
Posts: 3
Joined: Fri Apr 10, 2009 6:53 am

Re: just joined

Postby taboo » Wed Apr 15, 2009 7:50 am

Thanks for the tip i looked her up she sounds fascinating.


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