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Regenerate
Starry,

What a tragic tale - I've been absorbing the significance of it all, from the perspective of you, the abandoned daughter, the rejected mother and family in general, and, myself, as the ex-sannyasin.

Regenerate,

What a kind and compassionate soul you are...taking so much time and care to understand the pain and suffering of others. You have so obviously been through a great deal of pain and suffering yourself. I really hope that you have now found some balance and peace in your heart and in your soul.

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Regenerate

Instead of people learning to be more acceptant and understanding of each other, it drove insurmountable rifts between them and often separated them indefinitely. While sannyasins are/were 'practicing for life', it was passing them by. Education was definitely denigrated - an attitude I came across all the time.

Yes, I think you've said something very perceptive.

It got me thinking - it's certainly a great thing to try and truly understand who you are, but for me it is something much more to try and connect with other people...build bridges, rather than create rifts. It's easy to see the things that render us different from each other, but why should we be suspicious of those differences the way that a lot of sannyasins seem to have been? With my dad I felt there was a real 'us' and 'them' mentality, he seemed suspicious to the point of paranoia (probably accentuated by all those years of taking drugs).

All my life I think I've instinctively worked to connect and communicate with other people - I've worked as a translator, and interpreter, a language coach, a teacher, a writer, a musician. I've never looked at things from this perspective before, so thank you for helping me see this. It's a very precious realization to me.

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Regenerate

Unfortunately, the experience is a real one, and I do understand the feelings of unreality and disbelief that people feel on examining it. Keep reading all the book you can find on the sannyas experience, such as the one you're now reading [i:a719e08d6b]My Life in Orange[/i:a719e08d6b] by Tim Guest and the other one you referred to re Rajneeshpuram.

It's an amazing read, so enlightening...I'm understanding so many things now, seeing so many parallels. it's been a real journey of discovery.

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Regenerate

If anything good can be gleaned from my deeply painful and, ultimately, alienating experience I hope that I can use it to help others who are striving to make sense of the 'sannyas experience'.

I'm so sorry to hear this. I hope that you are not troubled by too many demons.

That was the path that you felt you had to go along at that particular time, and you shouldn't berate yourself for having had such noble aims (and that's one thing I've come to understand about many of the individual sannaysins through reading Tim Guest's book...).

The strange thing is I feel no anger or resentment towards my father. He had his own life to lead, his own decisions to make, his own demons to fight. That was the path that he chose. I have mine, and our paths don't cross.

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Regenerate

I'm very glad that hearing from me was helpful to you.

Take care,

Regenerate

I enjoy reading what you have to say. It is so carefully worded and thought out.

Also see the following:

Tim Guest - Reviews and Excerpts

[www.readinggroupguides.com]

[findarticles.com]

[www.religionnewsblog.com]

Paedophilia

[home.att.net] - a report of paedophilia

RickRoss

[board.culteducation.com]

SB

[www.globalserve.net]

I was living in the Montreal commune when I hit puberty. One thing that was really amazing within the whole sannyasin community was that I could explore my sexuality totally. At that time everything was really OK as long as both individuals were into it. Never mind the age, never mind whatever, as long as the people themselves were OK with it. I think a lot of people had judgments but had to drop them, because of that kind of collective understanding.

When I was 14, I was initiated sexually by a woman much older than me. She asked me about my sexual life and I told her no, I never actually had had intercourse, and she offered me her hand and said, well, if you're interested in knowing what it is, you can come with me. And it was like – right on! So I jumped in the bed with her and it was wonderful. I explored and she showed me tons of things.

And I didn't even have to tell my mother. That night when I came home she gave me a hug. Then she looks at me and says, "It's awakening down there," pointing at my genitals. And I'm like: uh oh! How could she possibly know? She looks at me with this little squint in her eyes and says, "You had sex!"

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S_Byers666
Also see the following:

Attempt at Mass Bio-Terrorism

[home.att.net]

Paedophilia

[www.globalserve.net]

SB

Sorry - links corrected here.

Many thanks for your post.

The links made interesting reading.

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S_Byers666
At that time everything was really OK as long as both individuals were into it. Never mind the age, never mind whatever, as long as the people themselves were OK with it. I think a lot of people had judgments but had to drop them, because of that kind of collective understanding.

This chilled me to the bone though.

Taking yourself out of the context here, and generalizing (but using actual examples from the Rajneesh experience): how can a relationship between a middle-aged man and a child be OK?

It's not an 'equal' relationship by any means. Of [i:501e72a920]course[/i:501e72a920] people had judgements about such matters...acts like those are illegal, they're against the law, the perpetrators of acts like those get jail sentences.

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S_Byers666
I think a lot of people had judgments but had to drop them, because of that kind of collective understanding.

'but had to drop them'? 'collective understanding'? Nothing like a bit of peer pressure to shut people up, is there?

This is one of the things that I find absolutely repulsive about that whole set up. Yada, yada, yada...let's all challenge the 'rules' of society, live loose and live free, live in the moment, do what the f*** we want.

The problem is that there are other people involved...everything that one does affects other people. I wonder just how many ex-sannyasins and default sannyasins there are out there who aren't screwed up by some of the things they've done and some of the stuff they've had done to them - default sannyasins...I'm talking about children, people like Tim Guest, the offsrping of those people who decided to become sannyasins, who didn't actually [i:501e72a920]choose[/i:501e72a920] to follow that 'way of life' themselves.

The casualty toll is probably far greater than we can imagine.

And the perpetrators of those acts of child abuse shouldn't be walking free. What they did was [i:501e72a920]illegal[/i:501e72a920].

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S_Byers666
http://www.globalserve.net/~sarlo/Sharno1.htm

I was living in the Montreal commune when I hit puberty.

I HASTEN TO ADD THAT THIS WAS NOT ABOUT S_BYERS666 BUT A COPY AND PASTE FROM THE WEB SITE BY SHARNO1 !!!

Phew, thanks for clarifying that...

This abuse stuff still goes on in Humaniversity in the Nedertlands, also at the communes at OshoLeela and Croydon Hall in the West Country of the UK. It is said that at OshoLeela they concentrate on the lower chakras - i.e. sex is for the asking, part of the deal, dating part of the 'therapy.' At Croydon Hall it is said that they concentrate on the upper chakras - which one supposes is more cerebral. However having spoken with folk from both Osho centres a more unhappier bunch I've yet to meet. I mean REALLY miserable. Apparently much of the therapy they perform is shouting abuse at each other!! Where's the love in that? At OshoLeela they have 'Yes' parties which really mean "Yes I want to have sex with my partner tonight" parties. Needless to say they are very popular - but it is the first parties I've heard of where you have to have an aids / hiv test before being allowed to attend!!!!!

It's all sounding all to familiar...I've been reading 'My Life in Orange' and that's the jist of what the author says all the way through the book.

"It's all sounding all too familiar....I've been reading 'My Life in Orange' and that's the jist of what the author says all the way through the book".



The way that sannyasins and even so-called ex-sannyasins treat others, especially genuinely ex-sannyasins, is 'unspiritual' in the extreme. Unless you can be used to propagate their escapist and delusionary view of life (in other words, exploited by them, especially in the sexual arena) you are of no interest and not worthy of human consideration, care, respect and support. You become the enemy and are not granted enough thoughtfulness to be offered any communication, explanation or relationship, because to do so would expose the lie by which they live.

Regenerate