Saying NO to Seniors
I hope that this post is adding something new to the forum. I cannot find anything else like it in the forum. But I thought it may be benefical for others to read about how some of us had experiences of saying NO to things we were asked/ordered/told to do. I'd suggest to talk about situations where we had to stand up for ourselves. I'll go first but hope that by many others sharing it may prove that one can survive in the BK system if you stand tall and put a senior 'into' place. With of course the understanding of repurcussions on a subtle level.
One year when I went to Madhuban I was virtually followed day and night by a BK Sister (who incidentally taught me much of the 7 day course...) and we sat after supper in secluded places talking privately (about her need for a man/sex/acceptance in her life!) much to the chagrin of another Sister, also from the same centre, who then supposedly reported me to someone 'higher up' and then this filtered back down to the centre in charge (center-in-charge). Like it was even my fault but what can be done about perceptions.
Both I and the Sister were then called into a private meeting by the center-in-charge and 'sweetly' informed about how we'd upset the whole Madhuban vibration and we were breaking Maryadas etc etc. I'll leave it to the imagination for the rest of the story.
My partner in crime Sister was of course seriously angry but chose to remain silent and looked at the ground the whole time but I'd had enough and told the center-in-charge that she, the Seniors and whoever else needed to mind their own business and stay out of what doesn't concern them and that the person with the problem should have the courage to speak up about HER problem instead of hiding behind someone else. I'd 'discovered' that the centre Sister who'd reported 'me' was actually jealous of our friendship and, of course, wanted to ruin it by using BK principles to do so. So I had to question who and where those principles came from too.
Ho Hum indeed, I chose not to keep quiet and had no need to try and negotiate a settlement and be obedient to something I did not consider wrong. The woman had a problem after all. But what's wrong is wrong and I wasn't taking it anymore. Things improved a little after that but before long, well let's say that my rising star was not appreciated by the jealous one ... just shows you cannot change people and what lies beneath must come out in the end and be dealt with.
I hope that by publishing this incident others may see their way to learning how to say No when need be.
L8R.. XX P
One year when I went to Madhuban I was virtually followed day and night by a BK Sister (who incidentally taught me much of the 7 day course...) and we sat after supper in secluded places talking privately (about her need for a man/sex/acceptance in her life!) much to the chagrin of another Sister, also from the same centre, who then supposedly reported me to someone 'higher up' and then this filtered back down to the centre in charge (center-in-charge). Like it was even my fault but what can be done about perceptions.
Both I and the Sister were then called into a private meeting by the center-in-charge and 'sweetly' informed about how we'd upset the whole Madhuban vibration and we were breaking Maryadas etc etc. I'll leave it to the imagination for the rest of the story.
My partner in crime Sister was of course seriously angry but chose to remain silent and looked at the ground the whole time but I'd had enough and told the center-in-charge that she, the Seniors and whoever else needed to mind their own business and stay out of what doesn't concern them and that the person with the problem should have the courage to speak up about HER problem instead of hiding behind someone else. I'd 'discovered' that the centre Sister who'd reported 'me' was actually jealous of our friendship and, of course, wanted to ruin it by using BK principles to do so. So I had to question who and where those principles came from too.
Ho Hum indeed, I chose not to keep quiet and had no need to try and negotiate a settlement and be obedient to something I did not consider wrong. The woman had a problem after all. But what's wrong is wrong and I wasn't taking it anymore. Things improved a little after that but before long, well let's say that my rising star was not appreciated by the jealous one ... just shows you cannot change people and what lies beneath must come out in the end and be dealt with.
I hope that by publishing this incident others may see their way to learning how to say No when need be.
L8R.. XX P