shanti wrote:Many years later I went to a psychologist for a year. It was helpful but we did not delve into the Raja Yoga stuff. I think that would take someone who had researched and had experience counselling in that area - for me it was mostly self esteem issues which is at the heart of things after all.
Care to mention how that worked and what you learned?
I have to agree with you regards putting BK issues on the back boiler when talking to "professionals" to begin with. I have found even being vegetarian alone is a big issue for some that they cannot accept and are condescending to. The last thing you want to do whilst seeking help is having to switch into BK service mode in order to "give them Gyan" and then explain The Knowledge. However, simple questions like, "why did one choose a female dominated, celibacy following lifestyle?" should probably be brought up as they must suggest obvious causes or sexual/emotional/intimacy issues.
I am not sure that this is a good link, it seems to be a bit of an 'all is everything' pop psychology type argument, but it might be a good starting point for discussion ... Top Ten Facts about Low Self Esteem.
You could see how the Brahma Kumaris knowledge or mythology was initially little more than a low self-esteem therapy for those merchant caste, uneducated and under valued Sindi women, e.g. telling them they were Radhe or going to become Golden Aged queens and empresses. But it too was an empty therapy because no real knowledge or structure was built into them. All they had was to move into the business of low end religion after it failed.
What then to make of the turn to Westerners. Again, aren't the basic meditation, positive thinking self-esteem therapy too? What this quote states is what I feel, "that positive affirmations actually worsen the mood of people who already have low self esteem".
I just think I don't know what it means or how to address it.
The 1980’s drive to raise low self esteem in schools backfired. Why? Well, it was based on the idea that low self esteem can be successfully treated by a bombardment of “positive messages”. But research has shown that positive affirmations actually worsen the mood of people who already have low self esteem. It seems that positive thinking as a “blunt instrument” used repetitively to try to brainwash people to feel better about themselves is too superficial an approach. And the person with low self esteem senses this.