De Clérambault’s Syndrome and the Copulatory Gaze

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ex-l

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De Clérambault’s Syndrome and the Copulatory Gaze

Post08 Jun 2018

Personally, I have concluded that the core of BKism is some kind of extensive 'folie à plusieurs' - literally, "a madness of many" - a shared delusionary condition in which symptoms of a delusional belief are passed down or projected from a dominant figure or figures to others (in the first place from the extensive delusions Lekhraj Kirpalani suffered, and then from the original Om Mandli Dadis who were victim and party to it ... a classic case of victims becoming abusers and passing on abuse).

Folie à deux (two) and folie à plusieurs (many) are thought of being a little old fashioned or rare psychiatric conditions - perhaps they would be called "shared psychotic disorders these days - but appear to fit perfectly in the case of the Brahma Kumaris ... even to the extent that we can account for the dilution of the effect, and the lost of the direction of the BKs, on the demise of said original victims. Or "the original jewels" as the BK leaders now call them.

It is very telling that the parastic leadership consider vulnerable and exploitable individuals to be "valuable", but anyone that stands up and questions or challenges their falsehood to be "lower than the lowest of the low". Worse than even the more ignorant "Shudras".

We've accepted hypnosis and extensive auto-suggestion is part of the equation.

I want to propose a few others, the first being what behaviourist call "the Copulatory Gaze", and the second being, De Clérambault’s syndrome.

Some studies relating to the Brahma Kumaris have been made about of the power of "gaze" in religion, what the BKs call "dhristi". In the biology of attraction, it is called the Copulatory Gaze and, remarkably, it use has been observed all across humanity from "the jungles of Amazonia to the salons of Paris, from the highlands of New Guinea to New York singles bars.

It appears that human being, human females, apparently flirt with the same sequence of expressions, expressions and behaviour we share with our closest evolutionary relatives. Primates. Apes. As anthropologist Barbara Smuts had said of a budding baboon courtship on the Eburru cliffs of Kenya, "It looked like watching two novices in a singles bar."
Eye language. In ... cultures, where eye contact between the sexes is permitted, men and women often stare intently at potential mates for about two to three seconds during which their pupils may dilate - a sign of extreme interest.

Eye contact seems to have an immediate effect. The gaze triggers a primitive part of the human brain, calling forth one of two basic emotions - approach or retreat. You cannot ignore the eyes of another fixed on you; you must respond. You may smile and start conversation. You may look away and edge toward the door ... to flee the premises or stay and play the courting game.

How different is the BK staring game? How good do Brahma Kumaris become at playing? How much of an effect does it have?

As with how close is hypnosis to BK practise, those are genuine question to ask that need to be answered. I have most certainly myself witnessed individuals being "seduced" by Brahma Kumaris (picking up wrong signals), and, reflectively, have to consider that I, too, in my time, used my eyes to 'seduce' others into BKism. That the 'open eye to open eye' meditation practise of BKism, actually gives individuals the power to dominate others with their eyes.

A sort of low level mesmerism, according to each BKs' ability.

De Clérambault's Syndrome is something else.
Typically, the affected individual, usually a woman, falls in love with a man (with whom she has had little or no prior contact) and comes to believe that he is also passionately in love with her. In many instances, the sufferer alleges that it was the man who fell in love first. This perception arises in the absence of any actual stimulus or encouragement.

The man ... is often older, of higher social status, or a celebrity. A hapless pursuit follows, which is experienced by the victim as extreme harassment. Today, the terms De Clérambault’s syndrome and erotomania are used interchangeably, and frequently associated with conditions such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder.

Now, I think we could put forward a fairly strong argument to suggest that, as a model, it could fit closely to some of the infatuations the Om Mandli girls had on their rich sugar daddy, Lekhraj Kirpalani.

The question is then, is BKs surety of their Baba loving them unconditionally today, also part of that share and inherited delusion, the delusion of another person - be it the spirit of the Lekhraj Kirpalani or BapDada - being infatuated with them?

In the DSM manual of mental illness, it is clearly stated
The object of the delusion is typically a male who is unattainable due to high social or financial status, marriage, or disinterest.

The object of obsession may also be imaginary, deceased, or someone the patient has never met.

Interestingly, looking at the epidemiology
    Age at onset is usually middle or late adulthood and the course is variable.
    Delusional disorders in general have a female:male ratio of 3:1.
    Familial transmission is suspected and comorbidity (frequently mood disorders) may exist.
    Subjects are often isolated, unemployed and with few social contacts.

    However, because of their strong belief in the reality of their delusions and a lack of insight into their condition, individuals may never seek treatment, or may be resistant to exploring their condition in psychotherapy.

    Delusional disorder is typically a chronic condition but, with appropriate treatment, a remission of delusional symptoms occurs in up to 50% of patients.
Would those descriptors not pretty much nail the majority of Brahma Kumari adherents, eg mother/daughter comorbidity (proxy condition can be considered when children are forced to manifest their parents’ psychopathologies), and the case of ex-BK who are unable to complete their exiting process completely, and go back to find "love" the cult?

Could this explain the "Honeymoon Period" of BKism? Does not even the name suggest it ... the Honeymoon Period of falling in love with a dead Baba during which one is then ritually married to them?

There is a known association of folie à deux with low intelligence and, in the case of BKism, I would argue it should include ... a lowering of intelligence.

--
Ref:

Oliveira, C.; Alves, S.; Ferreira, C.; Agostinho, C.; Avelino, M.J. (2016). "Erotomania-A review of De Clerambault's Syndrome". The Journal of the European Psychiatric Association. 33: 664.

Jordan, H. W. and Howe, G. "De Clerambault Syndrome (Erotomania): A Review and Case Presentation", J Natl Med Assoc. 1980 Oct; 72(10): 979–985.

Mazzoli M. Folie a deux and mental retardation. Can J Psychiatry. 1992;37(4):278–9.
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ex-l

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Re: De Clérambault’s syndrome and the Copulatory Gaze

Post08 Jun 2018

Reading down the article on 'The Biology of Attraction' - and, remember, we are dealing here with evolutionary impulses millions of years old that have shaped human evolution (evolution the BKs deny happened) - we get to "The Four-Year Itch" section and the examination of the nature of divorce ... the demographics of separation.

Would this also explain the tendency of Westerners to drop out of cults after a similar period of two to three years?

Although "the human animal seems built to court, to fall in love, and to marry one person at a time" ... Westerners "tend not to resign themselves to marriages and arranged marriages for economic, political, or family reasons" as Indians do.

Does this start to explain differences in patterns of BK adherence in the West and in India ... especially as to "marriage [to the BK god spirit] for economic, political, or family reasons".
We marry for love and to accentuate, balance out, or mask parts of our private selves ... If partners are not satisfied with the match, they bail out soon after the infatuation wears off.

Yes, we marry the BK god spirit "for love and to accentuate, balance out, or mask parts of our private selves" but then when we discover how unsatisfactory a partner it really is ... and how unsatisfactory the in-laws are ... we "bail out soon after the infatuation wears off".

The “Four Year Itch” is a term used to describe when love in relationships cools off and partners start looking for new ones.
Anthropologist Helen Fisher has a theory that, historically, humans gave birth every four years. We were driven, therefore, to couple up for four years -- enough time to have a child and raise it through infancy. After that, men and women might have a biological drive to get bored with a relationship and seek a new partner for childbearing. By having children with more than one person, parents could increase the genetic diversity in their offspring, which increased the chances that at least one of their children would survive.

In BKism, we are encouraged to fall in love with and then marry the BK god spirit ... the "children" we produce and invest into being new BK adherents ... and the "family" we create and commit to being the Brahma Kumari centres that we create in our homes.

Or, in many cases, 'the homes taken from ex-husbands' who are rejected once the woman become infatuated with the BK god spirit and leaves their husband to join BKism and re-marry (to the BK god spirit).

GuptaRati 6666

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Re: De Clérambault’s Syndrome and the Copulatory Gaze

Post10 Jun 2018

I have to agree with Wathan, Proops, Grounds, and McComb (2016) on the importance of facial expression as conveying abundant information for social interactions. It is not only the interaction of human and animals; it is also the interaction between yogis, BK male and BK female, BK female and BK female, BK male and BK male.

Reference

Wathan, J., Proops, L., Grounds, K., & McComb, K. (2016). Horses discriminate between facial expressions of conspecifics. Scientific Reports, 6, 38322.

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