Going to Madhuban can be a wonderful experience and is well worth going if you want to get a bigger picture of what the BKs are about.
India itself is an amazing place with a wonderful and diverse culture. As with going anywhere, we can have a wonderful time, or a terrible time for whatever reasons. There is no certainty of anything wherever we go, or if we stay at home forever.
SEX ABUSE - May this never happen.
If you are BK and going to India and taking children with you, you should go with the attitude that it is no different from anywhere else. That includes BK environments.
While sex abuse of this kind can take place in all walks of life, usually by non celibate souls, non BK souls, that is not to say that BK souls are perfect and that it is not possible for such a thing to happen under a BK roof. May this never happen. Anyway, you have been warned. The BKs cannot watch over everyone all the time. And God Father Shiva is unlikely to intervene in such a situation. Don't be blinded by your honeymoon with sweet Baba.
The BKs may not have a lesson on sexual energy, but don' t go thinking that it is not there in us all. An old guy in the post office round the corner, originally from Sindh. I was photocopying. He seemed fairly convinced about things that went on in the early days. Things which may be documented to some degree in Adi Devi ( BK book ) for instance.
I will say no more as he did not know details and I did not speak with him long enough to find out. It has no bearing on the present, so it did not bother me either way. Proof that gossip not only travels like wildfire but also reaches far and wide. Interesting what you can find out about the BKs on your doorstep. There is a lesson in this for all of us. I am in the UK. For more on this subject, go to http://brahmakumaris.info/forum/.php?t=140
MONEY - Personally, I have heard from the horses mouth from at least two souls who claim to have been overcharged by a Brother in India for taxis. THIS IS THEFT in my personal book.
Whether the money is going to the donation box, used for Admin or into his own pocket, we don't know. If I was doing this in the country in which I live, I would know that I was doing something which is not accurate action but we are not talking about UK culture, though, hold on, we are talking about " Brahmin culture ".( good topic)
It was not the amount which effected these souls, they did not mind the financial loss. No, it was as if something had been stolen from them in another way. Their faith. Their moral values had been questioned. They were slightly confused and bewildered even, that this could happen in the BKs. It was not part of the Madhuban experience. It is not what they expected from God' s spiritual family. You just don't do that. Do you?
In both cases, they had left a door open for reason to come in, that there may have been a justifiable reason for it. I am using this small thing to point out that, you are dealing with another culture, so you go to India with your eyes open; and your bags chained to your legs while waiting at train stations and on trains etc. The country in which I live is the most violent in the developed world, so, lets get things into perspective. I would love to be in India right now on holiday.
Stealing from people on Shiva' s behalf is dodgy behaviour in my personal opinion. There is no royalty ( pure personality ) in this. Nor is there any self respect in this. The other side of the coin is, you would pay at least the little amount in question here while being obligatory ripped off by the cabbie anyway, so you may not be losing in the end and even gaining. All these little amounts will add up to a big amount. There may be a good reason for it in the end but souls are coming from India with moral questions about BK integrity which is not why they went.
I invite comment on this independent forum from official BKs on this matter, and any other matter. You ARE listening, aren't you ?
BKs IN India - Yesterday I bumped into an old friend who buys clothes in Nepal / India and sells them here. He has done this for over 20 years. He has had a honeymoon at the BKs' many moons ago.
He told me that, in India, the BKs are not that well liked in general, due to the " Caste System ", which is the Indian version of " Class System " with four categories / bands. As with the Class System in general, you are stuck in the band which you are born in ( debatable, but I have the pen here).
This may assume that the BKs find souls. It is the Father who finds US. So, the poor people of India are either being excluded, or feel it is not for them. God has come. " I come for the poor " . OK, it MAY well refer to the spiritually poor. Are India's huge underbelly not spiritually poor ? Is the caste system in operation in the BKs?
This soul also said that, the BKs are not liked in Abu. Is this a Caste thing again or simply because the BKs have taken over the place? From my own observations, the BKs are generous to the locals, to what degree, I don' t know. But hey, he is an ex-BK, perhaps we should expect no more than the soul feeling that the BKs are a little backward. It simply means that he has moved forward.
If you are not of Indian origin, you will face these things on the BK path, and when going to India. You are dealing with another culture. We should respect other cultures, but we don' t have to adopt their ways either, within reason.
Q - IS THE Indian CASTE SYSTEM GOD FATHER-SHIVA'S SYSTEM OR IS IT OF THIS WORLD AND THEREFORE SHOULD NOT BE PART OF " BK CULTURE " ?
It gets more complex when looking at India as it is closer to home and integrated into the world of Indian BKs'. It is part of their lives and always has been in their current life. Nor can we go to India and expect them to follow that culture of our homeland. Respect. And lots and lots of patience.
Please, don' t let this put you off going to Madhuban, enjoy.
India itself is an amazing place with a wonderful and diverse culture. As with going anywhere, we can have a wonderful time, or a terrible time for whatever reasons. There is no certainty of anything wherever we go, or if we stay at home forever.
SEX ABUSE - May this never happen.
If you are BK and going to India and taking children with you, you should go with the attitude that it is no different from anywhere else. That includes BK environments.
While sex abuse of this kind can take place in all walks of life, usually by non celibate souls, non BK souls, that is not to say that BK souls are perfect and that it is not possible for such a thing to happen under a BK roof. May this never happen. Anyway, you have been warned. The BKs cannot watch over everyone all the time. And God Father Shiva is unlikely to intervene in such a situation. Don't be blinded by your honeymoon with sweet Baba.
The BKs may not have a lesson on sexual energy, but don' t go thinking that it is not there in us all. An old guy in the post office round the corner, originally from Sindh. I was photocopying. He seemed fairly convinced about things that went on in the early days. Things which may be documented to some degree in Adi Devi ( BK book ) for instance.
I will say no more as he did not know details and I did not speak with him long enough to find out. It has no bearing on the present, so it did not bother me either way. Proof that gossip not only travels like wildfire but also reaches far and wide. Interesting what you can find out about the BKs on your doorstep. There is a lesson in this for all of us. I am in the UK. For more on this subject, go to http://brahmakumaris.info/forum/.php?t=140
MONEY - Personally, I have heard from the horses mouth from at least two souls who claim to have been overcharged by a Brother in India for taxis. THIS IS THEFT in my personal book.
Whether the money is going to the donation box, used for Admin or into his own pocket, we don't know. If I was doing this in the country in which I live, I would know that I was doing something which is not accurate action but we are not talking about UK culture, though, hold on, we are talking about " Brahmin culture ".( good topic)
It was not the amount which effected these souls, they did not mind the financial loss. No, it was as if something had been stolen from them in another way. Their faith. Their moral values had been questioned. They were slightly confused and bewildered even, that this could happen in the BKs. It was not part of the Madhuban experience. It is not what they expected from God' s spiritual family. You just don't do that. Do you?
In both cases, they had left a door open for reason to come in, that there may have been a justifiable reason for it. I am using this small thing to point out that, you are dealing with another culture, so you go to India with your eyes open; and your bags chained to your legs while waiting at train stations and on trains etc. The country in which I live is the most violent in the developed world, so, lets get things into perspective. I would love to be in India right now on holiday.
Stealing from people on Shiva' s behalf is dodgy behaviour in my personal opinion. There is no royalty ( pure personality ) in this. Nor is there any self respect in this. The other side of the coin is, you would pay at least the little amount in question here while being obligatory ripped off by the cabbie anyway, so you may not be losing in the end and even gaining. All these little amounts will add up to a big amount. There may be a good reason for it in the end but souls are coming from India with moral questions about BK integrity which is not why they went.
I invite comment on this independent forum from official BKs on this matter, and any other matter. You ARE listening, aren't you ?
BKs IN India - Yesterday I bumped into an old friend who buys clothes in Nepal / India and sells them here. He has done this for over 20 years. He has had a honeymoon at the BKs' many moons ago.
He told me that, in India, the BKs are not that well liked in general, due to the " Caste System ", which is the Indian version of " Class System " with four categories / bands. As with the Class System in general, you are stuck in the band which you are born in ( debatable, but I have the pen here).
This may assume that the BKs find souls. It is the Father who finds US. So, the poor people of India are either being excluded, or feel it is not for them. God has come. " I come for the poor " . OK, it MAY well refer to the spiritually poor. Are India's huge underbelly not spiritually poor ? Is the caste system in operation in the BKs?
This soul also said that, the BKs are not liked in Abu. Is this a Caste thing again or simply because the BKs have taken over the place? From my own observations, the BKs are generous to the locals, to what degree, I don' t know. But hey, he is an ex-BK, perhaps we should expect no more than the soul feeling that the BKs are a little backward. It simply means that he has moved forward.
If you are not of Indian origin, you will face these things on the BK path, and when going to India. You are dealing with another culture. We should respect other cultures, but we don' t have to adopt their ways either, within reason.
Q - IS THE Indian CASTE SYSTEM GOD FATHER-SHIVA'S SYSTEM OR IS IT OF THIS WORLD AND THEREFORE SHOULD NOT BE PART OF " BK CULTURE " ?
It gets more complex when looking at India as it is closer to home and integrated into the world of Indian BKs'. It is part of their lives and always has been in their current life. Nor can we go to India and expect them to follow that culture of our homeland. Respect. And lots and lots of patience.
Please, don' t let this put you off going to Madhuban, enjoy.