Calling the Org into Question
Lorraine
really open yet and is being used as an archive at the moment.
About 35 years ago I came to SRF, have adhered closely to a couple of
the temples, & have sincerely held to the ideal of loyalty. SRF has
been at the core of my life for a long time.
B U T -- suddenly I'm just absolutely shocked by things that come as
news to me this last year on the internet. Apparently a lot of these
things are old news to many folks, but in past I would&ve ignored talk
of such things as disloyalty by people who didn&t understand the
deeper inner metaphysical aspects. "SRF right or wrong!"
Ill be loyal to my guru till the end. But suddenly, the critical
thinking discipline educated into me are rebelling against acceptance
of the SRF organizations reprehensible actions in revising history,
concealing info, revising Masters words, altering photos, etc. What
Ive seen on the internet this last year makes it clear that the SRF
organization has in actual fact done some things that really shock
me..especially so because Ive always been so ardently loyal to the
organization. Im definitely not in the cult camp of that kook
Kriyananda, or any of the other renegades from Master.
a) Photos
Its very clear SRF has in actual fact grossly revised photographs, ( I
never knew that!) e.g.;
painted cloth onto Lahiri Mahasaya,
excised Premananda out of death photo,
painted out Christian cross worn by Master in a photo of him,
painted out Christian cross in photo of St. Lynn,
etc.
b) Writings
Its clear the SRF organization actually has edited Masters original
writings so extensively that now, suddenly for me, its hard not to
doubt the veracity of anything from SRF. I think some of the tendency
to do such heavy handed editing began with Laurie Pratt (Tara Mata),
and perpetuates today.
c) Esoteria
Contrary to Masters expressed emphasis on disseminating yoga to his
mass laity, its clear the SRF has actually gathered in a compendium of
secret inner information SRF doesnt share with the laity, e.g.; motion
pictures of Sri Yukteswar, voluminous letter correspondence between
Master and key figures in SRF history, Masters notes about his
numerous projects, etc.
d) Pubs
Ive heard a very naive idea on this board that Master writings arent
being published until Master decides its the right time for them to
come out. Nonsense! The actual fact is Master pushed hard to get all
his books published before he left, including Second Coming of Christ
and maybe others yet to come in future. It was people in the SRF
administration, not Masters plan, that has held them back. Why? The
naive idea that Master is intentionally causing the delay is just flat
wrong. Be realistic. The delay is political, issuing from the SRF
administration. I cant help but suspect its so SRF can do more
tortured editing of Masters writings.
d) Disappeared Key Players
When Master was in the body, people like Dr. & Mildred Lewis, Ma
Durga, St. Lynn, etc. were the very pillars of his SRF organization.
As soon as Master & St. Lynn left, suddenly Mrs. Lewis down there in
San Diego temple, Ma Durga and others were marginalized, seemingly
pushed into the background and silenced by Daya Ma people.
I guess the only reason I AM writing this is to get it off my chest;.
This stuff REALLY REALLY bothers me deeply. All the above, and more,
is new to me within the last year, after many loyal years of service
to SRF org, and Im just thunderstruck. Things such as noted above are
actual real facts, not merely opinions or subjective points of view.
Lately I resolved to put blinders on and try to just meditate & follow
Masters teachings while ignoring all the rest, but in practice its
really hard to do that.
Your comments are invited, & will be most welcome.
Florin Andrei
[stuff deleted]
> organization. Im definitely not in the cult camp of that kook
> Kriyananda, or any of the other renegades from Master.
Hey, cool down my friend. :-) This is not how Master said we should
talk.
> a) Photos
> Its very clear SRF has in actual fact grossly revised photographs, ( I
> never knew that!) e.g.;
> painted cloth onto Lahiri Mahasaya,
This is very simple, and it's explained somewhere in SRF's books (i
cannot remember now which one): in the Western world, Lahiriji's bare
chest was considered offensive in the first half of the 20th century.
But that was the only picture of his. So Master decided to add a cloth
onto Lahiriji's picture, to make it more acceptable.
Of course, today the common sense is much more tolerant. So we can
contemplate the original picture without being offended. But the
painted picture was in circulation for so long, that somehow it became
accepted.
> painted out Christian cross worn by Master in a photo of him,
Ermmm... Which one?
> b) Writings
> Its clear the SRF organization actually has edited Masters original
> writings so extensively that now, suddenly for me, its hard not to
> doubt the veracity of anything from SRF. I think some of the tendency
Ok, i've heard so much of this, that i will buy the Ananda's version
of the Autobiography, and compare it to the SRF version...
I hate to throw dollars out through the window, but i'm really annoyed
about these rumors.
> c) Esoteria
> Contrary to Masters expressed emphasis on disseminating yoga to his
> mass laity, its clear the SRF has actually gathered in a compendium of
> secret inner information SRF doesnt share with the laity, e.g.; motion
> pictures of Sri Yukteswar, voluminous letter correspondence between
> Master and key figures in SRF history, Masters notes about his
> numerous projects, etc.
How can you prove that? Honestly, i'm not saying you're not saying the
truth, but how can you be sure of this?
I'm telling you, the US government keeps alien spaceships in Hangar
18, far from the public eye. :-)
See? There's no way you can prove i'm wrong, since you don't have
access to Hangar 18.
> d) Pubs
> Ive heard a very naive idea on this board that Master writings arent
> being published until Master decides its the right time for them to
> come out. Nonsense! The actual fact is Master pushed hard to get all
> his books published before he left, including Second Coming of Christ
> and maybe others yet to come in future. It was people in the SRF
> administration, not Masters plan, that has held them back. Why? The
> naive idea that Master is intentionally causing the delay is just flat
> wrong. Be realistic. The delay is political, issuing from the SRF
> administration. I cant help but suspect its so SRF can do more
> tortured editing of Masters writings.
Maybe i'm wrong, but one would think they would be much interested in
publishing those works, because they can make some money out of them.
And, come on, Master left us in the fifties. Now it's 50 years later.
Why on Earth "tortured editing" for just a book will take 50 years?
> d) Disappeared Key Players
> When Master was in the body, people like Dr. & Mildred Lewis, Ma
> Durga, St. Lynn, etc. were the very pillars of his SRF organization.
> As soon as Master & St. Lynn left, suddenly Mrs. Lewis down there in
> San Diego temple, Ma Durga and others were marginalized, seemingly
> pushed into the background and silenced by Daya Ma people.
What do you mean by "marginalized"?
Light and joy,
--
Florin Andrei
TomH
>
>> painted out Christian cross worn by Master in a photo of him,
>
>Ermmm... Which one?
>
There was some discussion of this issue on the Yogananda SRF Devotee
Message Board a few months ago.
Apparently this refers to the Lake Shrine dedication picture, the one
in which Yogananda is in a bright orange robe (the picture is usually
printed in color. It's said that at one time this picture had a cross
in it. But it's gone now. The reasoning given on the message board, as
I recall, was so the picture would appeal to people not necessarily
steeped in Christianity.