Monday, May 24, 2010

A Full-Timer Night's Dream

BY KLIM

Since I left the AoL, many teachers have too. And as they do, I hear from them one by one. Though the details of the stories may vary, in essence they are very much the same. However, inevitably, the inner conflict each one has before leaving and the damages one walks out with are very similar, varying perhaps just in depth and length, or on whether one was a full-time or part-time teacher.

Though comparing who suffered most is not fair in any case of abuse, I do notice that full-timers leave with a heavier load to deal with.

As I lately have been lending an ear to a few former colleagues/ full-time teachers, I can’t help but ponder on the circumstances that lead us to the array of sensations, reactions, habits, fears post “cult-exit”. The thought, “it is just like a dream …. a bad dream … like a midsummer night’s dream” kept ringing in my head like a rhyme to a poem, and thus, the title “A full-timer night’s dream”. As I read Shakespeare’s masterpiece, I laughed at the realization it has a lot in common with that which we lived in the AoL. Of course, Shakespeare’s was a comedy, a grand master piece. Ravishankar’s is a version of cheap tragic comedy, a master fraud. But it definitely shares the leit-motifs of deception, fantasy made reality, authority becoming archaic, the dark side of love, magical thinking.

Becoming a “full-time teacher” is, without any doubt, the dream of most AoLers, of all ages. My own basic course teacher’s dream was I became a full-time teacher. Full-timers somehow fall into the trick of feeling somehow “the chosen ones”, as if the status of full-time exploited slave was a sign of higher evolution. I have witnessed people beg Ravishankar to let them be a full-timer. I have also witnessed people manipulate Ravishankar into being a full-timer. I have even seen people to which RS clearly said, “No” turn around and inform the world they were blessed to be a full-timer. I have also known of many cases of teachers who self-nominate themselves full-timers because they have no other responsibilities and don’t need to worry about money (usually rich ladies). In some cases, I need to give Ravi some credit. I have heard him instruct some to finish school or to get married. But, understanding beyond the apparent concern, he was very smart at who he made full-timer or not.

If one was young with a lot of money and/or an important family background/name, he’d usually tell them to finish school, marry, be in politics or be in Daddy’s business to get more money for the “seva projects”. If one was older with a lot of money, he’d also have them pretend to be a full-timer while he grabbed their money and literally, their free labor. Expenses usually would not be reimbursed to these people, neither a stipend or a 10% income. They were wealthy! That is their underline duty given their good karma!

On a large scale, usually either extremely efficient, charismatic young people with obedient and unquestioning minds and good hearts, or the very easy manipulated, highly ambitious people with no mind at all, or the ones hiding from the world/life, or otherwise those who could not do anything in the world, were made full-timers. A sad truth which ends usually in, one is good for him until he sucks one dry or until one starts to think of his/her own and/or starts to see through the unethical practices of the organization and the Ravishankar sociopathic behaviours. At that moment, his unconditional love suddenly disappears, though, of course, he makes you understand back-stabbing you, kicking you in the ass, lying about you, etc. are all part of his love for you, his sacrifice for your growth.

I never quite liked the “Catholic” expression of growth through suffering, but unfortunately, out of habit and after a while, as a full-timer, one recognized that as the norm. Some full-timers even felt proud of having to suffer through it with no food, difficulties getting medical treatment, no housing, no basic needs. The overall common worry all full-timers went through at some point or the other was so overwhelming, many started “taking care” of their situation by keeping money "on the side". Unfortunately, some take advantage of their status as a full-timer to get freebies through “illegal enrichment”. As time goes by, I recognize all the neurotic attitudes and thinking processes I acquired from my years of involvement as a full-timer. Even today, I worry about what will happen to me tomorrow. The constant fear that I won’t be taken care of, or that I won’t have to eat, or that I won’t know where I will sleep, or that plans change without any reason nor back-up plan, is a neurosis I constantly struggle with. I do the daily exercise of reminding myself the world works with more accountability.

Whereas I don’t care if AoL falls or not, I do worry about the youngsters who enroll everyday and even more, those who die to be a full-timer and all those he is actually making full-timers. When one is young, one is too idealistic and naive to understand "god" may back-stab you too.

If I could do it all over again, I wished some reasonable adult would have knocked me out of the stupidity of becoming a full-timer. Today I struggle, not only because I paused my professional career, but also the possibility of getting a higher degree, which could have helped me get a better job, but mainly I paused my personal life. At my age, all my friends are owners of a beautiful homes, car, vacations, family. When I look at my own life, I see a gap. Trying to catch up where I left 15 or more years ago is not something one does in just one split second. Not to mention, the struggle to get by financially.

When I became a full-timer some people gave me stuff to help me out. When I left, no one helped me back to life. Most did not even speak to me again. And believe me, that is what and when I most needed help! Somehow, I went into oblivion and instead of getting that Divine help and "I belong to you" I was made to believe I signed up for for ever, instead, I get written threats and a damaged psychological condition, dyslexia, memory problems and endless bills spent in recovering my health.

Reinserting in society is not an easy process neither is reinventing oneself.

I was perhaps one of the first generation of full-timers, thus I did not have any other reference. Today I see how damaged all these senior full-timers are, and I remember our conversations in which each one cried, cursed, blamed, yelled. Those include TTC teachers, presidents, advanced course teachers, meditation teachers, swamis. One thing we learned well: to keep up the good face, the smile and fake it until we made it, but behind the doors, even some well-known TTC/Blessings course teacher have yelled out, "This is a sect! How do I get out of a sect? I am stuck! What can I do now in life?" Looking back, “being the chosen one” is actually the worst curse. Most senior teachers are still where they are because they don't have the guts to go back to life and be a nobody or face the challenge and reality that they will most likely not get a job or be respected in the world.

Thus, to the young people out there: “Study, get a degree, don’t give up anything, do seva on your side, be realistic, think with your two feet on the ground, ask yourself what are you really trying to evade that you want to run away from life? The organization will not take care of you and you won’t be a special case. Be realistic. Cherish your life, your skills, yourself, open your eyes.”

In Shakespeare’s words: “An overflow of good converts to bad.”

42 comments:

Anonymous said...

I sometimes wonder if there is something wrong with me.

After all, for three years, i saw nothing but good in this organization and suddenly, like a flip of a coin, i saw things differently.

Hmmm...life goes on, moves on, so I guess there's no point in wondering why feelings come- just go with the flow. Like the Bhagavad Gita says, things are just meant to be....why question?

Anonymous said...

To the young people out there: “Study, get a degree, don’t give up anything, do seva on your side, be realistic, think with your two feet on the ground, ask yourself what are you really trying to evade that you want to run away from life? The organization will not take care of you and you won’t be a special case. Be realistic. Cherish your life, your skills, yourself, open your eyes.”

Very valuable and useful advice. Worth repeating here! Keep up the good work, KLIM & CO.

Unknown said...

Art of Living is like a vulture; whenever there is a disaster, it appears.

AOL Counsellors to Counsel Air India Staff !

Mangalore, May 23 (IANS)

The “young” cabin crew of Air India is so traumatised after Saturday’s plane
crash, in which 158 people were killed, that *volunteers from Art of Living
have been sought to counsel them*, Air India chairman and managing director
Arvind Jadhav said Sunday.

“Our cabin crew is very young, they are in the age group of 19-25. And they
have never seen a tragedy, a situation like this before. They are
traumatised. *That is why we have roped in doctors and counsellors of the
Art of Living to counsel them*,” Jadhav said. Art of Living is a voluntary
socio-spiritual organisation, headed by Sri Sri Ravishankar.

“The counselling centres will not just be in Mangalore, but also in Delhi,
Mumbai, Kochi and wherever we have our offices,” he added. The counselling
will also be done for the rest of the staff.Jadhav said that a foreign
agency’s assistance has been sought on emergency response and disaster
management.

“The team will come here and also counsel the relatives of the deceased. We
are counselling the families too,” he said.

Anonymous said...

thanku klim ... such a nice post ,esp for the young ppl .. even i have seen intelligent brains getting into it..a very close friend did it an year ago ..leaving a great job..to become full timer.. bt they dont listen only..i tried to stop her..i tell all the ppl i kno in aol, not to become a teacher..esp not after clge ..most aol ppl have stopped talking to me coz i tell them not to become a teachr..i have seen a friend flunk in exams nd den repeating a whole year in clge coz of too much of seva..cases are many..i feel sorry for such people.. RS tell them only one thing-BECOME A TEACHER..
thanku again ..
i was on verge of gettin too much into aol .. i feel blessed that i got out at the right time ..

AoL-Free said...

"Like the Bhagavad Gita says, things are just meant to be....why question?" This is indeed beautiful knowledge, however, there is danger in it too when applied actively for passive reasons. By distorting pieces of knowledge statements like this, many people like myself got sucked into a fraud, a cult, spiritual abuse, exploitation. It was "meant to be, why question?" We should have questioned one too many things, and we should have not fallen passively into the situation. One makes ones destiny and one decides and shapes ones life the way one wishes it to be. The power is not anywhere else but within. There is no guru that should play around with that. In AoL, most things are not "meant to be", but rather "manipulated to be and made to be".

Anon@11:51PM, bravo for taking only 3 years to finally see thru the truth. It took some of us almost 2 decades to come to terms with the truth AoL and RS are a fraud. And some will be stuck in there for ever, even though they see thru all the incoherences and many times, participate in them.

Bravo to all those who opened their eyes and had the courage to be truthful with themselves and choose life and truth over anything else.

Anonymous said...

Dear Klim,
My heart goes out to you! I can understand your agony completely…reclaiming your life is far from easy. But since you have been courageous enough to not just take this giant step of freeing yourself after 15 long years but also sharing your experiences fearlessly to help others, I’m sure you have the strength in you to rebuild your life the way you want.
I gave a few years of my life to AOL, put brakes on my professional career as I felt that this was my ‘calling’ so I can relate to your struggle of getting a hold on professional/personal life after a void.
I’ve seen many full time teachers struggling, not being able to have a decent life and find it totally unfair on the part of the organization. Thankfully I didn’t become a teacher but underwent the torture of TTC Phase I few years ago and inspite of being a very active volunteer, couldn’t convince myself that it all was for my good. My health issues which I had aggravated due to TTC with all that needless padma sadhana, running around the whole day, lack of sleep etc. I had always wondered why people aspiring to be teachers have to be ‘broken physically’ to evolve spiritually! But just like your basic course teacher, even my teacher’s dream is for me to become a full time teacher.
Coming across your blog has helped me make peace with my ‘inability’ to become a teacher, to this ‘lack of surrender’ that ‘everything will be taken care of’. Its been some sort of a relief to see so many people thinking and feeling the way I do. You’ve given some great advice to youngsters…there is a lot that life offers to all of us and it should not to be thrown away for AOL. I now engage myself with real causes, social & environmental, where my time & money are being put to good use. I’ve realized that one can be deeply spiritual without being attached to any organization, by being a good and caring human being, by caring for the environment and being true to oneself.

Krish said...

Can someone share what really are the motivations for anyone to become full time teacher.

Prairie Princess said...

Wonderful post, KLIM. Thank you. As usual, your insights are profound. My own experience with AoL did not lead me to being a teacher. There was too much dissonance in the organization. I volunteered and the organization was glad to take my time and money. Met senior teachers and full-time teachers and dedicated volunteers that I still worry about. Their health, both physical and mental, financial situation, and family connections all seem less important that serving ravi ravi's organization. Didn't anyone ever tell them "You can't get water from an empty well"? If you don't take care of yourself, what strengths do you have to serve others? I still worry and care about those people I met who are still telling themselves the story that this organization is the answer to everything.

In the meantime, how can those of us who follow this blog help you??

Anonymous said...

@Krish -
Following are the possible reasons for anyone getting attached to AOL and when any of the reasons becomes the only purpose of ones life then they are ready to kill or die to be a full time AOL teacher.
1. If you are unemployed or find it difficult to work hard and earn for yourself then AOL is for you.
2. If you are a bachelor looking for blind girls for yourself or If you are a spinster and unable to find a guy for yourself and tired of relatives and society talking about your singlehood then AOL is for you.
3. If you are bored of your wife and family and want a change, under the spiritual cover then AOL is for you.
4. If you have no family and friends or if you have a family and friend circle which you can’t accept, love and care for then AOL is for you
5. If you have too much inherited money or your dad is ready to feed you for the rest of your life then AOL is for you.
6. If you are ambitious but lazy, persuasive but vague, if you want easy money easy fame (in a small pond) if you are a good parrot( repeater), if you normally fake it (trying hard to make it) and you want to travel around the world through donations then AOL is for you.
7. If you are not so normal person, if you don’t have a normal educational background, if you don’t have a normal family background , if you are depressed in life, vulnerable, mentally slow but always hyper to just remain out of your house or work place for some reason or the other then AOL is for you.
8. If you are yourself a rich business man and want to launder your black money or show your competitors that oh I have a Guru then AOL is for you.
AND MOST IMPORTANTLY-
9. If you can Sing then you hit the jackpot immediately. You got to do nothing, no volunteering, no teaching - you just gotta dress up sit on a stage and sing for 2 hrs. You get to travel for free, get gifts in cash and kind and you get all the name and fame with respect, that oh this guy sings bhajans, you even get to cut your albums and you get all this by giving in just a few hours of your day. And if you are a smart popular singer the bonus is you get to F..(beep).. girls like never before with complete, support and admirations and blessing from HHSSRS.

If you are an educated normal human with a heart, body and soul, with intellect and balanced emotions, if you have strong character and moral values in life, if you are sincere seeker, who wants to learn, who really wants to serve the society and who believes in God - then all I can say is beware , wake up and wake up others too. God gives us millions of opportunity to do sewa, do you need an AOL teacher or RS or anyone else to dictate you -what to do where. If you want to learn more about Veda, Upanishads, Yoga etc etc..just get up and attend as many discourses as you can, read more and most importantly living what you learn is what matters. We all have divinity in us don’t let anyone else cash on it. Respect yourself and love yourself. If you really think there is a God on earth then look around and you will see it in your parents, in your neighbors, in yourself too.
God bless us all.

I’ll be honest there are a few in AOL, I can count on my finger tips who don’t fall in the above category and I still respect them.

-The Philalethist

Anonymous said...

What organization are you guys talking about? The AOL you experience is certainly not the one I experience. You all seem to be a bunch of professional victims and refuse to take responsibility for yourselves. Its good that you left an organization that you finally realized you didn't like, but why spend all this time trashing it? What a waste of time. Obviously lots of people find good in the organization. Tell me, why should we trust your words now regarding how "terrible" AOL is when a few years ago out of your very own mouths came the words praising AOL? You know, people aren't stupid. They see through you guys and your gross over-simplification of your experience as all bad.

The Reformer said...

Hey KLIM! I should thank you for this blog. For quite a while I wanted to be a full timer. I've told you before that kriya has helped me immensely. So helping people get this, is seva, in my perspective. Even now I want to be a teacher to (1) Give this knowledge to others (2) Try and make more and more people aware of the non-sense happening right under their nose and give them some good sense of what spirituality is all about (3) Reach out to people who don't have the means to pay for or access this and give it to them for free (4) Reform

I was quite sure that within the next two years I would be a full timer. Then I started noticing the "non-sense". And then your blog popped up. Now I'd rather be a part-timer than be a full-timer. Maybe I will be a full timer, when I feel I've served the society enough through my job and I no longer have the need to earn money for myself. But for now, no way!!

@ people who still keep giving sympathies as a courtesy

Give KLIM a break guys!! Enough sympathizing!! You really think your sympathies are going to help? KLIM is trying to get out of whatever happened. Excess sympathies will only make one sink faster in the quicksand of self pity!! Cmon KLIM. Get out and do something. It can't be that difficult to get your life back. I know I wasn't there to see whatever it was that happened to you, but still. I'm sure you've learned a great deal and have become way more stronger than you were 15 years ago. This is for your inspiration en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karna I'm sure you have heard of Karna. He is idealized as an inspiration for struggling humanity to not lose heart. I have a suggestion for you. You may hate AOL, SSRS, SK etc., But you do know the power of yoga and pranayama. Since they are all proven ways to come out of a slump, why don't you learn and become a yoga teacher. It would double as a fantastic career option since, good, genuine yoga teachers are in great demand these days, when there are a dime a dozen good-for-nothing fakes running around.

The Reformer said...

@Anon 11:51
"Things are just meant to be.. why question?" This is a way of saving your mind after something has already happened. For example, when there is a natural calamity, it has already happened, it was meant to be, you couldn't do anything about it when it happened. Fine. But don't stop there. What can you do about it now?? Can you contribute in relief work? Can you do anything at all? If you can do something, anything, do it. Otherwise forget it. Exactly as KLIM replied to that, there is a difference between active acceptance and passive acceptance. :)

@avinash
Don't just jump to conclusions. Just look at your statement, "AoL is like a vulture; whenever there is a disaster, it appears." Do you mean to say the Red Cross should be called a vulture too? After all they too appear wherever there is a disaster! Please don't trash for the sake of trashing. There may be genuinely good people in AoL who are part of the disaster relief team. At least for their sake, stop trashing the organization as a whole. Don't tell me, you're going to call the genuine ones "vultures" for wanting to help someone get out of depression. :)

@Krish

The motivations to become a full timer in my opinion,
(1) Genuine goodness of heart. Having had good experiences, wishing to spread it to everyone and making this their life's sole aspiration.
(2) Running away from life and responsibilities and problems of a regular householder.
(3) To try and get closer to the one they adore, namely SSRS.
(4) An added reason could be to avail the additional discounts (which are quite massive) for various courses, since full-timers are "assumed" to have no other means of livelihood.

@Prairie Princess

Well said my dear. That was the exact statement I had made to my friends who are teachers. I told them "Take a break for your own sake." Please spread this word to as many teachers and volunteers as you can. They will probably talk like idiots about being committed to spreading knowledge. Try to reason. If they still are stuck, then roll your eyes and move on. :P

AoL-Free said...

Thank you Anon@11:31, thank you Prairie Princess.

AoL-Free said...

Reformer, thank you. And yes, it is VERY DIFFICULT to create a new life, and get back to it. You cannot survive on pranayama and yoga. There are real things out there that one needs to get by with. Take it from me, someone with a good degree, who worked in the world before, even after x years post AoL, I have not been able to make it. The damages are serious. They don't project that to you while you are there, but when you are out there, what is the CV you will compose? The minute they check the organization you belonged to, they realize it is a cult. It is funny it takes some people 1 second to conclude this. People won't take you bc the UN is written in the description of the AoL. Many other "spiritual organizations" and NGOs are accredited by the UN. The skills you think you developed so greatly under the AoL, you realize they are just good in the AoL. The rest of your abilities remained dormant. You think money flows and falls from out of nowhere? It does for RS with all that free labor, but not in the real world. Be realistic and know you have many many many more years to do seva, and when you do, you don't need to give away your life for it. One is of no use to the world when one has no foundation, neither in the external nor internal. There is a lot more than all that ra-ra-ra! Wish you the best! You deserve that and much more.

jivani said...

"I do worry about the youngsters who enroll everyday and even more, those who die to be a full-timer and all those he is actually making full-timers"

I worry about this a great deal too. At one of the AoL meetings I attended, they talked about how to attract more young people. As I dove deeper into the organization, I felt a deep sadness about getting more young people involved. I've been struggling with how to handle talking to group members about it because I feel it is my responsibility to help protect people from such cults. Particularly young, idealistic people. The question arises, would they listen anyway? But really, even if they don't, I've done my part. I really like all the group members. My criticism of AoL is to the organizaton, not these particular group members.

I guess the best thing to do would be to forward the blog to the group...For some reason, I've been too chicken to do it though I have shared it with friends in my area who read it regularly.

AoL-Free said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
rationalist said...

Klim

If you don't mind, could you please enlighten us on which particular incident made you break from AOL ?

AoL-Free said...

Dear Rationalist, go thru the blog. I don't think I need to give any more details. I left. I opened my eyes. I am free. I today respect, value and love myself. I today do not take any abuse from anyone, nor do I agree to being exploited. That is all that counts. And I wish the same for everyone else.

Peaceful Warrior said...

@Klim

Man no need to feel so down. Whether you realize it or not - you have grown by leaps and bounds. It will only take a few years to get back for a person like you.

Then maybe, you would have learnt something from all those years in AOL, and realize that the american dream is a mirage. Happiness comes from within - just need to shift one's perspective, a little bit, and one is free

AoL-Free said...

Peaceful warrior, I am not that down. Being free and away from that already makes up for the rest.

Anonymous said...

What RS/AOL needs is a bunch of dums like,

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ROS3tsGPO7g/S9rFsf3TNvI/AAAAAAAAAB0/KBhHkMkTlV0/s1600/Jim+Warner-1.jpg

It is amazing he is the only one with the picture on, artoflivingvalues blog.

Komal said...

KLIM,

I have tremendous respect for you - your words are so measured and convey your thoughts with utmost clarity. I wish you the best. Kudos!

Anonymous said...

To the young people out there: “Study, get a degree, don’t give up anything, do seva on your side, be realistic, think with your two feet on the ground, ask yourself what are you really trying to evade that you want to run away from life? The organization will not take care of you and you won’t be a special case. Be realistic. Cherish your life, your skills, yourself, open your eyes.

Yes my dear YES+ guys and gals...read it again and again and take our words.
I can prove and confirm you - none of your Yes+ certificates, Sewa volunteer tags will fetch you a great job, you won't get addmissions to Ivy league or crack CAT with AOL tags. Why and how I am saying this with so much confidence is 'cos I was in AOL for a while I saw all this happening and I sit proudly in my Office working as Vice President HR and believe me neither did I get admission in the B school cos of AOL ( thank god I gave priority to studies and work rather than sewa and satsang) nor did i get these promotions from AOL ( thank god I gave prioity to my work . not leaving work for so called sewa and not missing official parties for satsang) and today I sit proud of my choices cos today I have position and money to feed the needy, to sponsor and educate a needy child, I donate and serve who ever I can, I don't breed on NGOs but our company does help NGOs, I travel on my own terms to best of the places, I read, I learn and I earn, I value the lessons I learnt and I try to live them rather than just preaching them to others. No organization dictates where and how I have to spend my money and time.
I just pray and wish for each one of you- the youth out there, don’t get disillusioned ‘cos if you loose this precious time today you will never ever be able to catch it back and you might end up feeling STUCK cos however much you may want to come out of AOL but you won’t have the confidence to live in the real world.

Love yourself the way you are. There are millions of people in this world who are not in AOL not even aware of AOL and RS existence and believe me they are also happy and successful, caring humans who also do charity work who also believe in God/ Spirituality..just wake up and see for yourself..’cos I care so I won’t like anyone to end up with such experiences from a spiritual organization and that’s why I felt like writing today.
- V.P. HR

yourdad said...

@VP of HR: Only if you had done seva in AOL , you would have been a president of HR today..not just a VP..lol..

Since you guys are not posting my comments , I have to post silly stuff like this..

Anonymous said...

Dear Klim,

What is your opinion about the Swami from AOL who is currently touring USA ? I'm getting calls from many centers to take his course and experience bliss.

Anonymous said...

Looks like all the guys here are obsessed with AOL and what AOL uses and has no doubt copied from some other source, is proving to be true, viz. "What you resist persists".

I presume that many of you are from outside India and AOL is known to charge a small fortune for various courses outside the home country. In India, people do not pay through their noses for any such stuff. To the best of my knowledge, the basic course costs Rs 1500/- (roughly USD 30) and it is all that one needs as a takeaway from AOL. This is the only 'original' contribution and the rest has just been picked up from here and there and packaged. After the basic course, I certainly benefited. My persistent throat infection went away and the savings by way of medical expenses more than made up the course fee on a recurring basis.
There is nothing wrong per se with AOL and your involvement should ideally be limited to the extent you choose. In case you want to do the advanced course or become a teacher, its your choice. I did the advanced course and enjoyed it immensely. At no time did I feel like becoming a teacher. I did a lot of seva and enjoyed that also. But one has enough after a while and it is best to stay away from anything else.

AOL has teachers who lecture people on getting along with each other and submerge their egos, while being unable to even look at their peers let alone get along with them, and the egos that these worthies have is really to be seen to be believed. As for the politics, it is a real Gawd Help us place. Overall it is a like any large corporation and any sensible person would do well to stay away from the inner circle.

SSRS definitely has the Guru Thathva, which explains his following. You can deride him all you wish but the diehards, and I am certainly not one of them, will not give up on him. Whether you wish to be one of the sheep being shepherded by him or would like to make your own path is upto you. The choice is yours and yours alone. I for one believe that SSRS is a good soul and he is not always able to control his unruly and sometimes crazy flock. However, for all that you keep saying, the instances of violence which have characterised other similar spiritual organisations are extremely rare or non existent. And that says a lot for AOL.

Anonymous said...

plz giv me the email id of urdad..

i will talk to him ..

ex teacher from india said...

No doubt most people are initially impressed by aol mainly because for the new comers to the organisation truly takes every statement of the organisation and teacher or Ravi on face value.they see their teacher smiling and in a joy full state . no wonder every body on the earth would like to remain in that state. but the real nature of the teacher and organisation is exposed only when one get deeper in the organisation.when you start staying with teachers one finds the teachers to be cheap and mean than may be any normal person . See giving good lecture like a parrot is one thing but living what you talk is totally different. as you go dipper in the organisation you will find the organisation as bunch of fraud where there is no seva only purpose is to extract money out of gullible volunteers. Than you are systematically brain washed to accept ravi shankar as reincarnation. They have cunning people sitting on the dias with their external impressive personalties to keep you that gullible state.
To most people who join the organisation in india it becomes an opportunity to mingle with opposite sex more freely and to hug them out of compassion (read libido). To these brain washed people every action appears lila of ravi shankar.When you are are in trouble raving is taking your exam when some thing good happens ravi has blessed you lol...
For most of the people who become teacher the biggest motivation is that they become somebody from nobody.

Anonymous said...

@yourdad –
DADDY DEAR-Yeah I am so depressed in life that I didn’t do any Sewa. O MY GOD…if this is what I get without doing much Sewa for AOL then imagine where I would have been if I had…blah…blah…blah…I would have been the LORD of the world.

BUT - Daddy – I live in the real world, where real education , real service and real experience is needed unlike AOL. Though in AOL for sure I would have been a CEO / Director HR or something not just VP.
Daddy at my age I am pretty content and happy to be working at my current post - Content, satisfied and happy.
Daddy don’t forget you feed on money that we earn... and don’t worry we will take care of you. Also Daddy don't forget the kind of attention high profile, industrialists and celebrities get from HHSSRS...and of course Ms Bhanu who hangs around with her newly found Solitaire studded friends.
Insha allah your wishes will take me to higher levels-socially and spiritually.

Daddy Dear your comment was not at all silly I totally understand and pity your mental, social and psychological level.
Daddy don't worry I pray for you to grow and mature a little and may be one day you will also have atleast a real job which will get you not just money but confidence, strength, peace, happiness and love that you would love to share with the ones who need it.

DADDY DEAR you make me happy and I love you so much I know I will reach greater heights in times to come. Thank you for your wishes.

Ha ha…KLIM don't be mean - post all that our DADDY has to say...isn't he just so full of love and knowledge. Doesn’t the rest of the world, the poor people out there, need to know that if you are not in AOL you are not spiritual…isn’t that what DADDY is telling us here.

Oh and yes DADDY you can say that this much also that I have today is ALL HIS GRACE - etc etc etc ....
DADDY whatever you feel, you just be happy and use your time for something more constructive apart from reading this blog and blessing and wishing us here .

GOD BLESS YOU DADDY
V.P.-HR

yourdad said...

@at VP-HR:

Your email reflects your intellectual capacity. No wonder you are in HR...

I am employed in a prestigious university in Europe and am earning more than what you can ever imagine..

Mr Klim refuses to post my comments whenever he them very inconvenient and whenever I raise pertinent questions.

How can we believe these people? It took them 10-15 years to realize that an organization is corrupt and all wrong?

AoL-Free said...

Your Dad, has it occurred to you that maybe noone received your comments here? I don't recall ever seeing them and not posting them. And maybe, if you did, we/I did not consider them as intelligent as you think they are ... Or maybe your aggression is not welcome? Maybe daddy, you need to practice the knowledge you cheer for and not "see intentions behind people's mistakes" and "accept people as they are" and "live the present moment". Not everyone is as smart and quick as you are. Forgive the world for not being as smart and good as you are. What I certainly hope for is that you treat your students in your university with a lot more humbleness, compassion and maturity.

Unknown said...

I can safely guess that Yourdad's expertise is in applied science/engineering. It is worth observing that technical people falls to charms to cults quite easily, and don't recognize it due to intellectual arrogance. So many of islamic suicide bombers are engineers. I am an engineer myself and during my most nerdy phase in life was taken over by AoL. Yourdad as you are in Europe, you may like to broaden your education and understanding on modern human thought and get out of your intellectual shell. Universe is bigger and more complex than the conman Ravi will ever comprehend.

Anonymous said...

I bet yourdad is no professor working in Europe - just another conman working for sri sri - making up things to fit his propaganda. I am sure he would love to put all his lies here since no body really looks at those pro websites even though you guys link those; There isn't anything worth looking there. yourdad: I have a suggestion why don't you go write whatever you want in those websites.

Anonymous said...

A request to KLIM-
Please don't post comments from yourdad. He is more of a nuisance than anything else.

Prairie Princess said...

I have yet to agree with a single thing yourdad posts ( most of our real daddies are smarter anyway). But he does have a right to his point of view. Didn't some of us used to share that point of view until our eyes and minds were opened up? It can happen to yourdad. He can grow and become more aware and evolve to the next level. Hey, yourdad. You can do it. Open your mind and drop the story.

dipti vaghela said...

THANK YOU for this blog. Klim, you have amazing courage. Please know that you have stopped me from going into AOL further. a close friend had pushed me into courses; i did them...but i kept being skeptical. yet, i would then re-consider. Tonite, reading your experiences have opened my eyes. Prayers for your and other ex-teachers' healing.

AoL-Free said...

Dear readers, YourDad posted a comment today at May 28 at 7:31AM. Someone requested his stuff not be published anymore. Anyone wants it published though? Still a YourDad kind of message (I am glad he is not My Dad!). Nothing personal YourDad, but of course, in this space, they get to choose. In AoL we did not have this choice, but this is post-AoL for many of us following this blog. Salut.

Anonymous said...

Dipti

I am glad that you saved yourself from potentially multiple years of pain and agony.
One can take yoga/pranayam/meditation courses from many better sources.
One can also contribute to many genuine charities.

ex teacher from india said...

Klim let yourdad post his message. I am sure slowly and gradually yourdad will mature and will be able to make right decision in his life.

Anonymous said...

@ex teacher from india-

If you want to see sampling of yourdad's comments, check this page-

https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=3564480661548850441&postID=1414439626423576799

It's not worth it for anyone to try to reason with him.
Let him post on AOL blogs.

WhistleBlower said...

yourdad sounds like Bawa. Same arrogance and too pleased with himself!

Anonymous said...

ok, I studied, got a degree, worked for a large corporation for 20 years, my CEO said the company stock will take care of me, I believed, the stock tanked, I got laid off, now I have no current skills to get a job.... I feel all the same things you are feeling, this is the same everywhere you go, and in all organisations, there is no free lunch.