Here are some hunches, speculations by Corboy.
Even if rigpa is not intentionally using these techniques
it looks like a well set up processing plant to liquify
boundary instincts.
Corboy has given links to some discussion of confusion techniques
as used by other gurus. This is not to say that Soggy is deliberately
using such techniques - we need more information. (Perhaps if some
former disciples could step forward)
These URLs to material contributed by The Anticult in discussing other
gurus will, however illustrate how disorienting such behavior is.
Anyone who behaves this way is bad company. Get away ASAP or you will
get used to all this and lose access to your gut instincts - and lose
access to your conscience.
[dialogueireland.wordpress.com]
Soggy's changes of topic, interspersed with verbal attacks on his senior members looks confusing This may also induce mental fatigue in his audiences.
[forum.culteducation.com]
Anyone who is not alarmed or outraged at Soggy's nasty behavior has become willing to stay present and witness the guru trash talking their fellow seekers and in public. To witness this and accept the explanation that this is crazy wisdom and not plain cruelty makes the onlookers complicit.
If, reportedly Soggy behaves this way publicly, what happens when he's in private, eh?
Paying a large sum of money for a Soggy retreat and feeling
ripped off is a painful state of mind. It is called cognitive dissonance.
So much easier to write it off as a "practice opportunity" "education"
or "interesting experience" and not admit that Soggy and his organization processed you through a well oiled engine of abuse
--or shall we say, a theatre of cruelty.
Even if someone comes from a thousand year old lineage of
authentic teachers, this is still abuse - an entire arrangement
that would weaken boundary instincts in most of us.
Human beings are highly adaptable. It is our glory and our
danger.
Remain in an abusive environment for a long enough time and you will
become desensitized. You will adjust and come to consider this normal.
With some encouragement many will be persuaded that the ongoing abuse
is enlightened activity.
I'd rather remain unenlightened if becoming enlightened means
eating a plate of steaming dung, then saying thank you
for the blessing.
Ah, and if anyone observes that I am getting all worked up about this
-- I am worked up about this.
As described by the anthropologist's article, Soggy is abusing people, even the people he is not inviting into his
bedroom/shrine room.
Plus ripga is tax exempt, which means those of us who do pay taxes are indirectly subsidizing this.
Note: Since Soggy behaves so abusively in public - it is possible
that he may behave even worse in private.
Wonder how many of his close disciples have come down with severe
stress related conditions.
How many close disciples - the barf basins who receive Soggy's public scoldings- how many are coping by using medication and or heavy alcohol
use? Eating disorders?
Even if rigpa is not intentionally using these techniques
it looks like a well set up processing plant to liquify
boundary instincts.
Corboy has given links to some discussion of confusion techniques
as used by other gurus. This is not to say that Soggy is deliberately
using such techniques - we need more information. (Perhaps if some
former disciples could step forward)
These URLs to material contributed by The Anticult in discussing other
gurus will, however illustrate how disorienting such behavior is.
Anyone who behaves this way is bad company. Get away ASAP or you will
get used to all this and lose access to your gut instincts - and lose
access to your conscience.
[dialogueireland.wordpress.com]
Quote
n the heat of the final preparations, the organizers announce several times the master’s arrival, before he finally comes, at a point where he is no longer expected. The room, until then happily buzzing, is now suddenly silent. Sogyal Rinpoche’s entrance is thus dramatized in the same way as for celebrities: the instructors are no longer teachers, but presenters, who repeatedly announce the master’s imminent arrival, highlight the extraordinary nature of the event, indefinitely repeat and comment on his greatness and originality.
(Corboy: this, and all the televised "sitting with rinpoche" courses may
possibly be what experts in trance induction call a "preframe".
[forum.culteducation.com]
Even if rigpa folks dont know about trance, it is good theatre arts - you get people used to
interpreting Soggy's actions in a special way, and this gets you to accept
behavior from him that you'd reject from anyone else.)
Training the audience to expect and make excuses for Sogyal's "crazy" behavior looks like another set up.
[forum.culteducation.com]
Once Sogyal Rinpoche is finally on stage (after long minutes or hours of waiting), the organizers stop talking and return to their seats at the forefront of the assembly. The lama is then at the centre of the audience’s attention. The teachings will begin. Their theme has already been advertised weeks before: they usually focus on a topic linking Buddhism to daily life, such as “how to find peace in a hectic world” or “harmonizing relationships”. While the audience expects him to get into the heart of the subject, as they see him do on the videos they watch during the introductory sessions, Sogyal Rinpoche begins to have personal conversations with the people sitting in the first row.
Soggy's changes of topic, interspersed with verbal attacks on his senior members looks confusing This may also induce mental fatigue in his audiences.
[forum.culteducation.com]
Anyone who is not alarmed or outraged at Soggy's nasty behavior has become willing to stay present and witness the guru trash talking their fellow seekers and in public. To witness this and accept the explanation that this is crazy wisdom and not plain cruelty makes the onlookers complicit.
If, reportedly Soggy behaves this way publicly, what happens when he's in private, eh?
Paying a large sum of money for a Soggy retreat and feeling
ripped off is a painful state of mind. It is called cognitive dissonance.
So much easier to write it off as a "practice opportunity" "education"
or "interesting experience" and not admit that Soggy and his organization processed you through a well oiled engine of abuse
--or shall we say, a theatre of cruelty.
Even if someone comes from a thousand year old lineage of
authentic teachers, this is still abuse - an entire arrangement
that would weaken boundary instincts in most of us.
Human beings are highly adaptable. It is our glory and our
danger.
Remain in an abusive environment for a long enough time and you will
become desensitized. You will adjust and come to consider this normal.
With some encouragement many will be persuaded that the ongoing abuse
is enlightened activity.
I'd rather remain unenlightened if becoming enlightened means
eating a plate of steaming dung, then saying thank you
for the blessing.
Ah, and if anyone observes that I am getting all worked up about this
-- I am worked up about this.
As described by the anthropologist's article, Soggy is abusing people, even the people he is not inviting into his
bedroom/shrine room.
Plus ripga is tax exempt, which means those of us who do pay taxes are indirectly subsidizing this.
Note: Since Soggy behaves so abusively in public - it is possible
that he may behave even worse in private.
Wonder how many of his close disciples have come down with severe
stress related conditions.
How many close disciples - the barf basins who receive Soggy's public scoldings- how many are coping by using medication and or heavy alcohol
use? Eating disorders?