A lot of discussion puts the onus on students for projecting their issues onto
teachers and gurus.
This ignores that the teacher or guru is one up and the powerholder.
Two, teachers and gurus often say just the right thing when they tell
you what ethical guidelines are. Their sanghas, dharma centers and lodges
have ethical guidelines written up that cover all the bases.
Two persons discussing the problems at Jivamukti Yoga Studio identified
the actual dynamic: predatory gurus and teachers will *say* all the right things.
But in practice, what they do is identify those persons who are vulnerable, flatter them, arouse their hopes, get them dependent on the teacher, and isolate them
from the rest of the congregation.
This is called "grooming".
Some persons who participated in the discussion following the Slate article about Jivamukti said this:
Princess Toadstool #3 Apr 5, 2016
The problem is that abusers work like those entertainment hypnotists: they start with a simple request of say, 50 people, and find the 30 people suggestible enough to go along with it.
Then they slowly escalate the requests, winnowing down the field from 30 people willing to do some of the requests, then 20 people willing to do half the requests, 10 people willing to do most of the requests, until they have three people who are so suggestible that they're willing to humiliate themselves because they're gullible enough to believe they're truly hypnotized.
nuliajuk Apr 5, 2016
These predators become experts at identifying the people who will be most vulnerable to their advances.
[www.google.com]
EspyG Apr 5, 2016
@slayer_faith You could put a woman (or man) in the place of the woman in this story that didn't have an abusive past or any issues with authority figures that could still have ended up in the same place. The atmosphere described and devotion by everyone else around you would subtly pull in a lot of people who thought they would never be manipulated this way.
teachers and gurus.
This ignores that the teacher or guru is one up and the powerholder.
Two, teachers and gurus often say just the right thing when they tell
you what ethical guidelines are. Their sanghas, dharma centers and lodges
have ethical guidelines written up that cover all the bases.
Two persons discussing the problems at Jivamukti Yoga Studio identified
the actual dynamic: predatory gurus and teachers will *say* all the right things.
But in practice, what they do is identify those persons who are vulnerable, flatter them, arouse their hopes, get them dependent on the teacher, and isolate them
from the rest of the congregation.
This is called "grooming".
Some persons who participated in the discussion following the Slate article about Jivamukti said this:
Princess Toadstool #3 Apr 5, 2016
The problem is that abusers work like those entertainment hypnotists: they start with a simple request of say, 50 people, and find the 30 people suggestible enough to go along with it.
Then they slowly escalate the requests, winnowing down the field from 30 people willing to do some of the requests, then 20 people willing to do half the requests, 10 people willing to do most of the requests, until they have three people who are so suggestible that they're willing to humiliate themselves because they're gullible enough to believe they're truly hypnotized.
nuliajuk Apr 5, 2016
These predators become experts at identifying the people who will be most vulnerable to their advances.
[www.google.com]
EspyG Apr 5, 2016
@slayer_faith You could put a woman (or man) in the place of the woman in this story that didn't have an abusive past or any issues with authority figures that could still have ended up in the same place. The atmosphere described and devotion by everyone else around you would subtly pull in a lot of people who thought they would never be manipulated this way.