|
|
|
Hi Bunny,
It's nice to see you posting.
I certainly understand your sentiments about 'meditation' after what some of us went through for hours on end with those very weird techniques. Knowledge is hardly representative of meditation as understood and practiced the world over. I know lots of premies who don't even practice the techniques - they just turn up to see the Lord at programs.
It's not advisable for people that are leaving a destructive cult to turn to meditation, at least not for a long while. If you haven't yet read this excellent piece written by Michael Langone, Ph.D, titled "Letter to a Former Member of a Meditation Group," I highly recommend it. I posted it back in February, but here's the link to ICSA (International Cultic Studies Association). Langone is ISCA's Excutive Director, a cult expert and a counseling psychologist.
http://www.culticstudies.org/infoserv_articles/langone_michael_lettertoeasternex.htm Sure, some meditation can be damaging and cause disassociation and it may be appropriate to include knowledge in this catagory. It does not follow to include all meditations in the same catagory as knowledge however. Folks 'meditate' so many things - sometimes to an excessive and damaging degree - mindless TV or computer games for example.
Saying that "some meditation can be damaging and causes dissociation" is putting it lightly or minimizing the issue. Dissociation is a serious thing, as is derealization and depersonalization, which can also be the side-effects of doing any form of meditation within a cult. People are usually encouraged to focus outward upon leaving a meditation cult, not going back inward. Former members of an eastern meditation cult like ours need to be dilligent when deciding to try another meditation, not just to protect themselves from possible mental health problems, but also because they just may be too vulnerable to be able to choose the proper teacher, too soon after leaving. Plus, who wants to pay for yet another meditation after years of being involved with getting the "free" meditation that indeed was so harmful to so many? The reFocus website addresses these issues quite well in their section entitled "Post-Cult Trauma."
http://www.refocus.org/postcult.html
One of the biggest problems for cult exiters who do have serious PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) or other emotional/mental problems as described on the reFocus site, is that mental healthcare providers do not have any expertise in treating people who have left a cult. When folks mention to say, a psychotherapist that they've been in a cult, their (the therapist's) eyes tend to glaze over because they just don't get any training in that field of study at all, and the issue usually is never addressed by a typical therapist. One would have to hire a professional who specializes in that field (like Langone) and they are prohibitively expensive, so the average person would just not be able to afford that kind of after-care.
Also, some folks like tv and video games and having a nice glass of wine. There's nothing wrong with doing that, in fact, it's recommended that cult exiters re-enter the real world post-cult, by doing the pricisely the normal things that regular people do in life, notby turning inward again using meditation practices.
IMO it's the cult membership itself that is rotting their brains. Independent thought is not encouraged so the few opportunities premies have for debate and sharpening their wits are probably on this forum!
Cult membership starts with aspiration to the initiation process and to receive Knowledge is always the primary focus -- that's still how the cult operates. So, even if some premies don't meditate much these days, they probably did at one point in their life. I would imagine that might be the case for old-timers, even if they don't do meditation now.
I know some exes will disagree with me about the meditation issue, but I don't care And nothing is absolute about this because everybody's different. I do think it's important to use caution when saying that it's okay to meditate, especially if one isn't prepared to make specific recommendations about specific practices or teachers. One size doesn't fit all, either.
Hope you're well, 
Cynthia
Modified by Cynthia at Tue, Apr 05, 2005, 08:19:13
|
