tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31351038.post8071827948109063130..comments2024-03-26T13:06:41.178-04:00Comments on Jagat: 30th anniversary of Iskcon Montreal's Radha ManoharJagadananda Dashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05887720845815026518noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31351038.post-58793241608739438352007-05-14T07:52:00.000-04:002007-05-14T07:52:00.000-04:00I have just been reading a bit of Eric Berne, the ...I have just been reading a bit of Eric Berne, the father of "transactional analysis" and Games People Play. Berne analyzes human relations from a base point he calls "strokes", which in this case has a double meaning: one is like the stroking a human gives to a pet or an adult to a child. The other is the term used in counting poetical or musical metre. Berne's way of describing the fundamental unit of human exchange is that people are hungry for stimulus, which in its most primitive form is literally the kind of stroking a mother gives to her child. As one grows, one is forced to seek (in the greater amount of cases) substitutes for this kind of direct physical stroking or "stimulus" by something else, which Berne calls "recognition." In either case, "If you are not stroked, your spinal cord will shrivel up."<BR/><BR/>Even the most fundamental of social interactions operates on the level of stroking, and these develop into intuitively cognated, progressively more extensive and complex stroking procedures, rituals, pastimes and games. Of these, the last are the most telling of deep rooted psychological tendencies, and we all tend to seek out situations where such games recur so that we can confirm or deny our personal self-concept, etc. <BR/><BR/>To continue: Games are a subset of "scripts," which are the mostly unconscious scripts of our lives, the multi-act patterns that dictate the overall shape they take.<BR/><BR/>After this brief summary, I can now make an analysis of my own comments in this post.<BR/><BR/>First of all, I do not go that often to the temple, and when I do, I try to make it at times when there will be few residents around. I can chant, recite stotras, etc., without having to deal with anyone in a public situation. The 30th anniversary was obviously an exception, and I am glad that I went, because I had the chance to meet a few old friends and reestablish relations with them. The extent to which that is significant will be shown in the course of time.<BR/><BR/>But on another level, or indeed on the same level, there is a kind of atavism involved in going to the temple. I am renewing with my faith in Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and indeed with my own life story. To be scorned or reviled in Iskcon actually confirms my life choices. To be insulted is actually a kind of ego payoff, because I get to say, "Well, I am actually way beyond these guys in my understanding. They would do well to hear from me, but they are afraid of what I might say." <BR/><BR/>O.K. That's pretty much true, despite being bullshit. The real psychological payoff when I go to the temple (when I am alone) is to confirm to myself the meaning of my own life and reality, which came to me when I converted to Krishna consciousness, and <B>all</B> that has happened subsequently under the guidance of Sri Guru and Gauranga, regardless of what Iskcon or anybody else thinks about it.<BR/><BR/>Jai Radhe!Jagadananda Dashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05887720845815026518noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31351038.post-56218802859964578232007-05-09T04:01:00.000-04:002007-05-09T04:01:00.000-04:00Look at it from the bright side. At least you were...Look at it from the bright side. At least you weren't excommunicated, refused entrance or thrown out with force. <BR/>For the ones that know who you are (a minority), the majority thinks you are someone that rejected Srila Prabhupad.<BR/>Your openmindedness isn't understood or shared by all.<BR/><BR/>Indeed a nice example of ...Trnad api .. and how it is easier said than done.<BR/>I would definitly allow you to be a guest speaker, because your honesty is admirable.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com