Friends or family who are just getting into "the teachi

[sara]

I posted this under "future of RSE" in the "general chit-chat and social forum", as it was a reply to other posts, but I'm re-posting it here so that it will be easier to find - I hope that's ok, moderators?


"If I had met anyone back then, when I was getting into JZR's teachings, who could have told me even a little of what I've learned from this site, I would NEVER have gone any further into it. That input could be hugely important, especially as there seems to be so much that you don't hear about until you actually get to Yelm.

If someone had said to me in the first few days or maybe weeks, "Look, this is an abusive, destructive organisation", and shown me the evidence, I could probably have heard it.

If it had been later, I would still probably have been able to hear anyone who could first show me that they understood what I thought I was getting from it. I did hear my healer colleague after the one and only retreat I did. I told her how I had managed to break through some pretty difficult emotions and find some joy and light-heartedness again, and she said that I could have done that much more easily, quickly and gently working in the way that she and I did together - I didn't need to do all those very active, dynamic disciplines. I heard her because I trusted her, and the experiences I had with her - I did have the knowledge of the work she and I did before I got into RSE.

Lurker, it sounds as though your friend is further into the teachings than the first stage or the first few weeks - although, as Tree says, you can't be sure where someone is with the teachings until you talk with them (some people can make a powerful emotional connection with a teaching almost immediately, if it meets a need or a desire; some can explore things for months without getting as hooked in.) Does your friend have any other positive experiences of spiritual teachings or forms of personal/spiritual development? I mean healthy, gentle, life-giving ones, not other destructive cults! If she does, you might be able to talk with her about how they are different from RSE. If RSE is her first experience of a spiritual path that has moved her deeply, it will be harder. I imagine that she will need to feel that the other person has some understanding of what she's found in RSE, and the other person will need to be able to suggest that what she has found, or what she's learning, can just as well come from elsewhere. She will need to feel some confidence or trust in that person to be able to hear that.

Please let me know if there is anything I can do to help, and keep us posted!

Sara"