What we’re about
This group is for those of us who are healing from the trauma of insidious and/or forced inculcation and other violations perpetrated by the vipassana "meditation retreat", cults, sects, and/or religions. This is an LGBTQAA friendly group.
This group encourages the creation of safe space at the beginning of each group via voluntary expressive art therapy and theatre exercises. These exercises are to help us "warm up", to develop some sense of familiarity and safety with each other, and to help us to develop new ways to express ourselves, especially creatively, including when we are experiencing pain, anger, disgust, and/or grief. "Warm up" is followed by sharing about our healing and recovery experience in circle. We may choose to share about a particular recovery theme some weeks (e.g. "supportive relationships"). In addition, this group is intended to empower people to delineate personal boundaries, to take back their own individual psyches, and to develop their own afterlife narratives and personal beliefs, if that is something each and any individual feels can be helpful to and/or is needed for their personal healing, recovery, and health. We may wish to share our personal beliefs or we may wish to keep them to ourselves. Sharing of spiritual beliefs is done in a manner that is respectful of each others' belief boundaries and personal afterlife narratives - i.e. no one in this group is permitted to force their afterlife narrative or particular spiritual beliefs upon others.
This is not a philosophy group - i.e. the purpose here is not metaphysical speculation nor the sharing of such ideas. This group emphasizes healing, the development and/or clarification of personal boundaries, personal empowerment, trust, safety, creative expression, and the respectful sharing of experience and knowledge. I have nothing against philosophy as a respectful inquiry into the essential workings of existence, life, and health and as a practical discipline regarding how to ethically apply developed understanding of the world, to the world so as to improve the conditions and quality of life. However, such consideration seems best to be explored formally in an academic setting that is responsibly, carefully, and ethically stewarded, (if you can find such an academic environment - you may find yourself having to speak up for ethical stewardship and principles there too). Anyways, the point is, this is a healing group, not a philosophy club. This isn't a theological, religious, or "multi-faith" group either.
This is a secular group that accepts that many people require their own supportive afterlife narrative and personal belief system for their own health and peace of mind. We allow people their personal beliefs while at the same time accept within reason, especially as reason pertains to boundaries and safety, the diversity of beliefs among people.
The following values and principles are integral to this group. If these values and principles do not work with you, this is not the group for you.
Healing Principles:
We each have belief boundaries, bodily boundaries, and other personal boundaries that require respect.
We each have a right to our own afterlife narrative, which is typically deeply personal.
We each have the right to share our afterlife narrative and personal beliefs only when we want to and only to those whom we feel safe sharing such with and whom welcome our sharing.
We have the right not to have to listen to other people's afterlife narratives and spiritual beliefs if we do not want to listen to them.
No one has a right to force their afterlife narrative or spiritual beliefs upon us.
No one has the right to insidiously and/or forcibly inculcate dogma into psyches.
Gossiping and the generating of prejudice and/or falsehood is not allowed in this group. If group members have issues with each other they are encouraged and expected to discuss the issue directly with each other.
If discussions or situations become "heated" people are expected to give each other space and time to "cool off". If any group members have issues with each other that are not easily resolved, another group member, or other group members, can be asked to impartially mediate and to help to develop a strategy of peaceful co-existence.
Any group member who attempts to impose their religious and/or cult beliefs upon any other group member(s), and their is adequate evidence of them having attempted to have done so, is banned from this group permanently.
There is diversity in life, there can be diversity in the afterlife. One person's "heaven" may be another person's "hell" as such it is highly reasonable to allow each person to develop their own uplifting, supportive, and loving afterlife narrative, if they desire and/or require one.
No one is the authority on all that does and/or may possibly happen to us when we die, and anyone who claims such is being arrogant.
We love ourselves, even when we behave disappointingly. Rather than judge ourselves harshly, we assess ourselves and our triggers, plan for future prevention, take active and loving responsibility for our health, and direct ourselves towards those places, spaces, people, activities, and behaviours which move our lives in a healthier direction.
Honesty is not always pleasant. When we are in pain or experiencing significant anger, disgust, and/or grief, we may be unpleasant.
We take responsibility to manage our unpleasantness as best as we can while continuing to express our honesty.
The world is a healthier place when we are healthier and/or healthy within it.
We love ourselves and encourage others to love themselves too.
We are taking back our own psyches and choosing our own beliefs and afterlife narratives. We choose those beliefs and afterlife narratives which energize, inspire, support, heal, nurture, and love us.
The following are podcasts created by Madison Marriage and her colleagues at the Financial Times which discuss some of the harms caused by the vipassana "meditation retreats". CAUTION: watching the podcast episodes may be triggering to some. I put them here, nonetheless, because they may be helpful to those who are still feeling/being "gaslighted" by the vipassana organization. I personally found this podcast series to be both triggering and helpful, though I am glad to have watched it, at least in part, as I found the corroborating experiences of others to be supportive of my healing. However, episodes 3 and 4 are particularly disturbing and watching them may be significantly triggering. I advise watching parts of episodes 1 and 2, which go into depth about the experience of twin sisters as well as an overview of multiple accounts of people who were traumatized by vipassana. Watch any of the episodes with caution if you have been previously traumatized by vipassana. It may likely be best not to watch episodes 3 and 4. Episode 4 includes some details of terrifying thoughts that one person experienced that were similar to what I experienced also (after my psyche had been infected with vipassana dogma). Clips of recordings of goenka's voice are also used in moments in each episode - be prepared to fast forward/skip those portions !!!
You are not alone. The vipassana "retreat" violates belief boundaries and attempts to insidiously and then forcibly inculcate people. Such behaviour is obviously severely abusive and is not wise.
Each of us has the right to our own beliefs. We each have the right to evict harmful delusions from our psyches and lives.
Scroll down to the bottom of the webpage that is linked below; there are 4 episodes in the podcast series, as said, it may be best to only watch portions of the first 2 episodes and to simply know that episodes 3 and 4 detail deaths caused by the vipassana organization:
https://www.ft.com/content/b3ec8e57-5cf9-4f96-9267-56c3bcd9c102